Classy Classics: The Witch of Blackbird Pond

That's right, it's time for another classic literature post.  Tonight's topic? The Witch of Blackbird Pond, a classic children's book.  I've loved this book since I first read it age 10. A chronic re-reader, I surpassed even my norm as a child by picking this book up 3-4 times a year until I was about 14. And, here's why you need to pick it up, too.

The Basics
Speare, Elizabeth George. The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1958. eBook.

Elizabeth George Speare was born 1908 and passed away in 1994.  She well known for her children's historical fiction and has won two Newbery Medals, on of which was awarded to The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond follows the heroine, Kit Tyler, as she arrives in America from Barbados.  Following the death of her grandfather, she goes to live with her mother's sister in the Puritan colony of Wethersfield.  Her new life is a far cry from the freedom and luxury she enjoyed in Barbados. As Kit struggles to adapt, she also grows from an impulsive and rebellious girl into a confident and poised young woman.

Why You Should Read This Book!
I think the part of the book that first gripped me was the historic setting Speare uses. She places her story in Puritan American around the time of the Salem witch trials.  I loved history as a child, seeing it as one big story, so books that pulled from a historic background were always fascinating.  Speare does an excellent job capturing the feel of the period.  Readers can see the Puritan setting taking shape not just in front of them but around them, that's how immersive Speare's tale is.  The people Kit finds herself living with are as alien to modern readers as they are for Kit herself, which makes it incredibly easy to empathize and connect with Kit as a character.  This in turn further immerses the reader in the story, which is told in third person and focuses on Kit.

Speaking of Kit, the characters in the book are fantastically written. By the end of the novel, you'll feel as if you know them.  Kit, especially, feels like an old friend, since she is so easy to identify with.  Anyone who's every felt the least bit like an outcast will love her all the more.  She's bright, spunky, and incredibly out of place. But even the side characters are fascinating.  I was always partial to Kit's cousins, Judith and Mercy.  I'm not sure why I liked Judith so much a child, since she's clearly set up as a counterpoint to Kit. But, even when she's being snotty, you still have to like Judith who isn't ever really bad.  Mercy is sweet, and you'll find yourself quietly rooting for her as you read. Even the difficult characters are multi-faceted enough to find a likable trait. The only character who's truly detestable is the villainous Goodwife Cruff, as it should be.

Then we have Speare's fantastic story telling in general. From the start you'll find yourself invested in Kit's life and its outcomes.  You'll root for her as she defies prejudice and befriends the lonely old Quaker woman forced to live on the outskirts of town, bite your fingernails as she faces down accusations of witchcraft, and rejoice as she chooses a suitor and settles into a life of her own making. But ultimately, the story is not about any of those exciting events: it's about Kit, her daily life in Puritan New England and her journey toward womanhood.  It's warm and engaging and will keep you turning pages as quickly as you can.

Extras

• There's not really much to share, but you find a picture of the author on the right.
• And below you'll find a collection of various book covers.

   

Orphans, Princes, and Plots, Oh My!

Writing my last post on teen summer reading really got in the mood for a nice Young Adult fantasy novel.  Sadly my initial pick was something of a downer, especially since the author shares my hometown (Boo on poorly written teen romance).  Then, my coworker (and Young Adult librarian, go figure), who I had hooked on The Thief series, handed me The False Prince and told me to give it a try.  It was awesome.

The Basics
Nielsen, Jennifer. The False Prince. New York: Scholastic, P., 2012. Print.

Born and raised in Utah, Jennifer Nielsen began writing as early as elementary school. She started out writing adult romantic suspense (I'm sure not in elementary school), before mobing on to fantasy novels for juvenile and young adult readers. She lives with her husband, three children, a dog, and a love of chocolate.

The False Prince is the first novel in Nielsen's new Ascendence Trilogy. Sage, an orphan and thief, is one of four boys selected by a nobleman to participate in a plot to install a false prince on the throne of medieval Carthya.  Sage must compete w/ the other orphans, and he's clearly competing for more than a crown, since the losing boys likely won't survive not being selected.  Sage stands a pretty good chance since he's clever, crafty, and a whole lot more than he seems.

The Book
One of the best aspects of The False Prince is that the book is incredibly well written. Nielsen offers up some high quality prose that is sure to please a wide audience.  It's not to advanced for her target teen readership, but it's sophisticated enough to engage and delight adult readers as well.  Along with the polished writing, we find a fast-paced and captivating plot that, while not entirely unpredictable, is highly interesting and extremely well done.  I can't say too much more without giving away all the good parts. Suffice it to say that I loved every second of the 342 pages that I breezed through in one evening (okay and very early morning).

Nielsen also provides readers with some great characters.  Until you get close to the end, you really won't be sure who to dislike and who not to worry about, which is nicely representative of the situation the protagonist finds himself in.  We have the conniving nobleman Conner, who is despicable but also frighteningly convincing in his manipulations.  Then we have the orphans themselves, who cover a range of personality traits: sickly, sniveling, brown-nosing, plotting, jerky, arrogant, in need of protection, sympathetic, clever, crafty, etc.  Given the short time period of the book (about 2 weeks) and the close quarters setting in which most of it takes place, the characters have to vivid to hold reader's attention. Nielsen more than succeeds at this.

