The King's Arrow by Michael Cadnum

In The King's Arrow,  Michael Cadnum crafts a story set around a long ago event - the mysterious death of King William II in 1100 AD.

The novel opens with eighteen-year-old Simon Foldre out for a ride on the stallion Bel. The skittish and spirited stallion belongs to the horse breeder Swein who has suggested that Simon ride him before buying. 

Suddenly they see a man sprinting for his life out of the nearby New Forest. Simon recognizes him as Edric, a hunter but really considered a poacher for the illegal snares he set in the king's forest. Edric is being pursued by Prince Henry, King William II's brother, the royal marshal Roland Montfort carrying a javelin, and the royal huntsman Oin Fitzbigot.

As Edric races towards Simon and his manservant Certig, Bel suddenly runs towards him, blocking his path. Simon attempts to shield Edric, but Roland's javelin flies into the poacher's back, killing him. This act of cruelty stuns Simon who silently wonders, "Could you not have given him a lash or two, and sent him home?" 

Prince Henry thanks Simon for helping them to catch the poacher as Oin introduces Simon to the prince. He tells the prince that Simon would "make a good hunting companion to the king's friend Walter Tirel of Picardy." Simon is the only son of Fulcher Foldre, King William I's loyal swordsman who married the beautiful daughter of an English duke. Simon tells Prince Henry that his mother's father was Usher of Aldham, whose English family had lived on the lands for generations. However, Roland insults Simon.

It is 1100 A.D., thirty-five years after William the Conqueror had arrived in England with an army of knights and squires and defeated the English king, Harold I. The English landholders were forcibly removed from their land which was given to the Normans and the English aristocracy were replaced by the French-speaking Normans. The resulting bitterness led to rebellion by the towns in the north which was brutally put down by William the Conqueror. Farmsteads and villages were destroyed by William and his son continued his mastery over the country by giving his family and friends positions of power and allowing his men to take what they wished. The Norman conquerors did not learn English but the English learned to speak the language of their conquerors. Neither the English nor their Norman conquerors trust one another. There have been gradual social and political changes in the ensuing thirty-five years since the Norman conquest. Norman aristocrats and English noble families have intermarried, and some English noblemen have been given minor stewardships. 

Prince Henry mentions that since Walter Tirel was wanting to hunt with an English varlet who knows the woods, Simon might take on this task. Simon knows that to serve in this way, to help with the quiver and arrows and know is a wonderful opportunity. But he is also aware that there is tension between Roland and Walter whose forbearers had some sort of contention. Roland further insults Simon by telling the prince that they cannot allow the Count of Poix to be with an "English dog". Prince Henry agrees but allows his command to stand. However, in a show of Norman authority he simply takes the stallion Bel and the expensive tack telling Simon that this will ensure the king's permission that he can hunt with the royal party tomorrow. And so after being pricked by Roland's sword, Simon rode home on the sweet-natured Blackfire with Certig walking beside them. For Simon, this first day of August, the Feast of Peter in Chains was a day of misfortune.

Simon and Certig head back to Aldham Manor, the lime-washed house where he and his widowed mother live. Behind their house which was built many years ago by Simon's grandfather, lies Foldre Castle, built by his father, complete with a drawbridge. On their way home, they meet one of Simon's tenants, Plegmund who has an enormous load of oats on his oxen cart. Gilda Shipman, who along with her brother trade wheels of New Forest cheese across the channel for Low Countries linen, questions Simon as to her brother's mood. He tells her of Edric's murder by Roland Montfort and feels shame that he did not protect Edric. 

At home, Simon's mother, Widow Christina as she is called tells him that William drinks, that the eldest brother Robert is in Jerusalem on a crusade and that the younger brother Henry wants to be king. That very evening they are visited by Walter Tirel, Count of Poix, Bertram a guard who appeared to be a knight with his supple leather armour, and a young hearld named Nicolas. When Walter demands a horse like that "gifted" to William, Simon explains that the horse was neither a gift nor a purchase, not even his to give away. Walter quickly realizes that Simon and his mother are not "horse-rich" as the Marshal Roland claimed. Simon explains to Walter that Marshal Roland misled him to shame both Walter and Simon, neither of whom he likes. Walter attempts to give Simon gold to pay for the loss of a rooster and the horse and saddle that were taken, but Simon doesn't take it. Instead he tells Walter that Swein the horsebreeder will be pleased to accept the money and provide Walter with a horse. Walter tells Simon he will enjoy hunting with him.

Meanwhile Marshal Roland is on the hunt for conspirators hoping to take the throne. He and Prince Henry discuss the situation in London, each verbally parrying and testing the other.  Roland does not want the king to go hunting as he believes that there is a plot against the king's life. The next morning Simon rides out with Certig, carrying the well wishes of his mother, Christina. They see Gilda and her brother preparing their ship, Saint Bride to be taken out. They arrive at the royal lodge, an imposing building of stone arches, to find the king not yet up. Simon, dressed in a forest-green hunting cloak and riding his placid mare, Silk notes that there are many men. While they wait, they meet Walter Tirel's guard, the knight Bertram de Lis who tells them that the king is still asleep and that Prince Henry has ridden north on an urgent errand. He also tells Simon and Certig about how Walter Tirel murdered Count of Bologne for insulting Walter's brother, Nivard. From Walter they learn that the king may not go on with the hunt, that Prince Henry has been sent to London to investigate the reports of violence there.

