I really enjoyed this book! It's like the movie National Treasure; there's a series of clues that are buried in time and based on history (so there's even some educational value beyond the reading itself), and it all leads to some kind of mystery treasure. Except this book has more teams competing to find the treasure, and a couple of the teams include kids. Lots of over-the-top espionage and action, but if you can commit to the suspended disbelief, it's a lot of fun. There's a good deal of chuckle-worthy humor, too, especially in the form of random kid-typical comments from Dan.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues #1) by Rick Riordan
★★★★
I really enjoyed this book! It's like the movie National Treasure; there's a series of clues that are buried in time and based on history (so there's even some educational value beyond the reading itself), and it all leads to some kind of mystery treasure. Except this book has more teams competing to find the treasure, and a couple of the teams include kids. Lots of over-the-top espionage and action, but if you can commit to the suspended disbelief, it's a lot of fun. There's a good deal of chuckle-worthy humor, too, especially in the form of random kid-typical comments from Dan.
I really enjoyed this book! It's like the movie National Treasure; there's a series of clues that are buried in time and based on history (so there's even some educational value beyond the reading itself), and it all leads to some kind of mystery treasure. Except this book has more teams competing to find the treasure, and a couple of the teams include kids. Lots of over-the-top espionage and action, but if you can commit to the suspended disbelief, it's a lot of fun. There's a good deal of chuckle-worthy humor, too, especially in the form of random kid-typical comments from Dan.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
The Friendship Matchmaker by Randa Abdel-Fattah
★★½
I had a shaky start with this one. Lara Zany is the official "friendship matchmaker" at her school. She comes across as sincerely wanting to help others make friends, yet she's got a misguided list of "rules" about how to make and keep friends in school. She's not very likable at first, but I have to admit, by the end - when she learns a thing or two about how to really make friends - I was glad everything worked out for her.
I'm always on the lookout for diversity in books, so I'll mention that this book happens to have a character named Emily Wong. She is the new girl in school who just happens to be Chinese. She is an independent-minded individual and is immediately skeptical of Lara's "rules". Again, she was strangely not entirely likable. I liked her confidence and sense of self, but she kind of bordered on impertinent.
Finally, I was a little put off by how the characters in this book were meant to be 7th graders. They actually seemed to behave more like 5th or 6th graders to me. It's weird, because I just read another book about 5th graders who seemed more like 7th graders to me!
I had a shaky start with this one. Lara Zany is the official "friendship matchmaker" at her school. She comes across as sincerely wanting to help others make friends, yet she's got a misguided list of "rules" about how to make and keep friends in school. She's not very likable at first, but I have to admit, by the end - when she learns a thing or two about how to really make friends - I was glad everything worked out for her.
I'm always on the lookout for diversity in books, so I'll mention that this book happens to have a character named Emily Wong. She is the new girl in school who just happens to be Chinese. She is an independent-minded individual and is immediately skeptical of Lara's "rules". Again, she was strangely not entirely likable. I liked her confidence and sense of self, but she kind of bordered on impertinent.
Finally, I was a little put off by how the characters in this book were meant to be 7th graders. They actually seemed to behave more like 5th or 6th graders to me. It's weird, because I just read another book about 5th graders who seemed more like 7th graders to me!
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Auggie & Me by R.J. Palacio
★★★★½
Auggie & Me consists of three separate stories, each previously published as an ebook. Wonder left me downright yearning to read Julian and Charlotte's stories, so I was eager to read this collection that includes both Julian and Charlotte's perspectives.
The Julian Chapter ★★★★
I started out not really liking this story, with Julian's actions basically being explained away with excuses. Still, it made sense from Julian's perspective, and I could understand Julian's parents being blinded by love for their son; it's hard for any parent to believe that their child could actually be the bully.
The school administrators, however, were another story. Mr. Tushman and Dr. Jansen were in a position to do more for both Julian and Auggie. Why didn't they arrange some kind of mediation between Julian and Auggie to address the issues between them? In this book more so than in Wonder, it was clear that the administrators all knew there were problems, but instead of stepping in to help with the root cause, they just took disciplinary action after events unfolded. Yes, Julian was responsible for his own behavior, but I felt the school should have done more to help diffuse the situation.
