Adventures in Indie: Canned Spaghetti Sauce

In case you haven't noticed, I've quite posting associate links to Amazon.com on my blog.  Why?  Because, with the exception of being given a gift card I don't want to waste, I don't want to spend any more money on books at Amazon, the same way I hate spending money at a big box department store when I could support an independent business that my family's own indie business neighbors.  I'd much rather know that that money is going to enter my very depressed/recessed local economy in a very personal way, through the business owners, who usually have families of their own.  To me, having witnessed the ups and downs of the family business, this is a very personal decision.  (And to be honest, I made a grand total of $3 through that program in about ten months, so it's not a loss.  Not that I'm making anything more through IndieBound, but at least I'm directing you to businesses I care about.)

To quote something I read in my back issues of Shelf Awareness this morning:

"Saying that bookstores won't be around in the future because Wal-Mart and Amazon sell books is like saying Italian restaurants will go out of business because we have canned spaghetti sauce."--Michael Norris, a senior analyst at Simba Information, in a Houston Chronicle piece headlined "Booksellers buck e-trend: Analysts say there's a place for stores that do their job well."

My indie bookstore isn't always spectacular.  Maybe canned spaghetti sauce and Italian restaurants isn't really a fair comparison.  My experience there isn't hugely different than my experience when I walk into Barnes & Noble.  But it's definitely a big step up from shopping online at Amazon.com (I hate shopping online), and I know where the money's going.  Yeah, it costs more.  I'll be able to buy fewer books.  But personally, it's better to know that I'm making sure the author, editor, agent, publisher, cover designer, etc., etc. get their fair share in the long run, that I'm providing much-needed jobs in my area, and that I'm supporting local authors whose books are stocked, too.

So go check out IndieBound (www.indiebound.org) and pull up their map, find the indie bookstores in your area, and give them as much support as you're able.  It may not be much, but everything helps!

Sorry for the long-winded venture onto the soapbox, but occasionally, I just have to share how I feel. =)

For the Win

For the Win by Cory Doctorow
Find it at your local indie!

• Why I picked it up: CORY DOCTOROW.  Enough said.
• Disclosure: Bought a final published edition. (From my local indie! Yay!)

At any hour of the day or night, millions of people around the globe are engrossed in multiplayer online games, questing and battling to win virtual gold, jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, others seek to exploit this vast shadow economy,
running electronic sweatshops in the world’s poorest countries, where countless “gold farmers,” bound to their work by abusive contracts and physical threats, harvest virtual treasure for their employers to sell to First World gamers who are willing to spend real money to skip straight to higher-level gameplay.
Mala is a brilliant 15-year-old from rural India whose leadership skills in virtual combat have earned her
the title of “General Robotwalla.”
In Shenzen, heart of China’s industrial boom, Matthew is defying his former bosses to build his own successful
gold-farming team. Leonard, who calls himself Wei-Dong, lives in Southern California, but spends his nights fighting virtual battles alongside his buddies in Asia, a world away. All
of these young people, and more, will become entangled with the
mysterious young woman called Big Sister Nor, who will use her experience, her knowledge of history, and her connections
with real-world organizers to build them into a movement that can challenge the status quo.
The ruthless forces arrayed against them are willing to use any means to protect their power—including blackmail, extortion, infiltration, violence, and even murder. To survive, Big Sister’s people must out-think the system. This will lead them to devise a plan to crash the economy of every virtual world at once—a Ponzi scheme combined with a brilliant hack that ends up being the biggest, funnest game of all.

Yeah.  That extra long description kind of sums up how I felt about this book.  Insanely awesome...but disappointing at the same time.  Too long-winded.  Not enough story.  Long tangents I don't really care about.  Lots of that achey sadness I get inside when an author/blogger I LOVE doesn't live up to my expectations.

Let's get this straight.  I still adored this book.  Cory Doctorow = the coolest, geekiest author you will ever have the pleasure of reading.  He never fails to challenge my beliefs in a non-offensive, mind-blowing way, and For the Win was no exception.  But it still wasn't nearly as awesome as Little Brother.  Was it the fact that there was EVEN MORE techno-geekery jargon?  Was it the fact that there were way too many characters and not enough action that didn't happen on computer screens?  Was it that I just didn't care as much about virtual economies as I care about the security vs. freedom debate?  Probably a combination of all three.

The only "virtual economies" I've ever participated in are Neopets, Virtual Horse Ranch, and Runescape; and I was a very sluggish participant at that.  (Well, I rocked at Virtual Horse Ranch, possibly the nichiest game of all time, but that was also because I was stupid enough to invest my real money in a game; something I have sworn never, ever to do again, no matter how tempted I am to join Second Life.  And yes, that sentence did run on.) 

Actually, I find the way the Internet and the economy interact to be fascinating.  Ironically, I'm now reading Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, which is an excellent nonfiction book that quotes Cory Doctorow on many issues.  And yes, in case you are wondering, I am a nerd.  (Whoops, sorry, intellectual bad @$$.)  Point being, though, that no matter how interesting the techno-geekery behind this book was, the story was spread to thin to carry it as well as Little Brother did.  Also, I got really confused as to how much was fiction and how much was real; something I hate because it makes me feel stupid when I quote what I think is fact and then get informed that it is way, way fiction.

Hey, look!  Imagine that!  Another book I could go on about for PARAGRAPHS AND PARAGRAPHS AND PARAGRAPHS.  Let's sum it up: I really do find the facts behind this book fascinating.  I read it, enjoyed it, and don't regret buying it.  And bravo to Cory Doctorow for keeping it real with his multicultural characters.  But if you loved Little Brother, you're going to be disappointed.  And if Little Brother just wasn't your thing, you will probably hate this book. 


