Review: Okay for Now

Okay for Now--Gary D. Schmidt

August 2011 by Clarion Books

360 pages--Goodreads

As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt. 

As Doug struggles to be more than the "skinny thug" that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer--a fiery young lady who "smelled like daisies would smell if they were growing in a big field under a clearing sky after a rain." In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a whole town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon's birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. 

In this stunning novel, Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival.

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It's rare that a book can make me cry and laugh on the same page.  I can't tell you how many times I gasped aloud or giggled or teared up (which was bad because I was driving and listening to the audiobook) while reading the book.  And there were actual tears coming down my face as I finished the book.  I put off lesson planning, I put off sleep just so I could finish this book.  It is beautiful.  Just as The Wednesday Wars ties in Shakespeare plays to Holling's life, Okay for Now weaves Audobon's bird paintings into Doug's.  The noble pelican, the terrified eye, the mother bird looking into the distance.  

As a character, Doug is real.  Doug's reactions are genuine, even annoying when he lashes out like a jerk or a thug.  That's how Doug would react.  He has parts of his father in him, mostly sayings and phrases that he has internalized.  Even if he breaks the cycle of abuse, he is still partly his father.  All the other characters are multidimensional too.  Schmidt humanizes almost every single one of them.  Even the bully brother and the bully gym teacher became real people with both light and dark inside them.

The abuse was handled, well, I can't say beautifully because it is not a beautiful thing, but artfully maybe.  It is never stated directly that Doug's father is abusive, is alcoholic, beats his family.  Everything is implied.  And I loved that.  When it happens in real life, abuse is never talked about, even though everyone knows.  Schmidt conveys that through his writing style.  

The title fits the book perfectly.  Will things get better for Doug?  Maybe not.  Maybe they will get much worse.  But for now he is okay.

Part adorkable (the puffins!), part heartbreaking, Okay for Now is a beautiful book that I will definitely come back to again.  Congratulations, Mr. Schmidt.  You have been added to my "I will read anything you publish" list.

Review: Sold by Patricia McCormick

Sold--Patricia McCormick
September 2006 by Disney Hyperion
263 pages--Goodreads

Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school, and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family’s crops, Lakshmi’s stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.

He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at “Happiness House” full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.

An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family’s debt—then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.

Lakshmi’s life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother’s words— Simply to endure is to triumph—and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision—will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?

Written in spare and evocative vignettes, this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs.

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Sold is an unexpected gem.  Kudos to McCormick for managing to take on such a difficult subject as sex trafficking in a realistic way without making me feel uber depressed.  We see everything that happens to Lakshmi without it becoming gratuitous.  We see the victimization, the drugging, the violence, the disease, the crushing social stigmas, the hopelessness, and the hope.  This book is real.  I come away from this book feeling like I know Laksmi's home life.  I know her life in Calcutta.  I know the other girls in the brothel.  The whole book just feels real.

I couldn't even bring myself to hate Mumtaz.  She's definitely the villain, but she's not demonized.  I wish McCormick had given her a back story.  I imagine she herself was sold when she was young and is just as trapped in this life as the other girls.

I cannot express how much I love the scenes with Monica.  I love her character.  I love how sharp she is on the outside to protect the teddy-bear-holding child on the inside.  I love her conversation with Lakshmi about their reasons for staying at the brothel.  Ignoring the fact that they cannot leave, they cling to the last shred of dignity this life leaves them.  Monica proclaims she is paying her daughter's school fees and Lakshmi tells of the tin roof she will buy for her family.  This life has torn everything from them, but they hold some small pride in order to survive.  I hate but recognize the reality that Monica is forced to return to the brothel when her family casts her out.  Prostitution is the only life society has left for her.  And when she leaves the brothel because she has contracted AIDS, we never hear about her again because we can never know what happened to this girl who slipped through the cracks of an unjust world.

Even though Sold is a short novel, it is just the right length for the story it tells.  The audio book is excellent, but now that I realize the book is written in verse, I wish I had read it in print. This is a beautiful novel.  It is a realistic portrayal of a horrible life that is still hopeful and appropriate for young adult readers.  Though, it's probably too much for most middle graders.

Book Pet Peeves

We all have things that get on our nerves in books and movies and things.  Here are my peeves.  What are yours?  

This really was the best thumbnail Youtube could come up with.  Lame.

Books and Movies and Things Mentioned:

Wings--Aprilynne Pike

The Hunger Games--Suzanne Collins

Eyes Like Stars--Lisa Mantchev

Clockwork Angel--Cassandra Clare

Entwined--Heather Dixon

Hush, Hush--Becca Fitzpatrick

Twilight--Stephanie Meyer

Strands of Bronze and Gold--Jane Nickerson

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Carousel 

Brave

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym--Edgar Allan Poe

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea--Jules Verne

Cinder--Marissa Meyer

Seraphina--Rachel Hartman

Harry Potter--J.K. Rowling

The Last Think I Remember--Andrew Klaven

Goose Girl--Shannon Hale

The False Prince--Jennifer A. Nielsen

Anything written by Brandon Sanderson

Review: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

Strands of Bronze and Gold--Jane Nickerson
March 2013 by Random House Children's Books
352 pages--Goodreads

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.

