#reading level 5

Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is yet another National Book Award finalist from this excellent author. Not as well known or as old as the Newbery Award, which is given by the American Library Association, the National Book Award is given to writers, by writers. This year's judges for young people's literature are Cynthia Voigt, a Newbery Award Winner, Angela Johnson, winner of three Coretta Scott King Awards, Holly Black, author of the Spiderwick series with Tony DiTerlizzi and Carolyn Mackler, a new author of teen fiction. The panel of judges is chaired by Daniel Handler, who goes by the pen name of Lemony Snicket. This may be the biggest award for children's literature you have never heard of, short of the Smarties, awarded in the UK, and also known as the Nestle Children's Book Prize. And, Chains was also named the 2009 winner of the Scott O'Dell Award For Historical Fiction.

Laurie Halse Anderson is a diverse writer. She has authored non-fiction picture books, like Independent Dames, the Vet Volunteer Series for young readers, several teen novels, including the impressive Speak, which won the National Book Award silver medal in 1999, and the exceptional Fever 1793, a historical novel for mid-level readers about the yellow fever epidemic that gripped the colonies. With Chains, Anderson revisits this genre, this time to explore the complex issues of slavery, freedom, revolution, loyalty and the maturation of the self - self-worth, self-interest and a personal sense of morality. While most historical fiction that has slavery as part of the plot is set during the Civil War era, Anderson chooses to begin her story on Monday, May 27, 1776. Interestingly enough, the winner of the 2006 National Book Award for young people's literature was The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson, no relation, which also examines slavery in the pre-Revolutionary colonies but in a much darker, more academic and esoteric manner. For an excellent review of Volume 2: The Kingdom on the Waves, see Jerry Griswold's article in the New York Times Book Review of November 7, 2008.

The heroine of Chains is thirteen-year old Isabel and her story begins in Rhode Island on the day of the funeral of her owner, Miss Mary Finch, who had strange notions. She taught her slaves to read and write and she amended her will to include the freedom of her slaves upon her death. Unfortunately, Miss Finch's unscrupulous nephew has inherited her estate and sells Isabel and her five-year old sister Ruth the same day as the funeral. Isabel and Ruth are bought by wealthy Loyalists, the Locktons, an taken to New York City. Isabel has her first notion that she should take her life into her own hands when she and Ruth are standing in the tavern waiting to be sold. But, Jenny, an Irish indentured servant now free and friend of her mother's, warns Isabel against running. Isabel follows her advice, but lives to regret it.

Once in the Lockton's home, their mistress proves to be a cruel, vengeful, vain woman who takes her miseries out on Isabel. And she does have miseries. In addition to anxiety over the coming war and the safety of herself and her husband, their marriage is a violent one, both verbally and physically. The glimpses into their relationship are well written and subtle and they provide not so much an understanding of the nature of Mrs Lockton - we will never truly understand how or why one person can be so brutal to another - but an added layer to her character that illuminates social norms of the time. Mrs Lockton also has a wealthier, better connected aunt by marriage, Lady Seymour, who is another thorn in her side. Lady Seymour is among a handful of characters who display ambivalent kindnesses to Isabel and her sister from time to time. In addition to these ambivalent kindnesses, Isabel is shown what amounts to indifferent kindnesses by servants, working wives of British soldiers, and Patriots alike. What struck me most about this book was the way in which Isabel was both invisible to all as a person and highly visible to all as a piece of property. Anderson does a superlative job of conveying this in every sentence she writes.

She also does a remarkable job of crafting the character of Isabel herself. Her voice is one that stays in your head, as do the words she uses to describe her experiences. After an especially barbarous act of violent punishment, Isabel says that, "Melancholy held me hostage, and the bees built a hive of sadness in my soul." This painfully beautiful image is among many that Isabel paints as she tells her story. When this nerve of sadness is touched from then on, she speaks of the bees buzzing in her brainpan. The language of the novel is quasi-historical. There are words and phrases unique to the time period, but Isabel never speaks or thinks in a way that sounds uneducated or ignorant. After all, this is a book for young adults, not a novel by Toni Morrison. Nevertheless, this book feels and sounds authentic from the beginning to the end. Anderson includes quotes from historical documents at the start of each chapter to ensure this. Some are from newspapers, articles and advertisements, official handbills, and letters. Excerpts from the missives of George Washington, John Adams, Abigail Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are also included, as well as quotes from Thomas Paine's Common Sense, which plays a key role in the book. Isabel's sense of self and understanding of her place in the world is bolstered by her reading of this incendiary, at the time, writing and it causes her to make a crucial decision that could cost her her life, but one that also allows her to give herself a name.

As I read Chains, the question on my mind every time Isabel had an encounter with a Patriot was, how could the rebels be fighting for freedom, declaring the right to freedom so passionately, and fail to acknowledge and address the slavery, the submission of another human being, that they were participating in? This is a fascinating question that Anderson begins to address. And, while the hardships that Isabel and Ruth are subjected to are almost too much to bear, I was elated to reach the last page of the book and see that there will be a sequel. The detail and depth that Anderson brings to her writing makes this time period so vividly intense that I felt like I could smell the fetid, infested prison and feel the bitter winter cold biting at my toes. And, while Isabel and Ruth are likable characters, it is hard to say that of any other characters in the book, save possibly Cruzon. The colonists she encounters, even those who sympathize with her plight, cannot do much to help or sustain her. Cruzon is a slave to a rebel official who suggests that Isabel spy on Mr Lockton is turned down by her almost immediately. However, when she begins to think that spying for the army could help her efforts to obtain her rightful freedom, she is disappointed and ignored at every turn, despite the information she provides and it seems as even Cruzon, who enticed her to spy, has abandoned her, but again, as a slave, what can he do?

The violence in the book can be intense and disturbing at times. When jacket flap mentioned an unthinkable act that befalls five-year old Ruth, I was prepared for something savage and deeply upsetting. What happens to Ruth is perhaps the least disturbing act in the book. The punishments that Isabel receives, at the hand of Mrs Lockton and the law, are shocking, but appropriately and accurately so. The few descriptions of the battlefield and the devastation of human life are the same. This is a very important period in American history, and the existence of slavery in America is a far-reaching subject that we will be dissecting for years to come. I think that it is vital that children, young adults, are made aware of this, and made aware of it in an immediate way, such as in a novel, as opposed to the sometimes dry textbooks they are given in school. I can think of no better way for a young reader to experience the inhumanity of slavery, yet maintain (or develop) a sense of compassion and hopefulness, than to spend 300 pages with Isabel as she struggles to be free along with the Patriots fighting for emancipation from the tyranny of the British Crown.

