Great Books for Kids and Teens

Middle-Grade Review: Wonderstruck

2012-02-01T16:25:00.001-05:00

I somehow missed out on all the excitement surrounding BrianSelznick’s first award-winning novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Iheard a lot about it but never had a chance to read it. So, when I heard last year that Selznickhad published another groundbreaking, amazing novel, I was determined not tomiss it this time. I recentlyfinished his latest masterpiece, Wonderstruck, and now I knowwhat all the fuss is about. Thisone-of-a-kind book completely captivated me.

Wonderstruck is notjust a unique story but a wholly unique way of telling a story. The book contains two different butintersecting stories, each told in a different way. First, we are introduced to Ben, a young boy growing up innorthern Minnesota in the 1970’s. Ben’s story is told in a somewhat traditional way, through text, as Benreminisces about his mother and tries to adjust to her recent death. With his mother now gone, Ben alsobegins to wonder about his father, an unknown man his mother never identified.

The second story in the book is told entirely throughpictures. The reader is introducedto Rose, a young girl living in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1927, through gorgeous,full-page pencil drawings showing her in her room, overlooking New York Cityacross the water, as she works on her scrapbook of a famous actress. The book then alternates between Ben’sstory, told in text, and Rose’s story, told in drawings. The two children’s stories paralleleach other right from the start, as both of them set out on a personal missionto find something missing from their lives. I love that kind of symmetry and serendipity in a story.

This unique book fully engages the reader, pulling you intothe compelling stories of both Ben and Rose. I found myself rubbing my hands over the beautiful embossedcover of the book and the smooth, exquisitely detailed pencil drawings. It’s amazing how fully Selznick cantell Rose’s story entirely through pictures, a feat that takes on an evengreater significance as you learn more about Rose’s life. And the prose describing Ben’sadventures is equally mesmerizing.

I’ve heard some people somewhat put off by the size of thishefty novel. At over 600 pages, itis a brick of a book, but I read it veryquickly, over the course of just two days, since more than half of the pages arefilled with illustrations. Andwhile those wonderful drawings do entice you to linger, the story keeps youturning the pages to see what will happen to Ben and Rose and how – and if –their stories will intersect at some point. The title is apt; this novel will leave youwonderstruck. I can’t wait to seewhat Selznick comes up with next…and I think I need to go back and read TheInvention of Hugo Cabret, too.

629pages, Scholastic

It's Monday 1/30! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-30T09:50:00.002-05:00

Here we are...Monday again! I have one son feeling better and heading back to school this morning after two weeks at home...and the other one curled up on the couch feeling awful. I wonder whether I will ever experience a normal, quiet, solitary work day again! Really sick of the TV constantly making noise in the background.

Another busy weekend here - we are still buried in forms and paperwork for college, but we did finally file the FASFA (financial aid form) this weekend - progress! Not nearly enough time for reading this week, but here's what we did manage:

I finished Divergent by Veronica Roth, an excellent teen dystopian novel (see my review). I'm looking forward to book 2!
I was in the mood for more kids/teen reading, so I next read a middle-grade book I've been dying to read for months: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. It was aptly named - full of wonder! Just an amazing, one-of-a-kind book.
I am also still listening to an audio book, The Power of Six by Pitticus Lore, though I'm still not loving the narrators. It is a good story, though.
And I finally started a book for one of my book groups, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel about two Cuban brothers who move to NYC in the early 1950's and start an orchestra. I thought it started out a bit slow, but I am enjoying it now. This book has been on my TBR shelves for almost 10 years!
My husband, Ken, is still reading one of his Christmas gifts from me, In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson, and enjoying it, though he hasn't had much reading time either.
Jamie, 17, is reading Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness, Book Three in the Chaos Walking trilogy. He says this post-apocalyptic trilogy is excellent and his dad and I need to read it next!
Craig, 14, gave up on Chronicles of the Red King: The Secret Kingdom by Jenny Nimmo, a prequel to one of his all-time favorite series, Charlie Bone. He says it just wasn't as good as the Charlie Bone series.
He is now finally reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, which the other three of us have been suggesting to him for ages! Craig likes to be independent and make his own choices, but he admits we were right about this book. He's only a couple of chapters into it and is already loving it. He actually turned the TV off voluntarily a few minutes ago to read!

I posted two reviews last week: Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls and Divergent by Veronica Roth. I also posted a link to the winners of the Youth Media Awards, including the Newberry and Caldecott Honors, plus many others - so many good books out there waiting to be read!

I learned a bit more about customizing the look of my blogs, though I am still a novice (after 7 years of blogging!) I would love to figure out how to add photos and other customizations. I like the clean look of it now, but it is a bit plain. Someday...

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. You might also want to take a look at the kids/teen version of what are you reading Monday over at Teach Mentor Texts.)

ALA Announces Award Winners!

2012-01-25T08:51:00.001-05:00

This week, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the latest winners of the Youth Media Awards, including such well-respected awards as the Caldecott Medal, the Newberry Medal, Coretta Scott King Award and more. It's an impressive list of books, audio books, and videos from picture books to Young Adult novels.

Of all of these prestigious award-winners, I have only read one of them: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (which I happen to be reading right now!) which won the Schneider Family Book Award for "artistic expression of the disability experience."

Looks like I need to get busy!

Teen/YA Review: Divergent

2012-01-24T19:28:00.000-05:00

Divergent byVeronica Roth was the hottest new dystopian release of 2011. My 17-year old son read it as soon asit came out and kept saying, “Mom, you have to read this!” I also read many great reviews of itand watched with interest as it showed up on many Best of 2011 lists. I finallyfound time to read it last week and discovered that all that hype waswell-deserved; Divergent is anexciting, original novel.

Among the decrepit buildings of Chicago and the enormousswamp that used to be Lake Michigan, the community has been rebuilt into fivefactions, each with their own unique role in society: Abnegation (the selfless who govern), Dauntless (the bravewho defend the city), Erudite (the intelligent who pursue knowledge), Amity(the peaceful who grow food), and Candor (the honest who always tell thetruth).

At age 16, each person must choose their faction. While most choose to stay within thefaction they were born to, some change factions at this time. It is a decision with life-longconsequences, determining whom they will live with, what kind of job they willhave, and even their core beliefs. Beatrice has lived happily and peacefully in Abnegation with her brotherand parents her whole life, but she isn’t certain it is where she reallybelongs. She is worried about heraptitude test and the Choosing Ceremony the following day and has no idea whichfaction she will choose.

I don’t want to say anymore about what Beatrice chooses orwhat the consequences of that choice are – no spoilers here! But things are not quite as simple asthey first seem in this new kind of society, and there are some conflictsbrewing behind the seemingly peaceful surface. As Beatrice goes through her initiation (whether you areborn into a faction or transferred in, you must go through initiation when youbecome an adult), she learns things that are disturbing and makes some newfriends as well as some enemies.

Divergent is afast-paced, action-packed story with lots of surprising plot twists. I remarked to my son that it was moreviolent than I’d expected, and he rolled his eyes and teased, “Mom, you aresuch a girl!” Yes, Iam! And yes, some of the violencedid surprise me, though it is a very common element of dystopian fiction. Despite that, I was totally absorbedinto this story and hated to set the book down to go to bed each night. I finished it yesterday and wasimmediately ready to read its sequel (Insurgent, which is due to be released May 1, 2012). And that is the sign of a good book.

496 pages, Kathryn Tegen Books (imprint of HarperCollins)

Can't get enough of Divergent? Check out the Divergent fan site.

P.S. I was just as fascinated by the author’s backstory as Iwas by the book itself. VeronicaRoth is a very young author, just out of college, with a very big success withher first novel! Read more abouther at her blog.

It's Monday 1/23! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-23T08:47:00.002-05:00

Very busy week and not a great weekend. We enjoyed a gathering of friends on Saturday evening but spent the rest of the weekend frantically trying to get our taxes started, finish the FASFA form for college financial aid, and apply for a scholarship that requires more information than most college applications! Very frustrating work. Going through our medical records for taxes, I uncovered a half dozen mistakes our health insurance company made on our claims last year. How can a company survive when they are that incompetent? (Of course, most of the mistakes are in their favor!) No wonder health insurance is so expensive. So, now I have some wonderful phone calls to look forward to this week to straighten all this out.

As always, books provided a nice respite for us, although I don't think any of us had much time for reading last week:

I am still reading Divergent by Veronica Roth (almost finished). It's a teen dystopian novel that garnered a lot of attention when it was released last year. It's excellent - I kept wanting to ditch all my work and read more this weekend!
I am also still listening to an audio book, The Power of Six by Pitticus Lore, and enjoying that as well, although I'm not thrilled with the narrator of the audio. Also, I can't figure out how to turn off Shuffle on the audio book on my iPod, so I have to stop after every chapter to find the next chapter - it's very confusing listening to the chapters out of order!
My husband, Ken, is still reading one of his Christmas gifts from me, In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. He says it's fascinating that good people didn't see what was coming with the Holocaust.
Jamie, 17, finished The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, Book Two in the Chaos Walking trilogy, and immediately moved onto Book Three: Monsters of Men. He says this post-apocalyptic trilogy is excellent and just keeps getting better!
Craig, 14, had a lot of trouble deciding what to read next, but he finally settled on Chronicles of the Red King: The Secret Kingdom by Jenny Nimmo, a prequel to one of his all-time favorite series, Charlie Bone.

I posted one review last week of The Novice: A Story of True Love, a Thai folktale about Buddhism that I enjoyed. I also posted my list of Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Normally Read YA. And I posted a summary of the 5 Reading Challenges I've chosen to participate in for 2012 (finally!).

And, you may have noticed that I changed the look of my blog a bit. This is actually a really big deal for me...after 6 years of blogging! I know very little about the technical side of blogging, so changing my blog's look and finally figuring out how to add separate pages (see my new page for 2012 Challenges) was a giant step forward. Now that I know how to do it, I may add some additional pages - tell me what pages or tabs you have on your blogs. And I still wasn't able to add a photo to the header of my blog - I have no idea how people do such creative and unique things with their blogs!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

2012 Reading Challenges

2012-01-20T15:38:00.003-05:00

OK, we're more than half-way through January now. I suppose if I plan to join some challenges for 2012, I better get going! I don't normally "do" reading challenges - too much pressure and too little time! - but I did enjoy participating in two of them last year. So, after much deliberation (plus some procrastination), I have settled on these five reading challenges for 2012:

2012 Where Are You Reading Challenge, hosted by Sheila at Book Journey -
This was my very first challenge (in 2011), though I took the no-stress approach and just tracked the locations where my books took place, rather than making any attempt to hit a certain target. My final tally for 2011 included 20 different states and 11 different countries. We'll see how many different places I visit through books in 2012!

Books On the Nightstand 12 in '12 Challenge -
Hosted by my favorite podcast (if you've never listened to Books on the Nightstand, you must try it!), the 12 in '12 Challenge allows each reader to set his or her own +12 challenge for 2012. My challenge is:

To read at least 12 books from my TBR shelf, including at least 3 recommended by my husband.

My TBR shelves just keep getting more and more crowded, so I want to be sure to get to plenty of those books this year, including some my husband has read and recommended (and moved from his side of the TBR bookcase to mine).

2012 Dystopian Challenge, also hosted by Sheila at Book Journey -
I already have several dystopian novels on my TBR shelf, so I thought this one would be fun. I am signing up at the Intermediate Post World Trainee, shooting for 4-6 dystopian novels in 2012.

What's In a Name 5 Challenge, hosted by Beth Fish Reads -
I decided to sign up for this one just for pure fun! She has 5 very unique and creative categories set up for 2012. "Read one book in each of the following categories:

A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley
A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas
A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm
A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Ape House
A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah's Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary
A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category."

2012 Memorable Memoirs Challenge, hosted by Melissa at The Betty and Boo Chronicles -
I love to read memoirs and have several already on my TBR shelf waiting to be read, so this one is a perfect fit for me. I am signing up The Diarist level, aiming to read between 1 and 4 memoirs in 2012 (though I may move up to the next level later).

So, that's it! Now I just need to figure out how to make a separate tab on my blog to track my challenges. Even though I have been blogging for about 6 years, I've never really moved beyond the basics!

What challenges are you signing up for this year?

It's Monday 1/16! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-16T11:39:00.002-05:00

Not a typical Monday here. The kids are off from school today, Jamie is recovering from a stomach virus, and I have a lot of work around the house to catch up on today because we were gone this weekend for Craig's birthday.

Things have been hectic around here, but we still found time to enjoy our books this week:

I finished Great House by Nicole Krauss last week and posted a review.
I also finished my first audio book of the year, The Novice: A Story of True Love by Thich Nhat Hanh, which is a parable about living a life devoted to the teachings of Buddha. I don't know a lot about Buddhism, but I enjoyed this unique book.
Now I have started a new audio book, The Power of Six by Pitticus Lore, which I've been looking forward to for months. It's good so far.
Next I read Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, a sort of novelized prequel to her best-selling memoir, The Glass Castle. I loved this book about Walls' grandmother's life and can't wait to talk to my book group about it on Wednesday.
Last night, I started Divergent by Veronica Roth - finally! It's an intriguing concept so far.
My husband, Ken, is reading one of his Christmas gifts from me, In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. I want to read it when he finishes!
Jamie, 17, is reading The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, Book Two in the Chaos Walking trilogy. He says it is even better than the first book.
Craig, 14 (as of Friday!), is finishing Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted today.

Last week, I posted reviews of Great House by Nicole Krauss and the middle-grade novel Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Middle-Grade Review: Breadcrumbs

2012-01-10T17:45:00.001-05:00

When I heard that Anne Ursu had a new middle-grade novelcoming out last year, I knew it would be something special. I’m a fan of Ursu’s, having enjoyed oneof her grown-up novels, The Disapparation of James, and her middle-grade trilogy, The Cronus Chronicles, which cleverly combines fantasyand wit. I recently listened toher latest, Breadcrumbs, on audio, and this magical story did notdisappoint.

Ten-year old Hazel has had a rough time lately – her fatherleft her and her mother, they don’t have a lot of money, and Hazel doesn’t feelthat she fits in with the other kids at school. All of that is OK, though, because Hazel has her bestfriend, Jack, who lives next door. Together, they create fantasy worlds, go sledding, and play superherobaseball, so it doesn’t matter if the other kids don’t want to hang out withher at recess. Suddenly, though,Jack seems to have changed and Hazel feels him pulling away from her. When Jack disappears, she puts her hurtfeelings aside and goes after him because she knows she is his only hope.

When Hazel heads into the Minnesota woods alone, with herbackpack filled with necessities (including an autographed baseball Jack gaveher), she has no idea that she is literally stepping into another world. In her quest to find Jack, Hazelencounters all kinds of strange characters, many of whom will be familiar tofans of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales. In a classic struggle of good versus evil, Hazel uses herwits and her connection with Jack to seek out the Snow Queen and bring Jackback home. It’s a sometimes scaryjourney for Hazel, but somehow you always believe that things will turn outwell in the end.

The genius of this novel is the way that Ursu weaves arealistic story of 10-year old best friends struggling with the kinds ofchallenges that real kids face together with a fantasy world populated by fairytale characters. The blending offantasy and reality (which was also evident in The Cronus Chronicles) is sure to appeal to middle-grade readers. Add to that Ursu’s considerable talentfor prose, peppered with references to popular children’s literature, and evena dose of her trademark humor, and you have a magical, engaging story.

Although I enjoyed the audio production of this book, Ithink this is a case where the traditional paper book is best, thanks to ErinMcGuire’s beautiful illustrations. I bought a copy of the hardcover for my 9-year old niece for Christmas,and she paged through the book reverently, pausing to exclaim over eachillustration and running her hands over the beautiful cover. She even gently removed the jacket andgasped in delight at the embossed snowflakes on the book itself (a girl after my own heart!). It’s a beautifully produced book thatmakes a lovely gift for any young reader.

320pages, Walden Pond Press

For more information about Anne Ursu and her books (including some of the illustrations from Breadcrumbs), check out her website.

It's Monday 1/9! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-09T08:49:00.002-05:00

Well, so far the new year is off to a good start for me - I felt good all last week, enjoyed the warm, sunny weather at the end of the week, and even got all of my goals set for 2012 and my calendar set up (I am usually way behind!). I also caught up with my end-of-year blog posts on my book blogs, though I still need to write one more catch-up post about the book challenges I am joining for 2012 - should be fun!

We enjoyed our books last week:

I am almost done with Great House by Nicole Krauss. This turned out to be a rather long read, even though the book isn't that big, because it is fairly dense prose, but I have enjoyed it. I should finish it today.
I started a new audio, The Novice: A Story of True Love by Thich Nhat Hanh, which is a parable about living a life devoted to the teachings of Buddha. I thought this was an appropriate audio book for the start of a new year! I'm enjoying it so far.
My husband, Ken, finished his first-ever e-book, The Breach, a suspense novel by Patrick Lee.
Next, Ken picked up the book he started before our trip, Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen, one of my favorite memoirs, and read a few more chapters. I think he prefers this book in small tastes.
Last night, Ken started one of his Christmas gifts from me, In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. We're both looking forward to this novel set in Nazi Germany by the author of The Devil in the White City.
Jamie, 17, finished The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare and loved it.
Now he is reading another of his Christmas gifts, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Book One in the Chaos Walking trilogy. He says it is very good, though somewhat dark and different than what he usually reads.
Craig, 13, is reading Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted, hoping to finish it this week so he can take his Accelerated Reader quiz before the end of the marking period next week.

