Broken Silence: Conversations with 23 Silent Film Stars by: Michael Ankerich

Published:  May 28th, 1993

Broken Silence: Conversation with 23 Silent Film Stars

By: Michael G. Ankerich

McFarland and Company

ISBN-13:  9780899508351

The silent film era is brought to life in this collection of interviews with 23 stars of the silent era: Lew Ayres, Madge Bellamy, Junior Coghlan, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Dorothy Gulliver, Maxine Elliott Hicks and 17 others.

Review

     Seeing as this is not my usual YA fiction, the format of this review is a little different than most of the ones that I do for this blog.  I am very into film history, especially silent film history.  I believe that those were the best days to be working independently in the movie business and that's when stars were really made.  I was very interested to read a book that has interviews and first-hand accounts of that era, from people that were actually there.  I was definitely excited that he was able to share interviews with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Madge Bellamy.  All twenty three stars had something fun to reminisce about and I was happy to read their stories about becoming/being film stars.  A major disappointment for me was the lack of overall content in this book.  A lot of the book was comprised of footnotes and individually complete filmography of all of the stars.  Considering the fact that a good portion of the films in the footnotes probably don't even exist anymore, it was like having a carrot dangled in front of you while you're starving.  It was just plain cruel.  I enjoyed the idea of such a book, but it wasn't as all encompassing as I'd hoped.  It was an interesting read and worth the time of any silent film nut who is interested in the forgotten stars of the era.  If you're busy looking for familiar faces, I wouldn't bother.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*

The Waves Are Calling

Published:  September 11th, 2012

The Brides of Rollrock Island

By: Margo Lanagan

Knopf Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13: 9780375989308

On remote Rollrock Island, men go to sea to make their livings—and to catch their wives.

The witch Misskaella knows the way of drawing a girl from the heart of a seal, of luring the beauty out of the beast. And for a price a man may buy himself a lovely sea-wife. He may have and hold and keep her. And he will tell himself that he is her master. But from his first look into those wide, questioning, liquid eyes, he will be just as transformed as she. He will be equally ensnared. And the witch will have her true payment.

Margo Lanagan weaves an extraordinary tale of desire, despair, and transformation. With devastatingly beautiful prose, she reveals characters capable of unspeakable cruelty, but also unspoken love.

Review

     Rollrock Island is a mysterious place, with a long history of magical occurrences and legends that are almost unbelievable.  But then a young girl, Misskaella, who doesn't really belong in the community and shows signs of a long-ago "sea-wife" in her heritage, discovers that she has the power to draw women from the seals on the beach.  They shed their skins and make brides for the men - if they're willing to pay a price.  She is angry at her treatment and over the generations tears the community on Rollrock apart almost completely, until only the men, the sea-wives and their sons are left.  One of the sons, Daniel, begins to realize that his Mother belongs to the sea and needs to be returned - all of the wives do.  But can he do the right thing when the time comes?  And where do the children truly belong - to the land or the sea?  I was interested in the idea of women being made from seals and used as wives to the men on an island.  It was very disturbing to think that these women could be held against their will and forced to be wives, even when they were completely miserable doing it.  The multiple point of views over the generations were wonderful.  It gave some relief from the initial sadness and bitterness of Misskaella's story.  I was never truly sure when this novel was set and where, but that was perfectly okay with me.  The prose flowed beautifully and I had a sad ache through almost the entire book.  Only the best books do that to a reader.  Some of my complaints were the fact that the ending P.O.V. was someone that had not been a very important character in the rest of the book and she was a detraction from the full circle feeling of the ending.  I did not care for the last part and wish it would have ended with Daniel's narrative. Also, I was horrified at the idea that men with wives and families already could take a sea-wife on the side, basically for sex, and not see anything wrong with that.  I was disgusted with and unsympathetic to most of the men on the island until the last generation of them.  But the whole usage of the selkie mythology/legend was very innovative and I give major props for that.  If you would like to read something very different from anything else out there, this is the book for you.

VERDICT:  3.85/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published September 11th, 2012.*

Lucidly Afraid of You

Expected Publication:  October 2nd, 2012
Lucid
By: Adrienne Stoltz and Ron Bass
Razorbill
ISBN-13: 9781595145192

What if you could dream your way into a different life? What if you could choose to live that life forever?

Sloane and Maggie have never met. Sloane is a straight-A student with a big and loving family. Maggie lives a glamorously independent life as an up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn't be more different--except for one thing. They share a secret that they can't tell a soul. At night, they dream that they're each other.

The deeper they're pulled into the promise of their own lives, the more their worlds begin to blur dangerously together. Before long, Sloane and Maggie can no longer tell which life is real and which is just a dream. They realize that eventually they will have to choose one life to wake up to, or risk spiraling into insanity. But that means giving up one world, one love, and one self, forever.

Review

 

     Sloane and Maggie have never met, but they know everything about each other.  This is because only one of them is probably even real.  They have the same name, but everything else is different.  Maggie is an aspiring actress who is on the road to a GED and a serious career in New York.  She lives with her Mom and little sister Jade, having lost her Dad a few years previously.  Sloane is a small-town girl, one of the smartest at her high school, who has a happy family and a wonderful best friend named Gordy.  But she is also dealing with heartbreak, the senseless death of her other best friend Bill the year before, in car accident.  At first everything is okay, until both girls are torn between superficial relationships and true happiness with the right guy.  Now they each have a reason to want the other gone for good.  Spiraling out of control and unable to tell what world is real, Sloan and Maggie begin to blur together.  But who will be the one to survive the breakdown?  I liked the premise of this book at first and thought it was a really intriguing concept.  I thought that both girls would be real and inexplicably connected for some reason.  I liked how detailed and true both girls' lives came across as and the budding romances were very sweet.  However, I felt no need for Sloane and Maggie to be strining along two or three guys each AT THE SAME TIME.  Seriously?  You really don't know which one you like more?  I could really feel Maggie's heartbreak at losing her Dad and Sloane's at losing Bill.  But I got lost around the last 100 pages or so, when the girl(s) start to have a mental breakdown and reality becomes blurred.  For most of that chunk of the book I couldn't even tell who was speaking because they were half in both worlds in every chapter.  I saw the ending coming from a mile away and felt that it was extremely cliched and predictable.  It could have gone in so many fresh, original directions if only the author hadn't gone the 'suppressed guilt' route.  Overall, a disappointment and I feel like I wasted my time.  But for the decency of the first half and how well-written it was, I give this a couple concessionary stars.

 

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

 

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on October 2nd, 2012.*

Wake Me Up When Winter Is Over...

Expected Publication:  October 16th, 2012
Ashen Winter (Ashfall # 2)
By: Mike Mullins
Tanglewood Press
ISBN-13: 9781933718750

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series.

It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Review

 

     When we left Alex and Darla at the end of Ashfall, they had finally made it to his Uncle's farm only to find out that Alex's parents had already left to find him shortly before they got there.  This book picks up six months later and his parents still haven't returned to the farm.  When they are attacked by a bandit who has gun that belonged to Alex's Dad, they decide to get any information they can and follow a trail that will (hopefully) lead them to his parents.  They thought it was bad when they were out on the road before, but in the last six months things have only gotten worse.  Food is scarce, some of the surviving factions have turned cannabalistic, the weather is twice as brutal and morality has pretty much been thrown out the window with slavers snatching people up to make a profit.  When Darla is shot and kidnapped, it's up to Alex to rescue his parents from the government camp where they're prisoners and prevent Darla from suffering a fate worse that anything they could imagine.  I was truly looking forward to this one since the moment I finished Ashfall, which I thought was probably the best dystopian book I read this year (that was published in 2011).  Darla is still a very strong and rational balance for Alex's less thought-out and more emotional actions/schemes.  I liked that they finally decided to go after his parents, but I was mad that Darla was gone for almost half of the book's main narrative.  Her kidnapping did provide a lot of pivotal action for the plot though, and Alex's struggle to get her back kept things moving along.  I liked the inclusion of Alyssa (a desperate teen girl, forced into prostitution to protect her autistic brother) and Ben, her brother who has high-functioning autism.  How would such a thing be handled during the apocalypse?  Mullins gives a very respectful and realistic look at the possible answers to this question.    One of the things that really irked me were the way Alex's parents treated him like some helpless kid who had been playing video games through the apocalypse and was too stupid to take care of himself/understand danger.  Seriously?  He'd been separated from them for SIX FREAKING MONTHS!  What, did they think the stork took him back while they were gone and took care of him again?  Puh-lease.   Also, the way Alyssa persisted in trying to seduce Alex while Darla was missing and she knew he was taken, plus she'd basically been raped repeatedly and completely traumatized rang very false.  It also made her come across as a mercenary, unsympathetic whore (at least to me personally).  The non-stop action with no even pacing also got on my nerves.  I felt like things were constantly being thrown at me and I should take notes or something.  It lacked balance.  I liked this book overall and felt that it managed to escape the sophmore slump of most second books in trilogies.  But it wasn't nearly as good as the first book.  I will be eagerly awaiting the third book though, to see what happens next! :)

 

VERDICT:  3.25/5  Stars

 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is October 16th, 2012*

It's A Gothic Goose...

Expected Publication: October 16th, 2012

Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings Of Mother Goose Rhymes

By: Nina Berry (Editor), Michelle Zink (Editor)

Month9Books

ISBN-13: 9780985029418

In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.

Review

     For the most part I really enjoyed this anthology.  All of these authors told very interesting, creepy and highly imaginative stories.  There were a few that confused me, but that was mostly because of the fact that I had never read the original rhymes they were based on and had no springboard because of it.  This review will give a few insights into my opinions of the individual stories.  Beware that as this was an advance copy, some of the stories that will be in the final published version were omitted from this one and therefore I did not review them.  Enjoy!

As Blue as the Sky and Just as Old (Nina Berry):  This was one of the nursery rhymes that I had never heard before, Taffy and the Welshman.  I spent most of this one in a state of complete confusion until things came together at the end.  I'll read the original at some point and re-read this one after.  Hopefully it'll go better.

Sing A Song Of Six-Pence (Sarwat Chadda):  I was very impressed by the story the author built from the original rhyme.  Someone cursed into blackbird form, allusions to Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven, and the royalty involvement were highly unique.  It really chilled me to my bones.

Clockwork (Leah Cypess):  I wondered how she would make a mouse running up a clock interesting and boy was I not disappointed!  The mouse is really a girl who has been transmogrified and there is royal intrigue, murder, witchcraft and the ending made me wish this had been a full-length novel.  But then again I loved Leah Cypess' Mistwood series when I read it.  This was probably my favorite in the anthology by far! :)

Blue (Sayantani DasGupta):  Unlike some of the other reviews I've seen, I felt like this story was one of the best in the anthology.  It was a retelling of Little Boy Blue and I really enjoyed that it focused on a mysterious phantom tattoo artist, who works life stories into people's skin, but is not allowed to ever feel for herself.  The final interaction was truly beautiful and the writing flows like a river.  Not to be missed.

Pieces of Eight (Shannon Delany with Max Scialdone):  This one was another based on a rhyme that I had never heard before and it really suffered from that fact.  I didn't understand half of what was happening and it alternately dragged and moved too fast at different points.  Not one I feel I can fairly judge, but not a favorite for sure.

Wee Willie Winkie (Leigh Fallon):  CREEPY AS HELL.  It is all about a girl who is moved to an Irish village where all the children under sixteen who aren't in bed asleep by a certain time are taken by a mysterious and villainous figure.  She is lying about her age to work in a tavern and the consequences might not be pleasant...  I liked it and you could tell the author got enjoyment from giving readers goosebumps.

Boys and Girls Come Out To Play (Angie Frazier):  One that was unfamiliar to me, but highly decipherable and well-written, which allowed me to enjoy it more than I thought I would.  The whole idea that the witches have their own community and claim a child of the bloodline each year was innovative and fresh.  What happened when the heroine tried to trick them made me cling to the edge of my seat.

I Come Bearing Souls (Jessie Harrell):  This story was based on Hey Diddle Diddle and had the distinction of including Egyptian mythology, with each main character being the incarnation of a deity.  That made it distinguishable from the others, but more disappointing because of how limited the short story forum made it.  I wish that I could read a full novel about something like this.  It would have made it easier to understand.

The Lion and the Unicorn: Part the First (Nancy Holder):  I am extremely PISSED OFF.  I loved the historical influence in this story, it was well-paced and written interestingly.  It reminded me of Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce.  I was however un-amused when the second part of the story that was supposed to be in this anthology was left out of my ARC.  I am very displeased with the publisher about this.  I do love that it showcased the twisted proclivities of royalty of yore though, very nice touch.

Life in a Shoe (Heidi R. Kling):  Based on Old Woman who lived in a shoe and the idea that she lives in a dystopian world where birth control is illegal and she has a deadbeat husband who only comes home for sex.  The daughter is about to be forced to marry and the Mother is yet again pregnant (even though they are in abject poverty and can't afford the kids they have).  So the oldest kids take matters into their own hands.

Candlelight (Suzanne Lazear):  I knew of this rhyme from the book Stardust by Neil Gaiman and was always intrigued by the idea of traveling by candlelight.  It gave the idea that you wished upon the candle (as a kid) and were transported to a world without parents and restrictions).  It really reinforced the idea that once you leave, you can't go home again.  Even if you realize how melodramatic, ungrateful and wrong you were.

