Good Reads

Books to Feed the Soul-A Pocketful of Miracles

/ still a dreamer

PocketfulOfMiraclesIt is often said that when the pupil is ready the teacher appears. I believe that said teacher can also be in the form of a book by an inspiring author. So in addition to whatever novel, picture books, etc. I am reading at any given time, I am also reading a book of a metaphysical/inspirational nature. I find checking in with this book on a quasi-daily basis helps me keep my balance in a terribly hectic schedule, and where I am always trying to find time for my writing and illustrating.

The most recent teacher to appear is Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.,  a scientist, psychologist and mystic whose “guiding vision is to bridge medicine, psychology and the great spiritual traditions of the ages.” A Pocketful of Miracles was sitting on the front sale table at my local library when I most recently returned some books. It wasn’t there 2 weeks ago, and I remember Borysenko’s name as being in the  bibliography of Sarah Ban Breathnacht’s Simple Abundance, another favorite of mine. Could I not pick it up?

Pocketful of Miracles is a perpetual calendar kind of book, divided into seasons in the tradition of much spiritual thought. Each day offers a  seed thought and a prayer or practice. What has enticed me most is the weaving of the world’s great spiritual traditions, with the goal of bringing peace first in our own souls, and then peace and compassion to all on earth. I’m enjoying randomly letting the book fall open and finding my wisdom for the day, or turning to today’s date’s page.

The beauty of keeping going a book of this sort, is that it is always there, always ready to share the wisdom of its author, and should another teacher come along, it will always be waiting when the time is right once again for me to open its pages. I’ve temporarily put aside Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life by Wayne Dyer, a study of the Tao, as that will always be waiting as well.

A small amount of time spent each day journaling and soaking in some of the wisdom that feeds a soul helps me keep my balance in an often overly-demanding life. And I’m looking forward to A Pocketful of Miracles being my new teacher for now.

Middle Grade and Young Adult Reading/Writing

/ still a dreamer

In my search to learn more about writing on the middle grade level, I made a list of titles that have won Newbery Medals as the logical place to begin my education. As the ALA site does not break the titles down by MG or YA, some of the selections I made turned out to be YA. I figured it was all good, and went for what appealed most. And I have a number of books with some good pointers for me.

I read the following – Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff , Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Clay by David Almond, Dogsong by Gary Paulsen, A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, and now Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. Each of these books is extraordinary and deserves a write-up of its own. And all are very powerful in their own way. What I noticed in the first four is that part of their power comes from being written in the first person. A Single Shard is historical fiction, and along with Dogsong and Island of the Blue Dolphins, (an older title),  is about a way of life that is unique to their subjects and opened up new worlds to me, particularly A Single Shard.

I am a fan of David Almond, but have to say that with Clay, he has taken another step beyond the unknown, metaphysical or otherworldly, and was frightening even me. I believe a young YA reader HollisWoods-PRGiff2will be frightened as well, but it is impossible to put the book down. So in Clay, I might not be finding quite what I’m looking for – I don’t think. Then again, I do have an evil antagonist, so perhaps I may reconsider.

Of all these books, I am most drawn to Pictures of Hollis Woods. What attracts me is the suspense, the easy identification with the main character, Hollis, and the continuous alternation of the character’s current story with pictures she has painted which tell, little by little, the story of why she most recently ran away. The story lines join in the end, building up a tremendous suspense and a great ending. What I’ve found in this book is something I want to learn as I, too, have 2 story lines in my tale that must intertwine.

There’s a lot to think about, and while I allowed myself to completely immerse myself in the books while reading them, in the aftermath I see that they are teaching me and helping me with my writing. It is what the editor and agents we meet continue to recommend – read, read read in our genre. Clearly, it can only enrich our writing.

Full-Frontal Snogging – Humor on the YA Bookshelf

/ still a dreamer

Snogging-LRennisonHere’s the full title – Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging – confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison. (Yeah – a tad too long for a post title!) My last trip to my local library had my very wonderful librarian, Jennifer, suggest a book to me in addition to my list of MG and YA titles. So far her suggestions have been great, and this book is no exception. I am writing this very short post to recommend this book to you if you read/enjoy YA. Written in diary format, Georgia, who is British, writes about her life and its typical teenage issues, which are not nearly so racy as the title would suggest. But funny. Very funny.

The author has a great sense of humor and a witty, sarcastic style – I had not expected that I would be laughing out loud by page 7! And it’s only gotten funnier. So if, in all your readings, you could use a change of pace and a little laughter, do pick up snogging – couldn’t we all use a laugh?

p.s. Hmmm – something else I did not expect – it’s 5 days since I started this book, and as cute and funny as it is, it’s not holding my attention halfway through. There’s nothing getting me terribly curious about what’s going to happen, and sadly, I’m not now convinced I’m going to care all that much. I’m thinking this is one of those YA books that really may have much more appeal to its intended age group. So I’ve put snogging aside, and have picked up Newbery winner, A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park, which sounds much more engaging.