I didn't write any new reviews last week, but I did post my year-end summary/list of Best Books Read in 2011, both here and at Great Books for Kids and Teens. I also posted my wrap-up for the Where Are You Reading 2011 Challenge. It was fun keeping track of the settings of all the books I read.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Best Kids/Teen Books Read in 2011

2012-01-03T18:21:00.002-05:00

I went back through my reading journal yesterday and found that I read a total of 68 books in 2011. Thirty-two of those books were for kids, teens, and YAs, and 36 were adult books (for a tally of the grown-up books, check out my year-end post at Book By Book). Of the 32 kid/teen books:

2 were picture books
11 were middle-grade novels
19 were teen/YA novels
6 of the kid/teen/YA books I read were audios

I read so many good books this past year - it is always hard to choose favorites - but after much deliberation, these are my Top Ten Kids/Teen/YA Books Read in 2011:

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card (can't wait for the sequel!)
The Roar by Emma Clayton
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (just as good the second time around)
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Thunder Over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay (audio)
Shiver, Linger and Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (I know it's cheating to lump all 3 together!)
Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (audio)
Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted
Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (audio)

All in all, a very good year!

What were your favorite books read in 2011?

It's Monday 1/2! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-02T09:27:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!! I hope you have all had an enjoyable holiday week with your families. We just returned last night from a trip to Oklahoma to visit my father-in-law. It was a nice visit (and great weather!), but it is wonderful to be back home now. Jamie, our 17-year old son, was very ill all week with a flare-up of his chronic illnesses, so that marred the week. On the upside, it is quiet and low-key there, so we all had plenty of time to read:

I finished Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, a coming-of-age teen book about a young man with an Asperger's-like condition who is trying to fit into the "real world" per his father's request. It was excellent - just as good as I'd heard.
Now I am reading one of my Christmas gifts, Great House by Nicole Krauss. I loved her novel, A History of Love. This one took a bit of time to get into, but after reading on airplanes all day yesterday, I am enjoying it.
My husband, Ken, brought his new Kindle Fire on the trip and spent a lot of time playing with it! He's also been reading his first e-book download, The Breach by Patrick Lee, a suspense novel, though he watched movies on the flights - I think he's enjoying his new toy!
Jamie, 17, read most of his Christmas gifts this week since he was sick! He lugged the hefty Inheritance by Christopher Paolini all the way to Oklahoma and finished in in just days. He said it was a different ending than he'd expected, a bit sad, but he loved the book.
Next, he read I Am Number Four and The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore. We'd watched the Number Four movie adaptation a couple of months ago, and he wanted to read the book and its sequel. He enjoyed both very much.
Now he is reading another hefty and long-awaited novel, The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. It kept him happily occupied through hours of flight yesterday.
Craig, 13, got a laptop for Christmas, so he spent a lot of time this week playing with his new toy and watched movies on the planes, but he and I enjoyed reading Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted at bedtime all week. He was reluctant to read it (because I had recommended it!) but is enjoying it.

I don't normally travel with my laptop, but I brought it along this week specifically to catch up on my book blogs! Here's what I posted:

Books we got and gave for Christmas
Kids/teen books we got and gave for Christmas
Review of After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick, a wonderful middle-grade/teen book about a boy getting on with his life after cancer treatment.
Review of Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, an excellent teen/YA coming-of-age novel (see above).
Review of Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb.
Wrap-up of the Fall Into Reading Challenge for Kids and Teens/YA Books
Wrap-up of the Fall Into Reading Challenge (grown-up books)

Ah, it's nice to start the new year off all caught up!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Happy New Year!

Fall Into Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

2011-12-31T13:51:00.002-05:00

Back in September, I signed up for the the Fall Into Reading 2011 Challenge, hosted at Callapidder Days,my first-ever challenge! I decided to challenge myself to read 10 grown-up books and 10 kids/teen books before the end of December (you can find my wrap-up for the grown-up books at Book By Book.) I think I did pretty well for my first challenge. I read 7 of the 10 kids/teen books on my list:

Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm (reading now!)
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - I need to finally finish these sequels to Shiver!
After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick - I never got to it on vacation in June
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, another post-apocalyptic novel
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Goldstrike by Matt Ehyman, sequel to Icecore

The 3 books I didn't get to:

The Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede, based on my son's recommendation
Six Days by Philip Webb, a new post-apocalyptic novel
Sabotaged, The Missing, Book 3 by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I enjoyed the challenge and learned some lessons - mostly, not to be so ambitious! There were several hot kids/teen/YA novels I wanted to read these last few months (including Wonderstruck and Blood Red Road), but I felt compelled to choose off this list instead, though I did insert a couple of new choices. I prefer a little more flexibility, so next time, I will set more realistic goals for myself. But I enjoyed it! Thanks to Callapidder Days for hosting!

Teen/YA Review: Marcelo in the Real World

2011-12-30T17:42:00.000-05:00

Ever since Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork was published in 2009, I havebeen hearing rave reviews of it. I finally got around to reading it last week and found out what all thefuss was about! It’s a warm,funny, and insightful novel written from the perspective of a young man on theautistic spectrum.

Marcelo is 17 and facing the summer before his last year ofhigh school. His doctors havenever been able to exactly pin down his diagnosis, so he just describes it assomething close to Asperger’s syndrome, though he is consideredhigh-functioning. He has attendedPaterson, a school for kids with a wide variety of disabilities, for manyyears, and he feels comfortable there. Marcelo is excited about his summer job, helping to care for the horsesused for therapy there, and he is looking forward to learning enough thissummer so that he can help to train the newer horses in the fall. Marcelo’s dad has other ideas.

Arturo is a very successful lawyer with his ownpartnership. He wants Marcelo towork there this summer, in the mailroom,so that he will learn how to succeed in the “real world,” as he puts it. His hope is to show Marcelo that he’dbe better off mainstreamed in the public high school in the fall rather than atPaterson. They agree on acompromise: if Marcelo works inthe mailroom this summer and “succeeds” (i.e. accomplishes the tasks he is given),then he can make his own choice about which school to attend when the summer isover. Marcelo is not happy abouthis new summer plans, but he is determined to do well.

His new boss in the mailroom, Jasmine, is not happy aboutMarcelo working there, either. She’d already handpicked her assistant, and now she is stuck with theboss’ son instead. Wendell, aHarvard law student and the son of the other partner at the firm, seems to bewelcoming, but Marcelo isn’t quite sure whether he is a genuine friend orwhether he is sometimes making fun of him. As Marcelo works hard to adjust to the “real world,” hetries to apply all that he learned in his social interaction classes atPaterson so that he can succeed, by his father’s definition. Along the way, he discovers somethingthat no one else at the law firm seems to know about and is faced with aserious ethical dilemma for the first time in his life.

I don’t normally include so much plot description in areview, but this book was so wonderfully engaging and unique that I want totell you all about it. Marcelo isa warm, funny, likeable narrator, and the ethical question he faces is adifficult one with no simple answers. It’s gratifying to see Marcelo learning to navigate relationships andgain self-confidence and independence, and it’s fascinating to see the worldthrough his eyes and to understand the challenges he’s facing. I really enjoyed this book and amlooking forward to reading more from Francisco X. Stork.

312 pages, Scholastic

NOTE: If youenjoyed this book or are interested in other novels dealing autism, you mightalso enjoy the middle-grade novel Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin.

Middle-Grade/Teen Review: After Ever After

2011-12-29T14:38:00.001-05:00

I’ve never read a Jordan Sonnenblick novel before, but AfterEver After sounded like something I’dlike. After spending far too manymonths sitting on my To-Be-Read shelf, I finally found time to read it. I really enjoyed it and would love toread more novels by this talented author.

Thirteen-year old Jeffrey is well known among his peers as“that boy who had cancer.” Back in fourth grade, he missed a lot of school andunderwent a lot of difficult treatments, while his classmates made cards forhim in school and went to fundraisers to help pay for his treatments. That was all four years ago, andJeffrey’s cancer hasn’t recurred, but the treatments left some side effects andcognitive challenges that are still difficult to deal with. On top of all that, Jeffrey alsoworries about all the usual stuff eighth grade boys worry about: passing thenew state-mandated tests, figuring out what his best friend is up to, and tryingto impress the new girl in school without seeming like a total dork. He’s been through a lot in his younglife, but there are still plenty of challenges ahead.

I’ve never read a novel about the after effects of cancertreatment before (I didn’t even realize there were after effects), so that element of the book wasfascinating. There’s more to thisnovel than that aspect, though – it’s a well-written, realistic, even humorousportrait of a young teen’s life. Iwas worried that it might be depressing (when I told my teen son what it wasabout, he said, “Oh, that soundslike fun” – insert sarcasm here.) And there are certainly some very sad elements to the book, but it isalso uplifting, a story of the ups and downs that occur in every life and theway that life somehow goes on in spite of the bad stuff. I was impressed by the emotional depthof this novel and would definitely like to read more by Sonnenblick.

260pages, Scholastic

NOTE: Although this book is officially categorized as a teen book, it is also appropriate and will appeal to middle-schoolers, with its 8th grade protagonist.

Kids' Books for Christmas

2011-12-28T21:14:00.001-05:00

I hope you all are enjoying a nice holiday season with your families. I posted a list of the books we received and gave for Christmas on Book By Book, and here are the books we gave for kids and teens on our list:

We gave Jamie, our 17-year old son who is an avid reader, lots of books because that's his favorite kind of gift! The most anticipated one was Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, the long-awaited conclusion to the series that began with Eragon. Despite its huge size, he lugged it through airports for our trip to visit his Granddad in Oklahoma. In fact, he's reading it right now!
We also gave him I Am Number Four and The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore. We watched the movie adaptation of I Am Number Four a while back, and he really wanted to read the book and its sequel.
We also gave him Patrick Ness' highly acclaimed trilogy, Chaos Walking: The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men. This was in part due to the many great reviews I read on other book blogs, so thank you for the recommendations!
Jamie also got a Far Side cartoon book - he loves those.
Jamie asked for a video game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for Christmas, and when I discovered there was a follow-up novel, I knew he would love it! The book is called The Elder Scrolls: The Infernal City.
We gave both our sons 4 Harry Potter DVDs, to round out their collection!
For my 9-year old niece, I picked out Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, a new middle-grade release by an online friend of mine - it's magical and engaging (I just finished listening to the audio). It's longer than most of the books my niece has read so far, but she was enchanted by the illustrations, the cover, and what I told her about it. I love to see kids excited about books!
We gave my 5-year old nephew Whoo's There? A Bedtime Shadow Book, a very cool book with cut-out illustrations that you project on the wall using a flashlight. Our kids used to have a similar book when they were little and loved it.

You may be wondering why we didn't get any books for our 13-year old son. Between middle-grade review books and all the books Jamie enjoyed a few years ago, our house is already filled with books that Craig wants to read! He had plenty of other items on his wish list.

So, how about you? What kids and teen books did you give and receive this holiday season?

It's Monday 12/26! What Are You Reading?

2011-12-26T11:01:00.002-05:00

I hope you all enjoyed some wonderful holiday celebrations with your family this past week! We had a very nice Christmas here. I've included an "after" photo below of what our living room looked like after opening presents! There were lots of great books exchanged, as always - I'll post a list later this week.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we still managed to read last week:

I finished a light-hearted holiday book, Wally Lamb's Wishin' and Hopin', a warm and funny novel narrated by a fifth-grade boy in 1965. I loved it! Perfect reading for this past week.
I am now reading Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, a highly acclaimed teen book I had been meaning to read for a long time. It's just as good as everyone said.
I finished listening to Breadcrumbs, a wonderful, magical middle-grade novel written by Anne Ursu.
My husband, Ken, is reading Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen, based on my recommendation. I absolutely loved this book, and he is also enjoying reading about our favorite city and favorite foods.
Jamie, 17, is reading the final book in The Icemark Chronicles trilogy by Stuart Hill, Last Battle of the Icemark. You know it's been a busy week when Jamie is still reading the same book he started last week!
Jamie finished reading The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga for his World Lit class. He says it's very good and that I should read it.
Craig, 13, finished Curse of the Bane, Book Two of The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney, just in time to take his Accelerated Reader quiz before winter break.
Craig is now reading Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted. He wouldn't normally read a book that I recommended (it's a parent/teen thing), but I also recommended this book to his classmates, who've been loving it, so his teacher suggested he try it!

I only had time to write one review last week of a memoir, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan (who used to be James) - it was fascinating and warm with a great sense of humor. I hope to try to catch up on reviews and other posts during the break this week.

What are you and your family reading this week? Enjoy your time off with a good book!

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

The "After" Picture

It's Monday 12/19! What Are You Reading?

2011-12-19T09:14:00.001-05:00

Fa la la la la! Holiday time and very busy, like everyone else! We spent the weekend in Pennsylvania with my family, celebrating an early Christmas, plus two birthdays. It was great to see everyone and start to enjoy the season (as opposed to just running around like crazy), and I got to spend lots of time with my niece and nephew. I hope you are beginning to enjoy the holiday season, too.

Lots of good books this week:

I finished Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, book one of a new series, The Guardians, by children's book veterans William Joyce and Laura Geringer. I enjoyed this seasonal fantasy and reviewed it last week.
Next, I read another middle-grade novel, After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick, with a very different tone. It's the engrossing, warm story of an eighth grade boy who is struggling with the after-effects of cancer treatment in addition to the usual middle school angst.
Now, I am treating myself to a light-hearted holiday book, Wally Lamb's Wishin' and Hopin', a warm and funny novel narrated by a fifth-grade boy in 1965. It's great so far - lots of fun.
I'm still listening to Breadcrumbs, a wonderful, magical middle-grade novel written by Anne Ursu, and gave a copy to my niece this weekend for Christmas.
My husband, Ken, finished Stephen King's new release, 11/22/63: A Novel, about someone who time travels back to 1963 to try to prevent Kennedy's assassination, and enjoyed it very much.
Ken is now reading Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen, based on my recommendation. I absolutely loved this book, and he is also enjoying reading about our favorite city and favorite foods. We've also been watching Treme on DVD, so he is immersed in New Orleans culture right now!
Jamie, 17, is reading a favorite trilogy, The Icemark Chronicles by Stuart Hill. He finished The Cry of the Icemark and Blade of Fire and is now reading the final book, Last Battle of the Icemark. He says this is one of the best series he has ever read...and that's saying a lot!
Jamie is also reading The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga for his World Lit class. He says it's pretty good (high praise for required reading).
Craig, 13, is reading The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney - he's currently on Book Two: Curse of the Bane and hopes to finish it this week.

I didn't have much time for blogging last week, with all the holiday preparations, but managed to post a review of Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King by William Joyce and Laura Geringer, a unique fantasy novel that tells of the origin of St. Nick. I also posted my response to the last question in the Fall Into Reading Challenge, about what books I would like to receive for Christmas (easy one!).

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Middle-Grade Review: Nicholas St. North (The Guardians)

2011-12-15T18:29:00.002-05:00

Paging through the Simon & Schuster children’s cataloglast spring, I was intrigued by a big 2-page spread for a brand-new seriescalled The Guardians by veteranchildren’s authors William Joyce and Laura Geringer. What caught my eye? The copy said that a movie adaptation was in progress…and the first bookof the new series hadn’t even been published yet! Companion pictures books (beginning with The Manin the Moon) are also planned. I decided to check out this newmulti-media concept and requested a review copy of Book One: Nicholas St.North and the Battle of the Nightmare King.

The series concept is that each book will tell the legend ofthe beginning of various Guardians of Childhood: the Man in the Moon, SantaClaus, the Easter Bunny, etc. Thisfirst book, as you might have guessed, tells the story of St. Nick (and alsothe Man in the Moon), but you won’t recognize anything from other traditional storiesyou’ve heard. As the insideflap says, “Here, in this first in a series of epic Guardian adventures, meetthe legendary St. Nick. You’veknown about him for years, but, it turns out, you don’t really know him atall…”

The story opens with a classic tale of good versus evil asthe Nightmare King (evil, obviously) escapes from his state of frozen paralysisand also releases the spectral boy with his crystal dagger, powered bymoonbeams (good). Meanwhile, inthe peaceful, isolated Siberian town of Santoff Claussen, a kind and powerfulwizard named Ombric senses that something bad has happened and hastens toprotect the people of his village. Through a dream, he summons Nicholas St. North, a notorious bandit, tohelp him. An epic battle ensues.

This is a fast-paced adventure story, full of imaginationand fantasy, though it never did fully connect the St. Nick we know today withthese early events that obviously helped to point him in that direction(perhaps the story will continue in one of the sequels). I’m not familiar with Geringer but knowthat William Joyce is well known for his very creative stories, like GeorgeShrinks, A Day with WilburRobinson (made into the movie Meetthe Robinsons), and my family’s favorite, DinosaurBob. This new middle-grade series has all the originality and imagination ofthose picture books and is illustrated by Joyce’s fanciful“illuminations.” It’s sure to be ahit with kids who enjoy action and fantasy.

228pages, Atheneum (imprint of Simon & Schuster)

It's Monday 12/12! What Are You Reading?

2011-12-12T09:02:00.002-05:00

Monday...a fresh start to a new week. Everyone is healthy and in school, so that's an excellent start!! We spent the weekend working on college and scholarship applications, make-up work (my son), and finally getting our Christmas tree and decorating it.

Remember a few weeks ago, I mentioned I gave talks on writing and reading at my son's middle school to the 8th grade English classes? Well, on Friday, I received this note from the teacher:

The students are LOVING your recommendations!!! Esp. Mike Lupica, Everlost and Alibi Junior High. Parents are thrilled with the fact that their kids are reading more. You really helped start this with your reviews and by talking to them. THANK YOU!

As a book lover AND a parent, this just made my day! My son says that everyone is requesting books now, talking about my recommendations, and even recommending books to each other. How exciting!

