Cybil-tastic

So, while I was buried under that mountain called "real life," I missed a totally important announcement:

The Cybil winners were announced. I had the most awesomest extreme pleasure to serve as one of the judges for Middle Grade/Young Adult nonfiction.

So, in today's super-long post, I'm giving the run-down of all of our nominees-- they were all fantastic!!!

But, it's Friday, so first, a poem:








A Song for Alef

Alef the letter
Is a refugee.
From paper
To paper
He knows
No home...

To read the rest, you'll have to read this year's winner, Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood Ibtisam Barakat

Ibtisam was 3 1/2 when the Six Day war forced her family to fell from their home in the West Bank. After the harrowing experience of being seperated from her family in the confused mob, she finds them and they manage to escape to Jordan.

The Barakat family live as refugees in shelters, in a classroom, and on a new friend's kitchen floor for nearly 5 months before being allowed back home. But, once home, there is still shooting, still fighting. It's not safe, so it's to an orphanage. There, here brothers are sent away for brawling.

Eventually, they move. Through it all, Barakat's solace is language and her love of the letter alef--the first letter of the alphabet in Arabic and Hebrew.

But, underneath it all, Tasting the Sky is a story of growing up, of losing a pet and sibling rivalry, of making friends and worrying about school, of moving and saying goodbye. While there is sadness in Barakat's tale, there is no anger or hatred, just a hope for peace. And that's a hope we call all share.

Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas Russell Freedman

Dude, it's Russel Freedman, you know it rocks.

This time, the master of children's non-fic takes on the discovery of America. He starts with Christopher Columbus and then works backwards through time, discussing who discovered America before Columbus, who discovered him before that and on and on. He also devotes a fair chunk to current theory and theories we've discarded over the years.

It had a great design--good use of white space and lots of pictures and maps. However, some of the illustration captions were a bit confusing.

He spends a whopping 10 pages discussing Gavin Menzies's theory that the Chinese discovered the US in 1421. Although Freedman gives both sides of the debate, it seems like a lot of page space to devote to a theory that not a lot of historians credit.

I was most impressed by Freedman's sources and his amazing ability to take very complex, academic arguments and make them accessible to a children's audience without dumbing them down.

The Periodic Table: Elements with Style Adrian Dingle

This is a fun look at the elements. Going through the periodic table, it presents basic information about selected elements including atomic weight, color, date of discovery as well as what it is used for and random fun facts. All of this information is accompanied by a fun drawing of the element, looking awesome and anthropomorphized. Where it might not be the best reference book, it's a really fun book for browsing through and learning about the elements. It also has an awesome pull out poster of the periodic table with all the cool cartoon guys in their little squares. 2 complaints-- not all of the elements are covered in the book. Also, when discussing radium, there was no mention of radiation (which seems like a pretty big oversight!) and when discussing bismuth, there was no mention of Pepto (a lesser oversight, but one that would have been fun to include!)

Ok, so that's 3 of the 6 nominees. Stay tuned for more!

Oh! and Poetry Friday round-up is hosted by the ever-lovely Kelly over at Writing and Ruminating!

Books with parallels to the news

My Top 9 for February is up! Going through this site to buy things from Amazon helps me support my habit. (You don't even have to buy what I linked to! Just click over to Amazon from here!)

So, after some x-raying this morning, it turns out that I'm pinching a nerve in my lower back. It's really not fun.

At least I can still read. Last time I messed my back up, they had me on so many muscle relaxants that I couldn't make my eyes focus enough to read. If you're going to be laid up for a week and are unable to read? Ergh. At least Bravo was running a Project Runway marathon that week. I saw all of season one and most of season two, just in time for season two's finale. And! So soon! The season 4 finale! I'm excited.

But, let's talk about some books, shall we? Both books today parallel something happening in the news, sadly, both books deal with some very current events about fear and hate.

This first story hasn't gotten nearly as much press as it should. On February 12, Lawrence King was shot. He died on February 15. He was gay and sometimes wore make-up and women's clothing to school. He was teased and picked on for his sexuality, for "freaking out the guys." So, one Tuesday, his classmate decided to shoot him in the school's computer lab.

Lawrence King was 15. The boy who murdered him was 14.

Although James St. James's book, Freak Show, is ultimately a heart-lifting tale about waving your freak flag, being yourself, and accepting one another, Billy Bloom is horribly bullied for being effeminate. Even when trying to be "normal," he gets it horribly wrong. So, he decides to be his bad-ass drag queen self.

His first period biology classmates beat him into a coma.

The basic plot is that Billy Bloom, gender-bender, cross-dresser, drag queen, queer, and freak, has been sent to live with his all-American father in Florida. He's sent to school with the Stepford children, who think "gay" is contagious. He asks to be transferred to a different biology class (his worst in terms of bullying) but the teacher never noticed there was an issue.

After failing at all attempts to fit in, he gives up and comes to school in full swamp goddess drag. He wakes up 3 days later in the hospital.

After this, everyone has to be nice to him, as the school is hoping desperately his father won't sue.

He decides to run for Homecoming Queen and it turns into a media circus and a lovely tale of the non-popular kids coming out of the wood work and trying to kick some popular ass.

Billy's voice alternates between his dizzying, frenetic, exclamation point riddled highs and his desperate lows when he's hidden himself in the linen closet. But, Billy knows who he is. He isn't always sure how to handle that, but he knows who he is and generally has the attitude that everyone who has a problem with that can go stuff themselves.

It's a great book, but ultimately, not realistic. It's more happy-go-lucky in a sigh inducing David Levithan sort of way.

Because, in the end, Billy Bloom comes off ok. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say it's not a tear-jerker of a novel.

In the real world, Lawrence King was executed in the computer lab. He never even made it to high school.

Walk Across the Sea Susan Fletcher

They were heathens. They didn't speak English. They looked different. They would work for less money than decent, Christian, white folk.

It's Northern California, 1886, and Eliza's father's one of the many townspeople who want to kick the Chinese out of town. But when one young Chinese boy saves Eliza's life, a tentative friendship forms. Eliza sees how her fellow townspeople are kicking the Chinese out--she sees women and old men being dragged from their homes in the middle of the night and thrown onto wagons to be shipped to San Fransisco.