One for Sorrow (Karen Mahoney):  I was new to this rhyme and found the idea of a reverse Beauty and the Beast story very cliched.  I rolled my eyes through most of it and was glad when it was over.  If you have more romantic tendencies it might be more your speed.  Not for me personally, at all.

Little Miss Muffet (Georgia McBride):  Little Miss Muffet as being half-spider and unable to be human all the time until her Mom sacrificed herself and became a spider for good.  Muffet has a very selfish sister, but even so I was sort of gagging when she met the end she did.  Hugely imaginative but not for those without strong stomachs.

Sea of Dew (C. Lee Mckenzie):  I liked this one, even though it was really bleak.  It painted a story about teens in a lifeboat following a shipwreck, who die off one by one.  It was very sad, but the ending (although slightly cheesy) fits the dreamlike quality of the rest of the story.

Tick Tock (Gretchen McNeil):  This story reminded me of everything that I like about slasher flicks, R.L. Stine books and gratuitous violence as an American young-adult.  Delightfully stereotypical in the best way, with the babysitter meeting a bad end in an inventive way.

The Well (K.M. Walton):  
Based off the rhyme Jack and Jill and it definitely took them to the dark side of sibling rivalry.  Jack and Jill hate each other because he is the favorite and a smarmy brat.  Also, they each want something the other has and as the last two people in the world there is one sure way to get it: murder.  Very in-depth characters for such a short story.  Loved it! :)

The Wish (Suzanne Young):  I disliked the insta-love trend that this one followed, but I'm not much of a fan of Young's full-length novels either.  The idea of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star being interpreted as "Be careful what you wish for" was a good one though.  And I liked that the identity of the boy she fell for was horrifying for her at first, as it should be.

A Ribbon of Blue (Michelle Zink):  It was about a girl with a sick Grandma, cerebral palsy and a mysterious fortune shadowing her that at the fair she would find light, peace and love.  But first she would be given a whistle, a ticket and a blue ribbon.  Very bittersweet, but the ending made me smile.

OVERALL VERDICT:  3.75/5  Stars

HIGHLIGHTS:  Clockwork, Blue, Life in a Shoe, A Ribbon of Blue, The Well, and Sea of Dew.

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is October 16th, 2012.*

Even Better Than The Original

Expected Publication: October 16th, 2012

Beta (Annex # 1)

By: Rachel Cohn

Disney-Hyperion

ISBN-13: 9781423157199

Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to exist. 
Elysia's purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air induces a strange, euphoric high, which only the island's workers--soulless clones like Elysia--are immune to. 

At first, Elysia's life is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne's human residents, who should want for nothing, yearn. But for what, exactly? She also comes to realize that beneath the island's flawless exterior, there is an under-current of discontent among Demesne's worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care--so why are overpowering sensations cloud-ing Elysia's mind? 

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When her one chance at happi-ness is ripped away with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she's always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive. 

Review

     Elysia lives on Demesne, an island paradise that can only belong to the wealthy of the world.  She's sixteen years old and has live their her whole life - which is only the past few weeks.  Elysia is a beta model, an experimental model of a teenage clone.  She was cloned from another girl, who is now dead (the real person has to die before a clone can be made).  The purpose of the clones in general is to serve the residents of Demesne in any way they wish, once they are bought by their "owner."  Elysia is no different and when she is bought to be a companion to the children of one of the most important couples on the island, in essence to replace their own daughter who is away at collge, Elysia is glad that she has found a purpose.  But then she starts having strange visions, memories that belong to her First and shouldn't be available to her.  Elysia starts showing Olympic swimming abilities (another quality of her First) and has a sense of taste that should be absent as a clone.  She begins to feel discontent with being treated like a cross between a pet and a slave, like many of the other Demesne workers and begins to feel lust, anger, happiness and other forbidden emotions.  How can she find a way to survive, when if discovered she will be recycled as defective?  And why is she displaying the qualities of a soul when she supposedly doesn't have one?  

