(#4) / Hope in Patience / by Beth Fehlbaum / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Hope in Patience / by Beth Fehlbaum

ISBN-13: 978-1934813416 / WestSide Books 

p. 312 / $13.03 (Amazon)

Body of Content

Summary: Ashley Asher now lives with her biological father.  But that is only a recent development.  Ashley lived for years with her biological mother and step-father – suffering years in silence – as her step-father molested and raped her.  Set in rural Texas, Hope in Patience pens the sad yet resilient story of a high-school girl coping with sexual abuse from her step-father and emotional neglect from her mother.  Now in a new town, Ashley hopes to move on – helped by new and unlikely friends at school and a better, more supportive domestic situation.  The events of the past are relived through conversations with her therapist – hoping to find a resolution to her struggles. Still, Ashley feels more than abuse, as the past events have damaged her self-image and ability to act socially with classmates.  Grown-ups have noticed her social withdrawal and isolation – and Ashley wonders how long she can keep the secret that is eating her from the inside out.    

Critique: The problem novel is not a new concept.  But authors in recent years write the tales in vivid honesty.  Former decades employed stock characters; recent decades present characters more real to life (cf. Cart, 2011, p. 32-35).  Fehlbaum writes such a tale – and writes it effectively.  The book is filled with characters that are difficult to pigeonhole – as the author included roles that extend beyond typical archetypes.

Dr. Matt is her therapist – but few counselors employ his tactics.  Dr. Matt supports Ashley – showing genuine concern for her – but he embodies a different kind of honesty, truth, and shock-and-awe than that of many lovely-dove, stock characters from lesser literary works.  Some of the most emotionally charged exchanges in the novel occur between Dr. Matt and Ashley.  And the reader is allowed into these therapy sessions with all the emotional rawness bubbling to the page’s surface.  Dr. Matt stands a chief (though indirect) figure in her recovery process.

The opposite is true of Coach Griffin – who stands as a key (though indirect) figure who blocks the way for her recovery.  Coach Griffin is not the same man who hurt her (i.e. Charlie), but he does embody some of the same flaws.  Stuck in a time-warp, the Coach is a football coach besides an American “history” teacher (quotation marks added for sarcastic intent).  His equally warped sense of curriculum finds the teacher spending an enormous amount of time devoted to the Second World War.  But Griffin’s knowledge contains a blind spot – not willing to admit to the wrongness of the Japanese internment in America.

That detail is a metaphor in the story.  Griffin is not willing to admit to the event and the implications.  He is not denying it – but he wants to ignore it.  Dr. Matt is willing to admit to the events and implications of Ashley’s rape.  He is not denying it – in fact, he is facing it.  Both characters behave in a manner that releases them from stock descriptions.  They stand on each side of Ashley – one (Coach) telling her past evils do not matter – the other (Doctor) telling her that her sufferings have present consequences.  Fehlbaum performs the dialogue well – as Ashley must deal with both these influences – and ultimately embrace one opinion to the exclusion of the other.   

Teaser: Ashley – the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of her step-father – relocates to a new city.  But the years of abuse never seem far off.

Information about the Author: Beth Fehlbaum is married with three daughters – with one daughter following in her mother’s footsteps and pursuing writing.  Fehlbaum is currently a fifth-grade teacher in East Texas – having majored in English and Education during her time at the University of Texas.  While Hope in Patience reads fine, as a stand-alone title, Fehlbaum intends to write a Patience trilogy (Fehlbaum, 2011).

Detailing the occasion for the book, Fehlbaum’s own words paint the catalyst for the novel, as she says, “I was inspired to write this story by my own recovery from childhood sexual abuse.  In the process of working through my own grief, disbelief, and anger, I was writing poems and short stories, and sharing them with my (long-suffering) therapist.  One day, he suggested that I try writing a novel” (Goodreads, 2008).

Supplemental Material

Genre: Drama / Problem Novel 

Curriculum Ties: Psychology – counseling techniques / emotional abuse and recovery

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Will Ashley forfeit her life – filled with an inner sea of pain – or find another resolution to her abuse? 2) Will Ashley ever reconcile with her birth mother? 

Reading Level: The interest level may dip to grade 6 – but numerous review sites provide cautions.  For School Library Journal, the site deems the book for grade 8 and up – while Booklist contains even further hesitations – calling for grade 10 and up (Amazon, 2011). 

Challenge Issues and Defense: The language is not only intense – and rather crass – including 

numerous f-bombs. The premise of sexual abuse also makes this book controversial. This is a book difficult to place in a school library intended for younger grades, but relatively safe in a public YA department.  The author is writing a problem novel – and the premise and language is a requirement to write a realistic take on the issues.    

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: As a former runner, I enjoyed the cross country backdrop.  The story, itself, is a worthy tale – of recovery and hope – even against the hardest of circumstances.

Last Thoughts

References:

Amazon. (2011). Hope in Patience [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Hope-

Patience-Beth-Fehlbaum/dp/1934813419/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322018732&sr=8-1

Cart, M. (2011). Young adult literature: From romance to realism. Chicago, IL: ALA.   

