Plainsong

Plainsong
by
Kent Haruf
adult fiction

I saw a list of books that Barack Obama has read since becoming President. Most of them were about history or economics, but then I saw this fiction book among the nonfiction books. I remembered that this book had been considered for our library's "One Community One Book" book as well, so it must have some kind of universal appeal. When I checked it out I also saw that it was a National Book Award finalist.
Those are impressive credentials, so I had high hopes for this book. It is a well written book, but in a quiet way. There are no car crashes or terrorists or murders, although there are some nasty school bullies.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/08/13/obama-reading-the-complete-list-of-his-favorite-books.html
The exact time period of when this is set is not mentioned, but it is probably in the 1970's or 1980's in rural Colorado. A few stories of people in the same small town overlap. There is the teacher whose wife is having a breakdown and is left with his two sons. There is another teacher who is trying to help a young, pregnant teenager. There are also the elderly bachelor brothers who I could not help but thinking of as, in the words of Garrison Keillor, "Norwegian bachelor farmers, so you know they're not only good for you, but also pure, mostly".
They are all trying to get through life as well as they can with the twists and turns that life sends them. They are everyday people in an average American town. You get the idea that they would all be pretty good neighbors to have. That is why the book is entitled "Plainsong". It is just another typical day in late 20th century America. If this book is overlooked in 2011, it might be worth re-reading in 2061 to see how America has changed or is the same.
Already, from the time period in which it is set to today, we can see that unwed mothers are more frequent, divorce is more commonplace, and telephone booths have gone the way of the telegraph.
One thing about the book that struck me right away is that, for some reason, the author has decided not to place any dialog in quotation marks. Why? Probably to keep the flow of the book going. As I said, it is a quiet book that flows like a tide going in and out. Each ebb and flow is the same, but not really. Each time it is slightly different. That's how life in America goes - new people, same old stories.
If I were a teacher I might have students "compare and contrast" this book and its setting and characters to "Our Town" or "Spoon River Anthology" or Keillor's "Lake Wobegon" world.
This book will probably appeal most to a middle-aged or older audience with more female than male readers, although the author is male and the number of male and female characters are fairly well balanced.

Rainbow Magic: Sunny the Yellow Fairy

Rainbow Magic: Sunny the Yellow Fairy
by
Daisy Meadows and Georgie Ripper
children's fiction, ages 7-10
(Previously published as Saffron the Yellow Fairy)
This is # 3 in a series.
1 Ruby the Red Fairy
2 Amber the Orange Fairy
3 Sunny the Yellow Fairy
4 Fern the Green Fairy
5 Sky the Blue Fairy
6 Inky the Indigo Fairy
7 Heather the Violet Fairy

After this Rainbow series are some more series of fairy books (Pet Keeper fairies, etc.), so readers can keep busy for quite some time with the fairies.

The seven rainbow fairies have been scattered by the wicked Jack Frost. Two mortal girls must help the fairies defeat Jack and his goblins and return home to Fairyland. This series is pleasant and easy to read. The goblins are not particularly scary. Many girls will be clamoring for the next book in this series. In this book, the Rachel and Kirsty work together with a queen bee. I thought that was a good use of the nature plot.
Personally, I think the illustrations are lousy. They are little more than ink sketches. I would have preferred a deluxe hardback version of this book with color pictures that were more completely done. The cover is fancy with gold stars. I have seen the fairies illustrated in color in the girl's magazine "Sparkle", so I was disappointed in how they are used in the Scholastic paperback.
http://www.rainbowmagiconline.com/

Dayton Peace Prize

Dayton Peace Prize
http://www.daytonliterarypeaceprize.org/

Congratulations to Geraldine Brooks, winner of the 2010 Dayton Peace Prize Lifetime Achievement Award

Here is a full list of 2010 finalists:


2010 Dayton Literary
Peace Prize Finalists

Fiction

* A Postcard from the Volcano by Lucy Beckett (Ignatius Press):

Beginning in 1914 and ending on the eve of World War II, this epic coming-of-age story follows a Prussian aristocrat as he confronts the ideologies that threaten the annihilation of millions of people.


* A Good Fall by Ha Jin (Pantheon Books):

In this stark and insightful collection, acclaimed writer Ha Jin depicts the struggle of Chinese immigrants in America to remain loyal to their traditions as they explore the freedom that life in a new country offers.


* Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Knopf):

A young Ethiopian doctor is forced to flee revolution in his homeland for New York City in this enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.


* The Book of Night Women by Marlon James (Penguin Group; G. P. Putham's Sons/Riverhead Books):

Born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century, a woman with dark, mysterious powers finds herself at the heart of a slave revolt plotted by the women around her.


* The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim (Henry Holt and Company):

In early-twentieth-century Korea, the privileged daughter of a calligrapher struggles to choose her own destiny while her country crumbles under Japanese occupation.


* The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Adiche (Knopf):

Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie turns her penetrating eye on both her native country and America in twelve dazzling stories that explore the collision of two cultures and the deeply human struggle to reconcile them.



Nonfiction

* Enough: Why the Worlds Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty by Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman (Public Affairs):

This powerful investigative narrative shows exactly how, in the past few decades, American, British, and European policies have conspired to keep Africa hungry and unable to feed itself.


* In the Valley of the Mist by Justine Hardy (Free Press):

A personal, moving, and vibrant picture of the Kashmir Valley, one of the most beautiful and troubled places in the world -- described through the experiences of one family, whose fortunes have changed dramatically with those of the region.


* Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson (Penguin Group, USA):

From the author of the #1 bestseller Three Cups of Tea, the continuing story of this determined humanitarian’s efforts to promote peace in Afghanistan through education.


* Tears in the Darkness by Michael and Elizabeth Norman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux):

Using the perspective of a young American soldier, this account of World War II’s Bataan death march exposes the myths of war and shows the extent of suffering and loss on both sides.


* The Education of a British-Protected Child by Chinua Achebe (Knopf):

From the celebrated author of Things Fall Apart, a new collection of autobiographical essays—his first new book in more than twenty years.


* Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (McSweeney's):

The meticulously researched story of a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four who chose to stay in New Orleans through Hurricane Katrina and protect his house and business—but then abruptly disappeared.