Re-reads Archives - Page 2 of 7

Out of My Mind

by Sharon Draper

This middle-grade fiction is about a ten-year-old who has cerebral palsy. Melody is plenty smart and has a photographic memory, but she can’t walk, feed herself or speak- until she gets a new computer that gives her a voice. At school she’s been in a special education room for years, but is now excited to be “integrated” into music and a few other classes per day with the regular kids. Especially with a fancy new wheelchair she can drive by herself and then her talking computer. She just wants to fit in but it’s hard. More kids notice her now that she has a voice, but she still gets stared at or outright teased and insulted. Nobody seems to believe that she’s anything other than mentally deficient, even the teachers have this demeaning attitude. Several kids seem to think the computer is allowing her to cheat- and two girls in particular single her out to be mocked. Melody is determined to prove herself and joins the quiz team, but things turn disastrous right before a big competition. Some kids on the team seem determined to sabotage Melody’s ability to participate- but in the end, they’re only ruining their own chances.

I found this book at a library sale. Surprised to realize I must have read it before- but I only recalled things from the beginning and end. The whole thing about the fake snowman they decorated was really familiar, and so was the intensely dramatic scene at the end involving Melody’s little sister. I’m baffled why I had forgotten nearly all of the middle events- including everything about the quiz team- and why this book wasn’t already noted on my blog, when it was published after I started keeping a record. I must have read it with my oldest at a younger age, and maybe we only read parts together.

Regardless, certain aspects of the book didn’t work for me personally- some of the adult’s actions felt unrealistic, the way Melody was treated in school seemed rather atrocious (not the teasing, but the total lack of educational structure and advocacy) and often I felt like Melody’s mother was saying things a kid would want to hear their mother say, not very realistic either. But for what it is, a book written for middle-grade kids about a peer with a physical disability, I think it gives a pretty clear picture what that’s like. How so many ordinary things like putting on clothes or participating in conversations or navigating stairs to get into a building, become obstacles and struggles. And that kids with disabilities have thoughts and feelings and want to be included like everyone else.

The goldfish incident bothered me, though. Probably because I’m a fishkeeper. And why didn’t she explain it to anyone afterwards, when she finally had her talking computer? Sigh.

Similar read, a true story from adult perspective: I Raise My Eyes to Say Yes.

Rating: 3/5

295 pages, 2010

more opinions:
Great Kid Books
Jen Robinson’s Book Page
A Backwards Story

Tags: Current Reads, Juvenile Fic, Medical/Health, Re-reads

A Beast the Color of Winter

the Mountain Goat Observed

by Douglas H. Chadwick

This is one book I will always recall vividly- still remember how I came across it at the public library as a high school student (several decades ago) when I had just discovered that narrative accounts about wildlife field studies was a thing. I think the first one I actually read was Jane Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man, which I’d found at a thrift shop. The section of the library (adult books!) that had nonfiction about wildlife became my favorite spot to browse. This book remained top in my mind, and now finally reading it again so many years later, I still find it excellent. I mentioned it once here before, but can now give a clearer picture.

The author spent seven years studying mountain goats, mainly in Glacier National Park. He camped on the slopes and followed them closely, collaring and tagging some but also learning to identify others by slight individual differences, and to tell males/females apart at different ages, which sounds particularly difficult. He describes the animal in all regards- its physical shape which is so perfectly adapted to living on steep slopes, its eating habits, survival strategies and social structure. The terrain it favors and why, the other animals that share its habitat, how it has avoided competition from most other species and also most predators, but is particularly vulnerable to hunting and distubances caused by man. There is a chapter about how mountain goats evolved (they are more closely related to chamois and serow than to bighorn sheep or any kind of actual goat), and another about why their behavior is so different from sheep. The book explains why they are so belligerent to their own kind and how this actually facilitates their survival. There are diagrams and explanations of their distribution across mountain ranges and what happened when they were introduced to new areas. On a more personal bent, there are passages where the author describes his experiences climbing the mountains to follow the goats, his first sighting of a newly-born mountain goat kid, the harshness of winter storms, many examples of how the goats lead their day-to-day lives and how he was finally able to approach a few mountain goat herds closely enough to sit among them and be part of their social interactions (literally- he knew enough of the goats’ body language to maintain dominance among them until one larger male threatened him a few times when he was too close, and then his social standing among the others gradually slipped!) It’s very apparent that the author greatly admired these animals and enjoyed spending time with them in spite of the hardships during his study. His writing about the wildlife and the surrounding landscape is beautifully done. Constant references to the mountain goats as “the white beasts” or “the bearded ones” did get a bit repetitive! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book again.

