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.

We may have a list!

It looks as if the books for this year have been chosen! The students who had English in the fall semester voted on them, the faculty is currently vetting them and I am wholeheartedly hoping that no more nasty surprises come up.

What kind of nasty surprises you may ask? Well, three books I had high hopes for are not going to be on the list this summer!

The first is THIRTEEN REASONS WHY. It is the story of a kid who realized that he is one of the reasons a classmate committed suicide. He finds out because she made a set of tapes before she died telling her story. The narrative switches back and forth between her story and the story of the night the boy listens to the tape. It is fantastic. But it isn't going to be out in paperback until October.

The same thing happened with UNWIND by Neal Schusterman. I LOVE this book. It is a science fiction novel about a future where teenagers are found to be somewhat expendable and quite useful for organ transplants. It is full of action and asks some great ethical questions. But alas, it will not be out in paperback until August. Rats! Look for it on next year's list, without fail.

And finally, I just put down ROCK AND ROLL CAGE MATCH, which is a great concept - music critics match up pairs of corresponding bands, singers, concepts or producers and choose a "winner" - but those music critics are a real potty-mouthed lot and many of them have unresolved issues about their adolescence which I am uncomfortable reading about. I laughed out loud a lot, and I still like the idea - and you can feel free to check it out at the library, but I think the summer reading list is going to have to be without it.

I will start reviewing the books here soon. For now we have a list that may or may not be complete! And I am going to try to write a six word synopsis because that is the sort of thing librarians like to do on snow days.

Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Funny geek fears he betrays heritage.

Airhead by Meg Cabot
Super model brain transplant - enough said?

Before the Legend by Christopher Farley
Bob Marley was young once too.

Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits by David Ortiz
Baseball player is super nice guy.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Death observes girl in Hitler's Germany.

Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox
Entertainment is weird in alternative world.

The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Calletti
Teenage waitress gets million dollar tip.

Harmless by Dana Reinhart
Girls regret lying to avoid trouble.

Hero by Perry Moore
Saving the world is hard work.

Hypochondriac’s Guide To Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have by Dennis DiClaudio
Man, you can catch gross stuff.

A Long Way Gone by Ismael Beah
Boy soldier in Africa writes memoir.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
Memory loss allows for new life.

My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay
Teen missionaries caught in violent uprising.

Plato and a Platypus Walk in to a Bar by Thomas Cathcart
Philosophy explained through really bad jokes.

Right Behind You by Gail Giles
Accidental murderer tries to redeem himself.

Runaways: Pride and Joy by Brian K Vaughn
Parents are super villains, children rebel.

The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner
Girl translates Salem witch trial diary.

Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
New enlistee recounts life in Iraq.

Twelve Mighty Orphans by Jim Dent
Football playing orphans kick Texas butt.

What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sondra Sones
She's way out of his league.

What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
Girl disappears, repercussions felt years later.

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
Crazy uncle lures girl to Antarctica.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
Humans are extinct. Earth responds well.

I will write longer reviews as the books get vetted by the faculty.

Happy New Year!

I have a bunch of friends who keep track of everything they read in a year and then send out their stats and I always envy their organizational skills.

This year I am nearly able to do that thanks to the Beverly Library's habit of sending me an email whenever I have an inter-library loan in! Since I get almost everything I read through ILL, I have gone through all my ILL mail from this year to find that I have read 63 books of the ones they have sent!

I don't keep track of books I didn't finish. I am allowed to stop at 20 pages if it isn't going to grab me and I seem to read one book for every two I cavalierly cast aside... Also, I didn't keep track of picture books and books that I have to read for assignments. I only go back as far as May with the ILLs and I don't have everything I read that I may have borrowed from the high school library or that I borrowed from friends or bought. But still it is an interesting list.

A quick note about those well organized friends - they all belong to GoodReads, which I have just joined. I am sure that another time-suck is just what I need!

So here is my New Year's book report. Enjoy!

