Set in the America of 1930s, Ms. Glover mixes racism with a unique form of magic to underpin this story of mysterious murders and a machine with the pSet in the America of 1930s, Ms. Glover mixes racism with a unique form of magic to underpin this story of mysterious murders and a machine with the potential to destroy towns.
Velma Frye, known by a variety of names, is a daredevil pilot whose stunts are a brilliant cover for her more important work as an investigator, crime solver and wielder of magic. As when helping any people nearly crushed by the legal system, Velma is not above breaking the law every now and again. She tries her best to aid other black people and through her efforts we see the racism that still had America in a tight stranglehold. While the book doesn’t show on-page clashes between whites and blacks, we get reports time and again about how black people must struggle to hold on to the little they have. Any sign of success among them and angry, sullen white mobs are quick to take up the torches and advance on their African-American neighbors.
The mystery takes Velma and her wonderful monoplane, Fowl Weather, all over America with a nosy, exasperating reporter Dillon Harris in tow. Dillon at first is one of those perk, annoying rogues given to winking and infuriating smiles and popping up places where Velma happens to be. You can understand her irritation with him, especially since he started off his acquaintance with a newspaper feud that disparaged and belittled the then-new science of airplane flying. What’s wrong with broomsticks? he wonders. What can planes do that’s any better?
Their enemies-to-lovers romance is believable because they share their unique talents in solving the mystery, aiding one another and complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Dillon learns to appreciated Velma’s flying skills, her airplane and her determination to use both to help others. Velma respects Dillon’s integrity in his capacity as a reporter as he has a tendency to dig for the truth and print scathing exposés that give him his fair share of enemies.
This is a terrific mystery, too, with shades of Agatha Christie when suspects are locked in a house and bodies start turning up. The action is briskly written, especially when Velma takes to the skies; you almost can feel the airplane vibrating under your seat. The characters are edgy, potent and complicated. Even the supposed criminals garner your sympathy.
This is a standalone novel but it takes place as part of the Murder and Magic series. You don’t need to read those to understand and appreciate this novel. But this novel may make you hungry to learn more....more
Mac Delaney is a troubled child. He’s only 12 so he’s not into drugs, alcohol or rampant partying. But his home life is less than ideal and it’s startMac Delaney is a troubled child. He’s only 12 so he’s not into drugs, alcohol or rampant partying. But his home life is less than ideal and it’s starting to bleed into his interactions with his friends.
The author initially has trouble making us understand Mac’s growing misery. But that’s because Mac can barely articulate what’s wrong with himself. His father is suffering from undiagnosed mental problems (although most of the time he just seems to be a garden-variety jerk) but Mac’s mother and maternal grandfather don’t state it as such. Mac is fearful that he’s inherited his father’s uncertain temper, hides his father’s abandonment from his friends, is crushing on a girl he’s known for years…and he can’t talk about any of this. You feel for him when he bursts into tears and his mother and grandfather respond with loving attention. You grind your teeth with frustration that he wants to speak to them and can’t bring himself to do it. He’s not being recalcitrant, sullen or moody. He wants to talk; he just can’t get out the words.
This inability follows him into the classroom when he confronts a teacher with all the sweetness of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and the sternness of Mary Poppins (I’m talking about the literary creation not the cinematic ones). She’s the ultimate Karen. She wants things in their little town to remain “just so”, a bizarre throwback to the 1950s where people went to bed before 10 p.m. and all the houses were painted white.
Ms. Laura Samuel Sett is not a villain per se. She genuinely wants children to read and wants them educated. However, she seems to be directly or indirectly responsible for all the stringent rules that bind the town tighter than a 16th-century whalebone corset. She’s not mean, frightening, ill tempered, nasty or punitive. She’s just a typical teacher with a lot to share with her students. But underneath her charming, smiling demeanor is a core of steel and a refusal to bend.
Mac comes to certain realizations about grownups. He learns to accept that he’s just as smart, capable, strong willed as others think he is. He and his friends gather their strength, pool their resources and agree to accept help from adults. Sometimes that’s all it takes....more
This book contains only three main characters (maybe four if you include yourself, the reader). But it manages to pack action, interaction, pointed coThis book contains only three main characters (maybe four if you include yourself, the reader). But it manages to pack action, interaction, pointed commentary and arresting visuals into this tale of a missing chapter.