Based on my feelings about violence and our growing desensitization to it as a nation, there is no way I should have read and loved Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book as much as I do.

***polemic warning***

Since I began studying and practicing Buddhism several years ago I have become more thoughtful about and sensitive to media violence. The other night I popped in a movie, Brendan Fraser's The Mummy, that my kids and I had enjoyed watching in the past. Twenty minutes into the movie the level of violence and human suffering, even though it was was "fantasy" violence, became overwhelming and we turned it off. The combination of seeing the violence being enacted on and watching the victim suffer was just too much. While I am a huge fan of Harry Potter and own all of the movies, the violence in these seems a few steps removed, although it is increasing as the movies reach the end of the series. Somehow the wand waving and blasts that produce less visible suffering and almost no blood seem less intense than what is shown in The Mummy and Indiana Jones franchises. Even the Star Wars movies, 4, 5 and 6, anyway, are easier to stomach because people are being cut down by pretty blue and green and red light sabers instead of being eaten alive by ancient beetles or chopped up by helicopter blades.

***the real review***

I share my feelings on violence and its various levels of gradation with you because, based on what I just wrote, there is no way, as I said above, I should have ever read and loved this book the way I do. And, hopefully by the time I get to the end of this review I will have found a way to make sense of, but not justify, the violent act that is at the heart of this book. Like Harry Potter and all of the great children's book heros before him, the main character of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (which is a sort of homage to Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book) is an orphan being raised by surrogates, ghosts, not animals in this instance. And, like Harry Potter, he has been orphaned because of a prophecy that was made. While Harry's parents only suffered the green light of the unforgivable Avada Kedavra curse, the main character's family in The Graveyard Book suffer a more graphic, realistic death. The first line of the book, accompanied by a graphic novel-like illustration reads, "There was a hand in the darkness and it held a knife." A mother, father and daughter are killed in the first pages of this book. It happens off the page and the act itself is not described in detail, only that the "knife had done almost everything it was brought to the house to do" and that the man holding the knife, Jack, had "left the woman in her bed, the man on the bedroom floor, [and] the older child in her brightly colored bedroom." Yet, as adults, we have heard of many real life stories that end in this same way and it is upsetting no matter how Gaiman words it. But, it is also the engine that gets this story moving. I just have an easier time making sense of death, especially the ways in which it is represented in this book, than I do making sense of violence.

But, the important thing to remember is that Neil Gaiman made his name as a sci-fi/fantasy writer of novels and graphic novels for adults and his work is traditionally dark. However, he is also the co-author of the novel Good Omens along with the brilliantly hilarious sci-fi novelist Terry Pratchett as well as Don't Panic: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a companion to the originals. He has also written Coraline, a ghost story for children and now a movie, and Stardust, originally a graphic novel, then a novel and now a movie. And, while I wish whole heartedly that the first chapter of The Graveyard Book (which can be listened to on Gaiman's website - as he toured for the book he read a chapter at every stop and had read the whole book out loud by the end of the tour) could be rewritten to suit my delicate sensibilities, the book that follows is one of the best young adult books published in 2008 and the main character, Nobody Owens, is one of the most compelling, sweetly innocent, profoundly thoughtful young characters I have had the good luck to know through reading about. I loved every minute of his presence on the page, from the saggy diapered toddler who has the good luck to be the "his mother's and father's despair and delight, for never was there such a boy for wandering, for climbing up things, for getting into and out of things," to the boy who emerges at the end of the book, looking forward to finding his way in the world of the living "with his eyes and heart wide open," a world that he himself has made safe to return to. As Nicola Turner says in her review of the book, "This is a story about the power of family - whatever form it takes - and the potential of a child who is raised with love and a sense of duty."

Nobody, or Bod as he is often called, wanders out of the open door of his house on the night of the murders, when he is about eighteen months old, and up the street to the local graveyard that is also a nature preserve. Bod is discovered by the ghost of Mrs Owens, a woman who was never able to have children in her lifetime some two hundred years ago, and is immediately taken under her wing. When the killer, using his ultra-keen sense of smell, tracks the baby down and enters the graveyard, the disembodied spirits of the baby's dead parents arrive to beg the ghosts to protect the baby from this killer. Mrs Owens takes this plea seriously and, when the Lady on the Gray, death herself, rides in to give her consent, the baby's fate is settled. He will become the child of Mr and Mrs Owens, granted "Freedom of the Graveyard," and he will be protected by the specters and Silas, a man who is neither alive nor dead and able to move in and out of both worlds and thus is able to supply the baby with food and other necessities. Silas is a member of the "Honor Guard" and can influence people's thoughts, among other things. It is implied, though never stated, that Silas is a vampire. While there is murder, death and violence in this book, there is also much humor and warmth. One of my favorite passages in the book concerns the naming of the baby Bod. Once it is decided that Mr and Mrs Owens will be his parents and he will be an Owens, the rest of the ghosts weigh in on a suitable first name. The baby resembles or reminds each ghost of someone else they once knew in life and the names and associations come flying out causing Mrs Owens to declare, "He looks like nobody but himself. He looks like nobody." "Then Nobody it is," says Silas, "Nobody Owens."

Each chapter of the book brings new characters and traditions amongst the ghosts as well as the occasional experience outside of the protective gates of the graveyard. Chapter two, "The New Friend," introduces five year old Scarlett Amber Perkins, who is allowed to roam freely through the preserve and graveyard while her mother and/or father read on a nearby bench. Although the ghosts have been schooling Bod in the arts of fading and haunting, he is seen by Scarlett and they become friends. When he tells her his name is Nobody, this results in her parents thinking she has an imaginary friend when she details her experiences. When Bod tries to prove to Scarlett that he is not making up the things he tells her about, he leads her down into a hidden tomb that is thousands of years old, older than Caius Pompeius, an invading Roman who chose to be buried near the tomb rather than have his body returned to his home country. Once in the tomb, they encounter the triple voice of the Sleer, an ancient force that guards a broach, cup and knife while awaiting the return of the Master. Bod uses his common sense, sense gained from being raised by ghosts, and the two children emerge from the tomb unharmed, but a search has been called out for the missing Scarlett. Scarlett is not allowed back in the nature preserve by her parents, but does get the chance to say good-bye to Bod before her family moves to Scotland.

