Back in the Saddle Again...

So summer was nice. I read a lot. Some books for grown-ups even! At some point I will share what they were. I finally read THE GIRL WITH THE HORNET DRAGON KICKING FIRE NEST KICKING. It was interesting but made me feel like I should have been paying more attention to Sweden.

So we are back in school. It was a great fall. This year's summer reading was splendid. Ms Woznick and I put up an art show at the public library that was spectacularly attended. Nancy Werlin came to the discussion of her book IMPOSSIBLE and had lunch with some students (and teachers). She was lovely and so willing to share her experience and encourage others in their writing.

It is my favorite time of year when standardized testing allows me to  start cranking through some of the things I have been meaning to read. I hit nine titles today and really liked all but one of them!

Funny and clever - FAT VAMPIRE by Adam Rex is about a pudgy, lonely, hungry vampire looking for a girl to call his own. The first 3 chapters had me shaking with laughter. There is also a parallel story about an exchange student from India who seems to be destined to be his pal.









I hate the cover and I am slightly put off by the America-first tone (don't get me wrong, I love America, but it isn't nice to brag...) but I am dying to find out what the heck is going on in THE LAST THING I REMEMBER by Andrew Klavan. This page turner that had me reading way to fast through the flashback sections to get to the part where they are going to finally explain it to me. Eighty-six pages in 20 minutes - a new personal record! And I still don't know where Charlie West is and why people seem determined to kill him and neither does he!








Not much is happening yet in ROSE SEES RED by Cecil Castelucci, but it appears to be taking place during the cold war and our heroine is attending the New York High School for the Performing Arts. So am I going to finish it? Does Coco want to live forever???









The titular GIRL STOLEN by April Henry, is not just an heiress, with a bad case of pneumonia - she is also blind! And spunky as all get-out. I love her, but I am also kind of feeling a pang for the poor misunderstood son-of-a-bastard who accidentally kidnapped her and is now in way over his head. The closest thing to a summer reading sure thing I have seen in awhile!









STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE by David Yoo made me so happy in the first 30 pages that I could just spit! It has several of my favorite YA conventions - summer jobs, uneven love affairs (fat girl + jock, rich girl + poor boy, in this case Asian outcast + high school princess) and according to the jacket flap, it is going to be a "handsome young boy with cancer" book too! Oh happy day. I was laughing out loud and annoying my test takers. I hope it stays this painfully good.







I only read the first story in BEFORE YOU SUFFOCATE YOUR OWN FOOL SELF by Danielle Evans, but it has started breaking my heart. It is a collection of short stories, not usually my favorite. But the first one, about two black high school girls who sneak into the city to go clubbing, was so vivid and beautifully written, I am not going to be able to stop there. It is the kind of book that both makes me want to write and convinces me that there are very few people who CAN actually write like that. 







This is my second time taking NUMBERS by Rachel Ward out of the library. The first time I returned it uncracked. The creepy red eyeball just gave me the wiggins. But this time I started it and wow, I am hooked! Our (anti?)heroine is an orphan who can see everyone's numbers - the date of their death. So far, a sad backstory and a bunch of ripping foreshadowing has me unable to put it in the return pile.








ZOMBIES VS UNICORNS is a collection of stories edited by the amazing Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black (who may very well be amazing as well, although I don't really know at this juncture).  The idea is that they are trying to determine who is better - zombies or unicorns. (Unicorns, obviously. Oh...spoiler.)  I like the conciet and I loved the first story by Garth Nix. Thankfully Alaya Dawn Johnson is proving to be something of a pottymouth perv (or at least her undead protagonist is) and so I don't feel the need to keep reading for summer reading purposes. (Not going to get fired for this, no matter how much he wants to...um...do things to his macaroni and cheese.) But I am looking forward to picking up her MOONSHINE, which looks splendid. And also, I shall be reading "The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn" by Diana Peterfreund, because the title is thirty-one-derful flavors of awesome!


The last book I picked at today was A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggars, which annoyed me to no end. I think if I had read it when it first came out and it was all barrier breaking, I would have loved it. The story is moving, the writing is beautiful, but I have slogged through 10 years of self-referential navel gazing wrought by this book and I am no longer impressed. I am going to have to invoke the Elvis rule for this one. My beloved husband hates Elvis, but has been forced to admit that he is, in fact, the King because he brought country-western, church music and black traditional music together to create whatever the heck became rock and roll. So congratulations, Dave Eggars, you are the father of the annoyingly twisty, slightly-mocking memoir. (That being said, ZEITOUN? Beautiful, stunning, huzzah!)

So there you have it - another bunch of winners that I don't currently have the time to read. I am going to have to give up something. And I have already gotten rid of house cleaning! Dang...

Next week the ACTs!

Big Trouble at the SATs

What I usually do when proctoring the SATs is bring a big old stack of books to flip through as I watch the test takers. Sure, I walk the rows and look up frequently, but it is a nice cloistered environment where I can give each book a 20 minute test drive. I ditch the ones that are lame and keep the good ones to finish later. Usually it is about a 50/50 split.

Well today the unthinkable happened. I liked every book! Not only that, but every single one of them has me wondering what is going to happen next! I am very ticked off. I don't have time to read 10 titles in the next 2 weeks. I have a life! I have a family! I have a job! (Although I can justify the reading as part of my job, which is excellent...)

Furthermore, of these 10 books, 7 of them have the makings of excellent summer reading picks for next year. So here are my don't-take-my-word-for-it-because-I-haven't-finished-them-yet-but-I-have-a-really-good-feeling-about-these mini-reviews.

Golden Web by Barbara Quick. Allesandra wants to be a scientist, but since she is a girl in 14th century Italy, it seems like an unlikely dream. The first 19 pages have a smart, resourceful heroine, a dashing older brother, an evil stepmother and a medical experiment on a lecherous priest. What's not to like?

Sources of Light by Margaret McMullan. Sam is a freshman when she and her recently-widowed mother move from Pittsburgh to Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. She sees the Civil Rights Movements through an outsider's eyes. Her mother's new boyfriend gives her a camera and she uses that to express her emotions.The story may not be immediately accessible, but the writing is beautiful.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood. The hilarious account of Miss Penelope Lumly, a 15 year-old recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, and her work as the governess for 3 feral children who were found in the woods of a very grand estate. I predict a Series of Unfortunate Events-like success for this series.