Meanwhile, my family is enjoying our books as well:

I finished She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan, a memoir about James becoming Jennifer, for one of my book groups. I loved this book - it was well-written, warm, funny, and fascinating.
I am now reading the first book in a new series, The Guardians, by children's book veterans William Joyce and Laura Geringer. Book One is Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King - I wanted to be sure to get to this seasonal novel before Christmas. The series will explain the origins of legendary characters, including St. Nick, through the kind of imaginative fantasy tales you'd expect from Joyce.
I'm still listening to Breadcrumbs, a wonderful, magical middle-grade novel written by Anne Ursu.
My husband, Ken, is still reading Stephen King's new release, 11/22/63: A Novel, about someone who time travels back to 1963 to try to prevent Kennedy's assassination, and he is loving it.
Jamie, 17, was sick all last week with a bad flare-up of his chronic illness, so he did a lot of reading. He comforted himself with an old favorite series, The Great Tree of Avalon by T.A. Barron. He read all three books: Avalon, Avalon: The Eternal Flame, and Avalon: Child of the Dark Prophecy.
Next, he moved onto another old favorite series starting with The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill. He's been waiting literally years to read the final book in the trilogy because a friend borrowed book 2 from him and never returned it. His friend finally admitted he'd lost it, so Jamie bought the second book last week and is eager to get through the full series.
Jamie is also reading The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga for his World Lit class.
Craig, 13, is reading The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney - he's currently on Book Two: Curse of the Bane.

Not much time for blogging last week (or this week probably) because of all the holiday preparations, but I did post one review of The Songcatcher, a novel set in the Appalachians by Sharyn McCrumb.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Our Biggest Tree Ever!

It's Monday 12/5! What Are You Reading?

2011-12-05T08:49:00.001-05:00

We are now in the midst of the busy holiday season! I haven't even thought much about the holidays yet - other than some online shopping - because it is also college application season. That has been occupying our time and attention - it's like having an extra full-time job!

We are still squeezing in reading time, though:

I finished The Songcatcher by Sharyn McCrumb for my neighborhood book group this week. It's the story of an old ballad that is passed down through generations of family, from 1700's Scotland to present day Appalachia, including, of course, the stories of those family members. I enjoyed it very much.
I usually read a kid/teen book after an adult one, but I have another book group meeting next week, so I figured I better read that book first. We are reading She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan, a memoir about James becoming Jennifer, so I'll start that today.
I'm still listening to Breadcrumbs, a wonderful, magical middle-grade novel written by Anne Ursu.
My husband, Ken, is reading Stephen King's new release, 11/22/63: A Novel, about someone who time travels back to 1963 to try to prevent Kennedy's assassination. It's a hefty novel, and he keeps laughing out loud at King's spot-on descriptions of ordinary people (one of his many talents!).
Jamie, 17, started a new teen dystopian series by Robin Wasserman, The Cold Awakening trilogy, starting with Book One: Frozen, but he gave up with only 30 pages to go! He said it's well-written, but he suspects it's meant more for girls, with very little action in the first book.
Jamie said he was more in the mood for fantasy than dystopian books, so he switched to an old favorite, The Great Tree of Avalon by T.A. Barron.
Jamie is also starting The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga for his World Lit class. It was hard to find a copy because there's a local book group reading it right now, as well as his entire senior class!
Craig, 13, is still enjoying The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney, so he moved onto Book Two: Curse of the Bane this week.
Craig has also been reading an excerpt from Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes for his English class - it's one of my favorite books and so sad!

Last week, I posted two reviews: Midwives by Chris Bohjalian and Goldstrike by Matt Whyman, a teen thriller. I also posted a summary of my Books Read in November.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen/YA Review: Goldstrike

2011-12-01T18:59:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading Goldstrike by Matt Whyman, the fast-paced sequel to histechno-thriller Icecore. Both my 17-year old son and I are enjoying this exciting series. It’s going to be challenging to tellyou about Goldstrike without givingaway too much about what happens in the first book.

Carl Hobbes is an eighteen-year old hacker who wasimprisoned by the CIA for breaking into Fort Knox. Carl only did it to impress a girl and to see if he could(the motivation for most hackers), but the US government believes he is athreat to national security and suspects him of being a part of a terroristnetwork. After he manages to breakout of the arctic detainment camp where they imprisoned him, they are even moredetermined to stop him. At thesame time, there are real terrorists seeking revenge on Carl for some of thefallout from his escape.

As Goldstrike opens,the chapters jump around to locations all over the world, as both the CIA andthe terrorists try to track down Carl. Eventually, we find out where Carl really is and what he is now up to,as his main goal has turned to protecting himself and maintaining hisfreedom. It’s a fast-paced,suspenseful novel, with lots of details on how Carl uses his hacking skills inhis latest scheme to try to remain free. The book reads like a classic thriller with the requisite high-tensionchase scene at the end, only written for teens. We can’t wait to find out what happens to Carl next!

262pages, Atheneum

It's Monday 11/28! What Are You Reading?

2011-11-28T09:14:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! We drove about 8 hours to spend the weekend with my extended family in Rochester, NY. It was a full weekend, with a large gathering each day with a different part of my family. It was tiring but lots of fun - it was great to see everyone. I've included a photo below of my sons with some of their cousins. To me, that's what holidays are all about!

So, I had no time at all for blogging last week, after my Monday posts, but we still found time for reading:

I finished Goldstrike by Matt Whyman, a teen techno-thriller and the sequel to Icecore. The fast-paced suspense novel was perfect for a busy week.
Now, I am reading the next selection for my neighborhood book group, The Songcatcher by Sharon McCrumb, about a song that has been passed down through generations from Scotland to the present-day Appalachians.
My husband, Ken, finished reading Unwind, Neal Schusterman's amazing teen dystopian novel. He said the premise was super-creepy (yup), but he enjoyed the novel.
We stayed with my dad and his wife this weekend, and my dad lent Ken Stephen King's very new release, 11/22/63: A Novel, about someone who time travels back to 1963 to try to prevent Kennedy's assassination. It sounds SO good!
Jamie, 17, was home sick early last week and then had 16 hours in the car, so he read a LOT. He continued re-reading a favorite series, the Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan, with Book 5: The Sorcerer of the North, Book 6: The Siege of Macindaw, Book 7: Erak's Ransom, and Book 8: The Kings of Clonmel. He enjoyed the series very much (again).
Now, Jamie is reading a new teen dystopian series by Robin Wasserman, The Cold Awakening trilogy, starting with Book One: Frozen. He and I really loved Wasserman's middle-grade trilogy, Chasing Yesterday.
Craig finished Revenge of the Witch, Book One in the series The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney, and loved it. I haven't seen him this excited about a series since Charlie Bone and The Unicorn Chronicles a couple of years ago. We can't find Book Two - I think we lent it to a friend - so I need to check the library for him today.
I started a new middle-grade audio, Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, last week. Anne is a great author and a friend of mine, so I've been looking forward to this one. Her trilogy The Cronus Chronicles was great!
We also started another middle-grade audio during our car ride, Wildwood by Colin Melot. Mostly, it was just Ken and I listening. I was disappointed that the boys weren't interested in listening to an audio book on this ride, despite the variety I brought along! They preferred to listen to their iPods and read their own books. I guess they are getting older...sigh...

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

It's Monday 11/21! What Are You Reading?

2011-11-21T13:40:00.001-05:00

I'm a little late posting today. I went to my son's middle school this morning and gave presentations about reading, books, book reviews, and writing to two 8th grade English classes. I go back tomorrow for two more. I had to promise not to embarrass my son!

Here's what we've been reading this past week:

I finished Midwives by Chris Bohjalian last night. It's basically a legal drama about a midwife being tried for the death of one of her mothers and was very good.
Today, I plan to start Goldstrike by Matt Whyman, a teen techno-thriller and the sequel to Icecore which I really liked. I'm in the mood for some fast-paced suspense.
My husband, Ken, realized halfway through Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld that he'd already read it! That's not the first time one of us has done that!
Ken is now reading Unwind, Neal Schusterman's amazing teen dystopian novel - I've been bugging him to read it for ages!
My 17-year old son, Jamie, is re-reading a favorite series, the Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan so that he can read his latest one, Book 8: The Kings of Clonmel. So far, he has read Books 3 and 4 (we think we lent Books 1 and 2 to a friend).
13-year old Craig is reading Revenge of the Witch, Book One in the series The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney and enjoying it very much.

Last week, I posted a review of The Roar by Emma Clayton, an awesome middle-grade/teen dystopian/sci fi novel filled with action and suspense.

I also posted two lists - Top Ten Unread Books on my Shelf and Top Ten Unread Kids/Teen Books on my Shelf - and movie trailers for the upcoming adaptations of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Hunger Games. Both look so good!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

P.S. One question stumped me this morning at school. A lot of the 8th grade girls enjoy Sarah Dessen's books, and I'm embarrassed to admit I've never read one! Anyone have suggestions of other books/authors for teens who like Dessen's novels?

Middle-Grade Review: The Roar

2011-11-17T16:36:00.001-05:00

For the past month or so, whenever I began reading a newbook, my 17-year old son would say, “Mom! You started another book! You HAVE to read The Roarnext!” So I finally listened tohim (sometimes kids know best) and recently finished The Roar by Emma Clayton, an action-packed dystopian sci finovel for middle-grade and teen readers. He was right – I absolutely loved it!

The Roar is set inLondon in the future. An AnimalPlague spread a deadly virus across the world and forced all remaining humansto barricade themselves behind The Wall. To accommodate the population in such limited space, they built upinstead of out. Now, as you mightexpect, the wealthy and powerful live in the new, elite upper levels of London,with the poor masses crammed into dark, wet slums below or dismal towns filledwith “fold-down” apartments further north.

Twelve-year old Mika leads a gloomy existence in one ofthose tiny apartments with his parents. A year ago, his twin sister, Ellie, disappeared and was declared dead,but Mika knows in his heart that she is still alive. The reader learns, on the very first page, that this istrue, as Ellie attempts to escape from her captors. When the government begins a new program to strengthen kidsand launches a new battle-filled video game, complete with competitionsfeaturing unbelievable prizes, Mika is suspicious of their motives but knows hemust go along with the program if he hopes to find his sister.

It’s an original and thoughtful story, filled with actionand suspense and cool technology, that moves along at a fast pace. I stayed up way too late at nightreading until I finished this book! There is even an element of the paranormal here, in the amazingconnection between Ellie and Mika that grows even stronger as the storyprogresses. Some elements (thegame, for instance) reminded me a bit of Ender’s Game, though this is a wholly unique tale with its owntwists and surprises. My son and Iboth loved this novel, and it looks as if a sequel is in the works, so we havemore to look forward to!

481 pages, Scholastic

NOTE: Thepublisher says the book is appropriate for ages 9 and up, and I do think itwill be popular with middle-grade readers, but it will also appeal to teens(and adults!).

If you like The Roar,you might also like Spacer and Rat by Margaret Bechard, another good sci finovel that my son recommended to me.

Top Ten Unread Kids/Teen Books on My Shelf

2011-11-15T19:09:00.001-05:00

It's Tuesday, and that means it's Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish. Head on over there to link to lots of great blogs and lots of fun lists.

Today's topic is Top Ten Unread Books On My Shelf. This was a very easy list for me - I could have listed 20 or 30 Unread Books on My Shelf easily! Not only on my shelf, but in baskets, in piles on the floor...you get the idea. Although I have an overflowing bookcase of grown-up books waiting to be read (see my list over at Book By Book), there are even more kids', teen, and YA books stacked up around our house because those are the ones I accept for review. And, many of the books in this list are ones my son, Jamie, has told me I have to read, but it's hard to find time for all of them!

Sharp North by Patrick Cave - recommended by Jamie.
Nation by Terry Pratchett - another Jamie recommendation, plus I've never read a Pratchett novel.
The Search for the Red Dragon (book 2) and all the rest of the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series by James A. Owen - I read the first one and loved it but never seem to find the time for the rest of them!
The rest of the Tunnels series by Gordon Williams - ditto.
Inkspell and Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke - ditto!
The Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede - another one Jamie loved.
The Mortals Instruments series by Cassandra Clare - Jamie says, "Mom, you HAVE to read this series!"
Goldstrike by Matt Whyman - sequel to Icecore
Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge - this one has been on the shelf for maybe 5 years!
The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - another one that's been sitting her for years - I keep considering finally getting rid of it but then I read the cover again, and it sounds interesting!

How about you? Which unread books are haunting your shelves?

First Peek at Hunger Games Movie Trailer!

2011-11-15T08:48:00.001-05:00

Eeek!! My 17-year old son, Jamie, and I watched the first movie trailer for The Hunger Games last night. It looks so good!! We can't wait! March is too far away.

What do you think?

It's Monday 11/14! What Are You Reading?

2011-11-14T11:27:00.001-05:00

(I just tried to publish this very long post and somehow managed to delete most of it instead!! Let's try this again...)

A bit of a rough week here last week, with both my son and I down with a flare-up of our chronic illnesses. We had a nice weekend, though, and enjoyed a visit from my mom and her husband. All that downtime last week left lots of time for reading:

I finished The Roar by Emma Clayton, a teen sci fi novel that my son recommended and enjoyed it very much. We are both hoping there will be a sequel!
I read the classic picture book A Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes for the library's book discussion but then wasn't able to go to the meeting.
I referred to my Fall Into Reading Challenge list to choose my next book and settled on Midwives by Chris Bohjalian, a novel my neighbor lent me a very long time ago!
My husband, Ken, brought one of his birthday gifts, The Affair by Lee Child, on his business trip with him last week. He'd been saving it for a time when he needed some light, fun reading. I asked him last night how it was, and he said, "Candy!"
Ken is now back to reading Behemoth, the second book in the Leviathan trilogy, by Scott Westerfeld.
Jamie, 17, was home sick, so he plowed through a lot of books, including all of the new books he bought at Barnes & Noble the week before (gotta love a kid who spends several weeks' allowance all on books!). He read Book Four: Necropolis of the series, The Gatekeepers by Anthony Horowitz.
Next he read Book 8: The Kings of Clonmel of the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, another of his favorite series.
Jamie read The Demon King, a Seven Realms novel by Cinda Williams Chima and loved it. he wants to read more by this author.
And he is finishing Graceling by Kristin Cashore, author of Fire which he also enjoyed.
Craig, 13, is reading Revenge of the Witch, Book One in the series The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney, based on recommendation from his brother and a friend. he says it is good but too scary to read at bedtime!

Despite being sick, I had a busy week at both of my book blogs. I posted:

A review of the audio memoir Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunée
A review of the classic picture book A Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
Top Ten Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone
Top Ten Kids/Teen Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone
My reading summary for October
A discussion of a book that had a tremendous impact on my life (grown-up)
A kids' book that had a tremendous impact on my life
A link to Publisher's Weekly Top Children's Books of 2011 list.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Picture Book Review: The Hundred Dresses

2011-11-11T17:04:00.001-05:00

I was surprised to find out that my library’s selection forthe November book discussion was a classic picture book, The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. I wasn’t there when they chose the book, and, as it turnedout, I wasn’t able to make it to the discussion this week, so I’m not sure whatwas behind the choice. But I didread the book, for the first time ever, and enjoyed it.

Just in case you are as clueless as I was and have neverread this well-known 1945 Newberry Honor winner, it is basically a warm andtimeless story about bullying. Wanda Petronski is different from her classmates. She has an odd name, she lives far fromtown in a small house out in the country, and she wears the same worn, bluedress to school every day. Anothergirl, Peggy, teases Wanda every day, asking her how many dresses she has athome, and every day, Wanda answers by saying she has a hundred dresses at home,beautiful dresses in all colors.

Peggy’s best friend, Maddie, goes along with this dailyroutine, but inside, she feels uncomfortable about it because her familydoesn’t have much more money than Wanda’s. One day, Wanda doesn’t come to school, and her classmatesfind out her family has moved to a larger city where they won’t be seen asdifferent. Maddie is gripped withguilt, and even Peggy wonders if maybe she shouldn’t have teased Wanda. The girls write to Wanda and eventuallycome to understand exactly what the hundred dresses meant to her.

It’s a warm, tender story with a very important lesson. Although the 1940’s book is a bit datedin some minor ways (like all the girls wearing dresses to school!), it issurprisingly relevant today. Infact, bullying is a hot topic for both parents and kids right now, and this gentlestory presents an ethical dilemma just as pertinent to today’s kids: Are youjust as accountable for the consequences of bullying as the kid doing the bullying if youstand by and say nothing? This book is as appropriate and enjoyable for modern elementary-agedkids as it was over 50 years ago.

80pages, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

PW's Best Children's Books of 2011

2011-11-10T17:03:00.001-05:00

Well, it seems a bit early to me, but Publisher's Weekly just released its list of Best Children's Books of 2011. It includes picture books, as well as both fiction and nonfiction for older kids and teens/YA.

The only problem is that I haven't read a single book on the list yet!! Yikes, I better get busy. I do have Divergent and Wonderstruck both here waiting to be read.

Check out the list and let me know what you think. Have you read any of these? Do you agree with the list? What do YOU think were the best books of the past year?

Fall Into Reading Challenge Question #7 & Update

2011-11-09T15:55:00.000-05:00

You may recall that I have joined the Fall Into Reading Challenge hosted over at Callapidder Days. She is posing a question each week, and this week's question is:

Is there a book that has had a tremendous impact on your life? One that made you look at life in a whole new way, or caused you to completely change something in your life?

I usually only post the weekly question on my grown-up book blog, Book By Book, but today I had a different answer for kids/teen books, so I thought I'd answer it at both blogs.

