Alice Cary

NonfictionTravel

Step out into the world

Review by Alice Cary

You may not have heard of Geoff Dyer, but this novelist, critic and essayist has been called "one of our most original writers," and indeed his writing is unique, with titles ranging from Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It and Another Great Day at Sea: Life Aboard the USS George H.W. Bush. Born in Great Britain and currently living and teaching in Los Angeles, Dyer takes readers on a tour of both the world and his intriguing mind in White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World.

In nine essays interspersed with short vignettes, Dyer recounts journeys like his trip to Gauguin's Tahiti, where he "soon came to see that the real art of the Marquesas, and of Polynesia, generally, was tattooing." During a tour of Beijing's Forbidden City, he develops a crush on a young woman named Li, whom he assumes is a guide. She isn't―but she does her best to act as one. Similarly, Dyer's observations are by no means full of the usual travel guide stuff; instead, they tend to be full of unexpected details, diversions, and detours.

Dyer sums up his mission like this: "trying to work out what a certain place―a certain way of marking the landscape―means; what it's trying to tell us; what we go to it for."

"Northern Dark" tells of Dyer's trip to see the Norway's Northern Lights with his wife Jessica, which doesn't go well, and includes the line, "Why have we come to this hellhole?" "White Sands" begins with a brief discussion of his visit to the New Mexico monument, but morphs into a riveting account of picking up a hitchhiker and then passing a sign that says, "NOTICE/DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS/DETENTION FACILITIES IN AREA."

The book's last essay is a bit of a departure, but a fitting conclusion to a book that's so much about inner reactions to the outside world. Dyer describes his experience of having a mild stroke and its aftermath, prompting him to conclude: "Life is so interesting I'd like to stick around forever, just to see what happens, how it all turns out."

You may not have heard of Geoff Dyer, but this novelist, critic and essayist has been called "one of our most original writers," and indeed his writing is unique, with titles ranging from Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It and Another Great Day at Sea: Life Aboard the USS George H.W. Bush. Born in Great Britain and currently living and teaching in Los Angeles, Dyer takes readers on a tour of both the world and his intriguing mind in White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World.
Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Unexpected team solve nighttime mysteries

Review by Alice Cary

Action and adventure are the name of the game in The Nocturnals: The Mysterious Abductions, the first book of a new series featuring a squad of anthropomorphized nocturnal animals: Dawn the calm, resilient fox; Tobin the good-natured pangolin; and Bismarck, the French-speaking, know-it-all sugar glider.

This unusual trio decides to band together as the Nocturnal Brigade after suddenly being forced to scare off a menacing black snake. Soon they are joined by other animals―bats, a jerboa, coyotes, kiwis, a wombat and more―to investigate an even bigger problem: the mysterious disappearance of a variety of animals.

Adding to the exploits are the animals’ many personalities, as they navigate both their allegiances and natural suspicions of one another. “It is most confusing!” the ever-loquacious Bismarck proclaims. “Muy befuddling! Absolument absurd!”

Eventually, the group finds itself drawn deeper into the dizzying dangers lurking in a vast underground cave, where a crowd of crocodiles holds the missing animals hostage. The big finish involves a high-stakes (and creative) hockey-like game that pits the Nocturnals against the Crocs, led by a menacing reptile named Boris. The Nocturnals are literally playing for their lives, and by the end of the game, the seemingly evil Boris proclaims, “What a thrilling turn of events! My heart can’t handle it! My cold blood is boiling!”

Tracey Hecht’s first novel is an appealing page-turner for middle-school readers, combining a likable cadre of unusual animal characters with fast-paced, clever dialogue and, of course, plenty of suspense.

Action and adventure are the name of the game in The Nocturnals: The Mysterious Abductions, the first book of a new series featuring a squad of anthropomorphized nocturnal animals: Dawn the calm, resilient fox; Tobin the good-natured pangolin; and Bismarck, the French-speaking, know-it-all sugar glider.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Secret lives of creepy-crawlies

Review by Alice Cary

A lively treat awaits young readers in Stories from Bug Garden, where life is busy buzzing amid an old, forgotten place “with a tumbledown wall and a one-wheeled barrow.” This hidden world is revealed in a series of ultra-short stories (each just a page or two long) about its crawling, flying and hopping residents.

