Becky's Book Reviews

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

The Last Dragon

Recently was recognized as Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book for 2007.

de Mari, Silvana. 2006. The Last Dragon.

Yesterday, I spent quite a bit of time discussing the award-winning title THE PULL OF THE OCEAN. I didn’t feel it had much merit. Granted, I don’t read extensive amounts of international literature so I don’t know what the competition was like this year. But I do know an overrated, much-too-clever-for-its-own-good book when I see one. And one of my all-time favorite books THE LEGEND OF THE WANDERING KING is an international book from a Spanish writer, Laura Gallego Garcia. (Not to mention The Diary of Ma Yan which was translated first into French and then into English). So I know that there are good books out there being translated...just look at Cornelia Funke, a German writer. But I am digressing.

Focusing on the book in hand, THE LAST DRAGON was a treat of a book. I won’t lie. It’s not a perfect book. But it has something going for it: it’s generally entertaining. Yes, some of the jokes and gags might have lost something in the translation. But throughout, it is an interesting, FUN, book. If you can look past a few running gags or punchlines that get a little old after the third or fourth time, you’ll find yourself lost in the story of an elf...the last elf. Yorsh, when we first meet him, is a ‘baby’ elf. He’s new to the world, and not the brightest fellow. He’s confused. He makes mistakes. Some funnier than others. He can cause lots of mischief without really meaning too. It’s not his fault. He just doesn’t know any better. His mother died and his only memories are of his grandmother grieving the loss of her daughter. He has no memories of his father--he just knows he’s dead--perhaps even dead before his birth. So he is the ‘last’ elf on earth. An earth ravaged with floods and wild weather. When he and his two human companions find a prophecy about the ‘last elf’ meeting the ‘last dragon’ and saving the world...he has hope for the first time in his life. Now on a quest, Yorsh is out to save himself and the world. Can two humans and an elf set out to fulfill the ancient prophecy? What will they find when they venture into the mountains where dragons are supposed to dwell?

The Last Dragon is divided into two parts. However, as a reviewer I can’t really review both parts without spoiling everything. Needless to say, the first part of the book deals with the first half of the prophecy, and the second part set ten to twelve years later fulfills the second half of the prophecy. Two parts, two different quests, one very entertaining book. It has humor. It has adventure. It has a teeny bit of romance.

The book is translated from the Italian by Shaun Whiteside.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Pull of the Ocean

Mourlevat, Jean-Claude. 2006. The Pull of the Ocean.

Recently won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for 2007.

To be honest, which I always am but I like to use prefaces, I never would have read this title if it hadn't just won an award. First of all, I wouldn't have known it existed. Second, if I had seen it on the shelf and been curious enough to pull it out to read the back cover, I probably would have placed it right back on the shelf. The book flap (side flap) reads: that The Pull of the Ocean is a 'social fable' and 'a modern reinterpretation of 'Tom Thumb' that deftly gives life to memorable characters and explores resonating themes. Which leads me to make this point: if someone has to tell you that a book has 'memorable' characters right on the bookcover that tends to make me suspicious. Don't get me wrong, it's fine with classic novels that have been around a generation or two...but for a 2006 book to flaunt or assert how wonderfully memorable the characters are leaves me with a certain degree of doubt. Furthermore to be told that a book 'explores' resonating themes is very condescending. Like a reader can't judge for him/herself that a book has 'memorable' characters and explores 'resonating' themes??? It's like someone is warning you: you SHOULD like this book because it is smart and clever and a social fable. And saying if you don't like this book it is because you're just not smart enough to 'get it.'

But putting aside certain prejudices, after all I don't know who is responsible for the book flap nonsense it could have been a perfectly fine book, I read the book practically in one sitting.