Some of my favorite parts of this book are the attention and care that the other ghosts take with Bod and the love and consideration that he shows them in return. From teaching him to read and write to mending his wounds and giving him romantic advice - this is a very funny bit involving a very wordy, self-involved poet from the sixteen or seventeen hundreds - it's obvious that, as Audrey Niffenegger, author of the bestselling novel The Time Traveler's Wife, states in a blurb on the back of the book, "It takes a graveyard to raise a child." These ghosts are not vengeful or restless. They are simply going on about their business but, as one ghost points out to Bod late in the story when Bod says that he is not scared to die and will be happy to join his graveyard friends, they are without potential. Bod still has the ability to effect change, to make something happen and he should not waste that opportunity. As an adult, and definitely as someone who was once a child, what appeals to me most about The Graveyard Book, as well as with the Harry Potter books, is the unconditional love and regard that Bod (and Harry) are shown by some of the adults in his life. Gaiman's characters are superbly written and their lifetimes and personalities are rich with description, almost making this seem like a work of historical fiction. But, better than historical fiction, like Silas, the story floats between worlds - the past and the present, light and dark, death and life, good and evil.

And, despite Bod being safe, protected and loved inside the graveyard, there are dangers within he must take care to avoid. One misstep and Bod, now eight or nine, left in the care of Miss Lupescu, a "Hound of God" (werewolf) who has agreed to act as Bod's guardian while Silas is on an extended excursion, and Bod finds himself passing through a ghoul-gate in the company of these corpse-eating creatures. By far the creepiest chapter in the book, it is provides a little comic relief as well. The ghouls all go by the name of the first corpse they feasted on after becoming ghouls and are constantly referring to each other as the "33rd President of the United States,""writer, Victor Hugo," the "Emperor of China" and the "Lord Mayor of London," among others. Bod is able to keep himself alive with the lessons he has memorized with Miss Lupescu, but it is her appearance in the form of a wolf that truly saves him. Danger returns again when Bod leaves the graveyard to attend school in town and finally, when he is fifteen, with the return of Scarlett and the man Jack, back to finish the job he started.

My favorite chapter in the book is the fifth, titled, "Danse Macabre." I had the good luck to listen to the audio of this book, narrated fantastically by the author himself, and was interested to hear Gaiman pronounce "macabre" as "macabray," which is perhaps a colloquial old English pronunciation of the French word. In history, the danse macabre is an allegory on the universality of death and has been represented in paintings over the centuries as well as in music, most notably by Camille Saint-Saens in 1874. In the book, the danse macabre is a wonderful celebration that occurs when a certain tree in the cemetery blooms on a particular day. The mayor of the town collects the blossoms then walks to the town center where s/he pins them on the townspeople. Then, the Lady on the Gray arrives, preceded by a hauntingly beautiful melody, and the dead leave the graveyard to walk into the town center and dance with the living. The preparation among the dead and the joyous celebration of the dance are so festively described by Gaiman that I wanted to hop a plane and find that flower myself. I don't think I believe in ghosts, but, since I was a child I have found them fascinating and Gaiman has gone a long way towards sating that curiosity.

I have to end this review - hopefully I haven't given away the whole story, just enough to encourage you to give it a try - with comments on the book from some of my favorite authors who might convince you to read this book if I haven't. The grand (old) dame of British fantasy writing for children, Diana Wynne Jones, author of the Chronicles of Chrestomanci, among many others, writes of The Graveyard Book, "This is, quite frankly, the best book Neil Gaiman has ever written. How he has managed to combine fascinating, friendly, frightening and fearsome in one fantasy, I'll never know, but he has pulled it off magnificently." And, Garth Nix, author of the Abhorsen Trilogy for teens and the excellent Keys to the Kingdom series for younger readers says, "I wish my younger self could have had the opportunity to read and re-read this wonderful book, and my older self wishes that I had written it." I definitely wish I had read this book as a child. It reminds me of something Bruno Bettelheim said in his book on fairy tales, The Uses of Enchantment. He wrote that, when children read books and identify with the characters they are not thinking, "who do I want to be," but "who do I want to be like." (italics mine.) I want to be like Nobody Owens - hopeful, thoughtful, loving, kind and brave.

Now that this book has won the Newbery for 2009 it will be getting a lot more attention. If you want to read beyond my thoughts, and read a much better written review that also includes some great additional info and links, check out Elizabeth Bird's review for the School Library Journal webstie written on August 6, 2008. And, one last thing, Gaiman just announced, the day after winning the Newbery, that The Graveyard Book will be made into a movie. It will be adapted and directed by Neil Jordan, best known the movies for The Crying Game and Interview with a Vampire and the adaptation of the Graham Greene novel starring Ralph Feinnes and Julianne Moore, End of the Affair.

Artemis Fowl by Irish author Eoin Colfer (first name pronounced Owen) is an impressive series of books that is a mash-up of fantasy, science fiction and spy novels with a twelve-year old genius at it's heart. And, amidst all the spectacular weaponry, reconnaissance gizmos, fairies, trolls, dwarves and centaurs, the characters are truly the heart of the books. Colfer takes such care and precision with the intellects, emotions and motivations of his creations, human or magical, that it is difficult not to be drawn into the stories regardless of your genre preferences. There are so many intricate, interconnected details that it is near impossible to describe this book with a handful of sentences. The short(ish) line that I give at work at the bookstore when trying to hook a reader goes like this: Have you heard that story about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Well, Artemis Fowl is a child genius and he decides that he is going to figure out how to trick the leprechauns and fairies out of their gold. Except, these aren't fairies like Tinker Bell or leprechauns like the Lucky Charms guy. These creatures have an amazing collection of special weapons and magical abilities. And there is a kleptomaniac dwarf who is capable of passing gas with the intensity of a cyclone and most of them, except the trolls, are about three feet tall. The longer description that truly does justice to Colfer's writing is as follows...

