What I've Read This Week

What I've Read This Week . . .

Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke -- Middle Grades Fantasy
Soon-to-be 12-year-old Igraine dreams of being a famous knight but instead she must contend with two eccentric parents who own the Singing Books of Magic and think Igraine should learn magic like her older brother. Igraine finds magic boring. In fact, she thinks her whole life is boring - despite a castle called Pimpernel with gargoyles that swallow arrows, stone lions that roar and snakes in the moat - nothing ever happens. Nothing happens until Igraine's birthday, when the Baroness of Darkrock's Master of Horse rides over to tell Igraine's parents that the Baroness is missing and her greedy nephew Osmund is planning an attack on Pimpernel to steal the Singing Books of Magic. Igraine is confident her parents can easily deal with Osmund with magic, however, an accident befalls them leaving Igraine's parents unable to do magic! Igraine must summon her courage and act like a real knight in order to save her family and her home. She starts on a quest to retrieve a magical ingredient that will restore her parents and along the way meets a friendly giant and The Sorrowful Knight of the Mount of Tears who teaches Igraine how to be a knight and helps her defend the castle. Igraine's bravery and cleverness make this a great girl-power story! The prose is witty and light-hearted. The charming illustrations are done by the author and enhance the details of the description. I enjoyed this story and highly recommend it for 8-12 year old girls or 8-12 year old girls at heart!



The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly -- Middle Grades Historical Fiction
"Practically twelve"-year-old Calpurnia Virginia Tate, Callie Vee for short, is the only daughter of a prominent Texas cotton merchant. Callie Vee is sandwiched in between three older brothers and three younger brothers, which makes it difficult to act like the lady her mother expects her to be. During the long, hot summer of 1899, Callie Vee enjoys slipping off to paddle in the river and observe the natural world around her. Her oldest brother provides her with a notebook in which to record her observations and launches Callie off on an adventure she never expected. Her scientific observations help her bond with her cantankerous, eccentric grandfather, a charter member of the National Geographic Society, who enlists Callie's help distilling pecans into whiskey. With the help of Granddaddy, Callie becomes a budding naturalist and discovers her true calling, despite her mother's best intentions for making Callie into a proper domestic lady. This charming novel is told from Callie's point-of-view and shares her humorous thoughts and conflicted feelings about being a girl at the turn-of-the-century. The characters are all well-developed and very funny. Callie is spunky and bright and delightful character. I hope Ms. Kelly writes more about Callie and her family as the enter the new century. This is a wonderful story for anyone aged 11 and up.

Fire on the Wind by Linda Crew -- Middle Grades Historical Fiction
Thirteen-year-old Estora (Storie) is proud to be a logger's daughter in 1933, during the difficult times of the Great Depression. She loves everything about the woods that are her Oregon home, especially the animals and the peaceful vales. Her biggest problem is that her father doesn't seem to understand that she's growing up or he understands something she doesn't about growing up, Storie isn't sure which, but she knows she wants to go to High School to study literature and she likes sharing poetry with the handsome Irishman Flynn Casey, both things her father doesn't approve of. Storie also worries about her little brother, who dreams of being a logger and keeping him from getting into man-sized trouble. When a forest fire breaks out miles away from her home, Storie and the other kids aren't too worried, until the fire spreads and their fathers go off to fight the fire. Soon the fire is a raging inferno and threatens everything Storie loves. Storie must grow up quickly and be brave enough to stand whatever happens. The story concludes in 1994, with Storie sharing the events of that fateful summer with her grandchildren and teaching them about the reforestation project. Linda Crew's writing style is a little terse but her stories are full of excellent detail. I could easily picture the logging camp, the forest and the horrible fire. I could identify with Storie's love of animals and literature and her worries about the future. The final chapter is especially good because it tells what happens to the characters while still maintaining plot and characterization. The subject of the Tillamook Burn of 1933 is not something I have read about before so I found this novel compelling reading.


Streets of Gold by Marie Raphael -- YA Historical Fiction
In 1901 Marisia and her family live peacefully on a farm in Poland. Poland is under the czar's rule and Marisia's older brother Stefan is drafted into the Czar's army much to the dismay of her parents who have already lost one son to the Czar's army. When Stefan deserts and returns home, Marisia's Papa decides the family should go to America where the Czar's rule can't touch them. Their journey out of Poland is illegal and dangerous and once on board the ship there are more dangers as well as illness and injuries to contend with. Marisia befriends and older girl named Sofia, who is kind and beautiful, but her proud and tyrannical father has trained her to be a lady in order to marry a wealthy man and has his sights set on an American man. Unfortunately, Marisia's little sister Katrina is rejected at Ellis Island and Mama, Papa and the younger children have to return to Europe. Stephen will stay in America but Marisia must make a difficult decision - stay in America or go back with the rest of the family. Marisia decides to make her way in America with Stefen. She's strong and plucky but America isn't what she thought it would be. Circumstances draw Marisia and Sofia closer together and Sofia teaches Marisia how to be a lady and Marisia shows Sofia how to stand up to her father. When it finally seems like Marisia is going to accomplish her dreams, she is forced to make another tough decision about her future and hopes her natural grit and Sofia's lessons will help her make the right choice. This isn't the most captivating immigrant story and the writing isn't very special but I liked the book because it's a little different from the typical Ellis Island novel. Little emphasis is placed on the journey and Ellis Island and the details of life in New York seem realistic. I was interested in the characters but found their insights a little corny. I liked Sofia and her story more than I enjoyed Marisia's story and wished for more about her. I recently visited Ellis Island and enjoyed being able to picture Marisia and her family passing through there.


Orphan of Ellis Island (Time Travel Adventures) by Elvira Woodruff, read by LLoyd James-- Middle Grades Historical Fiction/Fantasy
On a school trip to Ellis Island Dominic Cantori feels uncomfortable and lies about his family heritage because he's embarrassed about being an orphan in foster care without much knowledge of his real family. Shamed by his lie, fearing to be caught, Dominic hides away in a closet in Ellis Island. When he wakes up, the museum is closed and no one is around. He wanders the museum and picks up a telephone receiver in an exhibit and listens to an old man share his memories of growing up in Italy and coming to America through Ellis Island. Scared and lonely, Dominic reaches out to this only form of human contact and is surprised to find that the old man can hear him! Dominic falls asleep and when he wakes up, he is discovers that he is in the village of Avaletto, Italy in the year 1908! Dominic is befriended by three orphan brothers, Francesco, Salvatore and Antonio Candiano and their always-hungry goat Violetta, and learns how the boys struggle to live by their wits and are waiting for a sponsor to bring them to America and give them a family. Together, the four boys become a little family, looking out for each other and surviving any way they can. During his adventures in Italy, Dominic learns about tragedy and how to survive against all odds. Most importantly, he learns about family and how to open his heart to someone else. He also discovers something important about his own history. The books contains interesting facts about Ellis Island, immigrants and immigration. One needs to overlook the obviously silly elements of the story and the time-travel concept to really get into the story. I enjoyed the part of the story that takes place in Italy and could imagine my own ancestors bustling around in the background. I disliked the narrator. His narration voice was pleasant and soothing but his "old man" voice was terrible, like Mr. Miagi or something out of a poorly acted movie. He didn't attempt an Italian accent at all or any attempt to distingish between the two languages. I would recommend this for 3-5 grade readers but probably not for adults looking for quality literature.