Rating: 5/5

208 pages, 1983

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads, Nature, Re-reads

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

by Richard Bach

On the heels of Argen the Gull I felt like revisiting Jonathan Livingston Seagull, especially since I knew I could read it in one sitting. It was a brief but lovely sitting. I had forgotten how very short it is (half the book is pictures of gulls, very nice pictures too although many are blurred to the point of abstraction). I must\’ve read this five or six times somewhere between ten years old and college age, I was so taken by it. Younger me loved this book. Older me- well, I rolled my eyes a few times, then shrugged and just enjoyed it for what it is.

It\’s an allegory on religion or philosophy- some parts feel very much like Jonathan Seagull is supposed to be a messiah figure, other parts he\’s suddenly transcending space and time, talking of previous lives that led into this one, so- reincarnation? But the overall message is simply: be true to yourself. Strive for what you love to do best, and be kind while you\’re at it. At least, that\’s what I got. On the surface, it\’s a story about a seagull who wants to fly higher and faster, push himself beyond the limits. When the others are searching for food, he\’s out blazing around in steep dives over a hundred miles an hour (how a gull clocks his own speed is beyond me, but hey, one of the things you just have to shrug off). His antics get him banned from the flock, who have rules of conduct and a leader (not at all how gulls actually live, shrug again). Jonathan Seagull is shunned for being different. He flies away to perfect his aerial stunts by himself, and then finds other seagulls, though few in number, who also love flying just for the sake of flying. He joyfully strives to learn more with them. Then one day decides to go back to the old flock and see if there\’s anyone else stuck where he had been so long ago. He thinks of how much faster he would have progressed, if he\’d had a mentor then. And starts teaching some eager young gulls his specialized flying skills, right in front of the disbelieving flock . . .

Some of the far-out-there ideas in this book: death is just a shift to a different level of consciousness. You can transcend the limits of your body simply by putting your mind to it. Seagulls can communicate telepathically and instantly travel through space and time! But I still really like a lot of the rest of it. Bits like this:

His vows of a moment before were forgotten, swept away… Yet he felt guiltless, breaking the promises he had made himself. Such promises are only for the gulls that accept the ordinary. One who has touched excellence in his learning has no need of that kind of promise.

If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we\’ve destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don\’t you think that we might see each other once or twice?

You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn\’t flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn\’t have limits. Perfect speed- is being there. [this is where he learned to move from one place to the next in a blink]

Heavily colored with nostalgia for me, of course. If today was the first time I were reading this, well I don\’t know what I\’d think. If you\’ve read the book, go look at the reviews on LibraryThing, you have to read the one that posits Jonathan Livingston Seagull being on Oprah. It\’s absolutely hilarious. I laughed so hard.

Rating: 4/5 93 pages, 1970

More opinions:

Vulpes Libris

Fifty Books Project

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Animals Fiction, Current Reads, Inspirational, Re-reads

