Labour of... Gritted Teeth

Happy May Day, Bookslingers!

Not only is this a day where you can unabashedly dance around a maypole (as much as such a thing can be done unabashedly) but it is also a day to celebrate that fact that children are no longer legally allowed to work in mines in the US and Canada!

Labour has penchant for toques

This is the day where we salute those who fought for the  working day many of us "enjoy" today: eight hours of work, eight hours of pleasure/reading and eight hours of sleeping/reading.

And it was a fight. Peruse the Wikipedia article on History of Union Busting in the United States. And then this one.

So, having this in mind, you get a peak into the source of my ire towards Dear America: The Diary of Pringle Rose by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

Ostensibly, this is a book about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that killed hundreds of people and destroyed great swaths of the city. Unfortunately, the historical tragedy takes second billing to Pringle Rose's bizarre struggle with unions and domestic melodrama.

Part of my issue with the book was not the writing, which is solid and engaging, but with whose story was being told. It really brought me back to Bill Campbell's critique of another book in the Dear America series which tells the story of Japanese American Internment through the eyes of a priveledged, white protagonist. Though not to the same extent, the misplaced protagonist displaced the story from where it should have been.

Pringle Rose is the daughter of a rich mine owner in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The workers in his mines are on strike for better conditions and the situation is quickly descending into violence. Pringle is a world away in Merrywood School for Girls in Philadelphia but her life is overturned when her parents are killed in a mysterious carriage accident - her brother Gideon (who has Down Syndrome) is the sole survivor.

When her uncle arrives with his inevitably cruel wife, Pringle doesn't know if she can go on. Her only bright spot in a life darkened by grief is Rabbit, the handsome miner who courts her with Alice in Wonderland quotes. But when her aunt finds the letter to her friend detailing their little romance, Pringle decides to run away with her brother to Chicago to start a new life.

Seems like a hopping place... Hop right into the river, am I right, fleeing survivors?

She finds work as a nursemaid in the home of a labour newspaper publisher. But when their young male relative comes to visit, everything changes.

Oh, and Chicago burns to the ground.

So, why so grumpy Miss Corene?

Well, maybe because:

- Does Pringle really intellectually engage with the struggle of the workers? Nope. They are just a mass of threat to her family. Pringle hears about the working conditions and the mining disasters but doesn't sympathize or seek to understand what the unions are asking for. Why add the details to the story if you aren't going to engage with them?


- Why not tell the story from the point of view from an immigrant coming to the city? Or a child from one of those mines that Pringle's father owns who decides to leave that awful life for the city? Why did this story have to be told from a place of privilege and money? Does that help the story of the Great Chicago Fire? Pringle looses very little during the fire but what about the people whose lives were destroyed? Why not a story about picking up the pieces after the fire?

- Every person involved with a union is either charmingly childlike in their understanding of how the world works in compared with Pringle or treacherous, unreliable, dangerous jerks. That is all. Gwen and Peter Pritchard open their house to Pringle and her brother. They give them both lodging and employment. But the are portrayed as simplistic.However, Gwen's brother is revealed to be HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILERS the murdering murderer of Pringle's parents and Rabbit. Rabbit is a murderer and he is the only person in the book actually involved in strike. FOR REALZ. So when this is revealed, the Pritchards kick Pringle to the curb and she wanders into the Great Fire to work out her sadness. And the Pritchards are portrayed as the villains. Damn working people sending rich girls to fiery deaths!

Let's all read Lyddie by Katherine Patterson instead.

Fighting for your right not to die of byssinosis

And Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy.

Grumpily yours,
Miss Corene

Lexie by Audrey Couloumbis

It is about -23'C outside with the wind chill and we're going to get about 10 cm of snow tonight, so I was in the mood for something warm.

Lexie by Audrey Couloumbis is just the thing. 

Lexie is not looking forward to visiting the beach house at the shore this summer. It won't be the same after her parents' divorce. Her mom won't be there to turn on the gas, make the food or walk on the beach with her. It will just be her and her flaky father.

Or so she thinks.

