Book Description
Satellite observations and computing technology have advanced our understanding of the monsoon climate enormously in the last two decades. The author provides an update of the knowledge gained over this period, presenting the modern morphology and the physical principles of monsoon climate variation on all time scales ranging from intraseasonal to tectonic time scales. He brings new ideas that can be expected to markedly improve the prediction of monsoon climate, and includes contributions by experts who expand our understanding of the monsoon environment by their study of paleoclimate records, who present evidence of human influences on monsoon climate, and who describe the links of the monsoon to the economy and to human health.
This is a comprehensive interdisciplinary text book summarizing new knowledge of Asian monsoon climate variability, dynamics, modeling, and prediction from intraseasonal to geological time scales, and human influence and its links to environmetal/economic issues.
Book Description
Nominated for the Governor General's Literary Awards 2005, (Children's Literature, Text)
The setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it is the season of monsoons. Fourteen-year-old Amrith is caught up in the life of the cheerful, well-to-do household in which he is being raised by his vibrant Auntie Bundle and kindly Uncle Lucky. He tries not to think of his life “before,” when his doting mother was still alive. Amrith’s holiday plans seem unpromising: he wants to appear in his school’s production of Othello and he is learning to type at Uncle Lucky’s tropical fish business. Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith’s ordered life is storm-tossed. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian boy. Othello, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed.
Shyam Selvadurai’s brilliant novels, Funny Boy and Cinnamon Gardens, have garnered him international acclaim. In this, his first young adult novel, he explores first love with clarity, humor,
and compassion.
Customer Reviews:
A lovely breeze.......2007-04-21
This is one of the easiest books I have read in a really long time. I literally breezed through it, and found it charming. But what is truly surprising is not that the book is so easy, but the fact that it manages to be so even while painting pictures of lands which draw you into them, while detailing characters to an extent that you can really empathize with them, and while conveying a variety and depth of emotions that is highly commendable. That's a formidable task for any writer, but Shyam Selvadurai continues to impress with his literary capabilities even today just the way he had done with his excellent first novel "Funny Boy".
The book is set in Colombo, during a hot and humid lazy summer vacation in the life of 14-year old Amrith. The vacation begins uneventfully and promises to have no bigger highlight than practicing for a school drama till Amrith is suddenly confronted by his past, and much to his complete surprise, is very soon overjoyed and completed absorbed by it. As the days go by, however, Amrith's emotions go through a roller-coaster ride as he learns more about his family and friends, but above all, about himself. The vacation period turns out to the coming-of-age one for Amrith, and he finally comes to terms with his new discoveries and learning.
There is no dearth of coming-of-age books, and many might be better, or at the very least, more poignant, but that should any deter you from reading another book on this widely dealt with subject, for the combination of the locale, the protagonist's situation, and Mr. Selvadurai's writing make this a book worthy of it's own place on the bookshelves of bibliophiles.
Finally, I'd like to make particular point about this book: I really don't think of it as a "young adults" book at all - it is a book for everybody. It is a lovely piece of writing, and will surely leave a positive mark on your literary journey, irrespective of who you are.
For adults too.......2006-07-06
The story, set against the backdrop of Colombo during the monsoon season, is about Amrith, a fourteen year old orphan who lives with his mother's best friend, her husband and two daughters. Amrith is very much a part of their lives, as he is more of a son and a brother to them than a stranger.
However, Amrith still feels alienated and different. He explores these feelings against a rising darkness within him and memories of his mother and his past. He attempts to forget and focus on his acting skills at drama society in school, and typing at his adopted father, Uncle Lucky's office, but as fate would have it, his past lands on his doorstep in the guise of a cousin from Canada.
Amrith finds a new found happiness in Niresh, his maternal cousin, and intrigue in a life so different from his. Somehow along the way, his relationship with Niresh is threatened, and Amrith begins to blame his adopted family. In the midst of the rising past, he deals with his own turmoils of sexual awakening and identity.
The story is intended for young adults, but like Harry Potter, even adults will find pleasure reading it.
Book Description
On June 1, 1990, less than a week after graduating college, Mo Willems embarked on a yearlong trip around the world. Travelingwith only a notebook, pen and ink, and one change of clothes, he spent the next twelve months backpacking across more than thirty countries.At the end of each day, he drew the one event that stuck out in his mind the mostfrom the sublime to the ridiculous.Recently annotated by the illustrator and featuring a foreword from best-selling humor writer Dave Barry, You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons: The World on One Cartoon a Day is a unique snapshot of an artists coming-of-age as he tries to understand the world around him.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent choice for cartoon fans and travelers alike.......2006-08-17
Before Mo Willems became a children's book author, he packed sketchbook and set out to explore the world. At the end of each day he drew a cartoon of a single event which stuck in his mind - and his sketch diary YOU CAN NEVER FIND A RICKSHAW WHEN IT MONSOONS: THE WORLD ON ONE CARTOON A DAY is the result. Each page holds a full-page black and white panel blending humor with observation. An excellent choice for cartoon fans and travelers alike, a foreword by Dave Barry adds to the package.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
the true essence of travel.......2006-06-06
This book is absolutely delightful. When the author was just out of school, he took a trip around the world, and each day he drew the one thing that stuck out in his mind. Fifteen years later, he added commentary and occasionally context to each cartoon, and publishes the whole darn thing.
