Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
Posts tagged family
The Good Daughters
Jul 2nd
I’d never heard of Joyce Maynard before an uncorrected proof of her book, The Good Daughters, came into my hands, but a little Googling gave me a juicy an interesting discovery: when she was in college, she was in a relationship with a fifty-plus J.D. Salinger!
Here’s a snippet from Wikipedia:
She entered Yale University in 1971 and sent a collection of her writings to the editors of The New York Times Magazine. They asked her to write an article for them, which was published as “An Eighteen Year Old Looks Back On Life” in the magazine’s April 23, 1972 issue. The article prompted a letter from J. D. Salinger, then 53 years old, who complimented her writing and warned her of the dangers of publicity.
They exchanged 25 letters, and Maynard dropped out of Yale the summer after her freshman year to live with Salinger in Cornish, New Hampshire.[1] Maynard spent ten months living in Salinger’s Cornish home, during which time she completed work on her first book, Looking Back, a memoir that was published in 1973. Her relationship with Salinger ended abruptly just prior to the book’s publication; according to Salinger’s daughter Margaret, he ended things because Maynard wanted children but Salinger felt he was too old.[2] According to Maynard’s memoir, he cut off the relationship suddenly while on a family vacation with her and with his two children; she was stunned and begged him to take her back. According to Maynard, she had dropped out of Yale to be with him, forgoing a scholarship. She never finished college.
Re-gifters
Apr 7th
As you well know, I’ve introduced a steady supply of graphic novels in my reading diet for the past few months and I’ve been enjoying the regular break from straight text. But because I still haven’t acquired the taste for graphic novels involving multiple volumes (except for Fables, which I’m planning on collecting via the annual deluxe editions), spandex-clad characters or ka-pow effects, I’ve been seeking out one-volume graphic novels to add to my growing collection.
I came across Re-gifters on BookMooch, looked it up and saw that it’s gotten good reviews, and had to have it shipped to my mom in California (because the moocher only sends to the US) and then waited for her to come home before I could get my hands on it. It turned out to be worth all the trouble!
Rose is Rose
Mar 2nd
I read “It Takes Two to Tickle,” my first Rose is Rose comic over ten years ago, and it was one of my favorite books. I must have read it twenty times over!
Rose is Rose is a comic serial by Pat Brady, about the Gumbo family composed of Rose (the mom), Jimbo (the dad), and baby Pasquale, running since 1984. Rose and Jimbo are the sweetest couple, and Pasquale is the cutest baby ever with his garbled babbling, and the comics generally deal with everyday situations in the Gumbo household.
Blankets and Chunky Rice
Feb 4th
Last year, the graphic novel was one of the new genres I started getting hooked on, and Craig Thompson has fast become one of my favorite graphic novel writer-illustrators.
I’ve been salivating over Blankets at the bookstore for years now, but it’s waaay out of my budget, and so it remains on my wishlist. A couple of years back, though, I was able to mooch Thompson’s Goodbye, Chunky Rice, and so I started with that.
Late last year, I finally got the chance to read Blankets, when Flipper friend Mike (aka GNP, or Geek and Proud) lent me his copy, along with his prized volumes of Maus. Of course, before I read Blankets, I felt a reread of Goodbye, Chunky Rice was in order, so I could review the two books side by side before I finally return Mike’s book this weekend (I returned Maus earlier), with gratitude for entrusting one of his favorite books to me for several months now. More >
Saying Goodbye
Jan 21st
There’s been a lull in my blogging in the last couple of weeks, as my maternal grandfather, Lolo Jaime (lolo is grandfather in Filipino), had a massive stroke, and finally passed away last Sunday, at the age of 89.
This is the first death of a grandparent that I’ve experienced (my paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother died when I was too young to understand), and there is something about my Lolo’s passing that makes me feel as if I’ve lost a part of my childhood.
Even though I saw my Lolo only once or twice a year (he lives in my parents’ provincial hometown in Isabela, Negros Occidental, a plane ride and two-hour drive away), we talked frequently on the phone, and I had a special bond with him — I inherited his artistic inclinations, and he was my biggest fan.
I had a feeling his time was drawing near when we got the news that he got a stroke two weeks ago, and I was preparing a special picture book roundup for him, except that death got to him first, and for the past few days I couldn’t bring myself to write this piece without breaking down.
But he would have wanted me to keep on writing — he loved my writing as much as my art — so in honor of my Lolo, I’m doing the year’s first picture book roundup, featuring the books Brown Paper Bear by Neil Reed; Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman, illus. by Stephen Gammel; and You’re Only Old Once by Dr. Seuss.
(Will resume working off the 2009 backlog after this post.)
Family Ties
May 8th
Have you ever wished you were born to a different family?
The thought is something most of us have probably entertained while growing up, especially during the not so few times our family drives us up the wall. But no matter what we do, family will always be family, and there’s not very much we can do about it.
This is the theme behind Get Real by Betty Hicks (book #71 of 2009), a young adult novel that explores the concept of family.
