Locke & Key

The late H.P. Lovecraft's stories are horror classics. He created an entire mythology (often referred to as the Mythos or the Cthulhu Mythos) filled with monsters, throwbacks, and non-Euclidean geometry. He then opened his world up, inviting other authors to play in his sandbox. And play they did. I came late to the fandom, but I'm here now. Which is why I know that, if you're looking for a place to start fresh, you don't want to go to a town called Lovecraft. That's what the Locke family does in the comic/graphic novel series Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.

Following their father's murder, the Locke kids (teens Tyler and Kinsey, and younger Bode) and their mother move to Keyhouse, the Locke family manse. It's there that Bode discovers the ghost key, that lets him separate from his body. There are lots of other keys at Keyhouse, and the epilogues in each collection tell us about them, and about the histories of Keyhouse and the Lockes.

This is a story that works very well in graphic format. Rodriguez's illustrations fit beautifully with Hill's story to show us what is happening and draw us into the story. The artwork enhances the suspense in the story, shocking the reader for effect rather than for shock's own sake. The characters' emotions are captured and clearly expressed in the artwork, not leaving the reader to guess whether someone is amazed or disgusted. The lettering is also well done, without a distracting amount of font changes and jagged speech bubbles.

The story unfolds at a reasonable pace, not so fast that the reader loses track of what's going on -- no mean feat given the flashbacks and changing perspectives -- but never so slow as to risk losing interest. It also follows its own rules. The reader isn't left saying, "Wait a minute. That shouldn't have happened."

By the end of volume 2 of the collected works (Head Games), it's clear that this is a "kids save the world" story. Most of the adults are clueless or incompetent. (Mom after Bode uses the Head Key: "Put the top of your head back on, Bode. Should we have fettuccine for dinner?" No, seriously, the top of his head was gone. You could look inside and see his memories.) The ones who might actually be able to help are quickly dealt with by the forces of evil.

The violence is graphic in both senses of the word, and there is some sex. I would recommend this series to adult horror fans without reservation. It would probably also appeal to older teens, and may be a good choice for reluctant readers.

Preview volume 1, Welcome to Lovecraft, here.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This year's Spokane is Reading choice is the story of a dog who longs to be reincarnated as a man. The narrator, Enzo, is a philosophical and insightful dog, given to TV watching. He's highly anthropomorphized (having human characteristics ascribed to a non-human), though not in a syrupy, oh-so-sweet way. He believes he has the soul of a man and tries to behave humanly. He understands and realizes things that his human family does not, but, lacking the ability to speak, he is unable to tell them what they need to know. (He does suggest that a device like the one Steven Hawking had would remedy this, and fantasizes more than once about what he would say if only he could.) His voice is consistent throughout the story, as are those of the humans whose conversations he recounts. Weighing in at over 300 pages, the book is a fast read with short chapters.

Spoiler -- highlight to read spoilers: The dog dies, but the last chapter has a little boy with the same name, presumably Enzo reincarnated.

Must read science

Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City by Eric W. Sanderson (2009)

It has been a long time since I read a book with a natural history focus, and I was pleased at both how much I remembered from school and how much there was to learn again. While the title of the book is self-explanatory, the gist of it is anything but. This is more than a retelling of New York City based on primary documents and geographical reporting. Sanderson is able to cut through much of the historical clutter to bring the reader a clear-cut version of Manhattan before it was a city.

The true claim to fame of this book is the illustrations. Using the British Headquarters Map (1782-83), Sanderson was able to recreate the topography of the island as it appeared to Henry Hudson in 1609 when he landed on the island. As he studied the map, Sanderson found that it was assembled incorrectly at the National Archives of the United Kingdom. Using a computer imaging program, he realigned the map to its correct placement and voila, he had a “topographical and historical encyclopedia” of Manhattan before development. He used this map and other historical documents to create GIS points and layers that correspond to the current Manhattan. The result was a series of side-by-side images of the current Manhattan landscape and the landscape of Mannahatta (the original Lanape name for the island) circa 1609.

The illustrations are extraordinary and breathtaking. Although I read each chapter, looking through the images and reading the captions will fascinate even the cursorily curious. His research into the ways of life of the original inhabitants is intriguing and provides more in-depth analysis of this remarkable place. He ends the book with some thoughts about the future and sustainability in such a dense environment. This book was truly awesome, and it receives my highest seal of approval.

