The Atomic Weight of Secrets

The Atomic Weight of Secrets by Eden Unger Bowditch
Bancroft Press, 2011
339 pages
Middle Grade; Historical; Mystery
3.5/5 stars
First in the Young Inventors Guild

Source: Received a free e-copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary: Five children (Jasper, his sister Lucy, Wallace, Noah, and Faye) are taken to a schoolhouse farm in Ohio while their brilliant scientist parents are at work with no opportunity to contact them.  The wonders of a farm and friendship are not enough to distract the children from the mysterious men in black whose presence overhangs all.  And as time passes, more questions are raised than are answered and the children must forge their own path.

This book took me a very long time to read, considering how long a book usually takes me to read and the fact that it is MG/YA.  I lean more toward MG because the five main characters range from 6 to 13 years old.  But the book is a bit on the long side to be MG so I waver.  I would certainly recommend it to fans of The Series of Unfortunate Events and probably to readers of Percy Jackson although I'm less familiar with that series.

What redeemed the book for me was the end which included a fun wink at history and more action as the mysterious Komar Romak menaced the children.  Before that though there are many pages detailing the children's lives when they lived with their parents and then their lives on the farm together.  While each of the children has an individual story, the outlines are all very similar: one or both parents are brilliant scientists whose focus on work leads them to not spend much time with their children; the children are also bright scientists or more specifically inventors as the series title details.

I loved the children and I felt for them in their confusion and uncertainty.  Because of their smarts, they were ostracized at school or merely tutored at home by themselves, leaving a desire for friendship that is filled by the time among equals.  Although they are familiar with a lab, the simple nursery rhymes and fairy tales I know so well are beyond their ken.  Their time at the school-farm is thus a great growing experience for them.  It would be hard to pick a favorite child but I do have a soft spot for the youngest child, Lucy.  As baffling as the experience is for the older children, it's even harder on her.

In the end, I was left with loads of questions and a tiny snippet of the second book that should pique many.

Overall: For a long time, nothing seems to be happen but when the action kicks in, it is quite satisfying.

Read for Ebook challenge

Girl, Stolen

Girl, Stolen by April Henry
Henry Holt and Company, 2010
213 pages
YA; Contemporary; Suspense
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: As Cheyenne rests in the car, Griffin breaks in and steals it without noticing her. She begs to be let go, but he's too far implicated to release her.  Upon discovery of her identity (the daughter of the president of Nike), Griffin's father has big plans for her.  Oh, yeah and she's blind.

This is another book that I probably wouldn't have read if not for the Contemps challenge.  I like sweet coming of age love stories, not boys implicated in their father's criminal activities and girls terrified out of their mind.  I am glad that I read it though.

It is quite fast-moving as Cheyenne adjusts to her new situation and almost immediately begins formulating an escape plan.  She was very brave and used what she had at her command to her advantage.  Tied in with Cheyenne is Griffin who wanted to boost a sweet ride and yet feels sympathy for Cheyenne especially in the face of his father's greed and his father's employees' lust.  He moves on a path toward redemption and escape from his father through their conversations and how she challenges him.

Overall: A very fast read that should have you on the edge of your seat.

Cover: I think the hands are creepy and that the cover as a whole definitely reflects the suspenseful nature of this read.

Read for Contemps Challenge.

Fixing Delilah

Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
Little, Brown and Company, 2010
308 pages
YA; Contemporary; Family
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: Eight years ago Delilah's mother, aunt, and grandmother had a big fight causing the daughters to never speak to their mother again and for them never to return to the idyllic summer cottage where the grandmother lives.  Then comes her death and the reunion of the three Hannaford women as Delilah attempts to unravel the secrets of that summer and of her family.

Thoughts: This is my first Sarah Ockler although I definitely want to read Twenty Boy Summer.  The first pleasing instance in this book was the discovery that there is a character named Stephanie...who is alas dead.  However I liked seeing a story that was focused on family.  Delilah and her mother used to be close but her mother's work takes up so much time that their relationship is highly fractured.  Plus as Delilah acts out, their inability to communicate drives them further apart.  The summer spent preparing for an estate sale at the grandmother's house helps patch up part but does not completely heal their relationship, which I found very realistic.

