The Secret Keepers, by Trenton Lee Stewart

I made a wish and it came true.

Trenton Lee Stewart finally graced the reading public with a new title, The Secret Keepers.

I heard about this title a few months back and pre-ordered my copy on Amazon because you do know I love The Mysterious Benedict Society (linked to my ravings), right? It's quite simply the best middle grade fiction series in modern history. It really is. My hopes were astoundingly high that I would love The Secret Keepers just as well. Now, I am aware that that sort of a attitude is quite a dangerous one to have towards a book, but I'm relieved happy to say that all of my expectations were met. Any fan of The Mysterious Benedict Society is highly likely to be well-pleased with this latest title.

The Secret Keepers is a standalone novel about a young boy named Reuben who lives with his hard-working, single mom. Reuben is largely left to himself due to the fact that his mom is working two jobs to try to keep them afloat. (His father died when he was young.) One day Reuben comes across a rather extraordinary antique watch which has a mysterious ability to turn people invisible. This watch is highly prized and, as Reuben discovers, highly sought after. He first believes that the watch might provide a little extra cash for he and his mom but quickly discovers that this watch is not some magic trinket good for a month or two of rent. Danger lurks everywhere and Reuben finds himself on an adventure that he didn't quite bargain for.

This story is your basic good vs. evil type of story. There are good guys and bad guys and some you have to spend some time with before you figure out whose side they are really on. Reuben is the main protagonist but along the way he picks up a few friends who prove that their friendship and assistance is absolutely crucial to his well-being.

The chief question that I think the book asks is if you would choose to be courageous even if and/or when you are scared. What will fear drive you to do? I love this question! I love it because, of course, we all face things that terrify us in our lives. The idea though is not to run away from our fears, but to face them. Courage, as "they" are want to say, is not the absence of fear but doing the right thing regardless. This message being wrapped up into a Stewart-esque story just makes it all the more engaging and enjoyable from my perspective.

One of the reasons why I love Trenton Lee Stewart's writings so much is that he isn't out to make a point with his stories; rather, he is out to tell a good story. He is so focused on telling an intricate tale that draws the reader in and captures their imagination, that truth and beauty naturally flow from his storytelling mouth. To put this another way: Stewart is about the business of telling a story, and along the way he occasionally raises an interesting question for the reader to think about. In comparison, most other modern authors are so interested in making a point that the story begins to takes a backseat. The point that they wish to make becomes the whole issue of the book to the detriment of story, a fact I find distracting. I love that Stewart cares more about developing as a writer and crafting a good tale than bludgeoning his reader to death with a personal agenda. Of course Stewart has a worldview; everybody does. But it's not obvious and on its face like much of what you see published today.

There wasn't a single character that I did not grow to love in this book. I'm halfway afraid to confess that because it sounds like I was set-up to love this book from the words, "Written by . . . " and there is some truth to that! I was going to love it. I would have been some level of devastated if I didn't. I love his characters though because they slowly unfold. Stewart isn't in a rush to tell you this story. He takes 501 sweet pages to allow you get to know the people, their motivations, likes and dislikes, hopes and dreams. I knew from The Mysterious Benedict Society to expect surprises all the way to the end of the book and, although there are no shocking revelations at the end of The Secret Keepers, there is plenty of guesswork to keep the reader interested in what is happening.

There's no point to you reading anything else I have to say about The Secret Keepers. I can be easily summarized into the following three sentences:

"Drop everything. Buy this book. Read it."
Thank you, Mr. Stewart, for giving me (personally - heh) another book to love. I know this title just came out but I'm hereby putting you on notice that I'm waiting for your next work. It can be a series if you want. Or, really, whatever you feel like.

Tick, tock!

*****
I'm a little unclear as to whether I should mention this or not but the copy I read was sent to me by L-B Kids Publishing for review purposes. I wasn't expecting it to come. As I mentioned at the beginning of my review, I pre-ordered my copy off Amazon. However, I did read the first solid book that showed up and that was the one from L-B Kids. I received no additional compensation. (In fact, I wasn't expecting the book at all!) All opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own. I mean, if you doubted . . .

My Name is Mahtob, by Mahtob Mahmoody

Yesterday I explained how earlier this year Suzanne from Living to Tell The Story had reviewed My Name is Mahtob which caused me to immediately rush off to purchase the title for myself. This past month I read Not Without My Daughter (linked to review) and, on the heels of that story, picked up this book. As the title suggests, Mahtob, the daughter of Betty Mahmoody, uses this opportunity to share her own memories of the time she spent in Iran as a captive to her father. (See yesterday's post for plot details, if necessary.)

I mentioned that I found Not Without My Daughter a compelling story that I had a hard time setting down. The same is true of My Name is Mahtob. It was curiously interesting to hear Mahtob's "side of the story" and catch her impressions of her's and her mother's experiences. Most interesting to me was all that she shared about her growing up years in America. How did she handle re-integration into this country? What does she think of her father now? Did he ever try to find her and take her back to Iran as threatened? Where is she living and what is she doing as an adult? This book answers all of these questions and then some.

Clearly Mahtob has her mother's panache in being able to connect with her readers. She has the same manner of storytelling which I found absolutely compelling and which held my attention. Again, I think part of the reason (mind you, it's a small part) that this story is so engaging is that it is so unique. While many women might have experienced what Betty and Mahtob have endured, how many of written of their experiences and have traveled to share of their experience with others? Not many.

Mahtob travels back in time with her readers to 1984, relaying what she recalls of the flight to Iran and the Mahmoody family's immediate interactions and experiences with the culture as well as her father's family. She documents her memories of school attendance, shopping excursions, food she liked (and didn't like), how she felt when her father began to physical abuse her mother, and so on and so forth. She had a sharp memory even at a young age and she recalls her experiences in vivid detail at times. It's quite fascinating.

After sharing what her early childhood was like in Iran, Mahtob brings the reader to the present day where we are offered a glimpse as to her adult life. The majority of the book, however, it spent on the "in between" years - after coming back from Iran and up to the modern day.We learn everything from her days in a private Lutheran school to college life. We follow along as she adapts and adjusts back to "American-isms" and then, too, how she has battled certain health scares in her teenage and adult years.

My Name is Mahtob is a must read for anyone who cared for Not Without My Daughter and who wants to find out "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey liked to say. I don't think this title is quite so engaging as her mother's, but Mahtob offers us something not available in her mother's book -- time and perspective. Not Without My Daughter was written fairly soon after their arriving back in America. My Name is Mahtob was written over twenty years later. It's always interesting to look back on life's events and re-examine them with a bit more age and maturity under your belt and that's what this book feels like -- a developing revelation as to who Mahtob Mahmoody is now in light of her past history.

I am definitely delighted to have read this book and I heartily recommend it to you.  It's worth a bit of your time.

My thanks again go to Suzanne who recommend this book to me in the first place. Appreciate it!

Not Without My Daughter, by Betty Mahmoody

These days I seem to feel more like reading books without necessarily writing about them afterward, which I think is fine in seasons. However, I know myself well enough to know that it's better for me to write about what I've read than to not, least I forget what it was that I found most compelling about any given read.

Certain books give you pause and make you want to linger over great and interesting stories and Christy, by Catherine Marshall was that for me. On the heels of that one, I felt like reading a piece of non-fiction. Earlier this year Suzanne from Living to Tell the Story read and reviewed the "sequel" to Not Without My Daughter and, as you can see from the comment which I left on her blog post, while I had seen the movie of the same title and knew it was a true story, I did not realize it was a book. After reading her review I promptly bought both books and have been staring at them for the last few months waiting for the right time to dig in. (When I purchased these books we were at the tail end of an international adoption of our daughter. I just couldn't bring myself to read them until we were through the process, not knowing how the read might effect my emotions at the time.) Well, here we are months later, adoption complete and I was definitely in the mood to read this amazing story.

