NORA AND KETTLE by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

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Nora and Kettle
by Lauren Nicolle Taylor
Expected Publication: February 29, 2016

If you haven’t read anything by Lauren Nicolle Taylor, you’re in for a real treat: Nora and Kettle is an upcoming novel by Lauren Nicolle Taylor, international bestselling author of The Woodlands. Set in the years after World War II, Nora and Kettle features a story about friendship and love between the daughter of a civil rights lawyer and a mixed-race Japanese-American orphan. 

The first few pages of Nora and Kettle whisked me away into the sheltered but troubled life of Nora, daughter of a prestigious civil rights attorney. Living in a large home with her affluent family, Nora has learned to hide her bruises and stay quiet, mostly for the sake of keeping her little sister safe from their violent father. 

The story soon shifts to the perspective of Kettle, a young man who goes out of his way to make life livable for his family, a group of Nisei orphans (“Lost Children”) who were taken from orphanages and placed into internment camps. 

What do Nora and Kettle have in common? They are protective of those they love, and would sacrifice much to make sure that their loved ones are safe. Nora bravely endures her father’s beatings to make sure her sister is safe, while Kettle fights to work risky jobs in the mines in order to feed his family of fellow homeless children. On the surface, they live very different lives, but they also have a lot in common. 

The story flows seamlessly between the perspectives of Nora and Kettle. I found myself attempting to piece together different facts and details to get a hold of the big picture or the “real deal” of a character.The revelations are satisfying and add layers of complexity to characters and their motivations. Hints introduced throughout the book come together to reveal important discoveries later on in the story--wish I could say but it’d be too spoilery. Take my word on this!

A sketch of Nora and Kettle, by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

Nora and Kettle left me reeling with emotions--happy ones, angry ones, and also sad ones. I dreamed along with Nora, simmered with anger at her father’s violence and hypocrisy, and cheered for both Nora and Kettle. I found myself identifying with both characters’ struggles, dreams, and fears. 

The emotional impact of this novel also stems from Lauren Nicolle Taylor’s signature style of poetic prose. Her vivid writing sweeps me away into the secret realms of her characters’ minds and hearts, where they are free to express how they truly feel. This is especially true for Nora, whose innerworld is dreamy and mobile compared to her oppressive situation at home, where she has to hide her true thoughts from her overbearing father. 

"A Frankie and Kettle Moment" by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

Overall, this is a poetically written novel about two strong-willed characters who will do whatever they can to ensure the safety of the people they love. The post-World War II setting and Kettle’s background illuminates a segment of history that is often overlooked: the removal of children from orphanages and their subsequent placement into internment camps for having any sort of Japanese ancestry. Nora and Kettle are likable characters who drive the plot forward and I find myself investing deeply in their struggles. Nora and Kettle is an exhilarating read and I highly recommend it.

Expected Publication Date for Nora and Kettle: February 26, 2016

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DEFIANT: A Dystopian Trio of Novellas by Mara Li, Jen Minkman, and Lis Lucassen

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Defiant. When the civilization you live in turns out to be a giant, messed-up deception, what do you do? Each of the teens in these three novellas (translated by Jen Minkman) rises up to defy the rigid social order of their worlds. 

The Defiant collection of three dystopian novellas comes out today on March 26, 2015! Woot!

Genre(s):

Young Adult / Dystopian / Action / Racism / Historical

Meet the Defiant

Meet Emma in The Red Messenger by Mara Li, whose twin sister Sophie recently died in a mysterious accident. She lives in an alternate reality in which the Nazis took over Germany. Think: a world with email, internet, and electricity coexisting with the continued torture of Jews tucked away in concentration camps and ghettos. Emma finds out that there was more to Sophie than she'd previously known...

Meet Leia in The Island by Jen Minkman, a strong-willed teenager who grows up in an isolated island society with rules and traditions based on one pre-apocalyptic book (Star Wars) that preached about the Force.  An aggressive young leader named Saul holds his power over the children using the doctrines of the Force. Leia must uncover the mystery behind that holy book...

Meet Justa in The Tribunal by Lis Lucassen, who lives in a post-World War IV society torn into two classes: Sectorals (the blond and light-colored ruling class) and Stateless (folks with more melanin, apparently). "Segregation is needed to maintain the established order. The Sectorate therefore upholds Inequality in order to prevent future uprisings...One exception only to Sectorial Segregation is acknowledged - before the Tribunal, all are equal." 

My Thoughts & Comments About Each Defiant Novella

The Red Messenger by Mara Li

I had learned about World War II concentration camps while I was in middle school, but I never imagined a dystopian world in which similar racism-induced horrors take place, but with modern and digital technology. This is a great concept, and I think it was well executed overall, with the exception of a few instances of plot-induced stupidity on the part of Emma that were used to push the story forward. The issues of racism and state-enforced athiesm are covered in this book. 

As an American, I was surprised at first about how directly this novella tackled the issue of the Jewish concentration camps, but then I realized that the Netherlands were deeply affected by the existence of Jewish death camps during the Second World War. 75% of the Jewish population was deported from the Netherlands to these concentration camps, and many Dutch authorities collaborated with the Nazis to achieve this. This is a painful part of the Netherlands' history, and I think this novel draws very well from the horrors of that era. The last part of the novella felt like it was straight from the 1940s. 

The Island by Jen Minkman

A wall divides the island, and there are rumors of the Other society living in it, called the Fools. When a mysterious guy washes up ashore one day, Leia's world is totally rocked as she comes to understand the truth behind her society. This is a civilization built by children after an epidemic wiped out most, if not all of the adults in the world. I didn't like the idea of a society built around a Star Wars book for kiddos, but I liked the novella explores how a society built by children would be like after a few generations. 