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield. This one is a bit of a rough read, but very suspenseful.Slowly, memories of Kendra's childhood abuse have been coming back to her. She can remember the emotions and some aspects, but not her abuser. He had threatened to kill her if she ever told, and she is convinced that, whoever he is, he knows that she is not ready to keep this secret anymore. I totally skipped to the part where she remembers who it is and as soon as I finish this post, I am going to find out what happens to him.

The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander. I am a complete sucker for small-town stories and this is a good one. Set in East Texas, it is the story of Austin Gray who gets involved in the Future Farmers of America in hopes of being elected Sweetheart and getting to ride in the (no Jesus) Christmas parade. I know, it sounds pretty slight, but it is quite funny so far.

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams. Stephen King calls him "My favorite American Suspense novelist" and so far, I have to admit I am pretty hooked. Cody and Clea are two teenagers in love. When Clea's overbearing father sends her to boarding school in Vermont, Cody is heartbroken. When she disappears, he takes off across the country determined to find her. Of course, I am not up to that part yet. But so far, the characters are realistic and the story is gripping.

Princess for Hire by Lindsay Leavitt. This was supposed to be the guilty pleasure read that I told no one about, but it is so dang cute, I have to give it credit! Desi is a high school girl looking for a job that does not require her to dress up like a giant badger. When she is offered a job as a substitute princess she jumps at the changs. Hilarity ensues.

Thirteen Days to Midnight by Patrick Carman. I didn't expect to like this as well as I do! The story is about a boy who finds that he is not only indestructible, but that he can pass this power along. Carman jumps right out of the gate with an action scene that hooks the reader hard. He also has a clever way of presenting a "bad boy" character in a safe-for-the-classroom (so far) manner.

Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah. Jamilah is the daughter of a tradition Lebanese Muslim family, but at school she goes by Jamie and her dyed blond hair and blue contacts keep her background a secret. Important issues of assimilation and racism are cleverly woven into what seems like a lighthearted book about being true to yourself.

Birth Marked by Caragh M. O'Brien. This one is the big winner for me. It is the story of a dystopian future What can I say? I am a sucker for dystopian futures! (In a "nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there kind of way.) Gaia is the daughter of a midwife who has just delivered her first baby without her mothers help. She delivers the baby, against it's mother's wished, to "The Enclave" as the law demands. When she returns home, she finds that her parents have been arrested and she is the new midwife. Thirty-four pages in and I am HOOKED. As a matter of fact, I am out of here. I have too much to read!

Some Books I Read Recently!

My pal Pam emailed to ask me for some fresh reads. And I have continued to read stuff and NOT blog them. What am I thinking of??? Also, Saturday is SATs day and I will have a whole new pile on my desk. So I bring you the reads of the spring!

The Grift by Debra Ginsberg is about a girl who works as a psychic but has no psychic powers. Or DOES she? I didn't need to be psychic to see some of the "twists" in this book, but Ginsberg is a good writer and I did enjoy the ride.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield was a fantastic read! It is a thinly veiled roman a clef about Laura Bush. I really loved this book. I was expecting to be titillated and amused, but I was really touched by the story.

My Enemy’s Cradle by Sara Young was a fascinating look at the Lebensborn program in Nazi Germany. A Dutch girl, pregnant by her Jewish boyfriend ends up in a home for unwed Jungfrau having babies for the fuhrer. It was a nail biter!

Karma For Beginners by Jessica Blank is the story of a girl in the '80s whose mom keeps dragging her from bad boyfriend to bad boyfriend. They end up in an ashram in the Catskills where she finds a place for herself. I put it to the side three quarters of the way through and it occurs to me that I didn't finish it! Better go dig it up again.

Lonely Heart’s Club by Elizabeth Eulberg was so much better than I thought it would be! It is the story of Penny Lane Bloom (I know, but her parents were obsessed with the Beatles) and how the club she creates of girls who have sworn off boys threatens the status quo of her high school. Standard girl power fantasy with a lot of cute music references and strong writing.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan freaked me the hell out! This is a zombie book, a genre that I usually ignore like a whining teenager, but I accidentally started it and couldn't put it down! So creepy, so good. The sequel, The Dead Tossed Waves, was something of a disappointment to me, but the person who recommended it to me in the first place liked it more than the first! She may be more of a zombie-girl than I am.

Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski was a great concept and deftly written. Brokenhearted at 18 Devi accidentally drops her cell phone in a wishing well and that causes it to only dial one number - her 14 year old self who might be able to undo all the mistakes Deva feels she has made.

The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman is not at all for family viewing, but is an interesting (and funny) look at how Silverman became the comic she is today.

Three Junes by Julia Glass was written for grown-ups, but has themes that anyone could relate to. Three interconnecting stories deal with a widower on a trip to Greece, his expat gay son in New York and the woman who befriends them both. Just a lovely book.

Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman presents the differences between parenting instinct and child development research. Fascinating stuff that made me retire the phrase, "Good job!" forever.

My Invisible Boyfriend by Susie Day is an English YA novel about a girl at a boarding school who invents a long distance romance to keep up with her paired-up friends. It was loaded with British-isms and practically begs for a sequel.

Savvy by Ingrid Law is the story of Mibs, who on her 13th birthday will receive her "savvy" - a strange power. Her oldest brother manipulates electricity, her middle brother causes storms when he is upset. When her father is in a serious accident just before the big day, Mibs hopes that her savvy will be able to help him recover.

A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper has been compared to one of my all time favorites - I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - and it is not quite that good. But this story of a young girl growing up on an isolated island kingdom just before World War Two is a suspenseful and marvelously detailed story.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson was a beautiful book about a reticent English gentleman who falls in love with the widow of the Pakistani grocer in his small town as he is trying to keep his money-grubbing relatives from selling a precious family heirloom.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake tells the parallel stories of a female war correspondent in Europe, the young wife of an American doctor who has gone to help victims of the Blitz and the postmistress in a sleepy Cape Cod town who holds a devastating secret as America edges closer to war.

And these three are the big summer reads I am most looking forward to:

Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, wherein CeeCee has to face the consequences of a rash decision she made years ago to raise the daughter of a murdered girl.

The Irresistable Henry House by Lisa Grunwald is the story of Henry who was a "practice baby" at a women's college just after WWII and went on to find himself in the center of the zeitgeist of the second half of the 20th century.

The Passage by Justin Cronin is the talk of the book world this summer. A cross between Stephen King's The Stand (one of my all time favorites) and Cormac McCarthy's The Road (I made it 10 pages before I had to put it down and take deep calming breaths) this doorstop of a book chronicles the carnage that occurs when a government plan to create super soldiers goes horribly, horribly wrong. If you hear screaming in the night, it is probably me ruing the day I got hooked on this one.