I launched into Not Without My Daughter assuming I'd spend a leisurely week with the book. Instead, I hastily devoured it, being absolutely unable to put it down. I had seen the movie shortly after it had come out and found it haunting. The book is more engaging than the film but that's due to 420 pages of details which allow for more background and history to be given in the telling of the tale. When I say I couldn't put the book down I mean that fairly literally . . .  it traveled the household with me and I read chapters while cooking and cleaning, etc. It's quite riveting.

If you are unfamiliar with Betty Mahmoody's story, it tells of her decision to accompany her husband Mood, and her daughter Mahtob, on a trip to Iran in 1984. Her husband claimed he wanted to visit his family back in his home country and that he wanted a chance to introduce said family to his American wife and daughter. Betty agreed to the trip but with great hesitations which she should have heeded. Agreeing and hoping to be in Iran for only two weeks, she and her daughter were devastated when their time in Iran was due to come to an end only to have Moody declare his intentions of staying in the country. He refused to allow for his wife and daughter to return to America and, under Iranian law, they were subject to his will. This book documents their time spent in Iran with Moody, trying to survive in a foreign country, while also attempting to escape back to America. Of course, the book exists only because they eventually made it back. Never fear - knowing that fact in advance will not spoil the book for anyone!

Betty Mahmoody has an interesting and unique story to tell. Writing this book was somewhat cathartic for her and we see her developing and maturing as a person as the book continues. She does not write bitterly of her husband, but she also does not write an easy story. She tells the facts but shows respect for the man she once loved, despite the things he did to her during her time in Iran. It's quite simply an incredible and mind-blowing story that makes the reader appreciate Betty's trials as well as to learn from them.

If you haven't yet read this book, I'd heartily recommend it. Is it a hard read, emotionally speaking? Yes. It's hard to imagine what Betty and her daughter went through while trying to return to their family and freedoms in America. It is also an exhilarating read as you watch her indomitable courage press on under truly traumatic circumstances. Lastly, it's an educational read which offers a peek into Iranian culture. This last aspect is something that is definitely going to cause some hackles to be raised as there already are arguments over whether or not Betty truly understood Iranian culture. I'll leave that for others to debate and simply say that the information Betty provides offers a good starting point for conversation between the differences in cultures and religions. This book would make for an excellent book club discussion should you be in need of such a suggestion.

I definitely encourage you to find this book and give it a read if you have a chance! If you found the movie haunting (as I did) you'll find the book more so. This isn't a title I'm likely to ever forget, truth be told.

Thank you, Suzanne, for recommending these books to me!

*****

Fairly quickly after concluding Not Without My Daughter, I picked up My Name is Mahtob . You can read my review of that title HERE.

Christy, by Catherine Marshall

Back in 2015, when the Reading to Know Classics Book Club was up and running, the group read Christy, by Catherine Marshall. I did not manage to read it at that time because I couldn't seem to locate a copy. It was all very ridiculous, really, but eventually I decided to buy mass market paperback (like the one you see pictured here) in order to read it. I might be delayed in my reading goals by one year but I'm delighted to say that I finally did get around to reading it and that I loved it very much.

For those of you who are unaware of the story line, Catherine Marshall wrote a fictionalized tale of a young school teacher who travels to Cutter Gap, Tennessee in 1912 to teach in a mission schoolhouse. The character of the teacher, Christy Huddleston, is based on Marshall's mother, Leonora Whitaker. Marshall said of this novel that it's about 75% historical fact with some fun fiction sprinkled around to make the story line a bit more interesting. Much of what the character of Christy experiences in this book are things which were experienced by Marshall's mother. Several characters in this book were based on people that Leonora Whitacker personally knew.

In the story of Christy we are introduced to a backwoods people who are steeped in tradition, folklore and a proud history. They are a self sufficient lot who aren't sure about the work Christy and others who work at the mission have come to do. Christy herself comes from an affluent family and arrives unprepared for the harsh realities of the mountain folks. The smells and lack of hygiene, for one thing, prove a shock to her system. Her initial reaction to the mission life was to flee and return home and she might very well have done so without the loving intervention of one Miss Alice, a woman who challenged Christy to determine what her true motivation were for taking the position in the first place. In the end, Christy decides to muddle through. Ultimately, she does manage to bring small changes to the mountain people but, more importantly, she herself is changed.

This is a very endearing and memorable story and is highly engaging, I read through it relatively quickly, wavering between wanting to fly through the story and wanting to linger awhile. At the conclusion, I felt like taking a reading break before picking up anything else. Some books are just hard to move quickly past and this was one of them.

I loved Marshall's slow pace in the telling of her story. Even though I was anxious to find out how the story concluded, I enjoyed having to spend time getting to know the people that she was writing about. Characters and their backstories are unraveled and explained slowly enough that you come to appreciate their individuality.

My favorite character by far was Miss Alice. She might be what you'd call the matriarch of the mountain folk, although she is a relative newcomer herself. Miss Alice is greatly respected among the locals and with good reason. She has a calm assurance of faith in the Lord but is not at all overly anxious to thrust her faith upon others just as much as she's quite content to hold her own when a situation calls for it. My favorite description of Miss Alice is as follows:

"In both the woman and her home there was an effortless beauty, never a straining for effect, a harmony that seemed to come from having one's roots drawn in the place where the roots were meant to be.
There was something else I had noticed too: an initial acceptance of herself as she was and so of other people with their foibles. And so she did as little scolding or criticizing of others for their foolish behavior or their sings as anyone I had ever known. It was not that she was willing to compromise with wrongdoing or poverty or ignorance, just that she was a long step ahead of waiting emotional energy on fretting. And she never put pressure on the rest o us to accept her opinions. The secret of her calm seemed to be that she was not trying to prove anything. She was - that was all. And her stance toward life seemed to say: God is - and that is enough."

I think all I want to say to that is that, if when I die, people say the above of me then that'll be alright.

Although I was a bit late to the Christy party, I am very glad to have read this book. Highly recommended.

Greyfriers Bobby, by Eleanor Atkinson

Last year, when we traveled to England, we made a day trip to Edinburgh. We didn't have any firm plans or even remarkable expectations for our day there. We selected a few sites that we wanted to see, and beyond that we figured on wandering around and being surprised.

My focus when planning the trip was always on England and a day in Scotland was more just to say we'd been there than anything else. (I know that sounds like an awful attitude to have towards Scotland but we are planning to one day travel to that country and explore it more thoroughly. It's turn will come! Patience, patience . . . !) Because I hadn't really done any research on Scotland, I really had no idea what to expect and found myself surprised by a few literary discoveries. One such surprise was discovering that Edinburgh was the home of Greyfriars Bobby.

First, we passed by his statue which caught my eye immediately. Glancing rapidly around I saw Greyfriars Kirkyard and my excitement increased. I recognized all of this from my list of Disney movies based on books. (Yes, I am remarkably educated, thanks. Heh.) Greyfriar's Bobby has been on my list of books I'd been wanting to read, but I had not yet purchased a copy. It seemed like the perfect day and the perfect location to buy a copy of the book! As it turns out, it was a good idea to buy the book there because nice looking copies do not seem to be readily available in the U.S. The copy I picked up is the one I have pictured here.

