impossible possibilities | - Previous Picks (2009)

Previous Picks (2009)

Maven's December Pick: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Love never fails. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. In the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, readers are introduced to a 12-year-old Chinese-American boy named Henry Lee who lives in Seattle, Washington, during the 1940s. Seattle marks the domestic front line for the United States while it seeks victory over Japan during World War II. Fear and uncertainty roam the streets. Blackouts and curfews cripple the city. And race relations with Japanese-Americans spiral out of control as the war in the Pacific intensifies. Henry's feelings toward his Japanese neighbors shift from contempt to compassion as soon as he meets a Japanese-American girl named Keiko Okabe. The two forge an immediate friendship, and an innocent love soon emerges. But Henry's love is quickly put to the test when Keiko and her family are forced from their homes into an internment camp for the remainder of the war.

Maven's November Pick: The Traveler's Gift

Truth is found in hope, a belief that today’s struggles are tomorrow’s victories. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. In The Traveler’s Gift author Andy Andrews spins a theme of hope through the life of David Ponder. Ponder is down on his luck. To his left lies uncertainty: a lost job, a sick child and crushing financial distress. And to his right, fear abounds as depression and inadequacy prepare their attack. After slamming his car into a tree, Ponder mysteriously travels through time and meets seven individuals whose life decisions help write history’s memoir. Each person teaches the traveler how to overcome fear, trust instinct and persevere despite impossible circumstances. Ponder learns to let his passion be his guide after staring into the eyes of Christopher Columbus. A 12-year old Anne Frank teaches him that happiness is a choice. And Abraham Lincoln provides an example of living with a forgiving heart. Each truth forms the blueprint Ponder uses to lead a successful life.

Maven's October Pick: Look Me in the Eye

John Elder Robison’s childhood was anything but normal. Raised by an abusive alcoholic father and a mentally unstable mother, dysfunction was the norm in the Robison household. And for the socially inept Robison, whose behavioral shortcomings led to countless medical misdiagnoses at a young age, childhood proved a difficult challenge. In Look Me in the Eye, Robison recounts his experiences living with Asperger Syndrome (AS), an autism spectrum disorder that causes a person to struggle with social interaction and nonverbal communication. Robison’s eccentric behavior earned him few friends growing up, so he naturally sought refuge in the world of machines, repairing audiovisual equipment as early as the age of 14 before moving on to create special effects guitars for KISS and later designing computerized toys for Milton Bradley. After enduring years of questions and overcoming feelings of inadequacy, Robison’s lifelong secret was finally revealed when a therapist properly diagnosed him with AS at the age of 40. Look Me in the Eye is intended for mature audiences.

Maven's September Pick: Posterity

In Posterity, Dorie Lawson has compiled personal letters from 68 of the most influential men and women in American history. The letters are written to the children of each respective author and are categorized into chapters ranging from “Strength of Character” to the “Pleasures of Life.” The respected men and women include the likes of Thomas Jefferson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jonathan Edwards, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Benjamin Franklin. Uncover the thoughts and emotions of General George Patton on June 6, 1944—D-Day. Read the heartfelt words of encouragement from an endearing Albert Einstein to his 11-year-old son Hans Albert. Tour the country with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as she sounds the horn for women’s rights. And take advice from Eugene O’Neill when he writes, “to work hard at something you want to accomplish is the only way to be happy.” Journey into the minds of these prominent Americans as they impart years of wisdom and experience into choice words that will continue to shape new audiences for centuries to come.

Maven's August Pick: The House on Mango Street

The central character in The House on Mango Street is an adolescent girl named Esperanza, which is the Spanish word for “hope.” Through a series of vignettes, author Sandra Cisneros chronicles a year in the life of this Mexican-American girl who hopes to someday have a house far removed from her childhood home on Mango Street. Esperanza and her family live in a poor Latino neighborhood in Chicago, where humble beginnings often lead to humble endings. However, Esperanza is determined to do more with her life, despite the unfortunate hand she was dealt. At times, she is ashamed of who she is and where she comes from. But she begins to express her feelings, thoughts and desires on paper and soon realizes that writing may be her only ticket out. As she matures both emotionally and physically, Esperanza comes to the understanding that no matter how far her writing takes her in life she will never fully escape Mango Street because of the obligation she has to help others in need.

Maven's July Pick: Night

Elie Wiesel, recipient of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, re-navigates the dark experiences and crippling emotions of a past life, a life where a 15-year boy overcomes impossible odds to escape a Nazi death trap during World War II. Wiesel’s journey is told through the character of Eliezer, who lives in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, in 1941. From the opening pages, Eliezer’s deep-routed faith in God and his unfaltering belief in the Jewish tradition take center stage. However, his fundamental convictions are shaken when he starts to question everything he once knew to be true. From enduring the unbearable conditions of a crammed cattle car wagon bound for Auschwitz, to avoiding various “Selections” in Buna, to witnessing his father’s death in Buchenwald, Eliezer’s faith grows as cold as the oppressive German winter. When American forces arrive in the spring of 1945, Eliezer faces another set of difficult challenges: finding meaning amid overwhelming anguish and rekindling a fading flame of faith that was almost extinguished in the Nazi camps. Night is intended for mature audiences.

