Ms. Dickinson's Purple and Gold Pick of the Week: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

In some ways it's a little bit strange to read a sundrenched summer road trip story in the middle of a very chilly January.  But in other ways, reading Morgan Matson's delightful debut Amy & Roger's Epic Detour was the breath of fresh air I needed over the cold, damp weekend.  The best part, of course, is that in Amy & Roger Matson takes the elements of a classic road trip novel and uses them to create a complex and enjoyable story about grief, loss, healing, friendship, family, and romance.

Amy does not want to go on a cross-country road trip this summer.  But her mother has decided that they're moving to Connecticut to California.  Her twin brother is in North Carolina at camp (AKA rehab) and her mother has already begun her transition to a new life on the East Coast.  But Amy and their car are still on the West Coast and now Mom demands that both of them make their way across the country to start the summer in their new home.

 What's the problem with this situation?  Since her father's sudden death a few months ago, Amy hasn't been able to get behind the wheel of a car without panicking.  The solution, it turns out, is nineteen-year-old Roger, the son of an old family friend whom Amy supposedly played with as a kid (although she definitely doesn't remember him being this attractive as a seven year old).  Roger also needs to switch coasts for the summer and has agreed to drive the car--and Amy--across the country.  It turns out that Roger has plenty of his own emotional baggage and both of them need a chance to take a detour from their lives.  Soon a simple drive becomes an unforgettable adventure as Amy discovers that getting lost in between California and Connecticut might be exactly what she needs to find her way back home. 

This novel combines several types of stories (including the roadtrip, life after the loss of a loved one, friendship evolving into love, etc) into a lovely debut novel exploring both physical geography of modern middle America and the complicated emotional geography of loss and recovery.  Amy, as our narrator, is intelligent, sarcastic, bitter, and a little bit broken and her narration is both sharply observant and emotionally conflicted.  Roger remains somewhat mysterious at first but slowly develops into a very sympathetic three-dimensional character;  the reader's understanding of Roger shifts as Amy's does, with more and more information revealed through their increasingly close friendship.  The diverse quirky cast of supporting characters add another wonderful layer to the narrative and the descriptions of the places Amy and Roger pass through on their trip are full of unique details that bring their beauty and weirdness to life.  The relationship between Amy and Roger evolves slowly and realistically and their increasingly strong bond becomes as satisfying for the reader to observe as it is for the characters to experience.  The novel also incorporates images from Amy's travel scrapbook and both characters' playlists into the regular textual narrative. 

This refreshing roadtrip of a debut novel would be a great fit for fans of quirky musical romances like David Levithan and Rachel Cohn's Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist or stories about finding love after loss, such as Jandy Nelson's The Sky is Everywhere or Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever. 

Ms. Dickinson's Purple and Gold Pick of the Week: Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories, edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant

From dirigibles to clockwork automatons, the possibilities contained within steampunk fiction are diverse and increasingly exciting. Steampunk, a subcategory blending science fiction, fantasy, and alternative history, has steadily grown in popularity over that last few decades.  Usually steampunk fiction presents a world in which steam power (rather than electricity) and technology such as clockwork machinery and airship dominate an alternative version of a 19th century American or European society.  Well known fantasy/sci-fi series that use elements from steampunk fiction include Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and the more clearly steampunk Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld and the Airborn trilogy by Kenneth Oppel.

The writers included in this thrilling collection of short stories take the ideas behind this emerging subgenre and bend, stretch, and experiment with them to create a wide range of fascinating new interpretations of steampunk fiction.  While several of the stories involve the standard steampunk trappings of foggy Victorian London and lighter-than-air ships transporting passengers attired in corsets, full skirts, and top hats through the sky, many others transport the steampunk aesthetic to less familiar settings such as alien planets, post-apocalyptic America, colonial Australia, ancient Rome, and modern Appalachia.   The tone and styles are equally diverse and the collection is a delightful mix of tragic, romantic, humourous, and eerie tales that transport the reader to varied and brilliant imagined worlds.  The collection includes two stories told in graphic novel format as well, adding another welcome layer of variety. 

