The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alan will be teaching middle school in the fall and has been reading YA and children's novels to familiarize himself with what books are out there to recommend to his future students. I went to the library for him and came home with a stack of a dozen that I had loved, including Sherman Alexie's novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Alan and I both had read it a couple years ago and loved it. We had agreed Isaac was too young to read it because of the content, but time made these instances in the novel fuzzy in my mind. I told Alan I'd reread it to see if it'd make the cut.

. This novel is such a great read. It's the story of Junior, an Indian boy who lives the reservation to go to school in an all-white school. Junior is the classic underdog character, but tells his tale with wit. The book is both very funny and very sad, bringing out a range of feelings, which I love in a novel. Call me strange, but I like a little melancholy sprinkled into a humorous book. I also love the way it delves into the complex race relations between whites and Indians. I walked away from the book the first time feeling like I truly learned how someone out there feels and that is a testament to the power of rich, well-written characters. It is no wonder that this novel won the National Book Award.

What-the-Dickens

When it comes to finding good children's or YA novels, my friend Carmen is a great source for recommendations. We were talking a week or so ago about our boys losing teeth and she mentioned a book she'd recently read, Gregory Maguire's What-the-Dickens: The Story of A Rogue Tooth Fairy. If she didn't offer to lend me her copy, I'd likely have waited, quite possibly for years, before picking it up. Instead, I read it fairly fast, considering I was also reading three other books and only dipping into this novel occasionally.

It's a cute story of a tale a boy tells his three cousins on a dark night to distract them from a terrible storm and their parents' disappearance. The tale is about an orphaned skibbereen, who comes to be called What-the-Dickens. As he fumbles around trying to find his place in the world, he meets an owl, a cat, a tiger, and Pepper, another skibbereen who is a tooth fairy. What-the-Dickens doesn't understand the many rules that govern the skibbereen, including that they work alone and are not to be seen by humans. Pepper belongs to a colony of skibbereen (there are other colonies with strong rivalries between the different tribes) and introduces What-the-Dickens to this world.

I'd never read anything by Gregory Maguire, the man who made his fame from writing Wicked. I did like his writing style and he did a good job letting the story unfold and bringing it back full circle. I've heard so much hype about Wicked that I may have to check it out (eventually) now that I have read something charming Maguire wrote that didn't receive as much acclaim.

The Tiger's Wife

I meant to read Téa Obreht's novel when it first came out as it received so much attention. Shortly after, my friend Lenae read it for one of her book clubs. She's very intelligent and I respect her opinion so I asked what she thought. She told me The Tiger's Wife was good, but that though she loved parts of the novel, other parts she wasn't crazy for. Basically her recommendation was to read it because it was worthwhile and a good story, but she also couldn't say rush out and do so right away. It wasn't until I read that the novel received this year's Orange Prize that I finally picked it up.

The Tiger's Wife is set in a Balkan country recovering from a war and is told from the perspective of Natalia, a young doctor. Her grandfather has recently died and she reflects on his death and the stories he told her about "the deathless man." There is another story he failed to tell her, the story of the tiger's wife. I was absolutely enthralled by the stories of the tiger's wife and deathless man, but the story of Natalia didn't as much interest me. Obreht's writing is beautiful and the intrigue for these other stories was so great that I continued to turn the pages, but I thought Natalia's story largely fell flat. Looking at the book as a whole though, it is quite extraordinary, the way the stories are woven together, all embracing themes of death, war, myth and storytelling. As I'm reflecting on it all, fumbling for my final words of recommendation or not, I can't help but think Lenae's assessment was perfect-- The Tiger's Wife is a very worthwhile novel, but not one in which I'd recommend with zeal. It's the kind of book to put on that ever-growing list of books you have to get to one of these days.

The Cider House Rules

A while back, I mentioned that I was reading a book that was too good to put down entirely, but too slow to continuously read. I was reading short books for a while and flipping back and forth, before setting it down. Eventually though, I did want to finish John Irving's novel, The Cider House Rules. I know the book was turned into a movie that received much critical acclaim, but I had never seen it. (I have it on hold at the library and will soon.) I had purchased a copy of the novel used because everything I've read by John Irving has been good (The World According to Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and A Widow for One Year). My copy doesn't have a plot description on the back, but I knew I could count on Irving to deliver a wonderful story told with complex characters, humor, and imagination. Even though it's been years since I read his other books, I can remember a surprising amount with vividness--which is why even though I finished this book weeks ago, I knew there was little risk of my not being able to remember it with clarity.

