Shrek the Musical

Saturday, December 21, Frank and I went to a matinee performance of Shrek the Musical at the Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose. 

We sat in Row 12, a bit off to the side in seats 45 and 47, but still able to enjoy an artistic impression of the swamp. Although our view was good, we had difficulty in understanding the lyrics of the songs. When we got home, I researched the words to the first song, 🎶Big Bright Beautiful World 🎶 and provided them in this post. The early background story to Shrek, that ogres are forced to leave their home and live away from the society that hates them and hunts them down, was new to me. How sad.

Big Bright Beautiful World (first song)

I was fascinated by the sets. They were not overly complicated, but were so creative. Fiona had been imprisoned in a tower since age seven and those 8,423 days were indicated by her hash marks on its stone walls. Lighted stars carried by cast members indicated night time. A huge yellow cloth circle was periodically raised and lowered to signify sunset and sunrise. Because of a witches curse, Fiona changed her form at different times of day so this distinction was critical. Flowers wilted at times, responding to the effects of Shrek's and Fiona's ogre-like bodily emissions. Puppetry was used as a very skilled and artistic representation of Fiona and Shrek in their younger lives.

The cast was extremely energetic and loud, their dancing a joy to watch; their singing was enthusiastic, great in tone and projection, but a bit lacking in enunciation of the words. In retrospect, I wish I had researched the song lyrics ahead of time. It is easier to understand verses and choruses when you half- know what to expect. The closing song is This Is Our Story.

This Is Our Story (final song)

This musical was upbeat with a tad of crude "middle school humor"... farting, belching, etc. I had never realized it is also a tale of acceptance. Many fairy tale characters that are initially segregated due to their features or actions are welcomed in the swamp, Shrek's original isolated home. The size of Pinocchio's nose does not matter, a cross dressing wolf is included, a heavy weight dragon lady is not rejected, a gingerbread man is viewed as more than just food, and the messiness of the three little pigs is no problem. This was my first time seeing this musical. Now that I know more, I will certainly attend another production of it in the future.

Model Train Show

Sunday December 15th Frank, Alex, and I went to the Great Train Show being held at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. 

Alex and I hung with Frank a bit while he shopped, but then Alex and I ventured off to watch the running trains. The layouts had carousels, ferris wheels, Christmas trees, snowmen, presents, lights, and general holiday gaiety. There was lots and lots to observe among all those details.

The show this time of year is fun, since many of the trains are decked out with a holiday scheme. There was Thomas the Tank Engine and the Santa Express among others. Notice that Thomas has an entire gondola car devoted to carrying Santa hats. I even captured a short 10 second video of the Santa Express in action.

Alex and I visited a service dog who was at first tentative that he might be being disobedient. Once we got permission from his owner he was very happy for the distraction and company, enjoying the extensive petting. 

We joined back up with Frank and ate a snack — hot dogs, chips, pretzels — and then hitched a ride on an outdoor scaled down train before leaving. The low scale outing (ooh, a pun) was a success.

Ponder: Here One Moment

 An AI overview of Here One Moment ©2024 by Liane Moriarty summarizes:

The front flap of Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty describes the book as a story about an ordinary flight from Hobart to Sydney that is changed forever when a mysterious woman makes predictions about how and when the passengers will die.

The premise sounded interesting, if indeed a bit morbid. Here One Moment is the seventh book I have read by Liane Moriarty. I sadly award it 0 stars. I read the first 100 pages out of 500 and was confused, bored, non-engaged, and disappointed. Amazon readers were similarly not enthralled and some of the one-star and two-star reviews were rather scathing. I feel bad because I am sure the author poured a lot of effort into the writing, but it was not for me. 

