B.A.B.A.E.L.

Boy howdy is this book garnering some attention. Well-deserved I might add. Brown's book is in the spotlight for one simple reason -- she's decided to tackle one heck of a subject. What makes a school shooter? What are the justifications? Why does one kid barely toe the line, and what makes another step over the edge? What happens to those left behind?

Valerie Leftman is the left-behild line-toer, in our case. Several months ago, Valerie's boyfriend Nick went into a crowded area of their high school known as "The Commons," and opened fire. Valerie is the one who ultimately stops him, saving the life of one Jessica Campbell, but the media and the town have a field day when they discover that she is also the one who "inspired" him. The victims all came straight off Valerie's own "Hate List."

There are also incriminating emails bashing classmates, discussing death and suicide. And, even to Valerie, they don't look good in hindsight. She's pretty sure she didn't want those people dead, but she's also pretty sure that she did not, indeed does not, particularly like them. She's also pretty sure she's still a little in love with Nick.

This book covers a lot of tough, emotional ground and it feels very authentic. Motivations ring true to life, as does most of the storyline. It isn't comfortable, however. Not what I'd call a "good" book in the traditional sense. I was glued to the page, but more with a sense of catharsis than enjoyment.

Some parts of this book rang all too true for me, as a once-bullied outcast myslef. I once "joked" (a grim joke indeed) that if anyone had ever shot up my high school Colombine style, it would have been one of my friends. Although I don't think I ever came too close, I could have been a Valerie Leftman. Add that to the fact that I wrote (vented, really) some of my own questionable material about my classmates, and know that this story hit home.

However, a few things lacked a feel of authenticity. The story picks up as Valerie is about to re-enter her high school after the summer off. In reality, I'm not sure anyone would think this is a good idea. Sure, it makes for more interesting plot, but also for more psycological trauma for everyone involved, don't you think? Secondly, the whole thing is, well, a little emo. But I didn't expect less from a book called Hate List. It may not be my thing, but it will suit the target audience. There are other issues, but I don't want to discourage you, nor give away too much of the story. Suffice to say I wasn't completely thrilled with the ending.

But other things couldn't possibly feel more true, including Valerie's experience with pshychology. I'm glad she has a therapist she can work with, and also glad she has some negative experiences. All too often psychology is either portrayed as the easy fix-it-all method, or more like something from One Flew Over the Cucoo's Nest. Brown avoids either extreme.

Most engaing is the character of Valrie. A deep, real, complex character dealing with real life, albiet on a more exaggerated scale than most of us have to experience. I suspect this book will be a huge hit, especially with teen girls. Not a bad read for parents, either, and almost a must-read for school offcials.

Publication Date: January 12, 2009

Most of us have heard the story: Alice in Wonderland, that venerated children's classic was based on a real girl. We've all heard too some variation on the claim that its writer, known to us as Lewis Carroll, but known to the "real" Alice as Charles Dodgson, was a pedophile. And few of us have dug any deeper.

But writer Melanie Benjamin, inspired by Dodgson's photographs of children (particularly his young female subjects, and a provocative photo of Alice herself heavily featured in the story), decided to peek a little deeper into the lives of Alice Liddell, and her childhood friend Mr. Dodgson. The story itself is an author's dream. There is probably an equal amount of "evidence" for the camps that maintain Dodgson was a pedophile (though most agree he never acted on these urges) and those who maintain that he was simply a man whom little girls found charming (granted, that is a hard sentence to write without it sounding not... quite right!). Dodgson's friendship with Alive Liddell is shrouded in mystery, since the pages from his diary pertaining to a crucial period are missing. All we know for sure is that they knew each other, he took some photographs of her, wrote a story featuring her name, and that when Alice was around 11, they mysteriously ceased contact. This is the stuff historical fiction is made of.

The post-Dodgson years are no less fascinating. There is Liddell's possible romance with a prince, her tragic experience with World War, and even her tour of the States as "the real Alice" in which she (really!) meets "the real Peter Pan."

Benjamin filters Lidell's life through the three major men in her fictional Alice's life. First, we meet brash, thoughtful, childhood Alice and experience her somewhat uncomfortable (from the reader's perspective, that is) relationship with Charles Dodgson. Clearly an attractive man, Dodgson captivates most of the female hearts of the household, but it appears to be Alice that holds his. Too young to quite understand why this is not socially or morally acceptable, the young Alice takes ownership of her role as the beloved of Dodgson, until it lands them both in some mysterious trouble. Meanwhile, she tries to filter and understand the rivalry she has created with her older, and cattier, sister Ina.

