“When death captures me,” the boy vowed, “he will feel my fist on his face.”

The Book Thief, critically acclaimed, was recommended to me by someone I trust, and I promised her I would read it.  And that’s what I did for about a month, with a break over the weekend to read two other books.

What can I say about The Book Thief?  It’s well-written to be sure, the characters are well- and fully-drawn.  The setting is clear and vibrant.  Set in Nazi Germany during WWII (seriously, I’m starting to think the first book you read for the year dictates the kind of books you read all year–sort of like whatever you’re doing on NYE predicates your activities for the year), the conflict is well-established, especially with orphaned Liesel and her foster family.

So, it has all of that, and it still left me cold.  I struggled to finish it, and I kept waiting to, you know, care.  I think I have to just accept that Zusak’s work is not for me because I had the same response to I Am the Messenger.  I could tell the book was well-written, but I kept waiting for something to happen to fully engage me with the story.

My favorite part of the book was the short, illustrated story about friendship within the text.  I would’ve really enjoyed that as a standalone picture book.

YA Challenge:  12/75

Freedom, that’s the only thing I asked for.  The freedom to be myself, not the reflection of a memory.

I picked up Backtracked by Pedro de Alcantara because (a) he’s Brazilian and one of my besties is Brazilian, and (b) the jacket flap describes it as the story of a boy who is haunted by his brother’s death on September 11.  Also, the opening line about how Tommy had lived several lives before his birth and didn’t know it intrigued me.

The story is about a boy (Tommy) whose firefighter brother died on September 11, but it’s also a time travel story reminiscent of the movie Brother Future.  Tommy seems destined to stay stuck in time until he can help someone other than himself.  Either that or learn a Very Important Lesson.

What I Liked

- This novel is actually a love letter to the New York Transit system, and I liked some of the descriptions about how the subway has changed over time.

- Since this is largely historical fiction, I liked the moments when Tommy had to orient himself in time.  The descriptions of the other people and their clothing and homes were very interesting.

- It’s an engaging read, mostly because I had to see how Tommy would get back to the future.

What I Didn’t Like

- I didn’t feel one whit engaged with Tommy or his friends or his relationship with his family.

- I thought this book was going to be about Tommy understanding something about himself or his brother, and it wasn’t.

- The ending did not feel earned.

- None of his adventures felt at all connected to the ~*deeper lesson*~.

- Tommy is not Brazilian.  Which, honestly, is fine for the story (Tommy is Italian, which places him in certain situations/places in the past), but I was expecting him to be because of the author.

- The theme seems to be that Tommy has it so much better than he would if he lived in the past so he should be grateful, but, um, that does nothing to address the very real pressure he seems to be feeling because of the loss of his brother and the treatment he gets from his family.

In conclusion:  This book does not live up to the premise.  At all.

POC Challenge:  6/15; YA Reading Challenge:  10/75

“It’s truly extraordinary,” he said.  “Who would believe it?  ‘Jewish girl risks all for German solider.’  Tell me, Patty Bergen–” his voice became soft, but with a trace of hoarseness–”why are you doing this for me?”

I picked up Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene at the library book sale over a year ago, and finally got around to reading it this past week.  I don’t know what I was expecting, exactly, but I’m glad I read this story about a Jewish girl in America during WWII and her decision to help a German POW escape.

What I Liked

- THIS BOOK.  I liked this entire book from top to bottom.  Honestly, I kind of loved everything about it.

- The characters.  Patty and her housekeeper Ruth are the standouts here, but there’s also Charlene Madlee and her grandmother.  And while Patty’s parents are villainous, they are both pretty fully drawn and not flat at all.  Horrible, yes.  Understandable…not exactly.  But I understand their relationship to and with Patty and never felt like they were too anything, if that makes sense.

- Patty lives in an abusive household but the book isn’t really about that.  It’s not a problem novel at all is what I mean.  It’s part of the make up of her character, it’s part of the make up of her life, and it serves to explain, in part, her decision to help Anton (the POW).  I was a little nervous at first about what message the book would send to kids who live in abusive homes because there’s a focus in the beginning on Patty showing her parents her sweetness so they can be sweet to her, but it’s really well addressed at the end that, really, there’s nothing she can do about her parents because they just suck.  It’s done in such a great way, too.

- All of the relationships in this book were so well-handled and fully drawn.

- The overall themes about the importance of kindness and friendship and pride and love.

- Okay, everything.  I just liked everything.

