The Yellow Wallpaper

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
I was not prepared for this book. Not prepared for the story, the symbolism, the sadness, or the size. The story, itself, is only 25 pages long. It was published in 1892, overlooked for some 50 years and then republished by The Feminine Press.

I don't want to give away anything about the story. I knew nothing of it when I started and feel that sometimes it's nice to approach a book or movie without any preconceived notions. Giman's writing is rich with symbolism. Her portrayal of the main character's situation is masterful. This is a book I will think about for years to come. It is not a happy story, but it is meaningful.

Sendak and Seuss

I chose a few children's books for my Banned Book Challenge: In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak and The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.

In the Night Kitchen has been banned by many schools due to the nudity of the main character who is a young toddler named Mickey. Some librarians have reportedly used black marker to draw shorts on him and others have used white-out to draw diapers.

Searching the internet, you can find out all sorts of symbolism attached to the images and activities. Some are pretty far out. I thought it was an okay book, nothing great. If you are looking for male nudity in a kids book, my suggestion for a delightful story is Tub Toys by Terry Shannon and Timothy Warner, illustrated by Lee Calderon. The grandkids love it and Papa, Grandma and all the aunts love reading it to them.

I was really on a speed-reading roll today, so I went ahead and read The Lorax, too. I was really pushing myself, I know! The Lorax was banned in the Laytonville, California School District on grounds that this book "criminalizes the forestry industry." This cautionary tale chronicles the plight of the environment against the greedy Once-ler who cuts down all the Truffula trees to knit Thneeds from their soft tufts. Originally published in 1971 it's the only Dr. Seuss banned from school curricula across the US. Of course, as the country became more environmentally-friendly The Lorax has been incorporated into many lesson plans.

A Hat Full of Sky

by Terry Pratchett
I absolutely love this series about a young (11-yr-old) witch-in-training and her wee little friends the Nac Mac Feegles. This sequel to Wee Free Men takes place 3 years later when Tiffany Aching leaves the Chalk where she's spent her whole life to go live and train with Miss Level as an apprentice.

Miss Level is a single person with 2 bodies and she has a terrible time keeping apprentices. Tiffany is a bit annoyed that Miss Level doesn't dive right into teaching magic lessons, but over time, Tiffany learns the most important lesson about witches - duty. Tiffany realizes that her duty is to protect others, even at the cost of her own life.

Pratchett's skill with developing his characters is such that even if the story weren't gripping (which is it), the reader would still want to learn more about the characters' growth and their interactions with each other. The characters are quirky and lovable.

This series is aimed at juvenile readers but can be read and enjoyed by adults, who might sense some more of the humor in the situations and characters than younger readers will. I think my teenage daughter would love these books - hope I can figure a way to get her reading them.

Pratchett says important things but you never feel like it's preaching because he says it in such humorous ways.

One of my favorite parts of the novel was towards the end of Ch 1 when Jeannie was teaching her husband, Rob Anybody how to write. "The Nac Mac Feegles of the Chalk hated writing for all kinds of reasons, but the biggest on was this: writing stays. It fastens words down. Ya might as well nail a man's shadow to the wall." The clan watched in fascinated horror as two of Rob's brothers pushed him (sweat dripping off his forehead) towards the paper pinned up on the chamber wall. This little scene goes on for pages as Rob learns to write his own name, starting first with the fat man walking - the letter R.

This is my first book for Carl's Fantasy Challenge.

Flowers for Algernon

by Daniel Keyes
This is my 1960's Decade Challenge book. I've wanted to read it ever since 1968 when I saw the movie Charly that was based on this book. The movie starred Cliff Robertson in the starring role as Charly Gordon, a mentally retarded man in his 30's. I thought Robertson did an awesome job. Now that I've read the book, my next movie from Netflix is Charly. It will be interesting to see how the movie and book compare. My gosh, the movie was nearly 40 years ago (and I'm only 28. How does that happen?!)

Charly has an IQ of 70, but he is anxious to learn and works very hard in his classes for the mentally retarded. He has a job at a bakery running errands and cleaning. It's a job he loves and there are people there who are his friends. All this is about to change when Charly is selected for an experimental operation that may raise his intelligence. The same procedure has been very successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

The book is written as a series of Project Reports by Charly himself, starting before the operation and continuing for 7-8 months afterwards. The first entries capture Charly's innocence and fear and his desire to be smart. The entries are fraught with misspelled words and reveal Charly's low intellect. As the operation proves to be a success we follow Charly's rapid rise in intelligence. He peaks with an IQ of 185, above that of the scientists behind the experiment.

Charly's emotional growth does not keep pace with his intellectual development. Memories from his childhood were now accessible to him in vivid detail and he has to try to deal with them. There are other things he's not emotionally ready to handle, such as relationships, especially those with women.

I'm glad I read Flowers for Algernon and highly recommend it. If you're looking for a mild science fiction that's interesting and quick to read, with emotional charge, this is a perfect choice.

In addition tocounting for the By the Decades Challenge, Flowers for Algernon also counts for the Banned Books and the TBR challenge.

An Intervention Program is Needed

I know you are all sure that I'm totally addicted. I'm started to get a bit worried, as well. I think Piksea is working on an intervention program for me to cure me from my challenge addiction. (see comments on last post)

The point is - I've joined another challenge. And yes, it's going to be great fun. The latest is the Once Upon A Time Fantasy challenge sponsored by Carl V. I'm calling it a fantasy challenge, but it really encompasses 4 genres: fantasy, mythology, folklore and/or fairy tale. Carl has designed four 'quests' we can choose from to complete this challenge. I am going with quest 1.

"Quest One: Read at least 5 books from any of the 4 genres." I have chosen the following books for this challenge. My list of possibilities was so long and each title so tantalizing that I had a difficult time whittling it down to five.

1. Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (I first heard of this book from Carl. I was reading Through the Looking Glass for the Classics Challenge and thought it would be fun to read this one afterwards. I bought it and it's been sitting on the shelf for a couple of months. It begged to be read for this challenge.)



2. Dreams Underfoot by Charles deLint (I've read a couple of books by deLint. He is an amazing storyteller who uses vivid imagery. It's hard to pick favorites, but he may be my favorite fantasy writer.)



3. Something Rotten by Jasper Fford (I've read the first three in this series and enjoyed them immensely, so I'm really looking forward to this one.)



4. A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett (The sequel to The Wee Free Men which I read a couple of weeks ago. Absolutely delightful.)



5. Princess Bride by William Goldman (I'm reading this book for the By the Decade Challenge (1970) and the Spring Thing Challenge. Uhhhh, triple duty! I'll get to scratch it off 3 lists - what fun!)


*Bonus Reads*
6. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (I went to the library to check out Moving Pictures, which was the book I originally planned for this slot. Wyrd Sisters grabbed my attention first, however. As I read the back cover and found out that it featured Granny Weatherwax, who also plays a large role in A Hat Full of Sky, there was no decision to make. I did leave Moving Pictures on my By the Decade Challenge.



7. Of Mice and Magic by David Farland (suggested by Framed and Alsyon from Fifty Books)



8. A Book Without Words by Avi (I saw this on Jenclair's list and since I love Avi's books I decided to add it to my list.)



Post Script - added on Mar 28 I was looking over some of the lists from others joining the Fantasy Challenge and discovered on Chris Howard's list a book by Orson Scott Card that I had not heard of - Hart's Hope. I'm adding it to the bonus reads and will keep my fingers crossed that I have time to fit it in.