My goal was to write a review of one kid/YA book for each day of this week (Children’s Book Week) to help express my newfound appreciation for the genre. But then, yesterday I was working on some reviews for Curled Up With a Good Book, and I just couldn’t bring myself to talk about another book. I’ll make up for it today by looking at two books, but first (having brought up Curled Up), I must make a confession. My promise to not buy any new books has so far been upheld, but I’ve gone on a rash of bookmooching instead (thank God the site is down). And, when I submitted my first review to Curled Up, my kind contact there urged me to take a look at the current lists and let her know if I saw any that caught my eye. Last time, I’d restrained myself, and picked only two fiction and three non-fiction. This time…well…what can I say? Apparently I lack all self-control.  The poppets had to come see what all the fuss was about, as I sat there oohing and aahing. Eventually, I worked up the nerve to fondle all of these new treasures, with their shiny, glossy covers and letters from the publisher inside. And, of course, I had to spread them all out so you could understand the extent of my indulgence. In the top row, we have: February Flowers by Fan Wu (because I really want to read more Asian fiction, and it’s set in contemporary China), Classics for Pleasure by Michael Dirda (because while I might think he’s an ass, Dirda sure can write about good books), The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright (it won the Pulitzer! and it’s about international relations!), and Get Down by Asali Solomon (it had good reviews on Amazon, and I want to read more short stories, and I don’t usually read contemporary American lit).
Second Row: Jia by Hyekin Kim (remember what I just said about reading more international lit? and it’s set in North Korea, and that’s pretty unusual), Unbowed by Wangari Maathai (I saw an interview with her recently, and she seems incredible, and this will work well with the In Their Shoes reading challenge), God’s Harvard by Hanna Rosin (because I saw her talking about it on Book TV, and it sounds fascinating), and Dreadful Delieations by John Maclay (I’m trying to read more short stories, remember? and it’s horror, a new-to-me genre that I’m enjoying).  Finally, we finish up with: Birchwood by John Banville (well, he did win the Booker recently, and this one sounds more interesting to me) and Dervishes by Beth Helms (because it’s set in Turkey and involves the Foreign Service, which I want to be a part of one day).

 Whew.  For those counting, that’s ten new books.  Yep.  That I’ve committed to reviewing.  Fortunately, they all meet my new reading focuses (international, non-fic, short stories).  And they didn’t cost me a penny.

 After all that, I’ll touch briefly upon two beautiful books I’ve recently read by two reknowned children’s authors.  I picked up Gossamer by Lois Lowry after reading a review of it during the R.I.P. II Challenge (unfortunately, I can’t remember where-let me know if you reviewed it, and I’ll give you some link love!).  The Giver is one my all-time favourite books and made a huge impression on me as a child, so I’m not sure why I never read anything else by Lowry.  Gossamer is a story of the little beings that give us dreams; specifically Littlest (who is in training) and her mentor.  They’re working in a house with a lonely older woman, who decides to foster an angry little boy.  The dream givers end up having to help the woman and boy after the evil nightmare-givers decide to gang up against them.  While this was a beautiful story, it hit a little close to home for me.  The boy is abused, and there’s a horribly sad and very graphic story about what his father did to him one day.  I can’t really think about it, even now, without wanting to cry.  And while I wasn’t physically abused as a child, my dad did have a lot of anger control issues.   There’s one sentence to the effect that the boy and his mom were always nervous when the dad came home, wondering what mood he would be in, that cut pretty deep.  However, this is ultimately a tale of hope and healing; just be prepared for some sadness along the way.

I also read Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.  This was a reread for me, but I’d read it so long ago that I only had very, very vague notions about the book.  I was delighted to reconnect with Meg and Charles Wallace as they, along with their new friend Calvin, travel to different planets to try to rescue their father from the evil clutches of IT.  L’Engle’s writing is so nuanced and textured, it’s always a delight to read.  Meg is lovably imperfect, which in my opinion makes for the best kind of heroine.   Fortunately, my library has all the books in this series, so I’ll be able to reread each of their adventures.  Yay!  The following lines really struck me; Meg (a 14 year-old) has just complained that her life would be much easier if she weren’t so ugly and had taken after her mother: “Mother’s not a bit pretty; she’s beautiful,” Charles Wallace announced, slicing liverwurst.  “Therefore I bet she was awful at your age.”  Isn’t that the truth!  I know a lot of people (myself included) who really had to grow into their looks.  It’s nice to see L’Engle offering hope to all the awkward teens out there; I definitely needed a lot of comforting at that age.