Lily's Crossing is set in the US during WWII (my most preferred historical time period). Lily's mother died when she was little, and she soon discovers that her beloved Poppy must leave for Europe. She and her grandmother are spending the summer in Rockaway, New Jersey where her best friend, Margaret lives BUT Margaret has to move away with her family to a town near a munitions factory. Not only that, BUT Margaret's brother, Eddie is missing-in-action as thousands of our boys are being gunned down on the Normandy beaches.That leaves Albert, refugee from Hungary, to be Lily's companion this summer.
Lily has a lot of flaws. I love a good flawed protagonist. Lily is impetuous and foolhardy and selfish at times, but it's the lying that's going to get her in big trouble. At least, that's what I read on the dust jacket. I'm not exactly finished yet, and this post can't wait til Thursday. Art imitates life and actions have consequences, so it is only fitting that telling whoppers is going to have some big impact on Lily.
Bonus! Lily is Catholic! And so is her grandmother. When the news comes that Eddie is missing, the whole town up and heads to the church where Father says an impromptu Mass for Eddie. Poor Lily. The church is very warm, and she is very thirsty. Try as she might to pray for Eddie, Poppy, and Albert's little sister who got left behind in Occupied France, she just can't stop think about orange pop, or a nice juicy peach. I see an awful lot of my contemporary self in Lily.
I believe that Lily's Crossing is appropriate for any competent reader.
One Came Home by Amy Timberlake is one of this year's Newbery Honor books and I very much enjoyed it despite the somewhat gory description of a corpse in the first chapter. If I hadn't been watching Walking Dead (thanks a lot Cari, and Bonnie), I probably wouldn't have been able to so vividly visualize the bits and pieces that the Burkhardt family buries.
They believe they have found the remains of beloved first-born Agatha, older sister of Georgina (Georgie). Georgie does not believe this. She *knows* that this cannot be the body of her sister, who is so full of life and spunk and soul. So she sets out to prove it.
Agatha ran away a few weeks ago, after Georgie had spoiled her engagement to the wealthy (and old) hotel owner by telling him she had seen Agatha kissing Billy McCabe. Surprisingly, Billy accompanies Georgie on her quest for truth and together they leave town in the middle of the night to follow Agatha's trail.
It's a terrific mystery story with adventure, romance, and danger. Georgie, at thirteen years old, is the best marksman in the town, a skill that comes in handy as she faces a cougar and a gang of dangerous counterfeiters.
Timberlake chose to set this epic against the backdrop of the actual passenger pigeon nesting that actually took place in 1871 near Placid, Wisconsin. Passenger pigeons are now extinct, and I had no knowledge of their nesting habits, or the wealth they brought to the pigeoners who hunted them, and the towns that benefitted from the influx of pigeoners.
Also, I had no idea that the same days (also in 1871) that the historic Great Chicago Fire raged, there was an even greater firestorm that "caused the most deaths by fire in United States history" just north of the border in Wisconsin.
Georgie finds Billy McCabe to be extremely attractive, and does enjoy watching him with his shirt off. She even proposes marriage to him at one point, but she is only thirteen and her behavior is more embarrassing than objectionable.
Still, the subject matter of the mistaken identity of the corpse and the violence (Billy gets badly beaten by a villain, but Georgie shoots off the bad guy's thumb) makes me reserve One Came Home for the middle-school and up crowd.
Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate diCamillo is the winner of this year's Newbery prize. With it's unique blend of graphic novel and regular text, coupled with the plot twist that a squirrel becomes a real comic-book style superhero, it's not hard to see why this book is winning awards left and right.
But I, personally, didn't like it. I don't care for anthropomorphism (though I do love to say "anthropomorphism"), but it was more than that.
Flora's mother is a chain-smoking, cheap-paperback-romance-writing, divorcee who says some terrible things to Flora. One can deduce that Flora's parents marriage failed because of her mother's shallow romantical ideas, that are only realized in the supermarket novella, not to mention her complete narcissism. Being a mother, this character really bothered me.
But it's more than that, too.
There was a little bit about possession. The demonic kind. Not a lot. I don't even think the word "demonic" was ever used.
My Big Statement About Why I Can't Abide Possession or Mentions of It in Children's Literature
Possession is The.One.Thing. I am very cautious of when it comes to children.
Someone once (without our knowledge or permission) innocently showed one of my children a clip from a movie that was very well-reviewed from a Catholic perspective that happened to be about possession and exorcism. I think it was from the "Exorcism of Emily Rose" and the clip was maybe on YouTube? My child suffered from that exposure for months.
