Sunrise Over Fallujah = War Lite

Walter Dean Myers' Sunrise Over Fallujah describes the war in Iraq from a soldier's point of view, with a minimal amount of killing and "misting." (Explanation not for the faint of heart, or queasy of stomach.)

The 280+ page book bears a copyright date of 2008, and although the book is timely it's not quite up-to-date - the "war is over" theme repeated throughout might have seemed almost possible while Myers was writing it...but we know better now.

I have no real comparison at my disposal, as I'm just not into war books. As I recall I gave up on Catch 22 before I made it halfway through that dreary work. All I can really say for this book as a YA is there's no sex, and only enough killings to make it seem really, truly a book about soldiers on the ground. There are no answers, no characters that are all right and all wrong, and fortunately, Myers stays out of politics.

Too bad more folks don't.

Evolution of a Great YA

Yeah, I said I was done with YA for a while...but Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature is the kind of book that changes minds.

It's absolutely one of the best YAs I've read in years; right up there with Rules, but longer, with a much more involved plot.

The premise of the story is interesting enough: After the youth group of a very conservative (read: over-the-top) church torments a boy to the point he attempts suicide, one remorseful teen (Mena Reece) writes letter of apology to the boy, which naturally becomes the basis of his parents' lawsuit against the church. The book follows Mena through a year of hell as a high school freshmen ostracized by her church, tormented by said youth group (and former friends) while she deals with more mundane high school stuff - including a wildly interesting biology teacher, having a crush on her lab partner, and questioning everything her parents ever taught her.

But what's really cool about Evolution... is that Brande doesn't explain how things unfold - she just lets them unfold. The author is so stingy with backstory, in fact, basic info about the lawsuit isn't revealed until halfway through the book. For the first 100 pages, all we get to go on is this, from the book's second paragraph:

When you're single-handedly responsible for getting your church, your pastor, and every one of your former friends and their parents sued for millions of dollars, you expect to make some enemies. Fine.

For an author to withhold further details/explanation not only shows serious restraint, it's also brilliant. Brilliant because Brande packs those first 100 pages with enough action/progress/subplots to keep us reading, even if Mena wasn't in the middle of a civil lawsuit.

Evolution has so many positive features, I'm struggling to list them all, let alone in an organized fashion.

It reminded me how exciting high school was. Seriously. Remember how a really great teacher could present a really big concept (like democracy, or evolution) and really blow your mind?

Brande's book was realistic, but realistic with a dash of humor and imagination. For example, the motto at New Advantage High School is, "Let brilliance find you." I laughed out loud. Then I sighed even louder when she described second period: yoga. Ahhhh. I might be willing to go back to high school if I could get credit for yoga class! That's brilliant.

Of course, I haven't yet stated the obvious: Evolution takes on a great philosophical/scientific/religious debate with a realistic, energetic tone that never, ever sounds contrived.

Bravo, Robin Brande. Please, keep writing.
-- -- -- --
(Unlike Brande, I can't resist a little backstory. Evolution... is Brande's first novel, and according to her website, "she is or has been ...[a] lawyer, yoga instructor, entrepreneur, community college instructor, Wilderness First Responder, insurance agent, outdoor adventurer, Girl Scout leader, and Sunday school teacher." Obviously, I'm a total slacker, so I'll stop here.)

Dear Diary: Why is this a NYT Bestseller?

I don't get the appeal of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Having just finished the second title in Jeff Kinney's string of runaway bestsellers, I think the books sales may be driven by adults who don't read themselves. I'm talking about misinformed shoppers, who say at the bookstore or kiosk at the airport, "Oh, this is a bestseller and it's got pictures! My Johnny/Suzie would love that." Add one bad decision to another and pretty soon you've got a multi-book contract.

Sigh.

I don't mean to dog Mr. Kinney; obviously, some kids really do like his books. What I question is - why? where's the substance? the biting wit? the laugh-out-loud slapstick?

I see no real hook here, folks.

Main character Greg is likable enough, but he's not lovable. Older brother Rodrick is a pesky older sibling, but not even bad enough to waste a real diary page on, as far as I can tell. The illustrations/cartoons are good, but not great.

I usually like books for the Middle Grade/YA audience because, frankly, they're not just kids' stuff. They're real stories with pretty significant plots, storylines, and emotion. (They just happen to be a little shorter, a little more to the point, and in my opinion, lacking too-heavy description.)

Harry Potter, for example. Artemis Fowl, for another. The Twilight series. Reaching back a few years, remember Nancy Drew? Real stories. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series isn't as involved as a good comic book.