There were too many characters introduced at once, and none to the level of detail that I cared about them. The defining prediction, however, that convinced me to not finish this book was when the "psychic" told a mother that the infant in her arms would die of drowning at the age of seven. Why would the woman tell a mother that? Why not keep her mouth shut? This novel focused on too depressing a topic with too many scattered characters for me to continue. As for my fondness for this best-selling author based on her reputation, I quote this excerpt from my 12/17/21 post:

Apples Never Fall (©2021) was the sixth book I've read by Liane Moriarty. I gave it one star and would recommend avoiding it. I have read five other books by Liane Moriarty and found her to be an uneven author. I read Three Wishes (©2005), and The Hypnotist's Love Story (©2013) both of which were disappointing and I gave them one and two stars respectively. I loved What Alice Forgot (©2012) and The Husband's Secret (©2015) giving them four and five stars respectively. I whole heartedly gave Truly Madly Guilty (©2016) five stars. Although I either love 'em or hate 'em, I stated I would continue to read works by author Liane Moriarty. But wait; I have a bit of a calculation.

(1 star +2 stars +4 stars +5 stars +5 stars +1 star) / 6 books = 3 stars

Recomputing to allow for 0 stars for Here One Moment makes me reconsider reading future works by Liane Moriarty. I will investigate, rather than automatically pursue, books by this author
 

(1 star +2 stars +4 stars +5 stars +5 stars + 1 star + 0 stars) / 7 books = 2.6 stars

☆☆☆☆☆ I did not even finish Here One Moment

Ponder: Non-fiction ADHD and Playing

It is not often I read a non-fiction book, but lately I have read two. I was inspired to read both books based on humorous You-Tube videos I watch by the talented guys who generated them, Penn Holderness (ADHD) and Randy Rainbow (Playing). 

ADHD is Awesome ©2024 by Penn and Kim Holderness, is a humorous and practical look at what has the potential to be a frustrating and boring topic. The YouTube video ADHD - "Under The Sea" Parody is remarkable and very much worth viewing. Therapists and teachers have shown it to those displaying ADHD to uplift their spirits and self-esteem. ADHD is an acronym for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, which Penn insists is a horrible name and campaigns to change it to something not so negative. Penn himself was diagnosed with ADHD but not until college. ADHD has not prevented him from a successful career.  Some aspects of the way his brain works were an advantage that helped Penn and his wife Kim win The Amazing Race Competition in 2022.

ADHD is Awesome is an engaging read that is also fun. Usually I do not find non-fiction books fun. There are cartoon illustrations scattered throughout along with side bar comments and viewpoints from other people. Both techniques prevent a constant flow of text from becoming boring. Even the pages and their borders are colored to spark a continued interest.

Oddly irrelevant facts spark curiosity in the read. Why do men have nipples since the do not nurse babies? Did you know that parts of the vascular system of a whale have a large enough diameter to fit a human? Have you ever heard of Bionic reading?

I rate ADHD is Awesome four stars mainly because I painlessly learned a fair amount. The non-fiction aspect did not detract from my entertainment. I find that often when I read a non-fiction book, by ~60% or so through it, I find my self saying "Yeah, yeah, I get the point", and lose interest in finishing the book.  ADHD is Awesome was not repetitious with the material presented in the later portions. The final two chapters provided tips to cope with aspects of ADHD, which could be applicable for many other situations. How to avoid and deal with distractions is just one example.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

One of the books cited in ADHD is Awesome is The Rabbit Listened ©2018 by Cori Doerrfeld. I do not remember exactly where the citation was in ADHD; in fact I am not 100% sure that I learned of the book from ADHD. Anyway,  The Rabbit Listened is a simple little children's story but I thought it was so sweet and germane that I cited it here. Our country seems to have a lot of vitriol abundant now and this viewpoint was so refreshing. I was glad that I had checked it out of the library for  peek — made me smile.

Yes, The Rabbit Listened is a book for a young child but I believe the techniques and approaches within are very applicable to adults as well. The brief amount of time I spent reading it made me reflect on and reconsider how I deal with others struggling or in pain. I rated The Rabbit Listened five stars.

★★★★★ Great! Read it!