Age of Consent by Howard Mittelmark

Plot summary:
Philip and his children, Peter and Ginny, move from the city to Oneida House on the outskirts of the university in Seneca, N.Y. His wife remains in the city and sometimes comes out on weekends. One of Peter's stoner buddies claims the house is haunted, and Peter gradually comes to believe him. He's been having weird (if fun) dreams, and his family is starting to act very strange. (Except for Mom, who barely appears in the story.)

The story jumps back and forth between Peter in the present, and Ellen in the early 70s. Back then, Ellen was a hanger-on of her girlfriend Alex's radical group. (She was really only there because of Alex.) Alex brought in uber-radical "Micrograham" to do something big. After a great deal of drug use and some self-mutilation, this turned out to be bombing the stage at graduation. Ellen told campus security and the plot was foiled. Micrograham then took the other kids out to the middle of the lake and told them to get out and wait for him. Which all except Alex did. Alex, perhaps slightly less stoned than the others, had to be thrown out of the boat. When Peter sees a picture of the group, he realizes that one of the guys looks just like...

This dude Mike that Peter saw in the woods (along with the chicks he had those fun dreams about)! And just like John Humprhey Noyes (real guy -- founder of the Oneida Community). And just like Joseph Smith (also a real guy -- founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Plus, one of the girls in the picture looks just like the history teacher at the high school, Ellen Bourne, only younger. While Peter and his buddies are talking to Ms. Bourne, Ginny is gathering explosives from Micrograham's hiding place and Dad is getting ready to turn Ginny into a virgin sacrifice. Dad takes Ginny out in the boat, Peter takes his buds and Ellen to the clearing he saw Mike in, and Ellen stays there while Peter and his buds head back to the house, where they see Dad and Ginny out on the water. Peter swims out to save Ginny, Ellen convinces her late friends that they don't have to stay with Mike, the dead kids drag Peter and Ginny underwater, Dad blows up, Peter and Ginny get back to shore and argue about whether to ask Mom to move to Seneca or to go back to the city. The end.

The drug use is heavy in the 70s sections, and Peter and his friends spend a lot of time drinking and occasionally smoking pot. The sex is never graphically described, though it is described and is a major part of the story. Phil with his bathrobe open when Ginny's friends come over also merits description. (Why get dressed for murder?) The references to Joseph Smith were what I personally found most offensive. (I'd not heard of Noyes or the Oneida Community before picking this book up.) Implying that the founder of a major religious movement was essentially a drugged out nut, manipulated by a being whose stated purpose is to cause destruction in the world, ticks me off. It especially ticks me off when it is used as nothing more than a plot device.

For family psychological horror with ghosts, I didn't think it was as good as Stephen King's The Shining (the Smith references really put me off), but it works and it's a lot shorter. Unlike many horror stories featuring children and teens, it doesn't try to be "kid's save the town from unspeakable horror." Peter's not trying to save the world or the town. Just his family.

If you liked this, try:

Bradbury, Ray. Something Wicked This Way Comes. Townspeople start acting all weird when evil circus comes to town. Boy has to save best friend from charismatic ringmaster, saving town just a bonus.

King, Stephen. The Shining. Psychic boy has to save family from haunted hotel, meets with limited success. (Don't judge the book by the Stanley Kubrick film.)

To see Novelist recommendations on spiritual possession, click here.

Latin America - current conditions

I know very little about Latin American history, economics and politics. That is exactly why I wanted to read this book. It seems that this may be the only book we have that discusses the topic since my search of the catalog didn't yield anything else. Unfortunately, it was over my head for the most part. It's too bad because I think that this region is quite important to "Americans" (misnomer translation - those from the United States). Anyway, what wasn't over my head was fascinating.

Read my review here.

Other books on the topic:
Saving the Americas: The Dangerous Decline of Latin America and What The U.S. Must Do by Andres Oppenheimer
Democratic Governance in Latin America
Latin America (Opposing Viewpoints)
Latin America After the Neoliberal Debacle: Emerging Paths to Peace and Equality by Ximena De La Barra

There are many more books that treat this topic but they tend to be rather academic.

