Books With Bean ~ The Screwtape Letters

Title: The Screwtape Letters

Author: C. S. Lewis 

Published: 1942

Genre: religious, Christian, spiritual,  

Summary: This book is a series of letters from a senior devil to his nephew a junior devil. It is Screwtape’s advice to his nephew about how to deal with the man he has been placed with in hopes that the man will be corrupted and spend eternity in hell.

What I liked about it: I first picked up this book many many years ago after the funeral of my great-great aunt. Not for any particular reason, the adults were talking and I was bored and found the library in the church where the service was. I had read most of the chronicles of Narnia at the time and picked up the book mostly just because I knew the author. I only got a few pages in at that time and I will confess I didn’t really get it. It wasn’t until many years later that I picked the book up again and found myself reading one of the best books I had ever found in my life. I have, over the course of Books with Bean, tried not to do more then one book my the same author. It is because once I have introduced one of their books I believe that you are fully capable of discovering more of their works on your own. This book, as it will be my last BwB, is the exception. This is because I believe this book to be so amazing and so much different from the world of Narnia that it really is a bit surprising that it is by the same author. I love the book so much because it really makes a person (if of course they are a Christian) think about their life and how they live it. We tend to become stuck a lot of the time in apathy. Things don’t bother us, so we don’t care about how they play out. But this isn’t good and you probably haven’t stopped to think recently about why you are thinking a certain way that while not exactly how God wants us to think, you tell yourself it’s alright and no big thing to worry about. In the letters Screwtape deals with temptations for Wormwood to try on his man that when you read about you will probably realize you do all the time. It is a book written to make us think, and it does its job very well. 

Language: a little light swearing. It is a book where the main characters are demons so there are a lot of mentions of Hell. 

Romance: None for the characters although it is mentioned that Wormwood's charge is in a relationship later in the book. 

Violence: it mentions a war (which the author says is most likely WWII) and of course it mentions Hell. 

Magic: There is no magic. This is the spiritual world that goes with ours. The invisible to our visible world and while the book is fiction, the spiritual world is very real. 

Recommended Age: This book, while written in simple language that almost anyone can read, is not for a young child like other C. S. Lewis works. It is best I think for at least 13 on up as that is the point where I think most young adults are old enough to go past the strange wording and see the book for what it is. There is also as always no upper age limit this is a good book for teens on up. 

Books With Bean ~ The Little Prince

Title: The Little Prince

Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Published: 1943

Genre: fantasy, children’s, young adult, adventure, philosophy 

Summary: The Little Prince lives on his asteroid not doing much except watching the sun rise and set, getting rid of Baobab trees and taking care of his rose. One day the Little Prince leaves his asteroid and as he travels he learns more about life, especially the lives of grown ups who are much different the what the Little Prince is used to. 

What I liked about it: I have loved this book since I first read it many years ago. I didn’t understand it as well the first time I read it and each time I reread it I find myself realizing more about it than I had the previous time. It is a beautiful book that has a lot of meaning in it for anyone who reads it. 

Language: None

Romance: None

Violence: None

Magic: There is no explained magic. It’s not a normal fantasy with a magic system and a lot of fancy spells. The magic is not really anything more then really just the imagination of a child. It is simple and pure in a way that most books aren’t anymore. 

Recommended Age: I don’t really think there is anyone too young or old for this story. It is a fun adventure for a child and interesting look at the human personality and life for those who are older. It can be enjoyed at any age and only gets better with each reading. 

*This is the next-to-last installment of our Books With Bean column. Arlene has done these as a part of her schoolwork for her senior year (book analysis, writing, and graphic arts.) She will be graduating this weekend, so next Monday will be the final installment. We both hope you have enjoyed these book reviews. You can read back through all of them anytime by clicking the small orange Books With Bean tag at the bottom of any of these posts.

Books With Bean ~ A Christmas Carol

Title: A Christmas Carol  

Author: Charles Dickens

Published: December 19th, 1843

Genre: Christmas, fiction 

Summary: You have probably heard the tale before: Marley is dead and Scrooge is left to deal with the business of lending to the poor. As Christmas comes, Scrooge has no time for it nor for anyone who does. All he worries about is his money and making sure he has plenty of it. That is until Marley returns from the dead and shows Scrooge the shackles that weigh him down. Marley says three ghosts will visit Scrooge and he hopes Scrooge heeds their words.

