Twilight in the Garden of Wool and Beasts

Pinterest Users Need to Know This!

2011-09-08T21:52:00.002-04:00

Robbi's Books!

2011-07-08T09:56:00.001-04:00

Please post in the comments here if you know the title of the book(s) you're gifting to Robbi for her shower. We're trying to avoid duplicates because they'll have the bookplate in them!

Thanks!

Butternut Squash

2008-10-16T23:23:00.002-04:00

It's very tasty. And I learned two things about it tonight.

1. You can peel it with a regular vegetable peeler! I always thought the skin would be too thick or tough.
2. It smells just like watermelon when you chop it up.

Weird and wonderful squash, how I love thee.

Finished in a Year, But There's a Slight Problem

2008-02-26T21:12:00.015-05:00

I started this pair of fingerless mittens from this knitty.com pattern at least a year ago. I really don't remember when exactly. But I finished one mitt and and I had this much on the needles before I put it aside and forgot about it until a week ago.

But I was victorious a week ago and I finished the second glove. Very good, no?

No, not really. Because in the intervening year, I put away the first glove somewhere and now I don't know where it is! I've looked everywhere I can think of, and it hasn't shown up. I considered even starting a third glove from the same yarn so I could have a pair, but with my luck I'd find the original first one as I was binding off.

What a conundrum!

Instead, I spied this lovely pink and green yarn at the store and decided to make an entirely new pair!

I have now finished the first one, and all I have to do now is finish the second one before I lose it somewhere.

See, I have two right gloves!

I did make some mods for the newer pair. My gauge was off on the blue pair, and although they fit fine, they're a little short on my wrists, exposing the tender skin to the cold, cold wind. So I added a row of cable repeats and the new ones are a little longer.

Unfortunately, the the pink yarn's soy-wool blend is a little itchy. I might line these with a little fleece, or at least the wrist part. The itchiness doesn't bother me up in the hand part. Maybe because they're looser with the ribbing there?

I like the new ones, so I hope I get the second one done before it gets warm out.

Origami for the Masses

2008-02-19T22:13:00.006-05:00

This evening I held a very cool (if I do say so) "Origami for Kids" program at the library. The kids seemed to have fun, and we made a whole menagerie of origami animals out of colored paper.

The grand finale was this masterpiece:

It's an origami Golden Snitch! I love it!

So, my challenge to you, my dear readers, is to make your own golden snitch! You can find the step-by-step directions here and all you need is a square sheet of paper, preferably yellow. I know you can do it!

If you do, let me know and I'd love to see a picture of yourself posing with your snitch! Have fun, and remember: patience is key!

It's not my fault!

2008-02-18T21:41:00.003-05:00

I know, I know what you're going to say... "She started off well, but there's just no follow-through." Not true!

I wanted to blog, I promise, but I was struck down by a vicious sickness last week! It was awful! I had a medium-high fever for 48 hours and felt pretty crappy the next day, too. I've been coughing nonstop since then. Last night I got the first good night of sleep in seven days. So, after a week's hiatus, I'm back.

Yesterday we went to J's sister's place to celebrate the three February birthdays in J's family. Here he is, enjoying his limited time with a cat. He's very allergic, but they have a breed that is very non-allergenic, so he thinks we're getting one in a few years. Wrong.

I also finished some fun crafty stuff last week that I didn't get pictures of until after the sickness hit. This is a design called "Ghost Birds" by the fabulous Amiee Ray of Dreamfollow.com:

Her original version is very much a winter design, which I like a lot, but I wanted to see if I could play around with the colors a bit and get something much more summery. What do you think? Does it work?

Pretty (Postponed) Pincushions

2008-02-06T20:41:00.000-05:00

This post probably should have been posted a week ago, but I had other things to post and I was saving this one for a dry spell.

Remember I am totally into embroidery now? I have been picking up random craft books at the library and I found this really cute one:

Pretty Little Pincushions has a huge number of projects that I wanted to do as soon as I saw them! That's not as common as you'd think. Last weekend, I worked on a couple:

Here is the beginnings of the project on the front cover:

I know, mine isn't cute yet, but it will be! I just have to set aside some time to design the motifs.

Another really darling pattern is for mini finger pincushions. They can be decorated any which way and are really easy to make.

Here are the four I made. I embroidered on the left two and did the bottom right one up in buttons and ribbon. Top right is plain as of yet.

Action shot!

And last, I put together this mod-looking patchwork pincushion:

Yes, I did organize my pins by head color on the patches. So?

The White Darkness

2008-02-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

Today I finished the book I've been working on for the last couple of weeks. It feels like it took me awhile to get through this one, but it was completely worth it. The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean is about a modern-day British girl, Sym, who is swept up in the madness of her "uncle" Victor. Uncle Victor, a close friend of the family and her father's former business partner, has always encouraged Sym's facination with and love of "The Ice," or Antarctica. She has read every book, seen movies and documentaries and television shows. She even has Captain "Titus" Oates, one of Scott's fellow ill-fated explorers on his bid for the South Pole, in her head. Yes, he is an imaginary, yet very lifelike companion for lonely Sym, who has worn hearing aids since childhood and feels cut off and unlike her school mates. Uncle Victor has been a help to the family since Sym's father died prematurely, so no one's suspicions are raised when he takes Sym on "holiday" under false pretenses. They end up on The Ice, and his mad search for the mythical "Symmes' Hole" (named after John Symme) drags Sym into the harshest environment on earth.