In spite of such brevity, Lisa Moser's prose packs a mighty punch into each tiny tale, introducing characters like Ladybug, who hates the thought of being a lady and instead likes to run barefoot, make mud angels and whistle through a blade of grass. Horsefly, in contrast, yearns to be true to his name as he imagines his mane rippling and hooves flashing through the garden greenery.

A multitude of small but sweet moments occur among these anthropomorphized creatures, such as the satisfaction shared when Big Ant and Cricket bicker about the best way to pick a peach. There’s ingenious Snail, who transforms trash left behind by “picnic people” into a boat, taking Ladybug and Butterfly out for a sail. And Big Ant brings Little Ant to the annual big show, that spectacular moment when the flowers burst into bloom overhead like a colorful sea of fireworks.

Gwen Millward’s watercolor-and-ink illustrations pop with just the right color combinations, highlighted with a multitude of energetic squiggles and flowery swirls. Earthworm’s brown underground lair provides a vibrant backdrop for a colorful “rainbow of roots,” while Lightning Bug flies through a night sky etched in a shade of rich cerulean blue. Millward’s insects exude smiles and big-eyed expressions that bring these stories to life.

Very young readers will enjoy exploring this out-of-sight world over and over again.

A lively treat awaits young readers in Stories from Bug Garden, where life is busy buzzing amid an old, forgotten place “with a tumbledown wall and a one-wheeled barrow.” This hidden world is revealed in a series of ultra-short stories (each just a page or two long) about its crawling, flying and hopping residents.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Saying goodbye is always hard

Review by Alice Cary

Before I Leave is a celebration of friendship, as well as a lively, understated picture-book primer on saying goodbye. A roly-poly hedgehog named Zelda has big news for her best friend, an anteater named Aaron. “I found out we’re moving,” she says.

One of the things that makes this book special is the unlikely duo created by author and illustrator Jessixa Bagley, whose first book was Boats for Papa. Zelda is adorably energetic, decked out in a blue hair ribbon and big red glasses, while Aaron is enormous in comparison, with a bit of a sad-sack look lent by his large, curving snout.

The text is effectively spare, with just a few words on each spread that move the story forward while giving emotional weight to Bagley’s charming pen-and-watercolor illustrations. When Zelda tells Aaron that he can’t come with her to their new home, we see Aaron trying to curl his huge body into her suitcase.

Zelda informs her parents that she’s not moving, and the friends leave her cozy home, where boxes are busily being packed, to go outside and play “One last time, like nothing is changing.” Their joyful fun―playing tetherball, swinging, boating and playing in forts―provides a nice counterpoint to their sadness over their impending separation.

Before long, the inevitable happens: Zelda rides away with her parents on top of a load full of packed boxes, waving a melancholy goodbye. Before I Leave doesn’t sugarcoat the pain of moving, but assures young readers friendships continue. The last spread shows Zelda writing to Aaron in her new room, where a clothesline full of his letters adorns her wall. 

Before I Leave is a celebration of friendship, as well as a lively, understated picture-book primer on saying goodbye. A roly-poly hedgehog named Zelda has big news for her best friend, an anteater named Aaron. “I found out we’re moving,” she says.

Nonfiction

A firsthand look at life as a female scientist

Review by Alice Cary

“I will never stop being ravenously hungry for science, no matter how well it feeds me,” writes Hope Jahren, a paleobiologist, winner of three Fulbright Awards, a professor at the University of Hawaii and now author of a marvelous memoir, Lab Girl. What’s it like being a female research scientist? You’ll have no better tour guide than Jahren, who is witty, thoughtful, informative and who writes exceedingly well.

Jahren, whose work focuses on plant life, grew up playing beneath the chemical benches in her father’s community college lab in Minnesota, knowing that someday she would have her own lab. Today she does (her third), calling it her refuge, her asylum and “a place to go on sacred days, as is a church.”

