100 by 30 - Book 5

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

It's hard to beat a really good YA fiction book. The best ones balance adventure and danger without losing a youthful sense of wonder. This is a really good book. Like many books in the genre, it involves a young, normal teenager who's life gets turned upside down when he discovers an amazing secret. Unlike any book I have read before, the story was inspired and built around a series of remarkable vintage photographs. Ransom Riggs has collected them over the years and used them to build his story about a home for refugee children. The photos are facinating, and build a wonderful sense or eerieness to the book. I also really enjoyed the background of our protagonist, Jacob Portman. Unlike typical YA main characters, Jacob comes from a family that cares for him, and is very well off. He is not abused or neglected. In fact, the main cause of contention revolves around his elderly grandfather, a surviver of the holocaust who tells strange tales of the refugee home he stayed in during WWII. Jacob's grandfather is suffering from dementia and paranoia. It's a common problem, that affects many people, and gives us a very realistic point of entry to this tale. The book is clearly the beginning of a series, ending on a cliffhanger of sorts, and I look forward to the further adventures of Jacob and his new found friends.

8/10

DMCP # 55 - Pocahontas

This is a difficult movie to talk about because the historical realities weigh so heavily on the story being told. I expected to spend the whole movie shouting at Pocahontas to let her dad kill all the white guys. What I was surprised at, was the rather intricate themes and plotting that was mixed in with some troubling representations of race. The movie, while full of flaws, does give us a very adult story for a Disney movie. First, the movie doesn't shy away from racism. Slurs, although of a family friendly nature, are thrown around casually by both sides. The movie is a parable about fear and distrust, so both sides are commiting sins of ignorance and hate. As an isolated story, it works. It's a plee for understanding and dialog over violence. I also apreciated that Jon Smith does not play the white savior role. He comes to understand and support peace, but he never leads the Native Americans against the white people and becomes the best native american ever, (ahem, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, guy from Avatar).

The songs are written by the same team that would go on to write Wicked, so they're naturally ridiculously catchy. In true Disney fashion, the sidekick characters provide some wonderful silly comedy. It turns out the raccoons and dogs make ideal adversaries.

Ultimately, the movie is somewhat crushed under the wieght of history. It's hard to forget that what you are watching is the beginning of a continent-wide genocide. The spectre of death stiffles the jokes, and puts a damper on all of John Smith and Pocahontas' talk of adventure and destiny. Her actions only postpone a war, not prevent it. It's a valiant effort by Disney. They do their best to create a family friendly parable about racism and fear of the unknown, but in this case, the characters doing the right and honorable thing only delays the enevitable. It's very hard to enjoy a movie that forshadows the American Holocaust, no matter how catchy the songs are.

6/10

100 by 30 book 4

Hello Kitty Must Die by Angela S. Choi


Soooooo, this book is interesting. It's about a Chinese American Lawyer in San Francisco. She gets paid $275/hr but still lives with her parents who make her go on dates with gross man boys. Any boy will do, as long as he's Chinese. She hates feeling like a "hello kitty" A submissive Asian woman who won't stand up for herself. Luckily, her best friend from Catholic school happens to be a very successful hymen restoration surgeon/sociopath. Things get dark fast and stay there. Except our narrator is so darkly sarcastic and apathetic that we never really feel the weight of anything that happens. Horrifying things happen with such a casual attitude that you never feel any sense of danger. It's a quick read, and more entertaining than not, but I can't say I got anything more out of this than an insight into what it might be like to have to go on oppressive blind dates with lame, useless mama's boys. Which, being a heterosexual married male with a job, isn't very helpful.
6/10

100 by 30 - Book 3

Bossypants By Tina Fey


It's clear right from the beginning, Tina Fey's biggest strength is her ability to write. Holy cow, is this a great book. Having read a few other memoirs from some of my favorite comedians, Tina Fey is the first one to write a book that my be even funnier than she is. I was constantly laughing out loud, and the book captures her voice so well that I often felt like I wasn't reading it so much as she was telling it to me. She finds a great balance between letting us see glimpses of her personal life without giving up her privacy. She's willing to point our her flaws, but writes it in such a was that you forget that she just told you about the time she was a huge jerk to someone. She's self-depricating, but is self aware enough to know that many people find her to be quite beautiful. It's a book written from someone who grew up an awkward nerdy child (she supplies the photos to prove it) who is trying to reconcile her popularity with the lingering feelings of not being good enough. And you can tell that she hates false modesty, she's very careful to discuss her fears and flaws without ever asking us to go, "oh, Tina, it's ok. WE Love you! She doesn't need our validation. Oh, and it also contains some amazing insights into feminism and women in comedy. You get a sense that when she does mess up, it's usually not from a place of negativity, but in trying fight for something she believes in: like a sketch about vintage maxi pads.

Read this book.