Max and Benedict

Shhh! Don't anyone tell but I got this book for my pastor for Christmas.

Today I read and really enjoyed it. Personally I think it's better than Joseph and Chico, Ms. Perego's first children's book about Pope Benedict XVI. I'm not sure exactly why but I think because it doesn't read like a biography forced into a children's story. For me, Max and Benedict seemed to flow. It sounded like what it was, 'a bird's eye view of the Pope's daily life', a story told by a little bird about a gentle, quiet, scholarly man of the cloth.

My pastor (who doesn't want anyone to know what a nice guy he is) leaves bird seed just outside my office window most mornings. I know it's him because I've 'caught' him doing it a few times. A little bird must have told him I like to watch the birds ... or did he just catch me staring out the window so often he figured it out on his own? The secretaries tell me he'd planned to cut down the tree and bushes in our little shared courtyard sanctum and turn the area into office space. Now he's putting out birdseed?

Yes, we do need the office space, but we need that little bit of private nature even more.

I hope that Max in Jeanne Perego's charming little tale wins his heart and convinces him to keep the birds. Perhaps among all the birds feeding outside our windows, there is a little Max observing, singing and telling a story of our parish and the kind pastor who pretends to be so gruff ... but really isn't.

Read and share this sweet story. Thanks to my friend and the parish 'Cookie Monster' for the recommendation! And may you have a very Happy Birthday dear Lyn!

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Twilight

This review of Twilight is written by a concerned mother of teenage daughters for all conscientious mothers of teenagers. Whenever a popular new book – or series of books – comes out the question always arises, do we allow our child(ren) to read this book(s)? When our child(ren) are little, the decision(s) are easier; as they enter adolescence, it becomes more complicated.

When my own two, now 17 and 16, were young I was the local rating authority: a book had to pass the mommy-booklady rating system or it didn’t come home from the library or bookstore. As a homeschool mom I read – or tried to read – everything my kids read. I still try to keep up with that goal, especially where new books are concerned.

Twilight is a fantasy romance novel which has captivated teenagers and adults alike. Since it came out in 2005, it’s been on the New York Times bestseller list, won A Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, An Amazon “Best Book of the Decade . . . So Far” and – most ominously – A Teen People “Hot List” pick. So what’s all the fuss? What is the story?

The book’s back dust jacket lets you know that Edward is a vampire, who thirsted for ‘her’ (the female protagonist, Bella's) blood and yet ‘she’ was also in love with him. Hmmmm... When I first read this in a book store, I can’t say I was overly impressed. I tried reading Dracula a few years back and scared myself silly. Vampires are about the most terrifying of the scary ‘monsters’ in my book, no pun intended. I’ve read and cried over Frankenstein which is only frightening in the sense that it’s about unrequited love; the ‘monster’ has the basic longing for love from his creator and/or desire for a mate, neither of which can be fulfilled. Dracula on the other hand is about ‘real’ vampires—the kind who only feed on human blood, turn into bats, must be killed by a dagger through the heart, etc.

The author of Twilight, Stephanie Meyers, a young, thirty-three year old mother of three, hasn’t read the classic horror novel and says she can’t read about ‘real’ vampires. According to her, her vampires aren’t ‘real’.

So what makes them ‘unreal’? What makes this fantasy story featuring those infamous creatures of the undead different? Or is it? It was questions such as these which prompted me to want to read and review Twilight; that and the fact my daughter handed me the book when she finished it. Since she is at that age where I have to begin to allow her to make choices about her own reading material, the best thing I can do is read – and discuss – her books along with her, hopefully guiding her and insuring she makes well-informed choices. That’s what I did and this review is the result.

When I began to read Twilight I was first struck by its ordinariness. It is set in modern day Arizona and Washington state and revolves around a teenager, Bella, who moves to the small town of Forks, WA, to live with her father upon the remarriage of her mother; once there she meets Edward Cullen and his unusual and exquisitely beautiful family. Meyers is a voracious reader and it shows in her writing; it flows. Twilight is light, readable and even though there is very little action in the first half of the book, I found myself pleasantly entertained. Up until about the middle of the book, I had no serious objections to the book. The language is clean, the situations are appropriate and compared to most books/movies today, I could easily give the book a solid “G” rating. All in all it reminded me of an up-to-date retelling of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ with a twist. Edward is good. He cares for Bella. He ‘saves’ her time after time: from himself, from her, from circumstances and even from other vampires. And best of all, Edward and his family are vampire vegetarians, i.e., they refrain from drinking human blood and live off of animals instead.