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If you're not already familiar with this book or the Bluebeard fairytale, this review will be a bit spoilery.   The story is excellently creepy, but is even creepier if you don't know what to expect.  You have been warned; read on at your own peril.

Strands of Bronze and Gold is no horror or thriller novel.  It is a slow burn, but the gradual  reveal of Monsieur Bernard's true self is excellently written.  He's perfectly charming, then he makes us a bit uneasy, then a few things are out of place but mostly okay, then it's worse, then it's just wrong, but by then there's no escape and I'm sitting on the couch almost feeling nauseous about how bad things have gotten.  

Nickerson writes an abusive relationship very well.  From almost the first chapter almost every warning flag I'm aware of begins popping up.  Bernard isolates Sophia from her loved ones.  He makes her feel indebted to him.  He makes her financially dependent on him.  He lashes out and then apologizes.  He threatens to harm her family if she leaves.  She at first rationalizes his behavior then sees no way of escape.  The emotional, psychological, and eventually physical abuse is so well written, it is almost painful to read.  After finishing the novel, I was emotionally drained.  Abuse is not something I particularly enjoy reading about, but it needs to be talked about.  Bravo to Nickerson for such a good portrayal.  

One thing that did bug me about the abuse was at the end of the novel Sophie explains Bernard's abusive behavior by saying he must have been mentally unstable.  I agree that something has gone very wrong in the minds of abusers, but it can't always be excused by mental illness.  A lot of it, especially for Monsieur Bernard, is a culture of domination and absolute power.  Most abusers aren't born broken; they are raised to abuse.

I love how Nickerson wove slavery and the Southern setting into the fairy tale.  Bernard has had complete control over other people all his life.  He dehumanizes them to justify his treatment of them.  These behaviors and justifications then translate to his treatment of Sophie.  Make no mistake though, this is not a book about slavery.  It does not examine racism or racial privilege.  And that's okay with me.  I don't think every book involving a black character has to be a philosophical examining of all the sociocultural implications.  This is Sophie's and Bernard's story and no one else's.  

Nickerson does use a bit of deus ex machina to resolve the climax.  I know the devise is set up early on and alluded to several times throughout the novel, but it still feels like a too convenient and coincidental solution..

I can't say Strands of Bronze and Gold was a delight to read, because abuse is never enjoyable to read about.  But it was well written and an excellent novel.  A slow burning Southern gothic with painfully creepy undertones.  And the cover is shiny.  

Review: Half the Sky by Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Half the Sky--Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
2008 by Knopf
294 pages--Goodreads

From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.

They show how a little help can transform the lives of women and girls abroad. That Cambodian girl eventually escaped from her brothel and, with assistance from an aid group, built a thriving retail business that supports her family. The Ethiopian woman had her injuries repaired and in time became a surgeon. A Zimbabwean mother of five, counseled to return to school, earned her doctorate and became an expert on AIDS.

Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.

Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen.

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I read Half the Sky after watching the documentary of the same title on PBS a month or two ago.  It was a surprisingly compelling read.  The oppression of and violence toward women and the huge problems in the world are not subjects I really want to read about, but the Kristof and WuDunn spend the majority of the book on the stories of individual women.  I wanted to know how these stories resolved, so I rarely wanted to put the book down.  Half the Sky was a good mix of stories about individuals and information about organizations you can support financially or volunteer with.  The book definitely has an agenda and a bias, but I felt like they did a good job of addressing the issues with a decent amount of objectivity.   They represented the complexity of each issue, frankly acknowledging that there is no easy fix for any of these problems, but still make you feel able to help.  The book focused on sex slavery, education, maternal health, and violence against women.

The book was very effective in its progression.  We learn about a teenaged girl who is raped with a stick and develops a fistula (a hole in her vaginal canal into her rectum or bladder).  We dwell on that horribleness for a little while.  Then we learn that those kinds of injuries are sustained all the time in childbirth because mother's don't get the proper medical attention or even help from a trained midwife.  The injustice is heightened and we want to do something to change the situation.

In any book like this, we run into the conundrum of respecting other cultures' beliefs and practices while at the same time standing up for what is right.  They did a good job of, for the most part, describing things that most people would agree are not cultural things but universal human rights violation, such as the lack of prenatal care and medical services to lessen maternal mortality.  The  spent a small amount of time on female genital cutting and mentioned head scarves (head scarves are not inherently oppressive, but a matter of modesty), which are more culturally loaded.  Though one of authors is Chinese American, both authors are American, so the book is written from a Western perspective.   I don't think that discredits or invalidates the book.  Half the Sky is still draws awareness to the issues, even if the stories are told by someone outside the problem.

My main criticism of the book is that it ignores violence discrimination against women in the United States, where we are far more likely to be able to have an impact.  I understand that they wanted to focus on the developing world, but ignoring the domestic abuse that happens in our own neighborhoods felt like a gross oversight.  

Overall, it was a very good read.  I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.  Though the subject matter is disturbing, they did a good job of presenting it tastefully.