Please Don't Read This Book

Las Aventuras del Capitán Alatriste

Las Aventuras del Capitán Alatriste - Arturo Pérez-Reverte

 Marirosa Mia: Once again the lovely Salome has joined us with another awesome recommendation. Check it out!

Salome: Spanish bestselling author Arturo Pérez-Reverte recently released El puente de los asesinos (The Assassin’s Bridge), the seventh installment of his extraordinary swashbuckling series, Las Aventuras del Capitán Alatriste (The Adventures of Captain Alatriste).  So I wanted to celebrate the occasion by taking a look at the first three books in the series, all of which delight older kids and adults, as well as fiction and non-fiction readers.

The series, which the author started publishing in 1996 in reaction to what he felt was a poor Spanish history curriculum at his daughter’s school, gives us a thorough look at Spain’s Golden Age or “Siglo de Oro.”

While the books focus on Captain Alatriste’s heroics as a soldier, occasional sword-for-hire, and all-around international man of mystery starting in the 1620s, they are written from the point of view and in the voice of Iñigo Balboa, the teenage son of an old comrade of Alatriste’s, who has become his assistant and mentee. 

Besides partaking in Alatriste’s dizzying adventures, Iñigo gets to brush shoulders with the intelligentsia of his times – Velázquez and Quevedo among them – in what sometimes feels like an exercise in six degrees of separation (well, more like two degrees) in 17^th-century Madrid.

The first book, which lends its name to the series, introduces the reader to a dark world of cross-border intrigue and murder, as well as the peculiarities of the Spanish Royal Court.  (This book was made into a Spanish movie by the same name, starring Hugo Mortensen, who is probably much better looking than Alatriste was ever meant to be.)  The second book, Limpieza de sangre (Purity of Blood), delves into the harsh and tragic history of the Spanish Inquisition, focusing on the plight of a Jewish family.  The third book, El sol de Breda (The Sun over Breda) finds Alatriste and Iñigo in The Netherlands, where they are fighting Dutch rebels during the long and brutal Spanish occupation.

Yes, they are not rosy topics, but Pérez-Reverte makes them entertaining and engaging, interspersing them with humor and even adolescent love.  I found the first two books easier to read and more exciting than the third one, which I felt was a bit slow. But I suspect that had to do less with the book and more with my disinclination to read about wars. It is worth a read, though, given Pérez-Reverte’s background as a war correspondent, which makes him a master chronicler of military conflicts. 

A note of warning: The books are better suited for native speakers or fluent readers since they are written in a rather formal Spanish from Spain, in what is probably an effort to convey a more complete flavor of the place and times.  I should also warn that, while elegantly presented, there are a few off color situations here and there in the books. Well, you can’t really expect a swashbuckling swordsman to act like a saint!

 

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones

Julie: Four pages into Diana Wynne Jones's HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, I decided it was genius.  As is so often the case with books that I love, it's the voice that got me.  Jones uses the perfect matter-of-fact, wry voice to introduce her magical world.  It's as if she's saying, "Come on in.  Yes, it's different here, but don't worry.  You'll get the hang of it quickly. And you'll like it!" I did like it in that world, and I didn't want to leave.  I have to admit, though, that the story raised the kinds of questions that usually drive me crazy.  I'm sure we'll get to those a little later.  More importantly, the book casts enough of a spell that I'm willing to overlook those issues.  That's unprecedented for me!  Mia, what do you love about the book?

Marirosa Mia: This is my third time reading HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, and I'm still charmed by it! Even though I know what's coming, I can't help but smile and chuckle at Calcifer's quips and Sophie's pragmatic attitude, which I love love love. I just can't get enough of Sophie, really. I'm not fond of characters who panic and run around like chickens with their heads cut off, and Sophie is simply refreshing in her "there's far too much work to be done to panic" attitude. Love. And as you mentioned, Julie, Wynne Jones' prose/voice really swoops you right in, to the point that you see each character so clearly.  Right down to Fanny's overly expressive gestures (which in my head are many). What questions did it raise for you, Julie? 