Happy reading!

The fun begins!

I have been booktalking the summer reading titles all week and I have to say that I like doing the presentations to the high school kids before the Briscoe kids. I feel bad that in the past I kind of do my "warm up" material at Briscoe and then have more polished presentations at the high school. Well, because of the MCAS schedule I will have spoken to nearly all the high school kids before "taking my show on the road". Briscoe - the big time!

A couple of things that have stuck out to me. First, I talk a LOT. A kid said today, "Mrs. Fecteau appears to be hogging the talking stick." You know it kid! I can talk all day. But I am doing a good job this year of just trying to hit the high points.

Speaking of which, I am having a horrible time trying to find an "angle" for HEAVEN TO BETSY. I love this book so much, and I just can't find a way of making it sound interesting to teens! I suppose I could talk about how it is based on her real diaries, how high school was different 100 years ago. But I want to tell stories. But I need to find a good one!

Must go teach 9th graders how to find books on WWII. There is not much to this post, but at least now I don't have to feel guilty for not having posted since MARCH!

The Unlikely!

I spent February break reading all the summer reading books that I didn't intend to like and much to my surprise, they were wonderful!

First some sad news, THE FULL BURN didn't make the cut. It was full of really bad language. And while I am not necessarily opposed to the occasional swear (just ask anyone who has seen me drive in traffic) this really was not good enough to warrant it. And it was pretty boring. And I know from boring. I read a book about MATH this week for heaven's sake! (Just kidding, math teachers. Math is awesome! Yay math!)

GEEKSPEAK: A GUIDE TO ANSWERING THE UNANSWEREABLE, MAKING SENSE OF THE NONSENSICAL, AND SOLVING THE UNSOLVABLE by Dr. Graham Tattersall is the math book in question. It was quite funny in some parts. I tended to skip over the parts with actual numbers, but I liked the formulas. I learned how to figure out how bi my vocabulary is, how to weigh my house, how to find out how long it would take to send my body to Mars. (Please do NOT beam me up, Scotty!) The book wasn't as accessible as I thought it was going to be, but any math minded kid who likes philosophy and problem solving is going to love it. And even math-phobics like me will find it interesting. Who knew math was so useful? (I will now go hide while Ms MacDonald and Mr. Novello chase me with graphing calculators.)

PANIC IN LEVEL 4 by Richard Preston is the science-y book this year and it was AWESOME! I expected to be a little interested, but I loved it. And it even had gross stuff in it, but I pressed on. It is a bunch of essays by Preston (who writes a lot of books about diseases that freak me out) that for the most part appeared in THE NEW YORKER. The topics range from ebola to pi to dying trees to the Unicorn Tapestries at the Cloisters to a really creepy genetic disease that makes your hands attach you and you attack your hands. Blech!! And yet, I had a hard time putting it down. Don't get me wrong, I am still a huge wimp, but good writing can make me keep reading in spite of almost certainly being freaked out when I think about things later!

GHOSTS OF WAR by Ryan Smithson was amazing. Smithson joined the Army Reserves after graduating high school shortly after 9/11. He was deployed soon after and tells the story of his year as an army engineer. He has a clean, clear writing style and tells his story in a heartfelt way that shows the humanity and high ideals of the average soldier. He has a respect for those he served with and served under, combined with an understanding of the humanity of all the players in the current conflict.

SCRATCH BEGINNINGS: ME $25, AND THE SEARCH FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM by Adam Shepard. This Merrimack graduate decided to go to a strange city and start out in a homeless shelter with $25, a tarp and the clothes on his back to see if he could work his way out of homelessness in a year. At first I had a hard time getting beyond his somewhat clunky writing, but his attitude and experience really won me over. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to make sense of poverty and class issues.

KNIGHTS OF THE HILL COUNTRY by Tim Tharp is "the football book". I try to have one every year. Last year it was 12 MIGHTY ORPHANS which very few people liked. Hopefully the Knights will be more of a crowd pleaser. I really liked it because it got in to the head of Hampton, a linebacker on an undefeated football team in the Ozarks. At first, Hamp's voice was kind of annoying because he "speaks" in something of an Okie dialect, but once I got used to it, the story really kept my interest. (I tried to skip over the football parts, but they were so intrinsic to the story that I had to keep going back and reading them.) The story is about how Hamp deals with his own issues while his best friend Blake (a giant tool) is spinning out of control.


Now I have read all the books I have felt obligated to read and can concentrate on the ones I want to! Ms Woznik and I are going to the school committee at the beginning of April to get them approved. By then I will have read everything. I am so excited about this year's list!

Thank you for playing...

And now the first set of titles to be cut based on circumstances and numbers alone.

Becoming Billie Holiday by Carol Boston Weatherford- This beautiful book of poems that tell of the early years of Lady Day, perhaps the greatest jazz singer of all time, will not be out in paperback soon enough for summer reading. Maybe next year!

The Big Necessity by Rose George - Apparently the lure of reading about sanitation was not enough to get students over the fact that I couldn't help but refer to this funny and informative book as "the poo book". Still an interesting read!

City of Thieves by David Benioff - I love this book and students liked the sound of it. However it was far more violent than I remembered. Or as Anna Langstaff at the Beverly Public Library put it, "Do you want to get fired?" Heh...

Estrella's Quinceanera by Malin Alegria - This one may be my fault - I just didn't know how to book talk it. It is a good book and worth reading, but it just didn't get the votes.

Here Lies Arthur by Phillip Reeve - Stories of teenagers interest in the exploits of King Arthur are greatly exaggerated, even with the addition of awesome Monty Python impressions. Or perhaps because of the Monty Python impressions.

How To Live On Mars by Robert Zubin - It got to the point where I would skip over this slide and say - "This just didn't do it for me." - when I was running over. Bad librarian, bad...

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin - This is a fantastic books and the kids were very interested in reading it, but it won't be in paperback in time. This one and 13 Reasons Why are making me mad! Paperback them, already. publishers!

We'll Always Have Paris by Ray Bradbury - Yes, it's Ray Bradbury and he can write like nobody's business, but the idea behind having a short story collection on the list is that kids who for whatever reason need differentiated amounts of reading can just read a few of the stories. And these stories were not at a reading level where that really would have been an option. Other than that, having short stories is kind of a pain. Also, the cover was crap.