What I liked about it: I have a love hate relationship with Dickens, as in I love this book and The Tale of Two Cities, and I hate Oliver Twist with almost everything in me. I love this story, it is really one of the first of the type of stories that we as a society seem to love these days. The story where the bad guy is just misunderstood, and if he were shown a better way he would change. I can’t remember the first time I heard this story. It certainly wasn’t by reading it. I don’t think I had even read it until I was probably 14. It was either the Muppets version (which I highly recommend) or the Disney version with Scrooge McDuck. This story is about learning from our pasts and becoming better for our futures. It is about loving everyone no matter how old or young, how rich or poor, and not doing it just for what we can get in return. This is an important lesson that we have been talking about in Church recently and I feel like it is one we don’t pay enough attention to. 

Language: None

Romance: Scrooge, we learn, was engaged as a young adult but it was broken off. It is important to the story, but it’s never written in a way that I would consider inappropriate for anyone reading it.

Violence: There is talk of death and hunger but it’s never gory.

Magic: Well there are the ghosts of course but it’s not really explained how they work. 

Recommended Age: I don’t really think there is anyone too young for this story, well maybe an actual infant, but that’s about it. A younger child may be more ready for a movie version first, but it is definitely worth it. As someone who has been watching the movies made from this story since I was a kid, I can say honestly that it is a powerful message that only grows more strong the older I get and the more I understand what is going on. The Muppets version is amazing and it is a classic that definitely gets me into the sharing and caring mood every December.

Books With Bean ~ The Schwa Was Here

Title: The Schwa Was Here 

Author: Neal Shusterman

Published: 2004

Genre: Young Adult 

Summary: Have you even met a person that you just can't remember? Maybe you know that they are there and just don’t pay attention to them or maybe you go through life and it isn't until some time later that you realize that they were right next to you the whole time and you never even noticed. For Antsy it's the latter, Calvin Schwa, or the Schwa as he is better known,  has sat next to him in school for years; always on time for class, always ready with the answers and always just waiting to be noticed. But there is just something about him that makes most peoples' eyes move right over him in a crowd or skip past him like he’s not even there when he is by himself. Everyone at school has heard of him of course, but he is one of those weird urban legends that you are never sure if they are real or not. Antsy never noticed him until the day he is given an unbearable plastic dummy by his dad who works in product development for a plastic company. On the day Antsy and his friends Howie and Irma go out to try and break Manny as they have dubbed him, they first really notice the Schwa and from that day on Antsy is curious to see how far being mostly invisible can be pushed before it finally gets noticed. It turns out pretty far. In a group of kids in a classroom, when counted, only 1 out of every 5 people notices the Schwa is there. Finally on a dare the Schwa goes into the realm of Crazy Old Man Crawley and turns out he is one of the people who can notice the Schwa just by looking around. As payment for not turning them over to the cops, Crawley has them walk his 14 dogs every day and what at first seems like the ruination of the boys summer turns out to be a lesson in both friendship and trust.

What I liked about it: I have read this book so many times and it gets better each time. Antsy with his straight forward Brooklyn attitude is an interesting first person narrator. The Schwa is also an interesting person in the way that he deals with his “invisibleness” and how it affects his life both before and after he becomes friends with Antsy. Of the other characters like Crazy Old Man Crawley, Antsy’s friends Howie and Irma, and Lexie, they are well developed and each interesting in their own ways.

Language: One of the things I try to do with these book reviews is find good clean books that parents don’t have to worry about their kids reading. As such almost none of the books have even light swearing and only a hint of romance. This books is a bit different. It has no inappropriate scenes but it does have some language, not a lot and not really anything super hard but it does have a few words that good little Christain me wouldn’t say. Its not anything that I would consider really bad but it is there. 

