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  & 1 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Lauren St. John

Tags: adventure africa giraffes

Description: On the night of her 11th birthday, Martine's life changes -- her parents are killed inOn the night of her 11th birthday, Martine's life changes -- her parents are killed in a fire and she is sent to South Africa to a grandmother she has never heard of -- and who doesn't seem to like her. Life on a nature reserve is fascinating, especially as Martine becomes involved -- and friends with -- a white giraffe that has been predicted but never seen. Martine helps her giraffe escape poachers -- barely....

2008-04-22

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Andrew Norriss

Tags: travel space science_fiction uk siblings missing_parents

Description: William and Daniel Seward's parents disappear one day -- and eventually the boys learnWilliam and Daniel Seward's parents disappear one day -- and eventually the boys learn that their parents are the guardians of a secret intergalactic portal (out of their basement). The mystery of where the parents have gone is eventually solved, but meanwhile William has learned that he has inherited a knack for taking care of (intergalactic) guests. The perfect space-age hotelier!...

2008-04-22

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: neutral

Authors: Roderick Gordon Brian Williams

Tags: dystopia underground

Description: A rather dark fantasy of an old-fashioned conservative religious dystopia underground whichA rather dark fantasy of an old-fashioned conservative religious dystopia underground which a boy named Will stumbles upon -- as he and his archaeologist father are in the habit of digging tunnels. Obviously meant to be a long series, but not very gripping....

2008-04-22

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Lloyd Jones

Tags: reading culture literature teaching dickens islands storytelling south_pacific

Description: The story of how the book Great Expectations finds new life in the imaginations of school childrenThe story of how the book Great Expectations finds new life in the imaginations of school children stuck on an island in the South Pacific during an uprising. Brutal in parts (so not for children), but interesting example of how literature can leap cultures and lodge in the minds of others, sustaining them. The power of storytelling.......

2007-12-27

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Authors: Ryunosuke Akutagawa G. H. Healey Geoffrey Bownas

Tags: fantasy japan satire society mythical_creatures

Description: First-person narrative by an inmate in a mental institution -- telling of how he went hikingFirst-person narrative by an inmate in a mental institution -- telling of how he went hiking on a mountain, the mist rolled in, and then he spied a kappa -- a mythical creature in Japanese folklore -- looking at him. He gives chase and ends up falling down a hole to a world where many things are the reverse of his society (written in the late 1920s). [Could be compared to Alice in Wonderland in many respects...] [Also reminds me of Gogol's Diary of a Madman] [Now going to read Murakami's book Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World which also features kappa creatures...]...

2007-12-27

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Authors: Carson Ellis Trenton Lee Stewart

Tags: adventure twins orphans brains good_vs_evil

Description: A mysterious newspaper ads is looking for gifted children and four (all without parents forA mysterious newspaper ads is looking for gifted children and four (all without parents for various reasons) apply -- and pass the series of unusual tests. Reynie Muldoon who is bright and good at figuring out puzzles, Sticky (George) Washington who has a photographic memory, Kate Wetherall whose strength and resourcefulness remind me of Pippi Longstocking, and Constance Contraire who is small and incredibly stubborn. They agree to help Mr. Benedict who is trying to find out how children are being used to transmit messages into the minds of the public as part of the ongoing Emergency which is crippling the country. The four children volunteer to go undercover and pretend to be fodder for the secret communication project, led by a mysterious Mr. Curtain, who ends up being... the evil twin of Mr. Benedict! It's cloak-and-dagger action as the children try to uncover the ultimate plan, all the while transmitting messages back to Mr. Benedict's group via Morse code. Mass brainwashing is the evil goal. And, of course, the children manage to foil the plot and find families for themselves in the final pages. Reminded me of The Demon Headmaster and, especially, of Robert C. O'Brien's The Silver Crown....

2007-12-27

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: neutral

Author: James D. Watson

Tags: science biology autobiography academia

Description: James Watson's autobiography... re the politics of academia as much as the story of hisJames Watson's autobiography... re the politics of academia as much as the story of his attempts at a social life (finally married a young Radcliffe student when he was 40 odd) -- one can just imagine how socially awkward he was/is....