McCaughrean's prose is gorgeous - lyrical and deeply descriptive. This is the 2008 winner of the Michael Printz award for excellence in Young Adult Literature, and it's a well-deserved honor. I would definitely reccomend it to anyone interested in a highly literary adventure and survival story.

Snow... Sort of

2008-02-01T17:36:00.000-05:00

So we were under a snow advisory from 7 p.m. last night until 7 p.m. tonight. We were supposed to get up to 7 inches of snow - 3 at the least.

This is what we did get:

Ridiculous, eh? I was really looking forward to a snow day. It looks like we got barely an inch, though. There is some ice, but not enough to keep me from driving in to work at 5:45 this morning. Darn.

On a happier note, I just bought something from Etsy and realized I hadn't left feedback for a couple other things I bought. They have this neat feature where you can leave a "customer appreciation picture" with your text feedback. I got the material and directions to make a Domokun iPod cozy and I really love the results. As you can see... (sorry the "funnier" one is a little blurry.)

Funny face...

Somewhat dazed face...

Embroidered Graffiti

2008-01-30T20:51:00.000-05:00

One quick post tonight.

Check out this guy's blog: Historically Inaccurate.

He has some really amazing artwork, but my favorite is his graffitied toile pieces. He stitches over the pattern to make cool and funny stuff.

Here are two of my favorites, but you should totally take a look at his whole site (including archived posts!)

I love the bird costume!

Something new

2008-01-29T20:10:00.000-05:00

So, if you know me, you'll know I'm into crafting - I knit, crochet, and any number of other things. I have just discovered a new one - embroidery. I love the way it looks and it's really pretty easy to do. I love to knit, but it takes so long to finish anything. Maybe I'm just a slow knitter. But the embroidery projects that I've been doing are easy and quick gratification.

I've been most inspired by one book:

Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray. Her designs are totally cute and the instructions are very clear.

I've already made several items:

This is a sampler bag to practice the various stitch techniques. It holds some of my tools - hoop, scissors, fabric marker, needles. I really love the blue on brown.

Another project from the book is a wall hanging. I've made two:

J decided that there was a huge empty length of wall in our kitchen that NEEDED something, so I offered to make several of these 8"x8" scenes to make a "composition."

Two down, ten more to go...

A New Start

2008-01-28T21:02:00.000-05:00

It's been almost a year since I last updated, and the pressure of reviewing books for this blog has been why. I am going to try something new - thus the template overhaul. I wanted something lighter.

The blogs that I enjoy and read most frequently are image heavy and text light. They are updated frequently (at least thrice a week) and posts are relatively short. I'm going to try to emulate that model and see if short, picture-laden posts will improve my frequency of updates and readership!

Time for a picture!

One of my goals is to become more organized. I tend to forget to do things - even when I really want to. This annoys husband J. So, I bought myself a whiteboard that now hangs next to my desk. So far it has been helpful. I see a list of the things I need to do every time I'm in the room. J and I can both add to the list and see when I've finished.

I think sometimes simple changes can help tremendously, if they are the right changes.

The Wee Free Men

2007-04-03T22:05:00.000-04:00

In the Chalk, the sheepherding country of the Discworld, nine-year-old Tiffany Aching knows she wants to be a witch. Just in time, too. Since her Granny Aching died, the Queen of Fairyland has been testing the borders between their worlds, and will soon grow bolder without a local to protect it. Tiffany doesn’t know if she’s got the right skills, but when her brother is stolen, she has to get him back – even if she doesn’t like him much – because he belongs to her. She soon meets the Nac Mac Feegle (the Wee Free Men of the title), who have adopted her as their new “hag.” The Feegles are red-haired, blue-skinned, 6-inch high men who know what they do best: “stealin’ an’ drinkin’ an’ fightin’!” Though they have many amusing battle cries, their most common is “Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!” Short on complex thought but big on loyalty to the local hag (an’ stealin’ an’ drinkin’ an’ fightin’), the Feegles agree to help Tiffany find her brother. Although their help is invaluable, Tiffany comes into her own and is able to retrieve what she seeks and learns quite a bit about being a witch on the way. (It often has to do with noticing things other people miss!)

As a longtime fan of Pratchett’s adult Discworld novels, I was more than pleased with this story, which was published as a teen book. It is a less aggressive but lovely introduction to Pratchett’s work, full of fun with commonly held concepts (why does the witch have to be wicked?) and wordplay. I’m looking forward to the next two books that follow Tiffany and the Feegles, A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith.