On the way there, her father tells her that his girlfriend Vicky, her teenage son Ben and the sticky toddler Henry will be crowding the house and taking Dad-time away from Lexie. Can her summer be saved?

This is a very gentle, simple summer book full of sand sharks, star fish and blended family drama. Couloumbis has a sweet deft touch when dealing with Lexie's maelstrom of emotions when her father's new girlfriend and potentially brothers-in-law suddenly change her summer plans. And reading about the  natural wonders of Jersey shore was just the thing to warm this cold, winter's night.

Congrats to The One and Only Ivan

The One and Only Ivan is a fine addition to the Books That I Have Bawled Through 2013 Edition.

Page that I started crying: 4

Page that I stopped crying: That implies that I stopped crying before I ended the book

Number of toilet paper rolls used as substitute Kleenex: 1

Cried so hard: My nose started to bleed

Point at which I realized that Katherine Applegate also wrote the Animorphs series: This morning

Major Props to: Le Frou Frou mascara which held up pretty well against the waterfall on my face

Newbery Awards Richly Deserved: This one

A Crooked Kind of Perfect

Linda Urban saved contemporary middle grade fiction for me. I'd read a run of earnest, well-meaning books featuring Issues with a Capital I and kids who bore no resemblance to any kids living or dead. I was about to take a break from the real-world when on a grumpy whim, I picked up Hound Dog True.

And adored it. And A Crooked Kind of Perfect is just the same level of adorableness.

Zoe Elias is going to be a concert pianist and play Carnegie Hall. But her plan hits a snag when her anxious father is conned into buying a Perfectone D-Go organ with 36 (36!) orchestra like sounds instead of a piano.  The organ also comes with lessons from ginger ale swilling Mabelline Person who wants her to play "Green Acres" and "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island." Not exactly some you can debut at Canrnegie Hall.

I loved, loved, loved A Crooked Kind of Perfect. Loved her mom who seems to love spreadsheets more than her daughter and I loved Wheeler Diggs, who follows Zoe home and becomes best friends with her father. And I cried along with Zoe when her former best friend Emma snidely sets aside Zoe's present of rainbow socks because no one wears socks anymore.

Linda Urban writes quiet girls better than any writer out there. Being a quiet kid myself (albeit one without a Perfectone D-Go) her books ring absolutely true. They are filled with heart and above all, they are authentical and honest about the messiness of life and love.

Dial A Ghost: Oooey, Gooey Fun

Need a spook to match your curtains? Fancy a specter to add atmosphere to your dining room? The Dial A Ghost agency have got a ghost for you.

If you are looking for something gruesome and dripping, there are the Shriekers - a nasty, bloodstained husband and wife who love nothing better than to scratch the faces of children and strangle them with their bedsheets. If you are in the market for a proper English family, there are the Wilkinsons and their adopted ghost daughter who dreams of nothing more than owning a ghost sheep.

On one memorable day, two customers come to the agency. Nuns are looking to gift some extra space in their abbey to a nice family. And there's Fulton Snodde-Brittle who wants to rent the cruelest, most bloodiest ghosts to kill his cousin, Oliver.

You can imagine what happens.

This is a very ... gooey book. There's lots of blood and fingernails and spittle and legs and arms and limbs falling off and snakes and pig's trotters. But in the grand tradition of Eva Ibbotson, it is wonderfully inventive and kind and matter-of-fact about life and death and sadness and happiness. What Ibbotson and one of my other favourite authors Diana Wynne Jones do so well is not sugar coating how cruel and unfair life can be for children. Dial A Ghost is a fantastically satisfying old-fashioned story where the bad are punished and the good are rewarded with happy endings and happy families.

Bit of a mouthful: When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew

All right, deep breath, this evening's book is: When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew: Tales of Ti-Jean by Jan Andrews.

What to say about Ti-Jean? He's foolish, he's wise, he's an orphan, he has a mother who taught him how to chop wood, he's off to search for a bride with a magic axe and he's already married the seigneur's daughter.

