The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Length: 373 pages

Reviewed by: Willow Locksley

Uncle Tar’s laboratory had been locked up and preserved in airless silence, down through the dusty years until what Father called my “strange talents” had begun to manifest themselves, and I had been able to claim it for my own.
I still shivered with joy whenever I thought of the rainy autumn day that Chemistry had fallen into my life...
My particular passion was poison.

Set in post-World War II England, Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a mystery that lives up to its appetizing title. Flavia de Luce is the youngest of three sisters, a self-taught and scarily adept Chemist, as well as a budding detective. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life,” she says, when a man is found dead in her cucumber patch. This follows the strange appearance of a dead bird on her doorstep, with a Penny Black stamp impaled on its beak. When her father is hauled off as the prime murder suspect, Flavia races to solve the mystery with nothing but her wits and her bicycle, christened ‘Gladys’, to assist her.

I’ve never met a character quite like Flavia. Her personality leaps off the page, engaging the reader from beginning to end with all the profundity of an underestimated eleven-year-old. Like most girls her age, she’s a study in warring passions, only in Flavia’s case these passions are held in check by the cool calculations of a developing genius. Her ability to keep pace with adults and even exceed them is balanced by endearing moments of vulnerability and naïveté. She’s an unusually young narrator in a novel marketed for adults, and the unlikely brainchild of a male author in his seventies. Nevertheless, Alan Bradley brings her fully into her own, and it’s impossible not to cheer her on as she employs the enthusiasm of childhood to tackle the frights and conundrums of an adult world.

“We de Luces had been Roman Catholics since chariot races were all the rage,” says Flavia, though her family attends St. Tancred’s, “a fortress of the Church of England if ever there was one.” She goes on to explain that convenience outweighs conviction, and makes her religious indifference clear in a number of small ways throughout the novel. Her loyalty to her father is fierce and admirable; her desire to breach the distance between them and prove his innocence is touching. She manipulates, though not always successfully. She routinely squabbles with her sisters (to the point of infusing her eldest sister’s lipstick with poison ivy after they lock her in a closet). Flavia jokingly attributes all of these behaviors to Darwinian theories, adding that an inability to verbalize affection runs in the de Luce blood.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie has the quick, light-hearted schematic of an Agathie Christie mystery, the guileless tone of Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle, and the spunk of Kristin Miller’s Kiki Strike books. Flavia continues her co-careers of Chemist and Detective in the following books: The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, A Red Herring Without Mustard, and I Am Half-Sick of Shadows.

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Genre: Fiction, Sci-Fi, Young Adult

Reviewed by: Kelly McKinnan

“The heat is horrible, but worse than the heat is the smoke, which threatens to suffocate me at any moment. I pull the top of my shirt up over my nose, grateful to find it soaked in sweat, and it offers a thin veil of protection. I run, choking, my bag banging against my back, my face cut with branches that materialize from the gray haze without warning, because I know I am supposed to run.”

Katniss Everdeen lives in a post-apocalyptic world, once North America, in the country of Panem, which consists of twelve numbered districts dominated by a decadent, exploitative central city called the Capitol. Every year, two children from each district are drafted by lottery to compete in a televised gladiatorial contest, the Hunger Games, an annual spectacle in which twenty-four children are forced by the government to fight one another to the death. We experience this story through the eyes of Katniss, a resident of District 12, a harsh, cold region mostly given over to coal mining. She steps forward to take the place of her sister who is chosen for the games. Katniss turns her energies to out-witting the system and forcing an ending with more than one survivor. She must decide who her friends are and what side she is on. Throughout the trilogy Katniss, Gale her childhood friend, and Peeta her fellow District 12 tribute, fight against the government in order to simply survive in the face of the corrupt Capitol.

Collins’ writing is different than the typical young adult fiction that fills most bookstores and library shelves. She refuses to write the predictable novel with mostly happy endings. She presents amazing character development, leaving you attached to certain people and keeping you turning page after page wanting more.
Collins’ writing comes alive with her amazingly detailed descriptions. After a life spent in freezing poverty, Katniss experiences pleasures of warmth, food, and beautiful clothes. The descriptions also emphasize the horrible plight of the tributes and the gross desensitization of the Capitol dwellers. You feel very much like you are alongside the reluctant heroine as she battles her way through just about any imaginable situation.