Keys to the Kingdom series

2007-02-19T09:17:00.000-05:00

Garth Nix is amazing. I'm not sure how he does it, but I thoroughly enjoy and am glued to any of his books I happen to pick up. Long ago, I read the Abhorsen trilogy on my brother’s recommendation, and it has become a favorite. Late last year, I started Nix’s other YA series, The Keys to the Kingdom. It had been written for a slightly younger audience, I believe, but is just as gripping.

Arthur Penhaligon is new at his school, and is reluctant to push the issue of his asthma with the pushy gym instructor, and so begins the cross country run planned for the day. Unfortunately, his lungs simply cannot keep up and an attack begins. Close to death, Arthur sees two strangely dressed men – one of which hands over “the key” to make him the “rightful heir.” Arthur’s life is saved, though, when two friendly classmates help him use his inhaler and call for medical help. The men have been thwarted – they meant only to hand over the key until Arthur died, then take it back. Arthur learns that the man who gave him the key is the slothful Mister Monday, one of seven trustees of the House which rests in reality, while Earth and the countless other Secondary Realms are outside it. Monday and the rest of the Morrow Day trustees have broken apart the written manifestation of the Architect’s Will, and Arthur must defeat each of them to set things right and stop the denizens of the House interfering in the affairs of the Secondary Realms.

Fantasy reviews are so difficult to do – there is an entire mythology behind every one that includes vocabulary and ideas that work with gradual introductions (the book) but sound like gobbledygook when referenced (the review). Suffice it to say, this is good stuff. I’m up to the last published volume, Sir Thursday and each installment is as exciting and innovative as the last. Thankfully, Lady Friday was JUST published (Amazon says Jan. 17) and although it will be awhile before the copy I ordered for the library will be in, the metropolitan library I live near should have it now or soon! If you have time to speed through volumes 1-5, get a hold of Mister Monday. You won't want to interrupt yourself until Lady Friday is finished.

Blind Faith

2006-12-17T09:53:00.000-05:00

Well, school is finished for the semester and I'm back. I have read lots of great books in the last few months, but we'll see if I get them all back-blogged. The most recent one I've finished is Blind Faith by Ellen Wittlinger. I actually met Wittlinger when I was at the ALAN workshop (a two-day extravaganza for teachers and librarians all about YA lit.) in Nashville. She spoke in a breakout session about beauty, and was very funny and insightful. This is her newest work.

In Blind Faith, 15-year-old Liz watches her mother throw herself on her grandmother's casket, and the spiral shifts downward from there. Liz loved her grandmother, Bunny, who was full of verve and life, but Liz's mom, Christine, had a special relationship with Bunny, one that is very different than the one Liz has with her own mother. After Bunny's death, Liz feels terrible, but Christine sinks into a deep depression, not getting out of bed or wanting to open her pottery shop, much less work on pots. Soon, though, she gets cleaned up to go to Singing River, a Spiritualist church. There, ministers mediate between the living and the dead, and Christine believes she is receiving messages from Bunny, much to the aggravation of Liz's father, who is staunchly against organized religion. Liz, trying to please her mother, agrees to attend one Saturday, and isn't sure what she believes. It all seems like a big hoax, but the ministers do seem to know some things they couldn't without Bunny's help.

A family, meanwhile, moves in across the street with the crabby old lady who lives there. Courtney, a younger girl, quickly introduces herself enjoys spending time with Liz and her two dogs. Her older brother, Nathan, is Liz's age, but he seems moody and unhappy to be living with his grumpy grandmother. Soon Liz finds out why she hasn't seen their mother: she has leukemia and has come back to her estranged mother's house to die. Neither she nor Nathan, though, can find the courage to tell Courtney. As the relationship between Liz's parents worsens, Liz is more and more confused about death, grieving, relationships with her mother, father, and Nathan, and the changes she sees in her familiar world as a result of growing older.

This is a beautiful story, showing the nature of mother/daughter relationships and the ways in which we grieve, as well as the normal but excruciating evolution everything familiar seems to undergo as we grow from child to adult. Wittlinger always seems to find the right words to create an entirely believable teen world that reflects the experiences of the "good kids" rather than the stereotypical problem teens.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

2006-10-29T10:49:00.000-05:00

I did this review for class so I figured I may as well post it! I did it in the style of a review journal I use frequently: VOYA (Voice of Youth Activists). Here is a link to their website, which explains the Q/P rating system.

5Q • 4P • S
Cohn, Rachel, and David Leviathan. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Knopf, 2006. 183 p. $16.95. 0-375-83531-5.

