Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword

I read a lot but I don't post a lot of book reviews, largely because I figure that most people I know also read a lot and have a good idea of what they like. But every now and then a book comes along that makes me want to grab everyone I know and force them to read it.

Barry Deutsch's Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword is an expanded version of his webcomic about "yet another troll-fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl." The additions make it all the more charming. For example, early on, Mirka and her siblings encounter a pig, which they believe is a monster. Well, except for step-sister Rochel, who hasn't seen a pig before but once read "a book about a pig and a spider," a lovely little shout-out to Charlotte's Web. The comparison of the different ways the girls wear their school uniforms are hsyterical - and accurate. There are other delicious little pop culture details in the choice of treasures the troll offers to Mirka before their battle with the noblest of all weapons.

I only caught one detail that Deutsch got wrong (Shabbos ends when there are three stars in the sky; it starts earlier). There ar a few language quibbles I have. His spelling of "khale," while linguistically correct is unusual; "challah" is far common. His use of "sixth day" for "erev Shabbos" sounds odd, though is an accurate translation. And since the characters speak Yiddish, I think they'd be more likely to say "Gut Woch" instead of "Shavua Tov." (I also think Mirka should knit Eastern crossed, but the drawings are ambiguous enough as to knitting style.) None of those details make the least bit of difference to my enjoyment of the book.

I can't wait for Mirka's further adventures.

Odds and Ends

I am heading off to IAH this evening to start my participation in Starmega DO 2, which I am way too excited about. So here are some quick notes before I go.

1) I am happy that the Giants won the World Series. San Francisco is more of a baseball town than suburban Dallas, so let them have a nice party.

2) The Congressional race in my district is still too close to call. I am hoping (and somewhat expecting) Connolly to pull it out, but we may well have a recount mess that will linger for weeks.

3) The big celebrity death watch item of the week is Ted Sorenson, JFK's speechwriter. But I also want to mention John Olsson, who founded the late, lamented Olsson's Books. Up until the local chain's bankruptcy a couple of years ago (largely due to rising rents), it was a good place for me to drop some cash on my lunch hour.

4) The police in Fairfax County cited a woman who was walking her fox on Halloween. The fox was dressed in a skeleton costume and one would hope that the citation was for humiliating an animal. But it turns out that merely keeping a wild animal as a pet is the problem ehre. Once you can get the permits to do that, you can humiliate it however you please.

5) In the amusing things heard at work category, a launch delay is being attributed to a "holiday seeking rocket," i.e. one that will interfere with somebody's holiday plans. And a plan for a deep space launch involves the satellite in question "stopping at the space station for a potty break."

6) Re: The Amazing Race, I was very surprised that the music challenge proved so much harder than the film challenge. Admittedly, all those pianos in the same room was cacophonous, but two of the three pieces were ones I instantly recognized and could have identified by the sheet music alone. I guess none of the contestants are fans of 19th century Russian classical music?