Living Underground by RUTH E. WALKER - A Review

TITLE: Living Underground

AUTHOR: Ruth E. Walker

RELEASE DATE: September 2012

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ARC/264

PUBLISHER: Seraphim Editions

PURCHASED: Not Purchased. From the Author in exchange for an honest review.

Available at: CHAPTERS/INDIGO, AMAZON.CA, AMAZON.COM, BARNES & NOBLE

A Portrait of the Author as a Little Girl - There are a few places in all the world where a writer becomes giddy with word-love. This is Ms. Walker at home in the tiny nook labelled "Poetry" inside the world-famous bookstore, Shakespeare & Company. 

SYNOPSIS:

“Sheila Martin’s dismal childhood is irrevocably transformed when Sigmund Maier, the family’s enigmatic German tenant, introduces her to opera, music and much more. When he reappears in her ordered and successful adult life, Sigmund asks for her help with an immigration issue. Will she now discover the truth of why he vanished years ago?

Sheila soon discovers that “truth” has no clear definition and memories are nebulous as she is drawn into the turmoil and accusations surrounding his life before and during World War II. As she struggles with her own issues and family conflicts, she is forced to finally confront the secrets she has held for over 30 years.

Moving back and forth in time, this novel explores the ambiguity of human emotion – how our natures can embody both the ideals and delights of love alongside the most base and dispassionate sensibilities.” –Seraphim Editions

On Goodreads


EXPECTATIONS: I am friends with Ruth. I had high expectations for Living Underground, simply because I am familiar with the calibre of her work. I was a fan prior to reading her debut novel. Ms. Walker is also a poet and short story writer. It is HER fault my expectations for Living Underground were through the roof. Her exquisite writing has preceded her debut novel. (-:


MARKET/GENRE: I would say this is a literary work. I believe it to be cross-over in terms of both market and genre. Not sure if I would pigeon-hole it. Is EVERYONE a market?

REVIEW:

(Trigger Warning: Living Underground contains a scene that could potentially trigger CSA survivors.)

Favourite Quotes:

'“There are people who think I am someone I am not. They have been looking for this man for a long time, and they think they have found him. But they are mistaken.”' ~ Sigmund Maier (Living Underground), Ruth E. Walker

'"If you want to see opera, true opera, you must hear it in Europe, go and see it there. Here, they imitate. In Germany they have echoes of all who went before. It is so much richer."' ~ Sigmund Maier (Living Underground), Ruth E. Walker


'Hilda washed her mother's body and dressed her in her second-best tea dress. Her best dress and Hilda's amber brooch were sold to pay for the coffin. Her mother's several pairs of shoes and gloves were bartered for grave diggers.' ~ Living Underground, Ruth E. Walker

'As she struggled with the tension of her guts, her shortness of breath, Sheila continued to stare at the kids on the bridge. Observed them cross over, a bunch of hyper teens, making those large, flung-arm whirls and dashes of kinetic energy, the shoulder-hits of camaraderie, the heads-back and crow calls of those who know they are watched.' ~ Living Underground, Ruth E. Walker

This is a beautiful book. I can't remember the last time a story had such a powerful impact on my day-to-day life. No matter what I was doing throughout my day, I had Sheila and Sigmund on my mind. I felt so emotional for those two weeks, like I was always one step away from tears. I actually had to give myself some time before I could get my thoughts down on paper. Only a handful of times in a reader's life do they come into contact with a book that causes such a rift in their sense of reality. Living Underground is one of those books for me. It left me breathless at every turn.

Sheila Martin's childhood is anything but wondrous. When a new tenant moves into her mother's basement apartment, Sheila is given the maid duties of keeping the apartment clean. Little by little, a communication is created between the tenant, Sigmund Maier, and Sheila. It begins when Sheila loses herself in her radio station one day, while going through her cleaning duties. Soon Sigmund is leaving music out for Sheila to discover and Sheila feels herself opening up to a whole new world she didn't even know existed.

Ms. Walker creates such a vivid picture of this unlikely couple and how they become connected--first as mentor and student, and then as more. The reader will delight in the way Walker seamlessly sews beautiful music into the exquisite and tightly woven fabric of this wondrous story. Sheila's eye-opening to the world of opera and classical music and the finer things she would never have otherwise been exposed to is soul-lifting. The reader is lifted with her, and almost grateful for Sigmund's presence in her young life. And such a proper, well-put-together gentleman is Sigmund...the real key to making this story sing was Walker's ability to make the reader believe in Sigmund Maier and his essential goodness.