Artemis Fowl II comes from a long line of dubious and very wealthy Fowls. His father, hoping to capitalize on the break-up of communist Russia, invested a "huge chunk of the Fowl fortune in establishing new shipping lines to the vast continent. New consumers, he reasoned, would need new consumer goods." Unfortunately, the Russian mafia did not take well to Fowl's plans and launched a stolen missile at the Fowl Star, upon which Artemis Fowl I and his manservant were traveling, along with 250,000 cans of cola. Artemis Fowl I's manservant, Butler, also had a fascinating lineage. In fact, it is believed that the common noun "butler" originated from the unusual arrangement that began when Lord Hugo de Folé contracted Virgil Butler to be his bodyguard, servant and cook for one of the first great Norman Crusades. In present times, Butler children are sent, at age 10, to a special camp in Israel where they are taught the skills (including Cordon Bleu cooking, marksmanship, martial arts, emergency medicine and information technology) needed to guard the latest in the Fowl line. When there is not a Fowl in need of a Butler, they are snapped up by royal personages for work as body guards.

When we first meet Artemis Fowl II and Butler, nephew of the Butler who was on the Fowl Star, they are in Ho Chi Minh City on the trail of one of "The People," a race of magical creatures who have migrated underground as the human population (and general intolerance of those unlike them) encroached. Through internet research and offers of money, Artemis has found someone willing to lead him to a fairy living above ground with the "mud people," as humans are called. He is in search of a fairy because he has decided to rebuild the Fowl fortune by acquiring the archetypal leprechaun pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But, to do this he must first get his hands on (and decipher) the Book of the People, which is the instructions to "their magicks and life rules." Colfer creates his own fairy alphabet and includes a message for readers that runs continuously along the bottom of the pages of all the books in the series. For readers who are not also code breakers, the Artemis Fowl Files, reveals the code, among other cool things related to the series. After exhausting his computer resources, Artemis breaks the code on his own with the use of an X-acto knife and copies of the pages of the Book. From there, his plan is set in motion and his attempt to kidnap and ransom a fairy takes up the rest of the book. The machinations of Artemis's mind and the way that he seems to be able to see all possibilities and prepare for them, even beyond the inimitable abilities of Butler and his extensive training, is a delight. Artemis's plans are his alone to know and the reader witnesses them unfold along with the fairies, never knowing for sure what he has up his sleeve and what might bring him down. If not a rampaging troll, then what?

Among The People, Julius Root, Holly Short, Foaly and Mulch Diggums are equally as fascinating to watch face the dangerous, above ground situation Artemis has lured them into. Commander Root, a cigar chomping curmudgeon who returns to active duty to lead the team sent in to rescue Holly is an ultimately lovable character, kind of Lou Grant to Holly's Mary Tyler Moore. As the first female officer serving LEPrecon, an elite branch of the Lower Elements Police, Holly Short has a lot to prove and Root holds her to an even higher standard because of this. When she overlooks an important fairy Ritual that is required in order to recharge her magical battery, she puts herself exactly where Artemis wants her, and he couldn't have chosen a better victim. With the help of Foaly, a technological genius, and paranoid centaur who believes that human intelligence agencies are reading his thought and therefore wears a tinfoil hat at all times, Root and his team enter the Fowl estate prepared for a fight they are sure they will win. When things don't go as planned, Mulch Diggums, a dwarf who has allowed his magical abilities to lapse, thus freeing him from arcane fairy rules and rituals and therefore allowing him to enter human homes at will, is allowed a temporary release from prison to assist in the emergency. Mulch tunnels his way to Fowl Manor, performs his task and fakes his death. As the situation continues to spiral out of control for both Artemis and the fairies, a last ditch effort is made at a rescue that puts everyone in grave jeopardy - humans and magical creatures alike, but also puts Artemis in a position to garner empathy - and a wish - from Holly.

I never thought of myself as a lover of action books, but Colfer's combination of intricate characters and plot twists that are impossible to see coming have kept me reading each book in the series from start to finish. My husband and daughter have enjoyed this series as well. I have even found my 12 year old son, who avoids fiction as a rule, listening to book one on audio. Speaking of the audio, the story is brought to life by the British actor Nathaniel Parker, and are definitely worth giving a listen. The series has just been issued new covers and all six titles are available in paperback now. Aside from the great illustrations that grace the covers, the spines now, finally, thankfully, bear NUMBERS so that readers can be sure to tackle them in order, which is as follows...

The Artemis Fowl Series:

Source: Purchased

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, illustrations by Carson Ellis (best known for her cover art for her husband's band The Decemberists and illustrator of Lemony Snicket's picture book, The Composer is Dead) is the wildly popular first book in what is soon to be a trilogy with books two and three being illustrated by Diane Sudyka, another wonderful artist with a style very similar to Ellis'. There is a fabulous website for the book called the The Curiosity Chronicle.

This book begins with Reynard, or Reynie, Muldoon, an orphan who has decided to answer a newspaper add that reads, "ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES?" At this point, any reader who finds this add intriguing, especially any reader who feels that he or she would also answer this add, will plunge into this hefty book, headlong and happily, I suspect. I know that the eleven-year-old me, a bookworm on the social fringe with notions of specialness, would have gobbled this book up. The gifted children in question are invited to take a test. The four who pass, Reynie, Sticky (George) Washington, Kate Wetherall and Constance Contraire, find themselves in the presence of the mysterious Mr Benedict, a narcoleptic, and his small coterie of asisstants - Rhonda Kazembe, Milligan and Number Two. Mr Benedict welcomes them warmly into his home, gives them a secret mission and cryptic advice and thanks them for taking on such a dangerous task.

