Sachiko - an audiobook review

Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story
by Caren Stelson
Read by Katherine Fenton and John Chancer
Dreamscape Media, 2016

The survivors of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings are known as "hibakusha" in Japan. As with all combatants and victims of WWII, their numbers are dwindling; it is important for their stories to be told.  Sachiko shared her personal story and that of her family with author Caren Stelson.  Despite the horrific circumstances of the bombing, and a lifetime of related hardship, Sachiko remains amazingly positive.  Her story is compelling and Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story contains the historical information that young people may need to put her story in context.  I highly recommend it.

I reviewed Sachiko for AudioFile Magazine.  You can read my entire review here: [http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2016_ypl_stelson_sachiko.html#]

Sachiko was on the National Book Award Longlist for Young People's Literature, 
and has garnered numerous other awards and accolades.

The Wild Robot - an audiobook review

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Read by Kate Atwater
Hachette Audio, 2016

AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award Winner

I recently reviewed The Wild Robot for AudioFile Magazine.  You can read my full review and hear an audio excerpt here. [http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/110681/the-wild-robot-by-peter-brown/]

The Wild Robot, a novel for ages 8 and up, is a departure from Peter Brown's usual offering of picture books (Creepy Carrots, Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, My Teacher is a Monster - and more), but his customary excellence is just as apparent.

The link to my review is above, however, I'd like to highlight a few things.  The Wild Robot premise is unique and thought-provoking - a robot designed with AI and programmed for self-preservation and nonviolence, is marooned on an island with animals, but no humans from which to learn.  The narrator, Kate Atwater, does a stellar job (see review) and sounds a bit like Susan Sarandon. The audio book is unique in that the beginning and the closing chapters have sound effects including music and sounds of nature.

Overall, it's very well done!  If you'd prefer to check out the print version, Little Brown Books for Young Readers offers an excerpt of the print version of The Wild Robot here. [http://openbook.hbgusa.com/openbook/9780316382014]

Storm - a review

Napoli, Donna Jo. 2014. Storm. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Storm, told in first person, present tense prose, presents the story of the biblical flood through the eyes of 16-year-old Sebah, an unlikely stowaway aboard Noah's massive ark.

The story unfolds in chapters that correspond with the biblical timeline - 40 days of rain, 150 days for the waters to recede, 10 months until the mountains become visible, 40 days until the release of a bird, etc.
(All can be found in the 7th and 8th chapters of Genesis.)

After chronicling Sebah's three week struggle to survive the deluge with her companion Aban, the chapter titled, "Day 22," ends,

It's another creature.  Like the first, but larger.  And obviously male.  He perches in a round hole high in the side of the ship.  There is a line of such holes.  And I passed another line below as I climbed.
A whole ship of these creatures.
I think of letting go, disappearing into the sea. I let loose one hand and look down. The sea is far below. I feel the energy seep from me. It would be so easy to just give up.
...
The creature behind me nudges my dangling hand.
I reach for the male's hand, and I am half pulled, half shoved up through the hole and into the ship.

Ms. Napoli clearly put an enormous amount of thought into the logistics of preparing for a massive exodus of animals with little or no possibility of resupply for more than a year. She details the grueling work of the voyage.  While Sebah struggles to remain hidden and survive in the enclosure of the bonobos, Noah and his family have a huge responsibility to the ark's inhabitants. The animals must be secure from each other, their enclosures must be cleaned, they must be fed, they must have fresh water. Their survival is imperative. The family collects rainwater, they dry and ration supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables for the ark's herbivores, they fish to obtain fresh food for the carnivores. The family's nerves grow frayed under the stress.  They begin to argue and turn against one another.  The hidden Sebah sees much,

"Respect!" Noah claps his hands above his head, and dust flies through the dim light.  "And haven't you learned arguing gets us nowhere?"  He takes his ax back from Ham. "The bottom deck stinks.  I have to breathe shallow to stand going down there.  Everyone has to help Japheth and me clean it out.  Today! Let our wives feed and water the animals of this deck and the top —while we shovel waste.  Noah goes up the ladder with Japheth at his heels.