Collins shows us the horrors of violence and war, though she does not glorify it or present it as a fun game. The series presents broken people with scars that will never go away. She does not write violence for the sake of violence but uses it to stress the perverseness and horror of the Games.
Government control and Big Brother are two themes that are shown throughout the series, through the Capitol's controlling rules for the residents of the different districts, as well as the Hunger Games themselves, where the Capitol has children fight to the death, simply to assert their power.
There is an apparent love-triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta; but it is far from the typical vampire-werewolf scenario. It adds to the character development and presents the layered, conflicting emotions of the characters, and the often mysterious motivations of those around Katniss.
Katniss shows a love and dedication to her family by providing for her mother, who is suffering from severe depression after the death of her husband. Katniss also sacrificially offers herself up to take the place of her younger sister to participate in the games.

The Hunger Games trilogy is well-written and very engrossing—definitely not a one-time read. The twisted plotline will keep you going and on the edge of your seat through all three novels: The Hungers Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.

Note: As this series is not written from a Christian worldview, discernment on the part of readers is required, especially in light of Biblical ethics. As always, parental involvement is encouraged. Though marketed for younger teenagers, The Writers' Block recommends this series for mature readers only, because of mature elements and the amount of violence (some of it very graphic).

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Genre: Fiction, Youth
Length: 162 pages

Reviewed by: Willow Locksley

“The air was alive with yellow wasps. We must have stepped on a wasps’ nest in a rotten branch as we walked. And while I was running up the hill, my dad stayed and got stung, to give me time to run away. His glasses had fallen off when he ran.

And he said that wasn’t brave of him… because he wasn’t scared: it was the only thing he could do. But going back again to get his glasses, when he knew the wasps were there, when he was really scared. That was brave.”

Coraline is a born explorer. It doesn’t take her long to discover a door that opens onto a brick wall in her new house. She returns to it one night and finds a dark hallway where the wall used to be. On the other side of this hallway she finds the not-quite-right twin of her own house and disturbingly elongated versions of her parents with black buttons sewn over their eyes. They offer her all the attention and goodies that her real parents withhold, but it comes at a price: she must have black buttons sewn over her eyes too. Wisely, Coraline declines. Shortly thereafter, her real parents disappear. With the help of a sarcastic cat, a stone with a hole through it, and her brave explorer instincts, Coraline sets out to find and save her parents… beginning with the hallway behind the door.

Neil Gaiman is a huge name in today’s fantasy genre. His bibliography includes books for children and adults, graphic novels, television and film scripts, and numerous nods to his work in popular culture. He even finds time to maintain an active and engaging blog. As his fame suggests, he knows how to knit words together in a captivating way.

Religion doesn’t make much of an appearance in Coraline. There may be something in the subtext about the stone Coraline carries as protection (ancient cultures used stones with holes through them as currency, or believed they had healing properties). The stone is given to her by her neighbors, two old ladies, after they read danger in her tea leaves (this is a form of fortune-telling). Coraline gains a new appreciation for her real parents while battling to save them. The main antagonist, Coraline’s “other mother”, is an undefined, ancient force of evil with a history of luring children to herself. Coraline meets the childrens’ ghosts and learns that loving them and consuming them are one and the same to the “other mother”.

In case my description so far hasn’t made it clear: this book is creepy. An alternate, tainted reality. Dark places and empty spaces. Parents that aren’t quite your parents, who literally hunger for your love. Rats, beetles, spidery hands, ghosts and souls trapped in toys. Story-wise, Gaiman expertly melds his originality with the fearful imaginings common to every childhood nightmare. Does this mean I would read Coraline to a child? Not likely.

Persuasions by Douglas J. Wilson

Genre: Fiction, Allegory, Worldview, Christianity
Length: 95 pages

Reviewed by: Laurelyn Aubrey

Janice glared at Evangelist. She thought for a moment, and then apparently changed her mind. She walked slowly back towards us.

“Truth, eh? You believe in absolute truth?”

“Certainly.”

“I thought as much. The trouble with you Christians is that you are just like the Nazis or any other group that claims to have a corner on ‘absolute truth’. You are so cocksure that your truth is the only truth, you fill the earth with your disputes. You make me sick.” At this Janice turned to go.

