I've been tearing through some great books from the Caudill Award shelf at the public library, one science fiction, one mystery, one geared towards boys, and one for girls, but both terrific reads.
Kenneth Oppel's Airborn is destined to be a classic. I truly hope that someone makes a movie of this "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" meets "King Kong" epic. The setting is a fictional past, where cell phones, GPS, and airplanes do not exist, rather "hydrium" filled airships roam the skies through well traveled shipping lines, carrying cargo and passengers in the style of the Titanic. Our hero is fifteen year old Matt Cruse, born in the sky as his parents emigrated via airship, Matt has spent the last two years as cabin boy aboard the Aurora.
During his routine shift in the crow's nest, Matt spots a hot air balloon, drifting aimlessly over the Pacificus. The Aurora saves her, but the only passenger is seriously ill and does not survive. One year later, Matt meets the granddaughter of the balloonist, wealthy, young Kate deVries. Kate shares her grandfather's journal with Matt, and tells him of her desire to find the uncharted island where her father saw what she believes to be an entirely new species. When the Aurora is attacked by pirates, they find themselves shipwrecked on that very island.
Will they find the new species? Will they get off the island? What if the pirates come back? Oh, it is a thrilling adventure! And beautifully written as well. Oppel's descriptive passages are downright poetic at times. I am very excited to discover a sequel, Skybreaker, has already been published. Highly recommended.
Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach is the account of Hero Netherfield, sister of the lovely, popular Beatrice, and daughter of a Shakespearean scholar father, and a graphic designing mother. They have just moved to Washington D.C., where her father is employed as an archivist for the Maxwell Elizabethan Documents Collection. In between horrible experiences at a new middle school, Hero befriends next door neighbor, Mrs. Roth.
Mrs. Roth shares the secrets of the Murphy house, where Hero lives, and the tale of the massive diamond rumored to be hid within. In her quest to discover the diamond, Hero learns much about Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I and the debates of the true identity of the author known as Shakespeare.
I hesitate to "highly recommend" this book for two reasons. First of all, Anne Boleyn's historic charges of infidelity are discussed along with the possibility of Elizabeth I having an illegitimate child. While this material is definitely for the older student, it does not bother me as much as my second reason, namely the way in which the major characters disparage "church-going." When Hero does not wish to speak to a neighborhood boy who has come to call, the author writes,
"Tell him I'm not here. "
"He'll never believe that. It's not even ten o'clock. Where would you be?"
"Tell him I'm at church."
Beatrice laughed loudly. "Really?"
A minor moment in the whole of the novel, granted, but worth mentioning. I get defensive when I see that Christians are still sport for the pagan world. Despite this one scene, I enjoyed the book, liked the characters, and loved reading about Shakespeare.
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Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Airborn and Shakespeare's Secret
I've been tearing through some great books from the Caudill Award shelf at the public library, one science fiction, one mystery, one geared towards boys, and one for girls, but both terrific reads.
Kenneth Oppel's Airborn is destined to be a classic. I truly hope that someone makes a movie of this "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" meets "King Kong" epic. The setting is a fictional past, where cell phones, GPS, and airplanes do not exist, rather "hydrium" filled airships roam the skies through well traveled shipping lines, carrying cargo and passengers in the style of the Titanic. Our hero is fifteen year old Matt Cruse, born in the sky as his parents emigrated via airship, Matt has spent the last two years as cabin boy aboard the Aurora.
During his routine shift in the crow's nest, Matt spots a hot air balloon, drifting aimlessly over the Pacificus. The Aurora saves her, but the only passenger is seriously ill and does not survive. One year later, Matt meets the granddaughter of the balloonist, wealthy, young Kate deVries. Kate shares her grandfather's journal with Matt, and tells him of her desire to find the uncharted island where her father saw what she believes to be an entirely new species. When the Aurora is attacked by pirates, they find themselves shipwrecked on that very island.
Will they find the new species? Will they get off the island? What if the pirates come back? Oh, it is a thrilling adventure! And beautifully written as well. Oppel's descriptive passages are downright poetic at times. I am very excited to discover a sequel, Skybreaker, has already been published. Highly recommended.
Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach is the account of Hero Netherfield, sister of the lovely, popular Beatrice, and daughter of a Shakespearean scholar father, and a graphic designing mother. They have just moved to Washington D.C., where her father is employed as an archivist for the Maxwell Elizabethan Documents Collection. In between horrible experiences at a new middle school, Hero befriends next door neighbor, Mrs. Roth.
