Some positive memes for you:
Have challenges in your life?
Feeling vulnerable?
Reluctant to take the plunge?
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Review of The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland
The Dragonet Prophecy is Book 1 of the popular middle grades series Wings of Fire. I read it not because I have any interest in dragon fantasy, but because I wanted to look at top books for that age level.
In the early chapters of the book, I thought the storyline was way too cutesy for me. Dragonets are dragon children. The prophecy is about five dragonets who are destined to end a long-fought war. The presumed dragonets of destiny were stolen from their families when still in their eggs, and are being kept and trained in a cave under the mountain.
The dragonets are tutored in the history and traditions of the dragons, and also in dragon warfare. Most are reluctant about their role. They would much rather be out in the real world. They engineer an escape, which results in their capture by the evil dragon queen, Scarlet, who holds daily gladiator tournaments among her many captives.
The story gets interesting for me when the main character, a dragonet named Clay, tries to get himself out of the terrible situations he’s forced to deal with by not fighting, or at least defending himself and his friends without killing his opponents. I’m concerned about the abundance of violence in this book, but having the readers be privy to Clay’s inner struggles about causing pain to another dragon redeems the book for me. Kids are exposed to all kinds of violence in videogames, but do any games explore other avenues of conflict resolution besides killing your enemy?
I can see how this story could capture the imagination of a middle grader, and despite my original misgivings, I recommend The Dragonet Prophecy.
Faith
The older I get, the more important my spirituality is to me.
A few years ago, I thought I had the God thing down pat. I knew all the doctrine, I was well versed in scripture.
Then I started studying the Bible with a different group of people, who turned everything I believed in upside down.
At first it was deeply disorienting to have everything I believed in questioned.
But you know what? God is bigger than any book, even the Bible. There is so much more to Him than what you can write down. He will surprise us for eternity.
I used to think that faith was having the right set of beliefs. But what if that belief set is based on limited human understanding?
Now I think that faith is trusting God — trusting that he is good, that He loves us completely and unconditionally, as St. John says: God is love. Trusting that He will transform us into the people that He created us to be. (What a challenge to trust, in this world where people are so committed to hurting each other!) I will be learning to trust and practicing being in God’s presence for the rest of my days.
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Reviews of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and Game On (Tempting Twenty-Eight) by Janet Evanovich
I resisted reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series when it first came out (2005) because I don’t like Greek mythology. And when the first movie came out (2010) I still resisted it, because of the mythology thing. I assumed it would be boring.
I never opened The Lightning Thief until recently, when I decided to find out why this is a best seller among middle grades children’s books. If I had read the first three sentences years ago, I would have been hooked:
“Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.
“If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close the book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.”
That might be the best opening in the history of literature.
Percy Jackson is twelve years old. He’s been expelled from every boarding school he’s ever attended (roughly, every year), because strange things happen around him, things he always gets blamed for. At the end of sixth grade, his current school informs him that he’s not invited back for the next term. He has a tough time getting home, and when he does, his mother senses that he is in danger, and insists on taking him to a special summer camp for his own safety. Sorry if this sounds sketchy. I am skipping over a lot of details because I don’t want to spoil them for you.
While at summer camp, he learns his true parentage, finds out he’s been falsely accused of a crime, and is sent on a quest to find Zeus’s missing master lightning bolt and return it to Mount Olympus. In ten days. Otherwise, war will break out among the gods.
This book has it all. Weird encounters that don’t get explained until later. People who are not what they seem to be. Strange creatures. Mythological history. Danger and suspense. Friendships and betrayals. And through it all, humor.
I can see most kids really enjoying The Lightning Thief. Reading it as an adult, I was on the edge of my seat. Rick Riordan keeps this novel moving along at a fast pace. His characters are multi-faceted and likeable (except for the villains, understandably), seemingly ordinary (or seemingly handicapped) kids who accomplish things that adults would find challenging and life-threatening. The Lightning Thief deserves its reputation as one of the best books for middle grades. That’s high praise from someone who does not like mythology.
