The Slave Dancer (1974)

The Slave Dancer is not a happy book.  It is the story of 13-year-old Jessie Bollier who, kidnapped by sailors from the slaving ship The Moonlight, is forced to play his fife to make music for the slaves to dance to during the dreaded "Middle Passage." Taken from his mother and sister in New Orleans, Jessie must learn to cope with the rigors of sea life on a slave ship: storms, hunger, thirst, violence, terror. And that is before the slaves are taken on board.

Since the slave trade was illegal, they were brought to the ship in the middle of the night.  The black men, women and children were brought aboard off the coast of Africa and forced into the hold, where they were kept in an unbelievably harsh, filthy, smelly, awful condition. Every day, some were brought to the deck and forced to dance to "keep up their strength." 

Then, when they were within sight of Cuba and almost through with their trip, the slave broker even on the ship, disaster strikes.  An American ship comes near and boats make ready to board The Moonlight.  In his panic and desire to not be caught, the captain orders all evidence of slaves thrown overboard, including the slaves.  Jessie watches helplessly as they are forced overboard to their death.  (Sharks have been following the ship.)  He is able to get one boy about his age safely into the hold and then a storm hits the ship.

The storm rages for several days and the two boys alone in the hold manage to survive, while the men above are all swept into the sea.  The boat lodges on a reef off of Mississippi and they swim to shore and meet an old escaped slave, who feeds and shelters them until they are strong enough to get on.  The slave boy, Ras, is led to the North, and Jessie returns home.  Changed forever.

Some quotes:

Jessie's mother had sent him on an errand one evening and he took the long way home.  "My mother...had asked me to promise her I would never enter a tavern or mingle with the nightly throngs on Bourbon and Royal Streets.  By keeping to these narrow byways, I avoided breaking the promise but still had the diversion of hearing from over the rooftops the rumble and rise and fall of men's voices, the bird shrieks of women, laughter and the shouts of quarrels." (p. 12)  It was on this longer way home, when he knew he shouldn't be there, that Jessie was kidnapped.

On becoming aware he was on a ship.  "The first object my eyes rested upon was crawling idly along my leg as though I was a yard of bread.  The insect was no stranger to me for we had them in all sizes at home.  But I'd never thought a cockroach was a sea-going creature.  I didn't care for the breed.  Still, I found it a touch comforting that such a familiar land thing was making itself at home on me." (p. 25)

The first time Jessie had to play for the slaves.  "We had formed a circle around them, dressed, shod, most of us armed.  Many of them were naked; a few had ragged bits of cloth around their waists.  I glanced at the sailors.  Ned's eyes were turned upward toward heaven.  I supposed he was reporting to God on the folly of everyone else but himself.  But the rest were staring fixedly at the slaves.  I felt fevered and agitated.  I sensed, I saw, how beyond the advantage we had of weapons, their nakedness made them helpless.  Even if we had not been armed, our clothes and boots alone would have given us power." (p. 65-66)

Fox, Paula.  The Slave Dancer.  Dell Publishing, 1973.

Julie of the Wolves (1973

I'm finding this one a bit harder to write about.  I liked Julie of the Wolves.  In some ways it was a female version of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, in that one lone teen must survive the wilderness with limited tools.  But this book has much richer and deeper meaning woven through out.

In the first part of the book, entitled Amaroq the wolf, we first meet Julie, although she prefers her Eskimo name, Miyax.  She is half starved, living on the North Slope in Alaska, hoping to receive help from a pack of wolves she befriends.  She recalls the time she spent at seal camp with her father, Kapugen, and the things he taught her about nature and surviving.  It is very interesting learning about wolf behavior and how she learns to communicate in "wolf," and what she does to survive the harsh climate.

In part two, Miyax the girl, we learn how Miyax came to be alone in the wilderness, relying on wolves.  Her mother had died when she was very young.  In his grief, Kapugen had retreated with Miyax to seal camp, isolated from civilization (as we know it).  But eventually it found him in the form of Aunt Martha, who insisted on Miyax returning with her to go to school.  Kapugen arranged a marriage for her, when she came of age at 13, to his partner's son in Barrow.  When she found life intolerable with her aunt she accepted the marriage arrangement and flew to Barrow, only to find that the son, Daniel, "has a few problems, but he's a very good boy, and he's a good worker...He will be like a brother to you," says his mother. (p. 92) 

For a year all is well, until Daniel gets teased about not being able to "mate" his own wife and a very short try at forcing the issue frightens Miyax so much that she gathers her supplies and flees into the wilderness planning to make her way to San Fransisco, where she has a pen pal who has repeatedly invited her to come live.

