Monday, January 30, 2012

Red Midnight

As a middle school special education teacher - well, para at the moment, but aspiring and licensed teacher - I sometimes read books I don't really enjoy but want to promote because they are fantastic books for adolescent males.  Earlier this school year, I addressed this issue in my review of The Light in the Forest.  Recently, our class read another that falls into this category:  Red Midnight by Ben Mikaelsen.

Red Midnight is the harrowing tale of Santiago, a 12-year-old Guatemalan survivor of the 1980s civil war and his desperate trip with his 4-year-old sister Angelina across the Gulf of Mexico to try to reach the shore of the United States.  It details how Santiago and Angelina escapes the soldiers to get to his uncle's cayuco and attempt to fight the ocean's terrors for the promise of a safe and better life.  Santiago is forced to grow up literally overnight as he sees things that no child should ever see and takes over responsibility for his little sister, the only other survivor of his family. Through pirates, manure trucks, sharks, tropical storms, starvation, exposure, and the terrors of their war-torn country, Santiago and Angelina play the "game" of staying alive so that one day they can tell the world what has happened to their village and their country.

Personally, I did not enjoy reading the book, but that's just because it's not the kind of book I normally enjoy.  The first few chapters were really hard for me to push through. It is difficult, as a mother of small children, for me to read books or stories about suffering children.  I realize these things are real and these stories should be told - but that doesn't mean it's enjoyable for me.  It's also a journey and adventure book, and those things just don't tend to interest me much. 

Having said that, Red Midnight is still an excellent book.  Mikaelsen is an author I have come to respect tremendously for his books that appeal to a younger male audience.  His stories not only capture his intended audience, but they manage to bring important lessons into the mix without losing the integrity of the story.  Oftentimes young adult books are either purely entertaining with no character-building qualities, or they teach lessons but come off so cheesy that no self-respecting 13-year-old boy would be caught dead reading it.  Mikaelsen is a writer that can do both.  After researching him, I can see that much of this is due to his life experiences; check out his website here for more information. 

What's more, this book opened my eyes to a piece of history about which I knew very little: the Guatemalan Civil War.  Americans should be more educated on this matter, considering our role in the conflict.  Those soldiers that raped Santiago's mother and cut the legs off his best friend were being funded by out own government in the name of "fighting communism" - but the truth is, most of the 200,000 people killed during the war had never heard of communism.  They were just trying to live their lives.  When their lives went up in flames, many of them did what Santiago attempted to do - make their way to the safety of the United States.  I already had some pretty strong (and admittedly liberal, especially for someone as right-wing as I am) opinions about the US immigration problem, but this book only helped to confirm my belief that we are as responsible as the immigrants for the crisis.  Why are these people trying to make their way here in the first place?  Because WE had a hand in making their countries uninhabitable.  Santiago has no ideas about passports and immigration papers.  He is just trying to survive and ensure the survival of his sister.  So is it wrong for him to make for the US, the one place he has been told he will be safe?  It's a question worth asking. 

I would not choose to reread Red Midnight, but I would recommend it - and other Mikaelsen books - for young male readers...or teachers of young male readers looking for a good read. 

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
What's up next: Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge
Top Five TBR:
1. The Confessions of Catherine Medici by C.W. Gortner 
2. To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick
3. Israel: A History by Martin Gilbert
4. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
5. Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

Friday, January 27, 2012

xkcd

Many people have notebooks filled with random doodles and obscure thoughts they have scribbled down during lectures and free time.  The wonder of the Internet is that someone could post these random pieces of whimsy and someday make a living off of them.  Many wish for such a dream.  Randall Monroe of xkcd.com fame made it happen. 

Monroe, a former NASA employee and self-proclaimed math geek, started scanning his journal pages and posting them online in 2005.  His original intent was just to send it to some friend for laughs, but one things led to another, and as can happen on the Net, his site exploded with popularity.  He quit his job at NASA and now lives entirely off the webcomic, which is pretty cool considering the site itself doesn't have advertising.    It does, however, have an online store, which is where I found out there was a book collection.  Even though Monroe tells you straight out in the introduction it's a book full of stuff you can get online for free, it's fun to have on the shelf to randomly flip through. 

xkcd.com is "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." It is, admittedly, not always appropriate, and I sometimes don't appreciate the humor.  It is also at times over my head due to the programming, math and science references - but the ones I do get make me feel so much smarter!  Mostly it's a quirky way of looking at the world, and I love the stick figure vehicle.  It clears away rubble to make way for the sake of simple humor.  I love Monroe's sideways view of the world, even if I don't always agree with his point or his morals.   It's a fun comic to check in on throughout the week, and it's fun to have his book on the shelf to flip through when I need a smile.


xkcd is not for everyone, and it should be read with caution and some screening.  But it's still a fun romp through interesting ideas and quirky truths.





Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
What's up next: Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge
Top Five TBR:
1. The Confessions of Catherine Medici by C.W. Gortner 
2. To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick
3. Israel: A History by Martin Gilbert
4. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
5. Erasing Hell by Francis Chan 

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Lionheart

One day I was walking through my local library, looking for some book I can't even remember now, when I stumbled across a paperback in the "New Arrivals" section called When Christ and His Saints Slept.  Intrigued by the title, I glanced over it and discovered it was about a period of English history about which I knew very little, that being the reign of King Stephen.  It also involved Eleanor of Aquitaine, the subject of another novel I had recently read and about whom I was becoming terribly interested.  (I will not even mention the title of the other book because I have discovered, upon further research and reading, that it's garbage.  It's only redeeming quality is that it led to me to discover real books about this great lady.)  So I nabbed it and took it home...and thus began my great appreciation for the works of Sharon Kay Penman, whom I credit with my odd obsession with Middle Age England and all things involving the history of British royalty. 

