SUMMER READING FOR GROWN-UPS!

Wish there was an ocean off my patio! (photo by Barry Winiker)

Where I live in Southern California, it's been in the mid-to-high 90's the past few days - the perfect excuse to lounge around with a good book and a glass of iced tea.  After spending so much time exploring the world of children's books, I try leave time for some grown-up reading.  And a friend recommended a gem (thanks, Monika!)...

Frances Burney's EVELINA, OR, THE HISTORY OF A YOUNG LADY'S ENTRANCE INTO THE WORLD, was the chick-lit novel of 1778 and I'm loving it in 2011!  "Fanny" Burney was a predecessor and influence of Jane Austen, and was described by Virginia Woolf as "the Mother of English Fiction".

EVELINA, Burney's first novel, was penned in secret and published anonymously, since women writers in the eighteenth century risked disapproval for displaying a worldly understanding of things that might be considered inappropriate for a well-bred young ladies.  (Unless she wrote out of financial need, a woman's literary endeavors were usually viewed as merely frivolous labor and a blight upon her character.)

Written as a series of letters, EVELINA follows the experiences of this naive heroine during her stay in London, as she communicates back and forth with Mr. Villars, a kind country clergyman who has been her guardian since the death of her mother (and rejection of her father). Having been raised in rural seclusion and sheltered from the ways of society until the age of seventeen, Evelina is now reluctantly allowed by Mr. Villars to travel to London, where she is introduced to society by Mr. Villar's trusted friends, Captain and Mrs. Mirvan and their daughter (who is Evelina's age). But while in London, her sensibilities are attacked and questioned by her vulgar grandmother - who has suddenly found interest in meeting her - and her pretentious and ill-bred cousins. After many adventures, her poise and beauty (despite her innocent and often humorous faux pas) earn her the attention of a distinguished nobleman, Lord Orville.  And finally, pained by the fact that she has no "name" in the eyes of society because of her father's disownment, she finds herself in a search for her lone parent, Lord Belmont.

Frances Burney's novel was an instant success, praised not only for its moral tone, but for its unique narrative and lively dialogue. Part of the charm of EVELINA is that it exposes and satirizes the social mores of the very society in which it is set.  I'm enjoying every bit of it and have found myself not wanting to put it down!

Are you engrossed in a good book? Please leave a comment and let me know what you're reading (or are planning to read) this summer. You can read my post from last year, listing good "Summer Reading Choices for Adults", HERE.

WHAT MY HUSBAND IS READING:
UNBROKEN: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand.  This book was no small undertaking - it took seven years of research and interviews by the competent author of another book about a forgotten hero, Seabiscuit.  


UNBROKEN is true story of Louie Zamperini, a juvenile delinquent-turned-Olympic runner-turned Army hero.  His plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a routine search mission.  Over the next three years of his life he not only survived the horrors and degradations of life in a Japanese POW camp, but somehow maintained his selfhood and humanity in the process.


From the author:
"Eight years ago, an old man told me a story that took my breath away. His name was Louie Zamperini, and from the day I first spoke to him, his almost incomprehensibly dramatic life was my obsession.


It was a horse--the subject of my first book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend--who led me to Louie. As I researched the Depression-era racehorse, I kept coming across stories about Louie, a 1930s track star who endured an amazing odyssey in World War II. I knew only a little about him then, but I couldn’t shake him from my mind. After I finished Seabiscuit, I tracked Louie down, called him and asked about his life. For the next hour, he had me transfixed.


Growing up in California in the 1920s, Louie was a hellraiser, stealing everything edible that he could carry, staging elaborate pranks, getting in fistfights, and bedeviling the local police. But as a teenager, he emerged as one of the greatest runners America had ever seen, competing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he put on a sensational performance, crossed paths with Hitler, and stole a German flag right off the Reich Chancellery. He was preparing for the 1940 Olympics, and closing in on the fabled four-minute mile, when World War II began. Louie joined the Army Air Corps, becoming a bombardier. Stationed on Oahu, he survived harrowing combat, including an epic air battle that ended when his plane crash-landed, some six hundred holes in its fuselage and half the crew seriously wounded.


On a May afternoon in 1943, Louie took off on a search mission for a lost plane. Somewhere over the Pacific, the engines on his bomber failed. The plane plummeted into the sea, leaving Louie and two other men stranded on a tiny raft. Drifting for weeks and thousands of miles, they endured starvation and desperate thirst, sharks that leapt aboard the raft, trying to drag them off, a machine-gun attack from a Japanese bomber, and a typhoon with waves some forty feet high. At last, they spotted an island. As they rowed toward it, unbeknownst to them, a Japanese military boat was lurking nearby. Louie’s journey had only just begun.


