27 Wagons Full of Cotton by Tennessee Williams

As I continued to to ween myself from the book-a-day plan, I turned to another old favorite...Tennessee Williams. I spent an afternoon by the wood stove at St. Mark's reading a few one-acts. Much like Eggers and Eliot, trying to wrap up the feelings that envelope me as I read Williams is a near impossibility-so brief sketches of plot will have to do here.

"Something Unspoken" Wealthy southern spinster and her help-very typical Williams.

"Hello from Bertha" A delirious call girl in the red-light district of East St. Louis and her co-workers have an interesting evening.

"The Strangest Kind of Romance" The interactions of a lonely landlady and the transient factory-working borders. And a Russian cat.

"Talk to Me Like the Rain And Let Me Listen..." Agh. The beauty of this title is painful. The words exchanged between this waking couple during the early daylight hours are just as georgeously excruciating. Foreign intimacy at it's best. Argh.

Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot

The Four Quartets were actually published separately initially, all during the 1940s as Eliot was spending time in England. Facing both the air raids of World War II and declining health, Eliot addressed matters of time and man's universal search for a place within it.

I've long reached to Eliot's plays for comfort, but never really his poems. I find that it's difficult to analyze poetry when I'm simply reading to read. I prefer to let the words and rhythm speak to me in the moment. Especially when contemplating such big issues, as we all bring our own pictures of redemption to a text.

Eliot has a voice that speaks what it believes and what it questions quite directly. My appreciation comes in that his voice also allows for the reader to have their own.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney

I'll liken the Wimpy Kid series to James Patterson or Danielle Steel-fantastic way to get someone to read, not something I'd fully recommend to a reader. However, the one major difference is that Greg Heffley experiences things that your average 5th grader does.

These stories are believable. They're also catchy. I read the first three in this series over Thanksgiving break of 2009. Last year I was just as excited to go on the field trip to see the movie as were the 10 year olds that I accompanied. Even the boys that typically "hated" to read were fighting over who got custody of the classroom copies next, and I have terrific memories of seeing James and Giovanni clamor over one another in order to talk to me about these books.

There are, of course, valid arguments on either side of my major criticism of the language. While Greg lives the life of an average kid, he also talks like one. His first person narration using grossly incorrect grammar (the likes of "Me and Rowley went to gym class.") bothered me to the utmost throughout. It drives me to the brink thinking that legions of students will read this and it will reinforce their already atrocious speech. Gack.

Regardless, this is a fun quick read....and I'll continue to read the series.

The Body Artist by Don DeLillo

DeLillo is an author I have been meaning to read for years. When I started this "read-a-book-a-day-for-a-week" thing, I knew that at 126 pages, The Body Artist was definitely on the list. The only questions I have now are, Why did I wait so long? and, Where to go next?

This is a simple and haunting book. The language is phenomenal...the setting, the sparse dialogue and the complex nature of the plot mix to create perfect alchemy.

Lauren Hartke is an artist testing and defining the limits of the human body. As she mourns the loss of her husband Rey, an ephemeral character enters her life in a quite unusual way. Lauren's interactions and reactions with both of these men are woven through the story in ways both transcendental and concrete. The questions this book lead me to ponder are abstruse, muddy, enigmatic and delicious.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

This is a slow-building book. Much like the slow building of the friendship at the center of this story. Bruno is 9 years old, lives in Berlin, and has no idea what his father does for a living that garners so much respect and talk of importance. Soon the "Fury" comes to dinner, and the reader quickly figures out that Hitler is the man informing this family that they're moving to a post they call "Out-With," which is a desolate concentration camp, where Bruno's father will be the supreme officer.

Bruno, having no clue about the world outside of his 5-story home, is simply upset that he must leave his friends. His frustrations become even larger when he has only 3 stories in the new house and no neighbors, no friends, no school to attend. He looks out his new bedroom window and wonders about the fence, and the people who shuffle about inside the fence wearing striped pajamas and matching caps.

Eventually Bruno tires of the lack of adventure to be found inside the house, and disobeys his parents strict orders (With No Exceptions) to go exploring. He walks along the length of the fence, coming upon a boy his age sitting, staring out. This boy, Shmuel, becomes his only friend. They talk of their lives prior to Out-With, finding that they were quite similar in their other worlds. Shmuel never fully explains to Bruno what Out-With is, or what his father does on the inside of the fence. Bruno eventually finds out when he dares to crawl under the fence to visit Shmuel's world.

Knowing this was a book about the Holocaust, I kept waiting to be shocked by the ending. I guess you can't be shocked when you're anticipating it.

The Nimrod Flip Out by Etgar Keret

One look at this cover and you know that this is an odd collection. These stories are incredibly short, mostly hovering between 3 and 6 (the longest at 16) pages.

