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This post written by Clint True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall
by Mark Salzman
[cover name=truenotebooks]
Mark Salzman is writing a novel, and he wants to make one of his characters more lifelike. The character is supposed to be a young criminal, but all the personality Salzman can give him is tattoos and a shaved head. What do you expect, since Salzman had never actually met or talked to anybody like that. Then one of his friends, Duane, convinces him to attend a writing workshop he runs in juvenile hall. Salzman isn’t thrilled by this, but he gives it a try.
Salzman has two major objections to going to a writing workshop in juvenile hall. First, he doesn’t really want to hang out with criminals. Second, he really hates writing classes. He taught one before, and he hated it. However, when he actually shows up and pays attention to what the 17-year-old murderers write, he is amazed. After one hour with the class, he said, “if my college students had made this kind of effort, I might still be teaching.” Naturally, he ends up running his own writing class for high-risk offenders, or teenagers who are facing life without parole.
The writing class is good for his students. It gives them a chance to express themselves, explore complex ideas, and be creative, and they’re pretty good at it. Through their writing, we get to see what kind of people they are. Obviously, they’ve got their problems. Most of them are in for murder or something similar. They’ve made some pretty bad choices and done some pretty bad things, and they probably won’t ever get out of jail. However, they aren’t the kind of human waste that a lot of people think they are. If they hadn’t been screwed over by life, they could have done some impressive things. For that matter, some of them may even be able to do impressive things from within jail.
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This post written by Clint The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
William Kamkwamba grew up in Malawi, a fairly poor country in southeast Africa. His family’s house didn’t have electricity. He had never seen a working computer. People in his village often went hungry. He wasn’t well educated – his family couldn’t afford $80 per year to keep him in school. Then he found a couple of books about physics and engineering in the local library. He studied them carefully – he had trouble reading English, so he looked at the diagrams and used them to help figure out the words. When he got to the one about windmills, he decided to build one of his own.
Building a windmill in rural Malawi wasn’t easy, since he didn’t have a local hardware store. People said he was crazy, but it worked. He figured out how it should work mostly by looking at pictures and he built it out of wood, scrap metal, an old bicycle, and PVC pipe, and it worked. People came from miles around to see it. What did the windmill do, other than turn? It powered a single light bulb. Pretty soon, though, he ran a wire into his house and had an electric light in his room. Eventually, he built a circuit breaker and switches and wired his whole house.
Quite a few people in his village had cell phones, but charging them was not easy. William decided he could do something about this. Again based mostly on pictures and working with spare parts, he built a step-up transformer so that the windmill could charge cell phones.
In my book, that’s amazing stuff from a homemade windmill. What really blows me away, though, was that William was only 14 when he built the windmill.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is William’s inspiring autobiography. I try not to say “inspiring” unless I really mean it, but there aren’t that many other words I can use. This book reminds you that there really are amazing people in the world, and they can do great things.
The book starts with the day William’s got his first windmill working, but then it jumps back to cover some of his earlier life, parts of which were pretty rough. It also describes many of the events that came after that windmill – news spread around Malawi, and at some point it hit the Internet (which William had never seen), and his story made it around the world. William has spoken at two TED conferences and MIT, and he has been on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. At the first TED conference, he got funding to build more windmills so he could use the electricity to irrigate the crops in his village. He didn’t stop there, though. William has also co-founded a non-profit organization, Moving Windmills, which promotes economic development and creates educational opportunities for the people of Malawi.
Check out William’s first TED conference presentation. He talks about this in the book. This was his first trip away from his home, so within 24 hours, he flew on his first airplane, saw his first laptop (and made a PowerPoint presentation), got his first e-mail account, and gave his first formal talk. He was fantastically nervous, but he managed to get his point across, and the audience really supported him.
Here is his second TED conference presentation. He’s a lot more relaxed.
Here he is on The Daily Show, where he explains how he built the circuit breaker for his house.
One week later he and Bryan Mealer give a talk at MIT. It’s about an hour long. The first few minutes are all other people talking, but then we get to the good stuff.
Finally, here is the short film Moving Windmills: The William Kamkwamba Story. William’s non-profit group has prepared a feature-length documentary based on this.
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This post written by Clint Bad Monkeys
by Matt Ruff
[cover name=badmonkeys]
Jane Charlotte is arrested for murder, but when she tells the police that she is actually a member of a secret organization dedicated to fighting crime, they put her in the psychological ward. Jane claims to be part of a division nicknamed the Bad Monkeys, who are supposed to track down and kill really evil people who have managed to escape justice. Apparently, this secret organization has access to all kinds of nifty stuff, like the NC gun, which kills its victim through natural causes. If you believe Jane (and the police don’t), this secret group hides tiny security cameras in pictures of eyes on posters, dollar bills, etc., and their operatives communicate through the Daily Jumble (that puzzle in the newspaper where you have to unscramble words).
Bad Monkeys is the story Jane tells a psychologist who is trying to find out if she is crazy or just lying. It is part thriller, part science fiction, and part satire. You don’t know if Jane is crazy, if she’s telling the truth, or if she’s crazy and telling the truth until the very end.
If you want, you can read the first chapter online at the author’s website.
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This post written by Clint A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah
[cover name=alongwaygone]
Ishmael Beah grew up in Sierra Leone during its civil war. He and some of his friends have their own rap and dance group, and one day, they all go to another town to take part in a talent show. While they are out, their home town is attacked and destroyed. Ishmael is twelve years old at this point. He and his friends think about going back to find their families, but instead they end up on the run and try to make their way to some safe part of the country. Ishmael is eventually separated and forced to join the army. They brainwash him, give him drugs and an assault rifle, and let him and other children loose on the rebel army and anyone else in the way. Eventually he is released and take care of by UNICEF, but he has seen and done a lot of really bad stuff, and he doesn’t know how to be a normal person anymore. One volunteer finally reaches him through his love of rap music, and he finally begins to recover.
This book has a lot of violence, but it is more about the author’s recovery. It is also written to draw attention to the tragedy of child soldiers – Sierra Leone is not the only country where children have been used this way.
There has been some controversy about this book. Some reporters say that Beah’s dates are wrong, that certain events probably didn’t happen, and that it is unlikely that any one person could have experienced everything that happens in this book. I don’t know the whole story, but you can read about all of this on Wikipedia. Even if this book isn’t the literal truth of what happened to Ishmael Beah, it’s still a moving description of the kinds of awful things that children face in many civil wars.
You can read some of it online at Google Books.
You can watch Ishmael Beah on the Daily Show.
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This post written by Clint The Spellman Files
by Lisa Lutz
[cover name=thespellmanfiles]
Isabel “izzy” Spellman works for her family’s business. This might seem okay, but her parents run a detective agency out of their house. Working for her parents isn’t that bad. The real problem is living with detectives. Her parents run credit checks on her older sister’s boyfriends, and they bug all their kid’s rooms. Her younger sister does “recreational surveillance,” which is a nice way of saying she spies on random people for fun. Her uncle Ray works for the business, but he has a nasty habit of taking extra-long weekends and forcing the rest of the family to track him down.
Izzy has lousy taste in boyfriends. She dated one guy primarily because he owned every episode of her favorite TV show on DVD. Then she meets a normal guy, Daniel. He’s a dentist, and he doesn’t have to worry about his family members picking the locks on his room and either planting hidden cameras or cutting his hair while he sleeps. Spending time with him makes her reconsider her lifestyle – she likes the detective business, but she realizes she doesn’t like being a detective. She eventually tells her parents she wants out, but they will only agree if she takes one last case…
As you might guess, this is a mix of comedy and mystery. It’s certainly funny, and it does contain a mystery, but the first part of the book is all background. The background is amusing, but the real mystery starts later. Also, her family is a bit over the top, so if you don’t like that kind of humor, you probably won’t enjoy a lot of the book.
If you want, you can read some of the book online at Google Books.
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This post written by Clint The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
[cover name=thenameofthewind]
Kote is a simple innkeeper. Unfortunately, the roads are not safe these days, so business isn’t doing so well. Part of the problem is that a bunch of giant spider-like creatures are living near his village, so Kote decides to wipe them out. Because simple innkeepers always kill packs of monsters in their spare time.
One man is sure that Kote is more than he seems. He calls himself Chronicler, and he is sure that Kote is the legendary hero or villain (depending on which legend you listen to) Kvothe. After hounding Kote for a while, Chronicler finally gets him to confess to being Kvothe. Chronicler really wants to know the truth behind all of the stories about Kvothe, but Kvothe will only talk if Chronicler promises to write exactly what Kvothe says.
Much of The Name of the Wind is Kvothe telling us about his life. He’s done some pretty impressive things. He was born into a group of traveling performers, so he learned to act, sing, and ply instruments. An wizard/scholar named Abenthy travels with his family for a while, and he teaches Kvothe the basics of magic/science. However, Abenthy never teaches him the really powerful magic, where if you can name something, you can control it. Kvothe decides he wantes to learn the name of the wind, which is something that Abenthy knows. Abenthy encourages him to attend the University, where he can learn that kind of magic, but before that can happen, Kvothe’s family is killed.
Kvohte survives as an orphan for a while, but he eventually gets into the University, where can study naming magic, and maybe even find out more about who killed his family. We learn a lot about Kvothe’s life at the University – how he fell in love, how he was banned from ever setting foot in the library again after an incident involving a candle, and how he manages to become a student of the Master Namer.
This book is big, but it is only part on of three. We get a lot of hints about the things he has done, but we don’t know, for example, why he eventually gets expelled from the University, how he gets the nickname of Kvoth Kingkiller, or why he decides to pretend to be an inkeeper.. However, this book isn’t all about the past. Parts of it are set int he present, where dark forces appear to be at work. Kvothe may have very good reasons for hiding out.
You can read an excerpt from the book online at the author’s website.
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This post written by Clint The God of Animals
by Aryn Kyle
[cover name=thegodofanimals]
Alice Winston is twelve years old, and she has a rough life. Well, most of the bad things actually happen to people around her, but she has to deal with them all and there is nobody around to help her. Her mother is depressed and spends most of her time in bed. Her father is too busy trying to keep his ranch from going bankrupt to really pay any attention to her. Her sister ran away with a cowboy from the rodeo, so nobody even notices when she outgrows her current clothes.
As if family drama isn’t enough, Alice has to take over her older sister’s chores, including teaching some wealthy but untalented woman, Sheila, how to ride a horse. When one of her friends dies, Alice ends up talking with her English teacher. When he leaves, Alice still needs someone to talk to. She ends up telling Sheila things about her family that cause a lot of trouble, and her family sort of falls apart. Although Alice survives, and might even have an okay future, this story doesn’t really have a happy ending.
You can read some of it online at Google Books.
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This post written by Clint Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm
by Jeff Lemire
[cover name=essexcounty]
Lester is a 10-year-old boy whose mother has just died of cancer. His father is out of the picture, so he goes to live with his uncle Ken, who lives on a farm. Lester loves comic books – he is writing his own, and he sort of lives in his own little comic book world. He wears a mask and cape all the time, and pretends to be a superhero defending humanity. Ken isn’t really sure what to do about this, but he’s pretty sure that letting Lester hang out with Jimmy, who runs the local gas station, is a bad idea. Jimmy is also a comic book fan, and he plays along with Lester’s ideas. Together, they continue Lester’s comic book and build a fort to defend against aliens. Despite Ken’s concerns, Jimmy is able to make a connection with Lester and eventually help him return to the real world.
There are two other volumes in this series, but they aren’t about Lester, Jimmy, and Ken.
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This post written by Clint Genghis: Birth of an Empire
by Conn Iggulden
[cover name=genghisbirthofanempire]
Almost a thousand years ago, the Mongol Empire stretched from Eastern Europe all the way across Asia. The Mongol army appeared to be unstoppable – they conquered China, subdued Russia, ran through Afghanistan and Iran, and were on their way through Hungary before they finally stopped. Just decades before they had this massive empire, though, they were a collection of independent tribes. The person who united the Mongols and led them in their conquest of two continents was a man known as Genghis Khan. Depending on who you ask, he was a military genius, a genocidal monster, or fantastic leader.
Before he was Genghis Khan, though, he was Temüjin, the son of a minor tribal leader. Genghis: Birth of an Empire follows Temüjin as he grows up, becomes an adult, unites the Mongol tribes, and invades China. This is fiction, not a history book. However, it is based on historical events, and if you want to learn more, there is a section in the back that talks about the history and compares it to the story.
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This post written by Clint Three Girls and Their Brother
by Theresa Rebeck
[cover name=threegirlsandtheirbrother]
Daria, Polly, and Amelia, along with their brother Philip, are the grandchildren of a famous (dead) literary critic. The three sisters become major celebrities when The New Yorker publishes a photo of them. Daria, Polly, and their mom are thrilled. Daria wants to be a model, Polly loves to be the center of attention, and mom was almost Miss America and really wants her daughters to be famous. Amelia, on the other hand, has a special talent for seeing disasters coming, and Philip is smart enough to know trouble when he sees it.
The sisters get thrown into modeling, show biz, and the theater, where they meet the kinds of strange people who prey on celebrities – paparazzi, publicists, and a creepy fortysomething guy with a crush on the fourteen-year-old sister. The author, who has worked in the television industry, makes fun of all of these people.
If you’d like to read some of it online, you can, thanks to Google Books.
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