July ending, August beginning

 I haven't blogged all the July pics yet, and here we are in August. Some dancing shots of Daniel and Tertia at Ian and Ashley's wedding...

Tertia dances with such complete joy, even when her feet hurt from dancing all night.

 My July birthday girl made her own birthday cake. It was a Mocha Toffee Crunch cake, and it was delicious! She is seventeen now.

Also, Tertia and I entered the Harry Potter trivia competition on July 31 at Latte-Da Coffeehouse and Wine Bar. We won second place! Tertia is the trivia whiz... I provide transcription and spelling assistance, and I know Latin so if she remembers  something that sounds vaguely like "priori incantatem" I write it down.

 A shirt, a Dobby poster and a special vial of Felix Felicis (for decorative purposes only) were the spoils of victory. She is already making plans for the next event on Halloween.

 The Clark County Fair is  now open. Pygmy goats are always photogenic.

 I didn't enter any quilts, but enjoyed looking at those on display.

And the girls doing a silly shot in the 4H cats and dogs pavilion. Not pictured: our annual stop at the Dairy Women's booth to buy milkshakes before leaving the fair.

The plum tree is doing its thing, we are making plans for camp, the Megaquilter is semifunctional again and I am binding Grand Illusions quilt, which really deserves its own post. I'm also doing  genealogy semi-obsessively - which needs its own post; and I'm working on my Latin course for Wikiversity, which needs its own post. The random number for August is 9 - that means that my randomly selected UFO's for this month are (1) to resurrect the ancient Mariner's Compass rug hooking project from... maybe 18 years ago... and (2) work on knitted gifts for my stash. Neither of those is happening so far but I have finally turned the heel on my purple Sara Elin socks. 

Ravelry is still being a booger though, so I'm spending very little time there. They have lifted the restriction on me posting but they have blacked out my profile and are showing no signs of restoring it even though I purged it of everything political and asked to have it restored. And it wasn't even political in the first place! For the record, I oppose censorship. And the people who run Ravelry ... well, I can't say anything nice. But hey, at least they aren't spitting in my food or trying to get me de-platformed everywhere else. Their lunch counter, their rules. It's just one more symptom of a broken culture, where disagreeing with the Left on anything makes you a racist, and Twitter mobs can force the New York Times to take down the bland headline "Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism" because it wasn't anti-Trump enough. Yes, definitely time to tune out of Twitter and Ravelry and any other triggering sites for awhile.

Well, back to your previously scheduled summer. I want to prep a dehydrator full of plums today. Quarta has already made a load of plum-roll-ups for the winter. I also need to tackle Tertia's clothes and bag up the surplus ones so she can actually get them put away in her dresser. And there are a few quickie baby quilts I would like to make, but probably not until after camp.

Book review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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J.K. Rowling's fantasy masterpiece takes on a different tone as she begins winding up her saga in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Up until this book, even in the darkest and creepiest scenes of books 1-5, Harry and his friends are kids and there is a pervasive sense of swashbuckling adventure.  That sense doesn't disappear in the 6th book of the series, but Harry and co. are no longer children.  Nor is this a book for children in the traditional sense.  If you've read my previous reviews of the series (and if you haven't, they are here: book 1, book 2, book 3, book 4, book 5), you will be aware that in my opinion, books 1-3 are appropriate for children but books 4 and up require greater parental involvement and discernment.  They simply may not be appropriate for your child at the present time, and only you can tell for sure. 

I have two sons who grew up with Harry Potter; we discovered the series when book 4 was about to come out and quickly read through the first three books.  Book 4 wasn't that much later although I had reservations about some scenes, and then my firstborn had to wait along with the rest of the world for each new installment every few years.  It built family togetherness and a deep appreciation of reading - both of which are priceless.  But it also gave my boys time to grow a little and develop some maturity to deal with the darker themes that run through the entire series, but especially through the final two books.  With my daughters it's a little harder.

