Waiting On Wednesday(1/19) :The Year We Were Famous

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine

With their farm in Mica Creek, Washington facing foreclosure, seventeen-year-old Clara Estby and her mother, Helga, need to find a way to raise a lot of money in a short time--no easy feat for two women in 1896. Helga wants to tackle the problem with her usual loud and flashy style, while Clara, the oldest of the eight Estby children, favors a less showy approach. Though very different in personality, mother and daughter share a determination to save their family's home, so they come up with a plan to walk the 4,600 miles from Mica Creek to New York City--and if they can do it in only eight months, a New York City publisher has agreed to give them $10,000.

They set out with little more than ten dollars, two ponchos, and a gun. Along the way they go through sixteen pairs of shoes each, fend off snakes and highwaymen, and narrowly escape a flash flood. But they also meet the governor of every state they pass through and the wife of presidential-candidate, William Jennings Bryan, as well as shake hands with the new president himself, William McKinley. And with each new challenge they face, Clara and Helga come to rely on and respect one another for the very traits that make them so different.

Based on the true story of the author's great aunt and great-great grandmother, this is a fast-paced historical fiction adventure for 10-14 year-olds that sets the drama of Around the World In 80 Days against an American backdrop during the time of the suffragist movement, the 1896 presidential campaign, and the changing perception of "a woman's place" in society.

I found it in 2010 Author Debut list. From the cover, I can directly guess that The Year We Were Famous is another historical fiction book as you can see on its synopsis. I always enjoy reading that kind of genre especially when I need a break from all the fantasy one.

Author: Carole Estby Dagg

Hardcover, 288 pages

Expected publication: April 4th 2011 by Clarion Books

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday What Are You Reading is weekly meme which is started by Sheila fromOne Persons Journey Through a World of Books.

Last week I read Maximum Ride : The Final Warning by James Patterson

and The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas. I am going to write the review soon

I also have posted my second English review of The Evolution Calpurnia Tate

Now I am reading The Spellman File

Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors -- but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Izzy. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.

Part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends"). But when Izzy's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy's new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there's a hitch: she must take one last job before they'll let her go -- a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life.

The Spellman Files is the first novel in a winning and hilarious new series featuring the Spellman family in all its lovable chaos

This Week I plan to read

Pratchett (of Discworld fame) and Gaiman (of Sandman fame) may seem an unlikely combination, but the topic (Armageddon) of this fast-paced novel is old hat to both. Pratchett's wackiness collaborates with Gaiman's morbid humor; the result is a humanist delight to be savored and reread again and again. You see, there was a bit of a mixup when the Antichrist was born, due in part to the machinations of Crowley, who did not so much fall as saunter downwards, and in part to the mysterious ways as manifested in the form of a part-time rare book dealer, an angel named Aziraphale. Like top agents everywhere, they've long had more in common with each other than the sides they represent, or the conflict they are nominally engaged in. The only person who knows how it will all end is Agnes Nutter, a witch whose prophecies all come true, if one can only manage to decipher them. The minor characters along the way (Famine makes an appearance as diet crazes, no-calorie food and anorexia epidemics) are as much fun as the story as a whole, which adds up to one of those rare books which is enormous fun to read the first time, and the second time, and the third time

Both of them have been translated to my language. For The Spellmen Files, I found no confusing words. Thanks to the translator. I enjoy her works. Unfortunately, the local publisher decided to bring out only the first book. Whereas there are three books. :(

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Synopsis From Goodreads

The summer of 1899 is hot in Calpurnia Virginia Tate's sleepy Texas town, and there aren't a lot of good ways to stay cool. Her mother has a new wind machine from town, but Callie might just have to resort to stealthily cutting off her hair, one sneaky inch at a time. She also spends a lot time at the river with her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist. It turns out that every drop of river water is teeming with life - all you have to do is look through a microscope!

As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century

Review

The story is about a girl named Calpurnia Tate. Before reading the synopsis and remembered one characther in To Kill A Mockingbirf, I would never know that Calpurnia was a name of a girl. It was too weird for me. I would love to question her parents for the reason. Particularly same thought was in Callie's mind. Lucky us, her grandfather had the answer

As stated in the synopsis, the Whole story took a place in Fentress, Texas 1899 during summer till the beginning of winter. I have no pictures but all scenes in The Little House on Prairie. From their dress, school, even the horse cart. It helped me a lot to get what Callie try to describe.

