Meyer, Carolyn. 1999. Mary, Bloody Mary. New York: Harcourt. ISBN: 0152019065.
In MARY, BLOODY MARY, Carolyn Meyer takes the reader back in time to meet one of history’s most unpopular queens. But the author takes the reader farther than the reign of Mary, instead going back to the point where King Henry VIII has decided to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. Mary struggles to deal with the fact that her father has separated her from her mother, declared her a bastard and has been “bewitched” by Anne Boleyn. The first person account gives new insight into the character of Mary, who was forced to renounce her Catholic faith, take care of the infant Elizabeth, and who lost almost all the people she had counted on in her young life. Uncertain of where she will live, what will be expected of her, and sometimes, even if she will live, Mary keeps track of the ever changing political climate by listening very carefully to what is being said around her. A historical note follows the story and explains what happens to Mary in the years following the one covered by the book.
“Meyer gives Mary, Henry, and Anne strong, distinct personalities and motives, enlivens historical events with closely observed details of dress and ceremony, and drives it all forward with engrossing emotional intensity” (Kirkus.) The emotional clashes between these three people is part of the draw of this novel. Almost anyone can tell you what happened to Anne Boleyn and that Mary would be queen, but Meyer’s portrayals give a human element to these real people that is missing from history texts. History texts studied by young adults often times do not mention that Mary was expected to care for Elizabeth or gloss over the hardships that the royals of this period faced. Meyer provides the emotional suspense of the political back and forth, including numerous arranged engagements, that swirled around Mary before the split of her parents and the plotting that followed the break. “The book captures the glamour and glitter of court life during the 1500s, as well as the sinister conspiracy that resulted when Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, bore no male heir.” (Johnson, 106.)
The novel is engrossing even though the outcome is generally obvious. Mary will survive her youth, but the effects that this turbulent portion of her life will cause her to slide to the extreme. “Some of it is repetitious, as undoubtedly court life was, but one comes away with a feeling for what it must have been like not only to live then, but to live as a person of royal blood squashed under the thumb of necessity and Anne Boleyn.” (Kirkus.) Meyer also foreshadows some of the coming events as she handles how Mary was responsible for caring for Elizabeth and the swirling emotions she had for the redheaded infant who loved her, but who represented all that she had been through. Readers are pulled into the story by the strong emotions and the human touch that each character is given.
Reference List:
Johnson, Nancy J. 2000. “Children’s Books: Discussing Compelling Characters.” Reading Teacher. Vol. 54 issue 1 (Sept.), 106-109.
2000. Review of Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer. Kirkus Reviews. Available at:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Ft1eP5UAaj&isbn=0152164561&itm=1. Last Accessed 27 November 2004.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Topic 5: The Printing Press by Milton Meltzer
Meltzer, Milton. 2003. Printing Press. New York: Benchmark Books.
ISBN: 076141536X.
Milton Meltzer takes young adult reader back to the 15th century for an examination in the development and evolution of the printing process in his nonfiction book, THE PRINTING PRESS. Meltzer has written text that is simple and easy to understand yet does not patronize or condescend by using language too easy for students. He also provides information in asides that define terms or provides information about important people. But Meltzer does not focus solely on the printing press as it was invented. He also explores the resulting evolution of information and societal changes stemming from the invention. “Meltzer emphasizes the more positive outcomes of the printing press. Science, religion, democracy, and exploration all benefited enormously from the widespread dissemination of information and knowledge that followed the advent of movable type.” (Kopple.)
THE PRINTING PRESS looks also at how people in history have used the invention of the printing press to bring about some form of social change. For example, “Bibles printed in vernacular languages rather than in Latin. Now people could read scriptures for themselves, said the Lutherans.”(Meltzer, 45.) Throughout history, reading was limited to the wealthy and to the clergy. With the advent of the printing press more and more people were able to learn to read. Meltzer also notes that even in England, English was not always understood from part of the country to the next, but that printers in their commercial interests had to make the language understandable if they wanted the book to sell. “In this work readers… will then see how in a variety of situations the printed word has influenced human behavior. Examples such as Tom Paine's Common Sense or William Lloyd Garrison's newspaper The Liberator are but two ways in which ideas were spread via publication. Meltzer touches upon a variety of such exemplars of the ways printing presses have been used to shift public opinion and shape history.” (Romaneck.)
Meltzer included a couple of websites that are related to the printing press as well as a bibliography. These important additions will aid students should they be working on a project, or simply interested in history and how it was shaped by the invention of the printing press. The evolution of print is touched on and its future role in society as well. Melzter’s easy handling of the subject material is enlightening and the information about famous people is interesting and relevant. It is interesting to note the famous people who began their careers as printers, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman and Samuel Clemens and people who as printers made a difference in the way our country evolved, such as William Lloyd Garrison, founder of The Liberator, an anti-slavery publication, and the man who published “Frederick Douglass’s slave narrative and rise to leadership in the abolition movement.” (Meltzer, 100.) Meltzer also included images that have been printed on the press, images of ancient forms of writing and paintings of people important to the subject. These images break up the text and allow the reader to “rest” their eyes before moving on to the next section of text. This book would be natural selection for a history class as it contains information about a major instrument of change and also some information about forms of writing throughout history.
Reference List:
Meltzer, Milton. 2003. The Printing Press. New York: Benchmark Books.
Kopple, Jody. 2003. Review of The Printing Press by Milton Meltzer. Library Journal. Available at: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Ft1eP5UAaj&isbn=076141536X&itm=1. Last accessed 27 November 2004.
Romaneck, Greg M. 2003. Review of The Printing Press by Milton Meltzer. Children’s Literature. Available at: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Ft1eP5UAaj&isbn=076141536X&itm=1. Last accessed 27 November 2004.
ISBN: 076141536X.
Milton Meltzer takes young adult reader back to the 15th century for an examination in the development and evolution of the printing process in his nonfiction book, THE PRINTING PRESS. Meltzer has written text that is simple and easy to understand yet does not patronize or condescend by using language too easy for students. He also provides information in asides that define terms or provides information about important people. But Meltzer does not focus solely on the printing press as it was invented. He also explores the resulting evolution of information and societal changes stemming from the invention. “Meltzer emphasizes the more positive outcomes of the printing press. Science, religion, democracy, and exploration all benefited enormously from the widespread dissemination of information and knowledge that followed the advent of movable type.” (Kopple.)
THE PRINTING PRESS looks also at how people in history have used the invention of the printing press to bring about some form of social change. For example, “Bibles printed in vernacular languages rather than in Latin. Now people could read scriptures for themselves, said the Lutherans.”(Meltzer, 45.) Throughout history, reading was limited to the wealthy and to the clergy. With the advent of the printing press more and more people were able to learn to read. Meltzer also notes that even in England, English was not always understood from part of the country to the next, but that printers in their commercial interests had to make the language understandable if they wanted the book to sell. “In this work readers… will then see how in a variety of situations the printed word has influenced human behavior. Examples such as Tom Paine's Common Sense or William Lloyd Garrison's newspaper The Liberator are but two ways in which ideas were spread via publication. Meltzer touches upon a variety of such exemplars of the ways printing presses have been used to shift public opinion and shape history.” (Romaneck.)
