Bookshelf Archives - Page 3 of 11 - The Pencil Princess Workshop

Little Women

I’ve been rereading Little Women the past few weeks, and I’m reminded what a wonderful book it is. I started reading it for a The Enchanted Book Club, but I’m way behind, and haven’t been able to participate in the discussions. Maybe I’ll do better with next month’s selection.

Moral Pap for the Young?

Louisa May Alcott may well have considered Little Women to be “moral pap for the young,” but that’s not how I see it. The characters are so well-drawn that it’s hard to help loving them. Even though it’s more than a century since she published the book, I feel like I know Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.

What I’ve always liked best about this is the sister-relationships. They’re so life-like. My sisters have occasionally angered me the way Amy angers Jo. We’ve all strained each others’ nerves. And we have each others’ backs. The particulars may be different, but the experience is the same.

I even like the “moral pap.” At least, I relate to the need to control one’s temper–and appreciate now (as I did when I was young) finding a character who struggled with this in her life. I’m not the only one. And it is a real need. Sometimes maturity requires learning to control oneself–and that’s not necessarily an easy thing.

True Beauty

I also like a book (an old book!) that appreciates women for more than just outward beauty. These “little women” are intelligent, well-read, ambitious, creative, and often exuberant, and they strive to develop good character in themselves. I like them for it. It helps me to recognize that these are the kinds of things (not just physical attractiveness) that make someone beautiful. I want to be this kind of woman.

If you haven’t read this classic, I recommend it. And if you have, it might be worth picking up again.

Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess

Chrysanthemums beneath the title page from The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery

I became interested in Enola Holmes when I saw the movie (on Netflix) titled with her name. I loved it, and her, and so did my husband and daughter, who watched it with me.

But, of course, Enola Holmes lives in a book, too. A set of books, really, by Nancy Springer. As I usually find with good films made from books, the books are even better. Well, at least the first one is. (I imagine the later ones will be as well–I just haven’t read them yet. I have added them to my “want to read” shelf on Goodreads).

Enola is lovable and smart and funny–and she’s dealing with a whole boatload of patronizing hogwash (because women were treated quite deplorably in her day). It’s delightful to watch her succeed where her brothers assume she cannot. Like Adelaide from a few weeks ago, she refuses to let other people’s assumptions box her in.

Anyway, I strongly recommend The Case of the Missing Marquess for those who like history, or mysteries, or girls finding their way in the world.

Holes

This book has been on my shelf for quite some time, and somehow I never felt like picking it up. Maybe the cover was too bland. Maybe the Newbery sticker faded into the sand. I don’t know.

This weekend, though, I picked it up off the shelf, and wow.

I like Stanley and Hector and the other boys at the camp. I like the tiny hints of supernatural–happenings that are just a touch too convenient–but not so far out of the ordinary as to be unbelievable. It’s a surprisingly realistic book for an old-style fable that centers on a curse.

Like all the best old-fashioned fables, this story has a great ending, but the really wonderful part is the journey to get there. I’d highly recommend this if you still read middle-grade books at all.

If you love me, call me Dorrie

This is a nostalgic read for me…a book that someone gave me when I was in late elementary school.

It love the characters here, and the Parent-trap like machinations of the teens are both funny and heartwarming.

I loved and still love the way Dorrie finds her place in her family and gets to stability, even if it’s not exactly the way she envisions it. And though there are preachy moments in here they aren’t completely cringe-worthy.

This is a book I go back to from time to time–a comfort read when the world has gone crazy. Do you have any nostalgia reads like this?

Fran, the Second Time Around

Fran is starting over at a new school because of some tragedy in her past, and at first we’re not sure what that is, but we can see that it’s affecting everything about Fran.

I love the voice here, and I love the way that Fran struggles to move past her problems, but I’m not thrilled with how long it takes to learn what those problems truly are.

I also felt that there were some unresolved issues left hanging at the end of the story–issues related to her mother’s mental health, for example. And I’m not sure that Fran has truly come to a place of peace, though she seems to be on her way there.

But on the whole, this was a good book with strong character development, and I’d recommend it for people who like realistic young adult stories.

Binti

I picked this up from the library after a friend recommended it on Goodreads, and it’s every bit as good as she said it was. I’m probably going to want to get a copy of my own of this stunning little gem at some point.

