Matilda by Roald Dahl

Matilda
by Roald Dahl
Puffin, 1988
240 pages
Children's Fantasy

Summary in a Sentence:

Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.

 My Thoughts:

"I'm wondering what to read next." Matilda said. "I've finished all the children's books."

Confession: This is probably my sixth or seventh reading of Matilda, but it's my first reread as an adult, and I still love it as much as I did as a child. Oh, Matilda, how I love thee!

I had forgotten how much Quentin Blake's illustrations make the book. Although Dahl's descriptions of the formidable Ms. Trunchbull's administration and the Wormwoods' laudable parenting skills are hilarious, my favorite part of the book is most definitely the first few chapters. I had forgotten how sarcastic and biting Dahl can be. He didn't write down to children in his books. He didn't sugar coat or whitewash the ideas in his books.

I love Matilda's story. The daughter of dimwitted and self-centered parents, 4 year old Matilda wanders into the village library and promptly teaches herself to read, soon working through all the children's books, then moving on to Dickens and Kipling. The public library and the librarian have a front and center role in the opening chapters of the book as Matilda develops a deep love of literature.

Although Matilda's genius goes ignored by her parents, Miss Honey, her kindergarten teacher, soon recognizes Matilda's intellectual abilities and her need for a supportive force in her life. Matilda's untapped mental abilities soon manifest themselves in some interesting special powers that she first tries out on her father, then on the school's headmaster, Miss Trunchbull.

This book is quirky, funny, top notch storytelling. 

P.S. I stumbled across Dahl's awesomely wonderful website, complete with games, book descriptions, and a very dangerous-to-your-wallet store.

Beautiful Creatures by Garcia & Stohl

Beautiful Creatures
by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Little, Brown (Dec. 2009)
576 pages
YA Supernatural Fiction
Winner of the William C. Morris YA Debut Award
Source: My friend Kim foisted this on me so she could have someone to discuss it with :)

Summary in a Sentence:

In a small South Carolina town, where it seems little has changed since the Civil War, sixteen-year-old Ethan is powerfully drawn to Lena, a new classmate with whom he shares a psychic connection and whose family hides a dark secret that may be revealed on her sixteenth birthday.

My thoughts:

I have extremely mixed feelings over this tome of a young adult novel. I usually make the effort to put some distance between a new release with this much hype and my reading of said novel. Unfortunately, I did not give myself enough time with Beautiful Creatures. The book was simply talked up way too much for me to possibly enjoy it as much as I was hoping I would.  Here's my bulleted list of irksome findings:

• I found Ethan, the male love interest, to be very feminine and not much like most sixteen year old guys I know or have ever known. Women authors have been known to write believable male characters and vice versa, but Garcia & Stohl did not hit the nail on the head with this one.
• I think I'm a little burned out on the whole supernatural-I'm-mortal-but-the-one-I-love-isn't-what-will-we-ever-do? theme in young adult literature. Did anyone else feel like this was just Bella and Edward in reverse, just a little bit? 

Not everything is bad here, I promise! I love that it was set in the south (South Carolina, to be exact), that libraries feature so prominently in the book (not just regular libraries but secret occult libraries as well), and that the Civil War is also a main topic in the novel. Many citizens in Ethan's small town of Gatlin, South Carolina, still seemed to be fighting for the Cause with a capital 'C'. For librarians out there, teen readers of Twilight and supernatural series in general will definitely be into this one.

~ Read for the 4 Month Challenge ~

Other reviews:

• Good Books & Good Wine 
• Dog-eared and well-read 
• The Hiding Spot