R.L.S. Hoff's Blog, page 8

Spring Festival means spring is here, right?

Um…no. Spring Festival is what all my Chinese friends call Chinese New Year. This has always seemed a bit strange to me. The holiday falls in January or February, which is not even the beginning of spring.

At least, not in any of the places where I’ve lived. Still, if somebody wants to celebrate that spring is coming in the still-dark-and-cold days of February, I won’t stop them.

These days, Spring Festival is a big deal at our house, of course. Since we have a Chinese kid, it’s important to celebrate. It can be hard to get it right, though. Even as a family who lived in China for more than a decade, there’s a lot about this holiday that we don’t know. We were privileged to join some Chinese families for their Spring Festival meal a couple of times. That prepares us to create an authentic Spring Festival experience for our child about as well as having been to one or two Christmas dinners might prepare the average Chinese family for creating a complete and authentic Christmas experience. It’s better than nothing, but not ideal.

Relying on our kid to supply the blanks hasn’t always worked well, either. Of course, we’ve talked with him about what he remembers and wants to do to celebrate. These days, he’s a bit more willing to engage in extended conversation than he was at first. But there are some things that he doesn’t seem able to articulate and yet still senses as a loss. Perhaps, even though he came to us as a teenager, he didn’t really think about what things the adults around him were doing to make holidays special. Which of us did?

It’s also true that some of the parts of the holiday that are most important to him are impossible for us to replicate (like firecrackers and being with his friends from China). Other things that were important to friends of ours in China were apparently not part of his tradition. (Families and regions differ. Go figure.)

This year is particularly tough. COVID restrictions have forced us to alter some of the things that seemed to be making the event special for our son in the past. Just when we’d hammered out some Hoff family traditions for Spring Festival, a worldwide pandemic made much of what we’ve done in past years impossible.

So, we’ve worked out some alternatives, and we pray that we’ll be able to show that we love and appreciate our son and his culture. Even if we can’t be a Chinese family for him.

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I have loved The Girl Who Drank the Moon since I first read it when my daughter picked it up for a contest back when she was in fifth grade. So, several years, now.

Like all the best fantasies, this one immerses me in a world that feels both familiar and wonderfully different from the world where I live.

And the characters! Kelly Barnhill, the author, has created so many fascinating people in this book. I love Luna, especially for her exuberance. And the swamp monster. I love the Simply Enormous dragon (who fits in Luna’s pocket). And so many more…

What I love most might be that in this story, even good people make problems worse. They do this even when they’re trying to do right. In a messed up system, treating symptoms may be necessary, but it won’t touch the heart of the issue. Systemic evil must be dismantled before lives can improve.

And this book helps me to see that in a story that I would have no qualms about reading with an eight-year-old. It’s that kind of good.

Anyway, if you like fantasy at all–or middle grade–or just fabulously good writing–and you haven’t yet read The Girl Who Drank the Moon, you absolutely should.

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I wrote a picture book manuscript a while back about a girl named Emma who gets into a bit of trouble with a magical slipper. So, this is me trying my hand at drawing Emma.

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a poem, inspired by conversation with my middle child (the one who is all into programming and mathematics)

Neither random

Nor entirely ordered

Spirals

And Dots

Synced

In Dancing

Rhythmic

Progression

© 2021 R.L.S. Hoff.

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Midnight Sun, as you probably already know, is the latest book in the Twilight series. It covers much of the same ground as the original books–but from Edward’s point of view.

I admit I liked it, but that might be at least partly nostalgia. Still, some of Edward’s behavior feels a bit more comprehensible after reading this. I still feel like he’s annoyingly overprotective, and more into the Bella in his brain than the Bella who actually exists. (If a character in a book can be said to actually exist…. She does, right? At least for that story?) At any rate, I still find myself frustrated with Edward as a hero, but I understand him better than I did before. It’s an interesting exercise–taking the same story from different points of view. And fun to read.