The third part of the book, Kapugen the hunter, really talks about not just her father, but about the whole way of life of the Eskimo and the changes overtaking their society.  Miyax has to decide whether to remain Miyax the Eskimo girl, or to become Julie.

George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves. HarperCollins, 1972.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1972)

I really enjoyed this one.  Mrs. Frisby is the widowed mouse of Mr. Jonathon Frisby.  Timothy, her youngest son, has been very sick.  Mr. Ages, a mouse who is intelligent well beyond what a mouse should be, has given her medicine for Timothy, but said he should not be moved from their winter home in the farmer's garden to their summer home by the creek as his body is still too weak and it is still too cold at night.

Her new friend, Jeremy the crow, takes her to see the owl, whom all the crows go to for advice. Jeremy flies her to the owl's tree, and, though terrified to approach the owl, Mrs. Frisby does so for the sake of her family.  After telling the owl of her predicament, he tells her that he cannot help her.  But when he learns that she is the widow of Jonathon Frisby, he becomes very interested and tells her to visit the rats in the rosebush.  She is to ask to speak to Nicodemus.

So her adventure continues.  She learns of human experimentation on rats, and a few mice (including her husband) which gave them great longevity and human intelligence. The rats have a plan to move to a valley and develop a society independent of human technology.

I think children would really like this one.  A good storyline, characters and also some things to think about:  experimenting on animals, living on "borrowed" light, loyalty, courage, friendship.  No quotes jumped out at me as I read, but it was well-written.  Enjoy!

O'Brien, Robert C. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Simon & Schuster, 1971.

The Summer of the Swans (1971)

(Just as an aside, this book was written the year I was born.)

This was the worst summer ever! According to 14-year-old Sara.  She is gong through the very self-conscious time of early teen hood. She and her older sister and younger brother have been raised by her aunt since her mother died and her father lives several hours away.  She doesn't think her father really cares about them.  Also, her wants are often put aside for her special needs brother, Charlie. Charlie is mostly non-verbal and has the mental capacity of a young child, but physically functions fine.

One day swans come to the lake near their home and they go to see them.  Charlie is fascinated by the swans and doesn't want to leave when it is time to go. That night Charlie gets up and decides to go see the swans, but gets lost on the way. 

Sara, although often frustrated by Charlie, has a special bond with him and knows he is in trouble.  The police are called in, search parties form and fan out.  But it is Sara who finds Charlie late that afternoon. 

Quotes:
Sara's older sister trying to get her to not obsess about her appearance.  "I have perfectly terrible hands--look at my fingers--only I don't go around all the time saying, 'Everybody, look at my stubby fingers, I have stubby fingers, everybody,' to make people notice.  You should just ignore things that are wrong with you.  The truth is everyone else is so worried about what's wrong with them..." (p. 3)

"A picture came into her mind of the laughing, curly-headed man with the broken tooth in the photograph album, and she suddenly saw life as a series of huge, uneven steps, and she saw herself on the steps,...and she had just taken an enormous step up out of the shadows, and she was standing, waiting, and there were other steps in front of her, so that she could go as high as the sky, and she saw Charlie on a flight of small difficult steps, and her father down at the bottom of some steps, just sitting and not trying to go further.  She saw everyone she knew on those blinding white steps and for a moment everything was clearer than it had ever been." (p. 128)

Byars, Betsy.  The Summer of the Swans.  Puffin Books, 1970. 

Sounder (1970)

 



Sounder was a great coon dog whose voice boomed across the night when he and his master caught something.  But one cold season, no game was to be found.  Times were very hard for a sharecropper.  Night after night the man came home empty handed to his hungry wife and children.  Then one morning the children woke to the smell of ham frying.

 

The boy, oldest child, worries that something isn't right when he notices his mother humming tight-lipped, rather than singing. He was right to worry as later that night the sheriff and deputies come and arrest his father, and in the process, Sounder is shot.  The boy's mother doesn't think Sounder will live, but he does, missing a leg and an ear, and never again using the great booming sound he was known for.

 

Sounder tells the story of the boy as he searches for his father among work gangs, coming home to work in the fields when he can.  But the boy longs for more.  He wants to read.  Not just shop window signs, but books and stories and the Bible.  He knows the power of words.  In one of his journeys he meets a kind school teacher who takes him in, sees the thirst for knowledge this boy has and offers to teach him.

 

After many years, when the boy is home working one summer, the boy and his mother see a figure approaching in the distance.  The man is disfigured, dragging one leg, shoulder hunched.  But Sounder runs out to him, making his voice ring.  His master had finally come home.