The things he records is what the rest of us usually remember the best when we come back from a trip. This book doesn't consist of pictures of landmarks and more landmarks. It's a true distillation of his experiences, and it bounces from funny to poignant to regretful and back again. His Dutch grandmother is distressed to discover that a year traveling around the world doesn't include 10 months visiting her in Holland, and he gets pickpocketed by one of three men, but he doesn't know which one. He regrets being wary of two Iranian men he met at the time, the Turks are offended when he tries to locate malaria pills in their country, and he gets embarassed when someone fusses over the cold he got from partying too much in Pamplona.
It's not geared towards kids at all--I never even heard of Mo Willems when I picked up this gem. It's a truly wonderful travelogue though.
Vicarous travel at its best.......2006-06-05
Mo's newest book is a "page-turner" for the armchair traveler with a sense of humor. Each page has a great cartoon of a unique time and place. I especially enjoyed Mo's impressions of places I have been; his graphics refreshed and enhanced my own memories. This is a great gift idea for the college graduate (unless, of course, you want them to go get a job instead of seeking adventure first!)
One guy named Mo.......2006-05-28
When you think about it, picture book author/illustrators by and large do not suddenly come out with thick memoir-like tomes. Not even Maurice Sendak has done it. It just isn't done. So when I found myself hefting Mo Willems's handsome 396-some encapsulation of his time spent traveling around the world in 1990, I didn't quite know what to make of the idea. Willems is cute as a button and he pens a mean pigeon but can he ... (how shall I put this?) ... well, can he do a book that isn't five-year-old-centric? Apparently, yes. Yes and indeed and thank you kindly, m'am. Taking a concept for a book that could've easily ended up as a better idea than product, Willems has put together a thoughtful look at how we've changed in the eyes of the world, how the people of the world appear to us, and how difficult it is to cultivate an "us" vs. "them" mentality when you've just met the "them" firsthand.
It was a kind of cartoon diary. When young Mo Willems, future cartoonist/author/Nickelodeon pawn, graduated from college he took his newfound freedom as an opportunity to take the ultimate worldwide unguided tour. Patches in place on jeans and sideburns making their, "precipitous drop toward my shoulders", Mr. Willems chose to record his experiences in the form of a cartoon a day. These cartoons are of a wide and somewhat assorted variety. They may be illustrations of all the goatees seen that day, or a picture of a long skinny Mo reenacting a situation. They might even be just a view of something he found particularly touching or sweet, like a boy watering a public tree. There are some constants, of course. Each cartoon includes the date, a description, and where Mo was on that given date. Usually there is also an additional comment below this information at the bottom of the page. It's here that present day Mo gives a little context to what you are seeing. He might explain how the trip was going, the story behind the cartoon, or just riff a one-liner on what you see. Sometimes he won't even say anything at all, leaving his original comments and pictures to stand on their own. Each leg of the journey in this book is indicated by its own map. Those maps then give a convoluted but legible dotted line that shows where Mo done gone.
I gotta say, fresh-outta-college Mo had a good eye and ear for his subject matter. It would be the height of narcissism to take something you created in your youth that wasn't funny and publish it for the masses to messily consume. The moral equivalent of printing your high school poetry, say. Fortunately for everybody involved, young Mo was a pretty funny cat. Captions like, "bad day for the hand crafted tribal blowdart salesman" and "the locals call him `Mr. Socks'", hardly even need pictures. They're funny all on their own. The young artist's consistency is also something to cheer on. Admittedly I haven't gone over all 300-some pictures in this book to make absolutely certain that he wrote every day. A quick scan, however, shows that no matter how crazy his last 24-hours or wacked out his company (both if he was lucky) the boy still managed to put pen to paper and get it down.
Then there are the illustrations themselves. His style firmly in place, Mr. Willems' sketches are presented without so much as a smidgen of dirt or a crease about the edges. Good old Photoshop. There were some repeating images in this book that amused me especially. I liked how most of the women had breasts that looked like the lowercase letter "W" on its side. I liked the overly elongated hero and his shockingly clefted chin. Plus I loved the fact that there was a chicken in this book that did not look anything like the bird Willems would later draw for the illustrator compendium, "Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road".
Every five years I write a letter to myself and then squirrel it away until it's time for them to be read. It's a fun way of meeting again and again my younger stupider self. Willems mentions experiencing something rather similar when he looked back at his old sketches. Of them, he says that they are, "my gateway to understanding the weird guy who occupied my skinny body back then". Part of what makes the book interesting is the tension between young smelly Mo and wise and successful I-think-I'll-live-in-Brooklyn Mo. Obviously old-Mo has the hometeam advantage on this one. He can laugh and prod his younger self and there ain't nothing little young-Mo can do about it. Fortunately, you're on old-Mo's side. For example, there's a picture of young-Mo sitting awkwardly between two evil-eyed fellows with Saddam-like moustaches. The original text reads, "patriotic paranoia pops up: stuck between two iranian tourists". Old-Mo's response is apropos: "I shudder at the stupidity of my youth when I look at this sketch. These guys were quite happy to separate who I was from my government, but I was unwilling or unable to do the same for them. A wasted opportunity". Whether he's lamenting his own ignorance or merely commenting in hindsight on a mistake of some sort, it's nice to have two points of view from the same fella to bandy about.