Here's a photograph of the statue, if you'd like to see it:

Now here is where I also must confess that at the time of our visit I had no idea what the story was about, other than it being about a dog (that apparently lived in Edinburgh). In case you are also unaware of the story line, I'll fill you in so that you can decry ignorance and be better informed than I was. Greyfriars Bobby is the true story of a highland terrier that was extremely loyal to his master, a man by the name of John Brown who died of tuberculosis in 1858. After his death, Brown was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard. The profession of John Brown is in dispute; some say he was a shepherd and some say he was a policeman. It is more commonly believed that he was a policeman but author Eleanor Atkinson decide that, for the purposes of her story, she would make him out to be a shepherd. One thing is certain, no matter Brown's profession was, it is pretty safe to assume that no one would remember him at all if not for his dog. Bobby was an extremely loyal animal and mourned his owner's death for the remainder of his life. Bobby refused to leave the graveside, keeping company with it for the next fourteen years. Dogs weren't allowed in the Kirkyard but they had a hard time keeping Bobby out! This loyal little dog, through persistence and loyalty, was eventually made a pet of the neighborhood but spent every single night sleeping on his master's grave, no matter the weather.

What I did not realize until I was done reading the book is that the author, Eleanor Atkinson, was an American who never actually visited Scotland. (So if anyone is upset with me for not doing more thorough research on that portion of our trip, I think I should win back some brownie points for at least visiting.) The story was written in 1912 and although she wrote a handful of other books, this is the one that she is best known for. The Disney version of the film is based on her version of events. Critics have argued that she didn't understand the geography of Edinburgh very well and that is a fair thing to note. Having walked the city, I was confused a bit by her placement of the castle, in particular, but for someone who had never been I think she did quite well. She is assumed to have researched the names and people directly related to Bobby's story, keeping as true to his account as possible. Obviously she embellished the tale a bit with the use of her imagination but that is to be expected of any author.

While this story is thought a great one for children (and it is) I had a hard time reading it even as an adult because she wrote dialogue using a Scottish accent. Here's the example that Wikipedia provides to give you an idea of what I mean:

"I wullna gang to the infairmary. It's juist for puir toon bodies that are aye ailin' an' deein'." Fright and resentment lent the silent old man an astonishing eloquence for the moment. "Ye wadna gang to the infairmary yer ainsel', an' tak' charity."

Because of this, I had a really hard time working my way through the story. I found myself skimming past dialogue, hoping to pick up enough out of the conversations between characters to track with the events until I could get back to the narrative. I can't imagine this being an easy read for a middle schooler (although not impossible). I confess that I will never attempt this book as a read aloud. The story is interesting enough but it doesn't feel accessible. I suspect that watching the movie is going to be the easiest way to educate one's self about this remarkable dog. I'll have to let you know whether that is true because now that I've read the book, I am permitted to watch the movie. (*wink*) I am very curious to see the Disney film now.

For more information about Greyfriars Bobby, check out this website. It is a rather interesting tale.

If you want to learn more about Greyfriars Kirkyard, there are plenty of videos available through Youtube that will broaden your knowledge of this small portion of the globe. Our family spent some time wandering about the graveyard (because apparently J.K. Rowling named some of her famous characters after names she found on tombstones at this site!), While I like wandering around graveyards as a general rule, I have to tell you this one was a little creepy. It wasn't until I was doing a bit of research for this post that I discovered why I felt the way I did about it. If you're curious, see Youtube. Videos there range from informative to downright spooky!

Have you read this story? I'd be curious to know, if so!

Middle Grade Fiction (That I'll Take a Pass On)

Alright, I know the title of this post is harsh and I'm sorry. Harsh, I know, has a tendency to hurt people's feelings and I don't really care to do that unnecessarily. Books can be very personal things that we identify with closely and I've discovered a fair number of people who really take it to heart when you say that you do not care for a particular book that they themselves love. Such may prove to be the case with the following two titles but, ultimately I have to confess that I just didn't care for them, for various reasons.

I've mentioned that this year I'm involved in a little project which requires that I spent a lot of time reading Middle Grade fiction released in 2016. This should help to explain the increase of this genre being featured around these parts. Bear with! Both of following titles are due to be released here shortly and I received both for review purposes.

In the case of The Bicycle Spy, I have to say that I really wanted to love it. Written by Yona Zeldis McDonough, this book is set in France during World War II. It tells the story of young Marcel who dreams of one day riding in the Tour de France. At the time the book opens though, we meet him making deliveries of bread from his parent's bakery on his bicycle. It doesn't take too long for him to become suspicous as to why his parents are having him deliver so much bread and he rather quickly discovers that his parents are part of the French Resistance. Quicker still, he confesses to his parents that he knows what they are up to and he becomes involved in their plans and movements.

I like what McDonough is trying to do this book. She is hoping to share with her young readers a brief history of World War II and what life looked like in a French household during the German occupation. This is all well and good, but as an adult reader I found the tale less than convincing. Her writing style just flat out didn't appeal to me. The only way I know to describe it is to say that it was "simple", lacking artistry. I found Marcel's activities unbelievable and his internal thought processes too mature for the age of his character. He just didn't work for me and so I found the majority of the story a bit eye-rolling, I am sorry to say.

Again, I love the idea for the story but it felt too stilted somehow and lacking in depth.

I know it seems rude to say thank you to Scholastic Books for sending a copy of The Bicycle Spy my direction but I am grateful for the opportunity to read it, even if I didn't particularly care for. I wish to assure the general public that I received no additional compensation for this review and that all of my opinions are 100% my very own.

******

Secondly, I was sent a copy of The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes by Wade Albert White. Let me say that I find the cover art incredibly attractive and the title quite intriguing. I was very excited to launch into this one . . . and was very quickly disappointed by it.

This book tells the story of young Anne, an orphan who lives under a cruel and terrible guardian at a home for "Perpetually Wicked and Hideously Unattractive Children." The day before her thirteenth birthday she is rescued from her life situation and accepted into a school by a Wizard counsel. (Wait. Wait. Where have I heard this idea before?) I got about 100 pages into the story before I couldn't take it anymore, whereupon I skimmed a few chapters in the middle and read the final two to discover this is the first story in a series of books. This bit of info should strike fear into your very hearts and minds.

Unlike other authors who have written about orphans and wizards, White doesn't appeal to the best in his reader. I felt very much as if he assumed I couldn't (or wouldn't?) track with his storyline unless he provided a laugh a minute. If I wanted to be super fair to him, I'd say our senses of humor simply do not jive and so we just could not connect. White is a bit over the top for my tastes and, in my (ever) humble opinion he dumbs down his verbiage and tries to be too clever by being overly flippant which I found unbearable annoying. The best way I know how to describe his writing style is to quote him:

"Sorry I dragged you into all of this," said Anne suddenly, "I thought we were heading off to a wonderful adventure, not getting dropped into the middle of a horrible one."
"Are you kidding me?" said Penelope. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to us. I mean, yeah, okay, so whacking my head on the drawbridge hurt a lot, and the zombie sharks and the iron knights were all kinds of terrifying, and I was unconscious for part of the time, and research is boring and makes me sleepy, and I thought we were finished for sure when those suits of armor attacked us and then that rope bridge broke. And of course, the thought of falling off these steps in our sleep is scary beyond belief, and who knows what we're going to find at the top of this tower, and sure, if we fail miserably, we'll spend our formative years stuck in a dungeon somewhere. But, you know, other than that, I'm having the time of my life."

Maybe someone else out there would revel in passages like this (on every page) but I couldn't. I was in all out forehead smacking territory by the time I read about the cat named Her Royal Highness Princess Fluffington Whiskers of the Mousetrapper Clan.

I'm going to take a pass on this one for sure and you won't find a recommendation for it in me. If you think you can stomach it though, be my guest!