The fun starts on the title page as a bow-tied child with an upswept cowlick (ugh, you dislike him already) goes racing for a word bubble to engage the reader and start the action. The dedication page is no better, showing itself as a chaotic mess in spite of all the bins supposedly meant to keep matters in order.
Whodunnit? Well, that’s easy to figure. But not for the obstreperous boy or the hapless, witless Detective McGarrigan who show up to find the errant chapter. Instead, they race around, trip over misplaced punctuation, sweep up page numbers that have moved from their proper positions, listen to internet trolls who have their own nasty comments to make and argue with a shifty janitor who has his own opinions about how the story should be written.
The words are accompanied by pictures in black, white and mustard yellow that borders on orange. They’re framed against white pages that accentuate the action…or lack of it. This is a daring author indeed who is willing to have nothing happening for several pages. (Then again, that’s a complaint made about Stephen King’s writings and nobody likes that when he does it…)
While there’s no real payoff or resolution to the mystery, that’s kind of the point. It’s a book about punctuation, grammar, spelling and what happens when the rules of writing aren’t followed. As for the missing Milo, the still unnamed child vows revenge and to catch the disgruntled janitor.
So I guess that means there’s going to be a sequel? Hmmm…...more
These tales range from the whimsical (an old man uses a poor imitation of one of his famous paintings to conjure a paper man) to the sinister (a womanThese tales range from the whimsical (an old man uses a poor imitation of one of his famous paintings to conjure a paper man) to the sinister (a woman tricks a desperate royal in order to gain revenge). But, in the midst of the fantastical elements, they all involve human feelings and valuable lessons.
The fantastical aspects are part of nature not separate from it. Even as valuable natural resources get demolished, humans can restore order through simple effort and kindness. Cheering crowds practically weep as a baby dragon takes flight. A young girl saves a small fish god when its river is destroyed by construction workers. A vengeful woman who’s lost her child finds a surrogate in an imprinting baby dragon.
If some of this sounds too cute for words, they aren’t. There’s enough pathos to skirt silliness and twee charm. These are stories for children as well as adults but they’re far from childish. ...more
This book is the grownup version of Inside Out 2, albeit with gunplay, serial killers and stalking included. (If you haven’t seen that movie, I urge yThis book is the grownup version of Inside Out 2, albeit with gunplay, serial killers and stalking included. (If you haven’t seen that movie, I urge you to do so. It’s ripping good stuff.)
Mr. De Becker was a childhood victim. He was a witness to violence, grew up with it in his home. He grew to a point where he was desensitized to what other people would call fearful situations. He might have succumbed to the ugly lessons of what he saw, becoming yet another perpetrator of violence towards others. He was in a group of other people who’d been traumatized by such things. One criminal wondered how it was that, coming from similar backgrounds, Mr. De Becker wore a suit, had a decent job and got to go home while he was poor, incarcerated and had to sleep in a jail cell.
Mr. De Becker had help. Then he offered help to others. In this book, he outlines how fear can be our ally, how to tell the difference between a potential dangerous situation and the bêtes noirs that lurks in our minds and can torture us with impossible, nonsensical scenarios that never happen. He teaches us that our instincts aren’t necessarily to be dismissed because they seem silly. He outlines guidance on how to identify, recognize and deal with “difficult” people such as controlling partners, co-workers who make the workplace toxic for fellow employees and, believe it or not, home invaders.
The book is peppered with testimonies from people who have escaped successfully from their attackers and burglars, celebrities who have escaped being murdered by their creepy stalkers. He has compiled a group of people who regularly sift through correspondence and determine who are harmless fans and who have the potential to become active threats. (E.g., If they’ve sold all their belongings, traveled thousands of miles to be near their crush and have compiled intimate details about their target’s lifestyle, those are MAJOR red flags.)
Ranging from the personal to the world stage, this book is a regular how-to in how to sort real threats from minor annoyances. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s ever been afraid of those lurking shadows in the car park, the strangers who seem to proliferate overnight on the street, the 10,000th fan letter received from one over-zealous devotee or how to vet the new babysitter. It’s the self-help guide that every modern urban dweller has needed, even if they didn’t know they needed it. ...more
Lemony Snicket’s wry humor is on full display here as a vain, pompous, arrogant nameless Inspector sets out to find who killed the composer.
