Tag: audrey recs

  • “The Privilege of the Sword” by Ellen Kushner

    Audrey recommends: The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

    Genre: Fantasy

    Reading Level: Adult

    Summary: The eccentric Mad Duke of Tremontaine decides to teach his niece, Katherine, how to become a swordmaster rather than marry her off to an eligible nobleman.

    Audrey says: Ellen Kushner describes her Riverside series as “a melodrama of manners”: Jane-Austen-style social commentary in a bloody, high-stakes action-adventure. The ladies in town gossip about the latest slaughter as if it were a fashionable dress. Literary opinions are settled by a duel to first blood. “Melodrama of manners” is now my new favorite genre of all time.

    Leaving aside the environment, this novel is, at its core, about breaking boundaries. Marriage or death seem to be the only option for a young lady, but the Mad Duke encourages her to take a third option: true independence.

    At first, Katherine resists: if she walks around in boy’s clothes, folks will think she’s clinically insane, or worse, an actress. Katherine herself has no issue wearing breeches; she limits herself purely on the perceptions of others. The pressure to marry young, to appear chaste, to rely on men, to avoid making a scene… The societal norms of class and gender completely unravel once she realizes that they’re all illusions.

    This brief summary can’t do justice to the detail of Kushner’s world nor the rich interiority of her characters. I’m surprised this cult classic isn’t more well-known; I recommend you read the book for yourself, not least so I have someone to talk to about it.

  • “Enter the Body” by Joy McCullough

    Audrey recommends: Enter the Body by Joy McCullough

    Genre: Novel in verse

    Reading Level: Adult

    Summary: All the women who die in Shakespeare tragedies meet under the stage trapdoor to discuss the parallels between their lives, and how they might choose to rewrite their stories.

    Audrey says: The story focuses on Juliet, Ophelia, and Cordelia, three extremely different women who all died for the love of the men in their lives. Fiery Juliet is angry that people interpreted her hope for peace as youthful stupidity. Quiet, passive Ophelia mourns the mother that was never even mentioned in her play. Stoic Cordelia is resigned to her fate and derides anyone who believes otherwise.

    I can’t resist a hybrid form, so the half-script, half-poetry format appealed to me. I immediately clocked their distinct poetic styles; for instance, Cordelia almost always writes in carefully measured iambic pentameter, afraid to deviate from the norm, while Juliet speaks in impulsive fragments.

    I don’t consider this a remix or adaptation of Shakespeare’s work, but rather a commentary. It reads like a compelling essay, using the voices of the Bard’s doomed heroines to express how they have been used as plot devices and objects whose inner lives remain unknown to the reader. By staging this novel as a conversation rather than a manifesto, it’s clear that many different interpretations can exist at the same time, and all are correct.

    This title is available at Tyler Free Library.

  • “Return to the Secret Garden” by Susan Moody

    Audrey recommends: Return to the Secret Garden by Susan Moody

    Genre: Historical fiction

    Reading Level: Adult

    Summary: In an unofficial sequel to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, the friendship of Mary, Colin, and Dickon is tested by world wars, unhappy marriages, and the tumultuous jazz age.

    Audrey says: In the ’90s, The Secret Garden entered public domain, and a boom of content followed. There was a Broadway musical in 1991, a 39-episode Japanese anime the same year, the 1993 Agnieszka Holland film, and, in 1995, this novel, an unofficial sequel by crime fiction author Susan Moody.

    If you look online, this book is absolutely overburdened by negative reviews, which complain that the text lacks the charm and whimsy of the original and has desecrated their favorite childhood story with war, sex, and tragedy. But to me, Moody’s sequel expands Burnett’s world in a brutal but believable way. Dickon goes to fight on behalf of the country he loves so much in World War I, and it destroys his perpetual optimism. Mary, stubborn and impulsive as ever, decides to cut her hair short, travel to India, and join the Communist Party. Colin remains at home, turning his garden into a career by designing tropical greenhouses for wealthy estates.

    Throughout the book, the three separate and reunite in various configurations, but it’s clear that they only achieve balance when all three are together. At its core, through all the trappings of drama and suspense, it’s still a story about friendship. I truly loved this generation-spanning character study of my favorite piece of fiction. Don’t be swayed by low star ratings and give it a chance.

  • “Bea Wolf” by Zach Weinersmith

    Audrey recommends: Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith

    Genre: Graphic novel

    Reading Level: 8+

    Summary: The epic hero Beowulf is reimagined as a five-year-old fighter guarding her candy and toy hoard from the gloom of grown-ups.

    Audrey says: As someone who studied Old English extensively in undergrad, I was honor-bound to check out this charming new adaptation about a kindergarten Beowulf and a gloomy grown-up Grendel. I was not expecting how faithful it would be to the original. As I stood in front of the shelf reading the first few pages, I immediately picked up on the period-accurate alliteration and the creative kennings. Weinersmith even adapts the seemingly tangential anecdotes thrown into the poem, even when he could have excluded them for narrative consistency. It brought me so much joy.

    If you’re familiar with the original, you’ll get a chuckle out of the clever adaptation choices. But if you’re not a die-hard Beowulf fan like me, the story stands on its own as a tale of kids who are fighting the pressure to grow up too fast. Old English poetry was written for the ear, rather than the eye. That means it’s extremely fun to read aloud, with the high density of stressed syllables and the satisfying cadence of repeated sounds. The verse is bolstered by absurd illustrations from French comic artist Boulet. This is a great book if you want an easy entry into Old English, or a hilarious read-aloud for kids.

  • “The Painting” (2011), dir. Jean-Francois Laguionie

    Audrey recommends: The Painting, dir. Jean-Francois Laguionie

    Genre: Animated film

    Recommended Age: 10+

    Summary: The characters within a painting rebel against the artist who drew them and learn how to create their own identities.

    Audrey says: I first saw this movie as part of a film festival, before it had an English dub, and I was blown away by the artistry and narrative brilliance. Revisiting a decade later, it’s just as dazzling as the first time. The film imagines a world where characters in a painting are divided into social classes depending on how complete they are. The fully-finished Alldunns believe that the artist designed them to be superior to the thinly-outlined Sketchies in the background. A group of outcasts search for their painter to find out if their destiny really is determined by a big bearded man in the sky. The unique animation style is the perfect way to tell this story of free will and self-expression, and the genre-defying plot twist at the very end is one of my most memorable moments in cinema.

    This title is available on Kanopy in English or the original French. Click here to log in to Kanopy using your Libraries of Foster card.

  • “The Dispossessed” by Ursula K. Le Guin

    Audrey recommends: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

    Genre: Science fiction

    Reading Level: Adult

    Summary: Shevek, a brilliant scientist in a utopian socialist society, visits the world where his people came from: a capitalist planet much like modern-day Earth.

    Audrey says: Le Guin wrote The Dispossessed in 1974. As we approach the 50th anniversary if its publication, it’s startling how it seems to be more relevant now than ever. The first chapter alone, where Shevek innocently questions the wasteful consumption that we take for granted as a part of everyday American life, is such an incisive critique of capitalism without being didactic. Throughout the text, the reader slowly learns that the supposed “utopian” society Shevek comes from is not quite so perfect either. After all, who decides what is best for the collective, when the collective is comprised of individuals with their own needs and wants? Le Guin writes in her introduction to The Left Hand of Darkness: “Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive […] I’m merely observing, in the peculiar, devious, and thought-experimental manner proper to science fiction, that if you look at us at certain odd times of day in certain weathers, [what] we already are.” The Dispossessed is a mirror through which we can see our world through the eyes of someone who wasn’t born into it, allowing us to name the flaws we misidentify as necessities. This novel deserves all the praise it gets, and I expect a lot of fanfare in 2024.

  • “Sweet and Sour” by Debbi Michiko Florence

    Audrey recommends: Sweet and Sour by Debbi Michiko Florence

    Genre: Contemporary fiction

    Reading Level: Middle grade

    Summary: Mai is furious with her best friend Zach for his awful behavior two summers ago… only problem is, he has no idea what he did.

    Audrey says: Debbi Michiko Florence’s novels are the best if you love complex characters and nuanced relationships. Mai and Zach’s memories of the past are different, but neither is wrong for feeling the way they do. The reader might feel compelled to take a side when they’re working with limited information, just like the characters do. When the full truth is revealed, it’s surprising to learn how many bad assumptions you’ve made. As an added bonus, this story takes place in Mystic, CT. Anyone who’s been to the seaport will instantly recognize all the locations in this book!

    This book is available at Foster Public Library.

  • “The Haymeadow” by Gary Paulsen

    Audrey recommends: The Haymeadow by Gary Paulsen

    Genre: Western adventure

    Reading Level: Middle grade

    Summary: 14-year-old John Barron is tasked with herding his family’s 6000 sheep up to a grazing meadow high in the mountains, all by himself, for an entire summer.

    Audrey says: Most people my age read Hatchet in school when they were in 5th or 6th grade. The Haymeadow is a much less famous book, but it has the exact same emotional core. Nobody writes loneliness like Paulsen; though this survival story is packed with action, there are also plenty of quiet moments for John to reflect on how to live up to his family legacy of rugged pioneers and lone cowboys. I was surprised and delighted at the ways this book challenged the myths of masculinity. By the end, John and the reader realize that independence is a great skill to learn, but true strength comes from making connections. Whether you loved Hatchet as a child or not, this is an impactful story for readers of all ages.

    This book is available at Tyler Free Library.

  • “Answers in the Pages” by David Levithan

    Audrey recommends: Answers in the Pages by David Levithan

    Genre: Contemporary fiction

    Reading Level: Middle grade

    Summary: Donovan’s mom leads a crusade to ban a fifth-grade book assignment that features LGBTQ+ themes… but Donovan finds himself on the opposing side to fight back against censorship.

    Audrey says: This is one of my favorite new releases of 2022! The story follows three interconnected storylines, following unwitting community leader Donovan, gay student Gideon, and the text of the banned book itself. Each storyline is fascinating on its own, and watching them all click together is so satisfying. Everyone in the book had their own voice and opinion, creating a whole fleshed-out community. Even the characters who I thought would never be redeemed were given the time and sympathy to explain their motivations, which made them less “villain” and more “human.” I was pleasantly surprised to find myself forgiving them. And I can’t even describe how much the romance made me smile! Add this to your to-read shelf if you have an interest in contemporary issues, want to teach a lesson on censorship, or just want a really enjoyable short read.

    This title is available at Foster Public Library.