Saturday, December 27, 2014

Great Young Adult Read For All Ages

Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a really excellent book that I highly recommend. It was very real, and I loved the author's note at the end:
"This is meant to be a historical note, and it pains me to admit that Code Name Verity is fiction--that Julie Beaufort-Stuart and Maddie Brodatt are not actually real people, but merely products of my adventure-obsessed brain."
This book is not just about these two women and their friendship, but also about the role women played in the war. It's not just about the role women played in the war, but about doing the hard, but right thing (something that is sadly lacking in our society today). It is also a story about mixed identities and loyalty. It's about Cruelty and Courage, and yes, I mean to capitalize those words.

I read Code Name Verity twice, and it is reluctantly on it's way to the library now.

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Family: Do We Know the Real Story?

Three DaughtersThree Daughters by Consuelo Saah Baehr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book, covering three generations of mothers and daughters. It covers as well, an expanse of history highlighting the changes and choices that women have encountered over the years.

This book surprised me in the experiences that each of the women faced. In my limited experiences with women from the Arab Palestinian culture I pictured the women as being more submissive, more restricted . . . more, cautious I guess. This is not the case with the three women in this story. Miriam, Nadia and Nijmeh each have their own story to tell.

Miriam is strong, traditional, smart, and enticed by the opportunities that wars (yes, multiple) bring to her as a woman in her country. Although her marriage is arranged, she and her husband form a marriage partnership that works for them. Even so, Miriam falls in love with another man and begins a relationship that could put her in real danger. She knows, however, that she can never, or will never, leave her husband. Eventually, she will come to realize that she deeply loves him.

Nadia, Miriam's daughter, is rebellious. Conventional marriages and the conventional life are not for her. She resists the arranged marriage her parents desire for her, and would rather be out riding horses than living out the traditional role a woman plays in her tribe. Nadia falls in love with an older man, but is tricked into a marriage with a person from her tribe and culture. She soon realizes that Samir loves her, and she loves him too. The only thing lacking in their relationship is children. Nijmeh,their daughter, ends up being their only child.

Nijmeh's story was my favorite. She is innocent and naive, but at the same time tough and smart. In preparation for her role as next in line when the Sheikh, her father dies, she learns to live on her own in the desert. Her father wants her to learn to love the land and traditions of her family. Nijmeh also falls in love, but her father disapproves and intervenes. Through a controlled circumstance, Nijmeh ends up marrying a doctor whose family is from her tribe, and then moves to America. Once Nijmeh is in America,we begin to see the real Nijmeh emerge.

The story of each of the daughters is different than the story that their families know. I enjoyed how the author allowed us to see what other characters in the book were thinking. Some of the descriptive paragraphs were a little long for me, but overall I really enjoyed this book.

Love shines through in the end, because family is, after all, more about heart than blood. The ending, which highlights this thought, was perfect!  



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