Thus begins a discussion in Persuasions, this short gem by Doug Wilson. The book opens in a form reminiscent of The Pilgrim’s Progress, with a man named Evangelist on the road to the Master’s City. On his way he passes many individuals going the opposite direction, toward the Abyss. Each short, scene-like chapter of the book is made of Evangelist’s conversation with one such person, exposing their particular form of flawed reasoning, and trying to persuade them toward the Truth.

Wilson’s writing here is powerfully concise. He avoids the rabbit-trails typical of discussions on worldview, instead steering each debate right into the heart of the matter. The differing lifestyles and objections to Scripture that each character displays will be grippingly familiar to anybody who’s tried to reason with an unbeliever, and the clarity of Evangelist’s arguments does an excellent job of showcasing God’s truth in every situation.

For being a paperback one can read in half an hour, this book is a beautiful little piece of Christian apologetics. Each of the 13 chapters takes on a frequently discussed topic, including atheism, immorality, antinomianism, election, Evolution, and hypocrisy. In the space of a few pages, Evangelist takes the next dispute thrown at him and shows how it’s nothing more than rebellion in the light of God’s reality.

As a girl who’s ended up in the middle of many worldview discussions, my first thought when I read this book was wow, I wish I was that good at coming up with the right words at the right time! Obviously, Wilson couldn’t cover more than a small portion of each topic in so short a book; there are many more issues people will bring up in real life. But I certainly intend to read this book many times over in hopes of gleaning as much as I can from it. Its engaging brevity and solid material make me eager to recommend it to anyone seeking to “always be ready” to give “a reason for the hope that is in you”. (1 Peter 3:15)

Note: Doug Wilson has many written theological works, some of which are controversial, and I do not recommend everything he’s written. This book, however, stays with mainstream orthodox Christianity in its theology, and can be helpful to any believer.

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller

Genre: Fiction, Youth
Length: 387 pages

Reviewed by Willow Locksley

“When I grow up, I’d like to be dangerous.”

So declares twelve-year-old Kiki in Kirsten Miller’s book for dangerous girls of all ages, Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City.

Aspiring to study giant squid hasn’t won Ananka Fishbein a lot of friends at her posh school in New York City. Fortunately her promising combination of intelligence and curiosity is recognized by the enigmatic Kiki Strike. Kiki is the undersized mastermind behind a team of pre-teen females, each recruited for their unique skill set. Their mission: explore, map out, and safeguard the Shadow City, an abandoned network of belowground tunnels and rooms once inhabited by thugs and smugglers. Not to mention rats. And skeletons.

It’s obvious that author Kirsten Miller is aiming to counteract the damsels-in-distress stories of yore with something a little more modern and daring. Her strong female protagonists rely on self-defense, technological savvy, logic and plain old pluck to overcome challenges. A succinct, fast-progressing plot and Miller’s humorous advice on a number of topics (among them How To Prepare For Adventure, How To Care For An Injured Colleague, and How To Plan An Escape Route), make this an undeniably entertaining read.

The message of this book can be summed up in two words: girl power. Kiki and her friends scorn their ditzy, gossiping, party-going peers and get their kicks from disguises, gadgets, and explosives instead. What for some of them begins as a way to find adventure and riches eventually morphs into an obligation to save New York City from bad guys. Unfortunately they justify lying to parents, sneaking out of the house at night, creating fake IDs, and other activities that would, in real life, be extremely unwise behavior. Young readers may be tempted to emulate Kiki’s foolhardier actions. As always, parents should take an active role in deciding whether this story is suitable for their child.

I trust I’m not alone when I recall the imaginary epics I starred in as a young girl, joining a board of geniuses, trumping evil-doers, surviving thrilling escapades (in other words, being dangerous), all the while looking spiffy in my dress-up hat and heels. This fun foray into make-believe continues with Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Genre: Fiction
Length: 371 pages

Reviewed by: Laurelyn Aubrey

“I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.”

