13th Reality

Dashner, James. 2008. The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters.

I wanted to love, love, love The 13th Reality. And for a while it seemed inevitable. From the very beginning:

"Norbert Johnson had never met such strange people in all of his life, much less two on the same day--within the same hour even. Odd. Very odd indeed. Norbert, with his scraggly gray hair and his rumpled gray pants and his wrinkly gray shirt, had worked at the post office in Macadamia, Alaska, for twenty-three years, seven months, twelve days, and--he looked at his watch--just a hair short of four hours. In those long, cold, lonesome years he'd met just about every type of human being you could imagine. Nice people and mean people. Ugly people and pretty people. Lawyers, doctors, accountants, cops. Crazies and convicts. Old hags and young whippersnappers. Oh, and lots of celebrities, too. Why if you believed his high-falutin' stories (which most people quit doing about twenty-three years, seven months, twelve hours, and three hours ago), you'd think he'd met every movie and music star in America. Though exactly why these famous folks were up in Alaska dropping off mail was anybody's guess, so it may have been a slight exaggeration of the truth." (1-2)

Norbert isn't our main character. But he serves as a good introduction to the odd (and slightly wacky) adventures that are to come. That day in the post office, Norbert met a man and a woman. One good, one evil. Both odd as can be. The man, Master George, was mailing hundreds of letters. Our main hero (and a few of our sidekicks) is the recipient of one of those letters.

Here is our introduction to our hero, "Atticus Higginbottom--nicknamed "Tick" since his first day of kindergarten--stood inside the darkness of his own locker, cramped and claustrophobic." (11). Tick is picked on by the school bullies. And school would be a fairly miserable place for him if it wasn't for the teachers--one teacher in particular, Mr. Chu. He's got nerd tendencies (minus the greasy hair and glasses) and a birthmark on his neck. (He keeps a striped scarf around his neck 365 days a year.) He's socially awkward, of course, a good many seventh graders are, but he's a good hero-in-the-making. And that process begins when he receives a curious letter in the mail that was postmarked in Alaska. Someone writing him under the initials "M.G." Someone who is calling him to be brave and to accept a challenge and to help save the world and save lives. It's a call Tick is happy to answer.

The Thirteenth Reality is an interesting book built on a good premise. The idea that there are alternate realities and a way to travel between them is a good one. The idea that the villains from one alternate reality would want to try to dominate and/or destroy the others also is intriguing enough. This book is the first in a series. And I think that is part of the problem. What can sometimes happen in novels that are first in the series is that they serve more as a prologue to the series, a prologue to the action. It's all about setting things up, getting ready for the real adventures to start in subsequent books. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I disliked the novel. But I didn't love, love, love it either. For me, it suffered from a bit of uneven pacing. The beginning and the ending was strong, really strong. But in the middle, it was easier to lose interest. I'm not sure if kids would feel that way about it or not. Tick was waiting for the exciting adventures to start, and so were we. We were both waiting and waiting and waiting. And once the big day arrived, it was exciting again. And it was worth it, I think. I'm definitely interested in reading more from this series, from this author.

428 pages.

The Moffats

Estes, Eleanor. 1941. The Moffats.

The Moffats may not be the most exciting, thrilling, page-turning book I've ever read, but it is enjoyable none the less in its quiet, subtle, gentle way. The book focuses on the Moffat family. A mother raising her kids alone. The family is not rich--as you can imagine--but there is a loving, caring atmosphere that makes for a very happy home. The book is episodic. The narrator or main character changes from chapter to chapter. And there is no one connecting plot that threads them altogether. (Well, maybe that isn't quite true. If there is such a plot it would be that their landlord has put their house up for sale. This occurs in the first or second chapter. And the house is sold and the Moffats have to move in the last chapter.) Each chapter is a story of sorts about what life is like--daily life around the house, around school, around town, etc. The stories are mostly lighthearted and fun. But there are some serious moments as well, some moments that border on being a lesson in morality. For readers looking for family-oriented, family-friending reading material, The Moffats is sure to satisfy.

First sentences: The way Mama could peel apples! A few turns of the knife and there the apple was, all skinned! Jane could not take her eyes from her mother's hands. They had a way of doing things, peeling apples, sprinkling salt, counting pennies, that fascinated her.

