Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
A note on the audio version: Caruso, unfortunately, narrates as if she were reading to a small child with a learning disability, adding lengthy pauses between each and every clause. It took me well into the second disc before I got used to her cadence. Once I did, however, I had no trouble getting into the story.
A note on the movie: The first half or so of the movie is quite true to the book, but it adds a mystical element in the form of a magic amulet. This is completely out of left field, but it does help Mrs. Brisby (changed from Frisby at the insistence of the makers of Frisbee) come out looking more like the hero of the tale. The book is also much less clear-cut: there are no true villains, and you don’t even know for sure who’s still alive at the end. That’s not to say one is better than the other, of course; I enjoy both book and movie for what they are.
Also posted on BookCrossing.
by David Anthony and Charles David: Josh and Jozlyn live in your typical Medieval-ish fantasy village, with fairy armies and witches’ holidays. Our story begins on Cauldron Cooker’s Night, a celebration for witches that leaves regular folk cowering under their beds. When the whole town is turned to frogs by a vengeful witch, it is up to Josh and Jozlyn to save them. Along the way they encounter ogres and wizards, magic mushrooms and bog beasts. Master Gramble, the turtle with the brain of a stone, was probably my favorite character, and I hope he shows up in future volumes of the series. The illustrations were fine and detailed. This was more or less a standard sword’n’sorcery tale but I happen to like me some good old fashioned S&S so I’m not complaining. That said, it is undeniably written for children, complete with cautionary asides about not eating wild mushrooms without a parent around and other such things that took me out of the story. Which isn’t a bad thing, of course – it just means that I, as an adult, did not get as much enjoyment out of the story as I probably would have a couple decades ago. However, this would be a fun one to read aloud to your kids, if only to say “griznt” over and over again.
by David Anthony and Charles David: Three superhero siblings save a small Michigan town from certain peril, this time in the form of aliens peddling hypnosis-inducing ice cream. Their powers are silly (speed and sports; the ability to drive anything with wheels, including airplanes; and anything Superman can do, respectively) but fun. Most memorable for me was the youngest, Zoe, who is still in diapers. I was a little concerned by the idea of a superhero lacking bladder control, but all the same, it was quite clear the authors wrote with their audience firmly in mind. For example, Zoe speaks only one word at a time, all potential vocabulary words; in this book they all started with the letter A but I assume future books in the series go through the alphabet. Adorable illustrations adorn every page. I was amused by the strange little asides and the commentary on sibling rivalry. In short, this is the sort of thing I would probably have enjoyed as a child. I also probably would have colored the illustrations.
by Elie Wiesel as a freshman. It could be argued that a fourteen-year-old is not mature enough to handle such a subject, but considering the events occurred when Wiesel himself was fifteen, the objection seems trivial.