Book Review: Open City by Teju Cole

Open City by Teju Cole is one of the most interesting and thoughtful books I've read in a long time. The novel opens with our narrator Julius, a Nigerian-born psychiatrist who daily takes to wandering the streets of Manhattan, where he now lives and practices, as a means of warding off insomnia. As his feet take him in various directions uptown or downtown, his mind freely meanders elsewhere: his military school upbringing in Nigeria, his German mother, his girlfriend who has recently left him, his visit to a local immigrant detention center, a trip to Belgium, where America stands in the current international political climate, and even the nature of New York City itself.

It is an extremely quiet and contemplative book; though the prose styles are quite dissimilar, Open City reminds me very much of Paul Harding's Tinkers, in that it's a meditation on a character's past actions and memories more than a present day narrative, where all but the most provocative actions and memories lose their edge, softened by time and distance. Even his present day narrative is emotionally held at arm's length, never more so than with two disturbing encounters that occur at the very end of the novel that jar the reader far more than they do the narrator: one in which something happens to Julius, and one in which another character relates something that happened to her. In fact, this lack of reaction may call Julius's narrative reliability into question for some readers, but the more I know of other people and the more I grow in self-knowledge, the more I find myself growing increasingly comfortable with ambiguity and learning to accept the fact that people are equally capable (and sometimes simultaneously so) of actions both tender and heinous.

I admit that at times it was easy for me to put this book down, but I'm certainly glad that I always picked it back up again, as the rewards in finishing it were tenfold. This novel is definitely not for everybody; you should give it a pass if you're looking for a linear story with resolution, if you're uncomfortable with ambiguity, or if you're inclined to read predominantly plot-driven books. If, however, you're interested in the workings of memory and its effects on storytelling, the structure of narrative, the immigrant experience, and the quiet but erudite, politically-tinged musings of a man who may or may not be what he seems, do yourself a favor and pick up Teju Cole's Open City. I predict that it will be on more than one shortlist for major literary awards this year.

Open City will be published by Random House in February 2011 and Cole will be appearing at the Odyssey Bookshop on February 11, and his book is that month's selection for our signed First Edition Club.

~Emily

Watercolor & Gouache Illustrations

This week's selection of hardcover picture books all have watercolor or gouache illustrations. Gouache, for those who don't know, is a kind of paint similar to watercolor. It comes in little tubes and when you mix the paint with water to a pudding consistency it can be applied to paper in areas that dry matte and flat. If you mix additional water in, the gouache will look exactly the same as watercolor. Gouache is often used for concept art for animations. Mary Blair, who did development artwork for Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, used gouache in her paintings for the Disney movies. Some of these paintings have been collected into books: Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland by Scieszka and Walt Disney's Peter Pan by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson. Now that we've had a media lesson, on to some picture books.



Beaver is Lost (9780375857652)
by Elisha Cooper
Random House, $17.99
This story is told entirely in watercolor illustrations, a bit like David Wiesner's Tuesday, though Cooper's illustrations are much looser and more fluid than the intricacies of Wiesner's.
A little beaver floats away from his family on a log. He ends up at the dock of a lumber company where he is chased by a dog, he goes through a swimming pool, around a zoo, through a pond, through the streets, and finally swims hope after his adventure. the looseness of the paintings give the book an almost dream-like quality. A few of my coworkers looked through the book, commenting on beaver's adventure as they went; I am sure children will do the same, reading the illustrations as they go. Those familiar with the skyline of Chicago will be able to pick out the specific location of each scene.




Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia (9781416997788)
by Jeanette Winter
Simon & Schuster, $16.99
This picture book is based on a true story and features vibrant gouache illustrations.
Luis' house is so full of books there is barely room for him! So he loads the books on two burros and sets out to bring the books to people in other villages. On the way he meet s a bandit. Having no silver, Luis gives the bandit a book and continues on. In the village he reads a book and passes around books to all the children before continuing home. This simple book celebrates the act of sharing books and reading. Winter's illustrations are bright and colorful and the texture of the watercolor paper she used comes through to make them almost appear as fabric collages. This book is great for even the youngest book lover.