So now we are down to 35 titles. We will be cutting between 10 and 15 more.

I can't tell you all the books that will be on, but here are the top 10 vote-getters as chosen by the BHS students currently studying for their English exam!

1. Unwind by Neal Schusterman
   
2. Sarah's Key by Tatiana deRosnay
   
3. Ghosts of War by Ryan Smithson
   
4. Impossible by Nancy Werlin
   
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
   
6. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
   
7. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
   
8. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
   
9. How To Build a House by Dana Reinhart
   
10. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
    

Of the daily doubles, Unwind by Neal Schusterman handily beat The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson and Ghosts of War by Ryan Smithsonspanked Joker One by Donovan Campbell. But The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han only beat How to Build a House by Dana Reinhart by a mere 7 votes, so they might both be on the list. We shall see...

The Big List!

Here is the list of all the books that were in the running for summer reading books this year. I book talked them to the students taking English fall semester and their votes are in. Stay tuned to see what the results are!

Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford
Big Necessity by Rose George
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks byE. Lockhart
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Estrella’s Quinceanera by Malin Alegria
Full Burn by Kevin Conley
Geekspeak by Graham Tattersall
Ghosts of War by Ryan Smithson
Girl Overboard by Justone Chen Hedley
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace
Here Lies Arthur by Phillip Reeve
Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent
How to Build a House by Dana Reinhart
How to Live on Mars by Robert Zubin
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Joker One by Donovan Campbell
King of the Screwups by KL Going
Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp
Missing Girl by Norma Fox Mazer
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
Nation by Terry Pratchett
No Choirboy by Susan Kulkin
Panic in Level 4 by Richard Preston
Paper Towns by John Green
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana DeRosnay
Scratch Beginnings by Adam W. Shepherd
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill
Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci
Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Summoning by Kelly Armstrong
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
We’ll Always Have Paris by Ray Bradbury
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Death, Ugly Dresses and Fat Girls a-Go-Go

Even though I have proctored no tests recently, I have still found some time to read bits of promising looking books and I have found some gems!

THE FETCH by Laura Whitcomb. I adored A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT and all I can say about the first chapter of Whitcomb's newest books is beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL! Calder is a fetch, a guide to brings newly-dead souls to the afterlife. The reader jumps into the story with a dreamily wonderful look at his job and a woman who may distract him from his duties. I will be reading this whole book because is a wonder.

ESTRELLA'S QUINCEANERA by Malin Alegria. This was recommended by a student and I didn't read much, but what I read was cherce. Star wants her 15th birthday celebration (a HUGE deal in her culture) to be a quiet dinner in a chic restaurant. But her family has their collective heart set on a traditional party with a mariachi band and a hideous dress. Very cute, and definitely on tap for next year.

DOES THIS BOOK MAKE ME LOOK FAT? by Marissa Walsh. (Who is from Lynn! And needs to get a website!) These short stories about body image look great. So far I only read Coe Booth's story - HOW TO TAME A WILD BOOTY - and it was great. I loved her TYRELL and I haven't been able to read KENDRA because kids keep taking it out! I look forward to the rest of the collection featuring favorite writers like Carolyn Mackler, Barry Lyga and Margo Rabb who needs to write more and faster right now! (CURES FOR HEARTBREAK is one of my all time favorites.)

And finally, my new best friend Julie Halpern's book GET WELL SOON is about a large girl in a psych ward and I will go into this in greater detail in the forthcoming post - Dear My New Best Friend Julie Halpern, I Love You So and I Hope You Are Not At All Creeped Out By My Fervent Devotion. Coming soon in a blog near you...

Rabbit Season!

Here are the second set of books I perused during the SATs yesterday.

THE MISSING GIRL by Norma Fox Mazer. Ever since UP IN SETH'S ROOM, which I was obsessed with in high school (oh, to have a smokin' hot, older boyfriend with...you know...a ROOM!) I have loved Norma Fox Mazer. She recently passed away and her last book is a good one. So good, in fact, that it is kind of freaking me out, and I am a little scared to keep reading! I will, of course, because I have to know what happens when one of the five Herbert sisters goes missing. And the creepy guy who is going to take her (which one is he going to take???) is gearing up for something icky. Pins and needles, my friends, that is what I am on.

GOOD GIRLS by Laura Ruby. Oh dear, Audrey gets her picture taken in an indelicate position without her knowledge. It gets passed around school and all hell breaks loose. I am irritated by the cover of this book (which is inaccurate and creepy) and the jacket copy (too breezy) which make it look like less than it is. (Although I understand the need to market it, blah blah blah... Harper usually does SO much better with their covers.) But the book itself is fantastic. Audrey is likable and usually level-headed. Except when it comes to Luke, a (barely) friend-with-benefits. This book depicts the dark side of technology (Damn you - cell phone cameras!) and the upside of friends who will stick by you. Am I going to finish it? Oh, you know me so well... Put it on the pile!

I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME by Lisa Schroeder. I am just going to put it out there - painful title. However, the book is sweet and sad and lovely. (And the cover is beautiful. And the jacket copy is just the right amount of clever.) This novel in poems about a girl who loses her boyfriend in an accident is slight, but moving. I read this in less than 30 minutes, I should get a free pizza or something. (I am, however a very fast reader.) I should have read it more slowly to enjoy the language, but I really wanted to get the story. There is a nice bit of mystery and a whole lot of romance. I think this might just be a summer reading book this summer.

ALL SOULS by Christine Schutt. I will admit it, I am a big wimp. I just can't bear to read a book about a parent losing a child. This book came highly recommended. When I was flipping through, I found a near perfect scene describing a teen dad on the subway that nearly broke my wee little heart when I thought of the rest of the story. (Affluent girl, dying slowly, everyone freaking out.) Did you ever read TAFT by Ann Patchett? That one snuck up on me... Anyway - so I barely read this one. But I will someday. Wow, this is a non-review - go read SLJ's. They loved it!

SCRATCH BEGINNINGS: ME, $25, AND THE SEARCH FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM by Adam Shepard. After graduating from Merrimack College, Shepard hit the road to see if he could go from homeless guy to contributing member of the work force by using his wits and the safety net available to anyone. He did it as a response to Barbara Erihrich's slightly snotty, but well intentioned NICKLED AND DIMED. I only got as far as page 27, and while the writing is kind of workmanlike, the story has really got me hooked! This might be a summer reading pick.

Huzzah! Time for more coffee.