Living Underground spans decades. The reader is taken along to Sigmund's childhood in Dresden, Germany, where an even stronger connection to this character is made. We see inside the world in which he grew up--a despicable grandfather, a mother who bends to her father's will and later finds an admirable strength and independence. From there, the reader steps into the adult life of Sheila. She is a wonderful and powerful woman. She is in the midst of building a music store empire (a product of Sigmund's influence on her earlier life), but her personal life seems to be in a state of chaos. Then the reader is taken into the dark world of suspicion and doubt. Could the man who gave the young Sheila a thread of hope when she needed it most...could he possibly be the same man as the monster being accused of heinous war crimes in Nazi Germany?


From the moment you pick up Living Underground, you will be enthralled. It burrows into your heart with a powerful and uncontrollable velocity...and it stays there not just until you reach the end of the story, but long long after you have reluctantly put it down. A book like this comes along every once in a blue moon. I guarantee you, once you get to the end you will want to embrace it. It's that kind of book. In my opinion, Ruth E. Walker has a well-deserved masterpiece on her hands.

EXPECTATION: I could NOT have expected what would happen to me as I read this book. To give you an example--At one point, my wife walked into our family room to find me in pieces. She was a bit skeptical as to how a book could hit somebody so powerfully. I read about 20 pages out loud to her. When I was finished, I looked over at her...and found her in pieces. I'm not exaggerating when I say this story got inside me. Even knowing Walker's ability to write beautiful prose and poetry--even knowing her mastery of the language and the subtlety of her pen--I was not expecting this. You can't expect a book like this one. You can love it, once you find it...but you can't expect it. GET THIS BOOK!


SIZE: 6 (I know this is like turning the amp up to 11, but I had to give it something I gave no other book on this site. I connected with these characters and this story too strongly to give it anything less.)

An Interview with Allison Baggio - Summer Reading Series

Time for the next Summer Reading Series instalment! I'm thrilled to have ALLISON BAGGIO visiting us today. She's going to talk about the books she's passionate about. I'm going to tell you where you can find Allison's books! She is also an author.

KC: What book are you reading right now? And what are your thoughts on it so far?


ALLISON: I am usually reading a whole pile of books at once. I keep them at different places in my house and when I'm there I'll pick them up. Sometimes a book will really catch my attention and I will carry it around with me--then I know I've found something really special. So, I'll pick one for you--The Last Hiccup by fellow ECW author, Christopher Meades. It just happens to be on my nightstand so I usually read this one for a bit after I put the kids to bed. The book is about a young boy in 1930s Russia who comes down with a chronic case of hiccups and how this infliction changes his life. This is not the type of book I would usually pick up, however, Christopher has officially drawn me into his quirky little world. I am so impressed with the quality of writing in this book . . . one of the blurbs on the back says "Each sentence is a tiny masterpiece" and it is definitely true

.
KC: That sounds like a book I NEED to read! Thanks for the rec. As a writer, you most likely spend a lot of your time editing. Do you find it hard to turn off the internal editor when you are reading for pleasure? Do you ever find yourself being drawn out of story because you know there’s a better way to write the last sentence you just read? Or are you able to turn the writer/editor off when you are reading for pleasure?


ALLISON: Funny you should ask this. I just took a book on vacation with me. A pretty popular book. Well, okay, I'll just say it, Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I love a memoir that involves any sort of adventure so I knew I would love this story (and I did!), however, I found myself overwhelmed by the large number of unnecessary adverbs in the book. "Elegantly, hesitantly, unglamourously, awkwardly" -- I think she used everyone possible at least once, and sometimes many in the same sentence!

I often found myself reading out the heavily adverb-ed sentences to my husband in shock, and that really took me out of the story. Instantly. And unrelentingly. Usually I am able to shut this sort of internal editor off, but since I just finished the final edits on my next book, I was really stuck in that mindset. I think this problem is getting worse the more editing I do, and the more obsessive I get about my own writing. Undeniably.


KC: Great answer! (-: Top 5 Favourite Novels?


ALLISON: Oh gosh, let's see. Top of my mind:

• Room by Emma Donoghue 
• A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews 
• The Romantic by Barbara Gowdy 
• Far to Go by Alison Pick 
• The Lovely Bones by Alice Seybold

KC: I was blown away the first time I read A Complicated Kindness. I think that book may have changed my reading habits. Do you have a favourite autobiography? If so, tell us about it.


ALLISON: How about Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. In it, he tells his life story of growing up in India and his experiences with meditation and yoga. I read most of this book on my honeymoon ten years ago and still intend to finish it. No, really! I will say that it probably influenced some parts of my first novel, Girl in Shades.


KC: I love that answer more than you’ll know. That book was a bible for me in the late 80s early 90s. I adore it! Any recommendations for books on writing?


ALLISON: I think Stephen King's On Writing is one of the best ones out there and I actually have had a recent desire to re-read it (I've just remembered one of the quotes from the book: “The road to hell is paved with adverbs” hmmmm). Also, writers should pick up Work Book: Memos & Dispatches on Writing by Steven Heighton--it is like no other writing book I've read and gives some very poignant insights into how to make sense of the writing life.


