“Sometimes what you want is given to you in a way that is so very different from how you had pictured getting it.”
— Susan Meissner, The Last Year of the War
Goodreads Synopsis
Elise Sontag is a typical Iowa fourteen-year-old in 1943–aware of the war but distanced from its reach. Then her father, a legal U.S. resident for nearly two decades, is suddenly arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. The family is sent to an internment camp in Texas, where, behind the armed guards and barbed wire, Elise feels stripped of everything beloved and familiar, including her own identity.
The only thing that makes the camp bearable is meeting fellow internee Mariko Inoue, a Japanese-American teen from Los Angeles, whose friendship empowers Elise to believe the life she knew before the war will again be hers. Together in the desert wilderness, Elise and Mariko hold tight the dream of being young American women with a future beyond the fences.
My Thoughts:
There’s no shortage of dual any different angles. I liked that this one focused on a German American family. You hear about the Japanese internment camps in America, but I’ve never heard much about what happened to Germans living in America.
What I liked about the book:
Focus on female friendship and how the bond remains despite decades of separation
the German American focus
the Sontag’s are an average family who considered themselves Americans
My favorite read for November was a The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. A beautifully written tale of female friendship and strength, the book introduced me to facets of Korean history and culture that were new to me. Mi-ja and Young-sook live on the island of Jeju, a matrifocal society where women divers are the providers for their families. Occupied by the Japanese during WWII, then later by American soldiers, the story of the island is tragic. This is not a light, feel-good story, but it is the story of resilience and the power of forgiveness.
This book is perfect for readers who like
… strong female characters.
… complex relationships between characters. (not romantic)
I discovered Jane Harper when I was planning my trip to Australia in 2018. Harper does a great job of capturing the Australian terrain and lifestyle. Aside from the setting, I love that her books are character driven mysteries. Even minor characters feel real.
Kieran Elliott’s changed forever as a teenager when his brother and a family friend die in an attempt to rescue him from a storm. They weren’t the only casualties that day, all that was recovered of Gabby was a backpack.
Years later, Kieran returns to Tasmania to help move his father who is suffering from dementia when a woman is murdered. Everyone is shaken, and the citizens begin to turn on each other. This leads to questions about what really happened all those years ago.
I loved the setting and character development in this book. I think the mystery is not as strong as her other books. But, it’s a good balance if you want serious mystery without a lot of graphic detail.
One of the first metaphors we learn as children is “Do not judge a book by its cover”. In the case of The Bookstore on the Beach by Brenda Novak, I made the mistake of judging a book by its title.
I saw the title The Bookstore on the Beach, would be a perfect end of summer read. I assumed it would be a light “beach read” for booklovers. In reality, neither the bookstore nor the beach are significant to the plot, other than providing a setting, and the issues are anything but light.
The conflicts in the novel are a refreshing contrast to secret affairs that permeate women’s fiction. Shifting between four different points of view, Novak follows the typical themes of family secrets and self-discovery with unique twists. Mary (the matriarch), Autumn (Mary’s daughter), Taylor (Autumn’s daughter) and Quinn (Autumn’s high school crush and new love interest) each experience issues, which would be national-news-worthy.
One of my biggest pet peeves in literature is when minor problems are turned into major issues that could’ve been easily solved if the character simply told the truth. There were plenty of secrets, but the characters had solid reasons for keeping them. When secrets were revealed, the others were upset enough to be realistic, but ultimately empathetic and forgiving. Therefore, even though there were serious issues in the book, I still got the warm fuzzy feeling I wanted.
If you want a book that is pure lighthearted fun, this probably isn’t the book for you. However, if you want more grit to the story, while still keeping the warm-hearted feel of a Hallmark movie, this is the book for you.
Last week I posted a top ten list of my favorite novels which were inspired by other stories. This week I decided to keep with the theme, but focus on picture books.
10. Cinderella Penguin, or The Little Glass Flipper by Janet Perlman
10. I love any picture book with a cast of penguins.
9. Bigfoot Cinderrrrrella written by Tony Johston Illustrated by James Warhola
This version of Cinderella is about a Bigfoot Prince searching for his princess. It follows the traditional plot closely, but the Bigfoot cast adds many humorous touches.
8. The Frog Prince Continued written by John Scieszka illustrated by Steve Johnson
Every fairy tale ends in “and they lived happily ever after”. But, do they really? This continuation of The Frog Prince suggests that kissing amphibians may not be the best way to pick a husband.
