Reviews from the past...

My Life in Dog Years
by Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen is well-known for his stories about wilderness survival, both true stories as well as fiction. Some of his stories describe his participation in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska, a grueling race for both men and dogs.

In My Life in Dog Years, Paulsen talks about several dogs that were part of his life. In the introduction he writes “I am—I say this with some pride and not a little wonder—a “dog person.” I make no excuses for unabashedly loving them—all of them, even some that have bitten me. I have always had dogs and will have dogs until I die. I have rescued dozens of dogs from the pound, always have five or six of them around me, and cannot imagine living without dogs. They are wonderful and, I think, mandatory for decent human life.”

Each chapter is about a different dog from Snowball, who helped him deal with loneliness when he was a little boy to Cookie, who saved him from drowning.

Although the book is designed for younger readers, I found this a great read (of course, I do own a dog myself, and she definitely has a personality of her own!) for anyone who cares about animals.

OK. This one is going to be a tough sell to high school students. I really don’t know many teens into opera, and it helps if you have some appreciation of opera to understand this book completely. The title, Bel Canto, means “beautiful singing” and comes from 17th and 18th century opera referring to the quality of a singer’s voice.

But don’t ignore this one just because you don’t know anything about opera, because if you do you are missing an intriguing story about love, passion, hope, and hostages. Let me tackle the hostage angle first. An assortment of diplomats and business people has gathered together for a birthday party in an unnamed South American country. The guest of honor is a wealthy, opera-loving, Japanese businessman whom the officials hope will build a factory in the country. The lure is a performance by a world-famous opera soprano just for him. She, too, comes only because the fee offered by the officials was too good to pass up.

In the middle of the party, a group of guerillas swoop in, hoping to kidnap the President of the country, who supposedly is there—he isn’t, having cancelled at the last minute. And so the story begins—a group of international diplomats, businessmen, and one world famous opera singer, held hostage by a group of kidnappers who don’t know what to do since their original target is gone, except to make outrageous demands to authorities who won’t give in.

If you’ve made it this far and accept the premise you're in for a very good story. The narrator of this book is Gen Watanabe, a young translator for the Japanese businessman. Fluent in several languages, he is the conduit for all of the action that takes place during this long, complex, hostage drama.

The story takes twists and turns as the opera singer enchants everyone with her beautiful voice, and the hostage takers and the hostages interact—forced to live together within the confines of a few rooms. Think the Patty Hearst story (but maybe you’ve never heard of her either)! You can predict the ending, but I guess that’s where the hope comes in. You keep hoping for the impossible.

Honky
by Dalton Conley
Reviewed May, 2002

"Little league baseball, playground "snaps," and after school karate lessons--at first glance Dalton Conley's childhood had all the typical hallmarks of growing up. But on closer look, Conley's childhood was anything but normal. One of the few white boys in a neighborhood of mostly black and Puerto Rican housing projects on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Conley learned early about race in America. His first lesson came at age three when he attempted to kidnap his neighbor--a black infant he was convinced could be his biological sister. By the time he was a teenager, he learned that even a doting parent couldn't keep his best friend from being struck by a stray bullet." (from back cover)

I picked this book because once I got into it I couldn't stop reading it. Although true, it sometimes reads like a good fiction story. Conley writes a very personal account of race and class differences in America
 
 

About the Author
by Alfred and Emily Glossbrenner
Reviewed May, 2002

The subtitle for this books reads: "The passionate reader's guide to the
authors you love, including things you never knew, juicy bits you'll want to know, and hundreds of ideas for what to read next."  That about sums it up! Alfred and Emily Glossbrenner have written brief two page bios for about 125 authors, both literary giants and contemporary favorites. I found it fun to just "graze." Each bio includes the basic information on the author, but there are sections called "Good to Know"--sort of a list of factoids, a "best of", web link(s), and suggestions for reading books by other authors if you like the style of one in particular.
 

Other books I recommend...

Into Thin Air
by Jon Krakauer

In 1996, the author undertook an assignment for Outside magazine to explore the question of whether anybody with enough money and time should be allowed to climb Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. The climb ended up deady when a severe storm caught four groups on top of the mountain, claiming the lives of nine climbers including some of the most renowned guides in the business. Krakauer survived, but it affected him deeply and resulted in considerable controversy. I couldn't put this book down.

Everything is Illuminated
by Jonathan Safran Foer

A young man sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. I think I will need to read the book again because the book jumps from the present to the past and back again. There is lots to think about in the books, especially the question as to whether you would betray your best friend to save yourself. I liked the quote: "Humor is the only truthful way to tell a sad story." There is humor in this book, as well as immense sadness.

Dreaming in Cuban
by Cristina Garcia

This novel is set in Havana, Brooklyn, and the Cuban seaside in the 1970s. It revolves around the lives of four women, the mother and her three daughters, of the Del Pino family. Lots of things to think about here--the affect of the Castro regime on people in Cuba, the impact on those who left, families who have been torn apart.

The Final Season
by Tom Stanton

I bought this book to read in a flight to Detroit this summer. The story is about the 88th and last year of Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The author attended all 81 home games, and each game reveals something special about the stadium. It's a true story about baseball, family, heroes, fathers and sons, dreams, fears and a place where everything came together. Since I am from Detroit, of Polish background like the author, and remember my uncle taking me Tiger Stadium as a boy, this story made quite an impact on me. This book, however, is much more than a story about a stadium or baseball--I think you will appreciate how men, young and old, deal with relationships.

As always, comments are welcome!
--Mr. J.

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