Lafayette! (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales)

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #8 Lafayette! Nathan Hale. 2018. [October 16] Harry N. Abrams. 128 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: This title page would be better with sound effects. Whang! Klang! Shing! Slice! Stab!

Premise/plot: Nathan Hale is still prolonging his life by telling stories to his two executioners. The story he is sharing with them today is of Major General Lafayette, a Frenchman who came to help Americans fight for their independence from Britain, a good friend to many of our founding fathers including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, etc. It is set in France, America, and Canada. Nathan Hale's STORY of Lafayette ends with the American Revolution. This book does NOT in any way cover Lafayette's involvement in the French Revolution. What it does cover are many, many battles in the American Revolution.

My thoughts: I really have loved this graphic novel series. Nathan Hale doesn't just tell stories about the American Revolution, though in this case he does. He also tells entertaining, adventure stories from many different wars, conflicts, and battles. OR even episodes in history like the DONNER PARTY, the underground railroad, or the exploration of the Grand Canyon. The series could go on for quite a while since Nathan Hale is in no rush to get to his own execution.

I will say that the size of the font seems to have shrunk since the last time I read and reviewed one of the series. Surely it's not just my eye sight?! Okay. It could be just my eye sight. There were days when I couldn't even read it with squinting. But eventually I did get through all of it! It was a good read though perhaps not as compelling  as some of the other books in the series.

© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

World at War: Lovely War

Lovely War. Julie Berry. 2019. 480 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: It is early evening in the lobby of an elegant Manhattan hotel.

Premise/plot: The novel opens during the second world war. A husband has caught his wife having an affair: an impromptu trial results. That husband? His name is Hephaestus. That wife? Her name is Aphrodite. The lover? Ares. If those names sound at all familiar to you--and they should--then it is because they are gods and goddesses. Aphrodite asks to tell a story of LOVE and WAR. That story is set during the Great War, the first World War.

Hazel Windicott, one of our heroines, is a young and talented pianist. She's playing at a dance when a young soldier--a young, about-to-ship-out-overseas soldier--James Alderidge sees her and falls in love with her. The two only share three days together, but oh what wonderful days. Both feel that this could be LOVE, the once-in-a-lifetime true love. He will be serving in France.

Aubrey Edwards, one of our heroes, is a young and talented ragtime (and jazz) musician. (He does play piano, but he doesn't only play piano.) He's a black man serving overseas in France. (He's a soldier and an entertainer.)

Hazel follows her heart across the channel and volunteers in France with the YMCA as an entertainer. She becomes quite chummy with our other heroine, Collette Fournier, another entertainer--a singer/dancer. Her story is quite tragic. She's the sole survivor of her family; she's a Belgian war orphan/refugee. She has known great love and great loss. Her heart has given all it can, or has it?

Hazel knows that it is against all the rules for her and Collette to socialize with the black soldiers. (Probably with any of the soldiers. It wouldn't be proper. But there is a definite extra stigma of prejudice going on as well.) Likewise it is against the rules for black soldiers like Aubrey to sneak out from camp and visit with women. But these three are drawn together--powerfully connected--by music.

Will Hazel and James get their happy ending? Will Aubrey and Collette? What price will the war demand of their love? And what impact will these stories have on the gods and goddesses?

My thoughts: I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this one. It was such an incredibly well-told story. I loved the dual settings. We get flashes of England and France during the Great War, the first world war. Our flashes of the second world war perhaps lack some of the perspective, being that they are all within a hotel room in New York. BUT. I think it still works overall pulling readers far enough away to see the bigger picture. There is no war to end all wars; war will always be; war will always destroy and kill, pull apart. Yet where there is love there is hope and goodness. I don't always love, love, love stories within stories, BUT this one was absolute perfection.

James "Jim" Europe and the 15th New York

I love the mythological touch. This is something that I would have never, ever, ever, ever thought of on my own. Adding Greek goddesses to a compelling war story very much grounded in reality. (The characters are fictional, of course, but James Reese Europe, one of the characters, was very much a real person.)

I love the importance and significance of music (and to some degree other arts). The beauty of music, of love, of life, of friendship provide an important--crucial--contrast against the ugly brutality of war. Both Aubrey and James are changed by seeing action at the front, changed by the training (or lack of training in some cases), that they receive while in France. No one can return home from war unchanged. And yet, and yet life still goes on. Beauty remains though perspective changes.
 
I love that hope resonates. It isn't that Aubrey and Collette and James and Hazel are absolutely guaranteed happily-ever-after endings with neat, perfect little bows and ribbons. It isn't that there's a guarantee against sadness, heartbreak, doubts, fears, disappointments, frustrations. But love HOPES and TRUSTS.

I love the writing, the language. It could be giddy-making in a romantic way. It could be quite funny.