Romance: There is a not really a love triangle. One of the things Crazy Old Man Crawley has Antsy do is “date” his granddaughter Lexie while she is in town over the summer. Basically it's Antsy's job to take her to parks and museums and that sort of thing. Lexie is blind and yet can still tell whenever the Schwa is in the room. Because of this Schwa becomes interested in her and gets a bit jealous that Antsy gets to “date” her. In the end, Antsy realizes that he and Lexie are just friends, which for a YA book is really nice because a lot of them seem to make it feel like there has to be a romance in every book and having a book where and guy and girl are just friends is really nice.

Violence: Manny the plastic dummy “dies” in several different ways over the course of the story at the boys try and break the unbreakable plastic but its never graphic and even when he finally breaks it is like whatever because he is just plastic.

Magic: None 

Recommended Age: Antsy and his friends are in their mid teens and I feel like to really appreciate the book and its themes and plot you really have to be at least 14-15. However, that being said, the themes of appreciating everyone you know and friendship and all that are good things that can be learned or relearned at any age so there I really no top age for when you can read this book. 

Books With Bean ~ Book Scavenger

Title: Book Scavenger 

Author: Jennifer Chambliss Bertman 

Published: June 2015

Genre: Middle Grade, adventure, 

Summary: Emily’s family has just moved again and this time they relocated to San Francisco home of the legendary Garrison Griswold the man who created the amazing online program known as Book Scavenger a place where people can share books with others by hiding them and leaving clues for others to follow to find them. Emily wants to meet her idol but she soon learns that Mr. Griswold has been attacked and is now in a coma just days before he was set to announce an amazing new game as part of Book Scavenger. With her new friend James, Emily finds a book she believes is part of the new game but it turns out they aren’t the only ones looking for it. 

What I liked about it: I love books so the idea of hiding and sharing them with puzzles to solve to find them definitely drew me in! I liked the idea of the story and it was a lot of fun to read. Emily and James are fun to read about and their friends they make along the way are all interesting in their own ways. 

Language: None 

Romance: None

Violence: Garrison Griswold is attacked a beat up at the beginning but it’s the only big violence in the book. 

Magic: None 

Recommended Age: This book is fun even for older kids but not so complicated that ones as young as 9-10 wouldn’t understand it. 

Books With Bean ~ Yellow Submarine - graphic novel

Title: Yellow Submarine 

Author: Bill Morrison

Published: 2018

Genre: Adaptation, graphic novel

Summary: When the Blue Meanies attack Pepperland  destroying all the color and music and most importantly Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band the most famous band in the land young Fred finds himself given the task of finding someone to help him restore the land to the way it was before. Traveling in a yellow submarine he makes his way to Liverpool where the finds the Beatles. John, Paul, George and Ringo decide to help the man but unfortunately getting to Pepperland isn't as easy as it sounds. They will have to travel through many dangerous seas before reaching the sea of green outside of Pepperland and it is not a task for the faint of hart.

What I liked about it: The graphic novel is based off of the animated movie of the same name and I was excited for it to come out because I first watched the movie several years ago and loved it. The Beatles and the characters they meet are fun and the book having been adapted right from the movie makes it fun and full of color. The only down side to the graphic novel is that there is no music but if you want to pause at points where there is music in the movie and listen to the song it is easy to fine the songs online. 

Language: None

Romance: None

Violence: There is fighting between the Blue Meanies and the people of Pepperland, but it a funny oldy-timey cartoon sort of fight and never anything graphic. 

Magic: Well now you don’t have adventures in a place like Pepperland in the real world. The magic of Pepperland is a magic of love, joy, happiness and music and while it not talked of how it came to be its not evil by any means.

Recommended Age: This is the hard part. With its fun colors and not overly complicated plot I don’t think there is anything preventing someone younger (say 10-11) from reading it however there are a lot of puns and plays on words that I don’t think kids will get until they are a little older (closer to 13-14)

Books With Bean ~ The Jekyll Island Chronicles

Title: The Jekyll Island Chronicles: A Machine Age War

Author: Steve Nedvidek, Ed Crowell, Jack Lowe

Published: 2016

Genre: Alt-History, Graphic Novel, Steampunk 

Summary: WWI has just ended but President Wilson is certain that there are still unknown persons hiding in the shadows waiting for the world to finish celebrating peace. Not knowing what exactly to do, President Wilson takes a trip to Jekyll Island off of the coast of Georgia where approximately 1/6 of the world’s wealth lies in the hands of some very smart and very inventive people. People with names like Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Morgan and more. Most of the men think the president is finally loosing it but Andrew Carnegie isn’t so sure. He decides to look into things and while he finds the threat is indeed real he also finds several extraordinary people willing to help him stop the evil and stand up for what is right. 

