Splash into Summer: The Lure of Shapinsay by Krista Holle

My first book about selkies and it was definitely better than I thought it would be. Although the romance of it was a bit OVER THE TOP and Edward/Belle-esque, I enjoyed the story of a selkie torn between the sea he loves and the girl he's lured into being with him.

I thought this story was going to be told through the eyes of the selkie male (named by his 'captor' Eamon) and, it was. However, it is also told through the eyes of the girl, Kait and it seems that it is Kait's story that receives most of the attention in it we find a girl being forced to follow conventions and marry. Her parents have died and it would seem her twin brother Blair thinks he is doing her a favor by setting her up before he pursues his own bride. He believes this to be especially true since Kait's best friend has a baby that isn't quite human, and, because it was thrown out to sea to drown the selkies want some sort of vengeance. Eamon, too, is trapped by duty and a fear of humans, except for he can't stay away from Kait for too long.

It's pretty cool that this story takes place on the island of Shapinsay during the same time period that Balfour Castle was being built, the middle 1800s, when people still believed in faeries and the evil of witches. Kait learns that to keep Eamon with her, she must steal his selkie coat, and hide it in a place that no one would ever look. This is what human men have been doing to beautiful selkie women for ages and it works in reverse, but at what cost. While Eamon and Kait love one another and are bound to one another it must be determined if this love is strong enough to live through so much on both sides of the equation.

Although predictable (what love story isn't?), the ending has a twist that I truly enjoyed. I look forward to reading more lovie-dovie romances by Krista Holle and I need to find more books about selkies, as I don't know any of their legends and lore. I feel like I'm behind the times and must go watch The Secret of Roan Inish and Ondine immediately.

4 Stars   

The over the top romance and Scottish accents (so hard to do successfully on paper) kind of did me in, I do think that my students will like the romance of this book, and if you're looking for a different sort of paranormal and mermaids are too fluffy, I'd suggest a selkie book.

Teacher Advisories
Sex 4/5 
When selkies are on land they are truly naked...um, they don't seem to mind. There's lots of lips touching soft  skin and warm touches and such and Eamon's nude the whole time. There's also a human male who won't leave Kait alone. Kait and Eamon marry and sleep in the same bed. Eamon refers to having sex as 'humping'. They have sex on the beach and in a bed. There's lots of nudity...not written dirtly at all...but it's still there. I'm curious about its YA classification...it seems grown-up in this respect...
Language 0/5 
Nothing.
Substance Abuses 2/5
There's a bonfire where there's drinking. There's some more drinking at the tavern. And, then they drink again. Ah, come on, it's Scotland in the 1800s!!!
Violence 5/5
Blair abuses Kait often, he holds her down or drags her off. I get that he's trying to protect her, but wow, that's controlling and abrasive! Magnum kisses Kate and treats her like property. A baby is drowned, a girl commits suicide. Selkie women are dragged off to be wives. A Selkie man is forced to be a husband, but then he grows to love her...he loved her already actually, but still.

Touchy Subjects
Coerced Relationships
It is selkie lore that in order to trap a selkie and keep them on land you must steal and hide their coat. This makes any selkie relationship a sad affair, especially if that selkie doesn't want to be kept on land.
Brutality towards women
Blair also seems to think that he can force Kait into marrying who he deems fit. He does this by force. It seems that women are not allowed to make choices and they are brutally coerced into making the 'right' choices.

Suicide
After her baby is murdered by its grandfather a woman takes her own life, she is that overcome with grief.

Judgment and Profiling
Humans think that selkies are evil and at the beginning of the book this is shown through the murder of a little selkie baby.



How this book is used in the classroom
1] Independent Read option

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (Guest Post by Kate Sutter)

***contains spoilers***


I am a High School American History teacher, and when I as approached about writing for the blog, I decided I wanted to pick something that was related to my content area.  I perused the school library one afternoon and, spotting the librarian’s Veterans Day display, was interested by Morpurgo’s War Horse.  After I started to read, I realized it was on the lower end of “young adult” but thought I would finish it anyway.

