Raleigh's Page

Raleigh’s Page

Author: Alan Armstrong

Illustrator: Tim Jessell

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

ISBN-10: 0375833196
ISBN-13: 978-0375833199

Raleigh’s Page is the riveting story of Andrew, a young boy sent to be a page to his father’s old friend Walter Raleigh. Yeah that Walter Raleigh - throw his pearl studded cloak on a puddle for Queen Elizabeth of England to walk on Walter Raleigh. Pretty cool, no? I was always fascinated by that story but didn't really know much about him other than the usual middle school page in a history book.

Andrew goes to live in Raleigh's estate along with two other boys who are already serving as pages to him. He is fascinated by all the newness but misses his family. One of the boys is cruel but the other is a good friend to him. Andrew, the farmer's son makes a great friend in the French gardener and becomes his apprentice. Together they learn of strange plants from other lands and prepare for the New World.

Raleigh himself is an interesting character in this book. I was fascinated by his excitement and verve. Walter Raleigh is a high energy, intelligent and purposeful man in this book. His way of teaching the children in his care is also fascinating. He plans secret trials that not only test the boy's writing, business acumen and other abilities but he tests the strength of their character. Interesting.

Andrew, being a solid farm boy with good values and a strong character shines in this story. He's a normal boy with hopes and dreams and fears, yet he consistently rises to any occasion, whether it be spying, carrying secret documents or venturing out to the New World. He meets the mysterious Dr. Dee, the Queen's own astrologer among other characters that populate this book.

Ah yes, Raleigh is planning a big trip to the colony of Virginia - the first expedition to Roanoke and Andrew is determined to go along. The story gets even more interesting once Raleigh's ship actually gets to Virginia. Alan Armstrong writes a great tale full of intrigue, adventure, compassion and understanding.

Raleigh's Page is one heck of a great read. The marvelous illustrations by Tim Jessell give depth to the story and a flavor for the time period in which it is set. One of my favorite illustrations is one of Walter Raleigh almost bursting with excitement.

Book Description from the publisher:
Andrew has grown up near the Plymouth docks hearing the sailors talk about America. Knowing that Andrew's heart is set on going to the new world, his father sends him up to London to serve as page in the house of Walter Raleigh. In Queen Elizabeth's court, Raleigh's the strongest voice in favor of fighting with Spain for a position in the New World, and everyone knows that it's just a matter of time before Her Majesty agrees to an expedition. Can Andrew prove himself fit to go on an expedition to the New World?

Meticulously researched and brilliantly crafted, combining fictional characters with historical, Andrew's tale offers up a vivid look at the cloak and dagger politics of the time and a genuine feel for what it must have been like for the first Europeans to set foot on the beautiful, bountiful, savage shores of America.

About the Author
Alan Armstrong's first book, Whittington, was awarded the Newbery Honor in 2006. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Martha, a painter.

Fred Patten Reviews The Alchemist's Apprentice

The Alchemist’s Apprentice

Author: Dave Duncan
Publisher: Ace Books
ISBN: 10: none
ISBN: 13: 978-0-441-01479-8

Dave Duncan has been a major author of imaginative fantasy adventure novels for the past two decades. In The Alchemist’s Apprentice, the first in a new series, he ventures brilliantly onto new ground.

Alfeo Zeno, the flip, sardonic, wittily egocentric first-person narrator, is the young apprentice of Maestro Filippo Nostradamus, the ancient, irascible nephew of the more famous Michel Nostradamus. Like his uncle, this Nostradamus is a well-known astrologer, alchemist, clairvoyant, doctor, and savant (popularly believed to be a sorcerer, although admitting to that would bring a sentence of execution by the Church). He has been employed by the nobility of the Republic of Venice for years as a personal physician and to cast their horoscopes.

