Island Beneath the Sea (Isabel Allende)

Island Beneath the Sea  

Zerite was born a slave on the French island colony Saint-Domingue, a place we now know to be Haiti. She dreamed of a life beyond being someone's property, yet nothing life sent her way enabled her to escape. The paths of Toulouse Valmorain (her master) and Violette Boisier (prostitute and Zerite's friend) intertwine tragically and beautifully with Zerite's life in appalling ways, revealing a great deal about slavery and plantations on colonial Saint-Domingue and beyond. In fact, this story of Zerite's life is set in the late 1770s and spans historical events that occurred everywhere from Saint Domingue all the way to New Orleans.

Zerite is born into an inferior position in a tumultuous time, and she is a beautiful soul who lives an immensely difficult life. Throughout her story, I continued to hope against all hope that somehow things would work out for Zerite...that somehow she could ease through one loophole or another and find her happiness. Be forearned: rarely did this happen for Zerite; unfortunately, hers was a very realistic tale.

A work of historical fiction, Island in the Sea by Isabel Allende provides a holistic understanding of slavery in the Caribbean and gulf societies. Among the many stories colliding in this book is the fascinating history of the very factual uprising among slaves in Saint-Domingue. 

Slavery in America is a commonly explored topic in literature, although far from a fully exhausted one. Books such as this present the uncomfortable opportunity to digest slavery, one of the most unpalatable periods in history. 

*Amazon affiliate links included; please see disclosure statement at bottom of page.

Island Beneath the Sea (Isabel Allende)

The Help (Kathryn Stockett)

Of all the books I read, there are precious few that grab hold of my heart the way this one has. I have not fallen so deeply in love with a book like this since To Kill a Mockingbird. The hubs was privy to many of the hilarious occurrences buried in these twenty or so odd chapters, and I love him for always listening when I started out with "You are not gonna believe what Minny Jackson has done to Miss Hilly Holbrook now!"

Set in the tumultuous 1960's in the even more volatile city of Jackson, Mississippi, this is the tale of a blossoming novelist and her desire to write about the precarious relationship between white ladies and their black maids. "The help" finally get their chance to tell their side of the story, but it is not without consequence for these truly brave women of Jackson.

Like all great novels, The Help is wondrously complex, with its side stories twisting and turning all over one another in one red hot mess. Skeeter is a new graduate with no prospects for a husband and, much to her momma's chagrin, is itching to put her shiny new English degree to use. While writing for the town paper, Skeeter's eyes become opened to the injustice of the way black people are treated. She begins to question the lines that have always been so clearly assumed between the white family and the help. Aibileen is one of the first maids willing to share her stories, and is soon followed by several others, all with the strictest condition of anonymity. They all have much to lose if they are discovered.

There are some truly lovable women in this book. Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter are just the kinds of characters you love to love. Hilly, Stuart, and Elizabeth are simply the ones you love to hate. Regardless of which side they are on, every character is distinctively complicated. Their natures and their situations would easily give way to endless discussions in a book club or high school lit class.

I'm definitely filing this one under "Favorites." :)

For more about the author: http://www.kathrynstockett.com/ 

I also just discovered that The Help is coming to a theater near you in August! :)

The Help (Kathryn Stockett)

The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

Thousands of years ago life was obviously much different than modern existence. One rule of nature that has not changed, however, is the waning and waxing of the moon's monthly cycle...and the way women marked their own monthly cycles by the moon. The Red Tent is a book about so many things and biblical characters, but centers on the way women took their place in the red tent of the family during their monthly bleeding. I have had this on my list for a long time and always thought the women were SENT to the red tent, and that they had to go in order to separate their uncleanness from society. Po thangs. Yeah, only, Diamant paints a much different picture. There was quite a par-tay going on up in that red tent. Or there was in her telling of it, anyhow. 

So Dinah is our narrator, and she just so happens to be the only surviving daughter of Leah. For some biblical background, Leah was the first wife of Jacob (Isaac's son and Abraham's grandson) and sister to Rachel. Jacob ended up taking 4 wives total, all sisters. It seems as though Dinah truly was the only surviving daughter of Jacob and his wives, even with a whole fleet of brothers.