The second non-fiction book is Playing with Myself ©2022 by Randy Rainbow. Yes. Randy Rainbow is indeed his real name. Randy Rainbow writes and performs parodies of easily recognizable show tunes. Since this year is the 60th anniversary of the Mary Poppins movie, I selected this particular You Tube as an example of one of Randy Rainbow's, BRAGGADOCIOUS!: Randy Rainbow Moderates Debate #1. Dick Van Dyke's comment to Randy about this video stated, "Creatively precocious, elegantly loquacious, clever and audacious, funny and vivacious! What a wit! Good gracious!". 

I also enjoyed the cleverness for a pre-election video on who will be president. Ignore or fast forward through the commercial which runs 0:30 to 1:41. If you are not politically inclined, this video may not tickle your fancy, but it does fit with so well with the song choice for the parody, The Farmer and the Cowman from Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

The first half to two-thirds of the book were about Randy's childhood and his development of his current career. I found these early chapters inspiring, and eye-opening both in his persistence and also in the unconditional support and extensive encouragement given from a young age by his mother and grandmother. He and Carol Burnett shared their closeness with their respective grandmothers as something they had in common, in addition to their comedic instincts. His coping and management living alone through the COVID crisis was a fresh look at the topic of isolation and loss. In the late chapters of the book I grew a bit bored. As Randy became famous, he interacted a lot of well-known personalities in the entertainment field and subsequently did more name dropping. Some of them impressed me — like Carol Burnett and Dick Van Dyke, who are a few of my favorites. Others were a ho-hum for me, largely because many of those names pointed out my ignorance of not knowing who they were. I rate Playing With Myself three stars mainly because over half the book was great but the later chapters fell a bit flat for me. 

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time

Randy Rainbow's videos, however, deserve a strong, clever five star rating. Check them out — at least the two I cited above. This link, Rainbow Perfection - A parody tribute to Randy Rainbow, is a cute, non- biting, concise overview by Jonathan Jensen to be enjoyed as well.

Thanksgiving 2024

Thanksgiving Day in 2024 was low key and laid back. I did not even take any photos! There was no extra company to cook for - just Frank, Alex, and me for the day. Frank picked up Alex and took him bowling in the morning while I stayed home and gathered my thoughts. The menu was simplified. Turkey breast, stuffing, and sweet potatoes filled out the meal, along with biscuits. 

My baking was minimal.  I made two pumpkin pies while Frank and Alex were bowling. I relied on Pillsbury and Nestlé for biscuits and cookies. But remember - I took no pictures - so the packaging pictures must suffice.

We watched videos and did puzzles with Alex. He luxuriated in a couple baths here, since at St. Denis he only showers. He stayed overnight on Thanksgiving Day so we did not need to drive him to his home in the dark of night. The following Friday morning  Frank, Alex, and I went to see Moana 2. Alex stayed engaged the whole time and Frank got in a good nap. There was a lot of action but I had a hard time following the plot. Maybe I was expecting it to be more complicated than it was and so I was confused. I am glad I saw it, but Moana 2 will not be one of my favorite Disney movies. The outing was fun and relaxing, accompanied by a ton of popcorn that Alex positively inhaled. When we exited the theater, I am sure the follow-up cleaning crew could guess where we'd been sitting.  

Afterward, Frank and I took Alex back to St Denis, returned home, collapsed, and mutually agreed that putting the house back in order could wait another day. On Saturday, I leisurely put away Thanksgiving decorations (plush turkeys, various wood/cloth/metal/plastic pumpkins, and quilts) but did not yet bring out the Christmas stuff. We were blobs on the couch as we half-watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which Frank had taped. I am thankful we marked the holiday occasion but did not wipe ourselves out in doing so. Gobble, Gobble to all. 

Ponder: Somewhere Beyond the Sea

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune ©2024 is a sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea which I read and thoroughly enjoyed, awarding it five stars in my December 2021 post. I am disappointed to report that the sequel, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, fell far short of my expectations and I am rating it only two stars.