The evil Lord Voldemort is gaining power but there is not yet open war in the wizarding world. Harry Potter has learned from some of his missteps in the 5th book: his relationship with kindly old wizard Albus Dumbledore has deepened and he is called upon to help the headmaster in some important quests, although he is not entrusted with full knowledge of the circumstances even yet.  Some are calling him "the Chosen One," while he and his friends would like to be normal teenagers, falling in and out of love and grousing about the staffing changes at Hogwarts.  Much of the book is concerned with laying necessary groundwork for the final book.  I may be the only one to think so, but it seems to me that the Pensieve as a device for relaying backstory information is just a trifle cheap: "and then Harry looked into the magic Pensieve and saw what (x-character) had seen many years ago)." It works, but just barely.  Voldemort, it appears, has engaged in a particularly evil form of black magic; not once, but many times, he has attempted to ensure his own immortality by creating horcruxes.  (And it may be just because I'm a Latin teacher, but I think it should be horcruces.  But anyway.)  Harry still struggles with intense hatred and suspicion of Professor Severus Snape and his classmate Draco Malfoy.  Is it unreasonable?  And, as will be a theme in the 7th book as well, should Harry continue to act on blind faith and loyalty even when everyone else is telling him otherwise?  Between the 5th book and the 7th book, Harry changes from a moody teenager into a leader.  This book is the turning point that allows that transformation.  There are still plenty of moody teenager moments, but the trend is upward.

Unfortunately, a major character has to be killed off at the end of this book, and great turmoil ensues.  (I myself had the ending spoiled for me by one of the worst types of Muggles at Reagan National Airport on July 17, 2005, who was talking loudly on his cell phone -- as I sat reading my hot-off-the-presses British edition -- and revealed the big secret.  Pthbtbtbt!!! I was unable to enjoy the book for a few years because of him!)  The ending is necessary but deeply unsettling and the only solution for that is to read onward to the 7th book.  Spare a moment of pity for those of us who had to wait years between them!

This book is appropriate for ages 13 and up, and may be suitable for mature 10-year-olds.  Possible areas of concern: teenage romances, dark scenes, scary creatures called Inferi, themes of death, deception and betrayal.

Book Review - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

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I haven't done a book review in 2012 yet.  How about starting with one of my favorite of the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
This book has grown on me.  When I first read it, I felt Harry was too angry, too impatient, and the adults were either too distant, incompetent, or downright malevolent.  But after reading the full series, it becomes obvious that Harry is not just an adolescent with anger management issues.  Rowling is beginning to tie the series together in this book, and the emergence of the dark lord Voldemort with restored powers is only part of the threat to the Wizarding World.  The Ministry of Magic itself is suffering a lapse of leadership, with Cornelius Fudge and his associates trying to downplay public fears by denigrating Dumbledore and Harry as unstable cranks.

Things start badly for Harry, with Dementors attacking him and his cousin right in Little Whinging, and Ministry officials taking the opportunity to try to expel him.  But right-minded wizards have a secret society: the Order of the Phoenix, dedicated to fighting Voldemort. Except, Voldemort is playing hard-to-get. There's a rumor that he's stalking the Ministry, trying to get access to a weapon of some sort. We get to meet several members of the Order, including Mad-Eye Moody and Nymphadora Tonks, and we spend some time in the headquarters of the Order, the Black family mansion.  There, Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, spends his days in virtual solitary confinement with only Kreacher, a sour old house-elf, for company.

Soon the action shifts to Hogwarts, where Harry is surrounded by rumors and doubt.  Only his immediate circle of friends seem to trust him, and a few weird new characters like Luna "Looney" Lovegood.  Kids who have ever had an unfair teacher, or adults who have ever been caught in nasty workplace politics, will love to hate Dolores Umbridge, the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher.  Seriously, if you thought the nanny state of Orwell's 1984 was bad, Umbridge will take it to the next level.  But Umbridge's regime provides the spur for some of Rowling's best scenes ever.  Harry's friends band together to learn the skills they will need from him, and they find the perfect room of requirement for their forbidden activities.  My personal favorite character, Professor McGonagall, knows just how to handle a twit like Umbridge.  And Fred and George Weasley have their moment to shine as well.  Oh yes, and Hagrid finds his next of kin.

The theme of friendship and the loyalty of friends, as always, is a major one in this book.  Harry's self-doubts, his impulsiveness, his irrational angry spells, though, mean that it is one of the more introspective of the series.  A major character does die in the last chapters of this book, and Harry blames himself.  Although the book may read like a humorous, swashbuckling romp, the serious ending makes it better suited for those older than 10 or 11.  As I've noted before, this poses a problem for parents whose kids race through the earlier books.  I'll be stalling my 9-year-old for at least another year.

