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| November 21, 2013, 5:33 am

“The Great Trouble” (review)

Deborah Hopkinson's medical mystery for young readers is set during the infamous cholera epidemic that plagued London in  1854.

Deborah Hopkinson’s medical mystery for young readers is set during the infamous cholera epidemic that plagued London in 1854.

Deborah Hopkinson’s “The Great Trouble,” like Laurie Halse Anderson’s “Fever 1793″, examines a time in history when people didn’t understand how contagious disease spread.

Until about 1849, people attributed cholera and other communicable diseases to poisonous air. Then London physician John Snow suggested that it wasn’t dirty air, but contaminated water and food that spread cholera.

At the time of the 1854 cholera outbreak, people dumped waste, including human sewage, into cesspools that sometimes were located next to wells and other sources of drinking water. Faulty infrastructure meant that sometimes the cesspools infected the drinking water. In fact, a leaking cesspool helped Snow prove his theory.

“The Great Trouble” is told from the vantage point of a mudlark, an orphaned boy who searches the banks of the filthy Thames river to look for things to sell. He also runs errands to raise money to house his little brother. The meanness of street life is recognizable to anyone who’s read “Oliver Twist,” and it’s the opposite of romantic.

“The Great Trouble” is a fine, swiftly-paced story that might suggest National History Day projects to perceptive young readers searching for topics.

“The Great Trouble” by Deborah Hopkinson (Knopf, $16.99)

| November 20, 2013, 5:02 am

“The Mystery of Meerkat Hill” (review)

"The Mystery of Meerkat Hill," a Precious Ramotswe mystery for yougn readers

“The Mystery of Meerkat Hill,” a Precious Ramotswe mystery for yougn readers

“The Mystery of Meerkat Hill” continues the adventures of young Precious Ramotswe, who grows up to become the heroine of Alexander McCall Smith’s splendid “Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency” series.

Young Precious was introduced in “The Great Cake Mystery”). Her budding career as a helpful detective and community activist have made her part of Botswana a bit friendlier.

That continues in “The Mystery of Meerkat Hill,” in which Precious meets two new students at her school. Like many newcomers, they’re intimidated by the prospect of being strangers in an established group, but Precious gently reassures them. When Teb, the new girl, says, “We don’t know anybody,” Precious replies, “Well, you know me now, don’t you?” And when Teb nods, Precious says, “And I can tell you the names of everybody here. So I’m sure that you’ll soon know everybody.”

Wouldn’t it be great if more people responded that way to outsiders?

It doesn’t take long for Precious to deduce that Teb and her brother, Pontsho, are poor. Precious is surprised when Teb says that she’s never tasted an apple, and notices neither child is wearing shoes. But Teb and Pontsho have something that Precious doesn’t have — a pet meerkat. It likes to ride on the back of their family’s pregnant cow.

But then the precious cow disappears. How can someone, even someone with blooming detective skills, prove which cow is theirs when so many red Batswana cattle look exactly alike? And then Precious thinks of how the meerkat can save the day.

It is a charming story that paints a realistic, pragmatic image of rural life in Botswana, where people often count their wealth in cattle (not unlike people in rural Colorado). Readers will finish this book with a new appreciation of what’s valuable. At only 90 pages, it would make a wonderful round-robin story to read aloud after Thanksgiving dinner.

“The Mystery of Meerkat Hill” by Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor Books, $6.99)

| November 6, 2013, 5:39 am

“Whale Shines” by Fiona Robinson

"While Shines: An Artistic Tale" is about a cetacean who discovers a knack for art.

“While Shines: An Artistic Tale” is about a cetacean who discovers a knack for art.

“Whale Shines: An Artistic Tale” begins with Whale cruising through the ocean, carrying a banner advertising a call for entries in The Hugest Art Show In The Deep & Briny. (The show’s curator is “Mr. Jackson Pollock.”)

Whale encounters many deep sea creatures busily working on their entries. Here’s Eel wriggling wavy lines in the ocean bottom sand. Here’s Wrasse changing his color to match his surroundings. Here’s Hammerhead making sculptures, and Squid, Octopus and Cuttlefish trying to steal ink from one another.

Whale feels mournful. He would like to enter the competition, but he’s too big to collect sculpture materials from shipwrecks, too mono-hued to attempt Wrasse’s camouflage tricks, and he doesn’t know how to make ink.

“I wish I could make something, too, but I’m just in advertising,” he says.

But then he hears encouragement from tiny voices, and — well, no, he’s not immediately inspired to try his best. He tells the tiny voices to get lost.

And then a light clicks on. And another, and another. A lot of tiny lights. And this time, Whale looks and listens. And Whale shines.

It’s a smart, funny book, especially appealing to young cynics and to anyone who’s ever wrestled with Destination Imagination and other creative problem solving challenges.

