When I was nine years old, I took a class on the fine art of lip synching. Yes, it was a class, for school. I love gifted education in Leon County, Florida. At the end of this class, we each had to perform a song of our choosing, in costume. I performed Madonna's "Material Girl." The best among us went on to perform solo at an actual concert, in front of parents. I wasn't one of those; there was, however, a young man who performed "Music of the Night" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, in full costume, complete with mask, hat, and cape. This was my introduction to the Opera Ghost, and I was in love immediately.

I don't know at what point mild interest in that musical became complete obsession, but in the intervening time I have read every Phantom-related item I could get my hands on, including Gaston Leroux's original novel and several stories inspired by it. That's the wonderful thing about works in the public domain, you see; you can publish and sell your fanfiction.

Basil of Baker Street in The Great Mouse Detective had kindled an interest in me in Sherlock Holmes, and I grew to find him immensely attractive as well.

Yes, I love fictional characters, perhaps more than real people. It was with great glee that I checked out from my public library The Angel of the Opera: Sherlock Holmes Meets the Phantom of the Opera.  There's not a great deal of plot that is new to the story; this is Leroux's book with just a few new characters added in.  What makes it so fascinating is the interplay of two of the greatest minds in fiction: Erik and Holmes.  The actions Holmes takes in solving the mystery of the Opera Ghost keep the story moving forward, and it is this interaction between the two that makes the book worth reading.

Also, look at that cover art.  How can you not love Erik dressed as The Red Death, sweeping down the stairs towards Sherlock Holmes?

If you like mysteries, gothic horror, the Victorian era, Sherlock Holmes, or the Phantom of the Opera, you should give this book a go.  It provides certain entertainment.  And not to spoil the ending, but those who were always upset with the raw treatment Erik got from Christine Daae may find some consolation in the way Siciliano wraps up Erik's story.

Under Radar Recommendations are books that we have read and loved. Period.
They're not necessarily new. They're not necessarily old.
They're books we think you'd love, 'cause we do.

There is, elsewhere, more of the usual awesomeness of the kidlitosphere. Fans of the under-read should also, check out:

Chasing Ray writing on Dorothy of Oz from Illusive Arts Entertainment (the Dorothy comic she says we should all be reading!),

Bildungsroman revisits Christopher Golden's Body of Evidence series,

Interactive Reader, a new convert to the Christopher Golden Body of Evidence fan club, provides more love,

At Not Your Mother's Bookclub: An interview with Robert Sharenow, author of My Mother the Cheerleader,

Bookshelves of Doom is all about The God Beneath the Sea, Black Jack & Jack Holburn all by Leon Garfield,

Writing and Ruminating has an interview with Tony Mitton and a review of his book, Plum ,

The YA YA YAs spread the love on I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Lee Wilson (And I can attest: awesome book, folks.),

A late inclusion from Semicolon on unbeatable picture books.

And Chicken Spaghetti wraps up Monday with The Illustrator's Notebook by Mohieddin Ellabad.

More Under Radar Goodness All Week Long: Stay tuned!

 I love books, and some of them are ones you haven’t heard of. I’m not the only one feeling this way, which is why I’m participating this week in a multiblog event called “Recommendations from Under the Radar.” You can read all about it over at Chasing Ray.

Here’s my schedule:
Monday: The Angel of the Opera: Sherlock Holmes Meets the Phantom of the Opera by Sam Siciliano
Wednesday: Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn, in conjunction with Bildungsroman and Chasing Ray
Thursday: Who P-p-p-p-plugged Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf
Friday: Gentle’s Holler and Louisiana’s Song by Kerry Madden

Each day I’ll be linking to everyone else’s posts.  We’re reviewing more than fifty books!  In October, we’ll be hosting a one shot event called “Bradbury Season,” and in November, we’ll present the Winter Blog Blast Tour!

I have many book reviews to write, but as it is time to set up for the new school year, most of my brain power is absorbed by that.  What’s left from that is going to preparation for next week’s Radar Recommendations.  So today, you get links which I got from other blogs who linked to them.  This is how the blogosphere works, right?  Three people create original content, and everyone else links to them.

