Puss Reboots: Blog: August 2010: Border Town

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Alida's Song by Gary Paulsen
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Bird by Rita Murphy
Border Town (边城) by Shen Congwen
Catwings Return by Ursula K. LeGuin
Circus by Lois Ehlert
Flanimals by Ricky Gervais
Good Morning, Gorillas (Magic Tree House #26) by Mary Pope Osborne
Guy Wire by Sarah Weeks
Harold's ABC by Crocket Johnson
High Tide in Hawaii (Magic Tree House #28) by Mary Pope Osborne
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Jane on Her Own by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Kids' Guide to Digital Photography by Jenni Bidner
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems
Mary Modern by Camille Deangelis
The Octonauts and the Great Ghost Reef by Meomi
Ottoline Goes to School by Chris Riddell
Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood by Tony Lee
A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander
Pirates Past Noon (Magic Tree House #4) by Mary Pope Osborne
Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault
Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
Receive Me Falling by Erika Robuck
Science Fiction and Alternate History by David Scholes
Size Eight in a Size Zero World by Meredith Cagen
The Tarot Cafe Volume 2 by Sang-Sun Park
Tea for Ruby by Sarah Ferguson
Uncle Andy's Cats by James Warhola
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Un Lun Dun by China Mié
Walter Wick's Optical Tricks by Walter Wick
When Teachers Talk by Rosalyn Susanne Schnall

Border Town: 08/19/10

I can easily fall into ruts in my reading. I tend to gravitate towards California writers. When I feel myself falling into one of these ruts, I walk the shelves of my local library. One of the gems I found this way was Border Town (边城) by Shen Congwen.

Cuicui lives on the edge of a river with her ferryman grandfather. She has learned his job but is also intrigued by thoughts of love and romance. Her two suitors though aren't of her liking, she has grander notions that go beyond the two sides of the river.

It's a beautiful book, one that can easily be read on a lazy afternoon. It seems like such an innocuous volume. But like so many artists and intellectuals Shen was ultimately assigned the job of toilet cleaner after the Cultural Revolution (see "A Public Space" in the links below for more information)