She was plagued with terrors. She was afraid to be left alone. She thought she heard voices.
First, fearing anxiety issues, I called our family physician, but he referred me to a higher authority.
We took her to priests. She went to confession. She had the Anointing of the Sick. She carried Holy Water with her and wore blessed holy medals. Our pastor gave her a relic of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Another priest friend of ours gave her an icon of St. Michael to hang over her bed. We had lots of people praying for her.
And in time, with the grace of God, she recovered.
I would never wish that on any child (or parent).
Obviously, her exposure to the idea of demonic possession was much more intense than reading about some children's book characters wondering if they are dealing with a possessed squirrel, but we are extra cautious about that type of thing around here.
End Rant.
Whelp, according to Amazon this book is meant for Grades 3-7, and I'm certain that most kids would not have any problems with the tiny part about possession, but it "bears" reapeating:
I have issues with Newbery Honor book Doll Bones by Holly Black for the same reason.
Doll Bones is a coming-of-age story. A trio of friends that plays this on-going highly imaginative game, with all sorts of action figures and toys, is growing up. They decide to go on one last quest, but this time they are going on a REAL quest.
The quest is to bury this creepy antique doll in an empty grave a few towns away.
How do they get the idea for this? Creepy Doll told one of the girls in her DREAMS that she was never laid to rest (buried) but rather her father used her bones to make the bone china that Creepy Doll is made of. Not only that, but the inside Creepy Doll is a drawstring bag with someone's cremated remains!
They set off on their quest, and "someone" tears apart their campsite the very first night. Was it raccoons? Or was it Creepy Doll?
Everywhere they go, the adults they encounter refer to an extra person with them, a blonde girl....Creepy Doll's original form?
The main character wonders if the doll is possessed, if his friend with the dreams is possessed, if he is possessed after he has a dream. There's a lot more possession discussion in this book than in Flora and Ulyssess.
Holly Black is a masterful story teller, and I do like a good ghost story...but the possession thing, thatza-no-good for me.
My last Newbery review for this week is Paperboy by Vince Vawter.
There is a lot to love in this book.
Everyone is comparing Paperboy to To Kill a Mockingbird, because it is set in the South (Memphis) in 1959. Yes, it's hot.
I kept waiting for the racism to rear it's ugly head, but Paperboy isn't about racism. Yes, it's there, but it's not the the focus of this story.
The focus is young Victor Vollmer, amazing baseball player, devoted friend, obedient kid, and long-suffering stutterer.
Victor plans carefully what he is going to say just to avoid the sounds he knows will trip him up. The summer of our story, Victor has agreed to take on the paper route of his best friend, while his best friend is away for the summer. Not a big deal, except that Victor will have to speak to strangers to collect the money once a week.
Between the sad, alcoholic, philandering housewife, the junkman who steals Victor's knife, the deaf/mute kid who watches TV all the time, and the retired merchant marine who opens up worlds of knowledge and possibility, this summer teaches Victor life lessons that cannot be learned in school.
There is a lot of mature material in Paperboy.
The housewife: She passes out more than once. Her housecoat is always open, and I'm not really clear as to what she may or may not be wearing underneath, but Victor is always hoping she's wearing it. She invites Victor into her home one night, with obviously inappropriate intentions, but passes out cold before any harm occurs. Victor is aware that he is not supposed to be in her house.
The junkman: He steals. He beats up Victor's black nanny, Mam. He says he murdered Mam's brother. He tries to kill Mam and Victor before the book's end.
There is some question as to whether or not Victor's father is really his father.
Despite all that ugly stuff, I believe Paperboy is a beautiful tale of overcoming adversity, befriending the friendless, and being bigger than our shortcomings, obviously for a mature reader.
Do not miss the Author's Note at the end of this book. Author, Vince Vawter and his creation, Victor Vollmer have more in common than initials. Vince Vawter writes about his struggles with stuttering as a child and as an adult.
That's quite enough out of me, let's hear from you!
Based on your lovely pre-reading for me I am the most interested in Paperboy. I have never liked Ghost stories or anything of the sort. (I got about 15 minutes into The Walking Dead before I gave up forever.) Even your short review of Doll Bones is enough for me.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED The House of Tailors, which I read based on your review. Thanks for keeping a great list for me to read from.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the detailed reviews! It is always good to have a faith perspective on some of these before diving in (one can't read All The Things, after all)- your insights and thoughts are really helpful.
