Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again (MG)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again. Frank Cottrell Boyce. 2012. Candlewick Press. 192 pages.

Most cars are just cars. Four wheels. An engine. Some seats. They take you to work. Or to school. They bring you home again. But some cars--just a few--are more than cars.
Some cars are different.
Some cars are amazing.
And the Tooting family's car was absolutely definitely not one of those.
Not amazing.
Not different.
It was so undifferent and so unamazing, in fact, that on the last day of the summer term when Lucy and Jem strolled out of the school gates and into the holidays, they walked straight past it. They didn't even notice it was there until their father popped his head out of the window and shouted, Lucy! Jem! Jump in! I'm giving you a lift!"

 Did I love Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again? Not really. Not love. It's not that kind of book, at least not for me. Did I like it? Yes! Not that I'd go so far as to say I really, really, really liked it. But. It was definitely a fun, silly, predictably over-the-top adventure story--the sort that's perfect for family read alouds. The family is just wonderfully silly. There's a clever Dad who loves to invent or tamper with things. A cleverer Mom who thinks its a great idea if Dad tampers with a camper van instead of the house. And three children: Jem, Lucy, and Little Harry. Each has their role to play in the novel, as you might expect, but don't expect brilliant, amazing characterization. These characters feel like humorous character sketches created for our amusement. Jem was fun because as he worked with his Dad, his confidence grew and grew. And soon we have our own hero in the making. Lucy was also fun. You might think you know what Lucy does in her black bedroom, but, trust me, you don't know the half of it. Little Harry, well, no one takes him as seriously as they should. And he does provide the twist at the end!

If you enjoy adventure-fantasies that are completely over-the-top, then Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again is just the novel for you. I do think it would make a good read aloud. I do think it's a fun, playful, enjoyable read.

Read Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again

• If you enjoy fantasy-adventure novels 
• If you love humorous adventure stories that aren't quite believable but are oh-so-fun in the moment
• If you love family books
• If you are looking for books with biracial characters

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Great Influenza

The Great Influenza. The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. John M. Barry. 2004. Penguin. 546 pages. 

From the prologue: The Great War had brought Paul Lewis into the navy in 1918 as a lieutenant commander, but he never seemed quite at ease when in his uniform. It never seemed to fit quite right, or to sit quite right, and he was often flustered and failed to respond properly when sailors saluted him. Yet he was every bit a warrior, and he hunted death. When he found it, he confronted it, challenged it, tried to pin it in place like a lepidopterist pinning down a butterfly, so he could then dissect it piece by piece, analyze it, and find a way to confound it. He did so often enough that the risks he took became routine. Still, death had never appeared to him as it did now, in mid-September 1918. Row after row of men confronted him in the hospital ward, many of them bloody and dying in some new and awful way. He had been called here to solve a mystery that dumbfounded the clinicians. For Lewis was a scientist. Although a physician he had never practiced on a patient. Instead, a member of the very first generation of American medical scientists, he had spent his life in the laboratory.

While I'm not sure every reader will find The Great Influenza equally compelling, I must say that this one was quite the read for me! It was fascinating, challenging, and complex--complex in a good way. The Great Influenza is more than the story of the 1918/1919 influenza pandemic that spread around the world. It covers the background of medicine, how medicine is practiced, how doctors are trained and educated, how schools and laboratories are run, the need for excellence not just competence. (Though competence is a good place to start when there are no standards at all for who can practice medicine and call themselves a doctor.) It covers science, medicine, sociology, and even politics. Yes, The Great Influenza covers almost everything you could want to know. It follows the story of a handful of scientists in particular--exploring their personal and professional lives, presenting their theories and experiments, documenting their successes and failures. Most of this one, of course, does focus on the pandemic--tracing it throughout the spring of 1918 through most of 1919. It even follows up on how it continued to impact lives--months and even years later. How having this particular strain of influenza effected your brain and how it could continue to give you problems.

I really enjoyed this one! I found it completely fascinating. I loved all the details. 