KC: Who were your favourite authors as a child? Your favourite books?


ALLISON: I was a big Judy Blume fan. All her books.


KC: Your favourite authors as an adult?


ALLISON: Miriam Toews, Barbara Gowdy, Brian Francis--all the other great Canadian authors I've connected with who are out there writing what they have to write and not giving up.


KC: Book covers seem to be getting a lot of buzz these days. In Twitterverse, there are Cover Reveals almost daily. I think it’s safe to say we’re in an age where it is more common practice to actually judge a book by its cover. Do you have any favourite covers? Do they have any pull on your decision to read a book?


ALLISON: I am quite fond of the covers they have given to my own books so far, and I think that is a good thing to feel because yes, people DO judge books by their outsides. I'm surprised at the number of times someone will post a just cover and someone will respond, "That looks really good. I want to read it." But it's true. People do feel more drawn to covers that appeal to them, so we shouldn't give up on designing great covers!

One interesting cover that comes to mind is the one for The Carnivore  by Mark Sinnett. I like that the story is about a hurricane and there are rain drops infused into the cover. Very neat.

Ohhh, and I did love the cover of Brian Francis's Natural Order

I am definitely more prone to pick up a book if I am attracted to the outside.


KC: I LOVE your book covers. I think they're both stunning(ly) beautiful! Do you have favourite genres/markets?


ALLISON: Usually adult literary fiction, and some more commercial stuff.


KC: Your 3 desert island books?


ALLISON: Have to go non-fiction for this (I don't re-read fiction books that much):

• A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
• Home With God: In a Life that Never Ends by Neale Donald Walsh
• Beyond the Horizon by Colin Angus (loved it!)

KC: As a writer, do you ever copy down favourite quotes and pin them up in your writing space for inspiration? If so, what are some of them?


ALLISON: YES! I do this all the time. Right now on my bulletin board I have "Pursue Excellence, Ignore Success". I think Deepak Choprah said it. I'm also always writing out, "Allow What is To Be" - Eckhart Tolle


KC: I was hoping for that reaction. I too get pretty passionate when I find a golden nugget in something I’m reading. (-: What’s the next title you plan on reading? What drew you to it?


ALLISON: The next book I am planning to read is Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. I definitely fit the mould of an introvert, and was drawn to this book because, well, I hope to get some more insight into myself (always up for that!).


KC: Is there ONE book that made you decide, ‘This is what I want to do…I want to write!’? Or were there many?


ALLISON: Hmmmm, trying to think back. My need to write bubbled up around grade five when I started to write short stories. I think it was more a need to tell stories, than one book that inspired me.


KC: If you could travel back in time and put your name under any novel title in existence, which one would you choose? Why?


ALLISON: Oh gosh, this is hard. Of course there are books I admire, but the idea of me having written them is a strange one. I just find that creative inspiration is such a personal thing, I can't imagine having written anything besides what I myself was inspired to write. I think I've answered The Time Traveller’s Wife to a similar question. So.... The Time Traveller’s Wife by Allison Baggio. (No, I just can't get my mind around that.)


KC: As a writer, who do you write for? Anyone/Anything in particular?


ALLISON: I guess I have to say, me. I write for the pure joy I feel while I am doing it, and the satisfaction I feel afterwards. I hope I can always write for me, because I think that the process of thinking about what people will think of what you write, has probably ruined many a good author.


KC: Okay, since you are published yourself…I’m going to be linking your books below for my readers. Besides these two titles, are there any other works in the hopper? Anything you’re working on that you want to talk about?


ALLISON: I am currently revising a new novel that I am very excited about. It takes place during and shortly after World War 1 and is a fictional story around an actual un-solved murder that happened in 1914. I haven't received any serious feedback on it yet, so I am still in that "new love" stage with it--which is a nice place to be for now.


KC: Sounds intriguing! I was going to say amazingly and incredibly intriguing…but those lys are just background noise. (-: Can’t wait to read it! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts today. I enjoyed your responses. We have a lot of suggestions here and you’ve reminded me of more than a couple of books that I’m passionate about. Maybe it’s time to revisit them. Thank you!


ALLISON: Thanks, Kevin!

You can learn more about Allison’s books and visit her online at any of the locations below:

Website: AllisonBaggio.com 
Twitter: allibaggio
Facebook: GIRL IN SHADES and IN THE BODY   
BOOKS:  ECW PRESS - GIRL IN SHADES and ECW PRESS IN THE BODY 

The Perfect Order of Things - Review

Title: The Perfect Order of Things

Author: David Gilmour

Release Date: August 27, 2011

Format/Page Count: Hard Cover/224 Pages

Publisher: Thomas Allen & Son Ltd

Purchased: From the Publisher, through the Ontario Writers' Conference.

