Review - The Good Braider

The Good Braider
by Terry Farish
Date: 2012
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Reading level: YA
Book type: verse novel
Pages: 213
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon

In spare free verse laced with unforgettable images, Viola’s strikingly original voice sings out the story of her family s journey from war-torn Sudan, to Cairo, and finally to Portland, Maine. Here, in the sometimes too close embrace of the local Southern Sudanese Community, she dreams of South Sudan while she tries to navigate the strange world of America a world where a girl can wear a short skirt, get a tattoo or even date a boy; a world that puts her into sharp conflict with her traditional mother who, like Viola, is struggling to braid together the strands of a displaced life.

Terry Farish's haunting novel is not only a riveting story of escape and survival, but the universal tale of a young immigrant s struggle to build a life on the cusp of two cultures.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I felt like I needed a bit of a break from fantasy, so I chose to read The Good Braider.  It's a historical novel, written in free verse, about the immigrant experience.  I'd really enjoyed Thanhha Lai's Inside Out & Back Again, about a Vietnamese family coming to the U.S. in the 1970s... so I thought I'd enjoy this one, about a Sudanese family coming to the U.S. in the early part of this decade.  Both may be historical novels about war refugees written in free verse, but that's about where the similarities end... both in subject matter and my reaction.

I just couldn't seem to connect with Viola, the teenage narrator.  Some pretty horrific stuff happens, but instead of being disturbed by the events, I found myself taken out of the flow by having to re-read passages because the writing seemed clunky and I couldn't picture what was going on.  In the beginning, the book takes place in Juba, in the southern part of Sudan.  At times, the writing is pretty sparse, and I just couldn't get a feel for the place, which I found disappointing.  I think Viola's family lived in a house.  I know she mentioned a courtyard.  They were supposedly surrounded by war, but I never got much of a feel for that, either.  I hoped things would pick up when Viola, her mother, and younger brother headed north to Cairo to escape the soldiers, but much of the long journey was glossed over.  It's not that I wanted a day-by-day account... but something just wasn't right with the pacing.  At times, it seemed interminably slow... and then suddenly we'd be told that two years had passed.  What happened during that time?  What was going on with the characters?  The way it was written, you might be forgiven for thinking they'd spent those years in a state of suspended animation.

The story only picked up when they arrived in Portland, Maine.  And while it was interesting to see how they reacted and adapted (or didn't adapt) to their new surroundings, I felt like that part of the book was really nothing new.  What made this particular story unique was the arduous journey out of Africa.  I would have rather read more about that, rather than about Viola trying to adjust to an American teenager's life.  Or, really, I would have rather read more about that if it had elicited more of an emotional reaction from me.  As it was... I don't know.  I just wasn't feeling it.

While this book's subject matter was interesting and uncommon (at least, I haven't heard of many books about Sudanese immigrants), it lacked the emotional pull that I wanted to feel from the characters and story.  All in all, it was kind of disappointing; I had hoped it would be better.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.29 out of 5

In My Mailbox (53)

Bought from Amazon.ca:

Angelfall
by Susan Ee

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

The Golem and the Jinni
by Helene Wecker

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life to by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master—the husband who commissioned her—dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899.

Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free—an unbreakable band of iron around his wrist binds him to the physical world.

Overwhelmed by the incessant longing and fears of the humans around her, the cautious and tentative Chava—imbued with extraordinary physical strength—fears losing control and inflicting harm. Baptized by the tinsmith who makes him his apprentice, the handsome and capricious Ahmad—an entity of inquisitive intelligence and carefree pleasure—chafes at monotony and human dullness. Like their immigrant neighbors, the Golem and the Jinni struggle to make their way in this strange new place while masking the supernatural origins that could destroy them.

Meeting by chance, Chava and Ahmad become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing nature—until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful threat will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, challenging their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

The Good Braider
by Terry Farish

In spare free verse laced with unforgettable images, Viola’s strikingly original voice sings out the story of her family s journey from war-torn Sudan, to Cairo, and finally to Portland, Maine. Here, in the sometimes too close embrace of the local Southern Sudanese Community, she dreams of South Sudan while she tries to navigate the strange world of America a world where a girl can wear a short skirt, get a tattoo or even date a boy; a world that puts her into sharp conflict with her traditional mother who, like Viola, is struggling to braid together the strands of a displaced life.

Terry Farish's haunting novel is not only a riveting story of escape and survival, but the universal tale of a young immigrant s struggle to build a life on the cusp of two cultures.

A Tale Dark and Grimm
by Adam Gidwitz

In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest brimming with menacing foes, they learn the true story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses, and outwitted witches.

Fairy tales have never been more irreverent or subversive as Hansel and Gretel learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?


In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.