No?

I’m glad to hear there’s more than three people creating the internet.  I’m equally glad that the people who create stuff are seen by people I read, thus leading me to cool stuff.

It’s funny, but for all that I am shy and a near-misanthrope (there’s a pun in there), real people’s stories fascinate me.  I love biographies, but more than that I love diaries and journals.  I love personal notes.  So today you get documentation of a process, and inscriptions.

First, via Bookshelves of Doom, I give you the Book Inscription Project.  These folks collect scans/photos of things people have written in books.  My favorite: This Book Stinks.  And of course now I want to go shelf-diving to find my own inscribed books.

Next, BookMoot brings us Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog about her experience creating three Coraline dolls in honor of the special edition release of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline.  I love process documents, so this one is excellent.  I don’t have the attention span to look at all of it right now, but I’m keeping it open to check again later.

Now go forth and explore the internet, and find more wondrous things to share with the rest of us!

Each Sunday the ladies of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast ask us to list seven good things from the week.  (To see their longer explanation, go here.)  It'll be interesting to see what I come up with, as the weeks have just seemed to bleed together.  So here's seven things that I think happened this week, but I'm not absolutely sure.

1. My boyfriend, roommate and I re-arranged my house so that it is much more pleasing.
2. In doing this, we eliminated three pieces of furniture from my bedroom, so now my room is much prettier.
3. Because of the new space, I was able to put my beautiful guitar (a Fender Starcaster - it's black and red) on display in my room.
4. When my sister helped me move one of those pieces of furniture (a chair constructed from ORANGE CRATES) to the dump, I got to be with her for a day and treat her to lunch and stuff.
5. I bought a glass head at Pier 1 imports.  It is much nicer for displaying hats than a styrofoam head is, and also much more adult head sized.
6. Upon seeing a hat I made on said glass head, and then trying it on, a friend commissioned a similar hat in a different color from me.
7. I went swimming.

I've been thinking a lot about feminism of late, and so today I chose a poem that relates to the subject.

From On the Equality of the Sexes Part I by Judith Sargent Murray

Yet cannot I their sentiments imbibe
Who this distinction to the sex ascribe,
As if a woman's form must needs enroll
A weak, a servile, an inferior soul;
And that the guise of man must still proclaim
Greatness of mind, and him, to be the same.
Yet as the hours revolve fair proofs arise
Which the bright wreath of growing fame supplies,
And in past times some men have sunk so low,
That female records nothing less can show.
But imbecility is still confined,
And by the lordly sex to us consigned.
They rob us of the power t'improve,
And then declare we only trifles love.
Yet haste the era when the world shall know
That such distinctions only dwell below.
The soul unfettered to no sex confined,
Was for the abodes of cloudless day designed.

Read more here.

Today we're going down under with the Summer Blog Blast Tour group!  It's the first installment of our One Shot World Tour, where we talk about books and authors from just one country (or two, when they're close in proximity like Australia and New Zealand) for just one day.  I'm not contributing my own content this time out, but I would like to bring to your attention the day's related posts.  (List modified from Colleen of Chasing Ray.)

Margo Lanagan Interviewed at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Melina Marchetta introduced at Writing and Ruminating
Big A, little A writes about Anna Feinberg and her "Tashi" series
Jenn at Not Your Mother's Bookclub interviews Simmone Howell
Chicken Spaghetti reviews Kathy Hoopmann's award winning All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome
Gwenda at Shaken and Stirred is all about How Sassy Changed My Life, The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky and a wee bit more with Margo Lanagan
John Marsden's Tomorrow series discussed at Jen Robinson's Book Page
Jaclyn Moriarty and Penni Russon's Undine at Finding Wonderland
Little Willow discusses Finding Grace by Alyssa Brugman
At A Chair, a Fireplace & a Tea Cozy it is all about Catherine Jinks and her four "Pagan" books
Does My Head Look Big in This? and John Flanagan's The Icebound Land at Interactive Reader
Queenie Chan interviewed by the YA YA YAs
Hot Men of Children's Literature: Australian Edition, as well as John Marsden and "The Rabbits" (Part Two) (Part Three) at A Fuse #8 Production
Nick Earls at Chasing Ray
Peter Temple at Light Reading

