Revolver
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Publication Date: 4/13/10
Publisher: Roaring Book Press

Blurb (GR): A LOADED GUN. STOLEN GOLD. And a menacing stranger. A taut frontier survivor story, set at the time of the Alaska gold rush.

In an isolated cabin, fourteen-year-old Sig is alone with a corpse: his father, who has fallen through the ice and frozen to death only hours earlier. Then comes a stranger claiming that Sig’s father owes him a share of a horde of stolen gold. Sig’s only protection is a loaded Colt revolver hidden in the cabin’s storeroom. The question is, will Sig use the gun, and why?

Review:
Revolver is a 2011 Printz Honor winner and yet, only 276 people on Goodreads have read it. After reading this book, I understand why.

This a beautifully written YA novel, but I have no idea who would be its audience. Boys will not read it because there is no magic or action, girls - because there is no romance or high school drama.

Revolver is set in 1910th Antarctic wilderness. 14-year old Sig just found his father's dead body. He froze to death after falling under ice while crossing a nearby lake. As Sig is waiting by his father's corpse for his sister and stepmother to come back with help, he is approached by a man who claims that Sig's father owes him gold from 10 years ago. What follows are 36 hours that test Sig's courage and his belief in life lessons taught to him by his parents...

A mix of mystery, psychological thriller and historical fiction, this book is, surprisingly, an ode to... a revolver, which is a major player in this story. As Anton Chekhov once said, "One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it". The revolver in this novel does get fired and the decision to do it is a vital one and, of course, carries very serious consequences.

I think people who still like Jack London's stories about Gold Rush will appreciate Revolver. But how many teens are there interested in this period in American history? I'll bet every public and school library in America has a copy of this novel, but all of them are destined to gather dust on the shelves. No matter how good the book is, its subject matter is just not of much interest to current generation.

4/5 stars

The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Publication Date: 3/14/06
Publisher: Knopf

Blurb (GR): It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul. 


Review:
I find it so exciting that every book is its own adventure. Though each of them is merely a cover and pieces of paper, the author has filled it with words that make it unique and the reader has only vague ideas of what might be coming in the hours of reading ahead. This book has been haunting me foryears. I attempted to read it several times and ended up just putting it down but since my new book club picked it for our first meeting, I was somewhat obligated to finish it. I'm extremely glad I did. 

This novel, narrated by Death itself, tells the story of a young German girl, Liesel Meiminger, growing up during the Holocaust/WWII era. She starts her life with her mother and brother and we follow her journey as a foster child in a small town outside Munich. Though this book is labeled young adult, for reasons completely unknown to me (perhaps merely the fact that Liesel is a child?), I definitely enjoyed it as literature. Then again, you'd never hear me utter a blasphemous word about the young adult genre--as it stands, I find myself reading about 70% young adult literature these days. I guess the point I am trying (horribly) to make here is that it saddens me that perhaps less people will have easy access or hear of this book (or the many, many other AMAZING young adult books) because of marketing and chosen publishing audiences. 

The narration of this book took a little getting used to, but once I was with the program, I found Death's asides to be some of my favorite parts of the book. He (she?) filled me in with those details that might be left hanging in other books. Death also left a lot of vivid imagery for my imagination, though Liesel and Max's relationship was what brought me the most pleasure from this story. I found the descriptions of the clouds lovely and the thought of the brightness of the stars blinding Max was rather poignant. 

It was definitely interesting reading a story from the German aspect of WWII. Though I am doubtful that any story relating to the atrocities of the Holocaust can actually be termed "accessible," I thought Zusak did a great job of describing what one girl's life during that period could've encompassed. I loved her friendship with Rudy and the characters in the neighborhood were perfect--every neighborhood has people like each of them. 

The most meaningful part of this book to me was the way it nailed the wonders of being a reader. Mark Twain once said, "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them." Liesel was on a mission to learn to read and her journey of learning and then of actually reading certain stories defined a lot of her experiences. Reading is powerful, just look at how much influence Hitler had with Mein Kampf. (sorry to state the obvious) Not a day goes by that I don't think of at least one idea from a book I've read or about what I want to read next. There is an unlimited supply of adventures out there for those that are looking for something--I'm only saddened by the fact that more people don't realize what they are missing. 

