Archives for March 2015

John Steinbeck wrote many classic novels, and Of Mice and Men is widely considered to be among his best. The story of two country workers takes readers into another world and explores some powerful themes.

I definitely recommend this book, but the fact that it’s rather short doesn’t mean that young people should read it, as I’ll discuss later.

Summary

George Milton and Lennie Small are out in search of work, trying to find something to do out in California. They’ve just had a job, but had t0 run after Lennie touched a girl. He didn’t mean anything bad by it, it’s just that he’s not too smart.

No, Lennie isn’t smart at all, but he’s a big fella and a great worker. George is a smart guy, and he helps Lennie and looks after him. They’re always talking about how they’ll save enough money and one day they’ll have enough money and a nice ranch of their own instead of just working for other people.

They start a new job, and start saving up. There are some distractions, with the son of the ranch boss, Curley, just waiting to have a fight with Lennie because of how big and strong Lennie is. Eventually Curley picks a fight, swinging his fist toward Lennie, and all Lennie does is grab the guys’ hand and squeeze on to it, like he has a fixation of doing. That’s enough to seriously hurt Curley, and he’s not going to tell anyone because of how ashamed he is.

George also makes acquaintance with Slim, the leader of the workers. Everybody respects him a lot, and he often gives good advice over horseshoe games. A lot of people go to town on the weekend and blow all of their money, but George and Lennie are determined to save theirs. It isn’t long before Candy, an old ranch worker with only one hand, joins them in trying to get a ranch of their own.

For awhile it seems like they may actually save up the money and get their own ranch, but Curley’s wife is also making trouble. She loves to tease her husband by messing around, and she goes and speaks with the ranch workers, often making trouble for them.

She goes in on Lennie and starts stirring up a conservation. Lennie starts thinking her hair seems really nice and starts petting it. She tries to fight him, but he covers her mouth to make sure no one hears. When he releases his grip, she’s dead.

When George comes back, he realizes what’s happened and knows they’re going to try to kill Lennie. George finds him and tells him the story Lennie likes so much about how they got each other and they’re going to get themselves a ranch of their own. In that relaxed state, George kills him.

Review

This is an excellent book. Steinbeck’s writing ability is quite well known, and in this story he takes us into the ranchers of the West. It’s interesting how the main characters are always dreaming of and planning to get a better life, and Lennie still believes he is about to get it at the end even though he’s really about to get killed. The symbolism is that throughout the novel the characters believe they are really going to get their own place, when no such thing is going to happen.

As for kids reading it, though, it’s hard to support that. Most kids today have absolutely no conception of the kind of world in this novel, and confusing young people with a book like this where multiple people are killed in a rather foreign setting does not really seem advisable. 

I’d say that before introducing a kid to this book you should have them read some other books about ranch work and the West, so that they understand it, and wait with this one until they’re more mature and in their mid-to-late teens. If someone reads a book like this that has a kind of depressing theme and is not able to understand it, it can only be a negative.

Of Mice and Men is a great Steinbeck classic. Not for middle grade readers, but most others will greatly enjoy it.

Do books have an objective standard, or are they purely subjective, the only judgment of them up to the reader to decide?

Let’s remind ourselves exactly what we mean by objective vs. subjective. If books have an objective standard, then that means they are intrinsically good or bad, regardless of what anyone says about them. By a specific measure, we can say this book is not good for such and such reason, and we can also say this book is good for such and such a reason.

If books have a purely subjective standard, then there is no real judgment for books at all. People may like them or not, and they may give reasons to back it up, but there is no way that we can actually say a book is good or not, other than our own opinion.

There has to be some standard for books, because there have to be reasons why a person likes or doesn’t like a book. In that case the standards would be very subjective, but standards would undoubtedly exist.

The standards also have to be different for different audiences and different goals, of course. The standard for a realistic middle grade fiction book is going to be very different from an adult women’s romance, and what would be a good book for one of the genres would be a complete disaster for the others.

