Gabriela Lessa's Contest: My Entry

REVISED AUG. 6th. Thanks for your comments! Is this better?

Eva Pohler

The Mystery Box

Commercial Fiction

90,000 words

Peter Lynch

One-sentence Pitch: When a box meant for her eccentric neighbor is delivered to Yvette,  she is lured into a horrifying trap and must pacify the neighbor to save her family.

     Yvette stepped up to her back-fence neighbor’s house and rang the bell. Her kids! She should have brought her kids along! They would want to meet Cruella De Ville. But it was too late; a woman opened the grimy front door and poked her head out.

     She looked younger than Yvette had expected and had rings beneath her beady brown eyes, and her red frizzy hair danced in all sorts of directions, as if it hadn’t seen a brush in a few days. She was shorter than Yvette, even as she slouched on the stoop of her doorstep, and thin—too thin. Her ratty pink robe was secured at the waist, and her hands hid in the front pockets. Her dingy socks hung loose around bony legs and ankles. She wore no shoes.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Spoiler Alert: My book club just finished the first book of this trilogy and most of us really enjoyed it. The time in the arena dragged in a few places for me, and although I saw the set up with Rue coming, it still worked! I cried my eyes out, but I do that easily, as the others in my club will tell you. I liked how a new tension is introduced once the games are over, and then again at the very end.

My favorite parts involve the creativity the author puts into the staging and the stylists and the interviews. I liked the costumes. I also liked the irony in the fact that Katniss is forced to please the very people she despises.

Did Anyone else think of PETA as you read Peeta?

Although I didn't like the wolf muttants at all (I kept seeing the werewolves in Twilight), I did enjoy the mockingjays and their songs and the mutant bees.

I do think so much more could have been done with the Peeta relationship, but maybe the author wanted to keep it tame for a PG audience. The violence though makes it PG13, I would think (though I was surprised that one of my friends found the violence too tame). Racier feelings could have gone along with that level of violence. I just didn't feel enough sexual tension in that relationship, but not everyone in my club agreed.

Although I like the new tension at the end of the novel, I would have liked to see Prim and Gale again at the end, Gale's expression especially. Some of the ladies in my club thought the ending was too abrupt.

Overall, I recommend this book.

What did you think? I hear the movie has been cast. Anyone know who's playing whom? I heard rumor that Donald Sutherland might be up for Haymitch.

His Dark Materials Trilogy, by Philip Pullman

I am fascinated by the many worlds and characters Pullman has created, and I enthusiastically recommend this trilogy to everyone--young and old. My book club hasn't read this trilogy yet, which consists of The Golden Compass (or The Northern Lights), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. But I will encourage them to because it will provoke some interesting conversation.


The following may semi-spoil things. I'll try not to be too specific.

I was curious to see what all the hubbabaloo was about "killing God," and, I have to say, I disagree with the notion that that's what these characters do. I understand the story as showing a tyrannical "authority," who is not the true creator but an angel imposter, who has inspired the religious leaders to oppress its peoples by spreading lies and keeping them in ignorance, and it is Lyra and Will's duty to help Asriel and others overpower this imposter and his minions and establish a new kingdom of heaven that fosters knowledge and tolerance and diversity.

The novel is kind of saying that Lucifer was really the good angel and that some imposter--not the creator--flung him down from heaven, and ever since, things have been wrong. The new uprising overthrows the imposter and all the tyrannical, oppressive followers of that imposter, and then we start again in the garden, and instead of a serpent we have a scientist and other loving creatures who help the new Adam and Eve into truth and understanding and responsibility.

But the new Adam and Eve have to pay a price in order to help their respective worlds to succeed.

And Dust is consciousness--or understanding--which you have as an adult, but which the Church tried to prevent the people from having by severing their daemons from them before they settled. The Church saw Dust as something dangerous, but Asriel and Dr. Malone and so many others realized that without Dust the worlds would wither and die. 


Both The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife were FAST reads full of intrigue and delightful creativity. The Amber Spyglass was equally delightful in the amazingly creative worlds and inhabitants, but much more slowly paced. Over all, I highly recommend the entire trilogy.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon

I just returned from eating Indian food at a wonderful restaurant with my book club friends where we discussed this interesting study in point of view. Most of us felt that seeing the world through Christopher's autistic perspective was very enlightening. A few of us are in education and found the novel an important reminder that not all of us learn or understand directions in the same way. One friend had a hard time getting into the story and thought it slow and boring, but the majority of us, including me, loved it. In addition to the interesting point of view, I enjoyed the surprise and compelling twists in plot. At one point in the story, I could not put the book down till I had finished it.

Maybe more than others in my club, I truly enjoyed being shown by the narrator how to work through certain logic and math problems. I especially liked the situation of the three doors, with the prize behind only one of them and how to use logic to choose your door. Very interesting stuff!

I would highly recommend this novel.

The Lady and the Unicorn, by Tracy Chevalier

Tracy Chevalier has done it again in this realistic look into the French Renaissance through the eyes of several characters living different sorts of lives, but all connected somehow to a tapestry making business. There's love, mystery, betrayal and a lot more in this relatively short read. I absolutely loved it.

Winter in Madrid, by C.J. Sansom

I love books that teach about periods in history, and this novel was no disappointment as it depicted Spain and other parts of Europe after the Spanish Civil War with realistic clarity. I found the main character, Brett, to be completely sympathetic, and I was afraid for him as he was pulled further and further into danger when a feeling of obligation puts him in the position of spy for the British Secret Service. Love and intrigue abound, and I could not put this one down. My book club shared Spanish Tapas at my house as we discussed our enjoyment of this book.

I highly recommend this novel.

Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

I loved this book that gives such an in-depth look at circus life during the Depression. Well-developed and endearing characters along with a compelling plot make it very hard to put down. I can't wait to see the movie! Has anyone seen it yet? Was it good?

I highly recommend this novel.