Great Books, part 1

I have started reading for the Great Books Workshop in April. This is an annual workshop featuring a noted children's author or illustrator as the speaker (this year, Bruce Coville) and 3 discussion sessions. What this means for my reading project is that I'm stepping away from adult genres and am taking a look at some children's titles.

This month I tackled my "Great Books for Kids" books. This category is for upper elementary and middle school books. I chose the "Little Intrigues" group.

1. The case of the left-handed lady by Nancy Springer features 14 year old Enola Holmes (the younger sister of Sherlock) trying to evade discovery by her brothers (since she is living on her own) and trying to locate the missing Lady Cecily. Enola is extremely clever and capable and does "quite well on her own". I like this book and think that it will appeal to middle school girls looking for an independent heroine who is having a great adventure.

2. Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LeFevers features another clever, capable and independent heroine. This time it is 11 year old Theodosia, who spends most of her time in the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London, where her father is head curator and her mother is traveling the world (currently concentrating in Egypt) looking for artifacts. Theodosia can feel the black magic emanating from the artifacts and must embark on a true adventure to recover and return a most powerful amulet, the Heart of Egypt. There a little Indiana Jones feel to this one and enough skulduggery that boys, able to look beyond the female title character, may enjoy this as well as the girls will.

3. In The Theft & the Miracle by Rebecca Wade, 12 year old Hannah Price is not particularly popular. She is a little overweight and acne prone. And she is a wonderful artist. One day she finds shelter from the rain in the local cathedral and, as if in a trance, draws a remarkable likeness of a statue of the Virgin and Child. The next day the Child is stolen and Hannah is caught up in the effort to find it before it is destroyed. This is an interesting story and was a quick read. It has an underlying message of esteem and self acceptance which may be of interest to girls of this age.

4. The Secret of the Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story by Peter Lane Taylor chronicles the true story of a group of Ukrainian Jews who survived the Holocaust by moving into a series of gypsum caves. The book details an expedition to explore the caves and recover artifacts with the true story and recollections of the survivors themselves. Photographs document both time periods. This is a tremendous story of people working together to ensure the survival of the whole group. It is almost unimaginable to conceive of how they accomplished this. A good story for the history and the inspiration for both boys and girls.

Non Fiction

Inspired by Deborah's universe books, this month I listened to a Non Fiction title. I decided to try the bestseller, Marley & Me: life and love with the world's worst dog, by John Grogan. Despite the fact that I am in no way, shape, or form a dog person, I really did enjoy the book. The episodes flowed smoothly and painted a wonderful portrait of this crazy dog. He sort of reminded me of my neighbor's dog . . . and also of my kids in a way. I really felt like I knew the dog and I definitely had to brush back the tears when it was time for Marley to go. As it's bestseller status will attest, many people are already familiar with this book. But it is definitely one to recommend - for the dog people, for the cat people, for the relationship people - which, when you think about it, it just about everyone.

Romance

This month I decided to read a romance book. I decided to read a romance paperback series book, because, to my recollection, I have never read any series books before.

So I went right for the jugular with a Harlequin Blaze book. This series if one of the most explicit of the paperback series (as evidence by the lack of clothes on the cover). It is true what they teach you in those reader's advisory classes.

I read Baby, It's Cold Outside, by Cathy Yardley (see, it had a holiday theme and everything), in which hot shot Colin returns to his small hometown and has a fling with local golden girl Emily. Will the one night stand turn into something more? Of course it does. That's the whole point of romance novels, isn't it?

It was a quick read, an okay diversion from the holiday madness of mid-December. Would recommend to those looking for something more explicit.

Mysteries

For November I read a Mystery. I do cross over into this genre once in awhile, so I picked an author/series I hadn't read before. I listened to "A" is for Alibi by Sue Grafton. It was a pretty good story that did keep me interested. I'm not so great at figuring it all out, and I was kept guessing on this one. I can see why the series is so popular and the customers have plenty to chose from since the series is up to "T", which is due out this week.

I wasn't so thrilled with the reader of this tape. She seemed to me to be trying too hard to play the unemotional, hard-boiled PI. It was a little too much for my taste.

Endless Universe

Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang by Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok
Instead of a "big bang" where time and space sprang into existence 14 billion years ago, the authors postulate a cyclical universe that has always existed and will continue to exist. The authors theorize there have been countless big bangs -- calling this M theory. This theory says the universe contains objects called "branes" (short for membranes). Two branes engage in an endless cycle of "collision, rebound, stretching and collision again."
I understand virtually nothing of the rationale behind this new theory except that it is intriguing to me that this theory apparently answers the multitude of questions/problems that arise when considering the Big Bang model. Even Stephen Hawking calls it "a challenging alternative to the accepted picture of the Big Bang and the future of the universe."

Jinx by Meg Cabot

Jinx by Meg Cabot

Jean Honeychurch hates her nickname “Jinx,” – though she does believe it is well deserved – remember the tornado that hit the day she was born. She moves to Manhattan to stay with relatives in order to get away from a “situation” that had developed back home in Iowa. At least she had been looking forward to seeing her cousin Tory. But the Tory she meets is far different than the fun-loving girl she remembers and it is very obvious that Tory does not want Jinx there.

Tory is playing a dangerous game with magic and seems to think that Jinx knows all about it and is in competition with her. Jinx tries to behave as if that is silly, but is it? Add the boy that they both have a crush on in the mix, and the competition really becomes fierce.

This is a suspenseful story that leaves you guessing until the end. Young adults will enjoy it.

Beyond the Earth

If you want to learn about the world beyond terra firma, these are the two books to read: An Ocean of Air by Gabrielle Walker and Death by Black Hole by Neil de Grasse Tyson. Both are well-written and geared to the lay person readers. I now understand -- in the most simplistic of terms (smile) -- the skies beyond terrestial earth -- from earth's atmosphere to the farthest reaches of the universe.
Did you know?
Because of the broiling activity taking place in the sun, it takes 1,000,000 years for a photon to travel from the center of the sun and finally leave the sun. If that same photon were able to travel without interference, that journey would take 2-3 seconds.
All the water in the oceans can be accounted for by the water added by comets (those icy snowballs from the outer solar system) hitting the earth for the past 4.5 billion. That puts into perspective how long a billion years really is.