Game On by Janet Evanovich is the 28th installment in the Stephanie Plum series. Stephanie is a fugitive apprehension agent (bounty hunter) tasked this time with finding a dangerous international hacker.
You’d think this would be an action/suspense kind of a novel, and it is some of that, but mostly it’s a hoot. Whenever I read a Stephanie Plum book, I have five expectations. One, that Stephanie’s current car will blow up. Two, that her sidekick, Lula, will pull out her gun at some point with unfortunate/hilarious results. Three, that Stephanie will accompany her Grandma Mazur to a viewing at the local funeral home. Four, that Stephanie will have a romantic interlude with either with cop Joe Morelli or security specialist Ranger. Five, that I will laugh out loud at least once.
An added bonus for me is that the action takes place in Trenton, NJ. 38 years ago Greg and I lived not far from Trenton. Two of our kids were born there. So I recognize some of the locations Evanovich uses in her books.
This time, another apprehension agent, Diesel, is also looking for the murderous hacker, Oswald Wednesday. Stephanie doesn’t know if she and Diesel should partner up or compete with one another to find Wednesday first. I won’t tell you if they get their man.
About my expectations. I ticked off all 5.
Game On is not profound. But it is a fun read.
Posted in Book reviews
Tagged Game On, Janet Evanovich, Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
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In the Meme Time
Some positive messages.
I hope your today is special.
You are unique.
Feel free to share these memes on your social media.
Two Great Books for Middle Grades Readers and Older
The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers
I didn’t think I would like this book, because all the characters are animals. But once I got used to these animals talking like humans, using phrases I wouldn’t expect from an animal, I allowed myself to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy the story. (Those of us who are of a certain age might remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, which rocked the literary world in 1970, about a seagull with a passion for flying fast.)
Johannes is a free dog (as opposed to a kept dog) who loves to run fast. He lives in a large urban park, where he plays an important role–he is The Eyes, who sees all that happens in the park, and reports to the three wise bison who live within a fence and who are the Keepers of the Equilibrium. They decide what to do if something disturbs the equilibrium of the park. All the animals contribute to restoring the equilibrium.
Of course, several things happen to disrupt the equilibrium. I don’t want to spoil the story for you, so I will be very vague. Johannes finds out that he has a mixed heritage. The animals discover that there is a much wider world than exists in their park.
The beauty of the book is the wisdom of the animals, and their concern for each other. (Well, all the other animals think the ducks are stupid, but mostly they care about each other.) They make elaborate plans to do two impossible tasks on behalf of Johannes and the bison.
The book is beautifully illustrated. Shawn Harris added Johannes to 10 classical landscapes. The originals are credited in the backnotes.
The Eyes & the Impossible won the John Newberry Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. But you do not have to be a middle grader to read this book. As an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed Johannes’ world. I was in awe of the beauty, the suspense, the humor, and the philosophy. Go ahead, treat yourself and read it, no matter your age. Also, the print in the hardcover is large enough to read without reading glasses.
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
I bought this book because I remembered the buzz about it when it was first published in 2012, and especially in 2017 when it came out as a movie:
I didn’t read it then or see the movie because I was afraid it would break my heart.
You will feel for Auggie, but you won’t be heartbroken.
The story is told from several points of view–Auggie’s, Via’s (Auggie’s sister), Summer’s (a girl who decides to sit with Auggie in the cafeteria), Jack’s (who becomes Auggie’s best friend), Justin’s (Via’s boyfriend), and Miranda’s (Via’s former best friend). All of these kids have wonderful, believable voices. Even when they make unfortunate choices, you forgive them because you understand.
Palacio does a wonderful job of making the book realistic. She doesn’t pull any punches. She shows just how unkind the world can be toward someone who looks disturbingly different. She portrays mixed feelings very well. But it’s not all harshness. There’s much laugh-out-loud humor and just plain good storytelling. The book also offers hope, and models how to be kind. And even though this book was written for children, teens, adults, parents, teachers, and oldsters will also find it engaging and a worthwhile read. I surely did.