A word on the movies:  I'm a firm believer in requiring kids to read the books first.  The movies will give you the essential plot and feel of the series, but you will miss so much that makes reading a joy.  That said, I like many things about the movies, and am frustrated by a few things.  The first two movies are fun and family-friendly, a great start to the series and an introduction for the illiterate.  The third is very well-made, darker, and is considered by many fans and purists one of the better films.  I'd consider it the best of the first 5 films.  I was frustrated by the 4th film, which is impossibly fast-paced and seems like a breathless highlights reel of the book; so much so that the emotional impact of the final scenes is diminished.  The 5th movie does a better job of editing, but had to eliminate many of my favorite characters and scenes.

My other Harry Potter reviews:
Sorcerer's Stone
Chamber of Secrets
Prisoner of Azkaban
Goblet of Fire

Book Review - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth of seven books in J.K. Rowling's epic school story with a twist.  In this book, young Harry, raised by completely unsympathetic, non-magical Muggles, learns more about the civil war that is threatening to burst upon the magical world he now views as his true home.  More than ever before, he feels himself at the center of the action as the evil Lord Voldemort schemes to return to full power... and his plans appear to include Harry.  At the same time, there is plenty of rollicking, lively action to keep any young reader's interest, even though this book is longer than any of the first three in the series.

After a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Quidditch World Cup (Bulgaria vs. Ireland, but it takes place in an undisclosed location in Britain), Harry is back off to Hogwarts, where a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Mad-Eye Moody, encourages the students to take a more serious view of the threats against them.  These include the Unforgivable Curses of torture, mind-control, and murder... which will play an all-too-prominent role in the action of the series from this point onward.  The really big news is that Hogwarts will host the Tri-Wizard Tournament, a year-long competition between the three major European schools of wizardry.  Contestants from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will join a Hogwarts champion... but the goblet of fire that chooses the contestants spits out Harry's name, forcing him to compete against champions older and more experienced than he.  It all seems like a plot to get Harry killed, and to complicate matters, his best mate Ron Weasley is jealous of Harry's chance for glory. 

Many characters from previous books make a return appearance in the course of the book; Dobby the house elf and the ghost Moaning Myrtle give Harry some assistance in the competition.  Memorable new characters include the paranoid Mad-Eye, the poison-quilled tabloid journalist Rita Skeeter, the forlorn house-elf Winky, and the never-serious former athlete Ludo Bagman.  As in other books of the series, the themes of friendship and loyalty are large in this book; Harry as a neglected orphan has a greater apprciation for the value of friendship when he finds it and never undervalues an individual who has shown kindness to him. 

Like Harry himself, this book is in transition between the juvenile and adult world.  If you've followed my previous reviews of the series, you'll know that this is the book I won't let my 9-year-old read yet. (She finished book 3 in less than a day when given the green light, and then read it right through again.)  This book begins with the murder of an innocent man and includes another death of a significant character towards the end.  If your child is bothered by books that do not have completely happy endings and simple solutions, it might be best to hold off on reading this one no matter how appealing the earlier Harry books are.  There is also a very dark scene of ritual bloodletting and mutilation which would disturb just about anyone... although the Death Eaters and Voldemort are not in any way portrayed in a positive light and good eventually triumphs, the potential for bad dreams is significant.  Use good judgment in reading this to children under 10.  If they do read it, they will most likely want to continue the series, which deals with increasingly dark and serious themes and kills off more central characters in each book.  In my experience, some kids handle this better than others, and parents know their own kids best.  But for cultivating a joy in reading, there is still nothing quite like these books.

Book Review - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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The third book in the phenomenally popular series by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the last one, in my opinion, that should be read by a child under the age of 10 without fairly extensive parental oversight and debriefing.  After this, the books grow progressively darker and Rowling becomes one of those authors who Kill Off Characters.  And while the body count in books 4-7 may be appropriate to the context of the larger story arc, and the context may be appropriate for a Young Adult series, the eager 3rd and 4th graders who devoured the first few books may need to wait a few years for some maturity to set in before their parents let them loose on the last 4 books.  This book, I believe, is the turning point.  In many ways it is still a kids' book, and the mischief and pranks and teenage angst are all what you would expect in a kids' book.  But the larger context is a war amongst wizards and the potential return of a great, powerful Dark Lord.  Children discover they cannot trust everyone, and underlying the whole story is the horrific threat of the soul-sucking Dementors.  Even some kids in the recommended age range (8-9 and up) may find parts of it disturbing.