Meltzer included a couple of websites that are related to the printing press as well as a bibliography. These important additions will aid students should they be working on a project, or simply interested in history and how it was shaped by the invention of the printing press. The evolution of print is touched on and its future role in society as well. Melzter’s easy handling of the subject material is enlightening and the information about famous people is interesting and relevant. It is interesting to note the famous people who began their careers as printers, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman and Samuel Clemens and people who as printers made a difference in the way our country evolved, such as William Lloyd Garrison, founder of The Liberator, an anti-slavery publication, and the man who published “Frederick Douglass’s slave narrative and rise to leadership in the abolition movement.” (Meltzer, 100.) Meltzer also included images that have been printed on the press, images of ancient forms of writing and paintings of people important to the subject. These images break up the text and allow the reader to “rest” their eyes before moving on to the next section of text. This book would be natural selection for a history class as it contains information about a major instrument of change and also some information about forms of writing throughout history.
Reference List:
Meltzer, Milton. 2003. The Printing Press. New York: Benchmark Books.
Kopple, Jody. 2003. Review of The Printing Press by Milton Meltzer. Library Journal. Available at: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Ft1eP5UAaj&isbn=076141536X&itm=1. Last accessed 27 November 2004.
Romaneck, Greg M. 2003. Review of The Printing Press by Milton Meltzer. Children’s Literature. Available at: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Ft1eP5UAaj&isbn=076141536X&itm=1. Last accessed 27 November 2004.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Topic 5: Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos
Gantos, Jack. 2002. Hole in My Life. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN: 0374399883.
Jack Gantos’ novels for children are often funny and touching, so it is somewhat of a shock to read the author’s super-serious autobiography, HOLE IN MY LIFE. Covering only a small span of years, Gantos chronicles his life away from his parents to his stint in prison for dealing marijuana. Most of the tale deals with the trip from Puerto Rico to New York, smuggling hashish. Gantos describes how he was arrested for dealing the marijuana and the court process that sent him to prison. The story the authors relates pulls no punches and deals honestly with the harsh realities he faced in prison, including both physical and sexual violence, and the aftereffects that sometimes still haunt him. One critic has said, “It is as much a cautionary tale for adults as for kids. The lesson that Gantos wants adults to get is that we should not give up on kids who are in trouble. With the right help, and a lot of luck, they may survive and go on to become adults who make the world a better place.” (Nilsen, 82.)
Gantos’ narrative is touched by moments of poignancy that demonstrate how naïve a young man he was. “Like most kids I was aware that the world was filled with dangerous people, yet I wasn’t certain I could always spot them coming. My dad, however, was a deadeye when it came to spotting the outlaw class.” (Gantos, 5.) But the tale points out with a vivid brush how all that can change. “Dad’s keen eye for spotting criminals of all stripes was impressive. But it wasn’t perfect. He never pegged me for being one of them.” (Gantos, 7.) Both during the journey and throughout his time in prison, Gantos kept a journal. The first was used as evidence in court and the second was written between the lines of a prison copy of The Brothers Karamazov. He received the first back after writing for the court records, but the second he lost because the guard would not let him leave with prison property. “It was a joy to have new thoughts. And then I had a funny revelation that I really didn’t lose my journal entirely. That between the lines of new, free thoughts were compressed the secret memories of my days in prison.” (Gantos, 196.)
Gantos was always writer at heart, and the act of writing is a pivot point of the story. Whether he was journaling or creating fiction, writing was an activity that brought comfort and peace to Gantos. At first, after his release, he tried writing stories about the experiences and men he met there, "tired of all the blood and guts and hard lives and hard hearts." (Gantos, 198.) It is the journal that Gantos hopes lasts in that prison he left. “Now I wonder if that volume is still on the shelf. I hope so. That thought sustains me. I imagine some prisoner checking it out and reading my book within that book. And maybe he will add his thoughts, and maybe others will, too. Maybe the library will become filled with books with the trapped world of prisoner’s thoughts concealed between the lines.” (Gantos, 200.) The thought is the mark of the true writer. Gantos’ story is moving and sad and hard hitting. It is not for younger readers because of that very fact, but it is a book that teens and adults should read and discuss.
Reference list:
Gantos, Jack. 2002. Hole in My Life. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Nilsen, Alleen Pace. 2002. Review of Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol. 46, Issue 1 (Sept.), 82.
Jack Gantos’ novels for children are often funny and touching, so it is somewhat of a shock to read the author’s super-serious autobiography, HOLE IN MY LIFE. Covering only a small span of years, Gantos chronicles his life away from his parents to his stint in prison for dealing marijuana. Most of the tale deals with the trip from Puerto Rico to New York, smuggling hashish. Gantos describes how he was arrested for dealing the marijuana and the court process that sent him to prison. The story the authors relates pulls no punches and deals honestly with the harsh realities he faced in prison, including both physical and sexual violence, and the aftereffects that sometimes still haunt him. One critic has said, “It is as much a cautionary tale for adults as for kids. The lesson that Gantos wants adults to get is that we should not give up on kids who are in trouble. With the right help, and a lot of luck, they may survive and go on to become adults who make the world a better place.” (Nilsen, 82.)
Gantos’ narrative is touched by moments of poignancy that demonstrate how naïve a young man he was. “Like most kids I was aware that the world was filled with dangerous people, yet I wasn’t certain I could always spot them coming. My dad, however, was a deadeye when it came to spotting the outlaw class.” (Gantos, 5.) But the tale points out with a vivid brush how all that can change. “Dad’s keen eye for spotting criminals of all stripes was impressive. But it wasn’t perfect. He never pegged me for being one of them.” (Gantos, 7.) Both during the journey and throughout his time in prison, Gantos kept a journal. The first was used as evidence in court and the second was written between the lines of a prison copy of The Brothers Karamazov. He received the first back after writing for the court records, but the second he lost because the guard would not let him leave with prison property. “It was a joy to have new thoughts. And then I had a funny revelation that I really didn’t lose my journal entirely. That between the lines of new, free thoughts were compressed the secret memories of my days in prison.” (Gantos, 196.)
Gantos was always writer at heart, and the act of writing is a pivot point of the story. Whether he was journaling or creating fiction, writing was an activity that brought comfort and peace to Gantos. At first, after his release, he tried writing stories about the experiences and men he met there, "tired of all the blood and guts and hard lives and hard hearts." (Gantos, 198.) It is the journal that Gantos hopes lasts in that prison he left. “Now I wonder if that volume is still on the shelf. I hope so. That thought sustains me. I imagine some prisoner checking it out and reading my book within that book. And maybe he will add his thoughts, and maybe others will, too. Maybe the library will become filled with books with the trapped world of prisoner’s thoughts concealed between the lines.” (Gantos, 200.) The thought is the mark of the true writer. Gantos’ story is moving and sad and hard hitting. It is not for younger readers because of that very fact, but it is a book that teens and adults should read and discuss.
Reference list:
Gantos, Jack. 2002. Hole in My Life. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Nilsen, Alleen Pace. 2002. Review of Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol. 46, Issue 1 (Sept.), 82.
