Tired of being treated like a child and eager to make a grandiose impression on the older woman, Charlotte volunteers to care for a baby whose mother died in childbirth and who’s depressed father is not up to the task.  The baby reminds her of her own mother, who also died when giving birth, and while she comes to love little Rose very much, the task is not what she expected.  Taking care of a newborn while pushing a handcart across the plains is certainly no picnic.  Charlotte’s gotten in over her head and while she wants to prove her worth to the company, it may be an assignment that she can’t handle.

The historical background for the book is fascinating.  It’s less about the doctrine of the  Mormon faith  and more about the need for a family to belong to something larger than they are.  It’s great to see historical fiction books in the mainstream markets which tackle this subject .  A subject which I would love to find more of,  as the very premise of the idea lends itself to incredible stories.

The company has a great cast of characters and Charlotte is touched by each of them in different ways.  She’s determined to prove that she has what it takes but discovers that nobody can no anything without a little help.  I enjoyed this coming-of-age novel and am sad to see it out of print.  If you come upon a copy of it, snatch it up!

Links of interest: Ann Cannon blog,  more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Historical fiction, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Yearling. 2002
Paperback, 256 pages. ISBN 0440418402
Source copy: Own
Charlotte’s Rose is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

So, I’m in THREE book clubs and I wanted to share with you what books we read and a bit about our meetings from 2009.

My Neighborhood Book Club

Our neighborhood book club has been meeting religiously for about three years.  Our members are women who live in a three or four street radius from each other and we always have between 8-10 attend.  We met every single month and rotate hosts who get control of what book we will read for that month.  We had two awesome highlights this past year that I feel so bad I never blogged about.

Donna Woolfolk Cross, author of Pope Joan, joined our book club meeting on the telephone.  It was crazy because we happened to have about half a dozen roaming preschoolers and toddlers with us that day but it was really cool to talk to her about the book and the upcoming movie.  It was our first time we had done anything like that and it was awesome!!

AND THEN! As if we couldn’t be even more of an awesome book club, Katherine Center joined our book club on video via Skype when we discussed her book Everyone is Beautiful.  We hooked up the laptop to the large screen TV and she was there in the living room!  Katherine is simply an amazing person and SO personable in real life.  Seriously, invite Katherine to your book club and you won’t regret it!

The books we discussed during 2009:

• The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (did not finish)
• The Next Thing On My List by Jill Smolinksi
• Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center
• Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
• Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
• Searching for Eternity by Elizabeth Musser (not yet reviewed)
• Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry by John J. Robinson (only 2 members read this one)

So hard to pick a favorite.  The Help and Everyone is Beautiful top the lists as favorites for the year.  The Hunger Games was a hit and everybody read my advanced copy of Catching Fire before it came out.  Seriously, it was making the rounds big time.  We had to draw names for the order that people read it.   Looking back I don’t remember anything about Searching for Eternity and want to finish Frankenstein.

Skype Book Club

Not the most elegant name for a book club (I wonder if I missed the naming?) but it’s a book club that meets via Skype with a bunch of other bloggers.  It’s been awesome and I’m kind of scared I’m going to get kicked out because I haven’t read the last three books and couldn’t find our book for January. (Please don’t kick me out!)

Skype is a great way to meet as a book club especially if you have webcams.  I’d totally recommend getting a group together or even an extended family book club.  I can’t survive without my Skype anymore.

Books we discussed:

• The Magicians by Lev Grossman
• 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton
• Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
• Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart (not yet reviewed)
• Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy (not yet reviewed)
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
• Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea (not yet reviewed)

My favorite was Nothing But Ghosts.   And I’m going to be a better member in 2010!

Children’s Literature Book Club

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book club.  Last year, I discovered that there was a book club of adults who read only children’s literature who met all over the Salt Lake valley.  I couldn’t resist and basically emailed and asked if they were taking new members.  I was so nervous my first meeting because I didn’t know anybody but I’ve been going now for over a year and am pleased to say that it’s one of the greatest things I ever did.  So moral of the story: it never hurts to ask!

Each month we read books based around on a different theme and books are picture books, middle grade and young adult.  We read a TON!  I secretly love how hardcore it is.

One of the highlights of the year was having local author Ann Cannon attend our meeting when we read her books.  It was awesome!

