Rutabaga's Reads 2021: Part 10

As anticipated, here is my second middle-grade compilation post for 2021.

Aru Shah and the City of Gold (Apr. 6, 2021) by Roshani Chokshi.

*This is the fourth novel in a pentalogy.*

It’s no secret that Aru made a wish to Kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree, right near the third story’s end. Oddly enough, she cannot remember what she wished for, but she’s fairly certain that she didn’t wish for a sister named Kara. Kara claims to be the Sleeper’s daughter, too, and she was found in his lair, so … *shrugs shoulders*. She doesn’t want to trust her at first, but Kara is eager to be helpful, to be part of the Potatoes. Plus, she has a cool trident, and it looks like something wielded by a god, yet it’s Kara that wields it. The Pandavas (a.k.a. the Potatoes) know that they’re speeding closer to war with the Sleeper and his army. Kubera, ruler of Lanka, the city of gold, promises to give them powerful weapons to help prevent Sleeper and Company from taking over the Otherworld. Granted, Kubera also calls them “blips of mortality,” and he’s a god, so he clearly doesn’t care if they pass his trials. Best of luck and all that!

            Chokshi’s Pandava series is one of magic and adventure (and misadventure), but reading it is pure magic. The way the author immerses readers in the slice of Hindu mythology she writes about (because it is vast and stories vary from state to state within India) is complex and rich with witty banter, strong South Asian female leads (though Aiden and Rudy are good company, complementing the rest of the Potatoes nicely and amusingly) and a plot that only rushes forward. However, there are also layers of mistrust, jealousy and even betrayal to break through, lest the group crumble due to the lack of camaraderie and support of one another. Reading the “Aru Shah” books brings me great joy, and they’re so mesmerizingly written that I hope you’ll read them, too, if you haven’t already, yet enjoy mythology.

            P.S. I want to befriend a golden-furred mongoose (Kubera has so many). Because they’re mongooses. Very agile. It’s an added bonus that Kubera’s mongooses hiccup/cough up precious gemstones.

            Book One: Aru Shah and the End of Time

            Book Two: Aru Shah and the Song of Death

            Book Three: Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Oct. 31, 2017) by Jessica Townsend.

*This is the first novel in a series; it’s also a debut novel.*

Fair weather turned foul? The kitchen cat died? There was fire damage because the school lunch lady left the stove burner on overnight, and it was clearly her own fault? Whatever the misfortune, go ahead and blame Morrigan Crow. She was born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born; she’s on the Cursed Children’s Register and everything. Why cursed? Well, on top of bringing supposed misfortune to her locale, she will die on the next Eventide. Normally a 12-year Age, this one comes a year early. Morrigan already felt cheated expecting to die right as she turned 12. But 11? Remarkably, Morrigan receives multiple bids on Bid Day. It’d be unheard of for a “cursed child” to receive one. But Captain Jupiter North “of the Wondrous Society, the League of Explorers, and the Federation of Nevermoorian Hoteliers” does arrive at Crow Manor. And he whisks her off in the nick of time, barely avoiding the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow, taking her to the Hotel Deucalion. Nevermoor itself is a wonder, a Free State housing the illustrious Wundrous Society, a secret world of magic and wonderment. It’s wholly unlike where she fled from: the town of Jackalfax in the state of Great Wolfacre in the Wintersea Republic. In Nevermoor, Morrigan has the opportunity to become a member of the Wundrous Society (or Wunsoc), but there are rigorous trials that she must endure to vie for one of nine spots … and there are 500+ candidates competing. But no pressure! Not passing a trial only means that Morrigan will get kicked out of Nevermoor and have to face the Hunt again. Certain death! But again, no pressure! Because what Nevermoor can give Morrigan are things she’s never really had: a family (Jupiter, Dame Chanda, Fenestra) and friends (Hawthorne Swift, kinda-sorta-maybe John Arjuna Korrapati a.k.a. Jack).

