bookpagedev

by Alice Ray

Thomas Harris reveals the origins of his most famous creation Can anyone think of chianti (or fava beans) without also remembering literature’s most urbane serial killer? Hannibal Lecter, the murderous cannibal with a brilliant mind and a flawless sense of style and etiquette, has intrigued readers since 1981, when Thomas Harris introduced the character in Red Dragon. Harris has written two other books about Lecter, both of which were made into films (most memorably, Silence of the Lambs, which won an Oscar for Best Picture in 1991). In all of these works, tantalizing clues about Hannibal Lecter are revealed: He is European, well-educated and a former doctor. But little is said about his formative years, and his famously publicity-shy creator (who declines all interviews) hasn’t seen fit to enlighten curious fans.

Until now. In Hannibal Rising, Harris satisfies readers’ need to know just what makes a man of culture and intelligence into a monster. The firstborn son of a wealthy Eastern European count, Hannibal Lecter was born and raised in 500-year-old Lecter Castle. His childhood is made up of lessons with his tutor and playing with his little sister, Mischa, on the castle grounds, until Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa sweeps through, and SS troops demolish the countryside as part of their ill-fated campaign against Russia.

Hannibal and his family go into hiding on their country estate, but they are unable to completely escape the war, and Count Lecter and his wife are killed in the crossfire when the Germans and Russians clash nearby. After the attack, looters take the children captive. Hannibal is the only one who survives, and he is found stumbling through the frozen countryside, unable to speak. After a short stay in an orphanage, the 13-year-old is reunited with his uncle in Paris. Hannibal begins to speak again, and he forms an especially close bond with his uncle’s beautiful Japanese wife, Lady Murasaki, who understands the pain that comes when your homeland and family are destroyed. His intelligence is recognized, and he becomes the youngest medical school graduate in France. But he never talks about what happened to Mischa except when he awakens from grisly nightmares, screaming her name. Eventually, he remembers the horrific circumstances of her death, and his darker urges drive him to take revenge on the men who made him into a monster.

Harris keeps the suspense (and blood) flowing at a steady pace in Hannibal Rising, which has more than its share of gory images. He has a knack for portraying the animal nature that lies beneath humankind’s veneer of civilization, as in this description of the looters: Through the bars of the banister he saw Grutas licking a bloody birdskin, throwing it to the others, and they fell on it like dogs. Grutas’ face was smeared with blood and feathers. Though the reader may cringe when Hannibal eventually exacts his violent revenge, they can’t feel that these brutes don’t deserve it.

As he did with his 1999 novel Hannibal, Harris worked on the screenplay for Hannibal Rising even as he completed the novel. This month, fans will be able to see young Hannibal on the big screen, portrayed by French actor Gaspard Ulliel (A Very Long Engagement). Li Gong (Memoirs of a Geisha) plays Lady Murasaki. Directed by Peter Webber, the film is scheduled for release nationwide on February 9.

Thomas Harris reveals the origins of his most famous creation Can anyone think of chianti (or fava beans) without also remembering literature's most urbane serial killer? Hannibal Lecter, the murderous cannibal with a brilliant mind and a flawless sense of style and etiquette, has intrigued…

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

Adventures of an unlikely hero

Review by bookpagedev

by James Webb

Do you want to know a secret? It's something that many children's book reviewers believe, but don't often reveal. Lean closer; here it is: children's books often make better reading than the selections on the adult bestseller list. Take Australian writer Markus Zusak's new novel, I Am the Messenger. This so-called "teen" book has as much to say about love and life as any best-selling book for adults. Here's the premise: Ed Kennedy, a young Australian man, is in a bank with his friends when the place gets robbed. The robber isn't exactly a rocket scientist, and when Ed and his friends start sarcastically commenting on the robber's technique, one thing leads to another and Ed becomes a hero by stopping the thief. Shortly after this exciting episode, a playing card arrives in the mail for Ed. Written on the card are three addresses, with a time of day written after each location.

