From page 263*:

He had promised so much and left me with nothing! And, without my husband, without my father, without love or the kindness, encouragement, and support of loving family and caring friends, I didn’t know how to put the shattered pieces of my life and hear back together and build a new life or dream new dreams for myself.

Memorial Day is a non-fiction picture book written to explain to children how the holiday came about and why we celebrate it, among other things. Although this is your typical thirty-two page picture book, its aim is for children who might be outgrowing picture books but who need to be eased into chapter books. Each chapter is about two to four pages long (including the full page illustrations).

There is a chapter on the Civil War, a chapter that includes information on The Tomb of the Unknowns, a chapter full of Memorial Day poems, and another full of Memorial Day songs.

This picture book shows how one can never be too old for them. I learned something new while reading it. There is a chapter on Decoration Day and I had never heard of it before. It was the early version of Memorial Day and it was celebrated every May 30. It did not become known as Memorial Day until the 1890s and it became a national holiday in 1971. Anyway, it was known as Decoration Day because it was the day people decorated the headstones with flowers. I am not sure if it is official, but my community still has a sort of Decoration Day. Every year on the Friday before Memorial Day, boy scouts and girl scouts place small American flags next to every headstone in the national cemetery behind my house (yup, backyard, then alley, then a stretch of grass, then the cemetery…I have a post here).

I enjoyed reading Memorial Day and I think other children and adults will as well. With its semi-realistic illustrations and small chapters to get young readers used to them, Memorial Day is a very informative and good knowledge base for everyone on this holiday. It even suggests various Memorial Day activities and includes a glossary and index.

When Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547, he left his nine-year-old son Edward to rule a kingdom broken by religious strife. Catholic England turned reformed Catholic England now turned Protestant England under Edward VI and his maternal uncle, Lord Protector Edward Seymour. But in 1553, Edward at fifteen years of age knew he was dying and he wanted to keep England out of the hands of his Catholic older sister Mary. Yet he did not want to leave his favorite sister, Elizabeth, in charge either so he changed his father’s will. He left the throne to his cousin Lady Jane Grey’s male children, but when he realized he was fading too quickly (and Jane was nowhere close to being pregnant), he updated the will to leave the throne to Lady Jane and her male heirs. A subtle, yet major change.

Her Highness, the Traitor begins in 1555, two years into Mary I’s reign, with reminisces of the past from Jane Dudley and Frances Grey. As the title implied (at least to me), I thought Susan Higginbotham’s latest historical fiction novel was about Jane Grey’s rise to the throne and her husband, Guildford Dudley, the children of the two women previously mentioned.

And it was, but not to the extent I imagined. Written in the first person, past tense and alternating points-of-view between Jane Dudley and Frances Grey, they reminisce about the past (starting in 1512 for Jane Dudley and 1547 for Frances Grey) and how it led to their present situations in 1555. I thought Her Highness, the Traitor would be from Jane Grey’s point-of-view, but instead Lady Jane’s story played out through the eyes of her mother and mother-in-law. While it threw me off at first, I quickly became accustomed to it and enjoyed learning these two womens’ views on their children’s rise and fall along with their own motivations and biases.

Just a bit of basic background on these two characters: Jane Dudley knew and grew up with her husband John because after his father was executed as a traitor by Henry VIII, Jane’s family took him in as a ward and Frances Grey was the daughter of Charles Brandon, the duke of Suffolk, and Mary Tudor, Henry VIII’s younger sister.

As previously stated, the story alternated between Jane Dudley and Frances Grey, as it moved forward in time, revealing the day-to-day and major events of both of their lives, including their children taking the throne and the later consequences.

I found it interesting to read a story I know from two different voices I had not heard before. I kept hoping things would work out for everyone involved, but if it had, history would not have progressed as it had. As historical fiction readers, I think sometimes we forget (at least I do) that these people were real, living, breathing people. Sometimes I am so caught up in a story that that gets away from me and I remind myself often -and then it makes my heart ache. Towards the end, tears came to my eyes over and over and eventually spilled. Have a box of tissues nearby.

Her Highness, the Traitor is definitely a journey of a book and a heartfelt one at that.

