Book Review- "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

"Fever 1793" is an exceptional novel about an actual Yellow Fever epidemic that  occurred in 1793 Philadelphia.

Young Mattie Cook and her family run a Coffeehouse in late  eighteenth century Philadelphia when the epidemic strikes. When Mattie's mother is infected with the disease, Mattie is sent to the countryside with her grandfather.

Eventually Mattie herself becomes infected and she goes through a terrible ordeal trying to survive not only her own illness but also the near breakdown of  authority in the city.

Filled with historical detail and memorable, realistic characters, Fever 1793, transports the reader back to a time that young people today would barely recognize.

"The Long Day" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Michael arose at 11:30 on Wednesday. Now that he no longer had a job, there didn't seem to be much reason to get up early anymore.

A sensor in his bed automatically sent a signal to the house robot so his breakfast was ready and on the table by the time he went downstairs.

The house robot was a remarkable device that took care of all of the household chores. Michael didn't have to lift a finger. After breakfast, Michael thought about what to do with the rest of the day.

Some days  he would go for a walk, but he found it too depressing to see all the others like himself wandering around with nothing to do.

For twenty years, Michael worked as mechanical engineer. Now a machine did his job and the government sent him a "displaced worker" check each month.

He had everything he needed, but he was miserable. A government-appointed therapist suggested that he try one of the virtual reality work simulators.

The simulators could duplicate the sensation of hundreds of different jobs from coal mining to CEO of a multi-national, but it wasn't the same thing as actually having a job.

Not long after he was "retired" Michael tried one of the day labor agencies. The agency sent him on a few jobs, but eventually even those dried up when it became more cost effective to use a machine.

Later in the evening, Michael made a decision and switched off the house robot. The next morning, he awoke at 8:00 AM and made his own breakfast. The eggs were a little burned, but it was still the best breakfast he ever had.

Mr. Boehm

Mr. Boehm was young, which may be why his methods were a little different then the other teachers at Panther Lake Elementary School.

One of the first things that Mr. Boehm did was to replace the 
classroom desks with several large round wooden tables.
Around these tables, students discussed politics, world affairs, history, and many other subjects.

Study and  reading time was often done to the accompaniment of Simon and Garfunkel and Classical music.

On frequent field trips, we visited museums, The Seattle Symphony and Opera House, and the University of Washington campus. While waiting for the bus after a visit to the Pike Place Market, we struck up a conversation with some men who were drinking on the side of the road. I think our parents would have been horrified.

Mr. Boehm loved Shakespeare and when we had a little extra time, we would go to an auditorium and he would perform all the parts of one of The Bard's plays.  

I have only seen Mr. Boehm once since Elementary school, but wherever he is now, I hope that he is doing well.

Book Review- "When Comes the Spring" by Janette Oke

I don't really care for women's romantic fiction, but I am a big fan of writer Janette Oke. Ms. Oke's novels are chaste compared to most women's modern fiction, but she is extremely skillful at portraying the intimacy between a husband and wife even without the graphic descriptions of sex.

In Ms. Oke's novel "When Comes the Spring", young schoolteacher Elizabeth marries Wynn- a Canadian "Mountie" and they move to a  northern Canadian territory.

Most of the residents of the couple's new home are natives and Elizabeth has trouble adjusting to a different language and culture.There are also the inevitable conflicts that arise in a new marriage.

Ms. Oke's faith in God is part of her writing, but she doesn't sugar coat anything. There are hardships and not always easy answers, but there is an assurance that with love and a little faith, things can get better.

"The Flea Market" by Craig Zimmerman

The other day, I was  driving through Federal Way when I noticed that the old Flea Market was gone. 

I don't even remember the official name of the auction-thrift-knick-knack store, to my boyhood amusement it was always called  "The Flea Market."

Most of the flea market was composed of  booths where vendors sold a variety of items. I just loved looking through forgotten corners where I could find old books and magazines and maybe a Wheat penny, a Buffalo nickel, or a Mercury dime for my coin collection.

Over the years, The Flea Market lost some of it's charm and became more of an antique store. Eventually, even that was gone.

I have noticed that it is just about impossible now to find places like the  flea market. Everything has become more commercialized and there is little room left for kind strangers who are willing to give a young boy a good deal on an old Wheat penny.

"Prison at the End of Time" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

In 1977, Jerry was convicted of murder and was given life in prison without parole. Unlike a lot of his fellow inmates. Jerry freely admitted his guilt. It was a drug deal gone bad and two people ended up dead.

Sometime in the mid 1980s, Jerry was approached about volunteering for some kind of experiment. For several months he was injected with a substance. He never did find out what it was.

After the experiment was over, Jerry didn't feel any different and he once again settled back into the routine of prison life.

Years  went past , guards and administrators grew old and retired, but Jerry remained as he was. At 55 years old, looked and felt like   the 32 year old he had been  when the experiment ended.

The prison doctors examined him over and over. but had no explanation. Apparently, there were no records anywhere of the experiment that Jerry had volunteered for in the 1980s.

More years past, guards and administrators retired. His latest lawyer tried to get Jerry released on the fact that he had served over 60 years of his sentence, but he was denied release.

In the year, 2050, scientists found a way to end crime by some type of new behavioral modification and the prison began to empty.The scientists tried the behavior modification on Jerry and released him.

The world of 2050 was confusing and bizarre. Jerry committed some minor vandalism and they put him back in the pen. Eventually, Jerry was the only prisoner left in the penitentiary. He suspected that law enforcement authorities didn't quite know what to do with him.

In the year, 2108, Jerry was moved to a new prison built just for him. Other then him, there were no other humans in the prison. Mechanical guards and workers did everything.

Centuries past, Jerry no longer saw any humans. It occurred to him that something may have happened, but he didn't care that much he was content.

A thousand years went by, the prison was no longer functional and Jerry  walked out into the world. He could find no people or any indication as to what happened to them. 

Not knowing what else to do, Jerry went back to his old prison and started to grow his own food. A 100 thousand years past, something was wrong with the sun. Even if Jerry could have diagnosed the coming Supernova, there was nothing he could do about it.

The sun exploded a few months later destroying Earth and the rest of the solar system. Jerry's sentence was over.

Book Review- "!984" by George Orwell

In my opinion, "1984" by George Orwell is in my opinion, one of the most influential and prophetic novels of the 20th century.

Orwell's vision of the future has an all-powerful government controlling every aspect of life. Any opposition to "Big Brother's" rule is crushed.

Orwell's hero of the story is middle-aged Winston Smith who spends his working days altering  media to conform to the latest party line.

Smith fantasizes of rebellion  against Big Brother and for a time actively engages in it, but in the end,  Smith is manipulated as easily as the past is changed by the state.

Nearly seventy years after Orwell wrote 1984, technology and human nature are making his vision become reality before our eyes.

The government now has the ability to track ordinary people through a variety of methods.

Enemies can be eliminated by remote control machines.

In the world of  1984, Big Brother proclaimed "Freedom Is Slavery." Today, freedom is increasingly becoming an illusion.