The Hired Girl

The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz

It's 1911 and our protagonist is Joan Skraggs, a young farm girl who longs for more than what her current life can give her. Joan runs away and changes her name to Janet, a name that she imagines as a more romantic, less homely name than Joan. (Obviously, she's never seen Three's Company.)

She finds herself on the streets of Baltimore on her first day. She has no idea what she is doing, or what she should do, or where she is safe. Luckily, a young man named Mr. Solomon takes her back to his parents. Janet's one night of safe haven turns into a permanent job as a housekeeper. What makes this story interesting is that Janet's employers are a wealthy Jewish family, and Janet is clearly a Christian with a deep desire to become a full Catholic. While Janet works for this family, she gains a greater understanding of faith and family. In that vein, this book had some wonderful reflections on what it means to have faith and what it means to have respect for all faiths.

Below is my representation of the suspense and excitement I felt while reading this book. There wasn't much. This was like a Sunday car drive in the spring. Pleasant and roundabout, with a much anticipated ice cream trip at the end. 

That being said, I imagine this may be the book I feel the most satisfaction about reading this summer - including all the books I hope to read in the weeks to come. Like, I really felt good about myself for reading it AND I enjoyed it. I would give this book a solid A- and I would recommend this book to anyone who truly enjoys female-focused historical fiction. This has the self-discovery and growth evident in Call the Midwife, but also brings in that interesting intersection of the privileged and their working class servants - like Downton Abbey. 

Turtle in Paradise

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Turtle is an eleven year old girl who has lived life on the move. Her mother's a maid during the Great Depression and jobs are hard to come by. What isn't so hard to come by are the numerous men that Turtle's mother seems to fall in love with. Needless to say, Turtle is no dreamer; she's a realist.

Mother does finally land a job, but the lady of the house won't allow young children to live there. And so Turtle finds herself shipped to Key West, Florida, where her mother's sister lives.

Key West is nothing like anything else Turtle's ever experienced. Shoes are optional, but the heat is not. Used to being a team consisting of just herself and her mother, Turtle must now get used to a house full of cousins and a town where most of the residents are related to her - somehow!  Slowly, she adjusts to her new life and her new family. She's even accepted by the Diaper Gang, a group of boys (her cousin's the leader) who have a babysitters' club type-of-thing going on - except they get paid in candy! She comes to love the boys' daily gathering to create a "Key West Cut-Up" - a tradition of cutting up whatever fruits and veggies the kids had on hand and pouring key lime juice all over it. She's even lured into the romance of the many stories of pirates and buried treasure that fill the land.

Turtle didn't want to go to Key West, but the question you ask yourself, is how could she leave it now?

This was a super charming read. Turtle is adorable and scrappy. Key West is a fantastic setting. You'll love reading about the water, the heat, the scenery, and the fruit-laden trees. The Diaper Gang is hilarious. This book reminds me of the Goonies and the Little Rascals. While I can't say I loved it, I really enjoyed it. The writing is brisk and light. The descriptions are clear and concise but not heavy-handed. It's a quick, pleasant read.

For more info on a Key West cut-up, click here.

Oh, and more interesting info. The author, Jennifer Holm, writes the Babymouse series, which I abhor, AND Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf, which is a graphic novel-esque story that I LOVED. It's just interesting to come across a writer with so many different styles.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This is an adult book. A book for women. A great book club book. It's a good book.

This book was passed around my school, amongst the ladies, for several months until it made its way to me.

It's the story of a very racially divided South (Mississippi) just before the Civil Rights movement really kicks into place. Skeeter, a young white woman from a wealthy family, has graduated from college. Awkward, tall, and progressive-minded, she doesn't quite fit in with her old set of friends: young, married ladies with babies, husbands, and mindless leagues and charities to fill their time. Skeeter wants love and marriage, but she wants a career and a purpose, too. However, there's little room for that in Jackson, Mississippi. The best she can get is writing the responses to the cleaning questions in the newspaper - kinda like the Helene/Helouise column, I guess. The irony of it is that Skeeter has never cleaned anything; there's always been a maid to do that for her. In order to do her job, Skeeter must get help from a maid. She asks if she can question Aibeleen, her friend's maid, for answers. That's right: She asks permission from the white lady first.

