Across The Universe

Across The Universe stars Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, and Joe Anderson as Lucy, Jude and Max respectively.

This is the story of Lucy and her brother, Max, and his best friend, Jude (who also becomes Lucy's lover) from Liverpool, England. The story focuses on the blossoming romantic relationship between Lucy and Jude that is set against the turbulent backdrop of 1960's riots, protests, drafts, war and the changing times in America.

Max is drafted and deployed to Vietnam while Lucy immerses herself in the radical anti-war movement. Lucy's activities in the peace protests can be seen as a reaction to Max being drafted. However, an early scene in which Lucy confesses to a friend that her decision to not have children is based on the opinion that having children is "narcissistic" reveals Lucy to be a rather radical, free thinker, who is unafraid to buck societal expectations and roles for women. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Jude, is a struggling artist living in the U.S. without a visa. He remains uninvolved in the peace movement as he sees the protests as futile--Lucy might be willing to "lay down in front of a tank if that's what it takes to bring [her] brother home" from the war, though Jude points out that this won't do any good. Before long the differences between Jude's and Lucy's respective ideologies and their world views threaten to tear the young lovers apart. Will Max survive the war? Will Jude and Lucy reunite despite the ocean that separates them literally and figuratively?

This movie is different; this is an understatement. There is very little dialogue; instead the scenes and the story are driven and connected by the cast's performances of Beatles songs. There is no denying the shear creativity and originality of the director's vision for and execution of this film; it is unusual and original and sometimes bizarre, and you probably won't see another movie quite like it for a long time. Some scenes seem as if they are part of someone's acid trip and the filmmaker has invited the audience to witness it. Since the tenuous thread connecting the scenes are songs by the Beatles, the story can be hard to follow at times without dialogue to fill in the holes left in the action and events portrayed on screen. Regardless, this movie is one surreal journey as the characters sing and dance through the film.

I recommend this movie, especially for fans of music and film, fans of musicals--and fans of the Beatles. Across The Universe is available upon request from Lebanon Community Library and Annville Free Library.

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie

Where The Heart Is by Billie Letts

Hola, chicas! We have a guest reviewer for this post and her name is Victoria. She has been volunteering here at the Matthews Public Library this summer, and she has quite graciously and bravely agreed to submit a review for our blog!

--Ms. Angie

Home is the place that'll catch you when you fall. And we all fall.

Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts (now also a major motion picture!) brings us into the life of Novalee Nation and her sometimes cursed, sometimes blessed life. The story starts with Novalee, who's seventeen years old and pregnant, stranded at a Walmart and befriended by the most unusual people in the southern United States. After living in and giving birth to her baby in the Walmart, Novalee is taken in by Sister Husband, who cares for her and her baby. Following countless accidents, troubles, and good times, we finally reach the end of the novel in which Novalee must decide between her head and her heart.

This novel is touching as well as heartwarming. Watching the struggles of the young Novalee as she is forced to become a woman is inspiring. Where the Heart Is captures the readers' attention and, of course, their heart.

This book is available at Matthews Public Library and upon request from Annville Free Library, Lebanon Community Library, Myerstown Community Library, Palmyra Public Library and Richland Community Library. Check it out sometime!

--Reviewed by Miss Victoria

Zinnia's Flower Garden by Monica Wellington

Are you looking for a children's book about flower gardening? Zinnia's Flower Garden by Monica Wellington may be just the book you've been searching for. It tells the story of girl named Zinnia who decides to plant a flower garden. The book is filled with bright pictures and simple descriptions of how Zinnia planted her seeds. The story also teaches the reader how to care for the seeds and what the seeds need to grow. It also includes pictures of some common flowers.

The next time you're in the library check out this book; it is located in Easy Reader fiction at E/Wel. It is also available upon request from Lebanon Community Library and Annville Free Library.

--Reviewed by Ms. Kathy

Hallowed Ground: A Walk At Gettysburg by James M. McPherson

As [Union General Joshua Lawrence] Chamberlain later wrote ... "my thought was running deep.... Desperate as the chances were, there was nothing for it but to take the offensive. I stepped to the colors. The men turned toward me. One word was enough,-- 'BAYONET!' It caught like fire, and swept along the ranks." With a wild yell, the survivors of this two-hour firefight, led by their multilingual fighting professor, lurched downhill in a bayonet charge against shocked Alabamians.

from pages 81-82, Hallowed Ground

Chamberlain's words at the dedication of his regiment's monument at Gettysburg:

"In great deeds, something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear, but spirits linger, to consecrate the ground for the vision-place of souls. And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them..."

from page 84, Hallowed Ground

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

from President Lincoln's Address at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863, reprinted on page 140, Hallowed Ground

Family is coming from out-of-state to visit for a couple weeks as they do nearly every summer, and one of the day long excursions we are planning for this year is to the historic battlefields of Gettysburg. In anticipation of this trip I decided to read up on the battle that took place there over a century ago.

