After Princess Alexandra’s mother is killed, her father marries a woman who charms the kingdom. Alexandra and her brothers, however, believe that this woman is a shape-shifter, the beast who killed their mother in human form. After an ill-fated attempt to prove this goes awry, Alexandra is banished and her brothers disappear. As she lives with her aunt, Alexandra begins to understand the nature of her own magical power.

I can’t say much more without giving away details of the plot that I think readers will enjoy discovering for themselves. It is my policy to give a book fifty pages before I abandon it. This book, while well-written, just wasn’t for me, all the way up to page forty-nine. But on page fifty, everything changed, and I found myself eager to know what happened next. The Swan Kingdom is a fantasy, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s story The Wild Swans. In this story, Zoe Marriott has created a rich world. Alexandra is a strong female protagonist, but she draws her strength from emotion and magic rather than physical power. While she does spend more time than many of us would probably like waiting for her brothers to find her, she does take action and work to change the fate of her nation’s people. The Swan Kingdom’s greatest strengths lie in its world-building and unique magic system.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in adaptations of traditional fairy tales or looking for a female protagonist who has strength but doesn’t fight, who is able to use that strength without giving up her femininity.

Book: The Swan Kingdom Author: Zoe Marriott Publisher: Candlewick Original Publication Date: March 2008 Pages: 272 Age Range: Young Adult Source of Book: ARC requested from publisher Buy it: IndieBound - Powell’s [Affiliate Links]

Over at Chasing Ray, Colleen has a round-up of all of today’s Southeast Asia posts. From the original OSWT:SEA announcement:

For those of you not familiar with the One Shot idea, a group of bloggers (and its open to everybody with a blog) all agree to read a book by an author from a certain region or a book set in that region and then blog about it on a specified day. You can also interview an author from there if you prefer. To make it easy for readers to follow the project, everyone emails their exact url to me and I post a master list with links and quotes on the One Shot day. In the end we manage to hopefully discover new authors, new books, and a little bit different perspective then we receive from reading primarily American works.

I don’t have my own post to contribute to the event, but I wanted to direct your attention to it.

One of my recurring obsessions (that is to say, I get crazy about it for a few weeks and then forget it for a while only to come back to it later) is fashion. I recently decided that I would start a blog to chronicle my attempts to express myself through my appearance. One thing I wanted to address was the librarian stereotype; so I thought I’d explore the place where fashion and librarianship intersect, if it exists. Any time I decide on a new project, research is the first (and often only) phase. So I set out to find information about stereotypes about librarians, and happened upon Ruth Kneale’s You Don’t Look Like a Librarian.

In this book, Kneale chronicles librarians’ own obsession with their image and makes suggestions for how to deal with people who say “But you don’t look like a librarian!” (Why don’t you look like a librarian? My problem is my lack of glasses.) She also provides a vast survey of the resources available for exploring this topic further.

This is a fun little book (and Liz B. of Tea Cozy wrote the forward!) but its companion website is even better than the book itself, because it offers links to all the different resources mentioned in the book.

I recommend this for anybody who wants an overview of stereotypes of librarians and how actual librarians respond to them.

My favorite part, of course, was when the book addressed the topic of Rupert Giles, who is my librarian role model. (I like to imagine if Giles and Jenny Calendar traveled back in time to 1981 and had a kid together, she’d be me.)

Book: You Don’t Look Like a Librarian Author: Ruth Kneale Publisher: Information Today, Inc. Original Publication Date: March 2009 Pages: 216 Source of Book: Borrowed from library Buy it (affiliate links): IndieBound - Powell’s

Photograph by L. Marie

Harper needs to get away from home for a while, to escape her heartbreak over her father's divorce from her stepmother and her confusion about her relationship with Gabriel, who is not her boyfriend but is definitely more than her friend.  She signs up for the Homes from the Heart Summer Program for Teens and leaves her native California behind to help build a home for a Tennessee family who lost theirs in a tornado.

Dana Reinhardt does so many things right in this book that it would take a very long time to list them all, so I’ll just hit the highlights.  As always, her teen voice is spot-on: Harper sounds like a real teen, not a grown-up’s idea of how a teen sounds.  Her characterizations, as always, are excellent, too; the family for whom Harper is building a house, all of the other kids who work with her to build the house, and Harper’s own family are fully realized.  This is a remarkable feat, especially considering that the book comes in at only 227 pages.  The most unique thing about How to Build a House, however, is its structure.

Reinhardt has named each chapter after one of the steps in building a house, and within each chapter we get glimpses of how Harper’s life was at “Home” and how things are different “Here."  Throughout the story, the step in home-building correlates with Harper’s experiences and memories.  It could come across as contrived, but it doesn’t.  It is, instead, just right.

I would recommend this book to just about anyone.  Dana Reinhardt is one of my favorite authors for young adults today, and How to Build a House follows in the tradition of excellence she began with A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life and continued with Harmless.