Dogsong – Gary Paulsen

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

Dogsong-GPaulsen2There are times when I’ve finished a book, that I don’t quite know where to put it. In my head, that is. The book is so different from anything I’ve read, that it seems to be searching for a place to settle in my mental bookshelf, and meanwhile, it seems to hover in space.

Dogsong by Gary Paulsen is one of those books. It might be best defined  as a coming-of-age story where a 14 year old Inuit boy, Russell, restless in his own life, searches to find himself. In so doing he moves in with an elder where he is taught how to hunt, run the dogs and survive. And then he lives it, gradually becoming one with his dogs. This is an oversimplification and doesn’t do justice to the nuances in the story, so let me just say it was a very compelling read.

Perhaps why it hasn’t settled in yet is that it is a vignette of a life so totally different from my own or even what I could imagine an Eskimo tribe’s life in Alaska might be, that there is not a real frame of reference for it in my head. And yet, I could not help but be in the trance with Russell, in the dream, to merge with the spirits of the dogs, as he trekked blindly in the snow for days, never seeing a single soul or a source of food.

I read up on Gary Paulsen the author of Dogsong plus a good bunch of other MG and YA novels he has written. I suspect these have the greatest appeal to boys, but maybe not. Paulsen ran away from home at 14, and his life – he is now around 70 – has been a series of amazing adventures in all kinds of situations and locations. Among his experiences has been living in Alaska where he has run the Iditarod twice. And while I am no fan of the Iditarod because of the suffering of too many of the dogs, Paulsen has truly lived that life in Alaska so as to have written this book from a deeply authentic perspective. I have to truly admire Paulsen for how he has lived his life; he’s humble, adventurous beyond what I could imagine, and just … well … very real.

Reading about him explained a lot about the book in a way; my personal connection with dogs/animals deepened the meaning; my willingness to try “living” in such a different culture helped. Soon Dogsong will find a place and settle in.

Perusing my bookshelves once again led me to one of my many finds at the annual county library sale and to as different a book from Dogsong as I could get – one by Candace Bushnell of  Sex and the City fame. I loved the series, never read the book, but figured how far wrong could I go? We’ll see …

Alice Hoffman – Local Girls

/ still a dreamer

LocalGirls-AliceHoffmanOne of the things I love about reading Alice Hoffman is that I never know quite what to expect with the exception of one thing – I will be deeply moved by her story. I find Hoffman’s writing brilliant in her ability to take us so penetratingly into her characters, characters who are not heroes, but neighbors we see every day yet whose lives we  barely know. Local Girls takes us into the midst of a family who struggles with pain and loss, and whose characters cling to the idea of surviving it, or in some cases, succumb.

The local girls are Gretel Samuelson and her best friend Jill, who lives around the corner. They are teenagers no different than our own  or those who live next door, struggling to find where they fit, and in their case, how to manage life in the face of parents who are stricken with cancer, are mentally ill, or who have abandoned them. We watch, with Gretel, her mother Francine’s sinking into depression after the father walks out and at the same time faces the return of her cancer. We watch Jill’s mother, a minor character, being given shock therapy for her own depression until she appears as vapor, using one of Hoffman’s desecriptions.

Gretel does her best to stand by her mother, but her own confusion,  typical for her age then compounded by the pain in her family, causes her to fall in love with a boy who is terribly wrong for her. At the same time, Gretel’s brother Jason slips from an A+ student accepted to Harvard to a slow descent into drugs, unable to deal with the pain in any other way. Margot, Francine’s cousin, lives nearby and is an integral part of keeping the family on track in whatever way she can. Despite her own sadness at being left by her husband as well, she always believes in love. And then there’s Freida, Gretel’s grandmother, a strong figure, who strikes a deal with God to ler her daughter live and be taken herself.

Alice Hoffman is a writer who can pull this all off with humor, a striking depth of feeling, and an infusion of optimisn that is uniquely hers. Local Girls is the story of people you know, replete with pain, the fight to survive,  and larger-than-life portions of the grit of everyday living …. plus the touch of magic that is ever-present in all our lives if we are just open to it. I could not put this book down – for me, the mark of a great read. If you have known someone devastated by loss and fear who has plodded forward in spite of it, believing/not believing in a better day ahead; if you have been close to someone battling addiction, and their drive to numb the intensity of their pain; if you have watched women rise from the ashes and try one more time, then I suspect you’d like Local Girls.

I do find this story as much or more about Gretel’s family than the friendship of Gretel and Jill, yet ultimately it is their story we follow as circumstances take them in directions neither girl would have quite expected, yet may have secretly longed for.

And last but not least, Hoffman’s use of language is no less than exquisite. It is what brings a tale of everyday people in a simple suburban town to such rich and rewarding heights making Local Girls quite the amazing read.