Patricia reading blog

2011-06-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

These two links popped up on my Facebook feed, almost one after the other. Two alternate viewpoints in the aftermath of the Vancouver riots. The first links to a Globe and Mail article calls for restoration instead of retribution, but was written by a reporter who likely was not at the scene of the riots, but is witnessing the mob mentality that is now driving those members of the public posting up pictures, identifying them, publicizing personal information, and driving the rioters' families out of their homes. The second links to a tumblr feed post of a police officer's refusal to accept the apology of the rioters - not exactly calling for continuous punishment to the rioters, but a call to stop apologizing, that actions speak louder than words. I agree with the second part, but I was thinking.

Maybe Canadians are just too used to saying sorry when someone else bumps into them (this is the Canadian way) - they think generally that's what apologies are for - it's easy to forgive someone when all they do is jostle you on the subway. But no. Apologies are made not only as a meaningless way to show that you're polite, but they're made after you do something that you regret, maybe something terrible, self-centred, destructive. And after you apologize, you try to see if there's some way you can make up for it. It's true that some of these "apologizers" are still jerks at heart and no, maybe they don't actually "mean" it. But maybe some of them do. Is the behaviour of the online vigilante mob any better? Posting up the rioters' addresses and phone numbers, sending death threats to their families, having some weird sense of superiority and self-righteousness while doing these things? Are they going to look back on this and feel sorry about it later? Maybe some of them will; maybe some of them won't.

The easy thing to do is go down the day after the riots with a broom and gloves and plastic bags and somehow try to erase what happened. The hard thing to do is to stick around afterward, recognize that, even though they did horrible disgusting things, these people are part of the Vancouver community. Also, they're human beings - they're not at a lower level of human being than you. Don't excuse them because of their age or because they say "everyone else was doing it." Don't do that. But don't just try to separate them from the "real Vancouverites" or the "real Canadians" either. As New Age-y as it might sound, the good and the bad are part of the same community, and none of us are perfect. We have to do our best to figure out how this happened or make the attempt to, even though we may never find the answer.

The morning after

2011-06-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

So. Life goes on.

I don't know if I'm overreacting. I woke up this morning, remembering what happened last night. I didn't take part in the riots (surprise, surprise) but I still felt a sense of shame, embarrassment, and deep disappointment. So, ok, I overreacted - I teared up.

I'd heard about the Post-riot cleanup facebook event happening; I was a little skeptical about how everything would be organized. Would most of it be cleaned up by city workers anyway? Was someone going to be at the Canada Line stations telling people what to do? Would there just be a lot of people wearing gloves and carrying garbage bags wandering aimlessly looking for trash and broken glass? Well, it turned out, it was the first thing and some of the last thing.

I took the Canada Line to Vancouver City Centre at around 8am and it seemed like most of the commuters on the train who were going into the city were in a somber mood as well. Who knows though? I'm usually not on the Canada Line that early in the morning. Maybe they're usually in a quiet and somber mood and are depressed about going into work. As the elevator carried me upwards and out to the city streets where the looting around The Bay, Sears, and London Drugs happened, it seemed like most of the debris had been cleared away in the early morning. But plywood in place of shattered windows had been put up, a reminder of what happened last night. Sap that I am, the sight of these plywood constructions brought a lump to my throat.

I heard clapping as I walked closer to the Bay and a crowd formed around what was formerly one of The Bay's display windows. A man was taping a poster up on the plywood which read something like, "I'm sorry." He then gave a speech telling everyone to write messages of encouragement and to make sure that this sort of crap didn't happen again. People started clapping. I am yet again, a sap; actual tears started forming in my eyes so I quickly move away from the scene. Before I leave, I notice a homeless man lying to the side of the speech-giving man and the boarded up window, looking curious, but also looking like he's been disturbed from his sleep. I wonder how the homeless living in downtown Vancouver fared with last night's stupidity.

I didn't really know what to expect when I filled up my backpack with gloves and a couple of garbage bags, and I ended up wandering aimlessly for a while. Besides the boarded up windows - windows that managed to withstand whatever was thrown at it, but with the impact mark of a spiderweb of shattered glass; a Starbucks which had a giant jagged hole opening up the store to the outside, several employees inside looking back outside at the onlookers curiously looking in; traces of burn marks along the sidewalk.

I saw a group of three with garbage bags and a broom and dustpan clearing away some glass and ended up following them around the city for a good while, looking for some place to help clean up.

I recognized that the city workers had actually done most of the cleaning up in the early morning. And that our coming down there wasn't really to do the work of "cleaning up the city." It wasn't a hindrance to the city workers either, and I hope they appreciated us coming in our own small way to help, with our dustpans and plastic bags. In a "selfish" way, I went down there for my own benefit, to feel like I was doing something to help the city, to show that I cared, to sort of attempt to clean the ugliness I felt as I watched on tv, the utter selfishness, stupid actions, the piggishness. I wanted to do something, other than go to the houses of the people who took part in this riot and punch them in the face. You know. Something constructive.

After I finished clearing up glass with the group of cleaners I'd hung on to, I saw a Bruins fan sitting outside a coffee shop. I passed him while I was walking with the other cleaner, then turned back. I told him "Good game," he smiled and shook my hand. I teared up.

If These Walls Could Talk June 11, 2011, Saturday

2011-06-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

When I first heard about If These Walls Could Talk - a walking tour of historical Manila, but strangely enough, set in downtown Vancouver, I reacted with skepticism, but also curiosity. My first reaction was to google-stalk Carlos Celdran, the creator of this tour; I learned he was a figure of some controversy. Petitioning for reproductive rights in the Philippines. Creating a walking tour called "Living la Vida Imelda." Protesting against the involvement of the Catholic church in Philippine politics.

The particular tour proved to be both educational and entertaining. I was a little late, out of breath, and uncertain as to where Cathedral Square was located, but I was able to recognize I was in the right place by the large gathering of Filipinos and the hand-held signs plastered with Carlos' face and the event poster (and, of course, the cathedral). Dressed in a top hat and barong (a fancy Filipino shirt), Carlos greeted the crowd with a broad smile and comedian-like stylings. Over the course of the evening, he would also don an Uncle Sam hat and a military hat and a pipe, depending on section of Manila's history he was riffing about. He began by leading the crowd into a singing of the Filipino national anthem. For myself, I was able to sing the first stanza (even though I couldn't begin to tell you what the lyrics meant) but petered out mumblingly during the second stanza, having never learned the rest of the song in my childhood.

Carlos led the crowd and several interested stragglers around downtown Vancouver, starting with Cathedral Square where he discussed the influence of Catholic friars on the government and their role in the retention of the Filipino language, then onwards to another site, talking about Jose Rizal, the handover of the Philippines from Spain to the States, and then Victory Square, and the destruction of Manila in World War II. The location of each site had a tenuous connection to the subject matter, but what mattered most wasn't the surroundings, but Carlos' grasp of the historical material and the handy portfolio of large-scale historical photos that he carried around with him.

Just to make clear, my own knowledge of Filipino history is sorely lacking. In a third grade play, I did play a fruit seller whose fruit stand was kicked over by the same Spanish soldiers who had just executed Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines and whose only line was "oh no!" as my oranges and grapes got knocked around (I'm pretty sure you can read about that poor put-upon fruit seller in any reputable Philippine history book). But other than that, even after living 9 years in the Philippines (and, no, I can't speak Tagalog), I wouldn't be able to write a page of what I know about Philippine history. I knew that it had been colonized by a bunch of countries (Spain, USA). I could recognize names of presidents and national heroes. At a young age, I was under the general impression that the Marcoses were jerks and that the government was corrupt and that I couldn't trust the police either.