What I liked about it: I loved this book! The graphics are amazing, the plot is well thought out, and the characters  -both the real people and the made up ones are entertaining, interesting and fun. As someone who is always looking for good steam/diesel punk (and hardly ever finding any) it is cool to not just have a good story but having amazing pictures to go with it. The graphics add to the story and fully immerse you into the world that they represent. 

Language: None 

Romance: None

Violence: There is a bit of fighting that while just reading normally I wouldn’t consider very bad, but I do note it here since it is pictured due to the fact that this is a graphic novel and not just a book.

Magic: None, just lots of cool science.

Recommended Age: Because of certain elements in this book (like the violence mentioned above) I would say wait until at least 13 or 14, if not 15. I also say this because while this does take place in our world, it is alternate history and I don’t think it would be a good idea to have a younger kid who might not realize it is not historical fact read it while they are still learning their real history and think the events in the book really happened. 

Books With Bean ~ Ivy and Bean

Title: Ivy and Bean

Author: Annie Barrows

Published: July 1, 2010

Genre: Children’s 

Summary: From the time Ivy moved in on the other side of the street, Bean’s mother has been bothering her to go meet the girl and get to know her since they are the same age. But Ivy just reads all the time which looks boring to Bean. Then one day when Bean plays a prank on her big sister Nancy she needs a place to hide and Ivy’s house appears to be the perfect place.

What I liked about it: Ivy and Bean and pure fun! Their adventures remind me a lot of the Ramona books in that they are full of fun and funny adventures. The two girls are each very different but interesting in their own ways and even though they don’t think they will like each other at first they learn that even the most boring people can really be the most fun. 

Language: None

Romance: None

Violence: None

Magic: Ivy has a book of spells and is learning to become a witch however there is no real magic besides the power of make-believe and friendship 

Recommended Age: this books are fun but not to hard and I think 6 or 7 is a good age for a first read.

*the new schedule for Books With Bean is the second and fourth Mondays of each month.

Books With Bean ~ The Wild Book

Title: The Wild Book

Author: Juan Villoro

Published: 2008 (original edition in Spanish), 

November, 4th 2017 (English edition)

Genre: Children's 

Summary: Juan's life is turned upside-down when he learns his father is leaving to work in Paris and his parents are separating. Suddenly a summer break from school has gone from looking like fun days with his friends to living with his strange uncle Tito in his uncle’s strange house full of books. Upon arriving Juan learns that his summer is about to be anything but boring. He is a special sort of reader and His uncle’s books have personalities of their own. 

Juan and his new friend Catalina, who helps at her family’s pharmacy across the street, soon begin to share the books from uncle Tito’s house. Reading the adventures of the Heart Shaped River they learn more about how the books work to find just the right readers for themselves. Soon they are on the hunt for the most elusive book of them all The Wild Book which has never been read and only held a few times. 

What I liked about it: This book was an amazing and beautiful book! I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves books and loves to read and go on adventures (real or in print). Juan, Catalina, Uncle Tito and all the other characters were fun and each was interesting in their own way. The way the book talks about books and their readers really resonated with me. The story was unique and I loved it a lot. It was also really interesting because it was not originally written in English and yet in the translation from Spanish there was never a time where it sounded weird or choppy. 

Language: None

Romance: As soon as Juan meets Catalina he falls in love with her. However the characters are young (13ish) and it never gets inappropriate. Juan kisses her on the cheek once and Catalina does so back a little later. It does say at the end of the book that several years later they got married but it is obvious that it is not immediate. 

Violence: None

Magic: The books move on their own. They have a way of appearing before those that they think would like to read them. It is never quite explained how this all works however. 

Recommended Age: Juan is 13 and I think that 12-13 would be a good age to read this book for the first time. However if you are older I still think you would like it a lot.