Even though I was totally hooked on reading from my very first book read, at age 4, (Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman), my second grade teacher had a dramatic impact on me when she began reading aloud to our class at the end of every day. She read both The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian (both by C.S. Lewis), and we were all enthralled. That was the impetuous that took me from the picture book area of the school library to the chapter book area, where I immediately tore through the rest of The Chronicles of Narnia. The rest, as they say, is history, and I have never stopped reading since. Thank you, Mrs. Holzshuh!

Katrina over at Callapidder Days says today is also about the half-way point for the challenge and time to report on our progress. Of my list of 10 kids/teen/YA books to read in fall, I have so far read 4 of them. That's not too bad, and I think I will finish the challenge successfully. I posted a separate update on grown-up books (and a separate answer to the question) at Book By Book.

What book has had a tremendous impact on your life?

Top Ten Kid/Teen Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone

2011-11-08T19:17:00.000-05:00

It's Tuesday, and that means it's Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish. Head on over there to link to lots of great blogs and lots of fun lists.

Today's topic is Top Ten Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone. I had an easy time making a list of adult books in this category (check it out at Book By Book), due to my many book groups, but it was tougher to make this list of kids/teen/YA books, just because I generally choose what I read...most of these pleasant surprises were due to recommendations.

Here are the Top Ten Kids/Teen/YA Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone:

Shiver, Linger, and Forever by Maggie Stiefvater– I don’t normally read paranormal romance genre; in my reading journal I wrote,“I hate to admit it, but I loved it, just like everyone said I would!”

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick – ditto, but the audio wassent to me for review, and I felt obligated to read it. I enjoyed it, though I didn’t feelcompelled to read the rest of the series.

Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games) –it sounded gross to me, but I began reading it aloud to my kids, and our familyended up LOVING the entire series!

Tunnel inthe Sky by Robert Heinlein – an old sci finovel (probably not officially teen/YA) that my husband left in the bathroom –I started it and couldn’t put it down!

The Warriors series by Erin Hunter- reading about tribes of wild cats just wasn’t my thing, but my sonloved the series, so I read the first one at his urging…and ended up readingsix in a row!

Magic Streetby Orson Scott Card – though I LOVE thisauthor, this particular book didn’t sound like my kind of thing – a mix offantasy and reality set in urban LA loosely following the story of Shakespeare’sA Midsummer Night’s Dream (see what I mean?) but Jamierecommended it, and Card’s excellent writing won me over.

20 Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler – it sounded likethe sort of light teen romance I usually avoid, but I agreed to review it andfound it had surprising depth and was about a lot more than just girl meetsboy.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott – this bookdefines “out of my comfort zone,” from the perspective of a young girl who hasbeen kidnapped and is being held captive and raped repeatedly – yes, it washorribly disturbing, but also very well-written and compelling.

Keeper by Kathi Appelt - asort of magic realism (not a favorite genre for me) for kids; not my usual sortof book but the audio was sent to me for review. I enjoyed some of it but didn’t love it.

A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata- a difficult topic with somedisturbing scenes, about a young boy living in the jungles of Vietnam duringthe war, but our whole family enjoyed the audio.

How about you? What kid or teen/YA books took you out of your comfort zone?

It's Monday 11/7! What Are You Reading?

2011-11-07T08:56:00.002-05:00

October is my favorite month, and it seemed to just fly by this year! Here we are in November already, with the calendar seeming to move faster and faster toward the holiday season. We are so overwhelmed with the college application process, I don't know how we fill find time for holiday preparations as well!

I didn't feel well last week, and then we had visitors for the weekend (my dad and his wife), so I had very little time for blogging last week but hope to catch up with all of you and with my own reviews this week. It was a great reading week, though!

I finished Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich - lots of good laughs and light-hearted fun. Stephanie and Lula (and Grandma) just crack me up!
I finally gave in to Jamie's urging to read The Roar by Emma Clayton, a sci fi novel that he said I would love. He was right, as usual - it is very good so far and I'm staying up too late each night reading it!
My husband, Ken, finished The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo, a Norwegian author who has been compared to Stieg Larsson. He enjoyed it very much.
Ken is now reading Behemoth, the second book in the Leviathan trilogy, by Scott Westerfeld.
Jamie, 17, read Book 3: Night Rise of the series, The Gatekeepers by Anthony Horowitz. He really likes this series.
Jamie also finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini for his World Lit class. He thought the book was OK, but he didn't like the main character and the way that he treated his best friend.
Craig, 13, started a new marking period and a new book. He took advice from his brother (!) and is reading Revenge of the Witch, Book One in the series The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney.

No new reviews last week, but I did post a discussion about plot versus character for the Fall Into Reading Challenge.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

It's Monday 10/31! What Are You Reading?

2011-10-31T10:16:00.002-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Like many of you, we actually saw snow this weekend, in October! Crazy! Fortunately, we only got a dusting and didn't lose power - my thoughts are with those of you in New England without power. Hope you have a roaring fire in the fireplace and a nice stack of books to keep you warm.

We love Halloween here, so today is a busy day. We carved pumpkins last night and (finally) came up with costume ideas....kind of last-minute! Even though our sons are teens, they still enjoy trick-or-treating, and our whole family gets into the fun. Jamie decided to dress as Thing 1 for school today (with a friend as Thing 2), so Ken immediately started in on a Cat in the Hat costume for himself. I have to hit the store today for a nightgown so I can be Cindy Lou Who. A bookish theme for Halloween - fun!

Meanwhile, we did find time for reading last week:

I finished The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, a newly released teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel that my husband recently read. I really enjoyed this multi-dimensional novel; you can read my review here.
I decided to keep up my October theme of fun, quick reads, so I am now reading Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich. I just love Stephanie Plum and was already laughing in the first chapter! Sometimes, you need a little light-hearted fun.
I finished listening to Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love and the Search for Home, a memoir by Kim Sunee. Though it dragged a bit in the middle when she was suffering from depression, I enjoyed it overall.
My husband, Ken, is reading a thriller I gave him for his birthday, The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo, a Norwegian author who has been compared to Stieg Larsson. He says it just gets better and better and has a very intriguing plot.
Jamie, 17, finished Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a much-anticipated new post-apocalyptic novel and loved it. That one is high on my own TBR list, though Jamie has made me promise I will read Roar by by Emma Clayton next.
Next, Jamie re-read the first two books in a favorite series, The Gatekeepers by Anthony Horowitz, so he could read the third book which he recently purchased. He read Book 1, Raven's Gate; Book 2, Evil Star; and Book 3, Night Rise. He says this series is great!
Jamie is also reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini for his World Lit class.
Craig, 13, is almost finished with Woodsong, a memoir by Gary Paulsen, author of one of our favorite novels, Hatchet and its sequels.

I posted two reviews this week, of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley here and of The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch at Great Books for Kids and Teens.

I also posted a discussion of skimming books versus reading every word for the Fall Into Reading Challenge.

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Hope you have a great Halloween and a good reading week! Any other book-inspired costumes out there?

Ready for school! (Their hair is blue, though it doesn't show here)

Teen/YA Review: The Eleventh Plague

2011-10-27T18:50:00.003-04:00

The fall book catalogs for kids and teens were filled withdystopian and post-apocalyptic novels, thanks in great part to the success ofSuzanne Collins’ The Hunger Gamestrilogy. My husband, 17-year oldson, and I all enjoy these kinds of novels when they are done well, and this isthe first of several that we plan to read this fall. My husband and I both enjoyed The Eleventh Plagueby Jeff Hirsch (our son hasn’t read it yet).

The novel opens in a post-apocalyptic America that has beendevastated and destroyed by horrific wars, two-thirds of its population killedby a deadly flu-type virus nicknamed the Eleventh Plague. Fifteen-year old Stephen Quinn wandersup and down the country with the seasons, accompanied by his father and harsh,military-trained grandfather. Theylive as salvagers, struggling to find and trade for the necessities they needto survive another day and trying to avoid bands of violent Slavers and what isleft of the military.

When Stephen’s grandfather diesand his father is injured, Stephen and his dad eventually find their way to ahidden community called Settler’s Landing. Here, the people live much as they did before The Collapse –in houses, with schools and holiday celebrations and even baseball. Stephen has never experienced this kindof life, and he is torn between returning to what he has always known andaccepting this new life that seems too good to be true. Of course, there is a girl involved,too: Jenny, a strong-willed, self-imposed outcast among her own people. When a disaster occurs for whichStephen feels responsible, he must choose whether to run or stay and help hisnew community.

I was pulled into this novel rightfrom the first chapters and finished it in a few days. The characters are well drawn and real,the new landscape and situations intriguing, with plenty of action and suspensethrown in to move things along. Iwas rooting for Stephen and for Jenny. The beginning of the novel seems pretty grim, as do all post-apocalypticstories, but there are elements of hope for a betterfuture introduced along the way. Ithoroughly enjoyed this first novel by Jeff Hirsch and look forward to seeingwhat he comes up with next.

278 pages, Scholastic

NOTE: This book is classified as YA, but I think that older middle-grade readers will like it also if they generally enjoy post-apocalyptic novels. There is, of course, some violence in it and some very mild romance.

It's Monday 10/24! What Are You Reading?

2011-10-24T10:50:00.002-04:00

Well, it is now truly fall here - the weather has cooled down, and it seems as though the tress suddenly turned from all green to a riot of colors. I love this time of year! We made our annual trip to the pumpkin farm this weekend to pick out our pumpkins and gorge ourselves on still-warm, homemade donuts and fresh cider....oh, my gosh! I forgot I have a leftover donut....ah...that's better! Mmmm...cinnamon-sugar donuts and typing don't mix well.

OK, I'm back. Anyway, here's what we read last week:

I finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's like Nancy Drew for grown-ups. I want to be Flavia when I grow up.
I am now reading The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, a newly released teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel that my husband recently read. I really like it so far. It's a bit like The Road, only not nearly as dismal and hopeless.
My husband, Ken, is reading a thriller I gave him for his birthday, The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo, a Norwegian author who has been compared to Stieg Larsson. He likes it so far, though he says the translation is sometimes a bit rough.
Jamie, 17, finished his Dad's old favorite fantasy series, The Belgariad by David Eddings with Book Five: Enchanter's End Game, the last book in the series.
Jamie was home sick all last week, so he treated himself to a book he's really wanted to read, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. He loved the Mortal Instruments series and has been looking forward to this prequel series. He and I listened to the beginning of this book on audio, but he said he preferred to read it.
Now, Jamie is reading Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a much-anticipated new post-apocalyptic novel. He says it's good so far, though he doesn't like the author's convention of not using quotation marks for dialogue. This one is on my TBR list, too.
Craig, 13, is reading Woodsong, a memoir by Gary Paulsen, author of one of our favorite novels, Hatchet and its sequels. He's enjoying it, though he says it's not as good as Paulsen's fiction.

Last week, I posted a review of a new picture book, M.O.M.: Mom Operating Manual. I don't normally review picture books anymore, but this one was unique!

I also posted a recap and photo from my book group's meeting with author Rachel Simon, which we all thoroughly enjoyed, and a discussion of how many books we have in our house, with pictures of our overflowing bookcases!

What are you and your family reading this week?

Ooh...now I have a bit of a sugar-rush headache from that donut, but it was so worth it!

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Picture Book Review: M.O.M. – Mom Operating Manual

2011-10-21T18:06:00.000-04:00

I rarely review picture books anymore – after all, my ownssons are both teens now – but I just couldn’t resist taking a look at M.O.M:Mom Operating Manual. It was written by picture booksuperstar Doreen Cronin, author of such fun classics as Click, Clack, Moo:Cows That Type, with illustrations by Laura Cornell, who hasillustrated many #1 New York Times bestsellers. The combination is a book that appeals as much to parents asto kids!

Right from the first pages, you know this book will be awinner:

Introduction:

It is widely accepted that mothers are the most advancedhuman models on the planet. Theyare capable of superhuman energy, strength, patience, and creativity.

They come in many shapes and sizes.

They have various talents and skills, like cooking, singing,sewing, Olympic athleticism, and neurosurgery.

Years of research, observation, and time-outs have givenscience some very important guidance on the necessary maintenance and care of mothersfor optimal performance. If youhandle them correctly, tend to their basic needs (which are minimal), and referto the care manual with regularity, your mom should be operating at peakperformance for years to come.

Of course, this tongue-in-cheek text is accompanied byCornell’s fabulous illustrations. That last paragraph is illustrated with a mom picture ala Leonardo daVinci’s Vitruvian Man, complete with multiple limbs, various multi-taskingaccompaniments, and kids hanging on. I really enjoyed this book, even though my kids are way beyond thepicture book age. The text isincredibly clever and funny, and every time I pick it up, I catch new littledetails in the illustrations that I missed the first time.

I was looking for some sample illustrations I could sharewith you, but instead I found a video that I think is even better. This will give you an idea of the toneand quality of the book:

This book is sure to be a hit, with both kids and overworkedmoms in need of some good laughs! It would make a great gift.

P.S. After perusing the illustrations, I am afraid I probably alternate between the Pleasant Yet Fried Around the Edges Mom and the Barely Upright But Still Functioning Mom!

54pages, Atheneum (Simon & Schuster)

It's Monday 10/17! What Are You Reading?

2011-10-17T09:26:00.000-04:00

Ah! It finally feels like fall here - I am loving the sunshine and cooler weather. Sweatshirt weather!

Another busy week around here (aren't they all when you have teenagers?), but we did take some time this weekend to relax together. As always, we enjoyed our books this week:

I finished Forever by Maggie Stiefvater...which means I finished the trilogy, finally! I really enjoyed it. Check out my review of the last two books, Linger and Forever.
I am now reading The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, another book I've been meaning to read for a very long time. I'm enjoying it so far - it's very clever.
My husband, Ken, finished The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, a newly released teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel. He said it was good, a little dark (but then, post-apocalyptic novels tend to be dark - it does take place, after all, after an apocalypse!).
Now he is reading a thriller I gave him for his birthday, The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo, a Norwegian author who has been compared to Stieg Larsson. Ken says he's still at the beginning, just trying to keep the characters straight!
Jamie, 17, is still reading his Dad's old favorite fantasy series, The Belgariad by David Eddings. He has finished Book Three: Magician's Gambit and Book Four: Castle of Wizardry and is now moving onto Book Five: Enchanter's End Game, the last book in the series. He has really enjoyed this!
Craig, 13, is reading Woodsong, a memoir by Gary Paulsen, author of one of our favorite novels, Hatchet and its sequels.

Last week, I posted reviews of two books: When Parents Text: So Much Said, So Little Understood, a hilarious book, at Book by Book and Linger and Forever here. I also posted a link to a Today Show interview (and kids' review) with Brian Selzniak, author of Wonderstruck and a discussion of reading on devices versus traditional books.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Mondays is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen/YA Reviews: Linger and Forever

2011-10-14T21:33:00.001-04:00

Let’s be clear about this from the outset: I am not a bigfan of the trendy paranormal romance genre. I have nothing against it; it’s just not really mything. So, it took me a long timeto finally break down and read Shiverby Maggie Stiefvater because I heard it was about werewolves, and I had nointerest in it at all. All thefabulous reviews, though, finally wore me down, and, like everyone else, Iloved it. I have just finished tearingthrough the last two books of the trilogy, Linger and Forever, and I thoroughly enjoyed those as well.

This is a series that transcends its genre, withwell-written prose, an engaging and creative plot, and in-depth likeablecharacters that captured my heart. In case you’ve been living in a cave for the past few years and haven’tread Shiver yet (not that I’m judging –I had to be convinced, too!), the trilogy is basically a love story, withelements of suspense and adventure.

At the start of the trilogy, Grace is an older teen livingin northern Minnesota who has been obsessed with wolves since she was achild. She watches the pack thatlive in the Boundary Woods behind her house with fascination and longing, andshe is particularly captivated by one wolf with yellow eyes who once saved herlife. During the warmer months(which isn’t many in northern Minnesota), that wolf with the yellow eyes isactually a quiet teenage boy named Sam who works in her favorite bookstore.

I don’t want to say much more about the plot in case youhaven’t read Shiver yet because it isso much fun to discover for yourself. Linger and Forever follow the story of Grace and Sam through many upsand downs to a final tense but satisfying conclusion. The amazing thing about this trilogy is that somehow theauthor makes it all so believable and so real. I had no trouble suspending my skepticism as teens and youngadults changed from wolves to humans and back again. There is nothing stale or trite about these books, and Idon’t even like calling it a werewolf story because it is so much more. In fact, I keep wanting to say, “Thesebooks aren’t about werewolves; they’re about people who turn into wolves.”

The reader gains insight into the real lives of thesecharacters – their pains, their joys, their hopes and their dreams – as we arepulled into the story. Sam’s loveof music and poetry help us to understand his deepest feelings. Stiefvater is a wonderful writer; shemade me care about Sam and Grace and their friends. There is plenty of suspense and tension in all three books,as the people and wolves battle not only their uncontrollable transformationsbut also a town of angry parents who want to hunt the entire pack after a teenis killed by wolves. Just take myword for it – read it and you won’t be sorry!

Linger, 362 pages and Forever, 386 pages; Scholastic

P.S. Just a brief word about the books themselves. I was disappointed in the production quality of my paperback copy of Linger. The text is printed in green ink, which would have been OK except that some pages were dark and some were so light they were hard to read. The pages of the paperback were also bound roughly so it was hard to open all the way. In contrast, the hardcover copies I read of both Shiver and Forever were very high quality and readable, even though the ink in Forever is a dark reddish-brown.