The book is remarkable for all these reasons, but here's the most important one. For his last few weeks, Mo continued to draw his observations while bumming around the United States. And for all the crazy kooky things that can happen to a guy overseas, it's funny to weigh the similarities and differences to what you see them here at home. Plus it gives the ending of the book a sense of resolution you wouldn't think to find in any kind of a diary, let alone a cartoon one. In his Epilogue, Willems says that this trip and this experience drove home for him the idea that what he sees on the worldwide news affects real people. "... they all really exist, and what they do affects us". One could say the same of this book too. It will affect you. A loving look at everything that is wonderful and horrible in having to live on "this big, wide, wonderful world". A book worth visiting.
Amazon.com
South Africa's master storyteller Wilbur Smith has been writing his exotic historical sagas for so long that he's in danger of being taken for granted and typecast as an author of adventure stories for and about overgrown boys. But there's a lot more to Smith's books than mere blood, thunder, swash, and buckle. He might not be as thoughtful or as philosophical as Patrick O'Brian, but his stories have a wider geographical and chronological range and lots more action.
Monsoon is the latest chronicle in Smith's Courteney series. In it, Hal Courteney is sent by the East India Trading Company to attack Arab pirates who are harassing trade off the East African coast. He takes three of his four sons, but one of them absconds to Bombay and another is taken prisoner by the Arabs. Although the mission is an eventual success, Hal himself is seriously injured and returns to England. His son Tom becomes the real hero of the story, gallantly rescuing his captured brother from the infidel.
Like his heroes, Smith's prose pulls no punches: "Aboli swung the axe in a wide, flashing arc. It took the man full in the side of his neck, severing it cleanly. His head toppled forward and rolled down his chest, while his trunk stood erect before it slumped to the deck. The air escaped from his lungs in a whistling blast of frothy blood from the open windpipe." It may not be pretty, but it certainly grabs your attention. --Dick Adler
Book Description
One man. Three sons. A powerful destiny waiting to unfold.
Monsoon is the sweeping epic that continues the saga begun in Wilbur Smith's bestselling Birds of Prey. Once a voracious adventurer, it has been many years since Hal Courtney has dared the high seas. Now he must return with three of his sons - Tom, Dorian, and Guy - to protect the East India Trading Company from looting pirates, in exchange for half of the fortune he recovers.
It will be a death or glory mission in the name of the crown. But Hal must also think about the fates of his sons. Like their father before them, Tom, Dorian, and Guy are drawn inexorably to Africa. When fate decrees that they must all leave England forever, they set said for the dark, unexplored continent, seduced by the allure and mystery of this new, magnificent, but savage land. All will have a crucial part to play in shaping the Courtneys' destiny, as the family vies for a prize beyond any of their dreams.
In a story of anger and passion, peace and war, Wilbur Smith evinces himself at the height of his storytelling powers. Set at the dawn of eighteenth-century England, with the Courtneys riding wind-tossed seas toward Arabia and Africa, Monsoon is an exhilarating adventure pitting brother against brother, man against sea, and good against evil.
Customer Reviews:
Wilbur Smith does it again.......2007-08-22
Monsoon is the typically gripping Wilbur Smith epic. No matter what the subject, Smith enthralls his readers and refuses to release them, even after the novel has ended. This story, that of Hal Courtney and his four sons is an incredible story of courage, adventure and integrity. I can highly recommend this book to anyone who likes exploration, adventure, action, and the unexpected. Smith delivers on all counts. If you've never read a Wilbur Smith novel, this is a great place to start!
A Superman (men) comic book without pictures.......2006-03-06
I had never heard of Wilbur Smith, but he was recommended to me by friends in South Africa. At the airport I looked for one of his books and found many. All about 1000 pages long with embossed covers signaling bodice rippers. With a ten hour flight ahead, I thought, what the heck, give it a try.
The first impression proved accurate. What a silly, inconceivable story which can never seem to find a focal point. The three Courtney heros are gods on earth. They speak in a matter of months whatever language they come in contact with (including Arabic and obscure African dialects), they are amazing fighters who succeed in shaking off injuries more rapidly than a professional wrestler, they have an aura of command, even at age 10 or 17 that shames the most seasoned captains, they are great lovers (of course) etc. Good Lord! What two dimensional, predictable characters. And what a complicated, never-ending collection of ridiculous epic romances.
I will leave Wilbur Smith in the future to my South African friends (he is, after all, a South African, though he now lives, I understand, on the Isle of Maurice)and to the airport book stores.
Out of curiosity, I scanned the 91 reader reviews found on the Amazon site. Only 4 of the 91 seem to share my low opinion of this lightweight attempt at a good adventure story. Which confirms that Mr. Smith knows how to write for his public. And can afford exile from his native land. Which he richly deserves!
What a book.......2006-02-11
I read this book and BIRDS OF PREY about two years ago. I couldn't wait for the winter eve's to get dark so I could start reading an get off to my armchair adventure.
Smith wrote books that I could live during the long winter months that there was nothing to do outside.
Some of my favorite books of all time.
Delicious.......2005-08-24
Great book! One of my favorite all-time reads. Just be sure you've got some spare time before you pick it up - once you do, you won't be able to put it down!
pretty darn good.......2005-07-04
Monsoon, by Wilber Smith is a very taught swashbuckler by any means. It is sweeping in its epic arc, the characters are very likeable, and the writing is engrossing. What bothers me is that all three of the Smith books in this Courtney family trilogy seem to be the same. Its like Smith took the fine plot from the first book, used it again on the next generation in the second, and then tiredly, once again did the same in the third. It's a little vexing for one such as myself to have read all three of these back to back and be confronted by such a pitiless lack of imagination on the author's part.