Coupled with her mother's miscarriage, Eliza starts to seriously questions God, the Bible and her father.

With strong parallels to modern immigration debates, Fletcher's tale is gripping and reminds us that we're all human.

Eliza's questioning of why bad things happen to good people is something we've all asked and the answers she finds will not off-put a non-Christian reader, nor will it offend Christians.

Based on true expulsions of Chinese communities throughout the Pacific Northwest, Fletcher's history is well detailed and well researched without over-powering the story. Her author's notes at the end are excellent--clearly outlining her research process and explaining what was fact and what was imagination. I also loved the details about light-house keeping. The ending was perfect too, because it was real.

Searching for Something in Modern China

Well, I'm resurfacing here. It's a really busy semester for me, homework wise. Plus, work's been crazy. Also, I've started randomly embroidering tea towels, and wonder of wonders, I've actually had a bit of a social life lately.

Anyway, I'm back now. I not only haven't been blogging, but I've been out of the whole blogosphere for a few weeks. I've probably missed some massive bit of earth-shattering news. Ah well.

In the meantime, I've jacked my back again. So, I'm in a lot of pain. At least this time I can still walk. (Last time I messed it up, I was in a wheelchair for two days.)

I thought I'd made my return debut on Nonfiction Monday with 2 adult books about China.

Inside the Red Mansion: On the Trail of China's Most Wanted Man Oliver August

This is a fascinating account of the lawlessness and decadence that goes along with the New China.

Obstensibly, it's about one reporter's quest to uncover the true story of Lai Changxing--a tycoon that was the Xiamen's darling and the poster boy for China's economic prosperity until he ended up fleeing to Canada on corruption charges.

But, it's more about August's observations of a society in flux and the effect that change has on all manner of people. August focus's on the seamy underbelly that such prosperity brings-- and all those who enjoy it.

Highly accessible, I recommend it for anyone who wants a hard look at modern China as well as well thought out explanations of why things are progressing the way they are. I also recommend it for anyone who likes stories with bandits and pretty ladies and corrupt government officials.

Fried Eggs with Chopsticks: One Woman's Hilarious Adventure into a Country and a Culture Not Her Own Polly Evans

Polly Evans had a really crappy trip to China. Unfortunately, she doesn't realize this. Her "humor" seems to be making cranky, ignorant remarks about things she doesn't understand at all. Her explanation of various aspects of Chinese culture and history are superficially explained that where they're not wrong, they're also rarely right.

Her favorite parts of her trip seem to include
1. Idyllic villages that haven't seen any modernization. (Isn't poverty quaint?!)
2. Four star Western hotels
3. Starbucks

Everything else is described as a "hellhole." Seriously. I also love her rants on the Americanization of the world, followed by how much she can't wait to get to the Sheraton.

At points, she seems to realize that she's unnaturally grumpy and cranky. She chalks it up, understandably, to loneliness and the fact that traveling alone in China, when you don't speak Chinese and aren't a Sinophile is incredibly hard and physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausting. A lot of her comments are what I felt on my lowest days when I lived in China, but...

She's a travel writer. That's what she does. If she can't handle traveling alone in a foreign environment without proclaiming the landscape hellish and the people poisonous, maybe she should get a nice desk job.

I hate my life

No Elif Shafak for me.

There's some nasty weather going on. My way from work to Politics and Prose overlaps with my commute home. I left work at 5:45. I got to the splitting point in the where I had to decide: reading? or home? at 7. I knew by the time I got to the bookstore, I would have missed the event.

I got home at 7:50. I live 10 miles from work.

Ergh.

But, for once in my life, I voted for a winner!

Tonight!

So, I haven't blogged in a while. I've read a ton, but there are several major projects in life, work, and school right now, so... ergh. BUT! I bring you a special report. We will soon return to our regularly scheduled blathering.

So, before I go home and watch to see how the rest of my state voted (dude, it took me nearly 45 minutes this morning!) I'm off to Politics & Prose in DC to see Elif Shafak. I'm really super excited.

So, here I bring you a review of

The Bastard of Istanbul Elif Shafak

Family secrets, denied history and national identity all come to play as two families, as well as the past and present collide.

It's hard to explain the plot without just going on and on and on and on and on.

You have one girl, Asya, who lives with her mother, three aunts, her grandmother, and great-grandmother in Istanbul. She's an angry woman, I think she symbolizes Istanbul well-- modern and thinking she's Western, but pulled to the East and the past by tradition. (One that Asya at least tries to deny. It's easier to deny your past when you don't know who your father is.) All the men in her family die early. She has an uncle that was sent to America to try and break the curse.

You have another, Armanoush, who is Armenian-American, but with a Turkish step-father. In an attempt to understand her Armenian-ness, as well as the genocide and deportation that colors her Armenian family's view of everything, Armanoush runs off to Istanbul, where she stays with her step-father's family.

There's a lot more to it than that, trust me. The two family histories are complicatedly entwined, with the narrative jumping place and time on a regular basis.

More than anything, Shafak has wonderful characters, a love for Istanbul while still admitting her faults, a light touch with magical realism, and a good sense of finding the humor in the absurdities of everyday life.

Shafak was charged with insulting Turkish identity because of her discussion of the Armenian genocide. Luckily, the charges were dropped.

I really liked it and can't wait to read her other stuff.

Hopefully, if you're in the DC area, you can get to P&P; in time to catch this event!

Hanging out at Home

Fun new developments in my world: STREP THROAT! Ergh.

So, because I'm all contagious until I've been on my meds for 24 hours, I'm at home today. La la la la bored. Dan suggested curling up on the couch this afternoon with the dog and some cocoa and watching a movie while the world falls apart outside (we're supposed to get some weather today) but... the main symptom of me being sick is me feeling very contrary and nothing we own or on TV sounds good to watch. Y'all are lucky I'm home alone today. CRANKY CRANKY CRANKY PANTS.

I just got mad at the refrigerator for failing to magically provide cranberry juice even though I know full well that I drank it all last night. WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY FRIDGE DOESN'T MAGICALLY MAKE THE FOOD I WANT? SINCE WHEN?

See, even in blog land, I'm all shouty. Maybe because I have strep, so I can't shout in real life.

Anyway, let's talk about some books, shall we? Today we feature a book written for grownups.