I know the New York Times probably won't reconsider its ranking based on my opinion, but I hope you will. Unless you've got a dedicated reluctant reader on your hands who won't read anything but this series, don't buy 'em. And for heaven's sake, when you do buy a book for your kid, open it and read a few pages first.

Grumblings aside, if your kid seems to love these literary candies, check out the Family Education reading guide, and interview with the series' author, here.

Listen Up!

Sound Reporting: The NPR guide to audio journalism and production is primarily a textbook, however, I think it also deserves a spot on many readers' 'for pleasure' lists.

As intelligible as anything heard on NPR, Sound Reporting (paperback, $20) is a meaty 334 pages, plus a nice glossary and index. (You know I love a good index!)

Jonathan Kern is listed as the author, however, he's quick to share credit with the "hundreds" of NPR reporters and editors who contributed to the book.

Why read it?

Obviously, reporters/writers/journalists of all kinds and wannabes should dive in and start dog-earring the book immediately. As I said, I sure hope it's required reading in many journalism schools.

I sincerely hope it's also assigned reading in high school English classes - particularly those focused on writing. The book does as good a job as any I've read in teaching us how to WRITE WELL and listen/read (to news and other supposedly factual information) critically.

Not surprisingly, the intro was packed with info, mostly about NPR. I was surprised to find out that NPR listeners, numbering about 22 million (each week) are a very diverse bunch! According to "independent surveys,"

the audience self-identifies as 32 percent liberal, 23 percent moderate, and 29 percent conservative. ... And 28 percent of NPR news listeners agree with this statement: Just as the Bible says, the world literally was created in six days.

So far that's the only statement that had me gasping for air.

The biggest takeaway from the book - I think; I have to admit I haven't finished it yet! - is that good journalism must respect its audience. And I guess that would be the most succinct answer I could give to the question, why do you listen to NPR?

NPR stations, for the most part, don't tease their listeners by withholding the lead; they don't try to entertain or surprise so much as they try to impart information in an interesting way. No more, no less. No gimmicks.

And sadly, they have no serious competition.

For example, I simply cannot imagine any Fox News reporter - or even the uber-popular Anderson Cooper, for that matter - allowing the SUBJECT TO BE THE SUBJECT of this exchange, from an All Things Considered interview shortly after Hurricane Katrina:

Belinda Bruce: I really can't explain it, except just say maybe it was for the best.

Michele Norris (host): For the best.

Bruce: Yes, because I'm more happier when I can stay homeless.

Norris: Help me understand that. You're sitting at a shelter. Your house is most likely underwater. And you're happier here than you were back home.

Bruce: Because there was so much going on in my neighborhood. Even though I was comfortable in my house - in my house- blocks up where the kids went to school, it was horrible. They always had shootouts. They just didn't respect the kids. They were selling drugs. The good thing is I'm away from that with my kids. And maybe they'll get into a better school, a better neighborhood.

Kern included this exchange as an example of writing the way people speak. But it tells us a lot more than how to write for radio, doesn't it?

OK. Here's my completely unbiased review: buy it! This book is excellent! And please, buy it from NPR, where you'll be asked if you want a portion of your purchase to support your local NPR station(s).

Thanks for listening.

Their Problems are Real

Moustafa Bayoumi has written a WYSIWYG.*

How Does It Feel To Be A Problem? Being Young and Arab in America, efficiently describes some of the problems faced by seven teens and young adults living in New York in the aftermath of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on US soil.

All US citizens, gainfully employed, good students, and in most cases both, Rasha, Sami, Yasmin, Akram, Lina, Omar, and Rami are presented as being 'normal' Arab-American citizens. And for all I know, they are. In my admittedly white-bread world, I'm very unaware of what life is like behind a dark complexion and the Quaran. That's exactly why I wanted to read it.

I stumbled at first. The writing is a bit clunky here, the grammar out of sync there. I wanted the prose to sing! Succinctly! Alas, Bayoumi isn't Barbara Kingsolver. (Sigh. No one is.) But the writing really didn't get in the way of the story - er, stories.

How Does It Feel... is seven truly separate stories; although the characters share some common ground, it's surprisingly little. Bayoumi's choice of subjects and his ability to paint a very rich and deep, living, breathing portrait of each in a relatively few pages (less than 40 pages each) is the basis for the book's success.

These are far more than snapshots or shotgun introductions, denser than slice of life vignettes, and at the same time, the sections left me both satisfied that I "knew" the subject and still I wanted to know each one better.

