Visiting Miss Caples by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel; Dial Books: New York, 2000; $16.99 When I first saw the cover of the book Visiting Miss Caples I thought the story would be downright boring. I put off reading it for a while. When I did start reading the story, I was easily caught up in the book. Jenna’s character was easy to relate to—who doesn’t have a friend that they look up to and rely and depend upon for support? I cannot imagine having a friend for so long and then suddenly losing her over some stupid prank. Jenna has to choose between following her friend, the most popular girl in school, or to do the right thing and become a social outcast. There is not a teenager out there who doesn’t worry about being liked or having friends. What makes it harder is when someone vows to be your worst enemy. Even after years of torment from Liv and Jenna, Jane had never tried to get back at them. I think if we all tried that approach kids would feel a lot safer at school. There are always going to be kids who think that they are better than everyone else is. I don’t think we can get rid of the bullies either. They will always be there. What we can do is try to turn the other way and try non- violent solutions to our problems and accept others for their differences. Those differences that we see in each other are what make people unique. It would be really boring if everyone looked, acted and thought the same. I had an experience like Jenna’s a couple of years ago. I used to hang around a group of girls at school. I guess you could say it was the in-crowd. The leader of our group was always getting us into trouble. Finally, one day she thought of this horrible prank to play on this other girl. I told her I wasn’t going to go through with it. She became really upset and turned the others against me. I dreaded going to school and facing them or wondering what they were going to do to me that day. I tried to ignore them, found different friends, and eventually the whole thing was forgotten. I became friends with other girls who I can truly call my friends. Another situation I can relate to was the social studies project that Jenna had to do. Her assignment was to read to an elderly shut-in once a week. I know exactly how Jenna felt the first time she visited Miss Caples. I have volunteered for the past two summers at senior centers. It is really hard to try to get people to open up and talk to you. It is amazing though what you can learn from the stories they tell you. I became really close to a few of the people there. I look forward to it every summer. My favorite line from the story is “The past is like smoke in the wind.” Both Liv and Miss Caples say this. I never really thought about how true that is. We always worry about what happened last month, last week, or the day before. But the past, like smoke, will eventually become fuzzy or fade away and then completely vanish or become absorbed by something else. We need to think more about our present and future and leave the past where it is—behind us. I truly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading.
Book-Reviews
Lost in Time
Lost in Time by Hans Magnus Enzensberger; Henry Holt and Company: New York, 2000; $18 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel in time? And have you ever wondered what problems you might encounter and what the consequences might be? In Lost in Time Robert finds out all these things and more as he wades deeper and deeper into history and lands himself in more trouble than he could ever imagine in his wildest dreams. It all starts when Robert rubs his eyes while watching TV and opens them in 1956 Siberia. Accused of being a German spy, he has many adventures there before being transported to 1946 Australia through a movie screen. This happens seven times and by the time he is a painter’s apprentice in 1621 Holland, Robert is beginning to doubt he will ever get back to the present, his friends, family and life. That is, until he comes up with a miraculous and ingenious idea to get him back home. To find out what happens you’ll have to read the book. Every time Robert travels to a different time period the story changes a little and so does Robert. He begins to know what to expect and even learns new things about history and himself. The story is sometimes a mystery, like when Robert puzzles over what’s going on in Soviet Russia, sometimes adventure, like when Robert joins a band of thieves in 1638 Germany, sometimes romantic, like when Robert meets his first girlfriend Caroline in Australia, and sometimes it is historical, like when Robert pieces together his surroundings in a new time and the reader learns about what life was like back then. The saddest part is when Robert must leave his girlfriend Caroline in another time. The most exciting part is when Robert joins the army in 1638—a war he has only read about in history textbooks. Personally, I don’t have a favorite part—I enjoyed the entire thing! Time travel has always interested me and I found it entertaining when Robert had to explain things like calculators to people who lived in the eighteenth century! At times I was annoyed at the mistakes Robert made; like mentioning television to someone before it had even been invented, but when I thought hard about it, I realized I would make the same mistakes too! How would you manage being zapped in time with no idea of where you would be next or more importantly, when you would be next?! I would highly recommend this great book to anyone aged ten and up or for any strong reader. Cameron Mckeich, 11Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Angelfish
Angelfish by Laurence Yep; G. P. Putnam’s Sons: New York, 2001; $16.99 When I first read Angelfish, I had many reactions to it, but as I progressed through the book, many of the reactions shifted to reveal different ones. At first, when I first met Robin, the main character in this book, I pitied her because she had to work for a racist old grouch and she could not tell anyone, or else her dream role in her ballet class that she had worked so hard to win would be at stake. As I read through the book, I realized that my feelings changed from pity to a strange sort of jealousy and envy. By going to the fish store every day to work off her debt on the broken glass window, she was not only gaining knowledge of fish and being taught tai chi, but she was also learning many very important lessons of life. Like Robin, I am also Chinese American. Although both my parents are Chinese, I look more Korean than Chinese. Mr. Cao had called Robin a “half person” because she was only half Chinese. People have also often criticized me about my looks. One thing that was different, though, was that they claimed that I was a nobody, for I didn’t look a bit Chinese. That hurt me even more than what Robin experienced because I had been born and lived in China for half my life, and I had the heritage and knew about China even more than she did. I think the part where Robin compares the characteristics of the beast in the ballet Beauty and the Beast with Mr. Cao, a grouchy old man who possessed Beast’s temper, was especially wonderful, for in the process of comparing the two, she learned both how to help Mr. Cao overcome his fear and how to act as Beauty on the stage. When Robin found out that Mr. Cao was actually a ballet dancer who was also a victim of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, I finally began to understand why Mr. Cao was so gruff in his manner with Robin, and how he tried to cover up everything nice he did with an insult. Although Mr. Cao’s intentions were to try to teach and warn Robin of the dangers of an audience so that she would never have to go through what he had to go through, in the end both sides learned a lesson. Mr. Cao learned that no matter what happens, the dance never leaves the dancer, no matter if it is in the mind or the body, and Robin learned not to misjudge people by their appearances, for even a beast would appreciate beauty and magnificence if presented the right way. This part of the story affected me deeply, for my mother’s generation and my grandmother’s generation were affected immensely by the Cultural Revolution. Angelfish is a wonderful story for anyone or any age. It will captivate readers and guide them through China’s horrific past, from a period of time where even simple dreams seemed impossible, to the present, where a young, innocent girl teaches an old man that no matter when or where, beauty is always appreciated. Zhan Tao Yang, 13Las Vegas, Nevada
