Escaping Dreamland by Charlie Lovett

First Line: On those rare occasions when Magda thought of the past, she didn't recall the flames and the screams and the rows of bodies; she came here-- to these mementoes gathered in an old shoebox, souvenirs not of tragedy but of happiness.

When his debut novel becomes a bestseller, Robert Parrish's life and his cherished relationship with his girlfriend Rebecca begins to fall apart. Parrish knows that he must confront his secret demons in order to save the relationship, and doing that means diving headfirst into the books that changed his life-- a childhood set of serial novels featuring the Tremendous Trio. 

Guided by twelve tattered books and a tantalizing story fragment, Robert's journey takes him to 1906 Manhattan, but every discovery he makes only leads to more questions.

His quest intertwines with the stories of three young people trying to define their places in the world at the start of a new century. Magda, Gene, and Tom not only write the children's books that Robert will one day love, together they explore the city on their doorstep. One quest becomes four, and readers will want to know what happens to them all.

Charlie Lovett knows how to find literary topics that I can't resist. From book collecting in The Bookman's Tale to Jane Austen in First Impressions to the Holy Grail in The Lost Book of the Grail (my favorite), this man has put a stranglehold on my imagination and my attention. In Escaping Dreamland, he's done it again.

Probably the best thing Lovett has done is to bring back many wonderful memories of the books I loved as a child. A favorite scene in the book is the one in which Parrish visits an elderly collector who tells him about saving his ten-cent allowance for five weeks so that his father would take him to Brentano's Bookstore on Fifth Avenue so he could buy the latest book in his favorite series. I learned so much fascinating history about children's serial fiction in Escaping Dreamland that I'm tempted to make time to read some again. Lovett weaves one memorable scene after another into his story: the San Francisco earthquake, John Singer Sargent painting a portrait, the General Slocum disaster, visiting Dreamland on Coney Island... He brings Gilded Age America (and in particular, New York City) to life, and if you're the type of reader who is concerned about the appearance of historical characters in a work of fiction, read Lovett's notes at the end of the book. 

All the characters in the book except Parrish's girlfriend Rebecca have demons to fight. Only Robert's demon is left unspoken until the end, but it's rather easy to deduce. If there's one thing I don't particularly like about Escaping Dreamland, it is the "magic box" at the end, but at least the entirety of the lives of the three characters from the earlier timeline is not served up to Parrish on a silver platter. Readers know more than he does, and I like that. 

I'm looking forward to Lovett's next book. It's not often that you find an author who knows how to get a grip on both your heart and your mind, and Charlie Lovett is one of those writers for me. If you're a fan, you've got a treat in store. If you've never heard of him before, I highly recommend this man's books. He knows how to tell a tale.

 

Escaping Dreamland by Charlie Lovett

ASIN: B086FG19M1

Blackstone Publishing © 2020

eBook, 323 pages

 

Literary Mystery, Standalone

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Favorite Childhood Book Covers, Round Two

This week it's time for me to share the favorite childhood book covers of some of my readers. I want to thank them for sending them to me. This time I won't say all that much (unless the mood strikes), I'll just let the covers do the talking. Let's get started!

Kathy D. from New York City

Now Kathy shared some of her favorites in comments on my first post on this topic, and I thought it only fair that I share them, too. Hopefully I chose the right covers... sometimes it can be dangerous to assume! When I was in doubt, I went to my default position and chose the one that was most familiar to me.

I remember both these very well. In fact, The Poky Little Puppy is one of the Little Golden Books that I still own. Given to me as a baby, they do show some age, but they are neither chewed nor slobbered upon, which I take as a sign that I was a born reader! 

Thank you for your input, Kathy. I value it as I value all your comments on my posts. It is one of the pleasures of blogging to discover how people from very different walks of life find so much common ground in books.

Kathleen from New York State

If you're wondering about the tape and other signs of wear, this is a scan of the book that Kathleen still owns. What a marvelous choice! (Am I the only one, or do those people in circles remind anyone else of the introduction to The Twilight Zone?) Thanks so much for your contribution-- and I look forward to your next visit to my neck of the woods!

