Mean Streets, by Jim Butcher, Simon Green, Kat Richardson & Thomas Sniegoski (2010)

I purchased this collection through my Audible service.  There are times when I think I don't get as much out of audio books as I do paper--but this was an exception (if the rule is real).  I thoroughly enjoyed each and every story. These collections are invaluable--they help me find new authors I will enjoy. 

Butcher's story, The Warrior, brings us back to Harry's friend and colleague Michael, Knight of the Cross, wielder of Amoracchius after his retirement due to injuries sustained in assisting Harry.  I've missed Michael since he was nearly killed.  I was glad to get this postscript. 

Richardson's story, The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog, pulls from traditions surrounding  Dia de Muertes.  I have particular fondness for this celebration and love the arts surrounding it, as well as the spiritual concept.  I was able to enjoy an exhibition of the works of José Guadalupe Posada that helped me fully understand the importance of this holiday in Mexico.  Richardson's story does a good job of being faithful to the intent of the spiritual tradition while weaving a compelling tale.  I'm putting in the order for Richardson's books at the library.  I think I've found a new author for my collection.

Simon Green tells a story in What A Difference A Day Makes, that got a little too "Matrix" for my tastes, but others will enjoy it.

Thomas Sniegoski's story, Noah's Orphans, was one that I didn't enjoy as much.  Perhaps if I had been raised in more of a Catholic tradition and understood the grand order of angels I would have followed the plot and character twists more clearly.

The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle, by Jim Butcher illustrated by Ardian Syaf (2008)

A graphic novel, this is a side story to the others in The Dresden Files.  In his introduction Butcher explains that "comics" were one of his early literary loves.  I can appreciate that--I spent hours as a child with comics--but I don't have the fondness for them that many have.  It could be that males respond to the genre differently than females.  I don't remember reading Wonder Woman comics--that may have changed my perceptions.

Welcome to the Jungle, much of it set in the Chicago Zoo, is fairly classic Dresden fare.  However, I find myself less compelled by the graphic version.  I can understand how less able readers would prefer this genre.  The illustrations do an excellent job of filling in many of the plot, setting and mood.  But to me, the illustrations lumped the book in with a sort of stock set of visuals.  When I read a Butcher book I am able to visualize the Chicago I know well and feel the gritty atmosphere under the El and other locations.  The illustrations here took me to a sort of "Gotham City" set. 

When I got to the back matter and saw the concept illustrations by Chris McGrath I knew that it was more than a personal preference.  McGrath's illustrations offered much more the "feel" I'd prefer for my personal vision for the setting and characters of The Dresden Files.  On the other hand--Butcher selected the illustrations by Syaf, Ketcham & DeVito and says they are "spot on" for his personal vision for Dresden.  This probably proves Louise Rosenblatt's reader response theory.  The interaction between me and Butcher is different from the vision Butcher has on his own.  That's okay.  Many authors say that their "critics" see very different things in their work than they had intended.  My vision of The Dresden Files won't be spoiled by the content of this graphic novel.  I will also be able to use it to introduce graphic novel fans to Butcher's work.

The plot line left me a little disappointed, but then it isn't possible to work all the character development and plot twists that are typical in The Dresden Files into a graphic novel length work.  I look forward to introducing this to some readers to gather their responses.

Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick

One of my interns was involved in teaching this novel in an 8th grade class.  I would not have selected this myself, but the response of the teens to the book has changed my mind.  It is a "safe" book for use in middle school or junior high and offers a strong story about friendship and acceptance of differences.  I watched our 8th graders respond enthusiastically and with thoughtfulness to this book.

Although it has a Lexile score of 1000 I think this is a relatively easy read.  It is quite short at 160 pages.  Max, son of "Killer Kane" struggles to create his own identity if a community to remembers his father, now in prison, too clearly.  His grandparents, in their own way, love him and try to care for him the best they can.  On July 1st Max's life changes when Kevin, a teen with a genetic disorder that severely stunts his growth, moves in next door.  Max and Kevin become fast friends, to the extent that they merge into one persona, "Freak the Mighty."  By the end of summer "Freak the Mighty" is more than ready to take on the detractors they meet upon entering 8th grade.