Nick is the straight bassist in the Hoboken-based queercore punk band playing at tonight’s show. Norah is the privileged niece of the club owner, daughter of a music exec, and is only out tonight to make sure her friend Caroline doesn’t die in a drunken stupor. In a panic, Nick asks Norah to be his five-minute girlfriend when he sees his recent ex and her new fling headed his way. So begins our eight-hour glimpse into a budding romance set on the backdrop of Manhattan and its punk music scene. Told in alternating chapters from both perspectives, we learn that Norah’s thrown away an acceptance to Brown to be with a boyfriend for whom she’s never been good enough, Nick pines for a girl who never took their coupledom seriously, and that both are ready (and perfect) for each other. The skill of both authors create a depth which shows even Caroline and Nick’s ex as three-dimensional, and our heroes’ realizations about life, love, music, and drag queens never seem scripted. Allusions to vintage and modern punk will seem like gifts to teens in the know, and may create a new generation of rockers. Sexual scenes and strong profanity may restrict at least your recommendation to older teens, but the situations are realistic. This reviewer was gratified to see that these two ultra-cool characters are “straight-edgers” and prefer to enjoy their club scene without drugs or drinking. Destined to become a cult favorite, Nick and Norah will steal readers’ hearts.

My South Park Self

2006-09-25T13:49:00.000-04:00

Cool, huh? I haven't had time for much of anything, but I did start a catalog of books I've read. You can see it at www.librarything.com/catalog/acajjou. I may begin adding my reviews there, but I'm so busy this semester I can't promise anything...

Peter and Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

2006-08-20T14:36:00.000-04:00

This delightful book seeks to set the record straight about Peter Pan’s origins. Peter, a young boy living in an awful orphanage in England, is sent with several younger boys to the ramshackle ship, the Never Land. The cruel first mate tells them that they are being sent to King Zarboff the Third's court to work as servants, since he and his man-eating snake go through servants so quickly. Once aboard, Peter snoops around for more edible food and meets Molly, the aristocratic young girl who becomes his friend. It is through her that Peter learns about “starstuff” and the noble “Starcatchers.” The mysterious starstuff falls from the sky periodically and gives strange powers, including the power of flight. Obviously, dishonest people can become dangerous if they get their hands on it, so a group of guardians called Starcatchers formed to find and dispose of the starstuff. A large trunk of it somehow got on the Never Land, and now the infamous pirate Black Stache is after them!

This book is tons of fun, as one would expect from the humorist Dave Barry. I’d not previously read Ridley Pearson’s books, but he is a popular adult writer. The twists and turns that explain the origins of many of Barrie’s fantastic features such as the mermaids and, of course, the fearsome crocodile are inventive, and a reader familiar with Barrie’s work will have some satisfying “Oh, yeah, I think I know where this is going” moments, though the overall story is not predictable. This is a great book that is appropriate for the whole family, and would make a great read-aloud.

Inheritance Series, books 1 and 2

2006-08-20T14:22:00.000-04:00

Over a year ago, now, I read a book that lots of teens were talking about, and that I’d hardly seen since it was always checked out. That book was Eragon, written by Christopher Paolini. I’ve just now finished listening to its sequel on CD and figured I’d review them together, since most of the plot points I’ll mention come from the first book. Paolini was merely 15 when he wrote Eragon, and boy, did it show. He borrows heavily from the symbolism, culture, and atmosphere of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Anne Perry’s Dragonriders series, and other fantasy epics. The prose is crowded with adjectives that mostly sound like they’ve come from a thesaurus. The title itself is a semi-obvious rip on Tolkien’s hero, Aragorn. Despite its flaws, however, the story has a lot of action, adventure and drama and because it is drawing heavily from really great works of fantasy literature, has fascinated a new generation of readers who have not had previous contact with these works and therefore cannot judge it against them. Recently, I picked up the second book, Eldest, on audio, read by Gerard Doyle. The writing style had by that time matured, though the heavy influences remain. The story was better, and I can see the potential for Paolini to become a decent writer in about five or ten years’ time. What really kept me going, though, was the reading. Doyle was excellent. I believe he has narrated many audio books, and I am eager to find more.

In any case, the story of the first book involves the teen Eragon, an orphan who lives with his uncle and cousin in a small village on the edge of the Spine, a mountain range into which most humans won’t venture. Eragon, of course, does, and finds a funny blue stone, takes it home, and it hatches into Saphira, his very own dragon with whom he has a telepathic bond. The king of the land is a mad-evil-dragonriding-magician who had wiped out the other dragons and dragonriders and stockpiled the remaining eggs. Saphira’s egg was stolen and he is desperate to get it back. He sends awful creatures – the Razak, similar to the Nazgûl in spirit – to hunt Eragon. He flees the village with the wise village storyteller Brom to find the rebel faction, the Varden. Magic, battles, strange acquaintances, etc. later, they reach it and the end of the first book.

The second book, Eldest, takes right up where Eragon left off, and now Eragon is accompanied by an elf-girl with whom he’s falling in love and a gruff but friendly dwarf. They are all off to the elf stronghold to finish Eragon’s training and the face-off against the mad king commences as the 2^nd book ends. I’ve glossed, I know, but it would take much more time to give a better accounting. If you’ve read many fantasy novels, you already have a general idea of what’s going on and what to expect next.

These books are okay if your expectations haven’t been set too high (as mine had). Hopefully, I’ve set them fairly low for you, and there’s no where to go but up. I hope, if you decide to read it, you enjoy it much more than I did.

Lack of Posts

2006-08-17T18:18:00.000-04:00

Apologies to all anxiously waiting for further book reviews! I had two ultra-busy weeks at work, enjoyed the third week on vacation, and this past week I've been catching up. Fortunately, I have been busy reading AND knitting in the past four weeks, so I have lots to share. These catch up reviews will be quick and dirty, but maybe you prefer that anyway...

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

2006-07-11T09:24:00.000-04:00

Virginia Shreves thinks she must have been switched at birth. She is blonde, unpopular, overweight, and can’t speak French. The rest of her family (mom, dad, older brother and sister) is dark, beautiful, thin, popular, and speak fluent French. Furthermore, Virginia’s best friend is away for the year and she’s all alone at school. She’s begun an unfulfilling and secret relationship with a classmate that she can’t even speak to in school. When her mother decides to be more proactive about her weight problem and under the pressure of disapproving parents and cruel classmates, Virginia begins a dangerous starvation diet. Before it goes too far, though, her brother Byron is sent home from college under allegations of date rape. Virginia is shattered and must reevaluate her idea that Byron and the rest of her family are perfect. She returns to overeating for comfort but with a little help slowly finds herself as a confident individual who’s come to terms with her imperfections.

The glittery cover and weird title initially put me off of this book, but I was interested in reading it as a Printz Honor book (the Printz is like the Newbery award for teen books) and one that has recently been banned in several school libraries around the country. Virginia is a good narrator – funny, self-depreciating, and ultimately strong, and any girl who is or was unhappy with her image will see some hope there. Supporting characters such as Byron and Froggy Welsh the Fourth (her secret boyfriend) are complex and we learn more about them as Virginia does.

Issues include: body image, date rape, eating disorders, sexuality, rebellion, dysfunctional families, occasional profanity.

Feed by M.T. Anderson (Audio)

2006-07-08T14:06:00.000-04:00

Titus is a typical teen in the US in some unspecified time in the future. There are flying cars, vacations to outer space, domes over underground houses and subdivisions that control the weather and light, conceptionariums for custom test-tube babies, and a host of other technological advances that have contributed to a planet maimed by pollution and resource stripping. However, the most pervasive advance is the Feed – an internet-like system that is surgically implanted into children’s brains and grows up with them. Titus goes to the moon with some friends for spring break and meets Violet, the strange but beautiful girl who actually reads and writes, is interested in the news, and wants to go to boring places like the mountains. She tags along with them to a night club where a political hacker gets into their system and they must go to the hospital for tests before being reconnected to the Feed. In the hospital, Titus and Violet get to know one another and embark on a romance. Life soon returns to normal for Titus, but a Feed malfunction in Violet’s system wreaks havoc on their relationship, their lives, and their perception of the world around them.

I took the advice of others on the listserv YALSA-BK (you can join, too! See info at http://lists.ala.org/wws/info/yalsa-bk) to listen to Feed before reading it. It was good advice. Much of the book is dialogue, and the rest is told from Titus’ perspective, so just begs to be heard. The performer, David Baker, perfectly emulates the bored teens’ slang, tone, and timing, which turns out to sound somewhat like the “Valley Girl” and “Surfer Dude” slang of the 80s, and underscores the teens’ disconnection from real life. (Interestingly, Titus’ parents also use this slang, but in more mature voices, and this also shows that the suburbanites of mainstream America are also unaware or uncaring about the state of their country and their world.) This was a disturbing and thought-provoking read. I would love to do a book discussion with it and see what others think!

Issues include: technology, pollution, big business, advertising, world politics, some sexuality, realistic profanity, conformity, illness, class division, consumerism, alcohol use, drug use.

Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

2006-07-08T11:34:00.000-04:00

Steve York, who two semesters ago was a straight-A honor student, is failing his senior English class, stoned most of the time, and isolated from his peers at his new San Diego school. A surprisingly sympathetic guidance counselor gives him two options – retake English during the summer and thus delay graduation, or write a 100 page paper on the subject of his choice, to be turned in a few pages at a time. Steve decides to write the paper and after a few corny attempts at fiction, goes with what he knows and thus begins the real story. Turn back to Steve’s sophomore year. He’s living in Houston with his father – the rigid and strict former astronaut whom Steve blames for his parents’ divorce and avoids at all costs. His countercultural tendencies lead him to befriend a group comprised of the school club G.O.D. – the Grace Order of Dadaists, formed to fulfill a bet. Through the club, Steve meets Dub, his first love, and we learn that their relationship is key to Steve’s move to San Diego and plummeting prospects. In the end, Steve confronts and conquers his demons and we’re left with hopes for his future.

I really enjoyed this book. Published in 1996 – the year I finished my freshman year, I identified with the characters, the pop culture references and general mid-90s atmosphere and attitude of the novel. The characters participated in a lot of the behaviors that I stayed away from in high school – the usual sex, drugs (weed), and alcohol – but they’re realistic depictions that I recognized in my peers and sometimes in friends. However, I was completely reliving my high school days with the characters activities and motivations: hanging out, staying up late, resisting the mainstream to the point of being pretentious in our need to prove our disdain for the popular crowd, the naïveté and bluster of those days, the joy of finding a class or a teacher that really understands and challenges you, discovering friends through mutual music tastes, and all of the heightened emotions and strong ideals. It didn’t make me want to be in high school again, but it did create a nostalgia and I enjoyed looking back at my experiences. I would only recommend the book to older high school students and young adults as far as content goes, but I really think that those a couple years away from high school would be at the ideal stage to really appreciate the deeper themes.