At its core, the novel is about the personal journey of Homer Wells, an orphan who is never adopted. But the power of Irving's work is its depth. I loved how even its primary setting, St. Cloud's orphanage, is almost its own character. St. Cloud's is an orphanage that also offers abortions, which are illegal at the time the novel takes place. (It begins in the 1920s and ends about 30 years later.) The doctor at St. Cloud's, Dr. Larch, becomes attached to Homer and teaches him everything he knows about delivering babies and performing abortions. When faced with disposing of an aborted fetus, Homer decides he is morally opposed to abortion and refuses to help Dr. Larch. When he has the opportunity to flee St. Cloud's, he does and that's really when his personal journey begins. I really enjoyed the beautiful novel and had the satisfaction of having it end exactly the way I wanted it to. I'm refraining from a universal recommendation, however, as I know the abortion issue is something that people can have strong, negative feelings about. I think what's remarkable though about tackling a social issue in a novel is that a true writer does not include judgment, only observation--which means Irving offers the reader a portrait of the issue in its many shades of grey.

This Is How...

I'm a fan of Augusten Burroughs and was excited to hear he had a new book out. When I heard the title--This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike--I was pretty sure it was a joke. Alan read the book first, thinking the same thing. "I'm pretty sure he's serious," he said after reading the first chapter. After he finished, I picked it up and indeed, it is actually a self help book, a perceptive and intelligent one at that.

Burroughs has been through a lot so he can empathize about many of the issues he covers in the book. Others (such as "How to Let a Child Die") he doesn't have experience in, yet still manages to offer some insightful advice. One of the most interesting is "How to End Your Life" in which he argues that suicide does not accomplish what it is meant to and that far more effective is to walk away from your life, leave and start over. He actually did this and adopted a new name, Augusten Burroughs, and freed himself from his past. Like I said, a lot of it comes from a place that he visited so it seems like he really knows what he's talking about. It is an interesting book, at times funny, and gives you alternate perspectives to consider. If you're looking for a good self help book, check it out.

The Girl's Guide to Homelessness

A couple of weeks ago my brother and his girlfriend came to visit, which is always reason to rejoice. I adore them both and I love talking to them, especially his girlfriend who is an avid reader. I had a blast sitting with her one afternoon, comparing notes on books and giving each other recommendations. I made a list of ones that she recommended and plan to read them all, but the first I picked up was Brianna Karp's The Girl's Guide to Homelessness.

This book is a memoir about Brianna's life and her struggle with homelessness. She was not the typical homeless person since she possessed a cell phone, laptop, and trailer, but as she argues, it doesn't make her experience any less real. She admits she had it easier than most, but still she struggled tremendously. The story is not only about her homelessness, but also her family's mental illness. I cared about Brianna almost immediately and was amazed with her level head and lack of anger or self pity. Here's a young woman that has every right to be angry and she doesn't seem that way at all. The book is worth checking out (so is her website ) because it really is an incredible story.

Big Girl Small

It's taking a lot of self control to not file this post under recommended books, but I'm trying to keep that label as books that could have universal appeal and Rachel DeWoskin's Big Girl Small can at times be crude, possibly offensive to some people. That said, I absolutely loved this book! After listening to Starters I was looking for another Playaway and this one jumped out at me. Not the title, which I don't particularly like, but the spine and author's first name. (Silly, I know.) I listened to about a third of it before the Playaway broke--Arrg!--which I've since learned happens often to these new devices. Therefore, I had to wait two agonizing weeks to find out what happened to the unforgettable Judy Lohden.

Judy Lohden is a person of short stature (more commonly, though derogatorily called a midget). She begins a new arts high school where her amazing singing voice makes a big splash. She's hiding out in a seedy motel following something that happened that is not revealed until the ending. She meets a man there who listens to her tale which she begins with her arrival at the high school. Judy is absolutely hilarious and an extremely lovable character, one I came to care about intensely. After I read it, I strongly encouraged (aka pestered) Alan to read it and he too found it funny, though also disturbing. I can't get into that without revealing too much, but I should at least acknowledge that yes, this book is not only funny, but also disturbing and sad. But that's one of the reasons I love it so much--its complexity and its ability to both delight and shock the reader. I'm looking forward to checking out more of Rachel DeWoskin's work. A glance at her website shows what an interesting person she is and obviously a very talented young woman. You'll likely see me writing about another one of her books sometime in the future.

