Review: Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana

Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana is a moving and memorable middle grade novel that centres on one young girl's survival through one of the world's worst natural disasters. I loved everything about this book, from its realistic main character, to the moments that broke my heart, to the exploration of the bonds of family and community in times of emergency.

Summary: Armani Curtis can think about only one thing: her tenth birthday. All her friends are coming to her party, her mama is making a big cake, and she has a good feeling about a certain wrapped box. Turning ten is a big deal to Armani. It means she’s older, wiser, more responsible. But when Hurricane Katrina hits the Lower Nines of New Orleans, Armani realizes that being ten means being brave, watching loved ones die, and mustering all her strength to help her family weather the storm. A powerful story of courage and survival, Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere celebrates the miraculous power of hope and love in the face of the unthinkable.

Armani wants nothing more to grow up, but growing up means having to deal with grown-up things that no person adult (or child) should ever have to face. Her house floods, she loses several members of her family, she is partly at fault for her family failing to evacuate, and she watches everything--her home, her town, her community--destroyed. From the sights, smells, and sounds of suffering and destruction, to the happy ending that leaves you with hope, this is a powerful story about one little girl's bravery, strength, and heroic perseverance through unimaginable tragedy. 

There is some mature content for teachers and educators to consider from language to mature themes of death and loss. Armani loses many people she loves, including half her family, and these deaths may be upsetting to younger readers. However, Lamana's writing is eloquent, purposeful, and ringed with fact and honesty. Any content that might be objectionable to sensitive younger readers is not present for shock value, but it is a sincere effort to help the reader understand what people actually lived through.

Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere is a beautiful and unforgettable novel, and it has definitely earned its place on my favourites shelf! I truly believe that this is one of the best pieces of fiction for young readers on the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys inspiring stories or survival tales. 

4 Stars

Review: Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Since this title was announced on Scholastic's 2014 summer list, I have been anxious to get my hands on an ARC. I minored in Classical Studies, with emphasis on Etruscan and Roman civilizations, so this book is basically literary gold for me. I am obsessed with anything to do with Roman history; it's fascinating, and this book did not disappoint me!

Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii by Vicky Alvear Shecter will be published on May 27, 2014 by Arthur A. Levine Books (a division of Scholastic Inc). It is a YA novel centred on the forbidden love affair of a young aristocratic girl and a slave, who works as a healer at her father's gladiatorial school. Their love affair, a scandalous relationship, escalates up to climax of the novel: the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii in 79 AD.

For those of you who aren't as embarrassingly nerdy as I am, Pompeii and Herculaneum are two fascinating ancient sites. Unlike other Roman archaeological sites, these two cities tell us so much about the way people lived. The eruption covered everything--people, houses, animals, jewelry, household items--in ash and molten rock, preserving the city exactly as it was when the volcano erupted.

Images: Above: Pompeiian ruins. Below left: a dog, below right: multiple bodies found in the wreckage.






This novel is a great YA historical read, though it's not "historical" in the sense of accuracy (this isn't a Rick Riordan novel!). There are many inaccuracies and anachronisms, but I am forgiving in this instance. I think it's more important to get kids reading and to get them interested in learning more about history, than it is to accurate.

I do have an ARC, so I'm hoping the mistake of using the Greek name Poseidon won't show up in the finished copy. Furthermore, the language is very modern and there is minimal use of cultural terminology or Latin words. You don't need knowledge of Roman history to be able to enjoy the book.

The forbidden love story is a great angle from which to tell the story. Aside from what the eruption was like, there is a lot of historical information that readers will gain from reading. Property ownership, slavery and the treatment of slaves, women's rights, gladiator schools, medical practices, class division, and true Roman practices such as exposure (discarding unwanted newborn infants) and marriage are all important tropes. Also, the author incorporates a fabulous comparison of pregnancy/birth with the eruption of the volcano. They are the same; the birth of a baby is a violent and potentially fatal moment, as is the eruption of a volcano, which is the violent and lethal birthing of nature.

There are two major twists at the end that had me turning the pages as fast as I could. This, combined with the excitement of the volcano raining down on the city, makes this book a huge success for me.
This is a heart-stopping story of survival, of forbidden love, and of a terrifying natural disaster.

Shecter does an exceptional job of balancing history with fiction, presenting both in such a way that is appealing to YA readers. There isn't any gore and the book isn't frightening; it is subtly educational and certainly exciting!

Curses and Smoke gets 4 stars from me. I appreciate the hell out of an author who will get the younger generations interested in ancient civilizations! I also appreciate that there is a YA alternative to the hype around Pompeii in 2014 with Pompeii the movie, and the subsequent attention on the book from which it was adapted: Richard Harris' Pompeii.

Review: The Man Who Sunk Titanic by Sally Nilsson

Sally Nilsson's The Man Who Sank Titanic: The Troubled Life of Quartermaster Robert Hichens is the biographical/nonfiction story of her ancestor. Hichens was at the wheel of Titanic at the time of the collision, and manned lifeboat six, famously telling Molly Brown to "shut that hole in your face."

I've always been fascinated with the tragic story of Titanic, but it can be difficult to find nonfiction books that are not dry or an exhausting read. Fortunately, this book is accessible, detailed, and well-written, and covers the events before, during and after of the world's most famous maritime disaster.

