Kansas.com: Books

Children's voices triumph in stories

ANNE STEPHENSON — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:41 CDT

"Say You're One of Them" by Uwem Akpan (Little Brown, 368 pages, $23.99) -- Uwem Akpan is a Jesuit priest and, judging from this collection of stories, a man with a kind and heavy heart.

The first story, set in Nairobi, Kenya, is about a family that survives on money earned by a 12-year-old daughter who's a prostitute.

The last and most shattering is about a Rwandan family destroyed by the Hutu/Tutsi civil war.

All the stories are narrated by children, which would seem an almost brutish tactic if it were not so stunningly effective. Children are able to create what Louise Erdrich calls, in a quote on the dust jacket, "dreamlike horror." They witness tragedy through eyes that are still too young to fully understand it.

What's ironic is that it's their naivete, the natural distance between themselves and absolute clarity, that allows them to describe it so well.

Men of honor hit the desert in 'Rommel'

TONY PERRY — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:41 CDT

"Killing Rommel: A Novel" by Steven Pressfield (Doubleday, 300 pages, $27.95)

Steven Pressfield, who pushed to the forefront of war novelists with his history-based tales of ancient warriors, has turned his considerable skills to a modern conflict in "Killing Rommel."

The result, as the novel's British protagonist might say, is a ripping good read: gritty and dramatic. For anyone interested in how and why honorable men go to war, this one's for you.

True enough, the setup is a standard template: an ad hoc group thrown together for a desperate mission that, if successful, can shorten World War II. Think of "The Guns of Navarone" set in the North African desert.

But in Pressfield's hands, the story of the British army's Long Range Desert Group and its effort to find and eliminate German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is as fresh and compelling as the morning's headlines, quite a feat when you consider that even the most casual History Channel watcher knows that "the Desert Fox" did not die in the desert.

On the road with the president

JOSEPH B. FRAZIER — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:41 CDT

"Presidential Travel: The Journey From George Washington to George W. Bush" by Richard Ellis (University Press of Kansas, 328 pages, $34.95)

In 1833, President Andrew Jackson was a steamboat passenger when a lieutenant he had once fired asked him if he was, in fact, President Jackson. Jackson allowed as how he was, and was greeted with a punch in the nose.

Early presidents traveled unprotected, and young America liked it that way. The country's love was their protection, we said.

Willamette University Professor Richard Ellis' "Presidential Travel," well-laced with lively anecdotes, is a highly readable look at how presidents wanted to be seen and how Americans wanted to see them, and how travel defined it.

Ellis laments that the topic has been little explored "because presidential travel provides an important window into the changing relationship between the president and the people." And that relationship may have come full circle -- or more.

Tips to help your children adjust to life with a new baby

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:40 CDT

Having a baby? Here's some advice on helping siblings adjust to the new baby, from the book "Oh, Baby! Loving (and surviving!) Your Newborn's First Year" (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $14.95), straight from people who've done it:

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"Include older children in the care of the baby. Ask them to help fold clothes. Set an alarm clock and ask them to remind you when it goes off so you know it's time to feed the baby. Compliment them on helping mommy."

-- Janet Vallone, Waymart, Pa.

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BILLIE LETTS BOOK SIGNING

LISA MCLENDON — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:40 CDT

Writer Billie Letts, an Oklahoma native, has an obvious fondness for her home state -- and a thing for a certain discount store found all over rural America.

"Where the Heart Is," her debut novel, told the story of Novalee Nation, an abandoned, pregnant teen who temporarily makes her home in a Sequoyah, Okla., Wal-Mart.

In "Made in the U.S.A.," her latest, Letts briefly revisits Wal-Mart, as the starting point for the story, and eventually brings the story to Oklahoma.

Fifteen-year-old Lutie and 11-year-old Fate McFee run away to avoid foster care after their guardian drops dead at the Spearfish, S.D., Wal-Mart. The two head for Las Vegas in search of their father. But the initial glamour quickly gives way to a dark and dangerous lifestyle, and the kids, living in their car, find out just how tough life on the street is.