Books we discussed in 2009:

• Books to Movies
  • The Lightning Thief, Book One of Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons by Jeff Kinney
  • The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
• Cybils Awards Finalists
  • Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall Thin Tale by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by John Hendrix
  • Big Bad Bunny by Franny Billingsley, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
  • Chester’s Beck by Melanie Watt
  • How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham
  • Katie Loves the Kittens by John Himmelman
  • The Sea Serpent and Me by Dashka Slater, illustrated by Catia Chien
  • A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
  • Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein, illustrated by Ed Young
  • A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
  • Astronaut Handbook by Meghan McCarthy
  • Duel! Burr and Hamilton’s Deadly War of Words by Dennis Brindell Fradin, illustrated by Larry Day
  • Fabulous Fishes by Susan Stockdale
  • Frogs by Nic Bishop
  • Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Loved to Draw by Deborah Kogan Ray
  • Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa by Jeanette Winter
  • Chiggers by Hope Larson
  • Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki, Illustrated by Steve Rolston
  • Into the Volcano by Don Wood
  • Jellaby by Kean Soo
  • Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale, Illustrated by Nathan Hale
  • The Savage by David Almond, illustrated by Dave McKean
  • There’s a Wolf at the Door: Five Classic Tales Retold by Zoe B. Alley, Illustrated by R.W. Alley
• Newbery and Caldecott Awards
  • The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  • The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
  • Savvy by Ingrid Law
  • The Surrender Tree: Poem’s of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
  • After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
  • The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson
    
  • A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
  • How I Learned Geography, written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz
  • A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant
• Fairy Tales
  • The Sisters Grimm, The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
  • The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
  • The Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Historical Fiction – World War II
  • Jimmy’s Stars by Mary Ann Rodman
  • On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
  • Journey to Topaz by Yoshicko Uchida
  • Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee
  • T4 by Ann Clare LeZotte
  • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
• Ann Cannon Author Study
  • Charlotte’s Rose by Ann Cannon (to be reviewed)
  • A Loser’s Guide of Life and Love by Ann Cannon (to be reviewed)
  • Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe easy-to-read series
• Science Fiction
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  • Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
  • Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
  • My Teacher is an Alien by Bruce Coville (to be reviewed)
• Popular Books
  • Gallop and/or Swing by Rufus Butler Seder
    
  • Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
    
  • The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems
  • Goodnight Goon, A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex
  • Wings by Aprilynne Pike
  • Gym Candy by Carl Deuker (did not finish)
  • Chess Rumble by G. Neri, Illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson
  • Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr
• Beehive Nominees
  • The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria
  • Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf
  • Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex
  • Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
  • Brothers & Sisters: Sibling relationships in the Animal World by Steven Jenkins & Robin Page
• Mysteries
  • When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
  • The 39 Clues, Book One: Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
  • Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman
• Free Verse Novels
  • Sold by Patricia McCormick
  • Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
  • Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli
  • Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
• Holiday
  • A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

So there you have it!!  I’m a bit of a book club junkie!

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Twelve year-old Eddie only wants a bike for Christmas.  He makes sure that his widowed mother knows it whenever she’s in earshot.  He’s been working hard all year and knows that he deserves this bike.  But his mother breaks his heart when instead of his shiny new read bike on Christmas morning, he receives an ugly, hand-knitted sweater.  He is devastated and hurts his mom deeply when he crumples the sweater and throws it in the corner.

That day when returning from a Christmas dinner at his grandparents house and not yet reconciling, his mother falls asleep at the wheel.  While he is unhurt, she dies.  Now living with his grandparents and mad at the world, he further distances himself from the grandfather that he always adored.  His journey through grief, healing, forgiveness, faith and redemption is just beginning and it will take a literal and figurative storm to bring him back from his wayward path.

What I liked:  the overall idea of the story.  I liked what Beck was trying to do.   I like Christmas stories.  I liked the message.  It was heartwarming.  I liked the characters.  I LOVED the grandfather.

What I didn’t like:  That is was SO obvious that you knew what he was trying to do.  It’s like he is trying WAY too hard to tug at your heart strings.  Just when he can’t plunge the knife into your heart any deeper, he twists it. I liked it until the storm came and then it was no longer a story but rather a hit-you-over-the-head with this message disguised as a story.  And I even LIKED the message!!  There was nothing wrong with the philosophy.   I knew that this would be a message book going into it.  But I just felt that less subtle would have been better. And the ending!  I did not like the ending at all.  *SPOILER ALERT*  The whole thing is a dream!  He wakes up and his mom is alive!!  He’s given a second chance at making the right choices and being happy with his sweater, instead of mad.  It was a real cope out ending.  Surely, there could have been a better way to end it.

