Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

That’s my reaction to “Jojo Rabbit,” folks. Very possibly the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen in my life, and yet oh, it made me cry. It’s late, though, and so I’m going to bed. Tomorrow’s a holiday!

That’s what I have now, folks. Yesterday the kids were off from school, and so–among other things–I took my 13-year-old to the eye doctor. She picked out frames to go with her new prescription, since she’s been complaining that she “can’t see!”, and I picked up my first pair of multi-focal lenses.

Hmmm.

They do help with the close up, yes. But stairs are weird, and when I turn my head it feels like the world is moving as well. On the other hand, I haven’t had them a full 24 hours yet, and by all accounts it takes more like a couple of days to adjust. So we’ll see?

I also finished reading Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild aloud to that same 13-year-old last night, and while I was thinking I might manage a same day review, we finished just before 9 and I really wasn’t feeling it. Today, though! And really, the title is self-explanatory. It’s picture book size and length, but the text is regular-book size and length, so to speak; on the other hand, there are multiple full-page photos of pandas, some of them undeniably adorable. We learned things about panda conservation efforts and how they relate to other conservation efforts, and the photos of the adults in furry panda suits were a bonus. Animal lovers should definitely check out this one!

My friend Britt has been clearing out books that her kids have outgrown or aren’t attached to; I’ve been taking boxes of those home with me to a) donate to our school’s next literacy night, b) read and then donate to our school’s next literacy night, or c) read and maybe keep for myself, depending on how I feel about them. James Patterson’s and Chris Grabenstein’s Laugh Out Loud is one of those, and now that I’ve read it myself, I’m going to have my son give it a try before donating it to that next literacy night. He may like it, he may not–his tastes are sometimes unexpected–but it’s not something I need to keep; on the other hand, it IS something that ought to be made available for middle graders to read if they choose.

Why, then, don’t I need to keep it? Saying it’s ‘not my thing’ isn’t really fair to me OR the authors, and yet I’m definitely not the intended audience. Patterson’s (completely admirable) goal for his non-adult books is to capture kids’ attention, entertain them, and make them want to read more; I’m GOING to read more no matter what, but I tend to want to emotionally connect with what I read, whether it’s with the story, the characters, or the setting. (Yes, I absolutely emotionally connect with New England.) I just plain care less about the purely entertaining factor, not to mention that what entertains me now is also not what entertained me in junior high, to some degree. (I still love reading, old movies, and cross-stitching, for example, but I no longer find the adrenaline rush of roller coasters terribly enjoyable.) Laugh Out Loud has some of the fun of an amusement park ride, which my kids love but I can now take or leave. I did get quite a kick out of its references to an impressive variety of children’s books; I’m just content to read it and pass it on. If you have a latter-elementary or middle grade child, however, you should definitely take a look.

That’s honestly what happened last night, folks. I finished reading Ami Polonsky’s Threads out loud with my 13-year-old by 8:45-ish, but after tucking her in I still had to execute my last minute ‘heart attack the kids for Valentine’s Day’ plan. (The PTA had extra hearts, and I decided my kiddos needed some extra love this year.) My hubby cut out hearts while I did my 10 minutes on the exercise bike, after which I took over and discovered that some names are easier to make acrostics out of than others. (I googled “adjectives beginning with y” and came up with–I kid you not–yawning, yielding, yodeling, and yeasty, among others. Yeasty!) By the time I finished the hearts, taped them up, and checked on the bunnies, my window for coherent written expression had completely closed. Today, however, is library day, and I decided that reviewing it this morning would be totally worth the effort, since it means it can LEAVE MY HOUSE today!

So–Threads. I can’t remember how long I’ve had a library copy floating around my house, and I can’t remember how it popped up on my radar; I only know I was thrilled to realize that it would make a solid read aloud, since I kept not getting to it on my own. The premise sounded fantastic–12-year-old Clara finds the note and photograph that 13-year-old Yuming tucks into a purse made at her factory-prison in China, and, still reeling with grief from the death of her adopted-from-China sister, is determined to find and save her. The direction of the novel, however, was quite different from what I was expecting. Clara and Yuming are not the only significant characters, and their stories mingled differently from how I had anticipated. That said, however, the subtlety of the story ultimately made it feel more real, and the alternating viewpoints helped structure our read-aloud time. Middle graders (and their adults!) should take a look at this one.

Reading a Joan Bauer book is like ordering your favorite dish at one of your favorite restaurants–you pleasurably anticipate what’s coming and you’re always satisfied when it gets there. I’ve loved her books since I first read Hope Was Here when I was 20-ish; her most recent novel, Raising Lumie, was another delight. Still grieving the death of their father, Olive and her (half) sister Maudie are forced to move in order to pay off debt and save some money; Olive isn’t sure how she’s going to manage the upheaval until she discovers that Maudie’s new boss volunteers for the Northeast Guide Dog Center. There are PUPPIES! AT THE OFFICE! (Those caps are on Olive’s behalf, you understand–she’s the dog lover, not me.) The idea of raising a future guide dog is irresistible–but is it possible?