Thanks to the translator. It was easy for me to connect with this smart young girl who could not stop observing something. She was not another ordinary girl. She was not interested in kniting or cooking. I enjoyed all her words and felt amazed with her thoughts. She had many ways to make me giggle with it. I felt something missing when I was in the last page of this delightful novel and found there was no more to read.

What I also loved from this book with 28 chapters inside was the paragraph that told me Callie's relationship with older and younger brothers. Most of them were so touching. I was looking forward to read it in every chapters.

Not only with her brothers, but "quality time" with her mother was also counted. I was completely entertained and laughed couple of times reading those parts. Her mother could read Callie's mind easily. That might what people called as mother's instinct. Callie and also all her brothers had no option but obeyed all her rules.

Actually I really want to give 5 but 4 stars is enough. I enjoyed when Jacqueline wrote about the exploration and observation stuff but I thought it was too much. For those of you who enjoy all things about evolution, spices of plants or animals, I highly recommend this book.

Cover

I like Indonesian cover but the US print is much better.

Author

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is Jacqueline Kelly's Debut Novel. IRA Children's Book Award; IRA Teachers' Choices; Newbery Honor Book; CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best; Texas Lone Star Reading List; Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Master List are the award for her books. I just found her website. There is Callie's pages. I wish I have seen it in advance. So no need to take all that old movie series.

4/5

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Author: Jacqueline Kelly

Translator: Berliani M. Nugrahani

Editor: Nadya Andwiani

Publisher: Matahati

Fisrt Published: November 2010, 384 pages

Loving The Review Challenge

This Review Challenge is hosted by Brandi of Blkosiner's Book Blog and Sniffly Kitty of Sniffly Kitty's Mostly Books. All participants must link new reviews for the month of February. There are lots of prizes.
I am not sure which book I intend to read yet. I am going to list it soon. If you'd love to participate also, please check Sniffly Kitty blog post here

Follow Friday (1/14)

This Week FeatureAnnette @ The More You Read, The More You Will Know!
This Week Question

What makes up your non-human family??

Since I moved to Manado, I have not kept any pets. I used to have five kitties. When I was child we kept some dogs also. But some people kidnapped them. So my father decided to stop. Until now I try hard to tame a wild cat who is always running around the house. It is not easy.

This meme is hosted by Parajunkee

Waiting On Wednesday(1/12) :Forgotten

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine

This week I choose this book. I have known about this book last year. There is no cover yet. Few days ago I found it in Goodreads and surprised with what I saw. I love it.

Hardcover, 304 pages

Expected publication: June 7th 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

Part psychological drama, part romance, and part mystery, this thought-provoking novel will inspire readers to consider the what-if's in their own lives and recognize the power they have to control their destinies

So which book do you pick this wednesday?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading

It's Monday What Are You Reading is weekly meme which is started by Sheila from One Persons Journey Through a World of Books.

Now Reading

In this breathtaking new story from the astonishing imagination of James Patterson, a girl has to save herself from an army assembled just to capture her-and maybe save the planet while she's at it.

Maximum Ride is a perfectly normal teenager who just happens to be able to fly, the result of an out-of-control government experiment.

Max and the other members of the Flock-six kids who share her remarkable ability-have been asked to aid a group of environmental scientists studying the causes of global warming. The expedition seems like a perfect combination of adventure, activism--and escaping government forces who watch the Flock like a hawk.

But even in Antarctica, trapped in the harshest weather on our planet, Maximum Ride is an irresistible target in constant danger. For whoever controls her powers could also control the world. Maximum Ride is James Patterson's greatest character, a heroine who manages to be human and fearless at once

After the third book, It took more than a year for me to read this book. When I checked the rating in goodreads, I was little bit surprised because most of them are disappointed with this book. But let's see. I have to bring back the memory about the third book. I almost forget what has happened to those kids.

I plan to read

In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure. Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery's pocket and touched the wizard's locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells. But for some reason he did not. Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own. But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who—or what—is stealing the city of Wellmet's magic.

I hope the translation is good. Since the The Disc World, I am getting worried that I can not enjoy any translation book anymore.

So What Are You Reading?