 

I enjoyed reading Sounder.  It didn't take long, but left me feeling a mixture of sadness and hope.  One thing that is kind of odd about this book is that none of the human characters are named.  Just Sounder. 

 

A couple of quotes:

 

"He wished his mother or father could read.  And if they had a book, he would hold the lamp by the chair so they could see the words and never get tired. "One day I will learn to read," he said to himself.  He would have a book with stories in it, then he wouldn't be lonesome even if his mother didn't sing." (p. 18)

 

"He had learned to read his book with the torn cover better now.  He had read in it: "Only the unwise think that what has changed is dead." He had asked the teacher what it meant, and the teacher had said that if a flower blooms once, it goes on blooming somewhere forever.  It blooms on for whoever has seen it blooming.  It was not quite clear to the boy the, but it was now." (p. 114)

 

Armstrong, William, H.  Sounder.  HarperCollins, 1969.

The High King (1969)

The High King is the fifth and last book in the Chronicles of Prydain.  As such I felt that I was a little behind the curve even though the author writes in his author's note, "Like the previous tales, this adventure can be read independently of the others.  Nevertheless, certain long-standing questions are resolved here." (p. 7)  At first it was difficult getting into the story because I felt that I was missing a lot not having read the others first. (I have actually read all of them, but it has been about 14 years and I really only remembered the very basics of the storyline.) Once I got past that, it was very enjoyable reading.

The story centers on Taran, assistant pig-keeper to Hen Wen, a pig who foretells the future.  In the previous books he met and travelled with many characters, many of whom appear in this book.  Eilonwy, princess and love interest.  Gurgi, some sort of creature, not brave, but super loyal.  Dallben, Taran's teacher, enchanter, owner of Hen Wen.  Fflewdddur Flam, harp wielding minor king of a nearby land.  And many more.

And of course, there is Arawn, the Death Lord with his Cauldron born army of undead soldiers.  The battle against whom does not go well while there is infighting amongst the lesser kings. 

I will leave it to you to find out how the battles were fought and lost and won.  What happens when Taran has to make the most crucial of decisions.  How Eilonwy gives up her one treasure for something of far greater worth.

Quotes I liked.  Many have to do with leadership.

Taran went to gather troops.  One group responded, "Our pride is not in fighting but in farming; in the work of our hands, not our blades.  Never have we sought war.  We come now to the banner of the White Pig because it is the banner of our friend, Taran Wanderer." (p. 122)

"It is harsh enough for each man to bear his own wound.  But he who leads bears the wounds of all who follow him." (p. 129)

"There are those who must first learn loss, despair, and grief.  Of all paths to wisdom, this is the cruelest and longest...Those who reach the end do more than gain wisdom.  As rough wool becomes cloth, and crude clay a vessel, so do they change and fashion wisdom for others, and what they give back is greater than what they won." (p. 142)

"Is there worse evil than that which goes in the mask of good?" (p. 148)

"A grower of turnips or a shaper of clay, a Commot farmer or a king--every man is a hero if he strives more for others than for himself alone.  Once you told me that the seeking counts more than the finding.  So, too, must the striving count more than the gain." (p. 292)

"Do you believe evil itself to be so quickly overcome?  Not so long as men still hate and slay each other, when greed and anger goad them.  Against these even a flaming sword cannot prevail, but only that portion of good in all men's hearts whose flame can never be quenched." (p. 300)

Alexander, Lloyd.  The High King.  Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1968.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1968)

Claudia feels unappreciated at home.  She has to do more chores than her brothers, look after kids and finally decides she has had enough.  But she doesn't do the typical run-away-from-home.  She plans and saves and bides her time.  She invites her brother, Jamie, to run away with her (mostly because he has more money than she does) to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Everything goes as planned and they hide out in the museum.  They learn the routines of the guards, know when to wait in a bathroom stall until it is all clear, get to sleep in big antique beds.  They discover bathing in the fountain and gather money people have thrown in to use for food. 

They try to blend in with other school groups on tours in the museum.  "They learned a lot.  They didn't even mind. They were surprised that they could actually learn something when they weren't in class." (p. 54)

Their plan gets a kink thrown in when the children see a statue that the museum had recently acquired from Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  Claudia falls in love with it and feels that it is her special mission to discover who actually sculpted it.  The siblings visit a library and study up on Renaissance sculptors. They do everything they can to figure it out.  Finally, Claudia decides they have to go visit Mrs. Frankweiler, positive that she holds the answer. The book is actually "written" by Mrs. Frankweiler, as she retells the tale the children have recounted to her.  I will leave it to you to find out who the sculptor was.

I remember reading and liking this book a lot as a child. It was full of adventure and mystery.  As an adult and parent I would only hope that it wouldn't give my children any grand ideas about running away, even if it is planned so well.