I just wish I could throw myself behind this book as much as I'd like to, but I can't.  It's still worth reading, especially in today's very virtual world, but it didn't leave me with that exciting tingly good-book feeling that Little Brother did.

The Final Verdict: Good, but not great; interesting, but dry - not nearly as enjoyable as Little Brother but still decent.  Three and a half out of five stars.

Backtracks: Gringolandia is back in print!

Remember Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachmann?  (If you don't, read my review here!)  Well, if you were wondering why you couldn't obtain a copy these past few months, the author Lyn Miller-Lachmann (who also wrote a fabulous guest post about Chile for the blog) would like everyone to know that that's because it sold out.

That's right.  It sold out!  I can't imagine better news for this fantastic book that's been one of the surprise favorites I've ever reviewed on the blog, and apparently the publishers have been stunned as to its success, which explains the slow response time as far as getting it back on the shelves goes.

So, the reason I'm posting about this now is because Gringolandia is finally back in print.  If you tried and weren't able to get your hands on a copy earlier, now's your chance.  If you are new to the blog and had no idea how amazing this book was, I'm telling you, go buy it!  Let's try and sell it out again, though hopefully we won't have to wait months for it to go back in print this time! =)

Find it at a local indie, and check out the summary below:

“[A] story with both horror and redemption . . . of a family struggling to find its way back to one another. A stunning achievement.”—Deborah Ellis
Daniel’s papá, Marcelo, used to play soccer, dance the cueca, and drive his kids to school in a beat-up green taxi—all while publishing an underground newspaper that exposed Chile’s military regime.
After papá’s arrest in 1980, Daniel’s family fled to the United States. Now Daniel has a new life, playing guitar in a rock band and dating Courtney, a minister’s daughter. He hopes to become a US citizen as soon as he turns eighteen.
When Daniel’s father is released and rejoins his family, they see what five years of prison and torture have done to him. Marcelo is partially paralyzed, haunted by nightmares, and bitter about being exiled to “Gringolandia.” Daniel worries that Courtney’s scheme to start a bilingual human rights newspaper will rake up papá’s past and drive him further into alcohol abuse and self-destruction. Daniel dreams of a real father-son relationship, but he may have to give up everything simply to save his papá’s life.
This powerful coming-of-age story portrays an immigrant teen’s struggle to reach his tortured father and find his place in the world.
Lyn Miller-Lachmann is editor of MultiCultural Review. For Gringolandia, she received a Work-in-Progress Grant for a Contemporary Novel for Young People, given by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Albany, New York, where she is active in organizations for peace, human rights, and a sustainable environment.

Tell Us We're Home

Tell Us We're Home by Marina Budhos
Find it at an indie bookstore!

• Why I picked it up: Multicultural, unusual concept
• Disclosure: Received a final published edition from Lyn Miller-Lachmann.

Jaya, Maria, and Lola are just like the other eighth-grade girls in the wealthy suburb of Meadowbrook, New Jersey. They want to go to the spring dance, they love spending time with their best friends after school, sharing frappés and complaining about the other kids. But there’s one big difference: all three are daughters of maids and nannies. And they go to school with the very same kids whose families their mothers work for.
That difference grows even bigger—and more painful—when Jaya’s mother is accused of theft and Jaya’s small, fragile world collapses. When tensions about immigrants start to erupt, fracturing this perfect, serene suburb, all three girls are tested, as outsiders—and as friends. Each of them must learn to find a place for themselves in a town that barely notices they exist.
Tell Us We're Home is a moving and thought-provoking story about the other side of the American dream. Marina Budhos gives us a heartbreaking and eye-opening story of friendship, belonging, and finding the way home.

When I saw the words "eighth-grade" on the inside flap, I was surprised.  Despite the success of middle grade novels along the lines of Esperanza Rising, there seems to be little multicultural middle grade lit that explores how kids of other cultures get along, not just in their "own" countries, but in the United States.  True to that first impression, this novel continued to surprise and delight me through the ups and downs of all three girls, despite a few annoying flaws and the age difference between me and the protagonists.

I do wish that Marina Budhos could have pared down the triple perspective to that of one of the girls, because tripling the perspective certainly tripled the amount of time it took the story to get off the ground.  I can see a number of middle schoolers struggling through the first five or six chapters, and also struggling to keep the numerous supporting characters, families, and friends straight.  However, I can't really decide which perspective I would have preferred, as all three girls were intriguing, believable, and stereotype-shattering.

If this book had a singular "message", "theme", or "issue", I would guess it would be stereotypes.  The stereotyped foreign maid that struggles with English, the untrustworthy nanny, etc., etc.  I enjoyed how far beyond those stereotypes we traveled.  While the Spanish from Maria's perspective felt rather like it had been stuck through an online translator, unfortunately, perhaps hers was one of the most meaningful parts of the story, as we face so many prejudices and stereotypes about Latinos, especially Mexicans.  Then again, it was also nice to see other, less common immigrant cultures represented, too.

In the end, while it feels like the author was still learning her chops, the book is extraordinary in its breaching of taboo topics - even as it maintains an appeal to its target audience.  It crackled with emotional tension without resorting to profanity, sexual content, or extraordinary violence.  If you are looking for multicultural fiction to read aloud or share with middle schoolers, this would be an excellent choice, one I certainly plan on passing on to my little sister.

The Final Verdict: Clumsy in places, but unique and fresh, especially in a stuffy middle school market.  Four out of five stars.

Being the daughter of a maid or nanny, it wasn’t like everyone was so bad or mean or stupid. It was just weird. You knew your mother put extra bleac ...more