Given that there clearly are such standards, it is both a difference in philosophy with regard to exactly what they are as well as personal preferences that will determine whether a person likes a book. A difference in standards is a large part of the reason why serious readers will disagree about the merits of a book. A mathematical text may not be something I would ever read, but I would never say it is not good for a different audience just because of my preference. On the other hand, I will say that a book is not sound based on whether or not it meets my standards.

Everyone has somewhat different standards for books, and if you’ve been a reader of this website you’ve probably been able to tell some of mine. I believe middle grade books should be written for fun, period. I believe that middle grade authors don’t need to try to teach lessons, because every book has to have a lesson by definition, and that lesson should be funness. I believe the whole crux of middle grade books is kids actually doing something; not just responding or reacting, but accomplishing something on their own, and something worthwhile.

I actually made a whole forty minute video a few months back about what I think makes good writing. You can watch it if you want, it’s got plenty of great tips for people writing for kids.

Do you agree with me that there is an objective standard for books, specifically tailored to the genre and audience, and that personal preferences are added on top of that? What are your standards for middle grade fiction? Let me know in the comments below.

The concept of Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja by Marcus Emerson is great-a secret ninja clan living right in the midst of an erstwhile normal seeming school. A secret ninja club like this is just the kind of thing that gets me super excited. Unfortunately, there are a number of missteps in the book that preclude a recommendation here.

Summary

The main character, Chase, is going to a new school, and being the normal kid that he is, is a little nervous about it. That’s why he’s excited to see that run into his cousin, Zoe, at the school. She helps show him around and get him acquainted with everything.

When they are walking on the gym track on the first day of school, they see a weird set of eyes peering out of them from the forest. They are scared and run off, but when they tell Brayden, a kid with a little out of the ordinary persuasions, about it, he suggests that they might be a group of ninjas he has heard rumors about.

Only one way to find out, right? Brayden sticks his hand into the forest, and is pulled in and captured. To Chase and Zoe’s great shock, there actually is a large ninja gang, made up of kids. They release Brayden on the condition that they don’t speak about it to anyone.

It isn’t long before the two get an invitation to become ninjas themselves. Chase is interested; after all, who wouldn’t want to become a ninja? Zoe joins because she views it as a way of helping out her cousin. Brayden warns them that the ninjas are the bad guys, and it isn’t long before they see what he’s talking about.

To become initiated into the group, the leader, a seemingly quiet kid named Wyatt, insists that they steal the purse of one of Zoe’s friends. They go along with it, and Zoe creates a diversion to help Chase snatch the purse.

Afterward, Zoe is having second thoughts about what has happened, and leaves the group despite threats that the ninjas will not allow her to disrespect them. Chase stays on, going against his cousin.

Chase starts turning against the idea of his membership, especially after $3,000 is reported missing from the school. But all his concerns evaporate when presented with a ninja suit. He gladly dons it, and immediately afterwards is instructed to plant Zoe’s backpack in the front office; with the $3,000 in it.

Chase is definitely not about to do that. He enlists the help of Brayden, but it looks bad because he already has the backpack on him. Wyatt and his team show up at the scene, and Chase hurls the backpack at him, spilling the money all across the floor. Wyatt beats up Chase, but it isn’t long before he admits to the crime and is kicked out of the ninjas. Chase is installed as the new ninja.

Review

The premise of this book is awesome, so it’s sad that there are a number of things wrong with the way it shows itself in this book.

First of all, the whole reason the secret ninja club thing is exciting is if it’s a force for good. Or at least ambiguous. Or maybe two different ninja clans, one being more good and one being more bad. Either way, having the only alternative to a stupid ninja club that simply steals stuff be to go to the principal is really not inspiring. I’m hoping that in future books, which have already come out, the club will do awesome things with Chase at the helm, but that definitely wasn’t the case with this one.