That first conversation with Louie was a pivot point in my life. Fascinated by his experiences, and the mystery of how a man could overcome so much, I began a seven-year journey through his story. I found it in diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs; in the memories of his family and friends, fellow Olympians, former American airmen and Japanese veterans; in forgotten papers in archives as far-flung as Oslo and Canberra. Along the way, there were staggering surprises, and Louie’s unlikely, inspiring story came alive for me. It is a tale of daring, defiance, persistence, ingenuity, and the ferocious will of a man who refused to be broken.


The culmination of my journey is my new book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I hope you are as spellbound by Louie’s life as I am." - Laura Hillenbrand

SUMMER SEDUCTION AT THE LIBRARY?

seduce (v.)- to win over, attract, or lure.


Yes - Summer Reading Programs are a successful way many libraries lure children to their bookshelves and win kids over to the world of reading.  For example, the CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY'S 2011 Summer Reading Theme is "Book Beats".  Check out their great list of Noteworthy Books and Music ("to extend your knowledge and experience with music").


BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY'S Summer Reading Program is "One World, Many Stories".  Their website has an interesting book list by subject that can be found HERE.  Many public libraries share this same theme for 2011, including the LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY - CLICK HERE to see LA's many planned events this summer.

My kids always looked forward to the Summer Reading Program at our local library (Huntington Beach Public Library, see article at the end of this post). Armed with their book satchels, they made weekly visits and eagerly awaited the incentive prizes given out for reading a certain number of books - usually stickers, pencils, and coupons for free food at local kid-friendly restaurants.


Don't Get Caught Without a Good Book List...
The challenge was finding quality literature that was inspirational, and of course, F-U-N.  I recently came across two polls conducted by one of School Library Journal's bloggers, Elizabeth Bird (A Fuse #8 Production), that I think you'll find helpful in your book searches.  Elizabeth (who is also a librarian at the Children's Center 42nd Street of the NY Public Library system) polled other children's book bloggers to get these lists.  Do you agree with the poll results?

THE TOP 100 PICTURE BOOK POLL RESULTS These books are for children ages 4-8.  The poll is from 2009.
THE TOP 100 CHILDREN'S NOVELS (CHAPTER BOOK) POLL RESULTS These are books for kids who can read full chapters on their own and who are under the age of 13.  The poll is from 2010.

You might also find these two lists from the NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY website helpful:
100 PICTURE BOOKS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW (this list of recommended books is in alphabetical order and contains short book summaries).
100 FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS (This reading list allows you to look at the recommended chapter books according to genre).

From "Lola at the Library", by Anna McQuinn,
illustrations by Rosalind Beardshaw.

NOTE: The impetus for my post today was a great article by Teryl Zarnow, from my own local ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.  In "They Go Old School to Hook Little Readers", Zarnow applauds the FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN'S LIBRARY in Huntington Beach for helping the city's public library kick-off its Summer Reading Program with its daylong FESTIVAL OF FOLKTALES.  She reports that during the Summer Reading Program "...some 63 volunteers read to about 200 children, burning through stickers like tissues during allergy season."  Zarnow suggests readers visit their local public library, where "they are still practicing magic and bringing new generations under the spell of reading".

Do you live in Orange County, CA, like I do?  Check out the O.C. Public Library Summer Reading Program Schedule HERE.

FIREWORKS ALL SUMMER LONG!

For most kids, one night a year is not enough when it comes to fireworks. Luckily, in many communities there are numerous opportunities to experience the thrill of a good fireworks show throughout the summer: at theme parks, ballparks, outdoor concert venues... and of course in your own home in these picture books!

OLIVIA FORMS A BAND by Ian Falconer. Everyone's favorite porcine diva is back and with fanfare! There are going to be fireworks tonight, and Olivia can hardly wait to hear the band. But when she finds out that there isn't going to be a band, she can't understand why not. How can there be fireworks without a band?! And so Olivia sets to putting a band together herself... all by herself. Using pots, pans, her brother's toys, and even her father's suspenders, Olivia forms a band spectacular enough to startle any audience. Here is Olivia doing what Olivia does best--making noise

Olivia couldn't find her other red sock...