Sepia drawLemony Snicket’s wry humor is on full display here as a vain, pompous, arrogant nameless Inspector sets out to find who killed the composer.
Sepia drawings interspersed with black-and-white silhouettes take us on a trip through the typical orchestra posing as a witty whodunnit. We learn what role the various instruments play as they defend themselves one by one against the Inspector’s accusations. When the culprit is finally revealed, the Inspector finds himself stumped. The child reading this book will have learned valuable lessons about how the various parts of an orchestra work together to create glorious music.
The next time said child hears the opening strains to Star Wars, s/he may have a newfound appreciation of just what goes into a grand score....more
Mosca Mye is one of the orneriest heroines you’ve ever likely to meet on or off the page. Having been orphaned young and reared by a mean-spirited aunMosca Mye is one of the orneriest heroines you’ve ever likely to meet on or off the page. Having been orphaned young and reared by a mean-spirited aunt and uncle, she’s never cultivated warm feelings towards anybody or anything except a goose named Saracen. This avian matches her in warlike spirit, being a terror to any foe he encounters. His beak can peck out eyes. His wings can break a man’s legs. Dogs have learned to shun him and men to fear him.
Mosca isn’t quite so formidable at fisticuffs (she’s only 11, after all) but she makes up for it with a minatory spirit. Her desperation to escape the humdrum awfulness of life in a small town makes her an accidental arsonist, a jailbreaker, liar, thief and spy. It’s humorous how only part of that list is intentional.
Her adventures lead her to a panoply of colorful characters of blackmailers, thieves, marriage brokers, highwaymen, blue collar workers, mad dukes, scheming duchesses, saboteurs, espionage agents and religious lunatics, just to name a few. The story gallops apace with nary a dull moment. At times, the threads of plots, counterplots, political machinations and switching of sides gets so tangled it’s tough to make out who is working for or against whom. But the story is worth it so stick with it.
Joining Mosca on her travels is the silver-tongued scapegrace Eponymous Clent who is and isn’t what he seems. We, like Mosca, spend a great deal of time admiring or being frightened by this unscrupulous fellow, who may have blood on his hands, constables on his tail and debtors craving his heart on a hook. Everybody wants him—the police want him for questioning. Mosca would be happy just to get out of his clutches.
Underneath the hijinks, the book is a sober look at religiosity: the role it plays in the lives of hoi polloi, how those in power find it useful and how others see it as a illness that should be stamped out—with fire, if necessary. I found this book filled with fascinating conversations, tips and one girl’s burgeoning understanding of just how the world works even as she tries to figure out her place in it....more
Rose has come to terms with being a magic wielder. But that doesn’t make her complacent or lazy. On the contrary, she likes having things to do. HouseRose has come to terms with being a magic wielder. But that doesn’t make her complacent or lazy. On the contrary, she likes having things to do. Housework is something she happily throws herself into, without magic being involved.
However, things have taken a dark turn in the kingdom. Thanks to an insatiable and insane magician, people have become fearful of magic. That suspicion becomes ugly as paranoia seeps into Mr. Fountain’s household. While the staff are more or less accepting of the upper classes having magical abilities, they are greatly uneasy about anyone on their social level possessing it. Rose suddenly finds herself persona non grata among people she’d once considered her friends. It makes her unsettled and forlorn.
Rose never forgets that she comes from a poor background. As an orphan, snow didn’t mean snowball fights, castle building or hot cocoa when you came back home. It meant slush getting into your shoes, your meager clothes being sodden until you shivered with cold. Even if she would forget it, no one else would let her. So she remains humble and hard working, compassionate and tolerant.
She’s also brave, too, when she needs to be. The latter part of the book finds her going up against kidnappers and would-be assassins. She’s a fictional heroine that continues to rise to the occasion when needed.
Since the mystery of who’s behind royal kidnapping hasn’t been completely solved, I want to see what happens in the next sequel. I’m sure Rose won’t disappoint....more
This is an incisive look at how two reporters and The NY Times helped bring a sexual predator into the public eye. It never gets boring, it manages toThis is an incisive look at how two reporters and The NY Times helped bring a sexual predator into the public eye. It never gets boring, it manages to combine tension and outrage and, most of all, it shows the meticulous and careful way these women gathered their information.