War Horse is a children’s fiction novel about World War I written by Michael Morpurgo in 1982, and it became a stage play in 2007.  It is being produced for the big screen by Steven Spielberg and is due to be released on Christmas 2011.  Since the movie will bring attention to the book, I felt an amateur review might be beneficial to at least someone. 

The book moves quickly and, and in most cases, lingers on few details after the opening chapters of Joey’s life on an English farm.  There are some issues that might give parents concern or children pause, but as with many heart-warming stories about animals, the happy ending may provoke a few tears of the good kind. 

The story opens at a horse auction in Britain where our narrator, a colt soon-to-be-named Joey, is separated from his mother when both are sold.  Purchased by a drunken farmer, he soon meets his new master, the farmer’s kindly teenaged son Albert.  At several points, Albert and his mother argue about the farmer’s drinking, the mood it puts him in, and the poor decisions he makes because of it.  On one occasion, the farmer comes to the barn drunk to talk to Joey, and frightened, Joey kicks him.  He’d made a bet with the neighbor about a task Albert must train Joey to do, but they are successful.  When Albert’s mother reveals that the farmer’s drinking is due to his financial problems, she foreshadows his decision to sell Joey to the British cavalry when WWI breaks out.  Albert’s last promise to Joey is to join the military someday and find him.

During the war, Joey meets a series of protectors - both the human and equine.  First it is his purchaser, Captain Nicholls, who is killed during their first battle, and another horse, Topthorn, who treats him kindly and calms Joey’s fears, especially as the troops are on board ship crossing the English Channel to war.   Some of the troops, including the horses, are captured by the Germans and ultimately, Joey and Topthorn are given the task of pulling ambulances of wounded soldiers from the front lines.  The horses are boarded with a French farmer and his granddaughter Emilie, who treat them well.  When the Germans leave the area, they leave the horses with them.  Soon though, another unit passing through takes the horses to pull artillery, and Emilie is devastated. 

They soon come under the care of “Crazy Old” Friedrich who is actually a kind soldier who knows horses.  He treats them kindly, but one day as they return from a drink at the river, Topthorn unexpectedly dies of heart failure.  A battle immediately begins, and Friedrich is also killed.  Joey stays next to the bodies of Topthorn and Friedrich for over a day when a tank comes into view.  It terrifies the horse, and he runs away, is injured in barbed wire,  and ends up in the middle of No Man’s Land.  Both sides try to call the horse, and ultimately a white flag is raised.  An older German and a young Brit meet and flip a coin for Joey.  He is won by the Brit and is taken back to the stables.  Working with the veterinarians is Albert, who has told everyone he knows about his goal of finding Joey.  They save him from tetanus and again put him to work pulling an ambulance wagon. 

When the war ends, the soldiers find out that the horses will be sold in France rather than being taken back to England.  They pool their money and try to buy Joey for Albert, but an elderly Frenchman calls out that he’ll pay as much as it takes to purchase the horse.  He does, and Albert goes to talk to him before they leave.  The man is Emilie’s grandfather, who is fulfilling her dying wish.  He’d promised to find the horse and bring him back to live on the farm for the rest of his life.  Knowing Albert will give him the same life, the Frenchman sells Joey back to Albert for an English penny and a promise not to let Emilie’s memory die. 

Joey and Albert return to the family farm, where Albert’s mother assures him that their father is a changed man and had stopped drinking after sending Joey off to war.  Albert takes over the farm and marries his sweetheart Maisie.  His father is said to treat both Joey and the grandchildren well.


2 Stars

As an animal-loving adult with a history degree, I was disappointed. It's been a while since I read a children's book, but I was hoping to like it more. I think it does lend itself to be a very good family tear-jerker though, because readers won't have a whole lot of details to argue Spielberg changed. Much can be added without violating the integrity of the story.

Personally, I give the book a 2 or 2.5 out of 5. For classroom use though, I don't think there's much historical fiction out there about WWI, and I didn't see any inaccuracies, so I do think it has value for students.


Teacher Advisories

Sex 0/5 

There's none.

