Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I have to be honest. I never liked Cinderella. I just couldn't identify with Cinderella, but when I read the first paragraph of this refreshing new take on Cinderella, I was hooked.

"The screw through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle. Her knuckles ached from forcing the screwdriver into the joint as she struggled to loosen the screw one gritting twist after another. By the time it was extracted far enough for her to wench free with her prosthetic steel hand, the hairline threads had been stripped clean."

The story takes place in a futuristic city of New Beijing, and Cinder, the Cinderella of this story, is a cyborg. In this world, cyborgs are second-class citizens, and she tries to hide it from Kai. 

While a war with Luna, a country on the Moon, looms over the citizen of New Beijing, Cinder must navigate her way through a devastating loss, a heart-breaking betrayal, and an astounding revelation.

This is a fun read. Though I didn't enjoy the teenage romance in the book (since I'm not a teenage girl), but I loved the plot twists and how the author had woven the story of Cinderella into this book.

If you're interested in a new take on an old tale, why don't you give this a try?

The Science of Star Wars by Mark Brake and Jon Chase

I love Star Wars movies. My favorite is Rogue One. 

Ever since I was little, I was fascinated by Space. I would look up to the night sky and wonder. Then I'd become sad because I could never visit those points of light. And for a long time, I thought I wanted to be an astronaut, but I couldn't overcome the motion sickness. So, there I was. No way of making my dreams come true.

Then I got lucky. When I was in junior high school, I had a choice of Science classes. I could take a regular science class or an Astronomy. Of course, I chose Astronomy class, and it was awesome!  This wonderful 7th grade experience led me to work for NASA in high school (on a Space Station program) and helped me decide on Mechanical Engineering as my college major.

So, when I watch Star Wars or any other science fiction movie, there are things that makes me pause and think - what in the world - then I go on to enjoy the movie. But when I watched Return of the Jedi, I just couldn't believe the ending. Every time. The reality of the ending would have given the rebels nothing to celebrate, but this book does a fantastic job of explaining the science behind Star Wars without ruining the movies.

The best part? I picked it up from Barnes and Noble for $7.99. So, if you get a chance to go to Barnes and Noble this weekend, this might be a book to peruse through.

Also, if you like this book, you might want to check out Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku.

Have a great day!

PS - Barnes and Noble also had a book on The Science of Harry Potter, which I also bought. If I read it and like it, I'll blog about that later.

Ranger's Apprentice, The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan

I love this book, and I first read this book in 2010. And I've re-read this book a couple of times more, since.

My son discovered this book at his elementary school book fair, and since then our whole family (my husband included) is a fan of this series.

Will No-Name is a fifteen-year-old orphan who is raised with other wards, including Alyss, Jenny and Horace, at Castle Redmont under Baron Arald’s care. Will believes that his father was a mighty warrior who died in an important battle, but Horace ridicule and harass Will at every opportunity. 

Growing up in Castle Redmont, Will dreams of attending Battleschool and becoming a knight of renown, just like his father. But in Will’s world, he doesn’t get to choose. He must be chosen by one of the masters at Castle Redmont on the Choosing Day, and the Battle Master doesn’t choose him. The Battle Master thinks Will is too small. Instead, he is chosen by Halt, the Ranger, as his apprentice.

Much to Will's chagrin, Horace is chosen by the Battle Master for the Battleschool, but Horace's life is made miserable by older boys in the Battleschool. And on the outside of the castle walls, a war is brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is getting ready to attack the kingdom of Araluen. 

This time, Morgarath vows, he will be triumphant.

This is a great start of a new series. The author does a great job of creating characters that are real and sympathetic. I want to know everything there is to know about Will and Halt. Every time, I hope this looming war won't take too much from the people of Redmont.

I read the whole series, and the next series by the same author called Brother Band Chronicles (Stories of Viking world).

Being female, I wish there were more stories of Jenny and Alyss, rather than Will and Horace.... But I guess I have to remember that this is the Ranger's Apprentice, not Cook's Apprentice or Diplomat's Apprentice. 

I would recommend this book to advanced readers of 3rd graders or older (there's nothing graphic or bad in there - a kiss and a couple of battle scenes).

Though I loved both Harry Potter Series and Eragon Series, I think the Ranger's Apprentice Series is a better one. The world is more real. The dangers are more urgent. And it's up to a group of fifteen-year-olds to save the world.

PS - Rangers in this series are like the Army Rangers of United States, special forces soldiers. The Rangers try to fight and win battles before battles reach the people.

Awesome Books - Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku

I love this book because it helps me believe in one of my biggest passions – space travel. After I had taken a class in Astronomy in junior high school, I wanted to be an astronaut. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be because I suffer from motion sickness.

