The Help, Race, Southern Authors, and Popular Opinion

I was recently attempting to look up books "like The Help"  with the idea of reviewing a couple here, and was sad to discover that many sights were just listing other book that are being made into movies at the moment. 

The help has been fairly big in Denver for a while now, as it was chosen as the 2011 One Book One Denver.  It was a bit controversial at the Library.  It had already been heavily circulated and the general opinion was that too many people had already read it, and too recently, for it to be chosen.  Even more interestingly, most of the African American women who work at the library, and can remember the 60's, seemed to be of the opinion that the subject had been talked to death.  They didn't like the book, they didn't want to talk about it.  They didn't want to read about another black maid.

I am a guerita, a white girl that is, and being from Arizona I rather infamously thought we were all Mexican for a length of time only possible for a white girl.  I wasn't born in the 60's, and had been raised on Disney Sunday Movies and children's literature that solidly demonized racism as a conquered thing of the past, a strange reality which seemed to have existed, if at all, only in the deep South at a comfortable distance in the past.

I later went on to join Teach For America in the Houston projects and then earned a MA in Sociology which began with an interest in stratification and segregation.   I consider myself better educated on the subject of racism and race relations in America now, but I still remember being surprised by the reaction elicited by The Help  in the Black women of the library.  The book was receiving almost unanimous ravings by white patrons and workers of all ages, and I don't remember hearing anything either way from younger black women.  I began to wonder about the racial and generational divide with respect to readers of The Help, and what this divide says about our national collective understanding on the subject.

Perhaps some people in the blog-o-verse would be interested in discussing the subject?  Comments are welcome!  What does it say about our collective consciousness with respect to race relations if the appetite for civil rights era literature is a mainly white phenomenon?  Or is that even an accurate statement?  Perhaps the women of Denver Public Library are an anomaly? Is there  also a generational divide?  It seems to me that white America practically runs from discussions of race in our own time, yet has a fairly healthy appetite for stories about the racial tensions of the past.  Meanwhile black Americans are much more likely in my experience, to discuss current events without running from race.

What other southern writers would you recommend to readers of The Help?  I was thinking these might be some good author/book suggestions.  Some of them are fairly obvious, but still.  I would love to hear from you, what do you recommend for readers who loved or hated The Help?

• Toni Morrison (The Bluest Eye)
• Flannery O'Conner (Everything that rises Must Converge)
• Rebecca Wells (Little Alters Everywhere)
• Twain (Huckfinn)
• Eudora Welty (Optimists Daughter)
• Kaye Gibbons (Ellen Foster)
• Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees)
• Fannie Flagg (Fried Green Tomatoes)
• Minrose Gwin (The Queen of Palmayra)
• Mildred D. Taylor (Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry)
• Jennifer Lynn Baszile (The Black Girl Next Door) 
• Maya Angelou (I know Why The Caged Bird Sings) 
•  John Howard Griffin (Black Like Me)

Book Lovers Trivia Pursuit

This is not actually about a book, but about a game about books.
I would like everyone who ever reads this or other book blogs, those who consider themselves true novel aficionados, lovers of books, libraries and all things type-faced, to try this game.

I got Book Lovers' Edition several years ago from my sister, Kim, for Christmas, because I wanted to buy it for my brother-in-law, and it turned out in the course of the shopping trip that I found out Bill does not actually read.  (He is literate, but he does not really align himself with the fiction aficionados aforementioned.  This was a disconcerting revelation in the aisles of Toys R US after giving him approximately two decades of Christmas and Birthday books.  It was decided that this particular game was probably not his cup of tea, and Kim bought it for me instead)

I was cleaning the hall closet this week, and I ran across the game.  It brought back memories of the last time it got played, the same holiday season we got it.  It seems that neither my brilliant bibliophilic (mostly) family nor my eclectic and generally genius level friends could get more than one or two out of a zillion questions right.  Every game turned into a massive giggle-fest punctuated with copious amounts of sangria and box wine, along with ungodly quantities of homemade holiday treats.

I was wondering if the broader audiance of book-a-hollics (non-recovering) would have better luck.  I am going to post some of the questions here for your perusal.  Let us see how many out of 12 each of us can get, sans google.  The answers are down under the picture, typed backwards.  (I swear I am picking them at random, 2 from each category)