Today Show Features Wonderstuck

2011-10-14T11:40:00.000-04:00

I caught Al's Book Club on the Today Show this morning. The book selection was Brian Selzniak's new novel, Wonderstruck, which I am dying to read. I keep hearing good things about it, and the kids on the Today Show seemed to enjoy it, too. I still haven't gotten around to reading Hugo Cabret, so I don't want to miss this one. Its size is a bit intimidating since I've been so busy, but half of it is pictures, so I think I can handle it.

You can watch the video from the Today Show, in which the author answers kids' questions, or read the text of the interview at this link.

It's Monday 10/10! What Are You Reading?

2011-10-10T09:44:00.002-04:00

We finally had a few gorgeous days here that actually felt like fall....but now it is in the mid-80-'s again! I was able to get outside and take some walks last week, so that was wonderful. These cool nights make me yearn to go camping, but it's such a busy fall for us, with college preparations as well as all the usual stuff, that I'm not sure when we'll be able to squeeze it in. We spent all day Sunday touring the campus at Rowan University.

Still, we always find time for reading:

I finished Linger by Maggie Stiefvater and immediately moved onto Forever, the final book in the trilogy. I think procrastination paid off because it was fun to be able to jump right into the next book!
I finished When Parents Text: So Much Said, So Little Understood by Lauren Kaelin and Sophia Fraioli. I admit it - I read it in the bathroom! It's actually the perfect bathroom book...and so funny!!
I am still listening to Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love and the Search for Home, a memoir by Kim Sunee, and enjoying it very much. My poor little '92 VW has been sitting in the garage lately because whenever I go out, I want to listen to more of this audio, so I take the newer car that has a CD player and iPod dock! Don't worry, little red car, I haven't forgotten you!
Ken, finished reading The Passage by Justin Cronin and enjoyed it very much. He sort of missed the hint on the last page that there will be a sequel, so when I pointed that out to him, he said, "What?? There's another one?!" It is a long book, but well worth the time it takes to read it.
Ken was looking for a quick book to read before his upcoming business trip, so I suggested The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, a newly released teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel. He's the first one on our house to try this new novel.
Jamie, 17, was back in school last week, so he had less reading time. He is continuing to read his Dad's old favorite series, The Belgariad by David Eddings. He finished Book Two: Queen of Sorcery and moved onto Book Three: Magician's Gambit. He's enjoying this classic fantasy series very much.
Jamie is also reading Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn for his World Lit class.
Craig, 13, started a new book, Woodsong, a memoir by Gary Paulsen. His novel, Hatchet, and all of its sequels are old favorites in our house, and Craig is enjoying the memoir.

I posted two new reviews last week, The Things They Carried, a Vietnam War novel by Tim O'Brien, and Bruiser, a teen/YA audio by Neal Schusterman. Both were excellent.

I also posted a discussion of re-reading books for the Fall Into Reading Challenge and my Books Read in September summary.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen/YA Review: Bruiser

2011-10-06T16:48:00.000-04:00

I love Neal Schusterman’s creepy and creative novels(especially Unwind and the Everlost trilogy), so as soon as I saw Bruiser, a Schustermanaudio on the library’s Teen New Releases shelf, I scooped it up. It was different from the others I’veread but still very compelling.

Bruiser is the nickname of a teen loner named Brewster whowas named “Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty” by his fellow classmates. Rumors abound about Brewster’sbackground and life because no one really knows him. That changes when a girl named Brontë talks to him in thelibrary and begins dating him. Brontë’s twin brother, Tennyson (their parentsare English teachers!), is not too happy to find out his sister is dating “theBruiser.” But as both Brontë andTennyson get to know Brewster better, they discover there is far more to himthan their classmates know, and they even begin to learn some of the secretsthat he has worked so hard to keep from the outside world.

Different chapters are told from the perspective ofdifferent characters, providing multiple points of view throughout thestory. The audio production isexcellent, read by multiple narrators in a very effective way. But it’s more than just differentvoices. Schusterman has writtenthe different character’s perspectives in totally different styles. Brewster’s chapters, for instance, havea darker, intense quality, with short, alliterative sentences and an almostpoetic tone (Brewster enjoys poetry).

There are some disturbing scenes in the novel, includingviolence and abuse; it is definitely darker than his other novels and moreappropriate for older teens. And,of course, there is Schusterman’s typical supernatural twist to the story,though the rest of the elements of the story are firmly based in reality. This is a darker and more thoughtfulnovel than his others, with a focus on the intricacies of family and love. I found it completely engrossing.

BrillianceAudio

AUDIO:

It's Monday 10/3! What Are You Reading?

2011-10-03T10:02:00.004-04:00

Wow, October already? It finally feels like fall here, after a very wet, warm, humid September. Once again, not much blogging time last week. Our oldest son has been suffering through a severe flare-up of his chronic illnesses, so we have sort of been in crisis mode around here lately. He's back in school this morning, and we are making some changes to his medications, so we are hoping October will be better. We just have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, as always, our books bring all of us comfort during trying times:

I finished Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and loved it (again). I intended to post a review of it for Banned Books Week, but things really fell apart here at the end of the week. I will get to it this week. It's such a clever book...and so ironic that it was banned!
I am now (finally) reading Linger by Maggie Stiefvater - pure fun escapism which is exactly what I needed!
I am also reading (I admit it...in the bathroom!) When Parents Text: So Much Said, So Little Understood by Lauren Kaelin and Sophia Fraioli. A fellow book blogger passed it along to me, and it is hilarious!! I keep reading texts out loud to my husband and sons.
And I am listening to Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love and the Search for Home, a memoir by Kim Sunee, and am thoroughly enjoying it.
My husband, Ken, is reading The Passage by Justin Cronin and enjoying it. It's fun to have someone to talk to about it now, but it's hard not to give too much away!
Jamie, 17, was home sick most of the week, so he read a lot. He read The Last Apprentice: Rise of the Huntress (#7) byJoseph Delaney, the latest in a favorite series.
Next, he read a brand-new book he picked out at the bookstore a few weeks ago - not part of a familiar series for a change! He thoroughly enjoyedThe Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima.
Then, he finally began an old fantasy series that is one of his Dad's favorites, The Belgariad by David Eddings. He said Book One: Pawn of Prophecy was a bit slow until the end, but the action has really picked up now in Book Two: Queen of Sorcery. Ken has been trying to convince him to read this series for ages!
Craig, 13, has been reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. He is taking an AR test on it at school today, so he'll be switching to a new book this week.

I posted just one review last week, Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm. I also wrote two lists, Top Ten Books I Want to Reread at Book By Book and Top Ten Kids/Teen Books I Want to Reread.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Middle-Grade Review: Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf

2011-09-29T16:56:00.000-04:00

After reading a 1000-page novel recently, followed by anovel about the Vietnam War, I was looking for something quick and light toenjoy! I found just the righttasty morsel in the unique middle-grade novel, Middle School is Worse ThanMeatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff byJennifer L. Holm with pictures by Elicia Castaldi.

I loved the creativity of this book – the story of 12-yearold Ginny’s first year of middle school, told entirely through, as thesub-title explains, stuff. Whatkind of stuff? All kinds! There is no traditional narrative inthis novel; the story is told through pictures of all sorts of things inGinny’s life: excerpts from her journal, notes from her mom, things she tears outof magazines, receipts, checks, IMs between Ginny and her best friend, andmore.

I thought the book might be gimmicky and cute, but it hassurprising depth. Yes, the formatis its main draw, but it’s also a very real-feeling story of an adolescent strugglingthrough seventh grade. One of thefirst pages shows Ginny’s list of goals for seventh grade, written in herjournal. In addition to thetypical challenges facing any middle school student, Ginny is also dealing witha brand-new stepfather, an older brother whose ever-increasing pranks have herworried about his future, and the recent loss of her previous best friend.

While you’re perusing through all of Ginny’s stuff, you cometo care about her and worry about her and root for her. There’s more here than first meets theeye. That being said, the formatis lots of fun. There is a lot ofhumor inserted among the story, as when a clipped magazine article advising achange of hair color is shown with a receipt from the drugstore for hair color,followed on the next page by a bill from a hair salon for fixing a botchedcolor job! I’ve included acouple of sample pages here, just to give you a tiny glimpse into thecreativity and variety. All inall, this is a funny, warm story that will appeal to any middle-grade girl.

AntheneumBooks (Simon & Schuster)

Top Ten Kids/Teen Books I Want to Reread

2011-09-27T18:14:00.003-04:00

It's Tuesday and that means Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish! Head over there and check out all the links. You can also see my grown-up list of Top Ten Books I Want to Reread over at Book By Book.

Today's list was a fun one. My list is a mix of older classics I read years ago and newer favorites. So, here are my Top Ten Kids/Teen Books I Want to Reread:

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - I bet everyone has this one their list - it's just so good!
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - not technically a teen/YA book but it's about teens/YA - I read it in high school and would like to read it as an adult.
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins - so good and so much to think about.
Everlost/Everwild by Neal Schusterman - love this series!
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer - fabulous book I would gladly reread.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - even though I've read it a half dozen times - it was my childhood favorite.
Any Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene - I keep meaning to revisit my other childhood favorites.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - already read twice but such an amazing book.
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card - his latest and well-worth a reread, especially given its complexity.
The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett - haven't read it since I was a kid.

What favorite kids and teen/YA books would you like to reread?

It's Monday 9/26! What Are You Reading?

2011-09-26T09:12:00.000-04:00

End of September already...and it still feels like summer here! I'm ready for some real fall weather instead of this warm and humid stuff. We had another busy week, though not as bad as the last few. One of my sons was home sick for two days, and the other one was home sick all week, so we had lots of reading time:

I finished The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, a novel about the Vietnam war, though not in time for my book group discussion (I still went, though!). It's an excellent book on a very difficult subject.
After that heavy read, plus the 1000-page book I read before it, I was ready for something short and light, and Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm was perfect! As the subtitle says, it's "a year told through stuff" - very creative and enjoyable.
Now, I am reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, in honor of Banned Books Week. I haven't read it since I was a teen and had forgotten just how brilliant it is.
I finished a teen/YA audio, Bruiser, by one of my favorite YA authors, Neal Schusterman.
My husband, Ken, finished The Roar by Emma Clayton, a middle-grade sci fi adventure that our son recommended. It's on my TBR shelf now.
Ken is now reading The Passage by Justin Cronin, based on my recommendation. I'm already enjoying being able to talk to someone about it!
Jamie, 17, spent the week lying on the couch, so he read a lot. He finished re-reading Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, in preparation for the final book to be released in November.
Next, Jamie read Goliath by Scott Westerfeld, the final book in the Leviathan trilogy. This one will also pass through our entire family.
Jamie has resumed re-reading a favorite series by Tamora Pierce, The Immortals, with Book 3, Emperor Mage.
Finally, Jamie is reading Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn for his World Lit class. Ken and I both read it years ago; he's enjoying it so far.
Craig, 13, is reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.

I posted a review of Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth last week, as well as my lists of Top Ten Books Everyone Has Read But Me, over at Book By Book and here at Great Books for Kids and Teens. And, although it is rare for me, I also joined a challenge, Fall Into Reading Challenge. You can read my list of grown-up books to read for the challenge, as well as another list of kids/teen books to read for the challenge.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Fall Into Reading Challenge 2011

2011-09-25T09:01:00.000-04:00

I just signed up for the Fall Into Reading 2011 Challenge, hosted at Callapidder Days, a new-to-me blog I just discovered and will be following. The rules are simple (you can read the whole list at the above link) - you make your own list, as long or as short as you like, of books you'd like to read this fall. I don't normally commit to challenges, but I can do this!

So, I looked at my normal rate of reading, then came up with a list of 10 grown-up books and 10 kids/teen/YA books (I like to alternate) that I hope to read between now and December 21. Here's the kids/teen/YA side of my list:

Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer L. Holm (reading now!)
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - I need to finally finish these sequels to Shiver!
The Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede, based on my son's recommendation
After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick - I never got to it on vacation in June
Six Days by Philip Webb, a new post-apocalyptic novel
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, another post-apocalyptic novel
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Sabotaged, The Missing, Book 3 by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Goldstrike by Matt Ehyman, sequel to Icecore

This was a much harder list to make than my grown-up list because our house is overflowing with middle-grade and teen/YA books review books waiting to be read! Some of these have been on my TBR shelves for a long time. I've included a photo so you can see just how "overbooked" I am. On the top two shelves, everything to the left of the gaps is mine - the short stacks to the right are my husband's - plus the entire bottom shelf...all TBRs waiting to be read! I have also included a picture of our kids/teen review basket...a real joke since the books long ago overflowed from the little basket and now often spill onto the floor! Good thing my son reads many of these as well. So, this will give me a good excuse to work down those piles.

If you are interested in my Fall Into Reading list of grown-up books, head over to Book By Book. Sounds like fun? Join in!

Top Ten Kids/Teen Books Everyone Has Read But Me

2011-09-20T18:16:00.002-04:00

It's Tuesday and that means Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish! Head over there and check out all the links. You can also see my list of Top Ten Books Everyone Has Read But Me (grown-up books) over at Book By Book.

Today's topic is Top Ten Kids/Teen Books It Seems Everyone Has Read But Me:

The Twilight series…and I don’t intend to. Just not that into it.
Linger and Forever – I did finally read Shiver and loved it! Now I need to find time to finish the series.
Anything by Roald Dahl – can you believe it?
The Invention of Hugo Cabret – I still hope to read this one!
Where the Red Fern Grows
Anne of Green Gables
I Am Number Four – but we just watched the movie and loved it!
Anything by Sarah Dessen – just haven’t gotten around to it.
Anything by John Green, though I really, really want to.
The Outsiders – how’d I grow up in the 70’s without reading this?

How about you?

It's Monday 9/19! What Are You Reading?

2011-09-19T08:48:00.000-04:00

A friend recently commented to me that she'd seen a movie, and I said, "But I thought that wasn't due into theaters until mid-September." Then, of course, I realized we are already past mid-September!! Yikes, where is the month going? Things have continued to be very, very busy here, so I've had almost no time for either reading or writing blogs. At least my husband is back home now after a week away, so hopefully that will help this week. But you came here to hear about books, right? Here's what we've been reading this week:

I finally finished The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett! (pause for applause) It was excellent, and I enjoyed every minute of it, despite the fact that it took me over three weeks to read. Now I want to watch the TV mini series based on it.
Last night, I started The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, a novel about the Vietnam war that I'm reading for one of my book groups. I will never finish it before Wednesday, but a friend assured me there's no surprise ending that will be ruined if I go to the discussion only halfway through the book.
I am still listening to a teen/YA novel, Bruiser, by one of my favorite YA authors, Neal Schusterman. It's very good, and I'm getting through it fairly quickly. This is my current car/kitchen audio because it is on CD.
I also started another audio book on my iPod, Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunee. How could I pass this one up? It's a memoir about food by someone who grew up in New Orleans - that's three things I love in a book!
My husband, Ken, had a lot of reading time since he was traveling. He read an Ed McBain mystery (not sure which one because he left it at his dad's house) - nice, quick paperback, perfect for a plane ride.
At his dad's house, Ken borrowed and read The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, one of his first novels. I've never read it either.
Ken is now reading The Roar by Emma Clayton, a middle-grade sci fi adventure that our son has highly recommended.
Jamie, 17, has embarked on another mission to re-read a favorite series. When we were in the bookstore last week, he saw that Christopher Paolini's 4th book in The Inheritance series is due out in November, so Jamie re-read Eragon and Eldest and is now reading Brisingr, so they will all be fresh in his mind when the last book is released.
Craig, 13, is reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. He had extra reading time last week because of standardized testing (students are supposed to read if they finish early).

I posted just one review last week at my other book blog (told you I was busy!): The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot which my neighborhood book group enjoyed and discussed last week.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen/YA Review: Cryer’s Cross

2011-09-09T16:24:00.001-04:00

I really loved Lisa McMann’s Wake trilogy, so I was thrilled to hear she had a newteen/YA supernatural thriller out, Cryer’s Cross. This novel succeeds on two levels: as acreepy ghost story and as a sensitive real-life portrait of a young girl withObsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Kendall has lived all of her seventeen years in Cryer’sCross, Montana, a small farming community of only about 200 people. The quiet town was rocked the previousspring when a young high school student disappeared and was never found. The tragedy also disturbed Kendall’sOCD, but now she is struggling to get it back under control for the new schoolyear. Two new students join thetiny high school, with just six students in each grade, when they move to theirgrandfather’s farm.

When another student disappears, the town erupts in chaosand heartbreak once again. Kendallbegins to hear strange voices and find mysterious graffiti on the desk of oneof the missing students that she finds strangely compelling. The creep factor multiples from there.

My 17-year old son and I listened to Cryer’s Cross on audio and absolutely loved it; the narrator,Julia Whelan, an actress and award-winning audio reader, does a great job. In fact, my son enjoyed it so much thathe didn’t wait for me to finish it. When we got back from our car trip partway through the audio, heimmediately picked up the hardcover book and finished reading the story thatsame afternoon! He enjoyedthe suspense but also the many soccer passages.

It certainly is a spooky supernatural story, but I was mostimpressed with the novel’s character development, especially the way it dealswith Kendall’s OCD. The author’sacknowledgements say that she based the character of Kendall on her owndaughter with OCD “…in the hopes that others might understand or find somecomfort,” and I think she succeeds at that goal. In fact, the supernatural elements are almost beside thepoint. We both thoroughly enjoyedthis multi-faceted teen novel.

233pages, Simon Pulse

AUDIO:

Top Ten Kid/Teen Sequels We're Dying To Read

2011-09-06T18:24:00.004-04:00

It's Tuesday and that means Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish. Head over there and check out the long list of Top ten links and join in the fun! Today's topic is Top Ten Sequels We're Dying to Read.

This was an easy list for me to make here, with all kids' and teen books since so many are series now. My list includes many that have already been published that we just haven't gotten to yet. I have included ideas from my husband, Ken, and my 17-year old son, Jamie, also.

Here are the Top Ten Sequels We're Dying to Read:

Linger and Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - I loved Shiver and the next two are sitting in a pile just waiting for me.
Goldstrike by Matt Whyman, sequel to Icecore
The Last Apprentice, Book 7 by Joseph Delaney (Jamie) - I bought him book 6 by mistake.
Max by James Patterson - Maximum Ride series (Jamie) - I bought him the wrong one (again!) - see a pattern?
Sequel to The Search for Wondla by Tony Diterlizzi - we didn't like the audio but I enjoyed finishing the book and want to know what happens next!
Morpheus Road by D.J. MacHale (Jamie and I)
Last book in the Num8ers trilogy by Rachel Ward (Ken, Jamie& I)
Sequel to Orson Scott Card’s Pathfinder (Jamie & I)
Goliath, sequel to Leviathan and Behemoth by ScottWesterfeld – only 2 more weeks! (Ken Jamie & I)
Sequel to Unwind by Neal Schusterman (Jamie & I)

How about you? What sequels are you dying to read?

(To see my list of grown-up sequels I want to read, head over to Book By Book).

It's Monday 9/5! What Are You Reading?

2011-09-05T08:18:00.005-04:00

This is pretty early for me on a holiday weekend, but I couldn't sleep this morning. I hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day weekend! I'm glad to say good-bye to the heat and humidity of summer; fall is my favorite season. I will also be glad to get back into my weekday routine with the kids in school and have more time for writing, though of course, I will miss the easy-going summer evenings.

My oldest son had a rough week - oral surgery to remove his wisdom teeth on Monday, followed by a severe flare-up of his chronic illness. We had to cancel a planned trip this weekend. So, we spent lots of down time watching TV and movies and reading good books last week:

I am still reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and thoroughly enjoying it. I am not quite halfway through this hefty volume yet, but it's been engaging every minute so far!
I finished listening to the teen/YA audio book, Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann, a creepy paranormal story. My son and I both enjoyed it very much.
My husband, Ken, finished Tropic of Night by Michael Gruber and really enjoyed it - he moved it to my side of the TBR bookcase!
Ken felt like a bit of comfort reading next, so he picked up one of his all-time favorite books, Dune by Frank Herbert, to re-read (for the third time maybe?). He's loving it!
Jamie, 17, was couch-bound all week, so he made the best of it and did a lot of reading. He finished reading the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull with Book 4, Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, and Book 5, Keys to the Demon Prison. He said it was a very satisfying end to one of his favorite series.
He is now re-reading a favorite series by Tamora Pierce, The Immortals, beginning with Book 1, Wild Magic.
Craig, 13, started back to school last week and back to required reading time. He is reading Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, which he started this summer.

I posted two new reviews this week, both of books I enjoyed very much: Little Bee by Chris Cleave over at Book By Book and Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted here. I also posted my Top Ten List of Books on My TBR List for Fall and my Top Ten List of Kid/Teen Books on My TBR List for Fall.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Middle-Grade Review: Alibi Junior High

2011-08-31T18:44:00.000-04:00

I was intrigued by the plot summary of Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted from the first time I read it, when the hardcover was released a couple of years ago, so I don’t know why it took me two years to finally read it. It more than lived up to my expectations; I really enjoyed this clever, well-written novel.

Thirteen-year old Cody Saron has lived life on the run. His dad is in the CIA, and he and Cody have been partners ever since Cody’s mom died when he was a baby. Cody has spent his entire life undercover with his dad, traveling all over the globe. Now he has his toughest assignment ever: to be a regular kid and attend public middle school.

Cody’s dad is in danger, so he sends Cody to live with an aunt he didn’t know he had in a small town in Connecticut. Cody can speak five languages and has a black belt in karate, but he knows nothing at all about normal adolescent life, as you can see in this scene from his first day of middle school, talking to his new neighbor at the bus stop:

The bus turns the corner and starts bouncing toward us. Albert looks at me strangely.

“What are you wearing?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re wearing that to school?”

I look at my clothes. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Everything. The shorts are way too short, your socks way too long, and nobody tucks in their t-shirt. You’re dressed like somebody’s dad.”

“Really? Somebody’s dad? Um, how about the backpack?”

He gives it a quick look then just shakes his head.

I expected some good spy action in this novel – and there is some of that – but what I didn’t expect was the warmth and humor. Every kid (not just those with dads in the CIA) will relate to Cody’s struggles to just fit in and be like everyone else. That, of course, turns out to be disastrous, and things improve once Cody just gives up and is himself. And there is a great, pulse-racing climax, but this book is about so much more than action and espionage. It’s about family and friends and finding your place in the world.

244 pages, Aladdin (Simon & Schuster)

Top Ten Kid/Teen Books on my TBR List for Fall

2011-08-30T17:31:00.000-04:00

It's Tuesday, and that means Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish. Head on over and check out all the blogs who posted lists today!

Today's topic is Top Ten Kid/Teen Books on My TBR List for Fall. I noticed some blogs mainly listed books that will be released this fall that they want to read. I'm never that organized or caught up, so I went to my rather extensive TBR (to be read) bookcase. Yes, they almost fill up a whole bookcase now! And some have been there for a very long time, as you will see. Many of these are recommendations from my son. (I stuck to just books for kids and teens here, but you can also read my list of grown-up books at Book By Book).

Linger and Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - I loved Shiver and plan to read the next two books as soon as I finish my current one.
Goldstrike by Matt Whyman, sequel to Icecore - my son says the second books is also good.
Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy - I really enjoyed Thunder Over Kandahar which is also set in Afghanistan.
The Roar by Emma Clayton - my son says this is really good.
The Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede - another one highly recommended by my son!
The Game of Sunken Places by M.T. Anderson - Jamie also liked this middle-grade book which sounds a bit like Jumanji.
After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick - I carried this teen novel out to California with me this summer but never got to it.
Sharp North by Patrick Cave - another one Jamie loved!
Nation by Terry Pratchett - can you believe I haven't read anything by Pratchett yet?
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi - both my son AND my husband have been telling for years that this is an amazing book.

Oooh, I'm excited for the fall now! What kids and teen books do you want to read this fall?

It's Monday 8/29! What Are You Reading?

2011-08-28T20:20:00.002-04:00

I'm posting this a bit early this week because on Monday morning, we'll be at the hospital waiting while my 17-year old son gets all 4 wisdom teeth removed. Fun stuff, eh? That will cap off several extremely busy weeks. Having the hurricane come through this weekend has been the most relaxing part of the week (and we had three extra teen boys sleeping over for the storm!).

Amidst all this craziness, reading gives us a chance for a bit of downtime here and there:

I finished the middle-grade novel Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted and really enjoyed the unique story about a boy raised by his CIA dad all over the world who has to attend public school for the first time. Watch for a review this week.
I have now embarked on one last Big Book challenge for the summer. I started Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth. I am a Follett fan from way back and have wanted to read this book for a long time. I am 120 pages into this 974 page paperweight and expect to build some muscles while carrying it around for the next few weeks! It's very good so far - already gripping.
My husband, Ken, is still reading Tropic of Night by Michael Gruber and enjoying it.
Jamie, 17, actually read both of his required summer reading books in one week, proving once again that procrastination pays off! He read The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, which he said was OK but not as good as the fantasy novels he wanted to be reading!
He also read The Metamorphosis by Kafka, which he said was strange and pointless. I asked whether he didn't think there might be some symbolism and hidden meaning in the brief story, since most of the book was taken up by notes and analysis (which he didn't read)....nope, just a strange story.
He also re-read book 3 in the Fablehaven series, Grip of the Shadow Plague, and is now reading the fourth book, which he got for his birthday, Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. He loves this series and is enjoying it much more than Kafka!

With something going on outside of the house every single day last week, I didn't have any time for writing reviews, but I hope to get back on track this week when school starts up. My writing time will expand exponentially!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

It's Monday 8/22! What Are You Reading?

2011-08-22T11:19:00.000-04:00

Whew, another insanely busy week before school starts! Our schedule has been unbelievable, with all sorts of medical appointments, physical therapy (pre-soccer season), college visits, and other assorted obligations in these last weeks of summer. I definitely won't have much time for blogging this week!

We have been managing to squeeze in some reading, though:

At bedtime last night, I finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It was a fascinating story, told in a way that read like fiction and made me care about the people in it. I can't wait to discuss it with my book group next month.
I have now started Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted, a middle-grade spy thriller I've been wanting to read for a while now. I chose it out of my towering TBR piles because it is the shortest book! I am anxious to get to a really long book for a September book group but wanted to first squeeze in a quick kids/teen book.
My husband, Ken, is still reading Tropic of Night by Michael Gruber.
Jamie, 17, got Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, book 4 in the Fablehaven series for his birthday last week. As he often does, he decided to re-read the first 3 books in the series first, so this week he read books 1 and 2, Fablehaven and Rise of the Evening Star.
This morning, Jamie finally succumbed to a month of nagging (from me!) and started to read his required summer reading for school (with one week left to go!). He's started The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. Despite the odd title, it actually sounds pretty interesting - about a math professor who suffered a brain injury and can now only remember the past 80 minutes. Of course, Jamie would rather be reading the rest of the Fablehaven series!

Last week, I posted two new reviews: The Passage by Justin Cronin at Book By Book and The Search for Wondla by Tony Diterlizzi, a middle-grade book.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey).

Middle-Grade Review: The Search for WondLa

2011-08-17T19:43:00.000-04:00

I had been eager to read the new middle-grade release from Tony Diterlizzi, co-author/creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles. His latest is a middle-grade fantasy/sci-fi adventure called The Search for WondLa. I ended up listening to the first half on audio and reading the second half on paper, with a rather mixed review of the two different approaches to telling this imaginative story. Ultimately, I would recommend reading the book on paper but not listening to it on audio.

The story opens with 12-year old Eva Nine, a young girl who has grown up entirely isolated in an underground sanctuary with her robot mother (cleverly named Muthr, Multi-Utility Task Help Robot, a name I may adopt!). Though Eva has been happy and well cared for, she sets off on a journey, eager to find others like herself. Her only clue to help in her search is a scrap of torn paper that shows a girl like herself with a robot and an adult human with the torn words WondLa left. The world she explores is filled with strange, wondrous, and sometimes frightening creatures.

I brought the audio on our California vacation this June, figuring it would be a perfect fit for our annual road trip, with all the elements my family usually enjoys: a young protagonist in a fantastical place on a fast-paced adventure. We listened to about half of it before my kids finally said, “No more!” and my husband and I agreed. Now granted, none of us are smack in the middle of the book’s intended audience of middle-grade readers (my sons are now 13 and 17 and their reading tastes have matured a bit), but all four of us felt that the audio production just wasn’t very good.

The story was interesting, but the narrator (ironically a well-respected actress, Teri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives fame) just grated on us. She read the main character, a twelve-year old girl, in a fake-sounding little girl voice. My youngest son kept saying, “She just sounds too young!” And some of the other characters had similarly strange-sounding voices (granted, they are all strange, made-up sorts of beings). It’s hard to describe, but we just found the overall effect annoying and finally gave up.

Upon returning home, I was determined to give it another try, this time on paper. I finished reading the book and enjoyed it very much. I think this is a case where the old-fashioned paper format is best, especially because Diterlizzi’s imaginative text is accompanied by lots and lots of his wonderful illustrations. With so many unusual creatures and places in the story, the illustrations were additive, helping me to better imagine Eva’s adventures. I found the rest of the book engrossing, loved the ending, and can’t wait for the next book in the planned trilogy!

NOTE: The book and audio both have a unique feature. You go to the WondLa website (where there is also a nice promo video of the story), click on the WondLa Vision icon, and follow the instructions to download special software (it took about 5 minutes). Then, you hold up certain illustrations (3 different pages of the book or the pictures on the first 3 CDs) to your web cam, and up pops a 3-D map of Eva’s journey, each one adding to the last as the story unfolds. It’s pretty cool.

473 pages, Simon & Schuster

It's Monday 8/15! What Are You Reading?

2011-08-15T10:14:00.002-04:00

Wow, what a weekend! We got together with my extended family - 14 of us! - in the Poconos for a weekend of swimming, kayaking, horseback riding, and lots of eating! We laughed so hard Saturday night that my stomach muscles hurt. Lots of fun, though not much time for quiet reading, as you can imagine.

Here's what we're reading this week:

I finally finished The Passage by Justin Cronin and absolutely loved it, except for the very last sentence! Though it seemed to be wrapping up nicely up until that last sentence, there is definitely a sequel coming, and he left me hanging. It was excellent - highly recommended for fans of suspense, thrillers, paranormal, and post-apocalyptic plots. Something for everyone.
Next, I finished up The Search for Wondla by Tony Diterlizzi (co-author of The Spiderwick Chronicles), a middle-grade sci-fi novel. We started the audio on vacation, but no one wanted to finish it because of the narrator. So, I finished reading the paper novel and really enjoyed it.
Now I am reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. I've been dying to read this after hearing so many wonderful things about it. It's my neighborhood book group's pick for September, so I thought I'd get a head start and skip the last-minute panic! It's fascinating so far.
My husband, Ken, is still reading Tropic of Night by Michael Gruber and enjoying it.
Jamie, 17 tomorrow!, finished reading Across the Great Barrier by Patricia Wrede and tells me I have to read this series!
Next, Jamie read Num8ers and The Chaos by Rachel Ward, teen thrillers which I recommended to him. He said they weren't his normal kind of book, but he enjoyed both and is looking forward to book 3.

Last week, I posted two new reviews: The Condition by Jennifer Haigh at Book By Book and Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly here. I also posted lists of Top Ten Underrated Books and Top Ten Underrated Books for Kids and Teens.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen/YA Review: Revolution

2011-08-10T17:06:00.001-04:00

I finally finished listening to the teen/YA novel Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (I don’t get much alone audio time during the summer!), and I was absolutely entranced by this unique novel that takes place in two different time periods and blends modern teen drama with historical fiction.

Seventeen-year old Andi is close to being expelled from her prestigious private school in Brooklyn Heights. Her younger brother died recently, driving both her and her mother into deep depressions that each is dealing with in her own way. Andi is so mired in grief and despair that she doesn’t even care about school anymore, just her music, but her scientist father isn’t about to let her fail. During winter break, he brings her along with him on a trip to Paris, hoping the change of scenery will help and she’ll have time to work on the thesis she needs to graduate.

Once in Paris, Andi discovers an old diary, written by a teen girl named Alexandrine two hundred years earlier, during the French Revolution. Alex wanted to be an actress, but instead took on a job as nanny to the young prince in order to help her poor family. At first, the diary is just an escape for Andi, a way to forget about her own troubles and immerse herself in someone else’s life, but it becomes increasingly compelling and real to her, until the past and the present mingle.

Donnelly has written a unique and gripping novel, weaving together the present and the distant past through the parallel lives of these two young women. Both Andi and Alex play the guitar, and music has a central role in the novel, with lots of references to both modern and classical music. Revolution tackles some serious issues, including grief, depression, and suicide, as well as a thorough immersion in the French Revolution. I found it all fascinating, and the audio was very well done, with excellent voice actors for both Andi and Alex. This was the first Jennifer Donnelly novel I’ve read or listened to; I will definitely read another.

NOTE: This novel is best for older teens and young adults (and up!) with lots of references to drugs, alcohol, plus some serious issues such as depression and suicide (not to mention a bit of gruesomeness).

Listening Library

Listen to an excerpt:

Top Ten Underrated Books for Kids and Teens

2011-08-09T18:42:00.001-04:00

It's Top Ten Tuesday over at The Broke and the Bookish! Today's topic is underrated books. This took some thought. I tried to focus on books that I loved that I didn't hear much buzz about - the kind of books I want to tell everyone about! If you are interested in my list of underrated grown-up books, check out Book By Book.

Here is my Top Ten List of Underrated Books for Kids and Teens:

The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence – picture Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys in Ancient Rome – a great series, but I don’t hear much about it here in the U.S. They made it into a popular TV show in the U.K.
The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins – obviously, everyone went totally crazy for her series The Hunger Games but this earlier middle-grade series seems to get overlooked. Our whole family loved it (we read it aloud).
Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes Courter – I always felt this stunning YA memoir about foster care didn’t get enough attention when it came out.
Lionboy trilogy by Zizou Corder – this amazing middle-grade series about a boy who can communicate with lions kept my whole family rapt, but I didn’t hear much buzz about it.
Things Not Seen and its sequels by Andrew Clements – Clements’ popular books for younger kids get lots of attention, but we also loved this foray into teen fiction about a boy who wakes up one morning to find himself invisible.
Alabama Moon by Watt Key – one of our family’s all-time favorite middle-grade read-alouds. A local bookstore owner told my husband about it; otherwise, we hadn’t heard of it before or since.
The Cronus Chronicles by Anne Ursu – Percy Jackson gets all the attention, but Ursu’s fabulous middle-grade series about two teens who get caught up in the affairs of Greek gods are action-packed, exciting, and sprinkled with a great sense of humor.
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt – I loved this first book in a new mystery series with teen girl detectives tangled up with international art thieves. Perfect for girls who love (or who’ve outgrown) Nancy Drew.
Icecore and Goldstrike by Matt Whyman – exciting, techno-thrillers for teens that my son, husband, and I all loved, but I didn’t hear much else about them.
Boom! By Mark Haddon – this hilarious British sci-fi adventure from the author of the adult novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time kept our whole family laughing through a very long day stuck in traffic.

