You Read to Me, I'll Read to You Meme week5

What I Read to NMD:

• The Fortune Tellers by Lloyd Alexander, illus. by Trina Schart Hyman
• Little Red Bird by Nick Bruel
• One Giant Leap by Robert Burleigh; paintings by Mike Wimmer
• Pegasus as told by Marianna Mayer, illus. by K.Y. Craft

It's a rather short list this week, and all my own reading; NMD was too busy with her private reading to contribute much to bedtime sharing. Still, it was a chance to revisit some classics as well as discover some newer titles. My thoughts on One Giant Leap have already been posted on this blog. And I mentioned The Fortune Tellers in Week 2, in comparison to Doctor All-Knowing. Having revisited the older title, I still see a similarity between the two stories, although it is not as pronounced as it was in my memory.

In terms of revisiting classics, I thought it was time to share some mythology with NMD, since she has not gravitated towards it herself. I went through a distinct mythology stage as a young reader, which I eventually read my way through until 1) there were no new myths to read and 2) the gods and goddesses were too annoying to reread. I thought the story of Pegasus was a good place to start, since NMD is as fond of horses as the next eight year old girl. With illustrations done in a pre-Raphaelite style, this is an attractive if unembellished version of the original myth. She liked it well enough.

Now Nick Bruel happens to be a favorite in our house, and I had high expectations for Little Red Bird. The rhyming text is easy to read, particularly as there is the repeated refrain of "What would YOU do" which the reader can toss out to great effect. And I liked how the story of a bird who must decide whether to return to the comforts of his cage or enjoy the uncertainty of freedom is left open ended--left blatantly in the hands of the reader, in fact. But it lacked the spark of Bad Kitty and the meta-fiction fun of Who is Melvin Bubble. Like its winged protagonist, this book isn't quite settled.

See what other bloggers are reading at the Well-Read Child, which is hosting the meme.

What I am Reading--Dusssie

Is mythology making a comeback? First there was the outstanding The Night Tourist, which revisited Oprheus and Eurydice. Recent releases have given us Pandora Gets Jealous by Carolyn Hennessey (it looks to be the start of a series of "Mythic Mis-Adventures") and Medusa Jones by Ross Collins. Not to mention the already popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. And here is Dusssie, the story of Dussie (short for Medusa) Gorgon who, at the onset of puberty, discovers that she is only half-human. The other half of her is gorgon. Now with a head full of snakes (the "bad hair day" jokes are plentiful) Dussie tries to come to grips with the changes and choices ahead of her. Turning her would-be beau, named "Troy" no less, into stone doesn't help matters much.

Author Nancy Springer has revisited classic tales before, with her Tales of Rowan Hood series (Robin Hood) and the Enola Holmes Mysteries (Sherlock Holmes.) So she is in a strong position to give ancient mythology a modern spin. Evidently the immortals are with us still (of course--they are immortal) and the majority of them live in New York City, where anyone can blend in. (Considering that The Night Tourist is also set in NYC, perhaps it is conceivable to establish a time-line between the two books?) That being said, this was not a strong story, entertaining though it was at times. Dussie's voice is clear and well-defined--she is every thirteen year old girl, despite the fact that she can telepathically communicate with the 27 snakes writhing on her head. But there are too many pieces that are laid before the reader and then hastily tied up: the truth about Dussie's father; Troy's experience while he is in his state of stone; Dussie's anger at her mother; Dussie's eventual solution to the head full of snakes (which is much more proactive than her mother's--forever wearing a turban.) The book started so well, and then it kind of fizzled. And the over-riding message that beauty is only skin deep is alternately laid on thick and then lost and then tossed in front of the reader again as Dussie wavers between petulance and wisdom.

While not quite a fractured fairy-tale, I'm not sure how to categorize Dusssie. Someone needs to come up with a similar term for this new breed of revisited myths. "Modified mythology"?

What I am Reading--The Night Tourist

This was an absolutely brilliant book! Now, having gotten that out of the way, I can continue in a more professional manner.

Jack Perdu is a high school freshman with an intense interest in and talent for the Classics--Latin in particular. He lives with his widower dad who is an archeology professor at Yale University, friendless but happy with his books. When he suffers a near fatal experience (while trying to translate a tricky passage involving Orpheus and Eurydice, no less) his father sends him to New York City for an evaluation by a doctor friend. While waiting for his return train home, Jack meets Euri, an unusual girl--but one with whom he feels an instant rapport--who shows him a secret world beneath the city. It turns out that the secret world is actually The Underworld, and Jack has managed to cross into that world even though it is forbidden to the living. Having to constantly keep one step ahead of Cerberus and his sadistic keeper, Jack has three days to find his mother, before becoming trapped in death forever. While a knowledge of Greek mythology helps, particularly any of the stories involving the Underworld, author Katherine Marsh does an excellent job of setting the scene so that the reader understands the correlations between her story and the original source. It's never quite clear until the end of the story as to whether or not Jack is even still alive, but the authenticity of his experience is never in doubt. Marsh's descriptions of New York from a ghost-eye point of view made me think of scenes from Wim Wender's Wings of Desire--visions of a world that the living cannot see but that is unbelievably near. Jack and Euri are wonderfully drawn-out characters, and this is a page turner of the highest order. As the story drew near its conclusion I found myself starting to worry as to whether or not it would end as I hoped. And how would it end?! Read it and find out! The Night Tourist is a lovely, lovely, book. I'm putting it in YA, but junior high and strong middle school readers would and could enjoy it, too.