Throwback Thursday: Ship of Souls

Ship of Souls by Zetta Elliott (2011, ARC) 

Amazon Publishing

Rating: 3.5/5

IQ "Kids on my block called 'reject'. Grown folks at church called me an 'old soul'. One girl at school told me I talked like a whiteboy. But when I ask Mom about it she just said, 'you are black. And nothing you say, or do, or pretend to be will ever change that fact. So just be yourself, Dmitri. Be who you are." pg. 3

Dmitri, known as D, is living with a foster family after his mother dies of breast cancer. D is used to having his foster mom all to himself, when she takes in Mercy, a crack-addicted baby he finds himself unable to cope. He is at a new school and while tutoring he becomes friend with Hakeem, a basketball star who needs extra math help and Nyla, a military brat both boys have crushes on. Sometimes after school D bird watches in Prospect Park and he discovers a mysterious bird, Nuru that can communicate with him. He enlists Hakeem and Nyla to help him help Nuru (who is injured) escape evil forces, the ghosts of soldiers that died during the Revolutionary War. They journey from Brooklyn to the African Burial Ground in Manhattan to assist Nuru in freeing the souls that reside there.

I wish some of the fantasy elements had been developed a bit further, such as Nuru's role, his dialogue also came across sounding a little ridiculous and heavy on the 'wise mentor' scale. The characters did come across as having a message. It is made very clear that Hakeem is Muslim and Nyla is 'different from the stereotype. I wish the individuality of the characters had come off in a more subtle way (for example when Hakeem describes how his older sister listed all Muslim basketball players to convince his dad to let him play. And then Hakim lists them all and weaves in tidbits about the hijab. It came across as stilted for middle school dialogue). But then again this book is intended for a younger audience who need it hammered in that it's dangerous to define people and put them in boxes. I also wish the book had been longer just by a few chapters, selfishly because I wanted more historical tidbits but also because I felt that the fantasy elements happened so fast as did the sudden strong friendship with Hakeem and Nyla. And the love triangle made me sad but that's not the author's fault! Although I would have been happy without it.

Yet again Zetta Elliott seamlessly blends together history and fantasy, Black American history that is often ignored in textbooks. Unlike the descriptions of the characters I found the historical tidbits woven in artfully. There are so many goodies in here about the importance of working with other people, that heroes need not go it alone. This is especially vital because the author makes it explicitly clear that D is unbearably lonely but he keeps himself isolated from other people because he doesn't want to be abandoned or disappointed or lose them in a tragic way as happened with his mother. The author does a great job of making you truly feel and understand D's loneliness and your heart aches for him. Also while I didn't think the friendship had enough time to really grow into the strong bonds that developed so quickly, it was a very genuine friendship (once you suspend your disbelief) in terms of doing anything and everything for your friends and believing the seemingly improbable. It is also clear that the author has a strong appreciation of nature and that makes the fantasy elements more interesting while also making it appear more realistic.

Ship of Souls is a great story that focuses on a portion and population of the American Revolution that is completely ignored by most history outlets. The fantasy world is well-thought out, I only wish the book had been longer to explain more about the world D and his friends get involved in as well as more time to believably develop their friendship. The characters are strong, but they were written with a heavy hand that tries hard to point out how they defy stereotypes.  I devoured the story not just because of the length but because it is so different from anything else out there and it's a lovely addition to the YA/MG fantasy world. I can't wait to see what the author does next and again I adored her first YA novel A Wish After Midnight. I recommend both books.

Disclosure: Received from the author, who I do consider a wonderful friend and mentor. Many thanks Zetta!

Off Color: Guardian of the Dead

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey 2010
Little, Brown and Company

Rating: 4/5

IQ "It's the shape of the story that matters, the way belief forms around it. The story has real weight." Mark pg. 173


Ellie Spencer attends Mansfield College, a boarding school in Christchurch, New Zealand. At seventeen years old she does things lot of other teenagers, do some smart activities and some not-so smart activities. Everything is grinding along for Ellie when a mysterious and beautiful woman becomes fascinated with Ellie's best friend, Kevin. The woman's fascination borders on disturbing and there's something off about her. Ellie also has a new fascination, Mark, who finally begins to notice her but it's almost as if he's enchanted her. Ellie quickly learns that she should trust her gut as she is thrust into a world of Maori mythology and fairies. There's also a serial killer on the loose known as the "Eyeslasher". Killers, fairies and lots and lots of magic will lead Ellie on a roller coaster ride over the course of a few days.