When procurator Bertucci Orseolo collapses and then dies at a dinner party of thirteen at which Nostradamus is present, the Maestro is suspected of poisoning him. He is advised by the Doge to flee Venice, but instead he orders Alfeo to prove his innocence by finding the real murderer – despite the probability that the elderly Orseolo just died of natural causes. Alfeo soon discovers that several of Venice’s leading politicians each have reasons for wanting Orseolo’s death to have been natural, or caused by Nostradamus, or by a murderer who will never be found; and each of these politicians are powerful enough to have Alfeo tortured or “disappeared” if he threatens their schemes. Alfeo’s investigations involve him with sultry courtesans, sadistic police officials, art forgers, assassins, damsels in distress, Ottoman spies, and much more before Nostradamus arranges for a recreation of the fatal dinner party to expose the killer.

The Alchemist’s Apprentice has a brief and unnecessary scene of demonology, apparently only to justify its publication as a fantasy adventure. Similarly, its use of an imaginary “Nostradamus’ nephew” and fictitious Venetian historical figures have led some reviewers to call this “alternate-world s-f”. It is really a delightful and well-researched historical novel (but historical novels don’t sell as well as s-f), set in the exotic independent Venice city-state of the 1590s or early 1600s, featuring Renaissance Italian versions of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin investigating an “impossible” murder. I look forward to the next novel in the series, The Alchemist’s Code, to be published in March 2008.

Song of the Sparrow

Song of the Sparrow
Author: Lisa Ann Sandell
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 0439918480
ISBN-13: 978-0439918480


The first book I finished in the 48 Hour Reading Challenge (by the way forgot to mention I started Friday night at 10:00 p.m.) was Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell. Song of the Sparrow is the story of Elaine of Ascolat, otherwise known as the Lady of Shalott. Being a big fan of the Tennyson poem (it haunts me), I just had to read the book to get a little more story on this mysterious woman who floated down the river to Camelot in her boat named the Lady of Shalott.

“Under tower and balcony,

By garden-wall and gallery,

A gleaming shape she floated by,

Dead-pale between the houses high,

Silent into Camelot.

Out upon the wharfs they came,

Knight and Burgher,

Lord and Dame,

And around the prow they read her name,

The Lady of Shalott.”

In Sandell’s excellent YA novel set in Britain 490 AD, Elaine is a young girl growing up in a world of military men. Her mother has been killed and so she lives with her brothers and father in the moving camps of war, the only girl in a world of men serving under Arthur. Elaine is a tomboy, a good seamstress, gifted healer and has a big and caring heart. Her only other woman friend is Morgan, the sister of Arthur who sometimes visits the camp.

She is almost a mother figure to all the men in the camp even though some of them are starting to change the way they look at her. Sixteen and beautiful though she doesn’t know it, the men are starting to take notice. Elaine however, has eyes only for Lancelot her childhood friend. Lancelot seems to be leaning towards Elaine as well until the fiancée of Arthur comes to live in the camp, the beauteous but cruel Gwynivere who, though engaged to Arthur is deeply in love with Lancelot and he with her. The two girls are as different as can be and

The book is written entirely in free verse poetry and gives both a sense of the haunting poem and painting of the Lady of Shalott and is more hopeful, happier somehow. Elaine is a marvelous character – vibrant, fiery, brave and determined. Gwynivere, her rival is multi-layered and deeply conflicted. The men in the story almost serve as background to these complex and interesting women. The battle scenes, history and the wonders of nature all make this a highly entertaining and great read. Highly recommended.

The Mark Of The Horse Lord

The Mark of the Horse Lord
Author: Rosemary Sutcliff
Publisher: Front Street; 1 Reprint edition (February 2, 2006).
ISBN-10: 1932425624
ISBN-13: 978-1932425628

The Plot: Phaedrus is a gladiator in second century Britain; a bloody, violent fight to the death in the arena results in Phaedrus killing his best friend, winning his freedom, and having no idea what to do next. What does a slave know about living as a free man?

