After the revolutionary war and America’s declaration of independence from England, thirteen states each governed themselves independently, similar to small countries.  Did you know that each state used it’s own currency?  Not I.  But I do now.  Soon realizing that a strong national government was needed the Constitutional Convention was called and for four hot months an in upmost secrecy, delegates from the thirteen states hammered out the foundation for the current model of government in the United States and on September 17th, 1787 the United States Constitution was signed.

The text from Unite or Die is concise and informative.  Jules explains the background of the United States, why a national government was needed, how and which issues the delegates debated and how the constitution was created as a living document, intended to be fluid and changing for a nation that was still growing with issues not yet discovered.

The rest of the story is told in the form of a school play, which stems from Jules own experience as a elementary school librarian who wrote such a skit for her own students to celebrate Constitution Day.  Thirteen child cast members each represent a state and they literally fight it out on stage in their homemade costumes in front of their adoring parents.  There is a lot of amusing and informative bubble text which fills in gaps from the text.  Jef Czekaj is a popular Nickelodeon illustrator and although as a parent, it’s not a style I particularly like, kids will enjoy the familiar style.

Jules also includes an afterword and notes about particular statements made throughout the book.  A bibliography is also included for further study on the Constitution.

So what fun facts did I come away with?  Benjamin Franklin traveled to Independence Hall in a sedan chair carried on poles by four men because at 81 he was to old to ride in a carriage.  The meeting was held in secrecy so the delegates could discuss issues freely without worrying about the press or public reactions.  It was Roger Sherman who saved the day and turned the meeting around when he presented the Great Compromise:  every state, regardless of size, would have two representatives in the Senate, and representation based on population in the House of Representatives.  And originally, the vice president would be the runner up in the election.  Can you imagine?

Unite or Die is the type of book that kids won’t even realize that they are learning.  I love sneaky books.

Happy Independence Day!

Links of interest:  Jacqueline Jules website, Jef Czekaj’s website, Unite or Die book trailer, read the constitution for yourself.
Genre:  Non-Fiction Picture Book, ages 9-12
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing.  February 1, 2009.
Paperback, 48 pages.  ISBN:  158089190X
Unite or Die, How Thirteen States Became a Nation is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

I have begun to reread some books that I maybe read when I was a child, but to tell you the truth I don’t remember anything about them.  I do want to reread all of Harry Potter (I did read and then listen to them all - does that count?) and unlike the almost daily comments I get from Twilight fans, I’ve only read the series once.

So that begs the question: why is it that I like to keep my books?  If I’m not going to read them again, why devote so much space to them?  I love to OWN books.  I must admit that it’s not very often that I buy brand new (but more now then ever since book blogging!), but I often come home from library book sales and thrift stores with huge piles of books.  I just can’t help myself.  I am also a large user of my library.  And let me tell you, if I really liked a book, it pains me to return it!

I’ve decided that the reason that I like to keep the books that I’ve read and enjoyed, even though it’s unlikely that I’ll read them again, is because I just like to look at them.  I mean, is nothing better then perusing your own shelf and remembering a particular story or characters?  I like to reminisce.

Plus, this is what people see when they walk into my home (full tour)

If that isn’t screaming READER! I don’t know what is.  I like to be surrounded by good books.  I grew up in a home that way and I have fond memories of simply browsing our home library for my next read.  I want the same for my boys.  If books hold a place of importance in my home, then my boys will know that they matter.

If you are like me, why do you keep your books?   I’m talking fiction here.  Do you keep them because you’ll reread them?  If you aren’t ever going to read a book again, why hang on to it?  Or if you don’t reread and don’t hang on to your books, is there a reason why?  Is it simply a lack of space issue or what? I’m not sure that my questions make any sense.  Perhaps I’m trying to justify my ever growing collection and defend myself from my husbands ever growing laments of “But you’ll never read them again!”

What about you?

