Book Review: Far To Go by Alison Pick

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoy reading books that take place in Europe, especially when I come across a brilliant historical fiction novel that is set during the days leading up to (and during) the Holocaust. To me, those days were the darkest days our world has seen, and I can’t get enough of books that teach me new things about what happened during that time. For instance, Far to Go taught me about Kindertransport, which managed to rescue nearly 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia. These children, including infants stuffed into dresser drawers, were sent alone on trains to the United Kingdom, where unknown people raised them during the war. Most of these Kindertransport children survived, and few were reunited with their parents after the war. As you can imagine, it’s a horrible situation, any way you look at it.

Far to Go is also loosely based on the story of Pick’s own grandparents, who escaped Czechoslovakia to Canada. They raised her father and his siblings without telling them they were Jewish. Once her grandmother had died, Pick’s father began researching into their family history, and part of this book is based on her father’s research. I love that through her work on this book, she converted to Judaism. I can’t even tell you how cool I think that is. I mean, not keeping the whole thing a secret thing, but the research and writing about family history thing, and the converting back to the religion she was supposed to be thing. Pick does such an amazing job creating the story of the Bauer family during WWII that her book reads more like truth, rather than fiction.

Far to Go is a suspensive story, and it begins in 1938, when Hitler and his anti-Semitic army begin to annex Czechoslovakia. The story is told from two perspectives, which I always love. One side is from a present-day Holocaust archivist, who has discovered a letter that fits in with her research, and the other side is told from Marta, a young, non-Jewish nanny who in charge of Pavel and Annaliese Bauer’s darling 6-year-old Jewish son named Pepik. The Bauer’s are wealthy Jews who don’t practice their faith, but still suffer from the Jewish consequences. Pavel is the eternal optimist, who refuses to leave his business and country behind, while Annaliese is the dark and twisty pessimist who has her secrets, and the desire to leave the county at once. Marta and Pepik have a close relationship with each other, even after she decides to move with the family to Prague.

What happens in Prague is the heart of the story, which I won’t tell you about in fear of spoiling it for you, and this book suddenly turns into a constant thriller. To say that this book is a page-turner is the understatement of the year. I was up all night reading this book in one night, sick with worry, grieving for characters and the fate I was expecting them to have. Not even I could imagine what was going to happen to them next, and I fancy myself a great predictor of books and movies. Prepare to be terrified, and arm yourself with plenty of tissues, because this book takes you everywhere. Far to Go should be read by anyone who enjoys not only historical fiction, but good books in general, as Pick really knows how to tell a story.

Alison Pick is the author of two acclaimed volumes of poetry and one previous novel, The Sweet Edge, a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book that was optioned for film. Pick is also the winner of Canada’s prestigious Bronwen Wallace Award. Currently on the faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Pick lives in Toronto.

Visit Indiebound to pre-order your copy of Far to Go by Alison Pick now.

FAR TO GO GIVEAWAY – 3 LUCKY WINNERS WILL WIN A COPY

RULES:

**Open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.

**No P.O. boxes, please.

**Must include your email in your comment, unless you signed in to leave a comment with your “real” email.

**All comments must be separate to count as separate entries. For example, if you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, leave 2 comments, one with your Facebook name, and one with your Twitter name. Or, if you posted about the giveaway on your blog, leave 5 comments, all with the link to your giveaway.

**Please read the additional rules here.

HOW TO ENTER:

**Mandatory Entry: Go to Alison’s website, AlisonPick.com, and tell me what fun or interesting thing you learned or noticed there.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Like Far to Go on Facebook.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook. Make sure to leave your Facebook name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook and share a link on your wall with the following comment I entered The Girl from the Ghetto’s Far to Go by Alison Pick book giveaway here http://bit.ly/eBV32R. Make sure to leave a comment below with a link to your Facebook profile message, or at least with your Facebook name.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Follow Alison Pick on Twitter.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter. Make sure to leave your @Twitter name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following RT @NerdGirlBlogger I entered the @HarperPerennial book giveaway for Far to Go by @AlisonPick here http://bit.ly/eBV32R. You can tweet 4x a day (Once every 6 hours) for even more chances to win. Make sure to leave a link to your tweet in a comment below.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Subscribe to my blog via email or Feedburner.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Enter one of my other current giveaways and tell me which one.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Goodreads.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow Alison Pick on Goodreads.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Add Far to Go to your to-read shelf on Goodreads.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Comment here and tell me why you need to win this giveaway! Do you enjoy reading historical fiction novels like I do? Are you interested in learning more about WWII? Do you enjoy reading in general, or, do you just love winning free stuff?

