Jump! (and Halloween books)

by Scott M. Fischer

This is a fun children's book that my son actually discovered at the library.  Each page is about an animal that gets scared by a bigger animal, which makes it JUMP!  The book has great rhymes, good rhythm, and kids love to "help" read the story when its time to turn the page and JUMP!  And the artwork is fun, nothing fabulously amazing but not cheesy either.  My son picked this book to share with his Kindergarten class on his Superstar Day, and it was very popular.  The teacher commented that it was a very good choice for that age.  I love finding new books for the kids, and I enjoy them myself.

On a side note, I was invited to read at my nieces' school for their Halloween party.  My mother often reads there and she is quite popular but she was going to be out of town and recommended they ask me.  I was happy to fill in.  It was to be arranged thus: 15 kids at a time from ages K-7th grade, for 15 minutes each, and I would do this 5 times in a row.  I bit daunting but it was also exciting.  I love sharing my love of books with anyone and everyone.  I tried to think outside the box and pick some different books that the kids may not have read before.  And it was difficult to think of how to appeal to all the different age groups.  Luckily, the kids seems to enjoy it and were very respectful and well-behaved.

I had four different things to read, though I found I had to shorten my time and finally had to cut one out.  However, I'll include them all because they went well together.

1) I started out with reading/singing a poem called "Three Little Witches" by Marjorie Barrows.  My mom used to sing this to me when I was a kid, and it has a good rhythm and is fun.  A good way to get them interested and paying attention.

2) For the younger children, I chose a book called "Little Goblins Ten" which is kind of a Halloween version of the poem/song "Over in the Meadow".  Its a counting book, but its also got a good rhythm, and with this one I had the kids participate.  When I would say a word they had to respond back.  So it would go, "Haunt! said the daddy" and the kids would have to say back, "Haunt! said the two" and they would have to do it the way I did, so I tried to really ham it up and make scary Halloween noises

3) "The Witches" by Roald Dahl is a favorite of mine and so I used them for the older children, some of whom had read it.  I started by summarizing what Dahl says are the characteristics of a "real" witch, things like that they are bald, have no toes, etc.  The kids got a kick out of this part.  I then read an excerpt, the chant that the Grand High Witch says about their evil plan to turn all the children into mice.  This is the one I finally had to cut out of the last couple because I didn't really have enough time and I had to summarize the book a lot, but it was a good choice and a high recommendation from me.

4) I finished with Chris Van Allsburg's "The Witch's Broom".  It has the most wonderful haunting illustrations, as all his works do (Polar Express, Jumanji, Harris Burdick) and though its about a witch's broom, really its not too scary at all, just clever and quite a funny turn at the end.  It has a lot of deeper meaning which I thought maybe some of the older kids might pick up on as well, but most of the kids really were quite mesmerized with it.

So, all in all, it was a lot of fun and I hope the kids enjoyed the reading.  I certainly did, and I loved being able to visit the school and teachers, since I actually attended there way back in 4th grade.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that since a few of my books were about witches, I decided to dress the part, complete with a homemade broom, black teeth (braces are handy for this), and a big ugly wart on my nose.  It was fun!

The Hero of Ages

by Brandon Sanderson

I just read one of the best fantasy trilogies I've read in a long time!  I actually already reviewed the first book in the series, Mistborn, if you want to get some idea of where I started.  However, I just HAD to write about the third book of the series, which I just finished yesterday.  It was so good.  It made me want to re-read it all again.  And it made me want to re-read my Lord of the Rings trilogy as well.  Two very good signs.

Most of the fantasy series I have ready of late have started off with a pretty good first book, but then die off from there.  As much as I enjoyed Hunger Games, the 2nd and 3rd books weren't quite as good as the first in my opinion.  The Mistborn Trilogy however defied my expectations.  I enjoy the first book and appreciated its complexity, its basis in some kind of physical/scientific type "magic" that is somewhat believable, and I appreciated the depths of the characters.  Little did I know what all that would become.