The Silent Miaow

a Manual for Kittens, Strays, and Homeless Cats

translated from the Feline

by Paul Gallico

A book from the cat\’s perspective which details how a one may successfully take over and run a human household to their own liking. When done skillfully, the humans won\’t even realize this is happening. It\’s all about clever, subtle manipulation, making the humans think they\’re getting their own way, while really they end up doing everything to the cat\’s desire. It\’s more smug and self-assured in tone than The Devious Book for Cats, and very charmingly illustrated with professional photographs of a cat in her home by Suzanne Szasz. It doesn\’t at all feel outdated, except maybe for a few remarks on the nature of men and women. The feline advice is on things like: getting people to serve what you want to eat, claiming your own chair, making it a given that you will sleep on the bed, dealing with travel and visits to the veterinarian, coaxing the man of the house to give you tidbits from the dinner table, how to treat unwelcome houseguests, making sure doors will be opened for you, training humans to recognize your different miaows (including the voiceless one which must be used very strategically), what poses and attitudes are most becoming to win people\’s admiration, making the holiday fuss all about you, and finally- if you happen to have dalliance with a tomcat and become a mother- how to properly pass on these lessons to your offspring so that they, too, may acquire and influence a human household. There are also remarks which let you that know in spite of her calm sense of superiority, the cat behind this book obviously loves her humans as well.

There\’s more, but really you should have the delight of reading them for yourself! so I will stop here. I still remember very clearly when I first saw this book on my great aunt\’s shelf. I read it once during a visit there and ever after longed for my own copy. How thrilled I was to finally find one- many years ago now but I think I came across it in a used bookstore. I am sure anyone who loves cats would be charmed by this book, and the photographs, while all black-and-white, are so perfectly composed with precise focus and contrast, you almost forget there\’s no color to them.

Rating: 5/5 160 pages, 1964

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads, Re-reads

The Cats of Lamu

the Feral Cats of an Exotic African Island
by Jack Couffer

It was lovely to re-visit this book. I would not change one word of what I said on it eleven years ago. Delightful and intriguing account of a study on feral cats the author delved into while living as an expat on Lamu Island (off the coast of Kenya). What I found more interesting this time around, that I don\’t think I mentioned before: more tidbits of culture, like how the author felt he had to hire a housekeeper and then a cook, because that\’s simply how it was done on the island. The letter he includes that his housekeeper wrote to him when he was back living in America, is so different in syntax it takes concentration to read as if the person who wrote it thinks in different patterns.

The mention of how islanders interacted with the cats, even thought at first it was assumed most were wild and untouchable. A few would let themselves be petted, or even rub against people in greeting. One man once gave a beach cat a bath in the sea \”because he looked dirty\”. Several people he found out sheltered dozens of cats in their homes- one old woman routinely fed about forty of them in her three-room house. Also at the village school, some fifty cats were regularly fed and hung out all the time, sitting among the children- which surprised the author when he discovered it, and a few photos showing the cats among the boys are just charming. There\’s mention of the island donkeys that provide nearly all transport and load-carrying, as the streets are too narrow for cars. There are bats- both insect-eaters and frugivores.

I loved a description of kids on the beach making toys out of palm fronds that skidded across the sand, pushed by the wind, how a kitten pounced on one repeatedly. And of course, all the little observations of the cats\’ lives in their various groups- some claim the beach, others live at the dump, yet others in town where they get regular handouts. They fight for status, court each other, some move from one group to another. Kittens are born and raised, hierarchy shifts when an older male dies. Many hours just spent in quiet companionship, the cats sitting together, or each in its little patch of shade spaced evenly apart. They often go about their own affairs, where the author couldn\’t follow (through strangers\’ gardens and private courtyards), much of their lives remaining a mystery that he tried to piece together. Beautiful photographs.

Though relatively brief, the book spans many years, and he mentions at the end how things have changed from when they first moved to Lamu. I can only assume it has changed even more since then. Yet it looks such a timeless place in the pictures, the ancient-looking cats strolling independent on the beaches under the bluest sky.