Mrs. Roth shares the secrets of the Murphy house, where Hero lives, and the tale of the massive diamond rumored to be hid within. In her quest to discover the diamond, Hero learns much about Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I and the debates of the true identity of the author known as Shakespeare.
I hesitate to "highly recommend" this book for two reasons. First of all, Anne Boleyn's historic charges of infidelity are discussed along with the possibility of Elizabeth I having an illegitimate child. While this material is definitely for the older student, it does not bother me as much as my second reason, namely the way in which the major characters disparage "church-going." When Hero does not wish to speak to a neighborhood boy who has come to call, the author writes,
"Tell him I'm not here. "
"He'll never believe that. It's not even ten o'clock. Where would you be?"
"Tell him I'm at church."
Beatrice laughed loudly. "Really?"
A minor moment in the whole of the novel, granted, but worth mentioning. I get defensive when I see that Christians are still sport for the pagan world. Despite this one scene, I enjoyed the book, liked the characters, and loved reading about Shakespeare.
Kenneth Oppel's Airborn is destined to be a classic. I truly hope that someone makes a movie of this "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" meets "King Kong" epic. The setting is a fictional past, where cell phones, GPS, and airplanes do not exist, rather "hydrium" filled airships roam the skies through well traveled shipping lines, carrying cargo and passengers in the style of the Titanic. Our hero is fifteen year old Matt Cruse, born in the sky as his parents emigrated via airship, Matt has spent the last two years as cabin boy aboard the Aurora.
During his routine shift in the crow's nest, Matt spots a hot air balloon, drifting aimlessly over the Pacificus. The Aurora saves her, but the only passenger is seriously ill and does not survive. One year later, Matt meets the granddaughter of the balloonist, wealthy, young Kate deVries. Kate shares her grandfather's journal with Matt, and tells him of her desire to find the uncharted island where her father saw what she believes to be an entirely new species. When the Aurora is attacked by pirates, they find themselves shipwrecked on that very island.
Will they find the new species? Will they get off the island? What if the pirates come back? Oh, it is a thrilling adventure! And beautifully written as well. Oppel's descriptive passages are downright poetic at times. I am very excited to discover a sequel, Skybreaker, has already been published. Highly recommended.
Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach is the account of Hero Netherfield, sister of the lovely, popular Beatrice, and daughter of a Shakespearean scholar father, and a graphic designing mother. They have just moved to Washington D.C., where her father is employed as an archivist for the Maxwell Elizabethan Documents Collection. In between horrible experiences at a new middle school, Hero befriends next door neighbor, Mrs. Roth.
Mrs. Roth shares the secrets of the Murphy house, where Hero lives, and the tale of the massive diamond rumored to be hid within. In her quest to discover the diamond, Hero learns much about Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I and the debates of the true identity of the author known as Shakespeare.
I hesitate to "highly recommend" this book for two reasons. First of all, Anne Boleyn's historic charges of infidelity are discussed along with the possibility of Elizabeth I having an illegitimate child. While this material is definitely for the older student, it does not bother me as much as my second reason, namely the way in which the major characters disparage "church-going." When Hero does not wish to speak to a neighborhood boy who has come to call, the author writes,
"Tell him I'm not here. "
"He'll never believe that. It's not even ten o'clock. Where would you be?"
"Tell him I'm at church."
Beatrice laughed loudly. "Really?"
A minor moment in the whole of the novel, granted, but worth mentioning. I get defensive when I see that Christians are still sport for the pagan world. Despite this one scene, I enjoyed the book, liked the characters, and loved reading about Shakespeare.
2 comments:
AnonymousDecember 9, 2007 at 7:08 PMInteresting site! I would like to see a list of authors who should be avoided. I recently made the mistake of buying the "Golden Compass" not realizing the author's history and the underlying currents of the book. I'd rather not put money towards authors of this type. Keep up the good work.
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Blessings
Hard to read about/study Anne Boleyn without asking why she was executed, however, don't you think? I can't remember how Gladys Malvern handled it in her book, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, but I know that reading it and watching the PBS series when I was in 5th grade caused me to major in 16th century history.
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Interesting site! I would like to see a list of authors who should be avoided. I recently made the mistake of buying the "Golden Compass" not realizing the author's history and the underlying currents of the book. I'd rather not put money towards authors of this type. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Hard to read about/study Anne Boleyn without asking why she was executed, however, don't you think? I can't remember how Gladys Malvern handled it in her book, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, but I know that reading it and watching the PBS series when I was in 5th grade caused me to major in 16th century history.
ReplyDelete