book club: march 2011 edition

Over the course of a couple days in March I re-read Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game and read Debbie and James Howe’s Bunnicula for the first time. Bunnicula was darling: a charming story of a ‘vampire’ bunny told from the perspective of a family’s dog. It spawned many sequels and while it is clearly written for children, you can understand why parents continued to read it to their children. The narrator’s – the dog’s - voice is so charming and clever that even the simplest story has great appeal.

I read Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game for the first (and only other) time when I was 11 or 12. I distinctly remember being in my sixth grade classroom and, when finishing this cleverly crafted mystery, realizing how entertaining and smart books could be. The novella begins with the death of Sam Westing, the richest man in town. His great fortune is promised to the winner of the Westing game – the game he set into place to expose his killer. A broad, richly-developed cast of characters is introduced as players in the game and much intrigue, suspicion and strategy ensues. For being so short, the book is dense with tightly and expertly wound storytelling. I was so happy to find that The Westing Game held up twenty years later. I immediately bought copies for my niece and nephew – both big young readers.

That’s it. There’s not much more to say. Truly good books – even those intended for children – can be great on so many levels. It’s always worth spending some time with them.

Title: Bunnicula
Author: Debbie and James Howe
Read: NYC
Format: tiny paperback
Sweet, charming, cute: Three out of five stars

Title: The Westing Game
Author: Ellen Raskin
Read: NYC
Format: tiny paperback
Smart, intriguing, well-crafted: Five out of five stars

The Twenty-One Balloons :: William Pene du Bois

Title: The Twenty-One Balloons [book club selection, RC]

Author: William Pene du Bois

Read: MA, NYC

Format: Kindle

This month, RC chose two children's/YA books for book club. Both were excellent, but I think this one suffered (in my esteem) from having been read after the wonderful When You Reach Me. It was a fun and colorful and immensely imaginative read. Though, compared to When You Reach Me, which I think is a great book for kids TO read, I feel that The Twenty-One Balloons is a wonderful story to have read to you.

In it, Professor William Waterman Sherman sets out on a hot air balloon adventure. He is discovered too-soon after his departure on the other side of the country with twenty giant balloons rather than the one he left with. The bulk of the tale is his recount of his adventure on and escape from the volcanic island of Krakatoa.

Thoughts:

- the characters, especially the professor, are beyond charming
- Krakatoa is cleverly conceived, both physically and socially
- the Krakatoan inventions are adorably clever
- the story is so sweet and fable-like, you expect it to be moralistic in the end; happily, it's not
- there are cute illustrations

If you would like to rekindle a sense of childlike wonder, or if you are looking for a book to share with a wee person, pick this one up.

Sweet, earnest, charming.
4 out of 5 stars

When You Reach Me :: Rebecca Stead

Title: When You Reach Me [book club selection, RC]
Author: Rebecca Stead
Read: NYC
Format: trade paperback

I don't know how to start praising Rebecca Stead's 2009 Newberry Award winner, When You Reach Me. It's a children's book with amazing heart and no subtext or moral. It's just a wonderful story made up of all the things I love:

- NYC setting
- smart, charming, non-precocious narrator
- it's just a little fantastical
- well-flushed out, believable characters
- a richly developed setting that you can almost see as you read

Miranda lives happily with her mom on Manhattan's Upper West Side when one day her life starts getting weird. First, her lifelong best friend Sal gets punched for no reason on the way home from school. He immediately decides he doesn't want to be friends with her anymore. Soon after, she starts getting mysterious notes that she doesn't know what to make of. The novel follows 11-then-12-year-old Miranda as she tries to get to the bottom of it all.

When You Reach Me is short enough to read in one sitting and I recommend doing so. You won't want to put it down, so if you have to you'll be annoyed (I was). It's the kind of book that makes children love reading and reminds adults how great storytelling can be.

Just read it. It's really good.
5 out of 5 stars

A Wind in the Door :: Madeleine L'Engle

Title: A Wind in the Door

Author: Madeleine L'Engle

Read: NYC, MA

Format: Trade paperback

Last year I reread A Wrinkle in Time and liked it just fine, but I wasn't in a huge rush to continue with the series. Over a year later, I picked up A Wind in the Door.

