Here We Go Apprenticing: Book Review of The Blackthorn Key

 

The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands

Gratitude

Thank you to my student who recommended that I read Kevin Sands' The Blackthorn Key and lent me their copy. 

Description

In The Blackthorn Key, by Kevin Sands, Christopher counts himself as lucky–he is apprenticed to an apothecary who treats him kindly and even patiently when his antics cause a mess. His best friend, Tom, is not only as loyal as anyone could dream of, but he is also the baker’s son. Not that Tom’s father willingly gives away freebies, but still. Christopher also likes learning the work, and his master trains him in other fields, including codes.

As an orphan, the shop is the only home he has ever known and his master the only family. Christopher’s world is threatened, however, by a mysterious cult of apothecaries has been killing off other apothecaries. He is terrified when his master comes home badly injured. He fears that the cult will take away the safety and stability he has known for such a short time.

Would I Teach This Book?

Would I teach The Blackthorn Key? The Blackthorn Key is both mystery and historical fiction. Set in the political turmoil of 1665 and full of riddles and codes to be broken, Christopher is clever and resourceful. He knows that without the protection of his master how dangerous the world can be for a boy like him. And yet he still has a sense of playfulness, mischief, and kindness. Tom is a good companion for Christopher, and the two of them are clever and funny. The book has some splashes of death, but it is not particularly scary or dark.

While I am not racing to find the sequel, I would be interested in reading it if it became available to me. I would consider offering it as a choice for a unit and would certainly stock it in my classroom library.

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Looking at the World Through Chlorophyl Tinted Glasses: Book Review of Greenglass House

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Gratitude

Thank you to Montgomery County Public Libraries for making Greenglass House by Kate Milford free and readily available to the public.

Description

Milo and his parents live in Greenglass House, an island inn which caters to smugglers. Winter vacation has just started, and Milo is looking forward to some time off. His family is on most of the time, taking care of the inn and the guests–except for Christmas, when the inn is always empty, which leaves Milo with no responsibilities and his parents all to himself. The moment Milo finishes his winter break homework, the bell rings, signaling that a guest must be brought up. Then the bell rings again, and again. Soon, they have five guests when they generally have none, and his parents call in their usual help and her daughter to come up before the snow render the roads impossible to navigate, and with them, they bring Meddy, who introduces Milo to a role playing game. While reluctant at first, he settles into the idea of using his character to investigate a real mystery in his house.

Each guest seems to be harboring a secret, and their secrets seem to be attached to Milo’s house. With Meddy as his partner, he is determined to solve the mysteries.

Would I Teach This Book?

Would I teach Greenglass House? Greenglass House is artfully written. Where it could easily have turned into a cheesy kiddie mystery, Milford makes Milo into a likable character with likable problems. As Milo is endeared to Meddy, we become endeared to Meddy.

Identity is a major theme of the book, which is also the theme of my sixth grade English classes. We discuss a lot about mirrors and windows, or the concept of recognizing your own experiences in a book as well as exposing yourself to lives that are quite different from yours. Milo is adopted, which, he tells us, anyone can tell simply by looking at his family–his parents are white, and he is of Chinese descent. He discusses both his love for his parents and his curiosity about his birth parents. Imagination is another big theme of the book, and middle school is a time of life where many start leaving imaginative play behind, which makes another element for middle school students to consider.

So, yes, I would consider teaching Greenglass House, or at least adding it to the classroom library.

 

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Turn Your Weaknesses into Strengths: Book Review of Powerless

 

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

Gratitude

A big thank you to Montgomery County Public Libraries for making Powerless by Lauren Roberts and many other books and resources free and readily available to the public.

Description

Powerless by Lauren Roberts is a YA dystopian romance about a young woman, Paedyn, who ends up in a series of Trials, or challenges in which participants are pitted against each other. Death is commonplace in the Trials, and there can only be one winner, who will receive fame and fortune. While Paedyn would never have nominated herself, after unwittingly saving the prince, the people nominate her for the Trials.

Paedyn is particularly at risk, as she is an orphan from a poor area, and an Ordinary, or person without the powers that the rest of the kingdom has. Ordinaries are hunted and killed by the king in order to keep the kingdom pure and powerful.

Also entered into the Trials is Kai, the younger of the kingdom’s two princes. Kai has been raised by the king to be his brother’s Enforcer--an assassin tasked with killing rebels and Ordinaries. The king has told Kai that he must win the Trials, at all costs.

Paedyn and Kai find themselves taken by surprise by the Trials--not just by the break from the traditional setting, but also by each other. Their hearts and minds will be challenged as much as their bodies.