            I bought this on a whim and am so very pleased that I did. It’s no Harry Potter (but nothing ever will be except Harry Potter, so), but it is wildly imaginative, cheekily charming and happily spellbinding. It is a splendid adventure and a fast-paced one, at that. Townsend has crafted this world with care and opulent detail. I imagine the scenes that readers construct in their minds to be as impressive as the world-building within the pages. The cast is diverse, and the magic isn’t so wand-wielding magical as it is clever. But that isn’t all that makes this story, for the core relates to Morrigan herself. It isn’t discovering what Gossamer is (“an invisible, intangible network”). It’s far deeper and highlights the complexity of someone realizing her own worth. Morrigan has moxie, but it’s hope and bravery and self-love that’s been sorely missing. And which she needs in her life. We all do.

            P.S. I wish Fenestra (Fen) were in my life. She’s a Magnificat (not to be confused with the Christian canticle, which is spelled the same). Fen is actually a giant, talking cat.

            P.P.S. Remember to befriend Frank. He’s a vampire dwarf (not a dwarf vampire – do be sensitive). He will not bite you. At least, I don’t think so.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Oct. 15, 2019) by Kwame Mbalia.

*This is the first novel in a trilogy.*

What happens when 7^th-grader Tristan Strong goes on an adventure in which he encounters West African gods (like Nyame, the sky god, and Anansi, the Weaver and trickster, whose normal form is that of a spider) and African-American folk legends (like Brer Fox, John Henry and High John)? Lots of bickering. Yep, working together isn’t their thing, but Tristan wants to return to Alabama. Thanks to a fight with Gum Baby (a sassy, living doll who’s sticky with sap), Tristan knocks a bottle off the Bottle Tree, and it shatters, releasing a haint (evil spirit) who calls himself Uncle C. He winds up in Alke, a place that is “the dream to your world’s reality. The tales, the fables, the things you think are made up, they exist here” (p. 76). The Maafa and its minions (fetterlings a.k.a. iron monsters and poisonous brand flies) are hunting them. Many Midfolk have fled to MidPass (it’s here that Tristan first encounters John Henry), an island in the Burning Sea, but it is attacked when Tristan, Ayanna, Gum Baby and Chestnutt aim to reach Nyame’s Palace to collect the Story Box. They need Anansi’s help to repair the hole in the sky above MidPass and also to enable Tristan to return home. But how does one barter with a trickster? Tristan is an Anansesem, a storyteller, and when he tells stories, they come alive. The world listens to him, and he listens to it. The stories in his late best friend’s (Eddie) journal aren’t simply stories. But will Tristan trust in his Anansesem abilities to use them to save Alke? How? How does storytelling defeat the Maafa, a feeling of “devastation and destruction, hunger and greed.” The Maafa survives on pain, but it came with the other gods: “It came here with the first of us. The sadness to our joy.”

            The first thing I thought when reading this story was, “I will be reading the rest of this trilogy.” Coming into this novel, I’d heard of MidPass gods like John Henry and High John and the Brers (Fox, Rabbit, Bear) but I was not familiar with the West African gods at all. I love mythology and so happily learned more about this one. This novel is wildly busy, like a magical rollercoaster roving on a topsy-turvy, right-side-up-and-upside-down track that only moves at top speed. Concluding the story is like that feeling you get when a wild rollercoaster suddenly comes to a stop -- your hair is riotously unkempt, your face feels both frozen and flushed (maybe that’s just me), and you can’t move right away. Mbalia’s novel is constant action and adventure. The only thing I missed was a Glossary at the book’s end, as this story is a trove of mythology. Like Rick Riordan says of Tristan’s adventure, “…the sky’s the limit. Wait, no. Tristan punched a hole in the sky. There are no limits.” So, go forth and be limitless! (But also responsible. Please don’t do anything illegal or uncouth.)

            My favorite line comes from High John, who purposely aggravates one of Nyame’s guardians, Leopard. Leopard has just growled at High John, so High John says, “Purr at me again, little kitty, I'll be wearing you soon.” (p. 455)

            Another line that made me chuckle: “When grown-ups get on their high horses, those things gallop for days.” (--Tristan, p. 119)

The Positive Page-turner's Challenge: Take 13

Hello, Book Dragons! If triskaidekaphobia is something you struggle with, you’ll want to skip this post. This should be evident from part of the title – Take 13 – but use this as another reminder in case the title was overlooked. For me, 13 is my favorite number, so reaching this goal in my Positive Page-turner’s Challenges feels wonderful.

            As is customary, I will donate a package of bar soap for every book that I read, chapter books on up. Like with all other products, the 10-bar packs of Ivory soap have gone up, but I will continue with that brand, not only because it’s more economical for me, and I buy A LOT of Ivory soap, but it’s a gentler soap for babies and those with sensitive skin. Like I’ve mentioned before; however, they will not turn away bath-sized bars of soap of any kind.

            Normally, I have an additional feature in a Positive Page-turner’s Challenge, but I don’t have one this time. My extra feature from The Positive Page-turner’s Challenge: Take 12 is still ongoing, and Toys for Tots donations are already a regular line item in my Christmas budget each year.

            Happy reading, my friends! Have a safe, healthy and fun holiday season!

"The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories About Mythic Heroes" by Rick Riordan, et al.

This solo book post features a middle-grade anthology from the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. It features nine stories from the imprint’s contributing authors with the tenth story contributed by Rick Riordan. Riordan also edited the anthology. As with my more recent solo anthology posts, I will give summaries of each of the short stories and wrap it all up with my concluding thoughts.

            Welcome to the Multiverse Mansion.

The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories About Mythic Heroes (Sept. 28, 2021) by Rick Riordan, et al.

   1. Calamity Juice by Carlos Hernandez.

            Rainbows smell like horse barf. Unicorns’ horns grow out of all parts of the body (leg, back, stomach, etc.). And Sal Vidón and Gabi Reál can travel amongst an infinite number of universes (or multiverses). This is a handy skill, as their universe’s Gladis is missing, but there’s also PrankGladis. They must retrieve both of them, but one’s on a unicorn, and how does one track a unicorn? Enter the gallant Norberto. But treat him with the proper respect. Or he will precision-barf you into an entirely other universe.

   2. Beware the Grove of True Love by Roshani Chokshi.

            Just because Urvashi, an apsara, teaches dance and poetry does not mean she will be understanding when the Pandava sisters fall asleep in her class. Nope. Sunday Errand Day for Aru, Mini and Brynne. Five tasks. Five Sundays. Easy peasy, right? Haha. Nice try. From getting attacked by Urvashi’s powerfully enchanted dry cleaning to almost drowning when picking up “special” vitamin water, the Pandavas feel beat up (and, in Brynne’s case, extremely hangry). The final task should be a simple pick-up, but they wind up in The Grove of True Love, and they have to fix something. They’re training to defeat the Sleeper. How does learning about love stories contribute to their training? “You’ve seen some of the world’s teeth, but you have not yet felt their bite on your soul” (p. 81).

   3. The Cave of Doom by J.C. Cervantes.

            Eyeless birds (creepy). A slimy, human-shaped being with white scales (creepier). Ixtab, goddess of the underworld (watch out). Zane and Brooks are sent to Isla Pájaros by Zane’s Uncle Hondo to look for the human-shaped thing that cries like a baby and is the reason that Maya Adventures received its first negative review. Too bad Bartholomew Butts III was right. But what is the being? Zane’s trusty dog-slash-hellhound, Rosie, accompanies Ixtab to the surface to try to get some answers, but her “so-called enough was no more than a lousy crumb!” So the eyeless birds know that Zane and Brooks are sobrenaturals (supernaturals or godborns, in this case), but that doesn’t help them know what the “species of being” are. Ixtab calls them monsters, but that is not exactly specific.

   4. The Initiation by Yoon Ha Lee.

            Attending a place called the Gray Institute sounds less-than-exciting until Kim Min (remember, with Korean names, the surname is first) is told that it’s a spy school. It’s technically her first assignment for the Thousand Worlds’ Domestic Security Ministry, and she’ll have to appear 16 years old instead of her actual 13. Good thing her gumiho (fox spirits) abilities allow her to shape-shift, but unfortunately, gumiho tend to get a bad reputation. Min not only has to keep her heritage a secret, but she can’t let on that she’s also accompanied by her brother, Kim Jun. That wouldn’t normally be a significant deal, except Jun is dead; he’s a ghost, and ghosts are typically viewed as bad luck since ghosts that linger tend to not be around for friendly reasons. (Jun is an exception. He wants to travel the Thousand Worlds.) She’ll gain teammates in Trainee Group Nine: Hansoo (human), Duri (they are of dragon heritage), Chinsun (goblin) and Haru (human). And she’s concerned that Commandant Paik seems power-hungry. But the training is only eight weeks. How much trouble can Min get into in that short span of time?

   5. The Gum Baby Files by Kwame Mbalia.

            Being a small (about a foot tall), living doll is tough. All Gum Baby wants is to “be the best adventurer this world has ever seen” and take her turn with the “shouty stick” (it’s Ayanna’s staff-turned-baseball-bat) but instead she’s mostly viewed as a nuisance who gets in everyone’s way and messily oozes sap (on Nyame’s, a West African god, throne, or in people’s hair -- she’s not particular where she saps or sap attacks). While at a museum, she gets left in the LOST AND (HOPEFULLY) FOUND, meets a magic woman called Granny Z and notices a “ghostie” trying to make people forget. Forget what?

   6. The Demon Drum by Rebecca Roanhorse.

            It’s the Ancestor Club’s first field trip, and they’re going to the All-Nations Assembly in Albuquerque. Hundreds of Indigenous people from all over North America and beyond will come to the event. It’s an intertribal celebration “with people from all Native Nations participating.” Nizhoni and her brother are of Navajo heritage, and that heritage has given them unique abilities to sense monsters. She’s not expecting any monsters on this trip with her best friend, Davery, and other club members Maya, Darcy, Kody and Toni. But when Nizhoni notices that so many things are off – from her frybread tasting rotten to arguments breaking out amongst assembly-goers to that awful drumbeat that keeps getting louder – she admits that the powwow is cursed. As in, there’s a monster about. Time to locate a demon drum.

   7. Bruto and the Freaky Flower by Tehlor Kay Mejia.

            There is something wrong with Bruto, but Paola Santiago cannot take him to the vet, because Bruto is a chupacabra puppy. Yes, chupacabras are monsters, and they have been fearsome enemies to Pao, but Bruto is like a puppy dog. Albeit a puppy dog that loves Starbursts, wrappers and all, and used to have tentacle-like spines. Pao is given a vague idea of what will perk Bruto up, and she needs it pronto or she fears that Bruto will die. Together with her friend, Dante Mata, the two head into the desert to find a flower that exudes the smell of raw meat. Not only do the two have to locate the flowers, but battle rock creatures and hopefully pulverize them before they’re the ones pulverized. Oh, and is that a pack of chupacabras running this way?

   8. The Loneliest Demon by Sarwat Chadda.

            What do you do when Rabisu, the demon of deformities, repeatedly calls you a “puny mortal” and threatens you with death on the daily? If you’re Sikander Aziz’s mother, you invite her into the family’s home/business, of course, because she’s lost and alone in a strange city. That’s true. Rabisu, being a demon, is of Kurnugi, the Mesopotamian netherworld. Despite her threats and bluster, all she really wants to do is return to her home. Sik probably has an object that will open the gate to make this possible, but it’s a mission abort before the doors can open. The Anunna are just on the other side, and it’d be very bad if they made it from whichever multiverse they should stay in to the one Sik and Rabisu are in. Which, by-the-way, is the same one you and I are in, as long as you also reside on the same Planet Earth that I do.

   9. My Night at the Gifted Carnival by Graci Kim.

            The one night a year spent at the Gifted Carnival should be the best, but for Riley Oh, it’s a reminder that she is a saram. That is, she’s non-gifted, whereas her sister, Hattie, will be formally initiated into the Gom (healing) clan, as she will turn 13 next summer. As “amazeballs” as the Carnival is, the promise of magic is just a reminder of what Riley will never be able to do. So she refuses to have fun. She doesn’t want to indulge in deep-fried choco pies that’ll make her fluent in “Elvish, Parseltongue, and Klingon for an entire hour.” She won’t eat a pinch of rainbow-colored cotton candy to see a Haetae horn manifest atop someone else’s head. She refuses to even enjoy the international troupe in the performance tent, except it totally sucks her in. So much, in fact, that she realizes Hattie didn’t return from the bathroom until after the show’s over. Hattie discovered something, and it’s a story of nightmares. Unfortunately, the Dalgyal Gwisin is real, and instead of being confined to one of the Spiritrealm’s hells, she’s somehow become tangible in the Mortalrealm. You can’t kill someone who’s already dead, so how do you banish such a someone?

   10. My Life as a Child Outlaw by Rick Riordan.

            Clan Morna warriors came to kill Demne (pronounced DEV-nah) when he was eight. He was forewarned by Bodbmall, one of his foster mothers, a druidess and a hunter, and further sent along running by Líath Lúachra, a fénnid like Bodbmall. He spends time amongst a group of skin-condition-riddled men. They are traveling craftsmen (or áes dána). He spends months with Fíacail the Reaver. For the record, reavers are not the same as outlaws (or fénnidí). Outlaws follow a code of honor such that even kings recognize their value, but reavers murder and pillage however they please. Demne’s foster mothers eventually find him with Fíacail, and surprisingly, the reaver doesn’t put up a fight when they take him back. Back with the women, he tries to make friends, but that goes alarmingly bad. He may even have been betrothed at one point at the age of 10, but no matter, because he’s already been running from Clan Morna again, trying to find work and someone to take him in for a spell. He tries not to share his name or his lineage. In the end, his name won’t matter. He will still face his worst heartbreak yet.

            Concluding Thoughts: I have read at least one book by eight of the ten featured authors. While I can say that having read the books that I have has been helpful in understanding backstory references and knowing who various characters are, the anthology is accessible without having read any of the full-length novels. (But you should if you haven’t, because all that I’ve read have been excellent.) While I have favorites amongst the short stories, I’m not going to rank them, as the collection in its entirety is captivating and satisfying. The multiverse contained within these stories is expansive, and I would love for there to someday be another anthology featuring these authors and these characters. I love mythology across all worlds, and the diversity of it all is stunning, as there is so much to learn. Reading these tales in one storybook is like taking a grand and gratifying world tour of adventure, magic, wonder, awe and heritage. For anyone who enjoys mythology (and magic, heart, humor, chaos and imaginative brilliance), this is a must-read no matter which universe you reside in!

Rutabaga's Reads 2021: Part 9

Although I had all three books read with plenty of time to spare in 2020, I did not get my nonfiction post onto my blog last year. And, considering it’s already November, I’m cutting it close getting it posted in 2021. If I impress myself, perhaps I’ll manage to get a second nonfiction compilation posted in these remaining weeks. As the saying goes, time will tell.

The Girl with Seven Names (July 2, 2015) by Hyeonseo Lee with David John.

She is the girl with seven names: Kim Ji-hae, Park Min-young, Chae Mi-ran, Jang Soon-hyang, Chae In-hee, Park Sun-ja, Lee Hyeon-seo. Hyeonseo’s life is chronicled from her childhood through the dogged struggle to get her mother and younger brother (Min-ho) to seek asylum in South Korea. As a child, she believed wholly in the Kim regime. As brutal and strict as it was, she trusted that the Kim regime had the North Koreans’ best interests at heart. They took care of them, unlike those unloved South Korean orphans in rags digging for grains of rice in the streets, being kicked by Yankees (a.k.a. Americans). At 17, when she travels to China, she does not return to North Korea. This begins an epic adventure of mostly lows over more than a decade, where she does not see her mother, nor her brother, save one very short reunion. She discovers how hard life is on her own, gaining ID when she isn’t using a legit name, saving money from menial jobs, immersing herself in learning Mandarin out of rushed necessity, keeping her feelings closed off from the public and not tending to trust anyone after all of the corrupt people she’s encountered, including those in the military and law enforcement in varying countries. So many bribes. So much extortion. Her account is horrific, which makes it all the more important that it be shared the world over.

            So much of what is in this book is so horrible that it must be fiction. Except it’s not. The things that happened to Lee, her family and countless others should never happen to human beings, but they did and likely still do. Lee is the epitome of fierce bravery and steadfast courage; it is definitely more than the Hyesan (North Korea, near China) stubbornness that kept her going over a decade before her mom and brother joined her in South Korea. Lee’s story is equally compelling and chilling, beautiful but monstrous, factual yet irrational. During points in the story when she’d mention a specific year, I’d reflect on what I was doing during that year, and the comparison was hard. For example, in the year that Lee was working tirelessly to get her mother and brother to South Korea, I visited South Korea as a tourist, loving the experience of it with no bigger worry than that was my first time on an international trip. I was living an adventure in the country that birthed me while she was trying to get her family there to save their lives. We grow up knowing that North Korea is not a good place, but I really knew nothing until I read this book. If you didn’t care about human rights before, read this story. As horrifying as it is, it needs to be known. Superheroes don’t have anything on Hyeonseo Lee.

            Light highlight: I chuckled at the paragraph where Lee’s mom was transfixed by the ATM, “She thought an extremely small teller was crouched inside a tiny room in the wall, counting out notes at high speed. ‘The poor thing, stuck in there without a window.’” (p. 279)

            P.S. I read this because the ophthalmologist in the department I previously worked in thought I should, “because you are Korean.” (His words are not something to take offense to when one is used to his blunt way of talking. It’s actually a compliment that he’d lend me one of his books.)

Naturally Tan (June 4, 2019) by Tan France.

Fashion and compassion make the man that is Tan France. In his memoir, Tan starts at his childhood, as people do, and works his way to present-day. He describes what it was like to grow up South Asian in a predominately white area in England. He talks about what it was like meeting his husband for the first time (Rob, not having met many people of color, thought Tan was Mexican) and his hair (it’s pretty iconic) and some major cultural differences between the U.S. and the U.K. (like supermarkets and their cereal aisles). There is a brief chapter where he shares that he had over 30 jobs between the ages of 16 and 27 (27 being the age he became an entrepreneur and started his own business).

            But perhaps my favorite chapter is when he talks about “The Art of Not Being a Bitch at Work.” For anyone who’s worked in jobs or is working in a job with a lot of women, we know that it can be a supportive, team-creative environment where women champion women, but we’ve all seen how women can knock other women down and be the biggest gossipmongers. I have been the woman knocked down, and it’s complicated to maintain positivity in a workplace when enduring that. You don’t understand why women aren’t building each other up. After all, doesn’t the success of all in an office or department or corporation reflect on everyone? Yes. Or, that’s how that should be perceived. When Tan states, “If you’re working at one of my offices and you dare to bitch about a colleague so you can one-up them, know wholeheartedly that the person you’re bitching about will be praised, and you, the bitching person, will be fired.” As soon as I read that, I was super bummed that Tan France was never my boss. Because, imagine, a boss who sticks up for you and doesn’t get swayed by toxic gossip?! Amazing!

            Tan also addresses serious points, like when he addresses 9/11. There are many who don’t like hearing about the “race card” being used, but, as Tan points out, sometimes it needs to be played. He wants more people to be aware that racial profiling and interrogation happen, even as he worries that a spotlight on the issue could also make it worse. As I’m typing this, we’re closer to two years out from the first confirmed COVID cases; we’ve been in this pandemic awhile. We’ve all heard cases about the uptick in hate against people identifying as AAPI, and it’s not exclusively a U.S. problem. No one should ever be infringed upon or made to feel less for any reason, certainly not on the basis of skin color or one’s facial features.

            I absolutely LOVE this book. Tan France is candid and funny, charming and frank, heartwarming and feisty. He doesn’t shy away from his colorful story and the struggles he endured on his way up. He’s also refreshingly transparent about “what it’s like to go from being a regular person with a regular income … to becoming wealthy.” Yep, he goes there. He will always have opinions about everyone’s outfits (it’s his thing, after all), which means I would both fear meeting him on the street, but also love it. I shall never be as fabulous as he is (it’s an impossibility, even if I had scads of money), but, like him, I can also work to “spread joy, personal acceptance, and most of all, understanding.” We all can.

Not Fade Away: A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found (Sept. 11, 2014) by Rebecca Alexander.

   With Sascha Alper.

“Breathe in peace, breathe out fear.” Rebecca Alexander was born with a rare genetic mutation, trickled down through her Ashkenazi Jew heritage. It’s called Usher Syndrome Type III, and she’s been going blind and deaf since she was a child. First diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (or “donut vision”) at age 12, she was told she’d be blind and deaf by age 30. A driven individual, she was determined to be successful in everything she set out to do. Rebecca loves to live life big and is almost never still. Understandably, the impending hearing and vision loss did not set in right away. She also seemed to live by the idea that being young made her invincible. At 18, in the throes of a hangover and trying to navigate her room in the dark with her degraded vision, she fell 27 feet out of her French windows, breaking almost everything but her head and neck. She came back stronger than ever, starting college only one semester later than expected and took pride in her strength and fitness. She went on to earn double masters’ degrees from Columbia University and is a psychotherapist heading up her own clinical practice in Manhattan.

            Talk about profoundly inspiring! Whereas another might want to fade away rather than face the physical and psychological challenges associated with not one, but two, deteriorating senses, Rebecca Alexander is the opposite. Yes, she’s had to take those honest moments to let herself grieve over what she’s losing, but mostly she takes great strides forward, and she’d rather joke about what she’s going through than receive anyone’s pity. This memoir is remarkable and enlightening. With Sascha Alper, Alexander has written an articulate and candid novel. Hers is a grace that we should all wish we had. She lives intentionally and resiliently with a laser focus on storing memories and exuding love and compassion for others. She is a motivator, and she seems to have a great sense of humor. Alexander’s radiance is a light in her darkening world. It’s radiance we can all bask in, if only we take the time to notice it.

            Favorite quote: “My nose is like the love child of a pregnant woman and a truffle pig …” --Rebecca, in describing her sense of smell making up for her weakening senses (p. 136)

            Laughed out loud: “Caroline and I were having lunch with a friend one day, and he asked if either one of us had ever gotten toe fungus from showering at the gym, to which I responded, ‘Yeah! I had it on my bagel this morning.’ I had heard ‘tofu cream cheese.’” (p. 205)

            In the news: As of March 22 of 2019, there was talk that Emily Blunt was in talks to star as Rebecca in a movie adaptation of the novel. I didn’t find any new information, probably unsurprising during this ongoing pandemic.

            Thank you note: Thanks to my friend and former colleague, Faye, for lending me this book and opening my eyes (*pun intended*) to Usher Syndrome Type III. I’d not heard of it previously.