2007-12-27

  & 2 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Authors: Chip Heath Dan Heath

Tags: metaphors information cognitive_science storytelling

Description: Following on from Gladwell's The Tipping Point, this book teaches and summaries (completeFollowing on from Gladwell's The Tipping Point, this book teaches and summaries (complete with "clinics" at the end of chapters and an "easy reference guide" of notes at the end of the book) what makes ideas sticky: SUCCESs = 1. Simple (find the core), 2. Unexpected (get attention), 3. Concrete (help people understand), 4. Credible (help people believe), 5. Emotional (make people care), and 6. Stories (get people to act)...

2007-12-27

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: Howard Gardner

Tags: teaching creativity cognitive_science brains

Description: Gardner defines the five cognitive attributes necessary for the future -- the disciplinaryGardner defines the five cognitive attributes necessary for the future -- the disciplinary mind (i.e., mastery of major schools of thought), the synthesizing mind (ability to integrate ideas and communicate them), the creating mind, the respectful mind (appreciating differences among human beings), and the ethical mind (fulfillment of the duties of citizens and workers)....

2007-12-27

  & 6 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Richard Yates

Tags: marriage suburbs 1960s dysfunctional_families

Description: The early sixties... the suburbs... and how a couple dreams of escaping them, e.g., to Europe.The early sixties... the suburbs... and how a couple dreams of escaping them, e.g., to Europe. Dysfunctional families.... barely parenting... ends with a fatal home abortion... ...

2007-12-27

• Current

Type: children's

Status: neutral

Author: Sarah Ellis

Tags: canada dysfunctional_families ya_lit mental_illness Fathers cousins grandparents

Description: A teenage boy goes to spend a summer with his paternal grandmother and girl cousins -- whomA teenage boy goes to spend a summer with his paternal grandmother and girl cousins -- whom he doesn't know very well -- as his father died years earlier in a car accident -- and his mother has just remarried. What he discovers, by inhabiting his father's boyhood bedroom, is a fantasy spy story his father wrote -- and unfortunately lived. It emerges that his father had had a paranoid schizophrenic period in his youth.

A more tragic version of Hilary McKay's The Exiles (sent to live with an unfamiliar grandmother)......

2007-12-27

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: neutral

Author: Paul Torday

Tags: middle_east fishing

Description: Tale told in a variety of communiques -- interviews, e-mails, letters, reports, etc. aboutTale told in a variety of communiques -- interviews, e-mails, letters, reports, etc. about an ill-fated attempt by a wealthy Sheikh to get help from a UK fisheries bureau in introducing salmon fishing in the Yemen. Not very funny (though meant to be). Would be fine for reading on an airport -- fast....

2007-11-16

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Alan Bennett

Tags: reading funny uk

Description: Short and very funny account of what might happen if the Queen of England started reading literature.Short and very funny account of what might happen if the Queen of England started reading literature. What if there was a bookmobile parked outside the back gates of Buckingham Palace one night? What if she took out a book? How would her reading trail go and where would it take her? She thinks about both what she's reading and the whole process of reading and its place in life....

2007-11-16

• Current

Type: business

Status: liked

Authors: George M. Prince

Tags: psychology metaphors creativity cognition group_psychology meetings

Description: A 1970 book, hailed as a classic -- starting in the Last Whole Earth Catalog. "The practiceA 1970 book, hailed as a classic -- starting in the Last Whole Earth Catalog. "The practice of creativity thgourhg Synectics -- the proven method of group problem-solving". Recommended in the book on web usability I recently read. Assumes all humans are natural problem solvers and analyzes what goes wrong in meetings. Focuses on how to foster sensitivity and contain aggression -- the two elements found in all meetings -- so as to allow ideas to be fairly considered and creativity encouraged. The use of analogies and metaphors in considering ideas is emphasized....

2007-08-03

  & 3 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: now reading

Author: David Weinberger

Tags: internet information complexity information_literacy

Description: Re the history of the ordering of information (including Dewey, etc.) to the internet -- firstRe the history of the ordering of information (including Dewey, etc.) to the internet -- first order, second order, third order.... tagging and virtual organization of information... Nothing earth-shattering for anyone who accepts Web 2.0 and its future, but interesting to read....

