Sine Nomine

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

Target Audience: YA/Teen

Summary: Cassie Dasent grew up in a research station on the Arctic Ice, learning to survive on the frozen tundra and to track polar bears when most children her age were learning cursive and long division. The ice is all she’s ever known and all she’s ever wanted to know. The only thing missing from her life is a mother, a mother who died just after Cassie was born – unless you believe the story her grandmother tells about how Cassie’s mother was the daughter of the North Wind, and who promised her infant daughter to be the bride of the Polar Bear King in exchange for permission to stay with the mortal man she loved and was then blown to the land of the trolls by her father as punishment. Which of course, Cassie does not, not anymore.

Until the giant polar shows up on her birthday, a polar bear unfazed by tranquilizer darts, a polar bear who walks through solid glaciers, calls to Cassie by name, and has come to claim his bride. While she has little desire to be the wife of a polar bear, Cassie agrees to go with him on one condition – he free her mother from the land of the trolls. And so the bargain is struck.

Type of adaptation: Modernization

I won’t say that I had misgivings about this book, because that’s too strong a word with too many negative connotations, but I did have a number of questions upon starting this book, not the least of which was, How exactly is this story going to work when modernized, especially in such a scientific setting? I can totally get behind the idea that if there is magic left in the world, it’s in the Arctic regions mostly unexplored. But a premise based so heavily on a scientific viewpoint? That was what got me.

Yet Durst manages it surprisingly well.
( Full Review Under the Cut )

Overall, this was a well-done adaptation. Yes, sometimes the science got a little skewy – if a munaqsri not having a soul on hand causes stillbirths, what is their explanation for miscarriages? – and there are some eyebrow raising moments, but overall it’s well done. Cassie is a fantastically flawed heroine, and the relationship between her and Bear is built very convincingly. I had my doubts about a modernization with this fairy tale, but I think Durst handled it very well, and this adaptation is definitely worth the read.

So, before I started this job, facilitating a discussion between one of my favorite childhood authors and a group of students I introduced to his books was never on my bucket list because I never even entertained it as a possibility.

After last night's 45-minute Skype-chat with Bruce Coville? Crossed off.

He's a very nice man, it turns out. Very personable and engaging, and genuinely enjoyed talking to our group of nine-year-olds, who has just read his The World's Worst Fairy Godmother.

My own nine-year-old self is still in shock that this happened at all.

And all because my supervisor was friends with him on Facebook and I was lazy in choosing this month's book for discussion!

East by Edith Pattou

Target Audience: YA/Teen

Summary: Rose, the youngest in her family, has always been adventurous and curious, loving to wander and explore, all qualities of a true north-born child, according to her mother’s superstitions. And yet, Rose’s mother swears that she is an east-born child, and not until she is well past childhood does Rose learn the truth of her birth and the lie she has grown up believing. Angry at her parents and determined to claim her own destiny, when a talking white bear comes to her family and asks Rose to accompany him to his home, she readily agrees. In his home, she wants for nothing except the answers to her questions – why she has been brought there, who the mysterious white servants are, whether or not she will see her family again, who it is that sleeps beside her every night.

Her curiosity is her undoing in the end, and when it hurts a dear friend in the worst possible way, Rose must travel to the corners of the globe and the ends of the earth to set things to rights. But she is up against a terrible foe, one who will do anything and everything in her power to keep Rose from reclaiming her white bear.

Type of adaptation: Retelling

Warning: This will not be a spoiler-free review. I will do my best not to give away any major plot twists, but in order to be an in-depth review, I need to be free to talk about all aspects of the story.


So, this is the book that introduced me to “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” in the first place, and it’s been near the top of my all time favorite books list ever since.
                
For the most part, the first half of the book is just a straight-up retelling of the story. It fleshes it out and it tightens it up, but it isn’t until Rose sets out to follow the white bear that we start getting real changes to the story.


( Full Review Under the Cut! )


From start to finish, this is a magnificent book. Does it have what I’ve looking for in an adaptation? Kick-ass but flawed heroine? Check. Dimension given to other players? Yes. The father, the mother, Neddy, the white bear, the troll queen, they’re all rich and wonderful characters. Eliminating the repetition? Check and Check. The way Pattou handled the journey portion of the story was masterful, but then, that just fits in with the novel as a whole.      

Disclaimer: I honestly have no idea how I'm getting this much read. I really don't. On to the reviews!