Olive Kitteridge: Fiction Elizabeth Strout

Interestingly, my copy is not subtitled fiction, but rather "a novel in stories" which is more descriptive. For Olive Kitteridge is indeed a collection of short stories, all revolving around the small town of Crosby, Maine or its dominating title character, Olive.

I don't think I've ever read a book before with the elderly as main characters.

Olive is loud and outspoken, moody and unexpectedly and quietly kind. We first meet her in a story largely about her husband and his relationship with an employee as juxtaposed with the his relationship with his wife. We then see her as she talks to one of her former students, a young man who has returned to main to kill himself. We see Olive briefly in a story about a troubled piano player. There are two stories that focus on her son and how Olive effects his relationships with women. There are two stories (one strongly featuring Olive, the other one only having her make a brief appearance) with two different takes on how a marriage changes in the empty nest years.

Throughout the book, Strout offers us a glimpse into the tangled and troubled lives of people in a small town, where everyone knows everyone else. She compassionately tells the stories of people caught in a changing world they don't always understand. She tackles grief and pain and the emotions of aging with a steady and clear hand.

Overall, she tells a wonderful story about a complicated woman--a week after reading the book, I still can't decide if I like Olive Kitteridge or not. Overall, a compelling and strong read.

Publication Date: April 2008

Full Disclosure: ARC provided by Random House through Library Thing's Early Reviewer Program.

Recent Reads

Before I Die Jenny Downham

A few months ago, some friends and I were talking online, because Rachel had picked up this book in a bookstore and read the flap copy. She was slightly disgusted about a book whose premise was that a girl who was going to die of cancer had a list of things she wanted to do before she died like HAVE SEX!

And then everyone was all like, ack! promiscuous sex! maybe! but none of us had actually read the book.

Well, I finally did and it is absolutely amazing. And yes, there is sex, but it's a rather minor part of the overall story.

We're all going to die, but for Tessa Scott, it's going to happen soon rather than later. Before she dies, she has a list of the things she wants to accomplish. Travel. Fame. Love. And because she'll never see her seventeenth birthday, Sex. Drugs. A little law-breaking. A day where she has to says "yes" to everything.

Before I Die is a story about coming to grips, and maybe even peace, with your impending mortality. It's a story about dealing with your family and friends as they try to do the same thing. Tessa's narration through her final months is straight-forward. She's sometimes scared and sometimes brash, but she never veers into the melodramatic.

Heartbreaking and fantastic.

Dramarama E. Lockhart

Sadye and Demi are busting out of razzle-dazzle free Ohio to spend the summer at drama camp. At camp though, Demi is insta-star but Sadye has a much harder time of it. She gets stuck with the straight play (a disastrous production of A Midsummer's Night Dream) and, even thought she's a dancer in the 10-day wonder, she's told to lip-synch the singing bits. It doesn't help that she seems to stick her foot in her mouth whenever possible.

Drama camp was supposed to allow Sadye to be as big and fabulous as she wanted, but she ends up feeling small and worthless.

Lockhart perfectly captures the behind-the-scenes drama, tears, laughter, and glitter. Sadye and Demi's changing friendship is pitch-perfect. Reading it, I relived every horrible audition and spot-lit curtain-call. Wonderful.

January Resolutions

What a weekend. I totally tried to attend the DC KidLit brunch.

But I overslept. And then when I got there, couldn't find anyone.

This might have been because I had it in my mind that the brunch was THIS morning, but really, it was yesterday. I wore my Kiki Strike shirt and everything.

That's kinda been the story of this whole past week, actually. Oiy.

I'm trying really hard to come up with some writing samples for some stuff. Writing samples ABOUT BOOKS. My brain isn't functioning.

And, when I made my new years resolutions this year, one of the things I promised myself was that I would never be more than a year behind in my reviewing. And here it is, February 3 and I never did get around to reviewing those lonely unreviewed books that I read back in January of 2007, so let's do that today, shall we?

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party M. T. Anderson

Octavian Nothing is a slave, but he doesn't know that. He's treated like a prince. He and his mother are the subjects of bizarre human experiments by an Enlightenment society in Revolutionary America. It's only when his mother is killed during a Pox Party experiment that he realizes what's going on. It's through this that Anderson explores the duality of slavery while fighting for freedom from England.

Told entirely in eighteenth century English, Octavian Nothing is a technical feat of writing to be sure, but Anderson keeps up an impending sense of doom and Octavian's frequent change of topic in narration leads to extremely short chapters (most are only 2-5 pages long). So, the language doesn't get in the way of the story or bog it down--the narration moves a steady to quick pace.

Powerful and horrifying, the two parts of the story are meant to be one 900 page book, but this first part stands perfectly well on it's own. That said, knowing there's another part coming, I can't wait. It was the one author question I asked at the National Book Fest this year-- when will we see Part 2? Anderson told me next fall.

Wide Awake David Levithan

David Levithan is pissed off about what's happening to his country, that much is obvious.

Here we are in the not-so-distant feature. The country has undergone another War to End All Wars (except that people seem to think that this one actually will) a Greater Depression, and something referred to as the Prada Riots. Christians have split into two major political/cultural groups-- the Decents (think Falwell) and the Jesus Freaks (Jesus loves EVERYONE.) And Duncan cannot believe that the candidate he was campaigning for--gay, Jewish Abe Stein, just got elected President.

Then the governor of Kansas disputes the results in his state and... well... we remember what happened in 2000, right?

Duncan's boyfriend, Jimmy, is super-militant about his politics and he's off to Topeka to protest. Duncan can't go. Because Duncan doesn't want to run away from home to go, Jimmy turns into a jerkwad. So Duncan goes.

Topeka is ugly. Part Florida 2000, part Ukrainian Orange Revolution, both sides have turned out to protest for and against Stein. It gets uglier.

Usually, the one thing that Levithan does so well--sweet love stories, doesn't really work in this case. I wanted to smack Duncan around and tell him that Jimmy wasn't worth it. Where there are several love stories here, it's the politics that drives the plot. Levithan's future gets a little strident and annoying at times as well (we don't believe in consumerism anymore! We go hang out at the mall after school and buy stuff, but we don't actually keep it! The store restocks and all the $$$ we spent goes to charity! If you really need something, you buy it online later! Puke.)