Bauer fans can likely made a few good guesses about where the story goes from there. There is laughter, there are tears, and a fabulously satisfying ending is enjoyed by all. Animal lovers will be especially excited about this one, but it should appeal to middle graders (and their parents;)) in general. Enjoy!

In other news, my youngest turned 8 (!) yesterday and my son played hard in his basketball game this morning; I’m looking forward to our Saturday night pizza and a movie. Anybody have more exciting plans for the the weekend?

That’s still occupied and preoccupied, if that wasn’t clear (it mightn’t have been). This is the first morning this week that I haven’t had to be ready to go, more or less, when I left with the littles for school; the first two mornings I took my oldest to appointments, while yesterday I had PTA responsibilities at the school before heading off to Costco for necessities. And I’ve been worried enough about that same oldest that I haven’t had an ounce of mental or emotional energy to spare for blog posts by dinner time. Hence, another gap.

I’m trying.

This morning, however, I finished the last 20 pages of Andrea Cheng’s The Bear Makers, which I got through inter-library loan and which I’ve had renewed twice already (a more difficult process than with regular library titles). I read Cheng’s Anna Wang novels years ago–they’re lovely, you should read them–but The Bear Makers is quite different; according to the book flap, it’s based on a family story originally told to Andrea by her grandmother. (Cheng’s parents [Cheng was her married name] were Hungarian immigrants–she actually grew up speaking Hungarian as well as English.) The idea of it being a family story and based in truth made me that much more excited to read the book; as interesting as it was, however, it wasn’t actually as engrossing as I was thinking it would be. The slice of life in postwar Hungary it provided was completely interesting, but it was just that–a slice of life. Kata’s brother’s escape to the west provides, more than anything else at least, the dimensions of the plot, but that happens offstage and we only see Kata’s reaction to it all. The rest of the book is, as the flap says, “one family’s story of survival during a tumultuous time period,” and while the history lover in me was completely interested, I don’t know how large an audience is going to share that interest.

In other news, my youngest turns 8 tomorrow and my oldest has another appointment in a few weeks, while today is the third day of parent/teacher conferences this week. Good times! The night of the elementary SEPs I also took the three younger kids to shop at the book fair AND worked there an hour myself, which made the entire night a little tricky. I’m seriously looking forward to a quieter week next week! In the meantime, I’m incredibly grateful for friends and family; I am abundantly blessed with both, and they are a never-ending support when life gets difficult.

And that, ultimately, is the theme of The Bear Makers.

That pretty much sums up my reasons for abandoning y’all for the past week, because I have been both legitimately busy–especially during my daylight, capable-of-coherent-writing hours–and emotionally overwhelmed. The busy has been a variety of things, like PTA business and meetings, appointments, and errands; the emotional load comes from my daughter’s struggles with her mental health. You can’t help worrying about the people you love, and that worry steals some of the emotional energy you normally put into other things…like blog posts. I’ve gotten so behind, however, that I’m persevering today–which is easier to do after several better days in a row for my girlie.

(On the other hand, it’s 9:30 and my mind is winding down, so you get a relatively quick and easy book review so that I can switch laundry, do 10 minutes on the exercise bike, shower, and go to bed. Wahoo!)

My kids and I actually listened to Sharon Creech’s Saving Winslow on a road trip months and months ago (it may actually have been a year or more). Since I always feel like I miss a few touches when I’m driving, however, I borrowed a physical copy from Britt that’s been sitting in my room ever since; I unearthed it the other day and, on a whim, decided to just listen to it again and return Britt’s copy this week. (Yay for things leaving my house!) I did listen to it, I’m reviewing it now, and I’ll for sure see her next week, so that works, right?

Anyway. Saving Winslow is longer than, say, Creech’s Love That Dog, but it’s still short enough for the drive to Kanosh; in a way, it reads like Patricia MacLachlan, only less word- and more animal-oriented. Winslow is a newborn donkey with no mother to care for him, and Louie the boy who is determined to save him. There is (sparely drawn) effort and struggle and triumph, both of life over death and of hope over grief, and ultimately Winslow succeeds in winning over the people who matter. The book’s conclusion manages to feel both hopeful and real, and I would expect lovers of both animals and stories with plenty of emotional nuance will enjoy this one.

Today, by noon, my dirty laundry was sorted AND I had laundry in both the washer and the dryer, I made lunches for my hubby and my youngest, took my kids to school, made appointments for their parent/teacher conferences, hand-repaired an article of clothing to wear, diced the rest of the ham I started on yesterday, got the hambone simmering on the stove, made my bed, did 10 minutes on the elliptical, started my scripture study for the day, and managed bits of organizational paperwork. Look at me go! Now, as you can see, I’m catching up here, since I fell behind over the weekend. (It was both a busy and a tired weekend. My son’s Saturday basketball game was at 8:30, and with 9:00 church this year, well–it felt a little rough.)

Of course, now I’m wondering if it isn’t a little ironic that I’m catching up from the weekend by reviewing Gordon Korman’s Slacker…anyway. I bought Slacker from Scholastic once upon a time; I believe it came in a Gordon Korman two-pack, and since I liked whatever it was paired with, I figured why not? Besides, a book about a serious video gamer might just be a good fit for my son.

