Month: January 2009

Holes by Louis Sachar

Again, this is another book that I’ve seen since I was a kid but never got around to reading. My cousin Dianne convinced me to get my own copy after she bought hers, and I decided to read it one afternoon.
It turned out to be a pleasant surprise right from the first page.

Holes is about Stanley Yelnats IV, a kid who has the knack of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, thanks to a family curse cast by Madame Zeroni on his ancestor Elya Yelnats.

Because of the curse, Stanley gets wrongly convicted of a juvenile crime and is sent away to Camp Green Lake for some disciplinary action, except the camp isn’t all that he expected it to be.

Stanley is in for a great adventure that allows him to put the family curse to rest, find buried treasure, survive yellow-spotted lizards, gain wisdom and inner strength, and forge the friendship of a lifetime, along with a chain of coincidences and quirky twists of fate that are delightfully tied in with the story.

The 2003 Walt Disney movie stars Shia Le Beouf and Sigourney Weaver. Let’s hope Disney channel airs this one soon; I think that except for the body type, Shia fits the character perfectly.

Postscript: someone from one of my book clubs read the book recently and commented that it didn’t exactly present something new for the YA genre.

I think that’s exactly why the book is so charming– it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. The best young adult books for me are those that succeed without trying to impress you, dealing with issues its readers can relate to but still making it fun.

***
My copy: trade paperback movie cover, upgraded into hardcover with dustjacket
(I also have the hardcover sequel, plus Stanley Yelnats’ guide to Camp Green Lake in my TBR.)

My rating: 5/5 stars

Photos courtesy of http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk
http://www.tribute.ca

From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

This is a book that I remember seeing a lot when I was in Grade School at the LRC, but I don’t know why I never got around to reading it. Maybe it’s because of the long title, haha, or maybe it’s because the cover isn’t appealing to kids.

Most people have probably had dreams of running away (if they didn’t actually run away) as they were growing up. Haha, I remember I used to plan my escape when my siblings ganged up on me, or when I got scolded (except I couldn’t stand the thought of roaming around on the streets in rags, with matching gunky hair and kariton). I think this is why I liked this book so much, because it’s a story about two kids who run away and actually succeed at it.

The book has a Home Alone quality to it, except that they’re at a museum and there are no bad guys, but they do have a mystery to solve.

I loved that of all places that Claudia and Jamie could run away to, it was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art… Now if only we had a museum like that, maybe I’d have run away a long time ago. Haha, Jamie reminded me a lot like my brother, because he was the money shark and like Claudia, I used to be the brains that thought up ways of getting us into trouble when we were kids (uh, like the brilliant idea to polish the parquet with baby powder! boy, did we get punished for that!).

The characters are endearing, and I love that the book shows how smart kids can be, in a way adults would never expect.

There’s an old movie version (1973), with Ingrid Bergman as Mrs. Frankweiler, and a 1995 TV movie with Lauren Bacall as Mrs. Frankweiler. I wonder if I’ll ever get to watch those; I think the book makes for a really fun movie.

***
My copy: mass market paperback, wanting to be upgraded haha

My rating: 4/5 stars

Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin

Murder on the Leviathan is an amusing mystery dealing with the gruesome 1878 murder of Lord Littleby and his staff of 10 at Rue de Grenelle, Paris. Commissioner Gauche of the French police is assigned to the case and his only clue is a golden badge with the imprint of a whale that serves as a ticket onboard the ship Leviathan.
On the Leviathan, Gauche narrows down his suspects to a group of ten eccentric characters, gathered in the Windsor Salon. Among them are an Indian scholar, a doctor and his wife, the ship’s first mate, a emented baronet, a dubious Japanese army officer, a pregnant and loquacious Swiss banker’s wife, an old maid, and a suave Russian diplomat. The Russian is Erast Fandorin, who soon takes over the investigation from the bumbling Gauche.

Fandorin is similar to Sherlock Holmes, in his method and his logic, but it’s interesting how he is never on the centerstage throughout the novel, because in its entirety it is told from the point of view of the rest of the characters. The end was quite a romp, with a lot of unexpected twists and all in all, it was quite a good read. Looking forward to reading more Erast Fandorin mysteries :)

(Postscript: tried Sister Pelagia and the Bulldogs and Turkish Gambit but didn’t like them, mostly because of the politics and all the Russian names)…

***
My copy: trade paperback

My rating: 4/5 stars

Photo courtesy of Amazon (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1400060516.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)

The DollHouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright

The Dollhouse Murders is a chillingly good murder mystery for kids.

Twelve-year old Amy is tired of being responsible for her special (it doesn’t specify how, but she seems to have Asperger’s, but is high-function) sister Louann. She retreats to her Dad’s ancestral home to live with her Aunt Claire. In the attic, she finds a beautiful dollhouse that is a perfect replica of her great-grandparents’ house. Her Aunt Claire is distressed upon seeing it, but Amy is fascinated and comes up to the attic to see more of the dollhouse.

Strange things happen at the dollhouse — the dolls that represent her relatives are never where she leaves it, and seem to move about the dollhouse. Amy thinks the dolls are trying to tell her something, but Aunt Claire doesn’t believe her.

After some sleuthing at the local library, Amy finds out that her great-grandparents were murdered in the house. The dollhouse holds the key to solving the mystery, and Amy and Louann must work together to resolve the grisly family secret once and for all.

The novel has a good set of characters, a fast-paced narration, and several chapters that will send shivers down your spine. The subplot about families dealing with special children is great too :)

***
My copy: (actually my sister’s) – an old paperback from the bargain bin at Book Sale

My rating: 4/5 stars

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney

The Face On the Milk Carton is a riveting thriller about a 15-year old girl, Janie Johnson, who lives in a well-off neighborhood with parents who love her. One day, she is idly looking at the back of a milk carton and comes across a picture of three year-old Jennie Spring, kidnapped twelve years ago. The heading reads, “Have you seen this child?”

Janie takes a look at the red pigtails and the polka-dot dress and a wave of recognition hits her. She has seen this child. In fact, she realizes that the face on the milk carton is hers.

Flashes of memories of her “other” family (the Springs) hit her, and as much as she loves her family, she cannot deny the conviction that she is Jennie Spring… Will she choose the family she has known and loved? But what about the family that has been deprived of her presence?

Surprisingly, it was a decent read, for P40 at the book sale. Now if only I can hunt down the three other sequels.

***
My copy: put up for mooching last year, mass market paperback

My rating: 3/5 stars