Her lab partner, Bill, is her loyal sidekick, whom she adores like a fraternal twin. Their adventures, chronicled here in high style, include overturning a van during a snowstorm, hanging off the sides of cliffs in Northern Alaska and tromping through Irish highlands in search of moss.

Jahren also writes about the difficulty of being a female scientist, sometimes forced to work with “pasty middle-aged men who regarded me as they would a mangy stray that had slipped in through an open basement window.” She relates the ongoing task of securing funding—in their early days as a team, Bill lived in his car when he couldn’t afford his own place. 

Jahren shares her struggles with bipolar disorder (although this isn’t the focus of the book), and the joy of finally meeting the man she would marry and becoming a mother. Along the way, she includes elegant short chapters about the natural world, artfully explaining the way in which various species’ struggle for survival mirrors her own.

Lab Girl presents an edifying and entertaining look into the world of a serious research scientist.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

“I will never stop being ravenously hungry for science, no matter how well it feeds me,” writes Hope Jahren, a paleobiologist, winner of three Fulbright Awards, a professor at the University of Hawaii and now author of a marvelous memoir, Lab Girl. What’s it like being a female research scientist? You’ll have no better tour guide than Jahren, who is witty, thoughtful, informative and who writes exceedingly well.
NonfictionMemoir

Searching for answers about her assailant

Review by Alice Cary

On July 9, 1984, reporter Joanna Connors was on assignment for the Cleveland Plain Dealer when she was raped on the stage of an empty theater at Case Western Reserve University. Her assailant, 27-year-old David Francis, was arrested and sent to prison. In I Will Find You, she offers an insightful account of this life-changing event and its harrowing aftermath.

Connors describes the brutal crime, police investigation and trial with emotional honesty that’s complemented by her reporting skills. Francis’ arrest wasn’t difficult given the fact that he had his name tattooed on his arm, and that he inexplicably returned to the scene of the crime the next day.

Connors remained haunted not only by the event but by Francis’ chilling threat to find her if she reported it. She raised a son and daughter, not telling them about the crime until her daughter was about to go to college. 

At that point, she decided, “Maybe I should find him instead.” A records search revealed that her assailant had died in prison in 2000. “My search for him was over before it started,” she writes. 

And yet it wasn’t. Connors diligently tracked down Francis’ friends and family, discovering that his family life was filled with poverty, abuse from his father, alcoholism, addiction and crime. Her investigation leads her to conclude that her rapist and his family were victims in their own right. 

She writes: “As a reporter, I have asked so many other people to open themselves up and let me tell their stories, all the while withholding my own. I owed this to them. I owed it to other women who have been raped. I owed it to my children.”

Connors’ riveting, soul-searching book deserves a wide audience; it presents an unusual first-person perspective on critical issues of race, class and crime in America.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

On July 9, 1984, reporter Joanna Connors was on assignment for the Cleveland Plain Dealer when she was raped on the stage of an empty theater at Case Western Reserve University. Her assailant, 27-year-old David Williams, was arrested and sent to prison. In I Will Find You, she offers an insightful account of this life-changing event and its harrowing aftermath.
NonfictionMemoir

A writer’s Appalachian Roots

Review by Alice Cary

BookPage Nonfiction Top Pick, April 2016

Reading Dimestore: A Writer’s Life is like sitting a spell on the front porch swing with novelist Lee Smith, hearing all about the kinfolk who nurtured her in the mountain “holler” town of Grundy, Virginia. In this collection of 14 essays, Smith’s voice sings out like the mountain music she was raised on, skillfully weaving together nostalgic melodies with modern insight.

Smith describes growing up in the warm embrace of her family, watching life unfold as she gazed through a one-way mirror in the office of her father’s variety store. “Thus I learned the position of the omniscient narrator, who sees and records everything, yet is never visible,” she writes. “It was the perfect early education for a fiction writer.”

Despite a seemingly idyllic childhood, everything wasn’t completely rosy. Her beloved father was what he described as “kindly nervous,” a euphemism for bipolar disorder, and her cherished mother was hospitalized several times for depression and anxiety.

However, Smith makes clear: “This is my story, then, but it is not a sob story.” Dimestore also contains a wealth of humor and joyful memories, such as an account of a 1966 rafting trip Smith took down the Mississippi River with 15 of her college classmates from Hollins, the inspiration for her novel The Last Girls. She writes beautifully of her epiphany upon meeting Eudora Welty and realizing that this master storyteller wrote “[p]lain stories about country people and small towns, my own ‘living world.’ ”

Sadly, the hometown of Grundy so near to Smith’s heart was relocated in recent years to control flooding. Smith concludes: “The dimestore is gone. Walmart looms over the river. I’m 70, an age that has brought no wisdom. When I was young, I always thought the geezers knew some things I didn’t; the sad little secret is, we don’t. I don’t understand anything anymore, though I’m still in there, still trying like crazy.”

Smith greatly underestimates her own wisdom—Dimestore is chock-full of it.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with Lee Smith about Dimestore.

This article was originally published in the April 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Reading Dimestore: A Writer’s Life is like sitting a spell on the front porch swing with novelist Lee Smith, hearing all about the kinfolk who nurtured her in the mountain “holler” town of Grundy, Virginia. In this collection of 14 essays, Smith’s voice sings out like the mountain music she was raised on, skillfully weaving together nostalgic melodies with modern insight.
Children's & YAPicture Book

A daring, record-breaking feat

Review by Alice Cary

Aviation pioneer Ruth Law was famous for her daredevil aviation tricks (“The loop . . . the spiral dive . . . the dip of death!”), but by 1916 she had grown tired of ”flying in circles” and decided to fly from Chicago to New York City. No one had flown that far nonstop before, and Law had never flown farther than 25 miles. But, as Heather Lang explains in her account of Law’s record-breaking flight, “When Ruth Law made up her mind, there was no use trying to stop her.”

Fearless Flyer is a fine example of a creative, informative and entertaining historical picture book for young readers. It seamlessly blends the excitement and perils of this journey with quotes from Law: “When your engine suddenly stops while you’re 2,000 feet in the air, it’s some comfort to know that if anything can be done, you can do it.”

Every page combines historical details with a series of heart-stopping moments: zero pressure on the oil gauge; no gas left in the tanks; tree branches “clawing” at Law’s plane; and fog. Compelling, soaring illustrations by Raúl Colón add to this drama and draw readers into Law’s open-air cockpit as she flies over fields and farms. Lang writes: “One wrong move would send her tumbling from the sky.” It’s amazing to learn that Law steered her aircraft with two wooden levers while consulting a homemade map box, crafted by cutting and pasting map strips together, all attached to a roller mechanism strapped to her leg. Also included is a short account of Law’s life, along with photographs and a list of additional resources.

Fearless Flyer provides young readers with a thrilling introduction to an intrepid aviator and her remarkable journey.

Aviation pioneer Ruth Law was famous for her daredevil aviation tricks (“The loop . . . the spiral dive . . . the dip of death!”), but by 1916 she had grown tired of ”flying in circles” and decided to fly from Chicago to New York City. No one had flown that far nonstop before, and Law had never flown farther than 25 miles. But, as Heather Lang explains in her account of Law’s record-breaking flight, “When Ruth Law made up her mind, there was no use trying to stop her.”

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

The impact of incarceration

Review by Alice Cary

Eleven-year-old Perry Cook starts his first day of middle school with a healthy dose of trepidation, and indeed, several things go wildly wrong. But Perry’s life becomes far more difficult when he’s forced to leave the only home he’s ever known: the Blue River Co-ed Correctional Facility in Surprise, Nebraska, where his mom is serving time. Perry has been living in a room next to the office of his foster parent, the warden.

Unfortunately, the new district attorney, Thomas VanLeer, gets wind of Perry’s unusual living arrangement and puts a quick end to it, bringing Perry home to temporarily live with his wife and stepdaughter. VanLeer also gets rid of the warden and postpones Perry’s mom’s parole hearing. The only saving grace is that VanLeer’s stepdaughter happens to be Perry’s very best friend, Zoey.