J:  Let me say a little about the book's plot first.  Sophie happily looks after her two sisters until her father dies and her sisters become apprentices in nearby businesses.  Sophie then helps out in her family's hat shop until the day the Witch of the Waste arrives in a nasty temper and turns Sophie into an old woman.  After a few more surprises, Sophie seeks shelter in the moving castle of the supposedly wicked Wizard Howl.  And now for some questions:  Sophie and her sisters are obviously close, and the sisters express concern about Sophie both when she's at the hat shop and later, after she's disappeared.  Yet they never, ever try to come see her and help her (even though one sister fears Sophie is trapped in the castle).  Why?  Also, it's clear from the start that Sophie is far more capable than average.  But SO much time passes without her figuring out the full range of her abilities.  Why?  (I wish I could say more, but I have spoiler concerns.)  I have the feeling I missed something.  It's certainly possible!  I flew through the pages because I so wanted to know what was going to happen.  Do any of these questions nag at you?

M: I can see why Sophie wouldn't come to terms with her abilities. From the beginning we know that she believes her future will...well, amount to nothing. That she won't marry well or have a great fortune like her sisters, because that is the lot of being the eldest daughter. I can see why that colors everything she does. It's been so ingrained in her that she just won't amount to much and her lot is simply her lot. I suppose what I'm saying is that the power of self-doubt is very powerful indeed for Sophie. 

As for her sisters, I'm not bothered by that issue.  They are close, but I don't feel they are terribly close. They are also both so self-absorbed that their being consumed with the--how do I say this--action of being worried and fretting overcame any actual action.  Make sense?  

J:  You make good points.  As a reader, though, I long for a little more from the sisters (I'm a believer in sisters!) and from Sophie.  Anything you wish were different?

M: I'm totally for sisters--I have two of my own--and sadly know that not all sisters are created equal. As for wishing for anything different...there is one thing. At the end (and I find myself wanting this each time I read it) I've always wanted just a bit more time with just Howl and Sophie.  And that’s all I’ll say about that with out giving too much away!

 

The Veillee!

Marirosa Mia:  Hello everyone! The lovely writers over at The Veille (an online writing community for writers/painters/etc.) have been kind enough to feature an excerpt of my current novel On Duarte Street along with my sister's awesome illustrations! This is still a work in progress, so it's nice to get a little encouragement from my fellow writers.

Click here and take a look if you have a moment!

Ash

Ash by Malinda Lo

Marirosa Mia:  I’ve been in a bit of a fairytale retelling kick lately, most likely because the novel I’m writing is very fairytale-like, so I wanted to see how other writers have taken popular/iconic tales and made them their own. Enter Malinda Lo’s ASH, which had been sitting on my to-read pile since my friend Ames sent it to me.

When it was published in 2009, ASH was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Kirkus Best Book for Young Adults, and a William C. Morris Award YA Debut Award Finalist. Not too shabby for a retelling of Cinderella. But like I said before, if you’re going to retell a classic – especially one that’s already been retold so many times before – you better make it your own. Malinda Lo did just that.

In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, she often finds herself curled up on her mother’s grave, waiting for the fairies of folk tales to come steal her away. It’s during one of these nights that she meets Sidhean, a fairy, who though often cold and mysterious elicits strong emotions of want and need in Ash. And though it is common for humans to be enchanted by the fey, it is clear that Ash is not normal and that her feelings for Sidhean may be a small part enchantment and a large part loneliness. Soon Sidhean becomes one of her only friends and allies. Though Ash asks Sidhean to take her away over and over again, Sidhean refuses, declaring that Ash ‘is not ready yet’ and returning her home.  

Then one day Ash meets Kaisa, the King's royal Huntress, who makes Ash…well, feel something, something different from what she feels with Sidhean. Not need or want but the return of life itself, as only love can. As Kaisa teaches Ash how to hunt and enjoy her brief moments away from her family, her heart begins to thaw, though she wasn’t aware it was frozen in the first place. The sweet love between Kaisa and Ash is so well written that every time Kaisa and Ash met my heart skipped just a bit at the possibilities that lay ahead for them.

My only disappointment was in Clara – the nice stepsister – who didn’t feel as fleshed out and necessary at times; every time she was introduced I thought, ‘Oh yeah, her.’

ASH is delicate and entrancing, filled with the sort of pure love (and I don’t mean pure in the sweet, clean sort of way, but in the so well done that how could these two not be together way) that brings a smile to your face. Malinda Lo has taken the bones/tropes of Cinderella and her little glass slipper and laced it with culture and folk tales that give it a sense of place and time while still making it new and fresh. Lo’s writing creates a haunting tone like a heavy mist that rolls through a dense forest carrying with it myth and history. I very much enjoyed this retelling and will dive into my pile once again to see what other gems I have yet to discover.

