Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme

Remember learning nursery rhymes when you were a kid? Ever wonder what Jack and Jill were doing? Ever think that maybe Andrew Dice Clay was onto something? Then Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme: The seamy and quirky stories behind favorite nursery rhymes by Chris Roberts is the book for you.

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

One saucy explanation of this rhyme is that "up the hill to fetch a pail of water" is actually a euphemism for having sex and that "losing your crown" means losing your virginity (in much the same way that people might "go to see a man about a dog" or get up to ab it of "how's your father" if they want to be vague about what they are doing). So here you have a rhyme about a young couple slipping off for a bit of "slap and tickle" and the regrets that come later. This may explain why Jill is the one most severely punished in the additional verses once her mother realizes that she has been frolicking in the hills with jack. It is interesting that Jack runs off rapidly, probably to tell his mates about what happened.

Rex Riders by J.P. Carlson

Earlier this year we had the mash-up of Cowboys & Aliens (plus James Bond and Indiana Jones) which, whether you liked it or not, was a killer idea. Now consider taking cowboys and aliens and adding in dinosaurs. (Yes, dinosaurs!!!) Intrigued by all the potential awesomeness? Well then you need to take a look at Rex Riders where J.P Carlson has done exactly that as well as giving readers some classic western writing and good guys and bad guys and horses and stage coaches and a rampaging triceratops.

Come on, you know you're curious!

Bronxwood -- Coe Booth

Cybils season has commenced, as I'm sure you already know.

(If not, where have you been? And more importantly, go nominate your favorites! You only have until October 15th: Better to do it now, while you're thinking of it, instead of planning to do it later only to realize on the 16th that you've missed the deadline.)

This year, I'm one of the YA panelists. I'll be reading a whole lot of books in a short period of time, which means lots and lots of short reviews.

Without further ado: A bit about Bronxwood.

He Said, She Said- If I Stay + Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Welcome to He Said, She Said, a feature for GuysLitWire in which a guy (Book Chic) and a gal (Little Willow) discuss books that will appeal to both genders. Previously, we've discussed novels such as Soulless by Christopher Golden (zombie apocalypse now!) and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Today, we’re discussing Gayle Forman’s connected novels, If I Stay and Where She Went.

LW: If I Stay is the story of Mia, a teenager who slips into a coma after a tragic car accident that kills the rest of her family. She can see those who visit her in the hospital, and she also reflects on her past. How did you feel reading her thoughts?

BC: I really felt like I was reading about a real person. The way Forman sets up the story, moving between the present with Mia watching the people visiting her in the hospital and the past with Mia reminiscing about her life, was a really great way of getting across Mia’s personality and life story. It also shows why it’s such a tough decision for her to stay or go; it isn’t cut and dry. Going through Mia’s life was good too because Forman encapsulated so many different, various memories- happy, sad, funny, embarassing, romantic, etc.- that the reader really gets to know Mia through the book.

LW: I liked getting to know Mia through her memories. Even though I knew the premise of the book before reading the first page, the scene with the accident still hit me hard, and made me wish that it could have been prevented. To then follow the path of the person who would become the sole survivor or the final victim of that tragedy - I think I often held my breath while reading this book because I was so worried that Mia wouldn’t make it. After reading If I Stay, did you think there would/should be a sequel?

BC: I didn’t think there would be a sequel at all. I felt like it ended really well but this isn’t your usual sequel which I think made it work so well.

LW: How do you feel about the sequel principle in general?

BC: I think it’s become the norm in YA. It’s like everything I read is the first in a trilogy and there’s hardly any standalone books anymore. I love spending more time with characters as much as the next bookaholic, but sometimes I just want a book to, y’know, END, and not always be a cliffhanger. I do also think that sometimes there is a need for more than one book but other times, not so much and it can feel like the author is just trying to make a story longer even though it should have just been one book. So essentially, I don’t mind sequels, but I do also like to see standalone books published.

LW: Were you happy with the sequel, Where She Went? Did you like knowing what happened to Mia after the end of If I Stay?