Four Picture Books

It’s been a long time since I felt the urge to go out and buy a picture book, but in the last month, no less than four titles have come across my bookshelf, that I MUST own. So far, I’m holding off, with the books checked out to me, I have temporary ownership. Knowing they eventually need to be returned, and then hopefully get shabby with many checkouts, at some point, I will have to visit Aunties, and make some purchases!

When I first picked up No! by David McPhail, I was expecting a book like David Shannon’s No David series. As I turned the pages, I discovered a nearly wordless story about a child who learns that his own simple act of resistance to violence causes changes from war to peace, enmity to friendship, and weapons to toys.

A small boy sets off to mail a letter. As he walks to the mailbox, jets with bombs visible fly over, dropping their deadly loads over an adjoining neighborhood, destroying it completely. A tank rolls by, and takes out a house on his street; soldiers march by with their bayonets, and hidden faces, beating down the door of a family with terrified young children. A little further on, an old man in an act of resistance defaces the poster of a president, while a policeman and his fierce dog prepare to arrest him. When the boy finally arrives at the mailbox, a bigger boy is waiting to pick a fight with him. When the smaller boy says “No!” the bully is very surprised and begins to follow him. As they walk back down the street, they see the policeman smiling, and the dog licking the old man’s face in friendship. The soldiers have traded their guns for gifts, and with faces now visible are helping the young family they terrorized before. The tank has turned into a tractor, and can be seen plowing a field behind the space where the house’s rubble still lays, and the fighter jets fly over once again, but instead of dropping bombs, drop a parachute with a bicycle big enough for the two boys to ride off on together.

In Patricia Polacco’s In Our Mothers’ House, Marmee, Meema and their three adopted children, are like any other family; they live in a big old house in Berkeley, California. They love to spend time telling stories in front of the fireplace, they build a treehouse in the backyard, and have conversations around their dinner table. They also instigate the biggest block party ever, involving all the neighbors, but one. There is one family who does not approve of the family with two mothers and no fathers. As the children grow up, marry and start their own families, they always return to their mothers’ home, until finally one of the children takes it over when their mothers die. Patricia Polacco’s artwork is vibrant with color, action and joy, showing that all families, no matter what their make-up are filled with love and joy, and although they may have different ways of doing things, if they love each other, they really are the same as any other family. My favorite line, from near the end of the story is “From the day we entered out mothers’ house, they prepared us for the day that we would leave it.” If all parents would remember this task, what a better world our children would grow up in!

Neil Gaiman’s new book, Blueberry Girl, illustrated by Charles Vess is a new-age blessing for a baby girl. Three fairies, ladies of light, darkness and never-you-mind, are asked for kindness, safety, joy, cleverness, wisdom, and truth. Rich greens and golds, sunset blues and pinks surround a little girl dancing through illustrations filled with animals and flowers and trees. If you know of a family with a baby girl, or even an almost grown daughter, consider this lovely book as a gift.

Mama Says: A Book of Love for Mothers and Sons is a series of poems by Rob D. Walker, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon. Each poem imparts a bit of wisdom from a mother to her young son. Each poem is presented in English and in the language and alphabet of the culture portrayed in the accompanying illustration, including Cherokee, Russian, Ethiopian, English, Korean, Danish and Hindi among many others. The illustrations are luminous, full page bordered paintings facing the poems, with a smaller circular painting above the poem. The repetition in the words and illustrations enhance the universality of the wisdom of the mothers. The final, double-paged spread and simple words will bring a tear to your eye and a lump to your throat, whether you are a mother, a son, a father or a daughter!

All four of these books are so positive, so joyous, that they beg to be shared, and not just with children. One of my favorite school librarian colleagues from many years ago, was always careful to call books in the E collection "Everybody Books" rather than "Easy Books." These beautiful and thoughtful picture books are truly for Everybody!

Graphic Novels and Manga For Folks Who Don't Read Either: A Few Recommendations

If you're only going to pick up one graphic novel to read this year, I highly, highly recommend the Flight series, edited by Kibuishi Kazu:

These are collections of short pieces by a variety of top artists (and there are only a couple of connections between the volumes, so you can pick any one of them). Emphasis is on the full-color artwork, which even in the weakest stories is excellent, and in the best is nothing short of breathtaking. The nice thing about a collection like this is that if there's a story that doesn't look very interesting, you could just skip it, although I recommend reading them all anyway. Also you'll be exposed to many fantastic artists, and if there's one in particular you like, chances are we have some of their other work. Although all are superb, my favorite out of the five volumes is number 2; if you can read Jake Parker's The Robot and The Sparrow without your heart clenching painfully, you have problems.