We learn, along with Dinah, that every month, the appearance of the new moon was a signal for the women of Dinah's family to retreat to their red tent. This is where the women would go and have their "time" away from the rest of the men. They also birthed their babies and recovered from delivery in the red tent. They sang songs together, rubbed one another's feet feet with oil, told family stories and legends, ate sweet cakes drizzled with honey, and massaged one another's shoulders. This was 3 days of pure girl time that gave them the opportunity to rest and relax before another month of the grueling service of everyday life. 

It's also important to note that included in Dinah's tale is the (fictionalized) version of the events surrounding the biblical Old Testament Jacob (who cheated his twin Esau out of a birth right); his wives Leah, Rachel, and their sisters; his pack of sons who ranged from precious and gentle to hateful and greedy; Dinah's marriage and the tragedy that resulted at the hand of her brothers; and the sale of Joseph into slavery, along with his rise to power in Egypt. All of these are embellished with Diamant's imagination and characteristics of people of this time that could have occurred, though there is no biblical record. 

Those women were on to something! Retreating to the red tent for sweet cakes, pedicures, hand massages, singing, and storytelling...they had the world's best-kept secret because no man would dare try to enter their tent and disturb them during this time! Why in the world aren't we permitting ourself a trip to the red tent?!  

For all that I loved about their red tent, I also considered it a dangerous foothold. The women had no religion other than the worship of the household and fertility idols passed down in their family, and the idols were quite prevalent in all the women's dealings, to say the least. In this book the only exposure Jacob gave of his worship to the one true God was that he did so himself, failing to teach his wives about the Lord as well. This can be a danger for every believer, and I pray that I will not be selfish with what I know and learn about my God. 

The idolatry was bothersome, and there were also some other troublesome details about everyday life, including the suggestion of bestiality among the shepherds, the physical use of an idol to "unlock" a girl's  womb, and Dinah's version of eternity...to name a few. 

I don't take all the details in Diamant's book as truth, but I do enjoy having my mind opened to what daily life might truly have been like for Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, Zilphah, Joseph, and our dear sweet Dinah. Interestingly enough, I always sort of felt sorry for Joseph. You know, favorite son, target, odd man out, sensitive, visions and the like; however, this book paints him as a real prick. And the more I consider it, the more likely that seems to have been. The Bible indeed does give clear indication that he had quite a bit of pride to reckon with. 

So although I really raised my eyebrows at some of its contents, I really enjoy and value any book that gives me pause to consider the blanks left in the biblical account. 

*Find The Truth about Dinah and her peeps in Genesis 29-38. 

The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Christopher Paul Curtis)

The self-proclaimed “Weird Watsons” are Kenny, Byron, and Joetta, along with their mom and dad. They are all just busy living life in Flint, Michigan in the 1960s. They have school issues, work issues, and behavior issues just like any other family. When Byron, the oldest brother, begins to make some seriously bad choices, their parents decide it is time for him to spend a few months with their grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama. Unfortunately during that time, a church is bombed by racist segregationists, which deeply affects the Watson family and changes their lives and view of the world forever. 

Christopher Paul Curtis takes a very dark and sad time in our nation’s history and presents it on a palatable 5th grade level. He concludes the story with a summary of facts about the civil rights movement and the heroes who gave their lives during this time. Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award and a Newbery Honor Book, it is very easy to see why this book is such an important and effective piece of literature. This tight-knit family experiences small doses of racism in Michigan, and Curtis thoroughly communicates the differences in Northern and Southern culture during this time. 