+5 MORE ENTRIES: Write about this giveaway on your own blog. Make sure to post a link to http://thegirlfromtheghetto.wordpress.com, and leave me 5 copies of your link via comment here.

Contest ends Thursday, April 14, 2011 at midnight. Good luck to you all!

Calling all Laura Ingalls Wilder Fans: Book Review and Giveaway for The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure

Like most little girls in the 1970′s and 1980′s, I fell in love with Laura Ingalls Wilder. I can’t remember what came first for me, the books, or the television series Little House on the Prairie, but all I know is that I fell for Laura, and I fell for her hard. Just look at me back in my glory, wearing my prairie girl wanna-be braids. I coulda’ been an Ingalls sister, but instead, I was just a little girl from the ghetto.

Somewhere between Laura’s tomboy charm, her tough but joyful life, her poverty and her rich nemesis Nelly, I was hooked. I identified and loved Laura Ingalls as if she were really my best friend, both on the page and on tv. (I also identified with Mary, but that story has already been told on this blog.) Not only was I a fan of the books and tv show, but so was my bipolar mother. There weren’t many things my mother and I could share in our chaotic, dysfunctional lives, but we bonded over Half-Pint Ingalls. I’ve never lost my love for LHOTP, and last summer, I even had a Little House on the Prairie week on this blog, writing about my favorite ghetto LH moments, and even reviewing the memoirs of , Melissa Gilbert, Alison Arngrin, and Melissa (Sue) Anderson.

When I heard that there was a writer out there who went on an adventure back in time to Little House on the Prairie days, I was literally shaking with joy. (Thank you Lydia!) For years, I have been dying to go on my own LHOTP trail, visiting Laura’s world. I’ve been to South Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota, but somehow never managed to see a single historical site. To say that I am jealous of Wendy McClure and the journey she’s been on, recapturing her childhood memories of the little girl we both loved is an understatement. Despite my jealousy, I will tell you that I honestly LOVE what Wendy has done with The Wilder Life. Not only has she went on the trail, visiting everything Laura, but she goes as far to do fun things like hand-grinding wheat to make a loaf of Long Winter bread the way Laura would have, and buying an authentic churn to make her own butter. She even went so far as to pour homemade syrup on fresh snow to make candy like Laura and Mary did.

I read this book over a span of many months, mainly because I could not bear to see it end. I had to stop halfway through and was unable to read it for an entire month, because I was crying like a baby. I cried because I loved Laura like the sister I never had, and I cried because I now love Wendy and what she went through personally while on her quest. I cried because when I eloped a few years ago, we had no room for all of my things, so I gave away all of my LHOTP books to charity. I cried because I felt guilty over this, and then I cried again when I found a complete set of books online and bought them. I cried when I was able to finally place them on my crowded bookshelves, where they belonged. I managed to start reading this book again, and then I cried because I had a hard time trying to recapture my own lost childhood and innocence. I’m crying right now as I write this review, because not only am I sad that life will never be as simple as it was during the 1970′s and 1980′s when I was living in Laura’s world. I also cry because I know in my heart that I am not a good enough writer to be reviewing this book, especially since I am having major writer’s block right now.

The Wilder Life dives into all sorts of Laura-related things, and not just personal reflections and points of view from Wendy. She writes about the big LHOTP debates, such as the group of people who never read the books, (Why haven’t you if you fall into this group?) and how they only know Laura and the gang through the television show, so when they visit the historical sites, they are a bit bewildered. Wendy brings about the important facts about how the timelines in the books don’t match up to historical timelines, making many of us wonder, were these books historical fiction, or semi-autobiographical?