I admit to being torn on this one: my 9-year old really wants to read it and I will probably let her next time she asks nicely.  Her oldest brother read it before he was 8, and the 4th book before he was 10, but I would probably put her off longer than that on the 4th book.  This third book has a movie counterpart that is one of the better adaptations: they are all good in their ways, but this one successfully tells the story and retains the pacing and characterization of the book in a way that the later films do not.  (The later films tend to show only highlights from the books, leaving out the charming bits that make the books such a joy to the eager reader).  For many of us longtime Potter fans, this was the book that made us fans and ensured we would be staking out the bookstores for the new release of each new sequel.  In many ways, the enduring appeal of this series is for adults even more than children, but we probably shouldn't be greedy with this book.  It belongs to children first and foremost. 

In this book, Harry loses his temper with his dreadful Aunt Marge and finds himself on his own, more isolated that the maltreated orphan has ever been before, and expecting any minute to be expelled from Hogwarts.  There is a terrible criminal on the loose: Sirius Black, an escaped convict from the wizard prison, Azkaban.  Even the Muggle world is on the lookout for him.  Harry's best friends, Ron and Hermione, are at odds because Hermione's pet cat keeps attacking Ron's pet rat.  And Harry is afraid he is hallucinating when he sees a giant black dog -- or is it really the Grim, the ominous portent of death, as described by Sibyl Trelawney, professor of Divination?  Things begin to look up when he seeks special tutoring in how to repel Dementors from Remus Lupin, the shabby and occasionally sickly Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.  Hagrid, his first friend, is tormented by his own worries, and Harry's antagonists, Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape, are just as sneering and nasty as ever.  Harry also begins to uncover troubling information about his late parents and their friendships; he is faced with some ethical choices which will have serious ramifications in the future.  The kindly headmaster Albus Dumbledore keeps a close eye on Harry, but not too close until the end of the story: for the one thing Harry must learn is to face his troubles on his own, and win his way through by his own wit, character, and courage.  This he does, showing that he is ready for even more demanding challenges in the future books.

Book Review - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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Okay, so if you took my advice last week and read the first book of the Harry Potter series, you are now breathlessly eager to press on and read the next book.  In fact, like some young people of my acquaintance, you may have shown up on the doorstep of a Potter-friendly family less than 24 hours after borrowing the first book to request the second.  (We will only lend it to you if it's okay with your parents, and if we aren't reading it ourselves.) These books really are that good.  J.K. Rowling has virtually singlehandedly created a generation of readers.

The second book does not disappoint.  Again we have the memorable characters, fleshed out a little beyond mere archetypes now, undergoing typical pre-teen angst in ways that are just different enough from reality that we can safely laugh at them, but that also advance the incredibly complex story arc of the seven book series.  The trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione are central, of course.  The Dursleys who oppressed Harry in the first book are even more oppressive, and his school nemesis, Draco Malfoy, has a father who makes him seem congenial by comparison.  Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape are joined by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, an image-obsessed celebrity with a talent for self-promotion... and not much else.  We meet Dobby, the excessively self-deprecating house-elf, and are treated to a visit to the enchanting Weasley residence by means of a flying Ford Anglia.

Harry must deal with the distrust and fear of his own fellow students in this book, as an ancient evil lurks the passages of Hogwarts, and Harry is suspected of collusion with the forces of darkness.  Students, ghosts, and pet cats are being Petrified, and ultimately only Harry's courage and determination can solve the riddle and confront the source of the evil.

Themes: This book begins to flesh out the theme of class warfare in the wizarding world which will be important to the rest of the series.  Many of the aristocratic class of "pureblood" wizards have deep dislike for "muggles" (ordinary non-magic humans) and anyone who has very much to do with them.  In America we would probably see this as a jab against racism, but I wonder if Rowling didn't have the evils of Nazism or British colonialism in mind.  There are also general themes of loyalty, friendship, and the need for discernment in where one's trust is placed. 