Hallowed Ground: A Walk At Gettysburg is written by James M. McPherson, a Princeton professor who has led many a tour of Gettysburg's battlefields. The author's introduction begins by pointing out that the battle's importance in military history is studied both here and abroad. McPherson then takes us on a walking tour of Gettysburg where 165,000 Union and Confederate soldiers met in a bloody battle on July 1-3, 1863 that became the turning point for Union victory and preservation of the nation. It is a detailed, fascinating and gripping account of the battle couched in the context of a walking tour. McPherson also takes care to dispel several popular myths related to the battle and sheds light on the heroic actions and courage of the men who fought there for their respective causes.

I highly recommend you check out this book. It is available upon request from Lebanon, Myerstown and Richland Community Libraries.

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie

Summertime Boredom Busters

Ms. Sheila, our ingenious and intrepid director, has filmed two videos for our Youtube channel. They detail two unique and creative activities that you can do this summer to beat boredom with the kids or to improve the outdoor landscape of your summertime retreat.

The first is entitled DIY Patio Pavers and can be viewed here on the blog or on our channel here.

The second video is entitled Paper Toys and features a fun book called The Toymaker by Marilyn Scott Waters that is chockfull of creative paper toy ideas to create with the kids. You can view this video below or you can view it on our channel here.

We hope you enjoy viewing these videos!

The Reapers by John Connolly

There are so many killings, so many victims, so many lives lost and ruined every day, that it can be hard to keep track of them all, hard to make the connections that might bring cases to a close ... One death invites the next, extending a pale hand in greeting, grinning as the ax falls, the blade cuts. There is a chain of events that can easily be reconstructed, a clear trail for the law to follow.

from chapter 1, page 13 of The Reapers

The Reapers by John Connolly can be considered a stand alone novel. Although references are made to past events from the Charlie Parker series (see related YouTube review here by yours truly) and characters recur from previous Parker books, this is not a Parker novel. You don't really need to read any of the other Parker novels before you read this one.

There was once a fraternity of killers of killers; they were called Reapers. Louis, our friendly neighborhood assassin who often helps out Charlie Parker on particularly nasty cases, is a Reaper. Now someone wants both Louis and his partner, Angel, dead. The people who want them dead are willing to kill many people close to Louis and Angel, set up an elaborate ruse, and hire a seriously twisted Reaper with a personal vendetta against Louis to get the job done. For once, it is Charlie Parker who must bail Louis and Angel out of some twisted trouble.

This is related to Connolly's Parker series in that it focuses on Louis and Angel, two colorful characters who often appear in supporting roles in the Parker books, and Parker also appears in a supporting role in this novel. We are treated to a fairly detailed survey of the most important events in Louis' past that have made him what he is today. This novel also has a different feeling from the Parker novels. Its tension is tightly wound--because throughout the entire book one wonders if it all ends with Angel and Louis in a couple of body bags. It is also not necessarily a mystery/who dunnit type of story. Instead it feels more like an action movie wrapped up in a novel with a mystery for a subplot. Most of the mystery comes from trying to figure out who is after Louis and Angel and why--this goes for the people hiring the assassin as well as the assassin himself.

Connolly's writing is beautiful and lyrical, and he has a knack for drawing colorful, eccentric characters; this is especially evident in the Parker novels. It felt like this novel moved more slowly than others because a lot of it looks backward into Louis' past and some chapters, particularly early ones, are rather long.

I started this book a month ago and just finished it this past weekend. I must say I battled a case of reader's block with this one (like writer's block, except one's reading is blocked). I did read another book and two graphic novels while I read this book. One factor in the difficulty in reading this one may have been my anxiety about what the ending might bring-- would Louis and Angel survive to bail Parker's butt out of some future nasty mess in Connolly's next novel? One can only hope. And am I twisted because I really did not want to see this all end with Louis and Angel in a couple of body bags even though one could argue they brought it on themselves because of sins in their past and present... and most likely future?

I highly recommend you check this book out of the Matthews Public Library or request it from the Annville Free Library. You won't regret it.

--reviewed by Ms. Angie