April Books:

* Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
* 10 Days: Anne Frank by David Colbert
Foundation by Mercedes Lackey, Collegium Chronicles, book 1
* The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith
* Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
How Not to Spend Your Senior Year by Cameron Dokey
* Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey, Elemental Masters series, book 4
* The Dead of Night by Peter Lerangis, Cahills vs Vespers, book 3
The Serpent’s Shadow by Mercedes Lackey, Elemental Masters series, book 2
The Wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey, Elemental Masters series, book 5
* The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty
* Intrigues by Mercedes Lackey, Collegium Chronicles, book 2
* Sleeping Beauty: The One Who Took the Really Long Nap by Wendy Mass
* Rapunzel: The One with All the Hair by Wendy Mass
* The Sandman: Fables and Reflections by Neil Gaiman, the Sandman series, book 5
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
* The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

That's 18 books this month, for those of you keeping track. Yeah, I really don't know.


( Reviews Under the Cut! )

The Tally:

Books Total: 64
New Reads: 41
Rereads: 23
Currently reading:
-Changes by Mercedes Lackey
-Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

Also, if you're interested in fairy tale adaptations, I'll be posting the first review of my new project on Friday!

East of the Sun, West of the Moon (According to Cassie)

So basically, there’s a poor family with lots of kids. They used to be able to get by all right, but now their farm is failing, and they’re having trouble doing things like keeping everyone adequately fed. You know, minor stuff. Things keep getting more and more dire until one wintery night, a talking polar bear shows up at their doorstep and tells them that if they will give him their youngest daughter, he will make all their problems go away.
    
In some versions, the father says, “No way, you can’t take my daughter, are you crazy?” and in others, he says, “Sure, sounds good to me,” but regardless of whether or not the father gets labeled one of those crazy heartless fairy tale men, the girl in question steps forward and accepts the terms since, really, one would hope it’s up to her in the end, anyway.
    
As she rides away on the back of the white bear, they speak only once. He asks, “Are you afraid?” and she says, “No.” Proving that she’s either incredibly courageous or incredibly naive. Or just putting on a good display of bravado.
  
Anyway, the white bear (and no. None of these characters have names. I don’t think we get one name in the whole tale) takes her back to his palace, which is hidden and secluded and magical. And for a kidnaped fairy tale heroine, things could be worse. Her time is her own. No demands are made of her. All her wishes and desires are provided for. And the white bear isn’t ruthless or cruel or vicious. In fact, as time goes on, they become friends.
    
The only strange thing about the palace at all (apart from the magic) is that every night, the lights are extinguished, and someone climbs into the bed with her. She can’t see who, can’t light a light, can’t speak. But whoever it is means no harm. Just climbs in and sleeps, and eventually, she becomes accustomed to it.
    
But as time goes on, the girl gets lonesome and homesick, to the point of making herself ill. And so the white bear allows her to visit her family, on three conditions. One, she has to come back in a month. Two, she can’t talk about her life at the castle. And three, under no circumstances is she to allow her mother the chance to talk with her alone.
    
So, needless to say, her mother eventually gets her alone and gets the story of the nights with the mysterious stranger out of her. The girl does return on time, though, unlike Beauty and the Beast, but with an addition from her mother – a magic candle that will light under any circumstance. Also, a worry planted in her mind that she’s sleeping beside some horrible monster every night.
    
Unfortunately, her mother’s words get the better of her, and she starts to have nightmares about her sleeping companion. Eventually, she can’t stand it anymore, and she lights the magic candle and looks to see who it is that sleeps beside her. And lo and behold, it’s a handsome young man, and not a monster at all! She’s so captivated that she doesn’t notice her candle dripping, and three drops of wax fall on the man’s nightshirt and awaken him (ow).
    
When he realizes what she’s done, he is distressed and distraught because (of course) he is the white bear, placed under a curse when he refused to marry the Troll Queen’s daughter. White bear by day, man by night, unless a human girl could sleep beside him for year and never see his mortal face.
    
Oops. Icing on the cake? There was about a week (or month, depending on the version) left before the conditions would have been fulfilled.
    
And she’s in for it now because the Troll Queen is coming to take him away to the land that lies east of the sun and west of the moon, to marry the Troll Princess. And sure enough, he’s whisked away.
    
Horrified at what she’s done, the girl immediately sets out to find him and free him (because this is no weak-ass Disney damsel in distress, ladies and gents). She doesn’t know the way, but that doesn’t stop her.
    
She journeys along and eventually comes upon an old woman picking golden apples. The woman asks for her help, which the girl provides, and in exchange, she is given a golden apple and advice to seek out the woman’s sister, who might be able to help her find the land she is looking for. This happens twice more, with two more old women and golden carding combs and a golden spindle. The last old woman takes her to the East Wind.
    