The House in the Cerulean Sea is the charming, creative tale of an orphanage for  magical children who are housed on an island segregated from the main population of the village. The children are feared to be dangerous monsters, because they are not yet mature enough to be able to control their special powers. The children are Chauncey, a green amorphous blob with eyes on stalks on top of his head; Phee, a sprite/fairy; Talia, a gnome;  Lucy, a charming, intelligent six-year-old whose nickname is short for Lucifer;  Sal, a teenage shapeshifter;  and Theodore, a wyvern.  A fan artist created these renderings of the six orphans. Surprisingly, they match incredibly with the images I pictured in my mind while reading the book.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a continuation of the story where a seventh child, a young yeti name David is added to the mix. The orphanage is audited to "assure the safety" of the children but the motives are not at all altruistic. Although TJ Klune does a good job of reprising facts from the first book so that even a reader who has not read The House in the Cerulean Sea can still follow, I would advise against reading the sequel. No more imagination is added. Additional magic was fun, amusing and brought a smile to my face. I can see its potential to be made into a movie with opportunities for extensive computer graphics; but the description in the text were vivid enough I can see and enjoy the scenes in my mind. And this second book was very preachy... and philosophical... and long. I just wanted to be finished. This book's rating on Amazon was 4.5 out of 5 which surprised me. I did strongly agree with the two and three star review comments and cited one of them below as expressing my sentiments very well.

If you are curious about the transgender comments remark of J.K. Rowling this Glamour magazine article might help. (Yes, weird I know coming from Glamour magazine.) Ok, this is a much longer review than I intended for a book I did not like. It did get me thinking but then it repeatedly pounded those thoughts into my brain ad nauseam.

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Ponder: The Banned Book Club

There is an old adage that you can't judge a book by its cover. Well, neither can you judge a book by its title, as I learned from The Banned Book Club by Brenda Novak ©2024. Yes, the feisty lead character Gia did start a club featuring the books that were banned from the high school library where she attended seventeen years ago. That club was a commonality that bound her with her high school friends but, do not be fooled, it was hardly the focus of this novel.

The book does have suspense and keeps the reader engaged. However, the driving drama points of this book were three depressing topics:

• Gia and Margot's mother is dying of cancer and needs support and help from her two daughters
• Gia's younger sister Margot's struggles with a verbally abusive husband and plans how to escape him since his family is relatively wealthy and has a strong presence in the town of Wakefield, Idaho.
• The purported sexual misconduct of Gia's high school English teacher creates a situation of "he said versus she said" that divides the town in two camps of opinion that makes a hometown return very awkward and difficult for Gia nearly two decades later

Brenda Novak is one of my repeat authors. I have rated her thriller novel Before We Were Strangers five stars, but that rating is not her norm. I have enjoyed her Silver Springs and Whiskey Creek series. Most of her books I have given three or four stars. The Banned Book Club is of similar middle-of-the-road caliber. It kept me engaged, curious, and wondering how it would end, plus there was a bit of romance interjected to lighten the mood. Amazon dubbed the book as, "a  feel-good romance with drama, friendship, and a love story set in a small American town", a description I think is misleading. But, far from being deep contemplative literature, or the other extreme of a "feel-good romance", it still entertained and made me consider the plight of both victims and perpetrators of misdeeds. Amazon readers rated it at 4.5 stars with two-thirds of its readers awarding it five stars. I still maintain that The Banned Book Club is worth three stars. 

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time

Clue

Saturday, November 2nd Frank and I went  to see the stage play Clue at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.

Clue  (the play) is loosely based on Clue (the classic Parker Brothers board game). The guests at a dinner party in a Victorian-type mansion were given the pseudonyms Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green, Miss Scarlet, Mrs. White, and Mrs. Peacock. They are shown in the following photo with their designated weapons for murder: a gun, a wrench, a lead pipe, a candlestick, a rope, and a dagger. Other characters in the play were Wadsworth, the butler, Yvette, the maid, and Mr. Boddy, the mysteriously absent host.

While waiting for the performance to start, we viewed this stage image of a gothic haunted house. Photography was not allowed, so this is my only photo from the performance.