It's Rabbit Season!

Okay, it may not be rabbit season, but I am feeling daffy - and testing season is now over until the spring. So sad that my book smorgasbord-ing will be drawing to a close and I am going to have to actually finish something now.

But yesterday was the small SAT and I got to take a look at 10 new titles. But before I get to them, I want to mention the comments. I have received 2 comments from writers of books which I gave less than glowing reviews. So I imagine that they get pinged when they get mentioned online. (And Francie Nolan is out of a job... - And if you get that reference, leave me a comment and I will take you out for lunch, because we are kindred souls!) Anyway - the people about whose books I say nice things never comment. So I am thinking of just saying everything stinks so that EVERYONE will comment and I can just say, "Oh just kidding!" after.

Many of this post's books came recommend by Theresa Maturevich, reference librarian from the Beverly Public Library. (Let's see if she has one of those little blog gremlins who tells her when she is mentioned...) So thanks Theresa - it must be great to have a job where you get to sit and read books all day!

And now, the books:

FLANNERY: A LIFE OF FLANNERY O'CONNOR by Brad Gooch. This is well written, the cover is beautiful and Flannery O'Connor is one of the classic writers who can draw me in like nobody's business. I loved the beginning with the chicken who can walk backward. But the truth is, I am just not much for biographies nowadays. I lack the intellectual curiosity and the attention span. But this one was a nice one.

INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER by my new best friend Julie Halpern. I was going to devote a whole post to this book because it is absolutely delicious. And you know what? I think I shall. Stay tuned for that one!

SOMEONE KNOWS MY NAME by Lawrence Hill. Oh my. Oh my. I never buy books for myself, because I just buy them for the library and act like they are mine. But I put this one on my Christmas list. I will be reading it for me. It is about a girl taken into slavery who eventually travels the world. And I started crying on page two where she matter of fact-ly says, "I never had the privilege of holding on to my children, living with them, raising them the way my own parents raised me for ten or eleven years, until all our lives were torn asunder." Well go ahead and grab me by the throat and shake me, Lawrence Hill, because you are KILLING ME! It got great reviews and I am going to wait until I have time to just leap into it.

GETTING THE GIRL: A GUIDE TO PRIVATE INVESTIGATION, SURVEILLANCE AND COOKERY by Susan Juby. Why is it that I just love books that are a tiny bit too explicit for summer reading? This one is so good and so far it has nothing that will get me fired, but I am nervous because the story is that girls are getting"Defiled" at his high school and Sherman Mack, short, awkward and mildly clueless is on the case. There are so many sweet details in this book, the best friend who tries to talk "street" to cover up his voice that sounds like a 6 year old girl, the burlesque-dancing mom who is still rebelling from her straight laced parents, the wry heavy-set gal pal, and of course the dull pretty inamorata. (And she may get more interesting, I am only on page 50). Am I going to finish this? Hell yes! I need to know how it ends. Am I going to put it on summer reading? If everyone is able to keep the graphic details to themselves (I am talking to you, Juby!) perhaps. Of course, maybe I could get the scholastic version. Grrr... But I digress.

NO CHOIRBOY: MURDER, VIOLENCE AND TEENAGERS ON DEATH ROW by Susan Kuklin. Come for the titillation, stay for the politics. This looks like it is going to be one of those "true crime" stories that are practically salacious in their fetishization of the crime, but it ends up being a really moving, sad and educational book about how juvenile offenders are defined by their worst moment. The story of Roy Burgess, Jr. broke my heart. I browsed through the rest o the chapters and it certainly looks like summer reading to me, if it ever comes out in paperback. Um, kind of sad, summer reading. But it will interest kids, I think.

Okay, I have to do some laundry and drink some coffee. I will put out the other five later. This is an embarrassment of riches, right here!

And Finally - The A-C-T-s!

Today was the last of my read-a-pa-loo-za test proctoring days. I had ten books and read a few chapters of all of them. Only one really annoyed me and most of them were wonderful.

THE COMPOUND by S. A Bodeen - This was interesting. Most of the family of a billionaire escapes death (so far) in an underground shelter during a nuclear war. But then Mama feeds Dadddy some BAD bread. I don't know for sure, but I think mold spores start to eat his brain. This is an interesting story, well written and paranoid.

JUMPED by Rita Williams-Garcia - This is a quick read about three girls one of whom is gearing up to beat down another one, who is unaware of the plan. The third knows what is going to happen, but doesn't want to get involved. The characters jump off the page and the build up is really nice. I look forward to finishing it!

VAST FIELDS OF ORDINARY by Nick Burd is a funny coming of age book about a gay teen who is hooking up with a "popular boy" who is deeply in the closet. The cover looks all dreamy and kind of lame (sorry cover designer) but the book is HYSTERICAL and strangely moving. I am loving it.

FOOD, GIRLS, AND OTHER THINGS I CAN'T HAVE by Allen Sadoff. Fantastic title - pretty good book. I love a fat kid book, and this hits all the right notes. But I had high expectations that so far haven't been met. It really rings true, though and I will probably stick it out at some point.

THE ORANGE HOUSES by Paul Griffin - I put this in my stack because I felt obligated. A hearing impaired girl in the projects, a young odd discharged soldier/street poet and a recent immigrant all come together for what looks to be something that ends very badly. The writing is great and I am desperate to find out what happens. Griffin does a huge amount with very few words.

RAPTURE OF THE DEEP by L.A. Meyer - Oh how I love Jackie Faber! I only read a few pages because I realized that it would be cheating if I didn't read MY BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN first. So I shall.

LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld - World War One is starting. The Darwinists and the Clankers are going at it big time! Oh yeah - England and France are Darwinists - they live in a society where hybrid animals are the newest in technology, Octopi become hot air balloons, whales become airships and man-made Kraaken are extremely handy in naval battles. They are battling the giant machines of Germany and Austria-Hungary. It is totally cool when the son of Archduke Ferdinand meets up with Deryn/Dylan a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. Tremendous fun from Westerfeld, who rarely disappoints when he creates a new world.

THE REAL REAL by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus - This book is like a bag of chips - little if any nutrition and yet I find myself wanting to curl up and devour the whole thing! A MTV-like entity decides to film a reality show in the glamorous Hamptons and the no B.S. daughter of a cleaning lady and a restaurant manager gets cast along with the rich and entitled. So much naughty, delicious fun!