Some favorite quotes.

Mrs. F, to Claudia.  "Everything gets over, and nothing is ever enough.  Except the part you carry with you.  It's the same as going on a vacation.  Some people spend all their time on a vacation taking pictures so that when they get home they can show their friends evidence that they had a good time.  They don't pause to let the vacation enter inside of them and take that home." (p. 139-140)

"Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around." (p. 151)

"Some days you must learn a great deal.  But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything.  And you can feel it inside you.  If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you.  You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them.  It's hollow." (p. 153)

Konigsburg, E.L. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1967.

Up a Road Slowly (1967)

It's an odd thing to get really involved in a book and stay up too late reading, but most of the time thinking to myself, "I don't especially like this book."  Up a Road Slowly begins with 7-year-old Julie mourning the death of her mother and being whisked off to live with her elderly, spinster Aunt Cordelia in the country.  It ends at Julie's graduation from high school. 

Some things I did like about Julie: 

• Honesty.  She tells the truth and doesn't beat around the bush, but says what she means.
• Spunk.  She enjoys adventures and being more "tom boy-ish" than other girls at school.
• Thinking.  She likes school and learning and relating Shakespeare and other poetry to her life.
• Introspection.  She analyzes her feelings and faults and tries to correct them.

Some things I didn't like about the book:

• It often seems disjointed.  Another book with many stories, without a well-defined conflict.  Maybe it has to do with the whole "coming of age" book.
• Covers too much time. 
• Some of the later chapters a bit mature for elementary readers.  (One character, Carlotta, has to go live with an aunt in Idaho for several months after dating the wrong guy.)
• Felt like a soap opera at times with her mom dying, father dating and remarrying, aunt's former love returning to the neighborhood, demanding boyfriend, break-up, misery, finding love...

Some quotes I enjoyed:
Random train conductor trying to console her.  "It happens the world over--we love ourselves more than we do the one we say we love.  We all want to be Number One; we've got to be Number One or nothing! We can't see that we could make ourselves loved and needed in the Number Two, or Three, or Four spot...we'll rip and tear at the loved one till we've ruined every smidgin of love that was ever there." (p. 39)

Uncle Haskell on the death of a school-mate that nobody liked.  "Hadn't you rather thank Heaven that she has escaped what life had to offer her? ...Come, Julie, death may be the great equalizer; let's not give in to the hypocrisy that it is the great glorifier." (p. 59)

Aunt Cordelia's former love, Jonathan, to Julie before graduation. "Firelight does for an old room like this what wisdom does for an old face, Julie.  It softens the grimmer aspects and compensates for the drained color."
"Doesn't goodness do the same thing, Jonathan?" I asked.
"That's the kind of wisdom I am talking about.  Learning isn't always enough, you know.  I've seen some very unlovely old faces that belonged with very well-stocked brains." (p.178)

Hunt, Irene.  Up a Road Slowly.  Pearson Education, 1966.

I, Juan De Pareja (1966)

(It has been four months since I last posted.  I have 6 books to write about and have told myself I won't finish another book until I've written about these. Of course, it has been a couple of months since I read some of them, but I'll muddle through.)

I, Juan de Pareja is the story of a slave owned by the famous Spanish artist Diego Velazquez in the first half of the 17th century. Velazquez painted for kings and popes and was intense in his work.  Juan describes his work with the great master painter and how he, too, began to paint. 

At that time it was against the law in Spain for a slave to "practice any of the arts." (p. 125) Juan began painting in secret but always felt that in doing so he in some way betrayed Velazquez.  In the end, he confesses his secret to Velazquez and Velazquez writes him papers of manumission (a document declaring the freedom of a slave).

Although little is actually known historically and factually about the two men, the author did a good job imagining the lives of these two men and how they interacted with each other and the society in which they worked.  Interesting to note the context of the Newbery award as this book was chosen during the height of the civil rights movement. Children might find the book a bit slow, but I really enjoyed it. 

Favorite quotes:

Juan asked Velazquez about why he spent so much time looking before he painted.  He answered, "When I sit and look at something I am feeling its shape, so that I shall have it in my fingers when I start to draw the outline.  I am analyzing the colors, too.  For example, do you see that piece of brocade on the chair? What color is it?'

"Blue," I answered promptly.

"No, Juanico.  There is a faint underlay of blue, but there is violet in that blue, the faintest touch of rose and the highlights are red and bright green.  Look again."

It was magical, for suddenly I could see them...