In this tour, I learned:
- the Philippines was under a fundamentalist theocracy in its early history. Carlos even compared the pope to Osama Bin Laden and the Catholic theocracy to Al Qaeda, which drew a couple of gasps from the crowd. Although the priests and friars did stuff like help the Filipinos keep their native dialects alive, Catholic friars also did things like...shoot the Spanish governor-general in the head when they didn't agree with him.
- the appointment of Jose Rizal was largely due to American influence. They chose Jose Rizal probably because he was a pretty amazing guy (spoke 22 languages, was a poet, historian, writer, etc., inspired a revolution) but mostly also because he was dead, wasn't controversial, and therefore wouldn't cause any trouble. (and, oh my goodness, wikipedia is telling me he was an ophthalmologist as well. An ophthalmologist, people.)
- the famous picture of General Douglas MacArthur arriving on Leyte Beach during World War II after he said "I shall return," was taken three times. The first time, he fell in the water. The second time was because - of course, he had to re-take the picture with dry pants. The third time was because they'd learned that Life magazine was coming to take pictures the next day so they had to re-enact the arrival.

However, the major thing to take away from the tour, and something that Carlos emphasized time and time again was not to underestimate what Manila was and still is. A beautiful city known as the "Pearl of the Orient," a city that connected the East to the West, a multicultural city combining Spanish charm and American industrialism into something that was uniquely Filipino. But a city that was also almost completely destroyed during World War II (it was the second most devastated city in the world next to Warsaw).

At the end of the tour, Carlos compared Manila to "halo-halo" - a Filipino dessert that, literally translated, means, "mix-mix," - a mixture of cultures and influences (by the way, the above pictures is of halo-halo -- it's better than it looks). To me, I always saw Manila as a city of extremes and contradictions - tall skyscrapers next to a mound of shacks; the biggest mall in Asia filled to the brim with shoppers while outside, beggars begged on street corners; the rotund wealthy working out in fitness centres to rid themselves of fat while others survived on one meal a day; a place where sales people would become strangely obsequious once they heard me speak in my "American English." And yet, when I think on my own experience with Manila, ultimately, I have fond memories - and upon the end of Carlos' walking tour, a greater appreciation of what Manila is and what it could be. And just like General MacArthur, one day I will return.

Hime Japanese Restaurant review

2010-01-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

315 Broadway E
Vancouver, BC V5T 1W5
(Mount Pleasant neighbourhood)

My first restaurant review on this blog! It's not going to be very extensive, but it's definitive: I heartily recommend Hime Japanese Restaurant in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

Hime is near my workplace and I was initially a little leery. I'd gone to another neighbourhood Japanese restaurant and although it was cheap, it was definitely not good quality. I'm one of those racist restaurant goers: my impression of "authenticity" of a restaurant that belongs to a particular country or culture is highly dependent on the # of fellow restaurant goers that I see that belong to the same culture of that restaurant. And everyone else in that first "I'm not going to recommend" restaurant were of the "paler" persuasion. I suppose though, that Mount Pleasant, although it contains a large number of artsy hipsters, does not contain its fair share of Asians, artsy hipsters or not.

Anyways, I've gone on a segue. But I'll just say that Hime does not contain a large # of Asian customers, but Hime has proved my racist stereotyping wrong! It was good! Reasonably priced and good presentation as well, which are two things that usually don't go together. I ordered a special scallop roll, which consisted of a regular scallop roll on the bottom and a sort of spicy scallop salad on top. The scall0ps were nice, fresh, and plump.

I also don't usually care about customer service if the food is good, but in this case, the customer service was pretty much icing on the cake. A hearty hello as I came in the door, tea filled at regular intervals, a "so how is the food?" inquiry, a hearty goodbye as I left.

I also noticed, interestingly, that although it seemed like the restaurant was owned by Koreans and had Korean waitresses, one of the sushi chefs was Japanese. One of the waitresses seemed able to speak both Korean and Japanese, and the other waitress spoke to the chef in English. In addition, a customer came and sat at the bar. He was Chinese, but spoke with an obvious familiarity with the waitresses and sushi chefs in the language that they all knew: English. I felt a little warm and fuzzy - not because of the conquering dominance of English as the lingua franca - but because it seemed like such a show of community and differing cultures getting along, etc. Especially since I had written an article for Ricepaper way back when bemoaning the racist attitudes I had seen among some Chinese, Japanese and Korean people when I had been an international student in Beijing. That's another segue for another day.

The yelp reviews of Hime are located here.

Post-WOTS thoughts

2009-09-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

WOTS 2009 Survey Results and other thoughts

Here are the survey results from the small sample (21) of people who stopped by the Ricepaper booth and filled out a survey to win various Asian-Canadian related prizes (David Suzuki autographed issue, Strike the Wok, one-year subscription):

81% female, 19% male

90% were not subscribers

20% between ages 20-29
30% between ages 40-49
14% 30-39
30% above 50

9% Filipino
20% “Other” (i.e. “Everything. We are all one people”; “World”)
24% Caucasian/European
29% Chinese
9% Hapa
9% Japanese

A wide variety of other magazines read. The one that came up most frequently could be Macleans and “too many to list/a lot”

Web features most interested in

* Most people interested in blogs, event calendar, full-length articles, reviews and community links. There was a little less interest in forum/discussion and an online store. An online store was rated by 3 people as the least useful/interesting feature.

How did you first hear about Ricepaper?
A majority (52%) had never heard of us before.
20% had heard of us through word of mouth, previous festival attendance.
14% through library or bookstore
One person had heard of us through Evelyn Lau’s reading at the Poetry Tent

Most were interested in reading most sections that Ricepaper already offers. Most popular sections were current social issues, fiction/poetry, personal stories. Second most popular were artist profiles and historical pieces. Third were pop culture and film/book reviews.

Why people visited the booth

* #1 reason people visited was because of an interest in Asian Canadian arts and culture
* #2 reason was because of the pretty magazine covers – this is significant for future festival attendance that we have a lot of our mags on display. It’s a definite crowd-drawer
* Giveaways are also good at drawing crowds.

Earnings ($$$)

* “Vintage” (12.4 and before) back-issues sold ($1 each) Total sold= $1x9 = $9
* “Still fresh” (13.1 – 14.1) ($2 each); Total = 32 issues x 2 = $64
o 13.1 Comics - 9
o 13.2 Bikes (Cities) - 8
o 13.3 Colourschool - 5
o 13.4 Altar ego - 3
o 14.1 In translation - 7
* Brand new (14.2, 14.3) ($4 each) = 12 issues x $4 = $48
o 14.2 Aesthetics - 2
o 14.3 Space:Culture:Place – 10
* 1 subscription renewal = $15
* 1 Rita Wong’s Monkey Puzzle = $10

General thoughts

* Awareness of Ricepaper - Maybe around 60-70% of the people I talked to had never heard of Ricepaper even though they seemed to have an interest in Asian Canadian culture. This is just observation, but it seemed like if they were Asian-Canadian themselves, they were especially surprised to learn that it had been around for 14 years.
* Biz cards/brochures Lots of people asked for business cards or brochures – should have for next time!
* Website address on sub cards Also, website address should be on subscription cards the next time we print them out.
* Volunteering/Writing for Ricepaper
o Several people were interested in volunteering or writing for Ricepaper. Next festival attendance should include a volunteer/contributor signup sheet. People interested mainly in design layout or contributing (not that many people interested in office administration…) Potential idea with Eury – creating a “potential contributors” form so people can fill out writing publication experience/ Areas of interest/etc.
o One potential writer had been a regular contributor under Jenny Uechi (and possibly Herman) but with the changeovers, had lost contact with Ricepaper – have put her into contact with Eury.
o Lots of people interested in writing about food J.
* Survey design (note for myself) survey design could be improved to provide more useful results. I.e. some questions only applicable if the visitor was already a Ricepaper reader. And “rating questions” (on editorial content or desired web features) didn’t really work.

