I grew up listening to the folktale Tikki Tikki Tembo. In the story, the honorable first son of the family is given a very long name. When he falls into a well, his younger brother is forced to repeat the long name over and over in his attempts to get help for his brother, who then takes a very long time to recover after being submerged for so long.

It’s a good story with a silly moral (don’t give your kids pretentious names, because it could kill them). When we read it with our own kids, we turn the name into a rap with body percussion or tickles. We use the name as a family tongue twister.

The bigger point is that I’m kind of in the well. I’m doing OK, but I’m not feeling creatively inspired most of the time. My energy and mood have been low. It’s a vicious negative feedback loop.

So I’ve read several good books recently, but the thought of writing about them freezes my brain into a state of further inaction. My solution is one I’ve tried before: I’m just going to mash a couple of completely unrelated books together into one post and see what happens.

Maybe one will suit your fancy! And if you pass my well, throw a rope down. Or a good book. I also accept fudge brownies.

1. The Hazel Wood, by Melissa Albert, was the July title for my YA Book Club. It was a cool, mossy escape during a heat wave.

I like a good YA Fantasy novel. YA fantasy isn’t too much like fairytale. It also tends not to get too graphic. The Hazel Wood has a mushy relationship with time and space, with sections that might remind you of some of your strangest dreams. Every part of reality feels kind of negotiable, in a dark, fascinating sort of way.

I was a little disappointed that the book didn’t push beyond the European fairytale model and while doing so, away from red and blond hair and blue eyes. It was the sort of book that would make an interesting movie, and a diverse interpretation of the movie would probably solve any deficits of my own imagination that made this book seem very white (with little exception).

I wasn’t disappointed in the strong female characters, and that the book didn’t fall into the typical YA romance trap. The Hazel Wood is the sort of book that draws you in beyond its dark, leafy branches and makes you a little afraid of what might happen next. The characters experience real growth along the way, and the reader gets a real escape.

2. Cilka’s Journey, by Heather Morris

This historical fiction title drops the reader into Europe right at the end of World War II. It’s the re-imagined tale of a real-life Jewish woman who survives Auschwitz only to be faced with another harrowing challenge immediately afterward.

Like The Hazel Wood, Cilka’s Journey presents the reader with strong female characters. Cilka and other characters in the book are treated with such compassion that even those who make unequivocally bad choices are shown grace by the author and many times, the other characters.

While the book is based on a true story, many details were made up or altered by the author. An excellent afterward and epilogue help the reader flesh out real from imagined and satiate the need for more information.

Knowing Cilka was a real person will surely make you curious about what she looked like. Here’s a photo to satisfy your curiosity. I looked it up before finishing the book and accidentally encountered a spoiler.

Side note: Currently, our local library allows us to check out up to ten titles and pick them up at the library. I get overwhelmed by all the options, so I asked the librarian to throw some books together that I might like (I told her I like WWII historical fiction) and this was one. If you have any kind of relationship with your librarians and are willing to be adventurous, I recommend this method.