Wonder

Wonder – R.J. Palacio

Marirosa Mia: Auggie (August) Pullman was born with a facial deformity and has been in and out of hospitals since he was just a little babe. Even though the operations have helped, Auggie still attracts a lot of attention:

"I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an XBox. Stuff like that makes me ordinary. I guess. And I feel ordinary. Inside. But I know ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go. ... Here's what I think: the only reason I'm not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way."

Now that he's old enough, August is ready - or at least his mom thinks he's ready - to go to school. Life at Beecher Prep starts out more or less like Auggie thought it would. The pointing. The staring. It's nothing new. But then a lovely girl named Summer sits down with him, and he becomes friends with a boy named Jack, and middle school becomes a little more bearable for Auggie. Using spare language to touching effect, WONDER by R.J. Palacio jumps from multiple points of view as it tells the story of Auggie's first year at school and all the good and bad that comes along with it.

Let's hop right in to what we loved about it. Julie?

Julie:  I love the complicated, real relationships.  Auggie's relationship with his mom, for example.  It's her idea that he go to school, and he knows that she hasn't been fully honest with him about it along the way.  He's legitimately mad at her.  But he also sees that she's as nervous as he is--maybe more.  So he sympathizes, too.  And his relationship with his sister, Via.  I love that we get to see the story from her point of view about a quarter of the way into the book.  I love that her reaction to having a severely deformed brother is more complicated than I initially realized, when I had only seen it from Auggie's perspective.  The same is true of Jack Will, a boy in Auggie's school.  Complicated relationship, made clearer and more interesting when we get Jack's point of view.  Did you also love that different characters tell their versions of events we've already seen, all the while moving the story forward?   

M: Very much so. I wasn't really expecting it, either. It was very interesting to jump from character to character, see Auggie through their eyes, and find that Auggie's character and charm could be seen from everyone's POV. Anything you didn't enjoy? I'm sorry to say I wasn't a fan of the little music lyrics at the beginning of each chapter. They simply left me flat.

 J:  I like the idea of quoting from David Bowie and Natalie Merchant.  I'm even a Christina Aguilera fan. (That woman can SING.)  But I agree with you.  The quotes didn't quite work, and ended up a distraction.  What do you think of the book's cover? 

M:  I like the cover, but fancy the UK version a bit more.  It reminds me a bit of the paragraph we quoted below, about standing out in a crowd.

J:  Is it the red one, with Auggie wearing his space helmet?  I love that cover, and like the blue one fine.  Speaking of Auggie's space helmet, the one character in the book who felt a little contrived to me was the friend of Via's who gave Auggie that helmet.  I'd look up her name, but I can't.  My younger daughter (aged 9) has the book with her at school.  She's LOVING it, as did my older daughter (who's now 11).     

M: The red one is actually the "adult" cover of the book. Which is an interesting marketing tactic that's been done before. But I realized that I was talking about the UK cover of the advanced reader copy (see below), which I really loved!

"Adult" cover of WONDER
    United Kingdom ARC of WONDER (image courtesy of Musings from a Bookshop Girl)

J:  Wait a minute--they also marketed this book to adults?  Really?  Huh.  I wonder how that went.  I wouldn't recommend WONDER to someone looking for a book for adults.  But I sure do recommend it to anyone, of any age, who's interested in a great middle-grade novel.  

M: I think 'adult' would be considered anything over 14 probably. Teen and older. Maybe they thought a variant cover would open it to a new audience? I'm not sure. Either way it's a great book. Go out and read it!

 

Sorry!

Sorry, neither of us can be reached right now.

Too engrossed in R J Palacio's terrific middle grade novel, WONDER.

Full review soon...

Winner!

Congrats to Emily Colletta!

You won a copy of Dreamland Social Club!(Kermit is super excited for you)

Shall be emailing you soon for your address! Congrats again.

Dreamland Social Club

Dreamland Social Club – Tara Altebrando

Marirosa Mia:  Jane has traveled the world with her father (who designs amusement park rides) and brother, but it's not until her family - still suffering from the loss of Jane's mother - inherits a house and a history in Coney Island that she finally begins to find a home.

