The Pox Party

Anderson is a master at taking popular culture iconography, epic and historic themes, and likable characters, adding his own twist, and creating stories that are unique. In this first of a projected two-part saga, narrator Peter Francis James puts flesh on a slave boy being raised by a philosophical cult in Colonial Boston. As Octavian grows, the harsh realities of being a black slave collide with the idealism of the social experiment in which he has been sheltered. Adapting Anderson's novel to audio necessitated leaving out the book's sketches, quill-pen jottings, and other visuals. But Peter Francis James's euphonic reading and smooth cadence add humanness to the uneasy story. This 2006 National Book Award winner is not a pleasant story to hear, but it will provoke deep thinking and expand the listener's horizons. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

September 18, 2006
Anderson (Whales on Stilts
) once again shows the breadth of his talents with this stunningly well-researched novel (the first of two planned) centering on 16-year-old Octavian. The author does not reveal the boy's identity right away, so by the time readers learn that he is the son of an African princess, living a life of relative privilege and intense scrutiny among a group of rational philosophers in pre–Revolutionary War Boston, they can accept his achievements—extraordinary for any teen, but especially for an African-American living at that time. These men teach him the violin, Latin and Greek. Anderson also reveals their strange quirks: the men go by numbers rather than names, and they weigh the food Octavian ingests, as well as his excrement. "It is ever the lot of children to accept their circumstances as universal, and their particularities as general," Octavian states by way of explanation. One day, at age eight, when he ventures into an off-limits room, Octavian learns he is the subject of his teachers' "zoological" study of Africans. Shortly thereafter, the philosophers' key benefactor drops out and new sponsors, led by Mr. Sharpe, follow a different agenda: they want to use Octavian to prove the inferiority of the African race. Mr. Sharpe also instigates the "Pox Party" of the title, during which the guests are inoculated with the smallpox virus, with disastrous results. Here the story, which had been told largely through Octavian's first-person narrative, advances through the letters of a Patriot volunteer, sending news to his sister of battle preparations against the British and about the talented African musician who's joined their company. As in Feed
, Anderson pays careful attention to language, but teens may not find this work, written in 18th-century prose, quite as accessible. The construction of Octavian's story is also complex, but the message is straightforward, as Anderson clearly delineates the hypocrisy of the Patriots, who chafe at their own subjugation by British overlords but overlook the enslavement of people like Octavian. Ages 14-up.

June 1, 2007
Gr 7 Up -Many readers think that classics have little relevance to our modern lives. But with the right author and the right turn on a classic tale, these stories can remain as relevant today as they were when they were first written. Julius Lester'sCupid (Harcourt, 2007) is a retelling of the ancient myth of the love story of Cupid and Psyche (originally written by Lucius Apuleius). Cupid, the Greek God of Love, and Psyche, a mortal princess, have a tempestuous love affair (and conflicts with Venus, Cupid's mother). Throughout their affair, Cupid and Psyche learn about themselves and the meaning of true love. With Jupiter's help, Psyche attains immortality. Lester's fresh and sassy prose brings new life and luster to the story, and actor Stephen McKinley Henderson's expert, enthralling narration always holds listeners' attention.On the other hand, M. T. Anderson'sThe Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Candlewick, 2006), winner of the 2006 National Book Award, falls flat because its uniqueness renders it unintelligible. In this imitation of Voltaire'sCandide, written in 18th -century language, young Octavian Nothing, an African child, is raised by tutors with numbers instead of names and subjected to experiments performed on him by Boston philosophers who seek to determine the intellectual ability of Africans. While the idea and the scope of Anderson's novel are fresh, the plot and the prose are so confusing that it becomes difficult to follow the story. The narration by actor Peter Francis James is first-rate, but only advanced high school students and aficionados of the Enlightenment will be able to wade through the novel. On the other hand, Lester's lively retelling of the Cupid classic enhances the original tale and makes it accessible to students.Larry Cooperman, Seminole High School, Sanford, FL

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