Available at Amazon: The Perfect Order of Things

Synopsis:  Like a tourist visiting his own life, David Gilmour’s narrator journeys in time to re-examine those critical moments that created him. He revisits the terrible hurt of a first love, the shock of a parent’s suicide, the trauma of a best friend’s bizarre dissembling, and the pain and humiliation of unrelenting jealousy, among other rites of passage.

In fact, here is the narrator of David Gilmour’s previous novels writing his own fictional autobiography in a dazzling cavalcade of stories that punctuate a life passionately lived and loved. Set within an episodic narrative arc, here are stories about the profound effect of Tolstoy, of the Beatles, of the cult of celebrity, of the delusion of drugs, and of the literary life on the winding road of the narrator’s progress.

This compelling and deeply interesting picaresque novel is a creative tour de force from the hand of one our master story-tellers. The Perfect Order of Things breaks new fictional ground and is an astonishing story of a life lived fully and with breathtaking passion. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: I love David Gilmour...plain and simple. I 'get' his words. I have not yet found a Gilmour I didn't like love. My expectation for this title was extremely high. When you adore an author, there is always the fear that you will read one of their works and think, 'what were they thinking!?' So, I went into The Perfect Order of Things with a high expectation...I was excited to be entering Gilmour's head again, and slightly nervous that this would be the book I didn't 'get'.

Market/Genre: Adult/Literary

Review:

As much as this is a work of fiction, David Gilmour can be gleaned in every sentence. This beautiful story is a trail of breadcrumbs that brings us to the author himself.

Gilmour’s first person narrator walks the reader of The Perfect Order of Things through a complex, well-lived life of a man always on the brink of the brink. We are treated to the narrator’s great loves, including Tolstoy and the Beatles, and we learn how these loves altered and enriched his life. We listen in as he walks us through the calamity of errors that go into making up his wondrous life and we wonder at the fact that he is still with us to tell the story.

This is a remarkable look at a man split open and vulnerable. The reader will delight in the way the stories of the narrator’s life are told. He is able to see the humour in each of his falls and he is able to mock himself and give us a clear unbiased look into his most inner thoughts as he maps out the fractured route of destruction taken through his remarkable and ordinary life.

Be prepared for honesty! You will see a small, bitter man being a wallflower at parties of the rich and famous and you’ll be able to listen to his inner thoughts and get a glimpse into just how fragile he is when he points out the flaws of the flawless people around him. He’ll give you glimpses into his parenting skills, his lust for beautiful women, his lust for accolades and fanfare. He’ll show you his broken friendship with a man more on the brink than he himself. And he’ll show you a small pathetic man who tries to recapture the places of his youth with a failure so ripe you can smell it!

David Gilmour’s writing is simply beautiful. For me, nothing comes close to beating it. He may be his generation’s most gorgeous wordsmith. And I constantly feel that he is underrated. Even by myself. I don’t think about Gilmour between his books. When I hear that another book is on the shelves, I think to myself that I must pick it up. And then, maybe six or eight or ten months later I will get it. And then I will read it…and I will die a million deaths from the beauty I discover within its pages.

The Perfect Order of Things is a look into the seedy underbelly of the mindscape of a human being. It’s simply a vulnerable view of a vulnerable man…an honest retelling of a man’s life and a man’s mistakes. And a man’s passions. I would recommend The Perfect Order of Things to anybody.

Expectation: This book is one I closed and held close to my heart when I was finished. Some writers can show us the summation of a life with a beautiful flare that makes us believe in that life. Gilmour is one of those writers.

Size: 5 (1/2)

Voiceless - Review

Title: Voiceless

Author: Caroline Wissing

Release Date: March 30, 2012

Format/Page Count: Paperback/240 pages

Publisher: Thistledown Press

Purchased: Blue Heron Books 

Synopsis:  Annabel Cross, nicknamed Ghost, hasn’t spoken a word since she witnessed Granny’s brutal murder two years earlier. However, at 15, Ghost has found a kind of peace at a foster home on a farm with other unwanted teens, including her closest friend Tully, who has dwarfism. But Graydon Fox arrives and Ghost falls hard for his good looks and intriguing combination of vulnerability and aloofness.

When Ghost’s mother is released from a drug rehab centre, she moves clear across the country to begin a new life—without Ghost. Devastated by her mother’s betrayal, Ghost overlooks Tully and turns to Graydon, meeting him nightly in the hayloft after curfew. One night the stable catches fire and, worried she’ll be blamed, Ghost agrees to run away with Graydon. While they flee along a dark stretch of road, a car pulls up and the driver, Cooper, offers them a ride. Cooper gives Ghost and Graydon refuge in his city apartment, but his offer comes at a price. After she realizes how Cooper expects her to earn her keep, and Graydon’s role in the plot, she has little choice. Rather than remain in the apartment as a sex slave, she must run and risk her life surviving on Ottawa’s streets in winter, mute and alone. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: I know the author. I met Caroline at Absolute Write. We have since met in person at the Ontario Writers' Conference, on several occasions. My caveat here would be that I am a personal friend of the author, but that in no way biases my review. I had HIGH expectations for Voiceless because, 1) I loved the synopsis...it was unique and 2) I know the high quality of writing that Wissing outputs...having read one of her previous manuscripts.