Reta AKA Bufalogirl

I'm sorry, Reta-- I couldn't remember where you're from! I wasn't sure which cover was the right one, so I chose the cover that's on my copy of The Once and Future King. I love this book! Thank you for your contribution to this post-- and for your emails that never fail to make me smile.

Kay from Texas

I would imagine quite a few of you know Kay, who's currently on a holiday blogging break from Kay's Reading Life. Like Kathleen from New York State, I've had the pleasure of meeting Kay, and both women are wonderful to sit down with to talk books (and anything else)! Kay sent quite a variety, so let's take a look--

 

I swear I've read most of Kay's choices. Both titles and covers look very familiar. How about you?

I hope you enjoyed these reader contributions; I know I did! If you have any of your own that you'd like to share, feel free to send them (pictures or just titles) to me-- kittlingbooks(at)gmail(dot)com.

 

Favorite Childhood Book Covers, Round One

It's hard for me to believe, but it was a few months ago that I asked for volunteers from the studio audience to share some of their favorite childhood book covers. Now it's finally time for me to share them all with you-- starting with mine.

I hope you like my graphic above. It reminds me of growing up in a library surrounded by books. Yes, I did have bangs and glasses and a little gingham dress a lot like that, and I loved to sit at the table in the very back of our village library so I could go through the stacks of books I'd selected to read.

It's only when I began my semi-regular series of posts comparing the US and UK book covers of crime fiction titles that it occurred to me that I could visualize several of the covers of my favorite childhood books as if it were yesterday. As I start showing them to you, I think you're going to see a pattern rapidly form. Not only that, but you're probably going to have a good idea of what sort of little girl I was. Let's get started!

I remember the very first three books I read all by myself: Arty the Smarty (about a know-it-all young whale), Hurry Up, Slowpoke! (about a little mouse who finally learned not to dawdle), and-- my favorite-- Sylvester the Mouse with the Musical Ear. Sylvester lived in a Stradivarius violin, so he was a very special little creature.

I think one of the reasons why I preferred the book about Sylvester was that naturally the story was more interesting, but the artwork and cover were superior to the "mod" slightly abstract covers and artwork for the other two books. At least to my very young eyes. Even then I preferred a very large dose of realism to my art.

Of course after that remark about realism, you're going to laugh at my next book cover, aren't you? Straight after Arty and Slowpoke and Sylvester, I fell head over heels for Thornton W. Burgess's animal stories-- and their illustrator, Harrison Cady.  

You're right. You're right. There's absolutely nothing realistic about a pair of beavers dressed in human clothing, but you see, I knew that at the time, and those illustrations made me smile.

I learned a ton of stuff about wild creatures and their habits and habitats from Burgess and Cady. And those pictures of Paddy in his patched britches and Mrs. Paddy in her apron and bonnet helped me think of wild creatures-- not as humans-- but as other living beings with needs and families and emotions, and ultimately as deserving of my respect and care. I'm pretty sure that that's what Thornton W. Burgess wanted all along.

Dull as ditch water just about sums up this book cover, doesn't it? Be that as it may, that series of books was one of my absolute favorites as a small child. The huge series was called "Childhood of Famous Americans," and I devoured each one from cover to cover. One of the things I like about the series so much was that it didn't just cover famous Caucasian males. It also covered women as well as people of other races.

The blue in the graphic is faded, which should be expected from a book that's sixty years old, give or take a year or so. But that bright blue cover stood out on the library shelves, and it taught me an important lesson: not to judge a book solely by its cover. You see, I had to look at each title carefully to see if I'd read it already!

At roughly the same time that I fell for Thornton Burgess and the lives of those famous Americans, I also fell hard for Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and their illustrations and covers by Garth Williams. The cover of Little House on the Prairie is one of my all-time favorites. Looking at those two little girls sitting in the back of the Conestoga wagon, there's such a feeling of adventure... and a bit of apprehension. I loved Garth Williams' art, and for those of you who love books like Stuart Little or Charlotte's Web, you probably have a soft spot in your heart for him, too. I can remember when boxes of new books would arrive at the library, and Mom would tell me that there was a new Little House. I always wanted to grab it to take a look at the cover to see where the Ingalls were going to go next! 