Rating: 4/5 156 pages, 1998

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads, Re-reads

The Time It Never Rained

by Elmer Kelton

Liked this one much better than I had remembered. I\’ve read it at least twice before, though not in over a decade. Set in West Texas, it\’s about a rancher struggling to hold onto his land and his livestock through a drought that lasts seven years. His love is cattle, but it\’s sheep that pays the bills- so quite a bit of this is about sheepherding and shearing time. When things start to get tough, he has to face the bitter choice of selling off some of his livestock, eventually even his sheep herd dwindles and he\’s forced to make some hard choices. Ranchers around him accept government assistance but Charlie Flagg resents the idea of \”taking handouts\” and refuses to sign up for the relief program, sticking it out on his own, whittling away his outfit, letting go his hired help. Tries to get his son, who is into rodeo and sees no value in the dried-up land, to come back and help him keep the ranch going, but that doesn\’t work out. Watches how others around him attempt to keep things afloat- some of their decisions turn out poorly, and others just barely help them squeak by. Like burning the spines off prickly pear to use it as livestock feed. I had forgotten entirely about the angora goats, so the ending was a surprise all over again to me, even though I did remember it had a hint of coming hope in the final pages. More about the land use and animal husbandry, it\’s also about the local politics in a small town, the financial issues in running the ranch, the uneasy relationship between landowners, Mexicans, and those recently come from across the border- frightened of being caught but desperate for work. I had also forgotten how much of this story is about the younger people, some chapters entirely told form the viewpoint of Charlie\’s son, his neighbor\’s daughter, or his foreman\’s oldest boy. It gave a good perspective changes as things shifted from the hands of the older generation into the new. The book gets a bit preachy sometimes with long ranting conversations, but I didn\’t mind, I was in the mood for a slow read. It was worth keeping around all these years, I think.

Rating: 4/5 373 pages, 1973

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Current Reads, General Fiction, Re-reads, Western

Ordinary People

by Judith Guest

This was a re-read for me. A while back I decided I should read a handful of books in my permanent collection that I feel dubious about. If it turns out I don\’t care for them anymore, this becomes an easy way to cull. Last time I read this book I must\’ve been in high school.

I remembered some of it, but most of the nuances and details had been forgotten- or had simply gone unnoticed by me at the time. I did remember it was about this kid struggling after the death of his older brother, how awkward family friends were about it, how unspoken most of the emotional burden he faced daily, how his parents were drifting apart under the strain.

I\’d forgotten that part of it is told from the father\’s viewpoint, but the mother is always described in third person. She seems cold, sometimes indifferent, accuses the dad of being overly concerned and too involved with his now-only son. The kid- Conrad- is repeating his junior year of high school while all his friends are now seniors. He became severely depressed after loosing his brother- in what sounds like a very frightening, traumatic incident (when it\’s finally revealed at the end of the story) made a suicide attempt, and spent time in a mental institution. Very little is described of that, but what is firmly shows how old this book is- the diagnosis is clear yet he\’s given no medication although several times a teacher or friend of the parents asks if he\’d been put on tranqilizers. Nope, there\’s just mention that he received shock treatment, and when he comes home it\’s left up to him to take initiative to call a psychologist and go to appointments of his own accord. I found that surprising, honestly.

What did feel very real and relevant no matter what the timeframe of this story- was how people struggled to know how to relate to Conrad now that he\’s home again. Things are the same- but also very different. Friends are awkward. He tries to meet and talk with a girl he knew in the hospital- there were quite good friends there- and that doesn\’t end well. He tries daily to beat down the anxiety in his head, to find the motivation to do normal everyday tasks, to focus in school. The therapist is odd and eccentric, but aside from that very good at his job as far as I could tell. I remembered from this part of the book the dramatic scenes when Conrad went in there upset and there was a lot of yelling- but during this read I noticed all the moments of careful guidance, of sound advice that wasn\’t too preachy, of how he helped Conrad figure out what he wanted to do and how to build himself up again as it were. And finally, in the end, to actually face the emotional turmoil he\’d shoved down inside surrounding the incident with his brother. There\’s also some very nice parts about him facing down kids at school who are unkind, standing up for himself when he realizes being on a sports team isn\’t what he wants, finding a few new friends and even getting brave enough to ask out a girl he admires.

It doesn\’t have a perfect, happy ending. It\’s a normal family with some heartbreaking difficulties, and they don\’t come through it all in one piece. Some things are better, some are not. The realism of that is what makes this book such a strong read. (I was terribly bored with all the mention of golf, though). Liked this book much better than I expected to; turns out I\’m keeping it.

