The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief opens with an apparently low-born thief, locked in prison, then freed by a small band of characters who work for the King and wish to engage the thief’s services to help them steal a valuable stone known to them via the legends of the Gods.

They set forth on a journey to find it. Its whereabouts is known to the man in charge; who is counting on the thief, Gen, to retrieve it.

Eugenides, aka the Thief goes along. But he has a surprising agenda of his own.

Remember how amusing the repartee between Gimli and Legolas? The exchanges amongst these companions are more mean-spirited. It reflects the mix of good and bad amongst the sojourners that reveals itself by the end.

It is a quirky tale that seems to take place at the time of the Middle Ages, yet speaks of the use of guns. That hearkens to the fact that the author is not trying to write historical fiction. Thank goodness. I’ve rarely found the -post modern author that can approach the Middle Ages without taking pot-shots at the Church.

This author was inspired by the tales of the old Greek Gods and the Greek countryside. Her tale reads weaves a story of pagan Gods reminiscent of the ancient Greek ones (Gods and legends, that is). The travelers relate the stories of the Gods around the campfire… One appears to Gen in a dream and guides him, a la Odysseus-style. With the favor of the Gods, he obtains the ring they are seeking, encounters the Gods that he believes in, though the encounter does not make clear that these Gods exist: an argument can be made either way, and his companions remain skeptical. All culminates in a surprise ending that reveals the agenda of the Thief.

Should this be a problem for older tweens? Knowledgeable ones? Probably not. They will have encountered much the same in the Iliad and the Odyssey. But I detect a possible creep of author bias. Specifically, there is a point where the main character, after we have grown in fondness and appreciation of him, makes note that he finds the rituals and traditions of the temples empty. Oh, he believes in the Gods, but he’s “beyond the temple worship.” Duly noted. Sounds suspiciously like the contemporary pop view: I’m spiritual and I believe in God, just not organized religion.

SAFETY RATING: 2 Flags

See Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Liturgical Worship 1070

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The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

Believe it or not, I never got around to reading the Tale of Despereaux (same author). Based on the good feedback about it, I thought I’d like this one.

I don’t.

The story was a fine one. She writes well, but we part ways on a non-negotiable.

Namely: the orphan boy in the story consults a fortuneteller to find out if his sister is still alive. The teller gives him a mysterious answer, but one that makes sense as the story unfolds and he unravels the mysterious words of the fortune and circumstances of his life. Also, the pastors of the local churches are troubled by the fortune-tellers but not at all for the right reason. They simply don’t want them to get-out-of-hand. Nothing about the inherent dangers of playing with the occult is mentioned by them (or anyone else).

I cannot see why a child wouldn’t be intrigued by the idea of consulting a fortune-teller after reading this. It sounds valid and mysterious to boot.

To emphasize the point, the elephant is, indeed, conjured up by magic. Not the sleight-of-hand kind. A magician learns a genuine spell from an older magician. The spell conjures up an elephant that falls from the sky and lands on an older lady in the audience who is paralyzed by it. At the end of the book, he uses another incantation to conjure it away.

The book has a quasi-unreal feel about it at times, but the story and the magic is matter-of-fact and told in a real-world way.

Anyway, I don’t know what’s worse: taking the demonic too seriously, or not seriously enough. Either way, Satan wins. I’ll leave this book to those who are convinced that it’s “just” a fairy tale and fortune telling is fine.

SAFETY RATING: DaVinci Pile

See Catechism of the Catholic Church: 2115; 2116; 2117

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A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff

Here’s an author I’ve wanted to read for awhile. Based on this sample, her other books should be worth checking into.

Life in Germany during WWI is hard for Dina, but not for reasons you might expect. Her father died a couple years before, and her family supports itself by work as tailors. Dina is the most innately talented of the bunch and is also the most bored with the long hours and dreary work.

Through a case of mistaken identity, that is, her being mistaken for a spy, Dina must flee to America. This holds much promise for a better future in her eyes… Until she arrives to find her family there lives barely above poverty in Brooklyn, New York, where she is expected to help contribute to the family coffers by working as… a tailor.

This well-told tale touches upon her homesickness, the smallpox epidemic, a fire, and a chance at a better future after all…

SAFETY RATING: 3 Flags

Historical Fiction: Germany; America; Small-pox; 1870; Franco-Prussian War

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Skating Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

I’m so glad this is one of a series of four. One book by this author would not be enough.

Harriet and Olivia meet when Harriet’s doctor prescribes skating lessons to help Harriet recover her strength after an illness. Her first day at the rink, she meets the vivacious and talented skater, Olivia. Olivia is being groomed by her aunt to be a champion skater. Her aunt is her guardian because her parents drowned when they skated onto a pond and broke through the ice. Her father had been a champion skater himself.

Harriet is poor; Olivia rich. Harriet is serious and hard-working; Olivia is a bit flighty and slightly spoiled. But their friendship takes off, and both are good for each other in their own ways.

And then, Olivia starts having trouble with the finer points of skating figures, and Harriet starts blooming with an unexpected skating talent. Their fast friendship flounders.

The language is a bit old-fashioned (the book was copyrighted back in 1951). That should not hold back any but the most reluctant reader. It is a delightful and uplifting tale.

SAFETY RATING: 3 Vatican Flags

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Olivia and the Little Way by Nancy Carabio Belanger

It has been awhile since all three of my girls, ages 8 – 14, clamored to get their hands on a book before I could finish reading it aloud. I'm so glad it was this particular book.

It’s not hard to find a book that deals with problems like: moving to a new place, trying to fit in, or fear of being shunned by popular kids. But few pop books get straight to the heart of the matter: it’s spiritual warfare.