But the East wind can’t take her where she needs to go. Fortunately, the East Wind has a brother stronger and faster, so the girl is taken to the West Wind. And yes, this repeats as well, through the West Wind and South Wind until we get to the North Wind, who has been to the land she seeks, but long ago. If she is not afraid, however, he will journey there again for her.
    
So, riding the back of the North Wind, our girl finally makes it to the land that lies east of the sun and west of the moon – a land at the top of the world where the Trolls live.
    
And wouldn’t you know it, she’s arrived just in time. The prince is to be married in three days. She takes her golden apple and goes to try and strike a deal with the troll princess. Which she does – her apple for a night in the prince’s room. But, predictably, when she gets there, she cannot awaken him. So the next day, she trades her golden combs. But again, she cannot wake him. Luckily, though, two human servants have watched her and heard her tell her tale to the sleeping prince, and so they sneak in to his rooms the next day and warn him not to drink what he is offered by the trolls.
    
And so, when the girl trades the spindle for one last night, the prince is awake when she goes to find him. They confess their love for one another and hatch A Plan.
    
The next day is the grand wedding. But! Before the prince and the troll princess can be wed, he asks a favor of her. He says that in the land he comes from, a bride offers a gift to her husband. The princess agrees, and so the prince asks that she wash clean a shirt for him – the shirt he was wearing the night the girl spilled candle wax on him. He says that he will marry only the girl who can wash the shirt clean (so we all know where this is going, right?)
    
Predictably, the princess fails. In fact, she makes the stain worse. So the Queen tries next, but the stain only grows bigger and darker. By the time she’s had her servants at it, the whole shirt is black. Shaking his head in disappointment, the prince says, “I’ll bet even this beggar girl can wash that shirt clean,” and brings the girl up. Of course, under her ministrations, the shirt is cleansed white as snow, and the trolls are so infuriated, they tear themselves apart, leaving the prince and the girl to return home and live happily ever after.

Thoughts on the original tale:

I love this story. There’s a reason it’s my favorite fairy tale, and that reason is almost entirely the main character. This girl is fearless, adventurous, and curious, but she’s also headstrong, lacks forethought, and is perhaps too curious for her own good. She is, in other words, flawed in a very real way, and that makes her a much more human character than many of her “paragon of virtue” counterparts in other fairy tales. But what truly sets her apart from many of those other fairy tale characters is that when she makes a mistake, she doesn’t hesitate before going out to fix it. This story reminds us that our actions have consequences, and that the world doesn’t come with a magic wand to wave all our problems away. When we make mistakes, it’s our responsibility to set them right. A far cry from the “sit back and cry about your problems until someone comes to fix them” message of a lot of tales.
    
I also love the motivation behind the girl’s journey. It isn’t about rescuing her one true love. She doesn’t set off after the man who was once a white bear because she loves him and has to find a way to be with him. She sets off after him because he was hurt as a result of her actions, and she has to set that to rights. The love story is secondary in this tale, and I truly appreciate that.

So, what am I looking for in an adaptation?

    The kick-ass heroine is the big one. I don’t want her to be simplified or dumbed down. I want that rich mix of flaw and virtue.

    Dimension given to all the major players. If there’s one thing the original story lacks, it’s this. Even the white bear isn’t terribly well defined, and everyone else is pretty two-dimensional.

    Along with the last point, eliminating some of the repetition. This is a long story, and part of what makes the middle drag a little bit is that all three old women are exactly the same, and all the girl’s encounters with them are exactly the same. Same goes for the winds, so that by the time I get to the last of them, I’m saying, “Okay, let’s get on with it!”

The Line Up for the month:

Week 1: East by Edith Pattou
Week 2: Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
Week 3: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
Week 4: Once Upon a Winter’s Night by Dennis McKiernan

Feel free to read along, and I'll see you on Friday!

So, I miss blogging. I realize that sounds a bit strange given the general inactivity of my LiveJournal, but I just finished participating in a collaborative blog project where I blogged once a week every week for a year. That finished mid-March, and I've gone a few weeks now without it, and I miss it. And so:

Because I a) want to get back to weekly blogging, and b) want to get better about writing book reviews, and c) want an excuse (okay, more of an excuse) to reread my favorite fairy tale novels, I am officially launching a project that has existed only in my mind and an elaborate chart on my hard drive for about eight months now.

Starting in one week, on May 1, I am embarking on a year-long fairy tale inspired reviewing project. For one year, I will pick a fairy tale each month and post one review a week. The schedule:

1st of the month: Introduce the Fairy Tale of the Month, the adaptations I'll be reading, and give you the "Tale According to Cassie."
Each Friday: Post a review of that week's novel adaptation.
Last of the month: Wrap-up post, including other notable novels I didn't pick to review.

