Return of the Weird #1: The Penny Arcade Mother's Care Orphanage by David Neuman; Kaleidoscopic Shades Strangeness Continues With Some Clarity

 

Return of the Weird #1: The Penny Arcade Mother's Care Orphanage by David Neuman; Kaleidoscopic Shades Strangeness Continues With Some Clarity

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: For this and the next review, I am returning to the continuation of two of the strangest weirdest books that I read since beginning this blog, two books that were my favorites from 2022 in fact: Kaleidoscopic Shades Within Black Eternity by David Neuman and The Merchants of Knowledge and Magic(The Pentagonal Dominion Book 1) by Erika McCorkle. Both were bizarre, weird, eccentric, and unforgettable. Returning to those worlds with their sequels, Penny Arcade Mother's Care Orphanage for the former and The Merchants of Light and Bone in the latter could lead to more weirdness or more clarity. By and large they streamline the series by limiting the perspectives and giving some concrete and important information and exposition to make the series well slightly more comprehensible but still retaining their mystifying, unearthly, uncanniness.

In Kaleidoscopic Shades Within Black Eternity, a series of strange bizarre events occur particularly around the home of Bob and Susan Triplow and their son, Joshua. These seemingly random bizarre occurrences like people appearing and disappearing, a strange man haunting various children's dreams at once, balloons appearing in the sky, and the sound of disembodied bells were tied to Bob’s traumatic childhood growing up in a sinister orphanage with a history of abuse and neglect. He and Joshua traveled to Bob's childhood home of Kapunda, Australia and the Mother's Care Orphanage where he grew up and face some demonic forces and childhood fears that never really disappeared as he grew older. 

The sequel, Penny Arcade Mother's Care Orphanage is set three years later and things are far from settled. A new series of strange unearthly events are happening. However, instead of going global and affecting random parts of the world as before, they are mostly contained within the towns of Corona, California and Kapunda. This keeps this volume more self-contained and streamlined but also takes out the mystery and overall bizarre nature of its predecessor. It also makes the plot a bit easier to follow and understand though there still are plenty of frightening moments that make the Reader wonder what they just read and afraid to continue reading to find out.

Ralph Shaw, a young boy, disappears in a mysterious area in Kapunda called “The Playground.” A group of teens encounter a ghost car in which one teen later discovers is very similar to one in a photograph from almost 100 years ago, a photograph with a very disturbing message written on it. Constable Benjamine “Ben” McLevy’s investigation into these matters put her up close and personal with disturbing sounds and images. Meanwhile in California, Joshua Triplow is grieving for his missing friend, Sammy Debnar who disappeared in the previous book. He still feels Sammy's presence including having frightening audio and visual visions of and about him. Perhaps another trip to Australia is in order.

What Penny Arcade lacks in mystery and ominous energy when the scope is widened all over the world, it makes up for immediate urgency and personal connections to these strange events. The scary moments are plentiful but not as random as they were in the previous book. 

Many of the moments like the ghost car and the disappearance focus on the mental and physical torture of children. They center around the old orphanage and its former staff and residents and the terrifying moments are a reflection of the hatred and trauma that endured in the past. It even spreads to those who weren't there but are directly involved in protecting or investigating them like Ben. 

If there are sacred spaces which are filled with spiritual enlightenment and meaning, then The Playground is the exact opposite. The space inspires feelings of fear, anxiety, loneliness, and trauma. It is practically festered with a violent history which affected the entire environment. It's practically a gateway to Hell where if you don't lose your life, you are certain to lose your mind. It's a chilling setting just in thought let alone in action.

The presences that haunt this area and are responsible hover between the demonic and fanciful and the human and the painful realistic. One of those is a spirit that takes many forms and haunts people through various means like visions and whispers. Some of its more graphic moments are when it tortures the disappeared victims like Sammy and Ralph. Its most sadistic form is that of a grotesque jester that laughs at the pain that it inflicts on the young boys. It's also capable of changing shape and manipulating others for the added psychological and emotional torture. 

This creature is very similar to the Strange Man who haunted children's dreams in the previous book though clearly takes on a more active persona. Whereas the Strange Man was an observer who watched children, did not move or interact with them but still left an ominous eerie presence, the Jester is more hands-on. He gleefully tortures and abuses his targets, mocks people in their heads, and laughs at his unbridled cruelty. It is similar to other clown-like villains like The Joker or Pennywise but unlike the former who is human but psychotic, and the latter who is hampered by a chronological deadline to appear every 27 years, The Jester has those tendencies and all of the time in the world to use them.

The other sinister presence is found in a human being, Anthea who worked at the former orphanage. She has a history of abusing the orphans that were once in her care.

We are given something of her backstory that thankfully does not absolve her though it does provide some clarity and understanding towards the events in both books. In fact her history makes her actions appear worse. 

Since the previous book, Anthea’s rage affected her mentally and physically. She boils over with dreams of revenge that have taken a toll on her body. She becomes an ugly person in appearance and personality. Her hatred and abusive nature become the nucleus in which the strange supernatural events were formed. The land becomes the living embodiment of the pain that she once inflicted on innocent children and now inflicts upon herself. Though they are on opposite sides of human and supernatural, Anthea and The Jester are mirror parallel images consumed with the desire to hurt others and are collaborators in spreading pain in their own way.

Despite being an important character, the primary protagonist, in the previous book, Bob is mostly absent from Penny Arcade. Much of the main character energy is instead provided by Ben and Josh.

Ben is the standard cop protagonist found in these types of novels, tenacious, courageous, kind hearted, observant, and skeptical until they are face to face with the bizarre. Ben’s evolution through the book is that of someone who is confident in her career and the investigation process but is out of her element when encountering something inhuman, something that by nature cannot follow human standards and resists being caught or contained. It's always there and will always be there.

Since Bob takes a minor role, his son Josh inherits his Protagonist Genes and does a pretty good job. When he is haunted by memories of Sammy, he decides to enter a student exchange program to study in Australia with his friend, and potentially more, Ethan. 