“Whale Shines” by Fiona Robinson (Abrams Books for Young Readers, $17.95), ages 3 and up.

| October 7, 2013, 4:14 am

“The Best Gifts” breastfeeding picture book (review)

The Best Gifts

The first cover for “The Best Gifts,” a lovely picture book by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, featured a close-up of an infant nursing at a breast. Predictably, it caused a backlash among the sort of people who have trouble seeing breasts as attractive and sexy but functional.

A new edition of “The Best Gifts” features artwork by Elly MacKay. Her illustration shows a dark-hued woman with a baby nursing discreetly, which is the way, let’s face it, that most breastfeeding moms arrange themselves and their infants.

And after all that, are you expecting “The Best Gifts” to be a militant pro-nursing book?

Well, it’s not.

It certainly condones breastfeeding and mother’s milk, but it’s really about the intangibles behind the things that loved ones give to one another. A scrapbook covered with a piece from a beloved baby blanket, a bedtime story book with a well-loved patina, a bit of something (like sandalwood) that evokes the scent of home — what makes them valuable is the association more than the things themselves.

Hopping back on the soapbox for a moment, let me note that breastfeeding is one of the few gifts that combines the tangible and intangible. It’s not always easy, but the benefits to a baby (and mother) are far-reaching.

While “The Best Gifts” won’t win a Newbery or Caldecott award, it is a lovely little book, perfectly suitable for a family with a newborn.

“The Best Gifts” by Marsha Skrypuch, illustrated by Elly MacKay (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, $18.95). Ages 4 and up.

| September 26, 2013, 2:59 pm

Stephen King charms, chills Chautauqua Auditorium crowd in Boulder

Author Stephen King leans into the crowd during a storytelling session at Boulder's Chautauqua Auditorium on Sept. 25.

Author Stephen King leans into the crowd during a storytelling session at Boulder’s Chautauqua Auditorium on Sept. 25. Photo courtesy of Benko Photographics.

Along with Bill Cosby and “Weird” Al Yankovic, Stephen King raised me. At least in the pop-culture sense. (Please, no jokes about what kind of person I turned out to be).

By the time I was in sixth grade, I had read every Stephen King work published up to that point — which, even in 1990, included dozens of novels, short fiction collections and scattered nonfiction. The man’s prolific penchant has never been in doubt, and thanks to that he’s responsible for a vast swath of my personality and tastes, influencing me in ways I can’t even quantify at this point in my life.

I say this not to congratulate myself for being a voracious reader, but to illustrate how thoroughly in love I had fallen with King’s persona, worldview and catalog. And though I haven’t read much of his work in recent years, getting to finally see The Man Himself last night at Boulder’s gorgeous, slightly chilly Chautauqua Auditorium was a nervous treat — and one that was far better than I expected.

The sold-out crowd of 1,300 arrived early, causing massive lines to snake in every direction from the hilltop venue and shuttles to ferry people to and from distant parking lots. The middle-aged, overwhelmingly white audience sat through a lengthy nonprofit pitch from Chautauqua’s event director after which King took the stage, looking relaxed and thin in a navy blue T-shirt and faded jeans, his floppy hair parted in the middle and his gigantic eyes squinting under the bright lights.

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| September 23, 2013, 5:28 am

Book review “Promise Me Something” by Sara Kocek

"Promise Me Something" is about adolescence, secrets, and betrayal

“Promise Me Something” is about adolescence, secrets, and betrayal

“Promise Me Something” is an uncompromising story about Reyna, a girl who, separated from her longtime classmates by school redistricting, reluctantly becomes friends with Olive, a brash loner at her new school.

Reyna knows that Olive is a social leper. By associating with Olive, Reyna knows that she’s likely to be branded an oddball as well. But without her pals, Reyna is on her own anyway. As Olive bluntly notes, “You’re the only person in this school who needs a friend as much as I do.”

The promise Olive extracts from Reyna: “Never lie to me.” It is a phrase that Olive bears like a standard. It’s a phrase that Reyna, a less confident adolescent, cannot say truthfully.
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| September 21, 2013, 5:13 am

Book review: “Stained” by Cheryl Rainfield

Cheryl Rainfield's semi-autobiographic novel studiesa  young woman with grit and determination.

Cheryl Rainfield’s semi-autobiographic novel studiesa young woman with grit and determination.

Cheryl Rainfield‘s taut YA thriller “Stained” is the relentless, gripping story of a painfully self-conscious teenager who’s kidnapped by an acquaintance.

Until Sarah is abducted, she can think of little beyond the port wine birthmark that covers part of her face. She dreams of a surgery that will remove it, even temporarily.

And then she’s grabbed by someone who pretends to be rescuing her from bullying classmates, and abruptly the birthmark is the least of her worries. Her captor drugs her, padlocks on a mask that covers most of her face, and dumps her in a remote one-room shack.
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| September 20, 2013, 11:46 am

Book review: Kevin Henkes’ “The Year of Billy Miller”

Keven Henkes' "The Year of Billy Miller" nails the trials and joys of being a boy in second grade.

Keven Henkes’ “The Year of Billy Miller” nails the trials and joys of being a boy in second grade.

“The Year of Billy Miller” is Kevin Henkes‘ wonderful account of a year in the life of a typical boy plowing through second-grade.

The year begins in the aftermath of a tumble Billy takes just before the first day of school, getting a good knot on his head that makes his parents worry about a brain injury. Then he meets Emma-whose-nickname-is-Emster, a coinage that Billy hears as “hamster.” This sets the stage for their fractious relationship, and inspires Billy to pull a pose that his teacher mistakes as mocking herself. When Billy comes home from this eventful first day of school, his answers to his parents’ questions about the experience are: “Okay” “Nothing” and “I don’t know.”

Adults forget what a bumpy road a second-grader travels. There’s the brilliant idea for a diorama — yay! — and the execution that doesn’t live up to what was imagined (boo). There’s the inspiration for a realistically hovering bag –yay!– and then his sister’s unwanted addition of glitter (boo x a million). There are discussions about food babies, “when you eat so much, your stomach feels big and you feel like you’re having a baby.”

Food babies. Brilliant! But fans of “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” and “Olive’s Ocean” expect no less.

“The Year of Billy Miller” by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books, $16.99) Ages 8 to 12

| September 6, 2013, 5:02 am

Marilyn Hagerty: “Grand Forks” restaurant reviews

"Grand Forks," a History of American Dining in 128 reviews by Marilyn Hagerty

“Grand Forks,” a History of American Dining in 128 reviews by Marilyn Hagerty, published by Anthony Bourdain, right

When Marilyn Hagerty and her Olive Garden review went viral last year, television celebrity and chef Anthony Bourdain seized her for his fledgling book imprint almost as fast as Simon Cowell’s eyes started flashing dollar signs when he first heard Susan Boyle.

My cynical guess is that Bourdain saw Hagerty’s deceptively gentle reviews as the equivalent of Susan Boyle’s bushy eyebrows. This is a woman who bypasses the condiment counter at Arby’s, observing “We’re not much for sauces on our meat.”

But did he see that she’s a remarkably insightful writer, and that those polite reviews adapt a Midwestern version of the Southern phrase “Bless your heart”?

Hagerty, like so many civil Midwesterners, tends not to complain, and doesn’t quite damn with faint praise. Her code for a so-so (or lesser) restaurant involves going into great detail about a place’s decor.

Reviewing Arby’s, Hagerty invests more words in the scenery than the food she ate, observing only that the turkey in the turkey sandwich was “moist and tasty” and that for only 300 calories, she “felt self-righteous” eating it. “Self-righteous” is a phrase that conveys so much, doesn’t it? Including the pride some people associate with privation.

I wonder if Bourdain can see past his amusement at Hagerty’s sincerity — he calls her “the antidote to snark” — to discern the quality of her writing. She’s really good. E.B. White would approve of her concise, perceptive style, and her engaging, singular voice. In her hands, even American chain food becomes something larger (and I don’t mean a paunch, although paunches and American chain food shops certainly go together).

“Grand Forks” is discerning (really) about the place of food in American culture. As a book, it would not be out of place in a course like Mario Montano‘s Colorado College classes about the anthropology of food.

Thanks for publishing her collected reviews, though, Anthony Bourdain! Bless your heart.

“Grand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews” by Marilyn Hagerty (Anthony Bourdain Books/Ecco, $14.99)

| September 2, 2013, 4:46 am

Eric Walters’ “My Name Is Blessing”

"My Name is Blessing," based on a true story about a Kenyan boy with a physical disability.

“My Name is Blessing,” based on a true story about a Kenyan boy with a physical disability.

Eric Walters’ “My Name is Blessing,” based on a true story, follows a the troubled journey of Muthini, a Kenyan boy born with only two fingers.

Taunted by other children, Muthini asks his grandmother, “Why do I have fewer fingers?” She replies, “We are each given more of some things and less of others.”

Muthini doesn’t buy it. He’s never met anyone “with fewer fingers than me.”

So his grandmother pulls him close. She puts her ear to his chest.

“Yes, it is as I thought. I can hear that your heart is larger than other people’s.” She tells him to use his spirit, his brains and his heart. And when Muthini shows a talent for soccer, his grandmother takes steps to find a place where he can develop his heart, mind, soul and soles.

Author Walters co-founded Creation of Hope, a program that provides residential care and financial support for children attending high school, and offers ongoing assistance to orphans who live with extended families. There really is a boy once known as Muthini, now known as Baraka (“Blessing”) who lives at Rolling Hills Residence, which was built by Creation of Hope.

“My Name is Blessing” by Eric Walters (Random House of Canada, $17.95), ages 6 to 9

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