Language 0/5 

Substance Abuses 3/5

Tobacco/Alcohol: At first it seems drunkenness will be an overarching theme, but is only rarely addressed after the first few chapters. Overall, the topic is probably a “2” but since it plays so prominently into the opening chapters, I ranked it higher given that it will be the reader’s first impression. Soldiers are also briefly described as smoking.

Violence 2/5

Fear/Blood: On several occasions, Joey’s terror is described, but human fear is not addressed often.  Descriptions of death in war are not given in detail though some of Joey’s friends are killed.


Touchy Subjects
Gambling
The farmers bet on whether Joey can pull a plow, and Albert trains him within a week.  Also, there is a coin flip in No Man’s Land for whether the Germans or the British will get to keep Joey.

How this book is used in the classroom
1] Independent Read option for lower level readers
2] Themes and/or topics for discussion

• Loyalty and devotion, keeping promises
• Poor decision making when impaired by alcohol
• Economic concerns and how they affect people
• When decisions made during war must come before personal preferences
• Giving your all to do jobs that you weren’t born, trained, or “bred” for
• How to treat animals
• Separation and union

3] Websites

Scholastic Lesson Plan
Facebook page about the film

A guide from Lincoln Center

The Heart of the Spring by Laura L. Valenti

          OK, so you guys know how I feel about the wonders that are Missouri. This book is definitely one of those reasons. Reading a book detailing this area of Missouri and reading all about Becky and her family, who 90 years ago lived just down the way in the land of trout and bass fishing, was cool. It has just enough romance and heart to make in lovable and just enough plot to make it interesting and compelling, but it's the history that makes this book unforgettable. I love that this story is about that age-old problem of having roots and wings too. Becky is a character that we can all understand and just incase you think she's too girlie, you've got Miz Josie, a woman who takes nothing from no one and is still loved and respected by all. I am so glad that there is a modern author willing to write about the wonders of Missouri and the joys of what it means to be a Missourian bootlegging and all.

Memorable Quote: “The great Bennett Spring, ever true to the beat of life for generations, past and present, continued its languid passage behind them. A sudden breeze swirled green and golden leaves in a tiny whirlwind and scattered them across the sparkling waters in the late afternoon sunlight. The sheltering sycamores stretched their great white arms skyward in an ever-protective arch above the cool blue-green waters. The heart of the spring continued its faithful rhythm as yet another generation prepared to begin its journey in life.”

From the back cover:

Eighteen year old Becky Darling is thrilled with her first job at the Brice Inn in 1924, especially when she learns that Bennett Spring may become Missouri's first state park. It sounds like real progress until she discovers her beloved father is working hard against the idea. Life during that Prohibition summer is further complicated by her older brother's involvement in illegal moonshine, the impending birth of a new brother or sister and the surprise arrival of a state senator and his handsome aide. Becky can't help but wonder if life at Bennett Spring will ever be carefree again?

This book is historical fiction (Valenti did all of her own research by the way) and for young adults, young adults who, nowadays, don't care enough to know anything about the area in which they live.
           I am amazed at how many wonderfully talented writers there are in the state of Missouri and am looking forward to reading this book that Ellen Gray Massey said is about "fishing, moonshining, distrust of outsiders, beauty of nature, importance of family and a romance."

4 Stars  
I love this book, but would not give up my first born for it...you should read it though :)

Teacher Advisories

Sex 0/5 

Um, there may be some hand-holding and a very chaste smooch.

Language 0/5 

None. There are some Ozark Hills colloquialisms, but that's about it.

Substance Abuses 1/5

Becky's brother makes and drinks moonshine, she has to take him home one day because he's too drunk to drive. People do not condone this behavior and he does she the error of his ways in the end.

Violence 1/5

There's an explosion in the moonshine mills. There's an intense argument in a bar. Becky's brother is called on by the cops.

Touchy Subjects

Drinking
There isn't any underage drinking, however, you may have to talk with your students about Moonshining.
Politicans who lie
Becky realizes that sometimes people are fake and say what they want to get elected. She finds out the truth, but you might have to talk to kids about that.

How this book is used in the classroom
1] Independent Read option
2] Websites
www.betweenthestarandthecross.com
Interview with Laura L. Valenti from my other blog The Conscientious Reader