SUMMARY:
With previously unpublished research and family photographs, this book by Hichens' granddaughter sets the record straight about the Titanic quartermaster who steered into an iceberg and kept control of a lifeboat. Robert Hichens has gone down in history as the man who was given the famous order to steer the Titanic away from the iceberg and failed. A key witness at both U.S. and British Inquiries, he returned to a livelihood where fellow crewmen considered him jinxed. But Robert had a long career and was a hardworking, ambitious seaman. A fisherman at 19, he quickly became a junior officer in the merchant navy. In World War II he was part of a cargo ship convoy on route to Africa where his ship dodged mines, U-boats and enemy aircraft. To Robert, being at sea was everything but the dark memories of the Titanic were never far away and in 1933 a failed murder attempt after a bitter feud nearly cost Robert his life. Here Robert's great-granddaughter Sally Nilsson seeks to set the record straight and reveal the true character of the man her family knew. This is one man's story of survival, betrayal and determination.

Although part of Nilsson's thesis is to show that Robert Hichens was not the cold and uncaring person he is often painted as, the book doesn't read with a heavy bias. Nilsson treats the history with integrity, sticking to the facts in light of her relation to Hitchens, and includes the good, the bad, and the unclear details about the disaster and his life, leaving the reader free to form their own opinion.

Other interesting facts include crew hierarchy, the ship's operations, the early parts of the voyage, other key witnesses and famous passengers, as well as emergency procedures. Nilsson even goes so far as to compare and draw parallels with James Cameron's film. By comparing moments in the film to the facts, any confident reader who saw the movie can then pick this book up, enjoy it, and learn something.

The legal proceedings were particularly interesting. Nilsson covers the questioning of key witnesses and speaks to the efforts of the White Star Line to conceal the gross negligence that inarguably occurred on April 14th. The book includes transcripts, glossy photographs, unpublished research, diagrams, and a helpful index. The writing style and flow of the narrative makes it easy to submerge one's self in the history and to really appreciate the magnitude of the disaster.

Whether you're a novice or a well-read Titanic enthusiast, this book is definitely worth reading. The book opened my eyes to the determination of the world to blame someone for the disaster. We come to understand the man who steered the ship into the iceberg and why he earned his reputation of being a coward and a bully. More importantly, we learn to sympathize with him, and with the difficult position that the surviving crew members were placed in.

Along with a lot of new information, I also began to think differently about the disaster. When you watch the film, you think about how lucky the people in the boats are to survive at all. What you don't usually consider is how terrible surviving can be. There was a large amount of shame with having your name associated with employment on the Titanic, particularly because seaman are superstitious people. Survivors were haunted by the memory of the sinking and the sounds of the dying 1500 people in the ocean. The world desperately wanted to assign blame to the crew, particularly to those who survived, when other officers went down with Titanic. On top of this was the guilt, the difficulty finding work, and the crushing pressure of the press. No, surviving was not easy. And for some, like Robert, sometimes surviving felt like a fate worse than death.

The Man Who Sunk The Titanic is an eye-opening and fascinating read. This is a great book for people interested in learning more about Titanic, and a valuable addition to school and public libraries.

4 Stars

Review: The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve has been on my to-read shelf for a long time. I first read Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve back in high school and loved it. Shreve is able to write about twisted social issues and immoral romantic drama like no other. Don't let the fact that The Pilot's Wife is an Oprah's Book Club book put you off from reading it. Shreve is a masterful fiction writer who deserves the acclaim surrounding her books. She's accessible, detailed, and unique in her storytelling.

Summary:  A pilot's wife is taught to be prepared for the late-night knock at the door. But when Kathryn Lyons receives word that a plan flown by her husband, Jack, has exploded near the coast of Ireland, she confronts the unfathomable-one startling revelation at a time. Soon drawn into a maelstrom of publicity fueled by rumors that Jack led a secret life, Kathryn sets out to learn who her husband really was, whatever that knowledge might cost. Her search propels this taut, impassioned novel as it movingly explores the question, How well can we ever really know another person?

As I largely read and review YA books, I often find myself impatient to get through an adult novel. Thankfully, reading The Pilot's Wife was easy for me; I love her storytelling and the complicated lives she weaves for her characters. Shreve makes you feel invested in these characters. Kathryn could be anyone's sister, friend or neighbour. She's an ordinary wife who has a seemingly easy and happy marriage until someone knocks on her door and turns her world upside down. I was so absorbed in finding the answers to the mysteries of the plane crash and of Jack's final moments that I had no problems getting through this book.

The drama of the characters (the death of a loved one, a fractured family, adultery, having a secret life, a failing marriage, etc. ) is wrapped around the mysterious plane crash that killed Kathryn's husband and the other passengers on-board. Although this book was originally published in 1998, the horrific tragedy of September 11, 2001 has made plane-related accidents and words like "terrorists" strike hard with readers. The tragedy of that day makes the events of this book more real and therefore the book to be more powerful. I needed to know if this seemingly average and decent man could possibly be a terrorist; a word that is all too real to me.

The Pilot's Wife feels like a chick-lit/contemporary fiction hybrid, which is great for readers like me who don't have a lot of patience to withstand a heavy read. You get the complicated romance angle of chick lit, but it's wrapped up in something dark and grim. Don't look for a love-you-forever, standard happy ending. Shreve likes to write about love in its most complicated forms, usually in that love is never easy, it's never what you expect it to be, and often it means loving the wrong thing.

The narrative is fast-paced and is character-driven. The unknowns surrounding Jack and his final moments keep the reader wondering and wanting throughout the book. Moreover, Shreve addresses ugly [possible] realities like adultery and the loss of a spouse and father; subjects we do enjoy experiencing safely through a good book.

The Pilot's Wife makes for a great weekend read you won't want to put down. Looking for something with a little more shock-factor? Try Fortune's Rocks. 

3.5 Stars