Set in the 1930’s during the great depression in the dust bowl of Oklahoma, Out of the Dust is told as a diary in free verse form, a style of writing that I love more with every book I read.  Billie Jo is fourteen and loves to both write and play the piano.  She’s also eagerly anticipating the birth of her baby brother.

But that all changes when an accident leaves her hands wounded and her mother and brother die in childbirth.  Billie Jo’s father is emotionally unreachable:

I don’t know my father anymore.
He sits across from me,
he looks like my father,
he chews his food like my father,
he brushes his dusty hair back like my father,
but he is a stranger.

I am awkward with him,
and irritated,
and I want to be alone
but I am terrified of being alone.
We are both changing,
we are shifting to fill in the empty spaces left by Ma.
I keep my raw and stinging hands
behind my back when he comes near
because he
stares
when he seems them.

September 1934.

Dust is just as much of this story as anything else.  It’s everywhere and non-relenting.  It makes for a bleak and harsh environment.  Billie Jo wants to escape it all but when she does she comes to realize that the landscape is more a part of her than she realized.

Out of the Dust is a great historical fiction novel for young readers and I loved the free verse.  Recommended.

Genre:  Historical fiction, ages 9-12.
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks.  October 1, 1997
Paperback, 240 pages. ISBN:  0590371258
Out of the Dust is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

“It’s not what I expected.”

That’s the first response I keep hearing from readers of the actor and the housewife. I wondered if the title or jacket was misleading, or the jacket text. Or all. They may be. But as I’ve listened to these readers, I’ve come to realize that, at least in part, it’s something more ephemeral than all that: this book doesn’t have a genre.

This is what Shannon Hale says about her newest book The Actor and the Housewife and this is exactly the response I had when reading it.

Not. What. I. Expected.

I am not sure what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn’t expecting myself to have a bawl fest over this book.  And I never cry! Just look at that cover.   Would you cry over that?

Shannon goes on to say in her blog post:

Some reviews have called it “chick lit,” because there are elements of that, I suppose, and austenland could fit that description. But I think readers who expect chick lit will be surprised, and some might be disappointed.

So if it’s not chick lit, then what? Fantasy? Sorta, but not really. There are no magical elements, no hero’s journey or perilous adventure, no mythical creatures. But if fantasy is a genre that says, “Here’s what’s possible in our world–now let’s add a little more…” then yeah, it is fantasy. Though not in the traditional sense. So again, readers expecting fantasy like my other books will be surprised, and perhaps disappointed.

So is it literary fiction? No. There are elements of that, but some of the plot and the fact that one of the characters is an A-list gorgeous British actor means that this book wouldn’t be allowed in the literary fiction club.

Romance? Sorta…but sorta not.

Wish fulfillment? Sorta…but sorta not.

Comedy? Sometimes.

Drama? Sometimes.

So, no genre. It’s just a novel. For some readers, that’s enough. But for others, that can be confusing and upsetting. This has made me look at genre, what that means, why we like it.

I absolutely love what Shannon has to say about genre being a contract between the author and the reader:

Genre is a kind of a handle to hold, a way to manage the story. Genre does tend to follow a certain formula, though I don’t think it’s fair to say that all genre fiction is formula fiction. But as a reader I can understand the desire to have an idea of what I’m reading before committing to the book. I’ve had a few experiences where I’m reading a book by a fantasy author that doesn’t turn out to be fantasy, and I’m like, Wait! We had a contract here–I read a book and you deliver some magical stuff!

Exactly!  I was expecting to laugh my way through The Actor and the Housewife.  And I did!  I totally did.  But, I was totally blindsided with the touching, sappy, cry like a baby moments.

Now, that I’ve reprinted most of Shannon’s blog post, what exactly is The Actor and the Housewife you ask?  Well, Becky is a Mormon housewife and is seven months pregnant with her fourth child.  Somewhere between keeping house and being a mom, she has managed to write a screenplay which will cause her to travel from her home in Utah down to Los Angeles.  While there, she chance meets the celebrity of her dreams:  Felix Callahan.  Felix is so out of her realm and is Becky’s complete opposite in every way, but they have instant chemistry.