FIVE STAR BOOKS!
These are the books that got 5 asterisks in my excel spread sheet of reading. That means I loved them and I found them to be nearly flawless. They are fiction unless noted otherwise.
City of Thieves -- Benioff, David -- Russia during WWII, two young men search for eggs. Funny, harrowing and brilliant.
Hunger Games -- Collins, Susan -- YA -- Kids are forced to kill one another by their government for entertainment. So much better than it sounds.
Jim the Boy -- Early, Tony -- Sweet story of a boy being raised by his mother and uncles during the depression.
What Was Lost -- Flynn, Catherine -- A little girl who is an amazing real-life Harriet the Spy goes missing and 20 years later it still affects people.Not at all what you would expect.
The White Darkness -- McCreaghen, Geraldine - YA -- A young girl and her mysterious Uncle go to Antartica. Gripping!
Ahab's Wife -- Naslund, Sena -- What happened to her before, during and after he was hunting Moby Dick. A door stop of a thing that still feels too short.
Run -- Patchett, Ann - Politics and race and family in Boston. It is Ann Patchett, just read it!
The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society -- Shaffer, Mary Ann -- A group of friends new and old dealing with the aftermath of WWII and how love of literature helped them survive the German occupation of the Channel Islands. Lovely, simply perfect epistolary novel.
East of Eden -- Steinbeck, John -- Seriously, you haven't heard of it? It is a classic! California, lettuce, whores, wars, fathers and sons.

FOUR STAR BOOKS
(notice the lack of exclamation point)
These are books I loved, but for some reason, they just didn't get that last star.
Life Sucks -- Abel, Jessica - Graphic novel about Vampires working in convenience stores.
The Penderwicks -- Birdsall, Jeanne -- Four wonderful little girls on vacation.
What I Saw and How I Lied -- Blundell, Judy -- YA -- Post WWII teen-noir.
Airhead -- Cabot, Meg -- Supermodel brain transplant - need I say more?
Freddie and Me -- Dawson, Mike -- Graphic novel about how the music of QUEEN influenced an English boy's life.
The Hypocondriac's Pocket Guide to Diseases That You Probably Already Have -- DiClaudio, Dennis -- The title says it all. FUNNY!
The Blue Star -- Early, Tony -- Only slightly less-perfect sequal to Jim the Boy.
The Trouble Begins at 8 -- Fleischman, Sid -- Children's non-fiction - Biography of Mark Twain's early life.
We Are On Our Own -- Katin, Miriam -- Graphic novel about a young woman and her daughter living through the Holocaust in Poland.
Dreamhunter -- Knox, Elizabth -- YA -- New Zeland set fantasy about Betsy Tacy era entertainment through dreams. Weird and beautiful.
Into Thin Air -- Krakauer, Jon -- Non-fiction account of an Everest climb gone horribly wrong.
Tender Morsels -- Lanagan, Margo -- YA -- Bizarre, brilliant, dark fairy tale about a girl who is allowed to raise her babies in heaven. With bears.
Keturah and Lord Death -- Leavitt, Martine -- YA -- Katurah can see Death - and he has a big old crush on her...
The Shape of Mercy -- Meissner, Susan -- A rich girl gets a job transcribing a journal written during the Salem witch hysteria.
Hero -- Moore, Perry -- YA -- A boy has to come to grips with being gay and also having super powers.
The House at Riverton -- Morton, Kate - England's wealthy between the wars. Gosford Park-ian wonderfulness.
Harlem Summer -- Myers, Walter Dean - YA -- Mobsters, bootlegging, jazz, girls and fun.
Unwind -- Schusterman, Neal -- YA -- In a world where the abortion wars are over, all life is precious. But parents can choose to have their teenagers "unwound" if they fail to meet their expectations. Scary and thought provoking.
When You Are Engulfed in Flames -- Sedatis, David -- David Sedaris being his hysterical, wonderful self.
Black and White -- Shapiro, Dani -- A woman has to deal with the photographer mother who made her famous by taking pictures of her as a child and who she hasn't seen since she was a teenager.
Freak Show -- St. James, James -- YA -- a sweet teenaged drag queen goes to live with his father in a very conservative part of Florida. Hilarity and tragedy ensue.
Becoming Billie Holiday -- Weatherford, Carol Boston -- YA -- This is a biography in the form of poems titled after Billie Holiday songs.

I had a million three-star books - meaning I liked them just fine. And I only had five two-star books because usually I will stop reading a book if it is only 2 star worthy, but I kept thinking the two-stars were about to get better. Sadly, I was wrong.

An I had one one-star - I was proctoring the SATs and there was nothing else to read so I kept going. The book was A STEP FROM HEAVEN by An Na and it was really annoying. It won the Printz and I was expecting to love it, but I was just bothered.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy from a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Hater!

It seems unlikely that I should have fallen in love with so much science fiction and fantasy this summer - and yet I have. The first of the three books that have blown my mind is THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. She wrote The Underland Chronicles which my 10 year old loves. This is written for older teens. It is the story of a future society that evolved from the ashes of the North America we know today. The premier form of entertainment is the Hunger Games. A Survivor-like event where 24 teens (two from each of the country's districts) are sent into an arena to fight to the death. I am only halfway through it and I can barely put it down. I was late yesterday to a VERY IMPORTANT MEETING because I had to finish my chapter. Okay, that is not as rare for me as it should be. But still...

