Is "Code Name: Verity" An Odd Duck?

Salon has an article about the audio version of Code Name: Verity by Elizabeth Wein. In it author Laura Miller says, "Although published as YA (Young Adult) fiction, it’s a bit of an odd duck in the genre. Its accounts of Nazi torture and death camps are serious and frank (and, it should be added, quite true to the fates of the many brave young people, male and female, who fought for the French Resistance), which will make it too disturbing for some youthful readers. And there’s no dreamy romance, an apparent requirement in YA books for girls these days."

Now, I think an argument could be made that Verity could have been published as adult because the main characters aren't teenagers and aren't living a typical teenage experience. But because the accounts of torture and death camps are too disturbing for youthful readers? Are torture and death camps that different from all the other disturbing material that YA covers--rape, death from disease and accident, and mental illness, for instance?

Miller's comment about the romance requirement--I have heard rumbling about that, but never that the absence of that element is the mark of an adult book.

This Is Going To Encourage Me In A Not Very Good Way

One of the first things Mitali Perkins did after moving to California was hit a studio to record an intro for an audio book. She did an excellent post at her blog describing the experience.

I, of course, picked up on a minute detail and got carried away with it. Mitali described her history with reading aloud, including "...when I read in church, I strive for reverence and excellence..." I had to stop there and ponder my own sad attitude toward my moments at the pulpit. I read in church once or twice a year, and I tend to treat each trip to the front of the sanctuary as an opportunity to up my public reading game. Which, I guess, isn't exactly reverent.

I focus on using a little theatricality to convey meaning, which, of course, means I have to understand the passage in the first place. This can sometimes mean e-mailing the minister to say, "What the heck, Bob?" The version of the Bible my church uses has an on-line site where I can download the passage I'm reading and enlarge the text. Seriously, I mark it up for pronunciation and note spots I want to emphasize. I rehearse for a day or two ahead of time. Unless I'm really pressed for prep time, I try to be comfortable enough with the text so that I can periodically look up and appear to be making eye contact with audience members--I mean members of the congregation. That's why I like to read from the enlarged text I downloaded from the Internet instead of the pew Bible. The larger text means I'm less likely to lose my place after I've looked up at my listeners

I don't really worry a lot about going over the top with these performances because we're supposed to be a Christian community and be supportive of one another, right? Plus, if you end up reading in the summer, as I sometimes do, there's hardly anyone there to care. On top of that, I figure if the deacons don't like what I do, they'll have a board meeting and vote not to ask me back. Since I don't take offense easily, that's not a source of anxiety for me.

I suspect that now that I've read about Mitali's trip to the studio and I know that writers sometimes record audio for their own books, I will behave even worse in church.

Children...Yum

I was very taken with the title of Keith McGowan's book The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children, so I snatched up the audio version when I saw it at the library. I can't claim to have caught every word, but I did feel that I was listening to something different. Different is good.

This is an updating of Hansel and Gretel, the basic premise being that the witch from that story has survived all these years while her forest home has become what sounded to me like a suburb. She continues to enjoy her favorite meal, children. Our two main characters, a brother and sister, as in the original tale, have a sort-of father and a real stepmother who would both like to see their young ones land in the witch's stewing pot. How will our hero and heroine escape?

Part of this book is set up in the form of the witch's journal. I usually don't care for the journal thing, but it's much more...palatable, shall I say?...when it is being written by a witch describing where she gets the ingredients for her meals. You know, a food memoir! And this book seems to be set-up as the first in a series, something that often sets me off. The ending here is pretty satisfying, though, and avoids being totally serial-like.

So I'd have to say this book lives up to its clever title.