In similar fashion to The Lord of the Rings by the great J.R.R. Tolkien, the first book is simpler than the others, does a lot of set up, and gets you involved in the characters themselves.  The second book, The Well of Ascension, is the transition story, where everything feels like its all going to fall apart and you're not sure they're really going to ever make it.  But you can't quite beat the final third book, The Hero of Ages, which brings it all together.  Not in a neat little "happily ever after" package, but in a complex coming together of all the things the author has been setting up over the course of the series.  I liked that I guessed a few key happenings before they occurred, but others threw me completely for a loop and literally made me gasp.  I think I may have actually talked out loud to a few of the characters.

For all the violence in this series (and it is fairly violent), I most appreciated the concepts of leadership, faith, what is "right", and good vs. evil that the author really delves into.  He leaves moments of time within the book where the characters really think about what the believe and what they believe in, instead of just going from battle to battle.  It gave me much to think about, and I don't often find that in modern day fantasy novels.  Again, a reminder of Tolkien.  Don't get me wrong, I can't say that is on the level of Tolkien writing for the writing itself, but the overall scope of the story is beautiful, terrifying, intriguing, and refreshing.

I love the feeling of finishing an excellent book.  But I hate the feeling of now having to go find another book that I can only hope will be as good.  Wish me luck!

Ghost in the Wires

by Kevin Mitnick

An interesting read this time around, not sure its a recommendation but it was definitely intriguing and made me think.  The book is about the author's life as "the world's most wanted hacker."  This guy was really good at hacking into almost anything, but only saw it as a challenge, not as a way to get rich.  He was addicted to the high he got when he broke into something supposedly secure and top secret.

He hacked into the telephone companies, the DMV, and final the FBI.  Much of this was to protect himself while on the run from the authorities, and he used the information he gained at that time to create new identities and track those who were trying to track him.  In the end he was finally caught and spent some time in prison.  After his release, he became so well-known as the top hacker that he eventually made lots of money off of speaking engagements, media deals, and his own consulting business which provides hacking services to companies legally, to check their security. 

The writing in the book is somewhat technical, but if you skim through the stuff that doesn't make sense you get the gist of what he is saying most of the time, and it is quite a fascinating and riveting story  that keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering if he's going to stay one step ahead of the authorities.

However, it was a complicated read for me because although Mitnick admits that his activities were illegal and he often acted stupidly, he also never really seems sorry for much of what he did.  He has this strange outlook where he is finds it unthinkable that people treat him unfairly, whether that is his hacking buddies who rat him out, or the FBI or government who do things that aren't completely honest.  Yet he deceives many of these people himself.

I'm not saying that some of the injustices in his case were warranted.  Just because someone is a "bad guy" does not mean that they don't have rights or that others can then treat them unethically.  However, what I do have a problem is the writer's attitude toward it all.  First, he never seems to see that although he doesn't hurt anyone outright, his actions have far reaching consequences.  I can't help think of his family and the terrible heartache he put them through, or the tax dollars that went to catching him and locking him up, or the life he missed out on by choosing to run.  And what about the people that he convinced to do things they shouldn't, what are the ramifications for them?  Mitnick to me seems to have quite a tunnel-vision view of how his acts didn't really "hurt" anyone.

And again, how can he be doing illegal, unfair, and deceptive things to others and then turn around and be surprised and horrified that others do the same to him.  His cry that his incarceration was "not fair" is one that strikes a bit of a hypocritical chord to me.  Deception, no matter how small or large, hurts a lot more when it is directed at you instead of at someone else.  He did not seem to take his own medicine very well, though that is no excuse for some of what he went through.  And finally, its a little depressing that in the end he makes huge amounts of money off this, not just as a "legal" hacker, but as a type of celebrity.  Then I find myself asking if I am not being hypocritical because I just spent the last five days reading his book.  Yet, just because I don't agree with what someone does, doesn't mean I shouldn't read a book about what they did.  Ah well.  We all have some of that in ourselves I think.  The trick is to be able to recognize it and try to be better.