As a result, "Made in the U.S.A." has some pretty gritty parts, which Letts said were tough to write. "The horrible things I did to her (Lutie)... I cried in those sections."

Is there hope for the Plains?

GAYLORD DOLD — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:38 CDT

"Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvests" by Richard E. Wood (University Press of Kansas, 223 pages, $34.95)

During the spring of 2008 the world passed a critical milestone in its population trends. Now, more than 50 percent of the world's people live in urban areas. In the United States, that figure is 83 percent.

Even more importantly, most of America's high plains, an area stretching roughly along either side of U.S. Highway 283 all the way from the Texas Panhandle to eastern Montana, and passing through large areas of western Kansas, are being steadily depopulated, ravaged by drought, economic ruin and environmental degradation.

Denver attorney Richard Wood, who grew up in a small town in western Kansas and served as a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, has written a lively book which takes a heartfelt look at rural America, a look which is of particular importance for those of us who love the plains and worry about its future.

Focused mainly on Kansas, "Survival of Rural America" is composed of three main parts. Its first part examines the economic and environmental history of the plains, placing the region in its international context. Wood argues that worldwide market and demographic forces have created common problems for farmers, ranchers and small-town businessmen not only on the plains, but in Europe and Asia as well.

Confusions of the heart

CONNIE OGLE — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:38 CDT

"The Story of a Marriage" by Andrew Sean Greer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 208 pages, $22)

The haunting questions in Andrew Sean Greer's exquisite new novel resonate with us all: "What do you want from life? Could you even say?" We might be able to articulate a general idea -- say, that reliable old standby "I want to be happy." But such plainspoken desire may wobble in light of the awful but undeniable truth: "We think we know the ones we love.... But what we love turns out to be a poor translation, a translation we ourselves have made, from a language we barely know."

Revealing secrets in layers as delicate as onionskin, "The Story of a Marriage" explores the nature of love and connection and human frailty set against a backdrop of war and repression. Author of the poignant "The Confessions of Max Tivoli," in which a man ages backward through time, Greer has an intrepid imagination, an uncanny ability to bring the past to rumbling life and a surprising mastery of tension.

"The Story of a Marriage" unfolds in the shadow of one war and the defining memories of another, a domestic drama as suspenseful as any mystery. It's a finely structured whodunnit about the confusion inherent in matters of the heart.

"Max Tivoli's" opening line --"We are each the love of someone's life" -- feels appropriate here. For narrator Pearlie Cook, a housewife living in the Sunset District of San Francisco, that love is her husband, Holland, her childhood sweetheart and father to their Sonny.

You'll want to pirate 'Leo'

STEVE JOHNSON — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:38 CDT

"Good Night, Leo," by Charise Mericle Harper (Robin Corey Books, ages 2-5, $6.99), is "a swashbuckling bedtime adventure."

All day long Leo wears pirate clothes, carries a silver sword and plays with his boat.

At bedtime, he says good night to his pirate things and transfers them one by one to his teddy bear.

Charise Mericle Harper has produced a board book filled with creativity, vocabulary and fun.

Each page shows things like "green frog, green light, green peas" before Leo says "Good night, green bandana."

FRIED PLANTAINS

JUNE NAYLOR — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:39 CDT

"Everybody Eats Lunch" (Glitterati Inc., $16), a new book for kids ages 4 to 11, takes a midday-meal trip through five countries. Author and cooking instructor Cricket Azima rounds up kids from Mexico, Brazil, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa.

Each shares how to say "lunch" in his or her native language, what time of day it is eaten and whether it is eaten at home with family or at school with friends. Nelly from Jamaica explains in English that his lunch is enjoyed with friends at school at 2 p.m.

As in each of the five little chapters, Nelly shares his Jamaican menu and recipes, including fried plantains.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 plantains, peeled and cut into ½-inch-thick slices

10 ways to get kids to read for fun

MICHAEL KELLY — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:42 CDT

A TBS commercial for the sitcom "The Bill Engvall Show" might not be that far off. After being told to go to his room and not watch TV, the teenage son asks, "What are we supposed to do?"