Josh is experienced with this supernatural activity to the point that he acts like a jaded veteran with hard won wisdom and massive PTSD. His return to Australia is not just a rescue mission for Sammy, it's a chance to gain some closure for what happened to him last time.

Penny Arcade Mother's Care Orphanage brings some reason and logic albeit illogical logic, towards Kaleidoscopic Shades Within Black Eternity. It isn't necessarily better than its predecessor, but it clears up the events in both books and makes them understandable. 

 

The Cold Kid Case (A Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery Book 1) by Rosalind Barden; Bet Your Bottom Dollar That This Mystery is Such Fun

 The Cold Kid Case (A Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery Book 1) by Rosalind Barden; Bet Your Bottom Dollar That This Mystery is Such Fun

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Rosalind Barden’s YA Historical Mystery, The Cold Kid Case, is what you get when you give Little Orphan Annie Nancy Drew’s detective skills. You get a charming scrappy kid protagonist and a fun engaging mystery.

Sparky is an 11 year old street smart orphan living in Depression Era Bunker Hill, California. Her life of running errands for a local bookie, picking pockets, stealing food scraps, and hiding in out of the way places is interrupted when she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young girl since Sparky was the one who found the body. Sparky hides out in Creepy House, a mansion owned by Tootsie, an eccentric but kind silent movie actress. Sparky, Tootsie, Tootsie's loyal butler Gilbert, and Sparky’s protective friend Bobby are on the case to investigate the girl’s death and clear Sparky’s name. 

The Cold Kid Case is reminiscent of one of those old Kid Adventure films starring the likes of Shirley Temple, The Little Rascals, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Hayley Mills, Tatum O’Neil, Jodie Foster, Gary Coleman, Aileen Quinn, Sean Astin, Coreys Haim and Feldman, Ke Huy Quan, Macaulay Culkin, The Olsen Twins, Mara Wilson, Dakota and Elle Fanning, or the many kids who front Nickelodeon or Disney shows. They starred precocious kids who have either busy, distracted, neglectful parents, or no parents at all. They are born with smart mouths, plenty of attitude, uncanny survival instincts, and a penchant for finding adventure wherever they turn. Adults are usually clueless or evil. Though there are occasionally good kind adults who help the kids, mentor them, and if orphaned might adopt them. The kid's lives might be in danger but they usually come out on top and often end up in a better situation than when they started. 

Sparky is that type of kid and Borden has fun with her character. Her first person narration is a delight to read with its 1930s slang and tough kid attitude. (“Once (Bobby) tried kissing me. That’s when I socked him good and down he went….Didn’t faze him. He kept on proposing, and telling other kids that I was his ‘girl’ which made me think he warranted another whammo.”) Her savviness in sneaking into and hiding in various spots around Bunker Hill come in handy when she has to run from police officers, violent gangsters, or potential murderers. Even small touches like how we barely learn about Sparky's past, don’t even know her real name or if she even has a real name add to her characterization as a kid who had to survive on her own and harbors no illusions about how the world works. 

In fact, there is an edge to this book that is often found in some of the best Kid Adventures: an awareness of the darker real world that is around these kids. Sure, they have fantastic adventures and more often than not succeed in them but they aren’t without serious conflicts. These kids are often faced with deaths of parents or other family members, poverty, divorce, addiction, family arguments, criminal activity, abuse, and adults who want to kill them and don’t care that they are kids. Often these conflicts surround the adventures, maybe as an instigating factor or exist to make the kids even more vulnerable and unable to rely on the adult world around them. Sure Annie might have sung that “the sun’ll come out tomorrow” but she certainly knew that most of the time it didn't. 

That is at play within young Sparky. It’s hard to avoid the reality of the Great Depression when it’s all around her. She isn’t the only orphaned or abandoned kid and she sees adults unable to survive and fighting for last scraps of a meal or employment at a demeaning dead end job that can only admit five people. If her elders have a hard time surviving in these circumstances, then what chances do kids like her have? In fact, the dead girl’s backstory is such an example. The identity of the murderer and the motive are pretty appalling and become more terrifying the longer one thinks about it. This might be a YA Novel, a Kid’s Adventure, even some form of a Kid’s Wish Fulfillment in many ways but don’t under any circumstances think that it avoids the real world around it. In fact it plunges headlong into it. There is a strong sense of reality and a savage bite within the fantastic proceedings. Sparky knows how the world works. She just chooses to fight against it in her own way. 

Some of the bite of reality gets lost once Tootsie enters the scene but in her own way, she also plays into the Adventure subgenre. Supporting characters in these types of stories, particularly adults, are often broad and larger than life with very little subtlety and Tootsie definitely plays that trope to the hilt. Of course her being a former actress definitely adds to that. If this was a movie instead of a book,  the actress playing Tootsie would reject the catered lunch and craft services and prefer instead to gnaw on the scenery.

She is very melodramatic, vain about her appearance, and often waxes nostalgic about her former roles and stardom days. There is an almost youthful playful innocence like she has the childlike nature that Sparky lacks. Sparky directly faces the reality of the Great Depression while Tootsie prefers instead to get away from it and live in an idyllic fantasy. 

Despite its name, Creepy House is anything but. It is a study in fantastic imagination of what a movie star’s home would look like with its ornate furniture, room sized bathtub, and particularly Tootsie's two stuffed leopards which were once real leopards that she had stuffed (and Sparky loves so much that Tootsie allows her to keep them in her new bedroom). Tootsie’s butler, Gilbert, also plays into this fantastic setting. He is the straight man to his mistress’ comic antics and encourages her while occasionally keeping her grounded and providing some direction to Sparky. He is stern but willingly indulges the schemes of the two women in his life. He provides shelter and alibis when authorities come looking for Sparky and plays along with Tootsie’s elaborate ruse to extract information from a rival actress to help the girl. 

