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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Review: One Crazy Summer

One Crazy Summer

by Rita Williams-Garcia

The story of One Crazy Summer opens with three girls flying across the country to meet there mother. When I say "to meet," I do not mean "to meet up with." They are going to meet their mother for the first time in years--since she left them as babies and toddlers in the care of their father in Brooklyn. After a long flight from New York to San Francisco, the girls find themselves face to face with the woman who chose to leave, and this is where the "crazy summer" begins.

We hear this story in Delphine's practical and no-nonsense voice. At eleven-years-old, she is the eldest sister and has basically been the mother her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern never had. Delphine is serious and dignified and often must be the peacemaker between her sensitive little sisters. But what makes Delphine such an engaging protagonist is that every now and then, her kid side comes through. It is heartbreaking because you realize that even though she has taken charge in her mother's absence, it is only because someone had to. Delphine needed (and still needs) a mother just as badly as her little sisters, but as the oldest, she had to step up and be there for her sisters.

This isn't just your average coming-of-age, mother-daughter story, though. Did I mention that it is set in 1960s Oakland, California at the peak of the Black Panther movement? Definitely not your typical middle-grade/young-adult story setting. It soon becomes clear that Cecile (Delphine, Vonetta and Fern's mother) is involved in the movement in some mysterious way. In fact, on their first morning in California, Cecile sends the girls to the Black Panther day camp, where they encounter ideas and personalities that they have never faced before. It is fascinating to see the Black Panther activities through Delphine's eyes. She starts out suspicious, but soon Delphine (along with the reader) starts to see that the Black Panthers are about a lot more than the violence that the news and media (both then and now) portray them to be. One thing is for sure: that "crazy" summer is to be a summer of change--in Delphine, in her mother, in the world.

This is excellent writing about a part of American history that is rarely represented in historical fiction--especially for the under-twenty set. It's great for readers who think they don't like the historical fiction genre because the setting is not oppressive to the story. It provides the perfect frame to a moving story about a girl learning to want a mother's love again after years of having to deal without it.

One Crazy Summer

by Rita Williams-Garcia

Release date:

Newbery Honor, 2011

Things to think about as you read One Crazy Summer:

-Setting (Notice how the historical setting/situation are used to enhance the tension in the story)

-Character development (The characters change a lot over the course of the story. What does this show/teach?)

-Symbolism (What objects and belongings are important? Do they possibly have symbolic meaning? What feelings or ideas might these objects represent?)

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Review: Grounded

Grounded

by Kate Klise

Who would ever guess that a story about a young girl losing her father, brother and sister to a horrible plane crash could be so full of laughs? Yes, Grounded explores the aftermath of a horrible loss, but by its end, you realize that it is not really a story about death. It's a story about what it means to be alive. It's about the people who are left behind when tragedy strikes (Daralynn and her mother, in this case) and how they have to drag themselves up and back into life no matter how much the hurt drags them down.

Daralynn Oakland is a twelve-year-old tomboy living in the tiny southern town of Digginsville (population 402!). The story begins when she and her tough-as-nails mother Hattie find out that Daralynn's father, 16-year-old brother and 7-year-old sister have all been killed in a plane crash. The only reason Daralynn wasn't along for the ride was because she was (as the title hints) grounded. Daralynn and her mother--a proud and reserved woman--have always butted heads, and Daralynn had been grounded that day because she had run off to the lake to fish without letting her mother know where she was going. Daralynn already thought her mother's leash was short before her father, brother and sister's death, but once Daralynn is the only child left, her mother won't let her out of her sight.

At first, I had a bit of a hard time warming up to Grounded. I wasn't sure what to make of the casual tone used for such a sad situation. Also, many of the characters of Digginsville felt a bit like caricatures--Daralynn's flashy Aunt Josie, for example, in her too-tight clothing and too-bright lipstick. But Daralynn's genuine and straight-forward voice kept me reading. Soon I began to realize that Daralynn's seemingly emotionless tone when talking about the deaths was not bad writing--it was part of Daralynn's character. Much like her mother, Daralynn is not one to wear her heart on her sleeve. She and her mother are proud and not about to make a slobbery, blubbering mess of themselves in front of everyone. Daralynn and her mother cope with their tragedy in their own way.

For Daralynn, this means throwing herself into investigating Digginsville's mysterious newcomer, Mr. Clem. Mr. Clem has opened the town's first crematorium--that's right, a place where they cremate people. He cozies up to Daralynn's beloved Aunt Josie awfully quick and Daralynn decides she needs to figure this guy out. Through her investigation, which she journals about in letters addressed to her dead family members, Daralynn slowly starts to face the sad reality of her "A.C." life, as she calls it (life "After the Crash").

