communities

Review: Alek by Bodil Bredsdorff

| Tasha

alek

Alek by Bodil Bredsdorff

This final book in The Children of Crow Cove series has Doup as the main character.  Doup came to Crow Cove as a child with the Crow-Girl.  He has lived there all of his life but misses his older brother Ravnar who has moved away.  Doup reclaims his birthname of Alek and heads off with his father to town to find Ravnar.  They discover his empty home that is dirty and dank. Ravnar only appears when his boat is in harbor, otherwise he is out fishing for a living.  Alek’s father leaves him with Ravnar and returns to Crow Cove.  But one night, Alek witnesses a shipwreck on the beach where the sailors were tricked into beaching the boat.  He then sees a man murdered and discovers a young girl hiding away from the beach.  Alek takes the girl home with him, though she doesn’t speak his language.  Young Alek has to figure out what happened and then what to do about it.

I’ve adored this series for some time.  The writing is so natural and easy.  It is steeped in its seaside setting and filled with small details that bring their world to life.  This final book has plenty of action to move the story along, but it still remains a book about everyday life and creating a family out of the people who are with you.  From the small details of hunting and farming to information on meals and shopping, this book like the others in the series is a small book filled with the largeness of a life well led.

Definitely start with the first in the series.  As the series moves forward, the characters grow and age, offering a look at the results of their decisions in earlier books.  The strength of these books are in the complex characters, the fine details and the glory of the natural setting.

This is a fittingly strong final volume in a delight of a series.  Appropriate for ages 10-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar Straus Giroux.

Review: My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer by Jennifer Gennari

| Tasha

my mixed-up berry blue summer

My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer by Jennifer Gennari

June has lived on Lake Champlain with her mother forever.  They run the marina with its supplies and café.  That’s where June learned to make pies, and she is determined to enter the fair this summer to prove what a great baker she is.  But this summer is going to be very different from other summers.  First, her mother’s girlfriend has moved in with them.  Then there is the pressure from Vermont’s new civil union law that has their small town divided.  There are people who won’t shop at the marina anymore because June’s mother is gay.  It is a summer unlike any other, one where June will have to figure out how she feels about having two mothers, and then whether she has the courage to speak up. 

Gennari’s debut novel courageously takes on not only the issue of gay parents but also the political backlash that can occur to a family in modern America.  Through the eyes of June, we see a strong mother and daughter connection, an understanding that her mother is gay, but then the realization that that will be much more public with a girlfriend or spouse.  Gennari makes this a very human story that embraces the power of community and the complexities as well.  As a special aside, I will mention the great librarian character who shows a lot of support for June and her family.

This book is short and active.  It’s a perfect summer read with plenty of dips in the lake, boats on the water, bike rides in the heat, and ripening berries all around.  Nicely, it is about more relationships than the mother and her girlfriend.  June is faced with losing a friend because of their difference in opinion and then June’s changing feelings toward Luke, a boy who is her best friend. 

Perfect for a summer read while floating on a lake, this book is strong, courageous and radiant.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from library copy.