Book: How to Build a House Author: Dana Reinhardt Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books Original Publication Date: May 2008 Pages: 227 Age Range: Young Adult Source of Book: ARC sent by author Related Posts: My Interview with Dana Reinhardt, My Review of A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life, My Review of Harmless Buy it: IndieBound - Powell’s

Color Online is hosting the Color Me Brown Book Challenge. The goal is to read and review books about people of color throughout the month of August. I will not be participating as given - I have a long list of books to read for my YA Lit class and am working hard not to add any new books to my TBR pile until I have a sense that I’m going to be able to get through all of those - but I will be making it a point to diversify my reading over the next year or so, and then maintain that going ahead.

I heard on the radio this morning that today begins the National Black Theatre Festival which is held in Winston-Salem, NC. If you are a reader of plays, I have some recommendations for you of plays that feature people of color. Some I’ve seen and read, some I’ve only seen or only read. Some I love, and some I don’t. I’ll list the ones that come to mind and add any more I think of later or if any of you add some in the comments. I’ll link the Wikipedia page or another resource for each play; several of them have been made into films you may wish to watch.

Plays I Love
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry - Audio Link - This centers on a family that receives a $10,000 life insurance check and the plans of each member of the family for the check. It also explores racially motivated land convenants when the family buys a house in an entirely white neighborhood and the neighbors attempt to bribe the family to leave.

Having Our Say by Emily Mann - This play, based on a biography of the same title, is about the Delany sisters. Sadie and Bessie both lived past the age of 100, and this play introduces us to them as they are 103 and 101. It takes us through their memories. They’re local girls to me - from Raleigh, NC, less than an hour’s drive from my home and the city where I taught for three years. My sister and I loved this play and the dynamic between the two sisters that, in 1999, we parodied it with a skit called "Getting Our Way." I was 17 and she was 13 at the time. Here’s my favorite exchange from the skit - I can’t remember which of us said what, so I’m just having me speak first.
KIMBERLY: People often ask us how we’ve stayed so young. I tell them it’s because we never married.
MARY ELISABETH: And I tell them it’s because we’re only seventeen and thirteen!
(Hmmm. I guess we’re old now; my sister’s getting married on October 17 and I just did.)
The film version of Having Our Say stars Audra MacDonald, one of my favorite Broadway stars.

The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe - In this play, the audience witnesses different museum exhibits which satirize both stereotypes and actual elements of African-American culture.

Topdog/Underdog by Suzan Lori-Parks - This play is AMAZING, especially if you see it performed by an excellent cast. Two brothers, Lincoln and Booth, live together and struggle with work, love, and their relationship with each other. Incredibly moving and so well-written. An excellent blend of comedy and drama.

Fires in the Mirror by Anna Deavere-Smith - A series of monologues that chronicles the Crown Heights riots in 1991. (I can’t even begin to explain the riots so I’m just linking info about them.) I stage-managed this play my freshman year of college. It was by far one of the best experiences I had during that time. Anna Deavere-Smith is coming to speak at the North Carolina Literary Festival and I’m very excited.

Other Plays
Fences by August Wilson - A play about Troy Maxson, a garbage man, and his experiences and challenges in life.
Contant Star by Tazewell Thompson - The life story of Ida B. Wells, a journalist and leader of both the civil rights and women’s rights movements.
The America Play by Suzan Lori-Parks - A play about an Abraham Lincoln impersonator who decides to dig a replica of the Great Hole of History.

Further Notes
Most of the playwrights cited here have written more than one play, so I recommend checking out the full catalog for each of them. I didn’t want to list plays with which I wasn’t familiar, which is why I’ve only listed these eight. Taken against the vast number of plays with which I’m familiar, this small number exposes my own ignorance of theatre about people of color. Another thing for me to improve upon.

In this column at School Library Journal, school librarian Diantha McBride says:

I’m afraid this won’t be popular, but I need more books for boys—as do most librarians who work with young people. I’ve noticed that lots of books with female characters aren’t really about being female. In fact, in many cases, the main characters could just as easily have been males—and that would make my job a lot easier.

The part of McBride’s statement rankles me most is this:

I’ve noticed that lots of books with female characters aren’t really about being female.

I feel that her conclusion that since the books aren’t about being female, they should have boy main characters, suggests that books with female main characters should be about uniquely female experiences.  Certainly there are many experiences unique to females, and those need addressing.  But can you imagine if every book with a female main character was about that?  I would get so bored so quickly.  I would probably refuse to read books with female main characters then, too.

Books about members of marginalized groups should not have to be about experiences unique to only those groups.  I’m reading David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy right now, and I love how even though Paul is gay and the book is about his romantic relationship with another young man, the exploration of that relationship is by no means limited to aspects that are unique only to individuals in same-sex/gender relationships.  It is an exploration of universal experiences that could happen to anyone at the beginning of a new relationship, regardless of any specific characteristics of the people in that relationship.

Does that mean I think that no books should be about experiences unique to a marginalized group?  Of course not.  It’s important to acknowledge experiences and challenges unique to members of certain groups; to ignore those would be to act as if we live in a world where everyone is always treated equally and lives the same life.  But to insist that being a member of a group means you must be defined only by membership in that group is absurd.

Photo by Foxtongue.

From Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast:

As a reminder, 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks is our weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you.