Including pieces by favorite current authors such as Libba Bray, Cory Doctrow, Garth Nix, Holly Black, and M.T. Anderson, Steampunk: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories is a perfect pick for any sci-fi, fantasy, and/or steampunk fan during the busy school year!  

Ms. Dickinson's Purple and Gold Pick of the Week: Bunheads by Sophie Flack

As children, we imagine a multitude of future roles and careers for ourselves--frequently many different ones in the course of single day!  When I was in early elementary school, I wanted to be a ballerina.  It did not make a difference to me that I did not take serious ballet lessons or that I was not very interested in anything that involved serious athletic effort or ability.  I briefly took beginner dance classes, wore a pink tutu around the house, and redecorated my bedroom in baby pink with a ballet slipper pattern border (a fact I regretted for the next decade).  Although my ballet career never took off, my fascination and love for this form of dance continues.  The intense and demanding backstage world of professional ballet has always been especially interesting to me so when I heard buzz about a new novel called Bunheads, I was immediately intrigued.

Hannah Ward is not a ballerina.  Ballerinas are the big stars--the soloists in the spotlight.  Moreover, the world calls to mind fluffy pink tutus and porcelein figurines the twirl on top of music boxes. 19-year-old Hannah is a dancer in the corps de ballet in the famous Manhattan Ballet and her life is not pink or fluffy.   It's hours upon hours of hard physical work in sweaty leotards, practicing until her whole body aches.  It's living, breathing, and thinking dance every day.  Dancing has been always Hannah's only focus in life.  The theatre is her whole world;  although she moved to New York at 14 years old to study and dance at the company's academy before moving up into company, she's barely seen any of the city.  She's never had time for an outside social life--or a date.  When she meet sweet musician and NYU student Jacob, Hannah begins to discover the world beyond the stage.  But competition within the company is getting more and more intense and Hannah begins to realize that she's going to have to make a choice between her passion for dance and her longing for a normal, more diverse life. 

Bunheads does more that give readers a peek into the very separate world of professional ballet; it paints a complex and realistically conflicted picture of that world from the viewpoint of an involved insider.  The author Sophie Flack is recently retired dancer whose own path in the ballet world clearly parallels that of her protagonist.  She moved to New York study at the School of American Ballet, eventually joining the New York City Ballet as an apprentice and later a corps de ballet member.  She danced with the company for nine years, including both national and international tours.  Thanks greatly to Sophie Flack's breadth of experience in this world,  the piece manages to portray with equal clarity both the wonder and beauty passionate dancers feel about their choosen art and career and the almost superhuman emotional, physical, and mental pressures dancers work under within a professional company.  Flack works to dispell certain myths about ballet dancers (about ubiquity of eating disorders or the belovedness of The Nutcracker) while also acknowledging the harsh truths behind some of them, such as the very real strict body shape and weight requirements in most professional companies and the potential serious medical consequences for dancers who do not maintain healthy eating and exercise habits while trying to meet them. 

Hannah is a great narrator, determined and passionate about her career as a dancer but also vulnerable and concerned that her sacrifices may not be leading her to the future she might want as an adult.  Her love for and her doubts about her career as a ballet dancer come through in her narration and her coming of age story is one that both dancers and 'pedestrians' (her friends' term for non-dancers) will be able to understand.  Although the novel is filled with ballet and dance terminology, it remains completely accessible for non-dancer readers and the descriptions and explanation are integrated well into the action of the plot.  In all, Bunheads is an interesting debut novel that will appeal to bunheads and pedestrians alike!