Much like the ubiquitous Jack in English folklore, Ti-Jean is the slightly dim everyman in French-Canadian folklore. When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew (whew) is a collection of three delightful Ti-Jean stories retold with humour and nuance by Jan Andrews. You can just imagine yourself around a roaring fire in a barn, drinking hot apple cider and listening to a storyteller take you on an uproarious adventure with Ti-Jean. My favourite has to be Ti-Jean and the Princess of Tomboso and its kleptomaniac princess.

Two wooden spoons out of a bowl of poutine.

Heart of Gold

Isn't it wonderful when something turns out even better than you'd expected?

Mistress of the Storm by M.L Welsh was one of my favourite middle school books of 2012. So imagine my running-around-the-house-hands-in-the-air excitement when I heard that there was going to be a sequel.

And I love a good silhouette cover

The companion book (although, am I alone in sensing a series?) is Heart of Stone. Brave and contrary Verity Gallant is back with her friends the ingenious Henry Twogood and bookish Martha Platt. It begins on a lazy summer afternoon when Verity, Henry and the dingy Poor Honesty are almost crushed by an avalanche of falling cliff. When they look up, they see a cave that wasn't there before.

This being a children's book, they investigate and find that the wishing well is open again - one of the town's magical mysteries that grants wishes but not nicely. Think the Monkey's Paw. Another Keeper (the powerful witches who control the elements) has awoken and she is still smarting from having her true love stolen by her sister, the Mistress of Storms. The Earth Witch unleashes earthquakes, sandstorms and strange chemistry teachers in an attempt to destroy happy endings from the world. Will Verity and her friends stop her in time?

 There is something deliciously old-fashioned and wonderful about M.L Welsh's books. There are buns and teas and boats and new dresses and benevolent salty-sea-dog grandfathers and a secret society of librarians (!) and just a little romance. Verity is strong, accomplished, dedicated to her families and friends and wears a delightful amount of sweaters. All the characters are as dear and real as anything ('cept for Miranda who is awful).

Wellow is based on the author's childhood on the Isle of Wight. The entire town is infused with myths and legends and stories that become true if you say them aloud. It is a pleasure to explore the world of the Grenry the Usages and the Keepers. It is a wonderful mix of Swallows and Amazons by way of Diana Wynne Jones.

Heart of Stone does the near-impossible feat of being better than the debut.

Books I Bawled Through 2013 Edition: Still More Bawling

Always be a little kinder than necessary. 
- James M. Barrie

Believe the buzz. Wonder by R.J Palacio is the real deal.

August Pullman has never been to a real school. He's done plenty of other things: Like ride a bike and have birthday parties and grow a Jedi Padawan braid. But instead of spending his time in school with the rest of the kids his age, Auggie has been in hospitals.

Auggie has born with a rare genetic twist of fate that has left him with a facial deformity. Even after surgery after surgery after surgery, other kids in the playground see his and run away screaming. But this year, Auggie is going to a regular school for one of the most memorable fifth grades in kid lit.

But this isn't an issue book. It is a book about friendship and growing up and bullying and choosing what you want from life that is narrated by a boy happens to look different from everyone else. At its heart, it is funny, sincere story for everyone who has felt out of place.

I would be very surprised if Wonder doesn't appear on the ALA Youth Media Awards on January 28th  (READ: Raising an eyebrow at the computer shouting "Really? REALLY? Evaluate your life-choices, Newbery Selection Committee!").

Choose kind, Bookslingers. Choose kind. 

Heart-Cockle Warmer: The Friendship Doll

Sometimes there is no better word to describe a book than "sweet." The Friendship Doll by Kirby Lawson is one of those books.

In 1927, 58 Japanese dolls were sent to the America as ambassadors of friendship in the wake of the 1924 Immigration Act that shut America's doors to Asian, East Asian, Southern and Eastern Europeans. Blue-eyed American dolls were sent to Japanese schoolgirls and in return, exquisitely-crafted dolls were sent to build friendship between the two nations. Only 47 of 58 dolls' story is known.

