Both books this week strangely deal with the topic of loss/grief and recovery, however, they are VASTLY different. The first great book that I read this week is "Umbrella Summer" by Lisa Graff. The story follows Annie Richards as she grieves the loss of her brother Jared. All of the members of her family are suffering in someway, and this story shows how, with time and love of family and friends, all hurts can begin to heal. Don't fear that this story is terribly sad. There are some very funny moments and Annie is completely believable in her quest to remain safe. I highly recommend this one!
From the book description:
Annie Richards knows there are a million things to look out for—bicycle accidents, food poisoning, chicken pox, smallpox, typhoid fever, runaway zoo animals, and poison oak. That's why being careful is so important, even if it does mean giving up some of her favorite things, like bike races with her best friend, Rebecca, and hot dogs on the Fourth of July. Everyone keeps telling Annie not to worry so much, that she's just fine. But they thought her brother, Jared, was just fine too, and Jared died.
It takes a new neighbor, who looks as plain as a box of toothpicks but has some surprising secrets of her own, to make Annie realize that her plans for being careful aren't working out as well as she had hoped. And with a lot of help from those around her—and a book about a pig, too—Annie just may find a way to close her umbrella of sadness and step back into the sunshine.
Next up this week is "The Magician's Elephant" by Kate DiCamillo (author of "The Tale of Despereaux," "Because of Winn Dixie," "Tiger Rising," and one of favorite books of ALL time "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.") To be honest, I had to read this book twice before I decided whether I liked it or not. It is a strange story. Dicamillo is a master story teller, creating modern fairy tales. The book is beautifully written, and as strange as the story is, you find yourself totally sucked into the lives of the characters in this book, who have all suffered a loss of some kind (a sister, freedom, sense of self, the ability to walk, etc.) Some of the best chapters in the book are written from the perspective of the elephant! Read the book and discover for yourself the wonders of the magician's elephant.
From School Library Journal:
Starred Review. On a perfectly ordinary day, Peter Augustus Duchene goes to the market square of the city of Baltese. Instead of buying the fish and bread that his guardian, Vilna Lutz, has asked him to procure, he uses the coin to pay a fortune-teller to get information about his sister, whom he believes to be dead. He is told that she is alive, and that an elephant will lead him to her. That very night at a performance in the town's opera house, a magician conjures up an elephant (by mistake) that crashes through the roof and cripples the society dame she happens to land on. The lives of the boy, his guardian, and the local policeman, along with the magician and his unfortunate victim, as well as a beggar, his dog, a sculptor, and a nun all intertwine in a series of events triggered by the appearance of the elephant. Miraculous events resolve not only the mystery of the whereabouts of Peter's sister, but also the deeper needs of all of the individuals involved. DiCamillo's carefully crafted prose creates an evocative aura of timelessness for a story that is, in fact, timeless. Tanaka's acrylic artwork is meticulous in detail and aptly matches the tone of the narrative.