"Read," the mother barks.

"No, seriously," the teen responds, looking confused. Cue laugh track.

But maybe it's no laughing matter.

According to children's book publisher Scholastic's 2008 Kids and Family Reading Report, kids are reading less and less for fun. Also, while the study found that many kids are now reading for fun on the Internet, potentially taking time away from book reading, a high percentage of such kids are the ones who already read books for fun regularly.

2008 Kansas Notable Books Eagle staff

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:41 CDT

Fifteen books have a place on the third annual Kansas Notable Book List, announced by the State Library of Kansas. The list, which includes fiction, nonfiction and children's books, honors books released in the preceding year either by Kansas authors or about Kansas. For this year's list, 122 books were considered, state librarian Roy Bird said in a news release.

The books, listed alphabetically by title, are:

1. "American Shaolin" by Matthew Polly

Kansas meets kung fu in this memoir covering a Topeka college student's two years studying martial arts and Buddhism at the Shaolin Temple in China.

2. "The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians" illustrated by Brad Sneed

BOOK SIGNING

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:41 CDT

"Waterwalk: A Passage of Ghosts" by Steven Faulkner (RDR Books, 372 pages, $18.95, paperback)

BY ANNIE CALOVICH

It's something many of us wish we had the nerve to do: carve a couple of months out of our schedules and go on an adventure.

Steven Faulkner, a KU alum who was throwing the Topeka Capital-Journal at the time as well as juggling a second job, graduate school and fatherhood, decided to take a break from it all to rebuild a relationship with his 16-year-old son, Justin.

The two set out on a 1,000-mile canoe trip that retraced the 1673 journey of French explorers Joliet and Marquette from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi.

Tips for surviving getting into college

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:37 CDT

Need help getting into college? Here's some advice about getting support from counselors and parents from the book "How to Survive Getting Into College" (Hundreds of Heads Books, $13.95), straight from people who've done it:

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"To avoid stress, set certain times of each day to worry about admissions, and during the rest of the time, try not to deal with it. Go out with friends, go to the movies, go tip a cow... anything but worrying about school."

-- K.R., Winchester, Va., University of Virginia

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Tour Mexico with these cookbooks

JUDY HEVRDEJS — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:37 CDT

A good cookbook on Mexico -- actually, a good cookbook on any cuisine -- should be like a conversation with a friend about good food.

OK, so in this case that friend may be a cookbook author, say Rick Bayless or Diana Kennedy, but consider them friends nonetheless. A search via Amazon.com through "Mexican cooking" books kicked up more than 2,800 titles. Here are five books that are worth perusing.

1. "Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking From the Heart of Mexico," by Rick Bayless with Deann Groen Bayless (Morrow, $30). Possessing a researcher's hunger for information, Bayless happily relates stories from his travels, along with recipes both simple and complex.

2. "Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking," by Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky (Ten Speed Press, $29.95). These authors hail from California's Bay Area and boast two restaurants (Tacubaya in Berkeley and Dona Tomas in Oakland), but they do not do Cal-Mex.

3. "My Mexico: A Culinary Odyssey With More Than 300 Recipes," by Diana Kennedy (Clarkson Potter; $37.50). Pick this up to travel along with Kennedy on her adventures about the country, poking around markets in Puebla, the kitchens of Jalisco and wedding preparations in Oaxaca.

A look at fathers in literature

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:43 CDT

Last month in honor of Mother's Day, I attempted to highlight the best mothers in literature and wound up a little frustrated. But dads deserve attention, too, so this month for Father's Day we take a look at fictional fathers.

While there are plenty of abusive, neglectful and absent dads, there are heroes, too, some romantics and, like mothers, some that fall into the "it's complicated" category.

In literature, as in life, the father-child relationship can lead to conflict: Pride, strength and expectations interact in powerful ways, especially between fathers and sons.