One of the overwhelming feelings I think you will walk away from Monsoon with is that of a period epic being crossed with a Bruce Willis `Dye Hard' movie. Smith really layers on the action and sets it up well. Adventures abound in Monsoon and unfold in unexpected ways. This book is a really good escapist novel. It might be a little light in both the prose and enlightenment departments, but beyond that it is difficult to berate.
Perhaps the only other author who has written along these lines that I have enjoyed more is Raphael Sabatini. Sabatini is an author who wrote in the 20's and 30's and presented the world with such masterpieces as Scaramouch. You might want to check this or one of his other books out.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyable travel essay on India .......2006-05-07
_Chasing the Monsoon_ by Alexander Frater was an enjoyable travel book, one that I read in just a few days. The author's intention, as one might guess from the title, was to follow the progress of the summer monsoon through India, beginning in the southernmost tip of the subcontinent, Cape Comorin, and following its progress up the west coast through Trivandrum, Calicut, Goa, and Bombay, then jetting over to Delhi, and then to experience the eastern arm of the monsoon (there are two arms, one in the east of India, one in the west) in Calcutta and in two places near Bangladesh, Shillong and Cherrapunji (there was a map illustrating his route).
Frater began the book discussing his childhood in the New Hebrides, a group of islands in the South Pacific jointly administered at one time by both France and the United Kingdom, how growing up his missionary father helped instill in him a fascination for weather. His father had talked about one of the rainiest spots on Earth, Cherrapunji, India, which was known at the height of the monsoon season in July to get as much as 75 feet of rain, though more often in the 30 to 40 foot range, receiving as much as 40 inches in one day. Though Frater's father never visited Cherrapunji and lost interest in meteorology due to mounting family financial problems and the Second World War, Alexander himself never completely lost interest in the weather.
After relating how he finally decided to follow the monsoon in the summer of 1987 and if possible visit Cherrapunji, he detailed his pilgrimage throughout India. Though Frater did discuss some of the science of the monsoon and in particular the history of its study (noting such famous researchers as H.F. Blandford, who beginning in 1875 became the first of a line of India-based climatologists who studied the monsoon and Sir John Eliot, his successor, often called the "father of monsoon studies"), the book is more a travel than a popular science book, detailing what Frater saw in India and in particular local reactions to the monsoon (or its unfortunate absence in drought-stricken parts of the country).
Throughout most of India, the onset of the monsoon rains, the "burst," was eagerly anticipated, the arrival of life-giving rains and cooler weather celebrated for centuries in art, poetry, and song. Frater visited remarkable pavilions, palaces, gardens, and fountains where the very wealthy had in the past had sought to recreated the cooling rains of the monsoon during times of heat and aridity.
Though many cities and regions have unofficial dates when the monsoon is supposed to begin - for instance around June 5 in Goa - the actual advance of the rains is unpredictable, subject to much discussion and even heated debate on the street, with many people hanging on every word of travelers to areas already experiencing monsoon rains, meteorologists, and even astrologers. I must say I was rather surprised that the monsoon traveled slowly enough through India that Frater for the most part was able to keep ahead of it, as while the first burst over Cape Comorin occurs generally around June 1, it is nearly July 1 before it reaches Delhi (if it reaches it at all; Frater chronicled how the monsoon rains had failed to arrive in recent years). Overall Frater did an excellent job of conveying the tense atmosphere of expectation among those waiting for the rains and the sense of relief and jubilation once they had arrived.
When the rains did arrive there was often great rejoicing with almost unofficial holidays in many parts of the country. Even in businesses that did not close had workers from cashiers and waiters up to expensively dressed businessmen and women running outside to cavort in the rain. Adults and children played in the rains, planned parties celebrating it, and even not unlike Frater himself planned trips to see it (the author wrote of oil-rich wealthy Middle Easterners flying on their private jets to India to witness such vast amounts of rain for themselves).
Additionally, people associated the monsoon with cures for a variety of ailments. The "monsoon cure," which could be anything from specific diets to being massaged in special oils to meditation with the onset of the rains, was big business, particularly in western India.
So important were the rains in providing a relief from the heat, watering crops, filling wells, and regenerating lakes and rivers, that much like with the monsoon cures an entire industry existed to ensure the arrival of the rains, ranging from ceremonial well diving to crackpot inventors to cloud-seeding with aircraft to singing ancient songs called ragas, composed especially to bring on the monsoonal rains.
Not everyone welcomed the monsoon. Frater detailed the great difficulties of officials in Calcutta in handling the floods brought about by the monsoon, and hinted at but didn't go into detail about the massive floods in Bangladesh the rains often brought. Fishermen and sailors often couldn't work in the high seas, cyclones, and driving rain during the height of the monsoon and pilots often had great difficulty flying in monsoon weather. Back when India was a British possession some Englishmen became depressed, alcoholic, or even committed suicide due to the rains.
A portion of the book detailed Frater's attempts to get permission from Delhi to visit Cherrapunji, as it was located in a region subject to anti-immigrant riots and fighting (something he might have gone a little bit more into). As foreign travel and even travel by Indians themselves to that area was tightly controlled, Frater had to navigate the intricate, complex, positively Byzantine corridors of Indian bureaucracy. This theme seems to be a common element of Indian travel writing, a topic addressed also in _An Area of Darkness_ by V.S. Naipaul and _The Search for the Pink-headed Duck_ by Rory Nugent.