OVER THE END LINE by Alfred C. Martino - This started promisingly enough. A soccer star witnesses a rape and is to drunk to stop it. He then watches the aftermath which involves his best friend and the girl he is interested in. The sports writing was great and the main character was suitably tortured. But the ending was out of control. I skipped to the end to see how it turned out, because I wasn't in love with it enough to ever finish it. I was relieved that I didn't put the time in. However, kids who like action and revenge and are not as jaded as I am will love it!

AFTER by Amy Efaw - I really didn't want to like this book at all. It is the story of a girl who denies that she is pregnant and then gives birth and puts her baby in the garbage. It could have been a train-wreck, but so far, Efaw has barely missed a step. It is sad and scary without being over the top. And Devon feels so much like a real girl. Only her mother is a caricature, and I am curious to see how she is portrayed later in the book.

The PSATs!

Once again I glutted on books as I was proctoring. Since the PSATs are disappointingly short, I didn't have time to read as much as I liked, but there were a few standouts -

GHOSTS OF WAR by Ryan Smithson - This is the true story of a 19 year old GI who enlisted as a result of 9/11. He was planning on being a writer before he signed up and it shows. A great read so far and practically a shoe-in for summer reading. Thanks, Ms Woznick for the recommendation!

AS YOU WISH by Jackson Pierce - A girl breaks up with her boyfriend under slightly humiliating circumstances and is given three wishes by a Jinn, sent to help her rebuild her life. Funny and sweet with a serious undertone. I feel hopeful for summer reading.

NIGHTS OF THE HILL COUNTRY by Tim Tharp - A kid plays football, his homelife is a drag and his best friend is a jerk-face. There is nothing in this book that I should particularly like, but the main character is so appealing that I want to keep reading.

LIPS TOUCH: THREE TIMES by Laini Taylor - This was just nominated for the National Book Award and I had never heard of it! It is three supernatural stories all centered around the idea of a kiss. The first story was great and I will be keeping this one in mind for next year.

SISTERS OF MISERY by Megan Kelley Hall - This is set locally in a fictional town described as being next to Salem, but probably based on Marblehead. The story annoyed my with it's new-agey-ness (as I am sure I annoy by making up words like new-agey-ness) but it wasn't bad. You can meet the writer at Cornerstone Books tonight if you are so inclinded. Probably not going to make the cut for me.

Four out of five isn't bad and now I am off to do some work!

The SATs!

I love the SATs! I know that any seventeen-year-old who is reading this has a strange urge to chase me with a torch and pitchfork after reading this, but they are my favorite way to spend a Saturday morning.

Did I mention that I don't actually take the test? Oh, that would be a blood bath! I can barely read the math problems, much less solve them. But the verbal parts are fun. (Put down those torches, children! Someone could get hurt!) I proctor. And as a proctor I get to wander around the room and keep an eye on people. I also get the chance to preview books. I bring a stack of 9 0r 10 books and peruse them as I watch the room and see if I have an interest in buying them for the library, reading them for myself and putting them on the preliminary summer reading list. I am surprised at how few I write off completely and how quickly I can tell if I like them.

So here is a quick rundown of yesterday's books.

THE HATE LIST - Jennifer Brown - This book is spectacular. The girlfriend of a school shooter deals with the guilt of knowing that her boyfriend used her "Hate List" to choose his victims. I hate putting it down. [93.2% likely to be on summer reading]

ANDROMEDA KLEIN - Frank Portman - This was such a disappointment. I found it to be virtually unreadable. I adored KING DORK, Portman's first book and was predisposed to like this. And I just couldn't stand it. Too much Juno-esque invented teen-speak, too much of Andromeda's thoughts and not enough of the world around her. I was 8 pages in and done, I flipped ahead and read pages at random to see if there was any kind of hook for me and there was nothing. [Sadly, I already bought it for the library on his reputation]

SOVAY - Celia Reese - This is a very readable Robin Hood type of story about a girl in pre-regency England who is forced to clear her father's name when he is accused of sedition. It was fast moving, but not grippy. [I'll probably buy it for the library]

MARCELO AND THE REAL WORLD - Francisco Stork - I only read a few pages, but I was intrigued and impressed. I will finish this eventually and enjoy it, I am sure. [I already bought it and it looks like a good shot for SR.]

INTERTWINED - Gina Showalter - I love BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and Zombies as much as the next middle aged librarian (okay, perhaps more) but I just couldn't get into this story about a teenager who is not only posessed by 4 souls, or beings or what have you, but can also unintentionally raise the dead and is then responsible for fighting them off. It was too much hacking for me, but I imagine that that will appeal to some as well as the drawn-to-each-other-like-moths-to-a-flame love story. [Look for it in the library, but not on the list.]

GOING BOVINE - Libba Bray - Holy smokes! I loved Libba Bray's GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY and the two follow-ups. I liked her style and her use of place and her fast paced story telling. I had NO IDEA that she is screamingly funny. This book had me snorting coffee out of my nose. And it is the story of a kid dying of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease). If you can make that funny, you are doing God's work. I love this book! [Here is the rub, I really want this on SR, but he smokes a lot of pot and so far, nothing bad has happened. Well, he is dying, but nothing that the put caused. I am only a third of the way through, so if he finds out that some bad weed caused his disease, that would be good. Or if he at some point blames the drugs for something bad, I can probably justify it. But I probably can't promote a book on SR that gives the impression that pot is fun (regardless of what some high schooler's opinion may be). But I am certainly buying it for the library!

SARAH'S KEY - Tatiana de Rosnay - There is a little boy locked in a cabinet in an apartment in Nazi-occupied Paris and his parents and sister were just taken away buy the police for deportation! I don't know what is going to happen to the little guy, and I am kind of afraid to find out! [This was recomended by a couple teachers and it is teriffic, practically a no-brainer for SR.]

GIRL OVERBOARD - Justina Chen Headley - I love a good poor-little-rich-girl story and this one, so far, is lovely. Syrah (named after a WINE, poor thing...) just wants to snow board, and her family wants her to be their perfect little princess. She is also obviously in love with her best friend, and she was in an accident that has made her knee a real problem. I can't wait to find out how this whole thing ends up! [Bought it, certainly putting it on the preliminary list.]

LET SLEEPING DOG'S LIE - Mirjam Pressler - I wanted to love this. It was originally published in Germany and is the story of a girl who finds out that her Grandpa was a Nazi and stole the family business from two Jewish families who were trying to escape. It isn't bad, but I thought it would be much better. The heroine is kind of wooden. It could be the translation, but I just didn't get sucked in. [I already bought it, and will promote it to FACING HISTORY kids when they come in for their book reports, but it won't be on SR.]

