Booktalk Friday: Invisible Enemies

Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Disease, by Jeanette Farrell

For some reason, it’s hard for me to convince anyone that a book about infectious diseases is a fascinating, fast-paced adventure filled with illuminating facts, chilling rumors and remarkable discoveries as engrossing as any high-profile thriller. Perhaps the lack of enthusiasm stems from my overuse of “ing” words? Or does the skepticism lie deeper in the bowels of fear and misunderstanding? For example, leprosy, once considered a highly communicable scourge that represented sinfulness and subjected its victims to isolation and exile, is actually a treatable, non-fatal bacterial infection that we now refer to as Hansen’s Disease. Six other infectious diseases (smallpox, plague, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, and AIDS) all get their own chapters. Each one has a compelling story. Some of the stories have happy endings, while others are still mysteries in progress.

Have I convinced you yet? I suspect that I haven’t. I’ll tell you what: just pick up the book and read the introduction. Normally, I’m not much of a mystery/thriller reader, but if more fiction books of that genre were written like Invisible Enemies, I think I’d be a fan.

A companion book called Invisible Allies: Microbes That Shape Our Lives, was published last year. I’m going to read it, and not just because a friend of mine reviewed the book for School Library Journal. If there are indeed beneficial microbes in chocolate, then I want to know all about them!

Booktalk Friday: Jenny and the Cat Club

Jenny and the Cat Club: A Collection of Favorite Stories about Jenny Linsky, by Esther Averill

Jenny Linsky is a little black cat adopted by a sea-master named Captain Tinker in the New York City neighborhood of Greenwich Village. Jenny is a shy cat, which is why the sea-captain knitted a red scarf for her. What Jenny longs for more than anything is to join the Cat Club. However, to join the Cat Club, you have to be able to do something. For example, the fluffy Persian cat, Madame Butterfly, can play the nose-flute. Sinbad and the Duke are rough, tough fighters of the city streets. Romulus and Remus, the twin spotted cats, are adept at catching fish from the local fish-market. Solomon the cat is a studious reader. But what can Jenny do? In despair, she hides from the cats with whom she most desires to be friends, and it is not until winter, when Captain Tinker floods the garden to make a pond for children to skate upon, that Jenny finally musters the courage to discover her special talent.

In these five stories about Jenny Linsky and her friends, the shy cat finds that bravery comes in different forms. Sometimes, she have to run through the streets filled with aggressive dogs in order to deliver important messages, while other times, courage involves unselfishness to others. In all instances, Jenny comes through in funny and surprising ways.

Two of my other favorite books about Jenny Linsky are Jenny's Moonlight Adventure
The School for Cats
These books about Jenny Linsky and her friends have long been out of print,* but thanks to the New York Review Children’s Collection, they have been republished in attractive, sturdy hardbound volumes. They are a bit pricey, and unlikely to come out in paperback, but I am slowly gathering the books I love, bit by bit.

*The one exception has been the I Can Read chapter-book about Pickles, The Fire Cat. While Jenny and friends aren't mentioned by name in the book, you will see pictures of them riding in Pickles' fire-truck.

P.S. Jenny's Bedside Book is out of print and very expensive on the online booksite listings. If you see it somewhere for a ridiculously low price, please let me know.

Booktalk Friday: 3 Illustrated Stories

Zzzng! Zzzng! Zzzng!, by Phyllis Gershator

A long time ago, when the world was new and everyone was looking for someone to marry, Mosquito was not a biter at all, but a lovely singer. However, after being rebuffed by Ear, Arm, and Leg for being "too small and weak," rejection sours Mosquito's song. Will Mosquito find true love, and if so, will it be enough? You may have thought you knew everything you ever wanted to know about mosquitos, but this Yoruba folktale reveals a different side to one of the world's most detested pests.