And from Garth Williams, I move right along to the third of my favorite childhood book illustrators, Wesley Dennis. I rapidly became horse crazy when I was a little girl. I loved Walter Farley's Black Stallion books, but the artwork left a bit to be desired. Not so with Marguerite Henry's books!   

Their illustrations by Wesley Dennis put me right in the middle of the story. Wow. The cover of King of the Wind is in a dead heat with Little House on the Prairie as my all-time favorite book cover.

I'd better start wrapping this post up before you fall asleep!

You might have thought this crime fiction lover wasn't going to have any favorite childhood mystery covers. Did I read something besides biographies, historical "semi-fiction", and animal stories? Sure!

At the same time as I was saddling up with Marguerite Henry and Wesley Dennis and tagging along with the Ingalls girls, I was also trying Nancy Drew on for size. Now... keep in mind that I was reading the versions that came out in the 1940s, and I was a tomboy who preferred riding my bike or reading books way up in my favorite apple tree than doing anything that even remotely smacked of being girly. (Shudder!) Nancy just wasn't for me because it seemed that she was always donning a fresh frock (ick) and jumping into her roadster. (Roadster? Why couldn't it be a horse or a pickup truck?) 

But I do have to admit that some of those covers certainly stuck in my mind-- especially The Hidden Staircase. I mean, Nancy really shouldn't do her snooping in a skirt, but that staircase could be in a castle! And the battery might die in that flashlight, and then what's going to happen?!? 

Last but not least, my favorite Hardy Boys cover because-- after all-- Frank and Joe didn't have to investigate in skirts. This cover of What Happened at Midnight gave me the creeps when I first saw it as a child, and it still could if I let it. A dark, wet night. An old clock tower. Street lights back in the distance. And a very scary-looking man sneaking up behind Frank and Joe. Yikes! I couldn't wait to read that one when it arrived at the library!  

There you have it, a trip down Memory Lane through my favorite childhood book covers. And if you're curious about my references to the village library, I can point you in the direction of a post I did a few years back: Library Memories.  

Hopefully you've been reminded of some of your favorite books when you were a child. Next week, I'll be sharing some of the favorites of three of my blog readers. Feel free to send along yours so I can share them as well. All it takes is an email to kittlingbooks(at)gmail(dot)com!


Were any of your favorite childhood book covers included in my list? Which ones? And do you think you could tell very much about me as a child from my favorite books/authors/artists? Inquiring minds would love to know!


   

Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs

First Line: The magic had always been there.

Tep Jones lives with his parents on a dry farm in the Four Corners section of New Mexico. Within walking distance is Tep's favorite place: the ancient Anasazi cliff dwelling called Picture House. But when he visits Picture House during a lunar eclipse and picks up a bone flute left behind by grave robbers, Tep finds himself in the grip of powerful magic. When his mother becomes gravely ill, it's only by piecing together the mysteries of Picture House that Tep can save her-- and himself.

Many many moons ago, I used to be in charge of the children's section of our village library. I occasionally like to pick up a middle grade or young adult mystery to take a look at what's available for younger readers now, and I have to admit that I'm glad I chose Kokopelli's Flute. Will Hobbs has written an adventure that kept me hooked from first page to last. 

First of all, there's the idyllic (to me) setting: the Seed Farm in the New Mexico section of the Four Corners, within walking distance of an ancient cliff dwelling. I immediately put myself in Tep's shoes as he and his dog Dusty (the best canine companion a child could ever have) would walk there to explore. 

I also learned a lot about dry farming and the rare seed business. Another fact of life-- pot hunters who destroy ancient sites for the artifacts that they can sell-- provides some excellent suspense and action sequences at the beginning and end of the book.