I am curious by nature. I want to know about everything, albeit salt or germs or black holes or dark matter. And this book answers my questions in spades. Whether it’s about force fields or invisibility or perpetual-motion machine or precognition, this book answers all. The best thing about it is that the answers are anchored in science, and Michio Kaku gives his best guess time frame for them to become a reality.

As for accessibility and easy to digest part, I recommended this book to a ten-year-old who was very interested in Science, and not only did he finish it, but he said it was interesting. He did have trouble understanding parts of it, and his parents tried to help him understand those parts.

This book helps me believe the possibility in things that are deemed impossible. Michio Kaku does frame some of them in very, very long time (might as well be impossible), but he gives us a realistic time frame. That’s the point I appreciate.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a long list of topics that seem to skirt the science fiction side of science (phasers and death stars, teleportation, telepathy, psychokinesis, robots, ETs and UFOs, starships, anti-matter and anti-universe, faster than light, time travel, and parallel universe, etc.). I’m not sure I’d recommend it to another ten-year-old, but you’d know if that child is ready for this or not, so I’ll leave that to you.

PS - the ten-year-old read it again (he's no longer a ten-year-old), he said he'd recommend to 8th grade and up students.

I do have this book listed on my Books I love blog with a slightly different post.

Awesome Books - A Smart Girl's Guide - Boys By American Girl Company

We were at Barnes and Noble the other day when I came across this little gem of a book. Though the title says a smart girl's guide to Boys, I bought it for both of my children, and I discovered it's a great book for introducing a lot of not-so-comfortable issues to both genders. 

As you can see, this book covers a lot of topics with a good balance of thought provoking questions to sprinkles of humor and confidence boosters.

My son read it, and he thought it was pretty good in providing insight into what girls might be thinking. And when my daughter's old enough, I'm going to have her read it to try to understand boys.

Because it was from the American Girl brand, I didn't expect too much, but I was very surprised at what great advice this book gave to girls.

I would recommend this book to all girls and maybe some boys.

Awesome Books - The Year of the Horse, Tales from the Chinese Zodiac By Oliver Chin

I'm quite interested in Asian-American literature, especially for children, and I was very happy to come across this one.

My son took a free graphic novel class at the local library recently, and I bought this book from his instructor.

The title misled me somewhat in that I expected a more traditional tale of Chinese Zodiac focusing on the Horse. But it's not. 

It's about a boy named Tom and a filly named Hannah who are trying to figure out what their place on the farm is and what they'll be when they grow up. What I love about this books isn't what I thought I'd love - the Asian -American aspect of it. What I love about this books is that all the animals have their place on the farm, and they are happy and proud of what they contribute. 

But wait! There is a problem. 

A royal messenger (a rooster) brought a "request" from the Governor, and he is asking for a painting from Lao Shi. But she is old, and she can't take it to him herself. Quickly, Tom volunteers to help, and they set off to find someone to go with him.

After an extensive search, they think Hannah might be the perfect candidate for this trip. Before they go on this adventure, they practice working together by listening and learning from one another. 

Finally, Lao Shi finishes her painting, and Tom and Hannah are off to deliver the painting. On their journey, they leap over a snake, tiptoe past a sleeping tiger, and kept themselves dry in a cave during a rainstorm while a dragon circled in the sky.

When they arrive at the capital and deliver the painting, Tom and Hannah are treated to a wonderful dinner. But they want to come back home quickly; they miss their families. 

They enjoy their return trip, and when they arrive, everyone is happy to see them. Tom and Hannah continue to play together, but they also remember a very important lesson. 

They learned that they could "blaze their own trail."

So, I hope the children who read this book will be inspired to blaze their own trails.

P.S. - There are twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac, and there are other books written by the same author. Others are just as whimsical and fun to read.

Awesome Books - Help Your Kids with Computer Coding by DK Books

Help Your Kids with Computer Coding

There are four books in this series I saw at Costco, and I had planned to feature them all together. But as I read through them more thoroughly, I realized that each of them is worthy of its own post. So, here I am starting with this one.

I've heard a lot about coding, and when I saw it at Costco while back, I thought I'd pick it up. I don't know much about coding, and I thought this might be a good book for all of us (my daughter and me) to get started.

One thing I REALLY like about this book is that it seems so friendly. Technical books can be quite intimidating, yet this one is quite friendly with a lot of graphics and explanations. As I said, I don't know much about coding, so this was a good fit for me. But if you know a little more, I'm not sure how you'd feel about this book. You might think it's too easy.

This book is broken into roughly four sections. 

The first section is about Scratch (an MIT developed coding language).

My daughter and I worked on installing it and working on a project together last year when she was in 2nd grade. Sure, we had our share of glitches (typos for small fingers), but it was fairly painless to follow the book & program something to see it work.

The second section is about Python. Python is a text-based programming language (the type I'm familiar with). Dare I date myself and tell you that my first computer language was...Fortran?

OK. I haven't coded in Python, yet, but one thing I love about this book is that it gives you equivalent commands in both Python (left hand light blue column) and Scratch (right hand more colorful column). So, if you've coded with Scratch already, it would be easier for you to understand what you're doing in Python (theoretically speaking).

This third section is a brief introduction to what's inside a computer.

The last section is about programming in the real world.

I bought this book from Costco for $11.95 last year, but a couple of weeks ago, when I went to Costco, I saw it there, again. So, if you have a Costco in your neighborhood (and who doesn't), you might want to pick one up. It's a great deal at the sticker price of $19.95 (especially when you think about how much you have to pay for a week of programming classes).

Enjoy!

Awesome Books - David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell - April 7, 2015

I don’t usually read non-fiction (except some history) but I’ve read several of Malcolm Gladwell’s books (The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers). I guess I should review all these since I really like them all. Anyhow, the reason I like Malcolm Gladwell’s books is that he starts with something you think you know already. Something most of us would dismiss quickly and wonder why anyone would want to spend time delving into it. But therein lies his magic.

He starts the book with the story of David and Goliath. This is one story that almost everyone thinks he or she knows, right? A little shepherd David with a rounded stone and his slingshot against a giant of a man wearing full armor and carrying a javelin, a spear, and a sword. Do we even need to think about who is going to win this match before we bet on the winner? But, Malcolm Gladwell goes on to explain that it was really a one-sided match up, and it was David, not Goliath who had all the advantage. Almost from the beginning, a positive outcome was assured…for David.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

I’m just going to summarize these people’s experiences in a couple of sentences.

The Advantages of Disadvantages (and the Disadvantages of Advantages)

Vivek Ranadive – a man who didn’t know how to play basketball game and ended up taking his daughter’s team to almost win the National Junior Basketball Championship.

Teresa DeBrito – upending the educational holy grail of class sizes…, that smaller isn’t always better and the optimum size is actually larger than you’d think.

Caroline Sacks – sending your children to Ivy League schools might give you bragging rights, but it might be one of the worst things you could do if you want your children to live their dream careers, especially in science and technology.

The Theory of Desirable Difficulty

David Boies – you wouldn’t wish dyslexia on your child. Or would you? Dyslexia might be an important contributor to dizzying success.

Emil “Jay” Freireich – how hardship in life makes a person an optimist, how German Blitz on England failed because although people died, many remote misses helped the Londoners feel invincible, and how he revolutionized the treatment of childhood leukemia.

Wyatt Walker – the most famous photograph in the history of the American civil rights movement was taken on 5/3/1963, and it’s not at all what it seems.

There are more people and topics Malcolm Gladwell covers in the last third of the book, and as usual, in almost every case, the conventional wisdom of how things should be is upended. We learn that, in many cases, one person or a small group of people could face almost impossible obstacles and triumph.

I love this book because I’ve learned so much from this book. I’ll be sure to go back and refresh every so often to make sure I don’t forget the lessons. I think everyone should read this book. As a parent of two young children, I want to recommend this book to all the parents who covet Ivy League education. That eye-opening section (Caroline Sacks) alone is worth the price of a hardback book.

* This is a re-post from another blog I write not so regularly.

Awesome Books - The Naming Jar by Yangsook Choi

One of the teachers I work with at my daughter's elementary school introduced me to this book, and I absolutely loved it. Let me tell you why.
 

My family and I immigrated to the US when I was ten-years-old from South Korea. Though, at the time, I found consolation in my false impressions that my father spoke English, but I soon found out how little English he actually spoke at the time. Due to lack of English language skills, my brothers and I were teased quite often, but more than anything, our weird names painted big, fat target on our backs.

My Korean name is Ryoung Ah. This is enunciated with the silent R, usually, but the correct enunciation rolls the R in front of the y. But how could the kids in my 4th grade have known? They had to make do with a jumble of letters that you just don't see in American names very often. So, my name got butchered from Rye-young-gah to R-youn-gah, to any number of unwieldy sounds. But I didn't have the courage to correct any of them. One of my brother's name is Dong Hwan, but it got changed to Ding Dong. Dong Dong, etc. The other brother's name is Kyung Tai, but it got changed to Kee-young-tie, etc.