Phaedrus is approached with a scheme involving the tribes to the North, in Scotland; the king died seven years ago. His son, Midir, went missing; and Levin's half-sister, Liadhan, seized the opportunity to bring back goddess worship and set herself on the throne.

The thing is, Phaedrus looks exactly like the missing Midir. Why not put him on the throne instead, and remove Liadhan from power? So Phaedrus pretends to be Midir -- pretends to be King -- and gets more than he bargained for as he begins to realize what it means to be a King.

The Good: Non stop action. Chapter One, we get a mother's suicide, gladiator fights, freedom; Chapter Two, a drunk night on the town resulting in fights, stabbings, and fire; Chapter Three is prison and the Midir plan. There's barely a place for Phaedrus or the reader to breathe. Yet, within all that action, Sutcliff includes many details about the second century Britain.

Once Phaedrus agrees to the plan, there's a lot he has to learn. And he keeps finding out that that there is even more involved than he thought.

Since this was written in 1965, I was a bit concerned about how the goddess religion would be treated. To be simplistic, it seems like all books about it written before a certain time depict it as Evil; and all written after a certain time depict it as The Golden Age. Silly me; Sutcliff does almost the impossible by making no modern judgments. Yes, the faction that Phaedrus sides with wants the sun centered god religion, rather than the moon centered goddess; and the goddess religion shown involves human sacrifice. But it's done rather evenhandedly; and the religion dispute is more a side issue, with the real dispute being about power, and who has it.

What else? There's a map! I love maps; and a brief historical note intro, letting the reader know a bit of the historical context and clearly stating that this is fiction, but here's the true history part.

As for the true history part, I love that Sutcliff looks at a bit of history that does not get much written about it. Seriously, how many other books sent in second century Scotland are there are about the Dalriad?

The brutality of the time is genuinely shown; what really happened to Midir, for example. My clues; he's alive; and remember, that a maimed man could not be king. If you don't want to murder a child but do want to make sure he never becomes king, what do you do?

Age: I think today, this would be a YA book or an adult book. Phaedrus is about nineteen; there are wars, bloody battles, even a bit of a romance. Part of what Phaedrus has to face is the difference between the best choice for himself; and the best choice for his people. But are they his people -- isn't he just pretending to be King?

The cover: isn't that cover great? I read the original hardcover, boring black, but there is a mark on the cover that is supposed to be the mark of the horse lord that Phaedrus gets tattooed on his forehead.

Quotes: "[Essylt, Phaedrus's mother] had used the slim native hunting dagger that had served Ulixes as a papyrus knife; but there was not much blood because she had stabbed herself under the breast, not cut her wrists as a Roman woman would have done." In one sentence, Sutcliff tells us how Phaedrus's mother killed herself, also revealing how the native / Roman cultures mixed yet did not mix.

On fighting to the death as a gladiator: "Like the sudden opening of a cavern in his head, reality burnt upon Phaedrus, and in that ice-bright splinter of time he understood at last that this was a fight to the death, that he was fighting, not his comrade Vortimax, whom he had fought scores and hundreds of times before, but death -- red rending death such as the stag's had been, and the hooks of the mercuries in the dark alleyway." Again, awesome detail; and lovely how Sutcliff creates a world where you "know" what it is those mercuries do without her ever really saying.

While I liked how Sutcliff had the opening note, I would have loved to have the titles of her actual source material. I wonder if the marriage ceremony shown is accurate, and the same for the Women's War Dance.

Finally? Amazing, amazing ending. Entirely true to the book and the characters, yet still unbelievable and almost shattering.

Now all I want to do is read all of Sutcliff's other books.