I’m currently stage managing a production of the musical Rags, which is about Jewish immigrants coming to America in the early 1900s.  At the beginning of the play, as they approach Ellis Island, the immigrants see “a giant lady wearing a funny hat and holding something that look[s] like a broom."  In honor of the production’s closing weekend I give you one of the most famous poems in America, though people don’t realize it:

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Emma Lazarus, 1883

You can actually see the poem written in Emma Lazarus’s own handwriting at the Library of Congress website here.

In May, Colleen of Chasing Ray started a monthly litblog event: on the first Monday of the month, bloggers write about a book that they think is great and relatively unknown.  I haven’t participated yet, because recently I’ve been focusing on getting myself up to speed on some rather well-known books.  I’m still in that process, and so I don’t have any WCOBs for you today, but I want to point you to Colleen’s post, where she’ll be compiling a list of all of today’s WCOB posts:

Zombie Ass Kicking Edition

Enjoy!

LaVaughn is only 14, but she knows more than anything else in her life that she’s going to go to college.  Her mother has said so, and when her mother speaks a thing, it becomes true.  College isn’t going to pay for itself, though, so LaVaughn gets a job babysitting Jeremy and Jilly, the two children of Jolly.  Jolly is seventeen and works in a factory.  As LaVaughn forms a relationship with the family and begins to see the way Jolly’s life has spiraled out of her control, she begins to question herself.  Is it wrong for LaVaughn to take money from Jolly to avoid ending up in the same situation?  If LaVaughn babysits for free, is she sacrificing her future?  Is she allowing Jolly to keep spinning her wheels without making any forward progress in life?  Should LaVaughn feel responsible for Jolly’s situation?

Virginia Euwer Wolff achieves a great deal in Make Lemonade.  She paints a picture of two families in poverty going in drastically different directions; LaVaughn is poor but has a plan for life and a mother who supports her.  Jolly has no one but her children, and lives from one day to the next.  Wolff creates in Jolly a character who is sympathetic and frustrating at the same time.  She shows the tension between LaVaughn’s responsibility to herself and her desire to help others. 

Amidst all this, Wolff uses language that is both artful and accessible.  Written in verse, Make Lemonade feels like poetry but is not at all stilted.  Each line flows into the next, but it’s clear that each line break is carefully chosen.  Make Lemonade would be an excellent introduction to the verse novel for those who may be wary of the genre.

I would recommend Make Lemonade to readers who enjoy verse novels, as well as anyone looking for a story that is uplifting without being saccharine.
 
Book: Make Lemonade (Affiliate Link)
Author: Virginia Euwer Wolff
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Original Publication Date: 1993
Pages: 208
Age Range: Young Adult
Source of Book: Library

Emily Beeson has declared July 16 Tell An Author You Care Day.

I'm getting in on this at the end, with a rather short entry, but I want to participate.

The author I want to thank today is Dia Calhoun.  Ms. Calhoun is the author of The Phoenix Dance, a fantasy novel which captures the essence of Bipolar Disorder by using a fantastical metaphor: The Kingdom of Darkness and the Kingdom of Brilliance.

I don't have bipolar disorder; I do have clinical depression.  I have experienced the Kingdom of Darkness and Ms. Calhoun writes about it in a way that I think makes it much more accessible than any explanation I've been able to give.  I have several friends with bipolar disorder; one of my friends with bipolar disorder killed herself this past March.  The Phoenix Dance helped me to understand what she had gone through, what my friends who are still living with this disease deal with every day, and why it is so important that all of us take our medicine, even if it does make us far too emotionally even and affects our bodies in unpleasant ways.

Tomorrow evening I will write up a full review of The Phoenix Dance, complete with my favorite quotes.

For now I will just say:

Thank you, Dia Calhoun, for writing such a moving book that uses fantasy for its greatest purpose: to expose and make familiar ordinary situations by putting them in extraordinary circumstances.