Qualify

In May we chose “Qualify” by Vera Nazarian for our start of the summer reads. This is a young adult novel set in a future facing a world ending asteroid. While it appears all is lost, the sudden arrival of the descendants of ancient Atlantis bring the possibility of hope. Advanced in technology and physical skills, they invite some of humanity to be saved. But there’s a catch. One must qualify to be admitted. And only teens competing in qualification are allowed. Most of humanity will die.

Gwen Lark is one of four siblings who manage to participate in the qualification process and move through the stages of training and increasingly challenging qualification tests. During training all the teens meet some of the Atlanteans, learn new skills, and master new technology to prepare for the final qualifying events that are life and death competitions. And as a sixteen-year-old navigating boys and the stresses of life, Gwen has to learn to trust her smarts, friends, and family to progress through the grueling qualification.

This was a fun read that most of our group enjoyed. While our group is well over the target audience age, it was still compelling enough to enjoy watching the characters as they struggled. We talked about how each qualifying candidate were sorted into different groups, and because we were participating online, it was easy for us to all take an online test to figure out which group we would be in. The book is the first in a four-book series, that several members of our group have read on to completion. It was an enjoyable read and a unique take on the lost city of Atlantis story.

Follow the River

 “Follow the River” by James Alexander Thom is a novel from the 1980’s but based on the true-life story of Mary Ingles, who was kidnapped by Indians in 1755. Mary and her two young sons were taken, along with a sister-in-law and several others. After a long journey into the wilds of the early American wilderness, Mary endures childbirth, witnessing murders, and is subjected to a deeply foreign culture than she is used to.

She is traded to trappers in an Indian village who exploit her skills as a seamstress and use her and another woman for much of their hard labor, including harvesting nuts in the forest. Mary uses her sharp mind to memorize as much of the landscape as possible as they are taken away and is finally able to incorporate it as she and the other woman escape into the wild.

While much of the book, especially at the beginning was extremely difficult to read due to the violent nature of the attack on their village, most of the story revolves around the arduous journey Mary makes on her way back home. It is extremely challenging for two women with little to no resources to walk from basically Cincinnati to western Virginia. They face all manner of serious problems on their journey, mostly starvation, exposure, and having to navigate and cross rivers to get back home. 

The descent into the extreme hardship was both horrifying and gripping to the reader, and while this book was difficult to read it was also engaging. Our group had a lively conversation about the incredible journey she made, including looking at maps trying to figure out the route she had to take. The trials faced by this early pioneer woman were inspiring, and we were glad we learned about this story.

 

The Ickabog

In March we chose “The Ickabog” by J.K. Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter series. This was an interesting and unique little story that had a unique background. The story was written for J.K. Rowling’s children in pieces and is a special tale for that reason. However, when the pandemic hit in March 2020, Rowling dusted it off and edited it, releasing each chapter one at a time through her website and social media channels. She hoped it would be a new distraction to help children with something to read during lockdown.

At length, she also asked the children reading to submit artwork they created as they imagined the adventure taking place in the story. She then chose pictures from these submissions and included them in the book when it went to press as a full-length novel toward the end of 2020.

The story is basically a fairy-tale, and a cautionary tale about greed, judgement, and treating people kindly. It is told through the eyes of two children, Daisy and Bert, who face large challenges as they navigate the world of adult greed, lies and cruelty. There is also a monster, the Ickabog, and the mystery surrounding it makes all the difference to the kingdom.

This was a very different tale, and we discussed at length what children learn and understand from fairy tales and how they can incorporate the wild storytelling into morals and looking at human nature. It was an easy read, cute and the artwork was really quite impressive! It was just a sweet thing to see how many children were involved in making the story into what it is today.

“Lies upon lies upon lies. Once you started lying, you had to continue, and then it was like being captain of a leaky ship, always plugging holes in the side to stop yourself sinking.”