Links:
Wikipedia article on the Dál Riata
Interview with Rosemary Sutcliff
Rosemary Sutcliff: An Appreciation blog, with The Mark of the Horse Lord review
Teacher Resource File for Sutcliff
Rosemary Sutcliff: blog by godson (here, also)
I Speak of Dreams blog review
1985 Phoenix Award Winner

Dancing to Almendra

Dancing to Almendra

Author: Mayra Montero
Translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ISBN-10: 0374102775
ISBN-13: 978-0374102777

Dancing to Almendra takes place in Mafia-dominated 1950’s Cuba before Castro takes over. It begins with a bizarre killing of a hippopotamus at the local zoo and young journalist Joaquín Porrata is sent to write up the story. Joaquín usually covers fluff pieces but desperately wants to be a real reporter covering more important things. He stumbles onto something at the zoo where he learns that the killing of the hippo was a warning to mob boss Umberto "Albert" Anastasia, who really was murdered in 1957. Joaquín starts investigating and begins to uncover an incredible story. He is threatened, beaten, warned and scared the hell out of, but he keeps on investigating and uncovering more and more.

As the investigation deepens, Joaquín’s life starts to spin out of control. He travels to New York, meets both Meyer Lansky and George Raft and finds out much more than any person should know about the Mafia.

The characters are all intensely interesting and detailed. Joaquín’s father and brother Santos, his lesbian sister and his tragic martyr of a mother are all fascinating. Yolanda, the ex circus performer, one-armed mulatta lover of Joaquín as well as Santos Trafficante and mother of a trapeze artist is simply too wild and wonderful not to love.

The story is told in Joaquín’s hard-bitten, matter of fact voice with alternating chapters told in a mystical way by Joaquín’s lover Yolanda. The Cuba of the 50’s comes to life with Mayra Montero’s incredible writing. She paints a decadent picture of nightclubs, music and gaudy casinos where an underlying threat of revolution is bubbling to the surface.

Dancing to Almendra is a gorgeous book about a crazy time and Montero manages to paint both the garish, brightly lit surface as well as the darkness underneath it all with a deft hand.

Kings in Disguise

Kings in Disguise: A Novel
Author: James Vance
Illustrator: Dan Burr
Introduction: Alan Moore
Publisher: W.W. Norton
ISBN-10: 0393328481
ISBN-13: 978-0393328486

Kings in Disguise takes place in1932, the height of the Depression. It’s the story of the Bloch family, young Frankie in particular. Mr. Bloch has plunged into alcoholic despair and can’t find work anywhere. He’s lost just about all hope. Albert, the older brother has lost all respect for his father while Frankie just gets lost at the movies. Gangster movies are his favorites and he carefully saves bottles so that he can get his dime to see a new movie every week.

It all comes to a head when Albert and Mr. Bloch get into a terrible fight and in the morning, Mr. Bloch has disappeared supposedly looking for work in a new town. Albert and 12-year old Frankie are left on their own. Albert tries to rob someone in order to buy food and is injured, will possibly arrested and thrown in jail. Frankie is left on his own and tries to make it to Detroit to find his father and uncle. Frankie runs into a group of hobos with bad intentions but is saved by another hobo calling himself the King of Spain.

The King of Spain is more than a little crazy and sick to boot but he’s a kindly soul and protects Frankie. The two set off riding the rails for Detroit and they encounter just about every kind of lost soul there is. They also find small kindnesses and worthy people which help keep the hope alive. It’s an incredible story told with humor, pathos and gut wrenching reality.

The black and white illustrations by Burr add not only depth to the story but manage to convey such deep emotion.

This story of a child forced into being a man is touching and painfully beautiful. The Great Depression depicted by this amazing graphic novel is depicted in a very realistic and human way.

Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising
Author: Pam Munoz Ryan
Publisher: Blue Sky Press
ISBN-10: 043912042X
ISBN-13: 978-0439120425

Winner of the 2001 Pura Belpre Award, Esperanza Rising is a magical riches to rags story of Esperanza Ortega, a young girl growing up in Mexico. Esperanza’s father is a rich landowner and the life she leads is one of privilege unlike her friend Miguel the son of servants.

