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Book Review: Ten tumultuous weeks in the life of eleven year old Lorelei Lee Connelly are chronicled in her diary, which she writes as a series of conversations with her beloved cat, Mud. Her English teacher had recommended this technique, writing stories as if conversing with a friend, as a way of attaining focus and clarity. Lorelei had always found Mud, newly deceased at the ripe old age of twenty, to be a good listener, so she decided to address her diary entries to him. This is the setting of Yeardley Smith's debut novel I Lorelei, published last January (2009) by Laura Geringer Books/ HarperColins, New York. As she navigates typical issues of sibling relationships, friendship, school bullies, and her first love, young Lorelei who, aspires to become an actress (or maybe a chef or an author), also contends with the pressures and politics of middle school theatrics after landing a part in her school's musical production of Peter Pan. All this unfolds in front of the portentous backdrop of her distracted parent's erratic behavior and crumbling marriage, and the precession of nannies that drifts through the Connelly household. Ms Smith's story telling is enjoyable, the characters believable, and the heroine is sympathetic and endearing. I Lorelei is entirely credible as the diary of an intelligent, and sensitive eleven year old girl. (At least so far as this fifty year old male reader can tell.) Marketing marketing marketing An unfortunate feature of the book, not the author's fault, is inside the front dust jacket. I'm referring to where it says "Grades 3-7". Addressing the book to such a narrow demographic might make sense from a niche marketing stand point. But its understatement of the broader appeal of this book to children, and former children, of all ages seems a terrible disservice to the reading public in general, as well as the author and the "franchise". Picky picky picky In her first diary entry, dated October 16 (year not given), Lorelei states she is 4126 days old. This would have made her either 108 or 109 days old on Oct 16 of the year she was born. This depends on whether there were 2 or 3 leap days in that particular 11 year span. Counting backward 109 or 108 days before October 16 (in any year) corresponds to a birth date of June 29 or 30 respectively. But later in the book Lorelei states that her birthday is in July (as is the author's). Of course if NASA can lose a multi-million dollar space craft by confusing feet and meters, an 11 year old girl can be forgiven for miscounting a day or two. (And, hopefully, a reviewer forgiven for being so picky. I'm kind of a math geek. Throw numbers at me and I have to make sense of them.) More Lorelei please! So what is next for young Lorelei Connelly? What challenges will she face, and how will she cope? In what ways will she scare herself in her scheme to cultivate bravery in herself? The sympathetic characters and enjoyable story telling leave the reader wanting more! There is some indication that a sequel is in the works, but it may be a while. An audio version of this book may also be in the works. According to the author's tweet of Sept 15 it remains up to the publisher (Harper Collins) as to if/when the full audio book is to be done. An excerpt read by the author is available at the official I Loreleiwebsite. Simpson-ism alerts "Yoink" on page 157 "Woo-hoo" on page ... Now I can't find it. It's in there somewhere. Teddy's Life In Hell pencil mug. (Not the Simpsons, but a Matt Groening creation.) Purely subjective One purely subjective note: after I finished reading this book I found my mind's ear ringing for, quite some time, with the strains of the Python Lee Jackson/ Rod Stewart classic "In A Broken Dream". When this got old I found relief was as easy as listening to the more up beat "Jazz Man". The spot-on Lisa Simpson version, of course. Extracted from the 'Round Springfields episode in the Season 6 DVD set. Originally written in Oct 2009, this review was last edited Feb 5, 2010. -- RSM |