No Angel- Jay Dobyns and Nils Johnson-Shelton

#78. No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels- Jay Dobyns and Nils Johnson-Shelton


Wow.

Jay Dobyns worked as an undercover agent for the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms). This book covers how he and his fellow agents infiltrated the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, became trusted members and got to know the ins and outs of being a "one-percenter."

Dobyns struggled the entire time, and not always successfully, with combining work life and family life. While undercover, he was away from his family for long periods of time, dealing with drug addicts and dealers, murderers, rapists, and people with rap sheets longer than Route 80. Obviously he had to dress, look and act the part, and he found it increasingly difficult to turn off that part of him, his Hells Angels alter-ego nicknamed Bird. His family suffered for it, and Jay did as well.

The book chronicles his adventures undercover, which are just fascinating. He was dealing with some of the real scum of the earth, but he was still able to find a few sparks of human decency left in a few of the members. Overall, though, many of his experiences were harrowing, and he expected to be killed in several situations. The Hells Angels are just like an other social group, in that they have a code to follow, mores, social rules, etc., and that's the kind of stuff that fascinates me. I read this book in two days, constantly flipping back and forth to the section of pictures in the middle so I could pick out which ZZ Top-like bearded Angel he was describing.

With all the different people in this book- Angels, agents, family, etc.- I thought I would have a hard time keeping track of who was whom, but no, Jay and his co-author do a great job of making sure that each character they're describing is distinct and distinguishable. By the end of this book, you'll be eyeing everyone on a motorcycle with suspicion.

Absolutely amazing. I'm glad there are people out there like Jay Dobyns, willing to take on such dangerous work to keep the rest of us safe. What a truly fascinating book!

Looks- Madeleine George

#77. Looks- Madeleine George

Meghan and Aimee are complete opposites, at least physically. Meghan is obese, while Aimee is painfully anorexic. Meghan notices Aimee on one of the first days of school and is drawn to her, convinced that the two of them could be friends. Meghan's used to being invisible- because of her size, most people ignore her and don't fully consider her a person, making it easy for her to slip in and out of tricky spots and to know everything about everyone. The only time she is noticed, however, it's by the popular boys in school, especially J-Bar, the filthy-mouthed star of the basketball team.

But things don't go quite as Meghan had planned. Aimee, who writes brilliant poetry and is dealing her mother's breakup with a boyfriend Aimee considered a mentor, is approached by Cara, a cute preppy girl in charge of the high school literary magazine. Meghan knows nothing good will come of this; she has a history with Cara. When things go bad for Aimee, Meghan knows exactly what to do.

Told in alternating voices (Meghan's voice one chapter, Aimee's the next), Madeleine George does an excellent job of portraying high school social life for outcasts. Weight isn't the only focus, maybe not even the major focus, but the entire picture is painted around that issue. The characters are amazingly well-developed, and while bits of the plot seem slightly predictable, this was a great read. Looks like this is the only book Amazon has authored by George, so I'll be keeping an eye on her.

You will, of course, excuse my absence...

So, you may have noticed I haven't posted in about a month. Yeah, I know, bad blogger. :(

The deal is that we've been dealing with unemployment here, and I was ping-ponging between being a completely stressed out banshee and an efficient on-the-ball secretary, job searching and cover letter-writing for my awesome husband. Since he applied to over 100 positions in about 10 weeks, you can see how my reading and blogging suffered.

But fear not! The situation has been remedied. A new position has been obtained, and in a few weeks, my awesome Belgian will have an awesome new job. :D

I will be in and out blogging, though, since this new position requires a move for us, a move of about 450 miles to another state. It wasn't our first choice of location or even our second, but it's a good job and will be a great opportunity for my dh. It also means new libraries, new bookstores, and lots of other new things. I'm excited, nervous, scared and hopeful all at once.

So hopefully I'll be back full time soon, posting fascinating short reviews of all the books I read in our new location. :)

Sorry for my absence, but I'm sure you all understand! :)

Numbering All The Bones- Ann Rinaldi

#76. Numbering All The Bones- Ann Rinaldi

Ann Rinaldi begins this short novel just before the end of the Civil War. Eulinda is a slave on a small plantation just outside of Andersonville. Her circumstances are different from most other slaves- her master is her father, and he treats her well. While she's not universally acknowledged as his daughter, she's allowed to eat at the table with the family and sleep in the main house. This puts her in a difficult spot with the other slaves, and it makes Eulinda question who she really is and where her loyalties lie.

Little brother Zeke has been sold off, Mama died and brother Neddy ran off to join the Union army. Mistis (took me a minute to figure out Eulinda met "Mistress") wavers back and forth on who she wants Eulinda to be- on good days, she treats Eulinda like people, on bad days, Eulinda is nothing more than a slave. When Eulinda makes a visit to the Andersonville prison, she's horrified by the conditions, but even more horrified to know that her brother is a prisoner there. Mr. Hampton tries to get him out, but Neddy is too proud to accept his help.

Eventually, the war ends, Eulinda finds within herself the strength to leave the family that never really accepted her and begins working as Clara Barton's secretary.

This was a very short book, and my copy, which was released through Scholastic and is only available for distrubition through the school market, was so riddled with punctuation errors that it made me wonder how children will EVER learn to use proper punctuation. A quick read, although it left me wishing for a little more.

A Wrinkle In Time- Madeleine L'Engle

#75. A Wrinkle In Time- Madeleine L'Engle

I think we actually had to read this when I was in school one year, but my problem back then was that if it didn't interest me, I just gave up on it. So I never actually finished it back then.

