Book Review: Utterly Me, Clarice Bean by Lauren Child

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean

Lauren Child

Pages: 192

Price: INR 250

Publisher: Orchard Books

Rating: 4/5

I know you aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, but you really can’t help it with this one. The cover (both back and front) is just so striking and colourful and fun (you can’t really tell from this picture), that it’s hard not to pick this book up even if you haven’t already heard of Clarice Bean (which I had).

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean features the titular Clarice Bean, a feisty, funny girl of indistinguishable age (at least I couldn’t find any mention of her age in the book, nothing a quick Google search wouldn’t fix but my Internet has gone wonky at present so that’ll have to wait) (I couldn’t find a definite age, but one Goodreads review confidently pegs her down as a ten-year-old) who, as she describes, is the third oldest child in a family of six. The book follows the goings-on in her life at school and home as she navigates a dragonish teacher and a frustrating family. Clarice Bean (how I love the name!) has to do a book project for school, which doesn’t sound all that bad, but it has to be on a book about learning – yuck! The best project wins a prize and Clarice and her best friend Betty Moody definitely want the prize, even if the project sounds utterly dreary.

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is a chapter book without any chapters; instead the text is broken up by days of the week. It has some brilliant illustrations that work wonderfully with the story and interesting typesetting that makes reading the book even more fun. As soon as I started reading the book, I read it like I would read out loud, only I did it in my head (the only thing that was stopping me from doing it out loud was the fact that mom was in the same room and she already worries about my sanity). It’s a first-person narrative and the voice is just fantastic – funny and perfect – and Clarice’s (and, by extension, the writer’s) personality just shines through.

The book is also broken up in places by chapters from a book that Clarice herself is reading. Her favourite book series stars eleven-year-old detective Ruby Redfort who is armed with cool gadgets, clueless parents and an exciting life. Throughout the book, Clarice reads bits and pieces from Ruby Redfort’s adventures and wishes she were more like her. Frankly, I thought Clarice was much more fun than her heroine, but I guess living a secret life as a schoolgirl detective does sound more thrilling. Reading detective novels makes Clarice see mysteries all around her (Scooby Doo convinced me that the building opposite my house was haunted by white-coat wearing ghosts. The building turned out to be a hospital). And it’s a mystery that saves the day.

Clarice Bean is very likable, more so because she isn’t perfect. She’s flawed and funny and creative and whacky – the perfect combination for an interesting character. The book’s sure to be a hit with any budding Clarice Beans all over the world.

Of Cabbages and Kings: November 10, 2013

I seem to be getting a lot of my book news from BuzzFeed these days. Anyway.

My favourite update from the Internet book world comes from this Harry Potter fan who photographed his Potter-centric journey to London. Reading this may or may not have made me tear up.

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BuzzFeed featured all the things that bookworms would love to have in their homes. You know, apart from the lifetime supply of books.

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I love every single thing about being a book lover, except the part where I run out of room for new books and books end up in unexpected places. Hello, book in the kitchen drawer, what are you doing there?

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Why are more adults turning to children’s books? Because, as the article says, there are lessons and hope in kids books.

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Some behind-the-scenes trivia from The Hobbit for all the Tolkien fans in the house.

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And finally, since I spend so much time reading long non-fiction online, I’m going to link to my favourite one each week for anyone who’s interested in similar reading.

My long reads pick of the week.

Writer Evan Ratliff decided to find out whether it was possible to disappear for a month in the digital age. He worked with Wired magazine who, apart from offering clues to his whereabouts, also offered a $5000 reward for anyone who could find him within a month, say the password “fluke” and take his picture. It resulted in a massive manhunt with people collaborating over the Internet to track him down.

This article is riveting not just because of the fascinating premise but also thanks to the excellent writing. It made me hold my breath and exclaim “WOW!” at the end not only because the events were perfectly planned and executed, but also because the writing was equally well-planned and executed.

Book Review: Do Not Read Or Else! by Pat Moon

Do Not Read Or Else!

Pat Moon

Pages: 176

Price: Both Flipkart and Amazon show the book as unavailable. I picked up my copy at a second-hand book sale

Publisher: Orchard Books/Hachette Children’s Books

Rating: 4/5

Finch Penny is twelve years, twenty-two weeks and two days old and has a lot going on in her almost-teenage life. She has a new boyfriend, her mom is pregnant with triplets, her mom’s boyfriend has proposed marriage, her grandmother is about to marry her boyfriend (a biker named Bill), all while Finch is determined to find out who her real father is. It’s not all drama though – she manages to squeeze in some dog-training sessions and sleepovers with friends in the middle of all the madness.

This book lies in the cusp between a middle grade book and a YA book. I thought of it as sort of a more light-hearted version of a Jacqueline Wilson tale. It features modern tweens, modern families, their lives and the problems that come with them. The main crux of the book is quite serious – searching for a dad who doesn’t know you exist and all the fear and trepidation that comes with it. Finch’s mom became pregnant at a party when she was 16 and barely remembers the guy. Thirteen years later, Finch launches a secret investigation (begging her friends to help) to discover her father’s identity. While this is a major issue to deal with, the book handles it well.

The book isn’t dark and full of doom and gloom, mostly because Finch is a cheerful, strong-minded girl. The story is told through Finch’s diary entries, which are often hilarious and entertaining. We get a first-person perspective of everything she’s going through. Even when she speaks of grave matters, the tone is light – not flippant, but just light enough. This makes Finch’s life and the book a great read. Her life is full of quirky characters whose quirks don’t become the central focus. This makes the book much more real somehow – we all know people with oddball traits (everyone has them!) but it doesn’t become the only thing the person is about.

This is the third book in the series, but the first book I’ve read. I thought it was a fantastically entertaining, easy-breezy read. The other books would be well worth looking out for at my next second-hand book sale.