What is the danger and what is the task? Although it mostly spoken of in passive terms, the "Emergency," as it is generally referred to, fills the headlines of the papers and the news broadcasts every day. The Emergency seems to be a general decline of western civilization with "the school systems, the budget, the pollution, the crime, the weather" and everything in a "complete mess and citizens everywhere were clamoring for a major - no, a dramatic - improvement in government." The Emergency and what, or who, is causing it is at the heart of Mr Benedict's research and what he hopes to defeat. The task he gives the children is to infiltrate a school, The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (L.I.V.E.), being run by a reclusive genius, Ledroptha Curtain, who just might be behind these drastic changes for the worse in the world. The Institute is on Nomansan Island (there are a handful of puns like this sprinkled throughout the book) and the children will be alone there with only a flashlight and Morse code as a means of communicating with Mr Benedict and his crew.

Ensconced in the school, the children are forced to learn ridiculous phrases by rote and follow absurd rules such as, "You can wear whatever you want, just so long as you have on trousers, shoes and a shirt. You can bathe as often as you like or not at all, provided you're clean everyday in class, " and so on. There are Messengers, children who are at the top of their class and have "special privileges," and Executives, who are older children who have been promoted from the position of Messenger and keep order in the school. There are also Helper, mute, down trodden adults who appear to be fearful and sad as they go about the duties of keeping the Institute in order. As Reynie and Sticky move to the top of their class and the children begin to unravel the mysteries surrounding the special privileges and the secrets being kept by Mr Curtain, they discover what is at the source of the Emergency and what Mr Curtain's plans are for ending it and taking control of the world.

As some of you know, I have been struggling with this book for months now. Reading in fits and starts, I found it necessary to re-read certain passages in order to pick up threads or try to make sense of obtuse plot points. I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy this book. While I have reviewed one other book that I did not enjoy, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, I did so because I felt like adults were rushing out to buy this beautiful book for the children in their lives without realizing what the story was really about. Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society requires no such warning on my part. His book is innovative, unique (although a bit derivative, if that's possible) and I have no doubt that my complaints with the book are addressed and improved upon in the subsequent books in this series. I would and often do suggest this book to customers who are avid readers, approximately ages 8 - 12 and seem to be drawn in by the cover art, just as I was. And, I know for a fact that there are many kids and parents out there who thoroughly enjoyed this book. There is something for both boy and girl readers to connect with and appreciate.

Readers who like this book almost always also enjoy the Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch. You can read my review of the first book in the series, The Name of this Book is Secret, here.

Readers who like this book might also enjoy:

For mysteries slightly less weighty, Blue Balliett's Chasing Vermeer, The Wright 3 and The Calder Game might be of interest.

Elise Broach has also written two wonderful mysteries, Masterpiece and Shakespeare's Secret.

Dale Peck's two Drift House books, which I loved, that combine time travel and historical fiction and, of course, lots of action.

With Messenger, Lois Lowry completes her trilogy that tells the stories of three different communities and the individuals who make (and remake) them. Matt, the young explorer and rule-breaker from Gathering Blue is now Matty. In the village that he and Kira were born in, age was marked not by years and numbers, but with syllables added to one's name. A person who has lived to earn a four syllable name, such as Annabella, the woman who taught Kira how to make dyes for her threads, is a rarity in their village. Matty now lives with Kira's father Christopher, who, although he is blind, is known as Seer, in the Village, a community that is made up of those who have been rejected by their own people or have fled them for fear of persecution. Life in the Village is truly communal, villagers helping and sharing with each other generously. When their genuine nature, their true worth, is known, they are given a name that reflects their place in the Village, such as Gatherer, Mentor and Stocktender. The Leader of the Village is a young man who arrived almost eight years ago by sled, part of which is enshrined in the Museum, a place that holds many relics of arrival, reminding the Villagers where they came from and what they were leaving.

Communal life in the Village is being threatened as the novel opens. The dense, immense Forrest that surrounds the Village and separates it by several days from the place Matty came from, is becoming more menacing by the day. Scratches, cuts and scrapes that the foliage once inflicted have turned murderous. As a messenger who navigates the Forrest with skill, taking communications from the Village to other communities, Matty is well aware of the changes occurring around him. He is also a bit surprised that the Forrest has not acted against him - yet. Simultaneously, the gentle, generous nature of the inhabitants of the Village seems to be turing sour as well. They are becoming self-centered, even going so far as to suggest closing the borders of the Village so that their resources are not stretched thin. The Trade Mart, a gathering at which the Villagers swap wares and possessions, has become a solemn, foreboding even rather than the boisterous fair that it once was. And, strangely, the Villagers go to the Trade Mart empty handed and return the same way. Somehow, these three occurrences are linked. But, it takes Christopher, the Leader and ultimately Matty to unravel this mystery. The Trade Mart and what the Villagers eventually end up bartering for what they think will make them happy is an interesting commentary on consumerism and capitalism, how we lose a part of our true selves when we desire objects as a means to happiness. The gifts that appeared in The Giver, Jonas' ability to see color and The Giver's ability to hear music, and those from Gathering Blue, Kira's gift with threading and Thomas' with carving, take a mystical turn in Messenger. The Leader reveals that he can "see beyond," he can visualize in his mind what those far away from him are doing. Matty, early on in the novel, discovers his gift as well, one that he keeps secret from everyone except the Leader and one that ultimately affects the climax of the book. While Matty had hoped to be given the name Messenger, his true name is revealed at the end of the book, one that gives perspective to the novel and the character of Matty himself.

Winner of the Newbery in 1994, The Giver by Lois Lowry is one of those amazing books that tells a complete, compelling story and makes a provocative point all in less than 200 pages. The plot centers on a planned community in which personal freedoms have been traded for efficiency, security and contentment. The Community has been in existence for so long that the members of it are neither cognizant of what they have forfeited nor interested in the world beyond their borders and that is exactly how the Committee of Elders desires it. However, one chosen member of the Community lives differently and apart in order to maintain the smooth running, worry-free, but shallow existence of the others. This person, called The Receiver, becomes The Giver of the title when twelve-year old Jonas is chosen to replace him. As Jonas begins to learn how to perform the job of The Receiver, he begins to question his commitment to the Community and his willingness to perform he new job.