Topic 5: Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan *one page number illegible on copy, will be updated on Monday.
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2000. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 0439120411.
ESPERANZA RISING by Pam Munoz Ryan is a novel following a young woman as she leavers her life at her family’s ranch, El Rancho de las Rosas, to travel to the Mexican farm worker camps in California. The book opens in 1924, but most of the story takes place in 1930, during the height of the Great Depression. Following a tragic reversal of fortune, Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their home and Abuelita, her grandmother, and travel with three of their former servants to California where they are promised work on a farm. Esperanza, who had previously been brought in a life of wealth and privilege, must learn how to cook, take care of babies and even how to sweep. As the story moves on through the year, Esperanza’s mother falls ill, protestors strike in the fields, and Esperanza learns what it means to be poor.
Ryan writes compelling story full of images beautiful and poignant. One of the scenes repeated through the novel has Esperanza laying on the ground, quiet and still, trying to hear the heartbeat of the earth. “She stared at Papa, not wanting to say a word. Not wanting to lose the sound. Not wanting to forget the feel of the heart of the valley.” (Ryan, 3.) She also uses two types of dolls in her story to illuminate the difference between the campesina (farm workers) and the lady of the rancho. The last gift that Esperanza’s Papa purchased for her birthday was a fine doll. She opened this present after her father was killed. “Finally, she opened the box she knew was the doll…the last thing Papa would ever give her. …She hugged the doll to her chest and walked out of the room, leaving all the other gifts behind.” (Ryan, 28.) Ryan also includes a doll made of yarn, which was available to the immigrant workers. Esperanza measures time differently to relate her story to Abuelita. “When Esperanza told Abuelita their story, about all that had happened to them, she didn’t measure time by the usual seasons. Instead, she told it as field-worker, in spans of fruits and vegetables and by what needed to be done to the land.” (Ryan, 246.)
“Set against the multi-ethnic labor-organizing era of the Depression, the story of Esperanza remaking herself is satisfyingly complete, including a dire illness and a difficult romance.” (Goldsmith, 171.) The imagery and easy language of Ryan’s storytelling adds a realistic edge to the dilemma that faced both the Mexican immigrants and the victims of the Depression. The social issue of the Mexican Repatriation and the Deportation Act of 1929 is approached realistically and humanly enough to show the effects of the racial prejudice that occurred at the time. Ryan explained in the author’s note how people that she talked to held no grudges as a result of that prejudice. “When I asked about prejudice I was told, ‘Sure there was prejudice, horrible prejudice, but that’s how things were then.” (Ryan, 261.) “Ryan fluidly juxtaposes world events… with one family’s will to survive—while introducing readers to Spanish words and Mexican customs.” (Publisher’s Weekly, XX.) This story was selected to be a Texas Bluebonnet book in 2002.
Reference List:
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2000. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic Press.
Goldsmith, Francesca. 2000. Review of Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. School Library Journal Vol. 46 number 10 (October), 171.
2000. Review of Review of Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. Publisher’s Weekly. Vol. 247 number 41 (9 October), XX.
ESPERANZA RISING by Pam Munoz Ryan is a novel following a young woman as she leavers her life at her family’s ranch, El Rancho de las Rosas, to travel to the Mexican farm worker camps in California. The book opens in 1924, but most of the story takes place in 1930, during the height of the Great Depression. Following a tragic reversal of fortune, Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their home and Abuelita, her grandmother, and travel with three of their former servants to California where they are promised work on a farm. Esperanza, who had previously been brought in a life of wealth and privilege, must learn how to cook, take care of babies and even how to sweep. As the story moves on through the year, Esperanza’s mother falls ill, protestors strike in the fields, and Esperanza learns what it means to be poor.
Ryan writes compelling story full of images beautiful and poignant. One of the scenes repeated through the novel has Esperanza laying on the ground, quiet and still, trying to hear the heartbeat of the earth. “She stared at Papa, not wanting to say a word. Not wanting to lose the sound. Not wanting to forget the feel of the heart of the valley.” (Ryan, 3.) She also uses two types of dolls in her story to illuminate the difference between the campesina (farm workers) and the lady of the rancho. The last gift that Esperanza’s Papa purchased for her birthday was a fine doll. She opened this present after her father was killed. “Finally, she opened the box she knew was the doll…the last thing Papa would ever give her. …She hugged the doll to her chest and walked out of the room, leaving all the other gifts behind.” (Ryan, 28.) Ryan also includes a doll made of yarn, which was available to the immigrant workers. Esperanza measures time differently to relate her story to Abuelita. “When Esperanza told Abuelita their story, about all that had happened to them, she didn’t measure time by the usual seasons. Instead, she told it as field-worker, in spans of fruits and vegetables and by what needed to be done to the land.” (Ryan, 246.)
“Set against the multi-ethnic labor-organizing era of the Depression, the story of Esperanza remaking herself is satisfyingly complete, including a dire illness and a difficult romance.” (Goldsmith, 171.) The imagery and easy language of Ryan’s storytelling adds a realistic edge to the dilemma that faced both the Mexican immigrants and the victims of the Depression. The social issue of the Mexican Repatriation and the Deportation Act of 1929 is approached realistically and humanly enough to show the effects of the racial prejudice that occurred at the time. Ryan explained in the author’s note how people that she talked to held no grudges as a result of that prejudice. “When I asked about prejudice I was told, ‘Sure there was prejudice, horrible prejudice, but that’s how things were then.” (Ryan, 261.) “Ryan fluidly juxtaposes world events… with one family’s will to survive—while introducing readers to Spanish words and Mexican customs.” (Publisher’s Weekly, XX.) This story was selected to be a Texas Bluebonnet book in 2002.
Reference List:
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2000. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic Press.
Goldsmith, Francesca. 2000. Review of Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. School Library Journal Vol. 46 number 10 (October), 171.
2000. Review of Review of Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. Publisher’s Weekly. Vol. 247 number 41 (9 October), XX.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Topic 4: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Card, Orson Scott. 1985. Ender’s Game. Rev. ed. 1991. New York: Tor Book. ISBN: 0312932081.
ENDER’S GAME by Orson Scott Card
In Orson Scott Card’s novel ENDER’S GAME, all of Earth is in grave peril of an invasion by an alien force known as the Buggers. In a world where families are limited to two children apiece and these children are fitted with a monitor that allows unseen military personnel to watch, see, hear and feel what the children feel, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is unusual. He is most unusual in that he is a third child, has had his monitor in place for far longer than his brother or his sister, and at six years old, he is a certified genius. Ender is recruited by the military to take part in Battle School, a military-type school where cadets are trained to fight the Buggers. The novel chronicles the journey that makes, breaks and molds Ender into an unwilling and unwitting weapon in the interstellar war.
ENDER’S GAME is a tale “smoothly written, but morally disquieting.” (Pringle, 107.) The last battle has a predictable outcome, but Card’s ending gentles the cynical edge by allowing Ender to reunite with his sister, though it is a strained relationship, and by allowing Ender to take the last larva of the Bugger race with him as he travels from planet to planet as “Speaker for the Dead.” Card poses questions in a subtle manner that allows the reader to come to their own conclusion about how they want the future to turn out. Ender becomes a weapon for the adults of the novel, an experiment that had to be because only a child would unknowingly affect the downfall of an entire race.