Market/Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary
 

Review:

Favourite Quote: 'I believe we just wanted to crawl into the children we'd never had the chance to be.'

Voiceless is a gripping story. From the moment the reader is introduced to the non-talking narrator, and the group of foster children in her company, they will be drawn to discover what becomes of this band of misfits. There is, first and foremost, Annabel, our narrator. She is also known as Ghost, a name given to her by her beloved foster mother, Mary. The other children are a sorry cast of unwanteds that includes a hooker (Char), a little person (Tully), a native (Jerome) and a mystery boy who appears at the story’s onset…a mystery boy whom Ghost is drawn to like a moth to a flame. Even his name is exotic—Graydon.

From the beginning, we see an intricate inner world through the eyes of our non-speaking narrator. She is thoughtful, caring…good. She is also lost in a world where her mother chooses drugs and the wild life over her. Ghost reflects on her early childhood with her grandmother…and from these reflections we realize the extent of the trauma she has suffered in her life. But at her foster home with Mary and Bobby, she finds a kind of peace. Her foster mother not only has a heart big enough to shelter the misfit children in her life, but she also extends that shelter to include the neglected and forgotten horses of the world. It is the horses that bring out a passion in Ghost…especially her love for the sway-backed Jett.

From the moment Graydon Fox appears at Noble Spirit Farm, Ghost is intrigued. It is just a matter of time before Graydon zeros in on her—possibly just as intrigued with Ghost’s inability to speak. The reader gets a sense that, as mysterious and bad-boy as Graydon appears, he also has redeeming qualities. He is nice and gentle to Ghost. But there is never a moment where the reader won’t let their guard down. Something will niggle at them throughout the story—a warning not to take their eye off the boy. It’s remarkable how well Wissing weaves this notion into the story. Even when he is at his best with Ghost, there is still that warning. Watch out.

After an ‘accident’ on the farm, Ghost agrees to flee Noble Spirit with Graydon. Things start to unravel from there. As a reader, I so wanted Graydon to redeem himself. As the warning flags became more flagrant, there was still that sense that he really did care for Ghost…that he just didn’t know how to undo what he had already put into motion. Was he a good kid drawn into bad circumstances? I devoured this book in my need to know the outcome. And though it felt near the end that certain loose ends were being bow-tied…it never took away from the story’s flow. I was satisfied from the first word to the last. Ghost and Graydon, and the rest of the sad-sack crew that made up the ensemble of foster kids on Noble Spirit, will haunt you long after you finish reading VOICELESS.

Wissing’s use of language is impeccable. Simply put, she has a beautiful way with words. Combine this with her ability to weave such a unique story of sadness and overcoming and you have an instant classic—Voiceless will be one of those books you just know you’ll want to revisit time and again. The maturity of Wissing’s lyrical prose boosts it beyond its market of YA…to that of literary. But it’s a story with mass appeal. It’s a unique combination when a story can transcend its niche and crossover into multiple categories of interest. I think Voiceless does this. Though written for the young adult audience, it would certainly speak to any reader who picks it up. This is a book you will want to read. I guarantee satisfaction.

Expectation was met and exceeded. Annabel is with me still...what a great female character. Such understated strength! Met & exceeded!

Size: 5

Mexican WhiteBoy - Review

Title: Mexican WhiteBoy

Author: Matt de la Peña

Release Date: August 12, 2008

Format/Page Count: Kindle/258 Pages

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Purchased: Amazon

NOTE: This author was brought to my attention through BOOKALICIOUS.ORG

Pam posted about Matt's books being removed from the curriculum in Arizona...and she challenged other readers to read Mexican WhiteBoy along with her in April. I took her up on the challenge. (-:

Synopsis:

DANNY’S TALL AND skinny. Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. A 95 mph fastball, but the boy’s not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound he loses it.

But at his private school, they don’t expect much else from him. Danny’s brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can’t speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes, they’ve got him pegged. Danny’s convinced it’s his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico. And that’s why he’s spending the summer with his dad’s family. Only, to find himself, he might just have to face the demons he refuses to see right in front of his face. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: This book sounded interesting, of course. But I didn't have any real expectation. I just thought it was pathetic that it would be removed from a curriculum. I wanted to support the author and send a message to the idiots who 'banned' his books. But I didn't really know enough about it to have any real sense of expectation.