Someday I will do more in-depth reviews of her other novels, but I wanted to give that introduction by way of explaining how very excited I was to read Penman's latest novel, Lionheart.  It is the continuation of the story my favorite of all royal families, the Angevins.  Henry II, Eleanor, and their "devil's brood" never cease to fascinate me.  Lionheart is the fourth book in the series that was started by the aforementioned Saints.  It focuses on a man of great legend but not much fact, Richard I.  I did not know much about Richard before starting the book.  I had the Robin Hood version of him in my head, that of the long-lost crusading hero.  I also had Penman's earlier, harsher treatment of him, for he had made a brief appearance at the beginning of her exquisite Welsh trilogy, Here Be Dragons.  (A great joy in the life of a reader is discovering that your new favorite author has multiple series, each volume at least 500 pages long!!)  I knew he was not terribly kind to his poor wife, and I knew he died without children, thus paving the way for that most wretched of English kings, John Lackland.  Other than that, I didn't have much, so I couldn't wait for my student teaching semester to be over so I could read Lionheart with no guilt. 

I was not disappointed.  Penman has taken great pains to lift the man from the mires of the legend surrounding him and give him a flesh-and-blood makeover.  She has created one of the most complex characters I have ever read from one of the most complex, controversial characters of the Middle Ages.  It was as if Richard was standing in front of me, with all his faults and glory.  I could see him taking Cyprus, arriving at Acre, bantering with his friends, leading his troops into battle.  I sat with him in his tent as he struggled to balance crusader and king.  I felt faint when he battled fever and illness.  I lived in Outremer over the past few weeks, and unlike the poor crusaders, I loved every minute of it. 

One of the things I absolutely love about Penman is her attention to research.  She is painfully meticulous about accuracy, and her work has made me a historical fiction snob.  I can't stand it when authors veer off the historical record for no good reason.  The book was no different - and her research showed that there was little about this extraordinary man's life that had to be invented!  Some of the most absurd scenes are lifted directly from contemporary chronicles and eye-witnesses - proving that life is stranger than fiction, and that history is, after all, the best story there is. 

Perhaps one of the greatest things that intrigued me about this story is how little has changed in 800 years or so.  This piece of land is still the most hotly contested area in the world.  The same religious pulls are still there.  Richard's peace talks and treaties with Saladin could have taken place today with many of the same difficulties.  On both sides, there are still those factions that are too busy fighting amongst themselves to ever come to a conclusive peace with the other side.  As was the case eight centuries ago, personal agendas, religious zeal, and strong opinions keep the peace talks in a constant state of both motion and stagnation.  And Jerusalem still stands, after thousands of years, as the point of contention  for three major world religions.  Ain't nuthin' new under the sun.

I was also pleased to see Penman include accounts of the treatment of the Jews during Richard's time.  Everyone knows of things like the Holocaust and the Spanish Inquisition, but some lesser known incidents, such as the attacks that occurred in England during Richard's reign, have been swept into the vast vault of history.  I was glad that someone took these stories out, dusted them off, and displayed them for the world to see.  These are stories that need to be told and understood - and they give yet another piece to the puzzle of the complexity of the fight for the Holy Land.

Truly, Lionheart is a masterpiece.  I was both anxious to finish it and sad to see it end.  Now I have to find other things to occupy my time until the next volume of Richard's life comes forth, A King's Ransom.  Thankfully, there's that huge Amazon box I got over Christmas break to keep me occupied...

Scale of 1-5: 6! 
What's up next: Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge
Top Five TBR:
1. The Confessions of Catherine Medici by C.W. Gortner 
2. To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwich
3. Israel: A History by Martin Gilbert
4. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
5. Erasing Hell by Francis Chan 

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

I'm Back!

I am back, fearless followers!  (You know, all five of you.)  Whew!  That was a crazy end of a semester.  However, I graduated, I have a new shiny Master's degree, a teaching license in the works, and things have settled down. 

I also got one of my favorite things for Christmas...an Amazon spree.  YEAH!  I have something close to a gazillion new books to read.  Not only that, but I have time to READ THEM.  Double YEAH! 

So - here is my list of reading-and-to-be-read books. 

Reading now:
1. Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman
2. The Confessions of Catherine Medici by C.W. Gortner 
3. The Historical Atlas of the Bible by Ian Barnes
4. Israel: A History by Martin Gilbert 

And on deck:
1. Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst 
2. Erasing Hell by Francis Chan
3. The King's Grace by Anne Easter Smith 

Ahhh...new books.  How lovely.

I am also interested in getting the book club up and running again.  Instead of me arbitrarily picking a book, I thought I would take some suggestions from you.  Here is what has been suggested to me thus far:

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank 
Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

So let me do this.  Please post a comment - either here or Facebook - with a vote for the next book.  Or weigh in on those two choices.  Have your input here by January 15th.  If there is no consensus, I will post a list and take a vote.  If there is a consensus, I will post the winner.  Alrighty?  Come on, we can't let The Ultra Manly Book Club beat us at the book club game!  We can read as much as a bunch of smelly boys! :) 

Thanks all!  Good to be back!