After Roland repeatedly insults Walter Tirel, the latter suggests that King William follow through with the hung in New Forest, with his marshal, Roland Montfort as his valet. The hunting party enters New Forest and includes King William and his marshal, Roland Montfort, Walter Tirel and his varlet Simon along with is his guard Bertam, the huntsman Oin fitzBigot, Vexin of Tours. They wait for the appearance of the deer, who will mistake their grazing horses for a herd of deer. At the appearance of a magnificent stag, Walter lets fly a birch arrow. However it flies wide in an arc and Simon traces its path "to the green-shrouded figure groping towards the holly bush"  

Simon rushes towards the figure whom he believes is Roland Montfort, only to discover it is King William. Simon knows that not only is Walter Tirel now in grave danger but so is he. The king is first discovered by Marshal Roland but after he sounds the alarm, Simon fells him with a punch. Next on the scene is Vexin of Tours who flees in terror. Simon and Walter return to Certig, Nicolas and Bertram and they ride fast out of New Forest. Realization dawns on Simon that he might be blamed for the king's accidental death and he flees in terror from Walter. But Walter of Tirel manages to catch up to him and tells Simon that he will protect him. As they flee to the coast in the hopes of escaping with the help of Gilda and her brother Oswulf, Simon wonders just how much longer he has to live.

Discussion

The King's Arrow is a well-written historical fiction novel for young readers that is set thirty-five years after the Norman Conquest of England. After the death of the English king, Edward the Confessor in 1066 A.D., William Duke of Normandy invaded the country. Edward who was childless, had named William as his successor.

King William Rufus was William II, King of England from 1087AD to 1100 A.D.  He was the third son of  King William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. who ruled over Normandy. He was referred to as William Rufus likely because he had red hair. He had three brothers, Robert II Duke of Normandy, Richard, and Henry (who became King of England upon William's death). William never married and left no heirs. He was in conflict with the Catholic church but he had strong loyality from his soldiers as he was a brilliant military leader. He defeated Malcolm III, king of Scotland who invaded the lands ruled by William several times and was able to extend his rule over parts of Scotland. 

William died while on a hunting expedition with his brother, Henry in New Forest on August 2, 1100 A.D. after being shot in the lung by an arrow. His death and the circumstances surrounding it have been questioned throughout history. Hunting was a nortoriously dangerous sport and it is possible William's death was accidental. Others consider that it was an assassination by Henry who wanted to rule England. Henry became King Henry I after William's death. The man considered responsible was Walter Tirel, an Anglo-Norman nobelman. Tirel was part of a hunting party that included King William, William's younger brother Henry, Robert de Beaumont, Robert's brother Henry de Beaumont, Robert Fitzhamon, William of Breteuil, Tirel's brother-in-law Gilbert of Clare, and Gilbert's brother Robert of Clare. After William's death, Walter Tirel fled the country to his estates in Normandy. It will never be known what really happened on that day in the New Forest.

Author Michael Cadnum uses these events as the backdrop for his novel, The King's Arrow. The novel is divided into five parts: One: The Javelin's Song,  Two: Kingdom of Fire, Three: Blood Royal,  Four: The King's Arrow,  and Five: Chase End. The story is told from the perspective of the fictional character, eighteen-year-old Simon Foldre, who is of English and Norman descent. Simon is caught up in the political intrigue surrounding King William II, his brother Prince Henry, and William's Marshal, Roland Montfort. The death of William II is presented as an hunting accident, but which was possibly intended that day by another hand. In the novel, after the pursuit by Roland Montfort and his murder by Climenze, Nicolas tells Walter and Simon that he believes "the lord prince... plotted his brother's death" which shocks Walter Tirel. However Nicolas tells Walter, "...'I believe you accidentally killed a king who was going to die today by another hand."  The novel ends on a happy note with Walter safely in Normandy, and Simon enjoying a peaceful life and prospect of marriage to Walter's beautiful sister, Alena.

The author offers a realistic portrayal of Norman England, a conquered country, its people struggling under the rule of the French Normans who look down on them as "dogs". A good portion of the novel is devoted to portraying life under Norman rule in tenth century England. For example, the New Forest was "...natural wild land" that had been claimed by William the Conqueror who had taken the land from the "traditional inhabitants" - that is the English, and used for "royal sport". When Simon tells Prince Henry that his maternal grandfather, Usher of Aldham's ancestors have been on the land since "Noah's flood", Roland refers to them as "leeches" and refers to Simon as "one of our two-legged English dogs..."  To Simon, the marsha's sergeant, Gertain and his men are "imperious" and greedy, often taking whatever they want from the English. This is demonstrated by Prince Henry who simply steals the stallion Bel from Simon, not offering anything for it and casually remarking that Simon can walk home.King William later tells Simon  "Think of the horse as a tax.' Simon smiled grimly. Life was a hazard course of fees, taxes, duties, to be paid by service, silver, or livestock."  

The development of the setting for the novel is crucial for the events that follow. Once the hunt happens, and King William is killed, the pacing of the novel moves swiftly along, with the flight out of New Forest and Simon and Walter's attempt to escape England aboard the Saint Bride. The story offers a somewhat happy conclusion with Walter safely away from England, Simon settling into life in Normandy, his mother safe, and Prince Henry now crowned King of England.

The King's Arrow offers a realistic portrayal of life in early Norman England. It is suitable for older teens as there is some crass dialogue, implied sexual content and several violent murders. 