REVIEW:

Before I start in on my gushing for this novel, I wanted to begin by saying that the story TOTALLY snuck up on me. As I was reading about a hitting competition in the beginning of the book, I had no idea how deep the story would go. Initially it was an interesting read, yes...but it suddenly became so much more than I first imagined it would be. It blossomed into such a great coming of age story...filled with wisdom and memorable characters.

Danny moves to National City to spend the summer with his father's family. Danny felt like an outsider at the preppy private school he attended, because he is half-Mexican, but coming to National City, he feels like an outsider because he is half-white. He doesn't speak a word of Spanish. He loves his father's family...almost irrationally. He wants so much to be like them...to be Mexican like them.

Upon Danny's arrival to the neighbourhood, he takes part in a batting competition after being prodded by his cousin Sofia. Sofia is feisty and fiery and she loves her cousin. She protects him in the neighbourhood...sticks up for him when kids ask why Danny doesn't talk.

When Danny shows prowess with a baseball bat, Uno, one of the neighbourhood boys, has a problem with him. Uno doesn't like the competition. He clearly feels threatened, so he pitches Danny a bad ball. Danny struggles to get a piece of the errant pitch and accidentally sends his bat through the air...right into Uno's developmentally handicapped brother's face. Uno's reaction is to break Danny's face open with his fist. This causes Danny to slam his head into the ground.

This is not a great start to Uno and Danny's relationship.

The great surprise I discovered as I continued to read is that these two boys become best friends. The turn in their relationship begins at a local fair, when some of the boys take turns at a pitching cage equipped with a speed gun to measure the speed of a thrower's pitch. Uno's quick switch from bitter jealousy and dislike to admiration of Danny's gift is absolutely transformative.

From this point on in the story, I was delighted by the way the two boys grew their friendship. It was great to see Uno teach Danny to reign in his wild pitches, and to watch the two grow together and take on each other's better qualities. Uno turns out to be the best coach (both life-coach and pitching-coach) that Danny has ever had. And Danny blossoms under Uno's tutelage. His thoughtful inward personality actually seems to wear off on Uno over the course of the novel. It's just a great relationship to witness...well worth reading Mexican WhiteBoy for.

There are some great moments in this book...from the hustling scenes Uno and Danny participate in, to the parties the close-knit group of teens have, to the quiet moments Uno and Danny share at the train tracks.

There is also a LOT of darkness in this story. To begin with, Danny's father is GONE. Just gone. He doesn't know why, but the truth comes out along the way...and it is a truth that initially crushes Danny. It's his passionate cousin, Sofia, who helps him through the difficulty he experiences with this plot-line. Sofia and Uno, who seems wise beyond his years...and is so much more than the bully we thought he was at the beginning of the story.

I won't get into everything that goes on in this story...because it is so worth picking up. I don't want to spoil any more of the surprises that happen along the way. Just go get this book! You won't regret it. But here's a hint...GIVE IT TIME. If you're anything like me, you'll be quietly reading along and suddenly think, 'heh...this is good. This is real good.' It's the first book that snuck up on me in a long time. It starts out quiet, but the ride picks up until you realize you're absolutely 100% hooked in.

I would happily recommend this book to anyone. Matt de la Peña does an amazing job playing with the reader's expectations. Quiet shifts in his characters become explosions on the page. Once you start reading Mexican WhiteBoy, you will fall in love with these strong characters and delight over the way they play off one another.

SIZE: 5

EXPECTATION: Ha! Even after the first few pages, my expectation wasn't that extreme. And then the shifts began and my love for the story grew and grew. I want to thank Pam from Bookalicious for turning me on to this author. I will be picking up more of his books! It's safe to say my expectations were blown out of the water.

AND Special Message to Arizona, who removed Matt's books from their curriculum: SHUT UP! This is a brilliant relationship book...a great book about friendship. I can't see anything inappropriate with it. It's been called anti-white...just ridiculous. It sounds like another case of book banning by people who didn't bother opening the book and reading it.

 

Gone, Gone, Gone - Review

Title: Gone, Gone, Gone

Author: Hannah Moskowitz

Release Date: April 17, 2012

Format/Page Count: Kindle/288 pages

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Purchased: Amazon


Synopsis:
 

In the wake of the post-9/11 sniper shootings, fragile love finds a stronghold in this intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer.

It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives. Craig’s crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him...and if he’ll do it again...and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody. Lio feels most alive when he's with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable...and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.

This intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer is a poignant look at what it is to feel needed, connected, and alive. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: I am a SOLID Moskowitz fan. Hannah is one of my favourite (not so) new authors. I have yet to be disappointed by her works. In fact, I absolutely adore every Hannah Moskowitz book on the market. My expectation for this book was TOO HIGH.