2007-08-03

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: John Sutherland

Tags: reading literature novels

Description: A book to skim -- which I did more with an eye to discussions with students in the libraryA book to skim -- which I did more with an eye to discussions with students in the library re reading and how to approach books. A good overall summary of books and their position in society and the components you can analyse....

2007-08-03

  & 2 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: Alain de Botton

Tags: art culture architecture houses happiness

Description: Another thought-provoking and enjoyable read from de Botton. Not as good as his book on travelAnother thought-provoking and enjoyable read from de Botton. Not as good as his book on travel or Proust, but still interesting. A meditation on architecture and how the material evokes -- and confirms -- our internal values and philosophy of life....

2007-08-03

• Current

Type: children's

Status: neutral

Authors: Jean_Claude Mourlevat Y. Maudet

Tags: france childrens_lit Tom_Thumb fairy_tale_adaptations

Description: Winner of the Batchelder award for translation (and the Prix Sorcieres in France), this unusualWinner of the Batchelder award for translation (and the Prix Sorcieres in France), this unusual short novel is a medley of voices and a re-telling (re-visioning) of the Tom Thumb story. Opens with the voice of a social worker who is troubled by a 10-year-old named Yann Doutreleau, who is a miniature (not a dwarf) and a mute -- and highly intelligent. He has three sets of identical twin brothers older -- and parents who abuse them all. Yann overhears the father saying he's going to kill 7 newborn kittens -- and he insists his brothers run away to the ocean with him. They walk, they hitchhike, the take a train, etc. We hear from all 7 brothers, the mother, the father, the social worker, various people who glimpse them on the run, the man who locks them into his summer house as burglars (the equivalent of the Ogre?), etc. In the end the six older brothers go back home, while Yann (Tom Thumb) heads out to sea on a ship. Strange... but interesting....

2007-08-02

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: David Harris

Tags: history iran usa shah

Description: The story of the Iran hostage crisis.... Very interesting....

2007-07-30

• Current

Type: special

Status: I recommend

Author: Anne Fadiman

Tags: books reading life essays

Description: Essays in a genre that is equal measures of both brain and heart... designed for Curious PeopleEssays in a genre that is equal measures of both brain and heart... designed for Curious People Thinking... by a woman who is a master at it.......

2007-07-29

  & 6 users

• Current

Type: technical

Status: I recommend

Author: Steve Krug

Tags: design software usability internet testing

Description: A clear and rational look at webpage design and usability testing-- and how to approach theA clear and rational look at webpage design and usability testing-- and how to approach the project of building a usable webpage. Great footnotes and bibliography (online as well as in the book)....

2007-07-20

  & 2 users

• Current

Type: special

Status: disliked

Author: Rhonda Byrne

Tags: life new_age

Description: A book that's making a million (glad I only borrowed the copy I read) -- and one that advisesA book that's making a million (glad I only borrowed the copy I read) -- and one that advises people they too could make a million, if they would only Ask, Believe, Receive. Very lightweight rehash of The Power of Positive Thinking....

2007-07-20

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: neutral

Author: Sara Davidson

Tags: life aging

Description: Subtitled, Reflections from the Boomer Generation. Davidson is struggling with life afterSubtitled, Reflections from the Boomer Generation. Davidson is struggling with life after fifty and interviews lots of people to find out how they are coping -- in the attempt to help herself. Interesting (as I'm just fifty now), but not really very good. A bit too much navel-gazing.......

2007-07-20

• Current

Type: children's

Status: I recommend

Author: Justin Somper

Tags: vampires twins pirates childrens_lit

Description: In the year 2505 the twins Connor and Grace, recently orphaned by the death of their fatherIn the year 2505 the twins Connor and Grace, recently orphaned by the death of their father (the only parent they've ever known), run away (or, rather, sail away) in a boat. But a storm separates them and both end up on mysterious pirate ships. Connor's pirates seem more 'normal', but Grace has ended up on a ship that seems to be the reality-come-true of an old sea shanty her father used to sing about the vampirates. And Grace doesn't want to become a blood donor for them.... First of a series....