Those are the opening words of The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s international hit that spent over two years on the New York Times’ bestseller list. The story follows the lives of two young boys growing up in Afghanistan - Amir, the son of a wealthy and prominent Afghan, and Hassan, one of the family’s servants. From birth, the two boys were inseparable: they were nursed by the same woman, they learned to walk and talk under the same roof, they played pranks, flew kites, and imagined stories together. Then, on what should have been the gladdest day of their life, something happens that ends both life and friendship as they’ve known it. In the turbulent times that follow, the guilt-racked Amir moves to America with his father and tries to forget his old life…but his unresolved past eventually moves him to return to war-torn Afghanistan seeking somehow to find “a way to be good again”. (pg. 192)

Though this book is a novel in first person, once you’ve delved into the story it’s easy to forget and think you’re reading the author’s memoir. The culture and color of the markets of Kabul…the characters’ frequently difficult relationships and emotions…the terror and devastation wreaked by the Taliban…each scene deepens the impression that you’re seeing it through the eyes of the one who stood there himself. Hosseini’s writing is genuine, gripping, and gut-wrenchingly real.

This book deals with many sad themes. It’s a haunting glimpse of Muslim culture in Afghanistan, and more broadly, of the misery, guilt, hatred, shame, and hopelessness in human life. Though there are many touching moments of friendship and love, the whole of the story left me aching for the protagonist as he sought to find the atonement and the God of mercy that don’t exist in Islam. Though he never really resolves these issues, the author strikes a root of truth when he doesn’t leave us with a Hollywood-style “happily ever after”, but instead a bittersweet reminder that while there is life, there is yet hope.

I am glad to have read this novel. Besides being a moving portrayal of life in modern Afghanistan, it was a realistic look at the human condition, and the way we vainly try to deal with our sins. It left me saddened, contemplative, a bit depressed, and so very thankful to the Lord for the hope we have in Christ.

Caution: Some language, violence, and sexual situations make this book for adults or mature teens only.

Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss

Genre: Fiction, Christian Inspiration
Length: 341 pages

Reviewed by: Laurelyn Aubrey

“I determined, in the first place, to begin this journal. To be sure, I have begun half a dozen and got tired of them after a while. Not tired of writing them, but disgusted with what I had to say of myself. But this time I mean to go on, in spite of everything. It will do me good to read it over and see what a creature I am.”

Thus begins the book Stepping Heavenward, a delightful story of trials and triumphs, written by Elizabeth Prentiss. The book is written as the journal of young Katherine Mortimer, a spirited girl living in the 1800’s. Katy begins her journal at age 16, and vividly describes the people around and the emotions inside her all the way to the last years of her life. She tells of her quick temper, her struggles with friendships, her mother’s steady example, her father’s death, her marriage, children, and sickness. But most striking is her battle with the sin in her life, and her fervent desire to continue stepping heavenward.

The story is written in a warm and engaging style. Katy’s faults and joys are very easy to relate with; she will have you laughing out loud at her every-day trials and moods, and sharing in her pangs of sorrow at the hardship and sufferings of life. The language is simple and charming; once started, this book is difficult to put down.

Elizabeth Prentiss’s purpose for writing, from first to last, is to encourage women to love Christ and seek to be more like Him every day of their lives. The book is filled with good examples of this, the most outstanding of which is Katy’s mother. Mrs. Mortimer is always encouraging, forgiving, and serving the people around her; she teaches Katy by her own life what it means to take joy in the Lord’s will, even in the most difficult of times. By the end of the book, the reader is given a fresh perspective on life: one that sees the dusty work on this earth as a joy and honor to do for the sake of the King.

Certainly, this is one of the best books I have read that takes the form of a person’s journal. Even though Katy’s story is enjoyable for itself alone, it serves just as well as a devotional. I was left feeling motivated, inspired, and saying along with Katy, “…I will not rest until this struggle is over, till I can say with a smile, ‘Not my will! Not my will! But Thine!’” (pg. 324)

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Genre: Fiction
Length: 426 pages

Reviewed by: Laurelyn Aubrey

“A bad danger. Yes, I see. How very upsetting,” said the Chief Rabbit, looking anything but upset.
“Now, what sort of danger, I wonder?” He looked at Fiver.
“I don’t know,” said Fiver. “B-but it’s bad. It’s so b-bad that – it’s very bad,” he concluded miserably.
The Threarah waited politely for a few moments and then he said, “Well, now, what ought we to do about it, I wonder?”
“Go away,” said Fiver instantly. “Go away. All of us. Now.”

