So I realize some of you might feel that reading a book for sixth graders is below you but I'm in a funk and didn't want to read anything at all so I figured some reading is better then none. I picked this little beauty up down by the kiddos picture books. It follows the immigration of Esperanza the daughter of a wealthy land owner in Mexico who after her father's death is forced to move to California and start a life as a field hand.
On the Four Star Scale
Naughty Bits () - Please this baby is for children and to be honest it was nice to not have to cringe over someones false attempts at romance. Oh my, why am I so bitter right now.
Readability (****) - 288 pages with big print. I finished it in a hour and half while the kids were playing at the playroom.
Final notes (****) - I really enjoyed this story. I said to Dr J, "You know how everyone has read Grapes of Wrath?" And he said, "I never read it." And then I said, "What? Is that some kind of joke?" Anyway my point is this story gives you an idea of what was going on in California in the farm fields before and when all the dust bowl refugees started showing up. It also is a wonderful reverse fairy tale. Usually in a fairy tale you watch the pauper become the princess. Here you watch the princess become the pauper. The happy ending is that she realizes that material things are not final and all you can really hold onto is family and friends. Esperanza also becomes more humane in poverty. The story is sweet and it gives you a little history on California field hands during the Depression. My personally favorite part of the book is the final three pages where the author talks about her family, her grandmother who was the inspiration for the story, and the history of Mexican labor and strikes during that time period. Really fascinating. To be honest it makes me want to check out a book on farm labor. So I guess for my book funk that is a good sign.
I picked this book up because I happen to think the crocodile episodes are outrageously funny. Steve Irwin had quite a presence and his death was so heartbreaking I wondered how his family could possibly be coping. It isn't the type of book that I feel comfortable judging. There were a couple of places that repeated themselves a bit but truth be told this book gave me goosebumps. Terri talks about how she and Steve met, what type of man he was, what their life was like together, and how she and the children are dealing with his death. First off let me just say the man was crazy about animals and did some crazy things to have access to them. Secondly his wife was crazy about him. Reading their story you realize there really was no one else for Steve and no one else for Terri. On the other side of the word Terri found her other half and now he's gone. Third this is about heart break. There is a point where she talks about how every second she's like, "well I made it through another second without Steve," and when you read that you feel how deeply that cuts for her to have to make it through another second without him. Also when she talks about her son Robert and how he is walking around like a little lost puppy, crying in the tub, waiting for his dad to come home from heaven, well that just cuts as well. It isn't all sadness. The way they met and the story of their first date is hilarious. My DH and I will probably being saying, "Well you're not a lady at all," for the rest of our lives, but this is the kind of story that makes you want to give your hubby an extra hug at night and pull your kids in close for an extra hug, for yourself and for Terri as well.
