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May 2002 Vol.3 Issue 5
This
month's book reviews
A
baseball story that touches on
some troublesome issues
"Choosing
Up Sides" by John H. Ritter is a paperback that looks
like just another light-reading sports story, but, in fact,
turns out to be pretty heavy reading. Set in the rural south
in 1921, it tells the story of a preacher's kid. The preacher
father is strict and controlling. He has it in his head that
being left-handed predisposes a person to be at odds with
God's laws. He simply is not going to let a son of his be
left-handed. As for having a son that plays baseball, that
also would be having a son that plays the devil's game.
For the son, who
is truly left-handed and has a one in a thousand throwing
arm, his father's unreasonable demands create a terrible conflict,
not only within him but between him and his father. When the
son is lead to rebel against his father's dictates, and joins
in a game with his friends, the father resorts to an unspeakably
violent act against him. As with so many classic stories,
a tragedy has to occur before there is any resolution to the
basic conflict.
This one centers
on society's historic prejudice against left-handedness and
a son's attempt to cope with the demands of a controlling
and self-righteous father. The middle grader who reads the
novel really needs discussion with a caring adult who has
also read the story.
Sometimes
a reviewer can be
ambivalent about a book reviewed
"Dogs Don't
Tell Jokes" by Louis Sachar is a book that aims at humor
while treating a serious issue at the same time. It's pretty
much up to the "eyes of the beholder" whether this
earlier Newbery Medal winning author accomplishes both objectives.
Gary W. Boone, or "Goon" as the other kids call
him, is on the receiving end of considerable cruel treatment
from his junior high school peers. Gary tries to shield himself
from hurt by constantly smiling and trying to make a joke
out of everything. Most of his jokes misfire and his bizarre
behavior does little to get him accepted as "one of the
guys."
The plot centers
around Gary's entry into a school talent contest, ostensibly
to win the $100.00 prize. Of course, all he really wants is
recognition and acceptance. Through an ironic twist of events,
he wins the contest. He wins by failing to perform as he had
painstakingly rehearsed. In his own mind, he won the contest
by making a fool out of himself after being victimized by
a cruel prank. He becomes instantly popular and accepted,
but for reasons that were really beyond his control. The message?
The ultimate message, I suppose, is be yourself, regardless
of what others may say or think. It's a message that all pre-teens
and teen-agers need to internalize...but, unfortunately, for
most of them it will never happen!
Another
paperback in a popular series
about a girl and horses
This review of
"Out of the Darkness" is the third Young Saint Louis
review of paperbacks from the Heartland series, which now
numbers seven titles. Although a Lauren Brooke is named as
the author of the books, it is clear that they are committee-written
by a group called "Working Partners" out of London,
England. From feedback this reviewer has received on earlier
reviews, these books are popular not only with girls but with
their mothers, who also enjoy reading them.
Clearly, the series
was created to take advantage of the incredible interest that
young girls appear to have in horse stories, as evidenced
by the large array of horse book series to be found in the
intermediate section of your local bookstores. Sure, the plots
are contrived to wring out emotions from the young readers,
but they feature a believable and current situation, a healthy
young heroine, and plots that are wholesome without being
overly smaltzy. Your daughter could do a lot worse in today's
climate of trash media than to get invested in the Heartland
series.
A
look at World War II history from the viewpoint of a teen-ager
in occupied Holland
For those of us
who are older and either remember the war and/or its aftermath
or heard the stories of our older relatives regarding World
War II, it's hard to realize that for kids today the war seems
like ancient history. "A Traitor among Us" by Elizabeth
Van Steenwyk is fiction but is based on actual events that
occurred in September and October of 1944, as the Allies landed
troops in the Netherlands.
Pieter Van Dirk,
the central figure in the paperback novel, is only thirteen
but circumstances force him to take on awesome responsibilities.
In spite of the pressures of wartime, Pieter has a teen-age
crush on the beautiful sixteen-year-old girl, who as a member
of the Resistance is passing orders on to him and is demonstrating
unbelievable courage. The tension and action in the story
should intrigue young readers and possibly inspire them to
learn more about the War that had such an impact not as many
years ago as they may believe.
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