Caleb's Crossing

by Geraldine Brooks

Bethia is a young Puritan girl who lives in a tiny island settlement of early American pioneers.  Although this group is more liberal than those from the mainland, her father still believes that they are there to save the souls of the "savage" Native Americans who already live on the island.  The two groups find a way to live together in a careful peace and Bethia's father even gains some followers.  However, he is constantly deterred by a powerful chieftain who has a lot of control over his people.

Amidst all this, Bethia explores her beautiful island and happens upon the nephew of this chieftain, whom she calls Caleb.  He teaches her about his customs and the island, while she teaches him to read and tries to convert him to Christianity.  They become as close as brother and sister, though they know this would be absolutely forbidden from both sides.  Later Caleb comes to live with the white settlers and becomes the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College.  But the pull of these two very different worlds takes its toll on him and changes him forever.  Bethia too learns more of what she really believes and herself walks a little in both worlds.

This book is loosely based on the story of a real young man named Caleb who graduated from Harvard.  There are very few details of his life, so the author admits that much of it is fiction, especially the character of Bethia.  However, the story has a feeling of being very honest and true to the time period.  Much of the book is about the struggle of finding what someone really believes for themselves, and how they reconcile that with what others believe.  The author doesn't allow herself to make judgements about what is "right" or "wrong", but tells a story about others trying to figure that out.  Its about friendship and love, and also about prejudice and hate. Its got a lovely little romance thrown in for good measure.  On another level, the book is also about the role of women in a society that hardly puts them much above the "savages", for even the Native Americans are allowed to go to school, whereas a woman is not.

Brooks has a haunting voice for description, especially the details of the beauty of the island, as well as the living conditions at the college.  The book made me extremely grateful for the education I received at such an easy price.  It has not always been so for others, nor is it even now for some.  The story made me take a deeper look at what I believe and reminded me how grateful I am to know that I have a loving, kind, and forgiving Heavenly Father who loves all his children.

Mistborn: The Final Empire

by Brandon Sanderson

I love me a good fantasy novel, but I am more and more picky about which ones I spend time reading.  Lately, the ones that have intrigued me the most are those which have magic that is based on some kind of more "scientific" or tangible aspect.  I don't know if that makes sense, but I like the idea of magic coming from some sort of source other than just your mind, or a "magic" wand.  I like to know why the magic works the way it does, even if I know that its not really real.  Its fascinating for me to imagine an author than can make up these ways of looking at magic that are based in some sort of a realistic concept, its an amazing skill.  One of my past reviews of "The Name of the Wind" is one of these kind of books.

I found the book Mistborn similar in that manner, although its not as big a book, and its probably more appropriate for a young audience than the other.  It however is probably not meant for a young audience as it still has a fair amount of violence in it.

The story is about a young girl named Vin who survives in a street thief gang that works in the capitol city of a land that is plagued with continuous ash falling, and a great disparity between classes.  It is ruled over by the Lord Ruler, a man who "saved" the world and is thought to be immortal, but who has turned his world into a dark and evil place.  Vin has a type of magic she calls "Luck" which allows her to alter people's emotions.  She eventually meets up with a man named Kelsier who wants to lead a revolt against the Lord Ruler.  He teaches Vin more about her magic, which is based on the "burning" of different types of metals that are swallowed into the body.  The group eventually uses Vin to infiltrate the nobility to be a spy.  Things are complicated (as always) when Vin meets a young nobleman who isn't what she expected.  Much of Vin's dilemmas center around trust and friendship.  And there is always the mysteries lying behind the story that make you wonder - Who is the Lord Ruler?  Is he immortal?  How did he save the world?  And why is there the constant ashfall?

I suspected a few different versions of how the story would end, but didn't get close to guessing until the very end, and even then there were some great and unexpected surprises.  The characters are realistic to me, and I like the philosophy of how religion and belief work in this book.  It doesn't give you a nice, neatly wrapped ending or even answers, but I'm very much looking forward to reading the next in the series to find out!

