Peeled -Joan Bauer

I loved this book! I've read a few books for this age group that involve freedom of speech and the power of the press, but I think this is one of the best. The story takes place in an upstate New York apple orchard town. The main character, Hildy, writes for her school newspaper. Developers are moving into a town facing tough economic times. I liked the references in the book to Poland's History. Hildy's friend Minska operates a restaurant in town where some of the scenes take place. Minska is constantly inspiring Hildy to carry on based on her own life's experiences. She has a plaque in the restuarant from when the Pope visited Poland which states "The future of Poland will depend on how many people are mature enough to be nonconformists." Minska then tells Hildy about how it felt to be there and hear those words.

The developers are preying on the fear of the townspeople, so there is discussion on fear and truth. Hildy has recently lost her father so she is dealing with her own fears and sees how easily fear can escalate. The story gets to the point where the school paper is shut down which affects the community. Hildy's thoughts about this are: "In case anyone wants to know what it's like in a community when the newspaper goes away, the good news is that it's missed. I'd never understood that without news, people aren't connected."

I think about that as I contemplate the reason why I initially started blogging about books. I was hoping that our local newspaper would take some interest. I've enjoyed my local newspaper for ten years, but it seem like the local flavor has really gone out of it lately. The economy is rough and cutbacks are everywhere and it seemed like they were on to something with "community bloggers". They didn't follow through and I couldn't give up the fun of writing about what I'm reading so I've continued. This sentence really made me think though--if the local paper was gone would it be missed? Can we replace the printed word with web sites? Reading the newspaper has become so much of my morning routine could I do without it? For me personally, it still revolves around the paper connecting me to the community. When I feel that it no longer does that, I will stop subscribing. Either way, my book blogging desire will be there. Minska wisdom from Peeled "My mother," Minska said, "always told me something when I was going to give up. She said, 'Sometimes just getting up in the morning and standing at the gate can bring the gate down.' " I'm not trying to bring any gates down, but it is a lesson in persistence. I'll keep writing about the books I read because I believe it has a value which is independent from a newspaper connection.

www.joanbauer.com

Touching Stars & Sister's Choice -Emilie Richards

These two books continue the Shenandoah Album series for author Emilie Richards. I enjoy how she incorporates Virginia history and quilting into her books. After visiting her web site, she is planning more for this series! They are very fun books.

www.emilierichards.com

We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For -Alice Walker

I picked this book up while looking for "Walden". Both are shelved under essays. The chapters come from different opportunities and speeches which Alice Walker has given. It incorporates some of her poetry and other work and at the end of each chapter is a time for personal reflection. Some of my favorite quotes which come from her poems are:

"We do not know the beginning

Or the end

We only see the middle of things

Which is our own life"

and from a different poem:

"This is the true wine of astonishment,

We are not

Over

When we think

We are."

Alice also calls for action on many of today's world issues. This book is worth picking up and reflecting on.

The Gate Keepers -Jacques Steinberg

"The Gatekeepers" is another book off the dreaded high school list. The book chronicles the annual admission process to Wesleyan University. The admission year is for 1999-2000. I thought some of this information is probably already a bit dated. I did not enjoy the author's style of writing at all. He swings back and forth between students too much. There are about five students who are more featured in the book than others. I found all of them to be annoying. I think of the five highlighted 2 choose Wesleyan and one Native American(chosen specifically for his heritage) doesn't make it through the first academic year there.

Knowing that this whole college game is in my family's near future, reading this book gives you less faith than ever in the processes used. The admission officer in the book has the territory of California and Wesleyan is in New England competing with the Ivy League. I thought as I was reading this how decisions might be much different in today's increased travel cost environment. The kids in the book from California were all flying east for college tours and some were from families with limited means. Will this be happening as much in my children's generation?

My daughter decided to read "Walden" off of the list which is probably a safe bet as the book has been in print for 154 years. Another one that I looked at from the list, but couldn't even finish was by Annie Dillard "An American Childhood" which is also a memoir. I've heard that her other work is good. The memoir is very slow. I thought I would enjoy it as it takes place in Pittsburgh, PA and I used to live there. I found nothing in her story to relate to. I think I'll try her fiction. Ironically, she used to teach at Wesleyan and did a thesis project on "Walden". I think I'll return to books that aren't on a teacher's list now.