There's some magic in this book that calls for a reader's willing suspension of disbelief, and although I didn't really buy into Tep's changing into an animal every night, I did enjoy those sections-- especially when Tep stopped panicking and started using his head. 

Kokopelli's Flute starts out rather slowly but builds momentum to a satisfying conclusion. Tep is a good-hearted, smart boy, and at that age, I would've been his friend in a heartbeat. Part of me does wonder at how much children in the proper age range would actually enjoy this book. Something tells me the "city slickers" might find it boring, and that would be a shame.
 

Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs

ISBN: 1416902503

Aladdin Paperbacks © 1995

Paperback, 148 pages

Children's adventure, Ages 10-14

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap

Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach

First Line: The day Josie ran away was the beginning of everything-- the bones in the canyon, the haunted mountain, the buried treasure, the town full of secrets-- but the Barker boys didn't know it then.

Having just moved to Arizona from Illinois, the three Barker brothers haven't had a chance to get to know anyone in their small town of Superstition. It's summer, and they're tired of hanging around the old house their parents inherited from "crazy Uncle Hank." Their dad is busy at his masonry business, and their mom is a medical illustrator with a deadline who works at home. When Josie the cat runs away, it gives Simon (11), Henry (10), and Jack (6) something to do-- even if the cat seems to have headed straight for Superstition Mountain, a place their parents have repeatedly warned them to stay away from.

As the boys search for Josie, they can't help feeling that there's something creepy about the mountain. When they find three skulls sitting on a ledge above a canyon, that feeling changes to certainty. They know there's a mystery that needs to be solved, and with the help of their new neighbor Delilah, they're determined to solve it. 

Elise Broach does an excellent job of weaving together various legends about the Superstition Mountains just outside of Phoenix, Arizona-- including the one about the Lost Dutchman Mine. Children will be reading an exciting tale of adventure, but they'll also be absorbing the deeper subjects of history, friendship, and exploration. 

When this book was offered to me, I wasn't told that it was a children's book, but since it is a mystery, and it is set right in my own backyard, it didn't make much difference. What impressed me was how much I enjoyed reading it, and how much it reminded me of similar books I read when I was a child. Simon, Henry, and Jack are following in the footsteps of the Hardy Boys, and it was wonderful to read about four children who were off on their bikes exploring and not cooped up inside enslaved to electronics. In fact, they're only on the computer once for a brief time in the entire book.

Since this is the first book in a trilogy, it will be interesting to see how the characters and the story develop. Simon is the responsible older brother with just a touch of the know-it-all. Jack is the extremely annoying little brother his siblings wish they could leave behind, and Henry as the middle brother feels a bit like a misfit. The story is mostly told from his point of view, so we get to know him best. Delilah? She's the first friend the boys have made in Superstition, and even though she's a girl, she's a big help and can't be left behind. The parents are there behind the scenes. They're busy keeping the bills paid so the boys can have adventures.

It's obvious that this is the first book in a trilogy because little plot threads are left dangling. I'm convinced Josie the cat knows a lot more than she's admitting, and what about the behavior of the local librarian? Is she hiding something? And there was definitely something odd about those tombstones in the cemetery!

If it sounds as though I was hooked after reading Missing on Superstition Mountain, I was. I'm looking forward to seeing what those four get up to next.
  

Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach

ISBN: 9780805090475 

Henry Holt and Company © 2011

Hardcover, 272 pages

Children's mystery (ages 8-12), #1 of trilogy

Rating: B+

Source: Paperback Swap 


 

The Rifle by Gary Paulsen

First Line: It is necessary to know this rifle.

This short little book traces the history of one flintlock rifle from its creation during the American Revolution to the 1990s.

The rifle's creation is a months-long labor of love by a journeyman gunsmith named Cornish McManus. When completed, it is most definitely a "sweet rifle" (meaning one of stunning beauty and accuracy). In desperate need of money, Cornish reluctantly sells the gun to John Byam, a sharpshooter in the Revolutionary War who dies of dysentery.