Rating: 3/5 263 pages, 1976

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Current Reads, General Fiction, Re-reads

Lad: a Dog

by Albert Payson Terhune

This was a favorite of mine many years ago, and it hasn\’t lost much by its age. I didn\’t realize back then, but it\’s based on some true stories about the author\’s dog, a purebred collie. I might be biased due to nostalgia, but I thought the stories really well-told, with great characters some noble and sensible, other foolish or rough around the edges. Lad the collie dog has pretty much free run of a large estate on the edge of a lake. He pays close attention to his master\’s commands and has his duties as guard dog, but also a sense of mischief and likes to chase squirrels. Suffers the attention visitors give him (because he\’s so beautiful) only because his master orders him too, attacks tresspassers without pause, and loves little children no matter how much they mishandle him. He\’s just an overall fantastic dog. Well, some of the stories seem rather over the top- the dog is just a bit too perfect- even when he\’s accused of some wrongdoing it always turns out to be a mistake- but I greatly enjoyed them regardless. Lad shows his intelligence, grit and sense of honor at every turn. Among the adventures he is taken to a dog show (and hates it), gets lost in the city and finds his way home again, saves a crippled child from a snake, rescues a puppy from drowning, rounds up a visitor\’s straying sheep without any training (but then doesn\’t know what to do with them), defends a stranger from a bull at a livestock show, and in the end (getting old) has to defend himself against other dogs on the estate who suddenly decide to overthrow his dominance.

There\’s more detail and complexity to these stories than you might expect, quite a few have surprising turns and are just as much about the people Lad adores and serves, as they are about the dog himself. It\’s really a glimpse into the past. Looking at other views on Goodreads reminded me how some of the attitudes in this book will be problematic to modern readers- especially children- the dogs often bite people (\”slashed to the bone\” is a common phrase), and are beaten by their loving masters to teach them. Although the author gives them limitations, they still understand more than is really possible, (though it doesn\’t go so far as to make them speak). The attitudes towards uneducated people, those of lower economic standing, and women, is less than stellar. Any child younger than five is referred to as a Baby. It\’s pretty obvious what the author\’s attitude about certain aspects of \”modern life\” in the early 1900\’s was! And yet, I was glad to read it again. It\’s that nostalgia. I\’m glad I knew this book as a kid. I wonder if I\’ll like Terhune\’s other books that I never read before, as much? Going to find out at some point, I acquired several off Project Gutenburg for my e-reader.

Rating: 4/5 286 pages, 1919

more opinions: Semicolon
anyone else?

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads, Re-reads

Irish Red

by Jim Kjelgaard

Another re-read from my childhood. I read quite a number of Kjelgaard\’s books, mostly dog stories, way back in the day. This one is sequel to Big Red, I don\’t have a copy of that so couldn\’t refresh my memory, but I recalled enough that I wasn\’t lost trying to piece together the backstory too much.

It\’s about a father and son team, Ross and Danny, who live in a mountain cabin somewhere in New York. They make their living hunting and trapping for fur, also occasionally guiding visitors to fishing spots. Nearby lives a rich man with a large estate who keeps bird dogs for show and competitions. Ross and Danny have a cherished Irish setter dog named Red who, as far as I could figure out, was mated with the rich man\’s dog Sheilah so now Ross and Danny are raising the puppies at their cabin. They want to prove to their employer what great dogs Irish setters are. But there are new men at the kennels, who have brought English setters, claiming these as superior dogs. They put one of the Irish setters and an English setter in a impromptu field trial. The English setter wins (although Danny thinks this is an error, having seen the Irish setter point some wild birds that nobody else saw). So Danny and Ross have to admit the English dog won the contest, and they move the Irish setters down to the kennels agreeing to work with the new man and learn his methods.