Market/Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary

Review: 

Favourite Moments: 

'If I could take all the machine guns in the world and bend them into hearts, I totally totally would, even if I got grazed by bullets in the process, which knowing me I probably would, because I'm a little bit of a klutz, but Lio thinks I'm cute.'

'I love you, you fucking idiot, and I love you crazy and I love you sane, so will you please answer my emails?'


'One woman is not very many. Nine dead people, total, is not very many. But my stomach hurts so hard.'


'Something about the fact that he asked me if I was in New York, and I'm not in New York, and then he says he misses me even though I'm here, I'm just not here with him...I think I understand for the first time what it means to be in a relationship.'

From the moment I first read BREAK by Hannah Moskowitz, I knew I would read each consecutive novel she ever releases. Gone, Gone, Gone (from this point on referred to as GGG) is my 4th Moskowitz read (Break, Invincible Summer & Zombie Tag being her first three novels). As usual, I was NOT disappointed! Moskowitz continues to pepper her wonderfully real YA and MG novels with poignant heart-achingly awesome life. She is a master at instilling her readers with an emotional attachment to the worlds of her characters. An absolute master.

One of the things I love about GGG is the dual first-person narration. This is something that--as an author--I have used twice myself. Something about the dual first-person viewpoint really gives the reader such great insights into a story. With GGG the two main characters, Craig and Lio, take turns narrating chapters. Moskowitz carries out this back and forth narration flawlessly. One never forgets which of the two characters are narrating, as each are wonderfully unique.



GGG opens with Craig discovering that not only was his house broken into, but his menagerie of house pets have all escaped through the broken windows. Through this discovery, the reader begins to sense a slight brokenness in Craig...an endearing brokenness. We are also introduced to Todd, Craig's older brother. What would a Moskowitz novel be without an extraordinary brother/brother relationship! I still don't know how she does it. The reader gets a quick picture of this relationship in the way that Todd checks up on Craig, shows concern for him. There's this wonderful line in the first chapter that really captures something of their relationship. 'Todd has this way of being affectionate that I see but usually don't feel.'


The reader is also made aware in the opening chapter that 9/11 plays a prominent role in the story-line. The denizens of GGG are all on edge from the freshness of the terrorist attacks. Lio is from New York, newly settled in Maryland. While he deals with the memories of New York's version of 9/11 events, Craig struggles with the D.C. area's version--which included the death of his ex-boyfriend's father in the Pentagon. The story begins only 13 months after the towers fell. The raw nerves the characters display get re-electrified with a new fear as the DC sniper shootings begin.

To quickly describe the plot of GGG, it opens with an animal hoarding Craig. Apparently he is replacing his boyfriend (and his social life) with a menagerie of fury friends. He acts as something of a Welcome Wagon spokesperson for his school. He is assigned Lio, who is transferring to his school from New York. Their relationship begins in IM, but quickly develops from there. Lio is a boy who can possibly be fixed, unlike Craig's messed up institutionalized boyfriend Cody...who never recovered from his father's 9/11 death. Lio lived through cancer and had a twin brother who did not make it through his own cancer ordeal. Lio is as messed up as his multi-coloured hair. Something about him re-ignites Craig's life. Just as something about Craig re-ignites Lio's desire to speak, to engage in life.


"His tragic flaw is that he is a walking tragedy, and his smile makes me feel alive." ~ Craig, describing Lio.

As the two form a relationship, they struggle to live in a world gone mad with the random shooting spree of the Beltway Sniper. As everyone around them ducks and weaves to avoid being shot at, they slowly come together amid the chaos. Still dealing with the emotional fallout of 9/11, the two go about their lives trying not to become victims of the sniper. All the while, they are trying to reassemble Craig's gone, gone, gone menagerie. There are some wonderful moments in the story where the boys put everything down to mathematics---the odds of becoming a sniper victim, the differences in the number of tragic deaths in New York as compared to those in D.C.. We are made aware through character growth that the figures don't matter, that numbers don't matter. That each life lost is a life lost, come what may. There is something just achingly familiarly and melancholic in the insights we are given through the eyes of these two boys in love.

These two boys each have pasts to unravel and come to terms with. Doing so amid the re-collection of Craig's menagerie and the simultaneously unnerving sniper attacks makes for an exciting pace that will engage the reader non-stop. I read this novel in just over a day. Not unlike Moskowitz's other books, I just couldn't put it down. She writes with a rawness that makes the reader right at home inside both the tragedies and the joys of her stories. I highly recommend Gone, Gone, Gone. If you are not yet a Moskowitz fan, if you have yet to stumble upon her fiction, this book will bring you in hook, line and sinker. Be prepared, though. You'll want to pick up the rest of her quickly growing catalogue of work.





SIZE:5 (1/2!)

Expectation: Forget about it. Blew my expectations out of the water. I will read cocktail napkins that Moskowitz scribbles on. Hannah Moskowitz is a RELEASE DAY AUTHOR. No two ways about it!

