Happy 200th Birthday to Charles Dickens! Once again, it was Google who brought this to my attention, as it made him the subject of today's Google Doodle:
If you are looking for a short video on Dicken's life, here is a lovely little cartoon version from the BBC:
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Victorian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victorian. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Monday, June 20, 2011
Book Review: Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger
My son's Mock Newbery Club has started up for 2011, so we're back to reading this year's crop of American books aimed for the 10-14 year old crowd (although, to be honest, he probably reads four of them to my one). But the first book to receive a thumbs up from both of us is a fairly short book with a LONG title: Horton Halfpott: Or, The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor; or, The Loosening of M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset by Tom Angleberger.
Devoted readers of this blog will recognize the author's name as one of the finalists in both my son's and my list for Newbery Winners for the last year. We both loved Tom Angleberger's The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, which I found one of the most original books among Newbery contenders last year, and one of the few that used comedy to deliver a serious message. We also got to meet Tom Angleberger when he spoke at our local independent bookstore, Quail Ridge Books, where he gave a fun talk (including making our own Origami Yodas) and not only signed everyone's books, but also drew a picture of their favorite Star Wars characters! (You can read more about that in this blog post.)
So it is not really a surprise that we enjoyed this book as well. Angleberger's humor transfers well from a group of middle schoolers obsessed with Star Wars to a completely different time and place--Victorian England, captured through an adolescent-level mystery/romance. As with Origami Yoda, Angleberger also drew the illustrations for this book as well, and while they are not really of the style of the period, they are fun and further the story.
I have to say that I don't think I liked this book quite as well as Origami Yoda, mostly because I liked the underlying message of that book so much. But this book can be laughing-out-loud funny, and is also quite original. And it does convey a lot of useful information about Victorian life and conventions, which is valuable. As I wrote in an earlier blog post, it is hard to find juvenile/young adult fiction about the Victorian era that will appeal to boys (mostly, they seem to be romances). But this book definitely fills the bill!
I don't know how the book will fare as we read more of this year's offerings, but it is the first on our list of Newbery possibilities. It is a short, fun read that I think students in this age range will enjoy--and their parents might like it as well.
Devoted readers of this blog will recognize the author's name as one of the finalists in both my son's and my list for Newbery Winners for the last year. We both loved Tom Angleberger's The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, which I found one of the most original books among Newbery contenders last year, and one of the few that used comedy to deliver a serious message. We also got to meet Tom Angleberger when he spoke at our local independent bookstore, Quail Ridge Books, where he gave a fun talk (including making our own Origami Yodas) and not only signed everyone's books, but also drew a picture of their favorite Star Wars characters! (You can read more about that in this blog post.)
So it is not really a surprise that we enjoyed this book as well. Angleberger's humor transfers well from a group of middle schoolers obsessed with Star Wars to a completely different time and place--Victorian England, captured through an adolescent-level mystery/romance. As with Origami Yoda, Angleberger also drew the illustrations for this book as well, and while they are not really of the style of the period, they are fun and further the story.
I have to say that I don't think I liked this book quite as well as Origami Yoda, mostly because I liked the underlying message of that book so much. But this book can be laughing-out-loud funny, and is also quite original. And it does convey a lot of useful information about Victorian life and conventions, which is valuable. As I wrote in an earlier blog post, it is hard to find juvenile/young adult fiction about the Victorian era that will appeal to boys (mostly, they seem to be romances). But this book definitely fills the bill!
I don't know how the book will fare as we read more of this year's offerings, but it is the first on our list of Newbery possibilities. It is a short, fun read that I think students in this age range will enjoy--and their parents might like it as well.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Book Review: Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? by Eleanor Updale
We are moving into studying Victorian England, and I was looking for a historical fiction set in those times that would be appropriate for my son to read. However, at least our library system's holdings had quite a few Young Adult novels set in that period, but most of them had a female protagonist and seemed to revolve more around domestic and/or romantic situation, which are not the kind of books that grab my 12-year-old son's attention. The one title I found that I thought might capture his attention was Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? by Eleanor Updale. I actually read it before I gave it to him, and I can recommend it as a good fictional novel that describes a lot of the culture of the time but still has a plot that can appeal to both boys and girls.