Though I would have liked a bit more science and maybe some photos, overall I enjoyed the book.
Braids the story lines into a seamless retelling .......2006-03-10
In writing "Chasing the Monsoon: A Modern Pilgrimage through India" Alexander Frater weaves external observations his personal memories into a cohesive, entertaining account of his myriad experiences following the monsoon up and across the Indian subcontinent. Despite a plethora of details about the science and meteorology, accounts of his attempts to secure the blessings of a cumbersome Indian government's bureaucracy, his social interactions with people at all levels of Indian society, excruciating car trips, and recollections of his and his family's experiences living on islands in the Pacific, the book is neither dry nor dull.
Mr. Prater braids these various story lines into a seamless retelling of his experiences. His attention to detail-whether describing a worn-out hotel, recounting an overheard conversation about the virtues of various types of mangoes, or capturing the sensual experience of being engulfed by the monsoon-is quite remarkable. Though the story is highly personal, Mr. Frater does not impose himself upon the reader in such a manner as to detract from his travelogue. I'm glad he fully documented his experience and further appreciate his tidy way of bringing matters full circle.
chasing the monsoon.......2005-12-18
The most improbable of all "journeys"..... to chase a monsoon through India. But how lyrical and memorable this trip is. This is a story not just of Frater, but of the people of India he comes in contact with during this voyage, and an explanation of how the monsoon affects each of them. This is one of the VERY few books I have ever read more than once. Another great read about a journey is South Wind by Norman Douglas.
Depicting the subcontinent is no breeze!.......2003-07-18
Few books on India can easily hope to undertake and accomplish the monumental task of depicting this complex society. This book is no exception. By taking the lens of the monsoon -- and the beliefs and practices which surround it in India - this book has adopted a wonderful device to depict a wide swathe of this country. Entertaining and thoughtful, this is certainly one of the more informative travelogues on India.
Just plain great.......2002-12-20
Loved it, loved it, loved it. One of my all-time faves.
Average customer rating:
- What a great story!
- Monsoon Summer
- A Magical Book that Will Resonate with Teens and Adults
- Great Book
- Monsoon Summer Works Magic
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Monsoon Summer
Mitali Perkins
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
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ASIN: 0440238404
Release Date: 2006-04-11 |
Book Description
Jasmine “Jazz” Gardner heads off to India during the monsoon season. The family trip is her mother’s doing: Mrs. Gardner wants to volunteer at the orphanage that cared for her when she was young. But going to India isn’t Jazz’s idea of a great summer vacation. She wants no part of her mother’s do-gooder endeavors.
What’s more, Jazz is heartsick. She’s leaving the business she and her best friend, Steve Morales, started—as well as Steve himself. Jazz is crazy in love with the guy. If only he knew!
Only when Jazz reluctantly befriends Danita, a girl who cooks for her family, and who faces a tough dilemma, does Jazz begin to see how she can make a difference—to her own family, to Danita, to the children at the orphanage, even to Steve. As India claims Jazz, the monsoon works its madness and its magic.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
What a great story!.......2007-05-12
Mitali Perkins is a wonderful writer who weaves a great story!
Monsoon Summer.......2007-03-22
Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins is a mediocre teen novel. A young California girl, Jazz Gardner, leaves with her family on a summer vacation to India, during the magic monsoon season, for volunteer work. Throughout this book Jazz realizes how strong, generous, and desired she really is. This novel was not the best I've ever read. The author did not do a very good job of explaining the characters. I felt the characters made me bored and they rarely expressed, or showed any emotions. In Monsoon Summer there was not an exhilirating climax, nor a great ending. The plot of this teen novel did not capture my interests. I felt the need to stop reading the book after several chapters, but I don't like to abandon a book halfway through it. Monsoon Summer did not meet my expectations of a wonderful book.
A Magical Book that Will Resonate with Teens and Adults.......2006-09-03
I absolutely loved this book. Monsoon Summer is the story of 15-year-old Jasmine Carol Gardner, known as Jazz. Jazz is the product of her bulky, introverted white father and her petite, activist Indian-born mother. Genetically, and by her choices, Jazz takes mostly after her father, while her younger brother, Eric, resembles their mother. Their family is very close, however, with a strong sense of mutual loyalty. Thus when Jazz's mother wins a grant to go set up a clinic for pregnant women at the orphanage in India where she lived as a child, the whole family leaves California to go along for the summer.
Jazz is quite reluctant to go to India, however, mostly because of her newly-discovered, and undisclosed, love for her best friend, Steve. Jazz and Steve run a thriving business giving Berkeley tourists postcards of themselves in front of local landmarks and nostalgic activist signs. Jazz is worried about leaving Steve to run the business by himself, and even more worried about leaving him to the mercies of other girls from school. She can't imagine actually telling Steve how she feels, because she considers him so much more attractive and popular than herself, and she is sure that he would never be interested in her in that way. Still, she hates to leave him.
Most of the story takes place in the city of Pune, India, during the monsoon season, which many believe is a magical time. Jazz is at first quite resistant to the pull of India, and to the needs of the people around her. This is mostly due to her own self-doubt (and a little bit because of her obsession with Steve). The memory of a failed experiment in helping someone else, one in which her trust was betrayed, keeps her from wanting to get involved. But gradually, the monsoons work their magic on her, and she finds her over-protected heart expanding, as she becomes more brave and confident.