Though it’s hard to believe that a book starring bunnies could be so serious, Watership Down is far from the light-hearted fluff common to animal stories. As the saga opens, the rabbit Hazel and his younger brother Fiver are concerned for the safety of their warren. The gifted Fiver is convinced that danger looms over them, but there are few who place any weight with the strange little rabbit’s prophetic warnings. Desperate, Hazel gathers the few who believe them and they set off on a perilous journey to find a new home. Prowling foxes, uncrossable rivers, battle wounds, deadly hospitality, nighttime raids, and other rabbits bent on their destruction are only some of the troubles they face in their struggle to survive.

Adams’s writing is simple and sometimes gritty, which gives the book a realistic feel. His to-the-point writing style fits the flow of the action well. Even though his characters are mostly rabbits, the dialogue is convincing, in a rabbit-like way. The main characters are given distinct personalities that develop along with the story. In his best moments, Adams is well able to hold the reader captive to the tightening plot.

The morality in this book is a mixed package. On a more philosophical level, it doesn’t exactly have a Biblical worldview: the rabbits’ legendary hero, El-ahrairah, is similar to Robin Hood, and thus thieving and trickery are considered admirable. The book never explains where Fiver’s prophetic powers come from, the sun is personified as a god in the rabbit world, and there is an occasional reference to humans as being the source of most trouble. However, these things are not the main message of the book, and some leeway has to be given for the fact that rabbits are animals, and are not held to the same principles of ethics that men are. (For example, no one would call a buck rabbit evil for raiding another warren and stealing some of their females.) On the positive side, this book does an impressive job of exploring principles of good leadership, courage, and teamwork. Hazel’s ability as a leader to see the good in others and direct it for the best shines brightly throughout the story, particularly as juxtaposed to the Communist-like Efrafan rabbits.

In conclusion, as long as you are willing to filter some dross, this well-known and well-loved story is an adventurous read. I recommend it to teenagers who enjoy animal stories, Brian Jacques’s books, or those interested to see leadership in action among danger-chased bunnies. This is not a book you will quickly forget.

Mother by Kathleen Norris (Ed. by Jennie Chancey)

Genre: Fiction
Length: 202 pages

Reviewed by: Kris Ryder

“I’m glad you’re not going to simply get into a rut the way some other girls have, cooking and babies and nothing else!”

Mother is the simple story of a young woman who wants more for her life. 20-year-old Margaret Paget is sick of the drudgery of Weston, her one-horse hometown. Having been a school teacher for four years, she wants nothing more than to travel abroad, settle into society, and make something of herself. Looking around, Margaret loathes the life of the stay-at-home mothers she sees; from dawn until dusk, nothing but cooking and cleaning and caring for babies. She cannot understand how her mother can be content with her simple existence. Then suddenly Margaret has the chance to travel to New York City and be the secretary of the famed Mrs. Carr-Boldt, who is known on two continents for her high society life and jewels. Margaret quickly becomes infatuated with her new lifestyle, and gratefully gives up her old standards. But through a series of events, Margaret comes to realize just how much has been accomplished in the “simple” life of her mother. Ultimately, Margaret herself embraces the high calling of home-keeping and motherhood.

Few girls will have trouble sympathizing with Margaret Paget. Kathleen Norris well describes the inner emotions the girl faces as she deals with her own discontentment. Any girl will feel the disgust and disappointment in things such as muddy dogs on the carpet, boisterous siblings, and sticky syrup pitchers. But they will also feel the peace and rest Margaret finds in fulfilling her purpose as a woman. I found Margaret to be a believable girl who struggled with many of the same petty things that I do, and again and again I thought, “Yes!” when she expressed how she felt inside.

This book is very encouraging. Margaret’s mother is an outstanding character who sets a wonderful example. The theme of the entire book is the importance of Biblical womanhood, and there is also a passage that emphasizes the sanctity of human life. It is a refreshing read and a good tool for examining our own hearts’ contentment.

I probably don’t need to mention that this book will not thrill boys! But for girls it is a profitable book, and an enjoyable one as well. I have read it several times, and each time I wished it were longer. It paints a beautiful picture of one girl’s walk with God, and how she triumphed over the discontentment in her life.