Goodbye Lemon

Administrator — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 02:43:23 +0000

I recently recieved a copy of Adam Levin’s touching family dramedy Goodbye Lemon. It tells a story of a family destroyed by the drowning of its 6-year-old son, Dexter. The real reason behind this is that the patriarch of the family, Dexter’s father, was drunk when he and Dexter went out on the boat that Dexter drowned on. His father did not rescue Dexter, and as a result, his children put the blame for Dexter’s death on him. The story begins as the youngest son in the family is returning to the house for the first time in years with his girlfriend, Hahva. He discovers that his father has had a dehabilitating stroke and has been “locked in”, where he can completely sense all that is around him, but cannot react to it or respond. His father regains some control by the end of the book, but dies later. Hahva is seperated from her boyfriend due to a battle over Dexter’s orange flip-flop (which turns out not to be Dexter’s). The ending somehow manages to give perfect closure to the story. As to the name of the book, its meaning is revealed halfway through the book; Lemon was Dexter’s nickname. This book is engrossing and entertaining, and best of all, contains many great vocabulary words if you wish to improve your vocabulary, such as detritus.

The Beatrice Letters

Administrator — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 00:45:27 +0000

No matter how much others beg me to quit reading them, I can’t. Just because I have progressed in grade level and the reading level of these books has not, does not mean I should not read them. I love the Lemony Snicket books (A Series of Unfortunate Events, or ASOUE as an acronym). Filled with dry wit and black humor, these books read like a really good movie script (and the first three have been made into a movie). And with the close of the series placed on Friday, October 13, I can’t help but be excited. The hundreds of loose ends will be tied together. Until then, we can mull over the latest installment in the accompanying books (such as Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography), The Beatrice Letters. This 40-page book (but it is much more than that) is written in the form of letters exchanged between Daniel Handler’s nom de plume and his deceased love, Beatrice. This book, priced at a far-from-fair $19.99, is a 40-page book with letters that the reader forms multiple anagrams with, and a double-sided poster with “clues” in it. They both come in a “file folder” inside a hardcover shell sealed with a strip of elastic. The cover is the most expensive part of the book, with laser die-cut lettering. The book itself reveals only a few hidden facts about the secretive love interest of the author. It is, in itself, a very confusing thing, full of twists, turns, and red herrings. The illustrations are very nice, though. This will have to tide us over until the Oct. 13th release of the final installment, “The End”, which is the 13th book in the series.

Springfield READS! » New fiction

Goodbye Lemon

The Beatrice Letters