However. And yes, there is a however. And here it is. Call me an old fuddy-duddy but even on the inside of the front dust jacket, we read that the book is “deeply seductive” and it is. There is a day when Bella lies to everyone to sneak off to be alone with Edward. She knows what she is doing is both wrong and dangerous, yet she does it anyway. Okay. Lots of books contain situations where young people make similar poor choices; Twilight isn’t the first, nor will it be the last, book to offer such ideas to young people. And do they even need to get their ideas from books anyway? In this particular example, Bella is fortunate and nothing ‘bad’ happens. Meyer’s writing keeps the story on the knife-edge of suspense allowing Bella to safely enjoy her innocent tryst with Edward with no unfortunate consequences. Nevertheless, Bella is playing with fire. In the story, Bella is alone with a vampire who desires her very much. She has voluntarily walked into a dangerous situation which even Edward cautioned her against. In real life, young readers of Twilight walk into similar situations every day with young men far less honorable than Edward. As a hundred year old vampire who presumably really does love his beloved, he has lived long enough and seen enough to know what havoc his passions can unleash.

Can as much be said for most young seventeen year old males? Can as much be said for any of us?

Although Edward was born in 1901, as an immortal vampire, he looks like any other teenage boy, only incredibly more beautiful. Bella is captivated by him. Stephanie Meyers, the author, even admits that she was in love with her character as she wrote the book. Can any young, impressionable, hormonal, adolescent girl fail to be swept away by page after page of romantic descriptions of his overwhelming good looks?

I don’t even deny to falling ‘under the spell’ of Edward and Meyer’s writing a bit myself—and I usually tend to abhor the romance genre. It is seductive. I include this information because this is a review for parents and in particular parents of young teens.

My going-in concerns about Twilight were centered on vampires. I have deliberately stayed away from the issues of Holy Scripture and the forces of Evil – which I very much believe in – because other reviewers before me have already dealt with these issues and this review is turning into a book as it is. Instead, I would just like to point out the moral dangers of reading too many books of this sort. Young minds are incredibly vulnerable. As a responsible parent, I would exercise great caution where Twilight is concerned. Presumably you know your child better than anyone else. Unless your daughter (or son) is extremely mature, I would strongly discourage anyone under sixteen from reading this book. Whatever your decision, read Twilight for yourself first and then -- if you decide to let your child read it -- be sure to discuss it together.

The lack of a rating is deliberate. With the release of the movie, Twilight, two weeks ago a resurgence in popularity of the book can be expected.

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A Vet's Reflections

When they ask the veterans to stand in church – and other public places – I never like to. My children give me a hard time about this. “You’re a vet too, Mom. Why don’t you stand up? You aren’t ashamed of it, are you?” On the contrary, I think serving our country is one of the finest things a person can do, but like James Bradley in Flags of Our Fathers, I don’t think I did anything special. Except of course that he really did do something special and I, on the other hand, know that I didn’t. I just did my job and for that I received a paycheck. It was a simple economic exchange, just like any other job.

But is that true?

Do I really know that? And is any job, just ‘a job’? Isn’t everything we do, how we do it, far more than what we do?

One of the first things I learned as a young lieutenant is that I rarely got recognized, much less noticed, the times I went all out, but I sometimes received awards and notice when I hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. I suppose that knowledge could have made me cynical, but I decided to look at it pragmatically, figuring there is some sort of rough justice in it all and we don’t work for awards anyway. We work for the certain knowledge it’s the right thing to do. We work for God . . . and country. In other words, we follow the first and second commandments.