Here’s an interesting interview with R.J. Palacio.
Posted in book review
Tagged Dave Eggers, R.J. Palacio, The Eyes & the Impossible, Wonder
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Review of My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand
The whole time I was reading My Name is Barbra, I pretended that Barbra Streisand was my dear friend and she was telling me all these stories about her life in person. That’s what her voice is like in this autobiography-like a dear friend who is trusting that she can open her heart and I will accept her, whether she’s talking about a great experience, a terrible regret, or a funny thing that happened.
Of course I know what her voice sounds like. She’s about ten years older than me, and I was a young teen when she took New York City by storm. My mother loved her music, and together we listened to her on the radio and watched her television appearances and specials. I remember the media coverage of Funny Girl. I saw The Way We Were in the movies with my then-fiancé, and Greg and I danced our first dance at our wedding to “The Way We Were,” even though people protested that was not an appropriate song for a first dance. (Since we celebrated our 52nd anniversary this year, from my current perspective it seems just right.) I’ve always loved Barbra Streisand, .
Yet, when her autobiography came out five months ago, I didn’t know if I wanted to read it.
But the clincher was when I read an excerpt.
It took Streisand about 10 years to write this book, referring to her journals (Everyone should journal! If you aren’t already, start now! I wished I’d been more consistent about it, not that my life is anything as exciting as Streisand’s.) and calling on her assistants and past collaborators for details and corroboration. You’d think that somewhere in those 966 pages the pace would lag a little, but I can honestly say it did not. I was fully engaged, laughing and crying all the way through. My admiration for her has grown due to her commitment to excellence.
The book covers her entire life, starting with her early childhood. Her father died when she was 15 months old, and her mother was not skilled at showing affection to her daughter.
She always loved to sing, and she got her start performing as a singer, but her dream was to be an actress.
Whatever project she was working on, she had a vision for. Sometimes, especially in the beginning, her suggestions were not appreciated, and she met a lot of resistance. But she kept trying. For example, when she was recording her albums, she knew exactly how she wanted them to sound, how the instruments should be balanced, which songs should be included. She worked closely with the sound technicians, and ultimately learned how to get the effects she wanted. She would call songwriters and ask if she could change lyrics. Some of them embraced her ideas wholeheartedly and cooperated with her wishes.
On Broadway and also in the movies, she had ideas about how scenes should be staged, how sets should look, and how lines should be delivered. She often had to fight, and she didn’t always get her way. Eventually, her contracts had clauses that gave her artistic control over her productions. She grew to direct and produce many of her shows (and write them or parts of them) in addition to acting and/or singing in them.
And yet, being in charge wasn’t the point; making the best possible recording or show was. Streisand says:
When I finally became a director . . . when I got that power . . . I felt a deep calm. I no longer had to struggle to be heard. It wasn’t about making people listen to me . . . it was about listening to everyone else. And I discovered that the most powerful thing you can do with power is to share it. The giving of power enhances your own.
You can get a little inkling of her directing style from this video:
I learned a lot about Streisand that I didn’t know. For example, she loved vintage clothes, and especially in her younger years bought a lot of her clothes in thrift stores. She also designed many of her clothes, sometimes taking something she already owned and transforming it; or sometimes sewing something new from scratch. Many of the beautiful costumes she wore on stage or to awards ceremonies were made by famous designers from her own sketches.
My Name is Barbra is illustrated with gorgeous photographs of Streisand and all the important people in her life (and her album covers).
This is one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. If you like Barbra Streisand, you’ll love My Name Is Barbra.
Video of the Day: I Know That my Redeemer Lives
Ringing Praise, the handbell choir at my church, Easter 2025. I’m the lady on the right wearing black and white.
May you have a blessed Easter. He is risen!
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Doing Life Together 