Like Sparky, Tootsie is also never referred to by her real name, though in her case it’s probably for artistic reasons and adds to her eccentricities. While she is clearly concerned about her new young charge, Tootsie indulges Sparky’s investigations even furnishing disguises and at one time appearing incognito to assist her. Tootsie is a maternal figure who is loving but acts like a big kid herself. She offers enough of a safe harbor for Sparky to find shelter and freedom for the girl to be herself and learn from her mistakes. 

It is not too much to assume that some legal papers, a court visit, a new last name and a change of address for Sparky, and a new title that begins with “mo-” for Tootsie are in the duo’s future. Not since Din Djarin and Grogu in The Mandalorian have I wanted to see a surrogate parent/child relationship become an adopted reality more. 

The Cold Kid Case is a fun, bright, sassy mystery that plays into the genre with a lot of wit, bite, and heart. 

New Book Alert: The Lady on the Billboard by Stefanie Hutcheson; Soap Like Contemporary Fiction Connects Various Characters

 

New Book Alert: The Lady on the Billboard by Stefanie Hutcheson; Soap Like Contemporary Fiction Connects Various Characters

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Stefanie Hutcheson knows how to write about relationships with humor and sadness. In her The Adventures of George and Mabel: Based on an Almost (Kind of? Sort of? Could be?) True Story trilogy, a happily married couple  share a history of road trips and inside jokes only to reveal in the final book that there is a deep searing grief that is buried underneath their happiness. Her novella, Left, is about a couple dealing with the decline of their marriage after the wife abandons her husband at a convenience store. In these works, Hutcheson had a firm grip on characterization as she takes little incidents and nuances in the characters’ lives to provide commentary on them. 

Her latest book, a KindleVella called The Lady on the Billboard, takes her talents of writing characterization and humor, capturing little moments, and discovering emotional truth to new heights. She doesn’t just capture one couple and their intimate circle of friends and family. Instead she uses those gifts to capture a whole town in what is her most ambitious and probably best work yet.

The conflicts begin when Dr. Elizabeth Perkins, high school principal, gets her face posted on a billboard celebrating her achievement as “Administrator of the Year.” She is flattered but embarrassed, but that’s not all. The billboard becomes a catalyst for the large cast to open their secrets whether they are affairs, familial ties, or obsessions. Many of them involve Elizabeth and poke some holes into her reputation as a prime educator, happily married wife and mother, and proper pillar of the community.

The Kindle version of this book is available on KindleVella which means the Reader can read a chapter at a time as they are released instead of at once which actually fits the style of the book. The many characters’ relationships and various subplots seem almost reminiscent of a soap opera or episodes of a long running sitcom so the book’s format is perfect to lend itself to serialization. Sometimes the chapters get repetitive like an episode that is created to catch the audience up to speed on the various situations. The serialization format also allows the individual characters to gain focus and get their point of view across in what would be a large convoluted story otherwise. 

However, Vella has a points system in which the Reader has to pay money for a certain amount of points to read the chapters. It is very irritating especially if one doesn’t have a lot of money on hand and already has a Kindle Unlimited account. I suggest caution for Readers who have never tried Kindle Vella to be wary of the extra cost. 

Okay now the story. This is going to be fun to summarize but here goes (deep breath):

Elizabeth is unhappily married to Jason, an attorney and is the mother of twin girls, Laney and Lucy. She tries to put on a facade of a happy family but can barely stand her condescending husband. She worked hard to get to her position as principal but sometimes doubts herself and whether she is making any meaningful connections with her students or their parents. She also has nightmares of a past that she barely remembers but her memories are faint and troubling.

Her husband Jason is having an affair with Rebekah, his administrative assistant, who has enough brain to run the firm herself. Elizabeth’s old high school boyfriend, Josh, is still around reliving his glory days before an injury ended his dreams of a football scholarship and his romance with the girl he once called “Liza Jane” after the Vince Gill country song. He still reminisces about Elizabeth, the one who got away and what might have been.

Elizabeth has some other men who also fantasize about her. Brad, a college professor, hosts open poetry slams at the local coffee shop and visualizes the principal as some muse or poetic inspiration. Derrick, a barista at the coffee shop, also fancies her but his interest in Elizabeth is more of the sexual and lustful variety.

Elizabeth has some close female friends as well. Madison, a bubbly teacher, has an active love life and is more outgoing than her serious friend. However, she is suspicious of Elizabeth’s friendship with Brandi, another teacher, who has a very violent past. 

Henry, a high school senior and football star, has some unanswered questions about his past and he is unaware that the answers are all around him. Annie, a newcomer in town, is fleeing an abusive marriage with her young son. She discovers a link to her past as does a private investigator, Abby Stevenson, who has been searching for family members for years. 

Got all that? Good, I hope so.

Like I said the plot or rather subplots are numerous. Sometimes, it’s very hard to keep track. Luckily, Hutcheson has a good handle on her wide cast of characters. Sometimes they resort to archetypes (the fighting married  couple, the dogged suitor, the teen with big dreams, the dedicated detective with the important information and so on), but in this type of work, that can sometimes be expected. 

What makes them stand out are the little subtle nuances and touches. Things such as Madison's nickname for Elizabeth, "Bitsy," Josh's love of '90's Country music, and Brad's constant repetition of definitions of words make these characters fully recognized. Just like she did with George and Mabel, Hutcheson gives characters details and idiosyncrasies to make them stand out.

Those idiosyncrasies provide much of the book's humor partly because we know these characters. We understand them. They could be reminiscent of a friend, teacher, family member, or ourselves. It's a gentle humor that comes from personality and identification rather than topical jokes and snarky one liners.

There is also some drama with the character's situations. This book has a definite edge which is present throughout. Subjects like teen pregnancy, adoption, identity, parental abandonment, death, mental health, addiction, and various others come forward. Because the characters are so relatable, the darker aspects are more emotional and moving. You don't want to see them suffer because you don't want to see a close friend suffer. These troubled times could strengthen or weaken the characters. 