2007-05-13

• Current

Type: children's

Status: I recommend

Authors: Brett Helquist Blue Balliett

Tags: mystery architecture childrens_lit

Description: Sequel to Chasing Vermeer, featuring the same student sleuths and similar reality hooks: thisSequel to Chasing Vermeer, featuring the same student sleuths and similar reality hooks: this time the artwork in danger in Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House. Similar elements of coincidence and otherworldly connections....

2007-05-13

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: neutral

Author: Anne Fine

Tags: russia ya_lit

Description: Based loosely on the Soviet Union and the gulags -- a most unusual subject for a children'sBased loosely on the Soviet Union and the gulags -- a most unusual subject for a children's book. The fear, the paranoia, the illogic, the faith, the desperation, the horror, etc. Would love to know what a kid thought of it all......

2007-05-12

  & 10 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: Ben Mezrich

Tags: gambling

Description: Theoretically non-fiction, but written so much like fiction that it actually detracts fromTheoretically non-fiction, but written so much like fiction that it actually detracts from the book. A gripping story nonetheless re the science of winning at blackjack -- and how some bright MIT students, with the help of a professor, set up teams to make money gambling. The winnings were legal, but dangerous in that casinos can legally exclude anyone they don't want winning too much -- and the exclusion methods can be aggressive....

2007-03-18

  & 4 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: Michael Lewis

Tags: usa innovation football universities class_system

Description: Fascinating story of a poor black kid who happens to fit the profile of a football team positionFascinating story of a poor black kid who happens to fit the profile of a football team position recently risen in importance. Re the difference between the individual talent/star system and playing as a smart team. How one coach transformed American football. The knock-on affect, down to the high school level. Black vs. white. Poor vs. rich. Instant talent vs. hard work and intelligence. Read it straight through....

2007-01-29

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: —

Author: Carole Wilkinson

Tags: adventure china dragons childrens_lit

Description: Winner of numerous awards in Australia. In ancient China a slave girl named Ping saves theWinner of numerous awards in Australia. In ancient China a slave girl named Ping saves the life of a dragon and learns that she can hear his voice. Together they escape their brutal master. What is the mysterious stone the dragon insists they bring along? Above all they must avoid the deadly dragonhunter. Could she, a girl, be a dragonkeeper? They are heading to the ocean where the the baby dragon, the last (imperial) and first (free) dragon, is born. To be continued... in the next volume. Good read. Reminded me of Eragon (in having to keep safe the dragon's egg).......

2007-01-29

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: Eleanor Coppola

Tags: families memoir love marriage films mothers

Description: Copyright 1979, new afterword written in 1991. The diary/notes of the wife of Francis FordCopyright 1979, new afterword written in 1991. The diary/notes of the wife of Francis Ford Coppola during the period of the filming of the movie Apocalypse Now -- when she was also trying to film a documentary of the film-making (her first foray into film). Parts of this book were used in the documentary "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" (1991), which used footage Eleanor originally shot. Mother of three, wife of famous man, who has his own little apocalypse triggered by the making of the film. Heart-aching, how Eleanor has to hold the family together, especially once Francis admits to an affair. The marriage almost breaks up, as Francis almost breaks down. Afterword deals with death of son Gio in an accident. Beautiful, thought-provoking diary of a woman torn between the roles of wife, mother, and self....

2007-01-29

  & 6 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Kiran Desai

Tags: india love colonialism dysfunctional_families

Description: An Indian village in the foothills of the Himalayas is the backdrop of a political, underclassAn Indian village in the foothills of the Himalayas is the backdrop of a political, underclass uprising of Gorkhas. The reader's sympathy is with the Anglicized family of Sai, orphanned granddaughter of the unlovable and unloving judge. Only the cook gets his dream of love, when his son Biju returns from America where he has been living a minimal, illegal existence. The displacement of dreams and responsibilities. Beautifully written. Wonderful characters....