I also loved DREAMHUNTER by Elizabeth Knox. This book is set in a country not unlike Knox's home, New Zeland, at the turn of the century. It is very much like our world, except that superimposed on part of the island country is the place, an otherworld where beautiful dreams can be harnessed by Dreamcatchers and later performed for the populace. Of course, not all the dreams are beautiful and Laura Hame, a new dreamhunter, is left to make a choice about how dreams are used. The second in the series, DREAMQUAKE was a Printz honor book and looks to be just as amazing as the first. I will keep you posted.

Finally, UNWIND by Neal Schusterman was also fantastic. I read this back in the spring and even though usually once I have read something it falls into the big file in my brain called BOOK (say this as if you were Frankenstein's monster or a troll) and sort of gets mashed together with everything else I have ever read. UNWIND hasn't disappeard from my conciousness yet though, because it was such a unique story. It is a definite pick for 2009 summer reading and I have a feeling it will be very popular. In the future, there is no such thing as abortion. All babies are brought to term, but birth mothers who feel unable to take care of their babies have the opportunity to "stork" them - leave them on a random doorstep where the family is obligated to take the often unwanted child in. There is an option though once the child hits puberty. The family can choose to have him or her unwound. This means that every single part of the child will be donate as skin grafts, organ donations, etc. As I write this, I realize for the first time how truly creepy this sounds! The story really focuses on three kids on their way to be unwound for different reasons and how they escape their fate - or do they? Intrigued?

Required Reading

Alison Bechdel wrote this graphic-essay for Entertainment Weekly (remind me to write of my EW subscription now that I am using it for educational purposes!) about being forced to read books that are "good for you". Hopefully summer reading won't feel too much like this.

[If you have a hard time reading the text, click on the page and it should get bigger.]

Left For Dead

Have you seen the movie JAWS? Remember the scene where Robert Shaw talks about the Indianapolis? Well this book is about a kid who saw that movie, researched it for his school's history fair and ended up changing history.

If you like shark books - you can't beat JAWS or there is also a new book called SHARK GIRL about a girl who is attacked by a shark and lives to tell the tale.

And now, I present the slightly inaccurate text that made the whole thing possible:

Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss): You were on the Indianapolis?

Brody (Roy Scheider): What happened?

Quint (Robert Shaw): Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, chief. It was comin' back, from the island of Tinian Delady, just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen footer. You know, you know that when you're in the water, chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. Well, we didn't know. `Cause our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Huh huh. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, chief. The sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know it's... kinda like `ol squares in battle like a, you see on a calendar, like the battle of Waterloo. And the idea was, the shark would go for nearest man and then he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he's got...lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch screamin' and the ocean turns red and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in and rip you to pieces.
Y'know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men! I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand! I don't know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday mornin' chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player, boson's mate. I thought he was asleep, reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up and down in the water, just like a kinda top. Up ended. Well... he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us. He'd a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper, anyway he saw us and come in low. And three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened? Waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks ttook the rest, June the 29, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

YIKES!

The New Policeman

Why are the Liddy's such talented musicians? Did their patriarch really murder a priest? Where does J.J. Liddy go when he disappears? And who is the new policeman in the village?

Even in the small Irish village of Kinvara time is moving faster than it ever has. When J.J.'s mother asks for more time for her birthday, he decides to try to find her some. To say anymore about what happens would be to ruin some wonderful, funny and magical moments of this brilliant book.

This book is perfect for anyone interested in Irish Music, folk tales, time, three legged dogs, drunken old men, dances that last all night, rebellion, freedom or really good story telling.

Now is the time to recommend some other books about time, Ireland or music. And since nearly all the books I thought were about Nepal and was going to recommend on the SOLD post ended up taking place in Pakistan or Afghanistan I am not surprised that all I can think of are Scottish or Australian books! My mind is completely blanking! Please post to the comments with any Irish books of interest. I will go hunt down Mr. Leahy and see what he has to say about Ireland. I should be back in a month... As for time - I try never to miss an opportunity to recommend Allen Appel's time travel books. None of them are in print but local libraries have them. And as for music -LEMONADE MOUTH, NICK AND NORA'S INFINITE PLAYLIST, REFUGEES and KING DORK are all books where music is a life saver for the protagonist.

Sold

I just reread this book moments ago and it is as moving as I remember it. SOLD is the story of a 13 year old Nepali girl who is sold into prostitution in India by her stepfather. It is told in the form of poetry and it is not for the faint of heart.