Of course, the nucleus and center of this entire book is Dr. Elizabeth Perkins. It is highly significant that these complications begin when her billboard appears. It reflects her image, the figure that she tries to convey. It's all surface. Administrator of the Year. Principal. Wife. Mother. Community Leader. She spends so much time maintaining this surface image that it is exhausting.

Throughout the book, she is faced with different complications and revelations that create cracks in this facade. Elizabeth questions her identity, where she came from, what pushed her forward, what truths she has to confront, and what she really wants and needs. 

Ultimately, Lady on the Billboard is a humorous and moving character study about a woman confronting her image, her place in the world, and her own self identity and worth.

Weekly Reader: WOAD by James Isaac; Return of The King is Not As Great As It Seems

 

Weekly Reader: WOAD by James Isaac; Return of The King is Not As Great As It Seems

By Julie Sara Porter

Spoilers: Many variations of the Arthurian legends say that King Arthur never really died. Instead, he was taken to Avalon to be healed and sleep until such a time when his country and his people needed him. This myth is written in various books, films, TV, and has been endorsed by various members of British royalty. The Plantagenet family used this legend as proof of their divine right to rule. King Henry VII was so enamored with Arthurian myth that he named his eldest son, Arthur so an eventual King Arthur could once again sit on England's throne. (That however was not to be since Prince Arthur died at a very young age and Henry VII was succeeded by his younger son, Henry VIII.).Of course there is the comparison of President Kennedy's administration to Camelot. Whether or not Arthur existed historically, his legend has proven greater than the reality.

Many believe that Camelot and Arthur represent a golden age and that if Arthur really could return, those cherished days of chivalry and heroism would also return. However, some adaptations suggest that maybe Arthur's return is not something to be celebrated. Instead, it might be something to be feared. That is the premise behind WOAD by James Isaac, a historical fantasy that takes a very critical look at how the alleged Once and Future King would act in a world that changed around him but he did not.

Isaac's version of King Arthur, called Artos, is more based on historical interpretation that he was a Celtic warlord in the 1st Century battling the Romans, rather than the Medieval king of the enchanted Camelot. Because he's based on the historical Arthur, we read nothing about the other usual Camelot cast of characters. So there are no mentions of Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot, Morgan LeFay, Morgause, the Lady of the Lake, Mordred and the rest.

Instead, Arthur fights alongside real life warriors such as Boudicca to fight off Roman legions. However, Arthur still has connections to fairy origins from the mythical land of Avalon.

During what should be a victory, Arthur fought against the fairies and creatures of Avalon. He also argued with the Celtic goddesses like Cerridwen and Andraste to the point of denouncing them. He then takes on the mantle of God himself, living an immortal life and plotting for centuries to gather an army that will obey, revere, and worship him and will fight his fairian enemies. 

Artos's ruthlessness and tyranny increases until by the Victorian Era, he practically runs a part of East End London that is next to a gateway into Avalon. His far reaching ambitions are threatened by Victor, a human who guards the entrance between the human and fairy world, and Sol and Shammy, a pair of street urchin con artists who have stronger ties to the fairy world than they originally thought.

Isaac's book is a brilliant deconstruction of the Arthurian myth, portraying the character as a harsh, arrogant, destructive tyrant. Artos is someone who is unyielding in his views that have been honed through centuries of interacting with humans and fairies. He is always in battle, looking for an enemy to fight and someone to defeat. Whether he is in the Middle Ages, the English Civil War, or the creation of the British Empire, Artos has seen plenty of battles and forces his leadership towards those around him. 

This outlook combined with the bitterness obtained over the centuries are enough to drive Artos insane and give him a self righteous tone that sees everyone who is not with him as being against him. 

He is not above using devious means to gain followers. He takes in orphans and unwanted children not out of the goodness of his heart, but to raise them to be his willing army that are practically brainwashed to follow his fanaticism.

 Artos has ceased to just become a warlord or king. He declares himself a god and demands total obedience and worship.

Suddenly, the return of an over 1,0000 year old king to fight for his people doesn't seem like a good idea when he plans to destroy the kingdom and everyone in it so he can rebuild it in his own image.

There are many who see through the image that Artos is trying to convey. The most prominent character to challenge him is Sol. Sol originally started out as a street kid who was involved in a gambling con game with Shammy, his partner and would-be girlfriend. Like many others in the East End, he sees Artos as a leader until he encounters Cerridwen who tells Sol the truth about Artos's motives and goals and Sol's own birth (none of which will be revealed in this review). 

Sol's conversations with Cerridwen seem to echo a brainwashed cult follower becoming deprogrammed to reject the life that he once followed without question. He sees the truth of his upbringing and questions his allegiance to Artos. However, he becomes more determined to fight against him when his friend Shammy's developing figure and maturity don't miss Artos's attention. 

WOAD tells us that sometimes what often makes myths is nostalgia. While many long for a return to a simpler life with larger than life heroes, we fail to account for changing times and attitudes. What may appear acceptable in one era can be cruel in another, and a hero in one time could turn into a villain in another. Perhaps instead of looking for a physical return to the past, perhaps we could embody those values of courage, honor, kindness, and devotion in our own lives. Sometimes the real hero is inside us.

Weekly Reader: Lily Upshire is Winning by John Holmes; Coming of Age YA Novel About A Girl's Conflicts In Her Online and Private Life

 

Weekly Reader: Lily Upshire is Winning by John Holmes; Coming of Age YA Novel About A Girl's Conflicts In Her Online and Private Life

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Lily Upshire is Winning by John Holmes is one of those Contemporary YA novels that isn't about anything. Or let me rephrase that, Lily Upshire is Winning is about the protagonist facing many things that on their own would make short works but together produce challenges to how she views herself and the world around her.