Roberts tells the story from dual points-of-view, switching between Paedyn’s and Kai’s perspectives. One of the focal points of the book is the Beatrice and Benedick-like banter--but with more threats. Paedyn’s and Kai’s words for each other are sharper than the throwing stars used for battle. Add in violent fight scenes, vendettas, and lush descriptions of gowns and tuxes, and you have one intense novel.

Would I Teach This Book?

I had a hard time liking Powerless for at least three quarters of the book. I cannot condone a woman falling for an assassin, whether it is his fault that he became one or not. Further, Paedyn is well aware that he is the tool used to keep the kingdom “pure.” However, as things became more complicated in the book, I was able to appreciate the book a bit more.

Many of my students are currently reading Powerless and the other book in the trilogy, and I can understand why. A strong FMC, a wounded bird MMC, and clever, flirtatious dialogue--there is much to enjoy in this book. The spice rating is relatively low, if that’s a concern.

Ultimately, I don’t think that I would teach this book to a younger age group. I would be interested in including it as part of a gender studies course on romance novels--I think that could be a fruitful reading. Being able to compare Powerless to other YA or adult romances in a critical way could be quite meaningful.


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Rebellion, Thy Name Is Woman: Book Review of the Lion Women of Tehran

 

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

Description

In The Lion Women of Tehran by Marian Kamali, Ellie and her mother have to leave the affluent part of the city after her father dies. Her mother is miserable over the change, but Ellie finds a very special friend in Homa. Homa is bright, tough, charismatic, funny, and even as a young girl, she is quite driven. She is the one who tells Ellie that they will be lion women.

Kamali has written The Lion Women of Tehran with several sections, moving from story present where Ellie is living in the United States back to Ellie’s childhood in Tehran. Most of the book is from Ellie’s point of view, but there are also a few parts from Homa’s perspective.

As time moves forward, Ellie’s and Homa’s circumstances both change, and the political climate goes through upheavals. Being a woman in Iran becomes increasingly dangerous.

Because of the subject matter and some overlap in time period, The Lion Women of Tehran reminded me of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. There is a lot of historical information included in both books, and having read Persepolis gave me some historical context and helped me to understand The Lion Women of Tehran. The two books also cover some of the same themes, though they are tonally quite different. Plus one is a novel and the other is a graphic novel. So.

Would I teach this book? 

The Lion Women of Tehran is, surprise, a book club book. I read and can enjoy just about any kind of fiction, but I am drawn to certain types of books more than others. This book was okay, but not my idea of compulsively readable. Several other book club members loved it—they said it was their favorite of the year. For the crowd that generally loves historical fiction, it’s a go. For my taste, it was a bit melodramatic at a few points. Since there is plenty of drama from the plot, the writing could have taken a step back. That being said, the book club discussion was quite lively—there is plenty to discuss in the book.

In a literature course, The Lion Women of Tehran could make a good comparison with Persepolis. For a multicultural literature course or world literature, the pair would be a good way to discuss the portrayal of political change and the impact of politics on the characters and plot. It would be interesting, too, to hear students discuss which they preferred reading and why.

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An Inmate, an Adolescent Boy, a Nazi, and a Pregnant Woman All Walk into a Book: Book Review of Different Seasons

 

Different Seasons by Stephen King

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Montgomery County Public Libraries for continuing to fuel my Stephen King obsession. My husband thanks you on the behalf of our bank account. 

Description

Stephen King’s Different Seasons is composed of four novellas–each of which is longer than some books. However, as King explains in the afterword, novellas are an ambiguous place between short stories and novels, and are therefore difficult to sell. While King laments how novellas fall through the cracks, it is also significant to note that three of the four were made into movies. “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” is better known as The Shawshank Redemption, “The Body” by the title Stand by Me, and “Apt Pupil” as, well, Apt Pupil. The fourth novella, “The Breathing Method,” is the only that has yet to be made into a movie, but I see the potential for it.

Of the four, “Apt Pupil” was the scariest and most disturbing. Todd Bowden, who seems like a typical adolescent kid on the outside, becomes obsessed with the Holocaust. Not learning about the history of the Holocaust, but learning as much about the grisly details as possible. He gets off on thinking about torture, torment, and killing that went on. Todd recognizes an older man in the community as a Nazi war criminal and blackmails him into giving him detailed accounts of the horrendous things he did.

King takes pains to show how Todd looks “normal” to his parents and others and that any signs he shows of being unhinged are dismissed. Todd never considers the awful inhumanity of the actions–he never identifies or sympathizes with those who are harmed. Instead, he firmly associates himself with the oppressor and imagines the power. This great desire to know more about the worst of human cruelty and the desire to also practice such cruelty is the scariest part of the whole book. Might there be people like this out there? Who would like nothing more than to inflict pain on others and torture and torment? It’s a big world, and so it is hard to believe that there aren’t.