A Wedding in Haiti

A while back I was hungry for Julia Alvarez's work and when I found Something to Declare I saw that she also had a new book coming out and I immediately put it on hold with absolutely no idea what it was about. Her new book, called A Wedding in Haiti, is an account of two trips she made to Haiti, one before and the other after the earthquake. She and her husband bought a coffee farm in the Dominican Republic and the story she tells centers on her friendship with one of the workers, a young man from Haiti who came to her home country illegally to work. Julia promises him that she will attend his wedding someday and then goes to fulfill her promise. The book is the story of this friendship and her travels, but also is a reflection on the complexities and tragic history of Haiti. Fans of Alvarez will enjoy it (her prose is just so charming!) but it's not something that I'd tell most people to run out and read as I doubt the book would have wide appeal.

Home

When I found out Toni Morrison had a new book out, I put it on hold. I picked it up and it looked interesting, but I had other books to read that were tugging harder at my interest than Home. Then, I noticed on Monday that the book was due today and I couldn't renew it, as someone had a hold on it. (Or more likely, many someones.) Normally, the suggestion of reading a Morrison book in a couple days would seem laughable, but Home is her shortest work yet. I flipped through the slim book and saw blank pages and knew it was a possible feat.

Home is the story of Frank Money, a solider who returns home from the Korean War. He must confront his past (both his childhood and the trauma of the war) as he tries to find his place back home. Here in America his younger sister has experienced her own trauma and Frank is desperate to rescue her. The prose is breathtaking, as everything by Toni Morrison tends to be. All the hype about her writing is well-deserved; she really is that good. Home is a more accessible book than some of her other novels and not as striking, but a worthwhile read nonetheless.

Wonder

My mom bought my oldest R.J. Palacio's novel Wonder a couple months ago. She found it at  Wonderland, our city's only independent book store. The owner there is great and she highly recommended the book. 

Wonder is the story of a child named August (Auggie) who was born with a severe facial deformity. His parents have home-schooled him to protect him from the unkindness of other kids, but decide he should attend a mainstream school when he is in fifth grade. The novel is a chronicle of this year--not only through the eyes of Auggie, but his family and peers. You come to care deeply about Auggie almost immediately in the first couple pages, which creates a drive to find out what will happen to him. Entertainment Weekly described it as a "page-turner" and at first I thought that was a bit of a stretch, but my son couldn't put it down, begging each night to stay up longer to keep reading. So yes, it really is that good. It is one of those books that makes you a little kinder and richer from having read it. In other words, a book everyone should read.

On the book tour, R.J. Palacio (right) met an 8th grade boy with a similar medical condition as Auggie's.

Hope's Edge

In April, I mentioned how I read Diet for a Hot Planet in anticipation for seeing Anna Lappé at at food workshop/conference. I didn't know then what an interesting person Anna is and what kind of fascinating stories she can tell. She gave two talks and after her second someone in the audience asked if she was drawing from her new book for the talks. I knew the second talk was all Diet for a Hot Planet, and she explained the first talk was derived from the book she wrote with her mother, Frances Moore Lappé, Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet. 

Hope's Edge tells stories of food revolutions around the world. Frances and Anna visited the San Francisco Bay Area to see how prison and school programs incorporating vegetable gardening improved the life of their participants, Brazil to see the Landless Workers' Movement, Bangladesh to learn more about the Grameen (microcredit) Bank, India to witness food scarcity, Kenya to learn about the Green Belt Movement, France and back to America. One of the themes is the true cost of cheap food and the issues of fair trade. It is an incredible book full of inspiring stories about people who have faced hopeless situations and yet rose up and did what seemed impossible-- for example, a woman who was told she could not help plant trees in Kenya turning around and training a force of women who would go on to plant 20 million. This book reiterates the idea that there is no such thing as a shortage of food, but shortage of democracy. The earth can produce enough food to feed the world, the problem lies in the allocation of the earth's resources. But the book goes a step forward and shows what people are able to accomplish when they are pushed to hope's edge.