The paradoxes of the novel spin around Ender. Ender fights to win, not to kill, and yet he does just that. He fought to defend himself on earth and in space to the point that he not only broke bones of his attackers, but also killed two attackers. The military never tells Ender directly what happened to the boys, so the effect is that Ender is still naïve and yet cynical because in his heart he knows. Called “a perfect juvenile power-fantasy for the age of computer games” (Pringle, 289.) ENDER’S GAME is a novel that starts out slow and builds with an intensity that draws the reluctant science fiction reader, like me, in. As for the “cynical composition” of the story, Pringles says that “Card tried to make amends in the expanded version and its sequels, making the hero into a genetic experiment who suffers terrible guilt after his genocidal act.”(Pringle, 289.)
Reference List:
Pringle, David. 1990. The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction. New York: Pharos Books. 107.
Pringle, David. 1996. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: The Definitive Illustrated Guide. North Dighton, MA: JG Press. 289.
ENDER’S GAME by Orson Scott Card
In Orson Scott Card’s novel ENDER’S GAME, all of Earth is in grave peril of an invasion by an alien force known as the Buggers. In a world where families are limited to two children apiece and these children are fitted with a monitor that allows unseen military personnel to watch, see, hear and feel what the children feel, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is unusual. He is most unusual in that he is a third child, has had his monitor in place for far longer than his brother or his sister, and at six years old, he is a certified genius. Ender is recruited by the military to take part in Battle School, a military-type school where cadets are trained to fight the Buggers. The novel chronicles the journey that makes, breaks and molds Ender into an unwilling and unwitting weapon in the interstellar war.
ENDER’S GAME is a tale “smoothly written, but morally disquieting.” (Pringle, 107.) The last battle has a predictable outcome, but Card’s ending gentles the cynical edge by allowing Ender to reunite with his sister, though it is a strained relationship, and by allowing Ender to take the last larva of the Bugger race with him as he travels from planet to planet as “Speaker for the Dead.” Card poses questions in a subtle manner that allows the reader to come to their own conclusion about how they want the future to turn out. Ender becomes a weapon for the adults of the novel, an experiment that had to be because only a child would unknowingly affect the downfall of an entire race.
The paradoxes of the novel spin around Ender. Ender fights to win, not to kill, and yet he does just that. He fought to defend himself on earth and in space to the point that he not only broke bones of his attackers, but also killed two attackers. The military never tells Ender directly what happened to the boys, so the effect is that Ender is still naïve and yet cynical because in his heart he knows. Called “a perfect juvenile power-fantasy for the age of computer games” (Pringle, 289.) ENDER’S GAME is a novel that starts out slow and builds with an intensity that draws the reluctant science fiction reader, like me, in. As for the “cynical composition” of the story, Pringles says that “Card tried to make amends in the expanded version and its sequels, making the hero into a genetic experiment who suffers terrible guilt after his genocidal act.”(Pringle, 289.)
Reference List:
Pringle, David. 1990. The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction. New York: Pharos Books. 107.
Pringle, David. 1996. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: The Definitive Illustrated Guide. North Dighton, MA: JG Press. 289.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Margaret Mahy--New Zealand Writer
Margaret Mahy-- New Zealand Writer
Born: Whakatane, New Zealand, March 21, 1936
Lives: Governor’s Bay, New Zealand with husband, Robinson
Children: two daughters
Pets: Three cats, Orsino, Socks and Sabbath; and standard poodle named Baxter
Hobbies: Reading, swimming, taking walks, “fussing” with her pets
First book published: A Lion in the Meadow, 1969
Occupation: Retired from Canterbury Public Library, left to write full-time
Favorites:
Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Book: The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban, The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling and Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Food: Salad Sandwiches
Writer: Diana Wynne Jones, one of them; Always looks forward to reading books by New Zealand authors
Links:
The Maragret Mahy Pages
Available at: http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Childrens/MargaretMahy/
K6 Biographies—Maragaret Mahy
Available at: http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/k6/mahy.html
Margaret Mahy (from New Zealand Books,Ltd.)
Available at: http://www.nzbooks.com/nzbooks/author.asp?author_id=margaretmahy
Mahy, Margaret
Available at: http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/mahym.html
Books For Young Adults:
Underrunners— A, E (I included this book because it has won two awards in its home country of New Zealand.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1993. Underruners. New York: Chivers. ISBN: 074511671X.
The Door in the Air— (I included this book because it is an anthology of short stories.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1991. The Door in the Air. New York: Dell Publishing Company, Incorporated. ISBN: 0385302525.
Alchemy— N (I chose to include this book because it is her newest book and has already won an award in New Zealand.)
Mahy, Margaret. 2004. Alchemy. New York: Simon & Schuster’s Children’s. ISBN: 0689850549.
The Catalogue of the Universe.— (Though this book has not won any awards, I chose to include it. I did so because Mahy says that, of all her characters, she thinks she identifies most strongly with Tycho.)
Mahy, Margaret. 2002. The Catalogue of the Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s. ISBN: 068985353X.
The Haunting— C, E (This book has won an award in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1991. The Haunting. New York: Random House Children’s Books. ISBN: 0440404088.
The Tricksters— (This book was chosen because the premise intrigued me: three brothers(the Tricksters of the title) “invade” lives of the vacationers of Carnival’s Hide.)
Mahy, Maragaret. 1999. The Tricksters. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s. ISBN: 0689829108.
Memory— (This book was chosen for inclusion because it deals with personal responsibilities, cultural and ethnic roles.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1989. Memory. New York: Sagebrush Education Resources. Original edition, New York: Penguin, 1989. ISBN: 0613228936.
24 Hours— E, N (This book was included because it won two New Zealand awards.)
Mahy, Margaret. 2000. 24 Hours. New York: McElderberry, Margaret K. Books. ISBN: 0689838840.
The Changeover— C, E ( I chose this book not only because it has won two awards, one in the United Kingdom, and the other in New Zealand, but because it was the first book by this author that I ever read and I never forgot it.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1984. The Changover: A Supernatural Romance. 1st Am. ed. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's. ISBN: 068503032.
A= AIM Children's Book Awards- Established 1990. Awards are presented to New Zealand books in five categories, plus a "Book of the Year". Sponsored by AIM Toothpaste.)
C= Carnegie Medal- Presented annually to an outstanding book published in the United Kingdom.
E= Esther Glen Award- Given for the most distinguished contribution to New Zealand literature for children and young adults.
N= New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards 2003- Prior to 1997 the awards were known as the AIM Children's Book Awards.
