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Flowers for Algernon, Guest Post from Bookshelf Fantasies

Posted by: on: May 3, 2013

A fellow blogger at Bookshelf Fantasies started a meme back in September 2012 called Flashback Friday. Her reason? Like many readers, she tended to focus on the new, new, new, and ignore the old, old, old. With her new meme, she decided to “hit the pause button for a moment and concentrate on older books that are deserving of attention”. Below is one of her posts, which she graciously allowed me to feature here.

FlowersAlgernonCovers

How crazy is it that a Google image search came up with all of these different graphics and book covers for Flowers for Algernon? That’s not even counting the various stage productions with their posters, playbills, and other paraphernalia. Clearly, this is a book that has staying power.

I first read this book many moons ago when I was a senior in high school, very keen on all of my AP classes and avidly interested in intellectual pursuits. (What a geek, I know…) Written as a series of diary entries, Flowers for Algernon tracks Charlie’s progress from low IQ to the upper limits of genius. What totally gobsmacked me in reading this book was that Charlie’s new-found intelligence enabled him to predict and track his own downward trajectory. Prior to the operation, Charlie leads a fairly contented life. After the operation, Charlie is elated by his mental powers but ultimately is plunged into despair as he realizes that he is destined to lose everything he has gained. Flowers for Algernon raises an interesting question: Would you rather be blissfully ignorant, or achieve intellectual super-abilities but only for a short time? If gaining a terrifically high IQ also brought you the certain knowledge that your intelligence would soon plummet to below average levels, would you still want the high?

It’s been quite a while since I’ve read Flowers for Algernon, but I still remember the impact it had on me. I found it thought-provoking, moving, and disturbing—and I think the fact that it’s still widely read and that the stage version is still frequently produced is a testament to the power of this book.

What’s your favorite blast from the past? Leave a tip for your fellow book lovers at Bookshelf Fantasies and share the wealth.

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Quick Take: Adaptation by Melinda Lo

Posted by: on: April 29, 2013


adaptation

Recently, I was asked to review Adaptation by Melinda Lo, especially with the view of it as a multicultural book. To me,  it doesn’t stack up as one; the ethnic characters seem token. Moreover, as science fiction goes, Adaptation isn’t all that believable. The global conspiracy happens too fast and is too contrived. Incidentally, that’s also about how I viewed the romance.

Adaptation does have a promising premise. Birds fall from the sky. The public panics, and within one day most stores and restaurants have run out of food and interstate traffic is shut down. On a lesser scale, a gas station is blown up by desperadoes–and, oh, the only supervising adult is shot and killed. Then, on the heels of all this strife our two heroes land themselves in an accident, are found by scientists or medical doctors who conduct experimental life-saving medical procedures on them, and now our two heroes have alien powers. Wow!

I was pulled in immediately by the falling birds, then pushed away by the instant panic. Birds really have fallen from the sky before, and it was treated as little more than a curiosity. It takes a lot more to send people into survival mode these days. If not for the instant panic, Adaptation might actually have worked for me because it does cover ground that I have not seen too often in current young adult novels. Too bad.

Another problem with Adaptation is that the conspiracy theory is the only conflict which held my attention. Given that the main character’s dad is referenced maybe only three times, I never really cared whether Reese would accept a phone call from him after her accident. In fact, the only reason I can figure out why Reese’s dad is even mentioned is to explain why Reese wants absolutely nothing ever to do with a relationship. And that gives the unneeded reason for one moment wanting to kiss her debate partner David and the next feeling glad when he doesn’t. Seriously, conflicting  feelings is very normal in budding relationships–and so could have existed even if Reese’s parents were happily married. But then if not for those conflicting feelings, Reese might not have ever explored a relationship with a girl. Or so Lo would have us believe.

Now to the reason for my being asked to read Adaptation–the question of whether it constitutes multicultural fiction. So how diverse is it? Well, the bulk of the characters seem to consist of a typical Caucasian cast with two exceptions. Debate partner David is Asian, a fact Lo notes in the first few chapters but then never mentions again. There’s also an Asian newscaster who receives a single mention. That these references to race occur early contribute to my seeing them as token. Lo seems to want to be diverse, in that she also includes a female President and a lesbian relationship. However, none seem natural or integral to the story.

