A Fairy Tale with a Twist

Falling In by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Falling In is something a little different from the Frances O'Roark Dowell books I have read thus far. While I enjoyed reading it, and the mystery surrounding much of the story, there was a certain unease that plagued me throughout, a niggle of dissatisfaction. The Secret Language of Girls and its successor, The Kind of Friends We Used To Be were both straight forward yet fascinating explorations of friendship and its ability to withstand the traumas of growing up. Falling In has a darker edge to it, mimicking the feel of the fairy tales with which it plays.

Isabelle Bean is a misfit if ever there was one. The story opens with Isabelle becoming entirely focussed on a buzzing sound only she seems to hear. She follows it and finds herself in an alternate reality, a reality with rules of its own. As Isabelle learns about and explores this new environment, we meet an extraordinary cast of characters. We discover a society ruled by fear, children fending for themselves as they seek to escape an evil revenge-seeking witch. Isabelle, coming in from the outside, lacks the fear and goes off in search of said witch.

Dowell creates a Grimms brothers atmosphere of apprehension. This is no simple happily ever after tale. We wonder about the witch and if she will be found and defeated; we wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Underlying the fairy tale is a story of a mother and her daughter, the story of a daughter and her mother. What happens to a mother who loses her daughter? How does a girl learn to mother when she has grown up alone? Can the wounds ever heal? Going beyond the usual scope of the fairy tale, Dowell probes these questions. Dowell gives us something to chew on, if we are so inclined.

Recommended for children 9 to 12 years old, Falling In challenges some commonly held, fairy tale derived views on witches and legend with just enough of the spooky to thrill this age group.

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A Mindful Story

Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just finished reading Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin. Twelve year old Jason Blake tells his own story, from his own perspective. Jason writes the story he cannot speak; he writes what he feels but cannot communicate. Through Jason's story, we gain insight and understanding into a world that is at once our own and not our own.

In grade three, Jason's quirks were diagnosed as Autism Spectrum Disorder. Jason has had several different therapists and aides throughout the years. He has learned what people expect of him in different situations. He knows that people like it when you look them in the eye, and that sometimes, they are waiting for an answer. Even though it is very difficult for him, he tries to follow the rules. He tries to do what people want.

There is only one place where Jason can freely express himself. The Storyboard website. This is where Jason posts his stories. This is where people read and respond to his stories. This is where people can really see Jason, because they cannot see him.

What happens when his two worlds collide shows us how our immediate perceptions can often blur the reality. We can be blinded by appearances, and are often unable to see beyond them to the human being inside.

As a parent, the relationships between Jason and his parents intrigue me the most. They love him so much. He loves them but cannot tell them, cannot show them how he feels. Seeing how hard it is for Jason, and how much harder for his parents, actually made me cry.

This window into Jason's world offers us mindful views onto a rich and beautiful landscape. It reminds us that we can never truly know what is going on inside our children's minds. It reminds us that we must always try to attune to our children, to connect with them, and to accept them for who they are.

Anything but Typical is a wonderful story for Sunday, or any day. I hope to carry its message with me in my dealings with my own children this week.

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The Fates Will Find Their Way

The Fates Will Find Their Way: A Novel by Hannah Pittard

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I won this book as part of The Saavy Reader Book Club and I am very grateful. While it is not my usual reading material, The Fates Will Find Their Way was an interesting experience.

Told by the boys who were left behind without closure, The Fates Will Find Their Way is the story of a young girl who mysteriously disappears. There seem to be few clues to her disappearance and its weight hangs over the community. The boys in her class gather the fleeting clues and weave them this way and that to create answers. Over the course of twenty years these boys, now men, ponder, and sometimes obsess over, what became of her. They hold the hope of her escape alive even as they marry and raise daughters of their own.

This storyline had the potential to be the kind of disturbing that keeps me up at night. However, it wasn't and it didn't. Somehow, as preposterous as it sounds, the boys' imaginings kept the underlying subject matter at bay. Maybe that it why they did it, to help themselves sleep at night.

I kept thinking to myself as I read this book, "but, it is written by a woman". In many ways, it is such a guy book, with male mentality and ridiculousness. For me, though, the parts of the story that really came alive were the images of what this girl's life might be. What might she be doing now? Answering that question and vividly protraying it as Pittard does, takes the eyes and wisdom of a woman.