Little Blue Truck (9780152056612)
by Alice Schertle illustrated by Jill McElmurry
Harcourt, $16.00
This story is told entirely in rhyme with watercolor and gouache illustrations. A little blue truck drives down the road, beeping at the different animals it passes. When a yellow dump truck barrels by and gets stuck ion the mud, everyone goes to help out, from the blue truck to a frog. Children will help out by chiming in on the sound effects, a job made easier as each onomatopoeic word is written in large type and color-coded. Additionally, this book delivers a message of helping people, even if they might not do the same for you at first (do unto others).

-Marika

National Poetry Month: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

As spring so often brings a little rain into our lives, I thought I'd share my favorite rain poem with you. In particular the last line is something I often repeat to myself.

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
  And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
  And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart, and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; 
(image by Marinshe)                        Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
  Some days must be dark and dreary. 

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Two children-specific, well-known Longfellow poems-turned-picturebooks are: 

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

illustrated by Jeffrey Thompson

9780792265580, $7.95, National Geographic Society (Random House)

and 

Hiawatha

illustrated by Susan Jeffers

9780140558821, $7.99, Penguin   

To see this on my personal blog, go here. 

Happy Birthday Hans Christian Andersen

Thank you to Google for reminding me that today is the 205th birthday of Hans Christian Andersen. Google has a five-image series of Andersen's  Thumbelina surrounding their logo today.
Andersen was a Danish writer and paper-cut artist who not only recorded tales from the oral storytelling tradition (in the style of the Brothers Grimm), but who also wrote his own creations. His fairy tales were published in Europe beginning in the 1830s, but it wasn't until the 1860s that Americans first got a look at them (in an American English edition - maybe they'd seen them before elsewhere, people did travel back then, you know).

A man named Horace E. Scudder worked for an early version of the publishing house we now know as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, known then as Hurd & Houghton. At that time in children's publishing, children's magazines were becoming a big deal, with many publishers vying for the position of top-circulating, best-illustrated, most-engaging-stories-by-most-famous-authors children's magazine producer. The Riverside Magazine for Young People was first published by Hurd & Houghton in December 1866. Scudder had a close relationship with Andersen and was able to not only publish 17 of Andersen's fairy tales in The Riverside Magazine beginning in 1868, but Scudder also negotiated on behalf of Hurd & Houghton to publish the only authorized American edition of Andersen's stories (thank you to Leonard Marcus's Minders of Make-Believe for this information). Scudder was constantly encouraging Andersen to make the trip across the pond and visit the States, but sadly that never happened.

Andersen's tales have been made into movies - cartoon and live-action, plays, and ballets. They also continue to be collected in anthologies and illustrated as individual stories. Just last month in March 2010, Chronicle Books published a version of Thumbelina, illustrated by Sylvia Long (9780811855228, $17.99). One of my favorite versions of this story was illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger, published under the title Thumbeline (9780735822368, $6.95, NorthSouth). There is even a graphic novel version (9781434217417, $4.95, Capstone Press), and a re-imagined full-length middle grade novel with silhouette illustrations by Barbara Ensor (9780375839603, $12.99, Random House).

Of the hundreds of anthologies of Andersen's work, Lisbeth Zwerger has illustrated a beautiful edition in her signature dreamy watercolor style (9780698400351, $21.99, Penguin). W.W. Norton (a publishing house) has released an annotated collected works (9780393060812, $35), while Calla Editions, an imprint of Dover Publications, has published an immense, bound in a cloth binding with gold embossed lettering, gift edition (9781606600009, $40). Lastly, don't miss a collection of his paper cuttings - artwork that looks like reverse silhouettes, compiled by Beth Wagner Brust for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (9780618311095, $9.95).

However you prefer your Andersen, illustrated or performed, take some time today or this weekend to read a few of his treasured tales. I'd start with The Little Mermaid (if you're reading with older children or for yourself). This isn't a washed-out Disney version. It's the real classic. As it should be.

 - Rebecca

Click here to see this post on my personal blog.

Book Recommendations for 3rd & 4th Grade Boys

A teacher friend of mine prompted this blog post. Actually, she asked me for this list over a year ago, and she knows how very, truly sorry I am that it's taken me this long to get it for her. Once I had done so, though, I thought I might share it with the world.

The following list is a brief overview of some books that are currently in-print that I think would suit the tastes of boys who are in 3rd or 4th grade, or who are reading at a 3rd or 4th grade level. Having never been a 3rd or 4th grade boy, my opinion comes from having a father, an older brother, and many boy customers, all of whom I observe and talk with about books. The general trend runs toward sports, "funny" books, and action/adventure. I'm also throwing some part-graphic novel titles on here, just for fun.