Thinking nothing will come of their meeting, Becky goes back home to her family and loving husband Mike.  So it’s with complete surprise and confusion that Felix shows up on her turf and they fast become best friends.  Not crushing on each other friends.  But best friends.  Call each other all the time, playful banter, joke around best friends.

Felix has brought a whole new dimension to Becky’s life that she didn’t know she was missing.  While both of their spouses are supportive of the odd platonic relationship (because really a rich, good-looking atheist British actor and a frumpy, conservative Mormon housewife?), Becky’s extended family, friends and neighbors are not so sure.  Can Becky and Felix’s relationship really endure?

The Actor and the Housewife is a story of friendship, love, marriage, faith, family, happiness, and sorrow and ultimately a fairy tale of sorts that answers the question:  what happens when your celebrity heart throb crush walks into your life, settles down into the nearest couch?  And don’t we all need a bit of a fairy tale in our life?

I want to say that The Actor and the Housewife is really “cute” because it is, but cute is not a word that seems appropriate here.  I was touched with it’s tender moments.  I also thought it was brave of Shannon Hale to write a novel with a Mormon housewife as her main character.  I thought it was fun to see the type of community I grew up and currently live in portrayed in a mainstream novel.  Although I must admit that I don’t know a single Mormon housewife who bakes three pies a week!  (And let it be noted that there are all kinds of Mormon women just as there are all kinds of different women in different faiths.  Becky is very conservative and while she falls into the Mormon woman stereotype, one cannot judge an entire population from one member.)  Hale is in no way preachy though, Becky is simply living her life and makes no excuses for it.  The same could be said of Felix.

I believe that some people will find fault with the book - most likely along the lines of the “no way is a hot, famous British actor going to see anything in a Mormon housewife” story line, a few character quirks, and the ending not going quite like they hoped.  But really, how likely is it for a married famous actor to hook up as best friends to a married Mormon housewife?  Not likely.  But I certainly wasn’t putting this book down.  It’s not for everyone (which book is?), but it took me completely by surprise and I can’t wait to let all my neighbors borrow it.

I laughed.  I cried.  I loved it.

I was thrilled to attend a reading/party for The Actor and the Housewife at The Kings English Bookshop in Salt Lake City and take some short videos.  In this first video, Shannon talks about where the idea for The Actor and the Housewife came from:

Shannon Hale on writing The Actor and the Housewife:

Shannon Hale reading from The Actor and the Housewife:

Shannon Hale and fan mail (seriously, LOVE this letter!):

There is a karaoke scene in the book, so now way were Shannon and her husband Dean going to pass up a chance to sing:

Oh yes, and the lovely Shannon Hale and I (Shannon had a cutest Apron contest earlier - thus her adorable apron):

Is it bragging to much to say, that when I walked in to the event, Shannon looked up and said, “Hi Natasha!”  Oh yes, that would be Shannon and I on a first name basis.  Sigh . . .  I love this blogging thing  And last, I’ll end this post, with another excerpt from Shannon’s blog post:

I hope that readers can set aside ideas of genre and expectations and go on this reading adventure with me. I really hope so. Because I am terrifically proud of this book. Genre would have sucked the life out of this particular story. Maybe my publisher should put on a label: WARNING: This is notwhat you’re expecting. Contains no genre. Read at your own risk. Maybe. And then again, sometimes, maybe surprise is a good thing.

So spill it.  If you could be best friends with any famous, heart throb of an actor/actress who would it be?  And if your married, would your significant other be okay with that relationship?

