Not only is it a great mystery, it makes a great cross-curricular activity book, too! I am talking about debut novel The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. The mystery involves a strange man found dead in the garden amongst the cucumbers of Buckshaw Estate outside London. Activities involve core curriculum classes such as English, Art, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Music, History and Theatre.
Set in the 1950s, main character, Flavia de Luce, has a passion for chemistry mixed with a fascination for poisons. Precocious Flavia is the first to discover the body while strolling in the garden in the wee morning hours. She actually trips and lands face-to-face with the red-headed rake she saw arguing with her father the night before. In that instance, he shudders, takes his last breath, and exhales the word, “Vale.”
She tells no one of this encounter, especially, not the inspector. Her plan is to solve the mystery before her father is implicated in the murder. To do this requires she take swift trips on her bicycle, Gladys, back and forth from Buckshaw to the village of Bishop’s Lacey. Her BSA Keep Fit has never been as utilized as she pedals to the inn, Thirteen Drakes, or the town library. I picture a young version of Margaret Hamilton in the Wizard of Oz as she pedals in the tornado.
What makes this book different from other mysteries is smart Flavia. The girl is into everything and as we read her thoughts we cannot help but wonder what she is talking about or alluding to. She forces the reader to find the origins of metaphors such as “fingers of friendship,” scan through a biography of Dirk Bogarde, or test one of her many lab experiments. She forces one to think.
Ideas for classroom usage are endless. As Flavia wheels Gladys down the cobblestone streets of Bishop’s Lacey, I picture a geography class mapping her route. I can hear a psychology class interrupting in a muffled giggle as they read the “So utterly Pavlovian” passage. I can see a chemistry class discovering the true color of “a shade more sulphuric than cupric” I can even envision a car tech class pouring over the differences between Rolls-Royce and Austin-Healey engines.
I absolutely love a book that leads to more, too. Many titles and character names are swatted around like shuttlecocks. If anything, this book leads you to the next in the series, The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (copy)
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (copy)
I am currently reading the wildly popular The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It is the first book in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. All three books are on the New York Times Best Sellers List in one format or another. Did you know the first book almost did not get published in the States? Hard to believe when there are 27 million copies in print according to London newspaper, The Independent.Born in 1954, Stieg was one-year-old when he was sent to live with his grandparents in Sweden. His grandfather, Severin Boström, was imprisoned in a work camp during WWII for his anti-fascist beliefs. Stieg listened to his grandfather’s stories and looked up to him as a role-model.
In Larsson’s biography, The Man Who Left too Soon author Barry Forshaw states, “The fate of his grandfather deeply affected and shaped Stieg's character. He wanted to protect equal rights and fight for democracy and freedom of speech in order to prevent history, and what happened to his grandfather, from repeating itself.”
At the age of twelve, he was back living with his parents and annoying them with his new typewriter. His loud pecking forced them to rent a basement room in their neighbor’s home for the lad. Stieg’s father said, “After that we never saw him. He would come up just to eat and talk politics.”
Eva Gabrielsson, his partner since the age of 18, claims he was never close to his parents. The couple met at an anti-Vietnam rally in 1972 and was inseparable until his untimely death in 2004. They both shared a love of writing and worked together on science fiction fanzines and finally on their own magazine titled Expo.
Through Expo, Stieg had the freedom to print his anti-racism and feminist beliefs. Death threats were numerous. The New York Times Magazine stated, “…the White Aryan Resistance published his photograph and address and suggested that as an ‘enemy of the white race’ he ought to be eliminated.”
Stieg’s sudden death left Eva without protection. The literary license fell to Stieg’s father and brother, but Eva has an ace up her sleeve. She owns the laptop containing book five and six of the planned 10 book Millennium series.
Quick funny before I go. Eva claims the elfin Lisbeth Salander character is based on a grown up Pippi Longstocking. Tough!
Friday, July 02, 2010
Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter (copy)
Leelee and Baker Satterfield had a good life. They had a beautiful home in Chickasaw Gardens, Memphis. A home that took Leelee five years to paint, wallpaper and decorate in her signature peach color. An older home her girlfriends felt worthy of a five page spread in Southern Living. Their garden with all the major southern plantings including mature azaleas and camellias made her neighbors green with envy. They even had a lush backyard her toddlers took every advantage of during the spring, summer and fall seasons.
Baker worked for his father in the family insurance business. It was a steady income and one day it would be all his. He also enjoyed a membership in the Country Club thanks to his father-in-law. Since Baker was an ex-football star who loved all outdoor activities he spent every weekend out on the greens or up at the courts. When in the house, he kept the television tuned to any sports event and actively watched.
Leelee thought their life was picture perfect. She had a major crush on Baker from the moment she laid eyes on him in elementary school. It took tenth grade and Mother Nature before Baker began to notice her. Other boys noticed too, but it was Baker she set her sights on to marry. When did he become unhappy with his job, his home, his wife and his life?
Baker was harboring a dream. He was thumbing through North American Inns magazine when an advertisement caught his eye. The ad displayed a beautiful old inn with flowers and butterflies encircling an ornate wooden porch. The print read, “Located in a village setting near two major ski resorts, Vermont’s premier restaurant/inn is for sale. Circa 1700s, the Vermont Haus Inn has nine guest rooms, most with private bath, seven fireplaces, gracious lawns, twenty-acres and historic stone walls.”
He showed it proudly to Leelee and then showed her some books of picturesque Vermont he checked out from the library. His plan, move to Vermont and run the Vermont Haus Inn! He was asking his Ole Miss educated, southern belle Leelee to move north and become a Yankee! How absurd!
Memphis native, Lisa Patton, has written a fun romp akin to a modern day The Egg and I titled Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter. This fish-out-of-water story will have you rolling with the unbelievable situations and northern character quirks. As Alice would say, “Pure-dee-fun.”
