H0oT #42 Surface Tension

Cassie is more than a little obsessed with Old Lower Grange, the town which was submerged on the day she was born, eight weeks premature. Her parents and two older siblings have memories and tell stories of their old house and the old town, but Cassie feels left out, missing out on history. 

Because of her premature arrival, Cassie's lungs aren't great and she swims laps in the local pool to help them strengthen. But the floating bandaids and other kids doing bombies don't make for peaceful swimming. Her preoccupation with the "Atlantis" nature of Old Lower Grange and disgust for the pool combine to drive her to the lake. There she certainly finds much more than a place to swim in peace.

Meg McKinlay constructs Cassie and the narrative skillfully, drawing together her bravery with the symbolism of the drowned town and submerged secrets. The descriptions of the lake and drowned town are poetic, and quite eerie in places.

I like that there is the potential for romance between Cassie and Liam, a boy whose tragic past is connected to the secret in the lake, but that their friendship is what is concentrated on here.

There are the usual problems in New Lower Grange; as a small town most people know everyone else and their history. There are suggestions of covering up the past in rewriting history to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the town, leaving out the protests about the flooding for example.

 

There are also some lovely connections in the sub-plots with Cassie's father's art and her sister's job on the local council both having a direct influence on the outcome. McKinlay uses the motif of problems simmering just beneath the surface throughout the text:

"A heavy red glaze could cover a network of tiny hairline fractures that would shatter something utterly if you struck it hard enough in just the right spot.”

Readers who enjoy a bit of mystery and suspense will race through to the satisfying finish, just as I did. Cassie is a gutsy, believable character, you'll find yourself cheering her on.

Four hoots from five.

Happy tales,

Barking Owl

 

H00t #41 Anastasia (My Royal Story)

This series is all the rage in the school library at the moment, perhaps the relentless media coverage of the royal wedding has something to do with this. But, as I was just reading on a friend's blog we all know that being a princess is not easy. Especially if you are a Romanov and your people are turning against you.

Anastasia is told in diary form. In the beginning the entries are about teasing her sisters, the boring nature of her lessons and food. She is a carefree thirteen year old whose major concerns are the matching outfits she and her sisters wear. Of course this is all about to come crashing down with the start of World War One. 

There are other problems in the royal family which also provide some interest in the first part of the book. The youngest Romanov, the long-awaited heir to the throne Alexei, has hemophilia. Like all boys, he is prone to accidents, but in his case those are dangerous and incredibly painful. Alexei's pain is the author's way of introducing Rasputin, or Father Grigori as he is known to the family. When the boy has an injury which causes him internal or external bleeding, Alexandra the Tsaritsa calls on Rasputin, and Alexei gets better. (For me every time Rasputin is mentioned I had the Boney M song stuck in my head.) His role in the downfall of the dynasty is certainly hinted at in Anastasia's diary; she never trusts him.

 

In the second half of the book, the mood certainly changes leading up to that fateful night. Anastasia is growing up and she becomes aware that not everyone loves her father as much as she does. As things become worse in Russia, the family stay close and their mood is ever hopeful. This makes the ending all the more poignant for the reader, especially I would imagine for those who don't know the history.

Carolyn Meyer includes some historical notes at the end of the narrative including a family tree and some commentary about the conspiracy theories surrounding Anastasia. 

All in all this is a moving story of the end of the royal family. It could certainly act as a gateway text to other historical novel or learning more about history which can only be good.

Three hoots from five.

Happy tales,

Barking Owl

Book h00t #40 Dash and Lily's Book Of Dares

While I'm waiting for David Levithan's The Lover's Dictionary, I snaffled this from the school library before it was even processed! For me, the e-book will never replace the joy of a brand new book, with perfectly smooth spine.

The book was co-written with Rachel Cohn, like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. They alternate between the points of view of Dash and Lily and apparently emailed each other the chapters as they were done. Clearly they are in synch because it works well. 

