I love the Cassons!

As you probably may already know, I absolutely adore Hilary McCay's books about the eccentric, lovable Casson family: Saffy's Angel; Indigo's Star and Permanent Rose. Therefore, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the latest (and perhaps last): Caddy Ever After (2006, ages 9 and up). I had wondered if McCay would indeed write a book for Caddy, the oldest of the Casson kids, in fact, not a kid at all, but a young woman off in London at university during the last two books. But even though the title bears her name, this book is mostly Rose's, the youngest Casson, now 10 years old. Rose's narrative opens the book and closes it, although we hear from Indigo, Saffy and Caddy in between. I think that's what I liked best, hearing from them all, perhaps because I feel so attached to each character. The climax centers around Caddy's wedding (not to Darling Michael!), but it is Rose who pushes forward the action of the story. To attest whether or not I enjoyed this book, I read it in one sitting --ever sad to have it end and let the Cassons go! Recommended, of course!

Monkey town : a story of the Scopes trial by Ronald Kidd.

Monkey Town is historical fiction that should be required reading for everyone in the current climate of debate over "intelligent design" and "evolution". The story of the Scopes trial, begun as a publicity stunt, is told through the eyes of 15 year old Frances, who, by the end has questioned her beliefs in her father, her God, and her known way of life. The book seems to be well researched and accurate within fictional limits. The writing is a tad stiff at times, but I recommend the novel nonetheless. It does what good fiction should do -- makes one stop and think about preconceived notions.

Catching up

This is a copy of an email I sent earlier this month. I decided I want it included in the BLOG after all.

I just finished Karen Cushman’s The Long Silence of Francine Green which in true Cushman style is historical fiction, but much closer to us than usual. It is set in Hollywood CA in 1949-1950, and I think she nails the loss of innocence, the confusion and the fear of the early McCarthy years by telling of the gradual awareness of these things from the point of view of an admitted good girl who wants more than anything to stay out of trouble at home and at her Catholic school. Francine as naïve observer of the world is totally believable, and her new friend Sophie who delights in the attention of being a thorn in the nuns’ side, is just as credible as the outspoken daughter of an unsuccessful widowed Hollywood screen-writer. Blacklists, naming names, sadistic teaching nuns all conspire to force Francine to find her voice. The only complaint I have about the book is that it ended. I wasn’t ready to stop being part of Francine’s life just yet.

I also recently read M.T. Anderson’s The Clue in the Linoleum Lederhosen which is goofy, clever, fast moving and I think, deeper than one assumes. Anderson is spoofing all the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Happy Hollisters, and other mystery series as the characters each represent a type of child crime solver with sometimes hilarious results (what happens if a series is cancelled before the hero is ready to be “done”?) The zany writing style will keep kids who have graduated from Time Warp Trio and Captain Underpants coming back to see what else Anderson wrote.

Just before I went on vacation I read The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin

Kladstrup which is a fantasy on the order of Funke’s Inkheart. It involves a notebook

in which young aspiring writers begin stories only to have to live them out somehow.

Tension is caused when stories begun more than 70 years apart become entwined

and the solution to the more recent must not affect the ending of the first, or somehow, the latter story cannot happen… I know, I know, such unlikely juxtapositions are only possible in fantasy, but for once I didn’t find it a problem. I liked Lucy and Oscar. I didn’t quite believe Lucy’s father’s character, but I enjoyed the book and think that it will be a handy suggestion to make to children who enjoy Funke or Micheal Ende’s Neverending Story.

I also managed to read Jennifer Weiner’s Goodnight Nobody (adult chick lit) which

was perfect airplane reading but I found not as engrossing or interesting as her previous books.