When Esperanza’s father is killed by bandits her evil and powerful uncles impose themselves on the property and on Esperanza’s mother. They are determined to keep the ranch and try to force Esperanza’s mother to marry one of the uncles. When she refuses, they set fire to the family home endangering everyone and forcing Esperanza and her mother to flee with the servants. They leave everything behind and start anew in the farm camps of the United States during the Depression.

While her mother handles her changed circumstances with dignity and grace, Esperanza has a hard time adjusting. The work in camps is hard, her life is so different and it’s hard for her to take. The other girls in the camp think she is spoiled but she does manage to make some friends.

Ryan uses the experiences of her own Mexican grandmother as the basis for this compelling story of immigration and assimilation, not only to a new country but also into a different social class. It’s an amazing story of grace, honor, determination and hope.

Forged in the Fire

Forged in the Fire
Author: Ann Turnbull
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN-10: 0763631442
ISBN-13: 978-0763631444

In this thrilling sequel to No Shame, No Fear, Will and his beloved Susanna have trials aplenty to go through. It’s London in the year 1655 and Will has been disowned by his father for becoming a Quaker. Will travels to London to seek his fortune, make enough money to be able to marry Susanna and bring her to live with him. Susanna stays behind to work and wait for letters from Will, in particular the one that will tell her he’s coming for her. The letter comes but Will doesn’t and Susanna isn’t the type of girl to sit and wait when she’s worried about someone she loves.

Will’s been thrown into jail for his beliefs and is sitting in Newgate prison where the plague has struck. He eventually is taken out of the prison and sent to recover from a non-plague related illness at the home of rich Friends. When he is lucid, he finds out that his job in the bookshop where he was working no longer exists as the owner and his family all died of the plague.

Half the story is told in Will’s viewpoint, the other half in Susanna’s and I have to say I was completely captivated by this historical star crossed lover’s tale. I got caught up in the history and the horror of living in the times of the plague. There’s this scene where people are killing all the cats because they believe they carry the plague and Will’s roommate Nat sneaks in a kitten to save it.

I always love books that have great history in them, especially history I know little about. The story of Quakers in England, their persecution and trials is definitely something I now want to learn more of after reading this.

The letters are wonderful and are written with such grace and beauty of language. Here are a couple of samples of Will writing to Susanna.

"Dear heart, I write this in the evening, after work, and try to picture thee also in thy room in London, perhaps with Nat, eating hot pies from Pudding Lane (for I remember what thou told me of thy habits). As long as I hold thy image in my mind, I can believe thee safe and in good health. I know thou dare not write to me. We receive few letters now, and there are fewer travelers on the road to bring us news, but we know the pestilence still rages and has begun to spread into the country..."

"Love, don't fear if thou hear nothing from me for a while. The authorities may restrict the post -- and even if they do not, I may hesitate to write to thee for fear the carrier should be infected. Take care to steam any letters from London over boiling vinegar; we are assured it is a preventative..."

I heartily recommend Forged in the Fire and hope for another in this wonderfully different series.

Reviewing the Classics of Kidlit - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

*Cover of my personal book that I've had since I was eight.

When I started AmoxCalli a couple of years ago my main goal was to get classic children’s literature in front of a new audience. I’m always surprised and dismayed when I talk to people about books that I think everyone grew up with and I get blank stares. It breaks my heart.

There is so much out there. I love all the new books that are coming out, books I’ve reviewed and recommended like Octavian Nothing, Hattie Big Sky, Anahita’s Woven Riddle, The Lighthouse Land, etc but I have a special place in my heart for the books that made me a lifelong reader, the ones that moved me and introduced me to new worlds. Because AmoxCalli is a book recommendation site (you won’t find any bad reviews here – if I don’t like it, I don’t post it), what better to recommend than those wonderful old books? I’ve been so busy reviewing the new stuff (not complaining, I love it) that I recently realized that I’ve not done what I set out to do with the blog – get people informed and interested in those old classics.