Book Details:
The King's Arrow by Michael Cadnum
New York: Viking          2008
208pp.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi is a dystopia set in the American Gulf Coast region. Nailer is part of a light crew that includes Pima, Sloth, Moon Girl and Pearly, all of whom are children or young teens whose sole purpose is to strip copper from abandoned oil tankers. Nailer lives with his abusive, murderous father, Richard Lopez in a bamboo shack at the edge of the encroaching jungle on Bright Sands Beach.

The American Gulf Coast region has been abandoned due to rising seas and repeated storm damage from “city killers”, severe tropical storms that have destroyed and drowned cities such as New Orleans. Bright Sands Beach is an area where derelict oil tankers are scavenged for scrap by light and heavy crews. The light crews are run by bosses who push the crews to make quota. Those who don’t are replaced and their fate is worse than death.

When Nailer almost loses his life in an accident he is called “Lucky Boy”. His luck seems to hold after he survives a “city killer” storm that strikes Bright Sands Beach. Surviving the “city killer”, Nailer and Pima discover a wrecked clipper and a barely alive “swank”, whom they name Lucky Girl.

At first, Pima wants to kill Nita for her gold and the scavenge they will own if she dies. But Nailer can’t bring himself to do this. He struggles with letting Nita die and claiming her wreck as salvage and letting her live and possibly receiving a reward for her rescue. The former choice will mean certain wealth and freedom from the salvage crew.

When they learn that Nita Chaudhury is the daughter of Patel, owner of Patel Gobal, a company that buys scavenge from a local company, they decide that she is worth saving. However, Nailer and Pima soon learn that Nita’s shipwreck was not accidental. They learn that she was fleeing from her father’s enemies who are intent upon using her to gain control of his company.

Soon after, Nailer’s luck fails when his father and some of his goons discover the wreck and capture Nita and Nailer. The situation is further complicated by the appearance at Bright Sands Beach by Pyce, Nita’s father’s arch-enemy who had been pursuing her over the ocean. What follows is a race to save Nita from the clutches of Pyce and to secure a chance at a new life away from Bright Sands Beach. Ship breaker races to a final, satisfying and thrilling conclusion.

Discussion

Ship Breaker is a thoroughly enjoyable novel and is highly recommended to readers who love dytopian science fiction. Some of Bacigalupi’s dystopian elements include drowned cities (The Teeth which represent New Orleans), half men – genetically designed human-canine hybrids who are brutal but loyal to the death, and Harvesters – people who deal in body parts for money.

The characters in the novel were both unique and well developed. Nailer is hardened but not past redemption like his brutal drug-crazed father. Although his motives are initially those of self-interest, he does put aside his prejudice towards “swanks” - as the wealthy are referred to, to save Nita. He wants to feel that he is better than Sloth who abandoned him to die in the bilge of the oil tanker. His character grows throughout the story from the boy who is always trying to appease his abusive father to one who eventually has the courage to confront him.

Bacagalupi gradually builds his dystopian world in Ship Breaker. It is a believable, violent ruined world with characters like the Harvesters and the half-men. The novel is thrilling and engages the reader's attention right to its exciting conclusion. Look for further world-building in the next installment of this series.

Book Details:

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Little, Brown and Company            2010
323pp

The Worst Thing She Ever Did by Alice Kuipers

The Worst Thing She Ever Did was......???? Well, you have to read the book to find out! Alice Kuipers has crafted a poignant story about a young survivor trying to cope in the aftermath of the July 7, 2005 London suicide bombings. Sophie Marie Baxter's life has changed since her sister Emily died in those bombings. If only she hadn't done what she did, Emily might still be alive. It was the worst thing she ever did. Sophie "knows" she is to blame.
But in order to go on living, Sophie decides that she is not going to talk about what happened and "NOT THINK ABOUT ANY OF THIS EVER AGAIN." In an attempt to help her cope, Sophie's therapist has her keep a journal and it is this journal that makes up The Worst Thing She Ever Did.

As we read through the entries, it becomes apparent that Sophie is struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She is experiencing flashbacks and sees death and destruction everywhere. She has panic attacks and cannot ride the subway. Sophie feels alienated from her mom and her friends. Strangely, Sophie is angry at her mother's inability to deal with the tragedy, even though she herself is not able to either. School is crashing and to top it all of she feels numb and disconnected. Her life is unraveling and she doesn't know how to stop it all.

However, through all of this there are good things gradually beginning to happen in her life. She makes a new friend in the Canadian girl, Rosa-Leigh who gets Sophie involved in writing poetry. And it is the poetry that figures prominently in helping Sophie begin to express what she is feeling.

When she finds the time, Sophie escapes to the roof of their flat and remembers what life was like before, when Emily was alive. It is through these flashbacks that we learn about Sophie's relationship with her older sister, Emily and eventually what really happened on that fateful day in July.
Brilliantly conceived and well written, The Worst Thing She Ever Did is a great short, intense read for teens looking for something a little different.

Book Details:
The Worst Thing She Ever Did by Alice Kuipers
HarperTrophy Canada 2010
210pp

My Home is Beyond the Mountains by Celia Barker Lottridge

Home Is Beyond The Mountains by Celia Barker Lottridge is a short historical novel for teens that deals with the Assyrian genocide of 1918. Since I’m doubtful most young people know much about this event, let alone who the Assyrians are, a little background information is in order.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Assyrian peoples lived in the south of Turkey and the northern part of Iran (then known as Persia) with a large population around Lake Urmieh, where this story is set. In 1914, the Ottoman empire declared war on the Allies and fought on the side of Germany. The British who were fighting Germany, gained the support of the Assyrian troops in exchange for the promise of a homeland. They wanted to keep the large oilfields which were part of Persia out of Turkish control. Initially, the Assyrians were successful in capturing these areas and this led the British to control much of Northern Persia.