BC: I was really happy with it and thought Forman did a really wonderful job. The switch of POV and taking place three years later was a good decision and it just made sense.

LW: I applaud Gayle Forman for giving Adam a voice of his own. Where She Went can really stand on its own. The narrators of these two books have different personalities, different tones, different priorities, and different interpretations of past events and memories.

BC: I was a bit wary before reading Where She Went because I wasn’t sure if it could be pulled off and if it would be as good as If I Stay was, but I shouldn’t doubt Forman. She’s such a good writer. I did like seeing what happened to Mia afterward and just spending time with her and Adam again even though it was a bit awkward at times, lol.

LW: Where She Went showed us characters we knew as teenagers now a little older, truly young adults. I feel as if there aren’t enough books with narrators of that age. Did you like Adam’s narration?

BC: I did! Forman did a great job writing from Adam’s POV, though at times, I did just want Adam to cheer up, lol. But the reader really gets into his head and sees how much he loves Mia, both now and before the events of If I Stay. It was good to see that perspective.

LW: Both Mia and Adam are musicians. I really wanted to hear them play. Whose music would draw you in first, Mia’s classic cello performances or Adam’s rock band?

BC: Neither really. I’m more of a pop/dance person but if I had to choose, I’d pick Mia. After reading Adam’s lyrics throughout Where She Went, I’m not sure it’s the kind of rock I’d like to listen to. Plus, I do like classical a bit more than rock music.

LW: Try the group Bond. You might like them.

BC: I actually already know about them and LOVE them. I really need to get their new album soon (just found out it got released, lol).

LW: Enjoy the music!

GUNNERKRIGG COURT VOL. 2: RESEARCH by Tom Siddell

The first volume of this series, Gunnerkrigg Court: Orientation was last year's Cybils winner for YA graphic novels--and a winner for me, as a fan of fantasy series like Sandman that bring in a wide range of mythological and magical elements that seem disparate but somehow come together. I also enjoyed the blend of science, clockworks, and magic, which gave it a sort of steampunk feel. So I was pleased to find Vol. 2 in my library and continue the tale of Antimony Carver and her friend Kat at a very mysterious school—one which happens to adjoin a wild forest populated by faeries, spirits, animal-gods, and other non- and quasi-human inhabitants.

As before, I was immediately engaged by both the artwork and its visual style as well as the surreal setting and wide range of quirky characters, each with their own story. I love the references to various different mythologies, whose coexistence is never quite explained—at least, not yet. We don't yet know the secrets of this odd place, of this setting which contains magical (or "etheric") elements as well as science. Though fans of school stories like the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books would probably enjoy this one, Gunnerkrigg is no Hogwarts. Though it, too, hides secrets everywhere and has a few ghosts hanging about, nothing is quite as clear-cut; there's no easy division between wizards and muggles, no complete separation between life and death and clockwork, between human and faerie.

Shipwrecks, Monsters and Mysteries of the Great Lakes by Ed Butts

My fascination with the wrecks of the Great Lakes dates back to the first time I heard Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", an incredibly popular ballad from the 1970s. Over time I read about many of the ships that sank in the lakes and found the stories tragic, heroic, mysterious and always deeply interesting. In his recent title, author Ed Butts does an excellent job of capturing some of the more intriguing accidents on the lakes, dating back to the Speedy which sank in 1804. In succeeding chapters he documents other ships like the Lady Elgin, the Waubuno, the Bannockburn and, of course, the Edmund Fitzgerald. But he also goes past that to write about "creatures of the abyss" and "Bessie" the beast of Lake Erie. (Every lake has a beast it seems.) (Lake Erie, incidentally, covers 9,940 square miles - which is nearly impossible for me to wrap my head around. It is also the shallowest lake.) (Now you are ready for Lake Erie trivia!)

