Unbroken

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resiliance, and Redemption
by Laura Hillenbrand
5 Stars
WWII, Nonfiction: Memoir
Setting: USA, Japan
473pages
Published 2010

Ellie's Review
While I enjoy historical fiction because it’s an interesting way to learn, Unbroken astonished me with true facts of the World War II experience of Louis Zamperini.  His story is so astonishing that fiction would not have been as fascinating.  Across the globe from the Nazis, Zamperini’s World War II service was in the Pacific fighting the Japanese.  I learned so much about this part of the world during WWII and realized I had previously focused on Europe.  Zamperini is an incredible man who was described quite aptly by my friend as someone who possesses the “Viktor Frankl gene” to stay strong and survive under horrendous circumstances.  The first 90 pages of the book were a bit slow for me, but once Zamperini’s plane went down in the ocean I was enthralled.  While I am horrified at the cruelty of the Japanese prison guards during WWII, I am inspired by Zamperini and others' ability to survive.

Book Summary
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.  Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared.  It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a lift raft and pulling himself aboard.  So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant's name was Louis Zamperini.  In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails.  As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile.  But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to the doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.  Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion.  His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit.  Telling an unforgettable story of a man's journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

I used the discussion questions on Lit Lovers for my book club.

I made the cupcakes on the right to snack on while we discussed this amazing book.  On top of the blue wave frosting were gummy fish, life savers (powered sugar mini donuts with licorice), buoys (two spice drops skewered with a toothpick), and shark fins (Thin Mint cookies cut and dipped in gray frosting).  These brought some nice humor into an otherwise serious conversation!

The Forgotten Garden

by Kate Morton
5 Stars
Setting: Australia, England
645 pages
Published 2008

Ellie's Review
This was a great book with an intriguing mystery about a foundling. Throughout the book, Morton carefully solves one part of the mystery while presenting other small mysteries. Readers are hooked! She jumps between three time frames without being confusing, which is a hard effect for authors though many try. I highly recommend this novel for a book club - readers love it and have a lot to discuss.

Book Summary
A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, and a mystery. The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton. 

See Ellie's reviews of Kate Morton's other novels: The House at Riverton and The Distant Hours.

Book Club Information
Click here to see a video of Kate Morton talking about The Forgotten Garden (no spoilers).


Discussion Questions

1. Christian said the following about “The Golden Egg” fairy tale, “The characters in the story are all doing what they think is right.  It’s just that it can’t have a happy ending for all of them.”  In The Forgotten Garden, who do you think had a happy ending?
2. Lady Montrechet convinces Eliza not to travel to New York with herself and Rose.  She convinces Eliza that lying to make someone happy is a good thing.  Do you agree?
3. Discuss what parts of Nell’s true story were never discovered by Cassandra.
4. Ruby said the following about not having children, “You make a life out of what you have not what you’re missing.”  Nell admits to herself she has focused too much on her missing late husband and child.  Who else focused on what was missing? 
5. Did Hugh and Lil make the right decision when they kept Nell? (question from katemorton.com)
6. On the night of Nell’s twenty-first birthday, her father Hugh tells her a secret that shatters her sense of self. How important is a strong sense of identity to a person’s life? Was Hugh right to tell her about her past? How might Nell’s life have turned out differently had she not discovered the truth? (question from katemorton.com)
7. Is it possible to escape the past, or does one’s history always find a way to revisit the present?  (question from katemorton.com)

Crone: The crone is a stock character in folklore and fairy tale, an old woman who is usually disagreeable, malicious, or sinister in manner, often with magical or supernatural associations that can make her either helpful or obstructing. She is marginalized by her exclusion from the reproductive cycle, and her proximity to death places her in contact with occult wisdom. As a character type, the crone shares characteristics with the hag.  The word "crone" is a less common synonym for "old woman," and is more likely to appear in reference to traditional narratives than in contemporary everyday usage. 

I Capture the Castle

by Dodie Smith
5 Stars
Historical Fiction
Setting: England
352 Pages
Published in 1948

Ellie's Review
This is a wonderful romantic, chicklit book that is a bit like a more modern Pride & Prejudice. I love it every time I read it!

Book SummaryI Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has "captured the castle"— and the heart of the reader— in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments.

Author InformationDodie Smith's most famous book was 101 Dalmatians.
Book Club Questions

• How might readers have responded differently to the novel at the time it was first published? Why does the novel continue to appeal to readers today as it did in 1948?
• Why do you think Dodie Smith chose the form of the diary to tell the story of Cassandra and the Mortmain family?
• Beyond a few spare descriptions, Smith tells us little about Mortmain’s novel. What do you imagine Jacob Wrestling to be about?
• A voracious reader, Cassandra compares her situation to that of the Bennets in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. How would you compare the situation of the Mortmain sisters to that of the Bennet sisters?
• Why does Mortmain encourage Cassandra to be “brisk” with Stephen? What does this book have to say about class in mid-twentieth century England?
• What is the meaning of the book’s title?
• What does the book say about English preconceptions of Americans and America and vice versa?
• How does the book reflect society’s changing views toward women during the first half of the 20^th century? How do the women in this novel view the roles and opportunities open to them both in the family and in the world at large differently?
• Over the course of the novel, Cassandra comes to seem less a child “with a green little hand” and more a young woman. How is I Capture the Castle a story of Cassandra’s coming of age?
• The description of Rose on page 1 says she is “very bitter with life.” If Cassandra were to write another journal, do you think she would describe herself this way now?
• Page 11 reads, “I think it worthy of note that I never felt happier in my life—despite sorrow for father, pity for Rose, embarrassment about Stephen’s poetry and no justification for hope as regards our family’s general outlook.” How has Cassandra changed by the end of the book? Will she be able to feel happy and content again?

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins
5 Stars
Young Adult, Science Fiction
374 Pages
Published in 2009

Ellie's Review
I absolutely loved this book! Yes, it's science fiction (and I normally am not a big fan of this genre), but I loved it. The plot was gripping and it was a page-turner. I actually listened to this audiobook in my car, and I drove around running errands to finish it. Then I brought the last CD inside to listen to it. That's how much I liked it. I liked that it wasn't a clear good verses evil. There's no Lord Voldemort who is pure evil. Instead, it has a variety, and the main character works hard at being good (as many other characters do also). Where does a person draw the moral line? Can't wait to read the second book!

Book Summary
(I know the summary sounds odd, but trust me on this book!)
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Book Club Information
We loved learning some background information and discussing the questions found on the Scholastic website. This was one of our best meetings of the year!

Author Information
Suzanne Collins previously wrote a children's fantasy series called The Underland Chronicles - see Ellie's review of the first in the series: Gregor the Overlander.