This is a horrible point in the review process to say "thanks" to L-B Kids for sending a copy my direction. I'm sure this wasn't the type of review that they were hoping for. Everyone should rest at ease in knowing that I did not receive any additional compensation for writing this and the opinions expressed are 250% my very own. I invite you to second and third opinions! In the words of LaVar Burton, "You don't have to take my word for it!"

And that, as they say, is that.

Boy, this is a Monday post if ever there were one, isn't it? Sorry.

Moving on then . . . 

Still Glides the Stream, by D.E. Stevenson

It was time for me to indulge in some D.E. Stevenson again. After all, it had been a few months! I went to an estate sale about a month ago and discovered the former owner of the house had very similar taste in books to my own. There I found one lone Stevenson book upon the shelf which I snatched up immediately.

As an aside, I've been to a few estate sales recently where from the moment I walked into the house I knew that I was in a friendly place. The dishes were designs that I liked, the books were ones I had read or would want to read and other quirky things that make me both interested in and sad about the sales. In those instances, I didn't feel like I was purchasing things from a stranger, but rather that I've been gifted them by someone who would have been my friend, if that makes any sense at all. I feel like something has been passed down for me and mine to enjoy instead of simply "discarded." Does that make sense? Apparently I just needed to share that thought. Bear with me.

As I was saying, I brought home Still Glides the Stream a few weeks ago but this past week have been down and out with a cold. I find that a D.E. Stevenson book is perfect medicine when sick. Per usual, I was drawn into her story within the first chapter and proceeded to devour and enjoy the entire book in short order. Stevenson makes for such easy reading.

Still Glides the Stream is set in a small town on the Scottish border post-WWII. We meet the main character, Will Hastie, right away, as he is returning to his childhood home and estate after retiring from the Army. He quickly settles back down on the land that he loves, picking up an old friendship with the neighbors straight away. As a young boy,  he used to play with a brother and sister duo in the neighboring estate. The brother, Rae, was killed in action during the war but his sister, Patty is still living at home with her parents. Will discovers very little changed about the neighbors except that they are still mourning the loss of their son and brother and that Patty is engaged to be married to a cousin of hers. Add to the story a mysterious letter from Rae to Patty that was mailed before his death and we have ourselves a plot line.

Now, this is a D.E. Stevenson story and so it's all's well that ends well. There's nothing particularly stunning about the read - it's just pleasant! Stevenson is incredibly predictable (this makes her an excellent author to want to read when you aren't feeling so great and/or you just want to relax with a book) but she did throw a moderate surprise at me towards the end which was a pleasant surprise. As I'm typing out the fact that Stevenson is a predictable author, it occurs to me that L.M. Montgomery is the same and I'm starting to wonder at what it is that makes me love both of these female authors so very much. Both are good students of human nature and know how to write out both the thoughts and dialogues between characters in a believable fashion. They both add just a touch of humor to their tales, which I think matches up with real life being a serious business but with a laugh around the corner when you need one. I think I also am drawn to the fact that they tell their stories at a relaxed pace, allowing the reader to just sit back and take in the story. Both authors also love their homeland which is something I find terribly appealing. They take me out-of-doors, so to speak, and I can picture the surrounding in my mind's eye. They both appeal to the beauty which can be found in this world, All of these things contribute towards my like of them. Whatever it is that draws me to them, I like them for it and inevitably close their books with a smile on my face.

If you've not yet read a D.E. Stevenson book, do! Still Glides the Stream is a great one to start with.  It's hard to go wrong with Stevenson or Montgomery though so if you need a lazy book for a lazy day, look into one of these authors! They are sure to please.

Links to other Stevenson books I've read and reviewed:

• Miss Buncle's Book
• The Young Clementina
• Listening Valley

Paper Wishes, by Lois Sepahban

Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban is a beautiful treasure of a story. Set in World War II, it tells the story of ten-year-old Manami and her Japanese American family. Manami and her family live on Bainbridge Island off the coast of Washington state until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. As the armchair historians among you will recall, after Pearl Harbor Americans were suspicious of Japanese (and Asians in general). To preserve a sense of safety, the government allowed for the removal of Japanese American families to internment camps for the duration of the war. Such is the case with Manami's family in this piece of historical middle grade fiction.

Paper Wishes begins after the attack on Pearl Harbor has taken place and tracks life with fictional families for the following year of upheaval and change as they are moved from the island to the Mojave Desert in California. Sepahban describes this experience to her readers chiefly through the characters of Manami, her parents, and her grandfather. Manami also has a brother and sister who are both away attending college in the Midwest. Through this family, the reader comes to understand how the internment camps effected entire family units and individual lives through use of creative story telling.

Manami's family was given six days' notice before they were to be transported to the camp. They weren't told where they were being sent, they were only told that they could bring one suitcase each. Manami's mother packs and repacks their suitcases, deciding which clothes to take, which family heirlooms are important to hold onto, and has to think about what dishes they need to bring along to use for meals. Manami and her grandfather both share a special love for the family dog which they are required to say goodbye to, for dogs were not initially allowed into the camps. Leaving her dog Yujiin behind ends up causing Manami the most emotional distress, ultimately leading to such grief that she finds herself unable to speak. People in the camp understand her grief and it is generally understood that she cannot talk due to the stress and the pain of relocation and loss of home and normality. We understand Manami's thought processes, but her voice is removed from the story as it progresses.

Through Sepahban's characters the readers come to understand how schooling was arranged for the children in the camps, how gardens were attempted, what jobs people might have taken on, and generally how life was lived in this bizarre captivity. Paper Wishes is a brilliant introduction to this period in American history. Although the treatment of the Japanese Americans can clearly be deduced as being unjust and unfair, Sepahban is not here to present a political argument. She tells her story with grace and humility, wanting us to understand and love the characters for their own sake. This, I found, was easy to do. I appreciated her straight forward manner of story telling which allows the readers to draw their own conclusions, avoiding any forced ideas or political arguments. The story speaks for itself, exactly as it should.

Paper Wishes is a quick read for adults (it took me all of an hour and a half to consume). It should make for easy reading for burgeoning readers. I borrowed a copy from the library but I'll be purchasing my own to have in our home library. It's worth owning.

If you are looking for a way to introduce your children to the plight of Japanese Americans during the war, I doubt you'll find a better story with which to do so. Beautifully told, this book is a memorable winner of a tale.

Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard, by Jonathan Auxier

Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard is the second in an apparent series of Peter Nimble books by author Jonathan Auxier. If you haven't read the first one (I had not) there's no need to fret. Although Peter Nimble features heavily in this tale, Sophie is the main character and Peter is more of a sidekick. Auxier weaves Peter's story into Sophie's, providing just enough background to make you want to run out and purchase the first title but not so much that you feel lost by this present tale.

I checked out a copy of Sophie Quire from the library and enjoyed it thoroughly precisely because of that. My regular readers are likely familiar with my general discomfort when it comes to checking out books from the library. (Why, you ask? Fees! I can't ever seem to get a book back in time!) In fact, when I went to check out this title and some others, I discovered that my card had expired and there was a little matter of fines. (Sigh.) I used the receipt they gave me as a bookmark so as to better remember when my books are due back! That all explained and squared away, let's get back to my thoughts about this book, shall we? As I said, I liked it because it was a library book. If I were to have bought it, I think I would have been a bit disgruntled by some of the content and would have liked it less. Because it was read on loan, without any (really big) cost to myself, I could relax and enjoy it and that is exactly and precisely what I did.