Far from the foolish swiftness to judgment of social media, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey were determined to get the facts straight. They needed witnesses, they needed physical records, they needed women willing to come forward and give their stories. You are impressed by their enormous wells of patience, especially when it came to getting women to lend their names to reports. Off-the-record, vague stories without the corroboration of actual names wouldn’t do; they needed someone to come forward and be willing to lend her name to her accusations.
It wasn’t easy and I found myself biting my lip and drumming my fingers as they went from one lead to another, trying desperately to find a woman, any woman, willing to point the finger at Harvey Weinstein and label him as the sexual pervert that he was. They manage to make you sympathetic to women who were scared because 1) they didn’t want to ruin their reputation and be labeled liars, sluts or worse and/or 2) they didn’t want to destroy their careers by riling a man known for his vindictive temper.
They didn’t want to be first. They didn’t want to be alone.
But the story didn’t end there. Accusing Harvey Weinstein opened the floodgates and you read as many women—even women they didn’t contact at all—came forward to accuse him and other powerful men of making the women the victims of their lewd remarks and wandering hands.
This is investigative reporting at its absolute best and displays just how far we’ve come and how far we have to go. As with any freedom, the cost of freedom from sexual attack is eternal vigilance....more
This novel takes its own sweet time to get to the tense, sordid thriller at its core. The prologue begins, dully enough, with an elderly man receivingThis novel takes its own sweet time to get to the tense, sordid thriller at its core. The prologue begins, dully enough, with an elderly man receiving a pressed, framed flower on his birthday. It is the latest in a long line of similar annual gifts. The prose is very dry as it details what kind of flower it is, where it comes from and the impossibility of finding its sender. There’s plenty of information about the flower itself but nothing noteworthy. Then the old man bursts into tears.
Much of the novel is like that—dusty facts that give way to scenes of intense emotion, feelings that often take a fictional character by surprise. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the haunting character of Lisbeth Salander. More about her anon.
This is not a novel for the intellectually lazy. Its writer was obviously very erudite and he expected his readers to be as well. It’s packed with information, often dizzingly so. The botanical nature of the flower; scenes devoted to discussing finances such as investments, fraud and stocks; constant meat and matter about computers and the internet make this a book of hard sciences, the kind that only devotees of these particular niches can truly appreciate.
At times, the novel seems bogged down with its own cleverness and the impatient reader will wish less time is spent on technical minutiae and more on the story at hand. However, the central plot is a 40-odd-year-old enigma, a locked-room mystery as Mikael Blomkvist jokingly puts it. This is not a typically whodunnit that can be resolved quickly. The clues pile up in a bewildering fashion, the people who need to be interviewed are either long dead or so far flung the journalist must travel great distances to interview them and the various threads seem to spool outward in random directions.
There is a great deal of foreshadowing about the likely fate of the vanished Harriet Vanger. Lisbeth Salander is subjected to a molestation of breathless cruelty and we erroneously believe that this is the reason for her emotional distance. When Harriet Vanger is described by her girlfriends as having gone from vivacious, outgoing and friendly to taciturn, closed off and distant, we fear that she has suffered a similar fate as Lisbeth. Others put it down to a child passing into typical sullen, moody adolescence. The prescient reader suspects otherwise and descriptions of Harriet’s changed demeanor send a foreboding shiver down the spine.
Lisbeth and Harriet’s pasts have put them down very different actions and courses in their lives. Yet they share a determination to succeed, to rise above a corrupt system that destroyed their autonomy and threatened to bury them alive.
(view spoiler)[Lisbeth suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. This is a conclusion that Mikael comes to on his own after spending time with her and witnessing her social ineptitude. Previously, no one her life diagnoses her condition because she stubbornly refused to answer questions about her background, her parents or her upbringing. She gets impatient when people query about such things and retreats into stoical silence when they do. She refused to partake in any tests when a doctor tried diagnosing her. She refused to participate in classrooms or answer questions the teachers put to her. She engages in sex but violently rejects being hugged or touched in any way. She takes pleasure in ferreting out other people’s secrets yet hates it when other people touch her things.