So, those are my picks. How about you? What are your favorite underrated books for kids and teens?

It's Monday 8/8! What Are You Reading?

2011-08-08T09:38:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday morning! I always look forward to hearing what everyone is reading each week. It makes Monday a day to look forward to!

We spent the weekend doing much-needed yard work, shopping for my son's birthday, and relaxing with some movies and TV shows (we enjoy catching up on TV shows on DVD during the summer, like Bones, The Mentalist, and Glee). Our boys both had sleep-overs. So, busy, busy!

Here's what we've been reading this week:

Yes, I am STILL reading The Passage by Justin Cronin! I only have about 50 pages to go. It is a big book that has taken me three weeks to read, but it has been well worth it - an excellent, well-written novel with a unique plot and in-depth characters.
My husband, Ken, finished his Jeffrey Deaver novel, The Burning Wire, and is now reading Tropic of Night by Michael Gruber which he picked up at Borders' clearance sale last week. He enjoyed Gruber's other novel, The Book of Air and Shadows, which I got him for Christmas one year.
I forgot to mention last week that he and I started a new audio book when we went to pick up our kids from their grandparents' house. We're listening to Dying for Mercy, a mystery by Mary Jane Clark. It's good so far - we listened to a bit more while birthday shopping yesterday - though it's hard to say when we'll next have time alone in the car. This could be another 6-month long audio!
Jamie, 16, is reading Across the Great Barrier by Patricia Wrede and loving it. This is the second book in the Frontier Magic series that started with The Thirteenth Child. Jamie says it is a great series.

I posted two new reviews last week. At Book By Book, I reviewed the audio book The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee, a funny and outrageous memoir by comedienne Sarah Silverman. Here at Great Books for Kids and Teens, I posted a review of Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson, a teen road trip novel that I absolutely loved. And I posted a summary of what I read in July.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen/YA Review: Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

2011-08-05T17:19:00.000-04:00

I always enjoy reading road trip books while we’re on a road trip, so I had saved Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson for our June trip through California. I absolutely loved this warm, unique novel and even found myself reading passages aloud and showing pages to my two teen sons (who are not normally interested in a book with a picture of a girl and boy holding hands on its cover!). In the classic tradition of all good road trip books, this one is not only about the physical journey but an emotional one as well.

Amy hasn’t been the same since her Dad died this past spring. Her mom has decided to move them from California to Connecticut, and Amy is expected to join her on the East Coast as soon as she finishes her junior year of high school. The problem is that Amy hasn’t driven since her dad’s death, so her mother enlists the help of the 19-year old son of a friend of hers to drive Amy to Connecticut.

Amy barely remembers Roger from when they were kids and is embarrassed by her inability to drive. Though Roger seems like a well-adjusted guy, he is struggling with some issues of his own. Together, they set out on their cross-country drive, following Amy’s mother’s planned route at first. Soon, though, the pull of the open road entices them to make a detour that turns into…yes, an epic detour. One of my favorite parts of the book was when they decided to visit Yosemite National Park, just as we were heading there ourselves, and I could follow along!

This is really two books in one – a scrapbook-style travelogue with photos, receipts, postcards, and other memorabilia interspersed with a novel describing how Amy and Roger both gradually open up to each other and face their own demons. It could have turned out kind of gimmicky, but it’s not at all because it works so well on both levels. It’s a well-written novel, warm and real, that is made even better by the travelogue.

One of the highlights of the book for me was Roger’s Playlists, scattered throughout the book. I do the same thing on our family road trips – make up custom CDs suited to wherever we are traveling – so I had a blast reading through Roger’s music choices and sharing the playlists with my sons. In fact, now that I have the book back in my hands (we shipped a box of books back home after our trip), I can’t wait to look up some of Roger’s more obscure songs and listen to them myself.

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour is a wonderful novel that addresses difficult topics in an accessible way. The road trip is not merely background but an integral part of the journey. It is described in wonderful detail that makes you feel as if you are riding along, discovering both the country and yourself along with Amy and Roger.

NOTE: for some extra fun, check out Roger's Playlist #1 on YouTube, a collection of 18 songs from Roger's first playlist in the book which someone has thoughtfully compiled

343 pages, Simon & Schuster

It's Monday 8/1! What Are You Reading?

2011-08-01T09:49:00.000-04:00

August 1st already! July seemed to go by quickly. I had a very unusual week - my kids were gone all week, and my husband was gone half of the week, so I enjoyed some quiet solitude, a rarity around here in the summer! I had planned to catch up on all the things I'm behind in and spend lots of time reading, but that never quite works out as I'd planned. Instead, I watched a bunch of girl-centric movies in the evenings and spent a lot of time with a friend going through a difficult time. So, not quite the productive week I'd foreseen but rewarding just the same. The kids had a blast on their grandparents' sailboat, enjoying Block Island, R.I.

And here's what we all read last week:

I am still reading The Passage by Justin Cronin. I am finally about halfway through this hefty book! It is really, really good - original, suspenseful, and compelling.
My husband, Ken, is reading The Burning Wire by Jeffrey Deaver, one of his favorite thriller writers. He had fun yesterday browsing though Borders' clearance sale and spending his last Borders gift card, but my son said the YA section was almost empty!
Jamie, 16, loves to read books set on the water when he's on his grandparents' boat, so he started the week with Rip Tide by Kat Falls, sequel to Dark Life (which he loved) about a civilization deep under the ocean.
Next, he re-read Pirate Curse, book one in The Wave Walkers series by Kai Meyer - he just has to read at least one pirate book when he's sailing! He said it was pretty good but not great. I don't think he's ever read the rest of the series.
Then he left the water theme behind to read The Lost World by Michael Crichton, sequel to Jurassic Park which he read and loved a few weeks ago. He loved the sequel, too!
Now he is re-reading The Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede in preparation for reading its sequel in the Frontier Magic series, Across the Great Barrier, which was recently released. Jamie says this is a great series - I really need to find time to read it.

I did manage to write some reviews last week, including The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon on Book By Book, a wonderfully original love story, set against the backdrop of a mental institution in the 1960's. I also posted a review here of D.J. MacHale's Morpheus Road: The Black, a fast-paced ghost story for teens.

In addition, I posted lists of Top Ten Books That Tackle Tough Issues, both at Book By Book (grown-up books) and here on Great Books for Kids and Teens (two different lists). Finally, I posted an update on Borders' closing and my shopping expedition to their clearance sale and a sneak peek at the actors playing Gale and Peeta in The Hunger Games movie.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen Fiction Review: The Black (Morpheus Road)

2011-07-28T16:36:00.000-04:00

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that D.J. MacHale’s Pendragon series is one of my all-time favorites for middle-grade and teen readers. He’s following up that 10-book success with a new series for teens called Morpheus Road. Last summer, my son and I read the first book, The Light, and a few weeks ago we both read Book 2, The Black. It’s a scary, suspenseful story sure to please fans of supernatural thrillers.

Interestingly, Book 2 tells the same story as Book 1, but from a different character’s perspective. That may sound repetitive, but it isn’t: it worked for Orson Scott Card with Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow, and it works here for D.J. MacHale. Book 1, The Light, was written from Marshall Seaver’s perspective, about how his best friend, Cooper Foley, had mysteriously disappeared. At the end of the book, Marshall found out what happened to Coop (and no, I’m not going to tell you!).

The Black takes place during the same timeline, but it is Coop’s own story of what was happening to him, as Marshall and Coop’s family searched for him. It reminded me in some ways of Pendragon, with an ordinary teen boy at its center who suddenly finds himself responsible for the fate of the universe. It is exciting and fast-paced like Pendragon, too, with plenty of plot twists. The Morpheus Road series, though, deals with ghost stories, something D.J. MacHale knows well from his TV writing career. I really don’t want to say much more about it because I don’t want to give away its many secrets and surprises, but if you like action-packed supernatural adventures, you’ll love Morpheus Road.

405 pages, Aladdin

First Look at Gale and Peeta in Hunger Games Movie

2011-07-27T16:44:00.000-04:00

Entertainment Weekly is publishing a first peek at the actors playing Gale and Peeta:

They both look fairly close to how I imagined the characters, although I didn't picture Peeta quite so buff (he is, after all, a baker's son and specializes in decorating cakes).

What do you think?

Top Ten Kids/Teen Books That Tackle Tough Issues

2011-07-26T16:57:00.002-04:00

It's Tuesday and that means Top Ten day over at The Broke and the Bookish. Today's topic is Books That Tackle Tough Issues. I love this one because I always enjoy thought-provoking books that teach me or make me think about something (I love the alliteration, too!). In fact, I wrote my own Top Ten list a few years ago of Books That Taught Me Something, which is a bit similar.

For this week's list, I tried to stick to more recent books I've read that have tackled a wide variety of tough topics and to books written for kids/teens/YA (you can read my Top Ten list of grown-up books at Book By Book).

Top Ten Kids/Teen Books That Tackle Tough Topics:

Three Little Words (memoir) by Ashley Rhodes (foster care)
Go Ask Alice (drug addiction)
Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor (divorce, unreliable parents, child neglect)
Thunder Over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay (plight of girls/women in Afghanistan)
A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata (effects of war on children)
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel (animal rights)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (effect of war on society, citizens, and soldiers)
Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin and Rules by Cynthia Lord (autism, treatment of people who are different)
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (abduction, rape)
Nothing But the Truth by Justina Chen Headley (personal identity, mixed races, fitting in)

What are your favorite books that tackle tough issues?

It's Monday 7/25! What Are You Reading?

2011-07-25T10:21:00.000-04:00

What's that sound?? Ah, it's silence. This weekend, my husband and I dropped off our two teen boys at their grandparents' house for their annual week of sailing with Gramie and Pop Pop. They love this week - it's the highlight of the year for them (that's them with their cousin a few years ago on the Grandkids' Cruise). And for me? It's a well-deserved week of quiet solitude in the midst of a crazy-busy summer. I hope to catch up on all the stuff (especially writing) that has been going undone all summer and, of course, fit in lots of reading (though I was a complete lazy bum last night and watched two movies in a row instead of reading my book!). This is my week.

We kicked off our quiet week with a mini getaway this weekend. My husband surprised me for my birthday Saturday with an overnight near New Hope, PA, a lovely little town along the Delaware River. We had a fabulous dinner and enjoyed some much-overdue quiet time together.

So, last week was very busy, with my husband out of town on business, getting the boys ready for their trip, driving them to CT, and hosting two other teen boys to help out their mom (my friend). Whew. We did fit in a little reading, though:

I am reading The Passage by Justin Cronin, part of my Summer of the Big Book effort to catch up on some hefty reads. It's almost 800 pages, so I'm only about a quarter of the way through so far, but it is really, really good (though really creepy).
My husband, Ken, finished Room by Emma Donoghue. He liked it very much, and we even had time to discuss it over dinner this weekend!
Ken is now reading The Burning Wire by Jeffrey Deaver, a Father's Day gift from us. He says it's good so far.
Jamie, 16, spent a lot of time with friends last week, so he had less reading time than usual. He finished re-reading City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare.
Jamie was thrilled when Rip Tide by Kat Falls showed up at our house last week. It is the sequel to Dark Life which he loved last summer, so he re-read Dark Life and took the new sequel with him on the boat. He loves to read water-centric books while on the boat, and these take place in a future community deep below the ocean.
Craig, 13, took an old favorite on the boat with him. He's decided to re-read the Charlie Bone books which were the first books to really grab his interest a few years ago.
Ken and I finally finished an audio book this weekend that we started almost 9 months ago! We rarely have time alone in the car together, so on our way home yesterday we finished Sarah Silverman's memoir, The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee. We weren't familiar with the comedienne before we listened to this, but I guess this was classic Silverman: hilarious and outrageous, sometimes a bit uncomfortable, and sometimes suprisingly touching.

In addition to my post on the Summer of the Big Book last week at Book By Book (I could still use some advice on that one!), I also posted about The Demise of Bookstores and was very sad to come home yesterday and hear that our own Borders is closing this week (I guess they are now closing ALL stores). I will be stopping by their clearance sale this week to spend one last, remaining gift card. So sad.

I did manage to post one measly review last week here on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book and movie). I hope to use some of my writing time this week to catch up on reviews!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, book and movie

2011-07-19T19:06:00.000-04:00

Last week was Harry Potter week at our house (and probably in many other houses, too!). I re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the second time, and our whole family went to see the final movie at the theater on Sunday. We don’t get out to the movie theater very often, but for years we have made sure to catch the annual Harry Potter movie, no matter what. There’s not much I can say about the book or movie that hasn’t already been said, but I thought I’d just share some of my own thoughts on both.

If you haven’t read a Harry Potter book in a while (or…gasp…have never read one), I urge you to pick one up. I had forgotten what an amazing writer J.K. Rowling is, how she has the ability to make her pretend world seem more real than your real world. Her books are exciting and fast-paced, of course, but they are also imbibed with a wonderful, subtle sense of humor and plenty of warmth. By this past weekend, I was at the point where I just could not put the book down (even though I’d read it before and knew how it ended!) – that sounds trite, but in reality, there are very few books that can really make me set aside my to-do list and just spend an entire day reading.

The movies have been remarkable also. As any avid reader knows, the book is always better than the movie, and there is nothing worse than a poorly done movie adaptation of a favorite book. My husband, older son, and I have all read all of the Harry Potter books, and we have all thoroughly enjoyed the movies as well. Of course, as with any movie adaptation, especially of such long books, there are many small details missing and other details that need to be changed, but overall, the Harry Potter movies have stuck closely to the original books. In this case, the movies have been additive, bringing our favorite characters and scenes to life in a way that pays homage to the books.

Harry Potter has been more than a story; it has defined a whole generation, creating a cultural phenomenon never before seen. Before J.K. Rowling came along, could you even have imagined a book causing hundreds of thousands of fans to line up for hours? Or bookstores staying open until midnight so that people could buy a book at the exact moment of its release? Or kids willingly reading 800-page tomes? Harry Potter caused all of that and more, paving the way for other mega-popular books and midnight release parties (Twilight comes to mind).

So, now it’s all over – the last book written, the last movie made. Will my family ever go to the movies again? Well, if we ever miss Harry Potter, we’ll find him alive and well on our bookshelves, in seven beautiful hardcover volumes, just waiting to take us back to the world of witchcraft and wizardry.

(NOTE: I thought you might enjoy some more photos from my son’s 8^th birthday when we hosted a Harry Potter party: there’s Professor Snape presiding over Potions class, Madam Trelawney in Divinations class, and all the kids ready for their Sorting Ceremony. I also included a few photos on Monday’s post.)

It's Monday 7/18! What Are You Reading?

2011-07-18T10:31:00.000-04:00

July 18...summer is already half over! We had a very busy week here, filled with doctor's appointments, errands, and running the kids all over. Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer?

We did find some time for reading, however, especially this weekend:

I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (my second time) in preparation for the last movie which we went to see on Sunday. Both the book and movie were fabulous! I was glad I had re-read the book because there were a lot of details left out or changed in the movie, and I was reminded of just how wonderful J.K. Rowlings' books are - by this weekend, I was at the point where I didn't want to do anything but read, and I didn't care what was left undone! I've included a few photos here of Jamie's 8th birthday when we put together a big Harry Potter party and transformed our entire house into Hogwarts. We recruited some friends to help play the roles of the professors (you can see everyone at the table in the Great Hall below; I was Professor McGonagall, on the right in the photo with Dumbledore and Snape). The kids all had a blast, as did the adults!
Last night, I just started The Passage by Justin Cronin, a July birthday gift from my husband LAST summer that I have finally gotten around to reading. I've just started it, but it seems intriguing so far.
My husband, Ken, is reading Room by Emma Donoghue, based on my recommendation.
Jamie, 16, is re-reading City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare, and he told me this morning which five books are next on his list! He has it all planned out.

I finally started to catch up on my backlog of reviews last week, posting new reviews of Blood, Bones and Butter, a memoir by chef Gabrielle Hamilton, at Book By Book and Deadly, a teen historical novel by Julie Chibarro. I also posted my Top Ten Lists of Authors I'd Like to Meet and Kids'/Teen Authors I'd Like to Meet.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen/YA Review: Deadly

2011-07-14T17:00:00.001-04:00

I was intrigued by the subject of Deadly: How Do You Catch an Invisible Killer?, a new teen/YA novel by Julie Chibbaro. It’s about how scientists unraveled the mystery of so-called Typhoid Mary, a cook who unwittingly spread typhoid fever throughout the NYC area in the early 1900’s. In true historical fiction fashion, Chibbaro took this fascinating real-life event and wove an engaging fictional story around it.

Sixteen year-old Prudence is a turn-of-the-century young woman with big dreams. Though most of her peers are finishing charm school and hoping to be married soon, Prudence is interested in more meaningful things: science, writing, and having some sort of positive impact on the world. She’s seen her share of sorrow already, having lost both her father and her brother. When she gets a job as an assistant at the Department of Health and Sanitation, she feels like her dreams are finally coming true.

Her boss is working on an important case, trying to figure out what is causing an outbreak of typhoid fever in the area. They think they find a link between the affected homes, a young cook named Mary, but she has never had typhoid. How can they prove that Mary is contagious and spreading this disease without knowing it?

The science and history here are fascinating, but so is Prudence’s own coming-of-age story, as she struggles with her own personal challenges, including grief, in this journal-like novel told in her own words. I enjoyed it very much and would love to read another Chibbaro novel.

NOTE: There is nothing objectionable in this novel; it is appropriate for younger teens or preteens.

293 pages, Athenuem (Simon & Schuster)

Where in the World Are You Reading? update: this novel takes place in NYC.

