Arts & Entertainment
11-10 Good Reads: books
EDMOND — ‘ROAD TO TATER HILL’
BY EDITH M. HEMINGWAY
Loss is an early lesson for Annie Winters during the summer of 1963. When “Road to Tater Hill” begins, Daddy has left for Germany with the Air Force. Annie and Mama are staying in the rural North Carolina home of Grandma and Grandpa, just like Annie does every summer.
But this summer, Mama brings baby Mary Kate into the world and 11-year-old Annie finally has a little sister she has prayed for. When baby Mary Kate dies a day later, the Winters’ lives are shattered and Annie is left to witness her mother’s downward spiral into depression.
When Annie feels her family’s pain so fiercely that her throat closes with emotion, she escapes to the quiet stream in the woods where she has dubbed a rock her “rock baby.” It is during these escape trips into the woods of the Appalachian Mountains that Annie makes an unlikely friend in an elderly woman, Miss Eliza.
Miss Eliza is ostracized from the community, having just served a 30-year jail sentence for killing her husband. As Annie becomes her quiet confidant, Miss Eliza explains that her husband’s murder was an act of self-defense, and that she too has mourned the loss of an infant.
Edith M. Hemingway blends the experience of childhood grief and healing with the rare gifts that flower from unlikely intergenerational bonds.
Ages 9-12.
‘RING OF FIRE:
CENTURY QUARTET BOOK 1’
BY P. D. BACCALARIO
The four-part “Century” series follows 12-year-old Elettra from Rome, Harvey from New York, Mistral from Paris, and Sheng from Shanghai as they search for four ancient objects of power — each one of which is connected to one of the four elements: fire, earth, air and water.
When the four children meet by happenstance one snowy night in Rome, they soon realize that they all share the same birthday — and it’s not just any day, but Feb. 29th: leap year.
That same evening, they encounter a strange man who leaves a briefcase in their possession before he is murdered. By opening the briefcase, they unleash the first in a series of clues that will lead them all over Rome, from dusty libraries to dark catacombs, in their quest for the mysterious Ring of Fire — an object so powerful that, according to legend, not even a Roman emperor could control it.
Originally published in Italian, this mystery offers a multiplatform reading experience: a strong cast of international characters and high-paced action are paired with a color insert brimming with maps and clues to supplement the story. Each novel in the series takes place in a different international city, giving readers an opportunity to experience the world’s diverse cultures and traditions.
Ages 10-13.
‘WHAT WAS I SCARED OF?’
BY DR. SEUSS
“What Was I Scared Of?” was originally published in Dr. Seuss’s “The Sneetches and Other Stories” and has been reissued as a glow-in-the-dark picture book.
Dr. Seuss’s silly story features a narrator who is frightened and followed by a pair of empty green pants in the woods (which are equally terrified of the narrator). Children will learn a lesson about tolerance and fear through the narrator’s realization at the end: “I was just as strange to them as they were strange to me!”
Throughout the book, glow-in-the-dark ink enhances the narrator, the pants and moon images. This is the first Dr. Seuss book with a glow-in-the-dark effect.
Ages 6-9.
‘FIND MY FEET!’
BY SALINA YOON
This interactive board book features six animals that are missing their feet. With the turn of a wheel, children are challenged to match the feet to the correct animal. The hunt for the right match is just challenging enough as colors are used as a helpful hint for finding the correct feet.
Children will learn about animal identification, animal sounds and colors.
Ages 0-3.
NOTE: E-mail dpeery@edmondsun.com to have your name entered into a drawing for the following titles: “What Was I Scared Of?” and/or “Find My Feet!” Deadline is 10 a.m. Nov. 16. Winner will be notified by return e-mail. Winner is responsible for picking up the book at The Edmond Sun.
- Arts & Entertainment
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‘Murderer’s Daughters’ looks at family violence
Lulu’s mother told her not to let her father in the apartment, but it’s hard for a 10-year-old to say “no” to a parent. So Lulu opened the door and then ran for help as her father stabbed her mother and sister.