Ed isn't your typical hero. He drives a taxi, lives in a run-down house with a foul-smelling dog, has a mother who can't stand him and a brother who ignores him, and is in love with a girl who only wants to be his friend. Yet something about the card compels him, and he finally decides to go to the first address at the time indicated to see what will happen.

In an effort to protect the surprising plot twists, we'll just say that Ed quickly realizes he has been chosen by someone to make a difference in people's lives, and the ways that he chooses to do so are both quirky and startling.

I Am the Messenger is raucous, poignant and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Zusak has a gift for both dialogue and description, and his characters and settings spring right off the pages of this thoroughly enjoyable book.

So just once, be a kid again. Buy I Am the Messenger for yourself. And when you're through, give it to a teenager. Be forewarned, though: the novel is liberally sprinkled with adult language and would be best suited for mature teen readers.

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

High school triumphs and tragedies

Review by bookpagedev

by Sam Hobbs

If there's one time of life when things come into focus your self-image, your relationships, your beliefs, your fears, your triumphs, your loves in short, everything that is you, it has to be your high-school years. It is for many the crucible of our personalities, where the "me" of existence is forged for all time. In his first novel, Looking for Alaska, John Green captures that feeling with freshness, candor and heart.

Miles Halter is a rising junior in a boarding school in rural Alabama. The Florida teen is used to the sun, but not the stifling, sticky heat of the Deep South. He's also not used to being one of the gang, but at Culver Creek this shy, gangly boy is accepted for what he is, albeit after being wrapped in duct tape and thrown into a lake. Like any school, there are cliques, the biggest two being the rich locals who go home for the weekend and the kids who are there 24/7.

The latter group adopts Miles, and within that group his particular circle of friends is certainly unique: there's The Colonel, his brilliant but slightly insane roommate; Takumi, the Japanese kid with the Southern accent; and Alaska Young, "the hottest girl in all of human history." Apart from a demanding academic load, their main amusements consist of smoking, drinking and the Culver Creek tradition of playing pranks on the other group all while avoiding the searing gaze of The Eagle, the school's headmaster.

The experiences come fast and furious to Miles, but the center of his universe is definitely Alaska. Alternatively flirty and distant, friendly and angry, unattainable (with a boyfriend in college) and available, and fiercely intelligent, the force of her personality leads Miles and his friends into a labyrinth of emotions that, after a shattering tragedy, leave him wondering if there's any way out.

Green has written an inventive novel, one that will help young readers assess their place in the world and how they deal with one another. Looking for Alaska is funny, sad, inspiring and always compelling.

Environment, Lifestyles

Lifestyles Environment

One day at a time

Review by bookpagedev

by Lynn Hamilton

For people who want to take their revolution a little slower, there’s Michael Norton’s 365 Ways to Change the World: How to Make a Difference One Day at a Time, a clever spin on books with daily meditations. Each page corresponds to a day in the year and offers a bite-sized thought or activity that could plausibly make a small positive impact on the planet. One day, 365 Ways to Change the World will have you sending a cash donation to Zimbabwe; the next, you’ll be asked simply to meditate on gender inequities. Readers are frequently called on to organize meetings of like-minded thinkers who will offer safety in numbers as well as many hands to make light work of projects. Other pages have you thinking about how even your tippling habits affect the planet. Did you know that Spanish growers of oak cork are in danger of losing their livelihoods and surrendering their forests to clearing from the advent of plastic wine corks? Lynn Hamilton writes about environmental issues from Tybee Island, Georgia.