The story begins in 1875 with a career criminal in jail whose live was saved when the grievous injuries he suffered when trying to flee from police during a burglary were stitched together by a brilliant new surgeon using state-of-the-art techniques (like washing his hands frequently). The trade-off, however, is that the highly-scarred prisoner is often trotted out to various scientific and academic meetings and put on exhibition to display the success of these new medical procedures. But at one of these meetings, the thief gets an idea that will transform his life forever. He comes up with a plan to turn himself from an impoverished common criminal to a posh member of Victorian society, thanks to another of the new innovations of late 19th century London.
The novel is really great, I think, because it has some of that Upstairs/Downstairs approach to it. Parts of the book describe what it like to be poor in the London of that times--the perspective of Eliza Doolittle, say (although she actually comes later), or Fagin, Nancy, and the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist (although they actually come earlier). The other part describes the lives of rich and aristocratic, who were flowering since England's power in the world was at its height. So it raises issues about the class consciousness that existed in that time in England (the remnants of which we've seen this weekend when such a fuss is made about the Prince marrying a "commoner"-- but whose parents' Internet-based party business is valued over $50 million and who spent an estimated $500,000 on her private schooling and bought her an apartment in one of the best parts of London that is supposed to be worth $1.5 - 2 million).
It introduces other new technologies of the times and the indulgences of the rich, some very proper (such as attending the opera) and others less so (such as the popularity of Turkish opium). There is theft and there are veiled references to prostitution, but no explicit sexual scenes. There is also a spy plot and a little bit of political content. Finally, as a couple of the school reviews remark, it is that rare phenomenon of a teen novel that doesn't contain any teens at all; all the characters are adults.
So it is definitely for the strong middle school reader and up. But it really fits the bill for what I was looking for--a Victorian England young adult novel with a plot that is adventure-oriented-enough to interest our young men, but with a good bit of content that helps capture the feel of that era.
The story begins in 1875 with a career criminal in jail whose live was saved when the grievous injuries he suffered when trying to flee from police during a burglary were stitched together by a brilliant new surgeon using state-of-the-art techniques (like washing his hands frequently). The trade-off, however, is that the highly-scarred prisoner is often trotted out to various scientific and academic meetings and put on exhibition to display the success of these new medical procedures. But at one of these meetings, the thief gets an idea that will transform his life forever. He comes up with a plan to turn himself from an impoverished common criminal to a posh member of Victorian society, thanks to another of the new innovations of late 19th century London.
The novel is really great, I think, because it has some of that Upstairs/Downstairs approach to it. Parts of the book describe what it like to be poor in the London of that times--the perspective of Eliza Doolittle, say (although she actually comes later), or Fagin, Nancy, and the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist (although they actually come earlier). The other part describes the lives of rich and aristocratic, who were flowering since England's power in the world was at its height. So it raises issues about the class consciousness that existed in that time in England (the remnants of which we've seen this weekend when such a fuss is made about the Prince marrying a "commoner"-- but whose parents' Internet-based party business is valued over $50 million and who spent an estimated $500,000 on her private schooling and bought her an apartment in one of the best parts of London that is supposed to be worth $1.5 - 2 million).
It introduces other new technologies of the times and the indulgences of the rich, some very proper (such as attending the opera) and others less so (such as the popularity of Turkish opium). There is theft and there are veiled references to prostitution, but no explicit sexual scenes. There is also a spy plot and a little bit of political content. Finally, as a couple of the school reviews remark, it is that rare phenomenon of a teen novel that doesn't contain any teens at all; all the characters are adults.
So it is definitely for the strong middle school reader and up. But it really fits the bill for what I was looking for--a Victorian England young adult novel with a plot that is adventure-oriented-enough to interest our young men, but with a good bit of content that helps capture the feel of that era.
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