Review: Museum of Thieves

Museum of Thieves

by Lian Tanner

SOOOOO GOOD! I know I could probably come up with a more savvy "hook" than that, but....THIS BOOK IS SOOOOO GOOD! Lian Tanner's Museum of Thieves blew me away. It is scary and dark and thrilling and inspiring and clever. But beyond being thoroughly entertaining, Museum of Thieves raises some very thought-provoking questions. It never ceases to amaze me how authors create elaborate fantasy worlds that on the surface seem to have nothing in common with ours, but soon are revealed to examine deep truths about the cultures and societies of our own humdrum world. Museum of Thieves is just such a book.

The story begins with one of the best, most-tension-filled opening scenes I have read in a long time. We are introduced to the city of Jewel. Ages ago, this land used to be filled with dangers (flood, kidnapping, murder, famine, plague, etc.), and it made the people fearful. A law was declared that all children under the age of 16 must be safely chained to an adult at all times. At home, children are connected to their parents by a "guardchain," and out in the world, they are connected to "Guardians" (who are basically like teachers/nannies/body-guards). But the times have changed, and Jewel's leader (the "Grand Protector") has become concerned about the power of the Guardians and their leader (the "Blessed Guardian"). The Grand Protector, much to the Blessed Guardian's dismay, has decided to lower the age of separation from 16 to 12. The book begins on this controversial "Separation Day," and Goldie, our bold and rebellious 12-year-old protagonist, is going to be the first one to have her chain removed. But (in one of the best introductions of a plot's conflict that I have read in a long time) suddenly, the Separation Ceremony is cancelled due to a mysterious explosion in the city. Panicked at the thought of having the freedom she longs for snatched away from her at the last moment, Goldie runs away, and so her adventure begins. She discovers the mysterious museum of the book's title and quickly learns that there is much more danger left in Jewel than anyone realizes.

This book is a genuine page-turner. As the end of each chapter drew near, I would promise myself that I would set the book aside and get some sleep, but when I got to the last line, I just couldn't bring myself to close the book. I had to keep going. Goldie is very likable--extremely bold and defiant but also frightened, at times, and unsure of herself. And she is surrounded by an entertaining posse of strange characters. The villains of the book are despicable and the moments of danger (which are many) feel extremely real and urgent.

But beyond being entertaining, there is a lot we can learn from Museum of Thieves, as it reveals truths about our own often-paranoid culture. The panicky, control-obsessed people of Jewel made me think of the ways we try to escape the necessary dangers of living life. I found myself thinking of security measures (in airports, and even in schools, etc) and people's willingness to trade their privacy (even dignity) to feel a little safer. Museum of Thieves shows that risk and danger are not something we can simply get rid of. They exist and are a part of life, and when you try to pretend they aren't, it only backfires--often in ways that are even more dangerous than you first feared.

Museum of Thieves

by Lian Tanner

Release date: September, 2010

Things to think about while reading Museum of Thieves:

-Symbolism (What might the museum represent?)

-Character development (How does Goldie change over the course of the book?)

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The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Review: A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time

by Madeleine L'Engle

One of my favorite questions to ask when trying to get to know someone is, "What were your favorite childhood books?" A misty look comes over the person's face, and they usually sigh a bit. They reach back into memory, and it's as if they are getting reacquainted with their younger self. Every reader has a few special books that stood out. Sometimes it is because you read the book at a particularly meaningful moment in your life, but more often than not, I think it's because there is something special about the book itself. Something at the heart of the book--a belief, a way of looking at the world--that fit perfectly with your own heart when you read it. And there are some books that have this effect more often than others. These are the books that come up again and again when I ask the "favorite childhood books" question; books like The Giver, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time is one of these books, but somehow, I completely missed it! I never read the "Time Quartet" as a kid, and I don't know how that happened, because they are exactly the kind of books I was drawn to. I have just finished reading A Wrinkle in Time (the first in the series) in a 48-hour spree. Actually, I think time may have "wrinkled" while I read it, the hours passing like minutes. I can't decide if I'm bummed to have missed out on it as a kid or glad to have been able to experience it for the first time as an adult. At any rate, it has plenty to offer to any age.

The book is extraordinary. It has all the elements of a classic fantasy--a misunderstood protagonist, dark forces at work in the world (or in this case, universe). It also has elements of science fiction that push the boundaries of our beliefs about time, space, matter, reality and the mind. It is deeply philosophical and spiritual, but there are also moments when it has the simple and homey tone of a fairy tale or bedtime story. So, it has something for pretty much everyone.

A Wrinkle in Time is the story of Meg Murry. At the beginning of the book, she feels like a complete misfit. The daughter of two genius-scientists, Meg is smart--perhaps too smart. She can't seem to play by the rules at school (memorizing facts, reciting the answers deemed correct by the teacher). She can't think "inside the box," and is forever doing things "wrong," being scolded by her teachers and then lashing out in frustration and landing herself in the principal's office. It certainly doesn't help that Meg's father disappeared mysteriously four years prior and everyone in town has come to the conclusion that he ran out on their family. Meg is sure her father didn't abandon them and she longs for the day that he will return.