When Binti leaves home to attend university off-world, her traditional family and people don’t approve. They say she’s selfish. That she’s ruining her future. That the university will separate her from her culture.

Binti goes anyway, lured by the promise of sinking into the mathematics that give her unique abilities to concentrate and communicate.

She doesn’t expect those abilities to become quite so critically important as they do. Her very survival depends on them, and that process of survival changes her in ways even her family couldn’t have predicted.

This is a fabulous story that explores (in an edge-of-the-seat danger kind of way, not a preachy way) what it means to leave home, and what it takes to keep some of home with you.

Adelaide and the Dragon Castle

Adelaide and the Dragon Castle has a lot of my favorite things in YA fantasy–great characters, coming of age, dragons.

I love the way Adelaide finds her own solutions in a world that glorifies violence. And I love that these solutions don’t come instantly, but take some trial and error.

I’m not as thrilled with the way the story advocates for anything-goes sexuality, but I understand how that could feel completely reasonable in a world that so unreasonably limits a woman’s choices. When most restrictions are nonsensical, why should a person pay attention to any restrictions at all?

I get that modern sensibility says that if I’m uncomfortable with this, I’m the one with the problem, but I still believe there’s value in keeping sex within committed, long-term, (and yes, I’ll even say monogamous, relationships). Sex is a powerful thing, and easily abused–and just because it has been abused one way (a lot) in the past doesn’t mean that going to an opposite extreme is a great idea.

Despite my concerns in this area, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing was good; the characters well-rounded; the pacing and plot exciting. There were also some great bits of humor, and I enjoyed the world-building, which was very well done (though the language sometimes dropped out of the more formal usage that helped create the feel of an older-style society).

All in all, this was well worth a read. At some point, I’ll probably be reading the sequels.

Check the book out on Goodreads to see other people’s takes on this book.

Scarlet

This is book 2 in The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, and it’s every bit as good as Cinder. The story continues, with great new characters taking center stage. I love Scarlet’s loyalty and tenacity and Wolf’s fight to hang onto the good parts of his humanity. Thorne is fun, too. (Though I’m not sure I understand quite how much my daughter likes him.)

I totally understand K’s love for the series, though. I can’t wait to start on the next book. (Actually, I have to wait to start on the next book because I have actual, you know, work I have to get done, and once I get into these, I tend not to stop. Still, I’m very excited to get to the next book as soon as I can open up a time in my schedule that’s long enough for it.)

If you like YA science fiction and fantasy, and you haven’t read these yet, you really should.

Find Layla

I found this, strangely enough, when I was researching ways to format text messages in a book. (If you’re stressing about that, btw), this book does it seamlessly.

In the process of looking at the formatting, I got hooked on the story. Then I had to read the whole thing.

Find Layla chronicles a few days (maybe as much as two weeks) in the life of a brilliant teen who is raising herself and her younger brother in squalor as her mother struggles with drug addiction and possibly mental illness.

This book is a beautiful portrayal of the survival skills and savvy–as well as the trust issues–of a kid living the way kids should never have to live. I like the way Layla and those around her are shown with full nuance. Like real people, they’re not all good or all evil, but a mixture of both. And some of the most painful hurts Layla receives come not from active aggression towards her (though there’s that), but from the ignorance of people who care about her or who mean well.

This strikes me as very real. Almost too real. It’s hard to help teens who have been forced to survive on their own for far too long. This book at least helps people understand them.

Boxers & Saints

So, I’m not usually a graphic novel person, but every so often I run across something amazing. This is one of those things.

This is a story ripped from the pages of history–but not the history I learned in school. Why is that? well, because we didn’t do much Chinese history

I may have heard of the Boxer “rebellion” (can you really call it a rebellion when it’s local people trying to kick out foreigners?), but I certainly didn’t learn anything about its nuances when I was in school.

But this story tells the history from the perspective of two teens–one a Chinese Christian, one a “boxer” (think kung fu, not guys stripped to the waist and wearing leather mitts). It’s easy to relate to both. It’s easy to see how they take the paths they take. It’s easy to see how those paths collide.

And the artwork is incredible.

Read it. It’s absolutely worth the time.