Snow Falling in Spring by Moying Li

Snow Falling in Spring written by Moying Li, a native Chinese born in Peking, is a factual account of her life in China before, during and after the Cultural Revolution. Moying Li paints a picture of a communist China which still had retained some of its charm, social structure and traditions.

In 1958, at the age of four, Moying Li experienced the Great Leap Forward, followed by the Cultural Revolution which began in 1966. As a teenager, she saw her opportunities for education thwarted and her dreams shattered. She witnessed the humiliation of teachers and her school's headmaster who hung himself. Her own beloved Baba (father) was sentenced to a labour camp and her mother, dean of students at a nearby university.
Moying writes of her baba's books and how he taught her to love books, reading and learning. One day in 1968, soldiers showed up at their home and systematically destroyed all of her families copies of books, some old and valuable.

"After everyone had left, I closed the door and all the windows and sank to the cold stone floor, my face buried in my arms. The sun was setting, and darkness was creeping into the house. Our bookshelves now stood naked in the shadows - like proud but defeated warriors."

His strength of spirit is shown when he sent Moying Li a secret letter outlining books she could read to develop her mind during this dark time, complete with a list of which friends still retained copies. In this way, he prepared his daughter for the day when the Cultural Revolution would be over and maybe things would return to normal.

Moying Li's prose is easy and fluent. This well written account of a person now approaching middle age gives cause for Western readers to reflect on how different our lives have been. A highly recommended read for those interested in 20th century Chinese history.

Book Details:
Snow Falling In Spring: Coming of Age in China during the Cultural Revolution
by Moying Li
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Lesia's Dream by Laura Langston

This was a wonderful quick read. Langston manages to teach the reader about a historical period in Canada in a riveting way that combines history, suspense and romance. Lesia is a 16 year old Ukrainian who comes with her family to Canada, "the land of milk and honey" to find happiness and become rich. Instead she finds the people unwelcoming, hostile, the land poor and conditions as hard as they were in the Ukraine. When Canada enters World War I, her father and brother are declared "enemy aliens" and are sent to an internment camp. The book describes Lesia and her family's struggles to survive during these difficult years. If not for the help and kindness of Andrew who has been here 13 years, Lesia and her family would not have succeeded.
Although the book begins with Lesia in 2003 writing as a great-grandmother and then remembering the past, this is really only a small part of the book. I was unaware of internment camps for Ukrainians in Canada so I feel I learned something of what Lesia must have faced. My mother's family endured this kind of bigotry during World War II as Canadians of Italian heritage were also sent to internment camps. My uncle was imprisoned during the war, but went on to become the first Italian-Canadian elected to the House of Commons during the Diefenbaker years. My aunts have often spoken of changing their names and dyeing their hair to get work during the Second World War.
This is a well written book that holds the reader's interest without being too heavy handed. Highly recommended.

Book details:

Lesia's Dream
by Laura Langton
published by HarperTrophy Canada, 2003

Broken Chords by Barbara Snow Gilbert

I enjoyed reading this novel for young adults because it provided a unique look into the world of music, especially that of serious musicians. But, this book is much more than just a story about young musicians, as it touches on many "coming of age" issues which young aspiring musicians and their parents must face.

The story revolves around Clara Lorenzo, a brilliant, young aspiring concert pianist whose mother and father are both professional musicians. Gilbert gradually shows us just what Clara's life is really like. Her mother, whom Clara calls the Maestra, is conductor of the symphony and her father was a well known opera singer who gave up his career to further Clara's music education. She has been studying piano since the age of three. Her home has not one but two grand pianos in the livingroom which is lined with cereal boxes filled with music.

We meet Clara as she is performing in the opening competitions of the Nicklaus Piano Competition. It is here that she meets Marshall Hamonnd Lawrence, also a brilliant pianist and her only real competition. Clara's developing friendship with Marshall shows her another aspect of life she hasn't considered. Clara's parents have such control over her and are so obsessed with developing their daughter's talent that they are not aware of the inner struggle Clara is undergoing. They don't realise that she is growing up, with her own interests and plans. When Clara goes against her parents and attends tryouts for a part in the Nutcracker ballet, things only get worse.

Woven into all this is the story of her teacher, Tashi (Natalia Petrovna Volkonskaya) who also had to make a major life decision which involved music. When Clara comes to understand Tashi's decision and her reason for making the decision she did, this helps her make her own decision regarding her music career. She takes courage from Tashi's story even though the outcomes will be much different.

