Monday, August 23, 2004

   Check Out This Awesome Book!
The Woman in the Wall By Patrice Kindl
Hello.
My name is Anna. I am fourteen years old and a very shy person.
I don’t know why I am telling you all this. You probably have tons of better things to do than sit around listening to me.
What else do you want to know? I’m Anna and I’m shy. And fourteen. That’s all there really is to tell.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
THE END

Oh! You’re still there?
Oh, dear. Now I suppose I’ll have to—
All right, I’m sorry. It wasn’t really true, what I said. There is more to tell. If you’re absolutely positive it won’t bore you, I’ll tell you the story of my life. So far, anyway.

I have always been shy. The urge to hide came over me at a very early age. My mother says I was a good baby; I never fussed at all. Both of my sisters came out of the womb with mouths wide open, screaming their heads off, their hands outstretched to grasp at whatever life offered. I, on the other hand, never even whimpered as I entered the world. I just lay there quietly in my incubator and tried to fit in. I had no longings for power or domination. I didn’t want to intrude in any way; I simply wanted to blend into the scenery with as little fuss as possible. In this I succeeded.
“Where’s the baby gone?” my mother would say, poking around the crib blankets. She’s got to be right here; I put her there myself two seconds ago. Anna is a naughty girl hiding from Mommy.
“Anna!” my mother’s cry would echo from the cellar to cupola. “Where are you Anna?”
That’s what she wanted to know. Even today, all I have to do is close my eyes and say aloud, “Anna! Where are you, Anna?” and those long-ago days come to mind, perfectly clear with every detail. A tendency to disappear, you see, is and always has been my leading characteristic.
I don’t really disappear, not exactly. I’m just not very noticeable. I’m small and thin, with a face like a glass of water. And I like to hide.

Summery: Anna is more than shy. She is nearly invisible. Most of the time her mother and sisters don’t see, hear, or pay attention to her. At seven, terrified of the prospect of school, Anna retreats within their enormous Victorian house, and builds a house of her own: passageways, and hidden rooms become her world. As the years go by, her family forgets she ever existed. Then a mysterious note is thrust through a crack in the wall, and Anna must decide whether or not to come out of hiding. Her life may seem like a fantasy—but there is nothing more real.

So…from what you’ve heard so far…what do you think? Do you think the book sounds good? It is one of my favorite books!
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