First Boy -Gary Schmidt

Cooper Jewett has been raised by his grandparents on a New Hamshire Dairy Farm. When his grandfather suddenly dies, he is left to keep up the farm. At the same time strange things are happening in New Hampshire with the political primary season. One of the candidates comes to Cooper's school and proposes that Cooper join him on the campaign trail. Cooper faces an identity crisis similar to most teens, but complictaed by his grandparents denial to be upfront with him about his own parents. He loves his New Hampsire life, but wonders about the rest of the world as well.

I enjoyed the writing quite a bit. When dealing with his sense of loss, Schmidt writes, "..whatever it was that had stopped in him when his grandfather had died still hung broken. He felt it deep, like a stone too big to heft out of the garden. He just had to hoe around it and make do." I like that nurture wins over nature-- themes that Mark Twain obsessed over as well. I thought the story line itself was a bit far fetched. Nonetheless, it was fun to read.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius -Dave Eggers

I picked this book off of my daughter's summer reading list. She has chosen The Catcher in the Rye as her fictional work and then she had to pick from a list of 16 nonfictional books. It is worthy to point out that of those 16 choices, 10 were from male authors and 3 female. Of those 3 female author possibilities, one The Glass Castle was also on the list last year so she had read it for her freshman english class. So, for those of you counting that is 2 female authors, and 10 male! For those of you who may have never read The Catcher in the Rye, it is also about male adolescents.

With that prologue in place, I probably would have never come to this book on my own. It is good to get out of your comfort zone once in awhile. I can see why it is on the list because it too is the ramblings of a young man. Will my daughter enjoy it- no she will hate it. She is narrowing down the list trying to find something she can tolerate. I don't think this one will be it. This is a "heartbreaking" story of a 21 year old man who loses both of his parents to cancer within a few months and then becomes a co-guardian with his sister of their 8 year old brother. The setting is mostly San Francisco and some Chicago where Dave Eggers grew up and his parents died. The time frame is the mid 1990s as I often found myself wondering why he spends so much time going to pay phones! Cell Phones have absolutely exploded in use in the past ten years. He worries about his younger brother quite a bit, but also befriends him in the way only a brother could.

As with any memoir, I was curious what has happened since. The book was published in 2000 so it has been eight years. The brother seem to manage his growing up unfortunately the sister takes her own life. The author holds nothing back in his glimpse at the few years following the parent's death. We learn of the father's alcoholism and every sexual escapade the author has. Quite frankly to me, it got a bit boring after awhile. Granted I have never been a young male, but all of the brutal honesty about running naked on the beach and having your private parts hurt was a little much. Then of course there is the overuse of the word "fuck". A glimpse at the very last paragraph of the book will give you an idea, I counted 22 times in that paragraph alone.

Some of his ramblings I enjoyed and I realize that honesty makes for good writing. This book was a runner up for the Pulitzer Prize so some hot shots must have loved it. Towards the end of the book he goes back to Chicago for a visit and I could totally relate to visiting the house you once lived in etc. The scene of him scattering his mother's ashes in Lake Michigan is also very vivid. The author has talents as most of his descriptions are vivid and memorable. Some unfortunately fell under my current lingo of TMI(too much information).

Well looking up his current life on the internet, the most obvious things out there are that he won a TED Prize for "Once upon a School". If you have never been to the TED website:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html

I urge you to go there and listen to his speech. He obviously cares about the state of our schools and is working to involve local communities more. During that lecture, I found a "want to read" for my list it is called Waiting to be Heard it is written by high school students and what they think about today's world. It was written by students at Mr. Eggers tutoring center in San Francisco. I'll blog about it once I get my hands on a copy. In the meantime, it is back to the dreaded list with my daughter to find something she could get through for her school requirement. Maybe I'll even suggest a few for the teacher's list to balance the male female ratio a bit!

Drinking the Rain -Alix Kates Shulman

At 50, Alix Shulman decides to live remotely on a Maine Island while working on a book. I picked this book up on our recent trip east and enjoyed reading it. The book encompasses ten years of her life. I was amazed at how self sufficient she became in a short period of time. She learns to eat what is available near her small electricity/plumbing free cabin. I loved the way she began the book with this quote by Franz Kafka: " You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be quite still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet." The quote was part of the reason I bought the book while on vacation and the memoir was equally as good.

www.alixkshulman.com