ReplyDeleteGreat reviews, very useful and I will refer others to this.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: how do you deal with possession as it is played out in Gospel readings? This is always a hard one for me. We read a full Gospel aloud during advent and lent, and whenever we come to the portions on possession the reading comes to a stop because the kids are all filled with questions, conversation, they can't help but be curious and it fascinates them. His do you deal with this?
It looks like Claire beat me to the punch, but I feel the Gospel accounts of possession focus on Jesus as the Redeemer, the Healer, the Freer of Souls and not so much on the victim or the demons. I guess I never saw those accounts as scary, because Christ was truly present there. I'm not opposed to educating young people on this matter, and surely at a certain age we all need to be aware of the dangers of opening one's soul to that kind of evil via Ouija, the seemingly benign sleepover seance, or other New Age/Occult practices. I have even coached my kids that if that funny business ever occurs at a party they are attending, they are to immediately call with "chronic stomach pain/nausea" so I can quickly remove them without embarrassment.
DeleteA key parenting tip I learned from my MIL when dealing with delicate questions about this or anything sensitive (how DOES the baby get out of your tummy?) is to be very careful to answer the question and stop. If they aren't asking more questions, they are satisfied for the time being. If they have more questions, the discussion continues for another answer then stops. I try to give them exact answers and no more. As Claire says, the less attention we give the enemy, the better. We are called to be a people of hope.
One more thing about the Evil One: we have talked a LOT about the power of prayer, the power of invoking the names of Jesus and Mary, the presence and assistance of guardian angels, and the power of the St. Michael prayer. A good defense is the best offense.
Hope this helps, Rebekah.
I appreciate your heads up on themes that might not be appropriate for children. Thank you! Good use of your Smokey Bear image. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat use of the Smokey Bear image.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reviews!
I think it is wise the way the Catholic Church tends to keep kind of quiet about exorcism. I find that even when a true story about it gives glory to God, there is a risk of giving Satan more attention than he deserves. The enemy would love to fascinate people or make them afraid. I wonder if we can learn something from the way the Gospels handle it. When answering children's questions about Satan I emphasize Jesus' lordship, and after telling them what I think they should know about the subject I will say, "well, that's enough talking about that. Jesus has given us victory over the enemy, and the enemy doesnt deserve any more attention." I am happy to hear you pursued the problem and were successful in helping your daughter to be free!
ReplyDeleteYou have some very wise points here, Claire. Thank you for sharing them!
DeleteWow, Doll Bones sounds way too creepy for me. It's the kind of book that my mother would never have allowed me to read, either! :-)
ReplyDeleteI read Paperboy recently too. I wouldn't have liked it as a kid, and I wonder if it's one of those books that are very enjoyable for adults but not so much to (most) children, because it's the adults who will "get" all of the nuances and contexts.
This is so odd. The concept of possession/ghosts have come up 3 times in the past 2 days. I would stay waaaayyyyyy clear of it for kids, and I think Claire's point is a good one about not focusing on the negative.
ReplyDeleteShivers.
Thanks for all the reviews! The first two sound really good--Doll Bones sounds terrible!
ReplyDeleteHave you heard about the alleged Marian miracle that occurred during the Peshtigo fire? There is a shrine there, and everything around it burned except the area where people were processing and praying the rosary. Every year people reenact the scene--this is one article describing it: http://wicatholic.wordpress.com/the-miracles-at-robinsonville/
I was a kid who spent a couple of years deathly afraid of possession. I read an account of how the devil used to visit (and torment) one of the saints at night, and I got really, really freaked out by it. Maybe because I realized I wasn't as holy as that saint, so I might not have the same ability to resist a bodily visit? Happily, I was well aware of prayer and asking for the help of the saints as useful in this battle, but I still spent a long time being extremely afraid, and I totally agree that possession is something that should profitably be avoided in stories for kids!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the other reviews, too!
Worth noting, too, that I had heard the Gospel accounts of Jesus freeing the possessed many times, but they never bothered me at all.
DeleteHey, there. I just wanted to tell you I got out Hawsmaid, by Kathryn Lasky, because you recommended the author to my daughter 'Hermione'. I love the book and am really impressed with her research. She is so accurate about the Church that I checked her website to see if she is Catholic. Looks like not? Born Jewish. But a very detailed and fair portrayal of the Church in the historical time period. I will encourage my daughter (and me) to read more of Lasky's work. So, thanks for the suggestion!
ReplyDeleteThat's Hawksmaid"
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