Taking Lessons from Ernest - Review

Title: Taking Lessons From Ernest

Author: TRISH STEWART

Release Date: December, 2011

Format/Page Count: Paperback, 252 pages

Publisher: Writers Amuse Me Publishing

Purchased: Directly from the publisher

Full Disclosure: Trish Stewart is a writer friend. Our paths first crossed at Absolute Write. We share a love of poetry, A Moveable Feast and writing style. I read a first draft of Taking Lessons from Ernest a few years back. This review is of a friend's book...but it is an honest non-biased review of a book I love.

Synopsis:
His job is unfulfilling, his girlfriend controlling, his family has disowned him, and a loan shark is circling: Eric Bastien's life is a mess. Then, as a work day ends on a high, his love life hits the skids, and he gets the phone call from his estranged mother that changes everything. "Your father's dead." Life hands Eric a great opportunity, an awkward family reunion, and an ultimatum --  if he wants his inheritance, he has to take a road trip to see his father's old Army buddy, Oliver. For most, it would be no problem. Hop in the car, placate the family, get your money: no problem. Then again, you have not met Eric, have you? Armed with his father's journal and a first edition of Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, Eric decides to make amends to his family and get his life back on track. What he doesn't expect is to have Ernest Hemingway's ghost along for the ride. With intentions of helping Eric get it right, Hemingway manages to complicate the situation, resulting in an unforgettable road trip. Help comes in many forms. In this case, it is Hemingway's ghost who is determined to make Eric's first draft at life a good one. With any luck, he'll succeed before Eric loses a kneecap. (FROM PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE)

Expectation: Extremely high. I was dying to read this finished version of TLFE, ever since I read the amazing first draft!

Market/Genre: Adult/Literary

Review: 

Taking Lessons from Ernest is one of those books you just want to read out loud. The first paragraph had me gushing with sentiment. I had to read it to my wife. Twice. “Listen to this! Just listen to this!” It’s that kind of book.

Trish Stewart has created the quintessential MEDIOCRITY KING in her main character, Eric Bastien. Eric bumbles through life, unable to cling to any significance whatsoever. From the onset of the story, I found myself rooting for him…but I still don’t know why I did. He is just one of those souls who slips through the cracks of life. He had no passion, no drive, no commitment.

Or maybe, just maybe, that’s what the author of TAKING LESSONS FROM ERNEST wants you to believe. Maybe the story is a journey back to the passion and commitment that LIFE burned out of Eric Bastien. Stewart shows Eric how to get back to his paused life through a wonderful journey filled with the ghost of Ernest Hemingway and the guidance of his own estranged father. And through that journey, the reader can also feel themselves growing. We walk hand in hand with Eric. We get angry when he takes a step backwards, and we revel in every step forward.

Taking Lessons from Ernest is a unique look into the dangerous slide into mediocrity that each and every one of us is capable of making…and a warning to prevent us from doing so.

When Eric’s father dies, Eric is sent on a road-trip to find Oliver Crowe. Crowe was an army buddy of Daniel’s…and has obviously greatly impacted his life. Crowe was larger than life…wonderful in every way. But life has a knack of finding those mythical characters from our youth and eating away at them, making them less. Eric is not impressed with what he finds at the end of the path to Oliver Crowe. But his real journey just begins there.

In life, Daniel was no longer speaking to his estranged son…but in death he has a well mapped plan for Eric. He can—with the help of a seemingly wild goose chase with the accompaniment of A MOVEABLE FEAST and his journals from his time in the army—give Eric a journey back to the self he left behind in the chaos that has become his life.

And us, lucky readers, are along for the ride. We see Eric discovering a kinder gentler father through reading his journals. We see him aching with adoration as he makes his way through Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast and we see him itching to discover just what his father wanted him to learn through his pre-planned post-mortem intervention into his son’s life. But what we also see is Eric’s complete reluctance to succumb to the lessons. This is what we love…the struggle, the pull to refuse the light into his discombobulated life. We read on because we want him to melt, we want him to take the opportunity for growth that his dead father is giving him.

This is a story of redemption. Not only is it a strong story of personal growth, it’s also one of those novels you stumble across once in a long while where you want to quote these beautiful lines of wisdom. Stewart is a fine writer. Her poetic wisdom comes through in her narrative. I think we’ll be seeing more of her. Her melodic prose is the true gift of this novel…not to mention the lessons given to the reader through the solid plotline from mediocrity to…well, something better. Stewart’s love of Hemingway comes through in every word. Through the use of his ghost as Eric’s mentor along the journey, she does a huge honour to his memory. Here’s to Eric Bastien…and here’s to Trish Stewart.

SIZE: 5

Expectation was met in spades. This book makes me want to be a better person. Stewart definitely accomplished what she set out to do with this novel! Bravo.