Adaptation did hold promise. The first chapter contained all the elements that could make for riveting and diverse fiction. If only Lo could have kept up that momentum. Unfortunately, I found myself rushing through far too many of the middle chapters, many of which were bogged down by an uninspired romance and too many fantastical events.

My rating? Leave it: Don’t even take it off the shelves. Not recommended.

How would you rate this book?

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The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleberger

Posted by: on: April 24, 2013


FortuneWookie

Sometimes books can break cardinal writing rules and still get published. Of those, a few are of high enough quality to prove to the world that rules can and should be broken. Unfortunately, others such as The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleberger prove the opposite.

One cardinal rule is not to start with the back story. The reason? Readers don’t yet have a reason to care for the main character and so even the smallest account of the main character’s past will bore them. In The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee, Angleberger dedicates not just the first paragraph or the first page but the entire first chapter to an introduction of Dwight. He’s a character who apparently got suspended in the second book and has since switched schools, taking his Origami Yoda with him. While Dwight is an integral character in the lives of other main characters, and does eventually figure more in the current story, at this point he’s a character in absentia. Moreover, his origami and the related case files are meaningless to me. At this point I’m thinking: Who cares?

Another cardinal rule is to introduce an interesting conflict as soon as possible. I guess one could quibble here about how interesting of a problem it is that Dwight has switched schools, his old friends are bored, and Tommy needs to start a case file without him. Maybe it’s not these scenarios that are dull, but rather Angleberger’s execution of them. Dwight is apparently the only one who can keep Tommy and his friends from doing dumb stuff. He’s also the only reason they have anything worth doodling about. Oh, and they’re now too scared to talk to girls. One of the group members, Harvey, still has a tongue but he’s always just loud and rude. Tell you what, by the end of the first chapter, I’m starting to feel as if at a slumber party where everyone is a little overtired, sounding whiny and weird, but no one has the sense to sleep. If I’d read the books in order, then maybe my preexisting affection for these characters would have seen me through. But because I started with the third book, I had no affection, just annoyance. Even worse, I’m still thinking: Who cares?

A third cardinal rule, and the last I’ll cover in this review, is to stick to one point of view. Okay, let me modify that to say that one can write a story from multiple viewpoints but only if one can create clearly distinguishable characters. I’ll give Angleberger credit that first, whenever he switches viewpoints, he also starts a new chapter. Second, the first few chapters are mostly from Tommy’s viewpoint and so I finally started to feel comfortable with him. After that, though, almost every chapter is told from the perspective of a different character, which meant half the time I’d reach the end of a chapter and have to refer back to the start to know who the heck the story was about. After a while I developed the habit of checking for this info at the front of every new chapter, but that still didn’t make me feel any less frustrated. At least most of these later stories were interesting enough that I did finally start to care.

To end on a positive note, I did appreciate Angleberger’s message. Remember how I said that Dwight would eventually figure into the story more? Well, turns out that Dwight has fit into his new school too well, to the point that he is almost perfect. He does everything his parents tell him to do, never argues with his peers, and spends most of his time doing homework. His friends intervene to help him escape, because they miss the weird and wacky Dwight. Many teens have inner quirks which they’re afraid to share. Angleberger offers reassurances that it’s okay to be different. I just wish that this message had been contained a more engaging package.

My rating? Leave it: Don’t even take it off the shelves. Not recommended.

How would you rate this book?

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A Finger Puppet Yoda

Posted by: on: April 23, 2013

With Dwight suspended, McQuarrie Middle School is missing its most famous attendee: Origami Yoda. And no Yoda means no case file to solve. But just as Tommy wonders if he’ll ever find anything interesting to write about again, something BIG happens.

This is the description from the back cover of The Secret Fortune of the Fortune Wookie, the third in the Origami Yoda book series by Tom Angleberger. The first two titles in the series are The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, which was been nominated for the Illinois State 2013 Rebecca Caudill Award, and Darth Paper Strikes Back! I’ll review the third tomorrow.

AUTHOR

Tom Angleberger started his first novel in eighth-grade but never finished it. Since that time, he has more successfully pursued careers as a newspaper reporter and columnist, juggler, weed boy, lawn mower part assembler, and biology research assistant. His current occupation is author and illustrator. A lesser known fact about Angleberger is that his pen of choice is a Pilot G2 gel roller! He uses 1.0 for everyday doodling and .7 used for illustrating the Origami Yoda books. An interesting quote from Angleberger is “I’m not necessarily all that creative. I’m more of a puzzle putter together. I take all these little puzzle pieces—Yoda, middle school problems, Cheetos—and I fuss and fuss with them until I fit them together.” He lives in Virginia with his wife Cece Bell, on whom he based the character Caroline. According to Angleberger, his superpower is Aspergers!