Sophie Quire mends books in her father's bookshop in the town of Bustleburgh. Her mother died when she was but a baby and she lives alone with her father surrounded by what she loves best - books! In the town of Bustleburgh there lives a man named Prigg who desires nothing more than to rid the world of "nonsense" and who is slowly and methodically removing all signs of magic from the land. One of the things Prigg wishes to eradicate is books because books, as anyone can tell you, are magic and therefore "nonsense" and therefore dangerous. Enter: Peter Nimble. He delivers a book to Sophie for her safe keeping entitled The Book of Who. This is one of four magic books (Where, When, and Why being the others). The Book of Who is to be safeguarded by Sophie who is also charged with collecting the four volumes from their hidden locations and bringing them together again. As she discovers, these four book are more magical than most and her attempts to collect and protect involves a great deal of danger. It would appear that her own mother was murdered as a result of these books and one of Sophie's additional missions is to discover who committed the murder.

Sophie Quire and the last Storyguard is an adventure story extraordinaire. Auxier has a very engaging writing style which draws his reader into the tale. His sense of humor definitely appealed to me, as did his insights into the world of books, stories, and what makes us love them. This is an altogether fun and imaginative read.

I had only two qualms with the story which cannot go unmentioned. Both Sophie and Peter are both twelve years and there is a great emphasis placed on the idea that they have a crush on one another. Many of the other characters in the book tease them about being boyfriend and girlfriend and, while I totally understand that this is an age where crushes are becoming the norm, I'm not impressed with the focus all the same. I find the idea of twelve year olds having significant others completely absurd. There is plenty of time in life for such matters but I don't think we really need to kick such ideas into gear in children so young, so I would offer a caution as to this content to the parents who agree with me. (You might not agree with me and that's ok. I'm good with my opinion even if it isn't yours.)

Similarly, I have a concern with the character of Madame Eldritch who is a person of suspicious motives throughout the story. It is hard for the reader to tell if she is good or bad but in keeping with modern story telling, Auxier would seem to want us to deduce that bad conduct and bad character can have good intentions and therefore be good. Which, when you think that idea through for about one minute you're forced to come to the conclusion that that can't possibly be correct. Bad character and bad behavior display a person's heart motive and do not in any way express goodness. I will agree with Auxier that someone who "starts off" bad can become good but the becoming involves a great deal of character development with a healthy dose of repentance. Repentance is not a part of the equation with Eldritch so I have a hard time buying the fact that I'm to like her "badness" in order to successfully confuse it with "goodness." Good is not bad, it is good. Bad and good are mutually exclusive and in order to show signs of redemption you can't just have your character do something that you like for sympathetic reasons. Bad is bad because good is good. That's how it works. Sympathy is a bad reason to like bad things. Eldritch's character spends the entirety of the book thwarting the plans of Sophia only to have a slight turnabout at the end which I found utterly unconvincing. Add that to the fact that Eldritch also encourages risqué dress and manners for the express purpose of catching the attention of men, I found her a rather concerning and distasteful influence in my middle grade fiction.

As a result of the above two concerns, I won't be handing this title over to my own son who is the right age to be reading this. (This, assuming there is a "right age" to enjoy a piece of middle grade fiction which I don't believe there is.) As an adult, I enjoyed it thoroughly. He can make his own judgement call on this book later but for the present we're going to discourage romantic relationships and suggestions that seduction should be used for manipulation purposes. That being said, I think Auxier is a fun adult read and I fully intend to pick up the first Peter Nimble book to preview for Bookworm1. If that title is a little more free of innuendo and pre-teen romance then I'd love to hand it over to him.

In conclusion, at one point in the story Auxier is explaining the concept of a Royal Storyteller. Auxier writes:

"Should you ever be so lucky as to encounter an author in your life, you should shower her or him with gifts and praise."

From my review you might assume that I have more negative feelings about this book than positive ones but you would be wrong. I was royally entertained by a terrific storyteller and I offer this book up for the consideration of others who are free to make their own decisions with regards to the issues I've raised. These things which are issues for me might not be issues for you and that is totally fine. As an adult, I found this story extremely entertaining and wonderful. I'd feel remiss if I didn't list my concerns as I think honesty is the best policy, but this does not preclude anyone else (or their children) from full enjoyment of it.

Many, many thanks to Jonathan Auxier for the good time and also to my library for giving me another go. (Ha!)

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge (2016) :: Conclusion

Yet again we've reached the end of another Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge which I hold each year here at Reading to Know during the month of July. If you missed this go around, fret not! There's always next year and I'll continue hosting until I weary of reading Narnia (i.e., never). There'll always be a second chance for you and yours with this challenge!

If you did read Narnia, or anything about C.S. Lewis, or experienced something related to Narnia and wrote up a blog post about it, now is the time to share it. You can leave a link to your blog post(s) in the comment section below.

As for what my family managed to accomplish within the month of July this year:

• We re-read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (linked to my review).
• We ate Turkish Delight (while reading).
• We re-watched this movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
• We made it 3/4 of the way through this children's biography about C.S. Lewis. (We shall finish it yet!)

I'm grateful for every little bit. Truthfully, if I didn't set aside a month specifically to focus on some aspect of Narnia, I don't know that I'd get to it. It's a series that I would be sorry not to immerse myself or my children in, so further up and further in we go!

Looking forward to hearing what journeys you might have had into Narnia this year if you "played along" with me!

Missional Motherhood, by Gloria Furman

I feel like I should have wildly excited things to say about Gloria Furman's newest title, Missional Motherhood. Certainly it was a great book, full of encouraging remarks about how we as mothers ought to think of ourselves. I have zero complaints about it and can do more than just recommend it -- I purchased copies to give to friends of mine that I thought would connect with it as well. When it comes to writing up a review of it though, all of my thoughts are falling flat. I've been debating why that is and one reason stands out above the rest and I'll get to that in a moment. First though, let me tell you about the book itself.

Missional Motherhood is a unique title in the world of books on motherhood in that it addresses all women everywhere as "nurturers" who are created to "mother" natural born/these-are-the-children-in-your-neighborhood kids. Furman doesn't limit the term "mother" to someone who bore a child in her womb, gave birth to it, and who now oversees that children's day-to-day living experiences. Rather, she calls on women to rise up and nurture all those around them in the love that Christ has given to us as sinners  whatever their standing or season or life.

Furman, I didn't realize, is a missionary, serving overseas with her husband and children. While the obvious audience for this book is the American woman, the reader is quick to see that Furman has a more global outlook on life. She sees women as being called to serve others in any variety of endeavors, situations and locations, and focuses in on the idea of loving your neighbor as you love yourself. For some people our "neighbors" are those aforementioned natural born children. Other neighbors might include girls in the church youth group in need of discipleship, fellow MOPS moms, babies in the nursery, children in an orphanage in another country, and/or virtually anyone that a woman has been placed in front of and asked to serve in some capacity. She wants her female readership to focus on their God-given role to nurture and build up and do those very things for the glory of the Lord. To make her argument, Mrs. Furman begins by spending the first half of the book taking her reader on an overview of the Old Testament and concludes with Christ's death on the cross. The idea is to cause her reader to see just how much they have been given so that they understand what all they have to give. It's a good message and Furman has a writing style I engaged with well. I had zero objections to what she had to say, liked her globally minded mission (my children weren't all born in the U.S. of A.!), and generally found this book appealing. As I say, I gifted it to others so clearly I don't have any major objections to it.