What happens to Lakshmi when she leaves her tiny Himalayan village is told in sparse language from her point of view. If this were a regular prose novel it would be too hard to read. McCormick carefully chooses her words to convey the emotion and day to day life of oppressed girls without going into too much physical detail.

McCormick, whose previous book CUT also dealt with controversial issues, traveled to India and Nepal and interviewed many girls who escaped from human trafficking.

Nepal is also represented in Summer Reading this year by INTO THIN AIR, the story of an Everest expedition gone horribly horribly wrong.

The Bermudez Triangle

THE BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE is such a summer-friendly book that it even comes with a waterproof cover! If you enjoyed Maureen Johnson's THIRTEEN LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES last summer you might want to give this a try. (And FYI, her newest SUITE SCARLETT just came out yesterday and it looks fantastic.)

The book starts at the beginning of the summer. Nina Bermudez , a very driven girl who has just finished her junior year, is about to head off to a summer leadership program at Stanford University. She leaves behind Avery and Mel, her two best friends. When she comes back with a new long-distance boyfriend and her head in the clouds, she is surprised to find that Avery and Mel have become more than just friends.

There is a lot to like about this book. It has a nice plot about how friends change and sometimes friendships can adapt and sometimes they can't. It talks about long distance relationships. It is a lighthearted antidote to those "you can be gay if you want but your life will be wretched" books that I run across every so often.

Young adult books about friendship are everywhere and many of them are terrific. One of my old favorites is Marilyn Singers THE FIRST FEW FRIENDS. Going from being best friends to falling in love is a theme in Singers THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH. Too bad these books are out of print - but you can still get them at the public library. Not our public library, but some library somewhere. Or you can go to abebooks which is a nice place to get used books.

As for long distance relationships - I know I have read books about them and my mind is blank! If you know of any, please leave them in the comments!

I just read KEEPING YOU A SECRET which is a wonderfully written book, but depressing. It reminds me of TRYING HARD TO HEAR YOU which had me convinced that gayness, along with drunk driving and babysitting on weeknights was a recipe for certain death. Thank goodness times have changed!

ELEVEN SECONDS

Eleven Seconds will be guest blogged by Mr. Riordan who is somewhat concerned that his boyish good looks won't translate to the page. Good thing he actually knows how to play hockey.

Travis Roy is an honest man. He was paralyzed during his first shift in a college hockey game and had to quit the sport he loved. He now is a motivational speaker who inspires others. The remarkable thing about his book is that he says he still hasn't gotten used to the chair he is confined to. He has almost been in the chair as long as he lived before it and yet it still unnatural to him. He still misses the camaraderie of the game that he hasn't played since 1995. I kind of understand that, although I no longer play because I am old, not disabled. Reading his book made me remember the fun and goofiness of playing hockey. It is is an interesting, quick read and I highly recommend it. If you like books about sports, last year's summer reading favorite FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is a good one. If sports autobiographies interest you NEVER GIVE UP by Teddy Bruschi is really good. Larry Bird's DRIVE is also worth reading. THE GREATEST, a biography of Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Meyers is fantastic.

Mortal Engines

Phillip Reeve has done what very few writers have been able to do. He has made me love a science fiction series. The Hungry City Chronicles is an amazing collection of books currently four strong that details life on Earth after war has left the planet mostly uninhabitable and its cities roving around the wasteland looking for other cities to conquer so that they can absorb their resources . Well, depending on who you ask...

Tom Natsworthy is an apprentice historian who finds himself in a world of trouble when he falls off the powerful roving city of London and finds himself in the company of an angry disfigured girl who know a lot more about how the the cities work than he does.

This book, along with Ender's Game, Feed, Rash and Unwind is a look at a futuristic Earth which really appeals to me. I often get nervous about futuristic books. Poor human race, what they are going to have to put up with! But the story is so compelling I can put away my worries and just enjoy the ride!

I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU

I tell you, you must pity the student who goes to school where their parent works. My mother taught at the school where I went for grades 7-9. It was horrifying. And now I have passed this experience on to the next generation. Cammie has it very bad in ITYILYBTIHTKY. (There is no good way to shorten this title!) Her mother is the headmistress of the Gallagher Academy, an exclusive prep school for wealthy girls. Or perhaps it is a super secret spy school!

The people in the surrounding community think that Gallagher Girls are snotty, spoiled rich girls so when Cammie meets Josh, a local boy, she pretends to be home-schooled. He believes her for awhile but when her love life intersects with her school life Cammie has to figure out what is important to her.