At the same time the Russian army was intent on protecting itself from invasion by Turkey in the south. However, when Russian troops left the region, the Ottoman Empire saw a chance to obtain land with its mineral wealth and they invaded Persia, ignoring its neutral status in the war. Repeated invasions resulted in massacres of the Christian Assyrians by the Moslem Turks. One of the largest invasions occurred in the summer or 1918 and this resulted in many Christian Assyrians fleeing the area with the intent to reach the safety of the British army in further south in Persia. Many of these refugees were massacred or died of disease and hunger with about half reaching the safety of the British army.

The British eventually moved most of the Assyrian refugees to a large camp at Baquba, Iraq. The refugees stayed at Baquba for a time while a peace treaty was worked out with Turkey and then in 1921, the process of resettling them to their villages began. For many of the orphans, there were no villages, homes nor families to return to. Their families had been massacred and their once productive peaceful villages completely destroyed. This is the story of that time, told for young people, so that they might learn.

Author Celia Barker Lottride has more than a passing interest in the events related in her book. Her mother, Louise Shedd Barker, was the younger sister of Susan Shedd, director of the orphanage for Assyrian children at Hamadan, in 1922. Celia relied on historical accounts, the letters of her aunt Susan Shedd, and the oral history her mother Louise provided.

The story of the Assyrian flight to Hamadan in 1918 is told in the voice of Samira, a nine year old who leaves her fictional village of Ayna one summer day along with her mother, father, older brother Benyamin and her younger sister Maryam. Although they are somewhat organized, bringing food and rugs for their journey, as they suspected, tremendous difficulties and tragedy await them. Samira’s younger sister dies from fever. In the confusion of an attack by Turkish forces, Samira and her mother become separated from her father and brother Benyamin. Eventually, only Samira and her brother Benyamin make it to Hamadan. It is through Samira’s narrative that we try to understand the overwhelming loss she has suffered and the magnitude of coping with her situation. Samira befriends another young refugee, Anna and together they help one another over the next 5 years as they move to an orphanage in Baquba, Iraq and then as they take one step after another to reclaim their lives and journey home to their villages near Urmieh. Susan Shedd is portrayed as a remarkable heroine and an unusual woman. It is the indomitable Ms Shedd who organizes the children into “families” and who inspires them to work and plan for the journey home. Ms Shedd wins the respect of the refugees with her just and kind treatment of everyone and her no nonsense approach to those who tried to take advantage her situation or her being a woman.

For those who don’t know their history well enough (and this event isn’t in too many history books), Lottridge has provided a simple map and a concise explanation of the historical facts for young readers.

I enjoyed this book mainly because it focused on a historical event that isn’t often the subject of a novel. Although it’s not an overly exciting and dramatic read, it was interesting and I ended up doing a little research of my own afterwards. The characters were believable and each had their own way of dealing with their personal tragedy.

For more on the Assyrian and Armenian massacres please read The Flickering Light of Asia.

http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/Online_Version/books/fla.pdf

WorldShaker by Richard Harland

Worldshaker is my first taste of the recently new and popular genre, steampunk. Steampunk is defined as a sub-genre of science fiction and fantasy that incorporates advanced Victorian technology. The stories usually take place in an era when steam power is used and so are often set in the 19th century. Most steampunk fiction like Leviathan by Scott Westerfied,  follow alternate history storylines.
Worldshaker is a juggernaut, a mobile city on rollers. An iron colossus, mechanical mountain, Worldshaker is divided into the Upper Decks inhabited by the elite classes who run the juggernaut society, and the Below, inhabited by the Filthies. It is the Filthies who run the coal-fired engines that power Worldshaker.
It is in this setting that we meet 16 year old Colbert Porpentine, whose grandfather, Sir Mormus Porpentine is the Supreme Commander of Worldshaker. The Porpentine family is one of several ruling families of Worldshaker.
Col's world begins to unravel with the sudden appearance of Riff, a young Filthy who hides in his cabin. Riff was "hooked" from Below to serve as a Menial but she managed to escape. Riff's appearance causes Col to reconsider everything he knows and understands about his world.

"How much did he truly know about Filthies?....In polite society people only ever hinted at the existence of Filthies."

From Riff, Col learns that Filthies are not what he has been told. They can speak and think.

"He had always pictured Filthies as slow and brutish, but not this one." "Fearful images from old nightmares floated before him. Heavy lumbering shapes, hairy unclothed bodies, hideous cannibal faces with leering mouths. Doing thinks, filthiness - he couldn't even imagine the things they might do."

Despite his contact with a Filthy, Col seems destined for greatness when he is chosen as successor to his grandfather, Sir Mormus. That is,until the unthinkable happens to him and he ends up Below, in the world of the Filthies for a brief period. When he is helped back to the Upper Decks in exchange for helping Riff investigate Worldshaker in planning a Filthies revolution, Col finds his world his place in it forever altered. Now seen as "contaminated", Col begins to question Upper Deck life. He asks a friend to research the Filthies.
Although Col's world has decidedly Victorian morals, he learns that beneath this veneer lies an unjust and cruel class system where Filthies are tortured and starved so that the Upper Deck people can live in wealth and comfort.
Eventually the shunning Col and his family experience leads them to take drastic action - one that changes Col's life forever and forces him into an alliance with the Filthies. In the end the revolution succeeds and the story races to a satisfying ending.