I want to digress for a minute as a round about way of illustrating why The Giver is such an important book in the world of children's literature and possibly even literature in general and why you should read it WITH your children and discuss it afterwards. Everyone has a passion, something in life that s/he thinks is important above all other things and something that enriches his/her existence and makes him/her a better person. For some it is art, music, dance, running, religion, or even knitting. For me it is reading. Reading is entertainment for me, but it also takes me new places, introduces me to new people and beliefs and leaves me with thoughts and ideas I want to take into the world and share with others. After reading The Giver for the third time in my life (published in 1993, I never had the opportunity to read it as a child, although I wish I had) I realized that, for me, this book is sort of the keystone as to why reading, literature in particular, is my passion. The Giver is a book that MAKES YOU THINK. Yes, those words really do deserve to be in all caps. Not only does The Giver MAKE YOU THINK, it inspires you look at the world in a new way and, hopefully, appreciate it a little bit more. And that is why I love to read - to be inspired.

As Lowry said to a room full of children's librarians when giving her acceptance speech ( am ust read if you are interested in how Lowry came to write this book) for the Newbery, an award which is presented by the Association for Library Service to Children,

"Let me say something to those of you here who do such dangerous work. The man that I named The Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing.

It is very risky.

But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. Those are magnificent, wonderfully unsafe things."

Although much less elegantly and succinctly, this is the point I was trying to make with my explanation above. Reading a book can encourage empathy, understanding and open up a world of choices and freedoms. It can also make you question something you thought you understood or something you never even bothered to think about before. But, for every thing chosen, some thing is left behind, some thing is not chosen, even denied. The Giver is a book that makes the reader aware of and grateful for the choices that we have but also opens eyes to the things we leave behind, the choices, things and people we sometimes forfeit when we choose one over another. As I said, I hope that you will read this book with your children, or, even better, before your children read it, and participate in a conversation during and afterwards. After re-reading the book I was inspired to have my husband, sixteen year old daughter and twelve year old son read the book so that we could have a discussion about it. We sat around the table at dinner and had a great conversation. Not only were we going over plot points and details in the story, but we were discussing ideas and themes and how, even though we have many, many freedoms, we still forfeit a lot of personal choice in order to make our lives run more efficiently and free us up for other pursuits. We discussed this as we sat on the patio of our tract home while I was wearing clothes, shoes and underwear bought entirely from one store. The significance was not lost on me...

This is a different kind of review for me. Instead of summarizing the plot and pointing out interesting details, I am going to stick to the themes of the book. If you have never read The Giver, I think it is very important for you to draw your own conclusions from what you read. One of the beauties of Lowry's deceptively simple book, a point she makes in her acceptance speech, is how every reader brings something different away from it - including multiple interpretations of the somewhat ambiguous ending. I would like to forewarn parents that there is a scene in the book in which an infant is euthanized, in accordance with the rules of the Community. The infant is an identical twin and it is accepted that it would be confusing to the Community to have two people who look the same coexisting within the city. Thus, at birth, the identical twin who weighs less and is therefore less likely to thrive, is "Released" - the Community word for euthanasia. Lowry includes this as part of the book to illustrate the ways that the Community has come to accept practices that are utterly horrific and inhuman as a means to an end. To one degree or another, we all do this in our daily, adult lives. Whether it is averting our gaze from a homeless person or, as Lowry notes in her speech, breathing a sigh of relief when, on hearing the news that a gunman has killed several people in a fast food restaurant, she discovers that this event did not take place in her community but in another state.

The Giver is set in what is meant to be a utopian community but is really a dystopian community. The word utopia has Greek roots and literally means, "no-place land," or fantasy land. Dystopia, which is the direct opposite of utopia, refers to a utopian society in which things have gone wrong. The most famous work linked to this word/idea is Sir Saint Thomas More's Utopia, written in Latin in 1516. More's work was intented to be a platform from which the chaotic political structure of Europe at the time could be discussed and is often read as a satire. In literature, which seems to be the only place utopias exist, both utopias and dystopias share characteristics of science fiction/fantasy are usually set in a future in which technology has been used to create perfect living conditions. However, once the setting of a utopian or dystopian novel has been established, the focus of the novel becomes the psychology and emotions of the characters who live under such conditions. This is true of Lowry's work as well. The first few chapters of The Giver introduce us to the main character, Jonas, and describe his life in the Community then delve into the consequences of the way of life these people have chosen to live.

All choices are made for citizens, from career, marriage, parenthood, and death because the chance for someone to make the "wrong" choice is too risky. Some citizens are deemed unsuitable for marriage or parenthood and live alone instead of with a family unit. Birthmothers work for three years bringing new life into the Community and then are given a jobs as laborers until they are ready for the House of the Old. Once there, they will live comfortably until they are honored with a celebratory ceremony and released, like all other elders in the Community. After evening meals, families have a time in which they "share their feelings," which is ironic since they have no idea what real feelings are as they are trained to suppress them. At morning meal, families share their dreams, mostly as a means to determining when a child begins to have romantic feelings for the opposite sex. When this occurs, all citizens begin taking a pill that, one assumes suppresses sexual desire. As with other serious aspects of the novel, Lowry is subtle with her writing, perhaps mainly as a way of illustrating the subdued and unknowing life of the citizens of the Community.

Somehow, I find myself thinking that, in many ways, Lowry's utopian Community and its citizens are metaphorically the mirror image of the experience of childhood. The Committee of Elders are parents who shield the Community from pain and difficulty as a way to keep them safe and intact, both emotionally and physically. There are so many things that we keep from our children, protect them from, and rightly so, but at the same time they are living in varying states of ignorance, unable to comprehend the world beyond their narrow existence. The citizens of the Community live in this same state of ignorance. While it is understandable and preferable for children not to have to or be able to comprehend painful and difficult aspects of adulthood, what are the implications for adults who allow themselves or choose to be shielded in the same way?

In order to exist in this structured, minimal manner, the Committee of Elders relies on one person in the Community to live outside the rules in order to know and understand the ways of the rest of the world as well as know and understand the history of the world, something the Community citizens have no inkling of. This person is called The Receiver, because s/he receives this information, this knowledge, and then is able to answer questions regarding serious matters should they arise. An example in the The Giver is a time when an unauthorized aircraft enters into the the airspace of the Community. The Committee of Elders consults The Receiver as to how to respond to this. Having never known hunger, the Council also consults The Receiver when citizens of the Community petition the Committee of Elders to increase the rate of births so that the population would increase and there would be more Laborers. The Receiver, with his vast wisdom acquired from the memories he has access to, is able to remember, from centuries back, the feeling of hunger and advised them against the idea. The Receiver possesses memories that are intensely painful, brutal and vicious. He also possesses memories of beautiful things like color, music and love. And, The Receiver has access to all aspects of life in the Community. He is allowed to lie and he is allowed to ask questions, two important things that other citizens are not allowed to do.