Ms. Dickinson's Purple and Gold Pick of the Week: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Every October, the capaill uisce--water horses with a taste for flesh--begin to merge from the sea surrounding the island of Thisby. Every November, the Scorpio Races take place and riders attempt to control their deadly captured mounts long enough to cross the finish line. Some succeed. Others die. The somewhat stoic 19 year old Sean Kendrick is already a four year champion of the races but this year he's competing to earn his beloved capal uisce stallion--and his own freedom-- from his employer, the owner of the horse trading stables on the island. Kate 'Puck' Connolly has never wanted to ride in the races, especially not since her parents were killed by capaill uisce at sea a few years ago. But when her older brother declares his plan to leave Thisby and make his way on the mainland, Puck is desperate to give him a reason to stay with her and their younger brother, keeping what's left of their family together. So Puck enters the Scorpio Races with her trustworthy island pony as her mount, making her both the first female rider and the first to ride an ordinary land horse. But while both Puck and Sean are desperate to survive--and succeed--on race day, these competitors slowly develop a deep connection born of mutual respect and a shared love of the island. However, only one rider can win the Scorpio Races.
   
When I heard that Maggie Stiefvater's newest novel The Scorpio Races was going to be about dangerous, carnivorous water horses, I was intrigued and excited   When I heard Maggie herself speak about the novel, her inspiration, and the development of the story, I learned that it was about much more that fantastic mythological horses--and I was even more excited.  Fascinated since childhood by the pieces of Irish, Scottish, and Manx mythologies that describe various versions of violent, magical horses dwelling in the ocean, Maggie Stiefvater has been attempting to write this particular story for a long time.  She discussed her longtime interest and slight obsession with water horse legends and her multiple attempts to write about them when she visited D.C.'s own Politics and Prose Bookstore to kick off The Scorpio Races' publication in November.  She describes much of this process similarly on this page on her website.  Maggie is a very funny and very eloquent speaker and writer, especially when discussing the writing process and her personal journey of development as a writer.  When discussing the development of this particular novel, she noted that the piece never really came together until she realized that she adapt the water horse myth more freely and that this particular story was more about the island of Thisby and the relationship the characters have with the island than it was about the water horses.  And I believe that this very accurate observation describes the real strength of this book; reading The Scorpio Races is an absorbing experience that can transport you into a fully imagined and fully real world that manages to be simultaneously familiar and foreign.   

As Maggie discusses on her website, this novel is more about the island than the carnivorous horses (although they're also fully developed creatures).  Thisby feels very much like a real place with a clearly developed social structure, religious/spiritual life, and long held traditions, including a fully described traditional dessert.  I have always found Maggie Stiefvater's writing to be distinctly atmospheric; her Wolves trilogy wonderfully evokes the small Midwestern town and its landscape and seasons ground that particular supernatural romance in our own recognizable world.  The world of Scorpio Races   emerges even more clearly and the island is a character in its own right, equal in both value and complexity to the human characters.  By only a few chapters in, I wanted to book the next boat out to Thisby!  

However, the human characters, especially our narrators Puck and Sean, are also complex and well-drawn and their relationships with eachother, the island, their horses, and the supporting characters are equally interesting and well-crafted.  The novel is generally well paced and the final race itself is as heart-stoppingly exciting as any action scene in The Hunger Games.  There are occasional plot holes (supporting characters that appear and slip away, never to be mentioned again) but overall, the novel's otherwise rich characterization and world makes these flaws easy to overlook. 

For anyone who likes horse stories, adventure stories, romance, and/or fantasy, The Scorpio Races is a wonderful new read and a perfect book to curl up with on a snowy evening!

Curl Up With A Good Book This Winter Break!

Wow! Although it feels as if we just barely returned from Thanksgiving Break, our Winter Break is just around the corner! This short but meaningful vacation can be the ideal time for relaxation, especially through reading! As the temperatures drop and the sun sets earlier each evening, curling up on the couch or a favorite chair with a book becomes more and more appealing.  So, in hopes that you will find some time to sit back, relax, and enjoy a good book this holiday season, your librarians have pulled together a list of interesting and diverse reading options to give you a head start!