THE FABULOUS FIREWORK FAMILY By James Flora. Whether you choose James Flora's original book (first published in 1955) or the new version (both text and art have been completely redone), your family is sure to enjoy this jaunty picture book. 

Original Cover Artwork

To celebrate the birthday of Santiago, patron saint of the village, the Firework Maestro is asked to stage "the biggest and best BOOM! BAM! POW! firework fiesta ever made!" Aided by his wife and two children, the Maestro constructs a firework castillo (a tall bamboo frame onto which various gunpowder-filled figures are tied).  After the elaborate preparations, the festival itself attracts pilgrims from all over Mexico... the art becomes increasingly dramatic, climaxing in vibrant and highly patterned views of the fireworks. (Publisher's Weekly)

New Version

 THE DAY THE COW SNEEZED by James Flora.   A boy named Fletcher has a morning routine which includes taking his cow, Floss, down to the creek for a drink of water. Fletcher leaves Floss standing knee deep in the cold creek water when he is distracted by a bunny rabbit and runs off after it. Shaking and shivering, Floss lets out a powerful sneeze: "KA-CHOW!" That sneeze sets off a chain of events that results in an impromptu fireworks show and the release of an entire zoo.

Summer Writing Retreats!

It’s that time again for the writing retreat I attend. I look forward to it for months. And I’m willing to endure crawling highway traffic and power outages for it. We have coffee on the porch in the morning while we talk shop. Then we go to our “writing stations”, at various spots on the wraparound porch. We work pretty much through the afternoon, with a quick lunch break. And then, when we're hot, tired and our brains are on overload, we trek through the woods to the beach. We take turns cooking dinner, and play writing games at night. Not a bad life for a week.

I’ve attended an assortment of writing workshops, conferences and retreats over the years. There are ones where you mostly workshop, and spend lots of time reading other authors’ work and critiquing. This is great when you're jumping in for the first time, and really want feedback on your work. There are conferences, where you listen to seasoned writers talk about their novels and how to best negotiate the writing life. This type of event is perfect when what you want is a shot of inspiration and information. And there are many permutations of the above. Summer retreats are also a chance to spend time in a deluxe location—Lake Tahoe, Southampton, Big Sur, Mendocino—you get the drift.

There are so, so many to choose from! You’ll discover this when you Google retreats. And they occur throughout the year. If you’re considering one, find out who the presenting writers are, and whether they’re a good fit for what you’re working on. You may prefer a smallish one, or perhaps a huge one, like the LA SCBWI summer conference, where you can blend in and pick and choose which breakout groups to attend. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a spa and two swimming pools out there.

So, Happy, Happy July Fourth! Have you ever attended a writing retreat? How was it? If not, what kind of retreat or conference would you look for? How are you celebrating the holiday? Getting any writing done?

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, "H". LAUREN CHILD POST #5...

Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent

Lauren Child delivers everything I've come to expect from her in this hilarious, rather offbeat picture book: an incredibly original plot line - told through her witty, deadpan text that travels across the page - accompanied by her wonderful cartoon-like illustrations (can you tell that two of her influences are Quentin Blake and Edward Gorey?)...

"Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent’s parents were extravagant socialisers.

Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of extravagant socialising is that it tends to be very expensive. They hadn’t noticed that the bills were piling up because they didn’t know what a bill was. As far as they were concerned, a brown-paper envelope was very useful for writing Scrabble scores on.


It was left to their one and only child-genius son, Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent, to sort out – for he was the only one in the family aware that money did not, after all, grow on trees."

"There turned out to be no more than a paper clip and a slightly hairy cough drop.
It dawned on Hubert that the Bobton-Trent fortune was in a very bad way.
i.e. , There was none."

As their dear companion, Hubert is right beside his parents - at their lavish parties, playing Monopoly, drinking hot cocoa (well, it gets cold because Hubert's journey, across their huge mansion to his parents' room to say goodnight, results in it cooling off!)  Responsible Hubert and his fellow prodigy friend (Stanton Harcourt III) devise a plan to save the Bobton-Trent estate, but the solution is not what they expect!

You and your child will equally love this unexpected riches to rags story.  It is a charming reminder about the value of things that money can't buy!

Best for ages Kindergarten and up. (The dry humor and lengthy text might make it hard for children under 6 to enjoy.  But a younger child with a quick wit and sophisticated sense of humor will appreciate this book.)
"The key to life is to stop getting so anxious about things," - Lauren Child.