Recommended for historical fiction readers eighteen and up. The title is a bit misleading but the story is uniquely told by Jane Grey’s and Guildford Dudley’s mothers.

Follow Friday is hosted by Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read.

Question: Activity! Dream cast your current read.

My answer: I am currently reading The Earth Painter by Melissa Turner Lee. The main character, Holly, is a natural redhead with freckles and her love interest Theo, has blue-gray eyes and I think sandy hair (comments are usually made on Holly’s appearance and she just talks about his eyes so I can’t remember if there’s a hair color!). The funny thing is, the girl on the cover doesn’t seem like a natural redhead LOL! So I did a Google Image search and came up with these (below the book cover):

• Review: Dreamless by Josephine Angelini
• Book Trailer: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
• Review: The Sumerton Women by D.L. Bogdan
• Also, if you’re participating in the 2012 Tudor Reading Challenge (sign up below!), there is a giveaway this month!
• I gave in - follow me on Linky!

If you read books about the Tudor dynasty, please sign up for the 2012 Tudor Reading Challenge!

Want to read Jane Eyre and other books based on it (remakes, spin-offs)? Sign up for the 2012 Books of Eyre Reading Challenge!

When Lady Cecily Burkhart loses her parents to a mysterious illness in 1527, she becomes Baroness Burkhart, but being only eight-years-old, she also becomes the ward to the Earl of Sumerton, Harold Pierce. The Pierce family - Lord Hal, Lady Grace, Mirabella, Brey, and Father Alec Cahill - all kindly welcome Cecily into their home and into their lives. Despite a dark secret or two of the family’s, Cecily has some happy years there and looks forward to her future.

But tragedy strikes the family twice over, and it alters Cecily’s future and Mirabella’s vocation is taken from her because of Henry VIII’s religious reforms. From then on, Cecily, growing into a young woman, tries to hold the family together while Mirabella does everything she can to destroy them.

The Sumerton Women took place in a time of Henry VIII’s reign that was rapidly growing more volatile. He uprooted England’s whole world by putting aside Catherine of Aragon in order to freely be with Anne Boleyn as he petitioned for a divorce that the pope would never grant. Anne had already brought with her some safe reformer reviews and Henry would do anything to have her and a legitimate male heir, so religious upheaval was not out of the question. He broke from Rome, made himself the head of his own church, made Thomas Cranmer the archbishop of Canterbury, and got the divorce he wanted. He also unleashed something that he had not foreseen; his actions opened the door for more fervent reformers to promote the New Learning. Besides the desired divorce, King Henry only wanted to be the head of his own reformed Catholic church. England’s first Protestant ruler was his son, Edward VI.

All of this is the backdrop for D.L. Bogdan’s larger story about Cecily and the Pierce family, who deal with the issue of religion as well as the more prominent themes of family and personal motivations.

Cecily vaguely remembered that her parents spoke of the New Learning with curiosity and her own mind was open. Mirabella, a few years older than Cecily, was a strict Catholic, except for the hate she harbored in her heart. Brey’s views were unknown, but he did not take after his sister. Their father, Hal, wore a hair shirt under his clothes to atone for his secret sin, but he enjoyed having fun and he was friendly and jovial. His wife Grace, however, resented the Catholic faith and tended to agree with the New Learning, but she was not religious enough to put any effort into either. Father Alec was cautious as he came to believe more in the New Learning. The household represented varying degrees of religious belief and was just a small sample of what was happening in Tudor England at the time.

Along with religion, themes of tragedy and renewal reappear throughout The Sumerton Women. Bogdan produced an action-packed and fast-paced historical fiction novel that readers can easily and happily lose themselves in. I definitely rode the waves of emotion and the trials of life throughout this whole novel and I cared about all of the characters, even Mirabella, despite how much I hated her for the majority of the novel because of all her horrible actions.

The Sumerton Women is a book of intertwined destinies, a book of joy, heartache, forbidden attraction, betrayal, and almost unbelievable secrets with some mentions and a cameo of Tudor England’s elite.

Recommended for historical fiction readers eighteen and up. There is nothing too controversial within these pages.

Wordless Wednesday - 23 May 2012

In honor of Anna Banks’ debut young adult mermaid novel, Of Poseidon, I want to share with you this book trailer:

I just love the ethereal music that crescendos at the end! It is the season of mermaid (*ahem* excuse me, Syrena) novels and I love it! Be sure to check out Of Poseidon (and my review)!

From page 202:

I leaned against the door for a second, tried to get my brain back together. That guy should come complete with a warning label - or three.

Josephine Angelini is back with her second Starcrossed novel, Dreamless!

Now that Helen Hamilton knows of her connection to Helen of Troy, her abilities, and her role as the Descender (the only Scion who can enter the Underworld), she must figure out how to control her nightmarish descents even as she grows weaker from each one. Ignoring her weakness and exhaustion, Helen continues to slip into the Underworld to find a way to stop the Furies from further encouraging Scions to eliminate each other.

But just as she starts figuring out the ins and outs of the Underworld, she meets another (extremely attractive) Scion who helps her and makes her feel comfortable. Only she feels like she is betraying Lucas even though they have to try their hardest to stay away from each other.

Danger lurks in the Underworld and above that will change the Scions’ world indefinitely.

Not much time has passed between the end of Starcrossed and the beginning of Dreamless; only about a week. As usual, I will not give anything away that is not written or implied in the synopsis. Which means, I cannot share with you some of my notes (unless you want them privately)! I can say that there are multiple points-of-view in Dreamless, including Lucas and Daphne (and someone else), but it is mostly from Helen’s perspective. I can tell you that there is a prologue in which a very minor character from the first book makes a very stupid and big mistake. I can share with you that the mysterious Scion Helen meets (and whose presence creates the love triangle) is very attractive and easy-going and although I still like Lucas, I think I now prefer this new Scion. And finally, I can let you know that there is an evil character who took my fear of ants to a whole new level.

Dreamless is intense. Actually, I described it as “holy shit!”. There were definitely moments when I wanted to reach into the book and that world to shake Helen and tell her to listen to what people were telling her, but I could not blame her too much because she was in really bad shape. Plenty of times throughout Dreamless, I felt simultaneously relieved and anxious (seriously…imagine how that feels!) because so many of Helen’s actions had both good and bad consequences, which you will understand when you read this book. I guarantee you will know those exact moments. 

For you Lucas lovers, there was not any talk in the book about his and Helen’s status. I still refuse to believe in the connection that came up in Starcrossed and all of the relationships mentioned in here had me trying to figure out the family tree because I am pretty sure a character said or called Helen his/her niece and someone else said something about their father and the father was not who I thought it was - I know. I even confused myself. Anyway, I guess maybe we will see in book 3 if I really saw something or not.

Dreamless is a book that I could not put down. I was reading so fast at times that I had to go back and read some things I missed. It is definitely an exciting and intense journey. I know my heart rate picked up lots of times (it is even doing it just writing about the book!) and I kept slapping my hand to my mouth at certain parts. With the exciting and foreboding but not a cliffhanger ending, Dreamless sets up the third book which promises to be EPIC.

Recommended for readers fourteen and up who enjoy young adult fantasy in the Greek mythology realm and of course, for readers who are already fans of the Starcrossed trilogy.

Follow Friday is hosted by Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read.

Question: Summer Break is upon us! What would be the perfect vacation spot for you to catch up on your reading & relax?

My answer: Ah, good question. My first choice would be my usual beach spot. There’s nothing like sitting at the beach and reading a good book with the crashing of waves in your ears. My second choice would be camping at a campground where I can lounge under the trees with dappled sunlight everywhere and read. The past few days would have been good for that. *sigh*

• Review: I’m Not Sleepy! by Jonathan Allen
• Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore
• Review: The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross
• Also, if you’re participating in the 2012 Tudor Reading Challenge (sign up below!), there is a giveaway this month!
• I gave in - follow me on Linky!

If you read books about the Tudor dynasty, please sign up for the 2012 Tudor Reading Challenge!

Want to read Jane Eyre and other books based on it (remakes, spin-offs)? Sign up for the 2012 Books of Eyre Reading Challenge!