The project will start on May 1, and we'll begin with my favorite fairy tale of all time: East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

I'll post the reviews both here and on my tumblr (Hey, I have a tumblr). I'm looking forward to the project! Feel free to post books you think I should read and include!

And the list for March 2012 is . . .

* Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde
* Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
The Storyteller’s Daughter by Cameron Dokey
* Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Midnight in the Dollhouse by Marjorie Filley Stover
* 39 Clues: Rapid Fire by Riley Clifford
* Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (Gregor the Overlander Book 3) by Suzanne Collins
* Darkness Over Denmark by Ellen Levine
* Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor/Lisa Buccieri
* Wildthorn by Jane Eagland
* Girl Meets Boy edited by Kelly Milner Halls
* Gregor and the Marks of Secret (Gregor the Overlander Book 4) by Suzanne Collins
* Gregor and the Code of Claw (Gregor the Overlander Book 5) by Suzanne Collins
Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdoch


( Reviews Below the Cut )

And that's March!

Current tally: 46
New reads: 29
Rereads: 17

Currently reading:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
10 Days: Anne Frank by David Colbert
Hitler Youth by Susan Bartoletti (and yes, my book discussion is done, so as my boyfriend pointed out, I'm now reading about the Holocaust for funzies)

What are you reading?

So, I've been putting this post off because we're a little more than two months into the year and my book list is already 34 books long. Yeah, I don't know how it happened either. I read 22 books in February. 22! Actually, I read more than that, but I don't count picture books on this list (though if I were, you absolutely must read An Undone Fairy Tale by Ian Lendler. It's absolutely hysterical). This is what teaching theatre classes based on children's lit and starting a new job as a children's clerk in a library will do to you, I guess. Anyway. Here goes.

January
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
* The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Vespers Rising by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman, and Jude Watson
Spinning Tales, Spinning Truth by Cassandra Guion
* The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman
We Behind the Curtain by Cassandra Guion
* The Sandman: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman
* A King’s Ransom by Jude Watson
* Letters from Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes
* 13 Gifts by Wendy Mass

February
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
* Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
* Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
* The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
* The Frog Princess by ED Baker
* Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
 The World’s Worst Fairy Godmother by Bruce Coville
 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
 Chalice by Robin McKinley
* Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
* 10 Days: Abraham Lincoln by Dave Colbert
Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger by Louis Sachar
The Wide-Awake Princess by ED Baker
* Witches: the Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer
Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
* Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
* The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
* Divergent by Veronica Roth
* The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty
* Leap Day by Wendy Mass


( Reviews Under the Cut )
Current Total: 34
New reads: 20
Rereads: 14
Currently Reading:
- Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
- Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins
- Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey  

Total books read: 150
New Books: 82
Rereads: 68


( 2011 Reading List )
For the sake of ease and fairness, I'm going to limit my answers to the new books I read last year.

Best Book: Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Favorite Book: Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John, The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, Fire by Kristin Cashore
Most Interesting Book: The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Least Favorite Book?
A tie: Dorcas Good: Diary of a Salem Witch by Rose Earhart and Phoenix Dance by Dia Calhoun.

Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?: 
Disappointing was probably The Extra Ordinary Princess by Carolyn Q Ebbitt -- It had such promise! It was a wonderful premise, but it was not executed well at all. Book I wish I loved more than I did, Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card. It was fascinating, but so complicated. I just couldn't keep all his ideas in my head at once. I know it's a brilliant book; I just didn't enjoy reading it.

Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?
Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011?Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?

Hold onto your hats, folks, as this month is gonna be a doozy. I hit 125, my goal, with the first book of the month, at which point, my boy challenged me to read 25 more and bring my total for the year up to 150. This afternoon, I reached that goal. Here are the books for the month:

* The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan    
Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey    
* Okay for Now by Gary D Schmidt
* Crossed by Ally Condie
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C Wrede
* Troll's Eye View edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
* Steel by Carrie Vaughn
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
* The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
* Sass and Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler
Searching for Dragons by Patricia C Wrede
* Ivy’s Ever After by Dawn Lairamore
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickons
* Crazy Jack by Donna Jo Napoli
* Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
* The Storyteller: Graphic Novel by a huge list of authors and illustrators  
* Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
* The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
* The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
Calling on Dragons by Patricia C Wrede
Talking to Dragons by Patricia C Wrede
Mandy by Julie Edwards
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling
Graceling by Kristin Cashore        

Yeesh. All right, let's get reviewing.
( Reviews under the cut )

Final Tally:
Books: 150
New reads: 82
Rereads: 68

Currently reading: Nothing. I'm exhausted. But expect the first books of the new year to be The Book Thief and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Reading in Review: 2011 to come soon!