I had the distinct pleasure of serving my country from 1979 through 1991, through the Cold War, Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I spent nine of my thirteen years of active service overseas and while it was far from glamorous or glorious, I never dreamed how much I would miss it when it was all over. The camaraderie is like nothing you will ever find elsewhere, the opportunities to learn –and fail—are endless, as are the chances to try new things, go all over the world and yet truly find what you are made of inside. The military was the best choice I could have made right out of college and I have no regrets, except that I didn’t do more for my country. I was – am – far too selfish. I was told that I needed to “watch out for myself”, to protect myself from ‘the system’. Perhaps I did. But, God save us from an entire unit, squadron or more of individuals with that attitude.

Today my daughters’ school had a nice tribute to Veterans. The Junior R.O.T.C. stood in formation, the colors were brought in, some decorated Vets were given special honors and the choir sang a medley of the military service songs. And when the familiar words were sung, “Off we go, into the wild blue yonder…” I stood up. I can’t tell you how proud I am—of my country, and how blessed I know myself to be—to have served her in this small way. But mostly, I am grateful to all who have worn and continue to wear the United States military uniform.

God bless the men and women serving on active duty, their families and the country we are all blessed to live in!

Here are the first verses (and refrains where applicable) of each of the military services’ songs:

U.S. Air Force
Off we go, into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun.
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys, give 'er the gun.
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one hell-uv-a roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame,
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force.


U.S. Army
First to fight for the right,
And to build the nation's might.
And the Army goes rolling along.
Proud of all we have done,
Fighting until the battle's won.
And the Army goes rolling along.

Then it's Hi! Hi! Hey!
The Army is on its way,
Count off the cadence loud and strong
For where'er we go,
You will always know,
That the Army goes rolling along.


U.S. Coast Guard
From Aztec shore to Arctic zone,
To Europe and Far East.
The flag is carried by our ships,
In times of war and peace.
And never have we struck it yet,
In spite of foe-men's might,
Who cheered our crews and cheered again,
For showing how to fight.


U.S. Marine Corps
From the halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We will fight our country's battles
In the air, on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean.
We are proud to claim the title of,
United States Marines.


U.S. Navy
Stand, Navy, out to sea, fight our battle cry;
We'll never change our course,
So vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y
Roll out the TNT, Anchors Aweigh. Sail on to victory
And sink their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!

Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to college joys, we sail at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night on shore, drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more. Here's wishing you a happy voyage home.

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Bambi and Thumper . . .

. . . really do exist.

The July Book Blowout Wrap-up

Sadly folks, booklady did not make her goal of 8 books. In fact, she did not even come close! However, I did manage to finish 4 adult books and 2 young adult books, plus a whole bunch of little kid's books. And I've been working on some pretty tough non-fiction for my two on-line Catholic book clubs, one of which I'm moderator for. So, maybe . . . it's not as bad as it sounds?

Anyway, here are some questions Mrs. S posted that we could answer about the Book Blowout. I've put her questions in red and my answers in black.

1. Did you discover a new author? Yes, I did as a matter of fact! Her name is Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and she writes excellent young adult historical fiction! She also happens to be my friend on goodreads!!! How lucky can a booklady be?!

2. Where was the most unusual place you found yourself reading? Can't really say I read anywhere unusual...just all the same places: in bed, sitting in chairs, waiting in my car, at the kitchen table and well, of course in the official "Reading Room"!

3. Did you read more than usual? Yes! I found the challenge of having a deadline helped keep me a little more focused. Not a lot--but a little.

4. Did you give up anything in order to read more? Housework?! Does that count as something to 'give up'? LOL!

5. If you won the Amazon voucher what would you spend it on? Silly question! Books...is there anything else?!

6. Would you like to see a 2009 Book Blowout? Absolutely!

Loved it! Thanks Mrs. S! Call me or stop by next time you're having another book challenge of any kind!

'Children and War' Books

When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. ~~African proverb

Children and war? Surely not?! Sadly, yes! When we think of war, we want to think of ‘over there’, men and machines, not children and certainly not our children. But the reality is just the opposite. Children are war’s first and most devastated victims. They are used as barter, soldiers, and human bombs. They are tortured, raped, killed, and left homeless, orphaned, and dead. Children are the greatest sufferers when adults ‘play’ war.

