Half World: Book as Object

My copy of Half World came from the North Vancouver City Library.  It is a hardcover edition with 233 pages (including Acknowledgements).   This is pretty close to an ideal length for a book, in my opinion.  This particular copy bears a ‘Staff Pick’ sticker.  We don’t have many YA fiction fans on staff, and I want to know who read it and talk to them about it; that’s a project for after my Leave of Absence ends (next week, sniff sniff).

The front cover was illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, who also illustrated This One Summer.  I find her illustrations much more appealing when done in warm colours as they are here.  I love the Icarus imagery she has drawn with the two girls clearly flying close to the sun.  The crows beneath the girls contrast beautifully with the warm red orange sky, as does the olive Paddington bear coat worn by the girl on the left.  She appears to have a lime green rat on her shoulder; I want to know more about that.

The title of the book appears in gold in a font that resembles calligraphy.  Both the author’s name and the characters look Japanese.

Neil Gaiman blurbed it, calling it “Wonderfully odd, and quite unforgettable.”  I trust Neil.  (Who doesn’t?)  I am not familiar with the three authors who wrote blurbs for the back cover: Nalo Hopkinson, Ellen Klages, and Charles de Lint.  Actually, I’ve heard of Charles de Lint, and often thought his books look good, but have never read one.  Should I?

When I open the book, there are blank beige endpages.  I’m faintly disappointed that there isn’t a map.  There are four books listed on the ‘Also by’ page; I’ve never heard of any of them.

Goto has dedicated the book to her mother with a quote about “soft power” and the word “subarashii.”  I wonder if this dedication is going to play into the themes of the novel, and the strengths the protagonist has.

The prologue is written in a difference font than the rest of the novel.  I don’t know the name of the font, but it has the feel of cursive writing.  There are bits of text in the main chapters that use this font as well.

The chapters each have the same symbol under the chapter title.  The symbol is a dark square with notched corners.  Inside the square is a circle with a three-headed yin yang symbol: one is white, one is grey, one is black.

Image Sources (from top to bottom)

Half World [Book Cover]. (2009). Retrieved from http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n61/n308527.jpg

Butler, K. (n.d.). Neil Gaiman is also the author of Coraline, American Gods, Anansi Boys,Stardust and M Is for Magic. He was born in Hampshire, England, and now lives near Minneapolis [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/05/16/gaimanauthorphoto_custom-8135a6d7a098351be71dc44947f6cde854345a7b-s6-c85.jpg

Tamaki, J. (2009). Half World [Illustration]. Retrieved from http://books.google.ca/books?id=xmQE3BaGrScC&pg=PT26&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Home is Beyond the Mountains: Book as Object

My copy of this title came from the library. We acquired it in 2010 and it looks as though it has never been read. This is surprising because we serve a largely Iranian community, and I’d assume that readers would be interested in historical fiction that directly speaks to their heritage.

This book is a small size trade paperback. The background of the cover is a Persian carpet with black and white photos lying on it. I don’t get a lot of contextual information from the photos other than the time period is obviously pre-WWII (a the most prominent photograph shows people who have been travelling by cart).

The cover declares this book is a novel based on a true story. The coloured box that the title is in complements the colour of the carpet. The author’s name is in a coloured font that matches the color of the carpet’s border. All elements in the cover tie together well.

On the back of the book it is mentioned twice more that this book is based on a true event.  I think the publisher is really trying to drive this point home to ask readers to imagine themselves in the position of the children in the novel.

Home is Beyond the Mountains is dedicated to Louise Shedd Barker (Lottridge’s mother) and Marion Seary.  Seary worked with Lottridge at The Children’s Bookstore in Toronto (International Board on Books for Young People, 1991).  In one of the afterwards the book, “Where the Story Came From” Lottridge explains the crucial role her mother played in the novel’s inception.  The second afterward, “The History Behind the Story” gives much-needed historical background to Samira’s story and would have made an ideal introduction.  Instead, a map detailing the routes of Samira’s journeys functions as the novel’s sole introduction.

Image Sources (from top to bottom)

Home is beyond the mountains [Book Cover]. (2010). Retrieved from http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328770853l/6966371.jpg

Lottridge, C. B. (2010). Home is beyond the mountains. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press.