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3-16 Good Reads: books
‘OUR FARM: BY THE ANIMALS OF FARM SANCTUARY”
BY MAYA GOTTFRIED
In “Our Farm” readers will meet Maya the cow, J.D. the piglet, Hilda the sheep and a dozen more animals in their own voices through Maya Gottfried’s poetry. Master watercolorist Robert Rahway Zakanitch provides a portrait and pen-and-ink sketches for each poem that capture each animal’s personality. -
‘She’s Out of My League’ a mild charmer
Boy-meets-girl films released in recent years have fallen into two wildly diverse categories: raunchy tales of lust, as seen in “American Pie,” or painfully bland stories (“I Love You Beth Cooper”).
“Pie” provided plenty of laughs but little romance. “Cooper” was heavy on romance but lacked humor. “She’s Out of My League” is the perfect hybrid that manages to pull at your heart and funny bone with equal force. -
UCO dancers spring onto center stage
The University of Central Oklahoma’s Kaleidoscope Dance Company will spring into a variety of dances, including a critically acclaimed and challenging contemporary ballet, at its spring concert 7:30 p.m. March 25-27 at Mitchell Hall Theater.
The spring concert includes jazz, hip-hop, modern, African and Flamenco dances, as well as the contemporary ballet “Solemn Opus: The Journey of Lost and Found.” -
‘Our Family Wedding’ induces stupor
Here’s all you need to know about “Our Family Wedding": It thinks that feeding a goat an entire bottle of Viagra is the height of hilarity.
New Yorkers Lucia and Marcus (“Ugly Betty’s” America Ferrera, Lance Gross) return to their native L.A.to announce their engagement. Slight problem: She’s Mexican-American, he’s African-American.
And their fathers — Miguel and Brad (Carlos Mencia, Forest Whitaker) — hate each other at first sight. -
‘Remember Me’ ineffective
“Remember Me” could have been called “The Many Moods of Robert Pattinson’s Hair.”
Scruffy, coiffed, combed, exploding like an M-80 in a haystack, flattened by sleep, wet from having a pot of spaghetti water dumped on him ... this young actor’s follicles are the star of the show.
Pattinson (of the “Twilight” saga, naturally) plays Tyler Hawkins, estranged from his rich, powerful and remote lawyer father (Pierce Brosnan) and living in abject squalor in a Soho apartment. He’s angry and sullen and rudely smokes in inappropriate situations. He audits classes at New York University but apparently has no ambition or goals. -
‘Green Zone’ misguided
The case has been made that the Bush Administration railroaded America into invading Iraq by ignoring evidence, facts and logic, and never considering the consequences.
With “Green Zone,” “Bourne” and “Bloody Sunday” filmmaker Paul Greengrass commits a similar sin with his film about that invasion and the search for phantom weapons of mass destruction. He has ignored inconvenient facts — and indeed the very book that the script (by Brian Helgeland) is based on — to conjure up an entertaining if sometimes risible ticking-clock thriller about what “they” didn’t want you to know in the run-up to war. -
Oklahoma History Center presents ‘Time Changes Everything’
The play “Time Changes Everything” makes its Oklahoma City debut at the Oklahoma History Center, 2401 North Laird Avenue, at 7 p.m. March 20. The two-act play features the music of Woody Guthrie, Bob Wills and the Red Dirt Rangers. The play will be performed in the Devon Energy Great Hall.
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Local actors evoke magic in Willy Wonka tale
Edmond Fine Art Institute’s annual spring children’s play, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” featured a cast of talented young thespians, many of whom appeared in the recent FAI productions “The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood” and “The Bremen Town Musicians.”
Directed by Peggy Hoshall with costume design and construction by FAI Junior Theatre Company director Susan Scott, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is a story written by Roald Dahl and dramatized by Richard R. George. Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp starred in the 1971 and 2005 film versions. -
Memorial’s ‘How to Succeed’ offers Broadway finesse
Rivaling the the charm of some Broadway tour offerings at the Civic Center, Edmond Memorial High School’s musical, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” offered a comical glimpse at corporate culture in the days of three-piece suits and steno pools.
Based on the 1952 book by Shepherd Mead, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows of “Guys and Dolls” fame, the show boasts seven Tony Awards and a 1962 Pulitzer Prize. It was released on film in 1967 and revived on Broadway in 1995 with Matthew Broderick and Megan Mullaly. - More Arts & Entertainment Headlines
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‘Murderer’s Daughters’ looks at family violence
