Monday, April 23, 2012

Breaking Dawn









Meyer, Stephenie. (2009).  Breaking Dawn. Little Brown & Co.


Edward Cullen will marry Bella Swan.  Her life will change drastically.  It's not just the known things that will affect her, the unknown aspects of life will determine if she will survive or not.  Bella is so in love with Edward, she wants to risk her life by having a real honeymoon with him while she is still human.  The consequences are life threatening to Bella.  She becomes pregnant with a half-vampire child and her body is not compatible with the being.  There would be no danger if she would allow Carlisle, Edward's adoptive father and family doctor, to get rid of the baby.  Bella had no thoughts of becoming a mother, but when she had the chance to have Edward's baby, it was all she could think of.  She could no more destroy it than stop breathing on her own.  She almost loses her life during the delivery, but Edward manages to pump enough venom into her heart to keep it beating until the transformation.  Now Bella is a vampire and all is well, or is it.

After a few months of vampire life, which she has taken to very well, they discover that the Voltouri are coming to destroy Renesmee, Bella and Edward's daughter.  In an attempt to save her, they gather all their vampire friends and acquaintances to testify that Renesmee is growing and learning at a fast pace.  She is not an immortal child.  She is not dangerous.  She is not venomous.  Alice and Jasper leave when they discover that the Voltouri are coming not just for Renesmee, but for Alice as well.  Throughout the rest of the book visitors are there to witness and Renesmee amazes them all.  Jacob has found his true other half in Renesmee (he imprinted on her), and the family is happy as they can be under the circumstances.  Bella discovers her true talent all along has been a shield, someone who blocks all out of her mind.  She also finds she can protect the others around her from Alec and Jane's powers.  In the end, Aro cannot get what he wants and decides to leave them alone.  He will try another day.

Eclipse

Meyer, Stephenie.  2008.  Eclipse.  Little Brown & Co.

The budding of a love triangle keeps readers on their toes in the third of the Twilight series.  The book flows from "New Moon", picking up where the reader left off, into this book where Edward Cullen wants to marry Bella Swan.  She cringes at the sound of the word marriage, especially at her age.  Who wants to be an eighteen year old bride who everyone will think got knocked up and had to get married.  If the truth were told, I think she would jump at the chance just to make him hers.  He is truly in love with her.  She is his ideal and would have loved her even if they would have met in his time, the early 1900s.  He would have taken the time to court her, go for chaperoned strolls in the moonlight, drank iced tea on the porch and got down on his knee to propose after he had asked her father.  She is the love of his life.

Bella truly loves Edward also, but when he left she became close to her friend, Jacob Black.  Jacob fell in love with her.  She doesn't love him as much as she loves Edward, but the line does divide.  He is a safe bet.  He won't leave her for any reason.  Edward thought that leaving would protect her.  She doubts sometimes that he will stay.  She doesn't doubt her love for him or his love for her and Jacob knows this.  Edward knows that if she were to choose Jacob, he might imprint on someone one day and have to leave her, then he would come in and pick up the pieces.  Edward for me would be the ideal choice.  He does love her and can make her just like he is: it is what she wants.  They have to fight the new born army and Victoria, and still pacify the Volturi.  In the end she decides that marriage to Edward is what she really wants and now they have to convince her dad, Charlie. Wedding bells will be ringing soon and Jacob cannot face the reality of her marrying him and becoming a vampire.  Her mind is made up.  The days are counting down.



Monday, April 9, 2012

New Moon







Meyer, Stephenie.  (2006).  New Moon.  New York: Little Brown & Company.


Why would a beautiful young woman go into a fit of depression?  Because her vampire boyfriend and his family left town and didn't take her with them.  The sudden shock of the Cullens leaving town sent Bella Swan into a nose dive off the first ledge of her sanity.  Without Edward she was nothing. Her days and weeks turned into a impossible life.  When it was evident that the Cullen family would not return to Forks, Bella would try crazy things to force the sweet voice of Edward to reprimand her for doing things that would risk her life. It was at this time that she found Jacob Black.  He was her crutch, even though she really wanted him for a friend, it turned into something more for the young boy. 
After a stunt of cliff jumping almost killed her, Alice returned to console Charlie on her death.  Alice was shocked to find Bella alive and well (as well as could be expected).  Edward learned from Rosalie that Bella was dead, so he didn't want to live either.  He went to the Volturi in Italy to convince them to end his existence.  Alice convinces Bella that she is the only one who can save him.  Bella and Alice make it to Italy in time to save Edward and they return to Forks to pick up where they left off before he left.  Charlie is not a happy father.  He wants nothing to do with Edward and Bella tells him that he should just get over it because he is back in her life.  Bella goes to the Cullens asking them for a vote for her to become one of them.  They vote her into the family and Edward promises to change her himself if....she will marry him.

This book followed the first book in the series "Twilight".  The transition from the first one to this one was very easy to read.  I love a good love story.  This one is extra special because Edward is really good for the image of vampires and Bella's naivety is super easy on the rest of the audience.  Overall, a very good read, but I would change things a bit if I had been the one to write this book.  I didn't care for most of the turn of events that made up half of the book.  You know that Edward and Bella are meant for each other, and putting a wolf into the mix just stirred the pot more.

The Lion and the Mouse




Pinkney, J. (2009). The Lion and the Mouse.  New York: Little Brown & Co. Books for Young Children.



The timid little mouse is exploring the savannah of Africa.  The mouse and a very large lion are the main characters of this book.  The very small field mouse has many enemies wanting to eat him but his largest enemy is the lion.  At a strategic point in the story, the lion catches the mouse but decides he is not very hungry.  On impulse the lion sets the mouse free.  Later on the lion is snared in a net and cannot get free.  The small mouse comes to his rescue and chews the ropes on the net allowing the lion to fall to the ground free yet again.  The result of his actions earlier, the lion was spared capture by the little tiny morsel that would not have sated his voracious appetite.
Jerry Pinkney has been one of my favorite illustrators for a very long time.  Caldecott books are widely known for their excellence in illustrations and the book rightly deserves the award.  The book was very cleverly and carefully drawn to show each frame of the story sequentially, tracing the antics of the mouse up to and including his capture by the lion and continues through the "pay it forward" by the mouse.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee






Stead, P.C. (2010).  A Sick Day for Amos McGee.  New York: A Neal Porter Book by Roaring Brook Press.


 
Amos McGee is getting ready to go to work at the zoo.  Amos and the animals at the zoo are the main characters.  Amos was the favorite worker of all those who helped care for the animals.  The problem arose when Amos didn't come to work one day. 
Amos would go through the same routine every day, get up, dress, eat breakfast, get on the number 5 bus and visit with the animals at the zoo while he did his job.   He played chess with the elephant, ran races with the turtle, sat with the penguin, helped the rhino with his runny nose and read to the owl.  The routine never changed so when he didn't show up one day, the animals went to look for him.  He was in bed with a cold.  The animals did for him what he had done for them.  The elephant set up the chess board, the turtle played hide and seek instead of running since Amos didn't feel like running, the penguin sat near Amos' feet to keep them warm, the rhino was ready to offer a hanky when he need one.  Amos began to feel better so he suggested tea and a  good night's sleep so they could catch the early bus back to the zoo the next morning.  The owl read them all a story before they went to sleep.

Another Caldecott winner, this book was illustrated very nicely.  I am not acquainted with Erin Stead as an illustrator, but her drawings were excellent.  They fit the story perfectly.  My favorite was the way the elephant sat on the stool and the floor.  How did he ever get up?