Archive for the ‘Fiction: Adventure’ Category

Toklo’s Story by Erin Hunter

ISBN: 0061723800
112 pages
published in 2010.

Toklo’s Story is the first manga adaptation of Seekers, the newest series by bestselling author, Erin Hunter (who is actually a conglomeration of authors…) In this book, we get a little more of the backstory of one of the main characters of the series, Toklo. We follow him as a younger cub with his mother and brother and the difficulties that arise when a big bear threatens them away from his territory and he finds that life is much more complicated than he had thought. We see some of the beginnings of his brothers’ illness/weakness as well as some more insinuations about what makes Toklo’s mother quite so unstable as a parent.

The illustrations were sort of horrid and often didn’t make sense, as at times it seemed as though the seasons were changing from frame to frame (trees full of leaves followed by a ground covered in snow in the next panel?) However, the story was interesting and although not much happened, it was still engaging. I liked all of the clever ways the writer incorporated typical bear behavior into a story that would still be appropriate for 9-12 year-olds. I’ve been constantly impressed by the way that Hunter does not censor herself when discussing hard facts of life for any wild animal (whether circumstances like the cubs’ father in this book, or in her Warriors series, sequences of fighting and death or more ginger subjects like birth, etc.) While it is a bit over the top at times, it does not come across as overtly graphic and instead just seems to be a frank discussion about these characters’ ways of life.

I would buy another manga book for her Seekers series if it came out in an instant just to hear some more back story, perhaps, as hearing about the bears’ lives before their journey is interesting to me. I’ve been enjoying the main series a lot so this was a nice addition, but I do wish they would have chosen the illustrator more carefully. It took a lot away from the story as the illustrations in most of Hunter’s manga editions have been very weak. As the book is at least half illustrations, it really makes a big impact on the reader to have lazy illustrations.

Dirt Music by Tim Winton

ISBN: 0743228480
416 pages
published in 2001.

There is really no way to describe how much I enjoyed this book. Reading the back synopsis in Barnes & Noble intrigued me, but I wasn’t really sure how I’d take to it as it isn’t really my normal style. I was so impressed. The story really wraps you in and keeps you going. I wound up reading it slowly so for a while it was just this really interesting, lovely thing I could return to whenever I wanted it. So I’m a bit sad it’s over.

The story centers around Georgie Jutland, her husband, Jim Buckridge – the most prosperous fisherman in the town they live in – and Luther Fox, an outcast that lives just outside of town that has been making his living by fishing illegally. Faced with dead-end marriage with someone she finds she barely knows, Georgie starts seeing Lu secretly. With her background as a nurse and an ongoing need to take care of others that George herself describes as the failing point of all of her relationships, she begins uncovering a bit of what has caused Lu to retreat to the life he is currently living in a way that Jim had never bothered to. He begins to describe a life of music with his siblings and family, a life of caring for a melon farm, something comfortable despite being strained and despite the fact that his family had never had “good luck” and was always rejected by the rest of the people in town. At least before a terrible accident that his entire family.

However, when the people in the town find out about Lu’s activities and destroy his car and kill his dog, Lu decides to take off across Western Australia to try and find a place where he cannot be tracked down. He’s sure that Jim is after him and hides out far in the bush to escape him. Meanwhile, Georgie agonizes over her failed relationship with Jim and the life she might have been able to lead with Lu. Jim seems to want to make amends for his past, which was anything but kind, and convinces Georgie to take off and find Lu, wherever he may be.

Winton is one of the best writers I’ve ever encountered. The story is compelling and it’s very easy to find yourself attached to his characters, even the ones you are not quite sure you like. I’ll be reading Cloudstreet next, and I’m excited to see how his writing style works in other stories. He really is wonderful at description, which was especially important for a story like this that relies so heavily upon the Western Australian landscape. There are descriptions of plants and animals and land everywhere in the book.