three black swans

by Caroline B. Cooney

I loved Code Orange.  This book, in my opinion, didn't meet that standard.  I will admit that I generally prefer action to exploration of feelings.  The introduction was everything I hoped for, but the following events didn't keep the reader in suspense.  Also, I thought the fact that one twin is usually smaller than the other is common knowledge, even for sixteen-year-olds.  The exploration of feelings about adoption had its place, but became redundant at times.  

A concise version of the book:

• Missy suspects her cousin Claire is actually her identical twin.
• Missy convinces Claire to appear on her school TV as part of a "hoax" introducing her twin.
• The video goes viral, and Genevieve discovers that she also looks like the girls.
• The triplets' birth mother is Genevieve's mother, Allegra.  She and Genevieve's father, Ned, gave Genevieve little attention since they didn't really want to have children.  Instead, Genevieve received love from her beloved grandmother "GeeGee," whom she was named after.
• The triplets meet one another and will doubtless see each other in the future.  Genevieve decides to stay with her parents, despite their many imperfections.

     An interesting aspect of the book is Allegra's observation that no one would have judged her for having an abortion, yet everyone will judge her for giving up two children for adoption.  The book describes how she didn't even look at the third baby who was born and never visited Missy in the NICU, even though she was near death.  Combined with the description of Allegra and Ned's materialistic lifestyle and unloving parenting, the couple is painted as generally unlikable.  How would most media portray a woman with "unwanted" children?

The High King

by Lloyd Alexander

     Arawn steals Dyrnwyn from Gwydion by appearing as Taran, calling our for help in the midst of a battle, Gwydion sets off with the companions to regain the powerful sword, despite an ominous prophecy from Hen Wen.  Gwydion, Taran, Coll, and Gurgi enter the hall of King Smoit, only to discover that it has been captured by Magg.  He throws them in a store room with Smoit as captives.  Fflewddur, Eilonwy, Rhun, and their unwilling assistants, Glew (the former giant) and Gwystyl (one of the Fair Folk on his way to report to King Eiddileg) launch a rescue operation, which goes awry but is saved by Prince Rhun.  Unfortunately, he dies in the process of saving everyone.  

     Nevertheless, Gwydion and Taran rush to rally Prydain for the final face-off against Arawn Death-Lord.  Taran is assigned to recruit the Commot folk.  He engages in battle with a band of raiders and defeats them, but then discovers that they burned Merin and killed the villagers, including Annlaw Clay-Shaper.  

     At Caer Dathyl, the companions meet the Chief Bard, Taliesin, who shows them the Hall of Lore.  King Pryderi arrives with his army, but rather than joining the coalition, he turns traitor and prepares for battle.  The coalition is winning until Pryderi's army is reinforced by the arrival of the deathless Cauldron-Born.  King Math dies as Caer Dathyl falls; even so, hope is not lost.  The coalition must race to attack Annuvin before the Cauldron-Born return.  Gwydion, now the High King, takes the main force to the ships that the Sons of Don used to sail from the Summer Country.  Taran leads a smaller force to attempt to hinder the Cauldron-Born as they travel by land.

     As Taran's force delays the Cauldron-Born, Coll dies in battle.  Along the way, they are aided by the bears and wolves, as well as a group of Fair Folk led by Doli.  When they come upon a group of Huntsmen one night, Doli proposes that they cut down trees, pile them on a frozen lake that feeds a waterfall, and burn them to release the water on the ravine of Huntsmen.

     During the final battle for Annuvin, Taran discovers Dyrnwyn atop Mount Dragon as he takes on the Cauldron-Born.  When he thrusts Dyrnwyn into one of them, they are all killed.

     After the companions return to Caer Dallben, Gwydion informs them that all the Sons of Don must now depart from Prydain, along with all magic.  Taran decides to stay and help rebuild Prydain.  He will have the help of the secret knowledge once stolen by Arawn, which was recovered by Gurgi. During the night, Orddu, Orwen, and Orgoch appear to him as three beautiful women to give him their weaving, which is the unfinished tapestry of his life. Eilonwy mourns the fact she must leave only because she is an enchantress, Dallben informs her she can stay if she uses her ring to wish away her powers, which she cheerfully does.

The Grave Robber's Apprentice

Allan Stratton

     To begin on a positive note, this photograph contains, in my humble opinion, the best part of the book.  Overall, I was not impressed with this book.  My main problem is that the narrator has an adult voice, telling a children's story.  Rather than being a part of a wild world of fantasy, the narrator is an adult telling an unrealistic story.  The world is not real to him; therefore, it isn't real for me as a reader.  Maybe it would come across differently for children; on the other hand, the intended audience is definitely older students.  On the inside cover, it says "ages 10 up."  There are many morbidly graphic events, like the Weevils taking the Necromancer to be dissected while alive.  