The failure of society and institutions (especially the police) to understand her condition and make compensations for it have left her with a base-level contempt and hatred the so-called guardians who should take care of the downtrodden, hopeless, helpless and oppressed members of society.
She has zero empathy or sympathy for others; her reasons for attacking child molesters or those who abuse and/or kill women has to do solely with the fact that she was abused herself. When she investigates the crooked financier Hans-Erik Wennerström, she swiftly loses interest in his illegal business dealings. What does she care that he’s got his dirty fingers into so many pies that they cease to be crimes and become more like businesses? However, he once had a thug hold his pregnant mistress’s head under the water in her own bathtub when she refused to abort his child. So Lisbeth electronically tracks his increasingly desperate measures to escape the police. She puts in a call to a person that Wennerström is particularly keen on avoiding. A few days later, he’s found dead in his room with three gunshot wounds to the head. (hide spoiler)]
The novel touches upon so many themes—computer espionage, international crime, journalism, sexual coercion, serial killing, the subjugation of women by men—that it’s impossible to cover it in one comprehensive review. Suffice it to say, that this novel is much more than the sum of its myriad parts....more
This fictional look at what might have happened to America if we had become a monarchy instead of a democracy deals mostly with what happens within thThis fictional look at what might have happened to America if we had become a monarchy instead of a democracy deals mostly with what happens within the palace. Hoi polloi is dealt with in a more or less cursory manner when outsiders (read: commoners) are going to college. But for the most part the novel renders a convincing outline of what would constitute American royal protocols.
Ms. McGee’s chapters give us an intimate look at the lives and thoughts of four very disparate women. This distaff view is because Princess Beatrice will be the very first woman ever to mount the throne as queen once her father dies, thanks to a change in law by a certain ancestor. This is a big deal; for Beatrice it’s a far-off but very real possibility that shapes how she is perceived and treated by family and royal staff. Her upbringing is radically different from that of her twin siblings Samantha and Jeff. As a “spare” to the throne, liable to mount it only if both Beatrice and her father dies, Samantha is allowed to go her own way. She’s educated in protocol like her siblings but somehow never as strictly as Beatrice.
At first, we believe that Samantha is glad to be free of the weight of the future rule. She’s rambunctious, spirited, mischievous and gay, qualities she shares with her twin brother. She clearly enjoys being a party girl and being perceived as such. However, as the novel progresses, we see cracks within her seemingly light-hearted façade. Samantha resents Beatrice for being the perfect daughter and getting all the attention, accolades and approval while Samantha never seems to come in for anything except lectures about what a disappointment she is.
People are falling in love with the unsuitable; schemers are plotting to get a royal crown upon their heads; sexism and racism is alive and well. The fact that Beatrice will be the first Queen regnant will bring her the love of her people but also disapproval. England may have had four reigning female monarchs but America has some catching up to do.
The voices of proper Beatrice, feisty Samantha, struggling Nina and the deliciously devious Daphne are as distinct as the notes on a piano. Together they form a forceful feminine quartet of what happens when women follow the rules or decide to break them. ...more
This classic tale of orphaned girls on the run from terrifying guardians has quite a few subtexts underneath its seeming simplicity. The peril Miss SlThis classic tale of orphaned girls on the run from terrifying guardians has quite a few subtexts underneath its seeming simplicity. The peril Miss Slighcarp poses is illustrated by the titular lupines that roam the countryside during the winter. Miss Slighcarp sneers at the idea of a wolf that would dare attack her, an assertion that has its foreshadowing in the actions of her partner-in-crime Mr. Grimshaw, who handily kills a marauding wolf with a mere shard of glass.
When the snows recede, the anxious girls are reassured that the wolves have gone with them, taking themselves elsewhere to hunt for more suitable prey. At the same time, they descend on Willoughby Chase and rout the duplicitous Miss Slighcarp by bringing testimony against her, exposing her schemes and removing her from her usurped place.
The adventures have strengthened the girls as well. Shy Sylvia gains a measure of toughness and stubborn Bonnie learns to curb her temper…somewhat. Since they are exposed to hardship, the girls also pick up useful skills that they would not otherwise have had. Even the poor and rough Simon becomes literate and creates pictures that other people wish to buy. As Bonnie ruefully admits, going to the despotic Mrs. Brisket’s decrepit orphanage at least taught her housework and a certain amount of animal husbandry.