I put out a call for submissions and got a couple of responses from people who were just as excited as I am about showcasing those wonderful books. Look forward to seeing an eclectic and wonderful series of reviews from guest bloggers in the near future. If there’s a book that makes your heart go pitty-pat, that you remember fondly and want mentioned on the site, shoot me an email. If you’re interested in writing your own review of the books you love, email me and I’ll post it. The more of those books on this blog, the better.

For my first in the Reviewing the Classics of Kidlit posts, I’m choosing a personal favorite, Little Women not just because I love it so much but because I’ve bought so many copies of it to give out to young women I know – nieces, daughters of friends, girls I meet in the library or at bookstores, goddaughters, granddaughters. Each one has always come back to me amazed at how much they loved that book. They laughed, they cried, they learned something and each has their favorite part that they read over and over. One young girl in particular, the daughter of a dear friend who hated reading, refused to read it till I sat with her one day and read the first chapter aloud while she sat pouting. I finished the chapter and set the book down, went about my business and came back in to see her completely engrossed in the book an hour later.


Little Women
Author: Louisa May Alcott
Publisher: various but I chose this illustrated edition by Gramercy
ISBN-10: 0517221160
ISBN-13: 978-0517221167

Louisa May Alcott wrote many books but this is my all-time favorite of hers and one that I read over and over. Little Women tells the tale of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March who are growing up in Civil War era North America. Their father, a minister is away at war as an army chaplain and their mother works very hard to keep her little family fed and clothed while still managing to do good charity works in the community. The Marches were once very rich, but because of bad investments, they have lost their money and are very poor.

Despite having very little money, worrying about their father and having to work very hard, the girls are good, cheerful, honest and strong willed young women. While they have their moments of jealousy and envy of others, they always manage to choose the right in the end and rise above their trials. Each of them is very human and very different from the other.

Jo is the tomboy writer with a nasty temper and hasty mouth that often gets her into trouble. Her more feminine and decorous older sister Meg is usually at her wits end trying to get Jo to be more ladylike. Meg is very sweet and gentle and always the voice of reason. Third child Beth is the most gentle of the girls. Beth is musical, tender and very, very shy. Amy, the youngest is an artist and just a bit affected. She’s always trying to use big words and ends up saying the wrong thing. Jo and Beth are the closest to each other, while Amy and Meg seem to understand each other the most. Jo and Amy often battle it out as their personalities really clash. Alcott’s characters are very, very human and real. Any girl can relate to fighting with her sister.

Next door to the girls lives rich Mr. James Laurence a gruff old man with a hidden soft heart. His grandson Theodore “Laurie” Laurence is handsome, friendly and lonely. He becomes friend to the girls after Jo throws a snowball into his window. The friendship is equal between the poor girls who bring love and family to him while he brings material things that they wouldn’t normally have.

There’s also the wonderfully nasty Aunt March who always has something to say about everything.

There is so much to say about this wonderful book which tells the story of growing up, lessons learned about life, love, duty, charity and caring that I can’t possibly sum it all up. It’s a book every young girl should have in her library and read with her mother. There are some strong lessons here that are defy time and will always be relevant. The lessons on strength, wisdom, love, patience and quiet service apply to us all.

300

300
Author: Frank Miller
Colorist: Lynn Varley
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
ISBN-10: 1569714029
ISBN-13: 978-1569714027

The Battle of Thermopylae is one of history’s most important battles. In 481-480 B.C, the Spartan King Leonidas and his army of 300 met the huge army (more than 100,000 strong) of the Persian Emperor Xerxes and were annihilated. Still, it gave the Greeks time to gather enough force to defeat the Persians. For three days those 300 men stood against that incredible army. How they managed it just defies imagination.