The best part of the novel for me hands down was the level of suspense that Nielsen creates and maintains.  I could not stop turning the pages.  The novel is full of politics and twists, and it doesn't shy away from the occasional truly gritty scene.  A real, almost tangible sense of danger, importance, and urgency pervades the book, keeping both the characters and the readers on their toes.  Nielsen offers just enough hints and plotting to keep you guessing without allowing you to be absolutely sure of the resolution until its right up on you.  Perfect.

I'm dreadfully sick of the YA trilogy format that seems to pervade the age group regardless of whether the story deserves to be that lengthy. But this book made me love it again. I cannot wait for the second and third novels.

Extras

• Visit the author's website for some nifty information and to check out her other series geared toward middle graders.  While you're there, also visit her section offering tips for writers. 
• Nielsen also has a blog!
• Check out The False Prince page over at the publisher's website, which offers a description and an excerpt. 

   

Why Don't You Just Go... Croak?

So if I was really super awesomely on top of things, I would have read this book in time to post last week. Cause then it would have been even newer. But, I'm not; I read things as they catch my fancy. Still 9 days after the release date isn't bad, right? (Someday, I'll be super-awesome-blogger girl and get Galleys for this. *nods head*).  Tonight's post spotlights the very fun, fresh, and epically awesome new Young Adult book, Croak.

The Basics
Damico, Gina. Croak. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. eBook.

Damico does not yet have a wikipedia page or any other info out in the easily searchable interwebs, so this bio is solely based on the much better one found on her website (See Extras below).  Damico is from New York state and holds a degree in theater and sociology. She currently resides in Boston with her two cats and a husband (Sebastian informs me via claw that cats take precedence). Croak is her first novel of epic awesomeness; I'm sure there will be more to come.

Croak's heroine is a girl named Lex, who's "troubled." She kicks, spits, punches, and terrorizes the school hockey team (and generally everyone else).  So, her parents, at their wits' end, ship her off to her Uncle Mort in upstate New York to spend the summer working on his farm. Except he's not a farmer, he's a Grim Reaper, and so is Lex. Sarcasm, antics, and drama ensue.

The Book
Is awesome.

Okay, so I've got more to say than that.  Let's start with Lex.  She starts out as a surly, angry teenager, who's pretty thoroughly unlikeable.  She picks the hair of a kid she bit out of her teeth with a "quick snap" like a proper little psycho.  However, Lex grows on you pretty quickly (in a decidedly un-fungus-like manner, too).  Since the entire third person narrative follows Lex, you get inside her head pretty quickly.  You learn that she doesn't really understand her own behavior any better than her baffled family, and I think that's something that normal (non Grim Reaper) teens can easily identify with  (I mean really, it's a miracle any of us survive that age without being strangled), even if the excuse of being hormone addled is far less cool. You also get to watch Lex grow a bit and start to come into her own as she finds a place where she can be herself in Croak.  She's also a sarcastic little smartie-pants, which makes for fun reading.

And speaking of sarcastically delightful reading, Damico infuses Croak with a delicious sense of humor that produces laughs with almost every page.  I actually had to share the laughs and read a passage out loud when she encounters a frat boy with a popped collar who "resembled a preppy Count Chocula" and "put on his best 'I'm a douchebag' face'," right before calling her cutie.  Hi-larious! Best of all, it's a kind of humor that I think really resonates with the audience that Damico is targeting. And it's highly quotable, too; I will long hold fond memories of the phrase "it's a bedroom, not a Victoria's Secret".  At times it borders on the farcical and the ridiculous (almost cartoonish), such as when Teddy Roosevelt roars at Edgar Allan Poe who in turn screams like a little girl.  But this will 1) help it appeal to a broader age range, dipping into slightly younger groups and 2) provoke thought about the nature of death and the afterlife via humor. (Right? Totally).

And let's not ignore the fact that in addition to being hysterically funny, Damico's writing is just plain good.  She delves into some fairly interesting subject material: life, death, the nature of the afterlife, justice, family, belonging, loss, grief, responsibility.  And that's just what I can think of in the matter of a few seconds; I'm sure I could go on.  There's a lot for the mind to chew on in between all the wise-cracks; I know it was pretty thought-provoking for me.  I think that especially for the young adult audience, this particular take on death could prove interesting. I know that nothing mystified me more as a teen than the idea that someone could be there one second and gone the next. It still does.

Best of all, Damico is carving out new and interesting territory for herself in the realm of Young Adult fiction. There's not a dystopia, vampire, angel, werewolf, or wizard in sight.  Grim Reapers aren't exactly a new idea (there was the show Dead Like Me a few years back and probably other stuff), but Damico takes this to a new and exciting place.  And she does it very well, I can't wait for more.

P.S. Don't listen to reviews that whine about the pace of the ending. It was not sudden. It flowed well and made perfect sense within the happenings of the book. Nyah, so there.

Extras

• So, go check out Gina Damico's webpage for plenty of snarky goodness! There's a cute video trailer for the novel if you scroll down to the very bottom. And don't forget to check out the bio!
• While you're there, check out her blog, especially her latest post that could lead to a deleted scene from Croak if you play your cards right.
• The sequel (Squeeeeeee!)? Yeah, it comes out in Fall and stuff. (Spoiler Alert: Do NOT read the summary for this book or you'll ruin the ending of Croak for yourself. You have been warned).