References

International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY). (1991). 1991 – Judy Sarick. Retrieved from http://www.ibby-canada.org/awards/claude-aubry-award/1991-judy-sarick/

No Girls Allowed: Book as Object

I bought my copy of No Girls Allowed online from the Book Depository.  When it arrived, I remember thinking that the book looks very slight for a graphic novel containing multiple tales.  My copy is an 80-page trade paperback.  It contains a Table of Contents, seven tales, an Afterward and a Further Reading section.  The paper is good quality and thick.

No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men For Love, Freedom and Adventure

The book’s subtitle promises much “Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure.”  I’m starting to wonder how detailed each of these tales can be; perhaps the book will be more like a tasting menu than an entree?

The cover image is a puzzle.  Both the shape enclosing the title and the flower in the girl’s hair suggest a surfer vibe — perhaps Hawaiian — and I can’t think who it could be.  Couple that with the fact that this girl looks to be some sort of warrior and I’m stumped.  The best guess I can hazard is Mu Lan (my knowledge of who is limited to Disney movies) and then I remember that she is Chinese; Lilo from Lilo and Stitch was Hawaiian. The cover is almost garishly colourful, like it is trying hard to be inviting.  I’m not immediately drawn to the overly-stylized illustration.  Three things stand out:  the girl has an exceptionally pointy chin (I wonder if the boys will all have stereotypically square jaws in contrast), a stylistically drawn circle on one cheek (I wonder if it signifies anything?) and her fingers seem to be fused together.

The back cover continues the surfboard shape that contains the title and subtitle on the front cover in blue and orange.  I want to know who this mystery Hawaiian woman is.  The blurb also tells me I can expect to read about Hatshepsut — which makes me very happy as I love to read about Ancient Egypt, Mu Lan — which addresses a previously mentioned gap in my knowledge, and Margaret Buckley — who I have never heard of.  The blurb also tells me that these stories are “from around the world” which I applaud; it’s nice to get more of a global perspective on things.  It also promises that the author will “bring to life the language and manners of their times.”  This lets me know I’ll have to pay attention to the details.

Willow Dawson

Details about the author, Susan Hughes, and illustrator, Willow Dawson are included.  I appreciate why Dawson illustrated the author and illustrator photos, but would have preferred to see what they actually look like.  Both Hughes and Dawson have regular people chins, but sport circles on their cheeks.

Overall, I can’t make up my mind if I like the style of the cover.  On one hand I think it is very strong:  the lines are very dark and sure.  On the other, I wish the woman on the cover image were readily identifiable.  I also question how attractive this cover would be to children.  Children “want appealing, individual characterization […] Vibrancy is needed in all styles of illustration. Over stylized illustrations can be stiff and cold, however technically exquisite” (Lesynski, as cited in de Vos, 2012).  I think these illustrations are over stylized.  Are women of all cultures and time periods going to look the same?  I question whether this compromises the diversity of tales collected.

Is this Buckley?

Inside the book, on the dedication page, there are pairs of images of all seven women dressed as both genders.  The Table of Contents reveals the seven women: Hatshepsut, Mu Lan, Alfhild, Esther Brandeau, James Barry, Ellen Craft and Sarah Rosetta Wakeman.  I have only heard of the first two.  Where is Margaret Buckley from the back cover?  The Table of Contents makes it easier to pick and choose who to read about, if the reader doesn’t intend to read the entire book.  I guess it is meant to be Mu Lan on the cover.  I like that the book has no Introduction and let’s the reader dive right into the tales themselves.  This makes the book seem more suitable for casual reading.  I also like that the book offers Further Reading because the tales are so slight.  A complete list of works consulted would have been a strong addition to this book.

SOURCES

Image Sources (from top to bottom)

No Girls Allowed [Book Cover]. (2008).  Retrieved from http://cache2.bdcdn.net/assets/images/book/large/9781/5545/9781554531783.jpg

Fischer, C. (2007). GEO Globe [Photograph].  Retrieved from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/GEO_Globe.jpg/640px-GEO_Globe.jpg

Willow Dawson [Photograph]. (n.d.).Retrieved from http://www.jazmaonline.com/interviews/interviews2009.asp?intID=407

Greenshields, K. (2013). No Girls Allowed [Video Book Trailer].  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXyjtJrcbxE&list=UUFAbIOjhiVKTaWaZXpf61ZA

References

De Vos, G.  (2012).  Picture Books [Moodle lecture].  Retrieved from University of Alberta Canadian Children’s Literature for Young People Schools and Libraries Moodle site.