The rifle, intended as a gift to a son killed in battle, is tucked away and forgotten as the centuries pass. In the 1990s it is found, and changes hands a few times until it rests above the mantel of a home in Missouri. Tragedy will ensue because-- during all this time and through all the hands it's passed-- no one has ever checked to see if the rifle is loaded.

The first part of this book is wonderful. The craftsmanship that goes into the making of this rifle is phenomenal, and Paulsen brings the entire process to life. The rifle's "life" while in the hands of sharpshooter John Byam is also vivid and well done.

But the book falls apart in the end. It's obvious that the author wants to teach children how deadly serious guns are, that no matter how beautiful they are or how innocently they are kept, guns are made to kill-- and they will kill. But it strains credulity to the breaking point to believe that a gun loaded in the 1770s will still fire first-time true in 1993.

Paulsen does not believe that "guns don't kill people, people kill people," but the tragedy that occurs at the end of the book is due entirely to humans who don't care about simple gun safety. The ending of the book, in particular, bothered me: "And in the meantime the rifle sits in the gun cabinet. Waiting." Guns are not inhabited by evil spirits who lurk patiently until the unwary come within range. (Although all too often they are owned by people who have no business having them in their possession.)

Middle school children may well take Paulsen's message to heart, and I hope they do, but for most of the adults who read along with their children, the aim of his story is going to fall short.

The Rifle by Gary Paulsen

ISBN: 0440219205

Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers ©1995

Paperback, 105 pages

Genre: Childrens Books

Rating: C

Source: Paperback Swap

Review-- Only Opal

Title: Only Opal, The Diary of a Young Girl
Author: Opal Whiteley
Editor: Jane Boulton
Illustrator: Barbara Cooney
ISBN: 0698115643/ PaperStar Book, 1994
Genre: Children's Books, Diaries
Rating: A

First Line: My mother and father are gone.

Thus begins the remarkable diary of Opal Whiteley, written when she was five and six. Born sometime around the year 1900, Opal was orphaned and raised by foster parents in Oregon. Opal's parents loved books and nature, and they passed these loves on to Opal. Her foster parents couldn't be any more different. Her foster mother calls her a nuisance, and Opal frequently has to miss school to do chores. Opal misses her parents. She is lonely. Her diary is the only place where she can be true to herself.

When I feel sad inside I talk things over with my tree. I call him Michael Raphael. It is such a comfort to nestle up to Michael Raphael. He is a grand tree. He has an understanding soul.

This is the first book I've read which so clearly delineates the inner life of a child in the child's own words. Feeling unwanted and alone, Opal takes comfort in the nature around her. Like me, she has a penchant for naming her favorite wild creatures, although her names are much grander than mine. (The male Gila Woodpecker who lives here has been named Gregory Peck.)

Editor Jane Boulton has done an excellent job of choosing the diary entries that make Opal come to life. Her decision to leave Opal's misspellings and grammatical errors lends verisimilitude to the book, and Barbara Cooney's brilliant watercolor illustrations are perfect for the text.


Although there is A Note About This Book in the back which tells how Opal's diary came to be published, I still wanted to know more. I found this website in doing a search, little knowing that a controversy has surrounded the diary for decades.

No matter which side of the controversy you may fall on, Only Opal is a poignant, wonderfully illustrated piece of writing that stays with you.

REVIEW: That Book Woman

Title: That Book Woman
Author: Heather Henson
ISBN: 9781416908128/Atheneum Books
KidLit, Ages 4 to 8
Rating: A

First Line: My folks and me--we live way up as up can get.

Cal isn't the reading type and has nothing but scorn for his sister, Lark, who always has her nose in a book. He'd much rather be out with Pap plowing the fields or bringing in the cows or hunting. He feels he makes important contributions to the family while Lark is worse than useless. When "that book woman" starts showing up, he has nothing but contempt for her until the snow starts flying. Then he allows that she's either plum foolish...or braver than he thought.

That Book Woman is a wonderful tribute to the pack horse librarians of Kentucky. Cal's voice is crystal clear in my mind and David Small's illustrations bring depth to a story that put a tear in my eye by book's end.