The play was 90 minutes with no intermission. The staging for the various rooms in the mansion was cleverly done. I remembered the hall, the study, the billiard room, the dining room, the kitchen, and the library. The way the murdered bodies (yes, there was more than one corpse) were concealed and transported was indeed funny. Clue relied very heavily on physical humor and the actors did a great job with their antics. Frank and I could not always understand the dialogue but we got the majority of the exchanges; we caught most of the verbal jokes and all of the physical jokes. We were seated close, in Row 12 but our seats were a bit offset from center and that position may have contributed to our straining to catch all the nuances of the conversations. We were able to enjoy and laugh at the sound effects, though. Frank and I relaxed during our low-key and fun outing that afternoon at Clue.

 

Ponder: This Is Our Story

After reading First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston last month and giving it five stars I wanted to read another one of her books. I followed a few weeks later with The Lying Tree, also awarding it five stars in my review. I later learned that The Lying Tree was a young adult novel and First Lie Wins was the author's first venture into adult fiction.  This is Our Story by Ashley Elston ©2016 is another young adult novel of Elston's which I sought out to better understand the distinctive features that make up the YA book genre.

Per Wikipedia's description of Young Adult Literature

Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as friendship, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. Stories that focus on the challenges of youth may be further categorized as social or coming-of-age novels. The earliest known use of term young adult occurred in 1942. The designation of young adult literature was originally developed by librarians to help teenagers make the transition between children's literature and adult literature, following the recognition, around World War II, of teenagers as a distinct group of young people. While the genre is targeted at adolescents, a 2012 study found that 55% of young adult literature purchases were made by adults.

The main characters of young adult novels may be teenagers but the conflicts and dilemmas are mature enough to engage an adult reader. In This Is Our Story, five teenage boys go deer hunting and one of them is killed by a rifle shot. Is it an accident or was it murder? The remaining boys have a tacit vow to remain banded together, stick with the same story, and claim ignorance. The boys come from wealthy, influential families, so justice is at risk of being compromised to curry money and/or favor among officials. The perspective of the narrator is unique. She is a high school senior who works in the district attorney's office and sees files of evidence compiled on the case. There are interspersed chapters as commentary, written by one of the surviving boys... maybe... perhaps... the killer? Teen angst and cliques are evident, hence the YA genre. This Is Our Story was a convoluted, but engaging read.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Broadway Spooktacular

On Sunday October 13th we'd gone to see the Canadian Brass at our local Bankhead Theaters and were not thrilled with that particular choice of outing due to our unfamiliarity with the majority of the music selections. Within the same week, on Friday evening, October 18th, Frank and I went to Spooktacular Broadway, at the Firestone Arts Center in the neighboring town of Pleasanton. It had been a long, tiring day but we went anyway and throughly, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. What an upbeat, lively, entertaining show it was, especially when contrasted with what we'd sat through five days earlier! The songs selected, most of them very familiar, had a spooky theme appropriate to the upcoming Halloween holiday. Familiarity is comforting and relaxing, plus several of those songs also brought back pleasurable memories 

The staging was simple but highly effective with a huge image projected on the screen behind the singers. There was a chemistry lab with all the vials and tubes one would expect with Frankenstein. There was a humongous chandelier projected to go with the Phantom of the Opera numbers. A graveyard scene lended ambience to the Grim Grinning Ghosts and Nightmare Before Christmas numbers. The singers came out in small groups in keeping with the song and their costumes were very creative. The Grim Grinning Ghosts choralists came out onto a blackened stage with flashlights held up to illuminate only their faces from beneath... eerie and fun... and so like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland! The following program is a list of the musical numbers performed.

We had seats far enough back that we could enjoy the ginormous screen projections. The opening number encouraged audience participation with the finger snapping along with the Addams family singers.

Following are some of the particular memories these songs conjured:

• Grim Grinning Ghosts brought to mind traveling through Disney's Haunted Mansion.
• The Phantom of the Opera song Music of the Night made me remember when we took Dan and Robin to San Francisco, all dressed up in their finery, to see the full scale impressive musical, complete with "the chandelier"
• Suddenly Seymour commemorated for me when Dan had a role in the Little Shop of Horrors musical during high school. Frank went to one show but I, as the anal mother, attended all performances. After one of the performances, the party was at our house. We thoroughly enjoyed when the students serenading us with encores of the songs. 
• Last Midnight and Giants in the Sky are from Robin's favorite musical Into the Woods with clever lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. I think of her whenever I hear it.
• When my kids grumbled about something I used to sing them the title passage from Poor Unfortunate Souls that Ursula croons in the Little Mermaid. They'd groan and get mad at me. It was cute.

