Silent to the Bone by E.L. Konigsburg

Konigsburg, E.L. Silent to the Bone.

Simon Pulse; 2004,

ISBN: 0689867158.

Reader’s Annotation

Conner can’t believe that his best friend Branwell dropped his baby half-sister like they say he did, but Branwell isn’t saying much to defend himself—in fact he can’t speak at all.

Plot Summary

Something terrible has happened to Conner’s best friend Branwell Zamborska.  Branwell has been accused of dropping his baby sister Natalie (also known as Nikki).  The story opens with the 911 call on Wednesday, November 25, 2:43 P.M., Eastern Standard Time.  You hear the dispatcher, then silence.  Suddenly, a Vivian, the English au pair, grabs the phone and tells the operator that the baby is unconscious—“He dropped her!”  From that time on, Branwell is struck mute.  He is taken into custody, and placed in a juvenile detention facility while the prosecutors figure out how to charge him.  Conner visits Branwell, but Branwell still doesn’t speak.  Told through the eyes of Conner, the story goes on to describe how Conner starts investigating the incident on his own.  He even devises a way to “communicate” with Branwell—or actually, Branwell gives Conner some strange, cryptic clues.  With the help of his 20-year-old half sister Margaret, Conner diligently follows the leads to find the truth behind what really happened.

Critical Evaluation

In Silent to the Bone, Konigsburg brilliantly weaves a suspenseful, intriguing story.  The plight of Branwell, who is so traumatized that he cannot even defend himself, along with the tragedy of a comatose six-month-old baby, combine to become a gripping novel that will keep readers riveted to the very last page.  Conner and Branwell share another connection—they are both part of tense, step-family situations.  Konigsburg has a knack for strategically placing critical details in the narrative that provide the reader with enough information that they are right with Conner in his investigation.  This is the kind of novel that will make you want to go back and read it again to pick up the clues you missed the first time around.

Information about the Author

E.L. Konigsburg earned her degree at Carnegie-Mellon University, and did graduate work in organic chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh.  She taught science for several years at a private girls’ school. Konigsburg started writing when her youngest child went to kindergarten.  Konigsburg is the only author ever to have won the Newbery Medal and be a runner-up in the same year.  That year, 1968, she earned the medal for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and her novel, Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, was named an honor book.

Genre

Mystery

Suspense

Curriculum Tie-ins

None

Booktalk Ideas

1. Why do you think that someone who goes through something tragic can sometimes not be able to speak?
2. Discuss the friendship between Conner and Branwell.

Reading level/Interest age

Young Adult (ages 13 +)

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

Sexuality

• Present the library’s selection policy
• Be familiar with similar works in the collection
• Refer to ALA Intellectual Freedom resources

Why I included this work

This was one of the most surprisingly suspenseful books I have read.

Awards and Honors include:

• Edgar Award Nominee (Young Adult, 2001)
• Booklist Editors’ Choice
• ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2001)
• School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
• A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (2001)
• Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Book
• ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

Great Quote from the Book:

"'It's obvious that there was someone else in the room than Branwell and Vivian,' said Margaret."

Works by Jane Austen

Emma
Pride and Prejudice

Emma by Jane Austen

Austen, Jane. Emma.

CreateSpace; 2010,

ISBN: 1451537948.

Reader’s Annotation

Emma Woodhouse fancies herself a matchmaker, and she chooses Miss Harriet Smith to be her “project” to remake, little realizing the chaos that will ensue.

Plot Summary

As a wealthy young lady from a very old family, Emma Woodhouse enjoys the status that comes from such a position.  After her long-time governess and dear friend is married to a local man, Emma finds herself all alone in a big house with only her frail and ailing father to care for.  Fortunately, Emma enjoys the company of friends and neighbors, including the brother of Emma’s brother-in-law, Mr. Knightly, who is a regular visitor.  Mr. Knightly and Emma have a long-time friendship that makes Emma feel as though he was her brother.  Emma now finds herself a bit bored, and when she sees Harriet Smith, a girl without any family at all, living in the small boarding school, Emma thinks of a plan.  She will befriend Miss Smith and remake her, and finally make a match for her!  Unfortunately, one misunderstanding after another causes chaos as the man Emma chooses for Harriet, falls in love with her instead.  As Emma tries to untangle the mess, new misunderstanding spring up, until Emma is quite over her head.  It is only when Harriet mistakenly thinks that Emma is encouraging her of Mr. Knightly’s interest that Emma realizes the truth, that she herself loves, truly loves Mr. Knightly!

