The Girl With No Shadow

Harris, Joanne. The Girl With No Shadow. New York: HarperCollins 2007. Print.

First Sentences:

 

It is a relatively little-known fact that, over the course of a single year, about twenty million letters are delivered to the dead. People forget to stop the mail -- those grieving widows and prospective heirs -- and so magazine subscriptions remain uncancelled; distant friends unnotified; library fines unpaid....You can learn a lot from abandoned mail: names, bank details, passwords, e-mail addresses, security codes...A gift, as I said, just waiting for collection. 

Description:

Having enjoyed the film Chocolat with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, I stumbled onto the novel Chocolat by Joanne Harris on which the movie was based. I was surprised to discover that there are three additional books about VianneRocher, chocolatier (chocolate maker) extraordinaire. While I am not usually attracted to books of fantasy and magic, I took the plunge into The Girl With No Shadow, the second in the series, just because I was curious to read what new adventures awaited the heroine and her daughter, Anouk several years after the ending of Chocolat.

Vianne, eleven-year-old Anouk, and four-year-old daughter Rosette, have set up a new chocolaterie in a tiny French village. We soon learn that they have fled from their previous city after the boatman, Roux's boat was burned up. They have changed their names to Madam Yanne Chargonneau and Annie. Their small, but growing chocolate shop originally sold only pre-packaged chocolates, but when the owner died, Yanne/Vianne took it over and begain making her own delicacies, much to the delight of the townspeople.

Cooling [chocolate] acquires a floral scent; of violet and lavender papier poudre. It smells of my grandmother, if I'd had one, and of wedding dresses kept carefully boxed in the attic, and of bouquets under glass. 

Into their lives drifts the exotic woman, Zozie, who joins the shop as a helper and companion to Annie and tiny Rosette while Yanne is cooking. But Zozie seems to have a hidden background and certainly some unusual talents with magic symbols and words to assist the shop attract customers and encourage them to eat. The chocolaterie becomes more popular and all these outsiders become part of the tiny community.

Narrated in turn by the three individual characters, Zozie, Yanne, Annie, and even the mute Rosette, the plot slowly unfolds as somewhat ominous, like glimpsing a darting light out of the corner or your eye. Who exactly is Zozie and what is her purpose for befriending Yanne and Annie? Who are Yanne/Vianne and Anouk/Annie and why did they continue to roam the world and only temporarily settle down before moving on? Why is Rosette silent and underdeveloped for a toddler? And what about the villagers, especially the wealthy Monsieur Thierry, who owns the building with their apartment and chocolaterie, and who has a huge, slightly overpowering crush on Yanne? 

To be a mother is to live in fear. Fear of death, of sickness, of loss, of accidents,of strangers, or simply those small everyday things that somehow manage to hurt us most: the look of impatience, the angry word, the missed bedtime story, the forgotten kiss, the terrible moment when a mother ceases to be the center of her daughter's world and becomes just another satellite orbiting some less significant sun.

It's a dreamy, captivating, and slightly ominous book that certainly engrossed my from start to finish. It gives up its secrets behind the characters ever so slowly, sometimes confusing readers as to who exactly is narrating that particular chapter. While the writing style and pace may lull you. the plot and characters keep you alert right up to the frantically-paced end.

Everything comes home, my mother used to say; every word spoken, every shadow cast, every footprint in the sand. It can't be helped: it's part of what makes us who we are.

I really loved it and hope you will too.

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:] 

  

Harris, Joanne. Chocolat.   

First of four books about Vianne Rocher, the mysterious chocolatier, along with her daughter Anouk who blow into a small French town one windy day and create a wondrous chocolate shop. Vianne has the skill to predict what each townsperson's favorite chocolate delicacy is, choices which seem to cause changes in their lives. But her presence and personality somehow pose threats to others in the village. Wonderfully written with fascinating characters.

 

Happy reading.

Fred

 

Click here to browse over 435 more book recommendations by subject or title

(and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader).

 

 

The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini

Posnanski, Joe. The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini. New York: Avid Reader 2019. Print

First Sentences:

"Ladies and gentlemen," Harry Houdini sang, for in those days he did sing. 

Houdini's voice in many ways was more magical than any escape of illusion. 

Description:

I enjoy magic without being a student of it. Love being entertained by illusions without feeling the need to analyze the trick or figure out how I was fooled. 

Therefore, I love magic-themed biographies, historical fiction, and plain old novels rather than books with tell-all expositions of tricks and fakery. This means my favorites include fantastic books like Carter Beats the Devil, The World of Wonders, and The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo.