"The eye is complicated.  It mixes the colors for you...The painter must unmix them and lay them on again shade by shade, and then the eye of the beholder takes over and mixes them again." (p. 45-46)

Velazquez teaching one of his appretices:

 "I thought Art should be Beauty," he [the apprentice] muttered.

"No, Cristobal.  Art should be Truth; and Truth unadorned, unsentimentalized, is Beauty." (p. 67)

They took a trip to Italy and the voyage by ship was long and unpleasant. 

"Still, when we arrived in Genoa, we went first, even before we looked for an inn, to a church to give thanks." (p. 85)

Also on p. 85, "We two, after all, knew each other's company, and could be silent together for many hours without feeling any pangs of solitude."

This is probably my favorite.

"I knelt a long time, for I had much to offer up to God, and I placed before Him countless thoughts, so that He might winnow them like a thresher, leaving me the wheat and blowing away the chaff with the breath of His mercy." (p. 138)

de Trevino, Elizabeth Borton. I, Juan de Pareja. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1965.

Shadow of a Bull (1965)

Shadow of a Bull opens with this paragraph. "When Manolo was nine he became aware of three important facts in his life. First: the older he became, the more he looked like his father. Second: he, Manolo Olivar, was a coward. Third: everyone in the town of Arcangel expected him to grow up to be a famous bullfighter, like his father." (p. 23)  Young Manolo Olivar lives in his father's shadow--his father, the great bullfighter Juan Olivar.  At his father's birth a gypsy prophesied that he (Juan) would be a great bullfighter from age 12.  And so he was.  He was the best bullfighter the town of Arcangel, Spain, had ever seen.  He toured the country.  He toured Mexico and Central America.  And then at age 22, he died, gored by a bull.

Now Manolo feels trapped, and tricked, into being something he is not.  The people of the town have taken good care of him and his mother, and he feels some obligation to them for their care, so wonders how he will ever meet their expectations yet live his own life. 

Some aficionados (dedicated fans of the art of bullfighting) begin to take Manolo to bullfights and instruct him in the art.  He practices at night when his mother has gone to sleep, for he does not want to disappoint the men or dishonor the memory of his father.  Although he doesn't actually remember him, he was very young when his father died.

One time the men took him to meet a young man who had been gored in his leg by a bull.  He was there when the doctor came to fix up the man.  Manolo observed, "As he watched the magic way the man's hands brought torn flesh together, he thought that what the doctor was doing and had done was the most noble thing a man could do.  To bring health back to the sick, to cure the wounded, save the dying.  This was what a man should do with his life; this, and not killing bulls." (p. 96-97)  At this point Manolo was able to see a different future for his life.

In the end, Manolo was able to face the bull that terrified him, and also face the the truth of his real calling in life.

He received some great advice from Alfonso Castillo, critic of bullfights.  (Critic as in "a person who judges, evaluates or analyzes"--dictionary.com)  "I have found that you cannot confuse bravery or courage with lack of fear.  Real courage, true bravery is doing things in spite of fear, knowing fear." (p. 133)  Fear and courage seem to be common themes in these Newbery books.

"Don't let people push you.  If you are honest with yourself, you will do the pushing.  But only when it is important, important to you...Be what you are, and if you don't yet know what you are, wait until you do.  Don't let anyone make that decision for you." (p. 134)

Wojciechowska, Maia.  Shadow of a Bull. Simon & Schuster, 1964.

It's Like This, Cat (1964)

I know that I have commented before about books that don't have a defined plot direction.  Beginning, middle, end; intro, rising action, climax, resolution.  It's Like This, Cat is one of those books.  While it was not entirely annoying to read, it still lacked the satisfaction that comes with resolved conflict. 

Dave Mitchell and his father argue over many things, loud shouting matches that gives Dave's mom asthma induced by the stress of living with the two of them.

Dave gets in a fight with his best friend, Nick.  A real knock down, drag out fight.  Now they are no longer best friends and Dave has to find new friends.  One of these friends is Mary, a girl who he meets on Coney Island when he was still friends with Nick.  Her parents are hippies and don't seem to care about Mary's comings and goings.  Dave sees his parents in stark contrast as they always want to know where he is going, for how long, and with whom.  He also comes to appreciates that they care.

He meets an older boy who is down on his luck, living on the streets.  Dave's dad, a lawyer, is willing and able to help Tom.  This is a turning point in the father/son relationship, although Dave doesn't realize it at the time.  He sees his dad in a different light.  And the Mitchells are able to help Tom and his girlfriend-turned-fiancee to plan for their future.

He goes to crazy "aunt" Kate, whenever he needs a listening ear and some cottage cheese.  (She thinks cottage cheese is a wonder food.)  She has several cats in her apartment, as many as 15 on some days, and it is from aunt Kate that Dave gets his cat, which he names Cat. 