Links of interest:  Shannon Hale website.  Maw Books reviews of Book of a Thousand Days, Austenland, Rapunzel’s Revenge, Princess Academy.  Maw Books interview with Shannon.  Shannon’s zuchinni soup, Rapunzel’s Revenge launch party (where I acquire the zuchinni), and Children’s Book Festival .
Genre: Fiction
Publisher:  Bloomsbury. June 9, 2009
Hardcover, 352 pages.  ISBN:  159691288X
The Actor and the Housewife is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Frankie Pickle is half chapter book and half graphic novel, a format that works well especially for its intended audience: young boys.  It’s a great balance between the comic book form and text and will appeal to both type of readers, those who need the visual and others who are more comfortable with text.  My initial reaction what that the book is heavy on the preachy side, “It’s better to have a clean room than a messy one.”  Looking back on it now I’m not as bothered and think that kids won’t even bat an eye over the storyline.  Who knows.  Every parent needs a little bit of subliminal messaging don’t they?  And the illustrations are entertaining.

A fun book for the young boy in your life.

What type of kid were you?  Could your room have been described as  a “closet of doom?”

Links of interest:  Book Dads has a great in-depth book review.  Eric Wight website.
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction/Graphic Novel approx ages 4-8
Publisher: Simon & Schuster. May 5, 2009.
Hardcover, 96 pages. ISBN: 1416964843
Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

In this photo the chocolate and milk are being mixed in a double boiler.

Afterwards, it’s blended with the dry ingredients and I baked it in a bunt pan.

The funny thing was that the recipe said to sift the flour not once, not twice but four times!  After sifting it twice, I mentioned on Twitter than my hand was seriously aching.  Everybody said to stop sifting and move on!  Move on, I did.

Mary Ann Rodman also provided a glaze recipe and I obviously didn’t know how to drizzle it on, as I totally overdid it and it pooled all over the plate.  But I’m creative!  I just covered it with strawberries.

Overall, it was an okay cake.  The taste was great but it was on the dry side.  I honestly don’t know if it was the fault of the baker (which would be easy) or the fault of the recipe.  But nobody complained!

Our book club has a reputation of themed refreshments and everybody seemed impressed I could come up with a World War II ration cake.   Making a recipe like this would be fun for kids who are learning about the home front during World War II or other such historical fiction books. I said the same thing when I made Shauna Burg’s Butter Bean cookies, but it’s true, it’s so much fun to make a connection in such a tangible way!

Links of interest: Maw Books review for Jimmy’s Stars by Mary Ann Rodman, author interview, part 1 and part 2, and the nasty tomato aspic photos.   Mary Ann Rodman’s website.
Jimmy’s Stars is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Miracle’s Boys is a beautiful exploration of what happens when parents die, leaving their children behind to cope in their absence.  Ty’ree, the oldest, gives up college to care for his two younger brothers.  Charlie has was just been released from Rahway Home for Boys for armed robbery and twelve-year old Lafayette is just trying to make it through each day.

Although this is a story about each brother in the aftermath of such a loss, it is Lafayette’s story and he is our narrator.  Lafayette is full of guilt.  Why did his father die?  Why did his mother die?  Why must Ty’ree sacrifice for him?  Why is Charlie so different after coming home?  Could he have done something different?  What did he do in the past?  Could he have changed it?  Will his family be taken away from him?  Will Ty’ree be able to keep them together?  Will Charlie mess everything up?  On top of all of that, Ty’ree lives with the guilt and the secret that he thinks he caused his mother’s death.

On Jacqueline Woodson on Miracle’s Boys (from her website):

I wanted to write a story that had no girls in it. I also wanted to write about how hard it is to be poor sometimes. I also wanted to write about how hard it is to lose someone you love—in this case, both parents—and how that pain starts shaping itself into other things sometimes like anger and isolation. Most of all, I wanted to write about three brothers who are funny, handsome, searching, and caring of one another.

Loved it.  Plain and simple.  You will too.