Meg's father is missing, but that's only one of her troubles. She's a bit of a misfit- great at math but terrible at the rest of school, hair all a mess and a huge set of braces (sounds like she's going through an awkward phase). Her little brother is wildly intelligent but since he won't talk to people outside the family, everyone thinks he's a moron. Mom is a distracted scientist, focused on taking care of the family and holding it together while waiting for the return of scientist Dad. Meg is struggling.

But little brother Charles Wallace has met a few women who might be able to help. Along with fellow school misfit Calvin O'Keefe, Meg, Charles Wallace and Mrs. Which, Whatsit and Who travel through the universe on a strange journey, learning about the epic battle against the Black Thing and doing everything they can not only to get Father back, but to not get lost somewhere out there in the universe themselves.

This was another family read-aloud. There's actually a movie made from this book; we got it out of the library and will watch it soon. Has anyone seen it? Is it worth the watching? (We'll watch it anyway, but still...)

This was okay, I guess. Still not terribly interesting to me personally, but ds liked it (and I daresay my dh did as well!).

Finishing Becca- Ann Rinaldi

#74. Finishing Becca: A Story About Peggy Shippen and Benedict Arnold- Ann Rinaldi

I love Ann Rinaldi's books. I really do. She takes history and makes it come alive. I hope her works are available and pushed by school librarians across the country.

Becca is leaving home for the first time. Her mother is a seamstress, struggling to make money despite the haranguing of her second husband (Becca's father died a few years ago after losing all his money), who thinks HE should be the one to bring home the bacon (he and Becca don't get along, obviously). She's heading off to the Shippen household, to be a handmaid to Peggy Shippen, the youngest spoiled daughter. Peggy is absolutely horrible: spoiled ROTTEN, manipulative, spending all her father's money and whining when he won't give her more. Becca has taken the position to help "finish" herself: her mother hopes that by being in the company of upper class people, Becca will learn the skills of a lady, such as music, French, drawing, embroidery, etc. Becca takes that to mean that there are unfinished pieces of her, pieces that are missing.

She does learn those skills, but she learns more about how to get along when the entire country is in upheaval. The Shippens are Quakers and are trying to remain neutral amidst the Revolution, but it's not easy. Money is tight, British soldiers show up on a regular basis, expecting to be fed and entertained in a fashion according to the supposed status of their host, and with three daughters still at home, demanding more and more extravagances, Mr. Shippen is stressed to the max. Peggy galavants around with a British captain; both are despicable and care for no one other than themselves. When that relationship ends, Peggy takes up with Benedict Arnold (even though he's about a million years older than she). In between dealing with Peggy and becoming "finished," Becca engages in a plot to help a wayward soldier and attempts to figure out who's on what side in the Revolution.

Rinaldi plays on the historical rumor that Peggy Shippen nudged Arnold towards becoming a traitor. It's a fascinating story, and in this story, Peggy is just awful enough to make it a reality. Whether it's true or not is up for speculation; Rinaldi provides the historical facts at the end of the story. While the book is a bit weighed down by discussions of the war between soldiers, it's interesting enough to keep you reading.

I haven't been to the library much lately (and I'll discuss that in a later post), and this was one from my own shelves. I find historical fiction (especially the YA variety) hugely enjoyable, and this was intriguing.


Words:

mantua- n- a woman's loose gown worn as a robe or overdress in the early 18th century; a mantle.

specie- n- coined money; coin.

furbelow- n- a ruffle or flounce as on a woman's skirt or petticoat; any bit of showy trimming or finery.

spermaceti- n- a pearly white waxy translucent solid, obtained from the oil in the head of the sperm whale; used cheifly in cosmetics and candles, and as an emollient.

poltroon- n- a wretched coward; craven.

patroon- n- a person who held an estate in land with certain memorial privileges granted under the old Dutch governments of New York and New Jersey.

jackanapes- n- an impertinent presumptious person, especially a young man; whippersnapper; an impudent, mischievous child; (archaic) an ape or monkey.

prothonotary- n- a chief clerk or official in certain courts of law.

benighted- adj- intellectually or morally ignorant, unenlightened; overtaken by darkness or night.

Anna to the Infinite Power- Mildred Ames

#73. Anna to the Infinite Power- Mildred Ames

Wow, this is an old one! :) I kept seeing this mentioned on reading lists, and so I picked it up when I found a 10-cent copy at the thrift store.

Distopia! Rowan Hart, violinist and older brother to Anna Hart, lives in a futuristic American society, where food is scarce, families are subtly encouraged to only have one child, technology abounds and you must inform a special computer system whenever you go anywhere. Rowan's only hindrance to a great life is his little sister. Anna is strange, impersonal, she can perform complex math problems faster than the fastest computer, she steals without a second thought and doesn't care a wink for anyone or anything but herself.

But something strange happens the day Rowan deviates from his planned, computer-informed route: he discovers a girl who looks exactly like his sister, who has the same first and middle names as his sister. Stunned, he asks his mother for an explanation, only to learn that his sister is an actual clone of one of the greatest physicists of all time. But just as they learn this, something strange starts happening to Anna. A new music teacher helps her grow and helps Rowan to learn about himself. Just in time, too, because Anna may not have a lot of time left. Is it cancer? Or is it something worse?

This book has a strange and impersonal tone to it, and I wasn't all that thrilled with it. I think it's just that it hasn't much passed the test of time. I read it over a period of a week or two, picking it up in between other books. Just kind of meh. Anyone else read this one? What did you think?