For people who want to take their revolution a little slower, there's Michael Norton's 365 Ways to Change the World: How to Make a Difference One Day at a Time, a clever spin on books with daily meditations. Each page corresponds to a day in…

Lifestyles

Lifestyles

The responsible dollar

Review by bookpagedev

by Lynn Hamilton

The Rough Guide to Shopping With a Conscience by Duncan Clark and Richie Unterberger is probably the most comprehensive and up-to-date consumer guide of its kind. While the book covers all the historic cornerstones of ethical shopping, like the NestlÅ½ and Exxon boycotts, much of its information is up-to-the-minute or even into the future. For instance, it touts a barcode scanner that you take to the store to scan a product for information on its origin, the working conditions of the employees who made it, its company’s environmental record, etc. Ethical companies and small-footprint products are conveniently listed in pop-out sidebars alongside their evil, earth- and soul-destroying corporate twins. All this is spun in Rough Guide’s trademark brisk, contemporary prose, and though the writers seem, at times, emotionally distant from their subject, that may contribute to the book’s enormous credibility, especially for readers who might be a little wary of progressive Cassandras. Lynn Hamilton writes about environmental issues from Tybee Island, Georgia.

Children's & YA

Children's & YA

Boys that go bump in the night

Review by bookpagedev

by Deborah Hopkinson

Poor Bobo! There’s something hiding under this little monster’s bed. His brother, Buster, says Bobo is just a fraidy-cat. But it’s hard to blame Bobo for being scared. Why, even Godzilla himself would be frightened if there was a boy with pink skin and a head of orange fur hiding under his bed. Especially when he begins that scritch-scratch-skittering noise! Luckily for Bobo, his grandpa, Boo-Dad, knows all about fearful creatures like boys. Boo-Dad plops Bobo and Buster down on his big old monster knees and tells the young monsters a story about the olden days and his encounter with a very frightening girl. Armed with advice from Boo-Dad, and courage of his own, Bobo determines that the time has come to take matters into his own hands or rather, paws. Sticking his horned head under the bed, he calls out, “Hey, Boy! I’m Bobo! You new round here?” The results are sure to delight readers of all ages.

In Jitterbug Jam, first-time author Barbara Jean Hicks has taken the theme of bedtime anxiety and created a warm, funny book with colorful characters. Kids will fall in love with Bobo, especially when he’s curled up in his little red monster pajamas, clutching a toy dragon. Illustrator Alexis Deacon, who lives in London, also created the artwork for Beegu, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year. Her artwork includes the use of panels, comic-book sequences and a dramatic double-page spread of the moment when Bobo finally confronts that orange-haired boy. Jitterbug Jam is a bedtime tale to amuse and delight readers young and old! Deborah Hopkinson’s picture book, Apples to Oregon, was named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2004.

Poor Bobo! There's something hiding under this little monster's bed. His brother, Buster, says Bobo is just a fraidy-cat. But it's hard to blame Bobo for being scared. Why, even Godzilla himself would be frightened if there was a boy with pink skin and a…

Environment, Lifestyles

Lifestyles Environment

How high is the water?

Review by bookpagedev

by Lynn Hamilton

If we back up a few paces, Joseph Romm’s Hell and High Water: Global Warming the Solution and the Politics and What We Should Do will tell us exactly what the crisis is and why we need to change our ways. In 2005, Romm’s brother lost his Mississippi home to Hurricane Katrina. Since Romm holds a doctorate in oceanography, his brother naturally sought his advice on whether to rebuild. Romm’s response was grim but clear: Coastal dwellers from Houston to Miami are now playing Russian roulette with maybe two bullets in the gun chamber. In a rising sea of apocalyptic warnings about global warming, Romm’s new book is perhaps the most unequivocal in its predictions. Coastal cities could be partly underwater by as early as 2050, he writes, and the rest of us will be dropping from deadly heat waves. Romm’s rhetoric is more problem-centered, and he offers fewer solutions than other writers here, but he does say that taking action against global warming is the single most important thing we will do and we’ll hate ourselves if we drop the ball.

Lynn Hamilton writes about environmental issues from Tybee Island, Georgia.

If we back up a few paces, Joseph Romm's Hell and High Water: Global Warming the Solution and the Politics and What We Should Do will tell us exactly what the crisis is and why we need to change our ways. In 2005, Romm's brother…

Children's & YA

Children's & YA

Gulliver for a new generation

Review by bookpagedev

by Deborah Hopkinson

It’s hard to believe that Lemuel Gulliver is nearly 300 years old. His story and character seem as fresh as ever in this new adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s classic novel, first published in 1726.