The neat freak Dez feels ill at ease with her eccentric, messy and geeky family, while her best friend Jil feels constricted by her affluent, cultured and picture-perfect parents, and both would have loved nothing more than to switch places. Jil, an adopted child, and grabs at the opportunity to meet her birth mom and sister, and Dez cannot understand why Jil is so eager to trade in her perfect life.
I actually just mooched this book from a local moocher and it was one of those filler mooches that I made to help the owner economize on shipping (2-mooch minimum).
While there was nothing really outstanding about the book, it wasn’t half bad, I was actually amused at Dez’s bewilderment towards her Rennaissance poetry-quoting dad, muumuu-loving scientist mom, and disaster-prone younger brother. I think this is something everyone goes through, that moment of incredulity when you actually wonder if you come from the same set of genes as the rest of your family.
I like how it tackles family issues realistically, and how it is a fresh and healthy voice in contemporary young adult literature, which I’m afraid right now is oversaturated with skanky novels and empty special effects.
Plus points go to the cover design also, its seventeen-style treatment is very appealing to the age group for which the book is intended.
***
my copy: hardcover with dustjacket, local mooch
my rating: 3/5 stars
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
Jan 5th
The Virgin Blue reminded me of Labyrinth because of the split narratives between Isabelle Du Moulin and Ella Turner, and their familial ties. Isabelle Du Moulin is from the Protestant Reformation in 16th century France while Ella Turner is from the present day. As the story unfolds, the connection between the two women unfolds as well.
The book is Chevalier’s first novel, maybe that’s why it’s not as polished as the other two I’ve read…. It’s not as introspective as Girl with A Pearl Earring, or as fluidly narrative as The Lady and the Unicorn.
Nevertheless, the book gives an interesting glimpse into the lives of the two women, the historical ties that bind them, and a haunting family secret that makes its presence felt centuries later. Made for good airplane reading 
***
My copy: faded trade paperback from Book Sale
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Jan 1st
Thirteen year old Salamanca Tree Hiddle is on the trip of a lifetime — a trip that will reunite her with her mother after a whole year of separation. Together with her grandparents, she retraces her mother’s steps to Lewiston, Idaho, where her mother is.
On the road, Sal entertains her grandparents with tales of her new friend, Phoebe Winterbottom. And as she tells them about Phoebe, her own story unfolds.
***
I first read this 1995 Newberry winner when I was in high school. Many years later, I finally found a copy of the book and I remembered why I loved it so well.
The book mainly deals with loss, a feeling everyone is familiar with, and how different people cope and come to terms with it. Sal is so candid at telling her story that you can feel the truth in what she’s saying, whether they’re hilarious observations about the things happening around her, or her deepest emotions that she tries hard to conceal.
Here are some favorite lines from the book:
“Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.” – the lunatic
“Everyone has his own agenda.” – the lunatic
“Everybody is just walking along concerned with his own problems, his own life, his own worries. And we’re all expecting other people to tune into our own agenda. ‘Look at my worry. Worry with me. Step into my life. Care about my problems. Care about me.” – Gram
“In a course of a lifetime, what does it matter?” – the lunatic
“…I wished that my father was not such a good man, so there would be someone to blame for my mother’s leaving. I didn’t want to blame her. She was my mother, and she was part of me.” – Sal
“I had brought a chicken in from the coop: ‘Would Mom leave her favorite chicken?’ I demanded. ‘She loves this chicken.’ What I really meant to say was. ‘How can she not come back to me? She loves me.’ “- Sal
“Sometimes you know in your heart you love someone, but you have to go away before your head can figure it out.” – Gram
“You can’t keep the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.” – the lunatic
” I knew that sometimes you had to be alone with the birds of sadness. Sometimes you had to cry by yourself.” – Sal
“I tried to picture what the room was like and what room we were in and what she was wearing and what precisely she had said. This was not a game. It was a necessary, crucial thing to do. If I did not have these things, and remember these occasions, then she might disappear forever. She might never have been.” – Sal
“Our heads moved together and our lips landed in the right place, which was on the other person’s lips. It was a real kiss, and it did not taste like chicken… I felt like the newlY born horse who knows nothing but feels everything. Ben touched his lips. ‘Did it taste a little like blackberries to you?’ ” – Sal
“Ben was sitting on the front steps when I got home. He said, ‘I brought you something.’ There, strutting across the grass, was a chicken. I had never been so happy to see a chicken. When I asked him what its name was, he leaned forward and I leaned forward, and another kiss happened, a spectacular kiss, a perfect kiss, and Ben said, ‘Its name is Blackberry.’ ” – Sal
The book keeps you guessing until the end, and you realize Creech has successfully passed on some wisdom beyond Sal’s age and understanding, without making it contrived and artificial.
By the final chapters, I was crying buckets. It’s like finding an old friend, one who knows exactly how you feel. It’s beautifully written, wise, funny, and poignant, all at the same time.
***
My copy: originally a tattered paperback (got lost), replaced with another paperback from Book Sale, upgraded into a hardcover (library binding) with a tear on the front cover, also from Book Sale
My rating: 5/5 stars
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