The book is about a young boy, a midget or dwarf, who has six older brothers--three sets of twins. They are very poor. Their situation is desperate. Their father and mother are too poverty-stricken, too stressed, too everything to care about the emotional needs of their children. Particularly their youngest child whom they openly despise because he is different. They blame him for not only being different but they use him as a scape goat. It's okay to verbally abuse him and treat him horribly because he deserves it. He asks for it. I'm a good parent. Really. If he didn't go around thinking he was 'better' than everyone else because he can read and write...then I wouldn't have to smack him around. Some of the twins are nice. Some are violent like their father. But it is the youngest, Yann, the one small enough to fit in a sack who is considered 'wise beyond his years' and 'respected and revered' despite his size and age.

The story is told through many voices. Voices of the young and old. Male and female. All walks of life. The story is one of a young boy leading his brothers on a journey far from home. He wakes them up in the middle of the night with a threat: I just heard Dad say he was going to kill all seven of us tomorrow. Their journey is not an easy one. They listen to Yann and trust Yann no matter what he leads them into.

If this character is supposed to inspire affection from the reader...it falls short. He is not an inspiration. Don't get me wrong. He shouldn't be picked on because he is small. He shouldn't be picked on because he likes to read. But he isn't a likeable character either. He does not talk. The book leaves the reader with the idea that his muteness is one of choice. He doesn't want to communicate with his family, his parents. They allude to the fact that he expresses everything that needs to be said with his eyes. Is the fact that he's a mute midget supposed to make him a hero who can do no wrong??? Not in my eyes.

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He is a liar. The father was not going to kill him or his brothers. He was going to kill a stray cat and her kittens. If you're struggling to feed seven children should you be expected--on a farm in the country--to provide nourishment and care for stray animals? Apparently, Yann equated the death of cats with a certain amount of cruelty that he felt was intolerable. He would not try to stay in a house with a man who would 'take care' of strays in this manner. True his parents hated him. True they were abusive in the past. True the kids probably deserved a better homelife...but to reward his lies and make him a hero???? He's a liar. He's a thief.

If this is a social fable I fail to see what the message is...

Monday, January 29, 2007

Ned Vizzini

Vizzini, Ned. 2006. It’s Kind of A Funny Story.

Craig Gilner thinks his acceptance into an elite high school will be the beginning of the best years of his life. But when the pressures of high school overwhelm him, he has no where to turn but to drugs. Thus his downward spiral begins at the height of his success. As academic and social pressures build, can Craig find a healthy way to cope with the anxiety? Or is he doomed to sleepless nights and days of vomiting? Can therapy and prescription drugs really be the answer? Or does the answer lay within himself? Is there a way out of his seemingly hopeless situation? It’s Kind Of A Funny Story follows the ups and downs of a young boys life as he learns about life, love, and coping with reality.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Markus + Diana

Hagerup, Klaus. 2006. Markus +Diana.

Klaus Hagerup, a Norwegian stage director and dramatist, has made a name for himself during the past decade as a writer of award-winning books for young people. Two of his books have been made into films. Five of his novels feature the unpredictable Markus Simonsen--a series that has gained enormous popularity in Norway and abroad

Despite the front cover, Markus + Diana is a novel that almost anyone can enjoy. Markus Simonsen is a great narrator. No one was a bigger coward than Wormster. Markus Simonsen who was afraid of heights and scared of the dark. Markus Simonsen who was sure lightning would strike him if he stepped on a crack in the sidewalk and who wouldn’t dare take an elevator, even if it would save his life. Markus Simonsen who was afraid of spiders and dogs and just about everything else you could be afraid of in this world. Especially girls. They scared the hell out of him and all they had to do to make him blush was look at him. And they did that a lot. Even though he wasn’t much to look at. Markus was the shortest, scrawniest boy in class 6B at Ruud Elementary School. He had sand-colored hair and thick glasses with brown frames. They made him look almost like an old man even though he was only thirteen. Actually, it wasn’t just the glasses that made him look older than he was. It was also all the anxiety he carried around with him. (7) Anxious though he may be, he has a best friend who helps him cope in this chaotic world, Sigmund, the tallest, most talented boy in the class (8). As his school year comes to an end and summer begins, Markus begins the adventure of a lifetime.