There’s much more to Gulliver’s Travels, of course, than simply an adventure story. Swift’s novel was a scathing political and social satire, a biting critique of political events in England and Ireland, as well as English values and human nature itself. Swift so feared retribution he originally published the work anonymously.

Over the centuries many elements of this classic tale of the ship’s surgeon who has four fantastic adventures have seeped into daily life. Take those uncouth “Yahoos” Gulliver encounters in the land of the Houyhnhnms. According to the history of Yahoo.com on its website, founders David Filo and Jerry Yang maintain that Yahoo! is an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle,” but at the same time they liked the general definition of a yahoo: “rude, unsophisticated, uncouth.” If Swift only knew! In their attractive and accessible adaptation, Martin Jenkins and illustrator Chris Riddell capture the energy and humor of the original book. Riddell’s Gulliver seems always to be in motion. He has a fluid, expressive face. And you can almost hear him exclaiming as his adventures unfold. Although the book is long, there is artwork on every page, making it a perfect read-aloud (one chapter a night) with lots of luscious illustrations for children to exclaim over. Listeners and readers alike will also enjoy the map detailing Gulliver’s voyages to Lilliput, Brobingnag, Laputa and the land of the Houyhnhms. Parents who last encountered Swift in high school or college may well find that many of his observations ring true, sometimes uncomfortably so. All the more reason to introduce a new generation to the incomparable Gulliver and his amazing travels.

Deborah Hopkinson’s most recent book for young readers is John Adams Speaks for Freedom.

It's hard to believe that Lemuel Gulliver is nearly 300 years old. His story and character seem as fresh as ever in this new adaptation of Jonathan Swift's classic novel, first published in 1726.

There's much more to Gulliver's Travels, of course, than…

Fiction, Short Stories

Fiction Short Stories

Fundamentals of fiction

Review by bookpagedev

by Harvey Freedenberg

Home Remedies, by Angela Pneuman, offers eight stories that revolve around a unifying theme: the struggle of girls and young women raised in fundamentalist Christian families to resolve the tension between their upbringing and the values of contemporary society. Despite their brevity, many of the stories have an almost novelistic depth, a quality best illustrated by The Bell Ringer, the story of a troubled young woman’s descent into madness as she mans a Salvation Army bucket in the depths of a Minnesota winter.

Not all of Pneuman’s stories offer such unremitting bleakness. All Saints Day is the often hilarious tale of two sisters’ efforts to enliven a Biblical costume party at the church that’s auditioning their father for its pulpit. Others, such as The Beachcomber, portray the sexual awakening of young girls in sometimes startling, but sympathetic terms.

Pneuman’s view of fundamentalist religion is frank but not unfair. It will be revealing to see her apply her talents to other subject matter as her career unfolds. Harvey Freedenberg writes from Pennsylvania.

Travel

Travel

Travelogues take you a world away

Review by bookpagedev

by Lacey Galbraith

J.R. Daeschner knows more than a little something about participatory journalism. In True Brits: A Tour of 21st Century Britain in All Its Bog-Snorkelling, Gurning and Cheese-Rolling Glory, he travels the United Kingdom in search of all things eccentric and extraordinary. With little regard to safety or sanity, Daeschner squares off for a shin-kicking contest in the Cotswolds and snorkels bravely through the murky muck and cold of a Welsh bog. He makes his way to every village festival and small-town celebration he can, knowing that such events survive "because they reinforce a sense of identity, community, and continuity." More importantly, he understands that "people take an inordinate pride in the local idiosyncrasies that distinguish them from a thousand other places: they’re proud to be peculiar." In Daeschner’s world, this is certainly cause for celebration.