As the mother of a "giant" (my son is 6'5" and a "large" man), I can appreciate the self-consciousness that plagues Max.  My son, now an adult, moved through school taller than all of his teachers from 2nd grade on.  (I'll admit his 2nd and 3rd grade teachers were "shortish", but my son was also quite "tallish.")  I value this book for helping young adolescents develop greater appreciation for their peers that are not completely "average." 

The story is told in 1st person limited and as a result readers have to content with a somewhat unreliable narrator.  This is good practice since many of them will be taking on To Kill a Mockingbird in their 9th grade year.  This book also resonates well with The Scarlet Ibis. 

Philbrick is not an author I have been familiar with, but in researching him a bit it turns out that he and I are of the same generation and that he has been a pretty prolific writer.  He has a 2010 Newbery Honor book that I think will be on my short list of books to read.  The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg has also been turned into a stage production and will be presented at the Kennedy Center in 2012.  

What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell

Set in post-WWII America this book combines coming of age, a "detective" story, and information about Nazis and the treatment of Jews in the early part of the 20th century.  Evie is not your typical 1940's teen.  Raised in New York city during the depression and through WWII, she hasn't had the easy life that we'd like to think adolescents had.  Her mother is on her second marriage and trying to contend with the results of years of lies and deceptions.

Evie and her parents leave for a "vacation" in Florida at the beginning of the school year.  This leaving is quite sudden and keeps Evie slightly off-kilter. At fifteen, removing Evie from her school and friends is, in itself, emotionally damaging. Things only become more confusing as she and her parents travel south.  In Florida Evie finds herself on the edge of very odd adult behavior.  Through this she has to develop her own set of ethics and find a way to make a way through a series of events that would perplex most of us. 

This book was awarded the 2008 National Book Award for Young Adult Literature.  I think it is deserving of the award and well worth adding to book sets created around the commonly read Diary of Anne Frank.  There are some references to adult sexual behavior that are quite mild and one teen-aged "lust" scene that may offend some readers.  However, the scenes are all important to the plot (not gratuitous) and worth the risk a teacher might incur in recommending the book.  I probably wouldn't choose it as a whole-class read because of some of this content, but I would read sections aloud to encourage students to read it independently.

Son of Neptune, by Rick Riordan

I am still feeling compelled to read this series.  In this latest book featuring Percy Jackson Riordan has told yet another story with enough plot twists and action to keep readers going.  I especially appreciated his humor in this book.  Riordan has managed to merge contemporary culture, particularly consumerism, with Roman and Greek gods and myths.  I think it can be used to help readers understand the role that these myths played in ancient cultures.

 Recently, with several co-authors, I published an article for teachers on using YA Literature and appropriate nonfiction to make the required study of The Odyssey something that is more engaging to ninth graders.  The various Percy Jackson  books were a large part of this.  (Along with Michael Scott's Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series.  Having these familiar and well loved books help young adults understand why their schools place such emphasis on The Odyssey and other classic works. 

I look forward to Riordan's next book in this series. 

The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher

Where have I been all fall? Well, besides The Swan Thieves, and a couple other random books that I hope I can remember, I've been reading Jim Butcher's collected works.

When I get stressed I read "lite" books and this series got me through a particularly high pressure fall. The Dresden Files combine humor, fantasy, and have a flavor of hard-boiled detective fiction like books by Dashiell Hammett. A series that regularly gets me to laugh out loud is just what I need to get me through the stressful times.

Harry Dresden is a wizard-for-hire in present-day Chicago. Since I'm very familiar with Chicago and the surrounding areas it is regional fiction that I can appreciate. Dresden is a powerful wizard, but burdened with a bad-upbringing, incomplete knowledge of his craft, and well-founded mistrust of his fellow wizards.

