TMNT: Mutant Mayhem

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have lived their lives in hiding and fear. Longing for acceptance, the boys will do anything—good or bad—to get it from humans. But when efforts fail, and Superfly terrorizes the city, the turtles must be heroes whether or not they're accepted by those they save. 

I give this 2023 movie high marks for its stylized (if sometimes frenetic and overwhelming) animation, humor, and general message. I like how it portrays characters doing both good and bad to be accepted—and how both fail when that is the sole goal. It has a gritty, urban feel. There is more cursing then I'd like from the villain. Splinter's character is intriguing. This is a re-imagining of the TMNT franchise, and it mostly works. In general, recommended.

Rating: B+

American Reading List: Children's Literature

image from here

A few years ago, I presented an American Reading List (ARL) in several parts (due to its size). I realized today that I did not adequately cover children's literature. I amend that error here, and moved titles from those earlier lists (literature, history and everything else) as needed.

Most of the ~60 titles below were taken from the 2012 "Top 100 chapter books" poll frequently cited as representative of the opinions of educators. Expect this list to evolve.

Andrew Clements           Frindle

Avi                                  The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Barbara Robinson           The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Beverly Cleary                Ramona and her Father

Brian Selznick                The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Christopher Paul Curtis  Bud, Not Buddy

Dav Pilkey                 The Adventures of Captain Underpants

Deborah Wiles                Each Little Bird That Sings

E. B. White                 Charlotte's Web

E. L. Konigsburg            From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Edward Eager                 Half Magic

Elizabeth Enright           Gone-Away Lake

Elizabeth George Speare    The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Ellen Raskin                 The Westing Game         

Esther Forbes                 Johnny Tremain

Fred Gipson                 Old Yeller

Gail Carson Levine        Ella Enchanted

Gary D. Schmidt            The Wednesday Wars

Gary Paulsen                  Hatchet

George Selden                The Cricket in Times Square

Gertrude Chandler Warner    The Boxcar Children

Grace Lin                        Where the Mountain Metes the Moon

Jane Langton                 The Diamond in the Window

Jean Craighead George    My Side of the Mountain

Jeanne Birdsall                The Penderwicks

Jeff Kinney                 Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Jerry Spinelli                   Maniac Magee

Judy Blume                     Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Kate DiCamillo             Because of Winn-Dixie

Katherine Paterson         Bridge to Terabithia

L. Frank Baum                The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie

Lemony Snicket             The Bad Beginning

Lloyd Alexander             The Book of Three

Lois Lowry                 The Giver

Lois Lowry                 Number the Stars

Louis Sachar                 Holes

Louisa May Alcott         Little Women

Louise Fitzhugh             Harriet the Spy

Lynne Reid Banks         The Indian in the Cupboard

Madeliene L'Engle         A Wrinkle in Time

Maud Hart Lovelace       Betsy-Tacy

Meg Cabot                 The Princess Diaries

Megan Whalen Turner    The Thief

Mildred Taylor                Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Natalie Babbitt                Tuck Everlasting

Norton Juster                 The Phantom Tollbooth

R.J. Palacio                    Wonder

R. L. Stine                 Goosebumps

Rebecca Stead                When You Reach Me

Richard Peck                  A Long Way from Chicago

Robert C. O'Brien          Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Ruth Stiles Gannett        My Father's Dragon

Sara Pennypacker         Clementine

Scott O'Dell                 The Island of the Blue Dolphin

Sharon Creech                Walk Two Moons

Sid Fleischman         The Whipping Boy

Sydney Taylor                All-of-a-Kind Family

Tom Angleberger           The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Wendelin Van Draanen    Flipped

William Pene du Bois    The Twenty-One Balloons

Wilson Rawls                 Where the Red Fern Grows

Zilpha Keatley Snyder    The Egypt Game

Selected Poems of Robert Frost

In reading poems by Robert Frost

I plowed on through despite the cost

His rhyming stuff? It was okay

(Though I seldom got what he tried to say)

His blank verse though, I just don't know

Why that genre is allowed to grow

Poetry should always rhyme

Other verse? Name it a crime

I didn't like this as much as some do

America's poet, they say. Me? Ewww.

I'm sorry; I should probably stop the jeering

(this is why I studied engineering)

Rating: C

The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)

The Lord of the Rings is a classic tale. I have previously reviewed and summarized its constituent parts (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King); today, I finished reading this one-volume edition illustrated by the author. I even read Appendices A and B ("Annals of the Kings and Rulers" of the Third Age and "The Tale of Years," respectively) and skimmed C through E (Family Trees, Calendars, and Writing and Spelling).

Of the tale itself, little need be said. It is full of wisdom and wonder. It has impression of depth. I enjoyed it perhaps more now than I have in the past, despite this being my third or fourth re-reading. 

