My niece asked on Facebook for suggestions for reading. Wooo-wee! Where do I start? What does she like? Maybe a little romance, a little vampire, fantasy, action and adventure. She has little kids so nothing that's too close to home. I've read some stories that will make your hair curl. Her hair is fine, don't want to do that to her. Something she can't put down. Now that is going to be hard. Because of course she is going to HAVE to put it down simply because the kids are going to try to get her attention... So it's gotta be something that makes sense if you have to come back to it. She didn't say it had to be fiction, so Krakauer (although that might put a wave in her hair, definitely NOT Into the Wild, but maybe Into Thin Air? Can't put it down but if you had to you could figure it out... There are just so many books and so little time. All of the Alan Bradley (Sweetness at the bottom of the pie and the like) are what Aunt Bea would pick, and all the Mary Russell books (Laurie R. King), and those are good, too. That takes us over to P. D. James and English mystery writers like Dame Agatha (Christie), but that can be a little too particular, and besides she didn't say that she liked mysteries... So. John Green's teen novels (Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, haven't read the new one but it's supposed to be good) would work but not-put-downable? Not sure about that. I loved Nancy Werlin's The Killer's Cousin. That one's kind of a psychological thriller. Am I warm yet?
I realize with a jolt how much I flippin' miss being in the library discussing books with kids. We had so much fun! It was awesome to see someone go crazy over an author and read everything he wrote. Or a particular genre so much that this guy was an authority on Science Fiction. How amazing to see kids grow and change, and BECOME and find meaning. Books and the people who read them. It's just an amazing drama, and I was privileged to be a tiny part of it. So grateful. Thanks, Kristen. Happy reading!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Phantom Limb Review
The Phantom Limb by William Sleator and Ann Monticone.
Sleator and Monticone have woven a story out of illusions. Things are not what they seem throughout the book, as is the case with many Sleator books. They begin with Isaac and his interactions with the Fizpatrick twins, who seem to take joy and pride in being as nasty as possible. Then they introduce us to Isaac's optical illusion room. Isaac finds what he calls a "mirror box" in the house in which the family (which consists of mother, grandfather, and Isaac). in researching this box he finds that it is used therapeutically for people with problems resulting from an amputation. He gets to try it out and plays with it to while away the time. Isaac's mom is in the hospital because she has developed seizures, and his grandfather seems to be suffering from dementia.
The story seems plausible given Sleator's penchant for the use of both strong science and eery interactions with what can be seen as supernatural. However, the character development is weak and one wonders whether this title was rushed to print too soon because of Sleator's death. There are unexplained situations, such as why the grandfather seems to get better through the book, why the Fitzgerald twins' (a term I hate because it seems to refer to them as a single entity, when they clearly are not) behavior is so heinous, and why Isaac's mother actually has seizures. Too many loose ends for me.
I enjoyed this book. It is a typical Sleator, and if you are a fan, will give you pleasure to read it.
Sleator and Monticone have woven a story out of illusions. Things are not what they seem throughout the book, as is the case with many Sleator books. They begin with Isaac and his interactions with the Fizpatrick twins, who seem to take joy and pride in being as nasty as possible. Then they introduce us to Isaac's optical illusion room. Isaac finds what he calls a "mirror box" in the house in which the family (which consists of mother, grandfather, and Isaac). in researching this box he finds that it is used therapeutically for people with problems resulting from an amputation. He gets to try it out and plays with it to while away the time. Isaac's mom is in the hospital because she has developed seizures, and his grandfather seems to be suffering from dementia.
The story seems plausible given Sleator's penchant for the use of both strong science and eery interactions with what can be seen as supernatural. However, the character development is weak and one wonders whether this title was rushed to print too soon because of Sleator's death. There are unexplained situations, such as why the grandfather seems to get better through the book, why the Fitzgerald twins' (a term I hate because it seems to refer to them as a single entity, when they clearly are not) behavior is so heinous, and why Isaac's mother actually has seizures. Too many loose ends for me.
I enjoyed this book. It is a typical Sleator, and if you are a fan, will give you pleasure to read it.
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