Critical Evaluation

Emma is one of Jane Austen’s most light-hearted and fun novels.  The character of Emma is funny, likable and entertaining.  As always, Austen paints a picture of life for the middleclass gentry in England in the 1800s. So many of the characters capture aspects of human nature, that readers will swear that they know the characters personally.  The book Emma has been adapted into movies in various forms, most recently in the blockbuster hit starring Gwyneth Paltrow.  The popular teen movie Clueless is also based on Emma.

Information about the Author

Jane Austen was born in December 1775 to Rev. George Austen and his wife Cassandra.  Austen, the sixth of seven children, had only one older sister, to whom she was very close.  Jane and her sister were sent to boarding school at an early age for their education which consisted mainly of French, music and dancing.  Back at home jane was free to continue her education through reading and learning whatever her brothers and father could teach her. Although Austen never married, she did have several liaisons.  Her writing career culminated in six highly successful novels that have been the measuring stick for romances stories since the 1800s.  All of Austen’s works were published anonymously, and it was not 1814, after Pride and Prejudice that Austen’s identity became known.  Austen had an especially close relationship to her brother Henry, and he served as her literary agent until her death in 1817.

Genre

Classic Fiction

Romance

Curriculum Tie-ins

English Literature

     

Booktalk Ideas

1. Why do you think that marriage was so important to women in this society?
2. What do you think Mr. Knightly’s attitudes towards the different classes of people were?  Di his views differ from the other characters?

Reading level/Interest age

Ages 12-Adult

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

None

Why I included this work

This novel has been made into many movies and adaptations, including Clueless.

Great Quote from the Book:

"Mr. Knightley, in fact, was one of the few people who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them...."

The Gates of Zion by Bodie Thoene

Thoene, Bodie. The Gates of Zion.

Bethany House; 1986.

ISBN: 0871238705

Reader’s Annotation

In 1947, a young American photojournalist, Ellie Warne come to Jerusalem and gets caught up in a dangerous web of intrigue, even as thousands of misplaced Jews from all over Europe look for a place to call home.

Plot Summary

After World War II, thousands of displaced Jews across Europe had no place to call home.  Having endured the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust, they looked toward Jerusalem.  Under the control of the British Mandate, Palestine was a powder keg of tension.  One young American woman, Ellie, is a photojournalist who recently arrived in Jerusalem to stay with her archeologist father.  When some Bedouins arrive one day at their house when Ellie’s father is out, they show her some scrolls they have found and want to sell to the doctor.  Ellie can’t make that decision, but she does photograph the scrolls.  She unwittingly just stepped into a web of conspiracy and intrigue that will threaten her life as “someone” tries to get those pictures.  Meanwhile, David, her American military pilot, sometimes boyfriend, comes to Jerusalem to pursue Ellie.  David claims to love Ellie, but she is torn between David and Moshe, a handsome Jewish archeologist who works with her father.  As the story goes on, the events connected with the scrolls become linked with the events surrounding the founding of the State of Israel. 

Critical Evaluation

Many people are unfamiliar with what happened after World War II and to all the Jews who survived the Holocaust.  Thoene’s remarkable talent for description brings the story alive so that the reader feels like an actual witness.  The Gates of Zion, which is book 1 in The Zion Chronicles, almost immediately captures the reader with the exciting intrigue around Ellie photographing the mysterious scrolls.  As the novel progresses, that is the main storyline.  However, the historical events and background themselves are just as compelling as the storyline. Descriptions of life under British Mandate are eye-opening, and they provide a little more understanding of current events in that region.  Told with an admittedly pro-Israel bent, The Zion Chronicles are an adventure in the purest historical fiction tradition.  A great follow-up read for The Zion Chronicles is Herman Wouk’s The Hope and The Glory.

Information about the Author

Bodie Thoene (pronounced “Tay-nee”) claims that she has always wanted to be a writer.  However, early in school it was discovered that she suffered from the learning disorder, dyslexia.  Thoene’s mother refused to take the diagnosis lying down, and instead retained a young teacher to work extensively with Thoene.  Born in Bakersfield, CA, Thoene was a political science/journalism major when she attended college in San Jose, CA.  She covered much of the unrest in the Bay Area during the turbulent Vietnam era for U.S. News and World Report.  After Bodie married Brock and settled in Waco, TX, where Bodie attended Baylor University, she kept writing.  Bodie describes how she had the opportunity to speak to John Wayne in 1978 about her interest in the event surrounding the rebirth of Israel, and that she’d someday like to write a novel about it.  He told her,  "That’s one you ought to do. It’s the story of the Jewish Alamo!"  For more information, go to Thoene Books. 

Genre

Adventure

Historical Fiction

Curriculum Tie-ins

History

Booktalk Ideas

1. Discuss how the Jewish people were treated by the British under the Mandate.  Do you think those laws were fair?
2. Moshe or David?
3. What did you learn about history that you had never heard before?