The focus of the story is actually Mike, one of the Irish setter puppies. He\’s the runt, and appears to have the least promise, being headstrong and reckless. Runs around causing trouble, only listens to commands when he wants to. The new men don\’t see him as worth working with, so he\’s left alone. But when they show their training methods to Danny and Ross, another of the young Irish setters is beaten with a leash and Danny and Ross are furious. They believe the dogs should work for a man out of love and loyalty, not fear of punishment. They quit on the spot and move to a cabin further up the mountain with only one dog, Red. The puppy Mike escapes the kennels and goes to the original cabin, but nobody\’s there. He hangs around for several days and then starts roaming the woods, pointing game birds by instinct but unable to catch any. Eventually he comes across Danny\’s trail and finds the men at the distant cabin.

The climax of the story comes when Danny takes Mike along on a day trip to check a new area for game animals. A storm comes up and they have to survive overnight in unexpected snowfall when Danny is injured by a falling tree branch. At one point a cougar stalks them, hoping to catch and kill the dog, but Mike keeps it at bay. (Danny never finds out what the dog was barking at). The whole experience has a profound experience on the young dog, who starts paying more attention to humans, realizing they can work together for mutual benefit. In the end, Mike participates in another trial against an English setter (the rich man wanting to give them another chance) and proves himself- his knowledge gained in the forest and his independent thinking show up the other dog with its more rigid training.

Really a lot of this story is about character, especially that of the dogs, how the men saw something promising in Mike but waited for him to mature instead of forcing him into obedience when he was young and wild. Some parts of the story are told from the dog\’s viewpoint, and those were my favorite sections to read. I don\’t know how much appeal this book would have for kids nowadays- I won\’t actually recommend it to my nine-year-old- she\’d probably be upset reading about how the men butchered a hog, shot at game birds, trapped weasels and foxes. But for the memories and the nice look at character building (in an animal), I enjoyed it myself.

Rating: 3/5 182 pages, 1951

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Fiction, Current Reads, Juvenile Fic, Re-reads

The Cartoonist

by Betsy Byars

A re-read from my childhood. It\’s about a boy named Alfie who likes to draw, especially cartoons. He\’s proud of his work and daydreams about becoming famous, but mostly keeps the drawings secret, working in a private attic space in his small home. Shared with his mother, older sister and grandfather, this house sounds really tiny. Alfie learns suddenly one day that his married brother lost his job and might come back home with his wife, to stay in the attic. His mother, indifferent to Alfie\’s need for private space, has big plans to spruce up the attic for them. Alfie protests, and when no one listens, locks himself in the attic and refuses to come out.

I had remembered vividly a lot of the details about Alfie\’s drawing- how he gets caught in class drawing instead of doing his math, how he imagines ideas and reworks them on paper- frustrated sometimes when they don\’t come out right. I had forgotten how much of the story is about Alfie\’s family dynamics- the older sister seems the most sympathetic and responsible, the mother feels overworked and exasperated by the grandfather, who bemoans his feelings of uselessness and tells the same stories over and over again. The family spends a lot of time arguing or sitting in front of the television- all the programs sound really inane and annoying- no wonder Alfie preferred to spend time alone attic- but it really makes me wonder if the author had something against tv viewing. I guess this is on my mind because my nine-year-old has been reading Roald Dahl\’s Matilda with her class, which also has a dysfunctional family with the parents really enamored of their television.

SPOILER In case you\’re wondering, Alfie does finally come down from the attic, not because of his mother\’s threats, his grandfather\’s cajoling, his best friend\’s attempts to get him to join activities, or his sister\’s expressions of understanding. For another reason entirely that erased the conflict. The sad thing is that the whole experience made Alfie realize he was avoiding things by spending so much time in the attic with his daydreams and his cartoons, and he made a motion to change that. It isn\’t clear at the ending if he stopped drawing altogether, but it did seem like his attitude towards his artwork had changed.

Rating: 3/5 119 pages, 1978

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Art, Current Reads, Juvenile Fic, Re-reads

Tag: Re-reads

the Mountain Goat Observed

RATINGS / SUBJECTS: