Midnight in Austenland

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale.  Bloomsbury, 2012

I'm afraid I am a sure-sell when all things Jane Austen. Hale's first book Austenland which I reviewed (here) in 2007 was entertaining Jane Austen fanfiction.  I savored the concept of a place like Disneyland for Austen lovers, hence the name Austenland.

The story was picked up by Twilight's Stephanie Meyer who is producing Austenland -- the movie which is in post-production according to IMDB.   If you wander back to July 2011 on author Shannon Hale's blog, squeetusblog, you will find her posting a bit about being on the movie set.

In this new book, Hale keeps the setting and some of the background characters including Mrs Wattlesbrook who manages the place, Colonel Andrews, who interacts with the visitors like a Disney Character at the parks, and Miss Charming, a perpetual guest at Pembrook. 

Charlotte Kinder is a divorced mother of two.  She is successful in business but feels alone and like a failure because of her divorce. When the opportunity to take a vacation presents itself, the travel agent suggests Austenland and Charlotte, who has only recently read Jane Austen's works, books the trip. 

Hale tells the story in a sort of pendulum swing fashion between the past and present.  The reader learns more about Charlotte's past as she tries to understand herself in an ongoing dialog with her Inner Thoughts. In the first story, Hale played off Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  Here she puts a spin on Northanger Abbey.  Has there been a murder at Pembrook Park or is Charlotte, like the NA character Catherine Morland, seeing things that are not there? 
This was a fun read for spring break.

As New Zealand discovered there is gold in fan loyalty.  This time around Peter Jackson et al are rebuilding Hobbiton for the filming of The Hobbit so it will be a permanent part of the New Zealand tourist trade for year to come. (See Hobbiton Movie Set Tours)  I wonder if a similar idea might be pursued to create a real Austenland type hotel for Austen fans.

The Great Spring Break Read-a-thon

I have decided to see how many books I can enjoy over Spring Break. It will be productive and edifying to devote a swath of time or maybe at least a small corner of time to reading this week.  We are enjoying local entertainments instead of traveling so I will enjoy a vacation of reading. 

As Emily Dickinson described it so well:

There Is No Frigate Like a Book
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

On the Blue Comet

On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells.  Candlewick, 2010.

On the Blue Comet was a pure joy to read.  My childhood memory of pressing my cheek against the train board to gain a eye/ground level view of the trains was echoed in this story.   The story's main character, eleven year old, Oscar Ogilvie is a kindred spirit as he performs the same ritual. We both were trying to imagine ourselves into the small world of the trains.

When I was a child, we had a model train set up.  We did not have a basement but my father designed a over-sized folding platform for our HO model trains which included a train we had actually ridden on, the Santa Fe Railway Super Chief.

Wells sets her story during Great Depression. Oscar and his father share a love of model trains and they have an elaborate set up in the basement of their house.  Each year they add to their collection but the hard economic times have put a stop to that.  In fact, things are so bad that they must sell the train set to the local bank manager who uses the trains as a display in the bank lobby.  Oscar's father leaves to look for work in California, promising to send for Oscar when he finds some.  The kindly night watchman at the bank allows Oscar to visit and run the trains after the bank closes.  One night the lobby is invaded by bank robbers and Oscar escapes into time and an unlikely landscape.

This story mixes history, time travel, and fantasy along with cameo appearances by some famous people in history.  A great deal of the reading fun was identifying the people Oscar comes in contact with. 

Bagram Ibatoulline has contributed glowing paintings that have been meticulously researched.  Period fashion and architecture are reflected in illustrations which allow the reader to reach back in time too.

The book reminds me of how much model trains added to our childhoods. We learned -- hands-on --about electricity, direct current, transformers as well as trouble-shooting, patience and craftsmanship. 

William Joyce

Please stop what you are doing and watch this!
I had the pleasure of seeing William Joyce talk about his new series Guardians of Childhood at the Texas Book Festival.

Thanks to Alan Silberberg and Annette Dauphin Simon for sharing this link to The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from his Moonbot Studios. It has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Using a variety of techniques, including miniatures, computer animation, and 2D animation, award‐winning author and illustrator William Joyce and co‐director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

Award Winning Happiness

ALA Youth Media Awards Day is something like a high holy day in the Kidlitosphere.  -- The anticipation -- the predictions --and in my case the recognition that my TBR list grows ever longer.

When I heard the news that Jack Gantos had been awarded the 2012 Newbery Award for his novel Dead End in Norvelt,  I was elated and began firing off emails to other members of the entwood here to let them know the momentous news.

I highly recommend the audio version of the book read by Gantos himself. It  is an excellent way to enjoy this semi-autobiographical tale.  He knows where he put all the jokes, ellipses and tender moments and delivers them perfectly.

The Troika of Jack Fansanity  (Jules at Seven Imp, the brilliant Adrienne at What Adrienne Thinks about That and myself) was engaged in a day long happy-dance and conga line through emails and Facebook posts.