2007-01-29

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: scientific

Status: —

Author: Elizabeth Kolbert

Tags: science global_warming

Description: Extension of New Yorker articles -- and are thus designed to be easy for the layman to readExtension of New Yorker articles -- and are thus designed to be easy for the layman to read and understand. The account of her travels to visit scientists exploring the effects of global warming, from Alaska to Greenland to Iceland to the UK (for butterflies) to Oregon (for mosquitoes) to Costa Rica (for toads), to Holland (where amphibious homes are becoming popular/necessary), etc. Also touches upon the history of the concept of global warming -- and the effect of past major climate changes on civilizations like the Akkad in Iraq and the Maya in Central America. The intersection of archaelogy and paleoclimatology. Then on to contemporary politics, especially in the US, related to the issue, with Burlington, VT, highlighted as a town trying admirably to reduce their energy footprint. Good, but James Lovelock's book was better....

2007-01-13

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: disliked

Author: Bill O'Reilly

Tags: usa politics television autobiography

Description: A character I had vaguely heard about (not having lived in the US for 20 years) until I sawA character I had vaguely heard about (not having lived in the US for 20 years) until I saw the documentary OutFoxxed -- re Fox TV. Then I got to see a barrage of clips of this man's rudeness onscreen. This book is him explaining his philosophy about life and politics. Fascinating and yet repelling. Really glad I read it (as I now have a better feel for him as a phenomenon in the US), but I would definitely avoid him at a cocktail party! ...

2007-01-13

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: disliked

Author: Clare Morrall

Tags: lighthouses dysfunctional_families penance accidents

Description: Two people from highly dysfunctional families end up in a small village in Devon -- and endTwo people from highly dysfunctional families end up in a small village in Devon -- and end up falling in love by the end of the book, just as the lighthouse Peter Straker has been hiding out in for the past 25 years falls into the sea. Straker's terrible mental burden is the death of 78 people in a train accident he caused by crashing his private plane. The book functions as something of a mystery, showing us the unknown and the actively attached connections between the present day and the dead -- in Straker's head and in the lives of the surviving families. Doody is a woman who -- unbeknownst to both of them -- has belatedly inherited a house because one of Straker's victims was her godfather. A frustrating aspect of the book was the uneven exposure of such connections. So in the final scene we learn that Doody's first husband is still alive -- what difference does it make? Lightweight -- and our book group failed to find much to discuss about it....

2006-12-18

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: neutral

Author: Jack Gantos

Tags: teen love gothic twins mothers ya_lit taxidermy dysfunctional

Description: A bizarre little book about obsessive mother love coursing (cursing) through a family. TheA bizarre little book about obsessive mother love coursing (cursing) through a family. The narrator is a girl who grows up observing the phenomenon in elderly identical twins across the street and in her life -- and coming to understand how she is part of it (one major secret being that one of them fathered her, though she struggles to figure out which one). I've never been a fan of gothic fiction, a tradition Gantos is consciously contributing to by mentioning Frankenstein, Edgar Allan Poe, and Hawthorne in his introduction. Basically the twins have stuffed their mother and she continues to play a role in their life -- just as the young narrator realizes (and plans) what parts of her own beloved mother she will preserve when the time comes....

2006-12-18

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: neutral

Author: Hanneke Ippisch

Tags: wwii holocaust memoir holland underground

Description: 1996. A book meant for young readers. Simplistic memoir of a teenage Dutch girl who volunteers1996. A book meant for young readers. Simplistic memoir of a teenage Dutch girl who volunteers to work in the Dutch resistance in 1943, helping to move Jews, etc. throughout the country. She is finally arrested in 1945 and spends a few months in prison. Somehow, having read about concentration camps, the story of prison just doesn't seem very bad. Lots of photographs throughout. You get the sense that she wrote the book more for herself than for anyone else. Could be paired with Mal Peet's novel "Tamar", which is about the Dutch resistance movement....