What can we do? Many things certainly, but most of them are beyond the scope of this blog article. Here I would just like to point out some excellent books I have recently run across which deal very sensitively and poignantly with the subject of children and war. By reading these books ourselves and to our children, we can raise the level of awareness of the destructiveness of war—what it does to individuals, families, communities and nations. We can educate our children about the seriousness and the reality of war. Wars are not just somewhere else, happening to people we don’t care about and will never meet. When people kill each other, it affects all of us. When whole cities are burned down and great works of art destroyed, all of humanity suffers the loss.

Also I would like to put out a call for others to let me know when they find other books about children dealing with the effects of war by posting comments here.

I will be listing the four books I have selected in age appropriate order.

The first book is The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter. In this book – suitable for even the youngest child –a very enterprising librarian saved most of her city’s books from utter destruction when the invasion of Iraq reached Basra on April 6, 2003. This is a very gentle introduction to the realities of a current war which can be safely read to even toddlers without too much fear of nightmares. (Parental discretion still advised!) The pictures are bright and colorful and there is usually no more than a sentence or two per page. It teaches the lesson about respect for personal property, something every two year old is very interested in.



Silent Music, A story of Baghdad by James Rumford doesn’t seem at first glance to be a story about war and that may be the best approach to take in reading to our children about difficult subjects. In Silent Music, the little boy, Ali, who lives in Baghdad, loves to write his letters. He seems to love to write as much as yours truly likes to read. Perhaps my readers have some personal passion they can relate to? Ali describes the feel and beauty he experiences when he draws his Arabic script; sometimes the letters are flowing easily, other times they are stiff and awkward. But always, he has the sense that he is making ‘silent music’ with his letters. Then one night he uses his writing to get himself through the bombing of his city. He notes how easy it is to write the word ‘war’ and how difficult to write the word ‘peace’, shalom. How ironic.

The third book I chose, Aram’s Choice is a book for older children, due to its length and text; it is twelve chapters and sixty-nine pages. It deals with the aftermath of the World War I. Aram and his grandmother are the sole survivors from his family of the Armenian genocide by the Turks. The story begins in Corfu, Greece in 1923 and Aram is twelve; he and his grandmother have already fled Anatolia, Turkey and taken shelter here. Now Aram has been offered the opportunity for a new life in Canada, but he doesn’t want to leave his grandmother to go so far away. The book is about beginning again, but not forgetting, learning to let go, but to treasure what was good and is now good. It's a beautiful story—both in the text and the illustrations. Not many books that I'm familiar with have dealt with this first atrocity of the twentieth century and certainly there are few for children. Most highly recommended!

And now for my favorite! Even though I enjoyed the other three books very much, this last one touched me most deeply. Perhaps it is because it is set in my own country, I do not know. It could be that, but I think it is the book itself and the author’s mystical writing style. For one thing, the text is written as if it were verse, which gives it an almost poetical feel. You will see what I mean when you open the cover. And then there is Kek, himself, the little Sudanese refugee who has come to America on the ‘flying boat’ but finds living here ‘hard work’ due to cold ‘like claws on skin’, sun that ‘burns your eyes’, dead trees, and no cows. Poor Kek is a fish out of water in our technological civilization. He is used to green, warmth, livestock and free movement; he has come to white, cold, metal and confinement. But Kek is known as a boy who ‘finds sun when the sky is dark’ and indeed he does find and make his way in this strange new world. As the story progresses you see the beauty and perfection in Applegate’s title, Home of the Brave.

Please do check out these books. In the war for the safety of our children, these are winners. I owe thanks for finding all these marvelous books to my favorite librarian friend from goodreads, Krista the Krazy Kataloguer! Thanks a million, Krista—keep those recommendations coming!

P.S. It only just dawned on me that this might be taken as a 'political statement' rather than as a blog post offering excellent books which gently introduce and teach our children about a difficult and yet very important subject. I am not trying to say or even imply that wars are never necessary; I served in the United States Air Force from 1979-1991 achieving the rank of major before I took an early retirement to stay home with my children. I know the value of our military forces and that wars can be just, valid and essential to world stability and overall peace. But as a mother, I'm also mindful of what happens to children during wartime.

