Dewey's Read-a-thon

Kate and I will be participating in Dewey's Read-a-thon again on Saturday, April 21. We'll attempt to read for as many hours as we can in the 24-hour period starting 8am EDT, and we'll donate a toonie to Free the Children for every hour that either of us reads.

In our most recent attempt, Kate read for an incredible 9 hours while I managed only 7.5. This time around, Kate is deep into concert season so she'll be spending much of Saturday at rehearsals and catching up with homework. However, she did commit to at least two hours of reading, as long as I provide a good supply of salt-and-vinegar chips. I'm hoping to exceed last year's total.

I've learned from experience that short fast-paced reads work well for read-a-thons, so I have a pile of mystery and YA novels, many of them from my BookCrossing shelf, ready to go. Kate has a couple of Philip Reeve books set aside for the big day.

If you have nothing to do on Saturday, or if whatever you need to do is less appealing than spending the entire day reading, then please join us! You can sign up as a reader and/or as a cheerleader. Cheerleading involves visiting other readers' blogs and leaving encouraging comments. It's a great way to discover new book blogs and get book recommendations.

They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children by Romeo Dallaire

Romeo Dallaire is very well-known in Canada. This retired Lieutenant-General was part of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda in the 90’s and is now an author, senator and humanitarian. In this book, he writes about his experiences with child soldiers and his continuing mission to eradicate this abhorrent practice.

There were a few aspects of the book that I did not like. Dallaire included a couple of fictional excerpts based on the experiences of a child soldier and a peacekeeper. These seemed out of place and I am surmising that Dallaire inserted them to help us better visualize the situation and share the feelings of the people involved.  However, I have no doubts that any of the real-life stories he could tell us would be even more poignant and disturbing.

The chapters seem to oscillate between presentations of the cold hard facts and emotional appeals. The final chapter is a lengthy and impassioned plea to young people. Dallaire asks them not to give up hope but to consider what each of them can do to change the world for the better. Reading it made me realize that the entire book sounds much like a mix of conference presentations and inspirational speeches.  I could imagine Dallaire making a huge impact speaking live, but something seems lost when his thoughts are put into writing. Also, there seemed to be an excessive amount of time spent on telling us what most of us already know or suspect, such as: humanitarian NGOs and the military have different points-of-view and have difficulty working together.

Despite these criticisms, I would still recommend this book, if only so that people spend some time contemplating this difficult and important issue that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves in the media. It is particularly interesting to read about this problem from the point-of-view of a high-ranking military official. Usually, books about such issues are written by members of humanitarian organizations. It is not uncommon for civilians to think of military people as cold, aloof, and desensitized to the atrocities of war, but Dallaire does not fit this stereotype and shows, on the contrary, how devastating encounters with child soldiers are for adult peacekeepers. Indeed, it would be a very good thing if military leaders around the world looked at these issues as thoughtfully and comprehensively as he does.

2012 Evergreen List

While Kate is working through the Red Maple book list (she has finished 8 but is rather slow in getting the reviews posted), I am once again tackling the Evergreen list. The Evergreen prize is also given by the Ontario Library Association and the nominees are announced in February. This year, the list is as follows:

• The Accident by Linwood Barclay
• Bedtime Story by Robert Wiersema
• The Far Side of the Sky by Daniel Kalla
• Mennonites Don't Dance by Darcie Friesen Hossack
• Natural Order by Brian Francis
• Requiem by Frances Itani
• Shelter by Frances Greenslade
• They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children by Romeo Dallaire
• Under an Afghan Sky by Melissa Fung
• Various Positions by Martha Schabas

The only book from this list that I've read so far is The Accident and you can find my previously posted review here.

Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre

This novel was the winner of Canada Reads 2012, and the subtitle, “Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter”, sums up the book well. This is the incredible and extremely readable tale of the author’s growth from childhood to adulthood within the Chilean underground resistance movement against dictator Augusto Pinochet. Most of the book is set in the 1980s, and covers the author’s movements in Canada, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.

What makes this book stand out is the perspective. We see everything through the eyes of a girl who is immersed in danger, intrigue, lies and violence but who is also struggling with the everyday concerns of a typical teenager. The contrast of life-threatening situations with ludicrously trivial concerns makes for some very funny reading at times.

If you’re looking to learn more about the political history of South America during those turbulent years, you will be disappointed. I had difficulty at times with the lack of context, but I don’t think it was the author’s intention to give an overview of those times. This memoir is primarily the story of a personal journey and the author’s own interpretation of the chaotic events unfolding around her. It’s a fascinating story and well worth reading.

Red Maple Mini Reviews - 3# Fanatics (and Stones)

by William Bell

Fanatics is on this year's Red Maple list, but as it is a sequel to Stones, I decided to read and review both books together.

Garnet Havelock has never been good at school, and now, in his final year of high school, he's just waiting to get out and go into the carpentry business. However, during a class debate about love at first sight, he meets Raphaella and falls in love. Together, they discover the existence of a ghost named Hannah, stoned to death 150 years ago because of the colour of her skin and doomed to haunt a trailer park until she has brought her murderers to justice.


In the next book, Fanatics, Garnet, while trying to find a place to set up his shop, meets Ms. Stoppini and strikes a deal to rent the coach house on the estate of the late Professor Corbizzi. In exchange, he must repair the damage to the professor's library and study. However, while cleaning up the library, he finds a secret manuscript titled 'Fanatics' that results in the unveiling of an old problem surrounding theocracy. At the same time, Garnet accidentally witnesses what he thinks is a gang of terrorists.

One thing that was very interesting was how these two problems intertwined and ended up being the same message about how killing people in the name of a religion is wrong. It applied the same problem to modern and past events and presented the solution in a persuasive way that anyone could understand.

Something else that I found with both books was that they covered a lot of topics. You don't find many books that have romance, action, terrorists, social justice, history, and paranormal activities. The characters were also well-rounded. Bell vividly portrayed their unique personalities and throughout the stories, there was much character development. Overall, I thought this was a fantastic book and am hoping that a third will come out next year. However, I would recommend reading Stones before reading Fanatics.

Reviewed by Kate

Winterberries and Apple Blossoms

I recently picked up a copy of Nan Forler's new picture book, Winterberries and Apple Blossoms: Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year, published by Tundra Books, as a Christmas present for my goddaughter and her siblings. This book is particularly special as it features the lovely paintings of Peter Etril Snyder.

The book follows a year in the life of Naomi, a Mennonite girl, with a poem and painting for every month. These reflect beautifully the Mennonites' simple lifestyle, closeness to nature and sense of community. As a bonus, twelve traditional recipes, one for each month, are featured at the end of the book. Living reasonably close to a Mennonite community, I can pop over to the local Farmer's Market to purchase their baked goods, but these recipes, including yummy treats like Strawberry-Rhubarb Custard Crisp, will be especially useful for those not so fortunately situated.

The Dragon Turn by Shane Peacock

Kate and I are both huge fans of Shane Peacocks’ award-winning Boy Sherlock Holmes series, which started with The Eye of the Crow. Each book has been suspenseful and true to the world created by Arthur Conan Doyle. A big strength of the series has been the development of the young Sherlock Holmes, with entirely plausible explanations of how and why the character had evolved into the familiar detective we know from Doyle’s classic novels.

Perhaps it is because the first four novels had been so strong that I find The Dragon Turn somewhat of a disappointment. Of course, this means that the latest in the series is merely a good story rather than an exceptional one. The Dragon Turn is about two rival magicians and the disappearance of the woman that had been married to both of them in turn. As before, Irene Doyle and the Lestrades, father and son, play significant roles in the story. The plot is, as usual, exciting and fast-paced, but I missed the exploration of Sherlock’s character and history that was more prominent in the earlier books.

This is not Shane Peacock’s best, but still, the series is well worth reading, for both those well acquainted with the Sherlock Holmes character and those meeting him for the first time.