Frank Miller knows how to tell a hell of a story. While his account isn’t historically accurate, it’s a darned good tale and adds to the incredible story it already is. The art is astounding; the battle scenes are just the most intense, bloody and violent as only Frank Miller can make them. No one does blood and guts like Frank Miller.

In 300, Miller focuses on King Leonidas, the young foot soldier Stelios, and the storyteller Dilios. His portrayal of the Spartans makes them human, makes them so much more than just unbelievable historical shadow figures, at least for me. His characters embody the strength they must have had to stand up against that massive army of Persians. Their faces are almost carved of stone they are so chiseled, so rugged, so raw. The hands and fingers are almost square blocks and they are huge.

I love how Frank Miller’s sparse but deeply telling text accompanies his astounding art. His 300 will ignite a whole new group of people to research the history of the Battle of Thermopylae. How great is that? I see kids at the library asking about books on Sparta and I wonder – did you see 300? Did you read the graphic novel? What has you asking about it? I bet some of them are in there because of Frank Miller. Highly recommended but keep the younger kids away – this is graphically violent.

Dreaming the Eagle

This was another book I got at Comic Con from my foray to the Del Rey/Random House booth that I couldn’t put down.

Dreaming the Eagle tells the tale of Breaca who will grow to be Boudica, the Warrior Queen who fought against the Romans. Little is known of the real Boudica, but Manda Scott makes it seem she knew her intimately. The book is the first in a trilogy about this little known historical character and with so little known about her, an ambitious attempt. I was amazed at how detailed the book was. It is positively littered with data.

The story begins with Breaca’s mother, a leader of her tribe being killed by the Coritani while giving birth and Breaca, only twelve kills the man who intends to kill her, thus earning her first kill feather. The book goes on to tell the tales of many interesting and riveting characters, of life in Breaca’s tribe and of the Romans. I was absolutely swept away into another world.

Much of the novel tells of the importance of the dreamers of Mona, a special island where the dreamers reside and of the trials each young woman or man must go through to find their place within the tribe. It tells of oaths, romance, community, war and the spirituality of the people of the time.

I am much looking forward to the second novel in the series and have high hopes for it.

Zorro

When I first heard Isabel Allende had written a novel about Zorro, I went crazy with excitement. Ms. Allende is one of my favorite authors and Zorro, one of my favorite and beloved characters. What a pairing! I wasn’t disappointed. Allende’s Zorro is wonderful.

Told from the point of view of a close friend of Zorro’s aka Don Diego de la Vega, the novel tells of Zorro’s origins from his birth to his time in Spain to his return to California. Diego is born to Don Alejandro de la Vega and Regina, a mestizo whose real name is Topurnia. The character of Regina is fascinating, she is herself a warrior, chosen by wolves and she meets Don Alejandro while storming the very mission he is there to defend. She teaches the young Diego the language of her people and takes him without her husband knowing to the Indian village where he learns of her people’s ways and traditions.

Ms. Allende’s storytelling leaves no detail unturned, we meet Diego’s milk brother Bernardo and learn of their strong bond of friendship, and we travel to Spain, a Spain during the Napoleonic era. Diego is wonderfully complex in learning to live with his duality both as Diego/Zorro and as a Spanish hidalgo/indigenous man. His concept of honor is developed early, his love for his mother’s people is deep, and his horror at the way the Dons treat indigenous people is captured perfectly by the author.

We learn of his instruction in swordsmanship by the famed Escalante, which eventually leads to the joining of a secret society. There is intrigue, travel, romance, and betrayal. We even get to meet the famed pirate Jean Lafitte.

Isabel Allende offers a fresh, action-packed new dimension to her Zorro and he crackles with his new life in this fantastic and swashbuckling novel.