224 pages

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh

O'Brian, Robert C. 1971. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Mrs. Frisby, the head of a family of field mice, lived in an underground house in the vegetable garden of a farmer named Mr. Fitzgibbon.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH won the Newbery in 1972. This was my first time to read it. My first impression? Slightly odd, but odd in a good way. A really good way. It took me a few chapters to suspend my disbelief. Talking animal books while aren't completely foreign to me, aren't my norm usually. But once I allowed myself the opportunity to really embrace the story for what it was--fantasy not realistic fiction--then I was more than hooked.

The story is about the Frisby family. Mrs. Frisby is the head of the family. It is winter, and one of her children, Timothy, is sick. She's told by the "doctor" mouse that to move her son would result in his death. Yet move they must if they're to survive. For spring has come. The thaw has begun. The frost is long over. And she overhears the farmer making plans to get out the tractor. Her home--their home--is in the field. Their home is a "slightly damaged cinder block" that is almost completely underground. The story is her search for help. It is this search for help which will lead her directly to the rats.

Mrs. Frisby is afraid of the rats. Almost everyone is afraid of the rats. But when her son's life hangs in the balance...it's a time for a mother to overcome her fears--all her fears--even if those fears are rats and owls and crows.

I definitely recommend this book. It was fun and enjoyable.

233 pages

Prelude to Foundation

Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov is a prequel to Foundation. (Foundation was originally published in 1951. Prelude to Foundation was published in 1988.) It is VERY different than the original novel. Foundation, if you recall, is composed of five segments. Each one separate, distinct. The story--the plot--is loosely woven together. The main theme could be construed to be one of ambition. Various individuals separated by time and often place are very thirsty and hungry for power. All use manipulative tactics to advance their cause--the cause to be #1 and to boss everyone around. But Prelude to Foundation is set on one planet, and follows primarily the life of one man for a handful of months. (If I had to guess, I'd say more than three but less than twelve.) And Prelude to Foundation does have a very similar theme. It too is all about ambitions, agendas, and propaganda.

You might be thinking, BUT WHAT IS IT ABOUT???? Prelude to Foundation is the story of Hari Seldon. A young man who finds his world turned upside down after giving a speech--reading his research paper--at a mathematical convention. His topic? Psychohistory. Suddenly, Seldon finds himself a hot commodity. Power-hungry people seem determined to use him, to use his supposed theory as a propaganda machine for their own agendas. Seldon is convinced throughout seven-eighths of the novel that the theory of psychohistory is impossible. While it might theoretically be possible to to decipher the ins and outs of the philosophy, the science. It is just that a theory that hasn't been proven. And a theory that is unlikely to be proven since it is so complex, so headache-causing that even the supposed inventor of this theory can't understand or explain what exactly he means by the concept. Seldon doesn't want to deal with this "theory" in the practical. It boggles his mind that others are so determined to make him apply it politically, socially, economically. This one little research paper has him on the run for his life. Okay, life might be an exaggeration. No one is out to kill him--for the most part--they just want to trap him, use him, keep him under their control. (Which one could argue would seriously hinder his "living" life at all.) Of course, this isn't Hari Seldon's story alone. There are many, many characters. Many, many plot twists. Many things that make this novel complex.

If I had to compare the two novels, Foundation and Prelude to Foundation, this is what I would say. Foundation is like eating a wonderful, delicious meal. You leave the table feeling full and satisfied. You enjoyed every bite. It was an experience. Something to be savored. For me, Prelude to Foundation loses some of the magic. It wasn't like eating a wonderful meal. It is like you're held captive while someone describes to you the minute details of what it took to prepare that meal. The preparations. The recipes. The nutritional value of each dish. The reasonings behind exact serving sizes and garnishes. The how-to's of elaborate table settings. It is a thicker, heavier, weightier read. Very detailed. Prone to lessons and lectures in some places. It gets bogged down in the whys. In some ways it is a less satisfying read. Of course, this is all subjective.

Since it is a prelude, it is now listed as "first" in the series. I think this might just be a mistake. Of course, I can't unread Foundation to fairly evaluate Prelude to Foundation. But in all honesty, if I read Prelude to Foundation first, I'm not sure I'd bother to go on with the series. If I did, I certainly wouldn't be in any hurry or rush to do so. Prelude to Foundation was boring in places, while Foundation had me spellbound the whole way through.

Forward the Foundation is another prequel. It also goes "before" the original novel Foundation.