This show was our third activity of the day and I am so glad we decided not to skip it. Spooktacular Broadway was super enjoyable! 

Canadian Brass

Sunday October 13th,  Frank, Alex, and I went to a matinee performance by the Canadian Brass at our local Bankhead Theatre. Before buying the tickets I checked out the link  provided by the ticket seller and listened to a few lively You Tube videos. A particular toe-tapping number was the song America from the musical West Side Story. About 45 second into the video, the tempo gets peppy. Using the rousing video as a sample, I'd bought three tickets. I must admit the group of five men made a fun entrance playing their instruments as they marched across the theatre and up onto the stage. This was going to be good!

There was no program, however, so we did not know what songs were going to be played. The brass quintet began by playing lengthy compositions from Mozart, Bach, and Brahms, while we hopefully waited for some peppier choices later in the program. Unfortunately, their overall repertoire was too classical and not popular enough for our tastes. They did play two songs from the Beatles, Eleanore Rigby, which I knew, and Blackbird , which was totally foreign to me. Our spirits were sagging and we were doubtful of, but hopefully wishing for, a zestier second half. They did play Tuba Tiger Rag (hold that tiger... ), a bit jazzier. The song had a bemusing component where the tuba player held a B♭ note continuously while rotating the huge tuba 360°, only almost dropping it once. The group made efforts to introduce levity into their performance, noting their red/white Dr. Seuss style striped socks, on sale of course in the lobby.

Then in the second half the audience was asked who was the most famous composer of movie music scores. Now I was getting energized. OK wait for it. Finally, now maybe stuff I know... music by John Williams perhaps... Jaws theme, Olympic theme, Star Wars theme. Nope, not to be. The famous composer they named, Canadian of course, was Michael Kamen composer for Die Hard movie themes. Even after I played the music from the Bruce Willis movie, I still did not recognize the melody and it is certainly not memorable. But, even more obscure, The Canadian Brass did not play the "famous" Die Hard music, instead playing Quintet, a special piece custom-composed for them by Michael Kamen. Quintet was a total snore.

Overall, the performance was dull, but Alex did not act out nor try to leave, instead sitting quietly throughout. After each selection the five guys stood up and took bows, singling out the musician among them who had been featured in a solo. After    every    selection! This practice certainly lengthened the performance time. Were they excellent, highly-skilled musicians? Yes, certainly; that was obvious. But because of the song choices I have to philosophically look upon the show as a mediocre semi-comedic, cultural experience.

Ponder: Tourist Season

Tourist Season by Brenda Novak ©2024 was a very enjoyable read for me. I like the variety this prolific author offers. Wikipedia lists her as having written over fifty books but that count is outdated; she has written more. A list of her books and book series can be found at the website listing her books in order. I have read thirty-three of her books since 2017 and this is my thirty-fourth. With such a large output, her books are not destined to be classic, ponderous, literature, but they are engaging reads and the characters are well defined and have some depth to them.

Despite the cover image, I do not consider this a beach read. In my opinion the term beach read is a derogatory term. Publishers must think that sitting in the sun, slathered with sunscreen, also deadens the brain cells because my experience with those summer "beach" reads is that they are generally glib and predictable with ditzy females and muscle bound males. Tourist Season does indeed take place on an island off Cape Cod, but the female is no scatter brain. She has just completed passing the bar after obtaining her law degree. She is supposed to be enjoying a three-week vacation at the lush beach house of her future in-laws while her fiancé Remy stays behind to finish studying for his medical boards. 

