I just finished Crash Boom Love, by Juan Felipe Herrera. I unintentionally got carried away with the post on my independent reading page, so please refer to that for my thoughts on that wonderful read!
I also just started reading The Trouble With Jeremy Chance: A Novel of the Freat Molasses Flood, by George Harrar. Milkweed offers a nice review of it. I'm barely 40 pages in (It's only 143), but I so far find it very clever. The main character, Jeremy Chance is an endearing 12 year old boy, living during World War I. The picture of life back then is painted clearly and easily, as the story line progresses. It's an easy read and I'm enjoying it so far!
On a completely different note, I found this story on CNN.com today: A woman's employment is compromised based on a Facebook post!
Time to go work on my proposal...
What drew you to Jeremy Chance? The character's name is certainly intriguing to me. I like how you said that he's engaging--what did you notice that drew you in? And, did you notice how the author managed to hook you? What were the techniques that did the deed? Could you use them yourself in your own writing? Can't wait to hear more.
ReplyDeleteMainly the specific way in which the characters spoke drew me in. For example, Jeremy says, of his sleeping dog, Bite, "I'd bet my 1906 silver half-dollar he was dreaming of chasing rabbits come spring," and then of his animal-friendly way of hunting, "It's no boast saying I invented a special way of hunting that was a whole lot easier on me and the deer. What I did was leave my rifle at home. Pa didn't understand how a person could go hunting without toting a .30-30 Winchester. I figured that by hunting my way, the deer didn't end up dead and I didn't end up dead tired carrying nine pounds of steel and wood over my shoulder."
ReplyDeleteI just find him to be very clever, and matter-of-fact. In a way, he reminds me of my little brother (obviously growing up in different time periods), but very similar in personality, which is probably one of the aspects that appealed to me. Jeremy also has an older sibling, Davey, whose return from World War I he is eagerly awaiting. This anticipation keeps the reader excited for Davey's return, because Jeremy looks up to him, and raves about him to the reader, so naturally he is a character the reader looks forward to meeting.