On or about his fiftieth birthday, Ambrose Zephyr failed his annual medical exam. An illness of inexplicable origin with neither known nor foreseeable cure was discovered. It would kill him within the month. Give or take a day.
It was suggested he might want to make arrangements concerning his remaining time. — p. 5 of The End of the Alphabet
Ambrose Zephryr and Zappora “Zipper’ Ashkenazi are a married couple with very little time remaining. After hearing the news of his impending death, Ambrose decides he wants to travel. The couple begin their journey with place names starting with the letter ‘A,’ then ‘B,’ and so on.
This very small book (only 119 pages) was meant to be little. It is indeed indicative of the fleeting amount of time the couple have left to spend together.
I appreciated this novella for its poignancy and tenderness, and its sad portrait of the utter helplessness of its characters. It is a book that can be read in one sitting and/or re-read again and again.
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book
2007, 119 pages
Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks is about a Canadian teenage girl who is trying to cope with a myriad of issues. One of Odella’s parents struggles with alcoholism and abandons the family. Odella, the oldest of her siblings, tries to maintain order for the rest of her household while also dealing with the typical trials of the teenage years.
While I did enjoy certain aspects of the story, particularly the discussions on the characters’ Icelandic heritage, I’m afraid this book suffers from what I call ‘everything AND the kitchen sink’ syndrome. With themes of guilt, identity, alcoholism, abandonment, and h*mos*xu*ality — just to name a few, this book just had too much going on with the story in order for it not to feel a bit contrived. I just really believe that young adult novels, particularly short ones, are more effective when they deal with only one or two major issues. That is probably just a personal preference, though. Your mileage may vary.
I have so many projects going on, so what’s one more? No, seriously, I definitely want to read more young adult books so I can keep up with my two teenage sons. The Printz Award is relatively new, too, so there aren’t that many winners yet. I’ve only read one so far.
Here’s the list:
2009 – Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta
2008 – The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean
Since there’s been so many highly anticipated films that have come out recently, my family’s been on a bit of a movie watching binge. Luckily, my theater’s first showings of the day are only $4.00 — even for a new film! We’re sci-fi nuts at our house, so we’ve been anxiously awaiting these three films. I’m not going to give full reviews on these, but I would like to briefly state my thoughts on each.
Star Trek. Grade: A+
Absolutely loved this. Casting was perfect, and I loved the storyline. One of my sons has a problem with movies and books that have time travel involved, so he didn’t care as much for the story as the rest of us. I, however, loved it! Even my sister, who’s not really into Star Trek at all, really liked the movie.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine.Grade: A
This movie definitely answers all your questions about the origins of Wolverine. Jackman was awesome, and so was Liev Schreiber. The opening sequence of the movie is really great. I liked this movie much better than the third X-Men film.
Terminator Salvation. Grade: B-
Disappointed. I actually almost gave this a C+. I love all the Terminator films and we’ve also seen all of the Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles episodes on TV. This was our (and I mean all four of us!) favorite show on television, but sadly, it got cancelled. So I was really excited that the fourth installment of the films was coming out.
Christian Bale is absolutely one of my favorite actors, so it pains me to say I really didn’t like him in this. He acted it well, but there was really no heart to the story. The only heart I saw came from the characters Marcus Wright and Blair. Some of the machines were particularly cool, like the ‘motorcycle’ terminators. However, I really despised some of the sound in the film. Terminators are machines, not animals. Some of the sounds coming from them were almost like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Didn’t care for that at all. One more thing — some of the terminators in LA were wearing bandanas. Campy. Just dumb. This is my least favorite film of the franchise, and I must say that the TV series is also better. That makes me sad because I really wanted to love this.
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So if you’re in the market for a movie this weekend and you’re into sci-fi, I’d choose Star Trek or Wolverine over Terminator Salvation.
Some have said that Richard Yates’ books is an indictment of marriage, suburbia, or both. Yates himself said in an interview that it is actually more about aborted dreams.
Frank and April are young and successful suburbanites with two children. Well, successful to others, but not to themselves. Frank hates his job and finds it excruciatingly boring. April hates the suburbs and finds her life as a wife and mother excruciatingly boring. When the couple (mostly April) devise a plan to get out of their present circumstances, they seem to relax and enjoy each other again — until a few glitches come their way.
My sisters and I read this together for our bookclub, and I have also seen the movie so it was interesting to compare the two. While the book was mostly from Frank’s and their neighbor Shep’s points of view, the movie had more of April and Mrs. Givings’ perspective. Also the endings were a bit different.
I found the book to be well-written but depressing. It’s definitely thought-provoking.
Avi’s Newbery-winning book of an orphan boy known at first only as ‘Asta’s son’ is a familiar one, but it is also entertaining. When his mother dies, ‘Asta’s son’ soon finds himself on the run and is forced to flee the only town and home he has ever known. Leaving with only the clothes on his back and his mother’s lead cross, he does find some people who are willing to help him, but are they truly friendly, or do they only want to find out who he really is and why he’s being tracked?
This book contained adventure, mystery, and history, and I really enjoyed it. Both of my sons read the book a few years ago, and I know they really liked it as well.
I plan on adding to this challenge for the rest of the year as well, but thought I’d mark it complete anyway. This was a great challenge! I love reading world literature, and it’s been my goal for the last two years to also read more in translation. In 2007, I read 14 titles with 10 different languages represented, and in 2008 I read 24 books with 11 different languages in translation.
The goal of Frances’s challenge was to read six works in translation. I wanted to stretch myself a bit and have at least 6 different languages respresented as well, and so far I’ve read 7 in translation which are listed below. I really enjoyed almost all of these books, but my favorites were The Housekeeper and the Professor, Fear and Trembling, So Long a Letter, Solaris, and The Devil and Miss Prym.
Ready to sign up for the third Book Awards Challenge? This one is going to be a little shorter, only 5 months, from July 1 through December 1, 2009. That is because Book Awards 4 will be from February 1 through December 1, 2010. Book Awards 3 will be reading 5 books from 5 different awards. Book Awards 4 will be reading 10 books from 10 different awards, which will be a little more challenging to complete!
I hope you will consider participating in one or both!!
A Fatal Grace (aka Dead Cold) by Louise Penny (Agatha)
Bonus reads:
A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor (Pulitzer) The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (Pulitzer) The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (Pulitzer) The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (Agatha)
One of the best challenges out there! Thanks, Maggie, for hosting this lovely challenge once again. This year, I hope to take some pictures of ‘my old Kentucky home’ while I’m in Kentucky this summer. I’ll try to get some pics in and around Louisville and/or Lexington. I also hope to go to Natural Bridge and some other Kentucky attractions.
As for the books I want to read, I’ll just have to pick from a pool because I can’t yet decide! I’ll choose from the following:
Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars won the Newbery Medal in 1971. The title of the book refers to a little boy’s fascination with the birds. Charlie (who is mentally handicapped) and his sister Sara live with their Aunt Willie. The story begins with Sara’s dissatisfaction with herself and her life, but when Charlie goes missing, she puts all that behind her to help find her brother.
While I appreciated Sara’s growth in the book and the tenderness between Sara and Charlie, it definitely isn’t one of the stronger Newberys that I’ve read. It is positive in its illustration that family relationships are more important than selfish concerns, but the book just didn’t grab me. To be fair, my conclusion could be based on the mediocre performance of the audio narration, which I didn’t at all care for.
On or about his fiftieth birthday, Ambrose Zephyr failed his annual medical exam. An illness of inexplicable origin with neither known nor foreseeable cure was discovered. It would kill him within the month. Give or take a day.
Mistik Lake
Some have said that Richard Yates’ books is an indictment of marriage, suburbia, or both. Yates himself said in an 
Avi’s Newbery-winning book of an orphan boy known at first only as ‘Asta’s son’ is a familiar one, but it is also entertaining. When his mother dies, ‘Asta’s son’ soon finds himself on the run and is forced to flee the only town and home he has ever known. Leaving with only the clothes on his back and his mother’s lead cross, he does find some people who are willing to help him, but are they truly friendly, or do they only want to find out who he really is and why he’s being tracked?
Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars won the Newbery Medal in 1971. The title of the book refers to a little boy’s fascination with the birds. Charlie (who is mentally handicapped) and his sister Sara live with their Aunt Willie. The story begins with Sara’s dissatisfaction with herself and her life, but when Charlie goes missing, she puts all that behind her to help find her brother.