The original series I recommended at the teacher's request was the Dan Gutman series, Baseball Card Adventures (HarperCollins). These stories featured a boy who upon touching a baseball card, would be transported back in time to meet, say, Mickey Mantle or Shoeless Joe.

Continuing on the sports theme, I would also recommend a series by Loren Long and Phil Bildner, originally known as Barnstormers when it was a hardcover-only series, now known as Sluggers in hardcover/paperback (Simon & Schuster). This has a similar feel to the Dan Gutman series, in that it combines baseball and magic, but aren't high-fantasy (no goblins, trolls, etc.). There are six in the series so far. My favorite aspect of this series is that a lot of baseball terminology and slang are used right in the prose, and then defined in the margins of the page. You get to read a great baseball adventure story and learn baseball vocab - what could be better than that?

One last sports series, that's not baseball specific is the Comeback Kids series by Mike Lupica (Penguin). Each book features a boy playing a different sport; so, for instance, one plays basketball, one football, one baseball, etc.

On to non-sports recommendations:

Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo, illustrated by Mike Lowery (9781416979722, $14.99, Simon & Schuster). The word "fart" is in the title. Need I say more?

The Indian in the Cupboard (series) by Lynne Reid Banks (Random House). An oldie but a goodie, though being sensitive to the portrayal of Native Americans in literature, I have to say this series is typically lacking in its cultural sensitivity and accurate tribal-specific information. That said, I read this series as a kid and it's what, in part, influenced me in becoming a Native American studies major in college. So, you never know.

Never underestimate the power of the Choose Your Own Adventure novel, mostly written by R.A. Montgomery, though other writers fill in the series (Chooseco). These don't need to be read in order. They have started publishing some CYOAs at the beginning chapter book level for 1st and 2nd graders, too.

The Jon Scieszka recommendation section of this post:

Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka (9780670011384, $12.99, Penguin). The subtitle is Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka. These tales feature the outlandish (mostly true) events that occur when you grow up as one of six brothers. Pictures of Jon Scieszka and his family are sprinkled throughout the book. Some parents have been sensitive to the cover - it was designed specifically that way to reflect the covers of comic books that Scieszka read as a child that age, not as a political statement of today.

Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things...
(...that aren't as scary, maybe, depending on how you feel about lost lands, stray cellphones, creatures form the sky, parents who disappear in Peru, a man named Lars Farf, and one other story we couldn't quite finish, so maybe you could help us out)
by Nick Hornby, Neil Gaiman, Jon Scieszka, Jonathan Safran Foer, etc. (9780385737470, $12.99, Random House). Besides winning best title of the decade, this book is a great introduction to some fantastic authors. Basically these are all short stories, a few pages long, mostly sci-fi or fantasy-related. A good introduction to this genre and these writers for kids at the Middle Grade reading level.

A similar book for those reading at the higher end of Middle Grade, say 10-14 years old, try Guys Write for Guys Read, edited by Jon Scieszka (9780670011445, $11.99, Penguin). This is the same type of book where all the stories are a few pages long, only not only sci-fi/fantasy-based tales. In this compilation, all the contributing writers are guys, writing for a guy audience.

Part graphic novel, part regular novel recommendations:

Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom & Frankie Pickle and the Pine Run 3000 (series starring Frankie Pickle) by Eric Wight (Simon & Schuster). This series is a little easier reading level for those reluctant readers, more of a 2nd to 3rd grade level. The "every day" scenes are in prose; it's when Frankie's imagination takes over that the graphic novel element comes to life.

Dragonbreath (series) by Ursula Vernon (Penguin). A relatively new series starring a little dragon as the main character, but in the role of a boy; also featuring a foreign exchange student (a salamander) and ninja frogs.

The Fog Mound (trilogy) by Susan Schade and Jon Buller (Simon & Schuster). Recommended by my Simon & Schuster book rep, this series is about a chipmunk named Thelonious who is given the chance to find out if the old stories are true - if people rather than animals once ruled the Earth, and if they did, what happened to the humans?

Now that you've heard my two cents, does the peanut gallery have any favorites they'd like to add?