The Tribunal by Lis Lucassen

This one reads like a good courtroom drama. In light of Trayvon Martin's death and the 2014 Ferguson unrest in the United States, the theme of a lower-classed person being screwed over by a law system purports to be fair corresponds strongly with both historical and current events. The Tribunal explores the issues of racism, bias, and corruption in a law-based society which is segregated by color. 

Overall Rating for Defiant: 4/5

Find out more about Defiant, a collection of three novellas by Netherlands authors Mara Li, Jen Minkman, and Lis Lucassen:

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Becoming Fierce Blog Tour: GUEST POST: Gerard Collins, author of "The Long Last Year"

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It's a pleasure to take part in the Becoming Fierce blog tour. Becoming Fierce is a creative non-fiction anthology of teen stories. Think of coming-of-age experiences dealing with peer pressure, finding one's place in the world, bullies, relationships, dealing and escaping from harsh circumstances, and more. This generation's Chicken Soup for the Soul. 

All the stories dealt with meaningful struggles, but I felt a special connection with Gerard Collins' youthful self in "The Long Last Year," in which he is trapped in poverty and tense family dynamics. The year after high school, Gerard watches his friends go off to colleges and other pursuits while he stays in the city, unsure of what he wants to do with his life. 

"The Long Last Year" captures the transition period in which young adults have to make tough decisions that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Gerard can't afford to go to college. But as the year progresses, he finds that he can't afford to stay undecided forever. 

 An authorly photo of Gerard Collins (that I found on his Facebook author page, heehee) 

Below is Collins' insightful guest post about choosing between happiness and financial stability. This was something I struggled with during my senior year of high school, and is also something that I'm still grappling with. 

What now?

The last year of high school can be exciting. Soon, you’ll move out on your own, make new friends, and start a new life. There’ll be no one to boss you around, but neither will there be someone to cook your meals, clean your house or pay for your clothes. You can do whatever you want.

Everything seems bigger and more important in that year. Your grades will decide if you can get into a good college and/or get a job. This last year will instigate your own sense of who you are and, to a great extent, who you are going to be.

Not only is school more serious, you’re also expected to make solid plans and hard choices.

Most of us have heard that cruel question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” When I first heard it, I was in elementary school, and my eyes nearly crossed with confusion.  I was already a good reader, a good speller, an excellent petter of dogs, and winner of many games of hide-and-seek. What more did I need to aspire to be?

When the day comes — first day of graduating year — it starts waving and shouting at you like some pushy monster: “Haven’t you decided yet? Tick-tock, buddy! Who’re you gonna be? What do you want to do ... FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?”

*cricket cricket*

*blink blink*

Personally, all I ever wanted to do was not work for a living, to not have to work a nine-to-five job that amounted to servitude and a wasted life. Without knowing it, I wanted to be a writer — which turned out to be a lot of work. But then, so did everything else worth having. Money, for example, is totally worth having. But I wasn’t convinced of that when I was a teenager. I could see all the things I wanted, and none of them cost money.

A car. A girlfriend. An apartment. An education.

Er. Wait a minute.

So, I came to a slow reckoning that money was actually important.

The ticking grew louder.

All those people — my teachers, parents, friends and busybodies at the grocery store — wanted to know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and I didn’t have a freakin’ clue.

Fact is, I had to do something.

Now that I teach at a university, students often say there are too many choices, and it’s hard to know what to pursue. Teenagers enter business school and pharmacy, one after another, like blind sheep over a low fence, sometimes only to tumble headlong into becoming an arts major, while their parents wring their hands and wail.

It’s the same old thing, really — pursuit of money versus the pursuit of happiness. Of course, making money can bring happiness, of a sort. The confused ones are often the more creatively, less financially, motivated. If you know from the get-go you want to be a doctor, lawyer, oil biz executive or Quickie Mart owner, you’ll find money enough. You just won’t have the nagging guilt that you should be doing something more worthy of your artistic side. You’ll also find a spouse, a piece of land, social acceptance, a car and all those other perks of good, moneyed citizenry that people tend to crave. And you can paint portraits or sing in a choir, in your spare time.

But some of us get fooled into thinking that happiness is based on something more abstract — so intangible that nothing material could ever complete us. This philosophy leads to uncertainty and the romantic notion that it’s better to do nothing than to do something that will destroy your soul.

I believed that if I did what I loved, the money would follow. But even then, I didn’t know what I loved. Still, more often than not, young people know what they would love to do if money didn’t matter, but their parents, teachers, peers and society in general tell them not to choose foolishly.

I think that’s where the confusion happens — when you tell a 17-year-old to choose stability over happiness, you are saying that happiness is secondary, or the by-product of being a good bread-winner and consumer, even though, at the same time, we are telling them “Just be happy.”

It would be nice if every day spent taking classes in business or med school would make us happy. It does happen, but it’s not always the case.

Kids can only choose wisely if they’ve been prepared by enlightened parents who know that happiness doesn’t mean the same for everyone. Money can bring freedom to choose, but how one makes that money is a matter of choice.

Free will is paramount to our ability to be happy, rather than slaves to someone else’s ideology, no matter how well intended.

When you’re standing at the crossroads of the long last year of high school, it would be a little less daunting if someone said to you, “It’s okay to be unsure. Find your passion, but get on with your life, first. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”

Also, maybe someone should say it’s all right to be afraid — sometimes, fear keeps you from making bad choices, but only if you listen to its dire warning.

Thanks for reading! 20% of the proceeds from the sale of Becoming Fierce will go to a youth-oriented charity! Find out more about Becoming Fierce on:

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