I’m always in search of novels with strong, independent female protagonists to put on the shelf of my little classroom library. “The Lady Rogue” written by Jenn Bennett presents us with Theodora or “Theo”, a seventeen year old young lady with a penchant for crossword puzzles, cipher codes, and the occult. When Theo’s “adventurer” father goes missing while attempting to possess the lost ring of Vlad the Impaler (yes Dracula himself) Theo embarks upon an adventure of her own in an effort to piece together her father’s last movements and ultimately save him from murderous treasure hunters.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Bennett has written novel that is a combination of just the right amounts of adventure, gothic elements, history and romance to engage any young adult. I especially enjoyed the voice of Theo. Although the story is set in 1938, Theo speaks and thinks like a REAL seventeen year old girl. She has a wonderfully sarcastic inner dialogue that had me chuckling regularly. I hope Jenn Bennett writes share more of Theodora’s adventures with us in the future!

”Lady Rogue” comes out September 3.

My book club list of titles for 2017-2018

I thought I’d post the list of books my book club read this year. Our book club has been in existence for over 15 years. Even though over time some members have sadly moved away We’ve always been able to collect a few wonderful additions to our group. Because most of us work in some way or form with Education, we meet at the end of the summer to choose our books for the year. We all meet at someone’s house (where there is ALWAYS wine…sometimes whiskey, and snacks) with title suggestions. Sometimes a member shares a novel she’s already read and KNOWS it will lend itself to discussion, but most often the titles proffered are of literature that none of us has read. We usually end up with near 20 title suggestions.
How do we choose? We usually have 8-9 book club meetings a year. This means that each of us gets 8 votes! Protocol is that each member can vote a number of ways: one vote for each choice OR if you really, really, REALLY want to read a book you know the other members might not be too keen on reading you can put all 8 votes on that one book (as per my Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell takedown of 2010). The top eight novels are picked! Then we decide the order with which to read them.

I can’t wait to meet at the end of the summer to determine what books we will be reading for the following year.

I love book club. It simply makes me happy.

I thought I’d share last year’s list with all of you. I will be sure to post this year’s list as soon as I can!
Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck – September
In the Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware – October
The Book of Joan by Lydia Yuknavitch – November
Inferior by Angela Saini – January
Borne by Jeff Vandermeer – April
The Break by Katherena Vermette… – December
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
Secret Path by Gord Downie and Birdie by Tracey Lindberg – March
Scythe by Neal Shusterman – May
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz – June
Bonus: The Power by Naomi Alderman

I never used to read Science Fiction. To recommend books to my students who are Sci-Fi readers, I decided to expand my repertoire of genres. Not knowing where to start, I went to the source, and I asked my students for suggestions. The first title proffered? Unwind by Neal Schusterman. Much to my surprise, I loved this sci/fi dystopic story. It was a novel that opened numerous themes, the types of topics that engage young adults: parent abandonment, friendship, medical ethics. And “Unwind is wonderfully a part of a series: “Unwind” “Unsouled” “Unwholly”, “Undivided”. Us book nerds LOVE an excellent long series right?

As much as I loved the Unwind series, it is Schusterman’s newest series that has captured and tightly bound my interest to the point where I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL 2019, for the third book to be released. I recommended Scythe to my book club, filled with mothers, teachers, and retired librarians. Undoubtedly a collection of ladies with distinct literary taste. They all loved it and promptly got their hands on book two ThunderHead.

What is the Scythe arc about? Imagine no politicians, every decision is left to the Thunderhead, an entity similar to “the Cloud”. Imagine a world where technology has advanced to the point where no one dies, and if they do, they can easily be “reassembled”. Imagine this world becoming overrun by humans to the point where we, as a species, must be culled. Now imagine if your calling was to cull humans. A respected, feared and almost sacred calling….to be a Scythe. Like Unwind, this series has the potential to incite in-depth, introspective classroom discussion.

It should be noted that he Unwind series is consistently signed out of our school library. The novel has also been used in our Religious Studies class for the opportunities created for discussion on ethics and morality. Scythe is becoming popular at our school as well mainly because we have a solid group of die-hard Schusterman fans.

I had the opportunity to hear Neal Schusterman speak at the National Council of Teachers of English conference a couple of years ago. He remembers what it was like to be a student, a student with imagination in need of an opportunity to create. He KNOWS what it takes to turn reluctant readers into avid readers.

Go to the readers in your class for title suggestions! You know who they are!

Link to Neal Schusterman’s site where you can learn all about his amazing series can be found here.

See What I have Done

Sarah Schmidt

Why are we so intrigued by parricide? Maybe it is because we cannot imagine a more profound love that exists between a parent and a child. There seems to be a resurgence of interest in one such relationship, that between Lizzie Borden and her father. With the release of the film Lizzie directed by Craig William MacNeill and last year’s PBS documentary Lizzie Borden Full Biography as well as a plethora of novels built around the murder (see Bookriot).
This summer I picked up See What I have Done by Sarah Schmidt honestly first of all because I really liked the cover. You’ll understand the significance of the severed pigeon head after you read the novel. The second reason why I picked it up is that Schmidt uses multiple narrators to tell the story. I LOVE this format; getting the viewpoints from all the participants of a story makes who questions who is most reliable?

The chapters written in Lizzie’s voice are convoluted and claustrophobic. Instead of feeling empathy for Lizzie in her confusion we feel frustrated, echoing her sister Emma’s frustration. In fact, Emma is the one I felt closest to. I wanted her to leave that house and STAY AWAY forever.

Schmidt uses VERY effective imagery creating a visceral reaction in this reader. The image of nausea and throwing up (purposeful poisoning? Salmonella? Mutton broth sits on the stove for how long?) are rampant, inferring both psychological and moral rot. And don’t get me started on the descriptions of blood. Also, the repetitive taste and sight imagery regarding pears is interesting. I would love to get into a discussion about its purpose in the novel (Atmospheric? Symbolic?).

The secondary story of Benjamin weaves nicely with the story of the Borden’s murder. An individual struggling with hostile feelings of betrayal and anger towards his own father successfully in supports the relationship between Lizzie and her own father. Is there such a fine line between love and hate?

This book drew me into its web from page one. The story of Lizzie Borden is interesting in and of itself, and worth reading, however, Schmidt’s account is written in such an entertaining and mesmerising style reading it in one sitting makes for a full day’s entertainment. As a bonus, the story runs very close to the facts around the crime as per the PBS documentary 2017. Small details such as the Andrew Borden insisting on having all his doors locked each night, and the small maniacal laugh heard coming from Lizzie as she stood on the stair landing as stated in the documentary are included in the novel making it informative as well as entertaining (what better way to learn history than through story!).

I can genuinely say that “See What I have Done” has been my favourite read of the summer thus far. I will be recommending this one to my book club not only because it is uncomplicated and entertaining, but also because it offers a multitude of topics for discussion! Father/daughter relationships, familial betrayal as well as familial loyalty, feminism etc.