18 Nov 2009 12:30 pm
Culinary Book of the Week: Sunshine

Robin McKinley loves to ramble in her stories, especially in this one. In Sunshine, however, the protagonist can ramble because she's yammering about vampires and baking, which go well together.
A group of vampires capture Sunshine, our title character, and chain her next to their enemy, who also happens to be a vampire. Normally a novel wouldn't start out with a narrator already in a pickle, but not only does Sunshine escape these creeps, but she takes her fellow prisoner (named Constantine) with her. They part ways, and the story begins as Sunshine becomes aware of her awakening powers and has to hide her strange alliance and developing bond with Con from her friends, family, and the government, who have to deal with vampires as the underworld crime bosses.
Reason one to love this book: Baking. Sunshine was a huge influence on A La Mode with its long descriptions of innovative pastries and desserts as well as having baking apprentices and coffee. However, Sunshine is NOT Lamode and Schulz is too young to be the apprentice in this book (as well as too dependent on sleep). If Lamode were as hot-tempered as Robin McKinley's protagonist, then Schulz wouldn't last a minute in the bakery!
Reason two to reread it: Sunshine doesn't fall in love with Con. She already has a wicked cool boyfriend, and she doesn't want anything to do with vampires because they are the scourge of her world. This novel actually made me immune to and abhorrent of the Twilight craze because I had already found the perfect teen vampire novel that didn't have the typical romance. I know you girls out there love Edward, but what about a story about a "I don't like you, but we have to work together" relationship instead of a romantic one?
Reason three to study it thoroughly: Fantasy post-apocalyptic setting. This world has prejudice against demons, vampire gangs waging war on each other, and government women who will try to read your mind without permission.
And one reason to avoid it: It's for young adults. When I read [u]Sunshine[/i] in middle school, I found it boring. Not only will the rambling bore you if you don't get it all, but the story has foul-mouthed characters, scenes meant for R rated films, and quite a bit of violence. If you are comfortable with that, go ahead and read it. If not, then I'll try to find a vampire story that your parents will allow you to read at night.