This is an eye-opening view of a racially divided world. Something hard for me to fathom: A time when good white women always had a separate bathroom for their black maids, lest any transfer of disease occurs. I mean, really? Also, these white women have maids. But they don't work. They do have children. But this is hard for me to comprehend: The women don't do much. They're well-to-do, so they don't work. (And by "don't," that also implies "not allowed," because it probably wouldn't look "right" if they did.) Their maids take care of the house, the cooking, and a lot of the child care. Goodness! I am a ship without an anchor on the days I don't have school! I mean, okay, right now I wouldn't mind having a maid. My place is messy. But it was hard for me to comprehend these women who had nothing to do but attend their women's league meetings: where they plan charity balls, raise money to send to the poor in Africa, and also fight the good fight against desegregated toilet bowls.

Back to the storyline: Skeeter wants to push herself beyond her cleaning column. She wants to tell the story of the help: the black women who clean for white women. The first to agree is Aibileen. Then Aibileen's friend Minny signs up, too. Slowly, but surely, other women agree to sign up to tell their stories. But it all must be done secretly: if anyone were to find out, violence would ensue against the black community. And the stories? Some are horrific. Some are bittersweet. Some are funny. The author does a great job of showing different facets of the characters. You develop sympathy for the black women and sympathy for some of the white women, too.

The author does a great job describing life: Skeeter's, the black maids', the white women's. That minutae and detail is interesting. A door into an older world. An unknown world. I have no idea what a rich Southern woman's life was like in the 60s. I have even less of an idea what a black maid's life was like at the times. But I am grateful I do not live there or then. But I am left to wonder, if I read this story with shock at societal attitudes of the 60s, what will people think in the 2050s, reading back on the 2000s?

My one complaint is that at times this book seemed too long. Now, I generally read a lot of YA, so that's often my complaint with adult fiction. I max out at 400 pages. But as much as I loved the detail put into describing everyday life, perhaps it was too much. Not in the level of detail provided to the major characters, but that that level of detail was provided to minor ones as well. In addition, a lot of time was lavished on Minny's employer: a poor white lady suddenly rich. It was interesting, but didn't feel pertinent. Minny's home life, however, was important. Highlighting the abuse put up with by women from their husbands.

In the end, this is Aibileen's story, and Minny's, too. Skeeter is an interesting character, and it feels good to watch her grow up: confident and ready to leave the racially divided society that she grew up in.

I recommend this book. I also think it will transfer well into the big screen, and I'm already know I'll want to go to the theater to see it.

Side Note: A book was just published similar to Skeeter's book about maids, but about nannies. The Perfect Stranger: The Truth About Mothers and Nannies is a book recording the narratives of real nannies and the narratives of the real women who employ them. The Times did an article on nanny books recently. I really like The Nanny Diaries, so it was an interesting article, and I might read any one of the books mentioned.

Lady MacBeth's Daughter

Lady Macbeth's Daughter is a new take of Macbeth. It's written by Lisa Klein, the same author who wrote Ophelia. I never really appreciated Macbeth when I read it in high school. However, four years ago I subbed for an English teacher for two months. We read Macbeth. For the first time, I really enjoyed it. The story of people so driven by power and greed that they are blind to their inhumanity. Blinded by prophecies. Ready to grasp any straw that hints of their superiority. Throughout it all, you can't help but remember that in the beginning, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem pretty normal and kind of nice. Logical. Upward climbing but in a rational sense. By the end, so much death, blood, and cruelty has occurred at their hands. I've never bothered to add up how many died: Duncan, Banquo, MacDuff's children...

However, this review is about Lady Macbeth's Daughter. The book is told from the first person perspectives of Lady Macbeth (whose name is Grelach in the book), and Albia, her daughter. Albia was born crippled. Macbeth ordered the baby to be left for the wolves. Grelach's maid rescues the child and brings her to her sisters' home. These three sisters are the weird witches of the play. The oldest sister prophecies that Albia has the second sight, but Albia does not want to accept her gifts. Regardless, Albia grows up living a pleasant country life until she is a teenager, where she is sent to train as a lady's maid at Banquo's house. Up until this point, Albia is a flightly, one-dimensional teen with a slightly odd home life. Honestly, I had little interest in Albia until romance blossomed between her and Fleance, Banquo's son. Albia becomes stronger when she learns of her true heritage and vows to avenge her father. Eventually, she begins to accept her second sight, but this ability felt like an easy out: an easy vehicle that enabled Klein to get Albia involved in Dunsinore. She becomes slightly more compelling regarding the battle of Dunsinore, but not much.

I enjoyed Klein's portrayal of Lady Macbeth much more. Klein has given LM children: one alive and one lost. She a mother overwhelmed by the loss of her daughter. She spends a lot of time depressed. This does not seem to be the Lady Macbeth of the play - specifically the beginning. What I did especially like about this version of LM is constantly aware of her precarious situation as a woman: always eager to stay in Macbeth's favor. This seems very realistic given the time period, when a woman's fate was that of her husband's whims.

The LM in the book portrays more of her maternal/feminine side. The masculinity that she displays in the Shakespeare's play is not evident enough to make not of. Klein's LM is the one who would say (as she said in Shakespeare's play)

"I have given suck, and know/How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me..."

But not the LM who continued on by saying "I would, while it was smiling in my face,/Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,/And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you/ Have done to this..."

The book contains bits of the above lines, but loses the full violent impact:

"I know how tender it is to love the babe that milks me. But my body has betrayed me, refusing to bring forth any more life. Now it is time to use death as my means." (63)

LM's insanity is downplayed, and I don't recall any "Out damned spot" moment either. And LM lives! That was disappointing, too. The ending was just too sweet: Albia and LM reunite to repair their broken relationship.

All in all, I appreciated Lady Macbeth's view points and the battle scenes, but little else appealled to me. However, I think this is a great companion piece for those who have read Macbeth or will be reading it shortly. In addition, if you really like Ophelia by Klein, you will probably enjoy this one, too.

Grade: C+

(Painting of Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent (1889), one of my favorite painters.)

Day of Tears

Day of Tears
by Julius Lester

A Novel in Dialogue
A Coretta Scott King Award

A fictionalized account of the true event of the largest slave auction in American history in 1859, this story unfolds and blooms through the many different accounts and recollections of various characters. From the slave owner to the the slave, the reader gains insight into the attitudes of America prior to the abolition of slavery. Each snippet, or account, is a snapshot. All of these snapshots, strung along, help to tell a story that focuses on Emma, a girl who is sold away from her parents and from the white children for whom she loves and cares.

I don't want to say more. This book is powerful. It will upset you, warm you, anger you, and make you uncomfortable.

And the rather unconventional format of the novel will delight you.
Grade: A

The Blood of Flowers

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

Set in Iran during the 1600s, the narrator is a young girl who dreams of a life as a wife and a mother. Tragically, her father dies, leaving her mother and her in poverty. They leave their home to live with their father's half-brother, a rich and successful rug maker.

The girl displays exceptional talent as both a rug knotter and a rug designer, and she works closely under the tutelage of her uncle, who has no sons with whom he can share the trade. However, her aunt treats her and her mother poorly: simultaneously using them as free help around the house and also complaining that they cost too much money to provide for.

Desperate for some financial independence and to prove that they are not a burden, the mother and daughter agree to enter the daughter into a sigheh. A sigheh is a temporary marriage contract. With no dowry, the girl has little hope of a marriage, but a sigheh could potentially turn into a long-term arrangement or even an actual marriage.

There are many twists in this plot: as intricate and subtle as the fine rugs that are described through the book. Interesting developments in her carpet making, the renewal of the sigheh, her friendship with the rich and beautiful Naheed, her eventual downfall, and the slow build-up to her own successful business. The girl learns of her own ability, her own weaknesses and her strengths. The narrator is a very reflective character, who is able to note where her flaws have led her astray - although this observance does not often prevent her from making similar mistakes.

This book was in the YA section of the library, but I definitely think that this is more of an adult book. First, the content contains a lot of sexual references. Second, the maturity level of this novel is not, I imagine, easily accessible to most teens - especially those under 17.

Grade: A


As the year ends, I have found my reading and blogging enthusiasm on the wane. This is book 49. Will I read three more before the end of the school year? I don't know.

Chains

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Isabel, and her younger sister Ruth, have been sold to the wealthy Lockton family in Manhattan during the 1770s. Isabel is given the chance to help the Patriots by spying on her masters. The Locktons, a Loyalist family, are cruel and harsh, even selling Isabel's younger sister to punish Isabel for disobeying Mrs. Lockton.

Isabel has little interest in the two fighting factions - the Loyalists and the Patriots - especially after she discovers that none will promise freedom to a slave girl. While Isabel struggles to survive in the Lockton household, she also endeavors to find a way to escape.

The first few chapters of this book were very uncomfortable for me to read. It was hard to read through Isabel's perspective as a slave. I couldn't bear the idea of being so controlled and owned. But the story line in entrancing, and you'll read on despite your own discomfort.

In addition, this book has definitely been extremely well-researched. Historical fictions fans will adore this book. There's information snuck into almost every detail. (BTW, I loved Anderson's other historical novel Fever 1793.)