     There were a plethora of Shakespeare allusions and rather direct references, as well as some almost word-for-word biblical quotations.  These quotations were mainly used to parallel Peter the Hermit with God.  When Gabriela and Hans wake up, expecting to be frozen to death, Hans asks Peter if he is God.  On p. 247, Peter says to Hans, "I made you a promise: 'Wherever you are, fear not, for I am with you.'"  On p.248, Peter says of Hans, "Behold, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."  When Angela and her parents are to be burned at the stake, with Angela in the middle, it would not surprise me if this is an analogy to the crucifixion.  One could probably make a fair case for Hans being paralleled with Christ:  He sets out to fulfill the three prophecies, including "rising" out of a stone coffin.  While Biblical allusions are certainly not excluded to writing that approves of Christianity, I can understand it in the context of quality literature.  In the context of this story, the religious references just seem needless and disrespectful.  On the other hand, this could be an easy tool for teaching students to identify Biblical allusions.

    

Taran Wanderer

By Lloyd Alexander

     In my opinion, this is the best book of the series so far because, as the author promises, fantasy tells us much about our lives.  This may be the most obvious bildungsroman that I have read, in which Taran becomes Taran Wanderer instead of Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper.
     Taran sets off with the loyal Gurgi to find his identity and parentage.  His first stop is the Marshes of Morva, where Orddu, Orwen, and Orgoch send him off to find the Mirror of Llunet and discover his parentage.  His horse is stolen by a traveling band of Lord Goryon's men, but he wins her back by letting the proud lord claim he is too good to keep a pig-keeper's nag.  He travels on to Lord Gast's Hall, where he meets up with his old friend Fflewddur.  Gast claims to be extremely generous, but feeds him only a poor meal.  Taran helps King Smoit settle a feud over a cow between Gast and Goryon, saving Smoit's life in the process.  He suggests that a farmer, whose fields were destroyed by the feud, keep the prize cow.  She always has twins, so when they are born, the farmer will give one twin to each Lord.
     Llyan, Fflewddur's giant cat, finds a dying frog that happens to be their (formerly) dwarf friend Doli.  The group defeats Morda, the wizard who has turned Doli into a frog with his newly discovered power to kill the previously invulnerable Fair Folk.  Along the way, Taran discovers that this wizard also killed his beloved Princess Eilonwy's mother.
     Taran duels with Dorath, the leader of a band of thieves and mercenaries, and loses his sword.  The group meets a herdsman named Craddoc and stays with him at his rundown cottage high in the mountains.  He claims to be Taran's long lost father, so Taran stays to help him ready the land and cottage for winter.  Craddoc later falls down a rocky slope and dies, first revealing that he lied about Taran being his son.
     Taran decides against seeking the mirror, instead determining to make his own way rather than find his identity in his lineage.  He apprentices himself briefly to a blacksmith, weaver, and potter.  None of these trades, however, is his calling.  He defends a village against Dorath's band, with Gurgi riding a bull to help with the defense.  Annlaw, the wise potter, advises Taran to seek the Mirror of Llunet to be able to see himself for who he truly is.   He looks into the Mirror before it is destroyed by Dorath, whom he duels once again.  In the end, his former sword breaks on the sword that he forged himself with the blacksmith.

Flame

By Hilari Bell

This is the first book in the Farsala/Sorahb trilogy.  The best feature of the book is that it combines the perspectives of two different sides during the war...even if they come together at the end.  Each chapter follows one of three characters:

• Soraya:  A spoiled deghass (female member of the upper class), she is sent into hiding because the temple priests have demanded that her father sacrifice her.  Her father, High Commander Merahb, negotiates to have her "sacrificed" by exposure, then has his men take her to a remote cabin to live with a peasant family.  While there, she befriends a Suud tribe and begins to learn to talk with the spirits of objects in nature, such as fire.
• Jiaan:  Soraya's half brother.  Against custom, he is allowed to serve as a page rather than a servant.  He is trusted with the task of taking Soraya to the cabin.  In the battle against the invading Hrum, he is surprisingly chosen as the standard bearer after almost stopping 21 Hrum who were meeting with a traitor.  He eventually realizes that the traitor was Kavi.
• Kavi:  A peasant who began as an apprentice to a metalworker.  He was forced to become a peddler when he tried to prevent a deghan from taking the best sword from the shop, ending in a cut that crippled his hand.  He begins the story selling fake gold.  Commander Merahb catches him and offers to allow him to supply Soraya instead of turning him over to the magistrates.  He is later captured by a Hrum band and bargains for his life by becoming a spy.  At the end of the book, he vows to prevent the Hrum from keeping his people as slaves.