Here are mine:

1. I had a lovely wedding, on the beach, with beautiful weather and good company and delicious food and it was beautiful.

2. That was followed by a lovely (and cheap!) honeymoon. We stayed at my husband’s (oh that’s weird to say) family’s beach condo, and his moms (he has two, the one that gave birth to him and the one his dad married later) had left us a beautiful gift basket, a refrigerator full of fancy food, and some wine and sparkling cider.

3. The return trip home was easy.

4. Sad is that my mom hurt her back a few weeks ago, but the good that came of it was that it meant she, my brother, and my dad spent some extra time here in town waiting for her to be ready to travel (and giving her a chance to see her old chiropractor a few times).

5. A friend dropped by Thursday to pick up a script and then when I spontaneously invited him to come to lunch with my family and myself, he said yes. He hadn’t seen my family since before they moved away, so it was nice for them to get together with him.

6. My sister, who was away on an internship for six months, is back in town and we’ve been spending boatloads of time together and bonded over a shared love for Project Runway.

7. The show I’m rehearsing is a very brief ensemble piece. We get through the work we’ve set aside for rehearsal pretty quickly, and then we spend time after that just sitting around bonding, which I think is important for building chemistry.

Bonus Kick: Little Willow put up my Art Saves contribution!

I’m currently working on a production called I Hate Shakespeare.  It runs through quite a few of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, and then some of the lesser known ones as well, poking fun at them (and at people who claim to hate Shakespeare, actually).

My favorite part of the show is the "Zombie Theatre Presents…" segments, when zombies interrupt famous soliloquies.

The first of these is from Richard III, and I present it to you here, with some zombie stuff added at the end so you can get a feel for it.

Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this son of York;

And all the clouds that lowered upon our house

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths,

Our bruisèd arms hung up for monuments,

Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,

Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.


BRAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIINS!

Photo by JayT47.

Today I have reviews of two books for you.

Lessons from a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles

When Laine's mother tells her that Leah Greene is dead, she can't help but feel that it's a little bit her fault. After all, she did wish for it. Each time Laine's mother says Leah's name, Leah is pulled back to a memory of an earlier time with Leah, of "Lessons" Leah gave her in what friendship is about. This first novel by freelance non-fiction writer Jo Knowles tells a tale about childhood loneliness and the abuse one child can perpetuate on another. I read it in two sittings, and I would've read it in one but I started it late at night and was just too sleepy to pay attention - and I didn't want to miss anything.

What I appreciate most about Lessons from a Dead Girl is that it gives us real people in all of the characters. Leah Greene is a popular girl, and it would be easy for an author to let her be one-dimensional. Jo Knowles gives us another perspective, demonstrating what I think can be one of life's greatest lessons, especially for adolescents: that everyone has problems, and no one acts entirely without reason.

With Lessons, Jo Knowles makes a strong debut. I look forward to her next book, Jumping Off Swings, to be released on August 11 of this year.

Book: Lessons from a Dead Girl
Author: Jo Knowles
Publisher: Candlewick
Original Publication Date: October 9, 2007
Pages: 224
Age Range:  Young Adult
Source of Book: Publisher
Related Links: My Interview with Jo Knowles
Buy it [Affiliate Links]: IndieBound - Powell's

Goy Crazy by Melissa Schorr

It's lust at first sight when Rachel Lowenstein meets Luke Christiansen, a waiter at her brother's bar mitzvah.  Luke is tall, blond, and decidedly not Jewish.  She desperately wants to date him, but she knows her parents won't approve.  Can she turn her back on her faith and her culture for a cute boy?

Goy Crazy is a charming romantic comedy that addresses coming of age issues common to all teens.  Rachel feels constantly in conflict with her parents.  She's been a good girl her whole life and she's sick of it.  So she decides that her sophomore year of high school, she will be a bit naughty, and she'll start by pursuing a boy from the wrong religion.

 I would recommend Goy Crazy to anyone looking for a fun read that is not so light as to be mindless, but is very clever and uplifting.  It does rom-com right: there's the wrong boy who seems so right, the boy her parents prefer who is not at all what she wants, and the realization Rachel makes that the people she knows aren't necessarily the people they seem to be.  It's a good time, and summer would be a great time to pick it up and take it to the beach with you, but it'll hold up any time of year.

Book: Goy Crazy
Author: Melissa Schorr
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Original Publication Date: August 22, 2006
Pages: 352
Age Range: Young Adult
Source of Book: Author
Buy it [Affiliate Links]: IndieBound - Powell's

I’m getting married on Wednesday.  (Yes, that soon, and on a weekday.  It turns out when your in-laws are professional musicians, weekdays work better for them.)

So I thought I’d share with you the poem that my father will be reading during the ceremony.

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly
beyond any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look will easily unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

And the poem from which we have quotes inscribed in our wedding bands:

love’s the i guess most only verb that lives
(her tense beginning,and her mood unend)
from brightly which arise all adjectives
and all into whom darkly nouns descend

Happy Friday!  I’ll be spending mine on wedding tasks, seeing Harry Potter, and having dinner with my friends in honor of my recently-past birthday.

Photo by Frenkieb.