Issues include: divorce, sexuality, drug use, alcohol use, realistic profanity, dysfunctional families, conformity.

First Knitting Post!

2006-06-22T23:52:00.000-04:00

So here is my latest knitting project. It's for Ameetha's new baby; I've never knit clothes for a baby before, and I've never done a sweater pattern of any size before. I've learned a lot from this, and I've been working on it for a looong time. I'm using the "baby wrap top" pattern from from the book Special Knits by Debbie Bliss. She has some really lovely stuff. I substituted a baby alpaca yarn (shed by baby alpacas, not necessarily intended for babies) and it is VERY soft. I did the trim in an eggplant purple - which is hard to tell from the pictures, sorry, and the bulk from a cream color. I've gotten tired of traditional pastels for babies. The other first from this project was embroidered embellishments. Anyone can tell that my little lazy daisies are lopsided, turned in funny directions, different sized, etc. I think it gives it character. Plus, I don't think I could get them any better.

Why isn't the top on the baby, you ask? Well, despite the misleading pictures I've posted, it's not finished. Like almost every other knitter I've met or read about, I'm not a big fan of finishing. By which I mean weaving in ends, joining pattern pieces, picking up to make collars, sewing on ribbon and fastenings, etc. This is the real picture of this piece, and the reason it's been almost 6 months since I've started:

Lookit all them ends! It's awful! I've actually considered cutting out all of the embroidery and gifting the top plain just to avoid it. Plus I don't actually know the best way to secure these ends so that they don't pull free or get pulled by tiny hands.

Wish me luck.

Smart Boys and Fast Girls by Stephe Davis

2006-06-22T17:48:00.000-04:00

I picked this one up because it was featured on the Teen Book Club at DearReader.com (a great service anyone can sign up for). I had chosen not to actually buy this book for our library since I hadn’t seen any reviews, but my local library has it, so I checked it out there.

In short, Natalie loves track, and she’s fast. She’s just gotten on the varsity team, and is beginning to make friends with the older girls and the cute boy’s track captain. When she learns she’s failing geometry, and her teacher threatens to have her kicked off the team if she doesn’t work with a tutor, she’s crushed. She doesn’t want anyone to know she’s stupid enough to need a tutor, and if her parents knew, they’d make her quit track. Matt, the tutor, is a super-smart geek (though not unattractive) who thinks sports are dumb and all jocks are jerks. They strike up a deal: he’ll pretend to be her boyfriend (two benefits: to explain the time they spend together to study and to make the track captain jealous) and she will make sure her father (a noted physics professor) gets Matt a summer research job. I’m sure you’ll figure out what happens. Zach (track captain) isn’t right for her, and Matt works out just fine. Plus she passes geometry and kicks ass on the track team. Happy ending all around.

The book doesn’t hide the fact that it’s light romantic fare, but that’s okay. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible. I was entertained, and the plot had enough twists and surprises that kept me interested. I was put off, for the most part, by Natalie’s character. She just seemed so silly. For example, when Zach comments that most girls take much longer than her to change after practice, she resolves to keep him waiting next time. When she comments that she likes his Jeep, he says that most girls worry that it will mess up their hair, and she resolves to pay more attention to her hair. I don’t know any girls like that, but I’m sure they exist.

Issues include: dating, self-image, academic tutoring, sports.

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City

2006-06-21T16:26:00.000-04:00

Our narrator in Kristen Miller’s debut novel is the unfortunately named Ananka Fishbein, who lives in New York with her academically-minded parents and attends a prestigious private school thanks to a restriction in her kooky grandfather’s will. There, she catches sight of Kiki Strike, the tiny, intriguing girl with white-blonde hair, who, when asked what she’d like to be when she grows up, responds, “dangerous.” The week before seeing Kiki for the first time, Ananka saw a strange thing on her morning walk. An enormous sinkhole had opened in a nearby park. Exploring it, she finds a little room, furnished in 19th century style. She scours her parents’ library for information on an underground city beneath New York, and learns about the “Shadow City,” home to smugglers and outlaws. Kiki soon contacts Ananka, and gathers a group of super-talented preteen girls – a mechanical genius, master of disguise, talented forger, and chemist. They explore the Shadow City together, have adventures, and foil Chinese gang members, corrupt businessmen, spoiled socialites, and murderous exiled royalty.

I’m sure that the over the top descriptions of unrealistic situations was intended to be humorous, but it just didn’t work for me. The author didn’t have the skill to convince me to suspend my disbelief. I each situation seemed more ridiculous for 12 year olds to be in, and the Shadow City itself wasn’t at all interesting or given the description that could have made it so. Kiki didn’t come across as human, and much of the story was predictable or had a high groan-factor. I didn’t enjoy this one, but it wasn’t so terrible that I couldn’t finish it. I think I was disappointed because the story had great potential, but just didn’t deliver.