In the lead up to Christmas, Lily is looking for adventure and love, even though she doesn't realise it. She is left in the care of her older brother while her parents are in Fiji. Dash is also alone, because he has manipulated his parents into believing that he is spending Christmas with the other one of them when in fact he is looking forward to some solo time in New York. Dash comes across a red Moleskin notebook in The Strand where there are 18 miles of books! Heaven! Inside there are clues and dares that he can choose to follow. Of course, he is the perfect boy for just such a task.

This is a funny and beautifully written book. I loved the references to poetry sprinkled throughout. And I especially loved both characters joy in words. Apart from this, I thought that there were some important ideas about teen relationships. Dash comes to realise that his relationship with his ex was forced and that they're better off as friends. She wisely says:

...when people say right person, wrong time or wrong person, right time it's usually a cop out. They think that fate is playing with them. That we're all just participants in this romance reality show that God gets a kick out of watching. But the universe doesn't know what's right or not right. You do.

 I see this book is being made into a film. Excellent news!

Five hoots from five.

Happy tales,

Barking Owl

Book H00t #39 Triple Ripple

Brigid Lowry has three flavours in her latest book for early teen readers. First, there's the fairytale which forms the backbone of the novel. Glory comes to the castle to work as a maid to Princess Mirabella, but finds her destiny is not as simple as she thinks. Interrupting this narrative are comments made by The Reader and The Writer.

In The Reader section, we meet Nova. She is struggling with friendship problems and some tensions at home. She uses the fairytale book as an escape from her 'real' world. I'm sure this is something most teen readers can identify with.

Then there is The Writer who makes mistakes, struggles with creativity and comes up with sparkly good ideas. I really enjoyed this section with its tension between the pressures to write and the desire to give yourself over to the 'muse' and characters. Having been to a couple of Lowry's creative writing workshops, I could hear her voice clearly.

Younger teenage girls will love this book. Some of them might find the narrative incursions frustrating, others will enjoy the commentary, the overlapping and the decision making that goes into the writing process.

Four hoots out of five.

Until next time, happy tales.

Barking Owl

H00t #38 Fruitloops and Dipsticks

What would you do if you're the new girl at school and the teacher mistakes you for a boy? Would you have the guts to go along with it? Simone is going through quite a transition, so you can understand her reasons for the deception. Her mother has a new partner and she and Simone have moved in with him. She has lost her dog and her grandfather has announced he would prefer to spend his last days living with them. Then of course there are the problems pretending to be a boy!

This is a lovely coming of age story. I particularly enjoyed the Scandinavian names and landscape. It is part of the Gecko Press collections of "Seriously good books from around the world."

Julia Marshall translates Ulf Stark's original text. He has written around 30 books for children and young adults. Also he has won many prizes in Sweden and internationally, including the German Youth Literature Prize, the Astrid Lindgren Award and the August Prize. Books by Ulf Stark have been translated into more than 20 languages and he has twice been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen prize.

Stark writes Simone's grandfather beautifully. He has some sage advice for her, but also for the reader:

We're all filled with forces we don't know about,' Grandpa said. 'Like the sea, which is full of fish and algae and currents and life and all kinds of strange things. The dipsticks carefully build thin, ugly bridges over these unknown waters. They're afraid of getting wet in case they ruin their shoes. We fruitloops like to crawl around amongst it all. We put ourselves in the path of the currents and let them carry us along. Even though it's risky; and even though the dipsticks may sometimes look at us with fear and loathing.' 'Be careful of the bad winds,' Grandpa whispered in my ear before he hobbled out into the dark and disappeared up the stairs.

 So if you're feeling a bit displaced, or just a bit fruit loopy, see if you can find a copy of Fruitloops and Dipsticks. I can promise you'll enjoy the ride.


Four hoots/ five.

Happy tales,
Barking Owl

Book H00t #37 Will Grayson, Will Grayson

I picked up Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan  earlier this year, while on a trip to Sydney, in the wonderful Kinokuniya bookstore. It sat and sat on my TBR pile for over six months, which is a shame! But, as it turns out the timing could not have been better;  it is a perfect antidote to 13 R3asons.

The blurb:

What if you were somewhere you never expected to be and met someone with your name? What if the girl you didn't think you were interested in started being interested in you? What if your best friend started writing a musical about your life... and it made you look lame?

What if you are depressed? What if you are in love with someone you have never met? And what is the story with the guy walking around with your name?

Told from the perspective of each of the Wills, this is a book about love- finding it, falling in it, falling out of it, love between friends, and parental love. Tying the two Wills together is larger than life Tiny Cooper. 

Tiny Cooper is not the world's gayest person, and he is not the world's largest person, but I believe he may be the world's largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world's gayest person who is really, really large.

Tiny is writing a musical about himself, featuring his many ex-boyfriends and his best friends. His character really made the book for me, he is witty and wise.

 While some of the characters are depressed, this is in no way a depressing book. It treats 'issues' and problems that teens face with sensitivity and is a gentle reminder that there are people out there who care and who are going through the same stuff as you. I liked the writing of the adults too, unlike 13 R3asons, they were moderate and sensitive. in particular, the parental reactions to these teen boys coming out were reasonable and caring.

Even though I am in no way the demographic for this book, it was so engaging. I really liked the dual narration. The authors used punctuation to define the voices for the readers which worked well. The lyrics for the musical were so funny, and the instant messaging also helped characterisation and narrative whiz along. It really is beautifully written:

Tiny Cooper has brought me to a Gay-Straight Alliance meeting to hook me up with a girl. Which is of course idiotic in the kind of profound and multivalent way that only an English teacher could fully elucidate.

 

Loved, loved, loved the uplifting ending.

Highly recommended, pop it in a Christmas stocking!

4 hoots out of five!

Happy tales,

Barking Owl

Book H00t #36 13 R3asons Why

The blurb:

Clay Jensen returns home from school one day to find a box sitting on his doorstep. Upon opening it, he discovers that it is a shoebox containing seven cassette tapes recorded by the late Hannah Baker, his classmate and  crush who recently committed suicide. The tapes were initially mailed to one classmate with instructions to pass them from one student to another. On the tapes, Hannah explains to thirteen people how they played a role in her death, by giving thirteen reasons to explain why she took her life. Curiosity and fear of exposure keep the people on the list listening to the tapes, and through the audio narrative Hannah reveals her pain, and her slide into depression that ultimately leads to her suicide.

Thirteen reasons why I didn't love this book:

1.  Stupid number/ letter title.

2.  The main character Clay, is on Hannah's list when he hasn't wronged her in any way- it's all a narrative ruse.

3. The premise that teenagers would pass on tapes- tapes!- to others thereby incriminating themselves and opening themselves up to derision. Would. not. happen.

4. Dark, dark theme. No likable characters, no sensible adults, only a glimmer of light at the end.

5. Suicide is represented as easy. I think this is dangerous- just last week I heard on radio that in Australia, every day, six people take their own lives.

6. The representation of school as being the worst possible place for Hannah, isn't realistic for me. Naive?

7. The narrative voices were annoying for me. I thought Clay's responses to Hannah's comments interrupted the flow and dragged the plot's heels.

8. I've read that some people find this book 'preachy'. It's just NOT preachy enough.

9. The English teacher acting as a 'substitute' counselor was a bit too neat in gathering the poetry and lack of sensible advice together.

10. It makes the reader into a voyeur.

11. I wanted it to be better, I wanted the suicide to be a ruse, another rumour and the revenge to be ramped up as a result.

12. Hannah is not nice. The revenge seems petty at times.

13.Hannah is a victim- weak right from the get go. Not someone I would want a teenage girl emulating, or even thinking about too much.

2 hoots/ 5

Happy tales, and happier books!

Barking Owl