partying like oregonians

Jared was gone last week and through the weekend on a mantrip with his dad and brothers-in-law. So we had our usual Ladies and Babies party time while he was gone (name courtesy of Eve.) We had a pretty packed social calendar which I prefer to languishing at home and going stir crazy. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and 48 degrees for all of my awesome outings. So much for planning!

We had Train Day at Eleanor's preschool, which meant a visit to the local train park. In the freezing rain.

Eleanor and friend A. munching popcorn and drinking hot chocolate.

We saw a lot of this little slicker that weekend.


Sam and buddy J.

That evening, we had our friend's daughter's birthday party. The main event? A picnic dinner and pony rides. Yes, in the rain. (Though it did manage to stop long enough to get in some good rides and the kids had a blast.)

Don't be fooled by the sunshine! I promise you, Eleanor cannot feel her hands in this picture!



Sam and buddy G. And yellow slicker. Sam was not so much into the ponies, but thought the farmer should instead offer rides on his tractor. He spent a lot of time patting it lovingly.

Eve on pony. I did not get a killer picture of Eve because she spent most of her time keeping track of Sammy for me. She is one great big sister.

The next day, I decided to be brave and take all the kids to the local Touch a Truck event all on my own. It was pretty awesome and Sam is still talking about it. But it was also in the freezing rain.

That's Eleanor high up on a utility crane truck. They were letting kids operate the crane!

The helicopter landed just a few yards in front of us. Sam just about peed his pants with excitement. Come to think of it, he probably did!

Holding the fire hose.

It wasn't until after the kids were in bed on Friday night that I finally had a chance to peel off my wet socks and damp clothes. My feet were like ice! I had to bundle up in jammies and my fleece robe and it was still an hour before I felt warm.

Still a fun weekend though. I'm starting to understand why the U of O mascots are the Ducks.

more thoughts on the giver

Thanks to everyone for all your comments to my last post. So glad that my Newbery experiment isn't boring everyone to tears! I really liked hearing everyone's thoughts, so please keep them coming. I'm sure not all books (ahem...The White Stag...yawn!) will generate the same response, but The Giver was definitely a book that evokes a strong response from everyone who reads it.

So after I posted last, I immediately went to amazon to check out some of the reader reviews. The Giver has a staggering 3200 reviews! That's a lot. I read through many of them and was relieved to see that my response of horror and tears was really common (I was kind of worrying I was losing my grip there!) But for a lot of readers, that is where it stopped and they gave the book one or two stars.

But I think I've decided I really like it. I really like the ambiguous ending. I can imagine a young reader, used to an ending that wraps everything up in a neat little package, finding this ending challenging, something that really makes them think. That's a valuable asset in a book for young readers. The author, Lois Lowry, even talked about this in her Newbery acceptance speech in 1994:

Those of you who hoped that I would stand here tonight and reveal the “true” ending, the “right” interpretation of the ending, will be disappointed. There isn’t one. There’s a right one for each of us, and it depends on our own beliefs, our own hopes.

Let me tell you a few endings which are the “right” endings for a few children out of the many who have written to me.

From a sixth grader: “I think that when they were traveling they were traveling in a circle. When they came to “Elsewhere” it was their old
community, but they had accepted the memories and all the feelings that go
along with it…”

From another: “…Jonas was kind of like Jesus because he took the pain for everyone else in the community so they wouldn’t have to suffer. And, at the very end of the book, when Jonas and Gabe reached the place that they knew as Elsewhere, you described Elsewhere as if it were heaven.”

And one more: “A lot of people I know would hate that ending, but not me. I loved it. Mainly because I got to make the book happy. I decided they made it. They made it to the past. I decided the past was our world, and the future was their world. It was parallel worlds.”

Finally, from one seventh grade boy: “I was really surprised that they just died at the end. That was a bummer. You could of made them stay alive, I thought.”

Those are some great thoughts. And I love that they came from her child readers. Please note, though, they are all 6th or 7th graders. I would not unleash this book on a much younger reader, definitely not without reading it first. And not just because of its heavy duty content. I just think it would be a wasted opportunity because so much of it would be over their heads. This is what Lowry had to say concerning the age appropriateness of The Giver when asked if it was suitable for a 5th grade class:

Based on what I've heard from hundreds of teachers over the years since The Giver's publication, it is most effectively used with kids 12-15 years old. With that age group it seems to provoke vigorous discussion, debate, and a good deal of thought about the issues raised in the book. 10-year-olds can certainly follow the plot, and read it for the "story" but they are for the most part too young to fully appreciate the underlying concepts. Some readers that young will read the book and love it; I know because I often hear from them! But as a class read, I think 10 is a little too young.

So, in summary, I really liked it. One of the best I've read so far, after Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

Now I think I'm done talking about The Giver. Um... the end.