7. There Was an Old Lady Who Swalloweda Fly by Simms Taback
The twist in this book is not in the story, but the illustrations. Holes in each page reveal more animals that have been eaten by the old lady.
6. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe
This Cinderella story set in Africa won a Caldecott Honor and The Coretta Scott King Award. Nyasha and her sister Manyara are both beautiful on the outside, but only Nyasha is beautiful on the inside. When the great king summons eligible girls in the land in order to choose a wife, their actions show their true beauty.
5. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munch
Prince Ronald is captured by a dragon and Princess Elizabeth sets off to rescue him. Along the way she loses her dress and is forced to use a paper bag. When she outsmarts the dragon to rescue the prince, he is not grateful. This humorous story gives a positive message to young girls.
4. Lon Po Po written by Ed Young
The 1990 Caldecott Medal Winner is a Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. While there mother is away visiting their grandmother, three sisters must deal with a wolf disguised as their grandmother.
3. The Rough-Face Girl written by Rafe Martin Illustrated by David Shannon
A touching Native American version of Cinderella. An Algonquin girl is mistreated by her older sisters. When an invisible being seeks a wife, she is the one chosen.
2. The Wolf Who Cried Boy Written by Bob Hartman illustrated by Tim Raglin
Bored by the dinners his mother has been serving, Little Wolf claims to see a boy in the forest. His parents are busy chasing after the nonexistent boy and dinner is ruined, and they are left eating chipmunks and dip. Little Wolf is so excited he tries the stunt again. But, when an entire boy scout troop shows up in the woods, his parents no longer believe him. Great for teaching theme.
1. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! written by John Scieszka illustrated by Lane B. Smith
I love using this book for teaching point of view. Alexander T. Wolf is baking a cake for his dear granny when he runs out of sugar. He goes to neighbor’s straw house to ask to borrow a cup, and his sneeze inadvertently blows down the house. The rest is history. I love the details of this story. I’ve read it hundreds of times and still notice new details in the photos and text.
My favorite read for August of 2021 is Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, a biography of the author written by Caroline Fraser in 2018. Since I have read so much about Wilder, I picked this up out of obligatory devotion to my idol, rather than to get information. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned. While this is a biography of Wilder, it’s more than that. It’s the story of an entire generation of pioneers that shaped our country. Not only did I learn information about the Ingalls and Wilder families; I learned a great deal about the lives of all western pioneers. Historical biographies can be tough reads. Sometimes authors are so caught up in the factual information that the biographies read more like a professional journal than a narrative. However, Fraser interweaves the history of American Frontier and Wilder’s life in an engaging manner which kept turning the page. The book shows deep respect for Wilder, while also presenting her as a real person who has flaws.
My Tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder
Aside from people I’ve actually met, Wilder is arguably the greatest influence in my life. She’s the writer I credit with making me a lifelong reader. That being said, I completely understand why she has come under criticism in recent years. Even as a little girl growing up in the 1980’s, I could see the racial insensitivity of her books. In addition, it’s now been proven that, despite her insistence that the books were true, certain parts simply could not have happened the way she wrote them. Then there’s the debate over how much of the novels were actually written by Rose Wilder Lane. There are many cracks in my idols image, but I accept them while still appreciating her contributions to the world. Reading Prairie Fires made me look closer at what those accomplishments were.
Little House in the Big Woods was first published in 1932. As a child, that date wouldn’t have met much to me, other than it was a long time ago. But, what I now realize is that, in the middle of The Great Depression, she became a successful children’s author. People were struggling to put food on the table, and still chose to buy her books. Those books took an otherwise nonconsequential family and made them as familiar as the world leaders, inventors and celebrities of the same time period.
I still remember exactly where I was sitting the day my American History professor pointed out that Charles Ingalls was a failure. It wasn’t so much that he was a failure that hit me, as the fact that I hadn’t seen it. His crops failed year after year, he kept moving his family from place to place and never seemed to quite make ends meet. I knew this, but somehow it never occurred to me that he never really did get ahead. He was Laura’s hero, and therefore mine. Charles Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder worked hard their entire lives, with minimal return. (This is no fault of their own, Prairie Fires clearly explains that the farmers were doomed to fail).They were both good people, who treated their wives and daughters with respect rarely given to women in their time. They deserve to be heroes. But, chances are not one person living today would know either name if Laura hadn’t become a writer. The Ingalls and Wilder families are the faces for every forgotten pioneer who devoted their lives to God, the land and their families. Laura Ingalls Wilder gave her beloved family immortality. That is the power of books.
If you liked this book I also recommend:
The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder Edited by William Anderson
The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure
