Matia Bryson

Book Review: Mister Monday by Garth Nix

This is the first installment of (you guessed it) seven novels, each named for a day of the week. The series is called “The Keys To The Kingdom.” I usually try to read serial books only if the series has been completely published. There is (I believe) still one book to be published in this series in March 2010. That said, I enjoyed the non-stop action in this book about a teenage boy who gets caught up by chance in something bigger than himself. I have a feeling he will be saving the world over and over again. I liked the pace of the story, and the content is completely family friendly. Here is a teaser from the inner jacket: “Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. He is, in fact, supposed to die an early death. But then his life is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock.”

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Book Review: Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

Here is another case of not judging a book by its cover art. I do not know why publishers do this, but the heroine of our story would never wear the satin or silk of the young woman on the cover, and her pose makes the book look like a typical romance novel. It is not. I see the story more as a parable of sorts, especially since the personification of Death cannot be taken too literally. Our heroine is trying to postpone her death night after night by telling a new story to Lord Death, Scheherazade-style. On top of the that, she must also try to find her True Love by day, for a more long-term reprieve from death. I very much liked the lesson of sorts about living each day as your last and how any good thing (light, life, good) cannot be fully appreciated unless you have become acquainted with their opposites (dark, death, evil). I recommend this novel to young people and all readers.

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Book Review: Goose Chase and Lost In The Labyrinth

These two books by Patrice Kindl are in very different settings, but they both have 14-year old female protagonists. As a matter of fact, her books Owl In Love and Woman In The Wall also have 14-year old female protagonists. I would like to read an author interview about that some day — why the affinity she must feel for that age.Anyway, I enjoyed these two books very much and recommend them to young people and all readers. Goose Chase is set in a medieval fairy tale type of setting, and I love the secret magical identities. Summary: “Rather than marry a cruel king or a seemingly dim-witted prince, an enchanted goose girl endures imprisonment, capture by several ogresses, and other dangers before learning exactly who she is. I like very much how the story shows that something that at first may seem to be a good thing turns out to be something of a curse. (Our young heroine cries diamonds and gold dust falls out of her hair when she combs it.) She is also a very, clever girl, while the prince is the story is not quite as shiningly brilliant in intellect. There is a mildly romantic outcome.

Lost in the Labyrinth is set in a Greek mythological setting. Summary: “Fourteen-year old Princess Xenodice tries to prevent the death of her half-brother, the Minotaur, at the hands of the Athenian prince, Theseus, who is aid by Icarus, Daedalus and her sister Ariadne.” I hope I cannot be accused of writing a spoiler by saying you cannot expect an overwhelmingly happy ending with these characters, but you would not know your Greek mythology if you expected one. I think the dynamic between Xenodice and her sister Ariadne is the most interesting, especially when the former sees the ghost of the latter and still finds herself striving to do something for her sister.

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Book Review: Sabriel by Garth Nix

“Summary: Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead.” I almost had to put down this book after chapter 4 because I was afraid that the story was shaping up to be more horror genre than fantasy. I am not all a fan of stories of the undead and there are a whole lot of problems with animated corpses and issues with Death with a capital “D.” As sensitive as I am, I managed to finish the book with enjoyment, mostly. My favorite part was the line from the young man to the young woman, “I love you, if you don’t mind,” and the big finish with Mister Uber-Dead Bad Guy (my term, not the author’s). Sabriel can be read as a stand-alone story and I recommend it as such. However I will mention that it is followed by sequels Lireal and Abhorsen, which I have also read. It continues with a story of another girl, although the character Sabriel has some “bit parts,” you could say. I had some problems liking the stories in these two latter books, because I did not appreciate a rather anti-father, anti-family, anti-fidelity background of the Clayr society, which does stay somewhat in the background of the story, but annoyed me greatly. I also got rather annoyed with a too-convenient plot device that the seers in the story could not see where the Big Trouble was coming from. When I am sitting there reading a book and analyzing an author’s technique instead of getting caught up in the story — I think that is a bad sign.

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Book Review: Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl

Summary: “A fourteen-year old girl, who can transform in an owl, has a crush on her science teacher which leads her into interesting new relationships with both humans and owls.”

Written for young adults, this book has alot of things in it that I found funny, if perhaps written that way unintentionally. Then again, maybe not. I was really chuckling over the description of the girl’s crush on her 40-year old science teacher and her parents’ surprise reaction to her announcement of her impending marriage to said teacher.

My favorite part was the episode of the girl’s visit to her friend’s house and her reaction to her friend’s pet hamster, including the demonstration of the hamster’s sub-par intelligence. Recommended for young people and all readers.

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Books I’ve Read in 2009

For more of my book reviews from earlier this year, I started this Squidoo lens: Books I Read in 2009. Most of the books are fantasy fiction. I prefer “family friendly” reading, so I often choose young adult novels.

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Book Review: Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin

In this fantasy young adult novel, a young man must blindfold himself to prevent hurting others with his unusual magical gift. There were some interesting twists before the end and a mild romantic ending. Recommended for young people and all readers.

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Give This Christmas Away

I really liked this music video Give This Christmas Away from BigIdea.Com (the people from Veggie Tales), “starring” Matthew West and Amy Grant. It would be more suitable to say that the “stars” of this video are the children receiving their Christmas presents from donors of Samaritan’s Purse. I really loved the expression on the face of the girl being shown some shrink-wrapped object on a card by another girl. What was it? A small toy? Stickers?

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Book Review: The Joys of Love by Madeleine L’Engle

Written in the 1940’s with a 1940’s setting, this young adult novel is a departure from the fantasy genre that I assume L’Engle is most famous, as in, for example,  A Wrinkle in Time.

However, I enjoyed this story very much. It is a story about a young would-be actress trying to get her big break in “the theater.” Along the way there is a lesson from a socially advanced man who tries to take advantage of her innocence, written in a non-explicit way. Speaking of which, I was feeling fondly nostalgic while reading the book: the 1940’s innocence of the characters reminded me of Nancy Drew.

There manages to be satisfactory and somewhat mild romantic ending. The story behind the publication of this novel is also interesting. Apparently rejected by a number of publishers early in L’Engle’s writing career, she shelved this manuscript until she gave it to two of her granddaughters. They had it published a year after L’Engle’s death in 2007. The irony of the situation, considering the story itself, in the challenges of unproved artists being given their chance, did not escape me.

I recommend “The Joys of Love” for young people and all readers.

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Royalty Free Photos and Videos by Terry Dean

Another great link for the archive file. What every webmaster needs: Royalty Free Photos and Videos.

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