It’s a wonderful classic tale and belongs with A Little Princess and even the Harry Potter series as a story of parentless children rising to the occasion upon exposure to loss and hardship....more
This novel centers around a zombie apocalypse—only not quite. To tell the truth, I’m as bored by stories about zombies as I’m tired of books about vamThis novel centers around a zombie apocalypse—only not quite. To tell the truth, I’m as bored by stories about zombies as I’m tired of books about vampires. Hordes of the shambling, witless undead and the people trying to evade them are about as exciting to me as watching paint dry.
But the good people (corpses?) of Kittakoop aren’t infected by a virus or parasite. It’s simply government negligence that infects the already dead. One moment, you’re alive. Then you die by natural causes. But your body doesn’t rot or decay. Years of drinking contaminated water means you become a black-eyed oily walking corpse. Brain dead and skin rot come on slowly but surely until you simply fall over and somebody buries you.
So this is a zombie problem that isn’t really a problem. The people of Kittakoop deal with the infected, bury them and life continues. Business as usual. Conversely, I found this very interesting. There are no blonde victims running screaming through the woods as hungry brain-eaters pursue them. It’s just people trying to deal with the normal abnormal.
The novel itself centers around five teenagers, each dealing with mental and/or physical trauma as infected Ian tries to tell Eric how he really feels about him. Along the way, they deal with their disabilities, awkwardness and suspicions as Ian slowly but surely sinks into the torpor that afflicts the infected. It’s sobering stuff, an adolescent philosophical rumination about the toll of death and the price of living as seen from the eyes of children whose frontal cortex haven’t fully developed yet.
The only fly in the ointment is Angel. She’s one of those autistic fictional characters who is deeply unpleasant, her bluntness harsh, abrasive, mean spirited, hostile and borderline nasty. Since her condition doesn’t allow her to connect well with other humans, she’s got no problems with being abandoned and that makes her unsympathetic to Ian and Monica’s need to reach out to other beings. She makes blatantly awkward attempts at sympathetic behavior (about as cringing to read as Dr. Sheldon Cooper’s attempts to win over his companions by smiling) but they don’t help to take the edge off reading about her whenever she lashes into someone about being cast off or a burden.
She’s got Asperger’s Syndrome. But, as is typical in contemporary YA novels, it’s never mentioned by name nor really addressed. I don’t get that reticence. The book has no trouble mentioning Ian’s epilepsy or the aftermaths of having a seizure. But no one, not even Angel herself, states out loud that she’s got AS. Why? Is it because no one in Kittakoop has ever heard about it? The American psychiatrist Leo Kanner brought it to public attention in 1943. Is it really likely that there are people in the United States who have never known about it?
Why do contemporary writers treat Asperger’s this way? I can understand it when the setting is placed outside of the human realm. In Lady Midnight: The Dark Artifices #1, part of Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunters series, magical people are forbidden contact with mundanes (the non-magical population). Thus, they don’t have the words for nor understanding about conditions like Aspergers, depression, dyslexia or ADD, et al. But when the story is firmly set on 20th-century American soil, it makes no sense to omit the words that concisely describe the condition. Is it shame, wokeness, trite obedience to political correctness or what?
This is an m/m novel with a couple of chaste kisses. It’s the end of the world (maybe) set in a one-horse town. (Did the horse die?) It’s about…the unnameable, as H.P. Lovecraft would put it. It’s about trying to live before the lights go out forever. It’s not the best novel I’ve read lately about confronting death but it manages to get its point across in spite of the gunk everywhere....more
This novel purports to be about solving a murder and it definitely is that. But it’s so much more. It’s about a marginalized, misunderstood people whoThis novel purports to be about solving a murder and it definitely is that. But it’s so much more. It’s about a marginalized, misunderstood people who frequently come under scrutiny from a fearful public spoonfed data from unreliable newspapers. It’s about politics, sex, scandal, movies, opportunity, family, public outcry and private sorrow.
Most of all, it’s about two very different sisters, May and Gemma Chow. Older sister May is thoughtful, kind, compassionate, trusting and intuitive. Gemma is restless, impulsive, sharp tongued, cynical and scheming. Yin and yang. Together, they are often at odds. But they present a united front against a difficult world.