Two characters from ancient times, Oedipus and Electra, had such primal, archetypal relationships with their respective fathers that modern psychology named complexes for them.

But there were also hero-warriors in ancient literature, honoring their fathers and sons: Vergil's Aeneas, fleeing Troy with his son by the hand and his father on his shoulders; Homer's Priam, ransoming the body of his slain son, Hector.

Imperfect lives

GORDON HOUSER — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:38 CDT

"The Plague of Doves" by Louise Erdrich (HarperCollins, 314 pages, $25.95)

Louise Erdrich is a masterful storyteller with a penchant for multiple narrators who use poetic, visceral language, arresting characters -- usually including Native Americans -- and a touch of magic realism thrown in. "The Plague of Doves" follows this pattern and succeeds magnificently.

The four narrators in this book reflect on not only their own lives but that of others in and around the small town of Pluto, N.D. The town itself is a major character which has suffered a great wound in its past. Pluto (the name of the god of the underworld) but sits near a reservation of Ojibwe.

An unsolved murder of a farm family in 1911 haunts the town's residents and affects nearly all of them. After the murder, a group of white vigilantes lynched several falsely accused Indians, including a 13-year-old boy, an act they called "rough justice."

The descendants of these whites and Ojibwe intermarry over the years, leaving a generation of mixed blood who don't know what happened in the past. The older folks won't talk about this painful event.

History slipped away with RFK

ANNE STEPHENSON — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:38 CDT

"The Last Campaign" by Thurston Clarke (Holt, 336 pages, $25) _ This is the bittersweet story of the 1968 presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, which ended when he was shot just hours after he won the California primary.

In the 82 days of his candidacy, he'd brought hope to his supporters and compassion and promise to the poorest and most neglected citizens of a troubled nation.

His death rocked them all.

"I can feel history slipping through my fingers," a reporter said as Kennedy lay dying.

Clarke stirringly re-creates what one supporter called "the brief, bright dream" of a Robert Kennedy presidency before it was destroyed by senseless violence.

Getting married again: Tips for second weddings

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:00 CDT

Here's some advice on how to enjoy your wedding if you've been married before from the book "Where to Seat Aunt Edna and 500 Other Great Wedding Tips" (Hundreds of Heads Books, $13.95), straight from people who've done it:

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"Do it the way you wanted it the first time. Go with your instinct. I had more control over the wedding the second time: it was smaller. And the rock on my finger was bigger: it went up a carat and a half."

Anonymous, New York

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Getting married again: Tips for second weddings

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:38 CDT

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"Do it the way you wanted it the first time. Go with your instinct. I had more control over the wedding the second time: It was smaller. And the rock on my finger was bigger: It went up a carat and a half."

Anonymous, New York

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Baby survivalwith tips from 'Rookie Moms'

JACKIE BURRELL — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:38 CDT

Those first babbles, the first glowing smile -- everyone expects the sweetness of life with a new baby. But staying home with a newborn is a startling adjustment, says Whitney Moss -- especially the first, sleep-deprived time around.

"It's really lonely," says Moss, dandling daughter Scarlett on one hip as she orders a frothy mocha at a Berkeley, Calif., coffeehouse. "You expected joy, but you're essentially by yourself, except for the occasional coos."

Three years ago, Moss and best friend Heather Flett were new moms wrestling with the same housebound angst that faces most first-time mothers -- by the time the stroller is prepped, diaper bag packed and baby bundled up to leave the house, she's too exhausted to move. Or it's almost naptime. Or feeding time.

So, they challenged each other to come up with a list of activities to get themselves out of the house in those early days -- a walk, an errand or a jaunt to the coffee shop to reconnect with a friend.

At first it was a way to preserve sanity. Then, it became a rapidly expanding Web site, RookieMoms.com. Now, it's a new book -- a boxy, lavender-and-melon-tinged paperback that tucks in diaper bags and offers 250 activities to do with a wobbly headed infant, bubbly 6-month-old or curious crawler in tow.