There's also a version for kids, called Flight Explorer, which contains work from many of the same artists. Highly recommended as well; it's one of my kiddo's favorite books.




If you want something meatier, Shaun Tan's The Arrival is fantastic. This would be a good one to start with if you've looked at other graphic novels and have been spooked by the format, since the layout is relatively simple.



The Arrival has no text, and is a prime example for graphic novel rule number 1: go slow and savor every detail. Tan's intricate pencil drawings tell the story of a nameless man leaving his wife and daughter behind to immigrate to a strange new land. He crosses a sea and arrives in a city filled with beautifully bizarre buildings, funny little creatures and wonderfully different people of all sorts. We see him struggle to overcome a language barrier and figure out the details of daily life, meanwhile attempting to enable his family to come join him. He is befriended by other immigrants who share their stories with him, and help him navigate things like finding food and travelling and using the mailboxes. It's amazing how the emotion can oscillate between hope and heartbreak in the span of a few pages, but Tan does it seamlessly. My favorite thing about this book is that in the surreal world our protagonist moves to, everything is just as puzzling and bewildering to the reader as it is to him. If one work could capture the breadth of the immigrant experience, I think this would be it.



If you want to try a manga, a great title for first timers is the uberpopular Death Note, by Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi.



This series follows a brilliant-but-bored high school senior named Light, who happens to find a 'Death Note', a notebook belonging to a death god who accidentally dropped it on Earth. If a person writes someone's name in the Death Note while picturing their face, that person will die. The series centers around Light's attempt to use the Death Note to cleanse the world of evildoers and criminals, the law enforcement personnel attempting to catch him and put a stop to his vigilantism (including his own unsuspecting police officer father, and a mysterious detective known only as L). Also featured is the errant death god who dropped the Death Note in the first place, then decided to stick around and watch what happens (while also explaining some of the details of the Death Note to Light, the only person who can see him). The issues and conflicts raised are fraught with complexity and addressed usually through some very exciting plot twists. This series is intelligently written and definitely a page-turner. It's also a good one for newbies, for though it follows the traditional Japanese R-L reading style, it's easy to read and not bogged down with manga conventions that can be confusing the first few times. The art is some of the best in the business. Ooh, also note that despite the grim theme and some recurring violence, this is not a gory series.


Some other graphic novels and manga I recommend for newbies:

• The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa-- First volume of a sweet coming-of-age trilogy about a young girl in rural (I think) pre-war Korea. The art is so-so, but the text is beautiful and poetic. Lots of footnotes with info about Korean culture explaining the symbolism. Reads L to R.
• Vampire Knight by Hino Matsuri-- I've been giving this one to all the Twilighters anxiously on the holds list. Vampires, awesome boarding school, love triangle, tons of angst. Fantastic art. R>L
• Planetes by Yukimura Makoto-- This is a good title for the hard science fiction fans out there. Follows a group of space garbagemen debris collectors in the year 2075. Well fleshed-out characters and a story arc that develops in small vignettes revolving around each of them. Often compared to the work of Arthur C. Clarke. R>L
• American Born Chinese by Gene Yang-- Best teen graphic novel I've seen. Three seemingly separate plot lines interwoven to fantastic effect in a powerfully emotional climax. Nearly everyone can relate to the painfully awkward Jin and his struggle to fit in, and the fantasy tale of the Monkey King is just awesome. L>R
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi-- Hopefully everyone has heard of this amazing French-Iranian woman's bildungsroman by now, since it's won a bajillion awards and was turned into an Oscar-nominated animated film. L>R

Maybe some other comic fans can chime in with favorites-- Mandy? Cindy? Don? :)

Must Read: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

If you work with me regularly chances are I've already tried to foist this book upon you. I've been telling everyone about it. If this book were makeup and I were a Mary Kay salesperson, I'd have the pink Cadillac by now. You might have seen it listed on Pearl's Picks a couple of months ago. I heard about from a normally articulate friend who couldn't describe it without flailing and mumbling incoherently.