More than the murder, this is a book about Californian Chinatown in the 1930s. Chinese people were held under suspicion and that suspicion made them band together in a tight, cohesive group. Throughout the book, we witness the invisible ties that bring these girls in contact with people they know and people who can connect them. One sister has a door slammed in her face by a stranger—only to have her little sister point out a dangling decoration made by someone in her class. She knows who lives in this house and who can help them get answers when the adult answering the door would not.
The book is filled with moments like these; it’s almost amusing to see these coincidences forth from the page. What we get from this is a community that constantly reaches out to protect and honor its own. They all share similar notions of family, a notion that comes increasingly in conflict with Gemma and May’s decisions to delve into a murder. They don’t follow a religion per se so much as a set of beliefs that may look like superstition to outsiders. Certain colors are lucky and should be worn to bring good fortune. There’s no need for dating; the red thread of fate will bring people together who are meant to be together. Four is an unlucky number. No building should have four floors and four daughters in one family is definitely a sign of bad luck.
The Chow girls are the turbulent center of this story, swinging about at the end of a rope tying them to family and each other. They are obedient daughters—except when they’re lying to their parents. They’re good girls who are moving in directions that will take them away from the familiar lives they once knew.
The tragedy of Lulu Wong’s mysterious death is what drives this story; everybody knows about her and no one can stop talking about her. But it is the intrepid, living Chow sisters who breathe life into this thrilling crime story....more
Unlike a previous anthology I've read, The Black Girl Survives in This one, blackness doesn't seem to be the focal point in many of these stories. I kUnlike a previous anthology I've read, The Black Girl Survives in This one, blackness doesn't seem to be the focal point in many of these stories. I know it's not quite true, especially in "Mother, Daughter, and the Devil" and "Papa Pearlie". But, in others, the skin color of the characters seems to be beside the point.
The horror element is firmly in place, especially in the bizarre character of Clockface. We even get an unexpected zombie apocalypse. The stories vary in pitch and quality. My biggest disappointment was "Mother, Daughter, and the Devil". It meandered on for way too long. I kept getting impatient with it, waiting for it to get to the point. Even now I'm not certain what the point was. Was it about bad luck? Being born on the wrong side of the tracks? Getting even with Whitey?
That story aside, there is plenty of chills to be found in other entries. I especially liked "Lights". Stories where the hunter becomes the hunted always make me...smile....more
The author equates the duality of Jekyll and Hyde as displaying the ancient fear of the “other”. I’ll admit, that’s not what I took away from the origThe author equates the duality of Jekyll and Hyde as displaying the ancient fear of the “other”. I’ll admit, that’s not what I took away from the original novella but she makes a very fair case for her viewpoint.
The story breathes life into Gabriel Utterson, a character that another YouTuber described as extremely boring. That’s hard to refute, given that he describes the oddity of Hyde’s relationship to Jekyll from his own befuddled point of view and brings little of himself to the table. But this Utterson is a passionate lad, given to wearing his heart on his sleeve. In spite of the fact that he and the young Henry Jekyll haven’t so much as held hands, his devotion to Henry has been observed and noted by other youths around them.
This leads to a determined commitment on Gabriel’s part to see Henry happy and brings him ever closer to the bizarre truth that lies at the heart of Jekyll’s association with the enigma that is Mr. Hyde. Gabriel is jealous, of course, but he’d willingly let Henry be with Hyde if he thought Hyde had it in him to make Jekyll happy.
The figure of Hyde himself lacks the sinister edge that R.L. Stevenson gave his Gothic creation. He comes off as vulnerable and good natured. He taunts Gabriel with innuendo but there seems to be no active malice in him. Ms. Bayron does manage to project Gabriel’s unease about Hyde. There’s something familiar and yet unsettling about him. But her descriptions of Hyde’s dark side aren’t quite as compelling as Stevenson’s.
The perils of being both Black and queer in this 19th-century England are starkly put on the page. In spite of slavery having been outlawed years ago, racism is rampant, something an American reader can comprehend all too well. This puts an intriguing and compelling slant on this novel, making it a proper addition to the Remix series....more
With an unusual grumpy heroine with a chip on her shoulder against the rich and a brooding, withdrawn retired naval officer home under a cloud of suspWith an unusual grumpy heroine with a chip on her shoulder against the rich and a brooding, withdrawn retired naval officer home under a cloud of suspicion, the stage is set for one of the most unusual romances on the shelves.
Lex Croucher clearly revels in protagonists who defy expectations. This heroine is a professed thief and liar who hates the rich with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. She’s not angling for marriage to a rich lord; in fact, marriage isn’t something she’s ever contemplated at all (making her head and shoulders above most of the Bridgerton clan of females). She itches at the idea of going to balls and she has little tolerance for children. Emily’s scheme to tutor two adolescents because her sister Amy is ill therefore has a few…flaws in it.
The story is funny, off kilter, unexpected and revels in the strange gathering of people who comprise Captain Edwards extended “family”. There’s no Downton Abbey vibes here; straitened circumstances means that the captain and his servants operate on more or less equal terms. Emily is flummoxed, to say the least, and her assumptions of what constitutes genteel behavior are flung out the window, never to return.
This is a tale of transgendered characters, blackmailers, sailors, sweet lasses and moody jerks. It’s a story of a romance that reads more like an extended prizefight, complete with people touching gloves in the middle of the fight. It’s funny. It’s awkward. It’s Lex Croucher at her finest....more
As amusing a romp as promised by the rambunctious image on the cover, this story deftly combines its juvenile characteristics with a solid mystery aloAs amusing a romp as promised by the rambunctious image on the cover, this story deftly combines its juvenile characteristics with a solid mystery along with details of ancient Roman life. We are given a plethora of facts about the schooling, the night watch activities, the philosophic teachings, the judicial system, political machinations, the combination of godly fervor and the superstitious belief in magic that prevailed at this period.
It’s all done with a sure but light touch that doesn’t impede the story at its core. It’s “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit with a little bit of Hardy Boys thrown in for good measure. It’s deadly serious, light-hearted fun and has a lively bunch of boys with very distinct personalities to carry the tale. I’d recommend it for middle school readers who like their mysteries—no matter where nor when they’re set....more
This entry into the Wonder Woman world takes place almost entirely on Themyscira and proves that men need not be present for these powerful women to fThis entry into the Wonder Woman world takes place almost entirely on Themyscira and proves that men need not be present for these powerful women to feel discord. two separate groups of females, all considering themselves Amazons, vie to find a foothold in this stronghold of women power and there's plenty of tension and hostility to add fuel to the fire.
However, the story feels disjointed. The opening story shows the wily, cunning Queen Hippolyta and sweet charm of the young Diana as the latter explores what it means to be a queen. The comic style is rounded and slightly goofy as is the storyline. Hippolyta is dealing with a gardener on Themyscira, a woman who adamantly refuses to take a break from her duties. Hippolyta secretly believes this woman can both relax and take her unique talents elsewhere and shows Diana how to coax the stubborn woman out of the rut she's dug for herself.
From this jovial beginning, we are abruptly thrown into the sober and tense main story. It shifts back and forth in time, making it hard to follow the plot. Some characters act in a way that is deeply puzzling. There is backstory that is barely hinted at and, while the gods are often referenced, their presence is not shown as in other comics.
Medusa is here but as an ordinary woman, having been rescued from beyond Doom's Doorway. When that happened, how it happened and why there is tension between her and Diana is a mystery. But we get a very clear view of many of the other characters. The Bana-Mighdall queen Faruka has a mighty big chip on her shoulder from all the years they've been excluded from Themyscira while the Esquecida have a decidedly more upbeat attitude. We get the impression that the youthful contingent of the latter may be responsible for their rambunctious natures (especially given that one of them looks like a 12-year-old girl). They all vie to compete for the role of guarding Doom's Doorway but soon come to realize that more is at stake than soothing their bruised egos.
This is a novel about female power (not empowerment0 and how it's best wielded. As Queen Hippolyta's replacement on the throne of Themyscira, I found Nubia to be wise, patient, dedicated to peace, calm in the face of other people's anger and spite. All in all, a most worthy fictional female monarch. I would look forward to seeing her in other graphics as Themyscira's noble ruler.
While I can't recommend this comic very heartily as a coherent plot, the representation of the women making up its cast is of sterling quality....more