It wasn't until Julian went to visit his grandmother in Paris that things started to fall into place. Grandmere and Mr. Browne were finally able to identify the root problem - which, again, should have happened much earlier - and Julian finally received some empathy and understanding as Grandmere told him a rather incredible story of her own with a similar theme, and a worthy lesson.
Pluto ★★★★★
This story surprised me! I wasn't at all curious to know more about Christopher when reading Wonder, but I really enjoyed his story. His perspective was honest and sweet, yet still believably realistic. Suddenly, Christopher is one of my favorite characters from Wonder!
Shingaling ★★★★★
One of the things I liked about Pluto and Shingaling is that both stories felt down-to-earth, more realistic. Nothing too over-the-top.
My one complaint about Shingaling is that, like Wonder, it had a lot of relationship dynamics that I think are more typical of 7th graders than 5th graders.
Putting that aside, I think Charlotte's story was more representative of how most kids would deal with someone like Auggie. Charlotte put it well at the end of her story - she was "nice", but Summer was "kind", a more genuine and meaningful sort of friendliness. Could Charlotte have been kinder to Auggie? Sure. But Auggie just wasn't a high priority for her. She had her own troubles, mostly worrying about changing friendships - which she cleverly outlined in Venn diagrams. When she wasn't trying to figure out middle school relationships, she had a dance performance to rehearse, regular school work to attend to, not to mention the mystery of the accordian-man to solve.
This book includes a little recap of the different-books-for-different-perspectives style of writing that is used in these Auggie books: On page 280 of my edition, Charlotte says, "Funny how all our stories kind of intertwine. Every person's story weaves in and out of someone else's story." And that's just it. Every single person has a rich and complex life that can't be understood solely through their interactions with just one other person. Through Charlotte's story, we see how Ximena - just a marginal character in Wonder - was much more fleshed out in this book. We can imagine that even Charlotte's friend Maya must have a pretty compelling story of her own, if we just took the time to get to know her, too.
Auggie & Me consists of three separate stories, each previously published as an ebook. Wonder left me downright yearning to read Julian and Charlotte's stories, so I was eager to read this collection that includes both Julian and Charlotte's perspectives.
The Julian Chapter ★★★★
I started out not really liking this story, with Julian's actions basically being explained away with excuses. Still, it made sense from Julian's perspective, and I could understand Julian's parents being blinded by love for their son; it's hard for any parent to believe that their child could actually be the bully.
The school administrators, however, were another story. Mr. Tushman and Dr. Jansen were in a position to do more for both Julian and Auggie. Why didn't they arrange some kind of mediation between Julian and Auggie to address the issues between them? In this book more so than in Wonder, it was clear that the administrators all knew there were problems, but instead of stepping in to help with the root cause, they just took disciplinary action after events unfolded. Yes, Julian was responsible for his own behavior, but I felt the school should have done more to help diffuse the situation.
It wasn't until Julian went to visit his grandmother in Paris that things started to fall into place. Grandmere and Mr. Browne were finally able to identify the root problem - which, again, should have happened much earlier - and Julian finally received some empathy and understanding as Grandmere told him a rather incredible story of her own with a similar theme, and a worthy lesson.
Pluto ★★★★★
This story surprised me! I wasn't at all curious to know more about Christopher when reading Wonder, but I really enjoyed his story. His perspective was honest and sweet, yet still believably realistic. Suddenly, Christopher is one of my favorite characters from Wonder!
Shingaling ★★★★★
One of the things I liked about Pluto and Shingaling is that both stories felt down-to-earth, more realistic. Nothing too over-the-top.
My one complaint about Shingaling is that, like Wonder, it had a lot of relationship dynamics that I think are more typical of 7th graders than 5th graders.