Quirky, obsessed with sex, and never really establishing any kind of connection-I love them. While most short stories seem to nail down the essence of the characters, these rarely do. But not to the point of distraction.

For me, it might be the highest compliment that I can't verbalize why I find these stories so moving. Art should be visceral, both in the creating and in the reception.

Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks

I'd read Sarah Weeks' first novel, So B. It, in not only one day, but in one sitting. It is a magical book that I wish I could've read as a child. So when, not knowing that it existed, I came upon Jumping the Scratch on the second day of my read-a-book-each-day-for-a-week experiment, I easily bumped DeLillo back a day.

Jamie (not James) is a 5th grader who has come upon some bad luck. His cat ran died, his dad took off, and he has to move to Michigan. His Aunt Sapphy, involved in a freak accident at a cherry factory, can't care for herself any longer, so Jamie and his mom move to Traverse City to help her out.

Once at his new school, Jamie is an outcast. Even his teacher can't seem to find anything redeeming in Jamie, so he retreats even further from anyone who reaches out to him. There is obviously something deeper that's traumatized Jamie, and he refers to it only as the incident, and of his fear being tied to the taste of butterscotch.

Two brief encounters turn into pivotal connections for Jamie. One is with the weird girl from his class, Audrey, who is also his neighbor. The other is with an author who visits his classroom. These characters are believable, and their appearances rather brief, but their impact is felt by both the protagonist and the reader.

While I wasn't over the moon about this book, I can see how it will be helpful in dealing with broader issues for young adults. Divorce, trauma, abuse, and bullying are all dealt with deftly and with the disposition of a 10-year-old-boy. Any story that can assist students deal with life is significant enough to be told.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

This book was pulled from the stack I've acquired as a result of the recommendation of students. A favorite for read-aloud and one that makes teachers cry, I had high hopes.

Edward is a china rabbit. He is haughty and unfeeling. His only reaction to the human world is to Pellegrina, his owner's grandmother, who has few kind words and stares with beady black eyes. Pellegrina also believes that no story has a happy ending. This causes Edward to contemplate happiness and love. Being that he is a china rabbit, whose only experience is with an adoring girl as an owner, his thoughts are limited.

When Edward joins his family on a cruise, he finds himself thrown overboard by some pranksters. Edward's journey starts here, and takes him into the hands various owners-a hobo, a sickly girl, a lonely elderly couple. All through his travels, Edward learns that you actually can feel, can love...even if your "heart" doesn't physically exist.

Given the reviews I've received by countless students, I was expecting to be enamored by this book. I wasn't. However, I can allow that DiCamillo has a gift with language and for weaving a tale that mesmerizes youngsters.

The Help by Katherine Stockett

Kathryn Stockett's book has been on our book club list since May (these ladies don't mess around-we schedule a year out), and then went up as the latest One Book, One Denver selection. It's been everywhere. I haven't heard one negative thing about it. Per the ushe, I procrastinated until the week before our meeting to start it. Then I was sick and didn't read a single word for 4 days. Which means that Saturday last, I read all 450 pages of this bad boy. I wasn't bored, I barely took breaks....and I finished it...inside of 24 hours.

The next day I got the bright idea to read a book a day for an entire week (standby for posts on all titles)-obviously cheating with much shorter books.

The Help focuses on the relationships between white folks and their black maids. The book takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s, and uses 3 separate and alternating voices throughout. These voices belong to Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. Skeeter Phelan is a recent college graduate who was raised in privilege (including a beloved maid, Constantine, who has disappeared in some sort of scandal to which which Skeeter isn't privy), Aibileen Clark is maid to Skeeter's childhood friend, and Minny Jackson is the mouthy maid who has worked for too many homes to count.

In the midst of integration and the Civil Rights movement, these 3 ladies are moved to make an impact on the community of Jackson, which is hesitant (at best) to receive any change. Finding a publishing house in New York City interested in helping her progress, Skeeter begins to interview black maids under the cover of night in hopes of a book.

Nine black students attend a previously all-white school in Little Rock, four black students in North Carolina sit at a segregated lunch counter at a Woolworth's-these things are spoken of in Jackson and dismissed as foolishness. Skeeter's friends play cards and continue building separate bathrooms for their "help". Then James Meredith enrolls at the University of Mississippi and Medgar Evers is killed on the streets of Jackson-these things aren't so easily dismissed. These incidents also make the prospect of publishing a book about the harsh climate seem like an impossibility.

The supporting characters of this story are fully fleshed out and boost the flavor of this well-written piece of fiction, and the fact that these scenes are painted with historical episodes. I can't say that I'm a huge fan of how each of the storylines tie up so neatly, but it was worth the read. (Can I mention here that I can't wait to see Lee Daniels' Selma?)