How you will perceive this book will depend greatly upon how you perceive the biblical story of the great flood. Arguments could be made for classification as historical fiction, alternative history, survival fiction, dystopian fiction, or fantasy. However you choose to view the book, it cannot be denied that it is a thought-provoking look at the nature of humans and animals, of loss and love, of despair and hope.

An Author's Note, Timeline from Genesis Verses, and Bibliography are included.  Visit the author's website http://www.donnajonapoli.com/ya.html#STORM to read an excerpt.

(I'm not a Russell Crowe fan, but now I think that I might want to watch the movie, Noah, just to see another perspective.)

(My copy of the book was provided by the publisher, and was an Advance Reader Copy)

Buried Alive! How 33 Miners Survived 69 Days Deep Under the Chilean Desert - a review

Scott, Elaine. 2012. Buried Alive! How 33 Miners Survived 69 Days Deep Under the Chilean Desert. New York: Clarion.

Though it may seem as if it were only yesterday, it's been nearly two years since the San José mine collapse in Chile's Atacama Desert. The first collapse occurred on August 5, 2010. For two days, an escape route remained open, however, the escape ladder was only 690 feet long. The distance to the surface was 2,300 feet. A subsequent and more devastating collapse occurred two days later on August 7, effectively sealing thirty-three miners underground. It was 9:55pm, October 13, 2010, when the last miner, foreman Luis Urzúa, finally emerged.

Buried Alive! offers a chronological story that is contextual and multi-faceted. Using a theme of cooperation (chapters are titled "Surviving Together," "Working Together," "Planning Together," "Living Together," and "Rejoicing Together"), Elaine Scott begins with an introduction of the various factors that draw men into the mine, including poverty, tradition, and national pride. Other chapters recount the extraordinary way that the miners, under the direction of Urzúa, known affectionately as Don Lucho, organized themselves fairly and purposefully to survive the ordeal, never knowing until they surfaced if they would survive.

Not covered much in televised accounts, was the real meaningful work that the men did to help themselves. They dug sanitary trenches, aided the drillers with useful information, and dug drainage and holding pools for the 18,421 gallons of water that were necessary to cool and lubricate the drill bits as they ground down to the mens' refuge, a 14-day project.

Scott also follows the cooperative scene at Camp Hope, the makeshift town including a school and medical facility, that sprung up to house the thousands of people living in tents above the mine - family members, would-be rescuers, Chilean military members, and more - all awaiting news of "los 33." And journalists were there to provide it,

an estimated 1,700 of them, representing thirty-three countries on five continents. The world had its eye, its ear, and most important, its heart on Camp Hope and the thirty-three men who were buried alive.

The cooperative (and, in the case of the drillers, competitive) spirit of the rescuers is chronicled as well. Rescue plans and offers of assistance arrived from around the globe.  The logistics of drilling so far down into the ground without mishap is explained in fascinating detail.

Most people will be familiar with the jubilant scenes of rescue, but it does not feel as "old news," rather, Scott's writing rekindles the emotions of the day.

An afterword tells the somewhat saddening stories of what has happened in the miners' lives since the rescue, but the overarching message of Buried Alive! is one of togetherness - for 69 days, the trapped miners, their families and the rest of the world were together in hopefulness.

 Buried Alive! How 33 Miners Survived 69 Days Deep Under the Chilean Desert is dedicated "To the thirty-three miners and those who worked, waited, and worried until they were finally free." I count myself among the millions of people who worried about the fate of these amazing men. This is a story that will live on for many, many years to come. Elaine Scott has done a superb job in telling it.

Extensively researched, sourced and indexed with detailed author's notes. Contains numerous photographs.


Reuters news article, slide show and video of the rescue.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is hosted by Ms. Yingling Reads.

The Death-Defying Pepper Roux

Mccaughrean, Geraldine. 2010. The Death-Defying Pepper Roux. New York: Harper Collins.