Needless to say, changing Korean names to American names sounded like a good idea, and we did. But even in this, my path to finding an American name of my own wasn't smooth. I liked Christine. Christine Kim had a nice ring to it. So, the next day, I went to school and told another Korean girl that beginning next Monday, I was going to everyone to call me Christine. Well, that "friend" had told everyone to call her Christine after the first recess, and I was left out in the cold. I had to start my search for an American name all over again. Finally, by the end of next week, I settled on Jennifer. I don't even remember if I particularly liked the name, but I chose it because I knew no one else named Jennifer.

With all these stories behind how I ended up with my name, I enjoyed this wonderful book and loved the choice she made. I think it was the right choice for her, but I also realize that I made the right choice for me.

I am Jennifer Ryoung Ah Kim.

P.S. I thought I should add this funny story. When we first got here, my brothers and I were desperate to make friends, and wondered why it was so hard to make friends.... Well, before we started school, my Korean-American uncle taught us a phrase that supposed to keep us out of trouble.

The phrase was... I can't speak English. Please, leave me alone.

What?!? I know.

Even now, I have a hard time believing that my uncle actually taught us the phrase thinking it would solve all kinds of problems. And here we were, wondering why we couldn't make any friends.

Awesome Books - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

This book surprised me in a couple of ways.

I'm pretty good at guessing the ending of the book. Maybe it's because I'm a writer, but I can consistently guess the ending. However, I had no idea how this book would end, and even a few tendrils of ideas I had, nothing worked out the way I thought it might.

The book rating on the back cover said Ages 10 and Up, but I'm not sure I agree with that. There is a certain viciousness in this book that startled and shocked me. I didn't expect it from such a young character. Although a lot of books have Ages so and up, usually the kids who are at least 2 or 3 years younger start to read up to the age rating. At that point, I feel that this book is not appropriate for kids who are younger than 10. AND I wouldn't let my daughter read it until she's about 11 or 12.

HOWEVER, I enjoyed this book, and I'd like to recommend it to anyone who likes a good action/adventure. That is anyone older than 10, but probably 12.

Spoiler Alert~

Ender lives in a dangerous world where the Aliens nicknamed "buggers" have invaded the earth twice already. Every Earthlings' life is predicated by the impending third bugger invasion.

In this world of limited resources and impending doom, Ender is also a dreaded "third." In a world where there is two-child-per-family policy, being a "third" itself is a reason for derision. He is picked on by his classmates, and he is harassed by his older brother who resents him for being more talented and capable of meeting the demands of military training.

But he is a cunning, ruthless, military genius, and he is sent to Battle School to hone his strategic and tactical skills pitted against other brilliant students of Battle School. There, he excels once again by coming up with mock battle plans that surprise and impress his superiors. His team never loses a battle, no matter how it is outnumbered and disadvantaged. His successes in Battle School convince his teachers to Command School, skipping several years of additional training.

In Command School, he is isolated from the rest and interacts mostly with his mentor, the previous conflict's war hero, Mazer. He spends most of his time fighting buggers in simulation, and he is depressed by the endless simulations and isolated existence.

For his "final" test, Ender's fleet is outnumbered by the buggers by a lot, and he sacrifices most of his fighters to launch a weapon that destroyed the entire bugger planet. Ender thinks this act of rebellion will get him kicked out of Command School. Instead, he learns that the "simulations" weren't simulations. In fact, they represented the actual international fleet, buggers' fleet, and buggers' home world. Ender has won the bugger war for the humanity.

Winning the bugger war has opened a bigger can of worms on Earth where various powers fight amongst themselves for the control. Due to his capabilities, he cannot return to Earth. He decides to become a colonist on one of the buggers' worlds. There he learns that bugger invasions were based on misunderstandings and mistakes, and he finds a dormant egg of the bugger queen. In the end, he and his sister board a starship to search for a safe world to establish another bugger colony.

I skipped a big chunk of plot that involves his brother and sister, but I wanted to concentrate on Ender. I really enjoyed the strategy and tactics Ender used to win his mock battles in Battle School and Command School; however, I had problems with what finally led to Ender's entry into Battle School and Command School. His brutal beating of a classmate bully lands him not in jail, but in coveted Battle School. And when he is ambushed, he responds with overwhelming force, and it gets him promoted to Command School. In both cases, his opponents are dead. It's this rewarding of his ruthlessness that I find objectionable.

However, I did enjoy the book. In fact, I'll probably read it again. It made me think about a lot of things, from space colonization to alien life forms to morality of preemptive strike, communication obstacles between two vastly different species, etc. Though I did have some reservations, I would recommend the book to those who enjoy action or sci-fi.  

PS - I also read Ender's Shadow, and the same brutality, cunning, and ruthlessness are threaded in this book for a main character who is even younger (starts out at 4), and I just couldn't recommend the book. And I didn't enjoy it. It was too much, but I finished, hoping that things would change. It didn't.