Read The Great Influenza

• If you are interested in World War I
• If you are interested in science, history, sociology, politics, and medicine
• If you are looking for compelling nonfiction; yes, this one may take almost a hundred pages to get to the influenza of 1918, but it's worth it. 

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Wild Book

The Wild Book. Margarita Engle. 2012. Harcourt. 144 pages.

I really do love Margarita Engle's verse novels set in Cuba. They almost always impress me. I love her poetry. I love the emotion behind the poems. The way she tells a story. The Wild Book is no exception. Set in Cuba in the early twentieth century, the heroine is based on Engle's grandmother. (I believe the novel is set around 1912?)

Josefa, or "Fefa", is our eleven year old, word-blind heroine. Her inability to read isn't from lack of focus or desire. More than anything, Fefa wants to be able to read and write. She's dyslexic at a time when no one really understood what that meant. Her mother gives her a present, a blank book, and tells her to practice, to take things slow, slow, slow. To keep trying. To not give up. And that is just what our heroine does. She writes--as slowly and carefully as she can--about her life. And it's an interesting time to be sure....since Cuba has won its independence from Spain and is being occupied by the United States...a time with many dangers and risks.

Guessing

I memorize all the little
guess-me riddles
in my schoolbook:


A bird has a little white
treasure chest
that everyone knows
how to open
but no one can close.
An egg!


Why does an unlucky shrimp
swim backwards?
To return to a time 
before he lost his luck!


I dream up new riddles
and write them all down
in my wild book.


My slow handwriting
with its careful swirls
and loops
has almost grown 
beautiful.


Am I patient?
What has changed?


When I write riddles,
the pen in my hand
feels mysterious.


I feel as powerful
as a girl in a fairy tale,
a brave girl who climbs
dangerous towers
and sips water
from magic wells.


Is this how it feels
to be smart? (46-47)

Read The Wild Book

• If you're a fan of Margarita Engle
• If you're a fan of verse novels
• If you're looking for historical fiction set in Cuba
• If you're looking for books with dyslexic characters

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Library Loot: First Trip in April

New Loot:

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto by Susan Goldman Rubin
The Freedom of a Christian by Martin Luther
Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren
Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren
Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren
A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont
Blue Thread by Ruth Tenzer Feldman
I've Lost My Hippopotamus by Jack Prelutsky
No Cooperation from the Cat: A Mystery by Marian Babson
After the Snow by S.D. Crockett
The Story of English in 100 Words by David Crystal
Everything You Need to Survive the Apocalypse by Lucas Klauss
The Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker.

Leftover Loot:

Replication by Jill Williamson
Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Interrupted A Life Beyond Words by Rachel Coker
Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
Mars Trilogy: A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay
Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Lunatic's Curse by F.E. Higgins
We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill
A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary by Anonymous  

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.     

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Sunday Salon: Watching The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009)

I recently watched The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, and I just LOVED it. Was it difficult to watch? Yes! Was it emotionally challenging? Yes. Were there scenes that just got to me? Yes. There were a few scenes in this one where it was almost impossible to not become an emotional wreck. (I'm thinking specifically of a scene between a father and son on a train. I seriously thought I couldn't take much more after that.) But was it worth it? Absolutely. It was tough to watch because of the content, but because of the content it was authentic. I think it is very, very important that viewers see the truth of what those war years were like. I think people need to be reminded what happened during the Holocaust. I think this movie does a great job at showing the very best and worst of humanity. The best because there were people who stood up and did something. There were people who were willing to risk their very lives to save Jews from the Nazis. Anyway, I'd definitely recommend this one! I thought the acting was great. It definitely helped that it starred Goran Visnjic whom I just love and adore!!! And playing a small-but-yet-still-significant role was Ruby Bentall, whom I recognized from Lark Rise to Candleford.

Watch The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler

• If you want to watch a really great, really compelling movie with a lot of heart
• If you like watching historical films based on true people/true events

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews