“Whale Talk,” by Chris Crutcher

“Whale Talk,” by Chris Crutcher is an novel about the fight between misfits and popular people.

Author Chris Crutcher touches on many different issues within “Whale Talk.” The main character, T. J. Jones, aka The Tao Jones, is a multi-racial boy who is both smart and athletic. However, he shuns team sports at his school because he doesn't like the attitude of the “jocks” who make up the school's prominent teams. Even the coaches and organizers are racist and cruel to animals.

Although T. J. Jones has always refused to support the organized sports at his school, he sees an opportunity to get back at coaches and athletes at his school by supporting a new swim team. There is only one problem. The Cutter High School swim team doesn't even have a pool to practice in. T. J. Jones doesn't let this stop him, though. He recruits some of the school's most unpopular misfits: a fat boy, a one legged boy with a bad attitude, and a boy usually ridiculed for being retarded. T. J. Jones is determined to make sure that each of the boys earns a varsity letter jacket. This jacket is a highly coveted symbol that is usually reserved for white jocks who are buddies with the coaches that T. J. Jones despises so much.

As T. J. Jones helps the motley group of misfits to become an organized swim team he finds that they are also developing in other ways too. Under the influence of friendship and a feeling of being wanted the boys come to realize that their own worth does not depend on their popularity with the other students.

“Whale Talk” is a fairly broad reaching book. In reading it I felt that Chris Crutcher was trying to cover every issue available, from racism, to school corruption, to child abuse. “Whale Talk” is not exactly a polished masterpiece. I felt that Crutcher used far too much profanity. By choosing to tell the story through T. J. Jones he gives the novel a personal attitude, but T. J. Jones himself has an attitude half admirable, half disappointing. Overall “Whale Talk” was not a book that appealed to me. Sports and school popularity struggles can be good plot topics if they are handled properly. However, “Whale Talk” comes across as rough, with an ending that fails to satisfy.

“Whale Talk” is a book that I wouldn't waste my time reading.

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Interview with Author Nancy Springer

Today Inkweaver Review presents an interview with Nancy Springer, author of the Enola Holmes series, which is currently being reviewed here on Inkweaver Review.

Meet Nancy Springer

"Conform, go crazy, or become an artist." I have a rubber stamp declaring those words, and they pretty much delineate my life. Conforming was the thing to do when I was raised, in the fifties. Even my mother, who spent her days painting animal portraits at an easel in the corner of the kitchen, tried to conform via housecleaning, bridge parties, and a new outfit every spring. My father, who was born into a British-mannered Protestant family in southern Ireland, emigrated to America as a young man and idolized the "melting pot" because at last he fit in. Once in a rare while he recited "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" or told a tale of a leprechaun, but most of the time he was an earnest naturalized American who expected exemplary behavior of his children. My mother was a charming Pollyanna who would not entertain negative sentiments in herself or anyone around her. As their only girl and the baby of the family, I was coddled, yet hardly ever got a chance to be other than excruciatingly good.

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Interview with Author Nancy Springer

“The Robot King,” by Brian Selznick

“The Robot King,” by Brian Selznick is a beautiful fantasy novel about two Victorian children who build a fantastic robot.

Ezra and Lucy are two motherless children who spend their days at the graveyard where their mother is buried. In this melancholy place, beneath the ruined skeleton of an abandoned fairground they daydream and Lucy makes up stories about their mother and the way their lives could have been. Ezra doesn’t talk at all.

After they leave the graveyard they return home, to the attic where Ezra and Lucy store their special possessions. Ezra likes to gather small items, pieces of glass, pebbles, marbles, silverware, lost keys. Lucy likes to make devices out of things that Ezra gathers. She has made a toy that walked like an insect on twig legs, doll heads on wheels that race around the attic, and other fascinating mechanical wind ups. One day, thought, Lucy tells Ezra that she needs just one more thing to complete her latest project.

Together Lucy and Ezra take their dead mother’s treasured music box and snap it into place in Lucy’s device. It is a fantastic clockwork man, and the music box is his heart, carefully hidden away in the deepest part of the clockwork man’s chest.

Lucy names her creation the Robot King, and after Ezra winds up the music box heart, the Robot King begins to move. At first the Robot King totters and jerks like a new baby learning to move, but slowly it gains confidence and begins to learn about its surroundings. And then Lucy and Ezra discover the wonderful power of their creation, and the Robot King changes their life completely.

“The Robot King,” by Brian Selznick is a wonderful piece of writing and art. The text is very sensitive, with delicate imagery, and sublime emotional content. Selznick’s portrayal of Ezra and Lucy is filled with love. In addition, the scenes and places are filled with fascinating details that are further enlivened by Brian Selznick’s black and white pencil drawings. The amazing Robot King is the key to the entire story, and in this respect both the drawings of him and the text about him is wonderful.

“The Robot King” is a wonderful story that is enhanced by the beautiful and moving images that accompany it.

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“A Study in Scarlet,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“A Study in Scarlet,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a fascinating detective mystery story that introduces Sherlock Holmes to the world.

The story starts by introducing John H. Watson, an army doctor recently returned to London after a disastrous tour in India. Watson is happy to be in London again, but he soon finds that he needs better quarters. Unfortunately, his income is so low that he can not afford anything decent.

Through a friend Watson is introduced to Sherlock Holmes, who has found a comfortable apartment but needs someone to share the rent with. At first Watson is a little bit skeptical about Holmes, who seems to be a very eccentric individual indeed, but when Watson visits the apartment that Holmes wants to rent, he decides that he might as well try it out.

Soon Watson and Holmes have moved into their apartment on Baker Street. From the very start Watson finds himself wondering about Holmes. For one thing Holmes doesn’t seem to have any regular employment, and he has a very strange system of knowledge and study.

After a few failed attempts, Sherlock Holmes himself tells Watson of his career. He is a “consulting detective.” When the police and Scotland Yard are unable to solve a mystery or catch a criminal, they contact Holmes, who uses scientific principals to shed new light on the mystery or track down the culprit.

Soon enough Holmes has a chance to demonstrate his skill. When a murdered man is found in an empty building nearby the police are baffled. The murdered victim has no wound on his body, yet the room is marked with blood. In addition, none of the victims personal possessions were stolen, his money and various other valuables are untouched.

Sherlock Holmes agrees to take the case. When he arrives at the seen of the crime, however, the whole matter seems to get even more complicated, rather than clearing up. First a woman’s wedding ring is discovered on the floor beneath the dead body. Then the word “Rache” is discovered written on the wall with blood.

Sherlock Holmes’ investigation will uncover events that began decades ago in America. The crime is a deadly revenge plot that has taken decades to come to culmination. The daring and persistent perpetrator is a determined person though, and it will take careful panning on Holmes part to capture him.

“A Study in Scarlet” was first published in 1887. This classic story is a good introduction to Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, in this book Doyle shows Holmes in a slightly unflattering light, portraying him as proud and angry that he doesn’t get enough recognition for his skill. Other than that “A Study in Scarlet” is a great mystery story. The plot is realistic and reasonably unusual.

All mystery lovers should read the classic “A Study in Scarlet.”

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“Each Little Bird that Sings,” by Deborah Wiles

“Each Little Bird that Sings,” by Deborah Wiles is a touching and sensitive story about three deaths that effect a family that works in the funeral business.

Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger has kept track of every funeral she had ever attended, all 247 of them. The Snowberger family runs the only funeral home in Snapfinger, Mississippi, so everyone who dies comes to Snowberger’s for their last few days above ground.

Comfort has always thought of herself as being well acquainted and able to cope with death, but when two of her close relatives, Great-uncle Edisto, and Great-great-aunt Florentine, die within six months of each other it leaves a great gap in the Snowberger family. Great-uncle Edisto started the Snowberger family funeral home. One of his favorite expressions was “Everybody’s kin.” In the small town of Snapfinger, Mississippi everyone is family, and whenever someone dies, everyone comes to the funeral, bringing kind words and their favorite southern comfort food.

To Comfort, though, everything goes wrong shortly after her Great-uncle Edisto dies. First her pathetic younger cousin Peach makes a scene at the funeral and ruins everything. Then Comfort’s best friend Declaration turns mean and leaves her for two new best friends that are much cooler and who don’t write obituaries in their spare time like Comfort does.

Comfort must find the strength to deal with these disasters and problems and at the same time mourn the loss of two close relatives.

I enjoyed reading “Each Little Bird that Sings.” The story’s plot is filled with strong emotion that readers are sure to remember long after they close the book. In addition the characters are very sensitive, and I feel that Deborah Wiles did a good job balancing them with and against each other. All the characters have unusual names: Comfort, Merry, Declaration, Tidings, and Dismay. This, however, merely adds to the unique flavor of “Each Little Bird that Sings.”

“Each Little Bird that Sings” teaches strong lessons about death and coping with the loss of a relative or friend. I recommend it to all young readers.

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“The Wrong Box,” by Robert Louis Stevenson

“The Wrong Box,” by Robert Louis Stevenson is a classic farce first published in the 1800’s.

Simply summarized “The Wrong Box” is a rather ridiculous book full of slapstick humor and foolish turns. The plot begins with a Tontine, a scheme in which subscribers invest their funds in a common pool that is then paid to the last person in the group who is still alive. As Stevenson puts it:

“The proceeds are fluttered for a moment in the face of the last survivor, who is probably deaf, so that he can not even hear of his success-and who is certainly dying, so that he might just as well have lost.”

In “The Wrong Box” the plot revolves around a Tontine in which many youths, including two brothers, were all subscribed. By some freak of chance the last two surviving members of the Tontine are the two brothers, Joseph Finsbury and Masterman. Now they are both very old men with sons of their own.

Old Joseph Finsbury is kept under lock and key by his two sons Morris and John, who view their father as a sort of investment. They are determined that he will outlive his brother, their uncle, and that they, the two sons will get the whole Tontine as an inheritance. Therefore Morris keeps a strict watch on his father, making sure that he always dresses for the weather, and ordering routine doctor’s visits to make sure his health is in good condition. Joseph Finsbury resents the intrusions on his life, though.

Everything changes, though, when Joseph and his two sons Morris and John are traveling and are involved in a deadly train wreck. When Morris and John awake they find themselves in the midst of a scene of scattered destruction, but their father is nowhere to be found. After a brief search they find a body that they are convinced must be that of their father, Joseph.

At that moment there begins one of the most foolish and desperate blunderings ever portrayed in literature. Morris and John decide to hide the body so that they can still win the Tontine by concealing their father’s death and waiting for their uncle to die. But of course, somewhere along the way the body is mislaid. Morris and John are left afraid that the body will be found. On the other end the body ends up being transported by a variety of different means, in a variety of different conveyances, finally ending up in a grand piano.

Little do Morris and John realize, though, but the body that they took such great pains to conceal is not even that of their father. Joseph Finsbury survived the accident, yet saw it as a chance to escape the oppressive life that his sons imposed upon him.

“The Wrong Box” is simply silly. Unlike some of Robert Louis Stevenson’s much better writings “The Wrong Box” seems very rough, lacking grace. The passages are loquacious to the extreme, yet the plot still seems ill thought and clumsy.

Overall, “The Wrong Box” is definitely an eccentric book, and for that fact it is mildly interesting, but I definitely could not consider it to be a classic masterpiece.

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“Theodore in November,” by Natalie Williams

“Theodore in November,” by Natalie Williams is a poetry collection about the symbolism and sensations of love.

The focus of the collection, and its title, are not particularly obvious. However, one recurring character throughout the poems is Theodore. According to Natalie Williams “Theodore is true love’s fight to discover itself, and in some ways is undiscovered. It is an ideal that becomes tainted by experience but then matured by it.” Many of the poems use the word Theodore in different contexts and forms. For example “Theodored” is used as a verb, as in “You Theodored me.” In other poems “Theodore” is used as a noun or even an adjective.

The second major concept throughout the poetry collection is “November.” In her foreword Natalie Williams explains “November, to me, is a middle time between some place, between winter, summer and autumn; a metaphor for an Eden, and undiscovered country.” Much of “Theodore in November” is about love as journey, and a development that changes over time. In “Theodore in November” love is never completed experience. It is always in the middle, always wanting more and growing stronger and closer.

The poetry in “Theodore in November” has a style very different from that which I usually enjoy. Many of the lines are very short and terse, and although this allows better emphasis on some key words, it also breaks up the flow. Personally I like poetry that my eye can flow through very smoothly, and the constant line breaks in “Theodore in November” make me stop again and again to move down the page. However, “Theodore in November” stands true to Natalie Williams personal style, and in that regard I’m sure that many people enjoy poetry with short lines. My enjoyment of poems with longer lines is simply personal preference.

In “Theodore in November” Natalie William’s take on love is fresh, as if she has purposely avoided the all too common poetic cliches about love. I enjoyed some of the vivid word pictures that are scattered through her poems like flowers in a field of grass.

Overall, I would say that “Theodore in November” is a decent collection of poetry, and I’m sure that most readers will enjoy it.

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Book History: The Development of Writing and the Scroll

There are two major ingredients that make up a book. The first of these is the structure of the book, the pages or surfaces that make up its body. The second critical ingredient is the writing that fills the book and gives its body a soul.

The history of the book therefore begins with the history of writing. No one knows for sure how writing began, for many millenniums of human history have made writing and reading such an integral part of life that it seems as if writing must have always existed.

However, theories as to the origin of writing abound. One of these theories sets the development of writing at about 8000 B.C.E. It is known that tokens of different shapes and sizes were used to keep track of goods and symbolize transactions between buyers and sellers. These tokens were also buried with the deceased and used at temples for ritual offerings.

Around 3700 B.C.E people started storing these important tokens in hollow clay balls for storage. However, after the clay balls had been sealed it was difficult to determine what tokens were in which clay balls. It is thought that people began pressing the token into the clay surface to make an impression of it, therefore marking the clay with a symbol of the token.

This small fragment is inscribed with what may be the very earliest discovered form of writing.

From there it was a small step to scratching the token’s shape in the clay. Over time the round clay storage balls were flattened, and the symbolic tokens were done away with, replaced with the new markings that could be scratched in the flat clay tablet.

Another theory about the development of writing says that people started writing when they wanted to mark the surfaces of clay jars to signify their contents.

However writing began, it was always symbolic in nature. For example, in early Egyptian hieroglyphics, the symbol for a town is a cross inside of a circle. This glyph is representative of a town wall and the intersection of two roads.

Phonetic (or syllabic) writing was the next major development. By combining pictographs that represented words with specific sounds, scribes could recreate the sounds of a word that was a personal name, or some other concept that had no designated symbolic glyph.

Over time this system became more popular because it greatly reduced the number of glyphs that needed to be remembered. In this way phonetic writing made reading possible for a considerably larger subset of people. Symbolic writing involved thousands of symbols, making reading and writing a very difficult skill learned only by the scribes and religious leaders. Phonetic writing made writing and reading easier to learn, and slowly increased literacy rates among early peoples. Most serious writing and reading was still done by scribes, but for the first time learning to read and write was a task that although difficult, was possible. Archaeologists have found millions of pottery fragments marked with early writing, showing that many common people may have learned to read and write. They used pieces of shattered pottery as a surface on which to write notes and important religious and scriptural texts.

This early stage of writing is called cuneiform writing (from the Latin word cuneus for wedge), and it typically takes the form of wedge shaped markings in clay tablets. While these clay tablets are not very similar to modern books they were the precursors that would eventually develop into books as we know it.

The early Rongorongo writing discovered on Easter Island takes the form of both geometrical and natural shapes. Rongorongo has never been deciphered.

Another example of early writing, called Rongorongo, was discovered in the 1800‘s on Easter Island. A total of about twenty-four different Rongorongo marked wooden tablets and objects were discovered. Despite their extremely weathered and damaged condition, distinct geometrical, human, plant, and animal forms can be seen on their surfaces. These carved objects are very diverse, including a chieftain's staff, an statue, and several small ornaments.

The importance of Rongorongo is that it is a move from clay writing materials to wood. From 3000 B.C.E onward early people began using wood and other vegetable ingredients for writing. In China early books took the form of bamboo tablets, while the Egyptians used papyrus reeds to create a form of paper.

Papyrus was an important development in book history. It was produced by taking the marrow of papyrus reed plants, cutting it into strips, and placing the strips side by side in two layers. One layer was set at a right angle to the other layer. The sticky pith inside the plant made these two layers of strips stick together. Then the two layers were pounded using a hammer so that they bonded tightly, becoming a single sheet. After the papyrus had dried it could be polished with a smooth object to remove any irregularities. Scribes used ink to mark symbols onto these scrolls rather than scratching them into the surface such as had been done with early clay and wood tablets.

The scroll was a much more convenient writing device than the clay or wooden tablet. Before the scroll and long piece of writing would result in a large pile of clay or wooden tablets that would tend to get mixed up or lost. For this reason, most of the clay or wooden tablets found are not long works of writing but rather short legal or business documents. These pieces of writing could never be considered books. In contrast the scroll could be produced in sheets many feet long. After the scribes were done writing on them the scroll would be rolled up into a compact tube shape. When a person wanted to read a scroll they would simple unroll it on one end, and as they read they would roll up the other end of the scroll. In this way the scroll made longer works of writing much more feasible, both from the writing and the reading point of view. This was a major step toward the development of the book.

One of the earliest surviving translated books is the Egyptian Book of the Dead, thought to have been written about 1800 B.C.E. This important Egyptian funerary text was written on papyrus scrolls and buried with the deceased. It described the steps that would be needed for the deceased to successfully navigate the afterlife. It also contained written hymns and spells.

This scene from the Egyptian Book of the Dead demonstrates the rich illustrations and symbolic writing that the Egyptians had developed.
(Click to enlarge.)

The Book of the Dead was copied in funeral workshops, the same facilities where the dead were embalmed. Copies of the Book of the Dead were extremely expensive, costing more than half a years pay for the common laborer. Nonetheless, the quality of copies of the Book of the Dead was usually terrible. Surviving copies are full of scribal mistakes.

To summarize, early books began with the start of writing. Over the formative years of writing, better and better writing surfaces were developed, starting with clay, and then progressing to wood and finally papyrus scrolls. Each development in writing technology played an important part in making the book possible.

Coming Next:

The next installment of this Book History series will cover writing and books during the era of Greece and Rome. This important time period saw the start of book culture and book conservation as libraries were developed.

Interview with Author Rebecca Stead

About Rebecca Stead

Rebecca Stead grew up in New York City, where she was lucky enough to attend the kind of elementary school where you could sit in a windowsill, or even under a table, and read, or draw, or write, and no one told you to come out and be serious (well, eventually someone did, but not right away). It was here that she began writing.

Rebecca lives in New York with her husband and their two sons. Her second novel, "When You Reach Me", will be published by Wendy Lamb Books in July, 2009.

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Interview with Author Rebecca Stead

Critical Analysis: “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” by Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a classic novel that was said to have provoked the American Civil War. By discussing the issue of slavery and showing the cruel aspects of it Harriet Beecher Stowe motivated people to take sides over the issue.

The main focus of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is to show that African American’s have souls and feelings just like other humans. In her time it was common for white plantation owners and slave holders to view black people as cattle or a degraded species of humans. Slave auctioneers and sellers separated mothers and children on the idea that they couldn’t really feel the loss, at least not like white people.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s goal in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is to show African American’s as people. Her basic argument is that black’s suffer just as much as whites, and therefore it is just as wrong to mistreat them. Throughout the book Stowe approaches the idea of slavery from an unwavering Christian viewpoint. This is not surprising considering that she had a very religious family, with her father being a famous minister.

The single most important character in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is Uncle Tom himself. Uncle Tom is a middle aged black man who is very honest and intelligent. Uncle Tom’s master, Mr. Shelby, entrusts him with many of the dealings of his house, even trusting him to take large sums of money of business trips for his master. For Uncle Tom this could be a prime opportunity to escape. However, Uncle Tom always returns because he cannot violate Mr. Shelby’s trust by running away with his master’s money. Given Harriet Stowe’s religious background it isn’t surprising that Uncle Tom’s story mirrors the biblical story of Joseph’s enslavement in Egypt. Even as the Joseph’s Egyptian master Potiphar chose to entrust Joseph with all his belongings, so Mr. Shelby entrusts his dealings to Uncle Tom.

Uncle Tom enjoys a rather comfortable if limited lifestyle at the home of Mr. Shelby. Mr. Shelby respects Uncle Tom for his Christian values and gives him many freedoms that other slave owners wouldn’t. Uncle Tom enjoys spending time with his family, wife, and children in their own small cabin.

The turning point in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” comes when Mr. Shelby finds himself in debt to Haley, a slave trader. Although Mr. Shelby tries to avoid it there is only one solution to his debt. He has to give Uncle Tom to Haley to get his debt canceled. Haley even refuses to accept Uncle Tom as payment unless Mr. Shelby throws in Harry, the son of Eliza, one of Mr. Shelby’s maids.

At this point the plot splits off in two major directions. Eliza doesn’t want to part with her son Harry, so she runs away with him, later meeting up with her husband George. George ran away from his cruel master who forced him to do manual labor despite his intelligence and skill working at a local business. A rather humorous scene shows the slave trader Haley trying to catch Eliza, but hindered by the covert sabotage of Mr. Shelby’s other slaves, who first “accidently” set his horse loose in the field. Then they use reverse psychology to direct him down the wrong road. They mention a small back road offhand and then they swear up and down that Eliza is sure to take the more direct main road. Ever suspicious Haley is sure that the slaves are lying to him, so he orders them to take him down the back road. Naturally, this was exactly what the slaves wanted, so they quickly end up completely lost, and is hours before they finally get to the town where Eliza was headed. Eliza manages to escape across the frozen river and evade Haley.

Haley is forced to give up for the moment, though he sends few slave catchers after Eliza and her boy. Angry and tired, Haley returns to Mr. Shelby’s farm. Uncle Tom, honest as always, agrees that he will not run away like Eliza. He knows that if Mr. Shelby doesn’t get the debt paid by selling Uncle Tom then he will just have to sell some of the other slaves. So instead, Uncle Tom prepares to part from his family. The slave trader Haley plans to take Uncle Tom down the river, and sell him in the deep South. Uncle Tom’s wife Aunt Chloe is heartbroken, not only because of the parting, but also because she knows that very few slaves ever return from the deep South. The plantation owners kill them off by overworking them, even when they are sick or hurt. The only hope for Uncle Tom is that Haley sells him to a kind master who will recognize his worth and intelligence and treat him well.

Haley takes Uncle Tom with him on a riverboat that travels down the Mississippi toward New Orleans. Along the way author Harriet Beecher Stowe takes the time to show a typical and all to common occurrence, the parting of a young black mother from her child. During the course of the journey the mother commits suicide by throwing herself overboard. Uncle Tom, though also missing his family, perseveres with great courage and meekness. He uses the boat ride as an opportunity to befriend young Evangeline, a white girl who is the daughter of an affluent slave owner. When Eva falls overboard and Uncle Tom saves her life by jumping in after her, it leads to Eva’s father, Augustine St. Clare, buying Uncle Tom to serve as a horse driver.

I find the reflection between the young mother jumping overboard and Uncle Tom jumping overboard to be quite interesting. Both of them jumped overboard because of a child, one because she lost a child, the other to save a child. In the young mother’s case it was a desperate thing that did no good in the long run except sacrifice her life. In Uncle Tom’s case it was a beneficial action that not only saved the child’s life but gained a beneficial position for him. I think that author Harriet Beecher Stowe’s point here is clear: she knows that the slaves feel bad about their situation, but there are still things that they can do to make it better for themselves. Committing suicide is not the answer.

Uncle Tom’s new life with Augustine St. Clare is not only a big change in his life, but it also marks the start of a new writing theme in the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Author Harriet Beecher Stowe uses this relatively peaceful interlude to allow her white characters to have intellectual and philosophical discussions about slavery. There are several key players in these arguments and discussions.

One principal character is Augustine St. Clare. He is a fundamentally lazy man, who doesn’t like slavery, but can’t seem to build up the strength to oppose it. He even purchases slaves for himself because he doesn’t want to appear different. In his mind slavery is an institution that he can do nothing to oppose, at least, nothing by himself.

Marie St. Clare is Augustine St. Clare’s wife. In the story Augustine married her in rapid desperation after receiving the rejection of another woman who he loved. After his marriage to Marie, however, he discovered that the rejection of the other woman was actually fabricated by her relatives who did not want her to marry him. He can not get along with her, not only because he never really loved her, but also because she is a spoiled woman used to being looked after by men. She does not understand Augustine’s dry humor and wit. Marie St. Clare tries to gain Augustine’s attentions by constantly complaining of various imaginary ills such as “sick headaches.” Marie is very attached to the institution of slavery. In her mind the slaves are there to do her bidding. She take out her anger and frustration at her husband on the slaves.

The third character is Miss Ophelia, Augustine’s cousin. Miss Ophelia is from the North, and as such she is fundamentally opposed to slavery. However, she also has a great loathing for the black slaves. She can not tolerate them touching her, an so she maintains a frigid distance from them. Miss Ophelia also does not like Marie St. Clare. She feels that Augustine could have done much better in choosing a wife, and indeed he could, and should, have.

The fourth character that Harriet Beecher Stowe introduces is Augustine St. Clare’s brother, Alfred. Alfred is the exact opposite of his brother Augustine. Whereas Augustine feels that slavery is wrong, Alfred’s opinion is that slavery is a necessary thing, and that there is nothing wrong with it as long as he is able to dominate the slaves. Augustine does nothing about his feelings, though. Alfred ridicules his brother for being a hypocrite and not doing something to advocate an end to slavery.

The fifth player in Stowe’s philosophical discussions is Eva, Augustine St. Clare’s young daughter. In the story Stowe portrays Eva as an angel of sorts. Eva does not approve of slavery, and she wants her father to free all the slaves. Augustine always laughs when he daughter makes this suggestion, but he admires her innocence.

Harriet Beecher Stowe uses these five characters to explore the different views about slavery and the attitudes that people have toward it. In between these discussions Stowe develops a rather heartbreaking plot: Eva develops a wasting disease that gradually kills her. This leaves both Augustine and Marie heartbroken. Soon after Eva’s death Augustine also dies, and this leaves Uncle Tom in the ownership of the cruel Marie St. Clare. Marie ends up selling the slaves to another slave trader and moving North.

Unfortunately, the very thing Aunt Chloe feared most happens: Uncle Tom is sold to Simon Legree, an evil man who has a very different view of slaves than Augustine or Mr. Shelby had. Simon Legree works his slaves to death. According to Simon Legree:

I don’t go for savin’ niggers. Use up, and buy more, ‘s my way;--makes you less trouble, and I’m quite sure it comes cheaper in the end….

Stout fellers last six or seven years; trashy ones gets worked up in two or three…

When one nigger ’s dead, I buy another, and I find it comes cheaper and easier, every way.

Harriet Beecher Stowe shows Simon Legree as an animalistic man, who sets his slaves against each other, even putting two of the slaves as task masters over the others. Legree encourages the slaves to snitch on each other.

To Uncle Tom, this doesn’t make sense. He is determined to help the other slaves, even at his own expense. When he notices an older woman struggling to meet her daily quota of cotton he transfers some cotton from his own bag to hers. Uncle Tom helps many of the slaves and he even uses his Bible to preach to them about Jesus.

This captures the attention of Simon Legree and his two black task masters. The last thing Simon Legree wants is for his slaves to have Christian values, a thing he hates himself. Legree is determined to crush this spirit in Uncle Tom. He wants to make Uncle Tom a taskmaster over his slaves. To do this, he needs to get Uncle Tom to start doing things for himself rather than helping others.

Simon Legree commands Uncle Tom to flog one of the slave women for not bringing in her full quota of cotton. Uncle Tom refuses, saying:

I’m willin’ to work, night and day, and work while there’s life and breath in me; but this yer thing I can’t feel it right to do; and Mas’r, I never shall do it, never.

Needless to say Simon Legree is outraged. He screams in rage:

Well, here’s a pious dog, at last, let down among us sinners! A saint, a gentleman, and no less, to talk to us about out sins! Powerful holy critter, he must be! Here, you rascal, you make believe to be so pious, didn’t you never hear, out of yer Bible, “Servants obey your masters”? An’t yer mine, now, body and soul?

Uncle Tom returns:

No! no! no! my soul an’t yours, Mas’r! You haven’t bought it, ye can’t buy it! It’s been bought and paid for, by one that is able to keep it; no matter, no matter, you can’t harm me!

Uncle Tom says that his soul has been bought by Jesus, and that Simon Legree will never get him to leave behind his Christian values. In Uncle Tom’s eyes, the ultimate reward of living a Christian life is well worth the pain of anything Simon Legree can do to him.

Simon Legree orders that Uncle Tom be beaten until he obeys. In the end Uncle Tom ends up following in the tracks of Eva. Just like Eva he dies despite being a good person. Harriet Beecher Stowe shows Uncle Tom as winning despite his death. According to her Uncle Tom was a good person so he went to heaven. The reverse of this statement is also true. Stowe hints that Legree’s ultimate destination will be the fire of hell. This religious theme would not be nearly as effective today as it was when “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was first published.

At the time this idea that black people had souls just like white people was a very novel idea. For the first time it made white people responsible for their actions either to the good or to the bad of their black slaves. Rather than just viewing black people as animals, the slave owners were forced to see their slaves as humans just like them.

This is the reason why “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was so powerful, and ultimately was one small spark that helped to ignite the Civil War between the anti-slavery North and the slave holders of the South.

I don’t think that “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” as a book is particularly amazing. Neither the plot, nor Uncle Tom’s heavenly escape hatch, are very satisfying. Fortunately, the characters are extremely rich and vibrant, and this makes up for many of the book’s shortcomings. I also feel that “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is important because it teaches about the slavery that effects thousands upon thousands of Americans in the past. I would definitely recommend “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” as a historical book that all people should read at least once.

Worthy Editions of Uncle Tom's Cabin:

“The Hound of the Baskervilles,” by Arthur Conan Doyle

“The Hound of the Baskervilles,” by Arthur Conan Doyle is a classic mystery story that pits the detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Watson against a mysterious, possibly supernatural, animal.

The story begins, as usual, with the appearance of a visitor at Sherlock Holmes’ quarters on Baker Street. The man is a doctor, Dr. Mortimer, and he has come to Holmes with a rather intriguing problem. He begins by reading an ancient manuscript that was committed to his care by a man named Sir Charles Baskerville. Dr. Mortimer served as Charles Baskerville’s doctor before his sudden and rather unusual death.

The manuscript that Dr. Mortimer reads is a strange legend passed down through the Baskerville family for many years. According to the legend a certain Hugo Baskerville of the Baskerville line was a wanton and evil man guilty of many wrongs. One night while out on the nearby moor he was seen being pursued by a strange hound creature of unusual size, with glowing, dripping jaws. This hound of hell apparently hunted down and killed Hugo Baskerville. The legend ends with a warning to all men of the Baskerville line that whatever they do they should never go out on the moor at nighttime, for fear that they too may be pursued by the Hound of the Baskervilles.

Holmes is only a little amused by the story, but then Dr. Mortimer goes on to relate the real reason why he has come to seek help. Dr. Mortimer tells Sherlock Holmes and Watson the tale of Sir Charles Baskerville’s death.

Sir Charles Baskerville was found dead in a small alley near his estate. It was evident that he had died from some sort of heart strain. Dr. Mortimer tells Holmes the specifics of Sir Charles Baskerville’s death as reported by the local newspaper, but then he tells Holmes the rest of the story that the press has not been told.

Before his death Sir Charles Baskerville had a strange fear of the moor and told Dr. Mortimer that he feared that he was being pursued by a hound-like creature. When Dr. Mortimer examined Sir Charles Body he also found footprints off to the side, not the footprints of a human, but the footprints of a giant dog.

It is far too late for Sir Charles Baskerville, but Dr. Mortimer has an important issue that need to be considered. The heir to the Baskerville estate is Sir Henry Baskerville, and soon he will come to live on the moor where his father did. Dr. Mortimer fears that whatever it was that killed Sir Charles Baskerville may also be a danger to Sir Henry Baskerville.

The case becomes even stranger when Sir Henry Baskerville makes his visit to Holmes the next day. He tells Holmes and Watson that he has received a strange warning made of words cut from a newspaper. It says, “As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor.” Before long Holmes determines that Sir Henry Baskerville is being followed by someone.

Sherlock Holmes feels that something very strange is happening with relation to Sir Henry Baskerville, but he has a very important case that he must finish first. Instead Watson is sent to Baskerville Hall with Sir Henry Baskerville to keep watch on the situation and keep Holmes alerted if anything important happens.

Before long it becomes even clearer that there are very strange things happening around Baskerville Hall. Sir Henry Baskerville has a definite enemy, and whether it is a supernatural creature, an animal, or a human is unclear. Only Holmes will be able to unravel the mystery before it is too late.

“The Hound of the Baskervilles,” by Arthur Conan Doyle was originally published in The Strand magazine between August 1901 and April 1902. It was this novel that really launched Doyle’s wonderful character Sherlock Holmes into international fame. Readers lined up in front of The Strand’s London offices to read each new installment of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” as it came out.

Compared with the other shorter stories about Sherlock Holmes, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is able to go into much greater detail about Holmes’ scientific and intuitive method of untangling mysteries and tracking down crime. In addition the story has a lot more characters than other Sherlock stories. Arthur Conan Doyle does a good job of defining them and referring to them in such a way that the reader can keep track of them.

Although “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is definitely much different from Doyle’s other short stories about Sherlock Holmes I’m sure that all mystery lovers will enjoy this classic novel.

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New Feature: Book Cover Art Slideshow

If you are a long term follower of Inkweaver Review you probably remember the time when Inkweaver Review had a slide show of book cover art in the sidebar. This was a great feature that many visitors appreciated, but unfortunately it was powered by Wowzio, an external service that occasionally suffered from glitches and slowdowns caused by their service being overloaded. About six months ago Wowzio was forced to close their system to new users because they could not afford to expand their system to serve more blogs. Despite this fact Wowzio was still a little bit slow, and limited in some features that I wanted.

Eventually I removed the Wowzio slide show widget from the sidebar because I wanted a simpler, more clean look for Inkweaver Review. Recently, however, I decided that I wanted a slide show widget once more. This time I wanted to put it on a separate page specifically designed for it, rather than putting it in the blog sidebar so that it loaded on every page. I tried using the Wowzio widget once more, but I still wasn't satisfied with several aspects of it. First of all, I didn't really have control over which images it displayed and the links that the images directed to. In addition I didn't like the way the widget looked at its small size.

So a few days ago I decided to sit down and program my own slideshow widget for Inkweaver Review. You can access this new feature of Inkweaver Review at any time by clicking the "Book Covers" link in the green menu bar below the Inkweaver Review logo.

This dynamic slide show currently contains the book covers from the last five months of Inkweaver Review reviews. The images and links in this slide show are hand picked to ensure the quality of the selections provided. I will gradually expand the selection over the next weeks until it covers the entire history of Inkweaver Review.

So far I have tested the widget in Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome, but I haven't yet been able to test in Internet Explorer. If you are an Internet Explorer user then please visit the book cover art slide show with that browser and tell me if you experience any problems.

If you like the slide show widget and you are a book review blogger, or just a blogger in general who would like to implement this feature on your own blog, then feel free to contact me using the contact link above. I can send you the code and instructions that you will need to install your own slide show on your blog.

“Firebirds Soaring,” edited by Sharyn November

“Firebirds Soaring,” edited by Sharyn November is a wonderful anthology of original speculative fiction from Firebird Books.

“Speculative fiction” is a term often attributed to Robert A. Heinlein. This term includes all writing about worlds that are unlike ours, including such genres as science fiction, fantasy, utopian and dystopian fiction, and apocalyptic fiction.

In “Firebirds Soaring” readers will find a variety of stories ranging in length from a few pages to almost one hundred pages. The stories also range in subject matter, covering all manner of fantasy worlds from all manners of time, from tens of thousands of years in the past, to far in the future. Contributers are some of the finest fantasy and science fiction writers on the market: Christopher Barzak, Clare Bell, Kara Dalkey, Candas Jane Dorsey, Mike Dringenberg, Carol Emshwiller, Nancy Farmer, Nina Keriki Hoffman, Ellen Klages, Marco Lanagan, Louise Marley, Nick O’Donohoe, Chris Roberson, Sherwood Smith, Nancy Springer, Jo Walton, Elizabeth E. Wein, Laurel Winter, Jane Yolen, Adam Stemple, and Marly Youmans.

Throughout “Firebirds Soaring” the individual stories are decorated by beautiful vignettes. My personal favorite was the very last story entitled “Something Worth Doing.” In this amazing creation writer Elizabeth E. Wein develops a strong a brave girl named Kim. When Kim’s older brother is killed in a tragic accident, she is irate at the way everyone remembers him as never applying himself to anything. Before his death Kim has been planning to stop his escapades and get serious by joining the Royal Air Force. He only lived long enough for his application to be accepted. By posing as her brother she joins the RAF and manages to make it through flight school. Soon she finds herself flying single pilot Spitfires over England defending the island from the invading Germans. All along Kim is motivated by a drive to make sure her brother is not remembered merely as a boy who wasted his life.

The entire effect of “Firebirds Soaring” is simply amazing. The stories have a scope and feeling behind them that gives the anthology as a whole great depth of expression. This worthy anthology is a must read for every fantasy lover.

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Historic Books: Aurora Australis by Ernest Shackleton

"Aurora Australis," by Ernest Shackleton was the first book written, printed, illustrated, and bound on the continent of Antarctica.

Ernest Shackleton oversaw the production of "Aurora Australis" during his 1908-1909 polar exploration voyage. There were two main reasons why he wanted to publish a book in Antarctica.

First, the expedition team was forced to spend the winter in cramped quarters on Ross Island in the McMurdo Sound. Shackleton knew from prior experience that when his men were cooped up with nothing to do tempers tended to flare explosively. One of his major ways of preventing this was putting together "cultural activities" to keep the men busy. As part of the process of creating "Aurora Australis" he encouraged his men to write poetry or prose for inclusion in the book. In the end, his men wrote ten chapters covering 120 pages. The book is a sort of anthology of the North, containing three poems, and seven pieces of prose, both fiction and non-fiction. There are also a number of illustrations and plates. The writing, illustrating, and publishing of the book served its purpose of keeping Shackleton's men busy and productive during the otherwise dull winter in Antarctica.

The second reason why Shackleton produced Aurora Australis was to raise money. Shackleton was always interested in getting more money for future exploratory voyages. He probably hoped that the fact that this was the first book produced entirely in Antarctica would make it a curiosity that people would be willing to purchase for high prices. Indeed, his hopes were eventually realized. Today, original copies of Aurora Australis are sold for sums ranging from $50000 to $75000. This is partly due to the age and uniqueness of the book, but also due to its extreme rarity. Somewhere between ninety to one-hundred copies of the book were created, and of these only about thirty are known to have been fully bound. At any rate, despite the high value of original copies of Aurora Australis today, they didn't bring any money to Shackleton. He ended up distributing the copies of Aurora Australis to members of the expedition and benefactors who had contributed to the expedition.