So, I would recommend this one based solely on who you are (well . . . isn’t that the case with all books – but I know some of you would like it, others I wouldn’t recommend it at all) .  Some will love it, others might hate it.  With the exception of another book clubber, everybody really liked it.  So it might be worth trying to see where you fall.  And while I liked much of it, personally, I felt that it was a book that was trying too hard and it showed.

The Christmas Sweater book trailer:

Links of interest:  Glenn Beck website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction, Holiday
Publisher: Threshold Editions. November 11, 2008
Hardcover, 284 pages. ISBN 141659485X
The Christmas Sweater is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

I knew that everybody was saying The Help was incredible, but I never found the time to set it aside to read until my neighborhood book club chose it as our next read (which by the way – was a fantastic book to discuss – especially if somebody brings chocolate pie for dessert).  I was preparing myself to be disappointed because of that whole expectation thing.   I’m glad to say that hands down, everybody at book club said The Help was easily one of our most favorite reads in two years.

I could not put this book down, I found myself at the stove with the book in one hand while flipping pancakes with another.  At 464 pages, I almost wished it was another 300 pages long.  I didn’t want it to end.  I read non-stop.  It was simply wonderful!

Set during the civil rights movement in Jackson, Mississippi, The Help, simply stated, is about the black women who run the households and raise the children of white women.  Abileen and her best friend Minny, are just two of those black women who while being entrusted with seeing to all their employers needs must put up with being treated as less than human.

Reluctantly, they begin to trust, Eugenia Skeeter Phelan, freshly home from college and the bane of her mother’s existence as she arrived home with a degree but not a husband.  Skeeter is all to aware of her hypocritical white friends and begins to gather the stories of the black women to be published in an anonymous book about what it’s like for the maids to serve in the white homes.  Not sure, if she’ll even be able to get it published, the whole affair is dangerous work as antisemitism is alive and strong in the area.  But the potential rewards and exposing the ugly and the touching stories are worth it.

My rough summary of The Help barely touches upon how truly astounding the book is.  The characters are the most memorable characters I have read about in a really long time.  The friendships and relationships are truly touching.  The writing is beautiful.  The stories and plot line is absolutely engaging.  You’ll be laughing out loud, shaking your head in disbelief and telling everybody you know that The Help IS the book that they have to read simply because it’s just too good not to be shared.  My highest recommendation.

Seriously.  A perfect book.  What more can I say than that?

Links of interest:  Kathryn Stockett website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam. February 10, 2009
Hardcover, 464 pages. ISBN 0399155341
The Help is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Elsewhere is a story about the afterlife.  Liz is almost sixteen when she’s hit by a  car and killed.  She awakens to find herself on a cruise ship, headed to Elsewhere.  It’s there that she meets her grandmother and discovers that everybody ages backward until they are ready to be born again.  How could I forget that?  The premise certainly is unusual.  I don’t remember ever wanting to put it down.  It held my interest.  I wouldn’t tell people not to read it because I think many teens will like it.  But it’s not one that stuck with me for long.  Oh, yeah.  And there’s talking dogs.  I don’t like talking dogs.

Links of interest:  Gabrielle Zevin website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy
Publisher:  Square Fish, May 15, 2007.  (original publication: August 11, 2005)
Paperback, 304 pages.  ISBN:  0312367465
Copy source: Library
Elsewhere is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

From the criticisms that I’ve read of the book and a discussion that we had at book club is the fact that the braille text is virtually unreadable as braille.  The raised dots simply are not raised high enough off of the paper.  I’d be curious to know if a blind individual could actually read the book.

But the book isn’t intended for the blind but rather those with sight and it’s very cool.  I enjoyed feeling the raised line art.  I knew what I was feeling for as I could see the image that the line art created but I would often close my eyes to see if I could figure out what I was feeling.

Thomas thinks that without the sun, water, doesn’t amount to much.
It has no color, no taste, no smell.
He says that green tastes like lemon ice cream and smells like grass that’s just been cut.
But black is the king of all the colors.  It is as soft as silk when his mother hugs him and her hair falls in his face.