The Fates Will Find Their Way is an interesting read that seems, at least for me, to battle the male and female voices and experiences.



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A Medley of Reading

I started this year and this blog with excellent intentions.  My goal was to blog review each of the 50 books I would, ideally, read in 2011.  As is often the case, I began with great gusto - and then I fell behind.  This morning I realized that I have read 15 books but only reviewed 9!  In an effort to catch up, and to allow you to see what I have been reading, I have compiled the following very, very brief reviews.  Enjoy - I did!


Love, Magic, and Mudpies: Raising Your Kids to Feel Loved, Be Kind, and Make a Difference by Bernie Seigel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Easy to digest short pieces of parenting advice given with stories and a good dose of humour.



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Arranged by Catherine McKenzie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


McKenzie gives us a fun light romantic comedy. An adventure into the realm of finding a marriage partner in the most unlikely of places.



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Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Rise of the Eveeing Star is somewhat darker than the first Fablehaven book, as is often the case in a series. But still magical and full of hope.



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Sea Change by Aimee Friedman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I cannot believe I read this. I was hoping for some ocean magic and fantasy. I got a teen romance! Not that I didn't like it, it was just not what I was expecting, nor what I normally read.



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Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Lessons in Life

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I would love to say that Cindrella Ate My Daughter is a must-read for every parent. I really enjoyed the book but I do have a special interest in "girl/media" issues. Even so, I found my brain going in circles. Orenstein kept going back and forth through her arguments and investigations. I must say, I was thoroughly confused at points, as was she. In the end, and the reason why parents should be aware of the issues raised in the book, Orenstein concludes that we should be thinking parents. Each parent will make decisions base on his/her own perspective, but they should be informed and educated decisions. Above all, parents need to know their child and keep the lines of communication open.

Discussing everything girl from dolls to beauty pageants, Orenstein gets a close up look at girl culture. Orenstein speaks to experts, to parents and to girls themselves. She probes into their thoughts, habits and opinions. And though we would like to have some black and white irrefutable answers and stances, this is an impossible request. Every single girl is an individual with individual needs. Therefore, what might be right and clear for one girl, will not necessarily be so for another.

Due to my passion for issues surrounding girls and the media, I have sent time in the past thinking about, reading about and discussing many of the issues Orenstein tackles. One issue, however, had completely escaped my radar. The internet. Orenstein shows us how girls and boys use the internet and technology differently. How it affects the way they interact with each other, even when they are face-to-face! I was distressed to hear of a young girl sitting at the computer upstairs while her friend sat at the one downstairs. Their interaction consisting of playing the same game online against each other. I was shocked when Orenstein reported that girls prefer to play "dolls" online through the doll website games to playing with actual dolls. Online, for safety reasons, the dolls have very limited creative play options as all dialogue, etc. is canned. My children emjoyed hours and hours of imaginative, creative, hands-on play. This type of play gave them outlets for role playing a huge variety of situations but also gave them thinking and social skills. I would not trade it for anything.

Cinderella Ate Mt Daughter is a fascinating and informative read. Orenstein really covers the gamut of issues faced by young girls today. She reminds us that we cannot navigate this path of parenthood blindly. We MUST be thinking and involved parents.



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Still Alice - Read and Be Changed

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I sat in on an author chat with Lisa Genova a while ago and knew I wanted to read her work. I also knew that I wanted to start with Still Alice. And, further, I knew that it would upset me.



I started reading Still Alice a week or so ago and put it down after two pages. I just couldn't read it yet. Already, I was getting that tight, apprehensive feeling. A few days later, I tried again. I got further into the story and was hooked. Every page hurt, and almost every chapter had me crying but I needed to know what would happen, how Alice would cope.



Genova's language is clear and real and engaging. You feel that you are there, right inside Alice's mind with her. When Alice is disoriented, you are too. It is so scary, so agonizing.



Aside from the incredible depiction and sensitivity she pays to the Alzheimer's patient, Genova creates relationships that resonate. What initially upset me, in those first two pages, was the relationship between Alice and John. The tension and emotion felt so true, so present. She had me thinking of my own marriage, how we drift closer and farther apart and closer again, almost like the tides. Throughout the book, I mourned that relationship and so wanted my husband to read the book, just to see the dynamic. It was also fascinating and empowering to watch the relationships between Alice and her adult children develop.