Meg's only comfort is her family--especially her mother, who understands that Meg just needs to learn things in her own way, and her little brother Charles Wallace, who loves Meg unshakably and who, like her, is also misunderstood by the narrow-minded world.

As in any good fantasy/sci-fi story, strange events begin to occur. Meg and Charles Wallace (along with their new friend Calvin) meet the highly unusual Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, and learn that their father's only hope of escaping a sinister force that holds him captive ("IT") is for them to go on a wild and mind-boggling rescue mission through time and space.

This book stretched my mind around the concept of time travel in ways I never thought possible. And I loved watching Meg, so self-doubting and sullen at the beginning of the book, transform into a bold heroine by the story's end. She is flawed, like we all are, but it is through embracing her flaws and refusing to see her differentness as a weakness that Meg rises up as a leader. As complex as this story seems at times, it is really a story about the beauty of a complicated, diverse world and of love's ability to overcome all other forces.

A Wrinkle in Time is a thrill at any age. Next time it comes up in a conversation about someone's list of most-special-childhood-books, you'll find me sighing and misty-eyed right along with them.

A Wrinkle in Time

by Madeleine L'Engle

Release date: 1962

Newbery Medal Winner, 1963

Things to think about as you read A Wrinkle in Time:

-Internal and external conflict

-Protagonist

-Character development

You might also like...

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (see Ms. Wrenn's review)

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Review: When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead

Oh my goodness. My students were not kidding around when they recommended this one. When I asked them what we should do for a read-aloud together, several very eagerly recommended When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. What intrigued me was that they couldn't quite peg it as a particular genre. ("It's kind of realistic fiction...but also a fantasy...or sci-fi, maybe? But with mystery too--and it takes place in New York!") Any novel so clearly forging its own genre-path seemed worth a look. I vetoed it as a read-aloud (so many of the kids had already read it), but I made a mental note to check it out. It took me a while, but I finally got around to tracking it down at the bookstore. That was two days ago. Within 48 hours, I had read the book and--voila!--started this blog. (When a book causes you to inadvertently burst aloud, "This is AWE-some!" on a crowded subway car, well, you've just got to share it with people.)

My reading life was probably at its most passionate from the ages of 9-13, and this is a big part of why I love teaching what I do (6th grade Reading, Writing and Social Studies). During those years, I devoured books. Packing for summer camp was always a challenge because it involved an impossibly-heavy duffel bag of books, not one of which, I assured my mom, I could do without. Don't get me wrong, I was a reader through high school and college and continue to be, but there was nothing like the way I completely lost myself in the worlds of the books I read at that age. And even now, as a teacher, I am not nearly as well-versed in middle-grade literature (the teacher-y term we use for books aimed at this age-group) as I would like to be--especially the more recent additions.

Well, When You Reach Me has completely snapped me out of it! I was instantly sucked into this book and I cannot wait to explore more of what has been going on in the last decade of middle-grade reading (and go back and revisit some of my long-lost pals--The Giver, Bridge to Terabithia, Tuck Everlasting--sigh). BUT--don't let me get ahead of myself. Let's talk about When You Reach Me...

The book begins with eleven-year-old Miranda, speaking to a mysterious "you." This "you" has apparently instructed her (through an anonymous note) to write a letter that explains "what happened." This request has Miranda totally perplexed and more and more freaked-out with each event of the book. As the plot unfolds, Miranda realizes that the mysterious note-writer knows things that should be impossible to know. Is she being watched? Is she in danger? Who is leaving these strange notes?

But to make When You Reach Me sound like another thriller or mystery is just too simple. The real beauty of this novel was in the characters. Miranda is so real and likable. She is street-smart and vulnerable at the same time. The novel takes place in New York City (the upper west side) in the late 1970's, but it could easily take place today. In fact, Miranda reminded me constantly of many of my own city-kid students. She's so clever and independent, but, at the same time, loving and sensitive to the feelings of others (in spite of herself, at times). Still stinging from the sudden and confusing end of a deeply close friendship, there were so many moments when my heart hurt for her as she tried to regain her balance and move forward, making new friends, navigating the city and, all the while, trying to figure out those creepy notes. You can't help but like Miranda, and so you end up completely sucked into the mystery, trying to solve it with her.

This book pretty much has it all. It has a mind-boggling mystery, quirky characters, ongoing allusions to the classic A Wrinkle in Time, the heartache and excitement of moving from childhood to adolescence, a pretty fun throwback to the 1970's game show The $20,000 Pyramid, and beautiful moments that crack you wide open and feel like a flashlight landing on the heart of things. Here is one of the loveliest:

"Sometimes you never feel meaner than the moment you stop being mean. It's like how turning on a light makes you realize how dark the room had gotten. And the way you usually act, the things you would have normally done, are like these ghosts everyone can see and pretends not to."

(p. 144)

Miranda has a wisdom that sneaks up and surprises you at the unlikeliest of moments. So (in case you couldn't tell), I highly recommend When You Reach Me. It's a workout for the brain and the heart.

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead

Release date: July, 2009

Newbery Medal Winner, 2010

Things to think about as you read When You Reach Me:
-Foreshadowing
-Allusion
-Setting (both time and place)

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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex