Recent Recommendations: June 2013

It's been so long! I'm not sure why.

Escher Sketch

Franz Ferdinand's New Song!!! "Right Action"

Tattoos inspired by books  Some of these I thought were odd choices, some surprised me, and some were pretty cool.

Can't get enough of "All Your Gold" by Bat for Lashes

The Intouchables A hilarious, heart-warming French film about a paralyzed man and the thug-like guy who becomes his caretaker. The acting was excellent, and debut actor, Omar Sy won the French Oscar for his immensely appealing performance. It was hugely popular in France, and it exceeded my high expectations. Watch the trailer. I dare you not to want to watch it.

Pierre Carreau's photos of waves frozen by a very high speed camera. They look like sculptures. Very cool. (via)

"Royals" by 16-year-old Kiwi, Lorde (also, "Tennis Court")

Glastonbury 2013 (June 26-30, so hopefully new videos will continue to be posted throughout the weekend)

Don't miss the trailer for the Michael J. Fox Show, coming this spring.

This video of a sheep rescue gone wrong:

And your adorable for the day:

 
(see his first visit to the show)

Picture This: Take Me Out to the Yakyu

Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon

"I love baseball," our young, rosy-cheeked narrator says, "in America...and in Japan." He then explains what it's like to go to the baseball game (or yakyu) with his Pop Pop and with Ji Ji. The reader sees and hears about the rituals and differences of going to a baseball game in America and in Japan. In America, he gets a hot dog and peanuts, while in Japan he gets soba noodles and edamame. Though the transportation, venue, souvenirs, and vocabulary may be different, the spirit is the same in this fond ode to baseball.

The more I look over this book, the more I appreciate it. It's one of those deceptively simple books. The text is simple and direct (easy-reader like). But not everything that's featured in the illustrations is explicitly explained in the text. Readers have room to explore and discover on their own. They can see the differences (and similarities) in architecture, furniture, toys, etc. Embedded throughout the book are cultural differences and similarities in addition to the more superficial differences, like using kilometers instead of miles. The Americans have paper tickets, while the Japanese have a phone with a scannable QR code on it; the Americans cheer, "win!" while the Japanese shout, "do your best!"

The illustrations are bright, bold, eye-catching, and graphic (is that enough adjectives for you?). In mirrored images, Meshon shows America in blue (on the right) and Japan in Red (on the left). Sometimes the facing pages interact in dynamic ways. The illustrations conjure the excitement of the game, and feature the quintessential experiences of going to a game.

Meshon has sprinkled Japanese words throughout, and includes a glossary at the end. I do wish he'd included a pronunciation guide (how do you say kakiiin?) but that's a minor quibble. He has also written an author's note in which he explains a little about the game itself and its history, once again comparing the game in America and Japan.

This is obviously a book for baseball lovers by a baseball lover. Great fun.

Recent Read: Eleanor & Park

"She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something"

After being kicked out of the house for a year by her new step-father, Eleanor's back and starting at a new high school. She walks onto the bus, chubby, with bright, wild red hair, and weird clothes. No one wants her to sit by them. But when the bus driver insists she sit down, an Asian kid named Park reluctantly moves his bag so she can sit. Eleanor and Park ride the bus together in silence every day. But when he notices her reading his X-Men comics over his shoulder, he slows down his page turns. He doesn't want to be associated with the new girl, and she thinks of him as "weird Asian kid." When he gets vol. 1 of Watchmen, he invites her to take it home and finish it. Shocked, she does and loves every moment. A few days later she arrives on the bus to find a whole stack of comics waiting for her on her seat, to take home, read, and bring back.

Have I caught your attention? Because this had to be one of the most romantic beginnings to a story I’d ever read. When he sees that she’s written the titles of Smiths songs on her book covers and learns she's never heard them, he makes a mix tape. When he finds out she doesn’t have anything to listen to it on, he gives her his walkman.

Fan art by Henna Lucas
http://pbjsandwitch.tumblr.com/

What Park doesn't know is what a dreadful, scary place Eleanor's home is. She’s so poor, she doesn't have a toothbrush, and her mother married the physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive drunk who kicked Eleanor out of the house for a year. So the bus rides and the music and the comics become her solace. She spends every waking moment away from Park thinking about him, anticipating the next time she’ll see him. And even though he comes from a happy home with loving parents, he feels the same way about her, wishing he could always be with her.

Even though Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell is another love story b/w teenagers in high school, nothing about this story feels like something I’ve seen before. The excellent writing and character development elevate this above so much of what's out there, while still maintaining a good story with heart and excitement. Everything about this story felt real--her mother’s relationship with this abusive creep, Park’s father's difficulty in connecting with his sensitive son, Eleanor’s discomfort being in a traditional home like Park’s, her shame and unwillingness to open up, Park’s feminine mother not knowing how to make sense of this odd red-headed girl, I could go on. All of these various themes and everyday life struggles give the story some real meat and depth.