Cautions: some dark themes, but not really more so than the first book.  However, some of the plot points may be more troubling for young children: the risk of death, a malevolent monster, unjust suspicion of Harry and Hagrid, and possibly creepiest of all, an innocent student being controlled by a sinister magical artifact.  Also, as in all these books, obedience to authority is never unquestioning.  Harry and his friends break school rules when they feel it is necessary, and they are frequently portrayed as right to do so.  Our kids have read this book starting at age 8 with no ill effects.  But, if they read this one, they will clamor to read the third book -- which is darker and might be more appropriate for ages 10 and up; and the fourth, which is much darker and should probably be delayed still more.  The best advice I can give is to read it before or with your child, and be prepared to discuss issues that come up in your own family.  And enjoy it for what it is, a modern fairy tale with a great sense of fun.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

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It's been a long time since I did a book review, so I'll get back to it with one you've probably heard of.  Chances are good that the vast majority of my blog readers have already read and enjoyed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling.  But, as I noticed when I first began teaching at a Christian school years ago, the Harry Potter series is one of the deep lines of division among modern Christians.  I would never endorse children reading something against the wishes of their parents, and if that is your situation, kids, I encourage you to cheerfully honor your parents in this.  But this post is designed to convince you, parents, that you should read this book and consider sharing its richness with your children.  Christianity Today recently published an article on the Harry Potter phenomenon and its enduring literary merit which you might find helpful.  No doubt about it, Harry has shaped our culture, and mostly for the better.  The common objections are still there, but have died down somewhat now that the series has been brought to a conclusion that remains faithful to classic ideals of what is True, Good, and Beautiful.

In this first book of the seven, Rowling creates a character who is almost a stock feature of children's literature: the neglected orphan, despised by his remaining relations, who nonetheless has a special destiny.  In fact, she almost overdoes it, exaggerating Harry's hardships (bullied by his cousin, forced to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs) for fantastic and comic effect.  A large part of Rowling's genius is in her ability to take recognizable literary archetypes and tweak them so that they are fresh and funny.  This is basically a school story, and we have the stock characters: the overindulged child, the aristocratic bully, the teachers' pet, the klutz, the class clowns (they're twins), and the adults who are coincidentally absent when the kids are in the midst of danger, so as to make the story more exciting and immediate.  The only difference is the setting, which just happens to be a school of magic.

Let me assure you, on my honor as a Latin teacher, that none of the "spells" in any of the Harry Potter books are capable of doing anything real, whether harmful or beneficial, other than perhaps making Latin a little more interesting.  Every once in a while I'll be able to tell exactly who in my classes has read the books, just based on their reactions to a single vocabulary word in the list.  Most of the spells are dog Latin rather than the real thing, but with enough similarity to start those kids who are so inclined down the path to classicism.  This would be a good point to mention Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis, the elegant Latin translation, which played a significant role in helping me improve my own Latin knowledge.

Themes of this book: friendship, loyalty, perseverance, kindness to the downtrodden, and a willingness to assume responsibility even in difficult matters.  Also love that endures beyond death, particularly the self-sacrificial love of a parent.  Good vs. evil, which is a theme of all fantasy to some extent, is of course present as well.  There are some characters who are completely evil, but they are not always the ones we expect.  Many characters are, just as in real life, deeply flawed but capable of rising to the occasion to do the decent thing.  While this is not a book that specifically inculcates a Christian worldview, there are redemptive themes in,with, and under it, and I recommend it for that reason.  And because it is a rip-roaring fun read that will inspire young people, especially boys, to pick up a book more frequently.  And because I'm convinced I'm a distant relation of Hermione Granger's, and

Cautions: Much has been made of the "occult" themes of witches and wizards.  If you would object to the Oz books because of the good witches, Casper the friendly ghost, or the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, this is probably not the book for you... but the real occult is much darker and more insidious; this is implied in Rowling's books, despite what her detractors may say -- truly evil characters are truly horrible, and the good characters are repulsed by them.  I also felt that Harry is a very postmodern hero with regard to his attitudes toward authority: for example, the orphan Oliver Twist naively blundered into trouble just for asking, "Please, sir, may I have some more?"  But Harry dishes out wisecracks and insults as good as he gets from his oppressors, and frequently breaks school rules when he believes it's necessary for the greater good.  This is why I believe parents and children should read the book at the same time, or parents first, and discuss it.  Also, since this is the first of seven books, and since Harry gets older and the forces of darkness get darker with each book, many parents who had no objections to the first 2 or 3 books of the series will want to wait until their kids are teens before allowing them to read books 4 and beyond.