Stones in Water

Stones in Water

Donna Jo Napoli

New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1997

209 pages



"...to have you for a friend."
3.5/5

Summary: After being taken from a local movie theater—along with other Italian boys, including his Jewish friend—by German soldiers, Roberto is forced to work for the German war effort until he escapes into the Ukrainian winter, desperately trying to make his way back to Venice.

Going into this book, I knew that Italy was part of the Axis power of WWII. What I did not know was that children in Italy, Hungary, Romania and other Axis countries, boys under 18 too young to fight, were rounded up by German soldiers and placed in work camps. Stones In Water tells the story of two such boys, both Venetian, one Italian, one Jewish.

Roberto and Samuele are not only forced to work under appalling conditions with little nourishment and inadequate shelter but they must also work to keep secret the fact that Samuele is Jewish. One day after months of labour building the tarmac for planes to land, the boys are instructed to build an enclosure. Thinking that it is meant to keep in horses or other animals, Roberto is shocked to learn from Samuele that the people who were herded into the pen were Polish Jews. Fully and finally understanding the severity of their situation, Roberto—with Samuele's help—finds a way to help a girl and her smaller sister for a little while, giving each boy a renewed sense of purpose and strength of character.

Stones in Water is a compelling story of suffering and survival, heartache and hunger. It is also a book about how the bonds of friendship can help carry us through our most trying times.

Recommended reading for grades 5 and up!


Also reviewed by:
Anna of Diary of an Eccentric


* 'Stones in Water' is my 6th selection for the War Through the Generations WWII Challenge. *

Up For Grabs!

Available To Be Won Around the Book Blogs!

1. The Last Will of Moira Leahy ~ Peeking Between the Pages (ends Nov. 14th)
2. The Line Painter ~ Back to Books (ends Nov. 20th)
   
3. When You Went Away ~ Peeking Between the Pages (ends Nov. 21st)
4. Life After Genius ~ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books (Ends Nov.22nd)
   

Cover Attraction!

I found this book a few weeks ago when I did an image search for poppies for my daughter. I love the contrast of colours and the way the lines create a sense of movement, a simply gorgeous cover that I thought to share today as a way to put a poppy of remembrance on my lit blog.

Here is what I found about the book when I looked it up on Chapters.
From the publisher:

At the heart of this epic saga, set just before the Opium Wars, is an old slave ship The Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean; its crew a motley array of sailors, stowaways, and convicts. In a time of colonial upheaval, the ship boasts a diverse cast of Indians, coolies, and Westerners, from a bankrupt raja to a widowed village woman, from a mulatto American to an evangelical opium trader. As their family ties wash away, they come to view themselves as jahaj-bhais, or ship-brothers, and an unlikely dynasty is born. The vast sweep of this historical adventure spans the lush poppy fields of the Ganges, the rolling high seas, and the back streets of China. But it is the panorama of sharply drawn characters that brings Sea of Poppies so breathtakingly alive. The first in a trilogy, this is a masterpiece by a world-class novelist.

Cover Attraction is a weekly meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Marcia is on vacation at the moment but if you've posted a Cover Attraction this week and want to share, let me know in the comments so I can see what book has caught your eye lately.

Of Teasers and Trailers

I just finished Stones in Water earlier this morning and can't wait to begin my next read! I first discovered I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin as a book trailer on YouTube and thought it definitely warranted a closer look.

After reading the blurb at Chapters, I promptly put it on hold. Not only did it sound like a fantastic read but it also works for both the reading challenges I'm currently participating in. Opening the book to a random page (# 22) to find this teaser:

Wearing a simple black skirt, sweater the shade of heather and a single strand of pearls, there was no imperial frou-frou about Nan Carmel. Not quite the near-dead eighty-year-old Michael expected.

Do you have a teaser this week? Let me know -- and don't forget to post it at Should Be Reading!

Late Nights on Air

Late Nights On Air

Elizabeth Hay

Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2007

364 pages



"beautifully recessive and fleeting..."
4/5


Working at a small radio station in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in the summer of '75 are a cast of characters who are a pure pleasure to become acquainted with (even the ones you'd like to strangle). Harry Boyd, a failure of his own making, has returned to where his career began. Dido Paris is the beautiful woman who owns the voice that Harry finds himself enamoured with. Eleanor Dew is the secretary with a poets heart. Mrs. Dargabble is the local hairdresser, she was happy here once. Gwen Symon shows up as the fresh faced "kid" wanting to learn the ropes behind the scene but lands a job on air. Ralph Cody is the stations freelance book reviewer and amateur photographer. Silent Eddy works the controls in more ways than one! Teresa Lafferty signs on as a translator for the pipeline inquiry and has an uncanny ability for knowing the true north of the heart. Jealous newsmen, an honest (and non-fictional) judge, and a litany of locals who lend their thoughts and opinions to the threat of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline in displacing Native people from their land, round out the residents of Late Nights on Air!

Sitting down with this book was like talking with a neighbour who likes to bend your ear with local gossip. It leaps pretty quickly into a pattern of "who likes who", where competitive rivalries of the heart and on the job line, pull and tug on everyone's conscience. Falling for a voice, a mysterious gift of a fur coat, seemingly innocent flirtations, a missing person; all the tidbits of info that comprise the bigger picture surrounding these delightfully flawed characters.

In showing us how they came to be at CFYK, Elizabeth Hay gives glimpses into how some of the main characters are shaped by their past. Even better is the pull of the reader into the future of the characters with a sense of ill fate. Four will set out on a canoe trip that follows "the route taken by the legendary John Hornby, who, along with his small party, starved to death in the Barrens in 1927. The six week long journey will mark a change in all of these four companions, laying bear the best and worst in each of them.

It was the sum of the whole that made Late Nights on Air a good read for me: interesting characters, cool setting and time period (love reading books that take place in the '70's! If it's in Canada, even better!), consistent pace and I really enjoyed learning about sound effects and their use in radio. It was the writing itself though, that truly captured this readers attention. There were so many exquisite turns of phrase all throughout this book and the descriptions of the environment always seemed pared down; never overly lengthy. Here are just a few of my favourite quotes from the book,

"A Burka for the shy, the nighttime announce booth. A dark tent that covered her up as she crossed the wide desert of late-night radio."

"...constant light was like endless caffeine..."

“At stake was something immense, all the forms of life that lay in the path of a natural gas pipeline corridor that would rip open the Arctic, according to critics, like a razor slashing the face of Mona Lisa."

"Such a lot to unpack from that slender gift of a sentence"

In a book where sound plays such a huge role, I can't help but wonder, if a movie were to be made of Late Nights on Air, would The Carpenters version of "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" be playing somewhere in the background of a scene at the radio station? Oh, and how about These Eyes by The Guess Who — I can soooo see Harry moping around to that one! On second thought, probably not. After all, this is CBC Radio were talking about.


Also reviewed by:
John of The Book Mine Set
Teddy Rose @ So Many Precious Books, So Little Time


* Elizabeth Hay has worked for CBC Radio in Yellowknife, Winnipeg, and Toronto. She lives in Ottawa. *

** Late Nights on Air is my fifth selection for the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge. **

Cover Attraction

I've always held fast to the maxim, "You can't judge a book by it's cover". Yet, there exists those books whose cover art is so enticing, it calls to me in a silent voice of visual appeal, "Come, have a closer look..."

To see the cover art that's catching the eye of other book lovers, visit Marcia at The Printed Page and join in the weekly meme that is: Cover Attraction !


I love this cover! The weak winter sun expiring through the bare limbs of trees, the pale pink glow that intensifies the milky blue of snow; day giving way to evening — expertly framed by the window. I imagine the absence of wind, a perfect stillness where voices carry.

I have this book waiting in line to be read. Here is the book blurb from Killick Press that had me ordering a copy:

"My father has married me to a mad old man." These words, written on a slip of paper inside a fading brocade collar, are a clue to the unlikely marriage of a Jewish remittance man and a 14-year-old orphan in a remote Newfoundland fishing station. More curious still are the connections that entangle a retired school teacher and an Israeli scholar almost two centuries later. When the bereaved Rosehannah Quint and her mysterious "mister" retreat into winter quarters at the back of Ireland's Eye, the two begin to develop an understanding based on curiosity as well as upon need - an understanding that works its way down the years. The Winterhouse is a compelling novel about finding oneself and creating one's own community.

New Book Trailer Meme! (maybe)

Yesterday, while visiting Irish at Ticket to Anywhere, I came across her fourth installment of Book Trailer Monday and thought, "Wow, what a cool new book meme!" ... but it isn't a book meme, yet. Irish loves book trailers stating, "I think that they are fun and informative and a creative way to show what a book is about."

Seeing how I recently added this book trailer to my YouTube favourites, I'd have to say I agree!


No small wonder that Away From Everywhere by Newfoundland's Chad Pelley was among the top requests at Chapters in St. Johns last week! Hmm ... I wonder if it's too early to put in requests to Santa? ;)

What about you, come across any especially creative and captivating book trailers lately? Let me know, I'd love to visit! Hey and while you're at it, if (like me) you think this would make a great new meme, why not stop by Ticket to Anywhere and tell Irish how much you like the idea!