As my family and I read The Giver, we kept a notebook in which we all wrote down questions that occurred to us as we read. It doesn't serve the book well to get too technical in questioning the rules of the Community, however there are many details that are worthy of discussion. I'll share a few here that came up in our book talk. I would love to hear back from anyone, parent or child, who reads this book, especially if you have the chance to discuss it in a group. So far, after completing 10th and 5th grades, my children have not had to read this book for school, which really surprises me. I'd also be interested if anyone's children have had to read it for school and how that went. I think it remains a controversial book in many places.

Precise Speech: Why is it important to be exact in speaking to others? And why does the Community use euphemisms like "Release?"

What is the value of the individual in the Community?

Why is it necessary to exclude pain, pleasure, color, music, love and animals in the Community?

What is it about memories that causes them to be excluded from the Community?

Is Sameness ever worth the cost?

What is so important about memories - why do they have to be eliminated from the lives of the citizens of the Community? How do memories make us individuals?

Notice the contrast in writing style when Lowry is describing memories that The Giver is transmitting to Jonas.

Born in England in 1934, Diana Wynne Jones has written over sixty books and is one of the most distinguished, awarded writers in the field of fantasy - in the UK, anyway. Her writing career spanned five decades before she died in 2011. She has influenced the likes of Neil Gaiman (they have dedicated books to each other) and, of course, the brilliant Japanese writer and director, Hayao Miyazaki. In America she is best known as the author of the book that Miyazaki turned into an animated movie, Howl's Moving Castle, nominated for Best Animated Feature in 2005, on the heels of a Best Animated Feature win in 2002 with Spirited Away. Published in 1977, Charmed Life, the first book in the Chrestomanci Series is currently available only as a two-in-one book with book two, The Lives of Christopher Chant and retitled The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume One. Volume Two includes The Magicians of Caprona and Witch Week and Volume Three consists of Conrad's Fate and the Pinhoe Egg. While I have read them all in this order over the last ten years, I just learned that it is best to read Conrad's Fate afterVolume 1 and Pinhoe Egg last. Mixed Magics is a collection of short stories from the world of Chrestomanci published between 1982 and 2000. So, if you are new to the series, take that into consideration.

Much like Patricia Wrede, who transports readers to a magical Frontier America in the first book in her trilogy, Thirteenth Child, Diana Wynne Jones creates a complete, inhabitable world(s) effortlessly, whether it is set in the present or the past. Readers will feel immediately transported - as though you can almost smell the magic, which, in the world of Diana Wynne Jones leaves a distinct, potent smell after a spell has been cast. In this particular instance, Diana Wynne Jones has invented a world in which there are multiple parallel universes. a number of which have been visited. Those which are "best known have been divided into sets, called series, according to the events in History which were the same in them." So, all twelve worlds in a series may have the American Revolutionary war as part of their past, but in each world the outcome of the war will be different. Thus, in one world the Americans won their independence, in another they lost, in another they won but were colonized by the French and so on. And, it was "very uncommon for a people not to have at least one exact double in a world of the same series - usually people had a whole string of doubles." The titular word Chrestomanci refers to a very unique and powerful enchanter who is born with nine lives. Chrestomancis are "very important and very rare. They only happens when, for one reason or another, there are no counterparts of them living in any other world. Then the lives that would have been spread out over a whole set of worlds get concentrated in one person. And so do all the talents those eight other people might have had." It is the job of the Chrestomanci to preside over all other worlds and the magic practiced within them and "control all these magic-users" so that ordinary people do not "have a horrible time and end up as slaves." To this end, the "government appoints the very strongest enchanter there is to make sure that no one misuses magic." Although this may seem to be a lengthy and complicated description, this information is revealed in bits and pieces throughout the novel as young Cat Chant discovers who he is.

Gwendolyn and Eric, nicknamed Cat, Chant are very young they and their parents are enjoying a Sunday afternoon on a very crowded, very old steamer that sinks. They survive, but their parents do not. Taken in by Mrs Sharp, a certified (but not accredited) witch, their lives are as good as can be expected. Gwendolyn proves to be a very talented witch and progresses rapidly in her lessons, paid for by family heirlooms and three letters with the Chrestomanci's signature on them - useful for casting spells. Gwendolyn, however, has a quick temper and plans of her own and has no problem using Cat and those around her to get what she wants. Soon, a letter has been sent to Chrestomanci and they children are taken to his estate where Gwendolyn thinks she will live a luxurious life and progress in her magical education. While she finds Chrestomanci's estate to be sprawling and well appointed, she is relegated to the school room for lessons with his very plain children Roger and Julia. And, she is not taught or allowed to use magic. This enrages her so completely that she begins to plot again. All the while, no matter what horrible thing she does, Cat stands by her, defends her and aides her without asking a single question. His unyielding loyalty to his sister is by turns frustrating and incomprehensible but, from the moment he flung his arms around her neck as the steamer sank beside them (witches float and, knowing this, Cat knew she could save him) he seems to be at her beck and call.

As the story unfolds and Gwendolyn's magical attempts to get a rise out of Chrestomanci and her tutor, Mr Saunders, grow more and more outrageous, bits and pieces of Cat's personality and importance are revealed as are the severity of Gwendolyn's actions. When she performs an act of magic that sends her to another world, a very difficult feat, her double, Janet, is pulled into Cat's world and Cat struggles to keep her real identity a secret, protecting Gwendolyn to the end. There is much more to the story, including the regal, distant, well dressed character of Chrestomanci, who's name is Christopher Chant, and the rest of his family and staff as well as a spectacularly stages magical showdown at the end of the book. All of the characters, from the kindhearted Millie, Chrestomanci's wife, to Roger, Julia and the housekeeper, Mrs Bessamer, to the wicked and self-interested Mr Nostrum and Mr Baslam are intriguing and often funny. The practice of magic and the place it plays in the world of Chrestomanci is fascinating also.