As a story told from the perspective of the Alzheimer's patient, Still Alice is a true character study. I knew this story would affect me; and it did. It reminded me that we must celebrate and enjoy the relationships with which we are blessed. We need to take the time to really see, to really hear, to really feel. We need to respect each person's uniqueness and choose paths that strengthen more frequently than those that destroy.



I am so happy that I read this book, even though, the tears flowed freely throughout.





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I have reached Number 10!

As I coloured in my box for book #10, I read "you're doing great!" on my chart.

A milestone gives us an opportunity to reflect on the process.  How did we get here?  How is the journey going?

I have to say that I am enjoying this journey in many ways.  It is challenging me, not only to read a significant number of books, but also to read a variety of types of books. 

Putting myself and my challenge "out there" has provided some unexpected results. 

First and most dramatic, has been that I have entered some contests and been the lucky recipient of four books over the past six weeks.  If I got the book, then I have  a responsibility to read and review it, right?.  Ok, so I have read 3 adult books (and have another waiting).  In six weeks, that is a lot!  The pressure to review is also there as this could well be a source for more free books in the future.  I love the reviewing aspect but am finding it a bit of a challenge with the adult books, as I read so few of them.  The focus is different than with children's and young adult books.

Also, I feel a responsibility to chart our progress and also to write up the books I read.  I was inspired this week when a friend of mine told me that she was getting a couple of the books I had reviewed for her kids to read.  Knowing that someone is reading this and USING it gives me a huge push to keep up with myself!  Especially as my aim is to get kids, and adults, reading, thinking and loving it!

The other thing that has happened with my personal reading is that I am motivated to complete a book.  This comes through mostly on the non-fiction side as I often read much of a parenting book and then let it lapse - how much non-fiction can a person truly read?  Over the past six weeks, I have completed the 2 non-fiction titles I have attempted and am working my way through the third.  The 'write up' aspect of the project brings an interesting perspective here.  I did the review for Letters to Juliet but have not yet been able to write one for the parenting book I read.  The act of writing the review is giving me pause to think that maybe I should really reflect on the book.  How does what I read affect my life?  Is there any wisdom that I can take into my personal parenting life?  As you know, it is one thing to read; another to apply.  Why is it so much easier with fiction?

As far as the kids are concerned:

My eldest is reading away.  Never have I seen him read such a variety of books - and complete them!  He has finished book 6 and is halfway through book 7 (a book he has started svereal times in the past!). 

My older daughter is in the middle of Inkheart.  If not for the challenge, I don't think she would finish it.  She was feeling discouraged as it is such a long book and she is taking too long to read it (meaning she is off schedule for 1 book per week).  I told her it could count as 2  books.  And so, she keeps reading - loving it, I might add.  To complicate matters further, life is a bit busy for her at the moment as her school play is in three weeks and the practice schedule is ridiculous!

My younger daughter has finished book 3, a book she is using for her school scrapbook book report.  She needs to really know and delve into the book and doesn't want to lose track of it while she is working on the project.  Therefore, she won't read anything else until the report is handed in in March!  I told her that since she should probably read it more than once, she would be able to count it again for the book challenge.  What could I do?  Obviously, I support the depth and fully understand the need to keep things straight and clear.  Meanwhile, the book report is coming along nicely and her understanding is deeper for it.

My younger son (almost 7) is having a harder time as he much prefers running around and irritating his siblings to reading.  But, he proudly coloured 3 boxes on his chart this past Saturday night.  He gets 4 'readers' each week in english and 1 in french.  I told him that if he reads me each of those 5 books twice during the week that he could count it as one - he misunderstood:)

Let's not forget the husband!  He did not sign up for the challenge at the beginning because he is way too busy making money to get through one book, let alone 50!  Well, he caught the bug from the rest of us and has completed two books so far!

So, here we all are at a total of 29 (31, if you count my youngest's add-ons) books after 6 weeks.  It is an educational journey thus far.  I look forward to continued growth and learning for all of us.  Thank you for accompanying me on this voyage.  I can't wait to hear if anyone has taken up the challange and/or what books you have been reading lately!  Please comment and let me know, and most of all, happy reading!