Children instinctively know that the “forming your own values” message, (the best modern society can offer them), doesn’t hold a candle to the fact that their fallen human nature is in conflict with their desire to please God. They can relate to this truth. When faced with “mean kids” and peer pressure, the call to love is one they want to answer but nothing short of the call from heaven and power of grace will be enough to stand firm and choose to be a social outcast if that’s what it takes to do what’s right.

Olivia has to work through this dilemma when she moves from Texas and switches to a new Catholic school in Michigan.

Because she is Catholic, she is not alone in her struggle. She has God and His friends rooting for her. Her grandmother has introduced her to one of God’s dear saints: Therese of Lisieux. Olivia has begun to learn and listen to the life and voice of this humble saint. It is with the added prayers of Therese before the throne of God that Olivia overcomes her own weaknesses and learns to exercise true charity

In the end, there is no good guys vs. bad guys, but instead a growth in understanding and grace for all. Of course, no saint would pray for less.

Thoroughly enjoy….

…the quotes from St. Therese’s life that begin each chapter are lovely bonus.

Do not weep for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life.

I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth.
~St. Therese

SAFETY FLAGS: 3 Flags

See: Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Communion of the church of heaven and earth 955
The intercession of the saints 956

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Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Calling all boys… (and adventure-loving girls).

Join Gregor as he plumments a la’ Alice in Wonderland-style through a grate in the laundry room of his New York City apartment building. He free-falls unknown distances to the land-under-the-earth. At which point, resemblances to Alice’s world end.

This underworld is a fascinating place where currently an uneasy truce exists amongst humans, bats, spiders, roaches, and the natural enemy of them all: the rats. Down here, all creatures speak, and the rats, bugs and insects also weigh in at extraordinary large proportions. Which is fortunate for humans, who bond with the bats who act as steed, companion, and ally in a dangerous existence.

Gregor discovers that this underworld has a prophecy in which an overland warrior arrives in their world and embarks on a quest with 11 others. Four of the questers will die. The warrior is the only chance the underworld has of surviving the upcoming war against the rats. Gregor also discovers that his father, who had gone missing over 2 yrs ago, is a prisoner of the rats. While unconvinced that he is the warrior of the prophecy, he agrees to the quest and the role in order to rescue his father.

No one can create a quest like Tolkien, but that would be an unfair comparison. Tolkien may be too much for the age group this is written for, so this would be a fine one to whet the appetite.

The theme of war is dealt with well. Warriors are not the epitome of society but are respected as doing what must be done to protect their world. Respect for life and for peace are ideas that are alluded to. The difficulty of knowing and doing the right thing is also an underlying theme: a rich one at that. My 14 yr. old read the series a year ago and says that these issues get explored more deeply in the subsequent books in the series. I can't vouch for the rest of the series, but I found this first one solid reading for tweens.

A character at the beginning of the book is mentioned as being a reader of tarot cards. To his credit, Gregor avoids her and the issue does not come up again.

SAFETY RATING: 3 FLAGS

See Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Fortunetelling: 2116

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Knuckleheads by Jon Scieska

This author is on a mission to reach the reluctant boy reader.

Mission accomplished.

This autobiography covers highlights of Jon S’s life growing up with 4 other brothers in Michigan. It’s utterly in sync with the world-of-boys. And if a middle-aged mom and her tween girls liked it, it ought to be absurdly attractive to young boys. What normal American boy wouldn’t like short, funny, readable chapters about boys playing war, wrestling, or throwing up on each other in the car?

There’s some blunt humor around bodily functions, such as streams of urine hitting the space heater his parents were naïve enough to leave in a basement room with 2 boys. It’s relatively tactful and quite laughable. Not to mention utterly real.

His experience of worrying about scary nuns whacking you isn’t something I can relate to even after 12 yrs. of Catholic school. I guess we post Vatican 2 babies had different issues. Like no nuns at all.

While there is no hard-hitting damage to be done to children; as an adult, I caught a whiff of some slightly deficient theology, maybe just to play for laughs, but considering the the level of religious ignorance we're currently up against, I am nit-picky. For example:

1. The reference to pagan babies going to hell. It was a minor joke. Still… you are playing to an audience under the influence of the mainstream media. They won’t necessarily get the joke. (yes, the Church takes baptism as seriously as Jesus did and as the normative means of salvation. No, She never taught the unbaptized are all likely going to hell.)

2. The joke about Sister claiming TV and cartoons are sinful. (yes some nuns spoke like that, and the media can be quite morally destructive, no, the church has never taught that TV or cartoons are intrinsically evil.)

3. The analogy of Boy Scouts and Church being organizations where you join and follow the rules and don’t ask questions. Ummm… Ha Ha Ha? (one may not like or agree with the Church’s answers or even agree that there is universal truth and doctrinal absolutes, but many a great (and not-so great) minds came into or back into the Church exactly because they did ask questions… lots of them.)

Numbers 1 and 2 are minor jokes that potentially play into a stereotype for the ignorant or those of less-than-good-will but are not likely to do much harm to the well-catechized. Number 3 I take exception to. His experience is his. But I want my children to have a more balanced and accurate perspective of church membership: funny ha has aside.

By and large, tweens won’t be reading it with such a critical eye, and my tweens loved it and laughed uproariously over the nuns and other vignettes. Then again, my children's primary experience with nuns has been with the young and fantastically joyous Sisters of Life in New York City, so they have a different perspective going into it.

SAFETY RATING: 2 1/2 FLAGS

See: Catechism of the Catholic Church:
The necessity of Baptism: 1257
Salvation Outside the Church: 846, 847

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