Of the version: I liked it. This version of the book is as the author intended, meaning presented in one volume. (I have read it could not be so produced in his era, due to paper shortages from World War II.) Having his illustrations in it is a bonus (this is a 'companion' volume to The Hobbit version I read earlier this year). Having this in one volume improved the flow (or seemed to), though it can still jar the reader by not interleaving various threads of the story (when the fellowship parts, Tolkien will follow one thread, then rewind and do the other).

Observation: for as much as I love the story, Tolkien most certainly does not invest in suspense. I believe his son claimed that he wrote with "no sense of narrative urgency," and that shines forth in places here. Things I believed to be the most suspenseful, even climactic, were handled abruptly with little fanfare. It almost seemed as though Tolkien wanted more focus on the wonder of the world, the history, and the languages than the suspense of the story itself. The story was excellent, but it was not delivered in modern fashion.

Finally, I read two appendices this time because of subsequent big-screen adaptations: The Rings of Power (seasons one and two) and The War of the Rohirrim. Both feature events mentioned in Appendices A and B. 

Rating: A

Wonka

As a child, Willy Wonka dreamed of making the world's best chocolate with his mom. And she promised she would share the secret. But when she passed away, Willy is forced to find his own way in the world. 

Years later, Willy makes his way to the city, where his creations dazzle the population . . . and draw the attention of three evil chocolate makers. They are determined to take him down . . . can Wonka and his friends follow his dreams, or will the greedy always beat the needy?

----

Delightfully absurd, this musical/comedy (a prequel to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) is a treat. It celebrates dreams, imagination, and the importance of sharing life selflessly with others. Recommended.

Rating: A-

The Fellowship of the Ring Deck-Building Game

Today's review is of the 2013 release, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Deck-Building Game (hereafter, Fellowship DBG). For 2-5 players, it takes 30 minutes.

Overview

In the Fellowship DBG, your goal is to have the most victory points. To do so, you must plan wisely, buying powerful cards and ridding your deck of weak and worthless ones. This will enable you to gain enough strength to take down archenemies (the standard game has eight in succession). 

This deck-building game works like most in this genre. You start with a deck of 10 cards, drawing 5 to form your hand. The cards grant power (and sometimes other abilities), enabling you to buy cards from the central row ("the path"): allies, artifacts, locations, maneuvers, even enemies. You will buy one or more cards, then replenish the path from the main deck each turn. Cards you buy, plus any in your hand or played to the table that turn, go into your discard pile. Then draw 5 cards to prepare for your next turn, shuffling your discard pile to form a new deck as needed. Play passes clockwise.

You can also use power to fight archenemies. (The game comes with 12 but recommends you play with 8, placed in a stack next to the lineup.) If your power on a given turn equals or exceeds the super-villain on the top of the stack, you defeat them, putting them in your discard pile (yes, this means you can use them on a later turn). Once all super-villains have been defeated, each player tallies their victory points (printed on each card) to determine the victor.

Review

This game is almost exactly like the DC Deck-building Game (not surprising, as it is by the same company). My comments for this are the same as that offering: it is a fun game, easy to learn, with some aspects that were counter-intuitive (like buying enemies to incorporate into your deck). There are mild differences:

- the hero you choose does not have a special ability, but instead a unique card you start with in your deck

- there are 'fortune' cards that are free and can be played immediately

- there is the 'ambush' keyword that is similar to attacks, but affects only the player whose turn it is

Overall, this one seems a touch simpler than its DC counterpart, and that is okay.

Rating: A-

The Gang

Today's review is of the 2024 release, The Gang. For 3-6 players, it takes 20 minutes.

Overview

The Gang is cooperative Texas Hold-em Poker, where your goal is not to get the best hand but to correctly and cooperatively order your hands (from strongest to weakest) without revealing your cards. The game is played over rounds, each with four steps [my terms]. A round:

- First step: each player is dealt two cards (known only to them) and chooses a white chip (ranked one to six) corresponding to their hand's perceived strength. If two players want the same rank, they debate without revealing their cards.

- Second step: the dealer reveals the flop (the first three community cards). Players take a yellow chip (ranked one to six) corresponding to their hand's perceived strength based on this new information. Players debate as before if there are conflicts.

- Third step: the dealer reveals the turn (the fourth community card). Players take an orange chip for ranking and debate as before.

- Fourth step: the dealer reveals the river (the fifth community card). Players take a red chip for ranking and debate as before.

game in progress; image from here

And the end of these steps, players must agree on their ranking. Once agreed, cards are revealed from weakest to strongest hands. If the players get the order correct, they win that round. If they do not, they get one strike. Then cards are returned, shuffled, and a new round begins. The players collectively win if they win three rounds before losing three.

Review

Cooperative Poker?! Definitely a new concept for me. This is a fun party game. The different ranking chips taken at each step help players speculate on others' hands ["hey, he thinks his hand strengthened considerably with the 10 just played. Maybe he has a 10."]. Of course, those familiar with Texas Hold'em and strength of hands will do much better at judging their own hand's value (the game comes with reference cards to help novices). And games like this are best enjoyed with close friends in my opinion. Still, it is a winner.

Rating: A