And the romance--it puts Twilight to shame! The love is so intense and passionate. There are lines like, "Eleanor sitting next to him on the couch made Park feel like someone had opened a window in the middle of the room. Like someone had replaced all the air in the room with brand-new, improved air (now with twice the freshness)." Yeah.

I would recommend this to John Green fans (he did give it a stellar review).

Picture This: The Matchbox Diary

The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

On a visit to her great-grandfather's house, a little girl picks out an old cigar box so she can listen to him tell her its story. He opens the box to reveal many matchboxes. He explains that it's his diary. In each box is a token of a past memory. In the first is an olive pit he sucked on when he was a hungry boy in Italy. In another is the first bottle cap he ever saw, collected on his journey to Naples. Together great-grandfather and great-granddaughter revisit his past and his journey from Italy to America.

The story is a familiar one--a great-grandparent travels from his country to America to find a better life. Though its difficult, he lives out his own American dream. But I don't know that it's a story that gets old--especially not with a telling like this. Fleischman has obviously chosen the objects and memories with care, then telling the story in a straightforward manner, through dialogue. The grandfather sucked on an olive pit because there was no food in his home. To communicate, his father had to find someone to write letters for him, and then his wife in Italy had to get the schoolmaster's son to read them aloud because the entire family was illiterate (hence the diary kept with objects instead of words).

Bagram Ibatoulline's expressive illustrations evoke nostalgia. The pages are textured and colored like old, fragile paper, and the images of past memories are done in a sepia color palette, like old photographs you might see at the Ellis Island Immigration museum. The current conversation between grandfather and granddaughter is in saturated color, distinguishing it from memory. The softness of Ibatoulline's illustrations also lends itself to the nostalgic feel as many of the illustrated memories have a dream-like quality to them.

I think children would love the idea of a diary of objects. I can see application in homes and classrooms--invitations for children to create their own diaries with collected objects.

Recent Read: The Queen of Water

At age 7, Virginia, a poor indigenous girl from Ecuador, is taken from her Andean village to the city to work for an upper class family as a maid. Her life resembles that of a slave more than that of a maid. Her mistress beats her and insults her regularly, calling her racial slurs for be an indigena. She has no contact with her family and is told they don't want to see her. But she is determined to become educated and find a way out. In this true story of a stolen daughter, we follow Virginia as she learns to survive and overcome through education, intelligence, and perseverance.

In the Queen of Water, author Laura Resau succeeds in depicting so many complex aspects of Virginia's story--conflicting emotions, confused identity, a sort of Stockholm syndrome, and the cultural tensions within Ecuador. It's hard to read at times, but there are moments of humor and hope even in the darkest of times. I found the conflict Virginia faces as she tries to find her place in the world after being cut off from her family, raised in a mestizo (upper-class) home, and taught to revile her heritage compelling and heartbreaking. But Virginia is an incredible person--intelligent, ambitious, innovative, hard working, and always hopeful.

Resau explains how she met Maria Virginia Farninango and heard her story in the author's note. She says that despite the heartbreaking and sometimes disturbing nature of Farinango's experience, she told it with "laughter, spunk, and . . . heart-swelling triumph." I think Resau successfully captured those qualities in her narrative.

It's an inspiring book. And it's another one of those books that taught me about something I didn't even know happened (at least not as recently as the 80s!!). I appreciate books like this one that not only tell a good story, but educate me. Overall, I would highly recommend this because of the story alone.

This is not, however, a book for reluctant readers. It felt a little long in places. Even though it didn't feel like space was wasted, it probably could have been a bit tighter.

You can see photos of the real Maria Virginia (and see photos of Ecuador and hear stories of the author's experience there) here. Oh, and that cover photo is an ever-so-slightly altered photo of Maria Virginia herself!

England Part 5: Cardiff, Stonehenge and Salisbury

We took two day trips from Bath. One was to Cardiff to see Cardiff Castle.

The first castle on this spot was built hundreds of years ago, but other buildings and features have been added over the years. The interior of the palace was entirely transformed in the later 1800s and turned into this:

The interior architectural highlight is probably the Arab room:

How'd you like to try to sleep staring at that?

I loved these chair/step ladders in the library.

The Norman Keep

The other day trip we took from Bath was to Stonehenge and Salisbury.

It was foggy.

Salisbury Cathedral was another highlight. It was stunning: that incredible 6,000+ ton, 400+ ft spire, gothic arches, painted tile roof, scissor arches, and beautiful modern stained glass. I wish I could have spent more time there.