1. Children's - What children's author chronicled the menagerie living at her Chappaqua, New York home in The Tarantula in my Purse: and 172 Other Wild Pets?   
2. Classics - What's the name of the young boar who ousts Snowball to gain power in Animal Farm?
3. Nonfiction - What morning radio host does Kathleen Tracy bill as "America's Cowboy," in a 1999 biography? 
4. Book Club Favorites - Who presented Any Woman's Blues, a faux autobiography of painter Leila Sand, as if her recurring character Isadora Wing had written it? 
5. Favorite Authors - What was Henry David Thoreau's name, until he  pulled the old switcharoo at age 16? 
6. Book Bag Surprise - What runaway bestseller did John Grisham admit he wrote by following Writer's Digest  guidelines for a suspense novel?  
7. Children's -What Jez Alborough book tells the tale of a lost baby chimp longing to be cuddled by his mum?
8. Classics -  What title character lived in West Egg, across the bay from the Buchanans?
9. Nonfiction - What magician explains why he stood atop an 83-foot pillar for 36 hours, in Mysterious Stranger?  
10. Book Club Favorites - What 20th century American schooled herself on fourth-century Egypt , 18th-century Haiti and 19th-century France to write The Salt Roads? 
11. Favorite Authors - What up-and-coming author died in a plane crash on the book tour for her first novel, Wonder When You'll Miss Me? 
12. Book Bag - What 1996 book did Candace Bushnell base on her columns for the New York Observer?  Sex and the City

I got 4/12.  30%?  Perhaps I will do better after library school?  How did you do?

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2.   noelopaN
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6.  mriF ehT
7.  guH
8.  ybstaG yaJ
9.  enialB divaD
10.   nosnikpoH olaN
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12.  ytiC eht dna xeS

Bossypants

I am reading Tina Fey's Bossypants right now, and I will warn you it could lead to laughing out loud in the gym.  I read a free excerpt on Brian's kindle earlier this summer on the train in Germany.  I cackled down the tracks not so quietly to myself while Oscar and Brian shrugged off our fellow passengers' questions about my sanity.

People will look at you funny while you chortle your way through the varied and disparate chapters of Fey's life.  If you had an akward decade you will be used to these stares and will also fully appreciate  the multiple nerd photos scattered about the book. 

 "Growing up and liking It" will make anyone laugh who had to sit through the florescent pink film-strip about periods that don't go at the end of a sentence.  At least it was a filmstrip in Prince William County Virginia in the late 80's.  Tina's mom gave her a kit that would explain the facts of life in a sort of independent study fashion.  The kit mostly scared the begesis out of her, and haunted her closet for most of fourth grade.  When the information would have come in handy it missed its mark.  To quote, "I had noticed something was weird earlier in the day, but I knew from commercials that one's menstrual period was a blue liquid that you poured like laundry detergent onto maxi pads to test their absorbency.  This wasn't blue, so ... I ignored it for a few hours."

If you are laughing you should pick up the book.  If you are not you may have the wrong set of chromosomes for full enjoyment.  Personally I found Tina Fey's TMI style of humor, in which she is almost always the butt of her own joke, a lot like hanging out with the girls on one of those road trips or slumber parties where you have to rush to the bathroom to avoid humor induced bladder malfunction. 

Historical Fiction - My World War II Habit

I love almost any historical fiction, but I have been especially fascinated with the World War II era since sometime around fourth grade.  I am not sure what inspired this interest, but just mention 1940 something and hand me a book and I will read it.  Here are some of my old and new favorites from that time period.

For kids there is Lois Lowry's fabulous Number the Stars, which takes place in Denmark.  It is a Newberry winner, and stars a young girl who ends up helping smuggle family friends and neighbors out of the country.  While the nine-year-old protagonist does get to actively participate in the resistance, the book is realistic about her level of understanding, without being condescending to young readers.  Lowry includes historically accurate information about the resistance in Denmark, where the majority of the Jewish population amazingly escaped Hitler's final solution.  It's a good read even for adults, although perfect for upper elementary or middle school readers.


The Book Thief by Markus Zusak also stars a young girl, although this much more complex story is written for older teens and adults.  Zusak's writing style has been compared to that of Kurt Vonnegut, and the chapters veer back and fourth between various protagonists and the book's narrator, Death with a capital D.  You will cry...maybe even weep...while reading about his Leisel's life in Nazi controlled Germany, you will be really glad you read it.  Its focus on life from inside a Germany highjacked by a fringe movement that many or most felt powerless to resist is enlightening and fascinating.  The fictional Katniss Everdeen from Susan Collins's The Hunger Games would identify with Zusak's story perfectly.  You should really read both, although Katniss is factually out of place in a discussion of WWII period pieces.

For a mix of time-traveling sci-fi and historical fiction, Connie Willis is alwasy a sure bet.  Her most recent novels, Blackout and All Clear chronicle the adventures of Oxford time-traveling historians in a time-travel paradox circling around the streets of London during the Blitz.  The tow books really add up to one massive narrative, and while some connections between the characters who appear in Willis's other novels can be a bit slippery, the final story is a very enjoyable tangle of events with just enough questions answered to leave you wanting a little bit more about her universe.  The history, as far as I have heard or read, is meticulously researched and presented. 