I felt that each one is owed a sincere apology from someone - something - in our country. ("The Government" is the easy whipping boy; it's also a perfectly absurd target.) I'm also pretty darned sure none of Bayoumi's subjects will bear significant scars or remain "down" because of the pressures and prejudices applied to these Arab Americans.

From Rasha, the high school student who was jailed along with her family in May 2002, to Sami, who was traveling with a busload of other young Marines when he heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center, the folks we meet in How Does It Feel To Be A Problem are strong, smart, serious, young people I'm extremely proud to call Americans.

Perhaps only this author, who was born in Switzerland, raised in Canada, and currently lives in New York, could have enough detachment and the necessary understanding to write this book this way.

To Bayoumi's great credit, the book is not a condemnation of the United States, its government, or any of its white bread citizens. (Whew.) Nor is it a look through rose-colored glasses. It is what it is: "a wholly revealing portrait of a community that lives next door and yet a world away."

Bayoumi writes in the book's forward that he "developed a great deal of optimism through its writing." Reading it, I believe my emotions were equal parts fascination (I am more ignorant than I thought!) exasperation (THIS is America?!) depression (that's terrible!) and wonder (human beings are truly amazing).

So while the book left me with no overriding emotion, it certainly left me changed. I believe my mind has been pried open a bit...and I hope it will remain that way.

I'm certain, at least, that I can forgive the occasional clunky sentence.


= = = = = = = = = = = = = =HIGHLY RECOMMENDED= = = = = = =

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Buy the book from Amazon ($14.97 as of this post).


*My all-time favorite acronym: What You See Is What You Get.

Hoberman's Seven Silly Eaters Still Magic

I've been reading The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman for nearly a decade.

The picture book written in Hoberman's pitch-perfect verse tells the story of the Peters family with not one, not a handful, but seven (!) very picky eaters.

Mrs. Peters goes from the epitome of patience to nearly-undone in the course of the story; in the end, the whole family finds an accidental but delightful solution: they eat cake!

(Trust me, Hoberman does a much better job with the story than I do.)

My son, nearing the five-year mark, requested it again last night; then my just-turned 13yo daughter curled up on the couch to hear it for the upteenth time!

What? The same children who had spent most of the previous four hours trying to confound, maim, or kill each other? Yes. The same kids who nearly caused their not-so-patient mommy to crack up? The same.

Hoberman's magic worked again; providing yet another very happy ending to our evening.

Neat trick!

Need I say it? If you're looking for a gift for almost any young reader/listener, I recommend this one.

A Mango-Shaped Space & More Sustenance

Wendy Mass's first novel, A Mango-Shaped Space, scored on many counts.

First of all, it got published, by Little Brown & Co. It boasts cover blurbs from Judy Blume, Paula Danzinger, and Meg Cabot. AND it earned a Schneider Family Book Award, for "honoring artistic expression of the disability experience." That's a heck of a debut!

Grading based on the YAs I've read in the past two years, I give it a B+. The story was solid, but not stellar; the writing the same. Character development is where Mass shines.

She creates a near-tangible relationship between main character Mia and her dearly-departed grandpa, for one thing, and then proceeds to build a brilliant connection between Mia, her pet cat (Mango), and Mia's entire family.

Initially I though Mass's development of Mia's parents was a little clunky. She included a lot of just plain description up front, while I prefer to learn about characters through their actions and interactions with other characters.

Later in the book, though, I realized the descriptions helped give the reader a base of believability which is necessary when mom and dad play a larger, and important, role in the story. Had Mass not laid the groundwork earlier, those actions would have seemed like convenient but rather out-of-nowhere responses.

I can't say much more without giving away the nut of the story, and I don't want to do that; it's worth a read.

The book highlights a very rare condition - not fatal, not really even harmful - called synesthesia. Folks with synesthesia see colors (literally) associated with numbers, letters, words, foods, or any or all of those things. Of course, the first book-form treatment of a condition like that is likely to garner the attention of agents and publishers, as well as get you short-listed for some specialized book awards, so Mass deserves kudos for getting to the synesthesia space first.

I would have preferred a lot more medical info about the condition, but I keep in mind it's a YA. Which brings me to...

More Sustenance!
I've decided to shelve YAs for a few months. After so many, they're starting to seem like candy to me. And I love candy, but, you know, meatloaf is good too. It takes longer to eat and to digest, though, so postings may come a bit slower in the future.

Next up: How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? by Moustafa Bayoumi.