LACEY GALBRAITH

Fiction, Short Stories

Fiction Short Stories

Welcome to an uneasy future

Review by bookpagedev

by Harvey Freedenberg

Ryan Boudinot boasts an MFA from Bennington College and works as an editor at Amazon.com. His first short story collection combines his literary sensibility with a keen eye for the oddities of contemporary American society. The stories in The Littlest Hitler veer between those set in a recognizable world and others that take place in some dystopian future. The former category features Sex and Relationships, where the tensions between two childless young couples, friendly on the surface, are peeled back until a shocking secret is revealed. The latter includes The Sales Team, which involves a group of murderous salesmen whose only product seems to be a talent for terrorizing their customers. In the title story, a fourth-grader appears for the school Halloween party dressed as Adolf Hitler, only to be confronted by a classmate dressed as Anne Frank. Boudinot’s gift lies in his ability to move beyond the shock value of the story’s premise to offer a tender account of a single father’s fumbling effort to help his son. Fans of the short fiction of George Saunders will find a kindred spirit in the writing of Boudinot and they’ll no doubt be waiting eagerly for more of his offbeat take on American life. Harvey Freedenberg writes from Pennsylvania.

Travel

Travel

Travelogues take you a world away

Review by bookpagedev

by Lacey Galbraith

Long ago Jamaica Kincaid proved herself to be a writer of enormous talent with works such as Annie John, Lucy, My Brother and The Autobiography of My Mother. She tackles the travel memoir with her latest, Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalaya. In writing that is gracefully evocative, she describes trekking through the Himalayas of Nepal in search of seeds to collect for her garden back home in Vermont. With her small yet eager band of botanists, she encounters Maoist guerillas and a natural world where the sky looms large and brilliant blue, where fruit bats hang from trees and butterflies suddenly appear in a swarm. To read Among Flowers is to follow Kincaid into this other world, to fall into that state where, as Kincaid writes, it is “so dreamily irritating to be so far away from everything I had known.” LACEY GALBRAITH

History

History

The general’s story

Review by bookpagedev

by Howard Shirley

The general’s story The year is 1971. Army Lieutenant Ezell "EZ" Ware Jr. is the copilot of a Huey Cobra gunship, assigned to do covert missions in Vietnam. His captain is a white man from West Virginia who hates him not because of anything Ware has said or done, but because Ware is black. Returning from a mission, their chopper is hit. They crash in the Vietnamese jungle, with little more than two pistols, a handful of snacks and one canteen. The captain is seriously injured, but together the men must survive tigers, leeches, disease, starvation and Vietcong guerrillas. To do it, they must overcome their hatred for each other.

This is not a Hollywood thriller; it is a true story from Ware’s remarkable life. By Duty Bound: Survival and Redemption in a Time of War tells the story of that life, which begins with a boy born into abject poverty, abandoned by his parents, surrounded by a society that hates him. Despite these obstacles Ware not only survives, but thrives, becoming a decorated Army officer and eventually a general in the California National Guard.

Switching easily back and forth between Ware’s experiences growing up in Jim Crow Mississippi and his harrowing trek through enemy territory, By Duty Bound is a portrait of a man following the vaguest hints of hope for escape, for a better life, for freedom whether from Vietcong guerrillas or the violent racism of his own countrymen. In the end, his story is as much about America’s struggles as it is about Ware himself. It is a story worth the telling, and worth the reading.

HOWARD SHIRLEY

The general's story The year is 1971. Army Lieutenant Ezell "EZ" Ware Jr. is the copilot of a Huey Cobra gunship, assigned to do covert missions in Vietnam. His captain is a white man from West Virginia who hates him not because of anything Ware…

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bookpagedev

Fine young Hannibal

Adventures of an unlikely hero

High school triumphs and tragedies

One day at a time

The responsible dollar

Boys that go bump in the night

How high is the water?

Gulliver for a new generation

Fundamentals of fiction

Travelogues take you a world away

Welcome to an uneasy future

Travelogues take you a world away

The general’s story

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