Midnight Sun is enjoyable, and though I didn’t love it, I liked it quite a bit, and would recommend it for people who like YA fantasy, especially for those who enjoyed the original Twilight series. Like my Songs of Healing, it has a fairly modern setting. If you prefer your fantasy a bit medieval, maybe check out Adelaide and the Dragon Castle.

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In Merci Suárez Changes Gears, Merci lives in las casitas–three pink houses in a row in Florida that she shares with not just her immediate family, but also her extended family.

Lolo and Abuela live in the middle house, and much of this book is about Merci’s relationship with Lolo. Just as Merci struggles with a new stage of her life (middle school), Lolo is struggling with a new stage of his life (old age).

This is a beautiful story that reminds me a bit of my earliest five years when we lived around the block from my grandma and grandpa. I wonder what it would have been like to get older there, to be part of their lives as I got into middle school and then high school.

For Merci, it’s not all easy. (But then, is entering middle school ever easy?) But it’s good, and I love taking this journey with her. I love getting to know this creative, confident, athletic character, and all the people who make up her world.

If you’re at all into realistic middle-grade fiction, this is a good one. I’d say it’s better than Because of Mr. Terupt or Micah McKinney and the Boys of Summer (which are both also good books).

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J has been driving a lot lately. (He has a new job on the other side of town.)

So, we really shouldn’t have been surprised when last week we got a call. J had been in an accident.

The first time is always scary. But fortunately, no one was hurt.

J was a bit rattled, however. The rest of us worried as well. In particular, Craig and I felt concern–we can both remember schoolmates and acquaintances who didn’t make it far into adulthood (or into adulthood at all) because of car accidents.

These machines that are so necessary to life are also a leading cause of death among teens and young adults. When I hand over my keys, I’m handing over independence, but I’m also handing over danger.

Perhaps danger and independence are always two sides of the same coin. Accidents happen. Still, I wish there were some way to let my children grow up without also putting them at risk.

A mother can dream.

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Beyond by M. C. Winkkle is a young adult science fiction book. It stars Stella, a young woman who is being held captive as an alien spy.

However, Stella’s no spy. She’s just an ordinary girl who has had trouble fitting in with the other kids. She has a close relationship with her mom, though. Her captors use that relationship to push Stella into cooperating with with them, and Stella soon manifests abilities she didn’t know she had. Maybe she’s not quite as ordinary as she thought she was.

This was a fun book that I enjoyed a great deal despite some disconcerting shifts in point of view. If you like alien invasion stories that have a fair bit of nuance, this book might be a good one for you to try.

Interested in other science fiction recommendations? Check out my take on The Left Hand of Darkness or Cinder.

Blessings and Happy Reading

(c) 2021 R.L.S. Hoff

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StarRacer Update 2021-01: My rewrite is coming along. Here’s a mini-excerpt from a recent chapter:

“Oh, yes. Thank you, Bria!” Danielle transferred her hug to Bria who looked about as uncomfortable with it as Anya had felt when Danielle was hugging her. Maybe Anya wasn’t as strange as she imagined she was. She smiled as she got moving on the last afternoon of training.

Tomorrow, they’d finish loading StarRacer.

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The Captain’s Boy is the newest release from one of my critique group members–Don Callaway.

This story follows a Pennsylvania farm boy from the period of the American Revolution. When Isaiah and his father return from a supply-gathering trip, they find that Hessians have looted and burned their farm.

With the rest of the family dead, Isaiah’s grief-stricken father throws himself into a quest for revenge. Though physically with his father, Isaiah must handle his own grief alone. He also must find his own way through his grief and the process of becoming a man in this new war-torn world.

The historical detail is wonderful. I particularly enjoy seeing how everyday tasks in that time were handled. It reminds me a bit of the Little House books in that way.

This is a good story that I recommend, especially for readers who enjoy historical fiction or coming of age stories. You can purchase your own copy here. Like historical books? I’d also recommend Boxers and Saints, and Sarah, Plain and Tall.

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