Worldshaker is an alternate history story in which Britain was invaded by Napoleon in 1802. Eventually, the French were defeated in the Fifty Years War but mass industrialization brought on by the war led to severe industrial competition between all European states. The labour force needed for the industrialization was eventually enslaved and these people became the Filthies.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and found the steampunk genre to be unique and exciting. The alternate history was fascinating. As Col uncovers the lies his society and his place in it are built upon, he must decide whether he can live with those lies or  whether he must choose a different course. A question remains for me: What happened to Col's wife, Sephaltina?

Book Details:

Worldshaker by Richard Harland
Simon & Schuster 2010
388pp

Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

Yellow Star is a fictionalized account of one of only 12 children who survived in the Lodz ghetto during the Second World War. In 1939, the Germans invaded Poland. As they did in other Polish cities, all Jewish persons in Lodz were forced into a small area of the city. This area became known as the Lodz ghetto. The ghetto was formed in the spring of 1940 and was sealed off from the outside world on May 1, 1940. After this, the Nazis began the systematic deportation of it's residents to various concentration camps.

One Jewish family forced to relocate to the Lodz ghetto was the Perlmutters. Syvia Perlmutter was 4 years old when the war began. She lived in Lodz with her mother, father and her older sister, Dora. Her father became a leader in the ghetto and through various means was able to save his family from deportation to the gas chambers and in a miracle was able to save Syvia and 11 other children.

Syvia's story is told from her perspective, in free verse. It is a touching and remarkable telling of a very tragic story starting from the beginning of the war, continuing through the gradual deterioration of society in Poland, to the devastating end with the discovery of the survivors of the Lodz ghetto by the Russians.

The book also contains significant notes on the historical setting of the Second World War, and also on how this story came to be told.

Book Details:
Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy
Marshall Cavendish Corporation 2006
227 pp.

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Girl in Translation is a story about a young Chinese girl and her mother who come to the United States in the hope of making a better life for themselves. Eleven year old Kimberly Chang and her mother are brought to American by Kimberly's Aunt Paula and Uncle Bob. Although promised to be taken care of, they are taken advantage of and abused by Paula who is jealous and angry at her younger sister, Kimberly's mother. They are given an apartment in a vermin-filled, abandoned building without heat. Kimberly and her mother are forced to work in Aunt Paula's Chinatown garment factory in order to pay off their debt to her for the cost of their airfare and Ma's medical treatment.

Although Kimberly's Ma is resigned to her fate of grinding poverty and hardship, Kimberly recognizes that she has it within herself to better her life. She knows she was a top student in China and that this will be the key to a new life in America. But Kimberly soon finds herself leading a double life: one that hides the terrible hardship of their lives while trying to appear as normal as possible at school. She is a brilliant student during the school day but hides the fact that after school she works long hours in a sweatshop and lives in terrible poverty without proper clothing or food. Kimberly also has difficulty in adapting to a culture she doesn't understand. In order to hide her life from her peers, she allows no one to get close to her. The only exception is Annette who befriends her and throughout middle and high school respects Kimberly's need for distance. In the end, as the girls mature, Annette proves to be a true friend to Kimberly.

Like all young girls her age though, Kimberly must deal with the pressures of growing up. From the first time she works in the garment factory, Kimberly likes Matt Wu, a young sweatshop worker who is her age. But Matt is different from Kimberly. He is not as ambitious and he is content with what he has in life. Their friendship gradually develops into complicated love at a time when they are starting to drift apart. Matt becomes involved with another Chinese immigrant whose views on life are more similar to his. Kimberly struggles to cope with her feelings of a first love tainted by jealousy. When something very unplanned happens between Kimberly and Matt, something that threatens to destroy her chances to achieve her dreams, she must make a difficult choice. This choice will affect both her and Matt forever.

This novel is wonderful. Kimberly is a realistic character and her plight is so desperate that it is impossible not to develop a deep sympathy for her. As a reader, we see her grow from a frightened, disoriented 11 year old to a responsible, strong teen who is capable of making good decisions. Along the way she struggles with her developing love for Matt and his attraction to another girl, Vivian who is more suited to him. Kimberly must also navigate the social minefield of high school as well as her aunt's growing jealousy of Kimberly's academic achievements.

The jacket cover for Girl in Translation states "In time, Kim learns to tanslate not just her language but herself back and forth between the two worlds she straddles." And that she does in a most remarkable way.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read Jean Kwok's next offering. She is a fresh new YA author who holds great promise.

Book Details:
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
Riverhead Books (Penguin) 2010
293 pp.