However, I have to say that while I was reading this title I thought a lot about why I was reading it. My chief reason was that I am a mother and I felt it was time to pick up a book on mothering to learn more about my role and how to improve in it. It's always great to be encouraged in my job by a book and so, of course, I was looking for a "pick me up" as well. I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with that except that it just made the book feel sort of "forced" if you know what I mean. I wasn't able to value it as much as I could have because I felt almost guilted, thinking that's "what I ought to be reading." In certain ways this was a "want to" read but in other ways I felt like it was the thing I should be doing as a mature, responsible mother. It was like it seemed time to box myself about the ears, so to speak, and figure out how to do this job of mine better. The joy of the reading journey was sort of lost on me and I thought that was a pity even while I was engaged with Furman's book. I can in every way acknowledge Missional Motherhood to be a worthy read. At the same time, my heart wasn't in it and I had the sobering realization that to be a good mom I didn't need to be spending my immediate time reading a book to tell me how to do better. What I really needed to be ok doing was relaxing with a book that  I found purely enjoying and entertaining for enjoyment sake. If a work of fiction fit that bill, I didn't need to bemoan my immature tastes, but just relax and enjoy a good story for the sake of story alone.

I realized something that I think is important: while picking up instructional books which explain life and roles and duties is an important thing to do from time to time, sometimes the best thing one can do is to mentally relax with a fun story. No guilt. No strings attached. Just enjoyment. Sometimes the best thing that I can do to be a better mom is to have fun in my "downtime" so that I'm more relaxed and at peace when I need to be "on."

My personality is pretty intense (as I've said before) and relaxing is not something that comes very naturally to me. Even my "relaxed" reading tends to have a purpose around it which is fine. I can't very well turn my brain off and I wouldn't want to do that. But a thought process that I wrestled with when reading Missional Motherhood was that I'd be a better mother if I didn't feel like reading the book was on my "to do" list, know what I mean? Sure, sometimes I'm going to find an instructional book all kinds of happy but when life is tense and stressful in its own right, I began to see that my reading choices didn't need to be all mentally/spiritually stimulating as well. (Note again: Furman is an excellent writer and she is not writing to guilt!) All I'm saying is that I realized there is value in relaxing and I shouldn't read a book because I feel pressured to learn more about this, that or the other. Rather, I should read a book because I find the book a joy to read. Reading is a joy and a pleasure and to take away from that not only hurts the reader but also the writer who so wants to make a positive connection with their audience.

I really did appreciate Furman. Really. But in this moment of life, reading for the mere fun of it is ok too. In fact, I think it's more than ok. I think it's mentally healthy. Maybe other people won't think my reading choices "mature" but if I can close a book with a sigh and a smile and feel relaxed and ready to tackle the next round of things on my To Do list then I think my reading time was well-spent and plenty productive.

That's all I really want to say. This was a great book. But if I had never read it and read a work of fiction in its place, for the strict purpose of having fun, then that would be ok too. For some of you I imagine that this sounds like common sense but for my sometimes over active and analytical mind, it was something of a break through.

What's On My Nightstand July/August

It's that time again! The ladies at 5 Minutes for Books are hosting their monthly meme, What's On Your Nightstand, which gives readers an excellent opportunity to review their prior month of reading and plan for the coming month. I always find this exercise a little helpful as it helps to keep me on track with what I need to be focusing on, book-wise.

Reviewing last month's goals:

1. In conjunction with the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge the kids and I re-read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (reviewed here). We've also been reading this children's biography about C.S. Lewis which we've just about completed.

2. I hoped to finish Paper: Paging Through History but, alas, I haven't touched it. That book will roll forward into next month.

3. I finished Missional Motherhood. Review forthcoming.

4. I completed reading Seventeen, by Booth Tarkington. I've written up my review for that but am holding it back until my in-town book club has a chance to meet and discuss. Our meeting was delayed in July due to travels. But I'm all set to go!

Those titles were my official goals for the reading month of July. Of course, I strayed from the plan and read a few titles which were not on my list, including:

• A Million Little Bricks, by Sarah Herman
• The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, by Janet Fox
• The Goblin's Puzzle, by Andrew S. Chilton
• Outlaws of Time: The Legend of Sam Miracle, by N.D. Wilson

Up next for the month of August?

1. I really need to finish Paper: Paging Through History, by Mark Kulansky. That's on my list!

2. I checked out Paper Wishes, by Lois Sepahban from the library and ought to finish it before it's due to be returned.

3. Last week I received an ARC of The Bicycle Spy, by Yona Zeldis McDonough in the mail and that looks to have great potential. I'm looking forward to the read.

4. I'm halfway through Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard which I am really enjoying but for one exception which I'll explain when I review it. It's a lot of fun though and I'm having a great time with the book.

5. The kids are begging to re-read Prince Caspian and so I suppose that's next on our joint reading list.

After that? Well, I'll just read whatever I feel like picking up. ;)

Now it's off to see what's on YOUR nightstand for the coming month!

Happy Summer to you!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis

Another year, another Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge. This year I asked my kids which book from the series they'd like to read and they collectively voted to re-read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe so that's what we did.

I feel the story is well known enough that I don't really need to bother with a description of it so I'll skip straight to sharing our experiences this go around.

For starters, we ordered a box of Turkish Delight to be enjoyed every day during the reading. This is an annual treat for us and each of the children get a piece (or two) to enjoy each day. It's all very exciting and we enjoy it. If you've never had it, you've got to give it a try! There are multiple brands available on Amazon at fairly reasonable prices.

This is the third year that my oldest has listened to this particular story and he has it down pat for the most part. My second son also remembered a great deal of the story but despite the number of times we've referenced this book, my third born (age 5) didn't recall much of what happens in the book and I was therefore reminded of the importance to keep at this reading challenge, even if no one else ever joins in. This reading challenges gives us a reason the excuse to keep this series ever before us. They are worth reading over and over again and I'm glad to have a special month set aside for it.

This year's reading was also special because Bookworm5 is new to the family and she was given a Narnian name to match her siblings. (Four out of five of our kids are named after C.S. Lewis/Narnia in some form or fashion and so you can correctly ascertain that these books are sort of a big deal to me.) I didn't read this series until I was an adult but each year I re-read them I find that they have the incredible ability to drive certain scriptural truths home to me in fresh new ways. It should also be noted that the stories themselves are so imaginative it's easy to relax with them for the simple purpose of enjoyment.

During this particular reading I noted one thing, one sentence actually, that I wished to make note of and it's found in my favorite scene. Aslan has just returned to life after his sacrifice on the stone table. The girls, Lucy and Susan, have somewhat recovered from the shock of his death and have finished rejoicing with him in life. They ' no longer felt in the least tired or hungry or thirsty.' Aslan gives a loud, triumphant and terrible roar and then begins to focus on the business of gathering up an army of Narnians to join Peter in defeating the White Witch. With the girls by his side, Aslan says:

"We have a long journey to go. You must ride on me."
C.S. Lewis then says of their ride on Aslan's back:

"That ride was perhaps the most wonderful thing that happened to them in Narnia. Have you ever had a gallop on a horse? Think of that; and then take away the heavy noise of the hoofs and the jingle of the harness and imagine instead the almost noiseless padding of the great paws. Then imagine instead of the black of grey or chestnut back of the horse the soft roughness of golden fur, and the mane flying back in the wind. And then imagine you are going about twice as fast as the fastest racehorse. But this is a mount that never grows tired. He rushes on and on, never missing his footing, never hesitating, threading his way with perfect skill between tree-trunks, jumping over bush and briar and the smaller streams, wading the larger, swimming the largest of all." (Chapter 15, Deeper Magic From the Dawn of Time)

Aslan, as most scholars will agree, is representative of Jesus Christ. In this book he appears as a fictional character with enough things in perfect comparison so that by knowing Aslan for a little in Narnia, we might know the Lord better here in our own world. I love how Lewis describes the power and the might that is Aslan in this passage.