Book Analyses:
Memory and The Other Side of Silence
In Margaret Mahy’s novel, Memory, a young man struggles with his memory of his sister’s death even as an elderly woman battles with Alzheimer’s disease’s effect on her own memory. Johnny Dart is the young man who decides to straighten out his memory by contacting the only other witness, Bonnie. Bonnie was his sister’s friend and the last time he saw her was at the funeral. After a drunken brawl that lands him in court and a fight with his father, Johnny manages, in his still drunken state, to find the home of Bonnie’s parents. They tell him to come back when he is sober and get a friend to take him to catch a cab. He does not catch the cab, but instead passes out in the cab stand. When he comes to he notices a woman, who is terribly confused and who mistakes him for someone she knows. Johnny follows her home with the idea that he is going to make sure that she is in safely for the night, but when he does follow her in, he finds it extremely hard to tear himself away from the woman. As Johnny discovers little slips of paper around her house, he realizes that Sophie has been paying “rent” to someone named Spike everyday, sometimes more than once a day, but made sure she “got a receipt.” Her memory essentially useless, Sophie has become a hazard to herself. In one filthy room, Johnny finds an iron that had burned through what ever she had been ironing, thankfully not igniting a fire that could have killed her.
Sophie’s acceptance of Johnny seems a little too easy and a tad quirky until Johnny realizes that he, for some reason reminds her of a cousin that she once loved. This memory gives Sophie a measure of safety when it comes to letting Johnny help her. The episodes that Mahy uses to demonstrate Sophie’s decline into Alzheimer’s are both funny and incredibly sad at the same time. For example, Sophie lets Johnny spend the night at her house, but she tells him that she is going to lock her door. It is also through these episodes that Mahy ties Johnny’s memories to his present. From meeting and eventually conquering the bully who tormented him as a child, to the surreptitious appearance of Bonnie, the person he has been looking to find, right next door to Sophie, Johnny’s memories are “reoriented” as one critic put it. It was the memory of the past that drove Johnny to this point. He is afraid that he pushed his sister off the cliff. He can almost remember doing just that, but he is not sure if that vague memory is something his mind has come up with to explain why he went along with Bonnie when she lied about where he was when Janine fell. Mahy uses snippets of “memories” to tie her character to his past and demonstrate how memories can both offer comfort and torment.
In helping Sophie, Johnny finds that she is helping him, by giving him a purpose which he has been lacking. He also learns a little more about the sister he lost and about himself. Dancing was always part of him, his feet even tapping a rhythm as he walked.
Mahy explores several issues including the Anglo/Maori culture clash, Alzheimer’s Disease and the poor treatment of the elderly. The images in Mahy’s stories are magnificent, and the memories of Bonnie that Johnny has kept in his mind are vivid and colorful. “Both are trapped to some extent by their memories; both are outcasts living within a kaleidoscopic vision of both past and present.”(Hutcheson, 214.) Past and present mix and intertwine. Bonnie’s own sister has chosen to embrace her Maori heritage despite her upbringing in an Anglo home.
As young adult novel, the 19-year-old Johnny finds himself in a situation where he decides to take responsibility and action without the aid of a competent adult. That is to say, that he chooses to take care of this woman who obviously is too ill to take care of herself. Adults in the book are secondary characters who sometimes offer advice but who are generally unable to assist him. Sophie seems to float between a teenaged version of herself and the part of her that remembers being married to Errol, a plumber and a gentleman of nature. The characterization of the people in this story is marvelous. “Even the minor characters echo the hold of memory, and the setting is dominated by a giant fake faucet that hangs on a sign overlooking the old lady’s house.”(Hutcheson, 214.)
The Other Side of Silence is a novel that explores the fine lines of identity, reality and fiction. At the onset of the book, the twelve-year-old heroine makes a distinction between “Real Life (what everyone agrees about) and True Life (what you know inside yourself).”(Decker, 37.) Hero, the main character of the book, is a girl living in a house full of geniuses gifted verbally. Ironically, Hero, always the shy, quiet child of the family, has chosen to remain silent for almost seven years. Her boisterous family includes her mother and father, an older brother and younger sister. Hero also has another older sister, who has left New Zealand to make her way in Australia. When Hero’s sister returns to the family, she has a secret and an abandoned boy named Sammy in tow. Hero loves to climb in the trees that border the old Credence place. “The day she falls from a tree and lands at the woman's feet begins a perilous journey for the young protagonist.” (Vasilakis, 210.) Miss Credence, the last of her family, a strange woman who weaves tales around Hero that mixes reality and folk tales hires the young girl to clean first the garden and then house. When Hero begins to clean the house, she discovers a secret that Miss Credence has kept for years. In the tower, where the windows have been painted white, Miss Credence has chained her daughter, Jorinda, who has been neglected and has developmental challenges.
Mahy is a storyteller who works to make her stories more “heard” than “seen” and as with Memory, the characters in this novel are drawn loosely with the idea that their voices and traits make them more complete. The reader, along with Hero, learns how Miss Credence’s life was affected by her strained relationship with her father and how she came to lock her daughter in the tower of the mansion and hide her existence from others and from herself. Mahy sought to show how the mind can blur the lines between reality and fantasy and can twist a person’s mind. Mahy uses Hero’s silence to heighten the tension, when Hero is imprisoned in the tower room with Jorinda. Hero also considers throughout how and why she chose to be silent.
This novel is a story that belongs in young adult fiction, because it involves a young girl who has to solve her problem with limited help from the adults in her life. Although her parents come to ask Miss Credence about Hero’s disappearance, it falls to Sammy, the boy Hero’s sister brought home with her, to rescue Hero. The novel addresses issues about identity that young adults face every day. Mahy’s ending is optimistic, but not totally unrealistic. Though Jorinda is freed from the tower, she is not “miraculously cured” but still faces problems that stem from the neglect she suffered there. Hero writes her tale on paper, but, never intending for anyone to read it, she burns the pages after her family reads it.
Memory and The Other Side of Silence both deal with how teenagers see themselves and how the mind plays an important part of determining who they become. Mahy’s straightforward language, with a minimum of figurative expressions, writes a story that engages the reader and still manages to make a point without becoming preachy or overbearing. Mahy believes that young adults in New Zealand should be able to read books that deal with issues that face them. So, it is not surprising that in these two books threads of intolerance and prejudice are woven into the book. The result of this are books that encourage the readers to think about complex and difficult issues, such as treatment of the elderly, mentally ill, disabled, as well as, cultural stands.
Reference List:
Hutcheson, Barbara. 1988. Review of Memory by Margaret Mahy. School Library Journal. (Jan/Feb.).
Vasilakis, Nancy. 1996. “Booklist for Older Readers.” (Review of The Other Side of Silence by Margaret Mahy.) Horn Book Magazine. Vol. 72 Issue 2. (Mar/Apr).
Decker, Charlotte. 1996. Reviews:Fiction (Review of The Other Side of Silence by Margaret Mahy.) Book Report. Vol. 14, Issue 5. (Mar/Apr).
Born: Whakatane, New Zealand, March 21, 1936
Lives: Governor’s Bay, New Zealand with husband, Robinson
Children: two daughters
Pets: Three cats, Orsino, Socks and Sabbath; and standard poodle named Baxter
Hobbies: Reading, swimming, taking walks, “fussing” with her pets
First book published: A Lion in the Meadow, 1969
Occupation: Retired from Canterbury Public Library, left to write full-time
Favorites:
Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Book: The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban, The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling and Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Food: Salad Sandwiches
Writer: Diana Wynne Jones, one of them; Always looks forward to reading books by New Zealand authors
Links:
The Maragret Mahy Pages
Available at: http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Childrens/MargaretMahy/
K6 Biographies—Maragaret Mahy
Available at: http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/k6/mahy.html
Margaret Mahy (from New Zealand Books,Ltd.)