But I like Duncan, who, when in elementary school, thought the Boston Tea Party was a revolutionary cat fight during a sit down Tea Party. And I like the Bleeding Kansas parallel, as well as everyone sitting through the night with their bright green glow sticks...

But his portrayal of the Kansas protests is believable and real and it's all we can do to hope that we don't actually have to do it in November.

Can we please have a fairly clear-cut win this year? Something that is announced BEFORE I fall asleep on the couch? Preferably having the person I'm voting for winning?

I've voted in 2 presidential elections so far. The first being 2000. I lived in Iowa at the time, so my first primary was in Iowa caucus. That's some pretty intense stuff right there. We all crammed into the gym of the local elementary school, and my history prof was standing on a table telling the Gore people to go out on the hall and the Bradley people to get into groups of 10 so they'd be easier to count. (Bradly gave a great speech at campus earlier that year-- ours was the only precinct he won-- and he won us by a landslide...) And then, for the general, I had to vote absentee and watch the results from China. Where most English language news sites are blocked. Except MSNBC, which was reporting 2 different winners on the front page.

Class got out at noon, which was midnight Central time, so we figured all we had to do was bop by the internet cafe on the way to lunch, see who won, and go on about our day.

No. All afternoon, every internet cafe was full of Americans hitting "refresh" every 30 seconds. I was just waiting until 7pm, or 7am where my parents were so I could call and ask what the #%@##%^@#@#$!@#!@ was going on. They didn't know.

Then I had to try and get election results from Chinese Central Television. "Ger-a" and "Xiao Bu-shi" are two vocab words I definitely learned that semester. Every time I heard one, I'd scream for my Chinese roommate to translate for me....

Let's not do that again this year, ok?

Sun Comes Up, Tuesday Morning

Not a whole lot of news on this front, just some reviews:

kimmie66 Aaron Alexovitch

In this latest Minx offering, Telly is a 23^rd century girl who (like most people) spends all of her time in the lairs—themed virtual reality environments. When she receives a suicide note from her best friend, Telly is devastated, but confused. Telly wouldn’t put it past Kimmie to fake the whole thing as a prank, plus there is the little problem of the fact that Telly has no idea what Kimmie’s real name is or where she lives or anything about her life outside the liars.

Exploring a life lived entirely on the virtual realm, Alexovitch explores the thin line between reality and virtual reality and asks what is real and what isn’t. Although the ending contains a slight message to “stop and smell the un-virtualized roses,” this is one of the strongest titles of the Minx line.

First Kiss (Then Tell): A Collection of True Lip-Locked Moments ed. Cylin Busby

This is a cute collection of short vignettes about first kisses. The range and caliber of young adult authors included is impressive (Jon Scieszka, Shannon (and Dean!) Hale, Nikki Grimes, Naomi Shihab Nye and Scott Westerfield--just to name a few.) The stories range from hilarious to heart-breaking, heart-stopping to disgusting. The anthology contains quotations from movie stars as well as kissing trivia interspersed with the stories, poems and comics.

Overall, it’s a very enjoyable, sweet read that puts the pain, romance, and laughter back into kissing, without the pressure of going further. A sure-hit for the chick-lit crowd.

Library Books

First things first, there's a new banned books list over in the sidebar.

Second things second, I read a whole bunch of library books this weekend, so here we go:

After Hamelin Bill Richardson

It is a special day when you turn eleven. On their eleventh birthday, girls go too see Cuthbert, the hermit in the cave to learn of their gift.

But, on Penelope's eleventh birthday, she wakes up suddenly unable to hear. It is the only thing that saves her, for on Penelope's eleventh birthday, the Pied Piper returns and charms all of the children out of Hamelin.

Penelope must use her gift, the gift of deep dreaming to find and rescue her sister, her neighbors, and her friends.

A wonderful story with a gentle prose that captures you-- I found it very hard to put down. I especially liked the Tolavians that Penelope meets on her journey.

The story is told in the frame as Penelope turns 101 and is facing death, she looks back on her life, writing it down for the next generation. It's really well done.

Skulduggery Pleasant Derek Landy

One of the Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults, Skulduggery is a detective. Of course, he's also a skeleton with a sharp sense of style who can hurl fireballs.

Stephanie is stunned to discover that she's inherited her uncle's house after his sudden death. She's even more stunned with people start attacking her in order to get a key. When Skulduggery rescues her, she demands to be his partner and learn the magic he knows.

It quickly becomes apparent that magic is real and under our feet, and that myth and legend might actually be fact. Of course, if Stephanie and Skulduggery can't figure this out fast enough, it'll be a moot point when the world is destroyed.

Hilarious and suspenseful, I loved Stephanie and Tanith (ok, I'm a fan of girls who know how to wield a sword.)

This is really well done urban fantasy. I also liked the illustrations on the first letter of each chapter. I can't wait for Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire, which comes out at the end of April.

Ok, I was going to do more, but Blogger's going down soon, so it'll keep.

Books! I! Own! Yowza!

So, after I posted yesterday, I saw that I had missed 2 very important updates!

1. The new issue of The Edge of the Forest is up! Check it out! Lots of awesome articles, plus 2 reviews by yours truly (My Last Best Friend by Julie Bowe and Reality Leak by Jodi Sensel-- both are great reads!)

2. The new Carnival of Children's Lit is up over at Wizard's Wireless. My contribution is actually my Geek Buffet post about the Xela Awards... check it out!

And now, a review of 2 books off the big scary list! (And a break because they're both Adult Nonfiction)

First up is Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud Sun Shuyun

This book isn't available in the US, so I had to order it from England after reading her The Long March: The True History of Communist China's Founding Myth.

In Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud, Sun sets out to retrace the journey of Xuanzang, a Buddhist monk who traveled to India at the start of the Tang Dynasty to learn Sanskrit and bring back new sutras to Chinese Buddhists. (His travels being the basis of Chinese classic, Journey to the West.)

Not a Buddhist herself, Sun is searching for her grandmother's faith, and Xuanzang's. What was his driving force as he faced many perils along his way?

Sun has a magical way of trying history and legend together with her current narrative. It all blends seamlessly and also paints an amazing portrait of the changing face of Modern China.