Grade: A+

Abner & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure

Abner & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure (YA) by Dan Gutman.

Having tired of recommending the same few books for reluctant male readers, I finally asked my school librarian for some new picks to expand my own horizons (and, hence, hopefully my students as well).

Joe, an avid baseball player and fan, is a 13 year old boy who is able to time travel when he touches old pictures (in particular, baseball cards). In this story, Joe decides that he wants to uncover the truth behind the inventor of baseball. Abner Doubleday is the American whom legend reports to have invented the game; however, there is no proof of this. Joe decides to hop over to 1863 to find out if it's true. The only thing stopping him? Mom. But to his surprise, his mother, a nurse, readily agrees to let him go - IF he'll bring her too. Reluctantly Joe agrees, and he and his mom embark on their journey.

To their surprise, (but not the reader) they land in the middle of the Civil War. Gettysburg to be exact. Excellent depictions of the battle are given as well as what medicine was like at the time. Eventually, they stumble across Doubleday. After a quick baseball game and some war-time fighting, Joe and his mother decide to retreat home to safety. More adventures ensue, but I don't want to give it all away.

At first, I did not like this book. I didn't like the protagonist, and I'm not a big sports fan. However, I love the idea of time travel and historical stories. So in the end, the book worked for me. It had just enough humor. The 19th century scenes were well done. The suspense was rather low key, but I can definitely see why boys would like this book.

1) It's an easy read. Nothing very complicated. Easy plot. Easy and few characters.
2) It's about sports.
3) The boy helps play the hero, and becomes more grown-up (especially in his relationship with mom).

An Amazon review that I read mentioned that this book was too violent, but I don't really know what they're talking about. The Gettysburg scenes were truthful, and nothing that a fourth grader couldn't handle.

Final Grade: B+

One Caveat:
At one point, the mother muses over the possibility of going back in time to prevent the assassination of Lincoln. Joe tells his mother that history cannot be changed. Joe reminds her that he tried to prevent the Black Sox Scandal in 1919 but couldn't ( page 129). But at the beginning of the novel (page 22), the reader learns that Joe's Uncle Wilbur is only alive because of Joe's time-traveling intervention. In 1919, Uncle Wilbur originally died of influenza. On Joe's trip there, he gives his uncle some flu medicine. So I guess you can change history as long as it's not textbook history.

Rhett Butler's People

Rhett Butler's People by McCraig.

I read Gone with the Wind (GWTW) during my Freshmen year of high school. I read it at home. I read it on the bus. I read it placed discreetly under my desk during Biology. I eagerly awaited the arrival of the prequel Scarlett. On Christmas Eve, my Aunt Camille gave me a copy. My mother had to hold it hostage until we went home - all to ensure that I did not hole up in a wall and read through the family dinner.

GWTW? Politically incorrect? Lacking true reflection on slavery and the South? Guilty. Fantastically mind-boggling great read? Beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Ripley's Scarlett? Scarlett is where a yarn becomes too far-fetched and unbelievable. But I still ate it up. That book was done in a day.

Rhett Butler's People? IDK. Is it that I am an older, more discerning reader than when I read Scarlett? Perhaps.

This book takes on too much. Too much time (two decades) and way too many characters. Although this book focuses on Rhett's perspective and fills in the details of his childhood and youth, it doesn't do much for the character. The stars of the show, in fact, are poorly done in general. Scarlett, Rhett, and Melanie: I was displeased by the characterization of all three. Scarlett came off as being less a determined fire-brand. Rhett was described in detail, and yet the reader still never gains a greater understanding of why he loves Scarlett so much. Or why he considers them uniquely similar. And Melanie? Perhaps the mysterious, saintly aura of Melanie is better than a tepid attempt to tell her side of the story.

Where McCraig does shine is when he isn't focusing on GWTW. A large part of the book focuses on Rosemary Butler, Rhett's younger sister, and her struggles with survival and love. I also really enjoyed reading from Belle's perspective. Quite frankly, these two characters could have separately sustained their own novels.

The beginning of this book dragged on like few do for me. For the first 250 pages, I graded this as an F. The subsequent 150 or so pages picked up quite a bit. The excitement that grew as the pages turned, however, was shattered at the very end. The Klan wants to exact revenge on Rhett, so they vandalize and terrorize Tara. Death and fire ensue. It was just a bit too much. But still, by the end, I was so sad to see Scarlett and Rhett and the remaining GWTW gang go.

Grade: C+/B-