Cat is a catalyst in the story (pun intended).  Through Cat, Dave meets Tom.  Through Cat, Dave meets Mary.  Because of Cat, Dave and his father learn to respect each other.

Background to one quote.  When aunt Kate's brother died, whom she hadn't seen or spoken to in over 20 years, and left her a fortune, she was devastated because she thought her simple life would have to change.  Dave observed her, "Kate is staring out the window and stroking an old stray tomcat between the ears, and it hits me: there isn't a person in the world she loves of even hates.  I like cats fine, too, but if I didn't have people that mattered, it wouldn't be so good." (p. 144)

Neville, Emily Cheney.  It's Like This, Cat.  HarperCollins, 1963.

A Wrinkle in Time (1963)

I couldn't decide on one book cover picture, and this one came in a three-pack combo...Even so, the cover of the book I read is different from these.

This is one of my favorites so far!  I remember reading it as a child and liking it and this re-read fulfilled my expectations.  It celebrates a 50 year anniversary this year.  Happy Birthday, A Wrinkle in Time!

One of the first things that caught my attention was the opening line.  "It was a dark and stormy night."  Classic.  But listen to the next paragraph.  "In her attic bedroom Margaret Murry, wrapped in an old patchwork quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tossing in the frenzied lashing of the wind.  Behind the trees clouds scudded frantically across the sky.  Every few moments the moon ripped through them, creating wraith-like shadows that raced along the ground."(p. 3)  Isn't that just great?!  L'Engle's writing is just super.  She did not write down to the young target audience, but brought them up.

The letters Meg's father have been sending have stopped.  He has been missing for at least a year, the government isn't telling the family anything and no body knows where he is.  Meg is very defensive and has a difficult time getting along in school and with her peers.  Her youngest brother, Charles Wallace, is just four years old but has a wisdom well beyond his years.  They, along with a new friend Calvin, have to rescue Mr. Murry. 

With the help of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, I would describe them as angels, the three children "tesser" to another planet where Mr. Murry is imprisoned.  Tessering is a way of time/space travel in which space is bent or wrinkled and therefore takes much less travel time.  Before they arrive at their destination, they make a rest stop and are shown a dark shadow covering some planets.  '"But what is it?" Charles Wallace demanded. "We know that it's evil, but what is it?" YYouu hhave ssaidd itt!" Mrs. Which's voice rang out.  "Itt iss Eevill.  Itt iss thee Ppowers of Ddarrkknesss!"  Earth is in the shadow, but many have been fighting it."  "Who have our fighters been?" Calvin asked.  "Oh, You must know them dear...And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehendeth it not."  "Jesus!" Charles Wallace said.  "Why of course, Jesus!" (p. 88-89)

The planet Camazotz is much how I imagine Satan's plan for our "salvation," with no choices or free will (agency).  Charles Wallace, in trying to understand the system, gets drawn into it.  He argues with Meg about the merits of this new place."In the dark is correct,"Charles continued. "They want us to go on being confused instead of properly organized."  Meg shook her head violently. "NO!" she shouted. "I know our world isn't perfect, Charles, but it's better than this.  This isn't the only alternative! It can't be!" "Nobody suffers here...Nobody is ever unhappy." Charles intoned.  "But nobody's ever happy, either," Meg said earnestly. "Maybe if you aren't unhappy sometimes you don't know how to be happy." (p 142)

The only thing I didn't like was that Meg often seemed whiney. I bet that if I were in her shoes I would whine too. A definite must-read.

Here are some other quotes I liked.
Mrs. Murry to Meg.  "I don't understand it any more than you do, but one thing I've learned is that you don't have to understand things for them to be." (p. 23)

Again Mrs. Murry.  "I think that with our human limitations we're not always able to understand the explanations.  But you see, Meg, just because we don't understand doesn't mean that the explanation doesn't exist." (p. 46)

Meg fighting the evil on Camazotz.  "Her body trembled with the strength of her hatred and the strength of IT. With the last vestige of consciousness she jerked her mind and body.  Hate was nothing that IT didn't have.  It knew all about hate....Suddenly she knew.  She knew!!  Love.  That was what she had that IT did not have." (p. 207)

This is a link to an article about the book, or you can listen to a piece about it.  8 minutes long.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/05/146161011/the-unlikely-best-seller-a-wrinkle-in-time-turns-50

L'Engle, Madeleine.  A Wrinkle in Time.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc.,1962.

The Bronze Bow (1962)

I first read The Bronze Bow in the fall of 2010, and I credit that reading with the idea to read all of the Newbery winners, which lead to the idea of blogging about them.  I thought then, "Wow! I loved this book.  What other Newberys have I missed?"  I continue finding new treasures...