Stargirl

by Jerry Spinelli

She doesn’t wear make-up and takes her pet rat with her wherever she goes. She wears floor-length dresses or overall shorts. She carries a large canvas bag with a life-size sunflower on it. She plays her ukulele and sings in the middle of the high school lunch room! She calls herself ‘Stargirl’ and she distributes candy, cheers for anyone for any reason and reads newspapers looking for people she can help. She’s in 10th grade but she’s been homeschooled until now. As the kids say, “maybe that explains it.” But does it?

In Jerry Spinelli’s young adult story, Stargirl, this whirlwind of a Christlike-catalyst descends on Mica Area High School and Leo Borlock one year and neither will ever be the same again. Stargirl burns brightly but like all stars—and stories—she has a life-span. Leo has to make a very important decision before the end of the year. It’s a haunting story about group-think, and agape-love, growing-up, and porcupine ties. Treat yourself to a wonderful experience: read Stargirl!


****

The Story of Ferdinand

by Munro Leaf

There aren’t a lot of story books I remember from my childhood. Neither because my dear mother didn’t read to me, nor because she didn’t drive me to the library faithfully every two weeks so this bookgirl could check out her weight in books, but simply because I have such a faulty memory.

There were plenty of books which came back to me over the years as I read to my own daughters and other children. The Story of Ferdinand is one of the few stories I never forgot; I think that's because of what the story is about.

When I was teaching religious education a few years back and searching for books to teach morality to children I ran across it again. The distributor advertized the book as teaching mildness, peacefulness and how to get along well with others. ‘Ah! Just the book I’m looking for’, I thought, ‘it will be perfect for my class lesson on charity and love.’

Then I reread Ferdinand at the Library—after maybe forty years? I remembered why I liked it so much and I knew why it was one of the few books from my childhood I’d remembered. Ferdinand is a bull—a bull who doesn’t like to fight.

On the surface, Ferdinand is about peacefulness. But more importantly, I think it’s about different-ness. As I read the story, it seemed more to tell a story about someone who dared to be different, regardless of social norms.

So long as Ferdinand was safe at home, his eccentricities were protected by his compassionate mama, but when an act of nature led him away from his home environment, Ferdinand found himself in a predicament.

It’s an incredibly sweet story with a simplistic ending. And yet, its winsome appeal still charms me today. It can be read to a child as young as 2, but will be treasured by this booklady (God willing) for years to come .

****

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

by John Boyne

Started: 1 November 2007
Finished: 2 November 2007

It seems appropriate, although it was not intentional, I began this book on the Feast of All Saints and ended it on the Feast of All Souls. I wish I could explain why it is so perfect, but to fully appreciate that you'll just have to read the book.

This is a profound and simple work of juvenile fiction . . . well it is classified as juvenile anyway, although I'm skeptical that it really is juvenile. Ageless would be more like it.

My younger sister recommended and I tried to get it through our Metropolitan Library System. Amazingly they don't have it, so I bought a copy yesterday and couldn't put it down from the very first page.

Of course they aren't really pajamas; they are the prison garb of Auschwitz Concentration Camp inmates.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is the poignant story of two little nine year old boys, both born on the same day and living on opposite sides of a barbed wire fence which separates two very different worlds. One boy cannot get out; the other boy's father runs the camp. But when they meet at the fence, they are just little boys -- lonely and seeking a special friend in a big world they do not understand. As I read the story, I was nine again too.

I can't promise you a happy story, but then given the topic, you probably don't expect one. And anyway, we don't just read for pleasure. We also read to be moved--to have our heart enlarged by empathizing with what others have had to experience who have gone on before us. Burdens shared are burdens lightened? But mostly I just believe empathy is an enriching emotion.

I will be filling out a form to request our Library System get this book. It is soon to be made into a motion picture, so I suppose I could save myself the trouble, but some things are worth doing just because they're the right thing to do.

Read it! Thanks L'il Sis for the tip!

*****

PS I do so love to admit when I make a mistake! The OKC Metropolitan Library System did have this book! It was my error in looking it up which led me to the conclusion that they did not carry this book. When I went to request they order this book, they 'found' it for me and I am currently enjoying a nice slice of humble pie. Tasty! (10 November 2007)