Luann's 2009 Challenge - Author and Title A-Z - COMPLETED!

[Luann]

Jackaroo A Novel of the Kingdom by Cynthia Voigt. 5 stars.

I guess so many people have this shelved as a fantasy because of the "alternate history" aspect to the story. We never really know it takes place in OUR past and no real-world names that I know of are given for places. But there isn't any magic or sorcery. The School Library Journal calls this "an intense and elegantly written historical adventure-romance ." There really isn't even much of a romantic aspect to the story unless you count the romantic, swashbuckling legend of the Jackaroo, who is a type of Robin Hood character the villagers like to tell stories about.

With that said, I absolutely loved this story set in a time with Lords, Earls, and a King who charge taxes and tithes from their villagers and land holders. Gwyn, the main character, is an innkeeper's daughter who lives in the northern part of the kingdom. She is also a strong, independant young woman with a quick tongue who cares about other people and does her best to help even during hard times. Unfortunately for her, independant young women with a mind of their own really don't fit in with the time and community in which she lives. I loved the way the story played out and the ways that Gwyn found to stay true to herself while still attempting to fit into her world.

This is the first book I've read by Cynthia Voigt that wasn't in her Tillerman series, and I think it has now become my favorite by her - although I highly recommend the Tillerman books as well. I'm glad to see that Voigt has written more "novels of the Kingdom," and I look forward to reading them!

[Luann]

Yikes! I got caught up in challenges for other groups and stopped working on this one with just three books left to go. Journey Home completes the author portion! Now I just have two books left for A-Z titles.

Journey Home by Yoshiko Uchida. 3 stars.

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as Journey to Topaz, although I did still find the subject matter very interesting. I think many Americans don't realize or remember that Japanese Americans were required to leave their homes and live in concentration camps during WWII. This is the sequel to Journey To Topaz: A Story Of The Japanese-American Evacuation, which tells the story of Yuki and her family living in a concentration camp in Utah. In Journey Home, Yuki and her family have been allowed to leave the concentration camp, but cannot yet go back to California. They live for a time in Salt Lake City while waiting for the war to end and the law against any Japanese living on the West Coast to be changed. Yuki just wants to go home and have her regular life back.

When the war ends, Uncle Oka is still sad and tells Yuki it is because of all he has lost due to the war. He says, "In war, nobody wins. Nobody at all." Later, though, he is able to find forgiveness:

"Forgive . . . " he murmured. The word came slowly and softly from his lips, as though he were understanding it for the first time. He spoke the word as a blind man might feel a new object, touching it, discovering it, wondering about it, amazed at the feelings that came alive as he said the word. Then he said slowly, "I guess forgiving does take the bundle of hate off your back."

[Luann]

Thanks, Leola! I appreciate the feedback.

[Luann]

The Xibalba Murders: An Archeological Mystery by Lyn Hamilton. 3 stars.

This was a solid three stars for me. There's nothing really wrong with it, but nothing terribly exciting about it either. The setting and information about the Maya culture was well done, but only mildly interesting. I was never drawn into the story, and the characters all seemed just a bit flat. On the plus side, I can now cross "X" off my Title A-Z challenge. Just one more book to go!

[Luann]

Finally finished both the Author A-Z and the Title A-Z. I should have finished months ago, but I got distracted with other challenges. I did finish this before the end of the year, though! My final book for the Title A-Z is:

Yolonda's Genius by Carol Fenner. 4 stars.

Yolonda's mom is concerned with the increasing violence and drugs in their Chicago neighborhood, so she moves her family to the much smaller town of Grand River, Michigan. Yolonda's street smarts don't help her much in Grand River, and she has to learn an entirely new set of strategies for survival - especially when she realizes that her little brother, Andrew, is a musical genius and she can't get anyone else to believe her. This was so well written that I felt like I completely knew and understood these characters, even though their lives are very different from mine. This definitely deserved its Newbery honor!