The work involved in producing Aurora Australis was very intensive. To begin with Shackleton had to get the equipment that would be needed to create the plates for printing, and to bind finished copies of the book. Fortunately, most of the equipment was donated by the printing firm Messrs. Joseph Causton and Sons, Limited. This firm also gave the polar expeditionists three weeks of training in the art of printing, and a special penguin stamp to be used on the book's binding.

Once the equipment was procured and set up, the much harder work of printing began. For one thing, none of the men were experienced it printing. There only knowledge of it was the three weeks of training given to them by the printing firm that had provided the equipment. They also discovered other problems. The extreme cold thickened the ink like molasses, rendering it useless for printing. To restore its viscosity, the men had to warm it using the flame of a candle. But then they left the candle in place for too long and melted the only inking roller on the continent!

The materials used to bind each copy of the book were very unique to say the least. Shackleton's men ended up using what they had: harness leather for the book spines, and lightweight venesta wood boards from packing crates for the book covers. This wood was a three-layered composite made of oak or chestnut glued together with waterproof cement. Existing originals of the book still bear the packing crates stenciled labels: "Butter," "Bottled F(ruit)."

There are two variants of Aurora Australis. The first edition of the book contains only ten photographic plates, but has an extra page of text. The second edition of the book has eleven plates. After a comparison of the two editions, one expert has theorized that the book originally contained a passage that would be very offensive to several important contributors to the voyage. After removing the passage, it was necessary to fill the empty space with another photographic plate.

Aurora Australis will stand as a historic book because of the unique conditions under which it was printed.

For more information about Ernest Shackleton and his polar expeidtions you should read the review of "Shackleton's Stowaway," by Victoria McKernan. This amazing historical fiction book is based on the true story of a young boy who stowed away on one of Shackleton's polar expeditions.

“Toby Alone,” by Timothée de Fombelle

“Toby Alone,” by Timothée de Fombelle is an exciting fantasy novel about a one and a half millimeter tall boy who lives in a large tree.

Toby Lolness and his people live in a huge oak tree that they call home. On its branches they have built their cities and villages. Some of the tree people make their living by making leaf flour. Other’s harvest milk from tree grubs. But Toby’s father, Sim Lolness, is a renowned scientist who studies the Tree and the life in and around it. He is constantly coming up with ideas that other people don’t want to accept.

They don’t want to believe that the Tree that they live in is a plant just like the moss that grows on its branches. They ridicule Sim’s idea that there are other trees out there, and that the birds that visit the Tree probably visit them too.

But then Sim Lolness comes up with something that everyone wants. He invents a small black box that takes the power of Tree sap and turns it into movement, allowing him to turn Toby’s wooden toys into living creatures!

Before long a greedy tycoon named Joe Mitch hears of Sim Lolness’ invention and decides that it has possibilities for him. Joe Mitch is in the business of digging new homes in the tree’s branches using trained weevils. Sim Lolness has denounced this industry in the past, arguing that it is harmful to the Tree, but no one listened to him.

Now everyone wants him to tell the world the secret of his fantastic black box. They want to use it to harness the power of the tree’s sap and use it in their factories. But Sim Lolness refuses to tell the other tree people, saying that he doesn’t want them to bleed the Tree dry using its sap for other purposes.

Suddenly everyone hates the Lolness family, and they are exiled to the Lower Branches, a dark, damp place that no one likes. But Toby likes his new living place, and his new friend Elisha Lee, a daring young girl who lives with her family near the Border between the Tree and the Ground beyond.

When disaster strikes and Toby’s parents are taken captive by Joe Mitch and his cronies, Elisha Lee helps Toby to try to free them and save the Tree from being destroyed by greed.

I thoroughly enjoyed every part of “Toby Alone.” The tree world within its pages is like no other book landscape that I have ever read. The details that Timothée de Fombelle uses to describe its unique landscape make the stunning scenes of “Toby Alone” very vivid.

The plot of “Toby Alone” is slightly convoluted, with lots of flashbacks that break up the story flow. However, by the time the reader has made their way through the first fourth of the book the story begins to make much more sense. The focus of the plot is obvious aimed to reflect today’s growing concern over the environment of our own planet. Timothée de Fombelle makes references to a “hole in the layer of leaves” causing the Tree’s climate to warm up. It think this aspect of the story does a good job of examining the conflict concerning global warming.

The characters in “Toby Alone” are of mixed quality. On the one hand the evil characters such as Joe Mitch and his goons are so idiotic that the reader begins to wonder how these demented people ever managed to capture Toby’s parents. However, the two main characters, Toby and Elisha are very personable and carefully developed. Both are bold and daring, but their weaknesses are also apparent. This makes them seem even more realistic.

All considered, I recommend “Toby Alone” to all young readers. One further note: This book ends with a terrible cliffhanger that will leave readers clamoring for a second installment. I, for one, am definitely waiting for a sequel.

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Henry Ward Beecher on the Love of Books

Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was a clergyman, social reformer, and abolitionist. Among his other rich and varied accomplishments Henry Ward Beecher wrote a series of papers under the title "Star Papers." This collection of papers, first published in 1873, includes a humorous passage about the book lover and the measures that he or she must go to obtain books.

Henry Ward Beecher portrays the poor man finding a new book and deciding that the simply must have it. Never mind if he has to eat less for a while. For the book lover food for the mind is more important by far.



For the married book lover the book addiction is even more awkward. Henry Ward Beecher shows the book lover going home with a collection of new books.

"What is that, my dear?" she asks.

"Oh! Nothing—a few books that I can not do without," the book lover answers.

Naturally, such exchanges can not occur too often.




During the 1800's the processes of printing, publishing, bookbinding, and book selling were just beginning to split off into separate businesses. Most books were printed and bound at bookstores. Taking into account inflation books were considerably more expensive then than they are today.

As a consequence such love of literature could be a costly habit.

“The Lacemaker and the Princess,” by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

“The Lacemaker and the Princess,” by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is an innovative tale about the relationship between a poor girl who works as a lacemaker and the daughter of Marie Antoinette.

Isabelle’s mother and grandmother are sure that their fortune will be made when they receive an order for lace from the Princess of Lamballe. Isabelle and her family work hard to make lace for rich people, but they are hardly paid enough to survive on. They hope that profitable contracts with the royal family can help them to make ends meet.

As chance has it Isabelle is almost crushed by a mob of courtiers. When Marie Antoinette notices and saves Isabelle from the crowd it is the start of a very unusual relationship between Isabelle and the royal family. Marie Antoinette introduces Isabelle to her daughter, the princess Therese. Marie feels that her daughter needs to have associates from the lower classes so that she learns to appreciate them.

Soon Therese and Isabelle have formed a friendship that will have many twists and turns. On the one hand Therese is proud and slightly haughty, used to getting her own way in everything. She even changes Isabelle’s name because she feels that it is too common. However, in talking with Therese, Isabelle learns that the princess has a heart and worries just like anyone else.

At the same time, Isabelle’s mother and grandmother are trying to pressure Isabelle to use her new standing to promote the family’s lace wares and drum up business in the court. They want the queen to start buying lace from them.

In the midst of all that is going on another force is also approaching the French court. People across the country are beginning to grumble about the extravagant tastes and wasteful attitude of the royal family. Many of the French people are starving while the nobles waste food and spend huge sums on luxuries. Many people are even beginning to speak of a revolution.

“The Lacemaker and the Princess” was actually inspired by a real life friendship between the French princess Therese and a commoner. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley has created an interesting historical piece that shows the history of the French Revolution from the royal family’s point of view. I feel that this unique story will appeal to young readers.

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What is Good Literature vs. Bad Literature?

Inkweaver Review is moving to a new web address. Please read the rest of this book related discussion at its new location:

Book Discussion - What is Good Literature vs. Bad Literature?

“Behind the Attic Wall,” by Sylvia Cassedy

“Behind the Attic Wall,” by Sylvia Cassedy is a rather strange Victorian tale about a young orphan girl who is thrown out of boarding school and ends up living with her great aunts.

Maggie never lasts long at any boarding school. She doesn’t get along with the other students at all, and she is always in trouble with the teachers. When she is finally kicked out one to many times her Uncle Morris comes to pick her up and take her to live with her great aunts. From the start Maggie realizes that her Uncle Morris is a very eccentric man. For one thing he asks her questions that don’t seem to make any sense, and he says the most curious things.

But Maggie endures the trip, because she is sure that living with her great aunts will be wonderful. She can see them in her mind as kind, caring old ladies living in the perfect house of her dreams. But when Uncle Morris finally arrives at Maggie’s new home she finds that reality is much different. Her great aunts are perfectionists that have great plans for reforming Maggie. In addition, the nice home that she had imagined is really a huge building that used to be a boarding school. Now the empty classrooms and dormitory rooms remain but there are no students. The whole building is sort of frightening. What is more some people even say that it is haunted.

Then Maggie starts hearing strange voices. She isn’t sure where they are coming from but they seem to be speaking about her. Maggie is determined to figure out where the voices are coming from, and eventually they lead up to the top of the great boarding school to the attic. Little does she realize that it will result in an unusual adventure that will teach her how to love and will change her personality more than any boarding school or strict great aunt ever could.

“Behind the Attic Wall” is, in my opinion, a fairly good book. The descriptions are vivid, and many of the characters are quite unusual. I particularly liked the way Maggie and Uncle Morris were described. The story’s plot is definitely unique, and sure to intrigue readers. The mysterious aspects of the plot are revealed in just the right order and at just the right time. Overall I would definitely recommend “Behind the Attic Wall,” by Sylvia Cassedy.

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Why the Controversy Over Google Book Search?

In light of the recent controversy over Google's Book Search program, I have been exploring the features that this remarkable service provides.

Simply summarized, Google Book Search is aimed at digitizing millions of books from around the world and allowing people to do full-text searches on these books.

Proponents of this system say that Google Book Search will improve libraries by helping people to find the books that they need faster and more accurately. I whole-heartedly agree with this opinion, as the search engine currently in use at my local library has great shortcomings. It almost never works correctly when I am trying to find a book that I know exists. When it comes to finding new books it could never be of any serious use. In contrast, Google Book Search is able to use the power of the Google search engine to provide better search results than most other search engines could.

Opponents of Google Book Search say that Google's application of the fair use principal should not be allowed, as it will result in a potential book search monopoly that will force libraries and universities to purchase expensive subscriptions to Google Book Search so as to better serve their customers. They also object to the fact that Google is making money off of showing ads along with portions of the books that they have digitized. In addition, there is a considerable amount of uproar regarding "orphaned books."

Basically, depending on the book and its copyright status Google Book Search responds in different ways. On the inside, when a user searches for a particular term, Google searches through all the digitized books, including the full text of copyrighted books.

When the results appear, Google shows a short two or three sentence section of copyrighted books to show the search terms in their context. For books where the copyright has expired, or the copyright holder has granted permission to show a portion of the book, Google Book Search may also show digitized images of the book's pages.

A key factor in the issue is what Google does about "orphaned books." These are books in which the copyright holder can not be located. Technically they are still under copyright, but there is no copyright holder to grant permission to show portions of the book in Google Book Search. Legislation aims to give Google the right to "adopt" these "orphaned books" and show them in search results. Later if the copyright holders show up they can receive some compensation, but Google won't have to pay a copyright infringement fee. As such fees are usually $150000USD each this is a big boon for Google.

Opponents of this method of operation claim that this "orphaned books" legislation will work for Google, but it will not allow other search companies to copy the idea, because they will not be covered by the protection afforded to Google. Other companies would be in danger of having to pay copyright infringement fees and so Google is violating anti-trust laws and creating a monopoly.

Personally, I don't mind if Google creates such a monopoly, because they are in the best position to provide the best results to users. Because of its size Google is dependable and able to provide its services for free. Google already handles 90% of the web search engine sector, but they still don't charge for web searches. Why then would a monopoly on physical book searches be a bad thing? Google can do it better, so why complain?

I think that Google Book Search is a great idea. Not only will Google be able to further improve their search functionality if they are able to digitize and analyze books, but it will also be able to better direct search engine users off of web pages and into real, physical books. Digitizing textbooks and scientific books will even be able to help students to find physical research materials for school projects.

For publishers and authors Google Book Search is great because it is like free advertising for their book. For example, if a search engine user is searching for information on a certain subject they may discover that a real book answers their question better than any web pages that they can find on the internet. While viewing the portion of the book made available on Google Book Search they decide that they like the book and want to purchase it. Convenient links then direct the person to a book seller where they can purchase the book. Publishers and authors still receive their money and royalties.

What is more, according to Google, publishers even make money off of the ads that Google places along with book results. From the Google Book Search website:

Fiction: Google is freeloading off people's books by making money from ads on Google Book Search pages and not sharing it with the copyright holders.

Fact: Google Book Search provides tremendous benefit to authors and publishers at significant cost to Google, the opposite of freeloading. We don't place ads on a specific book result unless the copyright holder has given us permission to display portions of the book and wants to show ads. When we do show ads, the majority of the revenue is given back to the copyright holder. In other words, we profit from Google Book Search ads only to the extent that our publishing partners do as well.

Out of all the things that I like about Google Book Search, though, there is one that appeals to me most of all: the ability to share clips from books. The clip at the beginning of this post is powered by Google Book Search. It is taken from a very old book. (Copyright 1916) The full text of this fascinating book is made available free of charge, and because the copyright has expired you can even download a PDF ebook version of the book.

I think that this is a great feature, because it allows book blogs like Inkweaver Review to share portions of books.



Many of these old books contain amazing gems of prose that would be completely forgotten if it was not for Google Book Search bringing these older works to light in their search engine. In the future I plan to share more of my Google Book Search findings with readers of Inkweaver Review.

I appreciate the services provided by Google Book Search, and I sincerely hope that I am able to see this amazing effort develop and expand in the future.

“Ignatius Macfarland: Frequenaut” by Paul Feig

“Ignatius Macfarland: Frequenaut” by Paul Feig is a science fiction story about a young boy who builds a rocket that accidentally blasts him into a alternate “frequency.”

Ignatius Macfarland has always been teased in school about his name. The other children call him things like “Iggy Piggy” and worse. This has led Ignatius to feel out of place. He is convinced that he must have been dropped off on Earth by aliens. Thinking that they will perhaps come back to pick him up, Ignatius spends his nights watching the sky with his telescope.

But one day, when the teasing gets to be just a little bit too much Ignatius decides to take matters in his own hands. The aliens are taking too long to come pick him up. Ignatius plans to build a spaceship that will take him out in space.

After recruiting a few of his friends and spending a few days at work Ignatius finally has his creation ready: a rickety space ship made out of garbage cans, with a couple pounds of fireworks underneath for propulsion.

When the time comes to test it out Ignatius lights the fuse. Unfortunately he is caught in the explosion. When the blast dies down Ignatius finds himself sitting among the wreckage of his spaceship. The only problem is the landscape around him has changed. The ground is still the same, and Ignatius can see the familiar hills in the distance, but the plants and animals around him are all different. Ignatius’ town and home are gone.

Before long Ignatius realizes that something has gone terribly wrong. Apparently the spaceship’s explosion launched him into some sort of parallel reality where cats act like dogs and trees have spines like cacti.

Then Ignatius discovers the truth about the parallel frequency that his spaceship has taken him to. A former English teacher from Ignatius’ town has already arrive here, and he is doing his best to make this world just like the one he came from, even if it means destroying the local culture.

Ignatius soon finds himself involved in a grand struggle to free the native people from the dictator’s oppressive rule.

“Ignatius Macfarland: Frequenaut” is Paul Feig’s debut kid’s novel. Overall the plot has great possibilities, but I was rather disturbed by the way Paul Feig presented the story. For one thing he uses way too much violence. Ignatius spends much of the story being chased by the dictator’s thugs, who wield battle axes and swords. No one is really hurt or killed, but I still feel that the story is much too violent.

In addition, Paul Feig’s characters use profanity and expletives. Not only are a few outright curses used by one character, but Ignatius himself regularly uses questionable expletives that don’t really conceal anything.

To summarize, I think that “Ignatius Macfarland: Frequenaut” could have been an excellent children’s book, but due to unfortunate decisions by its author the book is barely appropriate for children.

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The Espresso Book Machine - Better than the Kindle

If you are like me, one of the major reasons why you don't want a Kindle is that you still like the feel of holding a real book in your hands. Certainly it is convenient to be able to purchase a new book whenever you want, but it is still not the same when you are trying to read your favorite novel onscreen.

That's why I was happy to discover that On Demand Books has created the ultimate innovation in book technology. Their new Espresso Book Machine is set to revolutionize the book industry by allowing anyone to print physical books on demand.

According to On Demand Books, the Espresso Book Machine is like an ATM for books. It prints, binds, and trims new books on the spot. The result is a perfectly bound, library quality paperback book. The book covers are full color, and according to On Demand Books, the books produced by the Espresso Book Machine are "indistinguishable from other books sold in bookstores."

Now you may wonder how long it takes to print a new book. Well, unfortunately the Espresso Book Machine isn't quite as fast as the espresso machine at your local Starbucks. But at four minutes for a 300 page book, it still produces new books in much less time than a trip to the local bookstore would. Running the machine twelve hours a day, seven days a week, you can print up to 60000 books a year.

With over two million titles available for printing there is plenty to choose from when it comes to the Espresso Book Machine.

According to On Demand Books:

Ultimately, the EBM will make it possible to distribute virtually every book ever published, in any language, anywhere on earth, as easily, quickly, and cheaply as e-mail...

Content is expected to increase substantially as more EBM’s are adopted by bookstores, libraries and other venues across the globe.

There are other big advantages to the Espresso Book Machine. It is environmentally friendly, reducing CO2 emissions by reducing the need for shipping bound books from publishing houses. It also saves paper because it eliminates the need for publishing houses to print books in large batches that may have to be destroyed due to lack of demand. With the Espresso Book Machine, if there isn't a demand for the book, paper isn't wasted printing it. This could be a big boon for the environment, as an estimated 8.8 pounds of carbon are created as byproducts of each book printed.

Publishers and authors may be worried about whether the Espresso Book Machine will lead to mass producing of books that they will never be paid for. Fortunately, the Espresso Book Machine takes care of everything. It charges a base fee to cover royalties as well as an extra per page fee to cover printing costs. The royalties are automatically sent to authors, publishers, and other content providers.

You can even use the Espresso Book Machine to print your own personal writings. According to On Demand Books:

Book files can also be printed in person from CDs, flashdrives, etc.

All you need is a ebook in PDF format, and the Espresso Book Machine will print as many copies of it as you pay for. This could be desirable for self-published authors trying to whip up interest in their works.

The Espresso Book Machine can bring great benefits to small publishers, retailers, and libraries and universities. Small publishers will never have to worry about returned shipments of unsaleable books. The Espresso Book Machine will allow them to keep a smaller inventory and a smaller back list. Retailers will likewise enjoy the reduced need for shelf space. With just a few Espresso Book Machines a retailer can serve many more customers out of a much smaller facility. They will never have to worry about running out of stock. Meanwhile, the innovative on-site printing is bound to bring in customers who want to buy a book just so that they can watch the Espresso Book Machine produce it. Libraries and Universities will be able to produce facsimiles of rare and valuable books, while at the same time enjoying a new source of revenue.

Unfortunately, the Espresso Book Machine is not a device that most people can afford to own. At £68000 (more than $100000 USD), none but the very rich could afford to own one themselves. However, for book sellers, and small publishers the Espresso Book Machine may prove to be a revolutionary device.

If you don't live near one of the fifteen cities where the Espresso Book Machine is in operation, you will have to stick to more traditional methods of purchasing books. But look forward to the day when the Espresso Book Machine comes to a bookstore near you!

“The River Between Us,” by Richard Peck

“The River Between Us,” by Richard Peck is a historical novel set during the Civil War. It focuses on the relationship between a young teenage girl, her family, and two remarkable strangers who visit their small town.

Fifteen-year-old Tilly Pruitt fears the approaching Civil War because her brother is determined to sign up and join the army. The Pruitt family lives in a small town on the Mississippi River. Their town is between the North and South, so half the boys in town are preparing to join the Confederacy, while the other half are eager to join the Union Army. In fact, there is a good chance that the boys will end up fighting each other if war reaches their small town.

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Review of "The River Between Us" by Richard Peck

Book Wizard: Historical Fiction Books 1-4

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These books aim to make history come alive. They show real past events in a whole new way by putting readers in the point of view of a character experiencing history first hand. Many historical fiction books contain wonderful descriptions of life in the past or of the hidden workings that were behind historic moments.

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“Hattie Big Sky,” by Kirby Larson

When sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks receives a land claim from her uncle, she sets off to Montana to try to prove it by herself. Not only does she have to meet the country's requirements of farming and fencing the land, but she also has to deal with dangerous neighbors who hate her because of her friendship with a German couple living nearby. During the height of World War I all Germans are viewed with distrust.

“Fever 1793,” by Laurie Halse Anderson

It's 1793 and a Yellow Fever epidemic is causing fear and panic in the crowded city of Philadelphia. Some people blame the epidemic on immigrants, but fourteen-year-old Mathilda Cook doesn't worry about where the Yellow Fever came from.

Her mother plans to stay in the city, using the epidemic as a chance to revive the small family coffeehouse. Since it is one of the only businesses still open they can make lots of money, but it won't do any good if they don't survive!

“Letters from a Slave Boy – The Story of Joseph Jacobs,” by Mary E. Lyons

This tale is based on the real life story of a young slave boy named Joseph Jacobs, and his mother. Joseph Jacobs is determined to find freedom for both himself and his mother. What he doesn't realize is that his determination is the start of a journey that will take him thousands of miles and many years to finish.

“Weedflower,” by Cynthia Kadohata

When Pearl Harbor is bombed by the Japanese is the start of a chain of events that will dramatically alter the life of twelve-year-old Sumiko. When public opinion decrees that Japanese Americans are threats to national security Sumiko and her family are taken from their thriving flower business and imprisoned in a detainment camp in the arid Arizona desert. But then Sumiko meets Frank, a young Indian boy who is angry because the Japanese are now living on land that used to be part of his tribe's reservation.

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“Chicken Feathers,” by Joy Cowley

“Chicken Feathers,” by Joy Cowley is a humorous and touching story about a young boy and his talking pet chicken.

Joshua lives with his parent on a farm with three thousand chickens. Joshua has been around chickens so long that he knows just about everything that there is to know about a chicken. But then Joshua meets Semolina who is quite different from any other chicken he’s ever seen.

Joshua’s father Tucker gives Semolina to his son one day. “She’s a character this one… Too old to lay, fights with the other chickens,” Tucker says. But Joshua likes the scruffy old chicken with ragged feathers nonetheless.

Then Joshua learns the truth about Semolina. The old chicken can talk just a like a human. Joshua tries to tell his parents but they don’t believe him. Unfortunately Semolina has a tendency to get Joshua in big trouble. It all starts with Semolina’s taste for Grandma’s brew, a homemade alcoholic ale.

When Joshua is caught getting some of the brew for Semolina, he gets in trouble, and his parents don’t believe that he is actually getting it for his crazy pet chicken.Semolina feels bad about it so she tells Joshua an important secret: where all the missing eggs in the henhouse are going.

Little do Joshua and Semolina realize, but before long it will unleash a chain of events that will threaten Semolina’s life.

“Chicken Feathers” is a touching story with multiple levels that every reader can enjoy. The relationship between Joshua and Semolina is only one part of the story. Joy Cowley also does a good job showing Joshua’s relationship with Annalee, a girl that he climbed trees with last summer, but who has now suddenly grown up and started painting her fingernails. Yet another side theme in the story revolves around Joshua’s mother’s pregnancy. Joshua’s mom is in danger of losing her baby, so she has been confined to the hospital. Semolina tries to comfort Joshua with her gruff words:

She hopped onto his knee, her claws sharp through his jeans, and clacked her beak. “Aw, aw,” she crooned…. Her feathers quivered as a sigh went through her. “Eggs is easier,” she said. “They only take three weeks to hatch.”

These multiple focuses in the story combine to make “Chicken Feathers” an enjoyable book that I am sure all young readers will enjoy reading.

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“Manolito Four-Eyes,” by Elvira Lindo

“Manolito Four-Eyes,” by Elvira Lindo is an amusing story about a ten-year-old boy living in Spain. “Manolito Four-Eyes” is the first in a series that is highly popular in several European countries, including Spain. In this newly translated edition English readers can experience Manolito as well.

Manolito is a ten-year-old boy from Carabanchel, Spain. If you ask anyone in his neighborhood who Manolito is, though, they will say that they do not know. All of Manolito’s friends know him as Four-Eyes, a nickname inspired by his thick, Coke-bottle glasses. Manolito doesn’t mind his nickname since don’t tease him about his glasses anymore since he adopted his knew nickname.

Manolito enjoys a happy life with his parents and Grandfather, who he is really attached to. In Manolito’s words “My grandpa’s cool; he’s so cool, he’s a whole lotta cool.” Manolito is always having great times with his Grandfather, from venturing into town, taking part in a demonstration, and meeting a famous news anchor first hand, to redecorating the stairwell with three colors of magic markers.

Manolito loves his life and is ready to tell everyone all about it. His chatterbox mouth even ends up with him visiting the school psychologist. When he starts telling the psychologist his whole life story, starting with how he was named after the family truck, the psychologist kicks him out!

“Manolito Four-Eyes” is funny through and through. Elvira Lindo has created an amusing tale, with a charming young character. The plot is not very exciting, as there are no serious problems throughout the story, but this is a good thing, as it allows each humorous chapter to stand alone as a separate tale.

Manolito frequently uses expressions that are distinctly Castilian Spanish, and it is interesting to see them translated into English. I liked the way the feel of Spain and the language was carried over into the English language.

The lively illustrations of writer and illustrator Emilio Urberuaga add extra zest to the story. The young children are drawn extra small, as if they were the size of toddlers in comparison to the adults, but this just makes their personalities seem even larger. The drawings are full of action that perfectly complements the story of Manolito.

“Manolito Four-Eyes” is a excellent multicultural story that young readers are sure to enjoy in the United States just as much as they do in Spain.

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“Gulliver's Travels,” by Jonathan Swift

“Gulliver's Travels,” by Jonathan Swift is a classic satirical tale that has been republished again and again since 1726.

The story is told from the point of view of Captain Gulliver. When the book begins he is an young man trying unsuccessfully to support himself and his family. Gulliver's medical practice finally folds and he is forced to find another form of employment, so he decides to become a surgeon on board a ship to the South Sea.

Some months into the voyage a violent storm drives the ship onto a rock destroying it completely. Gulliver and a few of his shipmates escape on the boat but it is quickly overturned by the storm and Gulliver is forced to swim for his life. Gulliver is washed ashore on a small island, where he falls asleep from fatigue.

Upon awakening, though, Gulliver receives a nasty surprise, for he finds that he is tied down to the ground by numerous small ropes and threads. Soon Gulliver discovers that the island that he landed upon is peopled by a diminutive race of people less than six inches in height. Thought Gulliver tries his best to escape the people shoot numerous arrows at him and this convinces him to cease his resistance.

The little people, who call themselves Lilliputians, give Gulliver some drugged wine which causes him to go to sleep and when he awakes he finds that they have transported him inland on a large machine of their making and chained one of his legs securely.

After some weeks during which Gulliver learns the language of the Lilliputians and proves that he is trustworthy the little people grant him his freedom provided that he help them on numerous public projects that could benefit from his vast strength.

One project that Gulliver takes on is conquering the Blefuscudians, another race of small people who live on a nearby island and who are determined to conquer the Lilliputians. Gulliver sneaks up on the island and steals all of their warships by tying cables to them and then pulling them back to Lilliput. This deed earns him the title of Nardac, a great honor in Lilliput.

However, another of Gulliver's helpful deeds is not appreciated quite as much. When a fire breaks out at the national palace Gulliver rushes to the aid only to find that there is little water available to put out the fire. Ever resourceful Gulliver uses his urine to extinguish the fire. This expedient saves the rest of the palace but causes great resentment among certain Lilliputians. They begin to use this as part of a weighty argument against Gulliver. They say that feeding Gulliver will soon starve everyone on the island. By referring to his disgraceful service to the palace and a pretended alliance with the Lilliputian's enemies the Blefuscudians they say that Gulliver should be killed and his body disposed of.


Gulliver learns of the plot through a friend, so he escapes to Blefuscu to save his life. There he finds the overturned boat washed ashore. After restoring it and building a store of provisions he leaves the Lilliputians and after a brief voyage meets up with a ship that takes him back to England.

This first part of “Gulliver's Travels” is pure political satire. Jonathan Swift uses the Lilliputians, the Blefuscudians and their miniature disputes and wars to make fun of real governments and conflicts of his time. For example, in Lilliputian society there are two rival political groups, the High-Heels and the Low-Heels. As there names would indicate these two rival groups are differentiated by the size of their heels. These represent the Tories and the Whigs, two rival English political parties of the 18th century. Jonathan Swift then criticizes George II, then prince, by portraying him in the book as inclined to both parties such that he hobbles along on heels of different sizes. In addition, Swift also religious disputes. A key event in the story of Gulliver's first voyage is the way between the Lilliputians and the Blefuscudians. According to the Lilliputian king this war began over which side of the egg it is proper to crack open first, either the large end or the small end. The two groups of people, the Big-Endians, and the Little-Endians stand for the Protestants and the Roman Catholics.