While the plot of All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook may sound improbable, author Leslie Connor pulls these elements together beautifully and believably. She’s a gifted storyteller who creates a memorable bunch of multi-dimensional characters. Think of this as a G-rated “Orange Is the New Black.” There’s nothing even remotely inappropriate or hard-edged here, as Connor transforms Blue River and its inmates into a kingdom filled with wise, warm and wonderful souls—an ensemble cast at its best.

As Perry fights to spend time with his mother and to learn the important secret she’s been hiding about why she went to prison, readers gain insight into the many ways in which a prison sentence affects families in this soulful novel.

 

This article was originally published in the March 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Eleven-year-old Perry Cook starts his first day of middle school with a healthy dose of trepidation, and indeed, several things go wildly wrong. But Perry’s life becomes far more difficult when he’s forced to leave the only home he’s ever known: the Blue River Co-ed Correctional Facility in Surprise, Nebraska, where his mom is serving time. Perry has been living in a room next to the office of his foster parent, the warden.
Children's & YAPicture Book

Catching waves

Review by Alice Cary

It may be hard to imagine a high-energy book that features two brothers arguing about whether to read or surf, but Surf’s Up delivers in a cowabunga way. The brothers are two frogs named Bro and Dude, and illustrator Daniel Miyares brings them wonderfully to life with vivid colors, froggy-eyed expressions and plenty of heart-stopping wave action.

Newbery Medal winner Kwame Alexander’s text is short and ultra snappy. Dude wants to surf, but his brother prefers to finish his book “about a man looking for a whale.” Dude declares that books are “BOOOORING!” but he’s easily lured in as Bro describes his book with such excitement (“BOOYAH! They found the whale again.”).

With both frogs immersed in the Moby-Dick saga, a bit of literary magic occurs, as readers and frogs alike get caught up in two concurrent dramas: Bro and Dude heading to the beach to surf, and Bro and Dude imagining themselves trying to catch the great white whale.

This bit of metafiction works seamlessly, framed with lively dialogue that will ensure Surf’s Up’s popularity as a read-aloud.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

It may be hard to imagine a high-energy book that features two brothers arguing about whether to read or surf, but Surf’s Up delivers in a cowabunga way. The brothers are two frogs named Bro and Dude, and illustrator Daniel Miyares brings them wonderfully to life with vivid colors, froggy-eyed expressions and plenty of heart-stopping wave action.
NonfictionTrue Crime

A monstrous crime unveils mental health care failings

Review by Alice Cary

On a hot summer night in 2009 in Seattle, a 23-year-old man crept through the bathroom window of the home of 39-year-old Teresa Butz and her partner, 36-year-old Jennifer Hopper. The pair awoke to find the stranger standing over their beds with a knife; he proceeded to rape and stab the women repeatedly. 

They eventually broke free, running into the street, screaming and bleeding, while their attacker fled. It was too late for Teresa Butz, who died from her horrific wounds. Hopper survived, suddenly finding herself planning a funeral instead of the wedding ceremony she and Butz had been looking forward to.

Eli Sanders, an editor of Seattle’s weekly newspaper, The Stranger, received a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting of the crime and its aftermath. His expanded book-length coverage, While the City Slept, is an absorbing and meticulous account of how these three lives tragically intersected on July 19, 2009. 

Sanders’ reporting makes for sad but riveting reading. The killer, Isaiah Kalebu, is the son of a Ugandan immigrant who routinely beat Kalebu’s mother. Mental illness ran in his mother’s family, and Kalebu was known to wander the streets spouting grandiose nonsense with his pit bull in tow. He had been diagnosed as bipolar in 2008 but refused treatment and medication.

Sanders describes Hopper’s admirable courage and compassion as she addresses Kalebu at his sentencing: “I do wish you peace, and I do not hate you, and I’m so sorry for whatever it is in your life that brought you to this.” 