5/5 stars

In the Shadow of the Lamp
Author: Susanne Dunlap
Publication Date: 4/12/11
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Blurb (GR): It's 1854 and sixteen-year-old Molly would give anything to change her circumstances as a lowly servant in a posh London house. So when she hears of an opportunity to join the nurses who will be traveling with Florence Nightingale to the Crimea, she jumps at the chance. The work is grueling, the hospital conditions deplorable, and Miss Nightingale a demanding teacher. Before long, the plight of British soldiers becomes more than just a mission of mercy as Molly finds that she's falling in love with both a dashing young doctor and a soldier who has joined the army to be near her. But with the battle raging ever nearer, can Molly keep the two men she cares for from harm? A love story to savor, and a fascinating behind-the-scenes imagining of the woman who became known as "the lady with the lamp."

Review:
I am embarrassingly under-informed about the Crimean War . Basically, all I knew about it before reading this book that it was the scene of Florence Nightingale’s nursing innovations and that the Charge of the Light Brigade happened during the conflict. (oh, and I knew the British and the Russians were fighting but I had no clue who else)  During the war, Nightingale pioneered many modern nursing practices after seeing the awful living conditions to which wounded and sick soldiers were subjected.  In the Shadow of the Lamp follows a young girl from a life in service to Turkey as a part of Nightingale’s nursing corps. I don’t often comment on the actual titles of books but this one is absolutely perfect. We read about famous figures in our history textbooks, but wherever those people were, there were loads of people we never hear anything about. Nightingale was known as “The Lady of the Lamp” because she would walk through the wards checking on patients during the night hours with an oil lamp. There were thousands of people in and out of those wards, patients, nurses, doctors, nuns, and this could be one of their stories.

The opening scene sees Molly Fraser, a 17 year old London girl, fired from her job as a parlormaid after a fellow employee fabricates a story of Molly thieving from their employers.  With limited options, Molly decides to attempt to join Nightingale’s nurses on their voyage to the Crimea. Her only problems? She isn’t a nurse, has near no money, and has no references. It’s no spoiler that she finagles her way there.

My enjoyment of the book was hindered by the characterization of Molly. If this were an adult novel, I would be calling her a tease and naïve and her choices frustrating. However, this isn’t written for adults, relationships and courtship were quite different in the 19th century, and the protagonist is only 17. She was, however, consistent in her oft-ridiculous decisions. For example, say you were a young woman with no nursing training and Florence Nightingale told you point blank that if you fraternized with anyone, you’d be sent back to England. What would you do? Yeah, me too. She is, however, a loyal friend, a caring nurse, and a hard worker, all of which I appreciated. Molly doesn’t want to be a tease or to make these decisions, either. Just writing this paragraph has brought me to terms with her. She carries the story well and I wanted to see where Dunlap would take Molly all the way to the end.
 
I must admit that I was far more interested in the history and nursing aspects of the novel rather than the romance. For the first hundred or so pages, I plowed through Molly’s travel experience and smiled with enthusiasm as Nightingale and her nurses cleaned the vermin-filled, rotten, sewage-smelling, unhygienic wards until they were livable. Then again, I am a huge sucker for cleaning-up montages and before and after pictures. (even if they are only mental images) The second half of the novel concentrates more on the love triangle aspect of Molly's journey--if YA love triangles are driving you up the wall, you'd best give this a pass. I was rather apathetic about which person Molly ended up with or whose advances she accepted but the unique setting and Dunlap's writing kept me invested in the story.

The story never feels too weighed down and the pacing is consistent throughout. The author's descriptions of all the gory details of battle injuries, missing limbs, and the overall grossness of the situation in terms of sanitation were strong without feeling overdone. Historical fiction is not usually my bag but I would/will definitely read other books by this author. I dig her style, I only wish I enjoyed the characters a bit more than I did.

3.5/5 stars