Shipwrecks, Monsters and Mysteries of the Great Lakes has plenty of trivia, like the depth of the Lake Erie, but for such a slim volume (80 pages), it offers a lot more than just that. The design is stellar, with short informative chapters, plenty of black and white pictures (or illustrations) of the ships and a variety of ancillary information (like what happened to sister ships or the histories of nearby towns or lighthouses) is provided in brief highlighted text boxes giving readers a little bit extra.

He Said, She Said: The Adoration of Jenna Fox and The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson

Welcome to He Said, She Said, a feature for GuysLitWire in which a guy (Book Chic) and a gal (Little Willow) discuss books that will appeal to both genders. Previously, we've discussed novels such as Soulless by Christopher Golden (zombie apocalypse now!) and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Today, we're talking about Mary E. Pearson's connected stories The Adoration of Jenna Fox and The Fox Inheritance, the first two novels in a projected trilogy. Follow us into the future as we discuss these fantastic tales:

Little Willow: What drew you to the first book, The Adoration of Jenna Fox? I know I was eager to read it because I was intrigued by the premise and I had enjoyed Pearson's earlier novels. Did you read the book prior to reading any reviews or spoilers, or did you already know a bit of what was going to happen?

Book Chic: It just sounded really interesting and the cover was beautiful, so both of those together make me really want an ARC! I was able to get one and read it the month of release so I don't think I had really read anything too spoilery when I was reading Jenna Fox. I just loved the story and it's still one of my favorite books.

LW: Do you like sci-fi stories such as this, stories grounded in plausible scientific and technological advances? I do.

BC: I like all kinds of sci-fi stories but it is a bit fun to read stories that are more grounded and can be plausible. It's also a bit harrowing too because we could possibly end up like this and it may not seem like a good future to be in.

LW: The second book, The Fox Inheritance, is narrated by Jenna's friend, Locke. Did you like the narrative switch?

BC: First off, I had no idea a sequel was being written until I was at BEA this past May and someone mentioned Mary's signing that hadn't been on the online signing schedule. I of course immediately put it into my schedule for that day.

LW: I'm glad that you got to go!

There Once was a Man in a Mask...

Before heroes wore capes and had frikkin' laser beams or psychic craniums, there was a man, a simple man, if simplicity meant being a true Hero.

Just My Type by Simon Garfield

Are you a typography geek, able to identify fonts used in books, menus, and corporate logos? Or is Comic Sans the only font you recognize? Regardless of where you fall, Simon Garfield's Just My Type is a fascinating look at fonts.

Just My Type is not a font identification guide or a chronological history of fonts. I'm not actually sure how Garfield organized the book's chapters; after discussing how desktop computing revolutionized our relationship with type, he dives into the history of the aforementioned Comic Sans and the animosity many people feel towards it. Garfield also finds the time to discuss legibility vs. readability, the ampersand (did you know that while "long treated as a single character or glyph, the ampersand is actually two letters combined – the e and the t of the Latin 'et'"? I had no idea!), DIY typography, and more, while also jumping around through time to discuss the creation and influence of significant fonts, like Helvetica and Baskerville, among others.

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Thirteen year-old Charlie Bucktin is sleeping when there is knock on his bedroom window. It is Jasper Jones, the infamous town troublemaker, who roams their Australian community free of parental control. While not friends with Jasper, Charlie is somewhat in awe of him; a good guy who likes to read attracted to the thrill of bad Jasper Jones. Jasper is in deep trouble, he tells him. Charlie is shocked – and rather pleased -- that Jasper would come to him for help. Why me? Because, Charlie figures, he’s probably one of the few people in town he can trust and will not prejudge him as a dangerous delinquent. Jasper needs his help now, in the middle of the night, and he wants Charlie to sneak out of his house and come with him. What should he do?

He goes.

Jasper leads Charlie far from home and into some deep woods. It is Jasper’s secret place, hidden from the people in his town and the hell in his family. They enter Jasper’s clearing in the woods and there, in the middle, is their classmate from school, Laura Wishart, hanging dead from a tree branch, her face bruised, still in her nightgown.