Altebrando’s DREAMLAND SOCIAL CLUB was a breath of fresh air in a sea of science fiction and fantasy novels I had been gorging on when I started to read it. Its vibrant and beautiful writing captured me from the beginning, and its Coney Island setting (rich in details and history) wrapped itself around me like an awesome quirky blanket you didn’t know your grandma owned.

DREAMLAND is filled with wonderfully colorful teens like Babette (total girl crush on Babette) and the Tattooed Boy (the love interest - because EVERY book should have a cute boy with tattoos) who help Jane understand the uniqueness of Coney Island and connect to her mother’s past. 

DREAMLAND SOCIAL CLUB captured Coney Island’s personality (like New York City, Coney Island is a character in itself) and brought to life its weird/wonderful/crazy residents that help Jane come into her own.

For more on DREAMLAND and its author, check out: http://www.taraaltebrando.com/

 ALSO! Make sure to comment on this post for a chance to win a free copy of DREAMLAND SOCIAL CLUB! We will announce the winner on March 20th!

 

Mrs. Biddlebox

Mrs. Biddlebox by Linda Smith, with illustrations by Marla Frazee

Marirosa Mia: Mrs Biddlebox is having a bad day. A really bad day. (Alexander of the no good, very bad day would sympathize.) But then she comes up with the most ingenious idea! She'll bake the day into a delicious treat.  So goes Linda Smith's MRS. BIDDLEBOX.  My hair twin, Mrs. Biddlebox is quite the assertive lady. Nothing will stop her from enjoying the day. Not the thick fog - wonderfully drawn by Marla Frazee - that curtains the hill she lives on, or the incessantly creaking chair she sits on! Julie what did you enjoy about this picture book?

Julie:  I love that the pictures are both very funny and, for much of the book, gloomily atmospheric.  I love that the day is dark and the night (when Mrs. Biddlebox is in better spirits) lets in the light.  I love Mrs. Biddlebox's facial expressions.  I love that her sidekick is a goose.  And the language is so fun!  Her "belly [was] full of grumbles"; an idea "whizzled from her lips"; she "stomped ... with witchety delight."  That list could go on and on.  The entire text is marvelous.  And it rhymes!  I'm often a big grump when it comes to rhyming picture books.  I don't like authors' hemming themselves in with rhyme, prioritizing it over story.  But I didn't mind the rhyme in MRS. BIDDLEBOX.  I'm debating whether it even enhanced the book.  What do you think, Mia?  

M: I'm actually quite a fan of rhyming, but only when it's done right.  Because then it can be so very magical, as it was with MRS.BIDDLEBOX. I think the rhyming added a bit of witchy delight to the tale, and I very much enjoyed the spirit and fun in this book and its main character and her companion. I was also quite taken with the whimsy and atmosphere of the illustrations--so much so that I started thinking of possible adaptations of the story! I think it would work great as a stop motion picture (hint hint to filmmakers out there).  

J:  Yes, there's magic in the illustrations and the rhyme.  I'm going to quote from the start of the book now, to let our readers judge for themselves:

On a grubby little hill,

in a dreary little funk,

Mrs. Biddlebox rolled over

on the wrong side of her bunk.

The birds gave her a headache.

There were creakies in her chair.

A breeze blew dank and dreary

and mussied up her hair.

So she slammed the door on morning!

And sat thinking what to do.

Her tea was dark and bitter,

her crumpets hard to chew.

The illustration that accompanies that last paragraph is so funny!  Mrs. Biddlebox does NOT look like a tea-and-crumpets woman!  For a terrific and illuminating interview with illustrator Marla Frazee about the creation of the book's art, follow this link:  cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2007/09/illustrator-interview-marla-frazee-on.html. There's a particularly touching description of how she decided on the final scenes for the book.  She concludes,  "When strong emotions fuel the creative process, it is always, always, always a good thing for the book."  So true!  

I have no excuse

I really don't have any excuse for not posting about this sooner. Yes, I could say I was swamped with reading manuscripts that won't be coming out for another year while working on my own books, reading for this blog, and working in my writing group...but really. I have no excuse.

The lovely people over at Verbal Pyrotechnics featured an excerpt of my John Hughes-esque novel PROM (not the final title, I promise) in their second issue.

You can read it here in Issue 2:
Verbal Pyrotechnics Blog

And to all you writers out there, Verbal Pyro is looking for submissions for their third issue!

So don't be shy, and submit.