living on impulse by cara haycak

This was one book whose cover appealed to me instantly (maybe it was the rhinestone encrusted shoe on the front). The other attraction was the theme of a troubled teen who resorts to shoplifting to be the likable person she dreams of.
Mia Morrow is an impulsive person. She sees an item in a store and she takes it - on impulse. She's done it before. It's easy and thrilling. And in fact, that is exactly what Mia does in early April in the department store on the Commons. But this time things go down differently. When she is caught shoplifting, the head of store security and her mother agree that Mia must pay the cost of the shoes - a whopping $300. But getting caught shoplifting is just the tip of Mia's troubles. She has to resist the urge to join a local gang. She doesn't know her father and this causes her considerable distress. Mia spends time wondering if this person or another might be him. She loses her two friends at school, fails an exam and must deal with trouble at home between her beloved Grandpa Andy and her single mom, Constance.Mia wants to do better but she just doesn't know how.
When Mia discovers a job opening at the nearby college she sees this as her ticket to paying off her debt to the department store and perhaps to a new direction in her life. Will she continue acting on impulse or start thinking about what she might do?
Although Mia initially lies in the job interview she does come clean about herself and lands the job. Gradually we see Mia reform herself and develop into a more likable, responsible person. Instead, it is now her mother who crashes and burns, returning to drinking and losing her job. When her mother disappears for several days Mia must turn to someone unexpected for help. This person, a past boyfriend of her mother comes through for her and her mother and helps them both deal with the past.
Overall, the story was mostly believable but I felt that Haycak simply tried to do too much in this novel. I think simply focusing on Mia's problems would have been enough. Adding the mother's troubles to the story simply seemed to take it over the top for me. 
This would have also allowed the author to explore some of Mia's issues more in depth, especially those relating to her absent father.
When Mia calls the police to report her mother missing she is told to drop a picture off at the local police station. I would expect that a 15 year old minor who reports a parent missing and is living alone would very likely receive a visit from police and most definitely end up in foster care. I really don't see why this situation was even needed in the novel. It seemed like it was thrown in for dramatic purposes but was simply too unrealistic.

We see Mia develop as a character through the novel. By the end of the novel Mia is much more likable character. Although she still does things that are wrong, she is beginning to think her way through and see how her actions affect others. She also begins to set goals for herself.

The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen

Mason is a high school sophomore who hopes to study biology at Stanford someday. His biology teacher, Mr. Hogan, encourages Mason to apply to TroDyn's summer science program. TroDyn is a huge research company located in Mason's hometown of Melby Falls and they pay the bills for just about everything in the town. Mason knows his mother doesn't want him to become involved with TroDyn but he just can't figure out exactly why. That is until he learns about her connection to TroDyn. When Mason attempts to confront  his mother at the TroDyn funded nursing home where she works,  he makes a remarkable but disturbing discovery about the patients she cares for. And it is his developing love for one of those patients that leads Mason to risk everything to try to help this beautiful girl. Even if this means confronting a terrifying person known as The Gardener at TroDyn. The Gardener explores issues that deal with bioethics and human experimentation. Most of the science mentioned in The Gardener is flawed. The overpopulation vs food production scenario has essentially been disproven. Paul Erlich's The Population Bomb has been proven to be a monumental flop since most of the Western world is now facing a demographic implosion and many developing countries such as China face the prospect of gender imbalance and not enough workers to support a drastically aging population.The Gardener considers the degree to which scientists might go to save mankind should such a scenario play out.
 
Despite this, The Gardener is a suspenseful science fiction that blends a little of mystery and romance too. Mason is a heroic character who is willing to risk everything to save Laila. We are left struggling to understand just what is wrong with her and Mason's loyalty to her only deepens the reader's affection for him. The novel weaves it's way to a satisfying conclusion.


Book Details:
The Gardener by S. A. Bodeen
Feiwel and Friends  2010
240pp

Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards

Three Rivers Rising is a historical novel written in free verse set against the backdrop of the Johnstown Flood of 1889.

The novel opens in the summer of 1888. Sixteen-year-old Celestia's father Bertram visits South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club on Lake Conemaugh for the possibility of business deals. Her mother Mildred comes for the socials and the gossip. Celestia's sister, nineteen-year-old Estrella is engaged to her beau, Charles who is in Pittsburg learning the family business. But Estrella is enjoying herself, meeting some of the more appealing boys of the clubhouse, like Frederick.

Celestia meets sixteen-year-old Peter who is the hired help. Peter's father works digging up coal for the Cambria Iron Works and he is not keen for Peter to work at the South Fork Club. He tells his son that the rich people's money will not save their dam from breaking but Peter knows everyone laughs off that possibility because the dam always holds. The South Fork Reservoir, called Lake Conemaugh by the wealthy owners, was formed by the placing of a seventy-foot earthen dam across a creek. The lake. which is stocked with fish, is surrounded on one side by "fancy-trim houses" and a large clubhouse. Peter offers to work on the line down in the coal mine after his father tells him that being around the wealthy will give him "ideas". But his father tells Peter it's better he works above ground in the sun and fresh air but he warns his son not "to develop a taste for things" he cannot have.

Johnstown sits where the Stony River and the Little Conemaugh River meet. Above the town the South Fork Creek joins the river, after it fills the reservoir. As a result, Johnstown often floods in the spring due to the rains. The people worry about the dam holding but since it has always held they joke often about it. Celestia encounters Peter who has his fishing pole, as she sits on the banks of the creek reading. They begin meeting day after day, Celestia reading while Peter fishes. One day Celestia gives Peter her book but he reveals that he is able to read as his mother, Anna was a schoolteacher who had travelled much. Their friendship blossoms quickly into a forbidden attraction. Peter continues to meet Celestia in the woods near the clubhouse. Because they are from very different social classes, they have to pretend they do not know one other when their paths cross on the boardwalk. Peter would be quickly dismissed if he was suspected of fraternizing with the wealthy clubhouse patrons and especially with a young girl. 

Celestia is undeterred by Peter's reluctance. Her sister, Estrella suspects something because of Celestia's flushed cheeks and happiness. Celestia reveals to her sister that she is interested in a boy who works at the clubhouse while Estrella seems to have her own love interest. When Peter shows up outside her bedroom window, Estrella tells her where Celestia can find a window to slip outside. This leaves Celestia to wonder just what Estrella has been up to.

However, Celestia's meetings with Peter are discovered by Louise Godwin who sees them swimming in the lake. This upsets Celestia's mother who tells her that being with a "some boy" who is not like them could ruin their position in society. When her father returns from Pittsburg he insists that Celestia stay away from "the hired boy"  and informs her that she will accompany her aunt Mimsy in Europe until she enters finishing school in Switzerland. Celestia tells her father she will not obey him but as she's packing she wonders about her choice. What will she lose by leaving and what will she lose by staying? However, Celestia seems to have made her choice as she gives Peter little keepsakes to remember her by. She is haunted by her choice.

But worse is to come. After packing, and seeing her mother and Aunt Mimsy in turmoil, Celestia learns from Estrella that she has been "ruined" by a man, who now will not marry her. Their father can do nothing to protect her or their family because this man is more powerful. Celestia overhears her parents speaking about what has happened and learns that Estrella is expecting and that the man involved is Grayson. When she learns from Peter that the servants at the clubhouse already know of Estrella's situation, Celestia pretends to have the fever in an effort to prevent the truth from spreading to the other wealthy patrons. This forces the wealthy to flee the clubhouse to avoid what they believe is "the fever".

After spending a year in Switzerland at the Institut Villa Mont Choisi, during which Celestia manages to correspond with Peter, she learns that she is to be married to Andrew Forrester upon returning to the United States. However, Celestia is determined to make her own life and be with Peter. She does not want to marry Andrew whom she doesn't love. Upon arriving at Johnstown, Celestia immediately leaves to find Peter in Johnstown. The spring of 1889 is wet, with the rivers wild with all the recent rain. She finds Peter and his terminally ill father in their rundown home. Her decision to leave the South Fork clubhouse is a fateful one that will set in motion a change of heart amidst the tragedy of Johnstown.

Discussion

Three Rivers Rising is a historical fiction novel about the historic Johnstown flood of 1889 which took the lives of  over two thousand people. 

Johnstown which was founded in 1800 was notable for its steel and iron mill, the Cambria Iron Works and its coal mines which supplied the steel industry, as well as for its railway. The town was situated where the Little Conemaugh and Stoneycreek rivers met. By the 1880's the town had a population of over thirty thousand people. The town was prone to flooding for several reasons: the two rivers were part of an extensive drainage basin of the Allegheny plateau and the rivers had been narrowed by the use of slag (as waste product from the production of steel) to create more land for the town.

Above the town, an earthen dam, the South Fork Dam, had been constructed in the 1830s to the 1850s to supply water to a canal system to transport goods and materials. However with the arrival of the Pennsylvania Railway the canal system fell into disuse. The Railway sold the dam and the reservoir to a private group with the reservoir being converted into a resort lake for use by the wealthy.  The earthen dam was lowered by three feet and the culverts in the dam used to manage the reservoir water were removed. This meant there was no way to lower the water level in the reservoir, now called Lake Conemaugh during periods of heavy rain. A club house for the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was built and many wealthy industrialists including Andrew Carnegie frequented the resort.

Several days of heavy rainfall filled Lake Conemaugh to the point that it was almost cresting the top of the lowered earthen dam. Elias Unger, President of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club and who was in a farmhouse adjacent to the dam, saw that situation at the dam was dangerous. Unger and his men were unsuccessful in dealing with the rising water and word was sent by telegraph warning Johnstown of the situation. Meanwhile in Johnstown, the torrential rain had flooded the town with water rising to almost ten feet in the streets.

The South Fork Dam breached sometime around 2:50PM, a wall of water racing first to the town of South Fork where most were able to scramble up the hills to safety. As the floodwaters raced the fourteen miles downstream towards Johnstown, it picked up debris including parts of houses, trees and animals. The flood gained strength after slamming into and destroying the Conemaugh Viaduct, stripping the soil down to the bedrock at the town of Mineral Point. The floodwaters reached Johnstown fifty-seven minutes after the dam breach, sweeping over two thousand two hundred people to their deaths.

The novel begins with the narratives of two young people from very different social classes: Peter whose father works in the local coal mine and who works at the clubhouse, and wealthy Celestia Whitcomb who, along with her parents and older sister, is a guest at the clubhouse. Gradually the narrative expands to include seventeen-year-old Maura, wife of Joseph who conducts the one of the many trains that run on the Pennsylvania Railway line through the Johnstown area. Maura is mother to three young children and is expecting another baby. There is also Kate, a widow whose husband Early drowned shortly after their marriage. Kate went by the name of Kitty, but as she struggles to deal with her loss, becomes a nurse who happens to be near Johnstown when the disaster happens. Bertram Whitcomb, Celestia's father is also included in the last half of the novel, and it is his narrative that offers descriptions of the massive destruction by the floodwaters.

The novel employs the forbidden love trope of a wealthy girl/boy falling for the poor boy/girl from the wrong social class.  Celeste's father is a wealthy businessman while Peter's father is a coal miner. In late 19th century society, such a match would be forbidden. The social repercussions would be so great that it's unlikely either would follow through on their feelings. Once Celestia's relationship with Peter is discovered her mother tells her,
"Your actions could not only tear us

from our place in society

but rip this family apart,

person from person."

The novel highlights the stigma and double standard placed on women in society especially during the Victorian era. Celestia's older sister Estrella has become involved with a man, named Grayson a wealthy industrialist with a reputation for "ruining" women. She is now pregnant and unmarried - that is, "ruined". To save their family and her father's business, Estrella must be shunned by her family and quietly and quickly sent away. Aunt Mimsy tells Celestia,
"And if she is properly disowned...?'

Damage to the family is... tolerable.'

Mimsy grimaces. 'But Estrella will be lost to us forever.

The limb will be sacrificed

to save the tree, you see.'

It is Estrella who must bear the consequences while the man is allowed to continue his predatory ways. Estrella is forced to leave her family under the pretence of some excuse - a vacation or illness, never to return, her name never mentioned, her existence blotted out. 

When Celestia makes the choice to leave her family and be with Peter, her father disowns her as well, even though she has done nothing dishonorable except to love someone from another social class. Upon discovering that Celestia has left, Whitcomb removes her picture from the double frame that once also held Estrella's portrait, rips it up and prepares to leave the clubhouse. But the breaching of the dam and the resulting tragedy changes Celestia's father. During his frantic search for her, as he helped parents try to find the bodies of their childrren, Whitcomb's perspective on his daughter's situation changes. After discovering Celestia ill with typhoid and being cared for by Peter,he tells him,

" 'What would any of those parents give

to have their child back?

Would they trade obedience?

Money?

Power?

The good opinion of friends?...

So much senseless loss...

how could anyone

choose

to lose someone he loves?' "

The novel ends happily with Celestia recovering at the family home in Pittsburg, Peter at her side, and the recovery of Estrella who their Aunt Mimsy has managed to secure a good marriage, along with her new husband and her baby. Celestia's parents are much changed, her mother working to help the survivors and no longer consumed by their status in society, and her father open to having his daughters at home.

While Three Rivers Rising does capture the essence of the Johnstown flood, according to the author it is not a book about the flood disaster. It is a story set against the backdrop of the catastrophe, incorporating a few characters and events that really did happen. The novel's main source of tension is whether or not Peter and Celestia will survive the flood and what happens afterwards if they do.

The endnotes of the novel contain a chronology on the South Fork Dam and provide readers with selection of fiction and nonfiction books on the Johnstown Flood.

Book Details:

Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards
New York: Alfred A. Knopf      2010
293 pp.

The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer

I had great expectations for The Deadly Sister and I have to say that overall, Eliot Schrefer has crafted an ingenious murder mystery for young teens.
Abby Goodwin was always the one to protect younger sister, Maya. She'd protected her bullies, from their parents when Maya broke curfew, stole money or did drugs. But this time, things are so much more complicated. When Abby discovers Maya's boyfriend/tutor, Jefferson Andrews dead during her Saturday morning run, she knows she has her work cut out for her.
Told in 18 year old Abby's voice, the reader follows along as Abby attempts to piece together what happened that fatal night. From the beginning Abby makes the assumption that Maya is the killer and therefore in need of her protection. But this murder mystery is full of twists and turns and Schrefer had me considering everyone as a possible suspect until well into the book. For reasons I won't divulge (so as not to reveal the plot), the ending therefore, wasn't a complete surprise but did offer a creepy twist.
I did feel that the storyline was somewhat unrealistic, given the current state of practice of forensic science. I felt that ending was unbelievable simply because Jefferson Andrews murder was a violent crime. It would have been expected that some form of evidence would have been left at the murder scene and in other areas such as Jefferson's car, that would have directed police ultimately to the true killer. Nevertheless, this was an entertaining book, one that most will find difficult to put down.
Book Details:
The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer
Scholastic Press: New York 2010
310 pp.

The Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney

Cathy Ferris was in her second week of summer school when things began to unravel. All because Tommy Petrak believes Cathy is really Murielle Lyman, the long lost daughter of Cade and Rory Lyman. The Lyman's fled overseas 5 years previously to avoid charges of embezzling millions of dollars of their clients money. So certain is Tommy, that he confronts Cathy in the cafeteria during lunch and in front of all the summer students. Within minutes, most of the 60 students at Greenwich Summer School are googling the Lyman name on their Blackberrys and cell phones and comparing pictures of past Murielle and present day Cathy. They never came back is in two voices, that of 15 year old Cathy Ferris and also of 10 year old Murielle Lyman. Murielle's story is one of a confused, innocent 10 year old who loses everything because of her parents greed. Questioned tirelessly by FBI agents, she begins to vomit due to the stress and is eventually placed in a foster home. Cathy's story eventually reveals to the readers, quite early on, that she is in fact, Murielle. She began to use her second name of Catherine when she was moved to a second foster home. Although the reader knows that Murielle and Cathy are the same, the characters in the story do not. It turns out that Cathy deliberately enrolled in the high school in her childhood hometown of Norwalk to see her cousin Tommy Petrak. But she never anticipated the situation she now finds herself in. The FBI reappear, this time hoping to use Cathy's resemblance to Murielle to entrop her parents. Cathy must deal with issues of guilt, loyalty, justice and greed. The choice Cathy/Murielle must make at the end of the book is sure to spark discussion both for and against.
I did enjoy the book but found the means the author used to bring Cathy back in touch with her parents simplistic and unrealistic. I also felt the book would have been much more exciting if the reader had been kept in suspense about whether or not Cathy was Murielle. Nevertheless, the idea for the book was a good one. I just didn't like the way the author developed it. I highly recommend this novel. It's a quick good read for teens.

Book Details:

They never came back by Caroline B. Cooney
Delacorte Press 2010
200 pp.