What I Didn’t Like

- Just a warning that there is a lot of casual racism in this book that totally fits the time period, but it took a minute for my 2010 mind to adjust.  For example, Ruth is referred to as a Nigra, and the women in the novel see having “a Nigra” as a status symbol.  The black people live in “Nigger Bottoms,” and a “chink” is run out of town.  That said, the racism doesn’t go unchecked.  Patty, early on, says that Ruth is not uppity, just proud.  She knows that Mr. Lee’s family is Chinese and not Japanese, etc.  I think Greene does a fantastic job of setting the scene without reveling in racist language.

Pride.  Maybe that’s it, what Ruth has.  What makes her different.  Keeps her from looking down at her shoes when talking with white people.  Then it is all a lie what they say about her.  Ruth isn’t one bit uppity.  Merely prideful.

Women Unbound?

I think this book definitely takes a thoughtful look at the place of women in society, from Ruth to Patty to the spoiled mother to Charlene.  Not to mention, Patty’s decision to basically betray her country and family definitely qualifies her as girl/woman unbound.

In conclusion:  This book started as a bathroom read for me, but I would find myself reading huge chunks of it at a time.  By the end, I was so completely engrossed and swept up in the narrative.  I LOVED READING THIS BOOK.  I think this is my first unequivocal recommendation of the year.  It’s a book I want other people to read or have read so I can talk about it with them.

YA Challenge:  4/75

“If you’re colored you get the short end of the stick.  If you’re a woman, you get the short end of the stick.  So what do we get for being colored and women?”

Jolene sighs.  “Beat hard with both ends of a short stick.”

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith has a very cool premise:  Ida Mae Jones wants to join the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), but, in order to do so, she has to pass for white.

What I Liked

- Like I said, the premise is very cool.  It’s a great way to introduce the history of World War II, race and racism, and also women pilots.  Women pilots!  That’s just cool by itself.

- The women characters.  I loved all of the women, and I especially loved all of their reasons for joining because they were so varied.  There is also a  fantastic camaraderie between Ida Mae and her two closest comrades:  Patsy Kake (LOVE that name) and Lily.

- Jolene, Ida Mae’s friend back home.  Jolene is awesome.

- The cover is fantastic.

What I Didn’t Like

- Sigh.  This book just didn’t sit well with me.  I love the premise, but my main issue with the book is that the issue of passing felt so surface.  I never felt that Ida Mae was ever in danger, and passing IS danger.  When I think of Imitation of Life–the Lana Turner version–there are so many moments where the desperation of Sarah Jane and the threat of being black are so palpable, and in this story I never get that.  Part of it is the setting.  Because the training is so removed from any town, Ida Mae is only fearful of getting too dark in the sun or her hair curling up, but…several of the women protect their hair.

There is one scene SO PROBLEMATIC that I think it’s what derailed everything for me.  Ida Mae is in a store, and there is a black man there.  The man TALKS UNDER HIS BREATH to Ida Mae, and there are no consequences.  This is pre-Emmet Till, okay?  In what keeps being described as a deeply racist Texas.  I just cannot believe that there was no present danger in the story at all.  And then I found what Ida Mae does at the end with regards to a job opportunity so unfathomable that I just…yeah.

So, in conclusion, the passing aspect was poorly handled for me.  All of the dangers of passing were very tell instead of show.

- I also didn’t really care about Ida Mae’s brother Thomas, even though he is basically the reason she joins the war effort.  He’s so absent from the story that whether he came home or not really made no difference at all to me.  I…do not think I was supposed to feel that way.

- The story was very dry.  One of my favorite books is A Northern Light, which is also historical fiction, and I was very caught up in Maddie’s world and story separate from the historical focal point.  It felt like the point of Flygirl was the history lesson of WASP more so than anything else.  Which, honestly, is fine if that’s what you want in a novel.  But I wanted a story to latch on to.

- I also didn’t feel like the story ever really explored the breakout quote.  In some ways, Ida Mae’s choice is the very essence of the quote–hard, even impossible, choices–but, on the other hand, the lack of danger, and her ease at moving between worlds didn’t really give the story an opportunity to go all the way there.

In conclusion:  I have really mixed feelings about this book.  The writing is good, the premise is very cool, but I found the execution lacking.  I just wanted more.  More Jolene, more implications, more feeling.  The women are very kickass, though.  Very much so.

ETA:  I read this with the Women Unbound challenge in mind.  The book is definitely about the options available to women and the choices they make and how they’re treated once they make those choices.  One of the big issues in the book is the lack of respect the women get from men they encounter–some of whom are tapped to train them–and how they’re not given their due by the very armed forces they’re fighting so hard to help.  That part of the story, btw, did work for me.  It’s just the passing stuff that didn’t.