I think that Jazz's self-doubt and complete inability to think of herself as beautiful will resonate with anyone who is, or ever has been, a teenager. This authenticity makes Jazz's gradual transformation an inspiration. I think that this book could help teens to see themselves in a new light.
Jazz and her father both also evolve through the book from being fairly hands-off to being people who take an active part in helping others. Without being preachy about it, Monsoon Summer makes the reader want to get more involved, too. I'm not quite sure how Mitali Perkins manages that feat. I'm personally quite resistant to books that feel like they're promoting some larger agenda. I think that it works in this case because Perkins shows us how Jazz and her father react to a specific situation, rather than simply telling us that we should act in some particular way. All I know is that I cried at the end (in a good way).
I also liked the long-distance relationship between Jazz and Steve, sweet at times, realistically snippy at others. The descriptions of India, as seen through the eyes of someone raised in America, are eye-opening, without being overwhelming. And I liked the way that the author resists the temptation to wrap up every detail, leaving at least one issue unresolved. All in all, I enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it for teen readers. I also think that adults, especially those who are feeling a bit jaded about life, will find it a refreshing treat.
This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on September 2, 2006.
Great Book.......2006-03-06
I thought this book was great! It was fresh and fun and had a good message to it. It wasn't overly " I'm going to be a sanit.' feel to it. I have read it 3 times and it never gets old. It has enough emtion in it to make it a non-shallow book. I would reccomend this to anyone!
Monsoon Summer Works Magic.......2005-05-04
Some say that India's monsoon season creates "monsoon madness". Its magic drives some people crazy-insane but others crazy-I'll-do-things-I-never-would-have-otherwise-done. For 15-year-old Jasmine "Jazz" Carol Gardner, it's the latter.
This California girl's world is turned upside down when her family decides to go to India for the summer - to help out at the orphanage Mrs. Gardner started her life in. Though this trip may not have been Jazz's idea of a summer vacation, it's what she got. Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins shows just how India's monsoon worked its magic on her.
When Jazz leaves Berkeley, California, her home, she also leaves her best friend and long-time crush, Steve Morales. With only long-distance phone calls and the occasional letter keeping them in touch, she worries something (not in the direction she wants) will happen to their relationship.
Reluctant to join her mother's good-doing, especially in an unfamiliar place like Pune, India, Jazz's summer starts out looking pretty bleak. As a 5'11" girl who's trapped inside because of the constant rain, she spends a lot of her time worrying about the problems in her life. Problems including her looks (hugeness) and lovesickness. That is, until she finally befriends Danita, a girl from the orphanage who cooks for the Gardner family and has some troubles of her own. Their friendship teaches Jazz that she really can help other people - and maybe herself too.
As this story unfolds you can't miss all the change India's monsoon brings upon a teenage girl and her family and friends. This realistic fiction novel is perfect for the teenage girl who wants to know just how to survive in this troublesome world.
(...)
Book Description
Shoba Narayan’s
Monsoon Diary weaves a fascinating food narrative that combines delectable Indian recipes with tales from her life, stories of her delightfully eccentric family, and musings about Indian culture.
Narayan recounts her childhood in South India, her college days in America, her arranged marriage, and visits from her parents and in-laws to her home in New York City. Monsoon Diary is populated with characters like Raju, the milkman who named his cows after his wives; the iron-man who daily set up shop in Narayan’s front yard, picking up red-hot coals with his bare hands; her mercurial grandparents and inventive parents. Narayan illumines Indian customs while commenting on American culture from the vantage point of the sympathetic outsider. Her characters, like Narayan herself, have a thing or two to say about cooking and about life.
In this creative and intimate work, Narayan’s considerable vegetarian cooking talents are matched by stories as varied as Indian spices—at times pungent, mellow, piquant, and sweet. Tantalizing recipes for potato masala, dosa, and coconut chutney, among others, emerge from Narayan’s absorbing tales about food and the solemn and quirky customs that surround it.
Customer Reviews:
Delicious Read.......2007-05-12
Never mind where you were when you experienced the 'big events' of your life, instead, can you remember what were you eating?
Shoba Nayaran remembers, and delivers those landmark flavors in print. From the comforting memories of her childhood, to the abuse suffered under her first graduate program, to her wedding and subsequent adjustment to married life, Shoba Narayn writes about each significant life event with an even hand, a light sense of humor, and perfectly chosen recipes to accompany every part of her story.
This isn't your traditional cookbook, nor is it a plodding, self-aggrandizing autobiography. It is instead a book that moves along at a fast pace, giving us glimpses of intensely personal moments, but then quickly, breezily moving along to the next topic, the next recipe, the next memory. The reader is never bogged down in this parsimonious trip down memory lane. Instead, we receive exactly what is promised: a memoir with food. (and succulent food at that!)
An excellent read, a fast read, a delicious read.
monsoon diary.......2006-12-16
Before reading this book I knew little about Indian culture. I feel like this book was very well writeen, though the description was dull at some parts. Shoba Narayan touched on every aspect of Indian culture, from train rides (one of my favorite parts of the book) to summers spent with grandparents, to the marketplace, family names and importance, traditions, and a special emphasis on food. This book was delicious to read and made me wish I had tasted the food Shoba describes so scrumptiously. I would recommend this book to someone interested in light, informative reading, with an empty stomach.