Thoughts from Leanne

- Complimentary comments We had a nice comment by Brad Cran, Vancouver's second poet laureate. Neither Patricia and I weren’t there to hear it so we don't know his exact words, but I heard from a few people that Brad said that Geist and Ricepaper are beautiful magazines.

- Promotions at Poetry Tent Evelyn Lau read poetry from our magazines. Patricia handed out some issues there, which produced results in a survey campaign she was running. She did amazing with soliciting surveys! I think I managed to get only two filled out, but that might be because people tended to ask me about ACWW related things which is a different topic.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

2008-07-28T00:35:00.000-07:00

I rewatched Breakfast at Tiffany's tonight. The first time I saw it, I must've been around 10 or 12. I didn't remember much about it except that it was sorta confusing and there wasn't really a plot. When you're 10 or 12, you kind of need a plot to keep entertained. But it's considered a classic and so when I was at the library picking up a hold on It Happened One Night, I decided to check it out too since I was on this whole classic movie roll (if a roll consists of one classic movie...rolling into two classic movies...yah!). So, there was a lot of stuff that I hadn't picked up on when I first watched it.

First of all, I didn't pick up on the basic facts about each character.

This is kind of what my 10/12 year old mind remembers from the movie: Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is a flighty, charming party girl who gets paid $50 each time she goes to the powder room with someone. And Paul or "Fred" Verjak (George Peppard) is one of her neighbours who is also a writer and has an older lady friend. And there's also this weird neighbour, Mr. Yunioshi (Mickey Rooney), who's dorky and threatens to call the police on Holly all the time. Oh yeah, and Holly also had a cute cat, named Cat.

But now in my "mid to late 20-something" mind, I now realize that Holly's powder room visits and Paul in his bed with his older lady friend leaving money on the nightstand actually mean other things. Hmm, it's similar to when, after watching Dirty Dancing a million times in my childhood, I realized that Penny had an abortion and that Robbie got her knocked up but wasn't taking responsibility and that's why Baby poured that pitcher of water all over him. I'd watched that scene in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story where Bruce Lee and his girlfriend watch Breakfast at Tiffany's in the movie theatre but leave when Mickey Rooney appears on screen (first reaction when I watched that Dragon scene, to be honest, was, "What's the big deal?") bur I was still shocked and appalled and angered, etc. whenever Mr. Yunioshi appeared. With his coke-bottle glasses, buck teeth and pidgin English, he represents the worse of the yellow-faced actors. And they'd toss in things like him waking up and knocking his head against a paper lantern or him performing a tea ceremony (but spilling the tea because of getting startled by one of Holly's parties). Ergh! It almost makes you think that it's impossible for this movie to still be considered a classic! Almost...if Audrey Hepburn wasn't so impossibly beautiful, effortlessly chic, charming, etc.

I'm sure there have been other classic movies that have rage-inducing stereotypes in them although I can't think of any right at this moment (Sixteen Candles's Long Duk Dong? Is that movie a classic?). But the Mr. Yonioshi performance was a black stain on any enjoyment I could feel about the film overall and each Mr. Y. appearance pulled me out of the movie. I'd feel like calling someone an idiot but I didn't know who. Was Mr. Y actually in the original Truman Capote book? Or was he just added to the movie for "comic relief"?

I guess my memory of Cat was the only one that stayed intact.

I'd give it a 7 out of 10 with a mental suppression of the Yonioshi scenes.

P.S. To top it off, there is also a nasty librarian stereotype! You know, the bespectacled, shushing librarian with her hair up in a bun who yells out "Whaaaat are you doing to that book???" when all you're doing is trying to autograph it (but I guess for me, occupational stereotypes aren't really as offensive as race stereotypes).
And then Audrey Hepburn says that Tiffany's is a nicer place than the library. Tsk. You can't borrow jewelry, you know (unless you're a famous actress, I suppose).

Flight of the Conchords

2007-09-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

My sister recommended this to me a few months ago. Jemaine and Bret are the two members of Flight of the Conchords, the 4th most popular folk parody band in New Zealand....they sing songs in various styles (sex-funk, sensitive soul, folk-indie-type) about how you're the most beautiful girl (in the room), how love is like tape, sweet love songs about what would happen "if you're into it". There's also the occasional David Bowie or Lord of the Rings tribute song.
In addition to the hilarious and deadpan lyrics, the tunes are actually pretty catchy. I enjoy acoustic guitar. Even if the songs weren't funny and were about death and dismemberment (and it's entirely possible that their songs could have both of these traits), I'd still give them a listen. They've got an HBO show now but I don't know when I'd be able to see their show outside of youtube. It is possibly about a folk parody band from New Zealand trying to make it big in America and the people they meet, both men and women, both big and small.
Incidentally, here is a youtube video of "Sello tape" (I don't know what that is, perhaps a New Zealand word for "scotch tape"?) - Sello Tape

Phoenix or Firebird

2007-08-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

This will probably be a little hard to find in Halifax especially for someone without an "Asian connection" but I'm recommending this Korean drama. Unlike American dramas which can go on for years and years and years, Asian dramas usually have a fixed time period. In this case, Phoenix or Firebird lasted for 26 episodes of an hour each. Also unlike American dramas, there are two main characters, who you just know are meant to be together. Even though each person in the pair is going out with other people, you know that the whole series is working toward the eventual bringing together of these two main characters. There's none of that whole "supercouple which lasts for a couple of years but then the actor gets fired and they pair up the female character with another character to make another potential supercouple" thing - that took longer to explain than I thought, but you know what I mean. Other people may come and pair up, but it'll be useless since you know that they're not really meant to be with the main characters. Also, with the "serious" Korean dramas, often one or both parts of the pair die or have maimed body parts by the end of it.
So, the plot of Phoenix is: A poor but hard working and intelligent boy meets rich, spoiled girl in a car accident caused by rich, spoiled girl. Through some weird and rather contrived happenings, they end up falling in love despite the bad beginning. Then some twists and turns happen...I'll put the main twist in my attempted "spoiler colour" to highlight even though I'm not sure who reads this...
Rich girl and poor boy in Korea marry despite the extreme objections of her parents (her dad throws an ashtray to poor boy's head! And parents are also jerky in other ways). Girl can't really handle living in poor boy's poor place and, after a fight with boy (he doesn't want to depend on her parents for money), she gets into an accident where she loses the baby. They divorce and he moves to America on a scholarship, slightly bitter that she didn't fight more for their relationship. 10 years later, he returns to Korea and circumstances have changed. Poor boy is now Rich Guy and Rich girl is now Poor Girl and works as a maid. What's gonna happen when they meet again?
There's also the customary "love rectangle" (i.e. Main Guy and Main Girl both have Secondary Girl and Secondary Guy chasing after them). I don't know why but from the Korean dramas I've seen, Secondary Girl tends to be manipulative and slightly if not all out craaaaazy while Secondary Guy is usually charming and nice and caring but just doesn't cut it (usually looks-wise) compared to Main Guy. Secondary Girl in Phoenix is craaaaaaaaaaaazy! She deserves all those extra a's. I thought Main Guy was a little ugly at first, but he grows on you (especially after he gets a better haircut). Good performances all around. A good sign for me is when I clutch my heart when I watch something (also, when I talk to the screen) and I did that a lot of times! Also, I stayed up til 4am watching the drama on my laptop (it didn't work in the DVD player). That's a sign of "good Korean drama".