Daralynn is tough and observant, and she describes the oddball characters of her town with the serious tone of a news reporter. This provides a lot of humor since so many of the people of Digginsville are so quirky.

But while Daralynn's "investigation" provides humor and suspense, this story is really about a mother and daughter trying to find each other through the fog of a deeply tragic loss. I am a sucker for mother-daughter stories. Hattie just doesn't seem to understand her daughter, and what's worse is that for much of the book, she doesn't seem interested in trying to. This story is about the danger of letting a sad event harden your heart. As I read on, I found myself willing Hattie to open her eyes and see her daughter there in front of her, needing her. Losing those we love can so easily make us want to never take the risk of loving again, but as wacky Aunt Josie says, "Everybody needs somebody to take care of them, and it's the taking care of that makes us sweet" (p. 30). Grounded shows that no matter how many times your heart gets broken, it's always worth letting yourself care again.

Grounded

by Kate Klise

Release date: November, 2010

Things to think about as you read Grounded:

-Foreshadowing

-Tone

-Character development (How do the characters--Daralynn, her mother, etc.--change as the story goes on?)

-Setting (How does the setting--small southern town in the 1970s--add to the story?)

-Dark humor

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Review: Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool

My only regret after finishing Moon Over Manifest is that I didn't read it while sitting on a gently swaying porch swing, sipping ice-cold lemonade, swatting away the occasional mosquito as a harmonica played and a steam engine sounded its passing in the distance. Reading this book is like stepping back in time, and as I came to the last lines, it was bittersweet to know that I was about to leave that world behind.

Moon Over Manifest is the story of tough and independent Abilene Tucker. At the beginning of the story, Abilene saunters into the seemingly dull Kansas town of Manifest. She is settling down (not by her own choice) for the first time in a childhood spent on the road. Well, on the rails, actually. During the Great Depression of the 1930's, many jobless men resorted to a life of hitching rides on the railroads, going from town to town in search of work. Abilene and her father, Gideon, were two such "hobos"--an unusual background for a girl of twelve, to say the least.

From the moment she arrives in Manifest, Abilene is counting down the days left in the summer. She can think of nothing but the day when Gideon, who has sent her there alone, will come to take her back out on the rails with him. But it doesn't take long for doubt to set in. Is Gideon coming back? Why has he sent her to this town? Abilene knows that he spent time here before she was born, but when she tries to learn more from the people she meets in Manifest, she gets nothing but cryptic answers and dead-ends. But whether Gideon is coming back for her is not the only mystery she has to deal with. Abilene seems to be a magnet for secrets, eerie events and strange coincidences. A threatening note leads Abilene to begin scraping at Manifest's sleepy surface and she soon discovers that underneath, Manifest is a town with a dramatic past.

A rail-riding, twelve-year-old girl makes for a very unique protagonist. Abilene's voice is strong and steady, but just when she starts to seem a little too grown-up, she reveals the fears and doubts that are underneath her big talk. Abilene is the perfect heroine for a mystery. She's a fearless investigator, a careful listener, and an unabashed snoop.

In addition to bringing us a likable and original heroine in Abilene, Clare Vanderpool does an excellent job of making her book impossible to put down. The story moves back and forth between Abilene's life (Manifest, 1936) and glimpses of the past (Manifest, 1917), through stories told by the medium Miss Sadie and through letters and trinkets found underneath the floorboards of Abilene's room. Vanderpool transitions into these flashbacks so enticingly that you can't help but read on. All this past week, my eyelids sagging, I would try my darnedest to find a good stopping point, but when I saw that the end of the chapter was leading into a new flashback, I just couldn't bring myself to close the book. I needed to know what new secrets would be revealed, so I kept reading on, no matter the time. (For a teacher, on a school-night, that's saying a lot!)

While Moon Over Manifest is an excellent mystery, this is really just a clever disguise. At its heart, this is a story about family and community and what it means to make a home. It's also a story about...well, stories. Everyone in Manifest has a story, and there is something sacred in their tellings. As Miss Sadie's stories of old Manifest become more and more frequent, Abilene realizes that "As much as I had a need to hear her story, she had a need to tell it. It was as if the story was the only balm that provided any comfort" (p. 154). As the summer creeps on, Abilene realizes what an honor it is to have been invited, not just into the stories of the people of Manifest, but into their lives. In this novel, Clare Vanderpool both celebrates and demonstrates the magic of a well-crafted story. Now, go pour yourself a glass of lemonade and get to reading it!

Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool

Release date: October, 2010

Newbery Medal Winner, 2011

Things to think about as you read Moon Over Manifest:

-Mood and setting

-Narrator, tone and voice

-Foreshadowing

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