One of my favorite quotes (by whom, I wish I knew) is that a good writer notices things that other people don’t notice. Curtis brings to light several characteristics of daily life by black Americans during this tumultuous time period. One was that the Watsons had to plan out every single rest and refueling stop for the journey from Michigan to Alabama. They knew they would have to take great care in where they stopped and tried to rent motel rooms or purchase food, because many Southern cities simply refused service to African Americans. We travel a bit, and I can’t imagine setting out for a far away destination without the knowledge that we can stop anywhere we want to for gas or supplies. Another was the way Curtis pointed out that black people and white people could be pretty much just as ignorant about one another during this time, simply because they did not associate with anyone of the opposite race. Byron and Kenny were terrified during one rest stop because they were afraid the rednecks would catch them, hang them, and eat them for dinner. There were some very ugly things that happened in Southern states during the civil rights movement, but it would be unfair to say that all white southerners were hostile.

My only criticism of this work is that it was too brief, too light, with coverage too superficial for such atrocities in American history. I would love for Curtis to have delved more deeply into the issues of this time and how the Watsons were affected by them. But then again, that wouldn’t be a children’s book, now would it?  

The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Christopher Paul Curtis)

The Big Wave (Pearl S. Buck)

This is a short one, easily swallowed in 1 sitting. It is the story of a Japanese village blended with fishing and farming agriculture. Kino's father is a farmer, and they live high on the mountain near a volcano. Jiya's father is a fisherman, meaning they live on the beach, safe from the volcano but dangerously close to the tsunami-prone sea.

One day, the big wave comes. It decimates the village, and Jiya barely escapes with his life. He becomes part of Kino's family, nurtured back to health by Kino's wise father. It seems that everything the man says is a note-worthy nugget of cultural wisdom. For example:
pg. 12- "Enjoy life and do not fear death-that is the way of a good Japanese."
pg. 24- "for life is always stronger than death."
pg. 26-"Ah, no one knows who makes evil storms. We only know that they come. When they come we must live through them as barely as we can, and after they are gone, we must feel again how wonderful is life."

and on and on

It is easy to infer that Kino's father has had experience with a big wave and losing his family before.

Not my favorite Buck book, but it's good for connecting literature and empathy to science.

The Big Wave (Pearl S. Buck)

The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)

As a reader, I often sail through pieces of literature or nonfiction.   With a goal to read everything (yes, truly), many times I underestimate how deeply a book can affect a person. The Good Earth is one of those rare books that has a deep and lasting hold on my heart. After about a month of reading it, I finally completed it last night, and lay awake thinking of the characters and wondering what happened so some of them and why they experienced one issue or another in the book. This family and this culture is one I will not soon forget.

The Good Earth is set in pre-revolutionary China. The main character is Wang Lung, and we meet him on his wedding day. He is a simple man but capable and very willing of hard work. His own father has ingrained in Wang Lung that nothing is more important than the land. The land that his family owns is one of the few constants in this book. I have thought often of its symbolism and irony.
Thanks to Wang Lung's (and his wife's, whose name is O-Lan) incredible devotion to his land, and to hard work, the land is profitable. They live in peaceful sufficiency, until a great drought comes upon the land. O-Lan works wonders with her creative ability to stretch what little food they have, but eventually it is not enough. Horrible atrocities take place when vast populations of people go hungry. Animals are eaten. Children are sold. Children are eaten. Families are attacked and torn apart. One of the saddest aspects of this culture is shown during the times of famine, which is that there is no respect whatsoever for human life...especially females. It is sad to the point of being absolutely maddening.

Eventually, Wang Lung and his family are once again able to work on their land that is once again fruitful. It is so fruitful, actually, that very quickly he becomes a very rich man. Soon their original earthen shack becomes a palace, and Wang Lung quickly forgets the loyalty, ingenuity, and faithfulness of his hard-working wife. Rather, he begins to criticize her appearance and find reasons to seek satisfaction at tea houses with local harlots. (Just one of the many reasons I can't stand this guy!)

The saga continues with Wang Lung's continued conflicts with his children and with other members of his family. At the conclusion of the book, he is an old man preparing for death but crying out for his sons to refrain from selling the land he has loved so much. It's sad that the land, not his faithful wife nor his talented children, is the only thing he truly loves.

When I read more about Pearl S. Buck (link below), I discovered that she knew so much about Chinese culture during this period of time because she had lived in China for much of her life with her missionary parents. Pearl went on to establish the very first international adoption agency. She has written two other novels about Wang Lung's family, and I definitely plan to consume those soon!
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1938/buck-bio.html

The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)

Fever 1793 (Laurie Halse Anderson)

Mattie Cook is a teenager who has to grow up in a real hurry. We first meet Mattie as a girl exasperated by her mother, flirting (1700's style) with a boy, whining because she doesn't want to help out in the family's coffeehouse, and whose biggest concern is how to finagle a piece of candy from her grandfather. By the end of the next few months in her story, she has buried that grandfather, survived the fever herself, seen enough sickness and death to last a hundred lifetimes, and transformed into a young woman who realizes that she has what it takes to run the family coffeehouse.

Thanks to this book, I learned that:
-There was a yellow fever epidemic in 1793 that killed around 5,000 Philadelphians.
 -Yellow fever was (and still is, in some parts of the world) contracted through bites of certain mosquitoes.
-There were conflicting viewpoints on how to treat the fever. Some doctors thought the pestilence must be bled from the victims. Others believed that clean water, fresh air, and liquids were the best treatment.
-The Free African Society of Philadephia was to thank for caring for so many sick people, turning away any attempts at compensation.
-Thousands of children were orphaned as a result of this illness.
-There were so many deaths that men rolled wheelbarrows throughout the city every morning calling for families to throw out their dead.
-Homes where yellow fever had been contracted were marked with a yellow strip of cloth tied to the porch railing, doorpost, etc.
-There was such fear of catching the disease that people fled to various surrounding smaller cities, which were guarded by armed men ready to send away or shoot any sick individuals who attempted to enter. 
These are only a few interesting facts that Fever 1793 teaches about this very dark period in American history. It is a magnificent piece of historical fiction.  

Additional links:
1. Museum of Philadelphia- http://www.philadelphiahistory.org/akm/lessons/yellowFever
2. Eyewitness to History-
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/yellowfever.htm
3. The Role of African Americans-
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1590.html
4.The author's website, containing Teacher's Guide, Playlist, etc.-
http://writerlady.com/Fever1793/

Fever 1793 (Laurie Halse Anderson)

Chains (Laurie Halse Anderson)

I am a huge Laurie Halse Anderson fan. All of her books are piercingly honest, with just the right amount of wit and humor. Her characters and their dialogue are always spot on, and they bring an element of truth that shine the light of awareness on a variety of stories and issues otherwise unknown or ignored.

Laurie Halse Anderson has quite a voice. Not only does she speak on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves in her book, she also advocates on behalf of librarians dealing with issues of censorship. I had the distinct honor of attending a dinner with Laurie H.A. at the 2009 American Association of School Librarians Conference. Like her characters, she is witty and intelligent, with a heavy dose of honesty. When she speaks, people listen.

The story she tells in Chains is that of a slave girl whose freedom is hanging between two nations at war.

This is not a feel-good, happily-ever-after sort of book. It is raw and ugly and sad. I grew more broken-hearted for Isabel, the main character, with every passing page.
Set in volatile America in the 1770's, this book shows yet another horrific side of the war for independence.

Isabel is a young African American teenager who has had everything taken from her. Born a slave, she has never known freedom. She is an orphan charged with the care of her 5 year old baby sister, who suffers from seizures. Their mistress, who treated them well, taught her to read, and has even left in her will for them to be freed, has passed away. Her nephew, however, did not honor that request and promptly sells them to a cruel couple who are deeply devoted to the Loyalist cause. Isabel learns a great deal about the politics of war in their home. To say that she is treated like garbage would be quite the understatement. I have never despised a villain the way I have Madam Lockton, Isabel's new mistress.

Through it all, Isabel's hope to gain freedom for herself and her sister press her to become involved in the war by serving as a spy. She helps the American side, with their promise that she will be freed. Rather than being freed, however, Isabel is beaten until she can't think, has her teeth broken, is locked in stocks, and then branded on her face with a capital I (for Insolence). The Americans who promised her help turn their back on her. She eventually becomes (unwillingly) involved with the British side of the war, but they too use her and cast her aside.

Everyone seems willing to sacrifice the life, health, and spirit of this poor child. As desperate as the war for independence must have been, it is likely that there were many Isabels who unknowingly (and with great sacrifice) contributed to the success of the Americans. Yet, when our children study the American Revolution, where is the recognition of these individuals? As much as I love my country, I feel shame for the way these people, these Isabels, were treated. I do not know how all those people reconciled their desperate plight for freedom while they bought, sold, abused, and starved other human beings.  I am thankful for the Laurie Halse Andersons in the world who use their voice to speak for victims like Isabel.

*Chains is a National Book Award finalist and 2009 winner of the prestigious Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Visit the author's site for teaching resources and discussion guides: http://www.writerlady.com/chainsh.html.

Chains (Laurie Halse Anderson)

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)

I read this on a tip from a good friend months ago, and I am still trying to figure out what, exactly, I really think about it.

The gist of it is that it's the story of Liesel Meminger, a German orphan in the 1940's who is sent to live with foster parents in a small German town. Her foster family, (the Hubermans), take in a Jewish man and hide him in their basement. The "Germanness" of the plot is significant because the action takes place before and during World War II. I've read lots of Holocaust books, but none quite like this.

For example...

1. It is written from Death's point of view. Death was quite busy during World War II, and I found it odd and abstract to think of it all in this way. The personification of Death makes me uneasy, yet I do feel like it is a very real way to communicate all the loss of life during that time period.

2. Though written in narrative-style, it's not your typical, smooth flowing narrative. The parts and chapters are choppy and skip from one time period to another with no explanation. This is weird because it leaves the reader floundering to re-orient to the plot, yet that feeling also does serve the purpose of enabling the reader to get an idea of just how choppy and unsure and unsecure life was in Germany during that time.

3. Max, who is the Jewish man hiding in Liesel's basement, is interesting because he shows the guilty-feeling side of Jewish people who hid to escape Adolf Hitler's rage. He hurts constantly for the danger he puts them in, and he is tormented by the fact that Liesel and her family could be punished or killed just for hiding him.

4. The Book Thief is named so because Liesel falls so deeply in love with reading and with literature that she steals them. I'm no proponent of petty larceny, but is worth considering the reason for Liesel's thievery. She was a young girl in a hate-filled country in an era that paid little attention to the worth of a woman's brain. I found myself being proud of Liesel, not for what she did, but for having the courage to do it.

5. There is SO much sadness and death and dying and fear and anger in this book. It is hard to chew and even harder to swallow. However, it also has tiny little "ray of sunshine" moments that remind you of the complexity of human nature.

6. It is written about the German point of view of the Holocaust, and it does a good job of showing that not all Germans were Nazis and not all Germans were supporters of the murders of those millions of Jewish citizens.

7. If you like literary devices, this piece will impress you. There is an enormous amount of allusion to future events, which would make it seem like there are no real surprises in the text...yet there are twists and turns at every step.

The Book Thief is one of those rare books that picks and stretches your mind. It's scary and sad and hopeful and unique, and it isn't a book that fits any sort of mold...which is why I like it so much! The complexity makes it a nice choice for a book club or literature study, and would easily lend itself to some deep response writing.

The Book Thief is a 2007 Printz Honor book, a prestigious literary award given to works of excellence in young adult (teen) literature. Rumor has it, there's a movie version due out sometime this year.

I still don't know if I would want to see it.

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)

The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Elizabeth George Speare)

I listened to this one on CD. When I first picked it out, the cover art and title gave me the impression that this might be some flavor of a Salem witch trial story. In actuality, TWoBP was full of surprises.

Set somewhere in the late 1700's, 16 year old Kit Tyler was raised as royalty by her grandfather on the island of Barbados. After his death, she takes a ship to Connecticut to meet her only living family. Kit is in for quite a shock when she and all 7 of her fru fru-filled trunks get to the rigid Puritan settlement, and quickly realizes that life in Connecticut won't be much like life in Barbados.

Though her independent spirit and outspoken nature are appreciated and loved in Barbados, in Connecticut her "strange" ways quickly land her a witch accusation, and her friendship with a Quaker woman in the town (also an outcast) doesn't help much either.

One of this book's many surprises was that intertwined with the ridiculous witch hunt, Kit's adventurous voyage from Barbados, and a plague of fever that struck the colony, was a triple sided love story involving 3 guys, Kit, and her 2 cousins.

There are too many fun little details that would ruin the book if I were to share them, but overall this is a very interesting and "feel-good" kind of book, as everything turns out A-OK in the end.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Elizabeth George Speare)

Harlem (Walter Dean Myers)

This poem, written by Walter Dean Myers, is a collection of thoughts about Harlem. The word phrasing, along with the brilliant illustrations (warranting its Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King medal status) expose readers to the "spirit" of Harlem, including its music, art, and everyday life.

Harlem (Walter Dean Myers)

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller

This is one of those books that I've heard mentioned many times in conversation, and seen on all the "Classics" book lists. It's a nice, concise play of about 100 pages that is all about the Salem "witch" trials back in the 1600's. I don't remember diving too deeply into that topic when I was in high school, but I hope that kids today are presented with the opportunity to do so. In this play, Miller shows how village people would cry out against one another for simple purposes of gaining access to their land, in retaliation of a dispute over the sale of livestock, or (now it gets juicy) an adulteress weasling her way into her lover's arms by getting rid of his wife. I think this was a nice presentation of just how sick and twisted people can be, regardless of their presupposed piety.

A study of this book will ultimately lead to the question of the appropriateness of theocracy. The Governor and Ministers in this play have been given ultimate ruling and authority (based on their opinion of "God's Law"), and they could not have fouled it up more than they did. Theocracy itself isn't a horrible thing; man's very flawed interpretation and implementation of it, however, is.

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

Hannah is an ordinary 13-year-old girl who is self-absorbed, whiney about her family and their crazy traditions, and bitter because she wants her braces off and new clothes in her closet. She's also Jewish, and it is during a Passover seder with her family that something very strange occurs.

Hannah is mysteriously transported back to 1940's Poland, and is part of a Jewish community that is being "resettled" by the government. She experiences being crammed in boxcars like animals, along with being beaten, starved, robbed, stripped, and humiliated. While in the concentration camp, she comes to survive by attempting only to stay alive for one more minute, one more day. She feels the pain and insanity of losing people she loves one by one, constantly being treated like the scum of the earth.

The title, The Devil's Arithmetic, comes from the theme of numbers within the story. Interpreting people's tattooed numbers on their arms comes to mean the difference between life and death at times. Hannah and her remaining friends and family live each day hoping and praying that they are one less to go in the ovens, and one more to get their bowl of watery potato soup that day. This constant referral to numbers, (and the knowledge that there is no sense in seeking reason in the way things are), is where the term "the devil's arithmetic" surfaces.

I've read some pretty good pieces of historical fiction about the Holocaust, and I've explored it from several different angles. This book, though, takes the prize. It is one of the most moving works of literature I've ever had the pleasure to read.

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

I, Juan de Pareja, by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

This book was just another notch on my "Newbery" belt until about a third of the way through it, when I became intrigued by such a unique story. Juan de Pareja is a black slave who is inherited by reknowned Spanish painter Diego Velazquez. Juan learns to be Diego's helper in the studio, and the two become very loyal and devoted friends. The book spans Juan's lifetime, most of which is spent in service to Diego.

My favorite scene in the book is when Diego gives Juan his freedom, and I was intrigued to learn in the "Afterward" that the whole story is loosely based on the real Diego and Juan. The story in its entirety is very moving, and the book is refreshingly clean and pure...more than any book that I have read in a while.

This book won the Newbery in the 60's, and I can really see why. Trevino speaks out in the "Foreword" about the prevalence yet injustice of slavery worldwide, and a major theme of the book is that slavery -even its most comfortable form (as was between these two friends)- is simply wrong.

I, Juan de Pareja, by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino