Reading in the Garden

Dedication that Makes a Difference The Freedom Writers' Diary with Erin Gruwell is a compilation of diary entries of approximately 150 students in a Los Angeles school. Ms Gruwell, a first-year teacher, steps into a world of despair, hatred, and anger and ends up teaching her “at risk” students more than English. Through imagination, enthusiasm, and determination Ms. Gruwell begins an education of tolerance and acceptance in a world where high school students carry guns for protection, where racism and hatred is deep and suffocating. She exposes the kids to the atrocious intolerance of the Holocaust and the Bosnian War with books like Night by Elie Wiesel , Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, and Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo. Through these books their eyes and minds are opened. Like Anne and Zlata, Ms Gruwell assigns the students to write their own diaries. This book is the result of four years worth of selected diary entries that takes the reader through t...

The Case of the Missing Man & Letter “E" Author, Georges Perec A Void by Georges Perec is not your ordinary novel.  It’s a lipogram, a literary work that omits a particular letter or word. This book is entirely “void” of the letter “E.” That’s right, you will not find the letter “e” anywhere (except the author’s name).  Imagine not using the letter “e” in even a paragraph, let alone an entire book. In the previous sentences I've already used the letter “e” thirty-five times. But it gets more amazing than that.  This book was originally written in French then translated to English!  I’ll say it again. It’s amazing!  The story is about a group of friends who try to solve the disappearance of their friend, Anton Vowl.  I grant you, it can be a tad confusing and hard to follow at times. But the book itself is such an accomplishment, I think it’s worth checking out.  Do you have to be crazy to write a book like this? Probably not, but may...

Le Cirque des Rêves T he Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is about an unusual circus that opens at nightfall and closes at dawn.  This is not your ordinary circus.  Instead of a red white striped big top, you’ll find everything is either black or white.  Instead of one giant tent, there are many tents, each with unique and amazing acts or interactive displays you’re not likely to find at the Ringling Brothers.  There is the ice garden, an enchanting place with sparkling frozen trees and blossoms. There’s a labyrinth with a bizarre network of rooms: stacks of suitcases, floating feathers, an albino sphinx, and snow. There’s a tent with a sign that states “Please enter cautiously and feel free to open what is closed.”  Inside jars and bottles in all shapes and sizes line a table. They contain sensations, sounds, and evoke images. But the spectacular circus itself is just a sideshow to the main storyline.  Two men make a wager.  They each train a p...

A Big, Unforgettable Friendship The Giant’s House by Elizabeth McCracken is about a librarian who forms a friendship with an overly tall boy.  She calls it love, and it is a love story.  But a different kind of love. It’s not the sordid sort that makes you cringe.  It’s not about an older teacher-type woman taking advantage of a younger student.  This is a touching tale about Peggy Cort and James Sweatt.  Peggy is a single woman others would call a spinster.  But that word conjures up images of a bitter, lonely woman, which she definitely is not.  Peggy doesn't require companionship with many friends or even a husband to make her life feel full. Instead, she opens her heart to this unusually tall boy.  James first came to her library when he was a 6’2” eleven-year-old; she was twenty five; it was 1950. Slowly she helps him not only in the world of books, but in general.  She becomes a caring friend, and he becomes a precious gift to ...

A Thankless Job  Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë is about a governess who has to deal with two sets of bratty kids and arrogant parents in the nineteenth century, namely the Bloomfields and the Murrays. Her job as governess is a thankless one, but the only one poor Agnes can get. The kids are unruly and spoiled; the parents are difficult; and everyone is demanding. Even Mary Poppins may have been exasperated with these uppity characters. As governess, she doesn't exactly have a great social life either since she’s stuck way out in the boonies.  Eventually, one interesting man finally enters her life, but it’s not all smooth sailing.   I really liked this story. I was saddened at the harsh oppressive world of a governess in the Victorian Age, and more so when I learned that this book is based on Anne’s own experiences. Unlike the heroine Agnes, however, Anne’s life didn't have a happy ending.  Like four of her siblings before her, Anne Brontë contracted tuber...

Withering Hopes Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront ë   is a doozy.  I say that not because it’s long; it only seems that way but, in my opinion, those two hundred and twelve pages overstayed their welcome. It really falls into the doozy category because it’s a rough read.  This is a story of some pretty mean people, starting with Heathcliff and Catherine and ending…well, with everyone else. I’ve seen it referred to as a love story, but I failed to see tender love or romance. Heathcliff is adopted by the Earnshaw family and falls in love with his stepsister Catherine.  Hindley, Catherine’s blood brother, is jealous of the attention Heathcliff is getting from his father, and a nasty little wedge is formed in the family unit. The book is full of feuds and drama and “vinegar-faced” [1] people who yell at each other, degrade one another, slap heads, box ears, and threaten bodily harm with knives.   They’re real downers who got under my skin.   The ...