I highly recommend it, even if you do have to get it from England. Well worth it.

ALSO! How much do I love the fact that she has an Orphan Works notice on her list of illustrations! WONDERFUL!!!!! (sorry, that's the geek in me)

A Needle in the Right Hand of God: The Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Making and Meaning of the Bayeux Tapestry R. Howard Bloch

While this was interesting, as pop history it was ultimately unsatisfying. Bloch spends a lot of time proving minor points (did I really need half a chapter on the longship find of Sutton Hoo?) and leaves some other points hanging.

His premise is that the Bayeux Tapestry was stitched as a way to bring about a new multi-cultural peace and ultimately... I didn't buy it. There are many obvious other explanations to his supporting points that he doesn't address.

For instance, the fact that the tapestry is vague about some of the stickier points of the story (what the contents of the oath Harold swore, who Edward appointed as successor) isn't necessarily "sufficiently undefined as to permis all to identify with their particular point of view" ON PURPOSE. Maybe (a) it was common knowledge-- it's not like there are paragraphs of text here, most of the narration is based on common knowledge (b) Maybe they didn't know. This information doesn't appear in any other source, either. Maybe it was a secret.

But Bloch doesn't address these possible explanations for any of his evidence.

I do like his in-depth art-analysis of the symbolism and origins of various aspects of the tapestry, especially as he does refer to specific panels that are illustrated in the full color insert pages, as well as several other full-color and black-and-white illustrations throughout the text.

And as a minor note, I really didn't like the font. The lower case p has this little bit that extends out and is just visually very distracting.

Hi! I'm back!

So, last week, I didn't really post. Mostly, because I was on vacation!

The Florida Keys were warm and sunny and very relaxing. All in all, lovely.

We went snorkeling.

But, I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind in book reviewing. So, here we go.

But, before we go there, my 9 Picks for January are up at the Biblio File store. Check it out.

This weekend, I read (a lot) and got totally hooked on The Tudors. Hotcha, hotcha, I'm addicted. I also listened to the Juno Soundtrack NON-STOP. I highly recommend. (I'm still singing all the songs in my head. We won't stop until somebody calls the cops and even then, we'll start again and just pretend that nothing ever happened...)

But, yeah, the books.

Harmless Dana Reinhardt

Everyone's told lies. Most lies aren't even that bad. They don't hurt anyone...they're just harmless.

Emma and Anna and Mariah are inseperable. Through short chapters alternating points of view, we see three girls starting to change. This is a story of changing friendships and growing up and the one big thing that gets in the way.

It was simple enough-- they would tell their parents they were going to a movie and instead go to this party thrown by some people at the public school. When they're caught, they tell a lie. Just a little lie. Emma was attacked by the river--that's why they were late, why they never made it to the movie. Their story would be vague enough that they wouldn't get caught.

Just a harmless lie.

Of course, it turns into something much bigger.

I liked the premise, and I liked the plot. I wasn't so sure on many of the sub-plots-- I couldn't place their reasoning in their overall narrative. Also, all three girls are very different characters, but their voices are not as different as they should be.

I thought Mariah was kinda flat as the bad girl. Yes, her backstory was interesting, but she was not.

But, the unraveling of the lie was amazing.

Losing Forever Gayle Friesen

Jes isn't coping well. Her mother's getting remarried, which she isn't totally happy about and then, BAM! Carl's perfect daughter, Angela shows up. Angela is everything that Jes isn't. Plus, a secret shoplifter.

Told over the summer, mainly in lake visits, Jes risks losing her family and friends as she tries to keep things from changing.

There's also a dead sister and an icky best-friend's boyfriend situation.

I liked it. I liked the characters and how real they seemed. I didn't really dig Jes that much, just as a personal thing-- many people will strongly identify with her, but not me.

The Adventures of Pink Elephant Vol. 1 Christine Amamiya

Mandy and Christie are just hanging out in the yard one day when something falls from outer space straight into their swimming pool. It seems to be some sort of egg that hatches... a pink elephant who is super smart, can fly, and extremely compassionate.

Pink Elephant goes on to deal with icky school projects and bullies.

We could all use a pink elephant in our lives.

Amamiya is 17 (or was when she wrote this). I'm going to state straight out that I'm harsh on child-writers (blame Paolini) and I might not have read her prose so critically had I not known her age before I cracked the book. She does have talent though. She doesn't over stretch and tells her tale simply and in a straight-forward manner.

While the book probably won't stay with me for long, she does tell a sweet story that kids are going to like. This is projected to be a ten volume series, and I will be very interested to see how Amamiya grows as a writer in the later volumes...

(Full disclosure: This book was provided by the author.)

Poetry Friday!

Before the festivities begin, I'm over at Geek Buffet, following up on how YA is an age-range, not a genre. The comments on my original post sparked a conversation about how to get non-teens to read teen lit. Inspired by this year's Caldecott winner also being named a Best Book for Teens, I'm proposing a whole new award for teen lit. Check it out here. I'd love your comments.

And, now, a poem, because it's Friday. Yesterday it snowed. It's warm today, but is supposed to snow again tomorrow. So, here's a snow poem!

Snow flakes.

I counted till they danced so
Their slippers leaped the town,
And then I took a pencil
To note the rebels down.
And then they grew so jolly
I did resign the prig,
And ten of my once stately toes
Are marshalled for a jig!

--Emily Dickinson

I love the imagine of austere, often depressing, recluse Dickinson dancing in joy of snow.

Farm School has this week's roundup!

And here's a lovely picture of what happens when it snows in DC (photo from Roxandabear):

Dance a Little Closer to Me, Dance a Little Closer Tonight

Ok, before we get started, a quick announcement, I'm blogging over at Geek Buffet about YA lit and that an age range is not a genre.

But, now, a story. It's a funny one.

So, January in Wisconsin is cold and snowy and icy. And one January, 5 years ago today, it was really, really cold. Dan and I went to church with my parents. There was a Saturday evening service.

At some point in the service, a Sunday School (Saturday School?) teacher went to the supply cabinet to get some safety pins. Only, when she opened the door, she found Dan and me, making out and sharing a bottle of Johnny Walker.

When she apologized, I said, "Oh no, it's OK. We're getting married in an hour."