Black Taxi by James Moloney

2006-06-21T15:28:00.000-04:00

If your grandfather Paddy offered to let you, Rosie Sinclair, take care of his classic black Mercedes, what could be better? Even if it is for the six months that he’s in prison. And when he gives you his cell phone as well, then you’re set. Until the calls come in. There’s Mrs. Foat, who needs a ride to the hospital to visit her dying sister. Mr. and Mrs. Duval, who depend on Paddy to get to the shops each week. Rosie feels that she needs to help all of the “wrinklies,” as she calls them, even though she was hoping the new car would give her a little more freedom. She does, however, meet Todd, the sweet and handsome guy who seems to like her, as well as bad-boy Chris, who doesn’t hide the fact that he likes her.

The fun is shattered when a cell call comes through that is not a sweet old person. The rough, angry voice threatens to make Paddy’s incarceration unpleasant if she doesn’t hand over the “ring.” Rosie doesn’t know what’s going on, and becomes involved in a mystery with high stakes. With the help of her older, exotic dancing best friend Glenda, she must figure out what’s going on and how to find the ring before the voice gets too impatient.

This was a light, fun offering with both the high school drama and romance that seem usual to this genre, and a good mystery and some adventure mixed in. The older people Rosie chauffeurs are humorously but realistically drawn, and the best friend Glenda (stage name: Giselle) is a source of strength and quite matter-of-fact about her job. The story is set in Australia, but I didn’t catch that until I was a third of the way through, and even then, it’s not obvious enough to alienate American readers.

Issues include: crime, relationships with the elderly, exotic dancing, adultery, mild sexuality.

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place (Audio)

2006-06-16T20:53:00.000-04:00

Although this book is cataloged as "Junior Fiction" (comprising books suitable for grades 3-6) in my small library, it's set as "Teen" in the library to which I live closest. The author, E.L. Konigsburg, is a favorite of mine. She wrote the classic From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and another YA book I recently read for a book club, Silent to the Bone.

Margaret Rose Kane is a feisty twelve-year-old whose parents have left for an archeological dig in Peru. Her eccentric but loving Hungarian great-uncles (strangely) hadn't volunteered to take her, so she heads off to Camp Talequa. The six "alums" and one other newcomer in her cabin respond badly to her unique outlook, and her refusal to tattle or respond to their tricks make them try harder. Her Uncle Alex rescues her, and she settles in enjoy the summer with the beloved bachelors and their truffle-hunting dog, Tartufo. Their house is a haven, made even more beautiful by the amazing towers of steel painted in rainbow colors, topped with empty clock faces and strung tip to foot with tinkling pendants that the uncles have been constructing for the last 45 years. Margaret Rose then learns why the uncles didn't initially ask her to stay - the city council (fueled by nasty neighbors and neighborhood politics) has declared the towers unsafe, and they are to come down. Margaret Rose and the sympathetic Camp Talequa janitor-cum-artist Jake Kaplan gather friends for the fight to save them.

I liked this book quite a lot. Margaret is a character - her invariable (and infuriating) response to Camp Talequa's councellors' questions of "Why don't you want to go boating/hiking/swimming" is "I prefer not to" - a reference to one of my favorite Herman Melville short stories, "Bartleby the Scrivener." However, the squabbling Uncles Alex and Morris are the real treat here. They are perfectly conveyed. Strangely, the towers seem a sort of extension of them, and they, too, become character-like. The wonderful descriptions remind me of the Watts Towers in L.A. or even Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, though on a smaller scale.

This audio version of the book was performed by 80s teen actress extraordinare, Molly Ringwald. I was excited to see her name when I checked it out, but she was not as fantastic as Sthephen Fry (see my post on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), but it was still good. Her delivery was a bit flatter, her voices a little more similar. I should say, though, that her Hungarian accents for Uncle Morris and Uncle Alex were really fun. I don't know how accurate they were, but it made the characters that much more endearing. All in all, I'm glad I listened to the book, rather than just read it.

Issues include social activism, conformity, bullying, and divorce.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Audio)

2006-06-16T20:22:00.000-04:00

Now, this is the sort of fantasy that I don't feel silly telling people I like. Douglas Adams' classic space parody is funny and smart and has some amazing characters.

In case you don't know what it's about: mild-mannered Arthur Dent is upset that someone determined that a bypass must go through the spot his house currently occupies. He wasn't notified until the day before the bulldozers came, and tries (in vain) to save it by lying in the bulldozer's path. This turns out to be a parallel in which the Earth will be destroyed in much the same manner by the awfully bureaucratic Vogons. Arthur, as it happens, is friends with Ford Prefect, an alien from Betelgeuse who happens to know how to hitch a ride on the Vogon ship. They are saved, and much wacky space hijinks ensue, involving a ship employing an improbability drive, the flamboyant two-headed ex-hippie President of the Galaxy, some chick Arthur once tried to pick up at a party, a chronically depressed robot, and some white mice.

