Tradition - Fiddler on the Roof

Sisters of Glass

Author: Stephanie Hemphill
Pages: 150
ARC Acquired from: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Maria is the younger daughter of an esteemed family on the island of Murano, the traditional home for Venetian glassmakers. Though she longs to be a glassblower herself, glassblowing is not for daughters—that is her brother's work. Maria has only one duty to perform for her family: before her father died, he insisted that she be married into the nobility, even though her older sister, Giovanna, should rightfully have that role. Not only is Giovanna older, she's prettier, more graceful, and everyone loves her.

Maria would like nothing more than to allow her beautiful sister, who is far more able and willing to attract a noble husband, to take over this role for her. But they cannot circumvent their father's wishes. And when a new young glassblower arrives to help the family business and Maria finds herself drawn to him, the web of conflicting emotions grows even more tangled.

First Sentence: "I feel Giovanna's fire / as Mother prepares me for suitors, / polishes me / while Giovanna polishes glass."

Review:
Having actually been to Murano, I was super excited to read this book. There's nothing better than getting to remember the awesome places I've been! What I did not know going into this book was that it was written in verse. At first, I assumed it was my lack of attention, but it's not in the description anywhere, so go forward with this knowledge as my gift to you.

Ordinarily, this would have been a revelation of tragic proportions, since I'm not typically a big fan of poetry, but I just read and enjoyed Love & Leftovers, so I went into this with an open mind. Besides, the first sentence, while not quite arresting, is pleasant. I like the comparison of the polishing, which implies that the girl is an object like the mirror.

However, the verse really didn't work for me in this one. Maria doesn't really seem like she would think/speak/write in verse; she's an artist, not a linguist. The language did not seem, to me, to flow very naturally from her. Additionally, the lines do not read like verse to me; most of the time, they feel like prose that has been hacked up into smaller lines. Of course, I'm not well-versed in verse, so take that for what its worth.

Also, I totally don't get why Maria's sister Giovanna is so rude about her father having decided to marry off the younger daughter first. Even if she doesn't like that she was passed over, it's not like Maria asked for the honor to be bartered to the highest bidder. That totally made me angry.

The story I liked, although it wasn't especially original; it had a very Shakespearean comedy type feel to it. If you like quick, cute stories, you might like Sisters of Glass.

Favorite Quote: "Learning to be a lady / is like learning / to live within a shell, / to be a crustacean encased / in a small white / uncomfortable world."

Rating: 2.5/5

"And who does Mama teach to mend and tend and fix,
Preparing me to marry whoever Papa picks?

The daughter, the daughter! Tradition!"

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder - Dean Martin

Love & Leftovers

Author: Sarah Tregay
Pages: 432
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Description from Sarah Tregay's Website:
"My wish
is to fall
cranium over Converse
in dizzy, daydream-worthy
love.

(If only it were that easy.)"

When her parents split, Marcie is dragged from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She leaves behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father. By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this "vacation" has become permanent. She starts at a new school where a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up.

But understanding love, especially when you've watched your parents' affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? can you even know it until you've lost it?

Love and Leftovers is a beautifully written story of one girl’s journey navigating family, friends, and love, and a compelling and sexy read that teens will gobble up whole.

Review:
Although I am an avowed Apocalypsies fan, I have to confess that I was skeptical about this one, because I'm really not a poetry fan for the most part. It just never has moved me so much as prose, although I will admit that the best prose does seem to have a lyrical quality to it, so I suppose one could make the argument that all writing is poetry in some sense.

Anyway, this book totally worked for me, and I will definitely be keeping my free copy in my collection. A big part of the reason that I don't like poetry most of the time is that it seems so pompous and self-congratulatory. That totally is not the feeling I got from Love & Leftovers. It's more like Marcie just thinks in poetry; it's who she is.

In fact, I think the poetry is what made the book really work. I didn't much like Marcie, because she did some things that are completely unforgivable in my opinion. She's not a great person by any means. However, because of the format, which totally seems like a window into her character, I could help being drawn in and caring about her, despite wanting to give her a serious shake most of the time.

Love & Leftovers is a beautiful book and, because poems are short, can be read in just a few hours. If you like Sarah Dessen, I think you'll like Love & Leftovers.

Rating: 4/5

"I love you dearly
I'm yours sincerely
But honey please remember
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
For somebody else

When the cat's away the mice will play
I don't say I will but still I may
I may be blue away from you
And then again I may be gay"

Requiem for the Masses - The Association

Drum-Taps and Memoranda During the War

Author: Walt Whitman
Narrator: Bronson Pinchot
Duration: 6 hrs, 50 mins
Publisher: AudioGo

Story:
Okay, I know that neither of these are exactly possessed of a story, but I couldn't devise a better term and I like consistency. So. Memoranda During the War consists of Walt Whitman's experiences in the hospitals of the Union during the Civil War. Drum-Taps (which I humorously initially mistyped as Dum-Taps) is a collection of his war poems. Despite the title, Memoranda During the War comes first on the audiobook, which I think is stupid.

Memoranda During the War is interesting, assuming you are curious about the conditions of the Civil War. My one history course that spent a time focusing on that conflict would have benefited from these reminiscences perhaps more than from some of the books we did read (or were supposed to read). However, given its construction, which is just a series of short vignettes, it's a bit awkward to listen to. In audiobook form, it was hard to pick up on what exactly was going on. Instead, a sense of the blood, the guts, the pain and the terrible things that constantly happened just sort of washed over me. Maybe that's good, but I'm not sure. Certainly, I got an idea of the mood and the conditions, if not specific instances.

