Review: Julie of the Wolves

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George was another piece of required reading for my children's literature course.

The story is broken into three parts, each covering an important aspect of Miyax's life (Julie is her English name). She's an Eskimo girl set in her Eskimo ways, and when the life she's living becomes unhealthy, she chooses to leave it behind. She's taken in by a pack of Arctic wolves, and she learns to live the way they do. Life with the wolves is well, until she realizes that winter is coming. Now she must decide if she's going to stay out on the frozen tundra, or try to find her way back to civilization. But that's not the only decision she has to make.

Miyax wants to get from the frozen Arctic to San Fransisco where her pen pal lives. Green grass, a pink room, no snow and civilization all sound quite appealing, until Miyax realizes how the gussaks (white people) treat the wild life and the Eskimos. Everything that she was led to believe, whether it was from her father, or her pen pal, isn't so true after all. The only ones she can rely on is her pack of wolves, and herself.

Julie of the Wolves is simple, but I found it interesting as I've studied Native literature before. I was able to draw parallels, and understand the story in a different manner, I think, than those who have never studied Native lit at all. Regardless, it's still worth reading if you're looking for something short (by novel standards) and simple to pass the time.  

Yesterday in History: Vimy Ridge Edition

Yesterday was a very important day in both Canadian and First World War history, right down to the day itself. On Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, in the early morning hours, Canada did what so many other nations failed to do: take back Vimy Ridge for the French.

This year marked the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. I knew it was long ago, but realizing that the anniversary of the battle is almost as old as my great gram passed me by until I stopped to think about it.

Thousands of Canadians were killed in this battle, and where they once fought now stands a monolithic memorial that I one day want to go visit.

To think that Canada was still a fairly young nation (only 50 years old), and achieved such a feat is both impressive, awe inspiring, but sad too as you know so many young Canadians were killed in this battle, and about 66 000 in total throughout the course of the First World War.

All I ask is this. Remember our heritage, where we came from, and what this country did for a friend at such a young age. Always remember Vimy Ridge.

For more on Vimy Ridge:

Follow the link to the Veteran Affairs Canada website
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/memorials/ww1mem/vimy

For more on Canada's roles in the First and second World Wars, please refer to my series "11 Days of Remembrance" located under November 2011.

Happy Easter

Hey all!

To those of you who celebrate Easter, I hope you have a wonderful one, and have a good time with the friends and family you love the most!

Happy Easter!

Review: Anne of Green Gables

The last time I read Anne of Green Gables, I was in my grade nine English class. It was just as simple, sweet, and touching 11 years later as it was back then. Back in the eighties, a television film of this novel came about, and I remember borrowing it from the library in the nineties. There were so many scenes in the book that I had forgotten about, but when I came across them, I could see film playing in my head.

There were two parts to the book that I remembered fully before picking it up to read it again for my Children's Literature course: the first was Gilbert calling Anne "carrots," and Anne bringing her slate crashing down over his head. The other part I remembered was the death of a main character. The rest of the book was like new to me all over again, while comfortably familiar all at the same time.

Reading Anne of Green Gables, I felt like I was growing up right along with Anne. How four or five years can be compressed into 308 pages, I don't know, but it worked out beautifully.

For those who aren't Canadian, and are unfamiliar with the Anne books, they were written by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, and take place on Prince Edward Island in the late 1800's-early 1900's. Anne Shirley is an orphan girl, mistakenly sent in place of a boy, to assist two elderly siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. Her hair is fiery red, and so is her temper. But, before long, Matthew and Marilla soon come to realize how wonderful their lives have become as a result of this mistake. With the Cuthberts, Gilbert, Diana, Miss. Stacey, and Mrs. Rachel Lynde, the imagination of Anne, and the reader, soars.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this charming children's novel. It really is a fine sample of some of the greatest writing Canada has to offer.

Review: The Hunger Games (Film Version)

Last night, my guy and I went to see The Hunger Games. He's read the trilogy, while I have yet to do so (it's on my list of books I'd like to read, but seeing how I still have some books left for my kid lit course, HG has to take a place at the end of the line). However, even though I have yet to read the books, between the boyfriend, and Omar, I knew the characters names, who Omar was rooting for, and I had a pretty good premise of what the books were about, aside from tidbits I'd hear in the news, or stumble across online.

I have no problem admitting that I liked the movie, and that I thought it was really well done. I also liked when I was told that it stayed pretty true to the book. I have a general dislike of films that choose to stray from the original novel. The film could still be good, but I'd be left with a bitter feeling that it wasn't as true to the original as it ought to be.

The characters were strong-willed, and I found them to be believable. Katniss, who volunteers as Tribute at the District 12 Reaping in place of her sister, thinks only of Primrose, her sole motivation to come out of the games alive. Peeta doesn't want to be owned, and decides that if he is to die during the games, he wants to at least be himself. And one of the younger characters, whose name I can't remember, despite being terrified, is still clever, and knows that if she sticks with Katniss, she might have a chance to survive.

Yes, I realize that a novel-turned-film about adolescents who fight to the death so the victor's home district can have food to survive is disturbing. That in itself is enough to potentially turn people away. But the story, and how the film was layed out, the action scenes, the struggle to survive were well done.

I must confess, though, there was one part of the film where my terrible sense of humour came through. One of the characters is dying, and she asks Katniss to sing to her. Though Katniss sang some other song, I was so desperately waiting for her to sing "Soft Kitty" (if you've ever watched The Big Bang Theory, you'll understand the reference). When I leaned over to my date, and said that I was waiting to hear "Soft Kitty" he couldn't help but laugh himself because he was thinking the exact same thing.

Overall, I'd recommend seeing this film. It really was a sight to behold, and I can understand why it broke so many records.

Review: The Eagle of the Ninth

The Eagle of the Ninth by English author Rosemary Sutcliffe is a tale for young adults that takes place in in an era when Britain was under Roman rule. It's a hefty read, but is definitely worth the while.

Centurion Marcus has decided to clear his father's name, solve a two-decade old mystery and get back what rightfully belongs to the Ninth Legion: Find out why four thousand legion members marched into the mists in the north of Britain, led by Marcus's father, never to return, and what happened to the bronze eagle, their legion's symbol, when the legion was lost?

Marcus and his freed-slave Esca set out on a months-long journey to discover the truth about the Ninth Legion, and to take back what was lost. As these two characters are from very different lives, you'd wonder how they could ever be successful in their quest, but after a while, you find that they really aren't so different after all.

If gladiators and Romans fascinate you, I'm quite certain you'd enjoy The Eagle of the Ninth. There's blood, injury, betrayal, and gladiator fights to the death. It's not fact, however, the novel is historical fiction, and you can tell that Sutcliffe had done her research. 

I must confess though, that I originally had a hard time getting into this book because it was such a heavy read (like Tolkien heavy, but without the stupidity and boredom). I had the intention of just finding a summary online, and leaving well enough alone. That plan backfired, and made me want to finish the book. And I can say that I'm honestly glad I did. If you like historical fiction, or appreciate a solid novel overall, I doubt you'd be disappointed reading The Eagle of the Ninth. You just have to muddle through the first chapter, and a few pages into the second one, and then you'll be on a roll.

April Fools

Here we are, the first of April, otherwise known as April Fool's Day. I really don't know why or how such a day of foolishness started, only that I remember being a kid, and playing the occasional prank, usually on Allie, and vice versa. But, sometimes, Allie and I would team up, and we'd play a joke that was worth remembering... Like this one.

We have a cousin who is former military, though he was still in the Army at the time Allie and I dared to pull this prank. At one point in time, our family used two coffee makers, but one of them was for tea. My cousin had spent the night, and forgot that it was April Fools. Allie and I got up, as we had school that day, and offered to make his coffee before he got out of bed. So she and I went downstairs, and for some reason, my memory tells me that the coffee and tea were already made and in their pots. We took a small pitcher out of the cupboard, poured the coffee into it, poured the tea into the coffee pot, and then poured the coffee into the tea pot. We poured some "coffee" into a mug, added sugar, added cream, and waited. I'm not sure if my cousin was a tea drinker at the time (I don't even know if he does to this day), but I can honestly say that he was pretty darn disgusted when he went to take a swig of coffee, and he ended up with a mouthful of tea instead. April Fools.

Omar, you might remember this one...

In grade six, my teacher foolishly decided that he'd leave the classroom for a few minutes and allow the class to play whatever pranks they wanted on him, just so we could get it all out of our systems. Good for him, giving us the chance to get it all out, but he stupidly left his Tim Horton's coffee in the classroom. One of the guys in my class had a bag of black jellybeans, and he slipped a couple into the teacher's coffee. So, after our ten minutes or so was up, the teacher came back in, and looked for the obvious pranks, like stuffing bits of chalk into the erasers. Satisfied that he'd found everything, he picked up his coffee, and went to the board to start the day's lesson. Just imagine the look of disgust and horror and anger when he went to drink his coffee and discovered that it had been tainted. Yeah, the rest of that day was pretty miserable. You see, that coffee was supposed to be his first of the day, and when he couldn't drink it, oh man, was he ever pissed off. But, I think he admitted that it was a pretty good prank, he was just going to be cranky to us for the rest of the day. Totally worth it though.

And there you have my two biggest April Fools memories. Happy pranking, everybody!