Putting that aside, I think Charlotte's story was more representative of how most kids would deal with someone like Auggie. Charlotte put it well at the end of her story - she was "nice", but Summer was "kind", a more genuine and meaningful sort of friendliness. Could Charlotte have been kinder to Auggie? Sure. But Auggie just wasn't a high priority for her. She had her own troubles, mostly worrying about changing friendships - which she cleverly outlined in Venn diagrams. When she wasn't trying to figure out middle school relationships, she had a dance performance to rehearse, regular school work to attend to, not to mention the mystery of the accordian-man to solve.
This book includes a little recap of the different-books-for-different-perspectives style of writing that is used in these Auggie books: On page 280 of my edition, Charlotte says, "Funny how all our stories kind of intertwine. Every person's story weaves in and out of someone else's story." And that's just it. Every single person has a rich and complex life that can't be understood solely through their interactions with just one other person. Through Charlotte's story, we see how Ximena - just a marginal character in Wonder - was much more fleshed out in this book. We can imagine that even Charlotte's friend Maya must have a pretty compelling story of her own, if we just took the time to get to know her, too.
Saturday, September 3, 2016
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
★★★½
A bold graphic novel about racism, identity, and acceptance.
Being Chinese-American myself, my personal experience definitely played a role in my reading of this book.
American Born Chinese consists of three separate stories that eventually tie together in a meaningful way. The first involves the Monkey King, a well-known character in Chinese folk tales. I don't know enough about Chinese folk tales to know which parts of this story were authentic to Chinese legends, and which parts were made up by Gene Luen Yang. But I know just enough about the Monkey King so that this character felt very familiar to me, giving me an instant feeling of connection with the book.
The second story involves a Chinese-American boy named Jin who has trouble fitting in, mainly because he's the only Chinese boy in school. While my personal experiences were not quite as extreme as Jin's, his story was something of a mirror of my own childhood, and so I identified with him immediately.
The third story is presented as if it were a sitcom. A boy named Danny is mortified when his cousin Chin-Kee comes to visit. Yes, that's right, Chin-Kee like "chinky". This story line was cringe-worthy in its depiction of racist Chinese stereotypes, even as it was obviously meant to be a wild caricature of the worst of Chinese representation in American popular culture. (Think Breakfast at Tiffany's.)
The three seemingly unrelated stories come together in the end to help Jin deal head-on with his self-loathing and finally come to terms with the Chinese part of his identity. It was a satisfying ending, but I sort of felt like the final resolution came about a little too quickly.
There was one other thing I found interesting, and I wasn't sure what to make of it. In the Monkey King story line, there is an all-powerful creator named Tze-Yo-Tzuh. A lot of his lines sounded reminiscent of Christian Bible verses, and it was another review that tipped me off to the fact that some of his lines were actually variations of Proverbs 139.
On page 80 of my edition, Tze-Yo-Tzuh says, "I have searched your soul... I know your most hidden thoughts. I know when you sit and when you stand, when you journey and when you rest. Even before a word is upon your tongue, I have known it."
The corresponding verses in Proverbs 139: "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down... Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely."
Later, the Monkey King is seen having gone on a "Journey to the West" to bring gifts to Baby Jesus. It was a strange blending of Christian tradition and Chinese folk lore. Was the combining of east and west philosophies a metaphor for how Chinese-Americans must intertwine their Chinese and American identities? Or was it a statement meant to show that east and west philosophies aren't really so different? Or is the author himself Christian, and simply wanted to interject his faith into the story?
This book definitely has a place in helping to define the Asian-American experience - yes, it is actually a realistic portrayal of how many Asian-Americans feel - and I imagine it would serve as an effective window for non-Asian-Americans.
Btw, here's an interesting anecdote unrelated to my actual review... When I first read this book, there were 16 pages towards the beginning that made absolutely no sense to me. The illustration style was completely different, and I had no idea what was going on. I read the entire book, feeling a little confused all the time, never quite understanding how those 16 pages fit in. When I went to write my review, I took a peek at some other reviews to see if they could shed light on the mysterious 16 pages. Nothing I read mentioned anything like those 16 pages, but several reviews mentioned things that were definitely not in the book that I read! After some online sleuthing, I finally figured out that the copy I had read - borrowed from the library - actually included 16 pages of another book, Missouri Boy by Leland Myrick, spliced in!! They completely replaced the 16 pages that ought to have been in the book.
I got myself another copy of the book, and thankfully the second one was fine. I re-read the whole thing to make sure I got the proper experience start to finish. When I return both books to the library, I will definitely let them know about the mistake in the first copy!
A bold graphic novel about racism, identity, and acceptance.
Being Chinese-American myself, my personal experience definitely played a role in my reading of this book.
American Born Chinese consists of three separate stories that eventually tie together in a meaningful way. The first involves the Monkey King, a well-known character in Chinese folk tales. I don't know enough about Chinese folk tales to know which parts of this story were authentic to Chinese legends, and which parts were made up by Gene Luen Yang. But I know just enough about the Monkey King so that this character felt very familiar to me, giving me an instant feeling of connection with the book.
The second story involves a Chinese-American boy named Jin who has trouble fitting in, mainly because he's the only Chinese boy in school. While my personal experiences were not quite as extreme as Jin's, his story was something of a mirror of my own childhood, and so I identified with him immediately.
The third story is presented as if it were a sitcom. A boy named Danny is mortified when his cousin Chin-Kee comes to visit. Yes, that's right, Chin-Kee like "chinky". This story line was cringe-worthy in its depiction of racist Chinese stereotypes, even as it was obviously meant to be a wild caricature of the worst of Chinese representation in American popular culture. (Think Breakfast at Tiffany's.)
The three seemingly unrelated stories come together in the end to help Jin deal head-on with his self-loathing and finally come to terms with the Chinese part of his identity. It was a satisfying ending, but I sort of felt like the final resolution came about a little too quickly.
There was one other thing I found interesting, and I wasn't sure what to make of it. In the Monkey King story line, there is an all-powerful creator named Tze-Yo-Tzuh. A lot of his lines sounded reminiscent of Christian Bible verses, and it was another review that tipped me off to the fact that some of his lines were actually variations of Proverbs 139.
On page 80 of my edition, Tze-Yo-Tzuh says, "I have searched your soul... I know your most hidden thoughts. I know when you sit and when you stand, when you journey and when you rest. Even before a word is upon your tongue, I have known it."
The corresponding verses in Proverbs 139: "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down... Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely."
Later, the Monkey King is seen having gone on a "Journey to the West" to bring gifts to Baby Jesus. It was a strange blending of Christian tradition and Chinese folk lore. Was the combining of east and west philosophies a metaphor for how Chinese-Americans must intertwine their Chinese and American identities? Or was it a statement meant to show that east and west philosophies aren't really so different? Or is the author himself Christian, and simply wanted to interject his faith into the story?
This book definitely has a place in helping to define the Asian-American experience - yes, it is actually a realistic portrayal of how many Asian-Americans feel - and I imagine it would serve as an effective window for non-Asian-Americans.
Btw, here's an interesting anecdote unrelated to my actual review... When I first read this book, there were 16 pages towards the beginning that made absolutely no sense to me. The illustration style was completely different, and I had no idea what was going on. I read the entire book, feeling a little confused all the time, never quite understanding how those 16 pages fit in. When I went to write my review, I took a peek at some other reviews to see if they could shed light on the mysterious 16 pages. Nothing I read mentioned anything like those 16 pages, but several reviews mentioned things that were definitely not in the book that I read! After some online sleuthing, I finally figured out that the copy I had read - borrowed from the library - actually included 16 pages of another book, Missouri Boy by Leland Myrick, spliced in!! They completely replaced the 16 pages that ought to have been in the book.
I got myself another copy of the book, and thankfully the second one was fine. I re-read the whole thing to make sure I got the proper experience start to finish. When I return both books to the library, I will definitely let them know about the mistake in the first copy!
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