As the narrative unfolds, Sanders also deftly explores the tangled roles played by the social services, mental health and prison systems, calculating that the public will end up paying over $3 million for Kalebu’s trial and continued incarceration. While the City Slept offers a comprehensive look at a tragedy that is sadly all too common.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

On a hot summer night in 2009 in Seattle, a 23-year-old man crept through the bathroom window of the home of 39-year-old Teresa Butz and her partner, 36-year-old Jennifer Hopper. The pair awoke to find the stranger standing over their beds with a knife; he proceeded to rape and stab the women repeatedly.
Children's & YAMiddle Grade

The new sleuth in school

Review by Alice Cary

Imagine if Sherlock Holmes were an 11-year-old girl at a ritzy boarding school. That’s the premise of Friday Barnes: Girl Detective, the first in a series by Australian writer R.A. Spratt. This children’s comedy TV writer and author of the award-winning Nanny Piggins series has crafted a likable, intriguing heroine and a lighthearted, breezy mystery.

Friday is the unexpected fifth child of busy, brilliant parents, who name her after the day on which she was born. (Turns out she was actually born on a Thursday, a fact about which they were too distracted to notice.) Friday has been largely left to her own devices, but after helping her beloved Uncle Bernie solve a crime, she uses the reward money to enroll in the ultra-exclusive Highcrest Academy.

Mystery after mystery presents itself, and even though Friday prefers to fly under the radar, she can’t help but take on each challenge. A special clock has been stolen from the Headmaster's desk, homework assignments turn up missing, and fake history presentations are just waiting to be revealed. Barnes uses her innate Sherlockian abilities to solve these conundrums, and also gets help from her Watson―roommate Melanie Pelly, a brilliantly observant girl. There’s an even bigger mystery afoot involving a Yeti said to be haunting the nearby swamp, and before long the Headmaster comes to Friday for help.

Spratt’s characters are entertaining, although she relies too heavily on boarding-school stereotypes of both students and teachers. For instance, the geography teacher informs Friday, “My dear girls, this is a private school. You’ve entered Lord of the Flies now.” Spratt’s writing is nonetheless snappy and smart, and her clever plotting moves the action right along. Everything ends with a giant cliffhanger, which will definitely leave readers ready for more.

Imagine if Sherlock Holmes were an 11-year-old girl at a ritzy boarding school. That’s the premise of Friday Barnes: Girl Detective, the first in a series by Australian writer R.A. Spratt. This children’s comedy TV writer and author of the award-winning Nanny Piggins series has crafted a likable, intriguing heroine and a lighthearted, breezy mystery.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Protecting a car prototype during World War II

Review by Alice Cary

The Tin Snail begins in Paris in 1937, when 12-year-old Angelo Fabrizzi sits in a cafe with his father, a pioneering car designer. Inspired by the shape of a lopsided pastry, Angelo gives his father an idea for a new aerodynamic car design. A year later, at the Paris Motor Show, several Nazis clear the way for Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, while Angelo gets behind the wheel of his father’s creation and makes an impactful, unexpected debut.

Angelo and his father end up living in the French countryside, continuing to work on a prototype of their car (nicknamed the Tin Snail), which is meant for everyday people, not just the rich. However, as the Nazis threaten to invade, desperate measures must be taken to hide the innovation. The excitement ramps up once the Germans arrive, along with a German car designer sent to spy. “Hitler himself wanted to see our car?” Angelo wonders in astonishment.

British television writer Cameron McCallister was inspired to write this book after reading a newspaper account about several car prototypes that were discovered, having been hidden in a French barn for 50 years. While McAllister uses World War II as his backdrop, he keeps the tone fairly light, concentrating on thrills and adventure during a dangerous era. Middle-grade car enthusiasts will keep turning the pages of this rollicking, imaginative novel.

 

RELATED CONTENT: Read a Q&A with McAllister about The Tin Snail.

The Tin Snail begins in Paris in 1937, when 12-year-old Angelo Fabrizzi sits in a cafe with his father, a pioneering car designer. Inspired by the shape of a lopsided pastry, Angelo gives his father an idea for a new aerodynamic car design. A year later, at the Paris Motor Show, several Nazis clear the way for Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, while Angelo gets behind the wheel of his father’s creation and makes an impactful, unexpected debut.

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