This version, read by actor Stephen Fry (legendary Jeeves in the British series Jeeves and Wooster) who is the narrator in the 2005 film version of the book, is lovely. He seems to have spent equal time working out the best voice for the 5 minutes we hear of the bulldozer foreman as he has for the important and unique President Zaphod Beeblebrox. His inflections for the Vogons, Marvin the Paranoid Android, Trillian, the mice, and of course, our hero Arthur, are spot-on. It may help that I have a soft spot in my heart for a British accent of any kind, but this performance really shows what a talented voice actor can do for the rendition of a favorite book. (Thanks to Andrew for letting me borrow this!)

Issues include space travel, aliens, mild language, evolution and other secular theories, and robots.

Protector of the Small Quartet

2006-06-16T19:42:00.000-04:00

These are the kinds of fantasy "girl" books that everyone rolls their eyes at before dismissing. Really, I do this, too. But Tamora Pierce is outrageously popular at my library and I thought I ought to read something of hers. Someone suggested I begin with the Protector of the Small quartet, which is, I believe, the third series she'd set in her medieval fantasy world.

The story involves young Keldary of Mindelan (Kel, for short) who grew up in the Yamani Islands (Japan) with her ambassador mother and father. Upon her return to Tortall (Europe), she decides she wants to become a knight. This has only recently been made possible by the legendary Alanna the Lioness, who disguised herself as a boy in order to do it. She was so great, apparently, the king decrees women should be able to openly train for knighthood. Kel has no magical gift, as Alanna does, so if she can survive the training, it will prove to all the fusty conservatives that women really can fight, etc. Kel's weapons training in the Yamani Islands makes her a natural, and she eventually defies all the odds (including a fair but conservative training master that doesn't believe girls belong in the program, loads of cruel boys who think her success threatens their manhood, hazing, bullies, a crippling fear of heights, and a horse that's too big for her) to survive not only the first probationary year (not imposed on any boys), the three additional years as page, one (I think?) as squire, and the mystical "Chamber of the Ordeal" that tests knights-to-be. Along the way, she picks up a flock of tamed sparrows (useful for distracting the enemy and pecking at him), a beat-up mutt (good for tracking and biting), a warhorse named Peachblossom, and even a baby griffin for a short time. The last book tells of her first duties as a knight, including running a refugee camp, stopping terrible "killing machines" (magicked robots fueled by the souls of murdered children), and killing the mage making said machines and murdering said children.

This kind of story and characters make me cringe, but mostly because deep down I really do enjoy them. As an adult, I realize that the writing isn't all that great, the story is pretty much formulaic, and a lot of the plot devices are somewhat transparent. However, it's a good story. I liked it in the same way that I devoured Piers Anthony novels (each of those has pretty much the same story with different characters) and Mercedes Lackey's books (ditto) as a kid. I like fantasy, even if it's dorky and predictable and corny at the same time. A librarian should always tell a patron not to be ashamed of their reading choices, so I suppose I should just get over it and declare proudly that I enjoyed these books. As I keep wanting to go back and rewrite that sentence, I guess I have a ways to go...

Issues include magic, gender roles, mild sexuality, battle violence and gore, necromancy, bullying, hazing, and social strata.

Fat Kid Rules the World

2006-06-11T16:00:00.000-04:00

So the last book I read was K.L. Going's Fat Kid Rules the World. This was really a wonderful book - with fun punk references, lots of humor, vivid descriptions of NYC, and an amazing human story. I actually cried, and I am not a weeper.

The story involves 300-pound Troy, a high school senior who has no friends, a younger brother that doesn't want to be seen with him, an ex-Marine father, and a dead mom. He's a nothing, and is contemplating throwing himself into the path of a NY city subway when a former high school legend, Curt MacCrae, interrupts and begins talking with him. Curt is unnaturally skinny, dirty, and apparently sleeping in the subway. A punk rock guitar genius, Curt surprises Troy by asking him to start a punk band with him, playing the drums, though he's only last played percussion in the 7th grade band. The two form a strange and tenuous friendship, in which Troy learns about Curt's dysfunctional family life and prescription drug problem, while gaining more self confidence and learning more about his father and brother. For his part, Curt enjoys getting full meals at Troy's house and sharing his absolute love of music and punk perspective with him.

Issues include thoughts of suicide, mild sexuality, realistic profanity, drug abuse, teen homelessness, family problems, and teen obesity.

A Blog for Me - not You

2006-06-10T15:50:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I finally broke down and made myself a silly blog. I've toyed with the idea for ages, but somehow kept myself from going that route. But to justify this one, I'm saying that it's a blog for ME - not anyone else. I'm using it as a knitting (the wool) and reading (the beasts) diary. Beasts is in reference to the classic teen library services manual The Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts, since I'm a teen librarian and most of the books I read are YA. So the question now remains whether I'll keep it up or just keep reading.