Reading level/Interest age

Adult Crossover

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

Relgion/Christian Fiction

Why I included this work

This series has a lot of little-known historical background describing what happened to the Jews after the Holocaust.  It also has an exciting plot of intrigue and danger, with a little romance thrown in!

ECPA Gold Medallion Award (Fiction,1987)

Great Quote from the Book:

"Hope" is knowing the truth and acting on it.”

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees.

Penguin; 2001,

ISBN: 0143114557

Reader’s Annotation

When 14-year-old Lily runs away to discover the truth of how her mother died, she never expects to find a home.

Plot Summary

Lily Owens is fourteen years old and has fragmented memories of the day her mother died.  Lily can only remember they were arguing, a gun fell to the floor, and she, a four-year-old picked it up.  Set in 1964, in South Carolina, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily’s determination to find out what really happened to her mother that day.  Lily now lives with her neglectful father whom Lily will only call T-Ray (for Terrence Ray), and her black maid Rosaleen.   When Rosaleen takes Lily and goes to register to vote after the passing of the Civil Rights Act, she ends up getting harassed and beaten by three white men. After getting into an argument, T-Ray tells Lily that her mother abandoned her.  Infuriated, Lily packs up and runs away, stopping at the hospital to sneak Rosaleen out.  Following a clue left by Lily’s mother leads them to the Boatwright Sisters—August, June, and May—makers of “Black Mary Honey”.  Staying with the Boatwrights, Lily comes to feel loved and included in a warm household.  She learns about their own unique religion that centers around a black Madonna figurehead from an old ship.  She also learns to care for the bees, along with Zach, August’s godson, with whom Lily shares her dreams—she wants to write short stories, and he wants to be an “ass-busting” lawyer.  He and Lily are attracted to each other, but recognizing the dangers of interracial relationships in the South, they resist.  When Zach and his friends get falsely arrested for “injuring” a white man, May is so distraught, that she commits suicide.  T-Ray finally catches up with Lily, and ends up leaving her to live with the Boatwrights.  For Lily, it’s bittersweet—she’s glad to get to live where she’s loved and wanted, but sad that T-Ray’s last words to her are “Good riddance.”

Critical Evaluation

The character of Lily Owens comes alive in this poignant novel.  Her quest for closure about her mother’s death, and even more, her longing to be loved makes for a gut-wrenching, but satisfying story.  The quirkiness of the Boatwrights at first seems peculiar, but then feels just right.  The Sisters have created a religion and a home for themselves that serves as an oasis in the midst of a harsh and unloving society.  Kidd does a wonderful job at using the bees and honey symbolically.  The image of the hives, with a whole world hidden within, is a lovely illustration of how society judges on appearances, and remains ignorant of the world beneath the surface.  August’s strength ultimately gives Lily the peace she craves. 

Information about the Author

Sue Monk Kidd graduated from Texas Christian University with a B.S. in nursing in 1970, and worked as a registered nurse and as a college nursing instructor throughout her twenties.  When a personal essay she wrote for a writing class was published in Guideposts, and later reprinted in Reader’s Digest, Kidd really got her start in writing.  She later went on to become a contributing editor at Guideposts.  The Secret Life of Bees, Kidd’s first novel became a phenomenal success.  Kidd later wrote The Mermaid Chair.  For more information, go to Sue Monk Kidd. 

Genre

Historical Fiction

Curriculum Tie-ins

History—Racism and Civil Rights

Domestic violence

Booktalk  Ideas

1. How do our actions as very young children affect us throughout our lives?
2. Discuss Our Lady of Chains, and what she meant to the Boatwright sisters.

Reading level/Interest age

Adult Crossover

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

Violence

• Present the library’s selection policy
• Be familiar with similar works in the collection
• Refer to ALA Intellectual Freedom resource

Why I included this work

• ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2003)
• ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
• ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound
• School Library Journal Best Books of the Year (2002)

Great Quote from the Book:

“People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life.”

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted.

HarperTrophy; 1997,

ISBN: 0064407055.

Reader’s Annotation

Ella has to obey—she’s been cursed with the "gift" of obedience—but will she find the way to break the curse, and make her life into what she wants it to be?