Fehlbaum, B. (2011). Real life: A very basic biography [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://www.bethfehlbaumya.com/bio.htm

Goodreads. (2008). Beth Fehlbaum [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/

author/show/1301011.Beth_Fehlbaum

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Matchbox Twenty / Album – “Yourself or Someone like You” 

(#3) / Tantalize / by Cynthia Leitich Smith / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Tantalize / by Cynthia Leitich Smith

ISBN–10: 0763627917 / Candlewick /

p. 336 / $ 6.80 (Amazon)

Body of Content

Summary: An orphan girl by the name of Quincie Morris moves into the household of her Uncle Davidson, and in the process, inherits the family business.  Once an Italian eatery, the restaurant is undergoing remodeling and remarketing efforts as a vampire-themed establishment.  In this small-town setting, more than meets the eye – as mythological creatures abound of the book’s pages.  After the murder of the chef incumbent, Quincie’s world grows even more complicated.  The police start an investigation into the murder of the chef.  Faced with an increasingly unreliable family (Uncle), ever absent best friend (Kieren), and a strange replacement cook (Brad), the protagonist must grip to separate her feelings from reality.  Pressured by impeding deadlines, Quincie must balance her school work with business responsibilities.  But with murders and monsters looming around the turn of each page, more than the fate of one character rests in the decisions made by Quincie.        

Critique: [Spoiler Alert] The book Tantalize contains a literary feature common in many YA novels – that of the ambiguous ending.  In adult literary works, it is common to write a very well-defined conclusion – whether it includes an event like a birth, a death, a wedding, etc. – or more simply, an impression like a character coming to realization of their identity.  YA books (often) include less direct approaches when forming their conclusions.   

In Tantalize, no one dies. Well, in fairness, basically everyone in Quincie’s life dies before the last chapter – but the last chapter does not resolve anything – as she, Brad, and Kieren all live to fight another day.  The ending of the book contains an ambiguous nature since the reader learns of all three fates – the characters soon separated by geography, but all alive: Quincie stays; Brad runs to San Antonio; and Kieren roams the nation in his herd.  Such features also create a lack of “falling action”.  Without a clear intentionality to the book’s conclusion, the climax of the book is muddled, too.  Typically, a novel contains a few chapters of falling action – after the climax.  But for Tantalize, the ending feels rushed.

Personally, I enjoy novels with clear endings.  This holds true partially due to the reading satisfaction – i.e. the book offers a resolution to the story’s events.  But further, it reminds me that the author had a story worth telling.  Ambiguous endings are more than a stylistic error; they reveal a lack of content.  Instead of offering a well-thought out thesis, ambiguous endings (often) only deliver topical significance.  Books are meant to have a beginning, middle, and ending.  Indirect resolutions start to negate more than just the ending of the story.  While I respect the author as a person, the novel Tantalize did not provide a satisfying conclusion – and like slaying the dragon at the level-five castle in the original Super Mario Bros – I realize that my princess resides in a different (literary) castle.         

Teaser: Quincie is a high-school girl growing up quickly in the real world – filled with murders, business responsibilities, and love interests. Can she keep her head or become the latest victim in a string of murders?   

Information about the Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith writes YA books along with illustrated books aimed at younger audiences.  She is mostly known for her series of books that developed from Tantalize.  Many of her works deal with issues related to Native Americans, partially due to her own heritage from the Muscogee Creek Nation.  Currently, the author also is professor at Vermont College of Fine Arts – teaching courses dealing with writing and YA program concerns (Wikipedia, 2011).  Smith resides in Austin, Texas – and her living experience there helped shaped some of the background details of the novel’s setting (Smith, 2011b).  

Smith holds a varied writing past – having attended college for degrees in journalism at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, along with time spent at The University of Michigan.  As part of her college time, Smith spent time abroad in Paris.  She also has lived in various states within the U.S. (Smith, 2011a)   

Supplemental Material

Genre: Horror / Paranormal Romance / Dark Comedy / Crime Drama

Curriculum Ties: Cooking / Mythology

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Can Quincie learn the identity of Vaggio’s murderer? 2) Will Quincie fall for the mysterious Brad – or the allure of Kieren?      

Reading Level: Grade 8 up – as assigned by School Library Journal (Amazon, 2011).  The darker themes of the novel – kidnapping and rampant death – make this a novel more for older teens.  Yet, the interest in paranormal romance will likely mean younger readers will, at the least, have a desire in reading the book.

Challenge Issues and Defense: The book deals with a handful of adult themes – from alcohol consumption – to language – to sexuality – to kidnapping – to horror-themed violence.  This is a book that would have difficulty receiving placement in the children’s section of a library, but overall, would fit reasonably well in the YA section of a public library.  It is difficult to defend the book on artistic merit – for the inclusion of such themes.  Perhaps by looking at the intentionality of humor by the author would lessen the perceived “dark” quality of the novel.   

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I wanted to include some novels which I didn’t enjoy – and this book represented the antithesis to my joyful experience with the two books in the Hunger Games canon.

Last Thoughts

References:

Amazon. (2011). Tantalize [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Tantalize-Cynthia-

Leitich-Smith/dp/B003D7JSZU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

Smith, C. L. (2011a). About the author: Cynthia Leitich Smith [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/CLS/about_cyn.html

Smith, C. L. (20 October, 2011b). LIBR 265 [Class Interview]. Retrieved from

https://nexus.sjsu.edu/index.html

Wikipedia. (2011). Cynthia Leitich Smith [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Cynthia_Leitich_Smith

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Katy Perry / Album – “Teenage Dream”