Well, you can add Joe Posnanski's The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini to my list of wonderful biographies of magicians. Although technically Erich Weiss (aka Harry Houdini) was never a great magician, his is the one name from the world of magic that everyone worldwide knows. Carter, Thurston, Blackstone, Robert-Houdin, and even Doug Henning and David Copperfield are now forgotten or only memories to those who actually saw them perform. But Houdini survives and his name is universally applied to anything involving escape, whether toddlers climbing out of cribs or octopuses slithering out of their tanks. All are "Houdini-like."

Author Posnanski decides to explore every news article, book, film, fact and rumor about Harry Houdini and his fame as an escape artist in the early 20th century. His hope is to cut away the rumors, exaggerations, and outright lies about Houdini and present just the known facts. Most of what we know about Houdini is from primary sources such as newspaper articles, promotional posters, and books of the day. However, most of these were written by Houdini himself, submitted to local media while performing in local theaters. Of course, much of this was simply exaggeration or outright untruths, but the print made him famous.

We learn about his struggles to be a card magician with a few other tricks, performing before small crowds at sideshows, dime museums, and small theaters. But it was his first escape trick, the "Metamorphosis" trunk escape, (purchased from another retiring magician), that the people loved. Houdini was encouraged to drop the magic and concentrate on escapes. Thus emerged highly-publicized escapes from local police cells with handcuffs. Later came the straitjacket, a simpler escape for him but one he dramatized by hanging upside down over rivers or audiences. 

"The secret of showmanship consists not in what you really do, but what the mystery-loving public thinks you do." [Harry Houdini]

Houdini had an insatiable hunger to be the most famous man in the world. Posnanski details this climb to the top and then the ever-increasing pressure to create newer, more dangerous escapes on never-ending tours around the world. En route, Houdini took it upon himself to expose fortune-tellers and mediums he considered fakes duping the public, including his boyhood hero, Robert-Houdin himself. We also learn about the escape-proof Mirror Cuffs specially designed to foil Houdini which they did for agonizing minutes on stage. He did finally master these cuffs, but since that one performance no one has ever been able to open the cuffs without their huge key.

Houdini wanted to bring real danger -- or at least the appearance of real danger -- to magic....The water Torture Cell is more than a magic trick. Houdini understood this. It attacks our inner feelings. It steals our basic needs for air and freedom. It touches something deep inside us today, just as it did one hundred years ago, just as it will one hundred years from now.

Posnanski also interviews current magicians and Houdini scholars to hear their stories and view their collections of Houdini materials and resources, including museums, books and films by Houdini himself, as well as elusive scholarly books that expose his tricks and techniques. Thankfully, Posnanski refuses to reveal any of Houdini's secrets (except for one which he gives readers plenty of opportunity to flip ahead and not read a potential deflating solution to a difficult problem).

The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini is a wonderful look at America and its people in the early years of the twentieth century. But it is Houdini himself that still captures the imagination with his larger than life persona, dreams, and exploits. A fascinating book about a unique performer, well worth anyone's time interested in magic, self-promotion, early American life, and the individual who brought to the public all these elements in one glorious package. 

Good magic sneaks up on you and finds the secret passage to the part of you that knows this is bullshit. It sweeps your mental supports out from under you for a moment and reminds you that the essential nature of life is mystery.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Gold, Glen David. Carter Beats the Devil.   

One of my all-time favorite books. Historical fiction about the famous magician Charles Carter, his life and love, and his possible involvement and subsequent disappearance after a performance where President Harding mysteriously died. Highly recommended (previously reviewed here)

Steinmeyer, Jim The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo, the Marvelous Chinese Conjurer  

The incredibly true story of a white man who masqueraded as a mysteriously silent oriental magician his entire career. Wonderfully talented, he died on the stage when an illusion when wrong. Captivating read. (previously reviewed here)

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Harrow, Alix E. The Ten Thousand Doors of January. New York: Redhook 2019. Print

First Sentences:

When I was seven, I found a door.

I should capitalize that word, so you understand I'm not talking about your garden- or common-variety door that leads reliably to a white-tiled kitchen or a bedroom closet.


Description:

I'm not much of a fantasy book reader unless it happens to be about a hobbit or boy with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. However, I found myself totally engrossed with Alix E. Harrow's The Ten Thousand Doors of January with its journeys into parallel worlds through randomly-placed doorways scattered over the Earth.