-Rebecca

She said, He said: Novels with multiple narrators

A sales rep friend posed this question online today:

I have a writer friend who is looking for YA (or adult) novels that are told in alternating voices. She wants examples where each character has a chapter and they go back and forth between points of view. It’s a bonus if the characters live in different time periods.

The varied responses from the people who answered her, and the fact that I'm working on a YA novel told from various view points, made me reflect on that topic.

A co-worker once lamented about dual-narrator novels, saying something to the effect of, "Unless it's written really really well, it's a cop-out" (I'm paraphrasing greatly here). After I heard her reasoning, I admit I judged dual-narrator novels more harshly, despite writing one of my own.

The way I defend my own writing is that I didn't want to tell the entire novel from a third-person omniscient narrator POV, and both main characters are, ya know, main characters with two distinct voices, so...mine works (I hope).

But what really makes a novel work with multiple voices and in which cases is it unnecessary to the plot? A lot of novels have more than one main character, or really important secondary characters; why should they not all have their own voice? Often scenes are told from the POV of a character other than the main character, but almost never in first person. It is the omniscient narrator that allows the reader to gaze through the eyes of a secondary character, and it abundantly clear that the POV of the primary protagonist is the central focus.

Of course, I'm also confusing this subject by talking about POV (point-of-view), voices, and narrators, and all that doesn't include various storytelling formats such as diary entries, letters, phone conversation transcripts, and the recently more common emails and text messages. Where do all of these fit into the subject of multiple narrators?

While I don't have concrete answers to the questions I've posed, here are some books to hold up as examples for things I think they do particularly well.

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger (9780142413432, $8.99, Penguin) is my go-to favorite for multiple narrator/multiple format storytelling. This is a YA novel about three contemporary teenagers. The novel exhibits three different main character points-of-view, with plenty of secondary characters, texts, emails, IMs, diary entries, and expository scenes.

Another favorite contemporary YA novel that switches not only narrators, but also time periods, is Printz Award-winning Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (9780061431852, $8.99, Harper). Warning: It makes me sob (good tears) every time I read it; it's that good.

A new, not-yet-released YA novel told by dual narrators is Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (9780525421580, $17.99, Penguin, Pub. Date: April 2010). Interestingly, the two different view points are written by two different authors.

My favorite adult novel, though sadly out-of-print, is Letters from an Age of Reason by Nora Hague (9780060959852, Harper). Told in alternating sections, letters and journal entries chronicle the relationship between a white American living in England during the Civil War years, and the high-yellow former slave from New Orleans she falls in love with.

Also told in letters, is a non-fiction book, 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (9780140143508, $13, Penguin), which covers the decades of correspondence between Helene, the American author, and the people from the bookstore at 84 Charing Cross Road. Also adult.

Similar to 84... is the best-seller The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (9780385341004, $14, Random House). Also about an American author corresponding with British people, this takes place right after WWII, and delicately showcases the friendships and budding romance. Also adult.

Nora Roberts, also writing as J.D. Robb, often writes scenes from a secondary character's point of view, though it is always clear who the main character is. Her more romantic novels are almost always told primarily through the woman's point of view, but a great strength of her novels are the scenes that are seen through the man's eyes. In her J.D. Robb ...In Death mysteries, not only does the reader see Eve Dallas's and her husband Roarke's POV, but scenes from various victims' POV are often presented as well.

For another great mystery, read Darling Jim by Christian Moerk (9780805092080, $15, Henry Hold (MPS)), told from the POVs of a postman, a dead woman and her diary, and a live woman and her diary, among others.

I've noticed YA fantasy novels have a propensity for being told with dual narrators. Here is a quick list of books I've read that showcase dual or multiple narrators that are currently on the store's shelves:

Hearts at Stake (9780802720740, $9.99, Walker & Company (Bloomsbury, MPS)) and Blood Feud (9780802720962, $9.99, Walker & Company (Bloomsbury, MPS)) by Alyxandra Harvey

Incarceron (9780803733961, $17.99, Penguin) by Catherine Fisher

Leviathan (9781416971733, $19.99, Simon) by Scott Westerfeld

Sorcery & Cecelia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (9780152053000, $6.95, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

Witch & Wizard (9780316036245, $17.99, Little, Brown & Co.) by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet

Do you have any examples of novels of this ilk you'd like to share?