This is a story about stories; about lies and half-truths and the actual truths underneath. We follow along with Margaret Lea, a bookish biographer and Jane Eyre buff as she is requested by aging famous novelist Vida Winter to write her biography. Vida Winter is a fascinating character, at once snarky and brash but also vulnerable. She has told her life story to nineteen interviewers previously, and every version (all different) has been a lie. In the sunset of her life she decides to tell the whole truth and nothing but. However, to quote Oscar Wilde, the truth is rarely pure and never simple. Miss Winter's story unfolds piece by piece, and as Margaret tries to connect the dots and discover the real sequence of this complex life, she has to face repressed demons of her own.

This is the kind of book that you'll be thinking about for weeks. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I'm not usually one for rereading things, but after finishing this one the ending threw me for such a loop I started it over again immediately. The atmosphere created is deliciously spooky.

Highly recommended. :)

Must Read: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Hello again. It's me, Cindy from the Valley Library and I'm wearing my teen hat today. I just finished re-reading THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher the better to prepare for a booktalking event on Wednesday and MUST share.



Clay comes home one afternoon to find an unassuming shoe-box sized package addressed to him sitting on his doorstep. There's no return address. Curious, he opens the box and discovers it to be empty aside from seven loose cassette tapes, their sides numbered 1-13. Still curious, he plops the 1st tape into his dad's stereo and presses play...only to hear a voice from beyond the grave: "Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here...I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why."

Hannah, you see, committed suicide two weeks previously. And apparently she still has a score, make that 13 scores, to settle. But Clay, well, Clay doesn't know WHY he's been included in Hannah's head games. Clay has secretly liked Hannah for years and was hurt by her death. But not as hurt as he's about to be as he forces himself to listen to the tapes and learns things about his classmates and supposed friends he never suspected and never wanted to know.

This is an amazingly painful and powerful story. It's not comfortable to read. Or listen to--the audio is amazing and the Hannah segments give me chills. There's a lot of heavy stuff being discussed here--suicide, date rape, teen drinking, bullying, harassment, the list goes on. But ultimately, this story illustrates how our actions or lack thereof profoundly impact the people around us. How we're all connected, whether we want to be or no. As such, I think it's a MUST read for teens (let's say grade 9 and above) and people working with teens. Go check it out now.

Your Mission Should You Choose to Accept It: Must Reads!

Hello. Cindy Benson from Spokane Valley Library here. To get the discussion ball rolling, I thought I'd suggest an initial topic: MUST READS. You know the ones, the books you re-read on a regular basis, the books you push on every customer who comes along, the books you buy for all your friends and family, the books you'll rave about to anyone who'll stand still long enough to listen? Yeah, those.

So, what are your must reads? Share, do! There are no limits here--adult, children's, teen, fiction, non-fiction, you name it.

Summer reading is almost upon us and we're about to be descended upon by a horde of folks who are dying for a good book. What would YOU recommend?

Welcome to SCLD's Book Discussion Blog!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Okay, not THAT long ago. Back when the libraries were closed on Friday mornings we used to booktalk our favorites at joint regional meetings. And Region II staff met monthly to discuss youth books. In those meetings we'd pick genres or award categories (challenging ourselves to read outside of our comfort zones) and get together over lunch to rant or rave about what we'd read. It was a great opportunity to pick up new titles for readers' advisory and to practice our booktalking and book discussion skills. Open hours change, though, and our monthly bookclubs and joint booktalking sessions came to an end.

Then along came Learning 2.0...and lo, this blog was born.

This blog has been created to provide SCLD staff with a forum to show off their mad 2.0 skillz, share what they're reading, to comment on what others are reading, and to recommend titles. In short, to discuss something near and dear to our hearts--books!

For those of you who've been blogging as part of Learning 2.0, this format shouldn't hold any surprises. Post about what you're reading, or comment on others' posts. (If you want to post a new topic, you'll need to be an author. If you aren't one already, please contact Cindy at cbenson@scld.org and she'll add you to the author list. You'll need to have a Gmail account to participate, so be sure to set one up in advance if you don't already have one.) As a courtesy to others, please use a descriptive title for your entry so folks following along won't have to guess what you're writing about.

Now get to reading, sharing, and discussing!