And that, as they say, is that! See you next week for the PSATs!

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU

Don't worry (or rejoice) I am not actually leaving anywhere. I am simply writing about a wonderful book I am reading. I found out about it in the books section of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY. EW, in addition to having all my movie and TV news, has a surprisingly good book section. You just can't beat SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL for finding books for teens, but when I do read the occasional adult book (and make no mistake, this is an adult book!) I usually hear about it in EW.

Jonathan Tropper wrote the hilarious HOW TO TALK TO A WIDOWER and he reminds me a lot of Tom Perrotta, my other favorite non-dead white male writer. I really seem to read more books by women, but if Haven Kimmel, Augustin Burroughs and Jane Greene* are willing to write jacket blurb for this guy, you can trust that he will be good.

This is not a book that kids will probably enjoy. It is very talky and full of complaints about getting older. But to parents and adult chidren of, well, humans, it is a real treat.


* for some reason I got Jane Greene, of whose books I am not overly fond, confused with Jennifer Weiner, who writes tremendously funny chick lit. But then I read Jane Greene's blog and it was very entertaining - so maybe I will give her a second chance...
The story is about a very disfunctional family (the kids are in their 20s and 30s) who are sitting shiva for their recently deceased father. The narrator is Judd, whose wife has just left him for his boss and to add insult to injury, informed him that she is pregnanty. Needless to say, his pain is epic. And in this book it is patently hilarious.

Briscoe Blogs!

Ms Woznick, the librarian at Briscoe, has started a blog of her own. You can find it here. I look forward to reading it! And someday I will begin keeping up with this blog! If I could only remember to just post what I have recently read. And yet, I don't. Let's see...

I am nearly done with Ten Cents a Dance, by Christine Fletcher. It is a book about a teenage girl working as a taxi dancer at the start of world war two . Taxi dancers worked in dance halls and would dance with anyone who would provide a 10 cent ticket. In the strict Roman Catholic neighborhood where Ruby, the protagonist, lives this is about a half a step up from being a prostitute. It is a teriffic book, but pretty consistantly sad. Fascinating though.

I just finished I'll Have What She's Having by Daniel M. Kimmel, a book about romantic comedy films. It had the stories behind When Harry Met Sally, Love Actually, It Happened One Night and other films I love. The writing is a little stiff, but the background stories are really interesting. I plan to be watching rom-coms all weekend in a frenzy inspired by the book. First up: Trouble in Paradise - which I had not heard of before.

Next up book-wise are North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley and My Most Excellent Year, by Steve Kluger who wrote Last Days of Summer which I adored! They are both sitting on my dining room table looking nearly irresistable. Must go stop resisting now...

When You Reach Me

I am not entirely sure that I have the words to say how much I loved this book!

First off, note to self - take this blog off the summer reading paperwork. I am now just going to write about books that are not specifically geared towards high school summer reading. And while I think there are high school students who would love this book, I will be passing it along immediately to Ms Woznick for the the middle school list.

I am trying to read more middle grade books in preparation for a class I am teaching in the fall. So I started with this one. Is that what I was writing about? I suppose I should go on!

Here is where I fell in love, on page 10: "'Nice tights,' I snorted. Or I tried to snort, anyway. I'm not exactly sure how, though people in books are always doing it." She is like me! I was forever trying things that people did in books with mixed results. And then THIS: "The truth is that I hate to think of other people reading my book. It's like watching someone go through the box of private stuff that I keep under my bed." Hey, I hate it when people read books I love (unless they unequivocally adore it too). and I have a box of private stuff under my bed too!

There were so many things to love about this book. The setting is New York City and while it is very clearly set there, it is written so familiarly that I feel like I grew up there too. And the mother, and the dentist, and the school secretary are beautifully drawn grown-ups who are real. And the kids are perfect. Not perfect people, just perfectly realized. I am dying to read a book about Julia, about Alice Evans, even Colin.

I can say no more about this book, because I read too much about it before I read it and I think that it made me more able to see where it was going. I think it would be amazing to read it and be taken completely by surprise. I have to go find a 12 year old girl to give this too right now.

Man, I loved this book.

A LONG WAY GONE by Ishmael Beah

Please excuse the long hiatus! I am determined to get this year's list all splatted before our exciting choose-your-book-a-palooza advisory block on June 15.

A LONG WAY GONE is a wonderful memoir that will take your heart, rip it out of your chest, squish if 45 ways to Sunday, drag it in the dirt and then rinse it off and re-position it in your chest. I know, a lot of work for one thing book.

It is the story of how Ishmael was conscripted into the rebel army in Sierra Leone at 13 years old, given amphetamines and other drugs and told to kill or be killed. According to the book he lived this life for nearly 3 years before being rescued by UNICEF and eventually coming to America where he is now a graduate student and a speaker on human rights.

The book doesn't spend a lot of time on the overall political picture, but focuses more on the life of a child soldier and his long road back to humanity.

I am not a big memoir reader, nor do I read a lot about military conflict - but I was gripped by this book. My favorite memoir is A GIRL NAMED ZIPPY by Haven Kimmel which is unlike this book in every way - but tremendously funny. As far as children in peril go, you can't beat SOLD by Patricia McKormack - which was on summer reading last year.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

Gabrielle Zevin wrote ELSEWHERE, which was on summer reading two years ago. She follows it up with this story of a girl who comes out of a coma after hitting her head to find that she remembers nothing of the last two years. I was surprised at how serious this book was. It is an interesting look at a girl who is given the opportunity to have a do-over and choose to make changes in relationships and situations that normally people would feel that they had no choice but to continue on with.

I like books about starting over. I don't know any other amnesia books, but HOW NOT TO BE POPULAR by Jennifer Ziegler is about a girl who is constantly moving to new towns because her parents are constantly starting over. She decides not to even try to make friends in her new home because she is tired of having to leave them behind.

KEEPING THE MOON is about a girl who leaves her demanding mother to go live with her laid back aunt and finds that other people's opinions of her don't really matter.

HERO by Perry Moore

To liven up the book blogging experience I chose a random picture from by "books to blog" file and it happens to be the one I am re-reading!

I read HERO last spring and I really liked it. I remember being surprised that I was so caught up in a superhero story. I was also surprised that the the "coming out story" part of the book was handled so delicately. I was hazy on the details of the book since I read it more than a year ago and I am pleased that I am enjoying it just as much as I did the first time. It is funny and sensative and full of action. Quite the combo-plate!