Drum-Taps I did not like at all. I suppose I should inform you that I am not a fan of poetry. Obviously, some poetry I do like, Shakespeare's sonnets (some of them) for example, but, mostly, I find prose to be much more beautiful. Anyway, I especially do not care for Whitman, or at least not when read by this guy. And, in audio format, poems are worse it seems. Poetry needs to be chewed on a little more, and listening to someone plow through poem after poem does not give time for appreciation. One definite failing of Whitman in this format is that he is one of those poets who almost always titles his poem whatever happens to be the first line, meaning that you have to hear that line twice. Many times. Ugh.

Even worse, there was a message saying this portion was over, but it was just a tease, because there were many more poems. fml.

Performance:
I have already intimated that I did not care for this narrator. My problem with Pinchot is primarily his accent. I don't care for the sound of his voice either, but that could just be me, so I won't harp on that. However, his accent is really distracting. He has a bit of a Jersey or New York sound to him (I don't know which). This means that 'er' tends to be come 'ah,' as in the case of mothah. I just can't take that seriously. Any time he dropped some serious dialect, I would start laughing, even though the content is sad.

Also, I looked at the two books herein contained just a little bit, trying to figure out what the format was, because, as I mentioned, it was a bit confusing to listen to without preparation. In the short time I spent doing so, I found two words he swapped for different ones (i. e. 'these' instead of 'those'). They didn't really make a change in content, but I do know you're not supposed to do that as a narrator.

Rating: 1/5

"Red was the color of his blood flowing thin
Pallid white was the color of his lifeless skin
Blue was the color of the morning sky
He saw looking up from the ground where he died"

Not Afraid - Eminem

Pearl Verses the World

Author: Sally Murphy
Illustrator: Heather Potter
Pages: 75
ARC Acquired from: Candlewick via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Pearl's language arts teacher is educating her class on poetry and they are all ordered to write rhyming poems on a number of subjects for days and days. Pearl does not approve, because her poems do not rhyme. She learned about poetry from her grandmother, who can no longer read poems or walk or talk, only lie in bed drooling, taken care of by Pearl's mother.

Review:
When I was a kid, I remember going through similar lessons on poetry, although I don't think the unit was anywhere near this extensive, and I hated them. Of course, the stress was more on the different kinds of poetry than just on the rhyming ones. Here's the thing: I don't understand poetry that doesn't rhyme. For the most part, poetry just seems (unfairly) to me to be prose that has been formatted differently. Blank verse, especially, confuses the heck out of me logical-minded brain. Even now, I envy Pearl her ability to speak in poetry.

Pearl's poems are simple and charming. They cover her roving thoughts on her grandmother's health, death, social groups at school, poetry, gender roles, family and boys. Pearl has a definite personality that comes across in her meandering evaluations of certain topics, like fairy tales: "But I wonder, / Why does the prince need to be handsome? / I wonder if all princes / are supposed to be handsome" (9). She also wonders why the princesses don't just save themselves. Good question, Pearl. Something tells me she won't much like Twilight when she reads it.

Pearl Verses the World is a sweet, simple story, ideal for children dealing with the loss of a loved one. Or, perhaps, just for those who love poetry, whether or not it rhymes. As Pearl poets (verbed!), "Rhyme is okay sometimes, / but my poems don't rhyme / and neither do I" (4). Ergo why I made what is probably the strangest song association with this book for children; I just think Pearl and Eminem would see eye to eye on this point about the art of poetry/rapping.

"I shouldn't have to rhyme these words in the rhythm for you to know it's a rap"

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle - Nirvana

Adios, Nirvana

Author: Conrad Wesselhoeft
Genre: young adult, music
Pages: 235
ARC Acquired From: Houghton Mifflin booth at ALA 2010

Brief Summary:
Jonathan, a promising poet, has been tempted by suicide, by taking a leap or fall from some high place and ending his life, ever since the tragic death of his twin brother Telemachus. He is an insomniac, addicted to No Doz and Red Bull, and failing all of his classes. His life is going nowhere fast and he just wants to get there faster. The book takes place in the pivotal moment where he can choose between living and dying, where he can make a comeback and figure out how to live without his brother and be his own person or not. This is a story of grieving, of rock music and of poetry.

Review:
From the first few pages, I thought I would have to force myself to get through this book. I hated those pages and wanted nothing to do with the story following. I would summarize them thus: Boy depressed by the passing of brother gets drunk with friends. Boy pees over the edge of a ledge twenty feet up. Boy vomits epically and descriptively. Boy falls, mostly non-accidentally, off of the ledge and into the puke. This is, in my opinion, not an excellent start to a book or anything I am particularly into reading. Having continued though, I was rewarded for my perseverance.

This is not to say that this book is one that I will keep in my personal collection or probably ever read again. But it definitely had its moments and had a few fantastic quotes. More than that though, it had heart and passion. The descriptions of poetry, of the writing process and of music are unbeatable. Wesselhoeft really makes the reader feel the creative juices flowing and get really into those moments. The best parts of this book, the most engaging, are the scenes where very little is actually happening, the moments of contemplation and quiet, frenzied creation.

For all rock music fans and poets, Adios, Nirvana is definitely worth reading. It comes out tomorrow, so go give it a try!

"I miss the comfort in being sad."