Throughout the book, the chronicle of a legendary soldier, Rostam, is traced.  He falls in love and spends one night with a lady, Tahmina.  Her father picks a quarrel with him and he is forced to leave, though he leaves behind a gold amulet.  Her family moves to Kadesh and, to appease Tahmina's father, the child (Sorahb) is raised with the belief that his father was killed by warriors of Farsala.  Sorahb eventually duels his own father in battle for three days, but is eventually killed.  When Rostam tries unsuccessfully to save the life of his worthy opponent, he sees the amulet and grieves so deeply that the god Azura promises that when Farsala needs him, he will give back Sorahb's life.

Redeemed: An MPH Climax

The Conclusion to the Missing Series 

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

This book made me wish I could better remember the details of previous books...it is helpful to the reader that it is narrated by someone else clueless about Jonah and Katherine's adventures, but maddening nevertheless when you know that the information is somewhere in your brain.
     Jordan has a chip on his shoulder when he suddenly needs to adjust to a new brother, and a twin at that...a twin whom everyone seems to respect.  When he tries to get in on the action, he ends up taking everyone to a futuristic lab, where they are met by Second, a projectionist who betrayed JB and is considered by Jonah and Katherine as their worst enemy.  They escape to a time hollow, but are followed by Second, who makes their teen-aged parents disappear.  Jordan, Katherine, and Jonah return to the lab, where they end up being interrogated by three Interchronological Rescue employees.  In an effort to be unpredictable, they go to the CEO of Interchronological Rescue, Curtis Rathbone.
     He gives them an Elucidator that sends them back to the night of the initial plane landing.  They see "Kevin" climbing the airport fence, then fall.  When they go to check on him, he steals the Elucidator and they see that it is a young Second. They are brought back to the lab by "Deep Voice," who is actually working with Doreen and "Tattoo Face" against Mr. Rathbone.  Second appears with Mr. Rathbone, un-aged to a baby, and he sends him and Jordan's siblings to separate time hollows.  When Second leads Jordan to ask to go someplace he can make a difference, he ends up in a time hollow with teenage Second.
     Since Second is injured, they go to a hospital, where Jordan is arrested for unauthorized time travel and finds himself face-to-face with JB, who "accidentally" drops an Elucidator on Jordan, allowing him to escape. After realizing the "Get me out of here!" command just led to spinning in place in the darkness of time, he decides to stick with what's working and asks the Elucidator to take him where he can make a difference for his family.  Once again, he ends up in a time hollow with Second.  More accurately, he is with a hologram of Second, which is then replaced by the teenage Kevin, fresh out of the hospital. After a short conversation, Jordan agrees to let Kevin give the Elucidator commands. Kevin un-ages during time travel, and they end up in Rathbone's office, which Jordan leaves after knocking Rathbone's Elucidator to the ground and grabbing back baby Kevin. Jordan returns with his family, who are immediately frozen. Rathbone puts together the broken Elucidator, only to rapidly age into dust. Jordan destroys the Elucidator with Kevin's secret before the time agents can be tempted by this "Pandora's Box."
     Angela and JB decide to get married and adopt baby Gary and Hodge.  Jordan's family takes in Kevin, and the kids even have a secret Elucidator given to them by JB "for emergencies" or times that they think it is necessary.

Legacy

James A. Michener

     Norman Starr is about to be tried because of his role in the Iran-Contra affair.  To prepare for trial, his lawyer friend, Zack McMaster, asks him to research his patriotic family history.  Each chapter focuses on a member of his family.  

     Jared Starr signed the Declaration of Independence and died fighting against the rebels in the Whiskey Rebellion.  His son, Simon Starr, went to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, where he got to know Hamilton and James Madison.  He calls James Wilson the Father of the Constitution, and Gouverneur Morris the most influential writer in condensing the Convention's work.  

     Justice Edmund Starr. weighing over 300 pounds and depicted by newspapers as a sleepy walrus, presided over cases with John Marshall.  Since he didn't understand the complex details of the cases, Marshall would explain them, and he would support him.  One case, McCulloch v. Maryland, established the right of the federal government to do things not expressly written in the constitution, and forbid states to tax the federal government.  In his argument, Daniel Webster said, "The power to tax is the power to destroy."

     General Hugh Starr was at West Point while Civil War tensions were rising.  Northerners admired him when he freed his slaves, but in the end, he was loyal to Virginia and became General Lee's right hand man.  His daughter, Emily Starr, sacrificed marriage for the sake of fighting for women's suffrage through the 19th Amendment.  

     Richard Starr, hardened by the Great Depression, campaigned against Roosevelt's N.R.A., which he believed was unconstitutional.  

     Norman's father is a World War II veteran who lost a leg in combat.  His mother, Rachel Starr, fought to have the Supreme Court order state legislatures to reapportion seats since the current system discriminated against urban voters.

     Zack convinces Norman to take the Fifth, but then Rachel's father, an immigrant from Poland and Czechoslovakia, reminded him that as a member of the military, his actions would reflect upon the country and Constitution.

     Excerpts of this book may be useful in teaching a history class, but overall, it may be too heavy reading for most grade school students, and there are a few bad words.