Lily Upshire is a 12 year old girl who isn't just having a miserable day. Lately she has had a miserable life. She is the frequent target of bullying from the Bizzel Sisters. She doesn't do well in school and dislikes most of her teachers except for English teacher Emily Hass, with whom she might have a crush. She is being raised by her grandmother, because her mother died before she was two and she has no father. This leads many to question and spread rumors about her parentage. It's no wonder that she confides in her online boyfriend, Travis, about her problems.

Lily's problems are about to get worse. Before she drinks a smoothie from a nearby shop called Bashett's, she discovers a pea inside. She and her grandmother's friends, the Peacemakers, decide to report the discovery to Bashett's main corporate office. This act turns Lily into an Internet celebrity. During her strange 15 minutes of fame, she discovers some disturbing things about Travis and a girl named Mack reveals to Lily that she has a crush on her.

This is a novel with a lot of humor and heart. There are some hilarious moments when the Peacemakers suggest ways to make her story more pathetic to arouse sympathy. ("Say you've got allergies!" "I have peas at least twice a week!")

 Also, it is very true when Bashett's keeps sending her complimentary gifts like vouchers and free trips to New York. They spend a lot of time, money, and attention on this case but don't give Lily what she really wants: a simple apology.

Besides the laughs, there is also a lot of sadness in the book, particularly with Lily's loneliness. She is understandably crushed when Travis is revealed to be a fraud. While realistically, Readers understand the dangers of online relationships and that Lily should know better, try telling that to a teenager with few friends and no one to confide in.

She also has trouble with outside relationships. She throws a potentially good healthy relationship with Mac away even after the girl confesses that she is in love with her. Lily is a bundle of insecurities who reaches out for love then withdraws it when she needs it the most.

Lily finds some solace as she begins to take up boxing as a hobby. What starts out as a means to exercise and defend herself, becomes an outlet to articulate her rage at the betrayals and anger that she feels. She begins to excel as many do when they find their talent and true niche. Through boxing, Lily actually finds some purpose in life.

Lily Upshire is Winning is a very realistic honest coming of age book that opens that time when it seems that everything is against you. Your body goes through changes that you don't understand. You are beginning to be annoyed with and resent the people around you. 

If you can find something or someone to hold onto during that time to bring some pleasure and meaning that makes you excel, then that can actually feel like winning.

New Book Alert: Slipstream (Book 1 of The Slipstream Series) by Alice Godwin; Strange and Lovely Mixture of Science Fiction and Fantasy Found in Travel Through Cyberspace

 

New Book Alert: Slipstream (Book 1 of The Slipstream Series) by Alice Godwin; Strange and Lovely Mixture of Science Fiction and Fantasy Found in Travel Through Cyberspace

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Slipstream by Alice Godwin is a very odd, strange, but somehow lovely mixture of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Thanks to the ability for one character to travel through dimensions and cyberspace, these genres have the ability to exist side by side, sometimes at the exact same time.

Jo, a detective, is investigating the death of a woman that seems to be connected to the Rapturists, a religious cult that disappeared at the turn of the century but has returned. During Jo's investigation, she encounters Connor, a stranger with a close connection to the deceased.

Meanwhile, Raven, a young woman, is investigating her ability to physically travel through the web. Many can in this book, but what makes Raven different is that she can do it without a device. Because of this, she is sensitive to electromagnetic pulses around her and can see various realities shift around her side by side. She can see figures from what she calls the slipstream when others cannot.

Halo, a Japanese immigrant, just left his family and is settling down with a pushy and persistent girlfriend, Azura.

 While going out, he encounters Raven after one of her slipstream encounters.  Halo learns Raven's backstory that she is considered a "Carnie," an orphan with no familial connections who steals codes and information to earn a living. He is attracted to her and wants to help her.

Eventually, these plots converge and are revealed to be connected. They offer more details to Raven's history and abilities.

By far the most interesting character in this book is Raven. Her powers are explored to their fullest and while Science Fiction in origin seems almost to border on Fantasy and Magic in their presentation. 

One of her travels is to an in-between world that she calls Ghostlands (where she floats around like a spirit). There she encounters a leonine creature that she calls Ceriful. Ceriful acts as a guide through these alternate realities, but his behavior is ambiguous whether he is helping or hurting Raven.

After receiving a tapestry from and growing closer to Halo, Raven has slipstreams in which she encounters fairies and unicorns. It's fascinating that Raven's version of Slipstreaming often involves fantasy and magical characters.

If you think about it, Raven's interest in the fantastic makes sense. She is a young woman with no known family. She was forced to mature at a young age and lives in a futuristic society where magic and fantasy is no longer valued. Slipstreaming is Raven's way of living in a world of the impossible, to capture the magical aspects of fairy tales and legends that she could not find in the physical world. Slipstream helps Raven find a measure of power and control to these narratives that she is deprived from.

In a way, Raven is like a futuristic Anne Shirley, a girl with no biological family and a fully developed imagination who can't always separate fantasy from reality. Though Raven's slipstreaming gives her the ability to interact with them in a way that Anne was unable to.

For the imaginative Bookworm, or Science Fiction or Fantasy geek, slipstreaming would seem like an ultimate thrill. It seems like a way to literally travel through cyberspace and into the imaginative dream worlds that exist in our minds.

However, through Raven's experiences, the Reader learns that slipstream can be a curse. Raven can't always control where she goes or what appears before her. She is sometimes attacked by her own mental demons to the point that she is in danger of succumbing to insanity. 

We also learn her history in which she has been targeted and experimented on from the time that she was born. Even her family has been the target of experiments that resulted in her astronomical powers. 

The end results of the experiments on Raven are a frightened embittered woman with an amazing ability to see into different worlds and dimensions but can't trust her own mind.