And because I can:

Links of interest:  Maw Books reviews of  Jacqueline Woodson titles, including Feathers, If You Come Softly, Behind You, Show Way, Locomotion, Peace Locomotion.   Jacqueline Woodson website.
Genre:  Fiction, approx ages 9-12.  A great book for boys.
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile.  December 31, 2001.
Paperback, 192 pages.  ISBN: 0698119169
Miracle’s Boys is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

I wanted to read That Went Well for one simple reason: it takes place in my hometown and the author is local as well.  Within the last month I have read three books that are set in Salt Lake City, this one, The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale, and The Loser’s Guide to Life and Love by A.E. Cannon (both yet to be reviewed) and I have to admit that I think it’s great fun to read books where you know all the landmarks and wonder about the yummy sounding restaurant in the book.  So that said, even though this author is a stranger to me, I felt a connection simply because of locality.  But the book could have taken place in Timbuktu and I still would have loved it.

That Went Well is Dougan’s memoir and as the title suggests is about the  adventures in caring for her little sister Irene, who was born with a brain injury.  Irene was born in 1946 which frankly was a period of time that parents of children with mental disabilities and special needs were advised to institutionalize them.  Her family didn’t want to send her away.

From a very young age Dougan had to constantly defend her sister from neighborhood kids who made fun of Irene for being so slow and as she grew into adolescence had to explain her sister to the dates at the doorway, especially when Irene would ask them to talk to her dolls.  Irene actually served as a gatekeeper and Dougan knew she had found her perfect match when her date and then later husband, didn’t flinch at all when meeting Irene.

Unable to read and write and unwelcome in the public school systems, Irene was cared for at home and her parents realized that there was no support for parents of children with special needs.  Instead of complaining, they did something about it and created a day care center.  Later, after college and Dougan’s marriage and birth of her children, her parents found it more and more difficult to take care of Irene.  Hoping to ease Irene into independent living, they sent her to live in a group home in California.  Ultimately, she was unhappy and eventually came back home (but not after a few bruised roommates and aide workers).  When Dougan’s parents passed away, she became Irene’s primary caregiver.

That Went Well is a honest and frank exploration of what it’s like to care of a sibling with disabilities.  But to say that it’s a dry and boring exploration couldn’t be further from the truth.  I was sucked into this story from the very first page.  Dougan’s voice is fantastic!  She is laugh out loud funny but yet shares such intimate inner and physical struggles that one can’t help but sympathize with her and this family.   Dougan must come to terms with how she thinks Irene should live versus how Irene wants to live.

And let’s not forget to talk about Irene!  Irene is a riot!  From taking her dolls with her everywhere, to independently riding the city bus, inviting the firemen over for barbecues and to the magnet on her fridge that says, “Normal People Worry Me” she was simply fantastic.  Temper tantrums and all.  I loved her and it’s obvious that her sister loves her too.

Watch this beautiful show of these two sisters.  I was pleased to see so many shots taken at The Kings English Bookshop, my local independent bookshop.  I wish I had known about this book earlier in the year when she did her signing.  (It was a bit wonky to get this video to embed, so the slider is not showing up.  Click in black box to start, click again to pause.  Original video source.)

A beautiful, honest, funny, and thoughtful  journey of these two sisters, I highly recommend That Went Well.  Dougan opens her heart and one can’t help but take a look inside.  It was a pure joy to read this memoir.

Links of interest:  Terrell Harris Dougan website.
Genre:  Memoir
Published by Hyperion.  January 6, 2009.
Hardcover, 224 pages.  ISBN: 1401323294
That Went Well, Adventures in Caring for My Sister available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

I’m judging in the first bracket in the Nerds Heart YA book tournament and the two books I read were Feathered by Laura Kasischke and I Know It’s Over by C.K Kelly Martin.

Feathered is about two teenage girls who take the spring break trip of a lifetime from cold and wintery Illinois to the warm beaches of Cancun, Mexico and confront a situation that’s bigger than the both of them. 