Less realistic (and less pleasing to me) was the romance between Delilah and Patrick.  Patrick and Delilah had been best friends all those years ago and they pick up their relationship and fall for each in a way that was almost too perfect.  He's a great guy and I highly approve of the nice not-creepy guy with his own ambitions who wants to support his love interest in her pursuits (whenever she figures them out) being featured as the love interest.  But the fact that eight years later he still thinks of her and misses her seemed unrealistic, especially due to their age difference (two/three years).  Are we to seriously believe there were no other girls around who might have turned his head?  Regardless I did like Patrick a lot.

One very important issue in the book is mental illness, specifically depression as Stephanie and Grandmother had it and dealt with it in their own ways.  I feel like that's such an important topic and so easily stigmatized in today's culture. I thought Ockler handled it well and gave the reader insight into that depression while also creating characters who had other facets to their personality.

I was so excited about the family secret that tore apart the family because I figured out what it was way before the official reveal.  Of course I also thought Delilah way overreacted; however that reaction is in character for her even as I saw her actions damage her relationship with her mother and with her sort-of boyfriend Patrick.

One slightly off-topic question: Patrick has amber eyes.  I feel like I've read quite a few YA books where the boy has amber eyes-why is that so popular? I don't want to insult anyone with amber eyes but what's wrong with brown? or blue? or (cause I'm a sucker for it) a freckled redhead with green eyes?

Read as part of the Contemps Challenge

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello
Open Road
99 pages
Non-fiction; Hollywood
4/5 stars

Source: Received a free e-copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Read: Today is Alfred Hitchcock Day and I recently rewatched Psycho so I thought this would be a good way to celebrate.

This book is a good summation of the path Psycho took to becoming film.  First a real-life crime inspired novelist Robert Bloch to write the novel that Hitchcock would end up optioning in order to create something new for audiences after the failure of Vertigo.  He assembled a cast and crew and made the film in a manner more reminiscent of a television program than the usual lavish color films.  And it was a huge success-audiences around the world loved it. But Hitchcock was never able to replicate that success in his other later films, instead struggling to find quality scripts and to keep the audience in suspense.

As expected from the title, Hitchcock is the central figure.  I was most intrigued by Saul Bass's claim to have directed the famous shower scene based on storyboards he created. I'm in the Hitchcock camp; he had his ideas and it was his picture, his set-no one but him would have final control.

I would have liked to read more about Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh's careers after Psycho.  As far as I know, neither worked with Hitchcock again and neither had such success.  In fact, I've read that Perkins was typecast and struggled a lot with that post-Psycho.

Overall: A fine work and good reading for those who would like to know more about this iconic film.  If you haven't seen Pyscho, you should definitely check it out and then maybe give this book a read.

A Passage to India

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
Harcourt, Inc, 1952
Originally Published 1924
362 pages
Classic; FITG
3.5/5

Source: Bought and read for class

Summary: Adela Quested and Mrs. Moore are British citizens, excited to journey to India and see the scenery.  A new friend of Mrs. Moore's, Dr. Aziz invites them to see the Marabar Caves where a most unfortunate incident occurs leading to a court case and aggravating relations between the British colonizers and the colonized Indians.

I was really excited about this but I was left unsatisfied.  I was expecting a tale of the clash of cultures as Anglo/Indian relations were explored and gender roles were examined.  And to a degree, I got that.  But the prose was not to my liking at all.  Forster's descriptions of the scenery were so boring (almost Tolkien-esque-the only way I got through LOTR was by skimming the endless scenery descriptions and focusing on the actual plot) and it was very slow-moving.  The incident described on the book-flap is Aziz being falsely accused of sexually molesting Adela; do you know when that happens? Nearly halfway through the book! Before that, there is plenty of description and a lot of set-up to establish the personalities of the characters and the relationship between the British and the Indians.