     This book was something that I have been dying to read for months, ever since I first saw the cover.  But I am a major fan of Rachel Cohn's to begin with, especially her Cyd Charisse Trilogy.  I was excited to see her expand into the realm of science fiction.  I was not disappointed in the least.  The book starting out with Elysia working in a boutique as living merchandise and waiting to be bought, elicits a very strong reaction and caused me as a reader to instantly connect to this poor being who is caught between being an object and a real person.  I liked the in-depth world building that explains why regular people can't serve the rich residents of Demesne and they "need" to engineer clone slaves for their menial tasks.  The differences between the clones were also highlighted when Elysia interacted with the Governor's secretary clone (who was also his sexual slave), one of the house clones who is an active member of the rebellion, and the other 'defective' Beta clone, Becky who lashes out at her creators.  The development of Elysia into her own person over time is very gratifying and especially heartbreaking when she is mistreated near the end of the book in an unforgivable way.   Her adoptive 'brother' Ivan and his friends play a big part in her development, especially his friend Tahir who was in a horrific accident and almost died.  Elysia and Tahir start a romantic relationship and he, Greer, Dementia and Ivan introduce her to the drug 'raxia' which puts you in a blissful state and allows clones to "wake up."  There were a few very good plot twists involving the identity of another, secret clone among the wealthy families, but there was major plot twist near the end that I thought was highly unnecessary.  Overall, a very interesting sc-fi debut and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on October 16th, 2012.*

How Else Could It Be, Anyone Would Notice Me

Published: August 21st, 2012

The Sweetest Spell

By: Suzanne Selfors

Walker Children's Books

ISBN-13: 9780802723765

Emmeline Thistle, a dirt-scratcher's daughter, has escaped death twice-first, on the night she was born, and second, on the day her entire village was swept away by flood. Left with nothing and no one, Emmeline discovers her rare and mysterious ability-she can churn milk into chocolate, a delicacy more precious than gold.

Suddenly, the most unwanted girl in Anglund finds herself desired by all. But Emmeline only wants one-Owen Oak, a dairyman's son, whose slow smiles and lingering glances once tempted her to believe she might someday be loved for herself. But others will stop at nothing to use her gift for their own gains-no matter what the cost to Emmeline. 

Magic and romance entwine in this fantastical world where true love and chocolate conquer all.

Review

    Emmeline Thistle has a shameful heritage - she is descended from the Kells, invaders of the land of Anglund, who killed a beloved Queen in a bid to take over the land (or so all the Flatlander descendants have been led to believe) and as such were banished to the  most uninhabitable tracts of land found, that flooded easily and were a harsh place to grow crops.  Due to the fight for survival, Emmeline's people are known as dirt-scratchers and have a harsh, physically demanding life.  Which is why when she was born with a twisted foot, she was put next to the woods to be taken by predators.  But the cows of the village saved her and ever since she's had a special bond with them.  Emmeline is ostracized because of her deformity and called a witch because of the cows, so she thinks marriage is just a dream.  But at the yearly marriage market her Father and all the unmarried men are taken by the King to supposedly fight in a war (they are not allowed to leave the Flatlands unless summoned).  That night a rain starts and within a few days the village of Root is washed away in a flood, taking Emmeline down the river with it and into adventure.  When Emmeline discovers that she has a magical talent, it puts her very life in jeopardy.  Will she be able to find love and freedom when almost everyone only values her for her gifts?  And can she find freedom for the rest of the Dirt-Scratchers from the nefarious purposes they are being forced to serve?  I was wary about this, because I didn't see how churning butter into chocolate could be all that interesting - boy was I wrong!  I love that the book starts out with Emmeline explaining how she was cast out and the cows saved her.  I love that she is such a strong willed girl, even though the other villagers treat her horribly and speaking out just gets her more ridicule.  Never once does she just sit down in defeat.  Emmeline is always fighting to survive and more than that, to be free.  When she's saved by Owen Oak, son of a dairyman, from dying on the riverbank where she washes up it really shows the distinctions between the Flatlanders (a.k.a. dirtscratchers) and the rest of Anglund's people.  They're viewed to be barbarians and no better than animals.  Emmeline blooms when the oaks treat her as an equal, even after they discover her gift of making chocolate after it's been a myth for such a long time.  I liked the side characters of Prince Beau, Duke of Lime, Peddler, Griffin, Emmeline's Father and Owen's parents.  The King and Queen were deliciously evil and the shocking reality about Anglund's history was a truly fun plot twist.  The romance was very sweet and I was pleased with how it developed over the book, which shifted between Emmeline's POV and Owen's.  It was definitely one of my favorite reads of the year and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.  Plus, for once in a YA novel the cover is actually highly representative of the story within and doesn't make me want to vomit from looking at it's insipidity.  It was enchanting, magical and beautifully descriptive.  I highly recommend it to fans of fantasy that showcases alternate histories, originality and a whimsical quality that is a breath of fresh air.  

VERDICT:  5/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*