In case you think I'm a nerd who reads Newberys all day long, not so! I can be shallow, too! My whole day has been bathed in a rosy glow because I bought two new dresses at Target for a total of $20. Bliss! Here's one:

I can't find the other, but it makes me feel like I should be working in the secretary pool at Sterling Cooper. Happy day! Pretty dresses!

in which I am traumatized by a children's book

I had a big Newbery week this week. I read two of the Big Guns: Jacob Have I Loved (1981) and The Giver (1994). Both books are known for being provocative and emotionally intense. Whatever. I'm an adult - I'm pretty sure I can handle whatever Newbery throws at me.

Not so much.

Jacob Have I Loved was not really the traumatic one, but it was fairly emotionally ravaging. I've been dreading it because of my much publicized dislike for Katherine Paterson (author of Bridge to Terabithia) and I was expecting a manipulative, emotional bloodbath. Which it kind of was. But it was exquisitely written and the story is beautifully told.

(On a side note, I remember a bunch of girls checking it out from the library in 2nd grade because they thought with a title like that, it must be a steamy romance. It isn't. The title is a scriptural reference to Isaac's twins, Jacob and Esau, and the book tells the story of two twins on a remote island in the Chesapeake Bay during WWII.)

While I wasn't really fond of the characters (I'm not sure we're supposed to be), I loved how the rocky, windswept setting is almost a character itself, it's such a crucial part of the book. I cringed and winced at every terrible turn our heroine's life takes, but was satisfied and uplifted at the unexpectedly sweet ending. It was, I am reluctant to say, a near masterpiece.

That said, this book is not so much for the kids. 12+ at least.

But enough about Jacob Have I Loved. Next I read The Giver. Really, this is a very good book. But again, I think I just can't see it through a child's eyes and therefore it rapidly went from provocative and troubling to utterly horrifying in the last three chapters.

I really loved almost all the book. It's like Our Town meets A Brave New World meets The Hunger Games. It's the kind of book that would have blown my mind and got me thinking in a whole new way if I had read it as a child. Our hero lives in a tightly controlled Community where all choices have been eradicted. We watch him gradually question the rules that have shaped his life until

***SPOILER ALERT****

he discovers that all elderly, less-than-perfect infants, and rule breakers are not Released from the Community, as he has been raised to believe, but are really being euthanized. In one horrific scene, we watch in grim and painful detail as our hero's father kills a newly born infant. Seriously, I thought I was going to throw up.

The book rapidly concludes in the next few chapters as our hero escapes the Community with his toddler brother who was to be "Released" the next morning for insufficient development.

The next few chapters are agonizing as the two boys begin to slowly die of starvation and exposure before they are able to find help. Which they do, I think? The book wraps up so suddenly in the last paragraph, that it actually left me wondering if they found help or if it was just a metaphor for their deaths. Very unsettling. Or thought provoking, I guess you could say.

I know I'm a big... well, baby when it comes to babies. It does not help that Sam is the same age and matches exactly the physical description and temperment of this child. Also, he has the same name as my dear friend's little boy, a child I am very attached to. Pretty much, I closed the book and burst into tears. And cried for a long time. You can ask Jared - I was totally pathetic! It was so embarassing. I have read a lot of books and consider myself a fairly objective reader, but I have never done that before.

I am starting to wonder if I am at a disadvantage reading these books as an adult. They are not the same books to the twelve year old reader as they are to me. Am I even reading the book as the author intended it to be read or do my experiences and adult emotions inform my reading so strongly that my interpretationsare way off base? I wonder.

Luckily, not all the books are like these two. And, having had twelve hours to digest my feelings for The Giver, I can say it is a powerful book and I'm glad I read it. I think it fully deserves the award and would be interested to hear from anyone who did read it when they were younger or whose children did.

I am currently reading The White Stag (1938) which should be delightfully dull in comparision. Now on hold at the library: The Story of Mankind (1922) - the very first winner -, I, Juan de Pareja (1966), and Hitty, Her First Hundred Years (1930).

Thank goodness the random number generator didn't give me Bridge to Terabithia for next week.

graphic novel for the fruit snack crowd

Under the influence of my much-cooler-than-me older brothers, I read a lot of graphic novels growing up. Superhero-y ones, funny ones, poignant ones, scary ones. They all taught me that a really great book can also have a lot of really great pictures.

I was really excited when I discovered that Shannon Hale has co-written two graphic novels with her husband, Dean, illustrated by Nathan Hale (no relation. Weird coincidence!) I really like Shannon Hale and have read most of her books. For the uninitiated, Shannon Hale is an LDS author of teen young adult literature who can really write! (No offense intended, Stephenie - I'm pretty sure you know it's true.) She is very talented and writes mostly fairy-tale, fantasy inspired stories about courageous young girls. With my current obsession with Newberys, you may be interested to know that her Princess Academy was a Newbery Honor in 2007. Street cred!