2006-09-23

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: neutral

Author: Bernice Eisenstein

Tags: wwii holocaust families poland survival

Description: A book that could be compared with Maus, but is a far less powerful story -- in both picturesA book that could be compared with Maus, but is a far less powerful story -- in both pictures and in text. The focus is so much on herself in a sorry sort of way,complaining a bit that her parents and grandparents didn't open up to her, didn't adore her, etc. She does admit up front that all her life she has been addicted to stories of the Holocaust like a drug and has always traded on the cachet of her parents and grandparents being survivors of Auschwitz, like a trump card in social situations in Canada where she was born and brought up. Stories of what life was like -- her father's kosher butcher's shop, his gambling with cards, all the Yiddish she grew up hearing, the gatherings of Jewish friends and other survivors, etc. The book was obviously written as a means of her dealing with her father's death -- and the birth of her son a few months later, named after him. Drawings scattered throughout -- not a completely illustrated book (like Maus). A story of someone feeling left out of her family all her life. Left out of some vital experience -- and resenting it. A strange book and one I don't think belongs in our primary library.......

2006-09-23

• Current

Type: children's

Status: I recommend

Author: Morris Gleitzman

Tags: children wwii holocaust poland storytelling

Description: Another funny first-person narrative about extreme naivete in a deadly serious situation fromAnother funny first-person narrative about extreme naivete in a deadly serious situation from Gleitzman -- this time a 10-year-old boy named Felix caught in the Holocaust in Poland who believes the Nazis' hatred is directed specifically at Jewish books. As soon as he figures this out, he runs away from the Catholic orphanage his Jewish bookseller parents left him in almost four years ago and he goes off to find them, with his naive notions continually challenged. Very slowly he begins to worry that it's not just the books the Nazis are upset about, but perhaps literally the Jewish booksellers. When he rescues Zelda, a younger girl, after her parents have been shot, he starts telling her stories to keep the truth from her. Later, after witnessing atrocities that are difficult to blame on books or booksellers, the two of them are rescued by a debtist named Barney, along with other Jewish orphans, and then Felix comes to understand that his parents told him a story almost four years ago -- a story that saved his life. He goes on to tell the other orphans stories to help keep them alive, even though sometimes the true stories must be told, even if painful. During this time of hiding, Felix goes out as Barney's dental assistant and tells the patients stories to relieve the pain. In the end, when the Nazis discover their hiding place and Barney and the children are put on a train, it is Felix's stories that inadvertently reveal a weak spot in the wooden wall of the boxcar and a hole is kicked out. Only Felix and Zelda jump and survive -- and that's where the book ends -- with Felix thankful for his luck at having, more than once, a good thing in his life.

"Everybody deserves something good in their life at least once."

Gleitzman addresses the readers at the end of the book, telling his own grandfather's family were Jews who died in Poland and how this book was inspired by the true story of Janusz Korczak, a Polish Jewish doctor who died in 1942 with orphans he had been taking care of....

2006-09-23

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: liked

Author: gerrie lim

Tags: sex culture prostitution singapore

Description: A journalistic exploration of the different kinds of sex for sale in Singapore and how theA journalistic exploration of the different kinds of sex for sale in Singapore and how the women involved think and feel about their line of work....

2006-06-18

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Author: Helen Dunmore

Tags: fantasy uk childrens_lit absent_fathers mermaids

Description: 2005. First of a planned trilogy. First-person narrative by Sapphy (Sapphire) who is perhaps2005. First of a planned trilogy. First-person narrative by Sapphy (Sapphire) who is perhaps 10 years old and lives in Cornwall, right next to the sea. When her fisherman father disappears at sea and his boat -- but not his body -- is found, children at school taunt her that he left her mother for another woman, but Sapphy and her brother Conor (2 years older) know he's still alive somewhere -- and they come to discover that he's likely gone to Ingo, the underwater world peopled by the Mer. After all, her father is named for a man who once left his "Air" family for the mermaid of Zennor, immortalized by a wooden statue in the church. Sapphy and Conor have some Mer blood and meet a Mer brother and sister who take them under. Sapphy in particular is drawn to the sea -- unlike their mother who hates the sea due to some horrible fortune-teller's prediction. When the mother's new boyfriend Roger, a diver, almost dies because he inadvertently was diving near the Mer people's dying ground, Sapphy and Conor go to rescue him -- with the help of Faro and Elivira, their Mer siblings. Though Sapphy resents Roger potentially replacing her missing father, she also appreciates him supporting her in her desire for a dog. Granny Carne helps the children understand the balance of powers between Air and Ingo -- and she is represented as a white witch ruling the Air. Ends with Sapphy hearing her father's voice in the Mer language saying 'my daughter' and her resolve to find him -- in the next installment of this proposed trilogy....

2006-06-07

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Author: Kevin Brooks

Tags: drugs teen prostitution childrens_lit

Description: 2005. 16-year-old Joe Beck tells the story of how he chanced to meet Candy near King's2005. 16-year-old Joe Beck tells the story of how he chanced to meet Candy near King's Cross tube station -- and fell under the spell of her beauty. But she's a prostitute, hooked on heroin, and her pimp, Iggy, is big, black, and dangerous. They have a day out at the zoo and she comes to hear his band play a gig in London -- before Iggy descends and beats her up. Joe manages to find her and rescue her, though Iggy is injured and comes after them. Hiding away in his family's weekend cottage in Suffolk, Candy goes through withdrawal, but Iggy hunts them down -- with Joe's beloved older sister Gina as a hostage. In the showdown, Candy ends up killing Iggy. Epilogue: Candy is in rehab and an adolescent unit and Joe is still in love for her... waiting for her. NB: to counteract the negative image of the big, black Iggy, Gina has a good-hearted, worthy boyfriend Mike -- who is also big and black -- and who helps Joe and Candy. Also there was a subplot about the divorced father started to date his ex-wife -- the kids' mother -- again, yet the mother has not bothered to see her kids in several years. An unusual detail that was never expanded upon -- is it important to Joe's experience with Candy?...

2006-06-07

• Current

Type: children's

Status: liked

Author: Mal Peet

Tags: uk childrens_lit

Description: 2005. A story that flips between Holland during WWII and the present day where a girl named2005. A story that flips between Holland during WWII and the present day where a girl named Tamar comes to learn just what her name means -- which is far more than just a river in England. Her grandparents were resistance fighters and after her grandfather kills himself, which is not long after her father ups and disappears, Tamar is left with a box from her grandfather holding clues to the mysteries. With the help of a Dutch distant cousin, she discovers her grandfather is not her her blood grandfather. Instead he is the one who betrayed her real grandfather in order to be with the grandmother -- and even the grandmother has never known the truth. While a good depiction of wartime Holland, the book is quite long and I'm not sure that many children will find it gripping enough to get through....

2006-05-28

• Current

Type: children's

Status: I recommend

Author: frank cottrell boyce

Tags: art families museums uk theft villages

Description: 2005. First-person narrative by Dylan, a 10? 12? year old boy whose family runs the Snowdonia2005. First-person narrative by Dylan, a 10? 12? year old boy whose family runs the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel in Manod as a team -- that is until money problems force the Dad to flee, leaving the kids to solve the family's problem -- as well as the problems of others in the village. Colorful cast of village characters, like Daft Tom who is an expert on the Mutant Ninja Turtles, knowledge of which gets Dylan an in with the National Gallery curator who is guarding the paintings being termporarily stored in the abandoned quarry nearby. Art affects everyone -- and Dylan's sister's art (a Polaroid collage) ends up saving the family. Involves art thefts and mysteries. Reminded me of the village efforts in "The Wheel on the School" by Meindert deJong. Funny, heart-warming. Deserves awards....

2006-05-27

  & 19 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: liked

Author: Nicole Krauss

Tags: stories holocaust love poland authors

Description: Terribly clever -- well constructed -- the unraveling of a mystery by a 12-year-old (?) girlTerribly clever -- well constructed -- the unraveling of a mystery by a 12-year-old (?) girl trying to understand her dead father -- involving the secrets of an old Polish refugee from WWII who never got to know his own son (who didn't know his true father) -- also involving stories as the means of survival. Supposedly based on stories the author heard within her own New York Jewish family. Admirable, but wouldn't necessarily recommend to anyone. Made me think I should finish reading Zusak's "The Book Thief" as there are similarities....