How does one describe a color?  A very creative book that would be a welcome addition and a different type of reading experience for any children’s library.

Links of interest:  More book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Groundwood Books.   June 28, 2008.
Hardcover, 24 pages. ISBN 0888998732
The Black Book of Colors is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

June does go into a downward spiral but the book really begins as she’s starting to get on with her life by deciding to complete Marissa’s list of twenty things that she wanted to do before her next birthday.  A list which June found and took from Marissa’s purse the night of the accident.  Some of the things are seemingly silly, like go braless for a day or kiss a total stranger and others are more difficult like change somebody’s life and show your brother how grateful you are him.

The Next Thing On My List is June’s journey as she attempts to complete each item.  Along the way she finds romance, career fulfillment and how to live again.  It’s a fun, quick read that while it has a great message – live your life instead of watching somebody else live theirs – doesn’t take itself too seriously.

I did find some of the book unbelievable.  Like June’s relationship with Marissa’s brother, mother and grandmother.  I would think that it would be very awkward to be friendly with the person who killed their family member despite that it was an accident.  In the aftermath of the accident, they don’t take the time to find out more about each other or details about the accident, which I found odd.  When June comes back into their life with this list of Marissa’s they are curious of course but act as more casual bystanders.  I think something needed to be done slightly differently with that aspect of the book but what that solution is I honestly don’t know.

Overall, a quick read that doesn’t leave me feeling heavy afterwards.  And with some of the heavy hitting issues that I like to read about it’s nice every once in a while to read something that doesn’t get me down. It’s not a book that I’m running out and telling everybody that they HAVE to read it because it’s SO good but I enjoyed my time with it.

And of course, one can’t help thinking about their own life lists.  I’m a list maker.  My husband’s a list maker.  Making lists are just plain fun.   My lists would be different if I were to put time limits on them like one year, 5 years, 20 years or a lifetime.  So I came up with something that seemed reasonable for the next 10-15 years. And from the looks of it I need to also come by a cash load somehow as my list involves spending a lot of money!

• Go on a cruise.
• Vacation in Thailand.
• Take the Advanced Master Gardener class (a four year program).
• Read all the Newbery books.
• Remember every Birthday for a year.
• Decorate a tree for the Festival of Trees as a family.
• Take out my large 4×5 camera and start shooting again.
• Vacation with the family to Yellowstone, Redwoods, Southern Utah.
• Go to Disneyland and stay in a nice hotel instead of cheapest we can find.
• In fact, don’t let the cheapest always be the deciding factor.  Allow myself to treat myself well without feeling guilty about it.
• Buy a bed.
• Take family to Hawaii to visit the family.
• Have another baby (or two).
• Snorkel but be brave enough to go more than twenty feet out from the shore.
• Digitize all of my negatives.
• Get a massage.
• Go on an African safari.
• Do volunteer work in Africa.
• Get involved with helping refugees here.
• Go skinny dipping (yikes my parents & in-laws read my blog!)
• Book a flight last minute and just go!
• Take my boys fishing.
• Learn sign language.
• Cook a turkey.

Now, it’s your turn!  What are five things that you would like to do in the next ten years?  Spill it!

Links of interest:  Jill Smolinksi website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Fiction, Chick-lit
Publisher: Three Rivers Press.  March 25, 2008
Paperback , 304 pages. ISBN 0307351297
The Next Thing On My List is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Anyways, in Goodnight Goon a little werewolf is having a hard time going to sleep.  He names the things in his room which includes pictures of martians taking over the moon, three little mummies rubbing their tummies, moans and groans, a skull, and a pot full of goo.  After he names them he says goodnight one by one to each of them. He puts the monsters under the bed (so clever) and ends by saying goodnight monsters everywhere.

This has potential to be a really, really cute book but the illustrations were just not doing it for me.  My kids weren’t crazy about it either but I only tried it once on them.  And well, sometimes, especially my kids, need to be exposed to a book more than once.  So, it doesn’t seem fair that I’m sharing their reaction after only one reading but to tell you the truth, they never picked it out of the pile on their own either.  It just couldn’t compete with Where’s My Mummy or Leonardo the Terrible Monster this week.

But overall, I think it’s worth taking a look at this Halloween picture book to discover if it will be a new classic in your home.  Because your kids just might love it.