I didn't particularly like any of the characters either.  The four main characters are Brits Adela, Mrs. Moore, and college principal Fielding in addition to Indian doctor Aziz.  My inability to feel completely connected to any of them soured my opinion of this book.  I'm not sure if that was part of Forster's intention.  However this is an useful book for study of the time period.  Rising nationalism makes an appearance and is a topic I find fascinating.

Overall: I was really disappointed; have I missed something huge with regards to Forster? I'd love to give him another try-any recommendations?

Read for personal FITG challenge.

Disney Princess Profile: Snow White

Hosted by Irena at This Miss Loves to Read.

Name: Snow White

Film: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, 1937

Princess: Born plus marries a prince

Voice: Adriana Caselotti

Hair: Short black

Outfit: Blue with a big yellow skirt

Home: Dwarves cottage

Special Powers: Magical singing voice
Friends: Doc, Happy, Grumpy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, and Dopey

Parents: King

Love Interest: The Prince

Prince: Yes

Voice: Harry Stockwell

Villain: The Wicked Queen

Voice: Lucille La Verne

Songs: "I'm Wishing/One Song"
"With a Smile and a Song"
"Whistle While You Work"
"Heigh-Ho"
"Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum (The Washing Song)"
"The Silly Song"
"Some Day My Prince Will Come"

I am not a big fan of Snow-she doesn't have the personality of the 90's princesses and I've never liked her as much as Cindy and Aurora.  However she is either a keen survivor or extremely lucky to have gotten away from her stepmother, survive in the forest, live with the dwarfs, and then not die from the poisoned apple.  I'm inclined toward the latter. Mostly though I'm grateful for the success of this film because that enabled all the rest of the Disney princess films that I do love to get made.

Freefall

Freefall by Mindi Scott
Simon Pulse, 2010
315 pages
YA; Contemporary
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: Seth's best friend died over the summer and he blames himself for not looking out for Isaac.  As he lives without feeling, he meets Rosetta, a beautiful rich brunette with her own grief.  Their shared class of Interpersonal Communications will greatly impact their lives and relationships.

Thoughts: I'm really grateful for the Contemps Challenge, which is the reason for me reading this book.  Unlike the books I usually read it features a male protagonist and has a mostly black cover, rather than something pretty and pink.

I was inclined to like Seth immediately as the death of his best friend Isaac seemed to have shaken him to his core.  His previous activities of pot, booze, and bass don't have quite the same appeal anymore.  Instead he drifts along in the wake of his older brother.  And then he meets Rosetta.  She lives in the wealthy part of time, far removed from Seth's family's trailer but they seem to connect.  On the first day of school, they discover that they're in the same new class Interpersonal Connections (IC) and the first activity they do helps them get a new start to the relationship.  Soon they're falling for each other but not with many a complication.

First Seth's in a band but he has crippling stage fright and thus never wants to perform.  This is a fear the IC class pushes him on.  Rosetta has a fear of her own that leads to some amazing scenes.  Second he thinks he hooked up with Isaac's ex-girlfriend and an old friend of his, Kendall.  The guilt for betraying his friend and shame for not being able to remember that night plague him.  Kendall was a tricky character for me.  At some points her motivations confused me and I hated when her relationship with Seth interrupted his relationship with Rosetta.  And third the rest of the school seems very aware of the social divide between Rosetta and Seth leading one character in particular to interfere.

I was so pleased to see Seth's metamorphosis.  Before he skipped school and abused drugs.  But he turns over a new leaf, working hard at his homework, actually attending classes, continuing to work at his job, and trying to be a better person.  That's exactly the kind of character development I love!  I didn't like Rosetta quite as much, just because we spend less time with her and most of her personality is filtered through Seth's perceptions so I feel like it's more than a little biased.

Warning: Language, underage drug-use and sexual content may make this book inappropriate for some readers. But the story is worth pushing past that!

Overall: Recommended gritty contemporary YA read.

Read for Contemps Challenge.