BOOK

Master Yoda - origami.

Master Yoda – origami. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When asked by About.Com, what gave him the idea for the story of Origami Yoda, Angleberger explained that an origami master named Fumiaki Kawahata once folded an amazing Origami Yoda. Angleberger tried to make his own but found it difficult and so instead he fiddled about with some green paper until he made his own super simple Origami Yoda which worked like a finger puppet.
 From there the book Origami Yoda flowed, with characters being based on people he knows. For example, while Dwight is not exactly him, Angleberger does know what it’s like to be the weirdest kid in school. As for Caroline, he married her!

Make your own Origami Yoda: Folding Your Own Star Wars Papercraft

Watch a trailer for The Secret of the Fortune Cookie Wookie:

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The Amulet Series by Kazu Kibuishi

Posted by: on: April 17, 2013

TheAmuletTwo ordinary children on a mission. A mechanical rabbit and a talking fox for companions. A giant robot and man-eating demons for enemies. The Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi isn’t my type of graphic novel, but you might like its outlandish adventures and lavish illustrations.

For those of you who follow my reviews, this next statement might seem like an oxymoron: My favorite part of the series is the artwork. How many times when talking about picture books and graphic novels have I avoided talking about the illustrations? How many times have I claimed artwork not only beyond my expertise but also my interest? In Alice in Wonderland, Alice might have asked her sister, “What is the use of a book without pictures or conversation?” Me, I’m completely fine with reading books that are devoid of pictures except of course on the cover. Yet here I am claiming that my favorite part of the Amulet series are its graphics. I especially appreciated the background and would love to see them translated to the big screen. Even the character drawings drew me in, with their bold and detailed appearances. The story would have to be terrible for me to not recommend this series, the artwork is so entrancing and rich.

AmuletBackgroundBut, here is the problem with my recommending a series based on the artwork. When a reviewer raves about the special effects in a movie, I immediately know that the effects are probably all it has going for it. Just as every American Idol viewer knew that the moment judge Paula Abdul complimented a singer on their looks, that was probably all the singer had going for them. The next words out of Abdul’s mouth were unlikely to be, “And I love your voice.” That said, it still could be that the movie would make for light entertainment. And the singer still might make a pleasant melody. It’s just in contrast to the story or the voice, looks is what wins. In the Amulet series, I’m sorry to say, that was also how I felt about its plot. Why? Because with the huge cast of characters, I never really connected to any of them—not even the heroine, Emily. Moreover, the story reminded me too much of Star Wars and (to a lesser extent) Lord of the Rings. Mind you, I enjoyed both of these creations, but not enough that I wish to see references in other fiction to a father with a mask, a robot sidekick, elf kings, an evil stone, or a ruling council. Except for the first, none of them feel taken from other sources. Combined though, Amulet starts to feel as if cobbled together. Last is the feeling I had while reading the books that these would make better movies than graphic novels.

What’s the deal then with my recommending the Amulet series? First, there are some fun characters such as the mechanical rabbit and talking fox. Second, if one reads enough of the books one eventually starts to feel a connection to some of the characters. I even enjoyed the story in book three, where events felt less random and enough small moments occurred to allow me to care about the fate of the heroes. Third, with each sequel, there seems to be more of an attempt to create an underlying substance. Characters are being forced to make sacrifices and recognize what is the true good. Last, one could strip the conversations, and I’d still find plenty to enjoy about the Amulet series because of the artwork.

My rating? Read the set: Borrow from your library or a friend. The series is worth your time.

How would you rate this set?

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Looking Ahead

The end of my thematic review months is coming to a close. Starting mid-May, I'll review an assortment of books.

  • May 13: Every Hill and Mountain (Legacy trilogy) by Deborah Heal
  • May 17-18: Interview, Review of Coyote Winds by Helen Sedwick
  • May 22: Zoo Station, true story by Christiane F.
  • May 25: Regine's Book by Regine Stokke
  • May 29: Boy 21 by Matthew Quick
  • June 1: Sort of Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick

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Thirty days. Average of 2000 words per day. A total of 58,600 words. I am a NaNoWrimo Winner in 2012.

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