"If I'm not a secret," he said, "what am I?"
"You're a brand-new piece of sheet music," she said slowly, "for a song which, once played, I'd swear I'd always known." (48)

"All I'm saying"--Apollo is still chewing--"is that my little flu virus, in its microscopic, contagious way, was a thing of beauty." He smacks his lips. "Annihilation has its own je ne sais quoi. We're all guilty of it. So spare me the sermons."
"I'm not guilty of it," says Aphrodite. "Destruction has nothing to do with me."
The male gods stare, then explode laughing. Aphrodite turns her back on them all.
"Then there's the poetry," says Apollo. "Another reason to love war. Why in the Great War...Not since the Trojan War has a conflict inspired such verse. Here, let me recite for you--"
"No!" Three divine voices sound together, for once in perfect accord.
Apollo looks genuinely surprised. "You don't want me to?" He plucks a ukulele out of the air. "Well, I'll be darned. Anyway," he says, "there was the music. The Great War lit a musical fire that engulfed the world." (59)

I also loved that it was written in five acts. It added just the right amount of DRAMA and TENSION.

© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Degas, Painter of Ballerinas

Degas, Painter of Ballerinas. Susan Goldman Rubin. 2019. Harry N. Abrams. 64 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: As the young girls adjusted their toe shoes and warmed up for class, Edgar Degas studied them.

Premise/plot: This is a nonfiction picture book for older readers and/or art lovers of all ages. This one focuses both on the ART of Edgar Degas (and the subject of his art: dancers) and the LIFE of Edgar Degas. (Roughly eight pages is devoted to his life--the rest is focused on his art.)

Each spread highlights a piece of art. (Sometimes a spread highlights two pieces of artwork.) There is an overall narrative to the text. But each piece of art also has accompanying sidebar packed with details.

I thought the narrative was lovely! It even included a few quotes.

During his long career from 1852 to 1912, Degas created more than a thousand dance pictures. He learned that ballet training was very much like studying art. It took hard work and hours and hours of practice. Degas drew the same poses again and again, just as the dancers repeated their positions at the barre again and again. "One must repeat the same subject ten times, a hundred times," said Degas. "Nothing in art, not even movement, must seem an accident." (2)

Sometimes Degas invented his own costumes for his paintings. In the classroom, the dancers really wore plain white skirts and tops, but he added blue and pink sashes and black throat ribbons. He needed the accents of color. Once when Degas was giving art lessons to a friend's son, he told the young student to paint the whole canvas in tones of a single color, perhaps gray or brown. "You put a little color on it, a touch here, a touch there," said Degas, "and you will see how little it takes to make it come to life." (14)

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. It isn't a book to be rushed through and read cover to cover. Though if one wanted to get the big picture...one could certainly do that first. But it is best to be enjoyed a little here and there. The art deserved to be appreciated, which takes time and effort. I loved learning about each piece.

I would definitely recommend this one.




© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Madeline

Madeline. Ludwig Bemelmans. 1939. 44 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: In an old house in Paris/ that was covered with vines/ lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.

Premise/plot: Madeline is a children's classic set in Paris, France. It stars a brave little girl, Madeline, who has to go to the hospital with her appendix.

My thoughts: I love the setting of Madeline. I do. The illustrations of this one are lovely. The rhyming is nice. But the story itself--when you really stop and think about it--is a bit odd. As a child, I never really stopped to think about where they lived. Was it an orphanage? Were all the girls orphans? Is that why sometimes they were very, very sad? Was it a school? I also never really understood--then or now--why the other girls wanted Madeline's scar?!

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Marie, Dancing

Marie, Dancing. Carolyn Meyer. 2005. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 272 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: "You," said the man wearing blue-tinted eyeglasses. 

Premise/plot: Edgar Degas is known for his paintings of dancers. But he is also known, of course, for his sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Marie, Dancing is a fictional account of that fourteen-year-old dancer, Marie van Goethem. The novel opens in 1878 with Degas inviting the young girl to model for him. It follows her through several years--even when she is no longer dancing.

Marie is the middle daughter. She has an older sister, Antoinette, and a younger sister, Charlotte. All three are ballet dancers. Dancing alone would never bring home enough money to pay the rent and buy food. That's one reason their aunt disapproves of the way her sister is raising the girls. (Another reason is that the mom is a drunk who takes what little money they have to drink.) Marie and Charlotte are almost always on the hungry side. Antoinette has started looking for men willing to pay for her company. So she'll come home with extra money, jewelry, and clothes. She's a vain girl; the more attention she receives from men the less attention she gives to her sisters and her dancing. Marie uses the money she gets from modeling to support her family. The modeling does not last long--at least through the eyes of Marie herself. She misses the money when it's gone. It took years for the sculpture to get finished and be ready for exhibition. (1881)

My thoughts: Marie, Dancing is set in Paris, France, during the late nineteenth century. It stars a few historical figures--Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt. Marie van Goethem was a real girl; the novel has its basis in truth. But the novel is definitely fictional!

Carolyn Meyer is one of my favorite historical writers. I definitely enjoyed this one! I loved, loved, loved the setting. Although the novel could make one hungry....if one is prone to really getting immersed in a novel. I loved the sprinkling of French throughout the novel. I found that aspect delightful.

I thought the characterization was wonderful. I really loved Marie and Charlotte. I loved Marie's friendship with Jean-Pierre. I was really hoping these two would have a happy ending. (I was disappointed.)


© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

World at War: Mistress of the Ritz

Mistress of the Ritz. Melanie Benjamin. 2019. Random House. 384 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence:  Blanche is dead.

Premise/plot: This historical novel is based on true people/events. It stars a husband and wife, Claude and Blanche Auzello, living in Paris, France, during the second world war. The novel actually includes flashbacks for earlier--1920s and 30s. Blanche arrived in Paris as an American tourist. She wanted to be a big, film star and an Egyptian prince, J'Ali,  promised her the moon and the stars--essentially. Claude was a hotel manager/director who promised to show her the town--and kept his promise. He wanted to "save" her from the empty promises of one man who wasn't worthy of her. He married her. Cue the happily ever after, right?!?! WRONG.

Much of the first two decades of their marriage is fast-forwarded. Readers really only follow their story from 1940 to 1945. There are plenty of hints that the marriage is more unhappy than happy. The drama and suspense of this one center around their activities during the war. They are living in occupied Paris. Claude has been director of the Ritz for quite a while now, the Nazi occupation has not changed that at least. During the war, the Ritz plays host to the Nazis first and foremost. But does that mean that Claude and Blanche have accepted the Nazis and welcomed them fully?

The drama and suspense of this one center on the couple's individual participation in the French resistance. The husband does not trust his wife with his secrets. The wife does not trust her husband with her secrets. They view each other essentially as enemies.

My thoughts: I have very mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, I loved the French setting. I've read quite a few books this year about the French resistance--not all have been set in the city of Paris. I love the time period; I do. Reading books--fiction or nonfiction--about the war is something that I actively pursue. (Hence WORLD AT WAR every Wednesday). Books based on true events/people are unique in that the author can give voice to their stories but ultimately not change the fate of her characters. I'd like to hope that Melanie Benjamin would change the ending if she could. I hope.

On the other hand, I do have major issues with the marketing of this one as a "love story for the ages." Would a true love story for the ages star a man who is a cheater?! The excuse he gives and readers are perhaps asked to accept is "I'm French. I can't help it. Other women mean nothing. I married you. Don't nag me about my mistresses. I'll always be honest with you and let you know which nights I plan to spend with them." Throughout the novel, it's "I'm French; I'm French; I'm French. If only you were French too, all our problems would poof--vanish. You just don't understand me."

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But my REAL issue is that this "love story for the ages" ends in a murder-suicide. How can a book SELL THE IDEA of murder as ROMANTIC AND LOVING AND KIND AND PASSIONATE?!?!?! I do understand that that is the REAL story of a REAL couple. I'm not trying to change the facts, the story. But it is ABSOLUTELY NOT A LOVE STORY FOR THE AGES if the husband decides to kill his wife and then take his own life. The end of this one is not romantic, not loving, not a sign of passion....it is HORRIFIC.

So if the description of this one was actually honest, I might not have such mixed feelings about it. 

© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Dark Triumph

Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) Robin LaFevers. 2013. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 404 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: I did not arrive at the convent of Saint Mortain some green stripling. By the time I was sent there, my death count numbered three, and I had had two lovers besides.

Premise/plot: The first book in the His Fair Assassin series is Grave Mercy which stars Ismae and Duval. The second book in the series is Dark Triumph which stars Sybella and The Beast of Waroch. Both Ismae and Sybella are assassan nuns--young women dedicated to serving the god Mortain (aka Death). Both also serve the Duchess of Brittany, Anne.  If the first book focused on politics with the threat of war, the second novel focuses on politics and inevitable WAR.


Secrets. Lies. Betrayals. Murders. Sybella has seen and heard too much; she was born into one of the cruelest, darkest families in Brittany. Her escape to the convent to be trained as Death's handmaiden--an assassin--was too brief. For better or worse, Sybella's "purpose" is a dark one. She wants justice, justice for all the lives lost at her father's hand, all the lives lost because of her father's orders, all the lives lost on the battlefield because her father is a traitor to the duchess. She's a killer. She feels she kills justly, men who deserve to die, but she's a killer whether or not she's following her Lord's orders or not.

One of the orders she receives early in the novel is to rescue one of the men captured by her father (D'Albret). A man readers came to know as "the Beast." She knows it won't be easy, but, she knows it's right. For she knows that in saving his life, in giving him his freedom, she'll be doing good for the Duchess. The news he carries back to her may help her cause. But what Sybella never expected was to be "rescued" by the prisoner AS he makes his escape. The Beast and Sybella traveling together...as a team...to the Duchess...it's something!
My thoughts:  At first, I didn't know what to think of Dark Triumph. The opening chapters were so dark and creepy. What Sybella, our heroine, has had to live with her whole life is almost too horrible to describe. But her story, though dark, is necessary for the reader to know, to understand. Both Sybella and "the Beast" were characters first introduced in Robin LaFevers Grave Mercy. I thought they were interesting in the first novel, but after reading the second novel they were so much more than that. I LOVED them. I think I loved them even more than I loved Ismae and Duval. 



© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews