Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Of Marriageable Age Author: Sharon Maas ISBN: 0-00651325-5 Publisher: Harper Collins Type of book: India, South America, racism, butterflies, doctor, healing, 1920s-1970s?, England, Interracial love story, World War II, education Year it was published: 1999 Summary: A spellbinding story of forbidden love, spanning three continents and three decades. Set against the Independence struggles of two British colonies, Of Marriageable Age is ultimately a story of personal triumph against a brutal fate, brought to life by a multicultural cast of characters: Savitri, intuitive and charismatic, grows up among the servants of a pre-war English household in the Raj. But the traditional customs of her Brahmin family clash against English upper-class prejudice, threatening her love for the privileged son of the house. Nataraj, raised as the son of an idealistic doctor in rural South India, finds life in London heady, with girls and grass easily available… unt...

"Do you know who I am? I shall tell you. I am Elizabeth, Princess of England, daughter of Henry VIII and his wife Anne Boleyn. I am eleven years old. My mother, once Queen, is now dead. Almost eight years ago, when I was not yet three, Father chopped off her head." Daughter of a fallen queen, young Princess Elizabeth lives a complicated and dangerous life. She fears her father's famous temper but loves him dearly, noting that she would trade all her jewels just to be noticed by him. She also loves her brother Edward, heir to the English throne, but doesn't like her older sister Mary, who torments her and conspires against her. Kat, her governess, is so worried for Elizabeth's life that she spends hours checking their room for poison whenever they move to a new palace. Court intrigues swirl around her, the French are threatening an invasion, and Kat is clamoring for her to have another bath--that makes nearly six in three months! Through Elizabeth's dia...

Oprah Book Club® Selection, May 1999: Astrid Magnussen, the teenage narrator of Janet Fitch's engrossing first novel, White Oleander, has a mother who is as sharp as a new knife. An uncompromising poet, Ingrid despises weakness and self-pity, telling her daughter that they are descendants of Vikings, savages who fought fiercely to survive. And when one of Ingrid's boyfriends abandons her, she illustrates her point, killing the man with the poison of oleander flowers. This leads to a life sentence in prison, leaving Astrid to teach herself the art of survival in a string of Los Angeles foster homes. As Astrid bumps from trailer park to tract house to Hollywood bungalow,White Oleander uncoils her existential anxieties. "Who was I, really?" she asks. "I was the sole occupant of my mother's totalitarian state, my own personal history rewritten to fit the story she was telling that day. There were so many missing pieces." Fitch adroitly leads Astrid down ...

The Hatford boys' New Year's resolution is "the girls can stay . . . but only if they play by our rules." Their mother insists that they "treat those girls as though they were your sisters." Okay, but somehow the boys' interpretation owes more to sibling rivalry than to brotherly love. The one weak link is young Peter, who doesn't understand the rivalry, openly likes the girls, and sees nothing wrong with sitting in their kitchen eating homemade cookies and answering questions about his brothers' plans. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud at the pranks, the conversations, and one unforgettably embarrassing moment. The high-flying humor is juxtaposed with the budding affection between Josh and Beth and the way all the children pull together during a blizzard. The fifth entry in Naylor's refreshing series chronicling the feud between the Hatfords and the Malloys. For my take on this book, please click on the link here: COMING U...

Name of Book: Night Thunder's Bride Author: Karen Kay ISBN: 978-1-60928-976-8 Publisher: Samhain Publishing Part of a Series: Blackfoot Warriors Type of book: July 1834-1835?, prisoner, rescue, medicine, war, laws, American female/Native American male, ghosts Year it was published: 1999 Summary: To save her life, they must expose their hearts. Blackfoot Warrior, Book 3 When lady’s maid Rebecca Cothern journeyed westward, she never thought to leave her mistress’s side. Yet as Katrina Wellington completes her own journey with White Eagle, Rebecca waits at Ft. Union under the protection of Blackfoot warrior, Night Thunder. Despite what she’s been told about the wild nature of the native tribes, Night Thunder is different. Kind, gentle, honorable to a fault…and handsome in a way that makes her breathless for his next touch. Though Night Thunder relishes stolen moments with the beautiful white woman, circumstances dictate that he should keep his distance. Unt...

Name of Book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower Author: Stephen Chbosky ISBN: 978-0-671-02734-6 Publisher: Gallery Books Type of book: rape, molestation, young adult, 1991-1992, college, mental hospital, first love, first kiss, music, letters, epistolary novel, sibling relationship, friendship, homosexuality Year it was published: 1999 Summary: Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying...

Name of book: The Hand of Power Author Name: R.L Stine ISBN: 0-307-24805-4 Publisher: Parachute Press Part of a Series: Fear Street Sagas: Before: Door of Death, One Last kiss , Faces of Terror, Chamber of Fear, Circle of Fire, etc, all the way to A New Fear Type of book: Young adult, 1664, 1624-1625, horror, Fier Saga Year it was published: January 1999 Summary: Margarete Fier doesn't like using her strange ability to see into the past. BUt when her fiance, Peter Sturdevant, asks her to help him, Margarete agrees. He knows a mysterious source of power is hidden somewhere in his mansion. He's desperate to have it. But then Margarete finds the power-along with its legacy of danger, despair, and death... Characters: In all honesty, I didn't think that the characters were memorable in any way. There were attempts at making them human, but I think the author didn't do a successful job at it. Theme: In all honesty, no matter how I think or try to a...

A Diamond in the Rough Name of Book:  The Foreign Student Author Name:  Susan Choi ISBN:  0-06-092927-8 Type of Book:  Adult, historical, 1940s?-1956, South, South Korea, Korean War, interracial relationship white female/asian male Year it was published in:  1999 Summary: Highly acclaimed by critics, The Foreign Student is the story of a young Korean man, scarred by war, and the deeply troubled daughter of a wealthy Southern American family. In 1955, a new student arrives at a small college in the Tennessee mountains. Chuck is shy, speaks English haltingly, and on the subject of his earlier life in Korea he will not speak at all. Then he meets Katherine, a beautiful and solitary young woman who, like Chuck, is haunted by some dark episode in her past. Without quite knowing why, these two outsiders are drawn together, each sensing in the other the possibility of salvation. Moving between the American South and South Korea, between...