Ship Breaker and bone breaks

The sun will rise at 7:55 and will set at 4:40.

I have an appointment this morning for x-rays to see if I can take my "cast" off! Woo hoo! No more missing Ns because my cast spaces forward! No more accidentally entering data with a strap tap! No more catching and snagging all my scarves and sweaters, velcroing myself to my clothes. Not to mention having both hands and arms velcro to each other when I sleep because I have two braces, one for my right hand and the breaks, one for my left hand and the rapidly changing carpal tunnel problems there.

It's overcast and cold, my daphne bush is almost bald because it was exposed to the frost (I really tried to keep it covered), and it's supposed to snow just in time for the evening commute. Great. Last time it snowed and I did the right thing by taking mass transit, it took me almost 5 hours to get home and I broke my wrist. Today, I go in late so I may miss the evening commute because I get off at 8, but it could be freezing rain over the snow, before it starts to plain rain and melt the snow.

There has been a bright piece of news in this week of horrible stuff: The Newbery, Caldecott, and other children's book awards were announced yesterday and we are all pretty happy about the choices. The Newbery award went to Moon Over Manifest (which I have yet to read), the Caldecott went to Sick Day for Amos McGee, and the Printz award was given to Ship Breaker. The author of Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigulpi, won the Nebula award and tied for the Hugo Award (science fiction book awards) for his grown-up book Wind-up Girl, and has now picked up the award for best book for older readers. It was really good, I just don't know if I can believe it was the BEST book that I, personally, have read this year.

Ship Breaker takes place well into the future when the gap between those who have and those who don't is immense. There is small very wealthy group and everyone else. Our hero lives in an area near what used to be New Orleans, a landscape buried under fathoms of seawater, skyscapers don't even break into the air, and he works at the old shipworks and docks, breaking ships for scrap metal, looking for a treasure trove of holds filled with oil or fuel. Dangerous work as the ships shift and shake and the children who are small enough to slither between the walls looking for the gold often get lost or die in them.

In this particular world, our hero and his friend find a yacht tied offshore (a treasure that is worth more than they can imagine), a dead man, and a live girl. The girl, wealthy and spoiled, tries to convince the boys to let her go, that there will be a ransom paid, but before that happens, she is tracked and it is sure that whoever killed the man is looking to kill her, too.

Great adventure, great friendships, an intriguing look at a world that could be. It's very much like looking at a foreign culture. Very cool book, both genders will really enjoy it. Age 10 and up. (17.99. Little Brown.)

(This post was written, oh, so long ago, (last Tuesday?) and, no, I am still in my brace. I am still having trouble flipping eggs and combing my hair (spatulae get caught inside the brace and I can't bend my wrist). I may be able to downgrade to a thumbless brace next week-hope for me that that happens, the metal rods in the brace have cut through and are pressing against my thumb-and start physical therapy then. Then two more weeks in the thumb-free brace and then x-rays. Again. I am complaining about this little thing but I know how hard other people have it: My friend Tessa fell down her stairs and shattered her wrist: surgery, pins, plates, full cast, slings, shoulder pain...I am thankful that I only cracked my scafula(?) and chipped a bone. It's just a long time in something that has absolutely no style and is beginning to reek.)

(Oh, and now I'm in Arlington, Virginia, attending ABA's Winter Institute 6, getting ready to come home to Seattle. I am going to post from here! WooHOO!!)