And the ceremony was beautiful. At the end, I have to admit, I wasn't really paying attention, and thought the minister was done speaking, and so I went in to get the kiss, only to have everyone laugh at me, because he wasn't done, just takng a breath to finish his last sentence.

And there was good food and good music and good friends and we danced the night away and at the end of the night, my dad and his friends put the ice swan to swim across the frozen pond out front and all our friends stole the left over wine and had an after party that is now legend and is STILL talked about to this day.

I really can't believe it was 5 years ago. It doesn't seem like that long. So, I've used this poem before, but it was one we had read during the ceremony, so I'm using it again.




Why Marry at All?

Why mar what has grown up between the cracks
and flourished like a weed
that discovers itself to bear rugged
spikes of magneta blossoms in August,
ironweed sturdy and bold,
a perennial that endures winters to persist?

Why register with the state?
Why enlist in the legions of the respectable?
Why risk the whole apparatus of roles
and rules, of laws and liabilities?
Why license our bed at the foot
like our Datsun truck: will the mileage improve?

Why encumber our love with patriarchal
word stones, with the old armor
of husband and the corset stays
and the chains of wife? Marriage
meant buying a breeding womb
and sole claim to enforced sexual service.

Marriage has built boxes in which women
have burst their hearts sooner
than those walls; boxes of private
slow murder and the fading of the bloom
in the blood; boxes in which secret
bruises appear like toadstools in the morning.

But we cannot invent a language
of new grunts. We start where we find
ourselves, at this time and place.

Which is always the crossing of roads
that began beyond the earth's curve
but whose destination we can now alter.

This is a public saying to all our friends
that we want to stay together. We want
to share our lives. We mean to pledge
ourselves through times of broken stone
and seasons of rose and ripe plum;
we have found out, we know, we want to continue.

--Marge Piercy

Weighty Tomes

The Cybils are now all up! Check you the new shortlists!

So, as I'm part of the judging committee for MG/YA nonfic, y'all know what I'm reading for the next month. Very cool.

Anyway, since Christmas, I have read 3 books that were freakin' long. (I mean, I've read more than 3, but 3 of the ones I've read were freakin' long, if that makes sense)

So, here are the looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong books.

First up,

Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal Mal Peet

One of my favorites of 2007, the main story of Tamar is about the Dutch resistance at the end of WWII.

There are two Tamars, one is the fifteen year old in mid-90s England, trying to make sense of her grandfather's apparent suicide, her missing father, and her grandmother who is slipping further and further into dementia. Before he died, Tamar's grandfather left her a box of random things she has to figure out to put everything into perspective.

The other Tamar is the code name for a resistance leader, a Dutch man who escaped to England and was sent back to the Netherlands by the British in order to organize the various resistance groups to work together. He works with his wireless operator, Dart.

Between the two comes the beautiful Marijke, the young woman who lives on the farm where Tamar is stationed. She and Tamar have had a long relationship, unknown to Dart. As Dart's addition to amphetamines grows (he takes them to be awake at odd hours to send/receive transmissions), so does his paranoia.

What is most remarkable is that this is a story of boredom. The never ending tension that comes when nothing happens and you expect the Gestapo to come for you at any minute.

Even though I had the mystery bit figured out stupidly early on, before I was even sure if there was a mystery bit to figure out, the story still gripped me. It wasn't so much about the outcome, but why and how it happened.

Also, how the boredom can drive you insane. Remarkable.

It's on my list of possible Printz winners...

Spring Moon Bette Bao Lord

So, this is an adult novel by the author of In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.

Spring Moon is born at the end of the nineteenth century to the old house of Chang in Soochow (Suzhou). Through her eyes, and the lives of her uncles, we watch the history of modern China unfold and the effects it had on the life of one woman and her family.

There's a good time line of events in the back, but it still might be a little confusing for people who aren't familiar with 20th century Chinese history might be a little confused. (Heck, I am very familiar with 20th century Chinese history and sometimes I had to stop and think about what rebellion was happening...)

Overall though, a very nice sweeping epic tale.

Redeeming Love Francine Rivers

This book was recommended to me by my friend Marie after a conversation about Inspirational Fiction. Now, I don't read a lot of Inspirational Fiction. I'm not really a member of the target audience. Reading it was an interesting experience.

This is the biblical story Hosea retold in the goldrush California. Angel was sold into prostitution as a child. Micheal Hosea sees her and marries her and tries to redeem her, however, she keeps running away. She runs both because she sees marriage as just another form of bondage and then, when she starts to fall in love, because she thinks her past makes her unworthy.

I got pretty into it, even thought I disagreed with a lot of the theology initially (the ending redeemed it a bit for me. No pun intended.)

Anyway, throughout most of the book, marriage *is* just another form of bondage for Angel, but we're not supposed to see it as that because Michael's a good guy with good intentions, so what he does is ok. So the whole thing, initially is a bit anti-feminist. But, the final time Angel runs away, Michael lets her, and it's not until she settles things with herself that she's ok to go back to her marriage. So, I wasn't nearly so sour after that.

Also, I was a little irked at how Michael didn't want to be told about the worst things Angel had done in her life. He had already forgiven her. Granted, she was only telling him as a means to drive him away, almost testing him BUT if he's going to truly love her and truly forgive her, then shouldn't he know these things? How can he truly forgive a sin he doesn't know?

I also was irked by the use of the term "Celestial" to refer to Chinese people. I could understand it when the characters used it, because it was what they would have said, but when the narrator does? Ew.

Overall, it didn't fundamentally change my relationship with God the way the back promised it would, but it was a very interesting look into a genre I usually don't read. Also, I really got into the story. Although long, it was a quick read and I stayed up way past bedtime to finish it.

Poetry Friday

In honor of our new month, and the fact that it's actually cold here, I give you an excerpt from Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak

January

In January

it's so nice

while slipping

on the sliding ice

to sip hot chicken soup with rice.

Sipping once

Sipping twice

Sipping chicken soup with rice.



I must thank my friend Melissa for reminding me of this and, in the interests of full disclosure, tell you that I really hate rice in my soup. ;) The roundup is over at A Year of Reading. Enjoy!