Set in Galilee during the Roman occupation of Israel, The Bronze Bow tells the story of Daniel, a young Jewish boy who wants desperately to rid his land of the Romans.  Blaming the Romans for the death of his parents and the helpless condition of his sister Leah, he hates them with all of his being.  He went to the mountains to join a band of rebels who he believed would one day fight the Romans, but after several years he returns to his town when his grandmother dies and there is no one to care for his sister.

He has three friends: two young people in Capernaum, the nearest big city; and Simon the Zealot, who gives him his blacksmith shop so that he (Simon) can leave the town and follow Jesus and which will give Daniel some way to make a living, as he has been trained in blacksmithing, and care for Leah.

Daniel has a real dilemma in reconciling the things he learns from Jesus with the hate and vengeance he feels for the Romans.  Over the course of the book we see him learning to see the men on the mountain for what they really were--outlaws.  And to see the Romans for what they were--fellow human beings.  This is really a fabulous look into how this one character allowed the teachings of Jesus to change his life and bring love and happiness to him despite his circumstances. 

Some favorite quotes.  I warn that some are quite lengthy, but I do not apologize because they are so good.:

At his first hearing Jesus preach in a synagogue in his village:  "The man's figure was not in any way arresting.  He was slight, with the knotted arms and shoulders of one who has done hard labor from childhood.  He was not regal or commanding...Yet when he turned and stood before the congregation, Daniel was startled.  All at once nothing in the room was distinct to him but this man's face.  A thin face, strongly cut.  A vital, radiant face, lighted from within by a burning intensity of spirit...A shock ran through Daniel at the first words.  A gentle voice, barely raised, it carried to every corner of the room, warm, vibrant, with a promise of unlimited power.  It was as though only a fraction of that voice were being used, as though if the full force of it were unstopped it would roll like thunder." (p. 46-47)

Comparing the leader on the mountain, Rosh, to Jesus:  "Rosh looked at a man and saw a thing to be used, like a tool or a weapon.  Jesus looked and saw a child of God." (p. 111)

Daniel's conversation with Jesus:
     "Should I love the Romans who killed him?" he asked with bitterness.
     Jesus smiled.  "You think that is impossible, don't you?  Can't you see, Daniel, it is hate that is the enemy?  Not men.  Hate does not die with killing.  It only springs up a hundredfold.  The only thing stronger than hate is love."....
     "Daniel," he said.  "I would have you follow me."
     "Master!"  A great burst of hope almost swept him to his knees.  "I will fight for you to the end!"
     Jesus smiled at him gently.  "My loyal friend," he said, "I would ask something much harder than that.  Would you love for me to the end?" (p. 224-225)

Speare, Elizabeth George.  The Bronze Bow.  Houghton Mifflin, 1961.

Island of the Blue Dolphins (1961)

I have to start by saying that writing a review of a book a month after finishing it, while having read a couple of others in-between, is not ideal.  I really need to recommit to my project. 

Island of the Blue Dolphins did not seem to me, as a child, a book I would enjoy, so this is my first time reading it despite the surprise I have gotten from people who know I love to read but had not read this one.

Karana lived with her family and tribe on an isolated island in the Pacific Ocean.  They sometimes were taken advantage of by hunters who would hunt the sea otters, and this lead to conflict and bloodshed.  Mostly the islander's.  When a ship came to the island offering to take the whole tribe to a much safer and predictable place to live, the tribe decided to leave.  But on the day of departure, a storm was brewing.  Karana's younger brother, Ramo, went back for his spear (or something) and he got left on the island.  She couldn't bear to leave him alone there, so jumped off the ship and swam back to the island thinking the ship would come back soon for the two of them. 

On their second day alone wild dogs killed Ramo.  Now 12-year-old Karana was on her own.  She had to build a shelter, find food, make weapons, protect herself from the dogs.  She captured one of the dogs and tamed it so that she would have some companionship. 

She had to be very resourceful in every aspect of her solitary life on the island, which lasted for 18 years before another ship came and found her.  In all those 18 years she interacted only once with people who had come to the island.  They were hunters and she didn't trust them, so she only befriended the woman brought with them to cook, but did not make herself known to the men.

When a ship finally came that she felt good about, she met the men, ready to go.  When the men spoke to her, she did not understand anything, but here are her thoughts, "I shook my head and smiled at him.  He spoke again, slowly this time, and though his words sounded the same as before and meant nothing to me, they now seemed sweet.  They were the sound of a human voice.  There is no sound like this in all the world." (p. 178) 

Karana did now dwell on her loneliness.  She lived life in the best way she could on her own and did not complain or think of the "unfairness" of her situation.