Fun With Ed and Jane  The stage is set. A soft rendition of “We Are Family” is playing in the background. Drum rolls, please! Now let’s give a big round of applause for the brainy, bodacious, and brilliant Brontë sisters! Curtains! Enter the literary trio: Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë. This week I’m going to take a look at the works of these remarkable sisters.  The three Brontë sisters were exceptional writers who churned out amazing classics in their short lives.  Tragically, all died before the age of forty. We start with Charlotte, born in 1816. She was, in fact, a middle child in a family of six siblings.  At the ages of ten and eleven respectively, her sisters Elizabeth and Maria died as a result of abysmal conditions at a boarding school. This left Charlotte the eldest with brother Branwell, Emily, and little Anne following behind her. When Anne was not quite two years old, their mother died of cancer. All siblings were blessed with creat...

Desperate Endeavor Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is a novel with two alternating stories set in Paris.  One is of a Jewish girl during WWII.  The other is about an American journalist in current times who learns of the girl’s life during the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup of Jews in German-occupied Paris.  Vel’ d’Hiv was a bicycle stadium (velodrome) where Jews were gathered on the 16 th and 17 th of July, 1942 before they were disbursed to concentration camps.  Julia, the American journalist, learns that during the roundup Sarah locked her brother in a bedroom cupboard to keep him safe. As Julia investigates, the fate of the brother and sister are slowly revealed. The book flips back and forth between the past and present and moves along very quickly.  It was captivating and interesting. Even though it  was a terribly sad subject, my book club liked the book and would recommend it.   Holocaust Memorial Museum Website: http://www.ushmm.org/reme...

A Dwarf Family’s Survival of the Holocaust In Our Hearts We Were Giants by Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev is an incredible story of a family of little people and their survival through the Holocaust.  Shimshon Eizik Ovitz was a little person born to normal height parents.  His first marriage to a regular sized woman produced two surviving daughters, both of whom where little.  After his wife died, Shimshon remarried another normal sized woman and produced eight more children, five of whom were also little people.  The mother, who had raised all kids, including the two daughters from the first marriage, warned them to always stay together. Their strength was in supporting each other. They heeded her advice and formed the Lilliput Troupe.  Every child, with the exception of one tall son, worked together in the Troupe.  Born and raised in Transylvania, which was annexed by Romania, they traveled throughout Europe performing their song, dance, and acting pe...

Horrors of the Holocaust Today, April 8, 2013 is Holocaust Remembrance Day— lest it be forgotten and history repeat itself.   Night by Elie Wiesel is the hauntingly powerful memoir of a teenager who survived the Holocaust.  Wiesel describes in terrifying detail the ordeal of his time with his father in concentration camps in World War II. This book is both hard to read and hard to put down. While the writing is simple and honest, t he vivid descriptions of anguish and suffering are painful to examine.    The devastating, relentless, and senseless atrocities are unfathomable. Yet, this is one book everyone should read, “lest the Holocaust should be forgotten and history repeat itself.” Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Elie Wiesel, Night , (New York: Hill and Wang, A Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006), 34. Holocaust Memorial Museum Website: http://www.ushm...

Strength of Sisters Going off the beaten track, today’s book is not a novel, biography, or memoir.  It’s actually a coffee book that my sister gave me almost twenty years ago. Sisters , by Carol Saline with photographs by Sharon J. Wohlmuth , is a collection of stories about women (and some girls) and their relationships with their sisters.  Even though I read this book almost two decades ago, some of the stories stayed with me. I still think (and sometimes cry) about the Cunningham sisters and what their Caribbean trip mean to them. Because of the Young sisters I still get choked up every time I hear “You Are My Sunshine.”  But not all stories are sad.  There are also uplifting stories like the Scull sisters. Their picture was etched in my brain—the two of them with their flirty polka dot dresses and matching hats. These ladies come in a fun-pack.  They’re Cuban-born twins who bubble with joyful vivaciousness.  And who could forget the Johnson sisters...

Traveling Brothers Most people recognize the titles: The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, Nights in Rodanthe, A Walk to Remember— and the list goes on. To the outside world, internationally best-selling author Nicholas Sparks seems to have it all. He has seventeen hugely successful novels, eight of which have been made into movies. He has a loving wife and family. He seems blessed with the Midas touch. But reality steps in, and like everyone else, he has his own difficulties and dilemmas. Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Sparks and Micah Sparks is a memoir about the Sparks brothers. It chronicles the brothers’ three-week whirlwind excursion around the world in 2003 to exotic locations like Peru, Easter Island, Australia, Cambodia, and Norway. We are with them on this once-in-a-lifetime trip, and then alternately led through their lives growing up, seeing the challenges they faced then and as adults.  Sometimes it can be humorous, like when Micah, the jokester, tries to g...

Struggling Sisters Wednesday, April 10, 2013 is National Sibling Day, a day to celebrate brothers and sisters, good or bad, the ones we grew up with, our best friends, our worst enemies.  You know the old saying: “You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.”  That’s pretty much the same with family.  You can’t pick your family.  In my case, I was blessed with two wonderful sisters/friends I wouldn't trade for anyone.  But that may not always be the case for everyone.   The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown is about three sisters who move back home to care for their mother who has breast cancer.  Rose is the oldest and had already moved back to tend to both aging parents, whether they needed help or not. She’s the mother hen, the one who takes control, the one who willingly and begrudgingly heaps responsibility on her own shoulders. Bianca, aka Bean, is the middle sister. She’s a self-centere...