Unseen Companion

by Denise Gosliner Orenstein

     About a quarter of the way into the book, I saw that it had been written by a professor, which made a lot of sense.  This book is "high quality literary material," with symbolism and creative descriptions galore.  One motif is space, often connected to the theme of loneliness, which is perfect for the historical setting in 1969.  Volcanoes and eruptions are also used to symbolize the reason that a Native student, Dove, attacks his teacher in class one day.  His foil, Edgar's friend John Moran, commits suicide.

     The four narrators have distinctive, strong voices.  Lorraine Hobbs, the most prevalent narrator, is a teenaged girl excessively concerned with her appearance.  Her blue collar, irrepressible mother talks her into cooking for the local prison, then the Bethel receiving home.  As a dynamic character, her experiences bonding with the receiving home children and searching for Dove Alexie teach her to care more about others and less about herself.
     Annette Weinland is the 18-year-old daughter of a demanding minister who sees nothing but the faults and shortcomings of other people.  Annette cooks, runs the household, and raises her four younger brothers after their mother leaves the family.  She also volunteers at the local prison, where Dove Alexie is illegally incarcerated.  Edgar Kwagley is a Yup'ik boy who loses his way at Mt. Edgecombe High School and becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol.  Thelma Cooke, a 14-year-old girl at Mt. Edgecombe, longs for her young sister Rosie at the receiving home.  She is raped by her guidance counselor, becomes depressed, and refuses to get out of bed, but when she hears about how Dove stood up to the teacher, she slowly begins to heal.

white girl

by Sylvia Olsen

     Josie Jessop's life takes a 90-degree turn when her mother marries Martin, an Indian (his term for himself), and they move to the reservation.  Rose befriends Josie, but the pair have their own difficulties learning to accept one another as members of different cultures.  Josie eventually comes to love her new father and brother, Luke, who helps her when she faces serious bullying from Christy and Mary Ann.  She even finds a boyfriend, Zeb.  

    One day, Martin cleans out the room in the basement that has been closed ever since his seventeen-year-old sister committed suicide there.  Zeb tells Josie that Indians have a higher rate of suicide than anyone in the country.

     For me, one of the best parts of the book was the section where Josie reflected on her experiences and realized that even though she thought she was unprejudiced, she still had prejudiced ways of thinking.  Only by experience could she really become unprejudiced.

     I believe this is an outstanding book because it is realistic.  Olsen bluntly yet sensitively addresses important issues in the context of both society and interpersonal relationships.  I'd hesitate to use the book with grade schoolers due to certain scenes with Zeb.  There is nothing excessively graphic, but it would not be age-appropriate.  I think older or more mature high schoolers would benefit from it.

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.