Wanting More of : The Waiting (Suzanne Woods Fisher)

As I've said numerous times before, friends and family love to recommend books to me because they know I talk with over 100 young readers a day (my students), so it's good to be versed in numerous genres and topics in order to encourage the reading 'magic' to happen. The latest book- yes, I believe in using the physical books because they don't burn up batteries or need charging- I finished, The Waiting by Suzanne Woods Fisher, was set in Amish Country in Pennsylvania. Who knew that Pennsylvania was such a hot place for book settings (see This World We Live In)?! I wasn't sold on reading the book, since I've grown such a fondness for reading about zombies and apocalypses. I gave it a try since my mom bought me a copy when she met the author again on one of her many birding escapades. Since getting involved with birding, mom has found herself in Amish Country (Near Ashland, Ohio) more than a few times, tracking down birds and sharing binoculars with Amish children. Therefore mom was particularly interested to hear my opinion of the book & the topic.

A couple of things struck me as fabulous about the book. First off, it made me cry. Not once, but three times! I'm not exactly a sappy person, but Fisher apparently found some of my soft spots (aside from the topic of Homelessness): Preparing for death with peace in the heart, loving so deeply that a person is willing to sacrifice his own wishes, & respect for God's creation/ destruction.

The basic story is this: A reluctant school teacher (Jorie) is waiting for her significant other to come home from the Vietnam War. Jorie's good friend, Mary Anne, finds out she has an aggressive form of cancer which will take her life in just a few weeks' time. Jorie finds out that her sig. other has passed away & his remains are returned to the family. Meantime, Mary Anne wants her husband to be happy and her children to be looked after, after her impending death, so Mary Anne urges her husband, Caleb (Cal), to marry Jorie once she finally succumbs to God's will (but Jorie doesn't know this). Caleb is reluctant to remarry and Jorie is seemingly the only female who actually encourages Caleb to take the time to let his heart heal before jumping into a new relationship/ marriage. The subplots include conflicts of the Plain (the Amish call themselves this) and the English, a loose cougar, and the comical relief of Caleb's desperate female suitors.

I've found myself talking about this book to friends and family constantly over the last week. My students can't believe that the book made me cry and my husband and I have been in numerous discussions about the poise of the Amish characters with trials and tribulations. It's easy to be hooked by the simplicity of life and it's refreshing to read a story with characters who are passionate about life and doing what's right for the group, rather than doing what's best for the individual. I think that the conflicts in this way are much more genuine than the average book out there right now; for instance, one character gets beaten mercilessly, but he refuses to report the beating because it's not the Plain way. Along these lines, the characters are actually developed into multi-dimensional characters. They are complex and even one of the seemingly "evil" character shows feelings and shows a new side of himself- and this is even more obvious because one of the "good" guys reacts to this transformation questioning the validity of the "evil" character's emotions.

After this reading experience (sobbing in my bed while reading and all!), I'm already interested in reading more of Suzanne Woods Fisher's work. It's just so refreshing to read something that isn't dealing with teenage pregnancy and drug use (but those topics have their places too) and to feel like the characters teach the audience positive ways to act and react to life and its ups and downs. I won't be forgetting this book anytime soon and expect to see more books from this series, The Lancaster County Series.

(Teachers: This book makes my short list of books to teach because there's substance for discussion, PG rating, and it's uplifting.)

Susan Beth Pfeffer's: this world we live in *spoiler alert*

After trying to read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and giving up only 40 pages in, I was feeling a little disenchanted with reading. It's amazing how not being able to connect with a novel (or a professor or teacher, etc.) can kill any and all joy in a subject if you aren't able to connect. I'm also a bit thankful for such experiences because it reminds me that the vehicle for the message does matter; I once had a college prof make me hate Shakespeare within the first two days of his class, even though I'd been a life long Shakespeare reader. And while many people poo-poo quiting, I think that quiting creates opportunity, but there is some merit is sticking things out as well; but I found a long time ago that life is short and there are a lot of books out there to enjoy, so it's not worth 'sticking it out' unless the book is going to be used for a grade in a class. With that said, I ditched Ken Kesey and went back to my old steady, Susan Beth Pfeffer.

Susan Beth Pfeffer has managed to charm me with her post-apocalyptic series based on the moon getting knocked closer to the Earth. With the first and second book in the series under my belt (Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone, respectively), I jumped in to This World We Live In whole-heartedly. My students know that I have a bit of a zombie & post-apocalypse fetish, so whenever a movie or a book comes out with these themes I get lots of recommendations- and thus I found out about the third book in the series. I got the book out Thursday morning and had it finished by Saturday night- which is unheard of for me since I'm usually grading till I'm blue in the face or I'm bouncing around between random other tasks- so consider this a strong recommendation for the book.

The story picks up with Miranda, a 17 year old girl, living in rural Pennsylvania with her mother and two brothers (they're the main characters from the 1st book, Life As We Knew It). They're scraping out a living since the previous year's apocalypse (the moon was knocked closer to the earth which meant screwed up tides, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc.). Jon and Matt, the brothers take a week-long trip to the river to catch fish and return not only with fish, but also a young woman nicknamed Syl, who Matt married while away for the fishing trip. Laura, Matt's mother isn't exactly pleased, but she welcomes Syl anyway and the family makes due. By some miracle never mentioned, Syl manages as a married woman but never becomes pregnant (which was my concern/prediction for the family).

Shortly thereafter, Miranda's father, step mother and newborn baby show up on the girl's doorstep. And, they're accompanied by a man named Charlie and two siblings from New York, Julie & Alex Morales (they're the characters from the 2nd book, The Dead and The Gone). the Evans household has now increased to 10 people and all of the characters realize that feeding 10 will be practically impossible unless desperate measure are taken. Hal, Miranda's dad, comes up with the plan to lie and say that the newcomers are all part of the deceased neighbor's family (Mrs. Nesbitt). With this lie, Hal & wife, baby, Julie, Alex & Charlie move into Mrs. Nesbitt's house, which is next door, and Hal & Miranda (Miranda is Hal's daughter) go to town to tell the city about the "Nesbitt family" having returned (this means that the newcomers are entitled to weekly bags of food).

Of course there's budding love between Julie and Jon and later between Alex and Miranda. The problem is that Alex has promised (his brother from Texas, who is a marine) to take Julie to a convent so that nuns may look after her and he plans to go live at a monastery in Ohio. Alex feels indebted to the Evans family and he wants to feel like he's earning his keep. Hal, Miranda, Alex and Julie make the trip to the convent only to find a lonely nun unable to take Julie. The four finally return to the Evans & Nesbitt houses to regroup. Alex and Miranda decide to run away with Julie to one of the safe camps. They let the family know that they're leaving and offer for others to join them, which the "Nesbitt" family decides to do, but not without a fight from the others.

The season finally starts to warm a bit and there are actually temperatures in the high 60s. (Which makes me think that the families could have at least begun to grow some cold weather crops, even if it was gray constantly.) Instead, the children continue to pilage houses throughout the town in order to find the basics before they leave for the safe camps. On the way home from such a trip, Alex and Miranda realize their minutes away from being hit by a tornado and they get home in time to warn their families.

The author throws a few unexpected twists in with the tornado and ultimately she lets the "hand of God" decide the fates of the characters, leaving the possiblity for a fourth book.

Went Crazy: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I've officially tried to read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest twice now. And, I gave up. I think I made it a whooping 40 pages in before I gave up. The book is on lists deeming it a classic, and I think I'll have to wait a while to see if it really holds up to those claims. So to justify my failure, here goes:

The story starts with a narrator telling about the various parts an unnamed Psych. Ward. A new patient has checked in and he's managed to ruffle numerous patients' 'feathers'. The new patient is a gambler and tries to "get to know" everyone right away- setting himself in a position to manipulate others and draw unwanted attention (which seems to be his main purpose in life).

The narrator seems to be one of the patients, who is silent, but seemingly sound of mind (since he's telling the story). There are other random snippets thrown into the story explaining the seemingly evil Nurse Rachet and her minions, three Black orderlies. The tones of abuse started from the beginning with the orderlies taking unruly patients to the shower rooms, and I wasn't sure that I could handle more mind-numbing images of abuses of patients. So, I stopped. I quit, looking for something more uplifting like a weather-apocalypse book: Susan's Beth Pfeffer's "this world we live in," which is the third book in the "Life As We Knew It" series.