Some of the scenes jumbled together in this book. I found myself having to go back and re-read to put the events in order because for some reason in my mind they weren't clear. I think I was most disappointed in the lack of Kevin time. Not only because Kevin had Maori heritage and I wanted to read about that but also he's a genuinely interesting character. He vanishes for much of the novel and while I understand why that disappearance occurred, I wish he could have been worked in better. I also didn't like the storyline of Ellie's sister. It adds a diverse aspect to the story but other than that it was pointless. I had hoped that we would at least 'meet' Magda or hear from her but Ellie mentions her briefly every now and then and proceeds to move on. I found it hard to focus on this book too, perhaps because it moved too slow or maybe because I got too hung up on understanding the mythology/various cultures of New Zealand? I'm not entirely sure but that's entirely on me. When I closed the book I honestly did not understand why the battle for immortality occurred the way it did. There seemed to be too many supernatural elements thrown together within a few chapters, it felt rushed. I'm still not entirely sure how the Eyeslasher murders and the paranormal creatures were related....well I think I understand it but it seemed to be an unnecessary stretch.

It is hard to keep the Maori mythology straight but I didn't care, I just wanted to learn more, more, more! While the mythology seemed to be introduced at random times and could be jarring, it was fascinating to see its modern day connections. I was very pleased at how the ending of the book showed how what had occurred in the supernatural world still affected the real world. There are some devastating repercussions that made me very sad but I didn't mind the realistic aspect, I appreciated it. Adding to the overall realistic theme of the novel is Ellie. She constantly refers to herself as big although I'm not sure if she's overweight or not (I would imagine not since she takes tae kwon do). Since Ellie is trained in tae kwon do (black belt) she's able to defend herself physically which is a lot of fun to read about because some of the info shown could prove useful in real life to the reader. I also grew enamored with the ending for not being too open or firmly shut and Ellie does not put her future education on hold. She talks about classes during the book and she plans on going to University, in fact she agonizes over what she wants to study BECAUSE WHAT SHE LOVES WON'T PAY MUCH. Boy oh boy could I relate to that anxiety. It's also quite funny to read about Ellie's Classics professor, Gribaldi, who is always complaining that her students in New Zealand don't work as hard as AP American students. I'm sure that's not true but it must be nice not being exhausted every waking minute because of school. As Ellie says "I couldn't see the appeal of working yourself ragged and doing ten thousand extra-curriculars. So New Zealand only had seven universities, and most entrance courses required entrants to meet a bare minimum of standards. So what?" (pg. 49), sentences like that would did seem didactic at times. However, I didn't mind because I love comparing and contrasting how teens live in different countries. And like Ellie I don't see the appeal either but that attitude has/will hurt me.

I was enamored with Guardian of the Dead due its close-to-perfect ending along with its authentic characters struggling with teen insecurities, diverse cast and informal view of life in New Zealand specifically life at a prestigious New Zealand boarding school and in Christchurch. At times the author seemed to be pointedly discussing the diversity of her characters, when describing Samia it came across more subtly that she was Muslim, but for other characters Ellie would flat-out describe them as Asian or Desi. I'm not sure which I would prefer but it was something small that I found interesting. I do wish the book's ending had been less jumbled and that more characters became 3D. Ellie, Mark and Iris are the three teens I would say become fully fleshed out but there are so many other characters worth exploring (Kevin)! Ellie is fairly logical but not more so than the average teen except for the fact that she knows self-defense. She seems to think the most inappropriate thoughts at crucial moments but they made me pause because they were good points. When a particular character dies she observes "in the movies, you could close the eyelids of a dead man by passing one hand over his face. I had to pinch the skin of his right eyelid and tug, and even then it wouldn't close all the way over the emptied eye socket" (pg. 289), a gross image but who would have ever considered the logistics of that particular scenario? I found Ellie's down-to-earth, insecure, self-deprecating, somewhat quirky (but not obnoxiously so) personality to be refreshing.

Disclosure: Received from publisher. Thank you so much L&B Company!

*Note: I had originally planned on reading this the 2011 Global Reading Challenge. While it technically counts for the challenge since it's set in New Zealand, it does not count for my personal guidelines since the main character is not a person of color and her best friend who is does not play as much of a role in the story. But I think the author's next book does have a main character of color so I added it to the list!

PS Just a fyi: one of the characters is asexual. I've never read a book that even mentions being asexual so I was really happy to see it mentioned because I know nothing about that sexual orientation.