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

2007-07-08T23:43:00.000-07:00

Initial rating: (hoped for) 3 1/2 out of 5 stars;
Updated rating: 1 out of 5 stars
I'm only on the 7th chapter or so, but I gotta say that I like that Henry Tilney character. I think he's the first Victorian male protagonist I've met that's funny and has a snarky sense of humour but isn't all tortured (i.e. Mr. Rochester). And he's kind of weird, but in a good way. I was telling a friend of mine, I need to meet a young, Paul Rudd-ish guy for myself (Paul Rudd himself is kind of old - he's 38! And he's also married. And has a kid. Also, our "religious views" probably wouldn't mesh. And I've probably been thinking about this topic too much now).
This cover is a little misleading. I haven't read that much, but I think Northanger Abbey is supposed to be a parody of all those gothic-type novels.
Update: Ok, I'm giving this 1 out of 5 stars. The fact that it's Jane Austen does not a good book make. And Henry turns out to be a little patronizing. And there's no "heat" or whatever between Catherine (the main character) and Henry. Geez, I know you don't have to hate each other at first, but could you at least have some conversations that make me believe that you've fallen in love? Geez! Geez Louise!
But the basic plotline is kind of boring and stupid too. If the above paragraph didn't convince you not to read it, then I'm just going to outline the plot here: Catherine is bored. She goes to a ball and meets a bunch of sensible people (Henry and his sis). She then meets a bunch of stupid and annoying people (someone named Isabelle and her bro). She reads a bunch of stupid gothic novels. She takes a trip to Henry's dad's house. She acts infuriatingly idiotic and naive and thinks Henry's dad is some kind of murderer. Henry's like "What the heck were you thinking? Geez!" Then, it does turn out that Henry's dad is a jerk (although still not a murderer). Then Henry asks her to marry him and they get married. Whatever. This book was a waste of time. I had such high hopes for Henry too. Wah.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

2007-06-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

4 stars
This may be the summer of Victorian drama and literature (as well as being the summer of my sister getting married =)). I started reading this on that free online literature Gutenberg thing and I read all of it in two days. Actually, I did end up skimming the last part, partly because my eyes were starting to dry up and partly because it was just that depressing. So, after that readathon, I had to rent the miniseries as well. For kicks, I also borrowed Thomas Hardy's least depressing novel, Far from the Madding Crowd but it was rather difficult to read. Maybe all the fated tragedy and heartache and helplessness makes Thomas Hardy easier to read.
Plot: Tess (Justine Waddell) is a somewhat naive country girl whom all the gods of fate seem to be conspiring against. She is seduced by Alec D'Urberville (Jason Flemyng), a slimy quasi-relative and tragedy strikes. Then she becomes a milkmaid, has a sweet little romance with Angel Clare (Oliver Milburn), a parson's son turned aspiring farmer. Alas, there's more tragedy in the form of hypocritical sexist Victorian values and chance meetings. Then, tragedy, tragedy, tragedy, and more tragedy until it starts to stop looking like an actual word. tragedytragedytragedytragedytragedy

By the way, no one really looks that great on the DVD cover, but Justine Waddell's hair is a lot more (I hate to use this word, but it's true) fabulous in the actual movie. Oliver Milburn looks a lot cuter in the movie itself too - usually, I'm not one for blondes. Even though, multiple times throughout the miniseries, I found myself shaking my fist at him on the screen and saying (yes, out loud) "Why, Angel, why???", I still thought he was cute. However, on the cover or in the movie, Jason Flemyng still looks like a moustache twirling, skeevy villain.

North and South (miniseries) - BBC Production

2007-05-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

4 1/2 stars
So, I'm changing up the format...since this blog is no longer up for marking, I'm just using it to recommend things that I really enjoyed. And...I really enjoyed North and South.

It's another one of those BBC period dramas in the Pride and Prejudice vein where Boy and Girl meet, Boy and Girl rub each other the wrong way; however, Boy and Girl are also secretly attracted to each other in spite of (or perhaps because of) rubbing each other the wrong way; Boy and Girl undergo a Big Misunderstanding...yadda yadda yadda. I've realized that I really gotta love these love/hate stories...I only wish that I had my own glowering British gentleman with a cravat who I could hate at first sight, argue and exchange meaningful glances with and gradually learn to appreciate. But alas, I do not.

Anyways.

When I first heard of North and South, I immediately thought of that other miniseries - the soap operatic one about the American Civil War with Patrick Swayze - some may know what I'm talking about. However, this miniseries is about Northern England, with its industry and cotton mills and its contrast with Southern England, an idyllic countryside paradise. In this story, the North is represented by John Thornton (Richard Armitage), a self-made cotton mill owner, who comes into immediate conflict with Margaret Hale (Daniella Denby-Ashe), a Southerner who is forced by circumstances to live in the North and immediately hates it (and John Thornton). In addition to all that romantic "I hate you and yet I hold a strange attraction to you shown by my lingering gazes, inappropriate hand grazing and overly long handshakes", there are also another underlying storylines involving the conflict between workers and mill owners, strikes, family, etc. But I must admit that, I would often skip over the scenes of the labour leader rousing the workers to go on strike to get to more of the "lingering gazing" scenes. Because of this miniseries, Richard Armitage gained legions of female fans and I don't blame them. In addition to totally immersing himself in the multidimensional character of John Thornton, he's got that smoldering gaze down, he's got a great accent (youtube "Richard Armitage" and "Cbeebies" and you can hear him read bedtime stories...I'm not sure how exactly I found out this piece of information) and he's not that bad looking. According to some fans, he could potentially unthrone Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy as the BBC king of the smoldering gaze. I just hope he finds some more great roles like this one. He's currently in an adaptation of Robin Hood as Guy of Gisborne, complete with bad guy eyeliner, but this adaptation is apparently a little cheesy and over the top, according to what I've heard.
Besides Richard Armitage...the cinematography and music are great and are apparently extremely authentic to the period. Daniella Denby-Ashe is fine as well...although she appears a little emotionless and blank faced in some scenes, like her costar, she is also capable of giving good stare. And that's all that really matters.

Blankets by Craig Thompson (2004) published by Top Shelf Productions

2007-04-19T16:48:00.000-07:00

4 1/2 stars
Blankets is a bit of a coming of age novel, but not in that annoying "ah, so that's the answer to everything!" kind of way. It's a seemingly simple story/memoir of Craig as a boy growing up in Michigan, as a teenager experiencing first love and heartache, isolation, embracing his gift for drawing...but the book's storylines also involve the helplessness of children, the heartbreak of divorce and broken dreams, sibling relationships, blindness to reality and Craig's struggles with the Christianity that he was raised in. This book involves a lot of things, actually. Thompson's drawings are often spare (he uses snow landscapes a lot) but sometimes elaborate (i.e. his memories and idealizations of Raina, his first love) and he captures the widest range of emotions on each of his character's faces. Craig's character is a sensitive, artsy, spills-his-feelings boy that I could love (unlike Perks of a Wallflower boy...) while the families of Craig and Raina are characters in their own right and aren't demonized or condemned for their sometimes questionable actions or opinions. This is a book that I had to finish in one sitting. I highly recommend it. I would recommend this for mature teens 14/15+. There is a bit of nudity and the storylines involve deeper and more complex issues that younger readers might not appreciate now...that sounds a little patronizing...especially since Thompson's growing up experience could relate to a lot of young people but they might only appreciate the conclusions or ruminations that Craig expresses after they've gone through the growing up experience themselves.