Farthest North

by Dr. Fridtjof Nansen

Well, this was one hefty book and it took me forever to finish it.  Not because it was all that large compared to other books I've read, but because it was simply some heavy reading.  Its the true story, told through journals, of a group of Norwegians who attempt to make it to the North Pole in 1893.  Although they do not succeed in making it all the way there, they got closer than anyone else had at the time and also fulfilled a number of other plans they had to test some theories about the Arctic region and discover all they could to help future explorations.  The first travel as far as they can by ship, purposely getting themselves locked in the ice so as to be taken along with the drift of the icebergs.  Then, when they have gone as far as they can that way, two of the leaders of the expedition set off on dogsleds to make it as far as they can in that manner.  The ship continues on, headed for home, and the men on the dogsleds make it 146 miles farther north than another else before they are forced to head for home.

I enjoyed the details of the preparation for the trip, especially the details (not that I got it all) about the ship and how it was built, as well as the things they brought with them.  Life on the ship seemed pretty easy going and it was fascinating to think of people back then being so at easy in the north pole, not worried at all about being stuck in the ice for a few winters straight.  It details exciting events such as whales, ice breaking up, and bear attacks.  The real story begins though, when the two men take off on sledges, an arduous journey that is truly amazing as they go over rough ice, sleep together in a soggy reindeer sleeping bag, have to eventually kill off their dogs to survive, and winter in a homemade igloo for months on end.  This part is where it really got me, when they talk of living in a small confined space, no bathing, where their clothes begin to rot, and begin to have to ration their food.  And of course, one cannot help but be excited when they finally make it back to "civilization" and see their first fellow human in over a year.

However, as much as this story is interesting, there is a lot that bogs the reader down.  The journals of Dr. Nansen were not written to be entertaining or a "good read".  They were written to log events and scientific discovery.  Much of what is detailed is just that - details that are of not interest to me particularly.  And much of it is repetitive and mundane, because of the nature of the journey.  Traveling across polar ice is not the most exciting of adventures on a detailed daily level.  Curiously, I stuck with this book at times because of the nature of the story.  Every time I got bogged down, I felt myself feeling like if I gave up on these guys, they'd never make it home.  I felt like my reading this book was at times like their story, some exciting but much of it a little tiring.  For some reason I felt it would do the story an injustice if I didn't see it through to the end.  And I am glad I did.

Dragon's Gate

by Laurence Yep

Sorry I haven't posted a review lately, but big things are happening for us and its been a little crazy of late.  My reading time has been sparse, but I've managed to finally get through a rather large book I was working on.  But this review is instead about a book I read in between waiting for the library to let me check the big one out again, and which was much more manageable and enjoyable.

Dragon's Gate is written by Laurence Yep, a prolific author of children's and young adult books that tell stories centering around Chinese immigrants and their stories.  This particular book of his is about a young man who lives a good life is China but dreams of going to the "Golden Mountain" of America with his father and uncle, who proclaim it to be a wonderful place.  Through unexpected circumstances he ends up going to the Golden Mountain and finds out that it is not at all what he expected.  He joins his father and uncle who work blasting through a mountain to build the railroad.  The Chinese workers are treated poorly and unfairly as they work on the "Dragon's Gate" as they call it.  The boy Otter helps the other workers see the way they are being treated and begins a small revolt that leads to a strike.  The workers are able to negotiate for better treatment, but it forever changes young Otter and makes him see the world in a different way.

I enjoyed this story because it was based on true events.  It started with a lovely story about a small part of Chinese culture at the time, and then it moved into the terrible and true story of the Chinese immigrants that made much of the railroad and the Western expansion possible.  Yep does a fabulous job of understating things and not making them too melodramatic, mostly because a story like this does not need anything added to it to make it poignant, important, and touching.  I'm not the only one who thinks this is a great book since it won a Newbery Honor Award in 1994.