I checked out Rapunzel's Revenge from the library on Saturday after my sister-in-law encouraged me to (thanks, Jerilyn!) I fully intended to read it myself. But before I had reached page 15, Eve had absconded with it to her room and wasn't seen for the rest of the afternoon. So I can't give a complete review, but the first 15 pages were great - funny and exciting with pretty decent art. But Eve has read it through several times and refuses to relinquish it which I take to be a satisfactory review. The sequel, Calamity Jack, is on hold at the library.

I was happy to discover not only a new great book for Eve, but also a whole new genre to introduce her to. It seems like it would be a good book to persuade a reluctant reader. But I can't tell you for sure until I finally read it for myself...

newbery update

Happy belated Mother's Day to all you mommies! Hope you enjoyed your day of napping and pampering as much as I did.

I realized I have read several Newberys (Newberies?) recently and haven't reported much on them. I never really intended to give indepth reviews of every single book, but I thought I would remark on a few that I have read recently.

On the drive to/from Seattle I listened to three books: Bud, Not Buddy, Sounder, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. Some of these I loved, some I did not so much. But I'm kind of wondering if I was just influenced by the reader. If the reader was really dynamic and engaged (see Bud, Not Buddy), I seemed to like the book. If the reader sounded like he was conducting a funeral (ahem, Sounder), that seemed to influence me negatively. It would be interesting to go back and read them and see if they are any better/worse when read in my own voice, but - luckily - I will never read Sounder again. I'm not that hard up for books!

I know these reviews are just skimming the surface, but better than nothing:

Bud, Not Buddy: A black orphan looking for his biological father in Depression era Chicago. Antics ensue as he tries to track down the famous jazz musician he is convinced is his dad. Laugh-out-loud hilarious at times, poignant and sniffly at others. Might be a little over the head of a younger reader, but a really good read.

Sounder: How the heck is this is a kid's book? No, not because it is inappropriate, but because I cannot imagine a single child who would be interested in it! It's not even one of those boy/dog stories. Pretty much a fable of grit and endurance, none of the characters even have names with the exception of the dog, Sounder, who is a symbol for quiet strength and resignation. The one thing I can say for it is that it is very short and the last paragraph is really moving. And, no, not just because it is about to end.

Island of the Blue Dolphins: This book is pretty great and exactly what I expected it to be - Castaway , but our heroine has a lot more know-how than Tom Hanks. Made me wonder why stranded-child surival stories are so popular among the Newbery winners and honors: Julie of the Wolves, Hatchet, My Side of the Mountain... I'm sure there are more.

I also read The Westing Game and Holes that weekend. Both were great. They didn't talk down to the reader, but read at a pretty adult level. Especially The Westing Game. That is one quirky awesome book. (It was the winner the year I was born, so I feel a particular pride in its awesomeness.) I think as a younger kid I would have been a little freaked out by it and would not have understood the irony of the mystery genre references. As an adult, they are pretty funny. (This book made me think of and miss my dear roommate, Taliatha - it just seems like a Tai kind of book!) Holes had a great little mystery angle, too, and it also hopped around between several different stories and points of view, which is an engaging challenge for a younger reader.

I just picked up the following from the library: Jacob Have I Loved (1981), The Giver (1994), and The White Stag (1938). Hmmmm...I'm wondering if I should throw in some adult books every now and then. Will I wake up one morning and discover I'm in the 5th grade again?

happy cinco de mayo!

Hola, Cinco de Mayo! I have no idea what you celebrate, but I sure love an excuse to eat Mexican food. So in honor of this most delicious day, I will post my favorite enchilada recipe, courtesy of my friend Ginny. I have looked high and low over the years for the perfect white enchiladas and this is pretty close. Pretty simple and nothing fancy, but very delicious.

Ginny's Enchiladas

1 6-inch torillas (I say wheat, Ginny says corn - do what you want!)
1/2 C chopped onion
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp coriander (or cumin, in a pinch)
1/4 tsp pepper
2 T butter
3 T flour

1 8oz container sour cream
2 C chicken broth
1 4oz can green chili peppers
1 1/2 C shredded Monterey Jack
2 C. chopped cooked chicken

Wrap tortillas in foil and heat 10 min in a 350 oven. To make the sauce, saute onion, garlic, corainder, and pepper in butter until tender. Stir flour into sour cream, then add onion mixture. Stir in broth and peppers. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of cheese.

For filling, stir 1/2 cup sauce into chicken. Place 1/3 cup filling inside each tortilla. Roll up and place, seam side down, in lightly greased pan. Top with remaining sauce. Bake uncovered at 350 for 35 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake uncovered for 5 minutes.

*This doesn't make a ton of enchiladas, so I usually double the recipe.

Speaking of recipes, I am having a dilemma. I can't decide what treat to make for Mother's Day. (Before you berate Jared for not making the treat, let me say that I want to make it myself. His job is to watch the kids so I can enjoy some blissfully uninterrupted baking.) At first I thought I would go with this luscious cheesecake, but I've never made it before. Also, there is no chocolate in it which concerns me - is it really worthy of Mother's Day if there is no chocolate in it? What's on your menu for Mother's Day?