Controversial Book

2007-04-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) by Stephen Chbosky; Published by MTV
2 stars
Charlie is just entering his freshman year at high school and begins writing letters to an unknown person detailing everything that's going on in his life - his feelings of depression after his best friend, Michael dies, his unlikely friendship with two seniors, Samantha and Patrick (who treat him as a novelty and a sort of mascot at first). This book touches on issues of drugs, depression, sex, abortion, homosexuality, etc. These are worthy issues to bring out in the open and I understand why this book would be considered controversial. However, Charlie doesn't seem to correspond to the title of the book. He tells Sam that he is in love with her a couple of days after meeting her, he goes to parties, meets a local celebrity reporter at a gay meeting ground park, almost has sex twice, gets a girlfriend and...he hangs out with seniors (that's really cool!). This doesn't seem to be the work of a wallflower.

Although it was interesting learning about Charlie's new experiences (this much stuff certainly didn't happen to me in high school), Charlie's as a character is unfortunately extremely annoying. Charlie is meant to be your prototypically achingly special, literature-loving, introspective, wise beyond his years, sensitive boy that only a few people (including the new English teacher) can really learn to appreciate. His narrative voice is also annoying. It's the type of voice where you don't use complete sentences. And these incomplete sentences are meant to convey more. Because of their incompleteness and their repetitiveness. And you groan. Groan with irritation. And annoyance. It's also rather unrealistic that Charlie can catch the attention of his teacher with his English lit genius with this type of writing.
Also, as an insensitive sidenote, he cried too much. Charlie's adolescence is certainly a turbulant time and there are guys (and girls) who have cried a lot at high school...but I found his unabashed continuous crying over small things annoying and unrealistic. However, as I was writing this review, I realized that his fragile mental stability might have accounted for some of the crying.

I would give this book two stars for writing about interesting teen angst events. I was intrigued by Charlie's reactions to the events in his life and some of his introspective thoughts were a little insightful (i.e. his realizations in the school hallway that everyone, including the teachers, must have a life story to tell). I've known at least one teenage boy who enjoyed reading this book, and judging by the Amazon.com reviews, perhaps more people relate to Charlie's story than I thought. However, Charlie's characterization as well as a deux ex machina plot line at the end (that presumably explains all of Charlie's emotional problems) were extremely sore points with me. Teens may be attracted by the controversial subjects explored in this book and may (possibly) relate to Charlie with all his sensitivity, angst and incompleted sentences. This book would be suitable for teens 14/15 and older.

Revised Fairy or Folktale

2007-04-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

Bound (2004) by Donna Jo Napoli; Published by Thorndike Press
3 stars
This is the Chinese Cinderella story. In the tradition of the familiar tale, there is a girl named Xing Xing who is abused by her stepmother. Xing Xing has reduced marriage prospects because her feet are unbound. Binding feet is a process imposed on young girls in ancient China to prevent their feet from growing further and keeping them small. [The traditional reasons for doing this unknown to me although I have heard that the small, painful steps that young girls had to make because of this process (as well as possible foot fetishes on the part of certain men) were the reasons for this now outlawed practice.] Although Xing Xing is bound to her stepmother and her halfsister (who Xing Xing must care for since her sister underwent the painful binding process too late and therefore can hardly walk) but finds joy in cultivating her talents of poetry and calligraphy and communicating with a fish who may or may not be the reincarnation of her dead mother. However, things soon take a turn in the traditional Cinderella fashion.
Although Napoli accurately conveys many details of ancient Chinese life, the ending was a little too unrealistic and happily ever after (i.e. I'm sure the "prince" in this story isn't really as wholesome as he seems since many Chinese monarchs usually had hundreds of concubines to choose from) after so much realism. However, like all Cinderella stories (an ancient Chinese Cinderella story actually exists and may be older than the Grimm one), this is still a fairy tale and requires a fairy tale ending. I appreciated Napoli writing a postscript at the end of the book, detailing the Chinese Cinderella fairy tale traditions as well as giving some factual background on the emperor that she based the prince on. The book is not that fast paced but it provided an interesting perspective on the Cinderella story and the meaning of freedom in a society that often "bound" its females to painful traditions and undervaluation. This book would be suitable for all ages although its length and sometimes lengthy descriptions would make it suitable for those 13 and up.

Series

2007-04-03T19:27:00.000-07:00

Dancing in my Nuddy-Pants (2002) by Louise Rennison; published by HarperTempest
3 1/2 stars
This is the fourth of the Georgia Nicholson books. Georgia is as hilarious and self-involved as ever. Rennison details Georgia's continuing love problems (she's going out with Robbie the Sex God who is unfortunately never around since he's touring with his band and obviously has feelings for her ex and friend, Dave the Laugh, who is with her friend, Ellen). Similar to the previous book reviewed, there is no real "storyline" and more of Georgia's observations on her parents, her cat and her friends, Christmas, a school trip to Paris. However, it is all a continuous story in Georgia's life and I want to read the next book if only to find out if she will finally end up with Dave the Laugh.

Library Website for Teens - Richmond Public Library

2007-04-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

"Teens - Our Famous Teens"
http://www.yourlibrary.ca/community_sub.cfm?lev1=3 - Richmond Public Library, BC

Richmond Public Library's teen site is very bare bones. It's not exactly a "Teen Site" since it's not disconnected from the main site. There's about 5 or 6 major links. 3 of them are programs, one link is to a list of programs, one link is for a list of "Teen Links", and the last link features book reviews. However, these pages are not likely to catch the eye of any teen. There is a minimal amount of pictures and design layout for the various programs and the copy for the programs (volunteer programs reading to kids or helping them learn French, teen poetry contest) seem more like job ads than avenues through which the teens to improve themselves and help out the community. One suggestion I might make is capturing the personal stories of both the teens and the kids to put a more personal spin on volunteering. As well, the "Teen Links" did feature a lot of great links for teens interested in health, sexuality, activism, etc. but is organized quite simply. However, the layout again, was not very exciting and teen-friendly. Lastly, although the teen book reviews are a great idea and there are around 25 reviews now on the website, a couple of the books were not necessarily for teens. There was one review for The Trumpeter Swan which may be more suitable for kids. Perhaps it would be good if the reviews also included information on the age of each reviewer.
This website, while containing useful information, is just not that attractive. It contains too many words and not enough graphics and eye-catching visuals. A teen site that is separated both visually and structurally from the main library website may be better and attract more teens.

Library Website for Teens - Prince Edward Public Library

2007-04-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

"What's happening for teens at the library?"
http://www.countyteens.com/ - Prince Edward County Public Library, Ontario
3 1/2 stars

It looks like there was some effort to make this youth website teen-friendly. It's designed in bright green colors that aren't too "kiddish" and it's set up in a blog format where teens can make comments on all the posts. There's cool technology like RSS feeds, instant messaging and online videos. The posts contain information on events, book reviews, new books, volunteering opportunities etc. However, I get the general impression that the information on this site isn't organized that well. The homepage contains a link to "2006 Art Show" which leads to information about entering the art show (which obviously, has already ended) but nothing about how the art show went or any samples of the art done. I noticed that there were actual blog entries about the art show. Perhaps, it would have been a good idea to provide links to these blogs on the "2006 Art Show" page. The link to "Teen Room events" leads to a Google calendar that isn't publicly accessible. As well, although the design and colours are attractive, there is a lot of unbroken text - pictures of teens at the events and programs might make it more interesting as well as encourage teens to go on the site to see their pictures.
In addition, although the blog has been online for at least two years, judging from the amount of comments, it doesn't appear that there's a lot of interactivity between the blog and the library's teens (although one teen, "Hailey" has written a lot of comments in the last two weeks). The YA librarian seems to be want teens to post comments and encourages them to "drop in and see [her]". One blog asks for opinions on potential teen programs. To encourage participation and interactivity, maybe a message board could be set up on the site in addition to social networking technology like the instant messaging where teens could post their own thoughts about books or resources. I give a thumbs up for the design elements, the social networking and information communication tools and the enthusiasm of the librarians, but would suggest increasing the interactive capabilities of the website, and adding more pictures.

Magazine

2007-04-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

Teen (Fall 2006) published by Hearst Communications, Inc.
3 1/2 stars
Published by the creators of the well-known classic teen mag Seventeen, Teen seems to be going for a slightly younger audience than its predecessor. The articles don't deal with sex-related topics, it has many articles featuring real life teens about culture, dealing with a friend's suicide, entrepreneurship. All of its pages are in bright, fun colours, it's clearly laid out and simply written and has tons of celebrity pics and illustrations. As I flipped through the pages, I realized that my knowledge of teen celebrities was extremely lacking. I could only recognize one out of ten of the pictures. Many of the celebs actually seemed to be teens and they participate in a lot of feature articles and quick opinion polls, making this a major attraction for teens. Teen contains the usual teen girl fare - advice columns, articles about guys and friends , quizzes, an embarassing stories column, horoscopes, as well as fashion layouts and DVD book reviews. I was strangely pleased that in addition to chick lit fiction, Teen included a small blurb on graphic novels and an "interview" with "Emily the Strange". I was also surprised to see a column on easy-to-make recipes like black bean burritos and "bagel-wiches".
Teen covers a lot of different topics and although this is great, it also causes their articles to be rather light with no article (besides the fashion layouts) being more than two pages. Therefore, while Teen (like many magazines) is not an especially heavy read, it's fun, innocent, gives good advice and is chockful of pictures. I would recommend this for younger adults ages 12 and up.

Realistic

2007-03-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

Millicent Min: Girl Genius by Lisa Yee (2003) Published by Scholastic; 3 out of 5 stars
Millicent Min is a girl genius. She is 11 years old but has skipped several grades so that just as the book is starting, she is at the end of her grade 11 year. She is also beginning a summer college poetry course although her parents have other plans for her. Unfortunately, her extremely high IQ has also made it extremely difficult to make friends since her classmates find it weird that she is in the same class as them and peers her own age resent her for being so smart. Added to this situation is the fact that Millicent signs her high school yearbook in Latin, requests extra class work in her college course and states that "I have been accused of being anal retentive, an overachiever, and a compulsive perfectionist, like those are bad things." Millicent only “hangs out with” her cool grandmother, Maddie and her caring but weird (in that normal embarassing sort of way) parents. Concerned about Millicent’s lack of friends and her extreme academic focus, her mom has signed her up for volleyball lessons. In addition, her mom is also making Millicent tutor Stanford Wong, a family friend and the opposite of Millicent in almost every way. Throughout an eventful summer, Millicent meets Emily, her first real friend, learns how to deal with tutoring Stanford (who she initially calls “Stan-turd” and “Stink-ford”) and must handle family changes.

Young readers will enjoy reading this book about Millicent, who learns that who learns that she has more to offer to people than just her intellectual abilities. Millicent is a little annoying at first with her unawareness of her intellectual snobbery and her propensity to be a “know-it-all” and the plot is pretty predictable. However, I enjoyed her quirky personality, her off-the-cuff zingers and her interactions with her family and her struggles dealing with "normal" people like Emily and Stanford. I also liked the fact that in the end, Millicent learns that it’s actually ok to be a super genius but that she has more to offer than just this aspect of her personality. Millicent and her family are of Chinese origin but the book only makes brief references to this (although Stanford complains that Millicent is fulfilling the Asian stereotype and is making him and other Chinese kids look bad). However, the fact that the book doesn’t really have “racial issues” at its focus made it easier to be funny. This seems to be the only humourous multicultural YA book that I’ve ever read. Thinking back on my time as a young adult growing up as a minority, I was better able to relate to this depiction of growing up where I didn’t really experience racism or discrimination (and only occasionally had to deal with uninformed comments) than with other books where these issues are front and centre. This is a pleasant read for all ages but younger readers would probably enjoy this book more.

Magazines

2007-03-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

Giant Robot, Issue 43, Oct 2006; 3 1/2 out of 5 stars
(image shown is not for this specific issue)
Giant Robot, according to their tagline is about "Asian Pop Culture and Beyond". It presents of art, books, movies, tv, music etc. from this subsection of alternative culture which appears to have become more popular recently with the introduction of anime, manga, and North American remakes of Asian horror ("The Ring"), action ("The Departed") and romance ("The Lake House") films. However, it is also about whatever's "Beyond"- in this issue, articles cover experiences of Asian-Americans at a NASCAR festival in Alabama and a research station in the Antarctic. There are also numerous music and DVD reviews of little known (to me) artists, one group's experience of making a fake boy band in Hong Kong for a documentary, and coverage of Asian-American film festivals. The layout is professional and original and I enjoyed the graphic art as well as the pictures chosen. This would certainly attract teens, if only for the advertisements inside which feature cool t-shirts and weird Asian toys, stuffed animals and gizmos (i.e. anthropomorphic hamburgers and toast, UglyDolls and other strange creatures).
This magazine would not just attract Asian-Canadian teens but anyone who's ever picked up and read a manga or is interested in alternative forms of music, art, movies, etc. Older teens would probably find this magazine more interesting, maybe around 13/14+ as some articles are a little long and the layout is a little complicated (it changes a lot from page to page).

Audio Recordings (Music)

2007-03-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

Metamorphosis by Hilary Duff (2003) 3 out of 5 stars
Hilary Duff's second album contains songs about breakups, staying true to yourself, taking chances, having fun, etc. Duff's voice is likewise bubbly, sugary sweet and optimistic. Although she doesn't have a lot of range and a couple of the songs sound similar to each other, she can carry a tune and puts energy in her voice (although I disliked the apathetic tunelessness of the depend-on-yourself-and-not-a-man song "Inner Strength"). There seems to have been a lot of production work and audio "special effects" on Hilary Duff's voice but the songs, while mostly generic ballad/pop/dance tunes, are fun, easy to listen to, and have positive messages. I have to admit that I enjoyed listening to "So Yesterday" even before I borrowed this CD from the library and that "Why Not", which previously annoyed me, grew on me after a couple of listenings. This record would be suitable for listeners of all ages.

Audio Recordings (Music)

2007-03-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

The New Romance by Pretty Girls Make Graves (2003), Matador Records, 3 out of 5 stars
Pretty Girls Make Graves is an indie rock band which has unfortunately disbanded as of the beginning of 2007. I first heard of them because they were mentioned in Gilmore Girls, which should have somewhat increased their profile among teens. As you might be able to tell from the name of their band (which is named after a Smiths song of the same name according to wikipedia.org), Pretty Girls Make Graves is not a happy go lucky band. The band's got a girl punkish vibe to them with Andrea Zollo on lead vocals (even though three of the members are male). I don't have much experience with reviewing music, so all I know what to say is that I liked the guitar riffs, the tunes and the beat which were very "head-banging"-esque...I liked them better than Zollo's vocals which are often half-shouted/half-sung. Unable to hear the lyrics, I looked them up on songmeanings.net. The songs are a bit harderto decipher and a little more mature than the music record that I previously reviewed (Hilary Duff) - songs that are (possibly) about drug use, love, sex, poisonous relationships and more. This band is a little harder to swallow than the mainstream pop acts but teens who are into the indie/punk scene may embrace it. I would see angsty, "alternative" 14/15 and up teens enjoying this music.