I enjoyed this book because it was relevant to my life both as a former music student and as a parent to a young gifted musician. I believe that many young musicians struggle with the same kinds of decisions Clara faced. Ultimately, the decision to become a dedicated professional musician must be the young person's and theirs alone. The story was believable and well written. I would have liked Marshall's character to have been more developed. His presence in Clara's life made her seem more real and believable.

I felt this book was an accurate portrayal of how some parents can lose sight of what music really is - a gift to be shared with others. It remains to the musician to discover just how to accomplish this task.

Book Review: Mountain Solo

Mountain Solo by Jeanette Ingold is an easy read for grades 7 to 10, although it may not hold the interest of older teens in this age bracket. The story is about Tess, a 16 year old virtuoso violinist who attends a school for the performing arts in New York City. A child prodigy, Tess's mom had directed and micro-managed her development and career as violinist. However, when Tess bombs her concert debut in Germany, she flees to her dad's home in Montana. During her stay with her dad and his new family, Tess is drawn into her stepmother's archaelogical investigation of Fredrick Bottner's homestead. Bottner's story is interwoven with Tess's in separate chapters which makes for interesting reading. The time away from the stresses of developing her musical career help Tess re-evaluate her career and what happened in Germany. Away from the pressures of concert performances, Tess can take the time to re-evaluate her life.

On the whole, this is an interesting story and I enjoyed the separate chapters focusing on Tess in the present, Tessie as a young girl, and Fredrick Bottner. We never learn the complete story of Frederick Bottner which makes this novel somewhat unsatisfying. But, we do see Tess reach some decisions of her own.
Some aspects of the story stretch the envelope of believability, for example, Tess and Ben skipping school to wander around New York City. One wonders why it took the school so long to figure things out. Tess's mother is a generally unlikeable character - a controlling "music mom" who is bent on her daughter becoming a virtuoso and who destroys her marriage for the sake of Tess's career. This aspect of her character, I found particularly annoying. In contrast, Tess's dad is developed as a likeable, reasonable man who is genuinely concerned for his daughter.

Overall, this book will be enjoyed by younger teen readers who have an interest in music and the performing arts.

Book Review: Three Million Acres of Flame

Three Million Acres of Flame is a well written, interesting fictional account of one of Canada's great national disasters, the Miramichi Fire, which destroyed 3 million acres in New Brunswick in 1825. The story opens with the main focus on the recent turmoil Skye Haverill's family has endured with the death of their mother and the remarriage of their dad to Hannah, a young widow with a son, Stewart.
However, their lives are forever changed on October 7, 1825 when a wildfire roars through New Brunswick and devastates numerous communities including Skye's town of Newcastle (which is now part of the city of Miramichi). Skye's stepsister is born during the conflagration as were 12 other babies. The Haverill's along with virtually all of their fellow inhabitants of Newcastle lose everything in the fire. How they struggle to cope with the immediate aftermath of the fire becomes the focus of Sherrard's first historical novel. The courage, resiliency and the faith with which the townsfolk respond to their dire circumstances is vividly portrayed by Valerie Sherrard.
I enjoyed reading this book as it was well paced and has a positive ending despite the horrific circumstances. Sherrard incorporates many facts of the Miramichi Fire as well as the experiences of those who endured this tragedy to produce a novel that will make this historic event very real to young readers.
It is to be hoped that Valerie Sherrard will produce more excellent historical novels for young Canadian readers.

A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray

A Dog's Life written by Ann M. Martin, is a delightful but poignant story of a stray called Squirrel, who starts life as a wild dog born on a farm. Written in the dog's own words, she begins her story as a puppy on the Merrions farm. When something happens to her mother, Squirrel's brother Bone decides to leave the farm and she has no choice but to follow. The two remain together for only a short time as Bone is eventually taken by humans when the two dogs wander along the edge of a highway.

Eventually, Squirrel makes a good friend with another dog, Moon and together they travel to various small towns in order to survive. Squirrel's encounters with humans continue to be unfavourable throughout the book until the very end. My guess is this aspect of the story reflects the authors work with an animal rescue organization in upstate New York. This type of work would undoubtedly result in seeing dogs who have experienced some very sad situations. However, Martin's book has a satisfying conclusion and shows us a dog who is both intelligent, sensitive and fiercely independent.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to children aged 10 to 13, especially those interested in animals and working with animals.

Other books which may be of interest include:

Michael Morpurgo's Born to Run:The many lives of one incredible dog and The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips.

Book Details:

A Dogs Life. The Autobiography of a Stray.
by Ann M. Martin

Scholastic Press, New York, 2005.

Book Review - The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela

This picture book is an interesting fact-filled read about a medieval Jewish traveller known as Benjamin of Tudela. Over 100 years before Marco Polo made his journey, Benjamin left Tudela, Spain to travel throughout the known world - a journey that took him 14 years. The author, Uri Shulevitz used original Jewish sources to write about Benjamin's travels including Benjamin of Tudela's own account, appropriately titled, Book of Travels.

Each destination in The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela, and there are alot of them, is accompanied by unique, colourful artwork depicting a famous event or aspect of the locale. Shulevitz, in his author's note at the back of the book, writes that his "aim was to convey primarily a feeling of what it might have been like in Benjamin's day."

The places Benjamin visited include Marseilles, Genoa, Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem and Baghdad. Shulevitz frequently presents lesser-known facts about many of the historic cities and regions Benjamin visited. The book also contains a colourful, easy-to-read map outlining Benjamin's route throughout the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa. This is an excellent feature of the book, and helps young readers to put the scope of Benjamins travels in perspective.

This book is highly recommended.

Book Details:

The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela
Through Three Continents In The Twelfth Century
by Uri Shulevitz
2005 Farrar Straus Giroux

Book Review

My Forbidden Face. Growing up under the Taliban: A young woman's story by Latifa is an eye-opening book. The author, who has written under the psuedonym of Latifa, escaped Afghanistan in 2001 with her parents. Growing up under the Soviet occupation of her country, life was relatively "normal" for this young woman until civil war developed between the army of General Massoud and the Islamic extremists (Taliban) supported by Pakistan. Latifa's description of life under the Taliban and what it meant to women in Afghanistan are truly horrifying and almost unbelievable. She decribes the rules implemented by the Taliban as "the total negation of women". Unable to work, be educated, seek medical help, shop for basic necessities, or even go out among society without the accompaniment of a man, were just some of the rules women had to endure.

I enjoyed reading this book because it provided a perspective on life in a country most Canadians know little about, and yet is now a part of the daily news. Like other reviewers on Amazon.com, I found the book to be very difficult to follow. The history of Afghanistan is complicated and unfortunately, is presented in a rather disjointed fashion. The author opens the book with the events of the Taliban entering Kabul, where she lives, in 1996. Latifa then has pages of recent Afghan history strewn throughout the book and it's difficult to understand how everything fits together. A second detailed chapter on the history of Afghanistan would have been a more effective way of dealing with the events that preceded those in the opening chapter and would have provided a platform for discussing the events in her family's life. Other comments made throughout the book, such as how Afghani's viewed American foreign policy, might have been discussed in detail.
Nevertheless, I recommend this book. The author's style is readable and she has some valuable insights into the effect of the Taliban on the Afghan people. It would be interesting to know how Latifa is doing today and whether she has returned to her native Afghanistan.
My Forbidden Face. Growing up under the Taliban: A young woman's story.
Latifa
Editions Anne Carriere, 2001

Domenic's War by Curtis Parkinson

In this post I would like to review a book I just read entitled, Domenic's War by Curtis Parkinson. This book is fiction but the author arrived at the idea for the story after listening to a friend recount his experiences as a teen in Italy during World War II. The story deals with a specific time frame, that is the Allied campaign to remove the German Army from the monastery of Monte Cassino. Monte Cassino was a German stronghold and a barrier to the Allied army's move northward into Italy and ultimately up towards the rest of Europe. Parkinson's novel focuses on events in two (fictious) teens lives, Domenic Luppino and Antonio. Domenic lives on a farm and courageously helps his father during the War, while Antonio has a more difficult time as a young man who has lost everything and is forced to work for the Nazi's.

I felt that this YA novel presented an accurate portrayal of the physical hardships and emotional distress encountered in an occupied country during WW II. It also touches on the controversial bombing of the beautiful and sacred monastery of Monte Cassino where the tombs of Benedictine founder, St. Benedict and his sister, St. Scholastica are located. The Afterword contains information on the mind-boggling numbers of soldiers from various countries who died in the battle for Monte Cassino as well as information on the Allied strategy.

This book would appeal to especially to teen boys and those teens interested in WW II historical fiction.

Book details:

Domenic's War. A story of the Battle of Monte Cassino

Curtis Parkinson

2006 Tundra Books

191 pages

Silver Birch Awards Official Selection