Immediately after Ismay's arrival, the island is hit with a hurricane, or perhaps technically called a nor'easter. The house loses power, and in the strange new environment with torrential rains and gusting winds, Ismay stressfully struggles to find candles or batteries for a flashlight to wait out the storm. A huge tree branch snaps off but misses the house. Calling his parents' newly renovated and extensively lavish beach house a cottage would be a disservice and an understatement. Her fiancé is not sympathetic to her situation, telling her she is overreacting, and chides her for interrupting his studying. He does, however, alert his mother to the situation and she phones the caretaker Bo to go over to the house with lanterns and to start the generator. Bo lives in a bungalow behind the main house and so he is close to assist. Bo is a supportive rock, especially in comparison to Remy's apathy. Bo however is a loner with a secretive past.

This story opener is a real page turner. In her search for candles and matches Ismay discovers some disturbing items hidden within the walls of the beach house. The physical action is more toned down in the rest of the novel but the interpersonal relationships and the prospect of a psychopathic component arise with the surprise arrival of Remy's twin brother Bastien. These brothers do not get along. Ismay is the oldest in her family with seven younger siblings, all very close and supportive of each other. She struggles to make sense of the combative relationship of the brothers and the lone wolf actions of Bo. Simultaneously Ismay's younger brother Jack is undergoing a painful divorce and Ismay invites him to spend the summer with her on the Mariner's Island.

Yes, there is a beach, but that is the only reason this might be classified as a beach read. Well, maybe not the only reason. I will admit, there is a bit of a romantic involvement that may tend to place this book in the beach read genre. But romance is not the major focus. I have usually rated most of Brenda Novak's books that I have read three or four stars. My most highly rated Novak novel, at five stars, was Brenda Novak's thriller Before We Were Strangers ©2018 reviewed in my post for 10/26/21. Tourist Season is more of a psychological study with potential psychopathic components. I found it very engaging and rate it four stars.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: Because of Winn-Dixie

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo ©2000 first caught my attention in an editorial where an adult recalled having the book read to him in an elementary grade classroom. The notion that a book, introduced to a child that young, had stuck with that child into adulthood made me consider the book as being worthy of a read myself. Looking into it I learned that Because of Winn-Dixie is a Newbery Honor Book for 2001.

Per Wikipedia

The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". ... Besides the Newbery Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to leading contenders, called Newbery Honors or Newbery Honor Books.

Because of Winn-Dixie is the story of an ugly stray dog that erroneously makes his way into a grocery store and wreaks havoc within. He is claimed and taken home by a young girl named Opal, motherless since the age of two, who is being raised by her father, who is a preacher.  Her father allows her to keep the dog and Opal names the dog after the grocery store Winn-Dixie. Per Wikipedia

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., styled as Winn✓Dixie, is an American supermarket chain headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It operates more than 546 stores in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The company has had its present name since 1955 and can trace its roots back to 1925.

Opal meets many people in different walks of life. The influence of her father, who advocates kindness and understanding, forms her actions and opinions in herself and others. Is that older woman who lives alone on the outskirts of town really a witch? Is the kind soul who plays music for the animals in the pet store really to be avoided since he, in his earlier life, had a run-in with the law? Are the two brothers who live nearby really to be ignored and shunned since they seem to be guilty of tormenting Opal? Is the librarian really as stiff and unbending as she seems? I loved an early chapter when her daddy tells Opal ten things about her mother. 

Although written very simply, this book teaches young readers strong lessons about being accepting and loving of others. Truthfulness is a non-negotiable trait to be emulated. The general ambience is a breath of fresh air in the current environment of this election year and this time of horrendous weather catastrophes. Poor Winn-Dixie is terrified of thunder. This is a very feel-good book without being preachy or mawkish. I very much enjoyed reading Because of Winn-Dixie and found it quite fitting to be recognized as presenting "distinguished contribution to American literature for children". Amazon cited this book as appropriate for a reading age of 8-10 and a grade level 4-7. I think even younger children can gain a lot of wisdom from Because of Winn-Dixie, even when read to them, if necessary. In the genre of Young Adults books, Because of Winn-Dixie definitely deserves a five star rating.

★★★★★ Great! Read it!