This is on the Battle Of the Books reading list for this school year. I like the way the story arced, there was some suspense there were interesting pThis is on the Battle Of the Books reading list for this school year. I like the way the story arced, there was some suspense there were interesting plot points. I found the characters a little too quirky, and the world too evenly divided into good and bad. so, I'd say a good book for fifth graders, but not too appealing to adults....more
Another from the Battle of the Books that sounded good.
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It's the story of a brave little mouse's adventures outwitting the local owl despot.
Does anAnother from the Battle of the Books that sounded good.
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It's the story of a brave little mouse's adventures outwitting the local owl despot.
Does anyone know why so many authors tell children's stories with critters instead of people? It's a cuddly-looking trap. At one extreme you have the full-on fantasy of Winnie-the-Pooh which includes stuffed animals talking and eating and living in their own little houses and it makes no sense but it doesn't have to because everyone recognizes that there is no reality at work (I'm more fond of this sort). At the other extreme you have Charlotte's Web where, for the most part the animals behave like animals, although they enjoy the convenience of inter-species communication which works with everything except humans, but here is where the truth about short, nasty, and brutish comes in. These stories mostly don't work for me as an adult reader because I know that sooner or later that charming pig is going to be delicious bacon. The writer of talking-animal stories is trapped by the reality of animal lives and the utter lack of internal logic. Case in point: why would any critter that sleeps curled up in a ball with its nose under its tail bother to make itself a pillow? A bed, sure, why not? That's just a soft place to sleep. But a pillow exists to support a head that is out of alignment with the shoulders due to those silly collar bones.
Okay, sorry. This book has a clever owl subjugating a large family of mice to its will, keeping them handy for snacks. Our plucky little heroine's life is thrown off when her fiancee is devoured by the owl who then denies the family's request to relocate some of its number. The other mice are vexed with her for angering their owl, so she starts to ask why the owl denied their request, and then she journeys out into the world to learn the truth. She joins forces with a salt-loving porcupine, and learns important information from a cat too old to bother pouncing. The owl is defeated, the mice are freed, and the acquire a cornfield to pillage. The author skillfully avoids commenting on the winter months in which the mouse-traps and/or a more aggressive cat will no doubt make an appearance.
As an adventure story goes, I rather liked it. The swashbuckling battle between mouse and owl was exciting, and I liked that Poppy did sometimes stop to think things through. I'd have enjoyed it more, though, if I could maintain my suspension of disbelief, which is harder for me to do when the critters have pillows.
Give it this: unlike the last Battle of the Books title I read, the writing style itself is clear and unobtrusive, the action is clear and thrilling, and the mystery is actually solved by thinking and testing. If I could actually take away a star from that book and give it to this one, I would.
I don't think I've ever read a worse book. It is a failure on every conceivable layer.
First, there's a framing story in which the author, Appalling.
I don't think I've ever read a worse book. It is a failure on every conceivable layer.
First, there's a framing story in which the author, Mimi, is talking to her husband and grandchildren. These are long sections in italics, which many people find difficult to read, so the physical design of the book is bad. But also, the framing story doesn't add anything, giving very little information about The Lost Colony historically, and none about Manteo today. Well, that's not true: it breaks up the continuity and momentum of the mystery, and replaces it with the ersatz excitement of the grandkids being told the story.
Second, I'm guessing that this was chosen for the Battle of the Books for its local interest. It fails horribly on that score, having neither a strong sense of place nor as much information as the average Wikipedia entry.
Third, it is ostensibly a mystery. It says so, right there in the title. That aspect is a story about two boys on the Outer Banks who have several scary incidents happen to them and then the culprits are revealed during a storm. It doesn't actually have anyone trying to solve a mystery, there's no detecting, there's no clues, no misleading red herrings. Well, one of the kids does jump to a hasty and offensive conclusion that turns out to be true, but there isn't any thinking to speak of.
Fourth, speaking of offensive, let me share a little spoiler with you: there are also two boys "of Indian descent". They aren't properly named (although the get referred to as Ghost Boy and Drowned One), nor is their tribal affiliation. Readers could be mistaken for thinking they are actually children of immigrants from India rather than indigenous kids of NC. The phrase "dumb heathens" could refer to anyone, of course, although I suppose the repeated use of "savages" would clear things up. More fail: we're told in the framing store that "it wasn't fair for the Native Americans, because later, they pretty much disappeared, too". WTH? NC has the sixth highest native population the US. I like that passive structure too, which erases hundreds of years of genocide. Of course, the author states "the Indians were treated unfairly, and still are today" which she should know because she, herself is "part Cherokee." Not that any effort is ever made to specify what this unfair treatment consists of.
Fifth, and this is a big one, the writing is horrible. Not just "it isn't my cuppa" stylewise, I mean it's really hard to figure out what the author is trying to say most of the time. The scenes of the mystery shift abruptly, without helpful exposition, but seem to cover incidents over an entire school year. The author never writes a simple sentence, but relies heavily on the thesaurus and usage that makes no sense. Unless "surfboard-red" is a common thing, and I didn't know. No one just said anything, no, "he howled," "he squealed," "he cried," "he gurgled". That's two pages wasted on a scene where the boys are chewing Life Savers in a dark bathroom to see if they spark. I had to read the scene twice to figure out what was going on. It has no relevance to anything else, by the way.
"The sun sprawled through the window upon the numb body hung across the bed." It's trying so hard to be creative that it's incomprehensible. But that's not the scariest part.
Sixth, there are at least 35 other books in this series.
I like that the Battle of the Books selections normally cover a range of styles and topics. I've really enjoyed reading alongside the girls and attending the battle. But this is inexcusable. Even if it's an incredibly popular series (which I doubt), it's so poorly written that I can't imagine recommending it to thousands of kids. You know how Harry Potter is the series that sucks the kids into reading? This is the anti-Harry Potter.
Now that the Battle of the Books is over, I don't feel guilty about checking out the titles. Also, from the questions and answers, I have a better ideNow that the Battle of the Books is over, I don't feel guilty about checking out the titles. Also, from the questions and answers, I have a better idea about which ones will appeal.
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That was written some time ago, because that BOB was Veronica's, two or three years ago. Now I have started (and made actual progress!) because Natasha is reading it for class.
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Another long pause, and I've finally finished. I don't think I've ever read a book that I so desperately hoped had a sequel. O'Brien engaged me with his animal and human characters, and left many unanswered questions. What about NIMH and the experiments? What about the possibly surviving mice? How goes the Plan? What about Jeremy?
Although clearly this one story is done, the overall since of incompleteness that O'Brien left me with keeps it from being great. Not to mention the fact that this wasn't a Plan I could ever be happy with. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is both complete, and a much happier ending to my mind, and has humor. Still I can see why schools would be fond of it: it is brief, and it does raise many questions, which would make for a lively discussion.
Fans of the book should read Flowers for Algernon when they hit their cynical teen years.
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