In Kindred, Dana, a Black woman whose husband is white, is pulled back and forth between the California present and the pre–Civil War South, where she finds herself enslaved on the plantation of a white ancestor whose life she must save in order to preserve her own. This first volume in the Library of America edition of Butler’s collected works gathers her 1979 masterpiece, Kindred, one of the landmark American novels of the last half century her final novel, Fledgling and her collected short stories. In 1995 she became the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, in recognition of her achievement in creating new aspirations for the genre and for American literature. She broke new ground with books that featured complex Black female protagonists-“I wrote myself in,” she would later recall-establishing herself as one of the pioneers of the Afrofuturist aesthetic. Butler used the conventions of science fiction to explore the dangerous legacy of racism in America in harrowingly personal terms. An original and eerily prophetic writer, Octavia E.
0 Comments
Our usual route was a 15 miles round trip, with 12 houses visited, and those houses would strive to outdo each other in creativity and quantity of goodies for the “neighbour kids” who knocked on the door. No walking is involved (though one legendary year a few intrepid teens did go on horseback) – the distances are too great. For Hallowe’en in the country is a bit different than in town. We live at the end of a sparsely populated rural road, and no one ever makes it this far, so part of our Hallowe’en tradition since moving here twenty-some years ago has been to take our contribution to a neighbour’s place mid-way along the traditional route. For once it is in, all bets are off, and unless I can package it up into bags intended for neighbourhood trick-or-treaters immediately, the odds are high that some wee child will get shortchanged of his or her full share of sugar. Many years of experience have taught me the folly of allowing it into the house too early, and numerous times I have had to buy it twice. Last night I went out to the car and brought in the bags of Hallowe’en candy stashed in the trunk. Weren’t we just here, on All Hallow’s Eve? And here we are again… 145 pages.īlink your eyes and a year has passed by. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury ~ 1972. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. 8 & up)Ĭhainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.Įvery four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Children will enjoy Odd’s quiet heroism and the simple adventure adults will love the squabbling gods and the strong women (and the Frost Giant’s response to feisty Freya!). Martin’s The Ice Dragon (2006), this succeeds both as a delightful children’s book and an adult collectible. Odd ultimately outwits the giant in a way that upholds and yet totally subverts the trope, at the end returning home still humble but successful and clearly destined for more adventures. When an endless winter descends, he leaves his stepfather’s home and is recruited by talking animals who are actually Thor, Odin and Loki, exiled to earth by a Frost Giant. Unlucky Odd lost his father during a Viking raid (but not to heroics) and then crushed his leg trying to be a man. Originally written for World Book Day, this sweet, wistful, slyly funny novella also offers a crash course in ancient Norse mythology. Gaiman does it again, this time featuring a lame young boy, talking animals and intrigue in Asgard. That's exactly the place where we find the eccentrically named Pablo Neruda Rind. Her new book, Permanent Record, is not especially edgy or sexy, but it does feel precisely like that confusing period between high school and adulthood where so many of us flail around, trying to figure out what we actually want from life. Choi is quietly defining new-adult literature with her modern explorations of how relationships help young people figure out who they really are. It could be sexier and edgier than young adult but still about teens or early 20-somethings working out their feelings! It's a topic that comes and goes without gaining much traction. There's occasionally a burst of talk about "new adult" as a channel that could exist between the inland lake of young adult fiction and the wide-open ocean of books written for adults. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Permanent Record Author Mary H. Kade checked the seals on the windows one by one, running putty along the places where the moisture seemed likely to find a way inside, one eye on the library and the other on the sky.Īngela watched the sky too, waiting for a rainbow, ordinary shoes on her feet and enchanted shoes slung over her shoulder, laces tied in a careful, complicated knot. The blackberry briars at the back of the field grew rich with fruit, and several students spent their afternoons with buckets in their hands, turning their fingers purple and soothing their own furious hearts. 1 ONE DOOR OPENS, ANOTHER IS BLOWN OFF ITS HINGESĪUTUMN HAD COME TO Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children in the usual way, with changing leaves and browning grass and the constant smell of impending rain hanging heavy in the air, a seasonal promise yet to be fulfilled. The book is also a deeper look at the ethics behind blood transfusion the many ways people questioned what they didn’t understand, tried to stop it happening, and eventually wound up slowing progress for hundreds of years.īlood Workhas been on my wishlist since well before it was published. Tucker also looks at the race between the English and the French to transfuse faster, and their struggles to publish first and occasional glossing over of facts as they did so. The madman died and Denis wound up framed for murder as a result. Tucker mainly tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Denis, a physician outside the cult of Paris-educated noblemen, who in what could have been a world-changing experiment transfused calf’s blood into a madman in Paris. Blood Workis a multi-pronged look at the history of blood transfusion during the Scientific Revolution in both England and France. This is a much different book, but just as brilliant. So many readers - both of middle grade and adult books - were fans of Warga’s Other Words for Home. This is a very moving book and so well written too. The story is told from alternating points of view (Quinn and Cora) as both girls try to figure out time travel, while processing the grief and trauma they both hold. As they approach the first anniversary of the shooting, Quinn thinks she’s found a way to undo what happened and reaches out to Cora to work with her. Understandably, this created a rift between both girls, even though they still deeply care for each other and have been friends since kindergarten. Quinn’s brother Parker killed Cora’s sister in a school shooting. The Shape of Thunder follows two former best friends Quinn and Cora whose lives have been altered by a tragic event. He is often a point of reference for other scholars, including psychologists, scientists and political leaders. His works are staples within the intellectual community and are used to discuss identity, nobility and personal growth. Nietzsche is one of the most famous and controversial thinkers of all-time. Nietzsche suggests every person has a lived experience that affects their outlook on what's right and wrong. He also rejects a universal code of ethics as it doesn't account for the distinct characteristics of each individual. With nearly 300 aphorisms, the author criticizes the state of philosophy and its link to conventional wisdom. Nietzsche introduces a counterargument that dismisses groupthink or herd mentality and emphasizes a person's "will to power." He demystifies past ideas, encouraging a bold alternative.Īn honest study of different ideologies and their influence on positive and negative behaviors. In Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche gives an impassioned analysis of Western religion, specifically Christianity, that confronts its authoritative view of humans and nature. Though the entries paint a grim picture of a rapidly shrinking civilization ("I write stuff down in here and I don't read it. The story unfolds through Miranda's journal entries, from May, when the asteroid strikes, to the following March. This survival tale by the author of The Year Without MichaelĬelebrates the fortitude and resourcefulness of human beings during critical times. The book may be lengthy, but most readers will find it absorbing from first page to last. Yet their situation becomes more critical as other unexpected disasters arise. They have a pantry filled with canned goods and plenty of logs to fuel their wood-burning stove. Thanks to her mother's foresight and preparedness, Miranda and her two brothers are better off than many families in their Pennsylvania community. Suddenly, things she has taken for granted-electricity, news from the outside world and three square meals a day-are a thing of the past. When an asteroid collides with the moon, causing natural disasters-tidal waves, volcanoes, earthquakes and climate changes-on Earth, life as 16-year-old Miranda knows it will never be the same. don't recall Mancs marauding around pre match. Parked up and pretty soon the coach park was full of Saints. Got his head inside only to find it joined to the toe end of a ten hole DM boot. One Utd t w a t tried to get in the coach via the emergency exit. there were certainly a lot of Man U there and as Nordic pointed out were outnumbered around 3 to 1. But, yes, in the 70s, United and Chelsea had massive hooligan armies, which attracted followers from all over the country, including the Millwall Reds, who followed both Millwall and United, wherever there was the most trouble. I went by train so I didn't see any of that stuff in the coach park. (Maybe cos I was still young but that's how I remember it) When we got outside afterwards they were swarming the coaches looking for saints fans to attack.Īs an aside, thr following season when they visited the sell in a freak cup re draw, they were the most aggressive I've seen in 40 years of going to football. In those days you coukd drink beer inside the ground and united fans below were lobbing full beer cans up at us. One of my life's regrets is that in all honesty I didn't see the lap of honor as I was ducking down under the wall as united fans tied there scarf' s together to scan the wall from the lower tier. As his kid was young we got to the front of the que and stood on the front the very front of the upper tier. I was 13, went with my older brother and his family. |