Maile Meloy

A while ago I said I was I taking a break from reading books about middle-class, middle-aged marriages and their discontents, but with this collection of short stories I'm back.

Meloy's perfectly written stories are about yearning and frustration (which, we all know, are the essential themes of middle-class, middle-age life, even if you're not married--or middle-aged). Sad as the stories were, I admired the writing and insight tremendously.

My favorite story, and probably the most lighthearted, was "Lilliana," wherein a rich old grandma comes back from the dead, but not really.

Finally, the title of the book, taken from a poem by A.R. Ammons, really does sum it up well. To quote one of the stories, "The force with which he wanted it both ways made him grit his teeth. What kind of fool wanted it only one way?"… (more)

This YA book was an adventure set initially in the USA during the 1950's era of anti-communist McCarthyism. The story quickly moves to London, UK where the Scott family travels to escape persecution as alleged communists. The 2 main protagonists (Benjamin and Janie) embark on a mission to outwit Soviet agents and free Ben's kidnapped father.

While the plot's plausibility is questionable, the story is intriguing and the adventure is definitely engaging with a fair amount of quirky and suspenseful episodes. The rules of alchemy are observed, albeit a bit deceptively, in the process of using medicinal plants in the London from the physic garden to make 'magic' elixirs.
The middle-grade students can enjoy a story here with lots of imagination and learn some history which is presented very unobtrusively.… (more)