Available at: http://www.nzbooks.com/nzbooks/author.asp?author_id=margaretmahy
Mahy, Margaret
Available at: http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/mahym.html
Books For Young Adults:
Underrunners— A, E (I included this book because it has won two awards in its home country of New Zealand.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1993. Underruners. New York: Chivers. ISBN: 074511671X.
The Door in the Air— (I included this book because it is an anthology of short stories.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1991. The Door in the Air. New York: Dell Publishing Company, Incorporated. ISBN: 0385302525.
Alchemy— N (I chose to include this book because it is her newest book and has already won an award in New Zealand.)
Mahy, Margaret. 2004. Alchemy. New York: Simon & Schuster’s Children’s. ISBN: 0689850549.
The Catalogue of the Universe.— (Though this book has not won any awards, I chose to include it. I did so because Mahy says that, of all her characters, she thinks she identifies most strongly with Tycho.)
Mahy, Margaret. 2002. The Catalogue of the Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s. ISBN: 068985353X.
The Haunting— C, E (This book has won an award in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1991. The Haunting. New York: Random House Children’s Books. ISBN: 0440404088.
The Tricksters— (This book was chosen because the premise intrigued me: three brothers(the Tricksters of the title) “invade” lives of the vacationers of Carnival’s Hide.)
Mahy, Maragaret. 1999. The Tricksters. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s. ISBN: 0689829108.
Memory— (This book was chosen for inclusion because it deals with personal responsibilities, cultural and ethnic roles.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1989. Memory. New York: Sagebrush Education Resources. Original edition, New York: Penguin, 1989. ISBN: 0613228936.
24 Hours— E, N (This book was included because it won two New Zealand awards.)
Mahy, Margaret. 2000. 24 Hours. New York: McElderberry, Margaret K. Books. ISBN: 0689838840.
The Changeover— C, E ( I chose this book not only because it has won two awards, one in the United Kingdom, and the other in New Zealand, but because it was the first book by this author that I ever read and I never forgot it.)
Mahy, Margaret. 1984. The Changover: A Supernatural Romance. 1st Am. ed. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's. ISBN: 068503032.
A= AIM Children's Book Awards- Established 1990. Awards are presented to New Zealand books in five categories, plus a "Book of the Year". Sponsored by AIM Toothpaste.)
C= Carnegie Medal- Presented annually to an outstanding book published in the United Kingdom.
E= Esther Glen Award- Given for the most distinguished contribution to New Zealand literature for children and young adults.
N= New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards 2003- Prior to 1997 the awards were known as the AIM Children's Book Awards.
Book Analyses:
Memory and The Other Side of Silence
In Margaret Mahy’s novel, Memory, a young man struggles with his memory of his sister’s death even as an elderly woman battles with Alzheimer’s disease’s effect on her own memory. Johnny Dart is the young man who decides to straighten out his memory by contacting the only other witness, Bonnie. Bonnie was his sister’s friend and the last time he saw her was at the funeral. After a drunken brawl that lands him in court and a fight with his father, Johnny manages, in his still drunken state, to find the home of Bonnie’s parents. They tell him to come back when he is sober and get a friend to take him to catch a cab. He does not catch the cab, but instead passes out in the cab stand. When he comes to he notices a woman, who is terribly confused and who mistakes him for someone she knows. Johnny follows her home with the idea that he is going to make sure that she is in safely for the night, but when he does follow her in, he finds it extremely hard to tear himself away from the woman. As Johnny discovers little slips of paper around her house, he realizes that Sophie has been paying “rent” to someone named Spike everyday, sometimes more than once a day, but made sure she “got a receipt.” Her memory essentially useless, Sophie has become a hazard to herself. In one filthy room, Johnny finds an iron that had burned through what ever she had been ironing, thankfully not igniting a fire that could have killed her.
Sophie’s acceptance of Johnny seems a little too easy and a tad quirky until Johnny realizes that he, for some reason reminds her of a cousin that she once loved. This memory gives Sophie a measure of safety when it comes to letting Johnny help her. The episodes that Mahy uses to demonstrate Sophie’s decline into Alzheimer’s are both funny and incredibly sad at the same time. For example, Sophie lets Johnny spend the night at her house, but she tells him that she is going to lock her door. It is also through these episodes that Mahy ties Johnny’s memories to his present. From meeting and eventually conquering the bully who tormented him as a child, to the surreptitious appearance of Bonnie, the person he has been looking to find, right next door to Sophie, Johnny’s memories are “reoriented” as one critic put it. It was the memory of the past that drove Johnny to this point. He is afraid that he pushed his sister off the cliff. He can almost remember doing just that, but he is not sure if that vague memory is something his mind has come up with to explain why he went along with Bonnie when she lied about where he was when Janine fell. Mahy uses snippets of “memories” to tie her character to his past and demonstrate how memories can both offer comfort and torment.
In helping Sophie, Johnny finds that she is helping him, by giving him a purpose which he has been lacking. He also learns a little more about the sister he lost and about himself. Dancing was always part of him, his feet even tapping a rhythm as he walked.
Mahy explores several issues including the Anglo/Maori culture clash, Alzheimer’s Disease and the poor treatment of the elderly. The images in Mahy’s stories are magnificent, and the memories of Bonnie that Johnny has kept in his mind are vivid and colorful. “Both are trapped to some extent by their memories; both are outcasts living within a kaleidoscopic vision of both past and present.”(Hutcheson, 214.) Past and present mix and intertwine. Bonnie’s own sister has chosen to embrace her Maori heritage despite her upbringing in an Anglo home.
As young adult novel, the 19-year-old Johnny finds himself in a situation where he decides to take responsibility and action without the aid of a competent adult. That is to say, that he chooses to take care of this woman who obviously is too ill to take care of herself. Adults in the book are secondary characters who sometimes offer advice but who are generally unable to assist him. Sophie seems to float between a teenaged version of herself and the part of her that remembers being married to Errol, a plumber and a gentleman of nature. The characterization of the people in this story is marvelous. “Even the minor characters echo the hold of memory, and the setting is dominated by a giant fake faucet that hangs on a sign overlooking the old lady’s house.”(Hutcheson, 214.)
The Other Side of Silence is a novel that explores the fine lines of identity, reality and fiction. At the onset of the book, the twelve-year-old heroine makes a distinction between “Real Life (what everyone agrees about) and True Life (what you know inside yourself).”(Decker, 37.) Hero, the main character of the book, is a girl living in a house full of geniuses gifted verbally. Ironically, Hero, always the shy, quiet child of the family, has chosen to remain silent for almost seven years. Her boisterous family includes her mother and father, an older brother and younger sister. Hero also has another older sister, who has left New Zealand to make her way in Australia. When Hero’s sister returns to the family, she has a secret and an abandoned boy named Sammy in tow. Hero loves to climb in the trees that border the old Credence place. “The day she falls from a tree and lands at the woman's feet begins a perilous journey for the young protagonist.” (Vasilakis, 210.) Miss Credence, the last of her family, a strange woman who weaves tales around Hero that mixes reality and folk tales hires the young girl to clean first the garden and then house. When Hero begins to clean the house, she discovers a secret that Miss Credence has kept for years. In the tower, where the windows have been painted white, Miss Credence has chained her daughter, Jorinda, who has been neglected and has developmental challenges.