Classics Corner: Anne of Green Gables (The Anne Shirley Blythe Series Book One) by Lucy Maud Montgomery; The First and Best Book of Montgomery's Series About The Lovable Imaginative Red Haired Canadian Orphan

 

Classics Corner: Anne of Green Gables (The Anne Shirley Blythe Series Book One) by Lucy Maud Montgomery; The First and Best Book of Montgomery's Series About The Lovable Imaginative Red Haired Canadian Orphan

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Well there are plans and there are disrupted plans. My Reading goal last year was to read and review the books on the PopSugar Reading Challenge for 2020. While I finished reading them in 2020, I hadn't finished writing the reviews. I blame the flu in October and Covid in November for getting me behind schedule (that's bad) and the glut of requested reviews that I had to do first (that's good). But here finally are the final three: The first book that you touch with your eyes closed (Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery), A book with 20 or more books in the series (The Nancy Drew Mysteries 1-10 by Carolyn Keene) and a book from a previous category-A book you started but haven't finished (The Collected Stories of Franz Kafka). I could give up on them, but when it comes to reading goals, I'm not a quitter!

Well self-pity is over on with the review:

In the book KidLit by Tom Durwood, Durwood found adult themes and analyses in children's literature. One of the examples that he cited was Anne of Green Gables. He saw it as a search for one's identity and belonging and I would have to agree. This book is about Anne Shirley, a young orphan who had been neglected and unloved, though packed with identifiable flaws, and slowly becomes accepted into a family and her community of Avonlea.

I first became acquainted with Anne in the late-'80's during "Anne-mania" when Kevin Sullivan produced two lush, beautiful, and lovely miniseries on the Anne books for CBC (since I'm an American, I saw them on the Disney Channel.) that starred Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth, Jonathan Crombie, and Schuyler Grant. Follows was just lovely as Anne in the role that made her a star.

The first miniseries was based on the first book, Anne of Green Gables and was almost a word for word adaptation. The second miniseries, Anne of Avonlea, was a composite of three subsequent books, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and Anne of Windy Poplars.

 I also enjoyed the spin-off series, Road to Avonlea starring rich girl, Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley) and her rural family, The Kings headed by her prickly schoolteacher aunt Hetty (Jackie Burroughs). Road to Avonlea was based on Montgomery's anthologies, The Story Girl, The Golden Road, Chronicles of Avonlea, and Further Chronicles of Avonlea. (The first two were not related to Avonlea in book form but were adapted into that universe on television.) 

Many Readers and viewers, myself included, were drawn to the beautiful Prince Edward Island, its charming characters, and its almost idyllic dream like portrayal of Canada's past.

When it comes to the book series, the first Anne of Green Gables is the best. Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island are also good, though in some cases spend more time developing new characters at the expense of older ones. The later three aren't as well written as though Montgomery grew tired of the series and wanted it to end or lost her knack for writing Anne in favor of her children. However one thing the entire series gets right is how it develops Anne from a young girl into a woman.

The first book does a brilliant job of introducing us to Anne and the world in which she inhabits. Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, an elderly unmarried brother and sister, are getting on in years. They need some young blood to help them run the farm at their family home of Green Gables in the town of Avonlea. So they decide to adopt a boy from the orphan asylum in Nova Scotia. 

 In the first three chapters which are titled "(Insert character name) is surprised," local town busybody, Rachel Lynde is, well, surprised. She is miffed that the Cuthberts did not ask her because nothing goes on without her say so. Don't we all know someone like that? That is Montgomery's secret: creating characters that we instantly know and recognize in our own lives, just simply living in 1900's Canada.

Rachel cites gruesome stories about orphan boys setting a house on fire, on purpose and another orphan putting strychnine in a well. "Only it was a girl this time," Rachel said.

"Well we're not getting a girl," says the sharp tongued and severe Marilla. ("as though poisoning a well was purely feminine accomplishment and not to be dreamt of by a boy," Montgomery wryly tells us.) 

Cut to the next chapter where, of course, Anne Shirley (always spelled with an e, never without), an 11-year-old orphan girl, sits at the train station waiting for Matthew Cuthbert to arrive and take her to Green Gables. (There was a mix up at the orphanage since the request was sent secondhand, via correspondence).

There are many things that draw the Reader into these books and marks it as a beloved classic. One of those is the description in setting. Nearly every road, stream, or house is described in a lovely enchanting way that turns Avonlea into an almost fairy land, a distant past that is lovely to dream about. In once chapter, Matthew drives his buggy along a road. "It was a pretty road, running along between snug farmsteads, with now and again a bit of balsamy fir wood to drive through or a hollow where wild plums hung out of their filmy bloom," Montgomery wrote, "The air was sweet with the breath of many apple orchards and the meadows sloped away in the distance to horizon mists of pearl and purple; while 'The little birds sang as if it were/The one day of summer in all the year.'"

This is a contrast to other children's classics, say Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, that want to zero in on how hard frontier life was in the past. Montgomery wanted to draw her Readers into this world as much as she wanted Anne to be drawn in. 

Instead, it is Anne's old life that is described in muted browns and grays. Her past being raised solely to bring up other people's young children including "twins three times in succession", being abused by adults particularly one foster mother's "drunken husband", and her move to the overcrowded orphanage, are empty and devoid of color. It's a hard world. Anne's only "bosom friends" are her reflection in a glass case, that she dubs Katie Maurice, and her echo in a valley, that she names Violetta.

Green Gables, Avonlea, and Prince Edward Island are constantly described in ways that feel like home. That's the point. It's a place meant to make Anne feel welcome as soon as she arrives and in turn welcome the Readers. It's not a surprise that these books are solely responsible for the increase in tourism to Prince Edward Island. Who wouldn't want to visit these beautiful landscapes at least once?

Besides the attention to detail in setting, what makes Montgomery's books stands out is her lead character, Anne. From the moment that she first appears and greets Matthew at the train station, she makes an undeniable impression. Anne is already introduced as a talkative outspoken imaginative young girl. One of her first monologues takes about a page and a half in which she rhapsodizes about how a tree resembles a bride, then how she imagines that she wears pretty clothes (even though she wears the plain wincey asylum dress) as well as her desire for fashionable clothes, highlights of her boat trip to the island, the questions that she asked her chaperone, Mrs. Spencer on the way over, and her first impressions of the island and its red roads. 