Video (tv show)

2007-03-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

Clone High (2002-2003) 4 out of 5 stars
16 years ago, the leading figures of history were cloned by secret government scientists. Now, all of these clones attend Clone High where they have to deal with teen angst, living up to the reputation of the person you were cloned from, love triangles, unrequited love with your best friend - quite Dawson's Creek 1st season-ish, but with clones! One of the major love triangles involves Abraham Lincoln, a nice guy who lives in the shadow of his cloned-from predecessor, who is in lust with Cleopatra, who toys between him and JFK. Meanwhile, Joan of Arc is Abe's best friend and an angsty teen who is secretly in love with him. Abe's other best friend is Gandhi, who is a party animal and (at least in the first couple of episodes) often takes off his clothes.
The show often plays with aspects of history (i.e. the high school hangout is called the Grassy Knoll and inexplicably, a picture hanging on the walls of the restaurant is a graphic depiction of Abraham Lincoln's assasination). The love triangles and storylines (student president elections, prom night sex decisions, high school parties) are very reminiscent of teen shows like the previously mentioned Dawson's Creek. However, Clone High is different because it's a cartoon, it has clones, and it's funny. Teens might become curious about the actual lives of the historical figures featured on the show and do some research on their own. I would have expected teens to find this show entertaining; however, it's been on hiatus since 2003. It may have been a little too weird for the teen audiences and if possible, becomes weirder as the season progresses - the season cliffhanger involves a conga line at the prom, which itself takes place in a meat factory. Maybe it will find an audience in the DVD market. I would recommend this to viewers who are a just a little older as it has a lot of talk about teen angst and sex but viewers 13 and up should find it entertaining. However, I found it interesting that the Canadian rating was G (Halifax Public Library rated it 14+). Am I am more conservative than the Canadian Ratings Board or is this just because it's a cartoon?

Video (movie)

2007-03-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Saved! (2004) starring Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, PG-13, 3 out of 5 stars
Saved! is not your typical teen movie, although it does have its climax at prom night. Jena Malone stars as Mary, a pretty typical teen except that she lives within a Christian fundamentalist bubble where awards are given out to the "Best Christian realtor". Mary attends a Christian high school where Hilary Faye, as played by Mandy Moore, is the queen bee and her best friend. However, complications arise when Mary's boyfriend tells her that he is gay. To try to "fix" him, Mary makes the decision to sleep with him. Unfortunately, he is shipped off to Mercy House to try to "un-gayify" him and Mary discovers that she is pregnant. Hilary Faye basically turns her back on her after Mary becomes upset with her when Hilary Faye basically tells everyone at school that Mary's boyfriend is gay (by the way, everyone refers to Hilary Faye as "Hilary Faye", even her own brother). Meanwhile the new kid at school, the pastor's dreamy son, starts to notice Mary and the "rebels" of the school - Hilary Faye's disabled brother (played by Macauley Culkin!) and the lone Jewish student - befriend Mary.
The main themes of this movie was tolerance but is also a highly satirical look at the world of fundamentalist Christianity and Christian schools where the symbolic figurehead, Hilary Faye is depicted as a shrieking, hypocritical harpy. Some critics, both Christian and secular, had complained that this movie portrayed a one-sided negative portrayal of anybody who was Christian while the "unbelievers" (Macauley Culkin's character and the Jewish student) are the "good guys" and Mary became nicer the farther she "strayed" from Christianity. However, although it did portray Hilary Faye as one of the nastiest "Christians" I had ever seen on screen, it had a more sympathetic portrayal of Mary's mother and Pastor Skip (the principal of the school) who commit adultery in this movie and Mary's gay boyfriend, as Christians struggling with the realities of life. From a critical standpoint, Mary's love interest was a little "too" dreamy with his persistent asking out of Mary and his breezy attitude towards her being pregnant. As well, I felt the ending was a little abrupt and some loose threads should have been tied up but weren't. I think that teens would enjoy watching this movie, probably brought in by the star power of Mandy Moore (who I personally thought was riveting and entertaining in her "bitch" role) but staying to catch a glimpse into this often misunderstood world. This movie probably won't cure them of any misconceptions they might have of the "Christian" world, but it might teach them a thing or two about tolerance and recognizing hypocrisy.

Romance

2007-03-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

A Rose for Melinda by Lurlene McDaniel (2002). Published by Bantam Books.
1 1/2 out of 5 stars

Jesse Rose and Melinda Skye have been best friends since 1st grade, even when Jesse's parents got divorced and he moved across the country to California. They keep up correspondence for several years and Jesse gets to visit Melinda in Atlanta from time to time. Eventually, their feelings of friendship turn to something more. However, it turns out Melinda discovers she has leukemia just when Melinda is realizing her dreams of becoming a ballerina and she and Jesse are starting to realize their feelings for each other which makes it doubly tragic.
The author used a somewhat experimental format (sort of reminiscent of Nothing But the Truth by Avi, for those who have read that book). To tell the story, the author employed instant messaging, email and phone call transcripts, diary entries and doctor's reports from the two main characters, Melinda's friend, and their parents. Although it was kind of entertaining to read at first, this format had a tendency to become repetitive and I started longing for some exposition to speed things along. There were multiple emails and diary entries about Melinda's mom's need "to be needed", how courageous and brave Melinda is, etc. while other plotlines seem to be rushed, i.e. the destruction of a marriage within 8 notes/letters (on a sidenote, I felt it rather jarring and unrealistic for Jesse's mom to announce her divorce in her Christmas family news letter). I'm not sure what I had expected from Lurlene McDaniel since I had never read any of her books. However, as I started reading, I could see exactly what was going to happen next. Jesse and Melinda are characters that are nice but have no depth. Melinda stays"brave and courageous" til the very end (except for a brief moment when she stopped emailing Jesse and a diary entry where she says "This really stinks!"). Meanwhile, Jesse stays loyal from beginning to end, never seriously looking at another girl from the moment he leaves California.
The author includes "lessons" about not going too far with a boy, being careful about who you choose to date, choosing how to respond to bad situations, realizing that parents aren't perfect, etc. but these lessons are not incorporated very subtly.
The book was relatively easy to read although my eyes tended to glaze through the repetitive stuff. It seemed from my experience working in the teen's section at Chapters, teens like Lurlene McDaniel's predictable type of romance books. This book was not that fun for me to read but perhaps teens may find this interesting to read (and a good tearjerker). I'm not sure whether her other, more "conventional" books are more entertaining. This book is suitable for ages 12 and up.