I won't say too much about the content of the books, just recommendations from two young men. My son and my colleague's son both have or are tearing through this series. That my adult son, an avid video gamer, can take time to pick up books that I have also read is one of the great gifts of my life. That another bright young man in my circle of acquaintances has also read the series tells me that this is one I can recommend to older young adults. I'll stress the adult there, in the later books there are some sexual scenes that may cause some teachers to hesitate about suggesting the series to students. These scenes are not so explicit that I would not recommend the books, but I would warn students as I recommend them that there are some brief scenes with sexual content.

At the same time I was reading The Dresden Files I also worked through Butcher's other series, Codex Alera. I wasn't as engaged with this series. I think probably it would appear more to young men. There are lots of horses, evil monsters, and intricate plots. Of course, it could also be that I listened to all of these on my smart phone instead of in book form. I read all but one of the Dresden books in paper form.

Butcher admits to being a great fan of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. Allusions to these words as well as others enrich the Dresden books. The provide a great opening for teachers to encourage wider reading.

The Swan Thieves, by Elizabeth Kostova

Once and a while I have a convergence of events in my life that make a book particularly powerful. Such experiences surround my reading of The Swan Thieves.

First, about the book itself. It is a complex story of love, families, madness, and art. Kostova is what others would probably call a "literary" writer. Her books are enriched with historical, literary, and artistic references. This book, focused on artists, their art, and lives is one I read quite slowly and with great relish. It was a rich reading experience. As a result I will be looking at books of impressionistic art, mythologies of the story of Leda, and reading about the historical period as well. A good book always leads to the reading of others. I am also going to have to reread Lord Jim, a book I read as an undergraduate and The Historian, Kostova's first book and one I enjoyed the first time.

Now, about how my life has conspired to make this book especially powerful to me. In the last few business trips I've taken I've extended my stay by a day or so to do some touring. In each case I have included art museums as part of the tours. Last spring I spent a day at the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida exploring Lewis Comfort Tiffany's works and another day at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. I recommend both, but particularly encourage visits to the Dali Museum. I remember photos of Salvidor and Gala Dali in Life magazine as a child. I thought them extremely weird. Visiting the Dali museum gave me an entirely new understanding of his intellectual depth and the complexity of his art work, beyond the surrealistic pieces for which he is so well known.

This fall, prior to beginning this book, I had the opportunity to spend half a day at the National Gallery of Art. I spend much of my time in the Chester Dale collection and with the Dutch and Flemish galleries. Within the Dale collection I spent much of my time viewing the Impressionists within the collection. As a child, my mother had decorated my bedroom with Degas prints. The art books in my personal library lean heavily toward the Impressionists. (But several of those were inherited from my mother.)

Finally, one of the important pieces of my personal history are the years that my parents were guardians of my mother's cousin. He was a gifted musician who was also mentally ill. His diagnosis was never clear, something like schizophrenia or bi-polar disease. I remembered him as a wild and crazily funny "uncle" who entertained my brothers and me as we visited Lake Okoboji in Iowa. As an adult, caring for a man who was unpredictable wasn't so amusing.

Shortly after my return from D.C. I opened The Swan Thieves. It had been on the stack of books I have anchoring the hall tree. (Actually, my to-read collection.) I had purchased it nearly a year ago but hadn't yet had time to pick it up. It was perfect timing. I'm near the end of the book I'm writing (a book for teachers--not fiction). I felt able to pick up something just a little selfish, even though I need to be reading in advance of teaching a YA lit course this spring.

My last few weeks have been lovely, spent with this book. It is one I can recommend to high school students with strong interests in art, artists, psychology, and history. However, it would be an ambitious read for most high school readers. I have already been talking about it with friends and colleagues. They may feel my stories go on too long, but weaving together my trips to the art galleries and the reading of this book is a story I enjoy retelling.