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Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Book Review Digest Issue 011011 by Todd Rutherford
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Christmas Fiction Review: An Amish Christmas by Cynthia Keller - "To Be, Rather Than To Seem"
If your spouse was downsized from a high-paying job and didn't tell you for three months, could you forgive him or her? If they also secretly gambled away the family fortune, forcing the sale of your house, withdrawal of your children from private schools and moving in with your parents in another state, could and would you forgive them? That's the premise of Cynthia Keller's new book, An Amish Christmas.
The Hobarts - James, Meg, Lizzie, Will and Sam, reside in a five thousand square foot home in an upscale Charlotte, North Carolina neighborhood. James and Meg have been married 18 years. James is well-paid legal counsel for a software company and his family wants for nothing. Meg, primarily rears their three children, and, while more of a saver, still enjoys her materialistic perks.
The Hobart offspring espouse a sense of entitlement, attending private schools and enjoying modern-day technologies, including laptops and iPods. Fifteen-year-old Lizzie chastises Meg for not spending five hundred dollars on a dress for her upcoming Holiday Dance; and thirteen-year-old Will, repeatedly and carelessly loses his dental retainer at four hundred dollars a pop.
As Thanksgiving approaches, Meg prepares to engage in her favorite holiday. Each year she cooks for eighteen neighbors, using her impressive, laborious entertaining skills, including a time-consuming menu.
For months, Meg has sensed something isn't right with James, now regularly complaining of "too many bills," and the need to "batten down the hatches." She decides to give him until New Year's to explain.
While dressing for her Thanksgiving feast, James reveals that in August he was downsized at work. Too proud to confess, he secretly invested in a real estate deal sure to double his money. The transaction backfired, leaving the Hobarts virtually penniless, since James used their house as collateral.
Naturally, Meg is dumbfounded. How could James be so selfish by not consulting her and jeopardizing the future of their children? Their short-term solution is to regretfully move in with Meg's parents in Homer, New York. Her parents are stark, emotionless people. When Meg tells her mother she'll be able to spend more time with her grandchildren, she replies, "Just remember, Margaret, I brought up one child and I'm not bringing up any more. Once was enough."
The Hobarts pare down their possessions and prepare to travel in James's 1969 vintage Mustang. During Meg's last moments in the house, she retrieves a North Carolina state magnet on the refrigerator, which reads, "Esse quam videri," meaning "To be, rather than to seem."
En route to New York, on a cold, dark, icy evening, the Hobarts swerve to avoid an Amish buggy in Pennsylvania. They hit a tree, causing extensive damage to their car.
Buggy driver, and Amish man, David Lutz, invites the Hobarts home, pending car repairs. Their intended day or two stay brings news of a necessary two-week car restoration.
Will's comment "Can you believe this place?" and Lizzie's "Kill me now" lament, exemplify James' and Meg's challenge to make their spoiled adolescents appreciate David and Catherine Lutz's generosity. The couple has nine children, some close in age to the Hobart trio.
Keller imparts a cross-section of Amish cultural knowledge into the storyline. Sam excitedly experiences a school day with Eli Lutz. He learns that Amish children are formally educated only through the Eighth grade in a one-room schoolhouse. Once graduated, boys work in the fields full-time and girls contribute domestically.
Meg is aware how little the Amish display affection, except towards babies and toddlers: "But she couldn't recall seeing the adults exchange a hug or a kiss or even an unnecessary touch."
The Lutz's eldest son, Benjamin is away. At age 16, Amish children are free to leave home and explore other lifestyles before deciding to be baptized. This period is known as rumspringa.
Resolution finds the Hobarts beginning a promising new life, clearly influenced by their brief Amish encounter. As they prepare to leave the Lutz's, Meg rediscovers the North Carolina state magnet in her pants pocket. The short time with the Lutz's allowed her and her family to live that motto.
It's easy to dismiss An Amish Christmas as another feel-good story about simple living, based on the book's cover art depicting a bucolic setting and silhouette of an Amish woman in a white bonnet. Don't.
Read An Amish Christmas and find yourself evaluating your stance on issues, including forgiveness, marriage vows, and materialism. Keller's message is especially timely during this era of economic challenges, foreclosures and high unemployment.
In addition to being an entertaining, informative read, An Amish Christmas is well-written literature. To learn more about Amish culture, visit http://www.amishliving.com.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Hoot - Children-Youth Fiction Book Review
Hoot is a story about a fun adventure that has a small group of young people making positive choices. The setting for this mystery-fiction tale takes place in the state of Florida, USA. The main character, Roy, has moved regularly with his family and he is used to being the new kid in schools and neighborhoods. His previous experience helps him make new friends and ward off a big bully who singles him by stalking and harassing Roy.
This new life seems like just another cycle to Roy until he witnesses a very strange event that leads Roy and his friends on a whirlwind adventure. Young boys and girls find themselves taking on something greater than their selves or their small worlds - the very definition of a hero. Saving a few members of an endangered species from greedy building contractors is an issue dear to my heart.
I not only loved the environmental theme but truly feel the author deserves praises for creating such intelligent, well-spoken characters - especially Roy, Beatrice and the mystery boy. I was impressed by Roy's speech about schools teaching youth how ordinary individuals became a part of positive change in the world simply by doing what they believed in - which was very moving and is something teachers and parents alike will appreciate. Two of the kids in this book have a difficult home life and the awareness of how hard life is for some, may bring some discussion into classes and families.
Author Carl Hiaasen depicts a character without describing in minute detail - thus leaving the imagination of the reader to determine how a character looks. Forgivable flaws in individual characters are made so by being so human - such as the policeman who makes some serious, yet understandable, blunders.
I would recommend Hoot by Carl Hiaasen anywhere, anytime! This is a fantastic tale that youth between the ages of 7 to 13 would relate very easily to, though I believe the range of readers Hoot would appeal to would be much wider than this. I, for one, am nearly 37 and I truly enjoyed doing this review project!
Publisher: Yearling
ISBN: 0-440-41939-5
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Review - Tesseracts Twelve
Tesseracts Twelve, Claude Lalumiere (ed.), 2008, ISBN 9781894063159
This newest collection of Canadian fantastic fiction looks at the novella (17,500 to 40,000 words), the hardest-to-sell length of fiction.
In a small town in Alberta, an intact baby woolly mammoth is found buried in the snow. When Samuel, the town's "smart person," touches the carcass, the mammoth's life force is transferred to him, and he begins to have weird visions about being chased by beings on two legs. During a town-wide party, with mammoth stew as the main course (over Samuel's strong objections), strange things start happening, and several of the townspeople turn into cavemen, and chase Samuel as if he is the baby mammoth.
A young warrior, in feudal Japan, is sent to a small town to find out why they haven't sent in their annual amount of rice. Taking along his concubine and his brother, the mayor of the town says that it is not their fault; the land is somehow cursed. Solving the mystery, the warrior is shocked to find that his concubine and his brother are not exactly what they seem. They are mythological beings in human form.
Superheroes in present-day Korea deal with maniacal villains, inter-Korean politics, corporate downsizing (and overbearing mothers). As the world faces environmental catastrophe, reality-TV adventurers battle giant squids in the very deep ocean. Another small town in Alberta conducts pagan rituals during the year as if it was totally normal (though not everyone agrees). A pair of average women with the power of life and death travel the streets of present-day Montreal.
Here is another strong bunch of stories from north of the border. They are very easy to read, and very weird. It's recommended.