Fast forward to December, and I pulled it out to consider as a Christmas gift for that very son; I hadn’t listened to very much of it, however, before I decided that I didn’t actually WANT to give it to him. I normally love Gordon Korman–he consistently combines slightly-over-the-top with triumphant feels in a satisfying and enjoyable way–but Cameron Boxer stays kind of a jerk for just long enough that his eventual turn-around didn’t really feel believable. (Plus, as a parent, I found his commentary about his “lifestyle” to be incredibly annoying. If your lifestyle is essentially parasitic and wholly selfish in nature, it’s not something to be proud of. ) I felt sorry for Cam’s sister, I was annoyed at his parents, and–yeah. On the other hand, his frustration with the PAG’s growth was kind of fabulous, the Harvard-obsessed senior was hilarious (in a slightly disturbing sort of way), and the ultimate triumphant feels were pretty great. If my son finds it at school, he’ll probably get a big kick out of it, and that’s cool.

I just don’t need to gift it to him.

Aanndd here you have it, folks! I’ve been promising to review Hope Larson’s All My Friends for at least a week or two, and today is finally the day. I’m just finishing up my English muffin with pear freezer jam, I’ve got the rest of my chocolate milk, and I turned off my light before midnight and slept like the dead last night, so I’ve got relatively high hopes for my powers of concentration. Which is good, because I’m a little conflicted about this one. (Which appears to have resulted in some mild to moderate spoilers, so be warned.)

So. On the one hand, I thought the romance aspect (I’m calling it that for lack of a better term, even though it doesn’t feel quite right) was handled pretty well. Bina learns a fair bit about what’s important in a significant other, and it doesn’t take her so long that it becomes annoying. On the other hand, the music element of the plot–the more central element–irritated me. Bina is FOURTEEN, which I suppose means her tantrum about her parents’ decision regarding a record deal is understandable, but to most parents, it was obviously the right decision. For her not to agree is realistic, but in a middle grade novel I’d like to see more resolution on the topic. Bina lies to her parents about a whole lot of things, but while she does get in trouble, that feels like an afterthought to the “yes, my music’s going forward!” vibe. Where’s her realization that hey, I made a LOT of bad decisions? Kudos to her for realizing she needed to be honest about going on a date with a new guy, but her (admittedly impressive) efforts to organize in order to further her band’s musical career were all on the down low, and she never seems to get WHY her parents’ decision is the right one. That aspect of the plot just seems to end with her tantrum. As a parent, I don’t really want my 13-year-old to feel like throwing a tantrum and then lying a whole bunch is going to end in her parents being really happy for her, even if she gets grounded. (Not to mention that the grounding seems to be more of a positive step towards her goals than not.) Fourteen is so far removed from adulthood–from the capacity to make mature and rational decisions about emotionally charged subjects–that the music story arc, viewed through that lens, is somewhat painful.

I don’t imagine that the painful-for-parents aspect is going to affect how the book’s target audience feels about it, you understand, but that’s kind of the point. That target audience is going to love the book and root for Bina wholeheartedly, instead of realizing that while making her own record definitely mitigates many of the dangers of signing with a record company at such a young age, the better option would have been to NOT LIE ABOUT IT. Her parents are, quite possible, some of the chillest-while still-caring-and-parenting in all literature; why not have Bina eventually RECOGNIZE that? Because a child’s all-or-nothing attitude towards the bumps in the road is real but not accurate, and recognizing that is an important step towards maturity that I would have liked to see her take.

Clearly I feel strongly about this. You’ll have to tell me what you think!

Because there’s plenty to write about, right? And I was (once again) too tired to do it last evening. So yes, it’s an even day, but I’ve got to start somewhere. AND I finished reading Elana K. Arnold’s The Question of Miracles to my 13-year-old last night, so I figure if I just review that today, it’ll be manageable AND I can return it to the library. Right?

Reviewing such a book, on the other hand, poses just a bit of a challenge. Is it a rumination on the titular question of miracles? A chronicle of Iris’s journey through grief? Or a story about friendship? Realistically, of course, it’s all three; Iris is grieving the death of her best friend when Boris enters her life, and even as their friendship develops, she is weighed down by what feels like the arbitrariness of life. Why did Boris live when the doctors were sure he wouldn’t? Why did Sarah die? And, on a practical level, is it okay to make new friends? How do you go on when someone’s death has left a hole in your life? And how do people in Oregon get used to ALL THAT RAIN?

The Question of Miracles develops unhurriedly–I think it took my girlie more than one reading session to fully engage–but it does develop, and we both found ourselves thoroughly caught up in Iris’s journey. I’d recommend this one to thoughtful readers, ones with big questions–or to anyone struggling to accept the sudden death of a loved one. It was quiet and surprising–that is to say, it developed differently than I was expecting it would–but lovely and thought-provoking; occasionally, it was laugh-out-loud funny.

Read it when you’re in a pondering sort of mood.