Snowflakes and Hot Cocoa Winter Break Booklist 2011

Have a lovely holiday and a joyful new year!

 

Can't Remember A Book You Heard About During A Booktalk? No Problem!

Calling all 7th and 8th graders!

The library has a public service announcement for you!

 At the request of several middle schoolers, Ms. Dickinson has put together a list of the books she has brought to 7th and 8th grade class meetings (including cover images and small summaries).  After a booktalk visit to class meeting, many middle school students come to the library asking about a book they saw but can't remember the title or author or other details.  So now if you remember that a book sounded interesting to you but you can't remember its title (and so you can't find it in our library, another library, or a book store), just take a peek at these handy lists! The lists can be downloaded from the links below; copies of the lists are also posted up on the bulletin board in the main middle school entryway, near the 7th and 8th grade mailboxes.  Remember if you want to get on the waiting list for a book, just stop by the library and talk to Ms. Dickinson!
   
7th Grade List
8th Grade List

Ms. Dickinson's Purple and Gold Pick of the Week: Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Good historical fiction can be hard to come by.  A great piece of historical fiction manages to walk a delicate balancing act, combining a solid, well-researched historical framework and a rich, engrossing story.  In good historical novels, the authors manage to transport the reader into another time, place, and culture through accurate historical details and good old-fashioned character development; they must delicately craft a good, readable story out of historical facts, keeping just the right amount of 'history' and 'fiction' to satisfy a diverse group of readers. Since great historical fiction can sometimes be rare, it is especially satisfying when you stumble upon a great new historical novel like Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter!

Cleopatra Selene has always known exactly whom she was: princess of Egypt, daughter of the brilliant Queen Cleopatra and General Marcus Antonius, and a great queen in the making.  Growing up within the palace in the culturally and intellentually diverse city of Alexandria, Cleopatra Selene and her brothers learn multiple languages, chase eachother through the stacks of the great Library, attend special celebrations and dinners, and play Roman and Egyptian games.  But then Octavianus, new leader of Rome, decides that he wants Egypt's many riches for his own developing empire and begins a fresh war against Cleopatra Selene's parents and beloved country.  Suddenly everything and everyone Cleopatra Selene has ever known and loved is destroyed and she and her young brothers are shipped off to Rome, to live as prisoners in the household of Octavianus, the very man who ruined their family.  However, although she's living a disgraced princess in exile, Cleopatra Selene refuses to forget her destiny: she will be queen of Egypt and fulfill her duty to the goddess Isis and to the people of Egypt--no matter what the cost.  Living in the heart of enemy territory, Cleopatra Selene must endure heartbreak and confusion as she struggles to choose between romance and power in her quest to live up to (and perhaps beyond) her mother's example.

Cleopatra's Moon fits my personal definition of good historical fiction perfectly; Shecter has seamlessly combined historical facts, cultural details, and good old-fashioned storytelling to create a rich and addictive novel.  Using Cleopatra Selene's very aware and distinct voice, Shecter brings to life the varied worlds of ancient Alexandria and Rome, clearly displaying a vast amount of research but never overburdening the plot with dry facts or trivia.  The characters, especially the determined and unsinkable Cleopatra Selene, are full developed and incredibly interesting; you might start this novel because of an interest in ancient history or epic drama but you will stick around for the rich characters.  The story is a excellent balance of action, romance, and emotional highs and lows that will keep you turning pages.  Shecter also provides a helpful character directory at the beginning and a fascinating "Facts Within The Fiction" section that summarizes the historical facts about real situations and people on which she based the novel. 

For a fresh new heroine and an exciting tale full of intrigue, tragedy, romance, and triumph, swing by the library and snag our copy of Vicky Avear Shecter's great historical novel,  Cleopatra's Moon, now on display in our fiction section!