January Scaller is a seven-year-old girl living in 1901 as the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke. January's father works for Locke, travelling extensively around the world to purchase (or steal) exotic treasures for his employer's pleasure. One day January stumbles on an abandoned door in the scrubby landscape of a deserted Kansas farm. Just an ordinary door, she discovers as she walks through it ... that is until afterward when she sits down to write a story about the door in her diary.

"Once there was a brave and temeraryous (sp?) girl who found a Door. It was a magic Door that's why it has a capital D. She opened the Door."

As these words hit the paper, suddenly January smells a salty fragrance of the ocean that draws her back to the door. This time when she steps through it, she finds herself on a bluff overlooking a world of a vast ocean and exotic smells. 

After stepping back into her own world, of course no one believes her tale. But the next day she finds that the door is gone, burned away to ashes. Later, January finds an ancient book called The Ten Thousand Doors tucked away in a box sent from her world-traveling father. In it, she reads a story describing other doors and the worlds behind them. It is a beautifully written, albeit sad, love story telling of a chance encounter between a boy and girl from different worlds who, after separation, spend their lives independently searching for another door that will lead them to the other person's world. 

When her father disappears, it is up to January to puzzle out the truth behind the book, to pick up the lovers' search for hidden doors, and to understand what role, if any, she plays in the story.

Maybe this plot line sounds too corny, too romantic, or simply too fantastical to bother with. But believe me, as a man with little time for such tales, The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a page-turner that simply swallows you up into new worlds of stubbornly strong characters and a secret society with an agenda of their own.

I became deeply involved with this book and characters. Writing, plot, character, and setting - my four criteria for great books - were all delivered in to the highest degree of skill. Naturally, it gets my highest recommendation. 

There are ten thousand stories about ten thousand Doors, and we know them as well as we know our names. They lead to Faerie, to Valhalla, Atlantis and Lemuria, Heaven and Hell, to all the directions a compass could never take you, to elsewhere. A dividing point between here and there, us and them, mundane and magical.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.   

Four children find, in the back of an old wardrobe, a doorway that leads to the secret world of Narnia where they have heroic adventures galore and even rise to become royalty.

Special Post: Young Adult Fiction for Adults

Sometimes adult readers turn their noses up at Young Adult fiction simply because it is shelved differently in libraries and bookstores. Maybe they feel YA books are all simplistic and juvenile in themes, characters, and writing to appeal to a less sophisticated audience.

Boy, how wrong they are.

There are some doozies out there that will engross readers of any age. With students returning to school and needing some great reads for book reports, here are some of my absolute favorites that won't disappoint adult or younger readers on any level. 

Include your own favorites in the Comments section if you are so inclined.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

_______________________

Hatchet  (and others in this survival series) - Gary Paulsen

First Sentences 

Brian Robeson stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below. It was a small plane -- a Cessna 406 -- a bush plane -- and the engine was so loud, so roaring and consuming and loud that it ruined any chance for conversation. Not that he had much to say   

          - from Hatchet 

Description:

I love the survival tales of Brian Robeson who, after a plane crash, finds himself stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness and now must survive by his own wits. Hatchet and Brian's Winter are my favorites and worthy reads for any adult for the challenges faced, the struggles to survive, and the overcoming of self-doubts that we all feel in our lives.

_______________________

I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak

First Sentences 

The gunman is useless. 

I know it. 

He knows it. 

The whole bank knows it. 

Even my best mate, Marvin, knows it, and he's more useless than the gunman. 

          
Description:

Author of the popular The Book Thief, Zusak has written a fascinating mystery about an aimless young cabdriver who begins to receive cryptic notes written on playing cards. When deciphered, he feels these messages refer to neighbors who have problems that he must address and help, whether through simple encouragement, friendship, fighting, or simply listening. His friends don't understand his quests, but undeterred he resolves to understand and complete the missions alluded to in the four cards.

_______________________

Brewster - Mark Slouka

First Sentences 

The first time I saw him fight was right in front of the school, winter.

It was before I knew him. I noticed him walking across the parking lot -- that long coat, his hair tossing around in the wind -- with some guy I'd never seen before following twenty feet behind and two others fanned back like wings on a jet.

        

Description:

This is the book I feel should replace The Catcher in the Rye as the novel that most honestly represents teen angst and the reality they face in the twenty-first century. One high school boy deals with the untimely death of his popular brother by trying to become a cross-country runner. Another friend, gifted mentally, drifts in and out of school and picks fights everyone to build a reputation as dark as his countenance. Along with a girl and an unpopular bully, these four contemplate their present and future world in honest and halting words and actions to meet their fates head on. A brilliant, strongly-written book.

_______________________

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

First Sentences 

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, nor yet a dry sand bare sand hole: it was a hobbit hole and that means comfort.

   

Description:

Originally a small story told by author Tolkien to his children, The Hobbit became a runaway best seller to millions of children and adults throughout the world. A tale of adventure, humor, dragons, gold, and most importantly Good and Evil, The Hobbit is worthy of any reader who loves a great story simply told with great depth of character and plot. Here, an unsuspecting hobbit is recruited to join a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim their ancestors' ancient gold from the dragon guarding it. The major (and minor) figures are unforgettable, whether hobbits, dwarves, men, dragons, spiders, mythic figures, or a strange creature who lives in the dark and cold under the mountain. 

_______________________

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

First Sentences 

It was 7 minutes after midnight.

The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears's house. It's eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing cats in a dream.

Description:

Maybe not technically a YA book, this fascinating novel explores the mind of the autistic teenage narrator who seeks to find the answers to who violently killed the neighborhood dog. His quest takes him into many worlds that he fears but faces with straightforward honesty and questions which are uncomfortable for many to answer.

_______________________

The Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling

First Sentences 

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number 4, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

They were the last people you'd expect to be involved with anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. 

          - from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Description:

Probably no one has not heard of the Harry Potter series of magicians, Muggles, and evil forces combated by teenage wizards in training. But if you have only seen the movies, you are cheating yourself of great writing and characters not found on the silver screen. Although the books become increasingly darker and longer, the entire series is a treasure to read. Start at the first and read consecutively for the fullest effect of a maturing author and characters, flowing into complex stories and decisions from the heroes to thwart He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named.

_______________________

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

First Sentences 

"I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears and I tell you he's the one. Or at least as close as we're going to get."

"That's what you said about the brother."

"The brother tested out impossible.For other reasons. Nothing to do with his ability."

Description:

Earth's government recruits child geniuses and trains them in an orbiting Battle School to be soldiers against the predicted invasion of fierce, insect-like aliens. Ender Wiggen and his two siblings take leadership roles in this coming conflict on Earth and in space. Ender rises in the ranks of selected trainees, overcoming bullies, mental challenges, and mock battle in weightless environments and sophisticated video simulation games. And they wait of the coming alien battles, hoping their are ably prepared. Extremely well-written, gripping, and unpredictable. 

An added bonus is the recent book Ender's Shadow written by Card years later to retell the same story but from the completely different eyes of a street smart youngster named Bean who was also recruited in Ender's class of soldier cadets. Interesting that a minor character now becomes the center of attention as the narrator and later Ender's right-hand officer in the training and battles. Bean gives a completely different perspective on the government, the mission, and the organization that seeks to make him a loyal soldier.

_______________________

Five Children and It - E. Nesbit

First Sentences 

The house was three miles from the station, but before the dusty hired hack had rattled along for five minutes, the children began to put their heads out of the carriage window and say, "Aren't we nearly there?"

Description:

From the author of the Railway Children series, E. Nesbit's 1902 novel tells of five siblings who discover a sand-fairy who grants them a wish a day with the proviso that at sunset the wish wears off and everything returns to as it was. The children ponder each wish very carefully - for wealth, beauty, to be big, wings, etc. - but each wish fulfillment goes unexpectedly wrong so that by the end of the day the children are glad to have the results of their wishes reversed. And they plan the next day's wish that will be perfect without possibility of misinterpretation or unexpected repercussions. A very interesting, timeless read from over 100 years ago.

_______________________

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews

First Sentences 

So in order to understand everything that happened, you have to start from the premise that high school sucks.

Do you accept that premise? Of course you do. It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. In fact, high school is where we are first introduced to the basic existential question of life: How is is possible to exist in a place that sucks this bad? 

Description:

The perfect first sentences to a Young Adult book: snarky, slangy, pessimistic, and funny. And Andrews keeps up the writing style throughout, mixing in formats of scripts, dialogue, and rambling narrative to tell this tale of two teenage boys and one girl (not a "girlfriend") working through the challenges of cancer, high school life, bad film-making, and getting along with the various high school mobs. You may have seen this movie (I did and didn't even know it was based on this book), but reading this story is so much more funny. Remember all the clever lines from the movie? Taken directly from the book which is chock full of such wit, sarcasm, insights, friendship, and genuine tenderness.

Let's just say that it would explain a lot of things if there were a fungus eating my brain.