". . . [T]his is a mount that never grows tired."

Aslan had just made the ultimate sacrifice and yet rose victoriously back to life as a result of a deeper magic which the White Witch did not know. Death defeated, life triumphant! Still, there was work to be done. Peter and Edmund, along with a host of other Narnians were in the thick of a raging battle against all that was evil in Narnia. Their valiant forces were surely weary. Aslan, resurrected, thinks of them and begins actively working to bring them relief (and ultimate victory) but in this midst of this he also does not ignore Susan and Lucy. He will not leave them behind at the Stone Table. It is clear that they must come with him but Aslan also knows that they do not have the strength to go on running and fighting this battle. They can't possibly hold up. So what does he do? He tells them to climb up on him and ride on his back. He will bear their weight and he will carry them the distance necessary so that they might participate in and know the victory for themselves. Wouldn't it be easier for him to leave them behind? Perhaps, though it wouldn't have fulfilled the prophesy now, would it have?

Friend, are you weary? Climb up. There is likely still a long journey to go but the Lord invites you to ride on His back, so to speak.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Creator of the ends of the earth does not grow weary.
He does not faint!
Wait on Him. He will renew your strength.
Isaiah 40:28-31

If you feel like you can't walk, and/or the distance from here to relief and victory is far too great -- RIDE! He invites you to do so.

I have this sculpture at the top of one of my bookcases. I've loved it because it represents my favorite scene from this book but this year it means a little more.

The road of life is long and filled with sorrows, sadness and challenges. But my ride is strong and does not faint or grow weary. Remember this, friend. Remember! You aren't being left behind in some remote place where you will be forgotten. The Lord invites you to come with Him, to participate in and to enjoy His victory.

For the glory of the Lord, RIDE!

The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, by Janet Fox

The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, by Janet Fox, is honestly not a title I would have necessarily sought out for its own sake, except that it's part of a middle grade fiction project that I'm working on. This title was released in March of this year and has been reviewed fairly positively, both by fine folk at Goodreads and also reviewers on Amazon. I'm not normally one for ghost stories (and this most definitely is one) but I was in the mood for a mystery so I snatched this from the top of my middle grade fiction book stack and plunged right in.

Katherine Bateson is the twelve-year-old protagonist in this story which begins during the Blitz in 1940's London. Katherine and her younger siblings are being sent from the city to a castle/(manor?) in the Scottish moors which is purported to be a boarding school. The school is run by a Lady Eleanor who has no children of her own and who expressed to Kaherine's father her desire to care for the children during the duration of the war. The moment the Bateson children arrive in Scotland, Katherine realizes that something is not quite right with Lady Eleanor or the castle. She and the other children are aware of various oddities, including ghost sightings. This is a creepy tale about witches, monsters, Nazi spies, encrypted codes and soul-less children.

As I say, I'm not really one for ghost stories and wouldn't normally seek them out. I made sure I only read this book during daylight hours and I did fine with it. That said, I wouldn't dream of handing it over to my own kids. It's not too terribly disturbing for an adult, but I like to sleep at nights and would prefer not to give my children any nightmares which would potentially keep us all up. I also have to confess how hard it was to limit my reading of this title to daylight hours (most of my free reading time is at night when the kids are in bed) because I was curious enough about the story to want to find out how the story would end! There is something to be said for its spell-binding quality. Once you are engaged with the story, you rather wish to revel in it a bit and enjoy the ride (as able).

Ultimately my review isn't going to be sparking and positive. I am happy to say that clearly unique story lines still exist in this world and that Janet Fox was in possession of one. It's always nice to run across unique stories which have the potential to really stand out in a crowd. So many, many books are published these days that it feels dizzying and it's hard to know which ones are worth your quality reading time. I'd love to be able to say that The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle is worthy of your time but if I'm being terribly honest I have to recommend to you that it isn't. Which begs the question of how on earth I can simultaneously say that it's a spell binding tale and not worth your time in the same paragraph. I'll do my best to explain.

As far as a story line goes, it's imaginative, clever, and unique. This book had fantastic potential to be everything you'd want in a book in terms of intriguing and mystifying characters and a good spot of adventure. Sadly, it's not very well researched or written and as a result the reader is left holding the bag, so to speak, having to make decisions to ignore glaring historical errors and the author's "voice" changing between chapters in order to enjoy the read. I found it possible to put my own mind to work to explain away errors and chose to enjoy the idea of the story for story sake. Clearly I'm not the only one who managed to enjoy this title but I do have reservations that might not be as widely held which I'll explain in a moment.

On Goodreads I noted a couple of other readers who mentioned the fact that Fox didn't do enough research on the time period during which she placed her characters. This was obvious to me in the first chapter when - in 1940 - Kate's father tells her to, "Keep Calm and Carry On." This is a running refrain throughout the story which is so very unfortunate, rather embarrassingly so. (I truly do feel rather guilty for pointing this out.) Americans are kinda bad at knowing their history and I don't wish to call attention to it most times, especially when the mistake is so clearly an accident. However, it's important to note that the Keep Calm and Carry On sign that we know (and love to varying degrees) was not actually used during World War II. Oh yes, it was printed to be used but was never placed in circulation. An original poster Keep Calm sign was discovered almost 60 years after the war and was displayed at Barter Books in Alnwick. People began to notice of it at the bookstore and the rest, as they say, is history. (You can read the fascinating story of the sign HERE. After visiting Barter Books last year, I posted a video that they made about the sign here.)

It is hard to write a book. The amount of research which has to go into such a project is mind numbing to think about and I feel bad that Fox is catching flack on that point of incomplete research but should that be cause to ignore the issue?. She thanks her editors profusely in the acknowledgements but I don't know that they did her much good. Too many things were missed to make this a classic piece of literature (which,  frankly, is something I hope to find with each new book I pick up).

But aside from the various historical inaccuracies, and far more importantly, conservative readers will want to know that there is a strong focus on the subject of magic and the occult. Fox focuses more heavily on black magic and only references (or names?) the occult near the end. There are ghostly walks through walls, ghost children singing, blank eyes and magicked items. Near the end we read of some incantations which were more disturbing than ye olde general talk of magic. Overall, this is a title that is pretty steep in dark magic without much white for counterbalance. The lack of clear right/white magic is the chief reason I'd urge caution in reading this work. I don't mind talk of black magic when it is clearly painted out as being evil and wrong. While Fox does make it evil, there is also some confusion afoot in what is right or wrong when Katherine herself is "infected" with a bit of the black magic. Without some clear direction and distinction between good and evil I am forced to sit back and take stock of the story as a whole and my concluding opinion is that right didn't win and therefore this is a bit of a "broken" story.

I'd like to say that The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle is an interesting new look at the battle of good vs. evil which we face in this world (whether we call it "magic" or something else entirely). However, without clear victory on the side of the right,  I am hesitant to recommend it. That being explained, the book ends on a cliff hanger, causing the reader to believe that there is a second book in the works. Perhaps good wins. Perhaps white magic rises up and begins to conquer. I do not know and I cannot confirm a second title but I can say that I am quite unlikely to read it. I intended to read this book as a stand alone, not realizing it might be only the first book in a new series. I just wasn't made comfortable enough with the use of magic to feel compelled to pick up the next in the series, should there be one.

As a concluding note, I am well aware that it's not fun reading a negative review on a beloved book but we each have our own reading experiences and Reading to Know is my book diary documenting my own personal experiences and preferences. For my part, I can't recommend this title but you are certainly welcome to go seek out a second opinion.