Maven's June Pick: Olive Kitteridge

Elizabeth Strout describes life’s joys and pains through the story of Olive Kitteridge, a retired elementary school teacher who lives with her husband, Henry, in Crosby, Maine. Strout combines a collection of stories into a detailed narrative that reveal the daily emotions, both the good and the bad, of various individuals living in the seaside town. Olive is the story's central focus, but there are times throughout when her name briefly surfaces in dialogue between minor characters. Strout navigates the fragile minds and frightened imaginations of the Crosby residents by detailing the way each responds to circumstance and change. Olive’s layered personality is on full display through her thoughts and personal interactions with friends and family. Through the various sequences, Olive’s struggles, philosophies on life and her often misguided feelings toward her husband and son are brought to light. Strout poignantly etches Olive's victories are failures into each chapter, often showcasing the unflattering toils that make up daily life.

Maven's May Pick: Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea profiles the story of Greg Mortenson, an American mountaineer, who uses education to impact children’s lives in a remote region of Pakistan’s Himalayan Mountains. After a failed attempt to summit K2, the world’s second highest mountain, a battered Mortenson stumbles across an isolated village known as Korphe. During his seven-week recovery high in the clouds, Mortenson notices local students attending class outdoors and using nothing more than dirt and sticks to learn their daily lessens. Mortenson makes a promise to the village elders to one-day return and build a school. Mortenson eventually makes good on his promise, and in doing so, he discovers his life passion. He goes on to found the Central Asia Institute, which has now built 78 schools throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan. Despite overcoming incredible dangers like surviving an armed kidnapping and escaping a firefight with feuding Afghan war lords, Mortenson has stayed committed to his goal of using education to empower students and fight Islamic extremism.

Maven's April Pick: The Well and the Mine

In The Well and the Mine, Gin Phillips shines a light on an Alabama mining community living through the Great Depression. The Moore family lives in Carbon Hill, a rustic town fueled on the backs of the unyielding men who spend their days prying coal from the earth’s underground hideouts. Albert and Leta Moore, along with their three children Virgie, Tess and Jack, are perfect examples of the Old South standard of disciplined work ethic, unshakable family ties and strict moral direction. Life in Carbon Hill is usually a routine affair. But when young Tess witnesses a woman toss her baby into the family well, the town struggles for answers. The struggle continues as the Depression deepens and complex issues of poverty, racism and labor relations surface. Pressure soon mounts above and below ground as Carbon Hill’s residents deal with the volatile conditions of the time.

Maven's March Pick: The Septembers of Shiraz

In The Septembers of Shiraz, readers peek inside the life of Isaac Amin, a rare gem collector living in Tehran following the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Isaac’s character represents the old status quo: one of great wealth, prestige and western influence. But as the newly founded Islamic state grows stronger, so does the level of intolerance for people like Isaac. The book opens with two Revolutionary Guards arresting Isaac on charges of being a Zionist spy. Appearance and reality are difficult to distinguish, and each ultimately force the characters to look beyond the surface for hidden truths. Isaac endures violent interrogations, brutal punishments and agonizing unrest all the while his family does its best to cope with the perils of living in an unfamiliar world outside the prison walls. Each family member comes to realize a deeper understanding, an understanding that closeness is possible even from long distances.

Maven's February Pick: Einstein

Einstein’s Dreams is a fictional series of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein as he pursues his theory of relativity as young patent clerk in 1905. Alan Lightman chronicles what a young Einstein would have perceived time to be if it were altered from its current state. Amid a Swiss backdrop, Lightman takes the reader on a voyage of seemingly implausible scenarios. Human interaction races, stops and scatters across beautifully crafted settings of imagination. The thought-provoking pages reveal time’s mysteries from a human perspective. In one world, time stand still. In another, people have no memories. Time travels backwards in another, as men and women trace their life paths in reverse. Einstein even dreams of a world without futures, where the present moment feels like the last. Each new world causes the reader to look at life from a distinct vantage point, a vantage point where time dictates action.

Maven's January Pick: The Soloist

As a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, Steve Lopez constantly searched for new content that would spark his readers’ interests. Little did he know that one man’s story would capture the hearts and minds of so many, including himself. Lopez first met Nathaniel Ayers on a chance afternoon as Ayers played his two-string violin on LA’s infamous Skid Row. Even though the sounds emanating from Ayers’ battered instrument were strident at times, Lopez heard scattered brilliance throughout. A new column unfolds when Lopez uncovers a shocking detail about the homeless musician: Ayers was once a promising music student at New York’s Julliard before being overcome by schizophrenia. The mismatched pair begins a genuine friendship as Lopez’s column shines a light on the social issues of poverty and mental illness. The Soloist is a melody of words describing one man’s search of music and another’s search of self.