2006-05-27

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: children's

Status: I recommend

Author: Jan Mark

Tags: uk dysfunctional_families childrens_lit strangers

Description: First-person narrative by Clare -- also known as Clay -- a Year 6 girl (so 12?) who tells theFirst-person narrative by Clare -- also known as Clay -- a Year 6 girl (so 12?) who tells the story of the stranger who comes to town -- and into the family -- and creates trouble. A child's view of the complicated -- and childish -- world of adults -- who create turbulence in their wake and end up having to be rescued by their children. Great cast of characters, including a 60+ year old grandmother who teaches school and still gets high occasionally. Sub-theme of old movies running throughout. View on adult male-female relationships from someone on the edge of sexual awakening....

2006-05-27

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Carolyn See

Tags: california artists

Description: A would-be artist spends a summer as a handyman and ends up fixing the lives of the peopleA would-be artist spends a summer as a handyman and ends up fixing the lives of the people who call, whether a mother falling apart, a boy drowning, an AIDS patient dying, etc. His means is often to literally put art and color into their lives. In the process he finds his own true love as well as his true artistic calling. The doing-what-seems-to-be-required reminded me of Zusak's The Messenger in a way, though this character chooses it -- rather than being chosen. (Also no bizarre ending -- instead a preface which allows us to glimpse into the future of his ultimate artistic success)...

2006-05-27

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: neutral

Author: Natsuo Kirino

Tags: thriller horror japan

Description: The story of a group of Japanese women, all night shift workers at a boxed lunch factory. The story of a group of Japanese women, all night shift workers at a boxed lunch factory. One accidentally kills her husband and the others help her cover it up -- by cutting up the body in a bathroom and disposing of the body parts in garbage bags. Horrific descriptions, but compelling reading. Kind of goes with a non-fiction book like "Stiff" -- re what happens to cadavers.......

2006-05-27

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: Spalding Gray

Tags: movies cambodia thailand

Description: Spalding Gray's autobiographical monologue on being in "The Killing Fields" andSpalding Gray's autobiographical monologue on being in "The Killing Fields" and general thoughts on life and Asia. Particularly funny about the sex scene in Thailand (now that I've lived there)....

2006-05-25

  & 3 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Marina Lewycka

Tags: funny

2006-03-27

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: Marc Aronson

Tags: history usa india

Description: Technically for young adults, but easily enjoyed by any adult. Fascinating look at the parallelTechnically for young adults, but easily enjoyed by any adult. Fascinating look at the parallel developments in the US at the time of the American Revolution and in India with the East India Company -- in the context of British politics and empire....

2006-02-17

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: scientific

Status: I recommend

Author: Edward R. Tufte

Tags: graphic visuals

2006-02-17

  & 7 users

• Current

Type: scientific

Status: I recommend

Author: Edward R. Tufte

Tags: graphic information literacies visuals

2006-02-17

  & 5 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: —

Author: John Green

Tags: childrens_lit

Description: Printz award winner (2005)

2006-02-12

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: disliked

Authors: Julia Lovell Han Shaogong

Tags: china 20th_century

Description: Interesting format and occasionally interesting content, but overall much too long and ramblingInteresting format and occasionally interesting content, but overall much too long and rambling to hold my attention....

2006-02-12

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: now reading

Author: Slaughter Carolyn

Tags: british india 20th_century

2006-02-12

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Charles Chadwick

Tags: uk

Description: Long, but hilarious, dead-pan, first-person account of the life of a middle-aged married BritishLong, but hilarious, dead-pan, first-person account of the life of a middle-aged married British man, stretching from the 1970s onward. Reads like an expanded adult version of Adrian Mole. (It's a first novel of a 70+ year old former British civil servant; see newspaper article link.)...

2006-01-20

• Current

Type: scientific

Status: —

Author: Stewart Brand

Tags: future

2006-01-20

  & 9 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Tags: spain gothic

2006-01-20

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: now reading

Author: Jeanne Willis

Tags: teen uk

2006-01-10

  & 3 users

• Current

Type: documentary

Status: I recommend

Author: James Paul Gee

Tags: education cognition gaming cultural_studies

Description: An academic version of Steven Johnson's argument (Everything Bad is Good for You) re howAn academic version of Steven Johnson's argument (Everything Bad is Good for You) re how video games train the brain in new ways and how new literacies are emerging....

2006-01-04