At the beginning of this novel, we find the precocious prodigy Charles Wallace is sick and still unusual. His sister and a gang of adventurers attempt to get to the bottom of his illness by succeeding in three trials. Also, they battle evil itself in Charles' body. What?!

Overall, I found this second installment of the "Time Quintet" unimpressive. Because I was already invested in the characters, I was kind of interested in the events. However, I ended up annoyed with how unnecessarily complicated the plot was. I mean, I was able to follow it: it's a children's book after all. I just found the whole thing anticlimactic. Yes, it was a sort-of interesting and different premise. Yet, was it worthwhile? Does it set up future books? Does it develop the world of our characters? Do I care? On all counts: not really.

I think I'm done with this series for now. I like the Murry children, but on the whole I think theirs might be a good, but not great, tale.

Fine for what it is, but the last Murry adventure for me.

3 out of 5 stars.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass :: Lewis Carroll

Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass

Author: Lewis Carroll

Read: NYC; JFK > SFO; Palo Alto, CA

Format: mass market paperback

I don't really get this book. But, I'm guessing it's because I'm (a) old, (b) not old enough to care that much about the subtext, (c) expected it to be really great.

Of course I'd seen the cartoon and I'm aware of most of the main characters. I just thought that there would be more plot. Instead, Alice just kind of walks around from one weird symbolic interaction to another. The writing is descriptive and imaginative, but not mind-blowing. In fairness though, over the years Carroll's tableaus have been colorfully imagined so many times - by artists ranging from Disney to Tom Petty - that despite being the inspiration it would appear to fall short, creatively.

I think most books are best enjoyed in specific windows, be they age, date, or circumstance-based. I missed my window with Alice.

It was fine: imaginative, but with no surprises (neither in plot or writing):

3 out of 5 stars

the fantastic mr. fox :: roald dahl

Title: The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Author: Roald Dahl
Published: Puffin, 2008
Read: November 2009; NYC
Format: trade paperback

Three greedy, mean-spirited farmers plot to take out the fantastic Mr. Fox the next time he emerges from his fox hole. All the while, beneath their very feet, a grand heist is being pulled off by the wily fox and his fellow hole-dwellers.

I don't have a lot to stay about this one. It's a children's book. There is no subtext, really. It's not written especially beautifully and it's not notably heartwarming. It's just a cute, entertaining adventure with fun characters and a colorful world.

A joyful caper; definitely worth the 30 or so minutes it takes to read.
4 out of 5 stars

james and the giant peach :: roald dahl

Title: James and the Giant Peach
Author: Roald Dahl
Published: Puffin, 2008
Read: October 2009; NYC, CT
Format: trade paperback

After a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger, James accidentally sets an amazing voyage in place. He becomes captain of an enormous peach and finds travel companions in a gang of giant insects. Together, they face adventure and embark on lives far more extraordinary than the ones they knew before.

Like most of Dahl's children's books, James and the Giant Peach is a wonderful, comforting joy to read. I have nothing to say by way of criticism and will not theorize about possible messages or subtexts. Instead, I'll relish in one of Dahl's more darling moments:

'...Some of us, of course, are born with more spots than others, but we never change them. The number of spots that a Ladybird has is simply a way of showing which branch of the family she belongs to. I, for example, am a Nine-Spotted Ladybird. I am very lucky. It is a fine thing to be.'

'It is, indeed,' said James, gazing at the beautiful shell with the nine black spots on it.

'On the other hand,' the Ladybird went on, 'some of my less fortunate relatives have no more than two spots altogether on their shells! Can you imagine that? They are called Two-Spotted Ladybirds, and very common and ill-mannered they are, I regret to say. And then, of course, you have the Five-Spotted Ladybirds as well. They are much nicer than the Two-Spotted ones, although I myself find them a trifle too saucy for my taste.'

'But they are all of them loved?' said James.

'Yes,' the Ladybird answered quietly. 'They are all of them loved.'

Perfect. Charming. Sweet:
5 out of 5 stars.