Some of the books we get from the library can be hit or miss. My SO picked up “Someone Just Like You” by Helen Docherty and David Roberts [ISBN: 1665949589] (among others) this weekend. This is a cool little book. We had only skimmed it before reading it to the kiddo the other night, and it has a nice message. One that got me a little choked up, given current world affairs.
It’s about how similar we all are, despite our differences, and is a kind of call-to-action, one that encourages providing aid and care to others in difficult situations. The depiction of that difficult situation near the middle of the book is one of a children’s room, with a broken window, and a burning city beyond the window’s threshold. The room takes up most of the page, and the window a much smaller portion.
Far from the shallow inclusion story you might find in some kids books. I almost missed the city as I was reading it. A strong image for what is otherwise a book full of charming kids. The art in this book is really great. All the pages are super vibrant and colorful, and every kid is unique, fun, and cute.
What about you? I’m always lost in the stacks, trying to find something new and fun.
Also, I’m interested in knowing if this would be a good reoccurring thread for the sub. Maybe monthly?
We finished the first two books of Earthsea, which he absolute loved. Honestly, I wish someone had put them in my hand when I was a kid. So much more impactful than even Lord of the Rings, in my opinion, on a young reader. We are acquiring the third book, but in the meantime we’ve started up on the His Dark Materials trilogy. So far, he’s thought it’s a little boring. And indeed, it is a lot of scene setting, but I think once we get to the armored bears, his interest will pick up.
what age would you say is good to start Earthsea?
I would say middle school to freshman year of high school would be good if you want the child to read on their own. But if you’re reading together or to the child, like I was, I would say a seven or eight year old can enjoy it and handle the situations and prose just fine.
“Earthsea”. I’ll have to file that one away, they look cool.
Le Guin is one of my favorite authors, but I came to her as an adult, reading The Dispossessed first. But her Earthsea series is really good fantasy. Not to accuse anyone of plagiarism, but she wrote about a boy going to a magic school and having a connection to an unspeakable evil who scarred his face and the scar hurts when he’s near the presence of the evil back in the 60s. OK, so I am definitely accusing someone of plagiarism haha
Both those first two books were very good though. A lot of adventure, but the true conflict is within the protagonists. The evil that lays in the heart of all people and how you wrestle with that. Rather than a comfortable, external foe that you can just cast as evil and dark without self-reflection. Plus Le Guin is just so economical with words. She uses simple phrases to describe what guys like Tolkien would take a page to do with the same visceral effect.