This is not a surly argumentative rebellious kid. Instead she is a girl who has a firm hold on her imagination and optimism, as she dreams and hopes for better days.Anne is the type of character that takes delight in the simplest things, like giving objects names (She calls a nearby pond The Lake of Shining Waters), her first taste of ice cream, wearing a dress with puffed sleeves, and finding kindred spirits.

Anne's instantly lovable personality allows her to find kindered spirits everywhere even in the most unlikely of people. She instantly finds one in Matthew during the first ride home when the shy man is amused during her long conversations and realizes that he kind of "likes her chatter." She finds one in Rachel Lynde when after she explodes when Rachel mocks her looks, she makes a melodramatic heartfelt apology which amuses the busybody. 

She finds not only a kindred spirit, but a "bosom friend" in Diana Barry, a somewhat wealthy girl who is quieter but willing to go along with Anne's imaginative escapades. She also finds one in Diana's strict mother. Anne accidentally gets Diana drunk when she mistakes currant wine for raspberry cordial and Mrs. Barry orders the two best friends to be separated. She eventually apologizes and becomes another kindred spirit, when Anne's experience with children and quick thinking results in Diana's younger sister from being cured from the croup.

 It takes a very long, long time in admitting that Anne finds a kindred spirit in Gilbert Blythe, a boy who pesters her about her looks and earns her long-lived ire. They become academic rivals as the two brightest students in the one-room Avonlea schoolhouse. Later their relationship develops into a friendship and, in subsequent books, a romance and eventual happy marriage. 

While Marilla takes some time in admitting it, she becomes another kindred spirit when after she hears about Anne's past, she refuses to surrender Anne to a hardened taskmaster who would also abuse her. Through the book, Marilla goes from feeling sympathy for her charge, to liking her despite and sometimes because of her flaws, to growing fond of her, to considering Anne "dearer to her more than anyone on earth." Anne awakens maternal instincts that Marilla didn't even know that she had. 

Part of Anne discovering her own identity and belonging is intertwined in her development and maturity. The majority of the book consists of various scrapes that Anne gets involved in usually concerning follies in hers or other's behavior. One of the first involves a missing amethyst brooch that was a family heirloom of Marilla's. Marilla believing that Anne took it, orders her to stay in her room until she confesses. Taking that punishment literally, Anne creates a confession from her own imagination on which she dropped the brooch into the water below. When Marilla finds her brooch safe and snug on her shawl, they both learn something: Anne not to take things that don't belong to her and Marilla not to jump to hasty conclusions and to believe Anne.

Another lesson cures Anne of her vanity. One of the "crosses that (Anne) bears" throughout her life is her bright red hair. Anyone, like Gilbert or Rachel, makes the mistake of mentioning it will surely receive the the sharp angry end of Anne's mouth. Anne has long wanted to have raven black hair like Diana's (She can't even imagine herself with any other color hair. She can imagine anything else, except her hair is always red.) So she buys hair dye from a shifty peddler which turns her hair green. Humorously, she learns that there are worse things than red hair and eventually grows to accept her hair when it grows to a handsome darker auburn.

 However, she never loses her desire for pretty clothes so that later when Matthew, tired of Marilla dressing Anne in the plain clothes that she makes herself, buys fancier fabric and commissions Rachel to make a dress with puffed sleeves. Anne not only cherishes the dress because it's a long sought for dream come true, but recognizes it as a gift of love from Matthew towards the young woman that he always thought of as "(his) girl."

Sometimes Anne's over developed imagination gets her in trouble. One incident, her creation of a haunted wood causes her to fear walking through the woods at night, terrified of the ghosts that she created. Anne is "contented with commonplace places after this". (However, this incident creates long term repercussions with Diana whose imagination becomes underdeveloped because of her fear.) Another incident results in Anne getting lost adrift in a boat while pretending to be the Lady of Shallot. She is rescued by Gilbert (which though she doesn't realize it, leads to her forgiveness for his long ago taunting), but believed that this incident which left her cold, drenched, and embarrassed cured her of her desire for romance. However, her imagination and romance never dies as throughout the series, as she develops a talent for writing and finding beauty, adventure, and more kindred spirits in the most comnon of places and situations.

Anne is a girl who is looking for a place to belong and she finds that in Green Gables. Before she considered herself "Anne from nowhere and belonging to nobody." She accept being a part of a family and her life as "Anne of Green Gables" ("which is better than being Anne from nowhere".) At first, she is seen as an outsider, a strange girl with a bad temper who goes on weird tangents. Then her circle grows wider as she becomes a schoolgirl and church member  with many friends her own age. 

Though she thinks the pastor's sermons are too long and boring and doesn't like the first teacher Mr. Phillips, who makes eyes at one of the older students, Prissy Andrews. She later bonds with the new minister and his wife, the Rev. and Mrs. Allen, as well as the schoolteacher, Miss Stacey. The Allens and Miss Stacey become guides that help Anne on her path.

As Anne matures, she hones her interest in literature, composition, and imaginative situations into academic success. She becomes an honor student and gets accepted into Queen's College winning a scholarship for Arts students. Despite great tragedy in her family, she is able to forge ahead on her path and become an important member of her community.

Later she becomes a schoolteacher, a member of the Avonlea Improvement Society, a student at Redmond University, a high school principal, a wife to Dr. Gilbert Blythe, a mother of five, and eventually a writer of short stories and novels, first of romantic love stories then more realistic ones that depict fictionalized versions of her childhood experiences.