Overall, though “Apt Pupil” was difficult for me to get through, it poses some interesting questions. By the end of the story, Todd is as much of a monster as the Nazi. Also, the idea that parents can know their kids so little!

“The Breathing Method” was not terrible, but it did not have the same excitement of the other three stories, It had great potential, but did not quite reach it.

Would I Teach This Book?

Different Seasons is quite long. The edition I read is 588 pages. For this reason, if I were going to teach it I would be more likely to teach an excerpt, perhaps one of the novellas. “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” would most likely be my pick. The story offers a ripe discussion of human acts, the justice system, good versus evil, and innocence versus guilt. Plus, it would certainly be worth rewatching the movie and comparing the two. In my hypothetical Literature of Stephen King course, there would be room to watch a movie or two and discuss how the books are adapted for screen.  

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It's Just a Sad Song That Pulls You Along: Book Review of Divergent

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Description

Divergent by Veronica Roth has been out there for awhile, and at the height of its popularity in the 2010s, I was not in a YA lit phase, so I missed all the hype. However, in my current stumble down the rabbit hole of dystopian literature, with its strong, rebellious characters and its unfair worlds, it all begins to feel the same. The same suppression of personality and creativity, the same secrecy and deception from the powers that be, and the strict control of the citizens’ movements. It is difficult not to say, I’ve seen this before, or, this feels familiar.

Divergent speaks a little differently because the main character seems to lean into the dystopian society she’s in, and unlike many other books, she plays mostly by its rules.

In Tris’s world, everyone fits into a faction, which is like a clan, and each faction lives by their chosen outlook on life—Amity promotes happiness, Erudite focuses on learning and research, Candor on telling the truth at any cost, Dauntless is brave and daring, while Abnegation, Tris’s birth faction, serves others and seeks to diminish the self. When Tris chooses to leave Abnegation for Dauntless, she places herself in a world so different from her own, she must brace herself for the ride.

Would I Teach This Book?

Would I teach Divergent? Of the many dystopian novels out there, Divergent does not differentiate itself so much. Matched, Uglies, and The Testing all have strong, female main characters who buck the system. Tris works from within and participates in the violent and often callous culture of Dauntless.

Reading Divergent at the same time I am teaching groupthink and The Wave was an interesting experience. Tris does not waver in her desire to become Dauntless, even when she is asked to be cruel or do dangerous things. There are several times in the book when initiates do not agree with what they are asked to do and they do it anyway. As with the Wave, if enough people stood up and protested that it wasn’t right, then things would change. But they don’t. They go along with it, to the detriment of all. In fact, the violent hand to hand combat is something that they lean into.

So, would I teach Divergent? I could see, in a college course on YA fiction or dystopian literature, including it on the reading list. It is, ultimately, an important part of the YA trend, like Hunger Games, Twilight, and The Clique, it represents a renaissance and a larger commercial viability for the genre. Okay, I’ve talked myself into it—another course on my bucket list of courses to teach—but a Stephen King course ranks ahead of YA lit course. 

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Whodunnit, Christopher?: Book Review of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Description

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon opens with fifteen-year-old Christopher holding the neighbor’s dead dog, getting blamed for its death, and subsequently punching a police officer because he tried to touch him.

Christopher has autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and social situations are very difficult for him. He lost his mom and his dad is doing his best to hold it together with a son who has specific food requests, sensory challenges, and answers every question honestly and literally, including not responding in a conversation if he has not been asked a question.

When Christopher decides that he is going to solve the case of who killed the dog, Wellington, his father is dead set against it. He does not want Christopher butting into other people’s business, especially since the neighbor already called the cops on him and possibly still believes that he is guilty. Christopher, however, is not only determined to solve the mystery, he is also determined to write his discoveries into a book.

As Christopher investigates, he finds more than he ever bargained for, and he is able to do more than anyone thought he was capable of.

Would I Teach This Book?

Would I teach The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time? The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is told from the point of view of a child whose life is impacted by the flaws of his parents. Unlike other books, where parents are understanding and lovely supporters, Christopher’s father is far from perfect. Yes, he loves his son, but the book also shows him getting frustrated with his son. In real life, parents get frustrated with their children. They get frustrated with their children when they don’t follow directions or do something that they have directly been told not to do. Christopher’s father gets angry in a real way–that is not super careful to protect his son or always showing understanding of him.

People who do not understand ASD may respond in an impatient or unkind way that only makes things worse. Sometimes those that do understand may not always respond in a positive way. However, in the decision of what to teach, and having a choice, this may not be the influence that I would want to bring into my classroom. Allowing students to better understand what it is like for a person who has ASD is important, but it also seems important to show parents who are more understanding and accepting. Perhaps for a college audience The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time might bring important conversations, but for a middle school audience, the parental interaction might be a bit much.

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