Death by Notebook

Ok, so I spent the first part of New Year's Eve (in that lull between when you're throwing a party and the house is clean and the food is out and you're all gussied up but no one has showed up yet) and New Year's Day reading the rest of the Death Note series.

Also, I've updated the Biblio File store with my list of what's coming out very shortly that I can't wait for.

There are also a few things that don't have pictures that are coming out later this spring and this summer that I can't wait for... things such as...

Fables Volume 10: The Good Prince Bill Willingham
Jack of Fables, volume 3 Bill Willingham
The Sisters Grimm Book 6: Tales From the Hood Michael Buckley
Stop in the Name of Pants (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson) Louise Rennison
And! A the first volume in a new series by Jasper Fforde, Shades of Grey

But, until then, let's see what's going on with Light and Near and Mello and the gang...

Here's a review for all of them: If you like the series, you gotta see how it ends. Read up.

Death Note, Volume 9: Contact Tsugumi Ohba

Near knows. He knows L is Light and Light is Kira. Mello's closing in on both of them. Near does everything he can to so doubt among the task force. And he's succeeding... meanwhile, Sakura TV is the new spokesman for Kira... and doing a disgusting job of it.

Also, can I just say, yes Light's a jerk, but Mello and Near are creepy. Even creepier than the original L was. They give me the willies.

Death Note, Volume 10: Deletion Tsugumi Ohba

Light has passed the notebook on and his successor loves deleting those who are evil. Delete delete delete. In order to stay in contact, Light decides it's time to pay an old school friend a visit, and maybe give Misa Misa a rest from the romance for awhile...

I just like the delete delete delete has Teru writes down new names.

Delete delete delete

Death Note, Volume 11: Kindred Spirit Tsugumi Ohba

The investigation moves back to Japan. Near knows Light's the guy, but wants to expose him and rub his face in the evidence. Everyone has a complicated plan set into motion, and the opening shots are being fired. Who will be the first to blink?

Death Note, Volume 12: Finis Tsugumi Ohba

All done. A satisfying end to a satisfying series, but I could have done with a little less of the "is Kira good or bad, what is evil" philosophical discussions...

Hello 2008!

A bunch of Cybils short lists are up! More to come next week! Check 'em out!

This year I read...

219 books

That breaks down as:
82 Children's
80 YA
57 Adult (Woot!)

33 nonfiction
4 under 100 pages
32 graphic novels
18 required (that's really low!)
8 rereads

I read the least in May (13 books) July (12 books) November (13 books) and December (12 books.) Some of that is life, some based on the books I read (for instance, I read a lot of adult fiction in July, which takes me longer than children's fiction. In December I had 2 books around 500 pages...)

My best month was June with 28 books. If you take away the 9 that were read during the 48 hour challenge, that's still 19...

This is also a banner year because for the past 4 years one of my New Year's resolutions was to read at least 20 nonfiction books. This is the first year I actually succeeded! And how! 33!

One reading-related goal I almost met was to review at 5 books a week or enough to keep up with current reading--whichever was less. I didn't make it every week, but that totaled to 260 reviews this past year and I had... 258.

So, this year, I want to:
1. Blog at least 5 books a week for a total of 260, or to keep up with my reading habits.
2. Read at least 20 nonfiction books.
3. Read at least 50 books from the scary list. (See, this might be a little hard to pull off. We'll see.)
4. Set a silly reading challenge every month.
5. Never have more than 5 pleasure reading materials checked out from the library at a time.
6. Finish reading the rest of Silvey's top 100.

This month's challenge? Read all the review copies with deadlines looming, read my Cybils books once the nonfiction short list is announced I know what I'm supposed to be reading, and finish my library books. (Now down to 16) (This is a big chunk to chew, but I'm off school until the 28th)

In February, I will be reading all the books I have borrowed from other people.

BUT! Now for my favorites from 2007!

Top all-around picks:

The Long March: The True History of Communist China's Founding Myth Shuyun Sun
Love in a Fallen City Eileen Chang
Alice In Sunderland Bryan Talbot
Kitchen Banana Yoshimoto
Un Lun Dun China Mieville
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers Xialu Guo
George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War Thomas B. Allen

Runners Up:

Kampung Boy and Town Boy Lat
Mao's Last Revolution Roderick Macfarquhar and Michael Schoenhals
The Pull of the Ocean Jean-Claude Mourlevat
This is Paradise!: My North Korean Childhood Hyok Kang
You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons - The World on One Cartoon a Day Mo Willems
The Invention of Hugo Cabret Brian Selznick
The Complete Persepolis Marjane Satrapi
Goodbye Tsugumi Banana Yoshimoto
Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters Annie Choi
Peony in Love: A Novel Lisa See
Train to Pakistan Khuswant Singh
Harriet Tubman, Secret Agent: How Daring Slaves and Free Blacks Spied for the Union During the Civil War Thomas B. Allen
Wildwood Dancing Juliet Marillier
Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences Kitty Burns Florey

Long-Awaited Sequels That Didn't Disappoint:

I could go on and on and on and on and on about these books-- many were the strongest in the series, I felt. Most of them deserve to be on my all-around favs of the year, but there were so many, it got it's own category...

Once Upon a Crime (The Sisters Grimm, Book 4) and Magic and Other Misdemeanors (The Sisters Grimm, Book 5) Michael Buckley
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels Jasper Fforde
Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb Kirsten Miller
Forever Rose Hilary McKay
Cupcake Rachel Cohn
Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now Lauren Child
Love Is a Many Trousered Thing (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson) Louise Rennison
Seeing Redd (The Looking Glass Wars)Frank Beddor
The Last Apprentice: Night of the Soul Stealer Joseph Delaney
Fourth Comings Megan McCafferty

My Favorite New Authors:

Banana Yoshimoto
Thomas B. Allen

Favorite Children's Books:

The Green Glass Sea Ellen Klages
Clementine and The Talented Clementine Sara Pennypacker
Troll Bridge and Pay the Piper Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple
Millicent Min, Girl Genius Lisa Yee
The Last Dragon Silvana de Mari
Letters from Rapunzel Sara Lewis Holmes
Robot Dreams Sara Varon
Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians Brandon Sanderson

Favorite YA Books:

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party M. T. Anderson
Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Sold Patricia McCormick
Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal Mal Peet

Favorite New Guilty Please Series

Gossip Girl
Students Across the Seven Seas
Death Note

Old Favorites I was Delighted to Find I still Love:

Drina Jean Estoril
Charlotte Sometimes Penelope Farmer (the original)

2006 Bloggin' Blast

First off, if you want to waste some time by seeing what happens when LOLcats take on Presidential Politics, check out Ron Paul Can Has Cheezburger? After all, the American Dream is for every person to have a bukkit of their own...