Symbolic of Anne's growing influence as a fulfilled woman who is aware of her personal identity and involvement in her growing communities is the change in titles throughout the series. Anne of Green Gables depicts her family home and close friends and family. Anne of Avonlea causes the circle to spread throughout the town as we see her as a schoolteacher and townsperson, getting to know her pupils, their families, and other townspeople and neighbors. Then it grows even wider to Anne of the Island (as in Prince Edward Island) as Anne explores university life with her fellow classmates, gets involved in romance with Gilbert and another man, and even in one of the best chapters visits the home in which she was born and reads love letters between her deceased birth parents. Eventually, Anne leaves the island to settle in towns like Windy Poplars and Ingleside, creating an even larger connection that extends throughout Canada. 

It's clear that in the 112 years since she was first created, Anne Shirley has found kindred spirits in many of her Readers. Far from unloved or unaccepted, she is "Anne of Everywhere."

Classics Corner: The Turn of The Screw by Henry James; Haunting Gothic Ghost Story is a Suspenseful Psychological Tale That Asks More Questions Than Gives Answers

Classics Corner: The Turn of The Screw by Henry James; Haunting Gothic Ghost Story is a Suspenseful Psychological Tale That Asks More Questions Than Gives Answers

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: I apologize for being late and having so many entries at once, but there was a cold and flu bug going around our house and I had headaches that prevented me from going on the Internet for very long, but I am better and I have a lot to show.
 Henry James knew a thing or two about psychology as well as the supernatural. His brother, William was an eminent philosopher, psychologist, and is considered the Father of Modern American Psychology. He also was a believer in Spiritualism and Mysticism and was the founder of the American Society for Psychical Research. These topics also interested Henry as many of his novels have shown.

Many of Henry James’ novels dissect the motives and means behind his characters particularly his female protagonists. Whether it's Wings of a Dove’s Kate Croy, Washington Square's Catherine Sloper, Daisy Miller's titular character, or (my favorite) Portrait of a Lady’s Isabel Archer, James took his Readers inside the female psyche to show how these characters challenged or surrendered to the world around them. Many of his characters were haunted by past misdeeds, structures that confined them, and expectations and ambitions that they strove to meet but often came up short. In short, many of his protagonists were haunted people.




That's what makes James’ novella, The Turn of the Screw so fascinating. Throughout the book, the Reader is uncertain whether it is the area or the people that are haunted. Are the spirits real or hallucinations? All the Reader knows for sure is whenever haunted people and haunted situations get together, unpleasant things are certain to happen.




The Narrator of James’ story is an unnamed governess who is hired to look after Flora and Miles, a young orphaned brother and sister put in the the custody of their wealthy uncle. The uncle, having no experience with children, is often away leaving the children at boarding school or under the care of servants. (In fact, the uncle is barely in the book no doubt to avoid a Jane Eyre/Rochester romance between him and the governess.) Shortly after the Governess arrives, young Miles is expelled from his school for reasons that are never fully explained but implied was because of some “untoward violation.” He returns to his home to join his sister and the staff.




That's when the Governess starts seeing some strange figures of a man and woman hovering within mirrors, through windows, and often near the children. They have menacing expressions, seem to appear and disappear at will, and no one else acknowledges their presence. The Governess becomes frightened especially after she describes the Ghostly Duo to Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper. Mrs. Grose reveals that they resemble Miss Jessel, the Governess’ predecessor and Peter Quint, the uncle's valet who had a sexual relationship with Miss Jessel. That's all interesting in a gossipy sort of way except um...Quint and Miss Jessel are well you know….dead.

The Governess is determined to protect the children especially when it appears that Flora and Miles see and communicate with the ghosts. What is their intention? Are they planning on harming the children from the other side or killing them and dragging them to Hell? Are they manifestations of some kind of secret guilt that the residents share? Are the ghosts even real or projects of an overactive imagination from an excitable and overwrought governess? James never tells us the answer.




The Turn of the Screw is one of those type of books that leaves the interpretation up to the Reader. While that can be annoying to some, others (such as myself) enjoy this psychological approach of providing their own analytical response to the book.

Many hints are provided that Quint and Jessel were not nice people in life to say the least. Mrs. Grose implied that Quint was “too free with everyone,” and that Miss Jessel often acquiesced to his leadership. Could that have meant that he molested Miles and that he groomed Miss Jessel to molest Flora? It's possible.




Flora and Miles exhibit what could be considered classic signs of being victims of sexual abuse. Flora often keeps to herself and wanders off to unknown locations. Miles acts extremely mature and exhibits knowledge of adult activities beyond his age. Then there's his expulsion, conveniently after Quint's death. Could Miles have exhibited some of his new found knowledge to his fellow students or exhibited some other violent or aggressive tendencies that he learned from Quint? With his superficial charm, secretive nature, and desire to disobey his elders (such as sneaking out of the house at night) just because “he can,” Miles certainly exhibits signs of being a budding sociopath. Are the ghosts then planning to possess the kids to continue their control over them from Beyond?




Then there's the Governess. While she is clearly concerned and protective over the children, she is also prone to fits of hysteria. Many times after she encounters the ghosts, she comes across as a mentally ill person, particularly trying to convince everyone else that the ghosts exist. Her behavior seems to suggest that the ghosts may not be real and are products of her imagination or hallucinations from a repressed, but unhinged mind. (Though if that were true, it would not explain how the Governess would know what Quint and Jessel, two people she had never met before, look like enough for Mrs. Grose to recognize them from her description.)




At times the Governess could be just as unbalanced and just as harmful to the children as her predecessors, even in her determination to save them. In one frightening passage, The Governess’ insane rambling frightens Flora particularly after the girl tells her she doesn't see the ghosts. Ironically in trying to prevent Flora from being taken by the ghosts, the Governess’ behavior isolates Flora and particularly Miles further and puts them right in their paths.




The Turn of the Screw is the type of ghost story that is more than a simple tale involving ghosts. It raises more questions than answers forcing the Readers to make their own conclusions therefore proving that sometimes the scariest ghosts are found inside the human mind.