Mahy is a storyteller who works to make her stories more “heard” than “seen” and as with Memory, the characters in this novel are drawn loosely with the idea that their voices and traits make them more complete. The reader, along with Hero, learns how Miss Credence’s life was affected by her strained relationship with her father and how she came to lock her daughter in the tower of the mansion and hide her existence from others and from herself. Mahy sought to show how the mind can blur the lines between reality and fantasy and can twist a person’s mind. Mahy uses Hero’s silence to heighten the tension, when Hero is imprisoned in the tower room with Jorinda. Hero also considers throughout how and why she chose to be silent.
This novel is a story that belongs in young adult fiction, because it involves a young girl who has to solve her problem with limited help from the adults in her life. Although her parents come to ask Miss Credence about Hero’s disappearance, it falls to Sammy, the boy Hero’s sister brought home with her, to rescue Hero. The novel addresses issues about identity that young adults face every day. Mahy’s ending is optimistic, but not totally unrealistic. Though Jorinda is freed from the tower, she is not “miraculously cured” but still faces problems that stem from the neglect she suffered there. Hero writes her tale on paper, but, never intending for anyone to read it, she burns the pages after her family reads it.
Memory and The Other Side of Silence both deal with how teenagers see themselves and how the mind plays an important part of determining who they become. Mahy’s straightforward language, with a minimum of figurative expressions, writes a story that engages the reader and still manages to make a point without becoming preachy or overbearing. Mahy believes that young adults in New Zealand should be able to read books that deal with issues that face them. So, it is not surprising that in these two books threads of intolerance and prejudice are woven into the book. The result of this are books that encourage the readers to think about complex and difficult issues, such as treatment of the elderly, mentally ill, disabled, as well as, cultural stands.
Reference List:
Hutcheson, Barbara. 1988. Review of Memory by Margaret Mahy. School Library Journal. (Jan/Feb.).
Vasilakis, Nancy. 1996. “Booklist for Older Readers.” (Review of The Other Side of Silence by Margaret Mahy.) Horn Book Magazine. Vol. 72 Issue 2. (Mar/Apr).
Decker, Charlotte. 1996. Reviews:Fiction (Review of The Other Side of Silence by Margaret Mahy.) Book Report. Vol. 14, Issue 5. (Mar/Apr).
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Topic 4: Double Helix by Nancy Werlin
Werlin, Nancy. 2004. Double Helix. New York: Dial Books. ISBN: 080372606.
The science fiction and mystery genres are melded into a new medical mystery subgenre in Nancy Werlin’s novel, DOUBLE HELIX. Genetic experimentation, in vitro fertilization and the complexities of bioethics form the science related core of the book. When Eli Samuels, a smart, athletic, not to mention tall, senior in high school is offered a job at Wyatt Transgenics, his father is not pleased and asks Eli to turn the job down. Partly because his father will not explain his request, Eli continues to work at the lab. On another front, Eli’s girlfriend would like to meet his parents, but Eli is reluctant to introduce her to them. Eli’s mother has Huntington ’s disease, a degenerative and terminal disease caused by too many repeats of sequences of DNA. While Eli tries to determine his father’s objection to his job, he meets Kayla, who seems very familiar to him. Eli also discovers that a connection does exist between them and that it involves his parents, Quincy Wyatt and experimental gene therapy. “Male and female features seemed to transmute, to meld into each other. My mother—Kayla—me.” (Werlin, 163-164.) Eli realizes that he is Kayla’s brother, but this knowledge also stirs a feeling of responsibility and curiosity within in him.
The novel is extremely readable and this is because the science in Werlin’s novel is not overbearing or confusing. “Werlin distills the scientific element to a manageable level.”(Publisher’s Weekly, 174.) Another focus of the book becomes the bioethics behind Eli’s and Kayla’s births. Sometimes these ethics seem absent but they are always complex. Eli says “I’m your brother.”(Werlin, 231.) From this realization, Werlin is able to show a strong sense of responsible that runs through Eli. “My responsibility. Because I am my father’s son. Because I choose, like he did, not to walk away. Because you are more than your genes. Because you are human. Because you are worth it.” (Werlin, 231-232.) In the end, Wyatt escapes justice, but Eli and Kayla are able to find more siblings who were born to different families. Eli goes off to college and meets the professor recommended to him by a coworker. “There’s a difference between using gene therapy for the treatment of existing medical conditions and using our growing, but far from perfect, knowledge of genes—or of humanity—to declare that we absolutely know who has--and who hasn’t—the right to live.” (Werlin, 245.)
One critic pointed that the “characterizations feel somewhat incomplete.”(Publisher’s Weekly, 174.) The main focus of the novel is on Eli and Kayla, the teenagers, so in my opinion, it is really the adults, Mr. Samuels and Wyatt, who are a little flat. “The plot moves at a tantalizing clip, with secrets revealed in tiny increments, an hints and clues neatly planted.” (Publisher’s Weekly, 174.) The plot is tight and suspenseful and horrifying when it is revealed that more children, some who have Huntington’s and a couple who do not, have been born as a result of Wyatt’s experiment. “The story’s climax appeals to reason and love for humanity without resorting to easy answers.” (Publisher’s Weekly, 174.) The book’s end will make readers stop and think about their beliefs about medicine and the imperfections that make us human.
Reference List:
2004. Review of Double Helix by Nancy Werlin. Publisher’s Weekly Vol. 251 Issue
7, (15 February), 173-174.
Werlin, Nancy. 2004. Double Helix. New York: Dial Books.
The science fiction and mystery genres are melded into a new medical mystery subgenre in Nancy Werlin’s novel, DOUBLE HELIX. Genetic experimentation, in vitro fertilization and the complexities of bioethics form the science related core of the book. When Eli Samuels, a smart, athletic, not to mention tall, senior in high school is offered a job at Wyatt Transgenics, his father is not pleased and asks Eli to turn the job down. Partly because his father will not explain his request, Eli continues to work at the lab. On another front, Eli’s girlfriend would like to meet his parents, but Eli is reluctant to introduce her to them. Eli’s mother has Huntington ’s disease, a degenerative and terminal disease caused by too many repeats of sequences of DNA. While Eli tries to determine his father’s objection to his job, he meets Kayla, who seems very familiar to him. Eli also discovers that a connection does exist between them and that it involves his parents, Quincy Wyatt and experimental gene therapy. “Male and female features seemed to transmute, to meld into each other. My mother—Kayla—me.” (Werlin, 163-164.) Eli realizes that he is Kayla’s brother, but this knowledge also stirs a feeling of responsibility and curiosity within in him.