A Memoir with Recipies.......2006-12-14
Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipies is a well written book that not only involves your mind, but it also taps into your sense of taste, touch and smell. I was never that interested in the Indian culture, but after reading Shoba Narayan's book, and having my mind and senses traped in the detailed writing, I couldnt help but become fascinated with the culture I formally knew nothing about.
Narayan is a gifted writer with the talent of detail. Every chapter was written in order to make the reader feel like they were experiencing first hand the life she was describing. Whether is was the description of her childhood, surroundings, education or traditional meals- which at the end of every chapter offered up a DIY recipie guide- the author makes the reader beg for more insight on a culture they may or may not have known about prior to reading the book. Narayan's relation of food to everyday life is a different take on story telling that does a good job of involving the reader more into the story. Also the authors' take on cultural differences between South Asia and the United States is an insightful comparison of a culture we know all so well, and one we might not know about.
Monsoon Diary is a well written and consuming book filled with entertaining stories and helpful recipies.
A Good Culture Lesson, but Lacks a Good Story.......2006-12-13
Knowing very little about the Indian way of life was a motivation for reading this book. I myself have a thirst for knowledge, but this book I felt could have done a better job satisfying that thirst. I felt that this booked lacked a strong focus, and often the recipes were added in awkward moments in the book. I understood the fact that food played a prominent role in her life, and it meant something larger for her than just nutrition. The presentation of this theme within the text didn't always translate that way for me, and I felt like her mentioning food just seemed oddly obsessive on her part.
The book itself is quite conventional, and if the woman in the book were an American, I'm sure it would never have gotten published because it is the typical coming-of-age story. However, as an American, I did find the book quite interesting when it got to the point were where the main character, Shoba, visited America for the first time. I'm constantly evaluating my own culture, but to have a foreigner evaluate it was a breath of fresh air, especially with current events.
Overall, I respect the book because it contains much passion, family love, and cultural insight to some degree, and is a satisfactory educational tool. However, if you are a reader who really enjoys edgy, raw, or original material, I would pass on this book.
The warmth of curry...........2006-06-10
Not quite as masterfully written and evocative as MFK Fisher (described by Swinburne as the greatest American writer of prose) or Diana Abu-Jaber (who could someday achieve MFK's status, and demonstrates rich gifts already, as well as humor and joie de vivre) in "The Language of Baklava". Nonetheless, Monsoon Diary is a warm, friendly, happy reminiscence and a joy to read.
Book Description
Get out your umbrellas!
Children play, birds call, and grownups go about their business during the hot days of summer in northern India. But in the bustle of street and marketplace, everyone is watching, waiting for those magical clouds to bring their gift of rain to the land. Through the observations of one young girl, the scents and sounds, the dazzling colors, and the breathless anticipation of
a parched cityscape are vividly evoked during the final days before the welcome arrival of the monsoon.
Rhythmic prose and vivid chalk pastels flood the senses and take the reader on a tour of diverse urban India.
Customer Reviews:
Evocative illustrations and text.......2007-03-12
I bought this for my nephew's 2nd birthday (which was, coincidentally, spent in India during the monsoons). I almost wanted a copy of it for myself, so evocative were the illustrations and text. My nephew is almost 4 and his parents tell me that it is one of his favorite books. He's at an age where the appeal of a book does not of course lie in the memories it evokes, but in how captivating the the illustrations and the story are. I have to add that this is not one of those tiresome books that presents India as the exotic land of snakes and snake-charmers, and that in itself is a huge selling point.
Two thumbs up from the most important critic!.......2006-04-05
I received this book yesterday and read it to my 2 1/2 year old daughter. (I try to get books about India whenever possible because it's the land of my husband's birth.) She asked me to read it twice through and then said, "That's a good story, Mommy!" And we've read it twice already today!
I don't think anything else needs to be said!
Here Comes the Rain Again . . . .......2005-07-26
Sometimes, when a picture book deals with another culture, it sacrifices story and style for explanation to it's readers about the who where and what is going on. They can become text heavy and too pedantic for young listeners who are more interested in what happens next than a rounded education. The rarest-and the best-multicultural books don't try to explain at all, they let you discover as you read the story. Ms. Krishnaswami's MONSOON is one such jewel of a picture book. It tells the story of a young Indian girl waiting for the monsoon to come after all the hot, dry weather. It shows the cycle of seasons that is necessary for living and the simple poetic beauty of the place the narrator lives.
The theme of this story--a child impatiently waiting for a change in the weather-is a fairly common one in literature, especially picture books. But the heart and soul of this story is India, and properly so. It's no surprise to anyone that reads this picture book that the author grew up in India. In the story India is not a far away or exotic place, it is home-and Ms. Krishnaswami's poetic prose paints that love of her home on every page, with every word. The text on each page is brief, but it is text to be savored, full of rich imagery as everyone prepares for the monsoon rains. This is clear from the very first line: "All summer we have worn the scent of dust . . ." The author does not fall back on old clichés, but finds new metaphors to describe the town and the coming rains. The result is description that is refreshingly vibrant and just different enough to tantalize--but not to alienate-readers. It allows me to step into another country as if I were a native, experiencing the anticipation through the young narrator as she waits, worries and hopes for the rains to come. At the very back of the book the author has included a page of information about the monsoons and India for those who want to understand the 'what' and 'where' of the story better. The addition of the information at the back allows the author to accomplish the goal of sharing the knowledge without allowing it to bog down the text of the story itself.