Plot Summary

Talk about a gift that you don’t want!  When Ella is born and is just an hour old, the fairy Lucinda bestows a gift on the baby—the gift of obedience.  Of course, this turns out to be an absolute nightmare, since Ella is doomed to a life in which she has to do whatever she is ordered to do whether she wants to or not.  When she is told to never reveal the curse to anyone, she is compelled to obey, and can tell no one--not even Prince Charmont.  When Ella’s mother dies, Ella goes to boarding school with her two horrible stepsisters Hattie and Olive.  Hattie soon figures out about Ella’s curse and takes terrible advantage of Ella.  Ella runs away, and sets out to find Lucinda and beg her to remove the curse.  After many adventures, Ella finds Lucinda, and to her dismay Lucinda refuses.  Ella’s friend Prince Charmont, is in love with Ella, but she knows that to marry him would endanger him, and she tells him no.  Then, not knowing about the curse, the prince commands Ella to marry him… 

Critical Evaluation

Levine’s twist on the classic Cinderella has a lot of fun putting a modern spin on that timeless tale.  The book actually takes a character from literature who seems rather weak and doormat-like, and transforms her into a heroine who takes charge of her life.  When she finds life with Lucinda’s curse unbearable, she set out to change things.  She’s determined to break the curse.  Even while under the curse, Ella’s spirit comes through as she finds little ways to get back at her tormentors.  This novel presents an excellent picture of the difference between forced obedience and willing acquiescence. Levine tops it off with a highly satisfying ending, suitable for a happily ever after.

Information about the Author

Gail Levine came from a highly creative family, and for years Levine wanted to be a painter and actor.  In 1967, she married David Levine. She majored in philosophy at New York’s City College, where she received her B.A. in 1969.  She spent the next 27 years working for the government of the state of New York, mainly as a welfare administrator, helping people find jobs.  After taking some classes in writing, Levine tried to have her manuscripts published for nine years.  Her first work to be published was Ella Enchanted was accepted by HarperCollins Trophy on April 17, 1996—Levine calls that one of the happiest days of her life.

Genre

Fantasy

Fairy Tale

Curriculum Tie-ins

None

Booktalk Ideas

1. How is Ella different from Cinderella?
2. Can you think of another fairy tale that you would want to remake?

Reading level/Interest age

Ages 10 +

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

None

Why I included this work

• Newbery Honor Book
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award (Vermont)
• Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award
• California Young Reader Medal
• Iowa Teen Award
• Arizona Young Readers’ Award

Great Quote from the Book:

"Hattie: It's me he's going to have at his coronation.
Ella: Yeah, in the middle of the table with an apple in your mouth."

Wicked (Audio CD)

 

Schwartz, Stephen (Composer).   Wicked (Audio CD). 

ASIN:  B0000TB01Y. Label:  Decca Broadway.

Format:  Cast Recording.  Release Date: 2003.

Listener Annotation:

The story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda in the hit Broadway musical, Wicked is captured in this electric and compelling cast recording.   

 

Songs include: 

1. No One Mourns the Wicked
2. Dear Old Shiz
3. Wizard and I, The
4. What Is This Feeling?
5. Something Bad
6. Dancing Through Life
7. Popular
8. I'm Not That Girl
9. One Short Day
10. A Sentimental Man
11. Defying Gravity
12. Thank Goodness
13. Wonderful
14. I'm Not That Girl (Reprise)
15. As Long as You're Mine
16. No Good Deed
17. March of the Witch Hunters
18. For Good
19. Finale

Critical Evaluation

As the show opens with the death of the Witch of the East, the recording begins dramatically with the song “No One Mourns the Wicked”.  Other songs that have become especially well known are:  the fun “Popular” (Kristin Chenoweth); the wide-eyed “The Wizard and I” (Idina Menzel); the rousing “Defying Gravity” (Kristin Chenoweth); and probably the most poignant ballad of the  show, “For Good” (Kristin Chenoweth).  The 2003 Broadway musical, Wicked is loosely based on Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, which in turned is a parallel novel of the 1939 movie  by  Frank Baum.  Though the musical was met with mixed reviews when it first premiered, the show has remained hugely popular with fans of all ages.  The Broadway production's success spawned productions in Chicago, Los Angeles, London's West End and San Francisco, as well as international productions in Japan, Germany, Australia and elsewhere, and two North American tours that have visited over thirty cities in Canada and the United States.

Genre

Broadway Musical

Discussion points

1. Have you ever gotten to see the shows?
2. Which song best captures the relationship between Elpheba and Glinda? 

Audience/Interest Age

All ages

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

None

Why I included this work

Wicked premiered in October in 2003, and although its reviews were rather mixed, Wicked remains wildly popular with fans. Wicked has broken box office records around the world, and has broken records for weekly-gross-takings in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, and London.  Both the West End production and the North American tour have been seen by over two million patrons.

The show was nominated for ten 2004 Tony Awards, winning three, including for Best Actress (Menzel). It also won six Drama Desk Awards and an Olivier Award.

Great Quote from the CD (Spoken) :

GALINDA :  “Elphie – now that we're friends, I've decided to
make you my new project.”
ELPHABA:  “You really don't have to do that.”
GALINDA:  “ I know. That's what makes me so nice!”