The novel is extremely readable and this is because the science in Werlin’s novel is not overbearing or confusing. “Werlin distills the scientific element to a manageable level.”(Publisher’s Weekly, 174.) Another focus of the book becomes the bioethics behind Eli’s and Kayla’s births. Sometimes these ethics seem absent but they are always complex. Eli says “I’m your brother.”(Werlin, 231.) From this realization, Werlin is able to show a strong sense of responsible that runs through Eli. “My responsibility. Because I am my father’s son. Because I choose, like he did, not to walk away. Because you are more than your genes. Because you are human. Because you are worth it.” (Werlin, 231-232.) In the end, Wyatt escapes justice, but Eli and Kayla are able to find more siblings who were born to different families. Eli goes off to college and meets the professor recommended to him by a coworker. “There’s a difference between using gene therapy for the treatment of existing medical conditions and using our growing, but far from perfect, knowledge of genes—or of humanity—to declare that we absolutely know who has--and who hasn’t—the right to live.” (Werlin, 245.)
One critic pointed that the “characterizations feel somewhat incomplete.”(Publisher’s Weekly, 174.) The main focus of the novel is on Eli and Kayla, the teenagers, so in my opinion, it is really the adults, Mr. Samuels and Wyatt, who are a little flat. “The plot moves at a tantalizing clip, with secrets revealed in tiny increments, an hints and clues neatly planted.” (Publisher’s Weekly, 174.) The plot is tight and suspenseful and horrifying when it is revealed that more children, some who have Huntington’s and a couple who do not, have been born as a result of Wyatt’s experiment. “The story’s climax appeals to reason and love for humanity without resorting to easy answers.” (Publisher’s Weekly, 174.) The book’s end will make readers stop and think about their beliefs about medicine and the imperfections that make us human.
Reference List:
2004. Review of Double Helix by Nancy Werlin. Publisher’s Weekly Vol. 251 Issue
7, (15 February), 173-174.
Werlin, Nancy. 2004. Double Helix. New York: Dial Books.
topic 4: Others See Us by William Sleator
Sleator, William. 1993. Others See Us. New York: Dutton Children’s Book. ISBN: 0525451048.
In William Sleator’s novel, OTHERS SEE US, Jared is anxiously waiting for the day when we will get to see his beautiful cousin, Annelise again. After a fall into a polluted swamp nearby, however, Jared begins to notice strange voices and thoughts inside his head. At first he thinks he might be going crazy, but then he realizes that he is actually hearing what the people around him are thinking. When the journal where Jared recorded his deepest feelings disappears from its secret hiding place, he realizes that someone else can read thoughts as well. Jared begins to “learns that Annelise is not the innocent, sweet girl her relatives believe her to be, but an evil, plotting young woman.” (Knoth, 75.) He also discovers that everyone has secrets that they do not want exposed and pressures that they must contend with when they return to their lives are the family reunion. Jared must figure out which of his family members he can trust, when it becomes obvious that Annelise is up to something.
Sleator uses the ability of telepathy to cut through a character’s appearance to the core that person’s nature. “I was aware now of her cunning, clicking away underneath her outward panic like a movie projector displaying a horror film,” thinks Jared as Annelise searches for her own missing journal.(Sleator, 44.) The knowledge of her true nature led Jared to another cousin, Lindie, who had a secret that if exposed could harm her reputation and future. Knowing that Annelise would not hesitate to use this secret against her, Jared and Lindie must figure out how to stop her. With their grandmother, Jared and Lindie try to protect their family and the people in the town from Annelise. They also realize that there are things that their grandmother will not tell them and probably can not explain to them anyway.
The quick pace and easy readability of OTHERS SEE US make the book a fun read for younger teens. It touches on the relationships between family members and how they change and develop over time. It also handles very deftly the idea of poetic justice. Some of the characters actions seem to be a little over the top, like Grandma’s theft and extortion of her neighbors, but Sleator ties them to the end to make that poetic justice. “Sleator ties up his story but leaves unanswered, unsettling questions about the nature of seductive power.” (Knoth, 75.) One of my favorite images from the novel, is an interesting twist on the old cliché, “what webs we weave ….” “The old knitting machines, shiny again, clashed in intricate patterns below us, producing yards and yards of delicate silvery weblike fabric.”(Sleator, 153.) The patterns are explained toward the end of the book that explains why the actions seem so inexplicable and yet tie so neatly at the end.
Reference List:
Knoth, Maeve Visser. 1994. Booklist: For Older Readers. Horn Book Magazine. Vol. 70, Issue 1 (Jan/Feb): .
Sleator, William. 1993. Others See Us. New York: Dutton Children’s Book.
In William Sleator’s novel, OTHERS SEE US, Jared is anxiously waiting for the day when we will get to see his beautiful cousin, Annelise again. After a fall into a polluted swamp nearby, however, Jared begins to notice strange voices and thoughts inside his head. At first he thinks he might be going crazy, but then he realizes that he is actually hearing what the people around him are thinking. When the journal where Jared recorded his deepest feelings disappears from its secret hiding place, he realizes that someone else can read thoughts as well. Jared begins to “learns that Annelise is not the innocent, sweet girl her relatives believe her to be, but an evil, plotting young woman.” (Knoth, 75.) He also discovers that everyone has secrets that they do not want exposed and pressures that they must contend with when they return to their lives are the family reunion. Jared must figure out which of his family members he can trust, when it becomes obvious that Annelise is up to something.
Sleator uses the ability of telepathy to cut through a character’s appearance to the core that person’s nature. “I was aware now of her cunning, clicking away underneath her outward panic like a movie projector displaying a horror film,” thinks Jared as Annelise searches for her own missing journal.(Sleator, 44.) The knowledge of her true nature led Jared to another cousin, Lindie, who had a secret that if exposed could harm her reputation and future. Knowing that Annelise would not hesitate to use this secret against her, Jared and Lindie must figure out how to stop her. With their grandmother, Jared and Lindie try to protect their family and the people in the town from Annelise. They also realize that there are things that their grandmother will not tell them and probably can not explain to them anyway.
The quick pace and easy readability of OTHERS SEE US make the book a fun read for younger teens. It touches on the relationships between family members and how they change and develop over time. It also handles very deftly the idea of poetic justice. Some of the characters actions seem to be a little over the top, like Grandma’s theft and extortion of her neighbors, but Sleator ties them to the end to make that poetic justice. “Sleator ties up his story but leaves unanswered, unsettling questions about the nature of seductive power.” (Knoth, 75.) One of my favorite images from the novel, is an interesting twist on the old cliché, “what webs we weave ….” “The old knitting machines, shiny again, clashed in intricate patterns below us, producing yards and yards of delicate silvery weblike fabric.”(Sleator, 153.) The patterns are explained toward the end of the book that explains why the actions seem so inexplicable and yet tie so neatly at the end.
Reference List:
Knoth, Maeve Visser. 1994. Booklist: For Older Readers. Horn Book Magazine. Vol. 70, Issue 1 (Jan/Feb): .
Sleator, William. 1993. Others See Us. New York: Dutton Children’s Book.
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