The fight scene of the book also makes very little sense. It portrays Chase as having a victory over Wyatt by allowing himself to get beaten up, which to me is extremely stupid. If someone is fighting you, you’ve got to defend yourself. It shows Wyatt getting furious when Chase won’t fight back, which can be true in the sense that it is possible to let another person abuse you so much in a way that you ultimately defeat them by letting their conscience overwhelm them. But most serious bullies, on seeing a defenseless victim who is not going to fight back, will simply go in for the kill. In some cases of mild attacks, simply not letting it get to you means that people will lose interest, but has you on the floor and is wailing on you, it is long past that point. In fact, fighting back aggressively against them may either make them stop, or not pick a fight with you again. Either way, just letting yourself get beat up is not something I would recommend, but the bigger problem in the naive way the author describes this as totally defusing the situation, which is unlikely.

Another thing that makes no sense is that Zoe’s friend just forgives her for stealing her purse and doesn’t even care. Part of the reason according to the book is that there isn’t much of anything valuable in the purse. Nevertheless, if a “friend” steals from me they’re not my friend anymore. Period.

The constant desire of Zoe for her cousin to fit in is also very strange in the way that it’s overemphasized. The fact is that there is no black and white about this, and it’s really not anything too difficult or that should give kids that much undue attention. Sure, a nice cousin will maybe introduce you to some people and stuff, but making friends should be a natural thing, not something to agonize over. I went to several different schools and never worried about this, because I knew I would be alright and it’s just something that happens. Zoe stealing from her friend because of this motivation really doesn’t make sense. The book would’ve been better if Zoe wasn’t thinking like this and it wasn’t such a big plot point throughout the book.

Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja ended by telling us that Chase will be the new leader of the ninjas and may lead them against a “pirate invasion”, which I’m excited to read about. I loved the part of the book where Wyatt attempts to frame Zoe by handing Chase the backpack, putting him in an impossible spot where some intense action is happening. This series has a lot of good potential, and they were some good plusses about this book, even if I can’t recommend it on the whole. I’ll be reading the future books with the hope that some of these problems have been eliminated and that they are truly fun and awesome books to read.

Note: It’s also very noticeable that these books are released solely as ebooks through the Kindle store. Kids ebooks are not typically thought to be a huge market, but these books have enjoyed great success. It’s something for all middle grade writers to take note of, and I’ll be interested to learn more about how Emerson and his co-authors made these books such successes.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery is a childhood classic that kids (especially girls) have been voraciously digesting since its release in 1908. But is it still relevant to today’s children?

For those of you who don’t know, Anne of Green Gables is a book about a girl named Anne who is adopted by Matthew and Marilla, brother and sister living in a secluded house known as Green Gables. Anne is a vivacious girl, always imagining all kinds of things and getting into all kinds of scrapes and adventures along the way.

The book tracks Anne through ages eleven to sixteen, so it moves quickly, detailing Anne’s great friendship with her neighbor Diane and her education at the schoolhouse to getting her teaching license. Throughout the book there are many lifelike characters, such as Rachel Lynde, who knows everybody’s business, other school kids, and shy Matthew.

Modern Analysis

It seems that not too many kids are still reading the Anne series, and I only read it recently through an effort to read some more older-type books like this. Part of the reason may be the length: It is over 100,000 words, which is long considering the target audience for this kind of book (which features no particular kind of action but instead simply models after real life) is getting younger. There have been much shorter adaptions of the book that are still widely read.

While on the one hand this makes the target audience for Anne of Green Gables younger, in practice it means that many of the book reading the series are adults. Certainly there is much material-especially in the later books-that adults will appreciate a lot.

As to the actual merit of the book, Anne is an intriguing character, with her frequent imaginations. Although I haven’t had imaginings along a similar vein, it’s easy to understand where she’s coming from and emphasize with her. It’s good how the author doesn’t make her a perfect girl by any means (which I was a little afraid of at the beginning of the book), but just a regular girl.

Montgomery’s best trait is creating characters who we can understand and who become real to us before we know it. Partly this is because of her style where she gives such a rush of events in a relatively short writing space, which is a good lesson for authors who might want to do a similar thing.