Anyway, it's the last day of 2007, so let's talk about all the books that I read in 2006 and haven't talked about yet. La la la la la la la la.

First off, a book I really, really loved.

CHERUB: The Recruit Robert Muchamore

James can't catch a break. His mother is awful (and a major dealer in stolen goods) his sister's father isn't any better. Then he gets suspended for fighting in school and his mom dies.

Enter CHERUB. Founded over 50 years ago, CHERUB is a division of MI5--British Intelligence. No one ever suspects a kid, so that's who they send--kids.

James will be a spy and receive a top-notch education, but only if he can survive the training period.

And then, if he does, the real work begins.

A fun and gripping adventure story, I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series...

College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Co-Eds, Then and Now Lynn Peril

This is a well-done, not overly academic look at the history of women's high education. It's a pretty balanced account with a lot of pull-out boxes about various aspects of female college life and lots of "Femorbilia" looking at different items marketed to the college girl. I especially enjoyed the "College Girls Book Shelf"-- a running thread of literary treatments of college girls throughout history.

I Am the Messenger Markus Zusak

I liked this book.

Ed is a slacker cab driver with no future. After foiling a bank robbery, he starts to recieve playing cards with messages on them.

With nothing to lose, he starts following them, discovering problems to be solved, some are easy and heartwarming, such as a church with no congregation and some are dangerous and chilling, like a woman being raped every night by her drunk husband.

Through solving these problems, he starts to find direction in life.

Zusak is an awesome writer. It's about as different from The Book Thief as can be, but that just shows his range.

White Is for Magic Laurie Faria Stolarz

A fun guilty-pleasure type read.

Stacey has nightmares about people being murdered--nightmares that have an awful habit of coming true. It's been a year since she saved her best friend last year (in the first of the series, Blue Is For Nightmares. Now the target of her nightmares is... herself. Luckily, she's a witch with an arsenal of spells to help her find the strength and courage she needs.

I couldn't put it down, but I also have no desire to read the rest of the series. The spells felt really, really hokey.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Alison Bechdel

This is a graphic novel memoir of small town America, literature, coming out, and family secrets.

It was really, really good, but the amount of literary allusion and quotations got old after awhile--that aspect was a bit overdone.

Mermaid Park Beth Mayall

Amy hates her family--her jerkwad of a step father, her perfect sister... so she is very much not looking forward to a long weekend on the Jersey shore at her mother's godmother's motel.

But, she finds a boy, and a waterpark of mermaids. (A forbidden waterpark of mermaids.) She talks her mother into letting her stay for the summer, and talks her way into a job at Mermaid Park, unraveling a few family secrets along the way.

A perfectly lovely book, although it didn't stay with me for long.

Julius Lester (plus a few)

I do love books by Julius Lester.

Day of Tears? Fantastic! I had to read it for a lit conference and was extremely disappointed by the discussion we had on it. No one could get beyond "Gee, Slavery really sucked" to discuss why Lester's tale of it was such a powerful stand out in a sea of stories about the same general subject. No one brought up that it was one of the few stories to really explore the emotional impact instead of the physical one... powerful stuff.

In the hands of a lesser storyteller, The Old African would have been absolutely dreadful instead of being as wonderful as it is.

Most recently, I read Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire. This is classic Greek Myth, but told in a vernacular, Southern African American story telling style.

Because of Lester's great skill, it totally worked and I loved it.

Psyche is beautiful to the point of it being a burden. Cupid is the son of Venus and a total mama's boy. When Venus (who is aging) is jealous of Pysche's incredible beauty, she orders Cupid to poison her with destructive love. (I have to say I was reminded of that exchange in Love Actually "I have say I'm a bit relieved, I thought it was something worse." "Worse than the total agony of being in love?!")

Anyway, of course, Cupid falls in love with her. He enlists Apollo's help. Apollo is not a fan of Cupid, so tells Psyche's father that she will marry a great monster.

In the end, Venus attempts to seek revenge and true love--both Psyche's love for Venus and various other deities' love for Psyche is put to the test.

I know some readers will (and are) annoyed by the storyteller's voice and his meditations on story, beauty, love, and lust, but I really really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the comments on how much work love is. You don't get that truth a lot in YA literature.

Shout out to Bookshelves of Doom for bringing it to my attention.

Now, to catch up on something I read last year, I didn't like Time's Memory nearly as much.

And here's where Lester's genius is more of a burden than a blessing-- I simply expected more from him.

The nyama spirit embodies Nat, a young man who is a slave on a Virginia plantation. He's in love with the Ellen, the plantation owner's daughter. Nat's father is the leader of a bloody slave revolt.

Highly mystical and spiritual, it just didn't work as well as it should have and ultimately left me dissatisfied. However, there is a lot going on in the book, so I would highly recommend it for book discussions.

Another I read at the same time, which won the Coretta Scott King Award is Sharon Draper's Copper Sun.

This is another fantastically written story about slavery. There isn't as much under the surface, but it tells the story of Amari, from her time in Africa through the middle passage and slavery. It also tells of her friendship with Polly, an indentured servant. The two run away--but instead of going North, they go South, to Spanish controlled Florida.

What I really liked about this book was the unflinching look at many things we usually don't see. We usually don't read of the coastal slave castle before being put on the boats, or how other Africans helped round people up to be sold.

We know of, but usually don't see in fiction, the rape of women by lonely sailors every night.

I also really appreciated how nuanced the characters were--there were good people and and bad people and people who were good and bad. Some of the good people where white, some of the bad people were black. Many authors, when telling a story of slavery, go the understandable route of making all white people bad. Or really, really good. Draper writes people as she knows them. No one's all good or all bad. And goodness doesn't fall on color lines.

By doing so, she writes a very accurate and incredible tale of slavery that covers what we learned in history class, and a whole lot more.