J.K. Rowling, The Ickabog

Pride and Prejudice

For our February choice we went with the classic romance, “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. Incredibly, in the nearly fifteen years we’ve been doing book club, we haven’t read and reviewed this wonderful novel! Of course, many of us have actually read it before, and most of us had seen the movie versions (several options) multiple times, so it was a fun opportunity to re-read and enjoy this fabulous story.

Retracing the story of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, this romance is full of wit and detail of the life of a lady and gentlemen of the early 1800s. From the drama of a spurned lady at a dance, meeting handsome officers, navigating the perils of attending balls, to the scheming of mothers and gossip of ladies, the story unfolds in a glorious literary masterpiece.

The movies gave us incredible acting, leading to a fun discussion on which Darcy was better, or for that matter, which Mr. Collins did we prefer? There was so much fun to chat about, it was a delightful experience. We discussed much of the story, plots, our favorite versions of the movies, the themes and characters that are so beloved around the world. So many people over the past 200 years have enjoyed this well written and sharp witted book, and our group proved it still can generate much discussion, even in 2021.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Flying Free

 

We started off 2021 by choosing “Flying Free” by Cecilia Aragon. This was an autobiography about the shy woman who became the first Latina pilot to earn a place on the United States Unlimited Aerobatic Team and represented the United States in the Olympics of aviation, the World Aerobatic Championships.

The story shares the experiences of Cecilia, who was raised in a small midwestern town in the 1960s. She struggled with shyness, and being the daughter of immigrant parents from Chile and the Philippines led to bullies and racist treatment. But she worked hard to gain her education and through her work in engineering, she was introduced to a co-worker who loved to fly. He offered to take her up in a plane and give her the experience of flight in a small aircraft.

As terrified as she was, she took the opportunity, and fell in love with flying. Her mathematical way of approaching problems allowed her to work her way from a beginning flight student, small in size but big in desire, to accomplish her goals and overcoming great hurdles to get there.

Our group were impressed at her tenacity and energy, and more powerful, her passion for flying. She was interesting and inspirational to read about and it was a powerful story to learn from.

Christmas Jars

For our Christmastime pick, we went with “Christmas Jars” by Jason F. Wright. This short and sweet story introduces us to Hope, first left as an infant in a diner at Christmas, raised by an adoptive mother, and born with a passion for journalism. 

Hope receives a jar full of money and begins to investigate, trying to solve the mystery of the Christmas Jar she received. In doing so, she meets the family who started the charitable tradition, learns about their lives, the lives they have touched, and the power of spreading a loving idea.

This is a sweet little story that reminds us of the spirit of giving that we see so often at Christmas, but it’s also a story of how circumstance can often help intertwine us in others lives. The little book is straightforward, but memorable and leaves the reader feeling a desire to be kind. What a nice thing at the end of a book?

Our group enjoyed this tale and appreciated the sentiments and how one person can make a difference.

“Although discovering an unattended, blue eyed, newborn baby girl was not on her list of expectations, Louise was the faithful brand of woman who believed that everything happened for a reason.”

― Jason F. Wright, Christmas Jars

The Book of Lost Names

We chose “The Book of Lost Names” by Kristin Harmel for our November 2020 book and found it to be a powerful, and incredible story based on the true-life story of a talented young women thrust into helping Jewish children escape the Nazis in WWII France.

The book begins with Eva, a librarian in Florida, learning that a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years has been discovered in France, and she knows far more about it than the researchers who discovered it. They realize it appears to have some kind of code, but are unable to decipher it, and Eva realizes it’s time her story came out. Years of hiding her past are about to come to an end.

A Jewish student in France, her father is arrested and taken away as she and her mother happen to be helping a neighbor. They manage to get to a mountain town in the Free Zone, but begins forging documents for the French resistance, allowing Jewish children to flee to Switzerland. The story that follows is powerful, intriguing and fascinating- allowing readers a small insight into some of the ways people fought back had less to do with guns, and more to do with other gifts.

The book left a powerful impression and we had a lovely discussion about this very interesting story.

“Once you’ve fallen in love with books, their presence can make you feel at home anywhere, even in places where you shouldn’t belong.” Kristin Harmel, The Book of Lost Names