The second book in the series, The Lives of Christopher Chant, tells the story of how Chrestomanci discovered that he had nine lives and is equally, if not more interesting than Cat's story.

Howl's Moving Castle Trilogy

  The Tough Guide to Fantasyland

Published in 1996 and revised in 2006, this very funny, faux travel guide that takes the reader through all the common tropes found in fantasy writing.

It is rare to find a well written mystery in the world of young adult literature, especially one that doesn't have a "Scooby-Doo" type ending, the kind you never could have seen coming no matter how good your deduction skills may be. Not only is Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery gripping from start to finish, it is also an entirely plausible story beginning to end. And, most importantly, it is entirely believable that the narrator Ted and his older sister Kat were able to think their way through the mystery to a solution at the end when their parents and the police couldn't.

Although the great artwork for the hardcover edition of The London Eye Mystery caught my eye right away, I didn't pick it up until it was released in paperback a year later. I began by reading The London Eye Mystery during my breaks at work and, when I was about two-thirds of the way finished I stopped reading and flipped to the back of the book thinking, "This woman is a phenomenal writer. Who is she? Where did she come from??" It was then that I got a shock far more surprising than the end of any mystery novel. Because I feel so strongly about the excellence of this book and what I subsequently learned, I am going to print the author's bio in full here.

Siobhan Dowd lived in Oxford with her husband Geoff, before tragically dying from cancer in August of 2007, at age 47. She was both an extraordinary writer and and an extraordinary person. All royalties from her books will go to a trust created just before her death, The SiobhanDowd Trust, a charity set up to support the joy of reading for young people in areas of social deprivation.

After reading this, I knew that I would be buying the book as well as ordering in mulitple copies for the bookstore's summer reading tables. I hope that all of you reading this post will also support this remarkable writer and her amazing literary and humanitarian works by buying this book as well. It has been two years since I first posted this review and I am happy to say that The London Eye Mystery has enjoyed a very healthy (and rare, I might add) shelf life at the bookstore where I work and I am happy to think of Dowd's trust growing. What Dowd's biography in the back of The London Eye Mystery doesn't mention is that, before she was an accomplished writer for young adults, she was a member of International PEN for over twenty years. Her work in included investigating local human rights conditions for writers in Indonesia and Guatemala as well as establishing the Salman Rushdie Defense Comittee USA during the time of the fatwa that was placed on him by the Ayatollah Khomeini for supposed offenses to the Islamic world in his book, The Satanic Verses. Dowd then went on to set up an organization that brings writers to schools in socially deprived areas as well as serving as Deputy Commissioner for Children's Rights in Oxfordshire. Dowd was also very happily married for the last six years of her life to Geoff Morgan, a librarian and musician with whom she wrote and recorded many songs that can be heard on her website. Before she was even fifty, Dowd changed many, many lives for the better with her humanitarian work and brought good things into this world through her literary work, more than some of us can hope for in a lifetime.

The London Eye Mystery seems like a simple story at first, but as Ted, the narrator, discovers, some things are not as simple as they appear, and other things aren't even what they appear to be at all. Although Dowd and her characters never give a name to Ted's disorder, when describing to Salim that he is not sick, not stupid but also not normal Ted himself explains that the "brain is like a computer, but mine works on a different operating system from other people's. And my wiring's different too... It means I am very good at thinking about facts and how things work and the doctors say I am at the high-functioning end of the spectrum." Ted speaks from time to time of his "hand flapping" when he is in tense situations as well as the relief he got from jumping on a trampoline or banging his head against a wall when he was younger. He is also quick to define any figures of speech those around him use as well as point out that he is not good at reading people's facial expressions, however his friend and teacher Mr Shepherd has spent many hours showing him pictures and teaching him what different looks mean. As the narrator, Ted's unique perspective and fascinating thought process take up much of the story, yet, as the mystery unfolds the reader as well as Ted's sister Kat and the sometimes dismissive adults around him, learn that Ted's way of thinking and seeing can be a great benefit, especially in a time of crisis.

Ted and his older sister Kat, a sometimes surly teenager, live in London with their parents. Their mother is a nurse and their father is a demolition expert who's current job involves bringing down a housing project right down the street from their own home. When the story begins their mother's estranged sister Gloria and her teenage son Salim, his exact age is never stated, but he falls between Ted and Kat age-wise and must be about thirteen, are coming to London from their home in Manchester on their way to relocate in New York City. Ted's Dad describes Aunt Gloria as a hurricane and Ted, a weather watcher who spends sleepless nights listening to the shipping reports on his radio, ponders this comparison. The cousins haven't seen each other in several years, but Salim, who is half Pakistani, takes to Kat and Ted right away and the three plan their sightseeing for the following day. While waiting in line to buy tickets for the London Eye, the massive ferris wheel built for the millennium celebration, Kat, Ted and Salim are approached by a man giving away a ticket he can't use for a ride that is boarding that minute. Their mothers are having coffee while the kids buy the tickets, so it is up to them to decide whether or not to trust this person and take the ticket. Since Salim has never ridden the Eye before, Kat decides he should take the ticket. This is a decision she will regret for the rest of the book and she will come to believe that she is responsible for what happens next. For, despite Ted's keen observation of the pod Salim has entered, he and Kat do not see him exit and spend desperate minutes searching for him before they go and tell their mother and aunt.

What follows is the story of how Kat, wanting to be free of blame and genuinely worried about her cousin, turns to Ted to help her try to unravel the mystery of Salim's disappearance. Dowd does such a masterful job with both her adult and child characters that I never felt as though I had to suspend my disbelief at any point in the story. It seems as though there is always a part in a suspenseful young adult book when the children characters should ask adult for help but don't and often, their rational is not always plausible. There is a point exactly like this early on in the book, but the way Dowd works it out I felt as though I completely understood why Ted and Kat did not approach the adults at that point. Dowd manages to end the book brilliantly as well. I wrote the sentence describing how she does this five times before I realized that I couldn't write about the ending without giving something important away and, this book is such a gem, such an amazing, character driven story, that I want readers to be surprised, to gasp and to cry at all the same parts I did.