The Goblin's Puzzle, by Andrew S. Chilton

First, an aside: You're going to see a lot more reviews of recently released middle grade fiction around these parts for a bit. I'm involved in a little project and middle grade fiction is what it's all about me for at the present. Head's up!

I "discovered" The Goblin's Puzzle by Andrew S. Chilton when looking through a list of new titles and thought I'd give it a go. To my way of thinking, this book had a lot of things going for it at first glance:

1. It's middle grade fiction which is one of my favorite genres. Why do I like it? Because it's typically clean fiction (i.e., short on foul language and sex scenes or innuendos) and therefore a book you can relax with a bit.

2. The typical length of a middle grade fiction book is around 250-300 pages which gives enough time for the author to provide a meaty tale of some sort.

3. Middle grade fiction is also much more imaginative than most modern day fiction. The readers aren't assumed to have grown too old for fairy tales. (And truly, who among us is really too old for fairy tales? I imagine that "being a realist" is somehow more romantic to some but I'm not buying the exceptions.) Do note that I'm not saying real life doesn't involve hard subjects with which we have to deal, but I also think there is still a bit of magic left in this world and that a great deal can be learned from fairy tales in order to help us overcome life's difficulties. At any rate, The Goblin's Puzzle looked like fun.

As we proceed, I think it's important to note that this is the debut novel of Andrew S. Chilton. It's an interesting and unique storyline which I would be happy to describe in my own words except that I'm feeling lazy. Instead, let's just read the description from Amazon, shall we?

THE BOY is a nameless slave on a mission to uncover his true destiny.
THE GOBLIN holds all the answers, but he’s too tricky to be trusted.
PLAIN ALICE is a bookish peasant girl carried off by a confused dragon.
And PRINCESS ALICE is the lucky girl who wasn’t kidnapped.

All four are tangled up in a sinister plot to take over the kingdom, and together they must face kind monsters, a cruel magician, and dozens of deathly boring palace bureaucrats. They’re a ragtag bunch, but with strength, courage, and plenty of deductive reasoning, they just might outwit the villains and crack the goblin’s puzzle.

I ended up reading this book in one sitting, partly because I was enjoying it well enough and mostly because I had the time to do so (a rarity these days). If I were to summarize my thoughts on this one I'd tell you that it was a book that had great potential but flopped a little for me. Obviously I know that's not what any author wants to hear and I'm sorry to disappoint but perhaps I can explain a bit? While I didn't prefer it, I can completely see how another reader could enjoy it quite well. It has its highlights, I just wasn't completely won over.

Where to start? I'll go by numbers and try to stay organized!

1. Chilton's writing style has a heavy dose of humor attached to it with asides that reminded me a great deal of Gail Carson Levine. Perhaps it reminded me of Ms. Levine's work because I recently read Ella Enchanted and even more recently watched the movie (which I found kinda cheesy). The Goblin's Puzzle isn't a fairy tale story told in a classic manner, so I don't know that it'll have any sticking power over the decades, but it is very much suited for the modern audience for which it is written. It's Shrek-like and Levine-like and I might even go so far as to say a bit Princess Bride-like (my best compliment for Chilton!). If you don't care for those styles, you won't care for this title. It would be remiss of me not to note for you that some of the humor in this book involved nudity and references to affairs (which, frankly, I didn't appreciate it a bit).

2. Regular readers around here know that I always want to get at what the author of any book ultimately wishes to communicate to his readers. I felt that Chilton had three main arguments to make. I agreed with two of his arguments, but not the third. I'll use the alphabet to continue subdividing my points. Heh. 

a.) Chilton is a former attorney and wanted to use this book to explain the basic concept of logic. At the conclusion of the book, he explains the study of logic and its purpose (i.e., premises, fallacy, conclusions, etc.). This is both a positive and a negative aspect of the book, depending on your world view. It is good to use logic, (obviously), and understand how to think. Actually I find it imperative that children be taught how to think for themselves. We, as a society, do not spend enough time learning how to learn/think/process and this is a huge problem that needs to be rectified. I'm all for thinking! If Chilton's desire is to promote logical thought, we're in tune with one another.

b.) That said, my worldview does not quite match Chilton's and part of his desire to use logic is to rationalize away any belief system that would exist outside of one's person. One of the major ideas which Chilton is promoting in this book is that we as individuals are not bound to a predetermined fate or design of the "universe" (or, if you will indulge, Providence). The unnamed boy in this book is questioning who he is and what his role is in life and the question posed is whether or not he is free to make his own choices or if he is bound to a belief in gods who would dictate who and what he is on his behalf. The idea set forth by Chilton is that an individual is truly free when he or she does as he or she pleases without being "shackled" by a (presumed) faulty belief system.

"While he searched for what he thought was his fate, he had been forced to act as though he had none. He had made his own choices without regard for who he was supposed to be. For the first time, he had lived with doubt and uncertainty. Not knowing meant exploring and discovering. Yes, it was frightening, but it was also fun. Some of his choices were wise, and some were foolish, but all were his and his alone. Once he had thought fate was an anchor, holding him steady, giving him a place in the world. Now he saw that it was a shackle, binding him in place. Except that he was held prisoner not by iron bonds but by his own belief. When he let that go, the shackle simply vanished." (Chapter 15, page 220)

Chilton seems to begin with the premise that faith in something is a prison whereas I begin with the idea that faith - specifically in a Creator God - is the most freeing and liberating position from which to tackle life head on. I am not bound in chains by my belief in God, but instead know my liberties to explore the world and delight in it. My faith is an anchor which gives me the ability (and even the right) to live life to the fullest. Within the bounds of my faith I am exhorted to use my gifts and talents well, to test the limits, and am even authorized to enjoy the ride! You might say that Mr. Chilton and I start on different pages and so I found myself disagreeing with some of his seemingly forgone conclusions.

b.) Chilton desires to make a strong argument against slavery in this book - something with which I have no objection whatsoever. (I agree with both his premise and his conclusion on this point!) My only qualm is with the way he decided to argue his points. We understand throughout the book that the boy with no name is a slave and he is wrestling with his position in life as a result. Perhaps Chilton is setting the stage for his closing arguments but he really went off on his "jury" (i.e., the reader) within just the last few chapters about the evil which is slavery. Again, his arguments are fair, fine, and right but tossing it at the readers at the end of the book made me feel as if the thing I was supposed to remember best about the book was his stance against slavery instead of a carefully crafted and beautiful tale. In a courtroom setting you do want to hammer home the vital points of your arguments at the conclusion of the trial in hopes that the jurors will remember what you deem most important. In a book, you want the reader to be internally arguing with you over the course of the entire read and then to leave the story with a compelling conclusion which subtly wraps up your point in a way which drives said point home. Instead I felt like we sort of tiptoed around the issue of slavery throughout the book only to be walloped on the head before saying goodbye to this particular cast of characters. In short, his argument was abrupt. Given Mr. Chilton's background, I completely understand why this is and maybe this will ultimately prove his style of writing. A second and third book over a period of time will be telling! Other readers might not nitpick on this aspect of the book and might not even notice it. I can only tell you of my own personal reading experience.

On the whole I'd say I appreciated The Goblin's Puzzle for its unique storyline. It's incredibly interesting to me to read someone's first work and I do feel like Chilton shows great promise as an author. From the book jacket I'd say he plans to write more stories and if he did write another, I'd read it. Next time I would just know that we're coming at life from two differing perspectives and so that's going to cause some friction. It's not the sort of friction that would make me avoid his books necessarily, but I would offer a caution to other readers to pay attention to his main points and style of humor. Beyond that, you've got to think it through for yourself and form your own conclusion!