Like all of us, Paul Roux is born to die, however, unlike most people, Paul Roux knows when he will die - on his fourteenth birthday.  Upon his birth, Paul's Aunt Mireille receives a message from Saint Constance.  Pepper will die at fourteen.  So, while other children are attending school, making friends, and preparing for adulthood, the young Paul is attending Mass, making daily penance and preparing for  Last Rites.  His resigned mother, Madame Roux, so often refers to him as "mon pauvre" my poor thing, that local children mistake his name for "poivre," or Pepper.  All of this is accepted, of course.  Saint Constance decreed it to be so.  Aunt Mireille reminds them so. It must be so.

But on his fourteenth birthday, Pepper suddenly realizes that he doesn't feel like going to his eternal rest. The saints will be looking for him.  But suppose they can't find Pepper Roux?

After all, "People see what they expect to see.  Don't they?"

Captain Roux? Yes, I am Captain Roux.
Here is a placard.  Yes, I am a protestor.
Do you work here? Yes, I am the meat slicer.
You've worked for a newspaper? Yes, I am Pepper Papier.
You are a delivery boy?  Yes, I am Konstantin Kruppe.
Good day, dear.  I am home.

And so, the doomed Pepper steps from one life into another, and another, and another.  And though Saint Constance is seeking to harvest him, Pepper's quick-thinking and earnestness keep him one step ahead of his judgement day.

The Death-Defying Pepper Roux is an exciting tale of adventure; some of the lives into which Pepper deposits himself are less than savory ones!  But Pepper is never dispirited, never bitter; and his various predicaments are often humorously improbable - he is by turns a grizzled sea captain, a grocer's boy, a reporter, a fugitive on the run, a hard-drinking husband, a soldier in the French Foreign Legion - all before his 15th birthday!

The Death-Defying Pepper Roux is also, improbably, a deep philosophical novel about faith, family, honesty, destiny and friendship.  Pepper's unlikely friend Duchesse, is a funny and colorful addition to the story - a strong and seaworthy steward, taken to dispensing valuable advice and wearing women's clothing.

A rousing and rollicking read that should be popular with kids and teens.  A book that begs to be read twice.  Move over Despereaux, here comes another French hero who will win reader's hearts!

A "nook" review of Getting Air

Gutman, Dan. 2007. Getting Air. New York: Simon and Schuster.

I finally received my "nook," and checked out my first book, Dan Gutman's, Getting Air.  This book is several years old but I had three reasons for choosing it.

1. It caused some controversy in my library system, with some librarians thinking it should have been classified as a young adult (YA) title
2. Because it's an older title, it was cheaper! (As a librarian, I'm not used to paying to read books)
3. I was hoping that the choice of a survival story combined with the coolness factor of my new nook would entice my son to read it (no luck there)

In any case, this is my first "nook review."  As for the nook itself, I've read its pros and cons, its comparisons to Kindle, and its possible negative impact on libraries. Here's my quick take on it:
My initial reaction is that using an e-reader takes a little getting used to.  The fact that your physical interaction with the words takes place on a touch screen separated from those words is, at first, a bit disorienting.  The ability to choose font type and size is great.  The interactive dictionary is cumbersome, but less so than getting up and going to the bookshelf for the Merriam Webster.  Yes, the page turns a bit slowly (more so than the Kindle?), but not nearly as slow as the three seconds that I've read in various posts. It's too soon to see how the e-readers will affect libraries.  There are many free books available - mostly the same titles that one would find at Project Gutenberg - classics and older texts out of copyright protection.  The nook allows for uploading of these types of books and also, if I can believe the blogosphere, books can be downloaded from some public library sites for checkout.  My library, offers access to e-books via NetLibrary, but for viewing only, not downloading.  I will continue looking into the possibility of free library content on the nook.  The Kindle, which has fewer free books available and no library compatibility, at least makes them (the free books) easier to locate.  For me, the best features of an e-reader are

• the ability to tote around literally hundreds of Harry Potter-sized books in my purse
• owning a book that opens up to the page where I left off
• the ability to make notes and highlights that don't ruin the book
• the, at least perceived idea, that e-books might be good for the environment (do e-readers create toxic waste? I don't know)
• and the changeable font size is pretty cool as well

Now for the book!  (spoiler alert)
Getting Air is the story of three 7th grade boys on their way to a skateboarding convention. The main character is the good-natured, Jimmy, who is accompanied by his younger sister, Julia, as well as his two friends. The plane is hijacked by religious radicals and they find themselves crashed in a remote Canadian forest with a female flight attendant, and an elderly woman knitter.