Saving Sweetness, by Diane Stanley

When Sweetness, the littlest child of the nefarious Mrs. Sump's orphanage, gets fed up with scrubbing the floors with a toothbrush, she runs away into the desert. The sheriff goes after Sweetness to save her from the terrible trials of the desert. However, Sweetness might not be the one who need rescuing from snakes, scorpions, and the outlaw Cowboy Pete, no matter what the befuddled sheriff thinks. Rescue from the orphanage, however, is another matter.



The Pirate's Parrot, by Lynn Rossiter McFarland

Help! The cantankerous pirate, Captain Cur, has lost both his parrot and his monocle, and the crew are commanded to steal replacements. A mix-up ensues, and instead of producing a parrot, they produce a "girlie" teddy bear. It's a good thing that Captain Cur can't see very well, as he has a terrible temper. Fortunately, Bar, the teddy-bear is up to the challenge of becoming the pirate's parrot. Beware: this story may give you the "dreaded giggles of fear."

Booktalk Friday: Dogsbody

Blogger has been up and down the past few days. So have I, as a matter of fact. I'm still not well... I seem to get better, and then the next morning I wake up again with a sore throat and cough. Still, I was determined to get Booktalk Friday posted today, since I do want more people to discover this book:

Dogsbody, by Diana Wynne Jones

Picture the celestial bodies in the night sky. There are numerous stars, planets around those stars, and satellites around those planets. Now, imagine that each star, planet and satellite has its own personality, and is a sentient lifeform unto itself. If you can imagine this, then perhaps you can understand what a wretched situation it is for Sirius, the Dog Star, who has just been tried for the murder of a young luminary stationed in the constellation Orion, and found guilty.

Sirius is outraged. He knows he often loses his temper, and even his "small, exquisite and pearly" Companion has testified that Sirius often gets too angry to know what he is doing. Still, Sirius knows he has been framed. The only way he will be able to prove his innocence is through banishment: he will be stripped of all his powers, sent to Earth to live in the body of a creature native to the planet, and spend his life looking for the Zoi, a weapon of mass destruction that the Court has accused Sirius of wielding with deadly force.

When Sirius next regains consciousness, he is a newborn puppy with green eyes. Someone who seems to know who he really is tries to drown him and leave him for dead. However, none of Sirius’s friends or enemies could have predicted that the mortal dog would find a champion in Kathleen, an Irish girl with boundless loyalty.

It is most uncanny: someone in the universe does not want Sirius to find the Zoi.

Booktalk Friday: Hatchet

I would like to experiment with hosting a weekly feature on Saints and Spinners. It’s called Booktalk Friday. Unlike a book review, a “booktalk” is an advertisement for a book. The booktalk is the storytelling format of the young adult librarian. In the past, I’ve resisted doing official booktalks except when they were absolutely required (i.e. job interviews), but the fact of the matter is that good booktalks actually work. Sometimes I find that I enjoy someone’s booktalk far more than I enjoy the actual book, but that is a risk I am willing to take. Repeatedly.

I must be crazy to give myself even more homework and deadlines than I already have. I do take book recommendations, by the way, but please keep in mind that my booktalk focus is going to be on children's and young adult novels.

Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen

Imagine that you are Brian Robeson. You are 13, and your parents are divorced. Today, you will fly from Hampton, NY, where your mother lives, to the north woods of Canada, where your father lives. You will fly in a two-person airplane. Before you leave, your mother gives you a small hatchet, which you can attach to your belt. “You can use it in the woods with your father,” she tells you.

Now, you are flying. Your mind is filled with thoughts of your parents’ divorce. You think that’s the worst of your problems. But then, the pilot has a heart attack… and you don’t know how to fly the plane.

If you survive the plane crash, you will be miles off-course in the wilderness. You will have to reply on your wits and your resources. You will have nothing but what you wear and what you find in your pockets.

Will you be able to make a shelter for yourself? Will you be able to find food? Will you be able to keep alive the hope that someone will find you and bring you home? You might.

But first, you have to land the plane.