There are also some things in the book which are a little weird. Anne is constantly concerned about having too many freckles and red hair, thinking them to not be attractive, which isn’t something I think modern girls will really care very much about. A lot of the traditions, customs, and terms that are in here are not at all relevant or even in existence today, so readers will have to be aware of that and possibly be prepared to look some things up.

I like some of the later books in this series better, but Anne of Green Gables is fun and more than good enough to read. Anne’s imagination and love of nature is captivating, for adults as well as children, and (despite Anne’s orphan origins) is a much more benign and realistic character than a lot of the crazy ones that are seen populating most kids’ novels.

A lot of girls will definitely still like it, but the age range of the book will be lower than when it first came out because kids seem to grow up faster than they used to. It is good for parents to read to/with children ages seven, eight, or nine, and great for older girls who will appreciate Anne’s escapades.

When a children’s book was praised by none other than sitting US President Theodore Roosevelt, that tells you two things: 1. The book is old. 2. The book is good enough for a President to spend his time reading it, so its got a good chance of being pretty good.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame follows anthropomorphic animals in their various adventures through the world. While there are many picture books about animals, long middle-grade books about them are significantly more rare. This book proves its quality from a reading today.

Summary

At the beginning of the book we meet the Mole, who is coming out of his hole as spring is beginning. He happens to run into a Rat and follows him to the river-bank, where there is a vibrant community of animals. The Mole has never seen it before, but is greatly impressed and thus takes up lodging by the river.

We soon meet the Toad, a rich fellow who is constantly getting himself into scraps by his addiction to motor-cars when he is a terrible and careless driver. We also meet the Badger, who Mr. Mole discovers after venturing in a dangerous manner into the Wild Wood. 

The four are close friends and we follow their escapades as the Rat has a yearning to explore the seas and Mr. Toad gets himself thrown in jail for stealing another person’s motor-car. There is even a full-scale battle as the four face an army of hundreds for control of the Toad’s ancestral home. They all seek to help each other through trouble, but nonetheless get in a normal amount of it for adventuresome animals.

Review

The humanlike attitudes of the animals and their going-ons are quite hilarious, and the characters are very identifiable. The Rat’s desire to go and explore the world is awesome, as is Mr. Mole’s folly into the woods and his affection for his old but now deserted house. Mr. Toad is quite a humorous character, escaping from prison and all and being extremely puffed-up. And Badger is just a sensible, wise fellow.

At first the setting seems to suggest that this animal world may be a secret one that we are not privy to, but further displays in the book such as paintings in the animals’ houses and policemen arresting Mr. Toad show that it could never happen in real life. The reader will nevertheless be drawn to the story and wonder if animals may really be like this.

The language in the book is quite up-to-date, although it contains a few words that current readers may find confusing. There is only one remark of preachiness in the entire book, while the entirety of it is simply in fun. It is easy to get into the story and feel right there in the action.

There is one scene that is intriguing and good where the characters have a sort of spiritual experience and witness a miracle.It seemed pretty out of place and was such a surprising shift of gears that I had to go back and re-read it at first to ensure the author really had just hopped from the fun lives of animals into the divine. At first I thought the author had made a mistake by not leading up to it, but now I think he likely did wrote it that way on purpose to really emphasize the event (paradoxically, by not emphasizing it at all). If that was his goal, he succeeded.

Kids tend to grow up now much faster than they did in 1903 when the book was written, and since it is a fairly good-sized book with over 58,000 words, it is best suited for upper middle-grade children. I wonder a little if kids at this age will appreciate a playful, funny book about animals (filled with action as it is) such as this one. No doubt many will get engrossed in the story and after that the chances of anyone putting it down are slim. It is different from many kids books these days in that it is pervaded by a sense of calm and relaxation, which is sorely missing from most middle grade books and altogether absent from those of the young-adult variety.

As evinced by Roosevelt’s remark, the appeal of this book is to older readers as well as younger, and I think a good many adults will take pleasure from this book. My biggest complaint is that there are not more adventures of these four written by the author. I will have to take a look at his other works, since this one cannot be anything but highly recommended.