I Know It’s Over is told from the point of view of sixteen year old Nick who discovers on Christmas Eve that his ex-girlfriend is pregnant with his baby.

In my book review of Feathered, I said, “I had no idea where the story of Feathered was going to take me.  It was slightly slow to get there but once it hit the crisis, the momentum was huge.  I think at one point my mouth was hanging open from disbelief of the crisis and it’s aftermath . . . Albeit, slightly heavy handed with the metaphors, Feathered, is a great mystery with a mix of magic realism”

In my book review of I Know It’s Over, I said, “I Know It’s Over is ultimately about teen pregnancy, teen culture, teen sexuality, first love, family relationships, sexual orientation, friendship, actions, decisions, and consequences of ones actions. . . I think that there is huge teen appeal in this book and that teen readers will really like it. ”

So who’s moving on.  Well, if you read my full review of I Know It’s Over you’ll see that the underlying assumptions and story line of the book is very one sided. I felt that there was opportunity for much more depth and discussion which just didn’t happen.  While the topic of I Know It’s Over is important and timely, ultimately Feathered won out.  I had written my review of I Know It’s Over before I even opened Feathered but I was only 30 pages in when I knew it would be moving on.  It’s beautifully written and poetic with a great mystery driving the story.

Feathered will be moving on to compete against Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One Before by David Yoo which was advanced against Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab which was judged by Lenore at Presenting Lenore and Ali at Worducopia.  This next bracket will be judged by Amy at My Friend Amy.

How have the other brackets gone?

1. My Most Excellent Year wins over The Opposite of Invisible
2. The Last Exit to Normal wins over What They Always Tell Us
3. Feathered wins over I Know It’s Over
4. Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One Before wins over Alive and Well in Prague, New York
5. Cracked Up to Be wins over The Shape of Water
6. TBA
7. The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine wins over Leftovers
8. The City of the Lake wins over Pretty Monsters

I can’t wait to find out how everything progresses throughout the tournament!

Michelle and Anne are looking forward to laying out in the sun, snorkeling,and  hanging out with some cute guys. They’ve even promised to check out the ancient Mayan ruins which are surrounded by myths and legends of virginal sacrifices upon the temple alters.

While Michelle is becoming more enthralled with Ander, the tour guide they picked up at their hotel, Anne is becoming more leery and distrustful and turns to a few familiar high school boys for help.  The girls are swept up into a mess that is literally life or death.

I had no idea where the story of Feathered was going to take me.  It was slightly slow to get there but once it hit the crisis, the momentum was huge.  I think at one point my mouth was hanging open from disbelief of the crisis and it’s aftermath.

Feathered is told in two different viewpoints.  One is that of Michelle which is third person present and the other is Anne’s which is first person past tense.  It took a little bit at the beginning of the book to get used to the back and forth but I found myself  liking this set up because it worked well for where the story was ultimately going.

The Mayan flair added a lot of depth to the story and is what made it so beautiful.  I felt as though Cancun itself was a third character, with it’s gorgeous blue water and Mayan ruins.  A third character that the book could have done without was that of Terri, a third friend of the group.  I honestly haven’t the faintest idea of what she added to the story.

Albeit, slightly heavy handed with the metaphors, Feathered, is a great mystery with a mix of magic realism.  I was on my toes the entire book anticipating what I thought was the inevitable, but yet,  I had no idea what would happen.  Feathered will make you sit back when you’re done and think to yourself, “Hmmm . . . “    Because to tell you the truth, I’m still thinking about the drama of the story.  Recommended.  I liked it.

And speaking of spring breaks.  Am I the only one who graduated from a high school where nobody went anywhere cool on spring break?

Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Harper Teen. April 8, 2008
Hardcover, 272 pages. ISBN:  0060813172
Feathered available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s and Amazon.
Feathered is competing in the Nerds Heart YA book tournament and is paired up against I Know It’s Over in which I’m the judge.  I’ll be posting my decision today.