I love boarding school books. The Harry Potters, of course, and A Little Princess. I like spy books but for some reason they all take place during World War Two. And they seem to be written by Ken Follett, Jackdaws and The Eye of the Needle - ooh and Shining Through by Susan Isaacs! As much as I rack my brain I can't remember reading any peacetime spy novels. One of the possibilities for summer reading that didn't make the cut (and thus I haven't finished it yet) was Evil Genius - which I bought for the library and the first bit was terrific.

This is light fun romance and adventure novel perfect for a summer read!

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Traitor to the Nation: Volume One - The Pox Party

I really have to choose words carefully when I write about this OCTAVIAN NOTHING. I don't want anything I might thing to influence anyone to do anything other than grab this book just as fast as they can and read the living daylights out of it.

I love this book more than words can say. But I will refrain from singing it a love song to give an idea about its contents.

Octavian is a young man who has been raised with the best of everything. He is living in Boston as the Revolution against the British is heating up. Many interesting, exciting, thought provoking and terrifying things happen to him and around him.

The format of the story is varied and challenging. But all eventually becomes clear. Octavian's voice isn't instantly accessible, but as it becomes more familiar, you begin to know this young man and his world. I don't want to give away any of the story because it was so great to see it revealed as I read. I will just tell you there is war, disease, betrayal, truth, beauty, music, love and friendship in huge amounts. Read it, I say, read it right now!

There is a sequel coming out in October called THE KINGDOM OF THE WAVES at least according to the books on tape people. I can hardly wait! In the meantime - my favorite Revolutionary war book is I AM DEBORAH SAMPSON a book I must have read 20 times in middle school. Slavery in the south is well represented in literature from UNCLE TOM'S CABIN on - but Octavian makes us snooty New Englanders admit that Massachusetts was just as caught up in slavery as any other state. The "Pox" of the title refers to smallpox which has already been covered in this blog.

Middle Grade Resources

There are a ton of good guides for getting kids interested in reading but Kathy Baxter is the queen! She is a dynamic speaker for librarians, teachers and parents and her books are must-reads if you are trying to inspire your pre-teen to read. She primarily focuses on using non-fictions to hook kids into books. Her book lists are terrific and updated often.

The American Library Association has great books lists. Here are their middle school picks from 2004.

National Council for Teachers of English has a nice page of book lists compiled by middle school teachers.

Here is a nice site for the Rhode Island Teen Book Award. It has book talks and discussion guides.

Here are the links to Beverly High School and Briscoe Middle School's summer reading information.

Is my kid a reader?

There was no "Eureka!" moment where all reading I did as a librarian intersected with what I was going through as a parent. But I do remember the era. It was way back in 2006 - when I was an idealistic young librarian... Oh right - I will get to the point.

At some point I became concerned that my own children weren't readers. So I decided to look into what it takes to raise a kid who loves to read. And a happy by-product of that is this list of ways to help turn your child into that mythical creature - a reader.

1. Model behavior.
One day I looked over at my beloved husband working at his Dell from over the top of my Macbook and said, "Why don't out kids read?" Maybe that is apocryphal, but there was a point where I realized that we weren't reading in front of the kids unless it was on a screen. Just like using bad language and flossing, the more your kids see you read, the more likely they are to do it. Keep a book on your nightstand. Visit the library. Have magazines in the bathroom.

2. Give your kids the opportunity to read.
My sister and I were both big readers. Of course we were both doughy and pale from never seeing the sun. If your kids are exhausted from playing two sports they are not going to have time to read. If they are playing Wii they aren't reading. Make sure there is ample down time when they can pick up a book without feeling like they should be doing something else.

3. Let kids read what they like.
Yes, I may want me kids reading CALL OF THE WILD but they love DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (which is a fantastic book, by the by...). Your children may hate the book you loved more than anything in seventh grade and you must accept this and move on. Or bribe them with money. Or wait until you have grandchildren. Graphic novels have, in the past 5 years blown open a window of opportunity for teachers and librarians trying to entice kids to read for pleasure. My kids gobble them up like slightly- more- nutritious- than- you- would- think candy. Genre fiction like science fiction, mysteries and fantasy really appeal to certain types of readers.

4. Make sure you have realistic expectations.
Your children are probably reading a lot more than you realize. Magazines, comics and web pages are very popular with kids. There are a lot of ways of reading and while the idea of your child curling up with a good novel is very appealing, it is rarer than you would think. Unless you are extraordinarily lucky it isn't going to happen organically.

Hmmmm... before I wrote this list I thought it would be really useful. But now I realize that maybe I am just spouting common knowledge. Oh well, at least I did it numerically!