After a broad criticism of governmental and religious conflict by portraying it in the light of tiny people beneath a giant man, Jonathan Swift switches to a entirely different point of view. On the second voyage, Gulliver once again goes to sea. On this voyage he and a group of crew members stop off at a unknown foreign shore to search for water. However, when his crew mates see what they think to be a giant monster, actually a huge man, they take off in the long boat and leave Gulliver stranded. Gulliver explores inland and soon discovers that the land is inhabited by giants as tall as “an ordinary spire-steeple.” Gulliver attempts to hide in a field of giant corn put the reapers find him.

Soon Gulliver finds himself in the ownership of a giant farmer who informs him that Gulliver has found his way to Brobdingnag, the land of giants. The man cares for Gulliver fairly well. However he soon finds that he can make large amounts of money showing him from town to town. Soon he has Gulliver working all day to make a show for crowds of curious people. When he determines that Gulliver's death from being overworked is nigh he sells Gulliver to the king and queen.

At the court Gulliver finds slightly better conditions, but must still endure the persecutions of a dwarf who hates him and continual danger from various huge animals, from frogs, and insects, to fierce rats, and even a monkey.

In the end Gulliver is carried out to sea in a box by a giant eagle who then drops the box into the sea. A passing sea captain picks up Gulliver and takes him home, but Gulliver's mind is affected by the experience:

“My wife ran out to embrace me, but I stooped lower than her knees, thinking she could otherwise never be able to reach my mouth. My daughter kneeled to ask my blessing but I count not see her till she arose, having been so long used to stand with my head and eyes rest to above sixty foot.”

Gulliver's second voyage is about the futility and the frustration of human life and fighting against powers larger than yourself. At the same time, though, Jonathan Swift explores other interesting lines of thought. For example, in one passage Gulliver is talking to the king of the giant Brobdingnags. Gulliver tells the king about English tools of war such as muskets, gunpowder, cannons, and shells. Then he offers to tell the King about how to make gunpowder and other tools of war. The giant King's response is very interesting:

“The King was struck with horror at the description I had given of those terrible engines, and the proposal I had made. He was amazed how so impotent and groveling an insect as I (those were his expressions) could entertain such inhuman ideas, and in so familiar a manner as to appear wholly unmoved at all the scenes of blood and destruction, which I had painted as the common effects of those destructive machines; whereof he said some evil genius, enemy to mankind, must have been the first contriver. As for himself, he protested that although few things delighted him so much as new discoveries in art of in nature; yet he would rather lose half of his kingdom than be privy to such a secret; which he commanded me as I valued my life never to mention any more.”

In “Gulliver's Travels” Jonathan Swift portrays Gulliver as critical of the king's stand. Gulliver feels that the King is narrow minded and shouldn't have passed such an opportunity. However, it is obvious from Swift's tone that Swift himself wishes that the kings of Europe would be similarly enlightened. What I wonder would Swift think of modern times, when airplanes, incendiary weapons and atomic weapons have made mere weapons of gunpowder seem harmless? What about the many people who when watching movies or playing video games are “wholly unmoved at all the scenes of blood and destruction”?

Gulliver's third voyage takes an obvious poke at science and higher learning. This time Gulliver's ship is pursued by pirates. Knowing that there is no hope to resist them, Gulliver orders his men to give up without a fight. The pirates imprison the men without killing them, but they have considerably less pity for Gulliver. Gulliver is put out to sea on a small lifeboat with a few supplies.

Soon Gulliver ends up on a remote island where he must live on birds eggs and what food he can find. But then one day he sees a strange sight. A huge island covered in buildings and terraces and floating in the air approaches Gulliver's island. Gulliver hails them and soon they take pity on him and haul him up onto their island.

In this way Gulliver meets the Laputians. According to Gulliver these people are great learners, constantly thinking about problems of astronomy and mathematics. In fact the higher Laputians are always in such deep thought that they have to employ special servants to alert them when there is something worth seeing or hearing or when a response is needed. This servant, called a flapper, has a special tool with which he lightly taps his servants ears, eyes, or mouth:

“This flapper is likewise employed diligently to attend his master in his walks, and upon occasion to give him a soft flap upon the eyes, because he is always so wrapped up in cogitation, that he is in manifest danger of falling down every precipice, and bouncing his head against every post, and in the streets of jostling others, or being jostled himself into the kennel.”

This humorous passage reminded me of stories of Albert Einstein who was said to take long walks and often appear distracted because he was so deep in thought that he wouldn't notice his surroundings.

A little later on during Gulliver's third voyage he gets the Laputians to drop him off on Lagado, where there is a great Academy of higher learning. Jonathan Swift portrays Gulliver as he explores the Academy and meets some its very eccentric and downright insane professors and philosophers. Speaking of one Gulliver says:

“His employment from his first coming into the Academy was an operation to reduce human excrement to its original food, by separating the several parts, removing the tinctures which it receives from the gall, making the odour exhale, and scumming off the saliva.”

Another of the Academy's thinkers had “contrived a new method for building houses, by beginning at the rood, and working downwards to the foundation, which he justified to me by the like practice of those two prudent insects, the bee and the spider.”

In addition to poking fun at learning and science, Gulliver's third voyage also has political connotations, with the Flying Island of Laputa representing England, and the Laputians dominion, Ireland. Even as the Flying Island demanded that the grounded cities below give tribute or the Flying Island would descend to crush them, likewise England demanded taxes and dues from Ireland.

Gulliver's fourth voyage is without a doubt the strangest of all. Once again Gulliver is captain of his own ship, but his men conspire against him, and after confining him within his cabin for a long period of time they then set him ashore in a distant land.

One of the first things that Gulliver sees in this new land is a very disagreeable sort of animal. Gulliver describes them as being highly grotesque, but at the same time they have all the characteristics of humans, except that they are brute animals, with long claws on their hands and feet.

Soon Gulliver discovers that horses are the sentient beings of this new land. They call themselves Huoyhnhnms, while they call their human-like slaves Yahoos. When these intelligent horses first discover Gulliver they think that he is some strange new breed of Yahoo, but soon Gulliver learns the language of the Huoyhnhnms and begins to understand their customs.

Throughout Gulliver's fourth voyage, Jonathan Swift focuses on drawing similarities between humans and the grotesque Yahoos that are the Huoyhnhnms' slaves. According to Swift the warlike nature, base cruelties, and disgusting lust of humans make them no better than the Yahoos that he depicts as wild animals. Gulliver uses none but the strongest words when he describes the Yahoos as “cunning, malicious, treacherous, and revengeful... insolent, abject, and cruel.”

When Gulliver finally returns from the land of the Huoyhnhnms he finds the presence of other humans very distasteful. He faints at the very idea of touching on, and stops up his nose with rue or tobacco to avoid their “odious” scent. Gulliver spends his last days in the stable with two common horses which he buys so that he can enjoy some decent company.

When Jonathan Swift wrote the fourth voyage of Gulliver he was slowly descending into madness, and would spend the last part of his own life in a manner similar to that of his main character Gulliver. Jonathan Swift's hate of humans and gradual dissatisfaction with life and with society are evident throughout “Gulliver's Travels.”

“Gulliver's Travels” is a very interesting satirical novel. Its biting wit and sarcastic examination of human nature are just as interesting as its highly imaginative plot and characters. As a piece of classic literature I would highly recommend that everyone read “Gulliver's Travels” at least once.

“The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan,” by Nancy Springer

“The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan,” by Nancy Springer is another fantastic mystery from the intriguing Enola Holmes series.

In this imaginative mystery series the detective is Enola Holmes, a younger sister of Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective. Enola Holmes ran away from home to live in London and make her living by running her own detective business. In addition to working for her clients under the guise of an older man, she also has to avoid Sherlock and his brother Mycroft, who are determined to catch her and return her to her home. They don’t want her living on her own in the dangerous, crime laden atmosphere of London.

In “The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan” the series returns to an older character that readers of the Enola Holmes series will recognize: Lady Cecily. In “The Case of the Left-Handed Lady” Enola Holmes helped Lady Cecily escape from a kidnapper. For the time being she seemed to be safe, but when Enola has a chance repeat meeting with Lady Cecily it is under unusual circumstances. Lady Cecily seems to be in the custody of two women who are controlling her every move.

Lady Cecily is able to tell Enola that she is in trouble and needs help, but before she is able to explain, the two women take her away. Lady Cecily manages to leave just one clue for Enola: a cheap pink fan.

To help Lady Cecily, Enola will have to unravel the mystery of the pink fan and what it means. Only then will she be able to figure out what danger Lady Cecily is in, and how to save her yet again. There is only one problem: she may have to call upon her brother Sherlock to help, and doing so could put her own freedom in danger!

Fans of the Enola Holmes mystery will not be disappointed by “The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan.” Enola Holmes is as brave and plucky as ever. Enola’s innovative disguises, fascinating searches for clues, and desperate escapes from Sherlock and Mycroft keep her story exciting from start to finish.

I highly recommend “The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan” to all mystery lovers.

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“Hattie Big Sky,” by Kirby Larson

“Hattie Big Sky,” by Kirby Larson is a Newberry Honor Award winning historical fiction novel about a sixteen-year-old girl who moves to Montana by herself to live on a land claim and prove it.

Hattie Brooks was orphaned at a young age, and as a result she has spent most of her life being shuttled from relative to relative. Her relatives view her as an annoyance, especially her aunt, who wants her to work as a maid.

When one of Hattie’s Uncles dies he leaves her his land claim, 320 acres of land in Montana.

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Review of "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

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