This is the story of Thom Creed who is the teenaged son of disgraced superhero "Major Might". His father, who has no powers, but fought crime out of a strong sense of justice, hates people with powers. When Thom realizes that he has powers (and they are gooooooood powers) and when he is invited to try out for the League of Justice, the same people who booted his father, he knows that he is going to have to lie to his father about more than his growing belief that he is gay.

I like superhero comics, but haven't been a huge reader of superhero books. There is a new title out that looks good to me, and that I just ordered called SUPERPOWERS by David J. Schwartz that looks pretty good. If it is the gay angle that interests you, there is a fantastic book called FREAK SHOW by James St. James that was the first runner up for the "gay-friendly" summer reading title. I just loved it. It is almost the opposit of HERO in that our hero is a urban drag-princess who is moved to the Bible belt and has to deal with people who don't understand the magnitude of his powers. It is sweet and hysterically funny and really much tamer than it sounds!

The World Without Us

This book is the story of a bad break up. The players in the relationship are Humanity and Earth. Humanity had been mistreating Earth for awhile, and all Earth's friends are like, "You need to break up with Humanity, Humanity's no good for you! Humanity takes you for granted, you could do so much better!" And Earth was like, "Humanity has been here for so long and I just know Humanity is going to change! You don't know Humanity like I do." And Earth's friends were like, "Little Planet, you need to just think about what your life would be like without Humanity. Would you be better off?" And then we have Weisman's book.

If you have watched any of those discovery channel shows you have seen the science in this book. The writing is interesting and the different illustrations of how scientists have come to these conclusions are illuminating.

I have grown fond of science fiction, but I am not a big reader of science non-fiction. A couple of science books that have slipped through my pleasure reading radar are STIFF by Mary Roach, the story of what happens to our bodies when we die, and FLU: THE STORY OF THE GREAT INFLUENZA PANDEMIC by Gina Kolata. It occurs to me that all of these books involve humanity expiring, and I just want to point out that I do like humans and I don't want them to cease to be! It is just interesting to read about!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

Sherman Alexie has joined the number of literary writers who have penned a Young Adult novel to great acclaim. The author of short story collection, THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN (part of which was turned into one of my favorite movies - SMOKE SIGNALS) writes a somewhat autobiographical novel about Junior - a kid growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation. He leaves the rez to go to an all-white school in a farm town. He illustrates his story with cartoons. It is funny, sad, funny, hilarious and funny.

I haven't read a lot about reservation life in our time. As far as indian books, Sharon Creech is a favorite, RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME looks good (although I haven't read it yet) and PIGS IN HEAVEN (and it prequal, THE BEAN TREES) by Barbara Kingsolver is amazing.

Why I am the best/worst mother in the world.

I am paying my teenage son $25 to read Stephen King's THE STAND this summer. Am I a crazy person? The book is enormous, but is the only end-of-the-world, "Oh-my-God-we're-all-going-to-die!!!" book that I have ever read and re-read. And re-read it I have! About 15 or so summers I spent a week or so freaking myself out on purpose with this book. Planning my own plague scenario. Where would I live? What would I do? How would I get to Boulder? (Because I'd have to get to Boulder!) Would I be brave like Dana? Would I be able to go through the tunnel? Would I bring a backup flashlight for the love of all things holy???

I love this book and I want my son to read it now that he is old enough. And if it costs me a double sawbuck and a fin - oh well...

Now if I could negotiate a price with my 11 year old to get him to cut his hair... Do you think I could fake a mouse incident like Pa in LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE?

The answers to these questions and the long awaited (and much procrastinated) Summer Reading Book Reviews coming soon!

My Apology...

Here is my apology to science fiction and fantasy. In the past I was one of those people who would say, "I love to read everything except science fiction and fantasy." (And I would say science fiction and fantasy in a tone of voice that implied that I found them about as appealing as a bucket of vomit.)

But now that I have matured and had my comfort zone forcibly expanded by librarianship, I find that my four favorite books of the last 12 months are ALL science fiction or fantasy! Shocking, I know!

I am 152 pages into THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO by Patrick Ness and it is blowing my mind! It is the story of a boy who is the youngest person in his town at nearly 13 years old. At the age of 13, every boy in town goes through something horrible (I don't know what it is yet, and I can not WAIT to find out. I bet it is grisly!) There are no women or girls in the town because they were all killed by a virus that made everyone's thoughts audible to everyone else. Which seems like it would be handy, but is actually horrible. This book is amazing and I can't believe I am wasting time finally blogging when I could be reading it!

The next book I adored was UNWOUND by Neal Schusterman - the story of a future where we parents are finally able to get rid of teenagers who aren't living up to expectations. It seems like a brilliant idea in theory, but I am sure you will not be surprised that it goes horribly, horribly wrong. I desperately wanted this on summer reading this summer, but it won't be in paperback for awhile. Next year, for sure!

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins (who wrote the GREGOR books for middle schoolers which I may or may not read on my own for fun because they are great) shows a different future of expendable teenagers. (Are you sensing a theme here? Horrible things happen to teenagers in these books! It makes me not even care that I am getting old and wrinkly and my body is falling apart. I am safe by virtue of being over 18. Whew!) In this case - in a future America, two kids from each district (regions like New England, Appalacia and the rust belt are now numbered 1-12 and it is no fun to live there) are sent to district one - the happiest, richest and most powerful district (the former California - figures...) from which they are sent to the Survivor-type "Hunger Games" where they go up against the 23 other contestants in a battle to the death. This is probably the most violent book I have ever liked. It isn't graphic (well a little) but they aren't kidding about the last man standing thing. Yikes. But it is so good and I can't wait for the sequal to come out (on September 1 which is circled on my calendar!). Look at all the parentheses in this paragraph. See what this book has reduced me to? It is brilliant.

And finally TENDER MORSELS by Margot Lanagan which was brilliant and weird and disturbing and a little painful, but also the most original thing I have read in ages. It is a fairy tale with its boots in the muck. It tells the story of Snow White and Rose Red, but in such a strange way that I didn't even recognize it until I had finished it and read a review and went, "Oh yeah - of course!" The basic plot is a young girl who is horribly abused by her father is allowed to live in heaven before her time. But a nasty little thief begins to break down the membrane between her world and the real world with massive consequences. And bears.

I swear I will start the summer reading reviews soon.