Wendy McClure is the type of memoir writer that you instantly fall in love with–she’s funny, enthusiastic, sincere, and easily relatable. Plus, she’s a damn fine writer, killing me with her words:

“They gave me the uncanny sense that I’d experiences everything she had, that I nearly drowned in the same flooded creek, endured the grasshopper plague of 1875, and lived through the Hard Winter. It’s a classic childhood delusion, I know, and in my typically dippy way I tended to believe that the fantasy was mine alone, that this magically past-life business was between Laura and me and no one else. Surely I was the only one who had this profound mind-meld with her that allowed me to feel her phantom pigtails tugging at my scalp; I had to be the only one who was into the books that much.”

And, “I don’t have a sister, but for a time, while growing up, I had Laura Ingalls.”

If I ever get to meet Wendy McClure (I am dying to meet her and praying to god that she will attend Book-Expo America this May), I will desperately have to restrain myself from giving her a gigantic hug. (I don’t want to come off as creepy, especially since I know I’ll also be crying like a big, fat, 40-year-old baby.) The Wilder Life one of those books you take to bed, read all night, and makes you laugh and cry. When you wake up the next morning, you don’t even mind how exhausted you are, because the book you read was a book well worth reading. Wendy McClure has written a book so instantly beloved by me, she’s made her way into my heart and made herself my new author B.F.F. She has wit, and charm, and most of all, she is unapologetic about wanting to discover EVERYTHING about Laura Ingalls Wilder, no matter how nerdy or weird it might seem to others. This is a woman who not only managed to step into the world of her favorite book, but she also got her man to read the LHOTP books and come along with her on many of her prairie trail adventures. What woman can get her man to do that? (I know I can’t!) Seriously, how could you not help but fall in love with her and the book she’s written?

Visit Indiebound to pre-order your copy of The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure now.

THE WILDER LIFE GIVEAWAY – 1 LUCKY WINNER WILL WIN A COPY

RULES:

**Open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.

**No P.O. boxes, please.

**Must include your email in your comment, unless you signed in to leave a comment with your “real” email.

**All comments must be separate to count as separate entries. For example, if you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, leave 2 comments, one with your Facebook name, and one with your Twitter name. Or, if you posted about the giveaway on your blog, leave 5 comments, all with the link to your giveaway.

**Please read the additional rules here.

HOW TO ENTER:

**Mandatory Entry: Go to Wendy’s website, WendyMcClure.net, and tell me what fun or interesting thing you learned or noticed there.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Like The Wilder Life on Facebook.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook. Make sure to leave your Facebook name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Facebook and share a link on your wall with the following comment I entered The Girl from the Ghetto’s The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure book giveaway here http://bit.ly/enz5UR. Make sure to leave a comment below with a link to your Facebook profile or with your Facebook name.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Follow Wendy McClure on Twitter.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow Wendy McClure’s alter-ego @HalfPintIngalls on Twitter.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter. Make sure to leave your @Twitter name in your comment.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following RT @NerdGirlBlogger I entered the @riverheadbooks The Wilder Life by @Wendy_Mc book giveaway here http://bit.ly/enz5UR. You can tweet 4x a day (Once every 6 hours) for even more chances to win. Make sure to leave a link to your tweet in a comment below.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Subscribe to my blog via email or Feedburner.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Enter one of my other current giveaways and tell me which one.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow me on Goodreads.

+1  MORE ENTRY: Follow Wendy McClure on Goodreads.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Add The Wilder Life to your to-read shelf on Goodreads.

+1 MORE ENTRY: Comment here and tell me why you need to win this giveaway! Do you enjoy reading memoirs? Are you a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie? Did you identify with Laura, or even Mary, like I did? Do you enjoy reading in general, or, do you just love winning free stuff?

+5 MORE ENTRIES: Write about this giveaway on your own blog. Make sure to post a link to http://thegirlfromtheghetto.wordpress.com, and leave me 5 copies of your link via comment here.

Contest ends Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at midnight. Good luck to you all!