I liked Island of the Blue Dolphins better than I expected.  It doesn't drag as I thought it would and I enjoyed it even more when I learned that the story is based on a true story.  In the author's note at the end of the book, Scott O'Dell wrote, "The girl Robinson Crusoe whose story I have attempted to re-create actually lived alone upon this island from 1835-1853, and is known to history as The Lost Woman of San Nicolas."  He then sketches the brief facts known about her.

O'Dell, Scott.  Island of the Blue Dolphins. Random House, 1960.

Onion John (1960)

This book focuses on the friendship between 12-year-old Andy Rusch with the town eccentric, Onion John, and Andy's relationship with his father.  Onion John lives in a self-built house in which the main room sports three bath tubs which he uses to store stuff.  He wears most of his clothing at the same time layered and regularly sifts through the town dump looking for treasures.  He comes from some unnamed eastern European country and holds many strange, and to Andy's dad, unscientific ideas.  Andy is the only one who understands his speech.

Andy's dad wants Andy to leave Serenity,the small town they live in, and attend MIT so he can one day be an astronaut.  Problem is that Andy loves Serenity and wants to take over the hardware store when he grows up.  When Andy starts hanging out with Onion John his dad wants him to see that Onion John's ideas don't really make sense, but Andy has a great desire to believe in O.J.'s odd theories.  (Like burning 4-ft. trees on a parade to the river and throwing the mayor in the water will cause it to rain.)

Mr. Rusch decides that the town needs to get together to "help" Onion John.  They build him a new house, get him new clothes, and generally do everything they can to modernize him, and it makes him completely miserable.  Not understanding the new gas stove, he accidentally burns his brand new house down.

Andy wants to run away with Onion John, but mostly to escape from the dreams his dad has made for him.  In the course of this not working out, Andy and his dad have some good conversations about why they want what they want, and about not growing up too fast.  His dad lets him be a kid.

Only five authors have been awarded the Newbery medal twice.  Joseph Krumgold was the first.  The other book he won it for was ...and Now Miguel (1954), which I loved, but didn't think kids would.  This one was just a bit strange.  I don't think kids have the freedom that they had 50 years ago to roam about.  And I don't think most parents would feel comfortable with their child becoming B.F.F.'s with the town eccentric.  So hard to really relate to.  But a good example of parent/child relationships and working those out.

In looking up the repeat winners I found a quote on the Wikipedia Newbery entry that made me smile.  "The Newbery has probably done far more to turn kids off to reading than any other book award in children's publishing." ^--John Beach, associate professor of literacy education at St. John's University in New York.  (I'm sure that I did not include that quote in this review for any reason.  Wink, wink, nod, nod.)

Krumgold, Joseph.  Onion John.  HarperCollins, 1959.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1959)

(Yes.  I am still alive, and I have 3 books to write about, but I will take it one at a time.)
16-year-old Katherine Tyler, Kit, had to leave Barbados in a hurry.  Her grandfather, who had raised her, died and once his debts were settled Kit was left penniless.  And she didn't want to marry the rich old man who could give her wealth and comfort, but for whom she had no love.  She booked passage on a ship bound for New England where her only living relative, her mother's sister, lived.  On the ship she makes friends with Nat Eaton, ship owner's son.

She surprised them with more than just herself.  She also brought several (7, I think) boxes and trunks filled with finery that none of them had ever thought to see, and which her Uncle Matthew demanded be stored in the attic as all such nonsense leads to idleness and the work of the devil.

Kit has two cousins: Judith who is headstrong and fancies herself in love with John Holbrook, and Mercy who is calm and patient and really loves John, but would never presume to take anything Judith wanted. 

Kit finds life in New England a hard grind.  Little laughter, hard work, long winters.  Her bright spot in life is the friendship she makes with the "witch" who lives at Blackbird Pond.  She, of course, is not a witch, but with her Quaker ways the Puritans who make up the town label her as such.  Kit has to keep her friendship with Hannah secret.  Nat is also friends with Hannah and they have several interactions at her house (a little budding romance). When the town works itself up over several children who have fallen ill Kit runs in the night to rescue her friend, and eventually Kit herself is accused of witchcraft!

I remember reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond when I was young and liking it.  On this reading it perhaps seemed a bit melodramatic, but I enjoyed the historical setting and the description of life at the time.  I think girls would like it better than boys.  And everything resolves into a happy ending for all.  :)

Speare, Elizabeth George.  The Witch of Blackbird Pond.  Houghton Mifflin, 1958.