Alice resurfaces in the second part of the novel as the intended of one of Queen Victoria's princes -- the hemophiliac Prince Leopold. She's playing a dangerous game trying to hide her murky past, and those that could tell her lover about it. Because of this tension, the novel's center section is permeated with a delicious air of urgency and mystery. Leopold is wonderfully written, and Benjamin does an excellent job of playing with the historical record and weaving it into her story line. For instance, many think that Leopold courted not Alice, ber her younger sister, Edith. Benjamin has an excellent explanation for this "misconception."

Lastly, we see Alice as a society matron. A country lady with an estate and three very different boys. What I loved about this section was how Alice's voice has "changed" (lost much of its spunk and sparkle) but is still esentially Alice. We grow older, we give up dreams, and we settle into the humdrum of everyday life. This is the last Alice we see. The Alice that must deal with realities and not Wonderland.

While this book is more largely a work of fiction than some other works of historical fiction, the real story of Alice Liddell does provide a fiction writer's playground. For a fairly well-documented life, all the crucial details are missing, and Benjamin fills in the gaps expertly. She also inspired me to look up more information on Lewis Carroll, examples of his photography, debates on his sexuality, and read all about Alice Liddell from other sources. And that, really, is my marker for good historical fiction. The characters inspire me to read the novel, and inspire me to know more.

I don't read as many modern authors of adult fiction. Raised on a hearty diet of classics (I am an English major), there's a lot about the modern novel that I just don't like. I'm capable of grumbling so much about "books today" that I fear I'll soon be huddled in a corner with my cane asking, "those kids" to "get off my lawn," you know? Anyway, I digress. In some sort of effort to "make it new," something I'm not against in principle, it seems like a lot of authors have decided to dispense with that pesky element known as the plot.

I've read so many books that just sort of meander along, going nowhere, hoping you will love their cool characters and nifty metaphors enough to forget that there is no actual substance there. Weirdly, it works, sometimes. But then I when I get my hand on a really good story, one with a beginning, a middle and an end, the main thing I feel when I get done? "Ahhhhhh... that was satisfying." There's just nothing like a good story, is there?

And that's what Capella writes. Good stories. In some of the most basic ways (boy meets girl, boy loses girl... etc.) they aren't earth-shaking, but as every reader should know, we've been telling the same stories over and over and over again since time began. It's what you can weave into that story that counts. Capella knows how to weave an entrancing tale.

I picked up The Various Flavors of Coffee because I liked the cover. No really. That's how I pick out fully half of what I read. It's a good cover and an intriguing title. I maintain that judging a book by its cover isn't a half bad idea. And in this case, the story more than lived up to it's cover.

Set in the late 1800s, The Various Flavors of Coffee follows Robert Wallis, a young would-be poet and definite fop. Very fashionable and full of epigrams, Wallis has, for all his put-on intellectualism, also just failed out of Oxford. And considering his father is threatening to cut him off financially, he's really beginning to worry. After all, how will he afford his wardrobe?

Lucky for him a Samuel Pinker, coffee merchant, is looking for a writer to help him write a guide to coffee. The idea is to standardize the vocabulary surrounding taste, color, etc, so that the buyers in coffee-growing countries know which coffees to send back to the merchants in England. It may not be a literary journal, but it pays, and it comes with the help of the bewitching Emily Pinker.

Willis quickly falls in love with the spunky, feminist Emily, and is even given her hand in marriage. Provided, that is, that he goes to Africa for Mr. Pinker starts a coffee plantation, and earns his fortune. And so off to Africa he goes, where he also goes and little native, and gets his heart broken in many ways.

Meanwhile, back in England, the woman suffrage movement is heating up and you can guess who is right in the thick of things-- Emily! Yeah, this book covers a lot of stuff; colonization, women's rights, industrialization, capitalism, love, romance... it's epic.

Ah, what a story!

Meanwhile, Capella is the master of making food (or coffee in this case) a great foil for the characters and the plot. Capella, you will not be surprised to know, is a food writer. But it isn't some foodie gimmick. Foods really become integral to the story -- almost a character in and of itself.

Another thing Capella manages to consistently capture is the quirkiness of life. That borderline absurdity we've all got in our lives and barely notice because its been with us so long. The werid relative. The odd living situation. You know what I mean. He's able capture such things for the great little moments of humor they provide. His books really run the gamut. They are romantic, sad, sweet, funny, tragic, and everything in between. You know, like real life.

I adored The Various Flavors of Coffee so much, I got my hands on another Capella book, The Wedding Officer, as soon as possible. I'll spare you two reviews, but suffice to say I loved it. I've got his first novel, The Food of Love sitting on my desk right now. It's calling me. "Read me," it says, "Read me now!" Well, I must obey....

(Follow-up: Sadly, I'm a little mixed on The Food of Love. It was cute, but very certainly chick-lit. I enjoyed the Cyrano parallels, but thought the whole was a little dull. However, it wasn't so bad that I won't absolutely rush out to buy the next thing Capella writes -- especially if it is historical fiction!)