Graphic Novel

2007-03-11T07:58:00.001-07:00

Ranma 1/2 Volume 3, story and art by Rumiko Takahashi (1994) published by Viz Communications.
4 out of 5 stars
This graphic novel mainly involves two characters - Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo. Their fathers are friends and have set them up to be engaged so that Akane's father's dojo (martial arts training place) can continue. Due to a curse, whenever someone splashes Ranma with cold water, he becomes a girl (when he is splashed with hot water, he reverts to his original form) - thus the "1/2" in the title. Even though Ranma and Akane are engaged, they often squabble and deny that they have any feelings whatsoever for the other - resulting in an entertaining and humorous love/hate relationship. The story is further complicated by Ranma's "1/2"-ness (of which Akane is aware) and rival love interests for Ranma and Akane. Many intricately laid out (and sometimes bizarre) fight scenes are included in the storyboards as both Ranma and Akane are proficient in martial arts. However, all this information I just laid out for you was not laid out at the beginning of this particular volume.
This specific volume includes a couples "skate-wrestling match" (which has both martial arts and figure skating) involving both gender and "human to pig" transformations as well as complications brought on by multiple love triangles. The second storyline introduces Shampoo, a Chinese martial artist who wants to kill Ranma when he is a girl but wants to marry him when he is a boy. The calamities that are caused by her arrival result in Akane losing her memory of Ranma.
As you can see, Ranma 1/2 is rather strange but extremely entertaining. The author does a great job in her layout and drawings of the complicated fight scenes (especially one involving the skate wrestling move, the "couple cleaver") but also includes things like the supporting characters' small reactions to the crazy plotlines and subtle winks to the outlandishness of the plotlines (as well as to the well-worn plot device of the love triangle). I have actually read other volumes of this manga before where the various characters and the whole "1/2" thing was quickly explained at the beginning and in this edition, that information would have been very useful to the novice reader. I think that this graphic novel is extremely entertaining and the author lays out the plotlines in as simple and easy to understand way as possible. However, a few teens might find it overly complicated and too strange for their tastes. I would recommend this for readers 12 and up.

Series

2007-02-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

Knocked out by my nunga-nungas by Louise Rennison (2001) Published by HarperTempest
3 1/2 out of 5 stars

The title and the brightly coloured and engaging cover design drew me to pick up this book from the bookshelf (I like this new design better than the old cartoonish one). This is a Bridget-Jones-style diary told from the viewpoint of Georgia Nicholson, a 14-year old Bridget-Jones-style British teen. In the third book in the Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series, we read her amusing and rather random entries on forced family vacations, her cat, Angus, the size of her nunga-nungas (breasts), snogging with both her new boyfriend, Robbie the Sex God and her ex-boyfriend, Dave the Laugh and many other teen travails.

When I first started reading this book, I found Georgia rather annoying, vacuous and superficial with her complaining about her parents ("...some of my mates are lucky enough to have parents that are split up."), her obsession with her appearance, and her perpetual use of words that end in "-y" ("gorgeosity" "maturiosity" "dance casualosity"). As the book progressed and I no longer felt the need to keep on checking the slang glossary at the back every 5 seconds, Georgia grew on me with her quirky ways and sense of fun. The diary entries are extremely fun and easy to read even though it sometimes seems like there is no plot. This book is like bright pink cotton candy. I would recommend this to 12+ year old girls.

Historical

2007-01-31T04:23:00.003-08:00

The Bone Collector's Son by Paul Yee (2003) published by Tradewind Books
3 1/2 out of 5 stars
Set in Vancouver, BC's Chinatown in 1907, this book tells the story of Bing, who has come with his father to Canada from China. Bing initially helps his dad whose job is to collect the bones of the Chinese so that their bones can be sent to China and reburied. His poor relationship with his father and his general feelings of creepiness about bone-collecting lead him to find a job as a houseboy with a family outside of Chinatown. However, the house also contains its share of creepiness with the rumours of a ghost inhabiting its rooms.

I enjoyed this book, partly because it was interesting to read about the intergenerational conflict between an immigrant father and son where it is the son who has held onto the old customs and traditions and it is the father who scoffs at superstitions and old beliefs (in most of the "immigrant literature" that I've read, it's the other way around). Elements of ghosts and spirits were given respect and played an active role in the storyline which surprised me as everything else is presented in a very realistic manner, including details about trolley cars, historical Chinatown and the inner workings of a 1907 household. Elements of racism against the Chinese are also portrayed in a realistic but not heavy-handed manner with Yee incorporating the real-life event of the 1907 Anti-Asian Vancouver Riots into the storyline. Yee manages to keep the story flowing, using the background of a ghost story and details about historical Vancouver to also tell a story about a son and father rebuilding their relationship. The writing is simple, easy to read, and any cultural aspects (i.e. why Chinese immigrants felt it was important for them to be buried back in China) are described and explained to the reader. I would recommend this for younger YA readers ages 9 and up.

Award Winner

2007-01-31T04:23:00.001-08:00

Breakout by Paul Fleischman (2005) published by Simon Pulse
2 1/2 out of 5 stars
Del, a 17-year old foster kid who has been shuffled around numerous homes, is trying to escape her latest foster home, driving on the highway from LA to middle America. However, she gets stuck in a big traffic jam for several hours, allowing her to observe and interact with her fellow highway compatriots. The book flashes forward to her life 8 years later, as she stars and writes in a one act monologue based on her experiences on the highway.

This book seemed to want to be "deep" but did not succeed (at least with me). I struggled to get through this book since there was no real plot - there was simply several vignettes on the lives of the people in the traffic jam monologue and descriptions of Del as she explores the highway and observes its temporary residents. This book is basically a character study of Del and the impact of her highway experience on the woman she becomes eight years later. The basic conclusion of the story? That the strangers that you meet on the street or that are in the cars on the highway besides you are people themselves personalities with families, friends and their own stories to tell. Breakout won a National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2003. This books is suitable for readers ages 12 and up; however, I am unsure of whether many teens would have the patience to read this book.

Science Fiction

2007-01-31T04:21:00.000-08:00

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (2004) published by Simon Pulse
4 1/2 out of 5 stars

In a dystopian future where clones are harvested for body parts and illegal immigrants have zombie chips implanted into their brains, Matteo grows up on a cocaine plantation. He learns that he is the clone of Matteo Alacran or El Patron, the most powerful drug lord in Opium, which is a country in between the United States and Azatlan, formerly called Mexico. He is taken into the old man's highly dysfunctional family and treated as a prince. Eventually, he learns the real reason why he was cloned and must escape.

Excellently written, this book will literally leave you at the edge of your seat with a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter. Although long (400 pages), the excellence and rapidly paced storyline may persuade more reluctant readers. While I was reading, I was thinking this book could easily be made into a movie or tv-series (the book's wikipedia entry states that the film is currently in development although there are no sources for this information). Farmer has a firm hand on the science fiction aspect of the book. She doesn't go into too much detail but she really makes the science fiction aspect of clones and mind control into a realistic possibility. There is also great characterization of both Matteo and the supporting characters in his life, which include the positive adult influences of Celia, his nurse and Tam Lin, his bodyguard as well as the soap operatic antics of the more villainous Alacran family members. It is interesting how Farmer portrays the extreme isolation and uniqueness of Matteo, precisely due to the fact that he is a clone. My only complaint was that the story lagged a little after Matteo escaped from the cocaine plantation to enter an equally dystopian juvenile detention centre. Also, I felt that Farmer ended the book rather abruptly with many unanswered questions and could well have written the novel for at least several more chapters. However, this may just be an indicator of the addictiveness of Farmer's writing. Adolescents and teenagers reading this book will readily emphasize with Matteo and his issues with isolation, self-esteem, and adult and peer pressures. I would recommend this for readers 12 and up who are somewhat advanced in their reading level (as the book is rather long and involves numerous characters).

Hi/Lo

2007-01-31T04:20:00.000-08:00

Breathless by Pam Withers (2005) published by Orca Book Publishers
3 out of 5 stars

Beverly helps out her uncle with his scuba diving store in Hawaii. Throughout the story, the girl gains more confidence in herself and her scuba diving abilities and also comes to terms with her eating disorder.

I was pleasantly surprised by this hi-lo book. When I read the first couple of chapters, I pegged Beverly and the supporting characters as stereotypes and thought that I would be able to accurately predict the rest of the book. I had previously read other "disease of the week" books and the main character's realization of the damaging effects of her anorexia appeared to come about gradually and more realistically. As well, the "love interest" in the book pursues and pushes the main character in a sexual way that she is not prepared for, but in the end, he is not demonized for this behaviour.