The Friendship Doll is one doll's story. Miss Kanagawa travels and touches the hearts of many girls on her journey through America. There's Bunny who is bent of wreaking her revenge on a pesky Roosevelt. Lois Brown at the Chicago World Fair who has to make a decision about the worth of friendship with Miss Kanagawa's help. The saddest story is that of Willie Mae, an Appalachian girl who wants to read and write more than anything in the world. And Lucy Turner, a young girl from the Dust Bowl Oklahoma who travels with her increasingly bitter father to find work during the Great Depression.

This is a fascinating story, beautifully told. It would have been nice to see more diversity representing America but the hardship of children in different classes and areas was realistic and rich in historical detail.

The dolls themselves are spectacular:

From the University of Nebraska State Museum

They were made with real human hair and traveled with everything a tiny lady would need to serve as an ambassador (including clean underwear and a tiny teapot with tiny tea cups). In The Friendship Doll, Miss Kanagawa acquires different momentous from all the girls whose life she has touched.

This sweet book with hopefully interest more people in the history of these fascinating dolls. I would love to read a follow up book about the American dolls sent to Japan. Sequel? Finger crossed.

So Much Love: Only One Year by Andrea Cheng

Only One Year is a special little book about love. The sacrificial love that parents can have for their children. The love between sisters. The love from afar of grandparents and aunt and uncles and cousins. And love that travels over oceans to family members who are far away.

"China is better for little children," she explains. "In China Di Di will have Nai Nai and Auntie Jing and Uncle Tao and so many cousins to watch him."

"But here he has us," I say.

Sharon is shocked when her parents tell her that they are sending her two-year-old brother Di Di far across the ocean to China to live with his grandparents. She can't understand why her parents are taking her brother away. And what will the other kids at school say when they learn her brother was sent away? And when he comes back, will he remember her family?

 

Only One Year by Andrea Cheng is published by the amazing Lee & Low Books and illustrated by Nicole Wong. It is a wonderful story that normalizes the experiences of some readers and shares a new experience for others.  

Only One Year is a sweet little book full of love.

Are you a Bird or a Squirrel?

Can you guess who is the most fun on road trips?

Depending on how many cups of tea I've had, I can go either way.

Bird has goggles. Bird loves adventures. Bird does not worry about things like where you're getting your next meal. Bird does not worry about cat.

Squirrel worries about everything. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Squirrel has worried himself blue.

While gathering acorns to prepare for winter, Squirrel sees Suicidally Optimistic Bird about to be eaten by feral Garfield. Squirrel sacrifices all his delicious acorns to save Bird and in return, Bird gives Squirrel the greatest gift of all: Dangerous adventure in the great unknown.

Except Squirrel doesn't think this is such a swell gift. But the return desk at the Life Changing Experience Mart of the Narrative Forest is closed and instead we get BFF ROAD TRIP!

Bird & Squirrel is like an awesome middle grade Thelma and Louise graphic novel. But instead of escaping the oppressive patriarchy and existential ennui, Bird and Squirrel are running from the cat who wants to eat them. And not metaphorically.

Funny, charming and sweet, Bird & Squirrel is an adventure worth strapping on your acorn helmet for.

In Which a Single Book Combines all of Miss Corene's Favourite Things

Miss Corene's List of Her Favourite Things reads pretty much like this:

1. Books
2. Cake
3. Dogs
3. Mysteries
4. Tom Hiddleston

So, when The Great Cake Mystery by Alexander McCall Smith arrived at the library I swooned. 3 out of 5 ain't bad.

Cake + Mystery = Awesomeness

A mystery about cake? A comfit corundum? A dessert difficulty about Precious Ramotwe from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and the associated criminally single season television show?



Precious decides that she is going to be a detective and gets her first case when sweets start going missing from her school. The mystery is charming and full of important detective lessons like: "Don't accuse the first person with sticky hands because invariably you have half the book to go and you are going to look like an idiot." 

Matching dress to book that you're reading = Ultimate Librarian Points

Precious is a charming heroine that any kid can look up to and The Great Cake Mystery is a delightful confection of an early chapter book. McCall Smith sets you right into Precious's village in Botswana. His writing is like oatmeal with just the right amount of brown sugar and milk: Warm, comforting and you walk around all day feeling full and happy.

Sling this book at: The mini-Nancy Drew in your life