Links of interest:  Michael Rex website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher:  Putnam Juvenile.  August 14, 2008.
Hardcover, 32 pages.  ISBN 0399245340
Goodnight Goon is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Marcus is having a hard time both at home and in school.  Since the death of his sister, his father has moved out of the house and his mother is having a hard time just keeping it together.  Marcus has begun to fight at school and is headed down a road that will get him kicked out of school and his house and one that will be difficult to travel back from.

While at the park, he is challenged to a game of chess from C.M., a nickname that stands for Chess Man, Check Mate and Chess Master.  It is through their games together that Marcus begins to learn how to keep his own emotions in check and to always be looking at least three moves ahead – both on the chess board and in real life.

The dust jacket says, “Inspired by inner-city school chess enrichment programs, Chess Rumble explores the ways this strategic game empowers young people with the skills they need to anticipate and calculate their moves through life.”  This is a statement that I would completley agree with.  I do also agree with Ms. Yingling’s statement that the size and format (including page stock) of the book borders too closely of a picture book.  I just can’t see a teenage boy feeling cool touting this book around, if you know what I mean.

Chess Rumble is also told in verse, a format which I always enjoy. Overall, I liked Chess Rumble and found it well worth the read.  I just wonder if the same could be said of its intended audience.

Book trailer:

Links of interest:  G. Neri website, follow on Twitter, more book blogger reviews,
Genre:  Middle Grade Fiction, approx age 9-12.
Publisher:  Lee and Low Books.  November 8, 2007
Hardcover, 64 pages.  ISBN  1584302798
Chess Rumble is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Kabul Beauty School is the memoir of Deborah Rodriguez, a hairdresser, who shortly after 9/11 joined a humanitarian organization which ultimately took her to  Kabul, Afghanistan.  Leaving her two young sons with her mother (which was a huge discussion point in our book club – how does one just pick up and leave their family), and putting distance between herself and an abusive husband, Debbie soon found herself in a home with other humanitarian workers but unsure of exactly what role she was supposed to play.

After playing hairdresser to Westerners and a trip back to the U.S., Debbie sought sponsorship from beauty companies to start her own beauty training school for Afghan women.  In a country where women are undervalued, at the mercy of their husbands, rarely hold jobs, have little to no income, going to beauty school to train and open their own salons opens up opportunities and freedom previously unknown to them.  Debbie recounts the many girls and women that she became friends with and their heartbreaking stories.  She also shows how the beauty school was a much needed refuge and safe haven for the women where they could feel free to be themselves and free their inhibitions.  

To tell you the truth, I’m totally shocked that Debbie didn’t get herself killed while she was there.  She has a very loud, abrasive personality which in a country where women are not to draw attention to themselves, she was like a bull in a china shop.  I was surprised at what should have been a very tense political situation and a dangerous time in the country that she seemed to have very little fear or concern for her personal safety.  I’m sure she really did but it didnt feel that way in the writing.  She often yelled at the men, taunted her neighbors, and even once gave a ride to her arrested neighbor to the police station.  And she was the one pressing charges!  I couldn’t believe some of the things that she did.

I was also shocked when she agreed to be married in an arranged marriage to an Afghan whom she couldn’t even talk to because they spoke a different language.  And he already had another wife.  She was shocked that this other wife became pregnant with his child while she was married to him.  Somebody at our book club mentioned that one reason she left the country was because her husband was going to kidnap her son for and hold him for ransom (more details).  At this point, I’d definitely think that the different culture thing didn’t work out for them.  Can you just imagine sitting down to lunch with this author?  The stories she could tell!

Kabul Beauty School could have been edited better.  It felt as though she just sat down and began a rambling of her experience in Afghanistan, breaking off here and there to tell different stories or backgrounds.  But luckily, those stories were fascinating.  I particularly liked hearing about the women she taught and would like to have heard their voices even more.  From the woman whom Debbie helped fake her virginity, to the 12 year-old used to pay off her families debt, her crazy housekeeper who seemed to be on drugs half the time, to the woman who continued her training despite the beatings from her Taliban husband; these are the stories that I wanted to read about.   From what I understand, many of these girls are now in danger because of this book.  You can read more about that in this NPR article and you can watch Rodriguez talk about her book as well.

Overall, I liked this memoir.  It’s not the best that I’ve read but it is fascinating to learn about the Afghan women and the steps that they are taking to gain back their personal freedoms.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.