Jack has been recognized with Newbery honors and other awards in the past.  Last week Dead End in Norvelt was awarded the 2012 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

Winning THE Newbery Medal means that iconic gold medal will forever grace the cover of his book. It is a validation of his wonderful writing.  "Writing is hard work" Gantos told my students several years ago when he visited my library.  I am overjoyed his hard work has been recognized and rewarded.

Congratulations Jack Gantos!

Here is his presentation with the from the National Book Festival,  Fall 2011.
I know his Newbery Award acceptance speech will be a humdinger.  No one who hears him speak, ever forgets it. Listen to the crowd roaring with laughter here.

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins

My family room coffee table is covered with picture books of the season.  In honor of Hanukkah, tonight we read Eric Kimmel's marvelous Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. This is one my very favorite read-alouds to share.  Eric Kimmel is a commanding storyteller. I treasure my signed copy of this classic.

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, 1989

Hershel is courageous and cunning as he faces some evil goblins who ruin Hanukkah for the town folk every year.  In order to break their evil hold over the village, someone must stay in the old synagogue for the eight nights of the festival and light the menorah there each night. Hershel volunteers for the job.This is a story that rivets young (and old) listeners. Kimmel relates this folktale with his full storyteller's voice.  The book won a Caldecott honor in 1990 for good reason. The story and the illustrations beautifully balance humor and "scary." Trina Schart Hyman's finely drawn characters and setting pull the reader into the danger. The shadows in the old building are deep.  Her goblins are at once comical and horrific. A dreidel playing goblin is grotesque with horns and multiple noses yet his dopey expression invites laughter. The skeletal hand of the King of the Goblins is silhouetted against a fire red background as Hershel (and the listeners and readers) look on with horror. Yet, Hershel outwits the demons and when he triumphs each night, the glow of the candles signals the power of faith over the darkness.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
The classic WKRP Turkey Drop.

Nonfiction Monday: Enrique Esparza and the Battle of the Alamo

Enrique Esparza and the Battle of the Alamo (History Speaks: Picture Books Plus Reader's Theaterby Susan Taylor Brown; illustrated by Jeni Reeves, 2011. (review copy)

Texas history is the focus of fourth grade social studies in the Lone Star state. That is a happy year for those students as they study the story of the state's founding and its struggle for independence. Texans regard their state's symbolic birth at the Alamo with a mixture of pride and reverence.  I have observed that by the time they revisit the story in 7th grade with its overlay of government and civics and junior high ennui, their enthusiasm wanes.
I am always on the lookout for books that embrace that high level interest in elementary school.
Susan Taylor Brown's Enrique Esparza and the Battle of the Alamo is part of the "History speaks" series from Millbrook Press. Brown focuses on the family of eight year old Enrique Esparza in the days leading up to and following the battle for the Alamo.  Enrique's father Gregorio Esparza was one of the Tejano defenders who fought along side of the likes of Bowie, Crockett and Travis.

The Esparza family joined Gregorio inside the Alamo for the thirteen day battle.  Gregorio died along with the other Anglo and Tejano defenders as Santa Anna gave no quarter for the fighters inside the mission. Esparza's wife and children survived.  The story acknowledges the role of Tejanos in the fight for independence and their role in shaping the future of the state.

Jeni Reeves uses a warm and vivid Southwestern color palette to illustrate Enrique's story.  She paints with broad brush strokes and captures the tension and fear in the family's faces as they endure the battle and the aftermath. Texas school librarians are always on the lookout for "Texas" books. The reader's theater adds another dimension to the story for classroom use.   This is an excellent addition to the Texas school library.  I wonder if it is available in the gift shop at the Alamo?

Movie: Trailer for The Hunger Games

From Zombies to vampires and werewolves.

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris.  Delacorte, 2011 (review copy provided by publisher)

This incongruous book cover does not begin to hint at the story between the boards.  Kate Grable works as the student trainer for her high school's football team. She is smart, knowledgeable and takes her job seriously.  She takes good care of the players even though the coach is not as concerned with their health as he is the team's performance.
When she discovers vials of drugs in the coach's office, she suspects he is foisting steroids on his team.  When the football players begin falling ill and developing zombie-like symptoms (such as taking bites out of their classmates) she fears it may be something far worse.  This is a very clever story and Kate is a smart and worthy heroine.

Cynthia Leitich Smith  has one of her excellent interviews with Carrie Harris today at her blog Cynsations.  And speaking of Cynthia...

Cynthia Leitich Smith, has extended her story, Tantalize as a  graphic novel, Tantalize: Kieren's Story, Candlewick, 2011 (review copy provided by publisher). This is not merely a redo of the original story in graphic novel format.  Instead she tells the story from the point of view of Kieren, the werewolf boyfriend of Tantalize's main character, Quincie. Quincie is the young Austin restaurateur who has unknowingly hired a vampire as her head chef.  The graphic novel rounds out the original storyline adding more insight into Kieren who is one of the story's most interesting characters.  Ming Doyle's black and white artwork employs close-ups and emotion filled facial expressions that reminded me of the old True Romance comics only with weremonsters.

At a recent author appearance at Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, Cynthia described the process of working with an illustrator in this kind of storytelling.  She described a collaboration which made me think of the relationship between a movie director and cinematographer with each of them sharing both roles.