A Wrinkle in Time

MADELENE L'ENGLE created a classic in her book, A Wrinkle in Time. The novel is imaginative, thought provoking, adventurous, all the elements that made me ignore everything I should have been doing, and read the book from cover to cover in one, long, satisfying setting.

Meg and Charles Wallace are 'different' and the conversational target of all those others who are 'normal'. The normals aren't called upon to confront 'evil' and save Meg and Charles' father, however. Who are the strange beings that come to Charles and Meg?  Are they spirits, ghosts, angels, or something else?

Some of the author's lines that grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go.
       "Just because we don't understand doesn't mean that explanations don't exist."

       "There are forces working in the world as never before in the history of mankind for the standardization, for the regimentation of us all, or what I like to call making muffins of us, all alike as the muffins in the muffin tin."

      "We can't take credit for our talents.  Its how we use them that counts."

     A Wrinkle in Time is a wonderful novel for any child or adult able to read and imagine a world like and yet unlike the world we live in.

I AM Number Four

Pittacus Lore, the author of I Am Number Four, has put together a thriller for all science fiction readers, especially daring youth ready to meet an over powering challenge. Lore has created well developed characters you might meet in any community or school, yet she makes the reader believe they are aliens from a distant planet, Lorien, hiding out in our world, hiding from those who are determined to destroy the last of their civilization and ours. Normal earthling teens are pulled into the aliens fight. It may be that the six remaining Loriens  and selected earth teens will be the ones that wake our world to the the dangers it is facing.
For science fiction fans I AM NUMBER FOUR is a must read.

Dragondrums

I just discovered one of Anne McCaffrey's old books, Dragondrums. It was published in 1979. I don't know how I missed it.  I've been a devoted fan of her books for years.

 Piemur, a talented singer in the Harper's Hall, is about to perform a leading part in a special program when his voice cracks as most young men's voices do at a certain age. He is devastated, frustrated and looking for something to do. A natural at getting into trouble, Piemur manages to find a special prize he wants very much. Once he has it, he must protect it at all costs.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dragondrums.  It is a short read, only 139 pages and, for me, a page turner. You can still get if from Amazon.

Fantastic Texas

We went to our monthly NETWO meeting Thursday night and heard an interesting speaker, Lou Antonelli. Lou is editor of our local paper, the Daily Tribune. In addition to his writing for the paper, Lou has begun writing short stories. He shared his source of ideas for various stories and his adventures in getting them published.
Naturally, Mr. Antonelli had copies of his books with him. Two found a home with us. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, he was out of his latest book. Fantastic Texas, a science fiction anthology, is a collection Texas tall tales made up of a mix of pure fantasy and 'it might happen' science fiction. The stories are short, making the novel ideal for those times we find ourselves waiting in a doctor's office, for children to come out of school, or for someone to return to the line after assuring you, "Your call is important to us."
Fantastic Texas can be purchased at most book stores or from Amazon. Mr. Antonelli, like most authors, usually has several with him and is willing to autograph those you buy from him.