For another look at Britain during the War, Alexander McCall Smith has La's Orchestra Saves the World.  It's a quick read and while slightly more suspenseful and nerve wracking than his normal offerings, continues to demonstrate his great ear for dialogue and ability to represent many different slices of society simultaneously.  While many books about or during WWII can leave a taste of horror, La's Orchestra focuses overwhelmingly on the ability for humans to rise above evil circumstances to create community and beauty.  You might want to read it after The Book Thief, just to remind yourself that everyone doesn't always get the shaft.

This post is already too long I am sure, although I did warn you in the beginning taht we are talking WWII here.  How can I hold it down to less than a kajillion titles?  I will restrain myself by mentioning just a couple more briefly.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows also takes place in Great Britain, although this time on an island off the coast that was actually occupied by the Nazis.  This is another book that seems to protect the reader form the worst points of the period and instead focus's on the everyday heroes.  Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story, provides slices of the everyday as well as episodes and seasons of horrific violence.  It is based on the journals of the Warsaw Zookeeper's Wife from just before the invasion of Poland until the Allied liberation of Poland.  It is very interesting in conjunction with La's Orchestra, if you don't know about Poland's place in the history of both Nazi-controlled Europe and the post-war years.

Of course, there are many more WWII era books that should go on this list.  If you have a favorite, please add a comment so that I can read it too!

Alexander Mccall Smith - Cozy and Prolific, Yet Intelligent

Alexander McCall Smith is probably best known for the Number One Ladies Detective Agency series.  While I haven't actually read that series, I feel safe in recommending it just knowing how very homey and well written his Sunday Philosophy Club, and Corduroy Mansion books are. 

His characters span the generations, from children to middle aged folks, which I find to be unusual in modern books.  We live in a society divided by class, race and age and we tend to create stories and experiences with one point of view in mind rather than the tangle of variously aged and situated folks that really exist.  Mr. Smith's ability to appreciate the tangle may be what makes his worlds seem both both textured and nostalgic. 

Reading a McCall Smith novel is like slipping into a chapter of the early 1900's, in which the world has become more liberal and technologically advanced, yet retained old-world manners and traditions.  Smith creates a network of characters linked organically into settings that are integral to the story rather than a background for random plot.  A visit with his Isabel Dalhousie is a trip to Edinburgh, a walk through life that could not exist elsewhere without drastic reconstruction and a personality transplant. 

Craving some heavy action and suspense?  Well, don't look between these comforting covers.  Rather, curl up with Smith when  you are feeling like a walk in different shoes after a hard day at work or a harried day with the family.  Your blood-pressure will plummet with every word, and your smile will creep right back out from under your nose.

Read-Alouds with Rhythm

We were all raised with the rhyme and rhythm of Dr. Seuss.  Here are some more recent additions to the world of cats in hats and red and blue fishes.

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont is sure to get your young story-time attendees giggling.   Encourage them to paint with their imaginations while a naughty boy creates a mess between the pages.  The pictures are delightful and the cadence and rhymes will have the kids bouncing on the rug.  Beaumont's Baby Danced the Polka is great for smaller crowds as well, with lift-up flaps, dancing stuffed animals, and lines that make you bob your head involuntarily.  Both books are ALA Notable Children's Books for Young Readers. If you like these glossy, colorful romps try out Louella Mae, She's Run Away, which has all the charm of the first two titles along with a surprise ending that will have the kids gasping.

The Ravenous Beast, by Niamh Sharkey chronicles a group of hungry hungry animals as they one-up each other with their hyperbolic claims of impending starvation and their lists of rhyming, rhythmical items that they wish to consume.  I have seen this whimsically illustrated book inspire precocious vocabulary growth, with kindergarteners begging their parents for dinner because they are just soooooo ravenous they can hardly stand it!

Iza Trapani's song storybooks are a big hit, with multiple verses of I'm a Little Teapot, The Itsy-Bitsy Spider and Jinglebells always ready to rock your classroom or library. 
Happy reading!  I can barely keep my foot from tapping as I consider your future read-aloud fun.

Women's fiction - Fun New Release

Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series re-imagines Queen Victoria's England into a light and grin-able kingdom in which steam-punk collides with the supernatural.  Her fourth installment, Heartless, is hot off the presses; number five, Timeless, is coming at us in March of 2012. 

The books center on Alexia, an unfortunate Lady of good breeding who was born without the usually requisite soul.  She makes up for her soullessness by carefully attending to manors and decorum like a manic junior league version of Buffy, introductions just so while ensuing that all supernatural threats to the British Empire are neatly sidestepped.  Her soullessness supports a character that will remind you of TV's Tempe Brennan, translated from Kathy Reich's semi-autobiographical mysteries. 

Carriger creates romance that mocks the swooners and supernatural protagonists whom live through the afterlife permanently tongue in cheek,  surrounded by wacky steam driven contraptions of torture and entertainment.  Take the protectorate with you on your next dirigible float for some witty entertainment and well-manored foolishness.