All that, and I haven't even mentioned the pictures yet. This is Jamel Akib's first picture book. I, for one, hope it is only the first of many. The artist has perfectly matched pictures to Ms. Krishnaswami's marvelous text. Vivid colors with the soft edges give the images a slightly dreamy and comforting sense of familiarity. Golds and warm reds and misty blues dominate the palette, making the book feel rich and sensuous. The scenes themselves are delightfully clear portrayals of life in an Indian city, with cows wandering down the streets next to the cars, spice merchants selling their wares, a modern house with patterned rug and wall hangings. The effect is contemporary and yet culture specific. Like the author's text, the pictures never become so foreign as to lose the reader, evoking comfort, but including elements and details that never let the audience forget the setting.
If you want to introduce your child to India for any reason, this is an excellent first step. The images and text provide fertile ground for sparking a child's interest and curiosity and giving parents a starting point for discussing the Indian culture in greater detail. It is one of my favorite new discoveries in the world of multicultural books and deserves a look by any picture book reader who loves the delicious feel of diving into rich art and image-rich language. Best for children of four years and up, and for adults of all ages.
If you enjoy this, you might want to look for THE DAY OF AHMED'S SECRET by Florence H. Parry and COME ON RAIN! by Karen Hesse.
Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad
Authentically local, touchingly universal.......2005-04-08
I can't decide if I love the beauty of the paintings or the words more in this picture book. My overwhelming reaction was nostalgia for India, where I grew up, yet the book appealed to my toddler, who has no memories of India. She gave it her five star rating, by saying "Again" when I finished reading it - that's reserved for the most captivating picture books.
Average customer rating:
- Larger than life
- ScaredLaughing to Death
- His best stuff.
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Gorilla Monsoon
John Long
Manufacturer: Falcon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Long on Adventure: The Best of John Long
ASIN: 093464103X |
Book Description
From Borneo and Yosemite, Baffin Island and Venezuela, John Long has experienced a world of adventure travel unusual for its intensity. A legendary performer from the world of rock climbing, he has tangled with deeply secluded and watery jungle caves, remote thawing iceflows, and solo climbs high over a desert hungry for his failure. In addition, Long has come to know a class of adventurers as avid as himself and been privy to record their stories. Wild and fresh, these adventures are written in a style as powerful, decisive, and engaging as Long himself.
Customer Reviews:
Larger than life.......2003-11-09
John "Largo" Long is an almost larger than life pioneer in the Yosemite rock climbing and Joshua Tree bouldering communities of the 1970s and 1980s. He is also an extremely creative and interesting writer. One of the best things about this book is that it is inundated with humorous touches and is often hysterically funny. I highlyl recommend this book.
The stories he tells in this book, most of them true or at least with a kernel of truth in those that are larger than life, are always interesting. While the stories here only occasionally touch on climbing activities, they demonstrate a consistent philosophy of an adventurer at heart -- someone who lives his experiences to the fullest. Through his writing, he shows that he truly cares about the environment where his adventures take place; even though his experiences exploring prehistoric cultures in Malaysia seem to show a bit of disrespect to the cultures he is interfering with, I always sensed that he was respectful of the people around him.
ScaredLaughing to Death.......1999-11-27
Being scared to death, while laughing yourself to death, is a unique feeling, but one captured in this collection of adventure stories expertly. Long has an excellent ability to portray what inspires adventurers, from the silly to the serious, to risk their lives and what it feels like when they're doing it. I was thrilled to see that this book is still available. Get it now before it goes out of print! !
His best stuff........1999-02-05
I believe this is his first collection and I think his best. All his own writings, fact or based on fact, or fiction. The funniest adventure writer I have ever read. If you only want one John Long collection, this is the one to get.
Books:
- The Belgariad, Vol. 1 (Books 1-3): Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cigars (The Complete Idiot's Guide)
- The Egyptian Jukebox: A Conundrum
- The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts
- The Everything Kids' Mazes Book: Twist, Squirm, and Wind Your Way Through Subways, Museums, Monster Lairs, and Tombs (Everything Kids Series)
- The Expert at the Card Table: The Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation
- The God Delusion
- The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time
- The Healing Path: How the Hurts in Your Past Can Lead You to a More Abundant Life
- The Hiding Place
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- AP Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law
- The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties
- Sean Connery:A Celebration
- Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper
- The Dogs Who Found Me: What I've Learned from Pets Who Were Left Behind
- The Return Journey
- The Goodenoughs Get in Sync: A Story for Kids about the Tough Day When Filibuster Grabbed Darwin's R
- West's Federal Taxation: Corporations, Partnerships, Estates, and Trusts, 2000
- Silver Spoon Kids : How Successful Parents Raise Responsible Children
- The Collected Stories of Richard Yates
Intraseasonal Variability in the Atmosphere-Ocean Climate System (Springer Praxis Books / Environmental Sciences)
Atmospheric Modeling, Data Assimilation and Predictability
Statistical Methods in the Atmospheric Sciences, Volume 91, Second Edition (International Geophysics)
Statistical Analysis in Climate Research
Atmospheric Science, Volume 92, Second Edition: An Introductory Survey (International Geophysics)