Thirteen Senses by Victor Villasenor

When I first heard that Victor Villasenor had written Thirteen Senses, I was excited. I adored Rain of Gold so much, that I expected even greater things of his new book. I trekked down to Olvera Street from nearby Echo Park to attend his signing and discussion there. I wasn’t disappointed. Mr. Villasenor spoke eloquently, vibrantly about his life, about his dyslexia and most of all his love of family. My son Phillip and I had a wonderful time after the discussion, speaking with Victor and his wife about the book and about life in general. We had to buy two copies of Thirteen Senses because we were both fighting over who would read it first. Two hours after the event saw my 18-year-old son and myself both deeply engrossed on each end of the sofa books in hand. Neither of us spoke for a while but occasionally one of us would laugh out loud and the other would look over the pages with smiling, happy eyes. We both finished the book late that night or rather early the next morning and we both had the same conclusion – we LOVED it.

The story starts at the 50th wedding anniversary and wedding vow renewal of Lupe and Juan Salvador Villasenor. When the young priest performing the ceremony asks Lupe if she will obey her husband, she shouts out no to the shock of her family and friends. She goes on to say that she will love and cherish him but obey? How dare the priest ask such a question? After the ceremony, her children ask her if she really loved Juan Salvador and the ensuing chapters go on to describe their first years of marriage.

The book is filled with the family’s mystical connection to spirits, God, angels and each other. There is pain, betrayal, love, laughter, wonder and joy throughout the lives of this couple and their children. One reviewer states that the mysticism is too much even for California, but the reviewer obviously isn’t Mexican. I grew up with this and found the book very real, very Mexicano and very human. I think I will always love Rain of Gold more than Thirteen Senses but that is not to say that one is better than the other. The truth is that they are both equally excellent, it’s just that for me Rain of Gold is more about the romance, the finding of that other, that other half of yourself, your soul mate and that sense of wonder and of floating on a cloud. Thirteen Senses is about a different kind of romance, one based on daily life, everyday things like changing diapers, making the beds, sex, grown up love, paying the bills and building a life together and the work it entails. There is fighting and making up, hurt feelings and anger, love and sex. In Rain of Gold we are taken back to our first love, young love and in Thirteen Senses we grow up.

The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R. King

The Beekeepers Apprentice was recommended to me by a fellow avid reader and with great doubt, I hesitantly and reluctantly began to read. With the first page, Ms. King's writing grabbed me and held on till until the end of the book. Thus began a love affair with everything she writes. I avidly wait and watch for her next novel, especially in this sublime series and gobble it up as soon as I get it.

Beekeeper's Apprentice is a great book for any Conan Doyle fan, a lover of literature or just about anyone. It is intelligent and witty, funny and suspenseful. The historical background is well researched and wonderful.

I loved re-visiting Dr. Watson, loved seeing Sherlock Holmes as bored out of his mind with retirement, loved the young and brash Mary Russell.

Buy this book, read it and then buy the next. Better yet, buy them all so that you can read them one after the other in total book gluttony.

Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor

The first time I read Rain of Gold, I thought to myself, “My God this is my family!” Victor Villasenor has the ability to draw in the reader and make he or she feel that they are living the story. This is particularly true in Rain of Gold.

The book follows two people and their families very different journeys through the hard times of the Mexican Revolution and into the U.S. and the very different life waiting for them there. They meet new challenges in and find each other as they adjust and learn to make a life in this new country.

The book abounds with the mystical love of spirits, nature and God that is so commonplace for us Mexicanos. I believe it is hard for people not of our culture to understand just how real the spirits are to us. This is not magical realism but daily life us. Mr. Villasenor shows that aspect of our culture, our grandmothers so well that it brought tears to my eyes as I remembered my own mystical, wise and wonderful grandmother.


The fact that Victor Villasenor is extremely dyslexic and encountered myriad problems in school at a very young age makes this book all the more astounding. He writes with pathos, humor and his love for his beautiful family shines through it all. His simple style of storytelling makes you feel you’re sitting on the floor listening to an uncle or other family member and you are completely enraptured and caught up in his spell