While it is mostly a book about the boys, girls should enjoy it as well. The younger sister, Julia, age 11, turns out to be the most resourceful of the bunch, due largely in part to her reading habit and many years in Girl Scouting. Getting Air touches on serious topics - religion, fanaticism, hijacking - and contains some grim content - murder and death - but yet, Dan Gutman manages to handle the topic with his customary light hand and touch of humor. (The boys use the plane's outer shell as a "half pipe" course)

The story may not be completely convincing, but it should appeal to young boys in particular.  The suggested ages for this book are 9-12, however, parents and librarians should use discretion in suggesting this title for young readers. I would offer this book to readers in 6th grade and up.

The Pirates of Crocodile Swamp

Arnosky, Jim. 2009. The Pirates of Crocodile Swamp. New York: Putnam.

*Spoiler alert*

I don't like spoilers, but I feel like I have to write one for The Pirates of Crocodile Swamp by Jim Arnosky. If you're not familiar with Jim Arnosky, he's a prolific writer of children's nature books, mostly Juvenile non-fiction and Easy fiction. I picked up his latest, thinking that I'd enjoy an adventure book with a nature theme - always looking for that perfect "boy" book. I expected from the cover art that the "pirates" of Crocodile Swamp would be two young boys, but I did not expect that they would be on the run from their father - a drunk, kidnapper, murderer, and abuser.

Unlike Kathy Appelt's, The Underneath, which couches its violence in an opaque mysticism, the violence in The Pirates of Crocodile Swamp (although not a focal point of the book) is real and urgent,

The day Terry died, Dad had come home early from work, drunker than ever. He
staggered in... Jack and I watched the whole thing from the living room. I can
still see Dad standing wobbly at the top of the stairs, cursing and mumbling
that we were bleeding him dry. We were chains around his legs, and he was tired
of working all day to feed our grubby faces.

The story is told from 9-year-old, Jack's point of view. After the boys are kidnapped by Dad, and Mom has likely been murdered too, they steal Dad's money and escape to a swamp in the Florida Keys where they live in a boat abandoned by Cuban refugees. In the book's conclusion, Dad finds the boys in Crocodile Swamp. As they fight against him for their very lives, a large crocodile attracted by the struggle, swims up and deals Dad a fatal bite to the leg. The boys pull him from the crocodile's jaws and place him among the mangroves. Dad makes his peace with them as he lays bleeding to death. Deciding not to report the death, Jack and Sandy set Dad's body adrift in the Gulf Stream.

I don't write this because I didn't enjoy the book; it is certainly an action-packed adventure novel full of admiration for nature and appreciative of nature's quietest moments, such as a moonlight encounter with feeding manatees,

We were about halfway across the bay when something splashed near Jack's oar.
Then a great bulge formed in the water and the back of a huge animal rolled
up to the surface. We pulled in our oars and dove for the floor. I said a quick
prayer, expecting that we were going to be swallowed by a whale. Jack was
hunkered down beside me, but when he heard a watery snort coming from
the animals in the water, he recognized the sound. 'Manatees,' he whispered.
We peeked over the side of the boat. There were three animals in the water,
each one as big as our boat. They looked like enormous gray footballs.
"Manatees," Jack said again. "Real live manatees! Get up, Sandy. They won't
hurt us." We crawled back up on the seat and watched the manatees in the
moonlight. One at a time they lifted their heads, and when they did, we
could hear them breathing.

The quiet splendor of nature creates a stark contrast to the rage of the boys' father.

Arnosky imparts useful and interesting facts about wildlife, nature, boating and survival, but they're integrated so seamlessly into the story, that readers won't even realize that they're learning. A rousing tale of survival and adventure, but not for the squeamish.