-Rebecca

Book Reviews: American Rust by Philipp Meyer & Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

AMERICAN RUST

by Philipp Meyer

New in Paperback: 9780385527521, Random House, $15

What happens when union manufacturing jobs are shipped overseas? What happens to workers who lose their good paying jobs with benefits? What is life like in cities and towns when work disappears and a slow decay sets in to once-vibrant communities? Philipp Meyer’s debut novel is an absorbing portrait of ordinary people and communities that face the extraordinary and heartbreaking de-industrialization of America. His novel is set in the former steel towns of Pennsylvania, but the experience resonates with many once-prosperous New England mill towns. I can’t stop thinking about Meyer’s characters, the issues they confronted, the complexities of their limited options, and the life-changing decisions they made. There were times I couldn’t put this book down and there were also times I didn’t want to turn the page for fear of finding out what will happen to these people I have come to care about so much, such is the power of Meyer’s writing.

Philipp Meyer will be at the Odyssey Bookshop, February 16, 2010 @ 7 p.m.
Don't miss this exciting event!

BORN TO RUN: A HIDDEN TRIBE, SUPERATHLETES, AND THE GREATEST RACE THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN

by Christopher McDougall
Hardcover: 9780307266309, Random House, $24.95

If you are a runner this book will absolutely fascinate you. If you are not a runner, the same is true. I am positive that I will never run fifty miles through the Mexican desert, barefoot or with running shoes, but I thoroughly enjoyed Christoper McDougall’s account of the Tarahumara Indians and their extraordinary running abilities in sandals. The book covers a wide range of topics including the physiology of running and the multitude of injuries modern runners face despite expensive running shoes, the necessity of our hunting ancestors to run marathon distances to feed themselves, stories of a quirky band of contemporary ultra-marathoners, and the frugal, but healthy lifestyle of the Tarahumara Indians. This is an inspiring book and I’m considering taking up running again—but I will need to seriously think about what kind of footwear to use.

-Joan

Ode to Little Golden Books

I've recently rediscovered the joys of Little Golden Books, published by Random House.

Have you had the same problem I had? They've been around for so long, lurking in the back of my childhood memories, that sometimes I forget there continues to be waves of children through my shop that are meeting them for the first time!

I have to thank Kate at A Child's Garden for the display idea - get a square basket, long enough and deep enough, yet narrow enough, to hold and highlight 20-30 Little Golden Book titles, create a sign, stand back and watch them fly out the door!

Here are some of my childhood favorites:

Baby Farm Animals
by Garth Williams
9780307021755, $3.99

Home for Bunny
by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Garth Williams
9780307105462, $8.99

The Poky Little Puppy
by Janette Sebring Lowery, illustrated by Gustaf Tennggren
9780307021342, $3.99

The Shy Little Kitten
by Cathleen Schurr, illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren
9780307001450, $3.99

One from my father's childhood that he shared with us:

Mickey Mouse Flies the Christmas Mail
by Annie North Bedford, illustrated by the Walt Disney Company
9780736424240, $3.99

I'm sure there are others, but those are the top few I remember.

Now for some Little Golden Books (some classic, some new) I've discovered in adulthood:

Animal Orchestra
by ILO Orleans, illustrated by Tibor Gergely
9780307982872, $3.99

I Can Fly
by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Mary Blair
780307001467, $3.99

Puss in Boots
by Kathryn Jackson, illustrated by J. P. Miller
9780375845833, $3.99

Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland
(I'm sure that doesn't surprise you given my established love of Alice in Wonderland)
created by Lewis Carroll, adapted by Al Dempster, illustrated by Walt Disney Studios
9780736426701, $3.99

New titles to be released in 2010:

A Day at the Seashore
by Byron Jackson & Kathryn Jackson
9780375854255, $3.99

I'm a T. Rex!
by Dennis Shealy, illustrated by Brian Biggs
9780375858062, $3.99


It would be an oversight not to mention that the Walt Disney Company has produced a Little Golden Book for almost every one of their animated films, and Pixar has a few as well, as do the companies that produce Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Dora the Explorer.

While those are not my favorite, I have recently become enamored with the newest Disney film The Princess and the Frog, and so, subsequently enjoy the Little Golden Book version:

The Princess and the Frog
created by Random House Disney
9780736426282, $3.99

What are some of your favorites?

-Rebecca