Top Ten Kids/Teen Authors I'd Love to Meet

2011-07-12T18:55:00.002-04:00

It's Top Ten Tuesday over at The Broke and the Bookish! Today's topic is an intriguing one - authors I'd like to meet. I put some thought into this one and didn't just choose my favorite book authors (though many of them are) but ones I thought would be interesting to meet and talk with.

Here is my list of Top Ten Kids/Teen/YA Authors I'd Love to Meet:

J.K. Rowling – she seems to be on everyone’s list! Specifically, I would like to ask her whether she now sees Daniel Radcliff in her mind when she thinks of Harry Potter or whether she still sees the character she first imagined.
Madeleine L’Engle – my favorite childhood author.
Laura Ingalls Wilder – another favorite from childhood, plus I’ve read biographies about her and she seems like she was such a kind, thoughtful, intelligent person.
D.J. MacHale – loved his Pendragon series – what a great imagination!
Orson Scott Card – he’s such an amazing writer – I’d love to talk with him about his novels and his writing.
Suzanne Collins – our family loved both her Gregor the Overlander series and The Hunger Games series – I’d love to talk to her about all the thought-provoking issues she brings up in her books.
Neal Schusterman – I’d like to talk to him about his ideas about the afterlife from his Everlost series.
Kate DiCamillo – her books are so warm and clever - she seems like she'd be a wonderful person to meet.
Dr. Seuss – I’ve seen him on lots of lists today – who wouldn’t want to meet the best children’s author ever?
Kathryn Kenny – I don’t even know if she’s a real author or a pseudonym for a bunch of them, like Carolyn Keene, but I wanted to be Trixie Belden when I was a kid!

If you're interested in the authors of grown-up books I'd like to meet, you can check out my list at Book By Book.

Which authors would YOU like to meet?

It's Monday 7/11! What Are You Reading?

2011-07-10T21:57:00.000-04:00

Well, life is slowly returning to normal after our trip, though I am still way behind in blogging! Re-entry to real life is always a challenge after a long vacation, but we have finished unpacking and laundry and taken care of the most urgent stuff waiting for us when we got home.

So, we haven't had as much reading time as we did while we were away, but we are still enjoying our books this week:

I finished Morpheus Road 2: The Black, a teen thriller about the afterlife by D.J. MacHale and enjoyed it. MacHale told the same basic story from Book 1, from the totally different perspective of a different main character, sort of like what Orson Scott Card did with Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. It was clever and suspenseful.
I am now re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book 7) in preparation for this week's movie release. Fun!
My husband, Ken, finished The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner and enjoyed it.
Ken is now reading Dark Life by Kat Falls, a middle-grade sci fi book that takes place under water that our son really enjoyed. Ken says it's good, though he feels the technology is less believable than typical adult sci fi novels.
Sixteen-year old Jamie finished Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and loved it!
Jamie is now re-reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, book 1 of Mortal Instruments because he enjoyed books 3 and 4 so much on vacation, as I mentioned on the vacation book summary I posted last week.

Didn't have a chance to post any reviews last week, but I did post a summary of the books I read in June. I'm going to try to catch up on reviews by writing some mini reviews, starting this week, so stay tuned!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Some of the Books Jamie Read on Vacation

2011-07-08T22:06:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my Monday post, we just returned from a 3-week vacation, and my 16-year old son, Jamie, read about a dozen books in that time! We had to ship a carton of books ahead of time to keep him stocked up, and the carton hasn't arrived back home yet, so I can't include a full list, but here are some of the books he read while we were away:

Triss and Loamhedge by Brian Jacques, part of Jamie's effort to re-read the entire Redwall series (which he did!).
The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials trilogy) by Philip Pullman - a re-read for Jamie.
Books 3 and 4 (City of Glass and City of Fallen Angels) in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (and he enjoyed those so much, he is now re-reading books 1 & 2!)
The Dragon's Apprentice, Book 5 in The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series by James A. Owen, where H.G. Wells asks J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams to be caretakers of an atlas of imaginary places, thus bringing into the stories the fictional locations of all of your favorite places from fantasy novels (a really wonderful series!)
Fire by Kristin Cashore, the first novel either of us has read by this author.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, which Jamie had to borrow from my aunt because he'd run out of books for the flight home! He was thrilled when I told him there were two sequels that we have at home.

So, that's just a portion of the books Jamie read while we were away. As you can see, he is an avid book lover! And, unlike his mother, he can read in the car without getting sick, so he spent all of our driving hours buried in fiction, lucky boy.

It's Monday 7/4! What Are You Reading?

2011-07-04T17:37:00.000-04:00

Happy Fourth of July! I didn't even remember it was Monday until just now...oops.

We just returned this weekend from a 3-week vacation in California and Oregon, so that's why I have been absent from the blogging world for so long. Sorry I just sort of left without saying anything, but it didn't seem like a good idea to announce on the internet that we'd be away for 3 weeks! We had a magnificent time and saw so many beautiful sites. This photo was taken at Crater Lake National Park. Yes, it was summer there, too, but they still have over 20 feet of snow! It was mind-boggling, but the views were still gorgeous. If you'd like to see more photos from our trip, you can check out our trip blog (if you scroll down to June 10, 2011, you can see the pictures in order).

So, what have we been reading? That's a big question this week! I'll try not to make this list too long:

I started our trip reading Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult, wanting a fun, gripping read for the long flight. It was classic Picoult, with alternating viewpoints and a few twists, and I enjoyed it.
I love to read road trip books while on a road trip, so next I read Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, a teen book by Morgan Matson, about two young adults on a cross-country road trip that is also an emotional journey. I loved this book, especially the playlists and scrapbook-style entries. Best part: when the characters went to Yosemite right when we were headed there ourselves!
Finally, I read Little Bee by Chris Cleave on the way home and absolutely loved it. A very powerful story about hope and redemption and people coming together.
I am now reading Morpheus Road: The Black, book 2 in the teen series by D.J. MacHale. I always enjoy MacHale's books.
My husband, Ken, read The Little Book by Selden Edwards, a novel he gave me for my birthday last year about an 80's rock star who goes back in time to 1890's Vienna. We both enjoyed it.
Ken is now reading The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner, one of several suspense paperbacks I picked up for him at a library sale. Neither of us had ever read Gardner before, but Ken says this novel is very good.
Our 16-year old son, Jamie, read between 10 and 12 books during our 3-week trip! We shipped a box of books out there ahead of time for him, he went through every single one and then had to borrow a book from my aunt for the trip home! That box of books hasn't arrived back home yet, so I won't try to remember all the titles.
After a couple days of complaining, we finally got our 13-year old son interested in a book. Jamie had just re-read His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman, so Craig started The Golden Compass (he had seen the movie but not read the book), and he actually got caught up in it and has been reading before bed at night.

So, it was a wonderful trip with lots of good reading along the way. Unfortunately, the bronchitis I had before the trip came back with a vengeance while we were away, so I am still struggling with that. Hopefully, I will start to get back to normal here soon.

I missed hearing about what all of you are reading, so please tell me what books you and your family are enjoying this week!

Middle-Grade Review: My So-Called Family

2011-06-07T18:56:00.000-04:00

Courtney Sheinmel’s middle-grade novel, My So-Called Family, is definitely a 21^st-century type of story, about a girl who has a donor instead of a dad. It’s a well-written book that takes a look at the meaning of family.

Thirteen-year old Leah Hoffman-Ross never really had a father; her mother chose a donor from a reproductive agency and had a baby on her own. Although her mom is open about it and Leah now has a wonderful stepfather and brother whom she love, she still feels uncomfortable with her origins. When they move to New York and Leah starts a new school, she feels like she has to keep the truth a secret from her new friends. Here, one of them asks about her hyphenated last name:

“Oh, yeah. Ross is my stepfather’s last name,” I said. “He and my mom got married six years ago.” I didn’t tell her Hoffman was my mother’s maiden name. She could just assume the Hoffman part came from my biological father. I could be like thousands of kids with a father and a stepfather. That was my plan anyway.

“My mom’s remarried, too,” Callie said. “I practically know my stepfather better than my real father. Does your dad live nearby at least?”

“Oh, no. He’s off in Europe somewhere,” I said, reciting the familiar line I usually told about my family. “I’m not exactly sure where.”

Then, Leah finds an online Sibling Registry hosted by the reproductive agency her mom used and discovers she has siblings who were also fathered by Donor 730. She feels compelled to meet these previously unknown brothers and sisters but isn’t sure what her mother will think.

It’s an interesting story. Although the premise may not be something most kids can relate to, Leah’s struggles will be familiar to all adolescents – feelings of embarrassment over aspects of her family, wanting to fit in and just be a “normal” kid, and straddling the line between childhood and growing up. It’s a well-written story with realistic, likeable characters and a thought-provoking plot.

194 pages, Simon & Schuster

For more information on this and other novels, visit the author’s website.

It's Monday 6/6! What Are You Reading?

2011-06-06T09:15:00.002-04:00

Happy Monday!

The past week passed by in a blur - I'm still very sick and was unable to do much of anything all week, so I apologize for not being able to get around and visit blogs like I usually do (or post much on my own blogs). I'm hoping to start improving this week, but then I'll be very busy preparing for our upcoming vacation and getting to all the kids' last-week-of-school events. Busy time of year!

Well, the one good thing about being this sick is having lots of reading time:

I finished reading The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon, a local author here in Delaware. I loved her two memoirs, Riding the Bus with My Sister and Building a Home with my Husband, and her new novel is absolutely wonderful. It tells the story of the love between a deaf man and a mentally handicapped woman, both institutionalized in the 1950's. It's a beautiful story, beautifully written, and I do hope to find time to write this review this week.
Since I've read very few kids and teen books this past month (see my May summary), I decided to focus on those for a while. I read a middle-grade novel, My So-Called Family by CourtneySheinmel, about a girl with a very 21st-century problem. Leah doesn't have a father; she has a donor. And despite having a loving mother and step-father and an adorable step-brother she loves very much, Leah still feels like something is missing from her life. I enjoyed the novel.
Now I'm reading a teen/YA novel, Deadly: How do you catch an invisible killer? by Julie Chibbaro. It's a fascinating novel based on the real-life story of Typhoid Mary. In the novel, sixteen-year old Prudence lives in NYC in 1906 and is interested in science - not a popular or acceptable choice for girls of that time. She gets a job as an assistant at the Department of Health and Sanitation, helping her boss track down the cause of a typhoid epidemic. It's well-written and absorbing.
Ken finished Num8ers by Rachel Ward, a teen/YA thriller that I enjoyed, then moved onto its sequel The Chaos. He says he enjoyed the series very much.
Jamie, 16, was also quite sick all week, plus was busy trying to finish his schoolwork. He has three exams this week and then he is free for the summer! He is still re-reading the Redwall series by Brian Jacques but has filled a carton with books he wants to read on vacation! I'm going to ship it out to California ahead of time for him (plus a few for me!).

In addition to my May summary, I did manage to post one new review last week, of the teen/YA novel The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson, a darkly humorous look at the meaning of life and death.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen/YA Review: The Deathday Letter

2011-06-02T19:04:00.001-04:00

The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson is a teen/YA novel with more depth and warmth than first appears. It grew on me the longer I read, and, as I finished it, I was surprised to realize that I had actually liked it quite a bit.

The premise of the book is quite simple: it’s a society where people receive a Deathday Letter the day before they will die. Fifteen-year old Ollie receives his Deathday Letter at the start of the novel and has only 24 hours left to live. He wants to make the best of his last day.

I expected the novel to delve deeper into the concept of the Deathday Letter itself – why this happens, how it happens – but it didn’t. It just assumed this was the way things were and moved onto Ollie’s own story, which turned out to be just fine with me.

Since the novel is told from the point of view of a teenage boy, it is filled with all sorts of lewd observations and actions – sex, drugs, and roll ‘n roll, right? At first, this nonstop barrage of jokes and sex talk was irritating to me, but then it occurred to me that maybe this is really how a teen boy would react to his impending death, covering his real feelings with humor. Here, he has just told his best friend about his letter:

Shane claps me on the back. “Listen, I’ve known you since you were a baby, man. You’re like a brother. I know everything there is to know about you, and lots of stuff I wish I didn’t. It’s not just my job to tell you the truth, it’s my obligation.”

We stand in silence until finally I say, “What do we do about my letter?” because standing around not talking about our feelings feels way gayer than actually talking about our feelings.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not going back to class. I already know how the war ends. We won. And I don’t want to stand around and cry about my letter.”

So, Ollie and Shane skip school and bring along Ronnie, their childhood friend and Ollie’s recent girlfriend (who broke up with him). They embark on the kinds of things you would expect teenagers with nothing to lose to embark on. Filled with dark humor, The Deathday Letter explores life and death, love and sex, and the meaning of friendship. Though crude at times, the novel redeems itself with a tender, thoughtful, and thought-provoking ending. I’m glad I read it.

240 pages, Simon Pulse

For more information, check out the author's website and blog.

It's Monday 5/30! What Are You Reading?

2011-05-30T09:54:00.000-04:00

These Monday holidays always feel strange - doesn't really feel like a Monday, does it? I have spent most of the holiday weekend struggling with a severe flare-up of my chronic illness. This just came out of the blue - it's been almost a year since I had an episode this bad - and I don't know what triggered this. All my plans for getting caught up around the house had to be set aside. I have been reading a lot, though, and trying to rest. Thank goodness for engrossing books! Here's what we're reading this week:

I finished reading The Condition by Jennifer Haigh, one of my favorite authors. Like her earlier novel, Baker Towers, this one is also about family. Everyone in my book group enjoyed it very much.
Because of book group commitments, I've read several adult books in a row without my usual alternating between kids/teen books and grown-up ones, so next I read a teen/YA book, The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson. Narrated by a teen boy who knows he will die in 24 hours, this was a bit crude, but its dark humor and thoughtful ending grew on me.
Now I'm reading The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon, a local author here in Delaware. I loved her two memoirs, Riding the Bus with My Sister and Building a Home with my Husband. This novel about a young mentally handicapped woman locked up in an instituation in the 50's and 60's is absolutely wonderful - I was completely hooked within the first chapter (perfect for sick days!).
My husband, Ken, is reading Num8ers by Rachel Ward, a teen/YA thriller, based on my recommendation.
16-year old Jamie is still working his way through a re-reading of the entire Redwall series by Brian Jacques, in between getting through his last weeks of school. He says he has only 3 books left to go!

I posted a review of The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht last week at Book By Book.

What are you and your family reading this week? Hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend!

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey).

It's Monday 5/23! What Are You Reading?

2011-05-23T09:35:00.000-04:00

Huh? What? Monday already? I was just sitting here trying to catch up on my 100 e-mails from the weekend, when I remembered it was Monday, and I was late writing my book post! Slow start...

This time of year is just so busy, with all sorts of end-of-year school functions, last soccer games, overwhelming yard work needed, plus last-minute vacation planning before summer starts. We spent our weekend on all of those, with more coming up this week.

Still trying to squeeze in some reading, as well!

I finished reading The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht (though not until the day after my book group discussion!). It was well-written but a very complicated book - we all agreed it was a good thing we had each other to talk to! I still have some lingering questions about it. Definitely a literary novel.
As soon as I finished The Tiger's Wife, I moved onto my book group book for this week (sometimes they fall one right after the other like this!), The Condition by Jennifer Haigh. I am loving this novel so far. Haigh is one of my favorite authors - she is especially talented at writing about family relationships.
I finished Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton on my iPod, a fascinating memoir about a very unusual life.
I started a new audio, Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, a teen/YA novel about a troubled teen girl who becomes engrossed in the story of a teen girl during the French Revolution. It's excellent so far.
My husband, Ken, finished Once a Spy by Keith Thomson and moved onto its sequel, Twice a Spy. He's enjoying this author.
16-year old Jamie is still working his way through a re-reading of the entire Redwall series by Brian Jacques. We're planning a 3-week trip to California, and he's very worried about how to bring enough books. On our usual road trips, he packs a whole duffle bag with nothing but books, but this time we're flying. I think we'll ship a box out there to my aunt's house before we go!

I posted two reviews last week: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese at Book By Book and Sapphique by Catherine Fisher here. I also posted a link to an excellent radio interview with author Diane Ackerman that I really enjoyed last week.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

Teen/YA Review: Sapphique

2011-05-19T19:17:00.000-04:00

Last year, the teen/YA audio novel Incarceron kept my family riveted during our spring break road trip to Louisiana and back. Author Catherine Fisher had created a very unique world that combined modern technology with an old-fashioned veneer. This spring break, as we drove to Oklahoma and back, its sequel, Sapphique, helped the miles fly by. (I tried to avoid second book spoilers here, but if you haven’t read Incarceron yet, you’d be better off reading that review).

As in the first book, the action of this second novel switches back and forth between Incarceron, the grimy, industrial, living prison and the outside world, where nobility and peasants live as though it were an earlier century, despite the ignored existence of very advanced technology. Now, really, if you haven’t read Incarceron yet, you might want to skip the next two paragraphs…

At the start of the novel, Finn is trying to adjust to life Outside with Claudia, but he finds that it has its own challenges and is not the utopia he’d thought it was. Meanwhile, the friends he left behind in Incarceron, Attia and Keiro, continue to struggle within the prison, in search of a magical glove, said to have been the way that the legendary Sapphique escaped.

Claudia worries about her father, who is now trapped within Incarceron, and her beloved tutor, Jared, whose health continues to worsen, and can’t help but have doubts as to whether Finn is truly the missing prince, though she wants to believe it. When another young man shows up, also claiming to be the lost prince, Finn must somehow prove he is the true heir in order to save both his and Claudia’s lives.

I think we all favored Incarceron just a bit, perhaps for its surprising turns and new setting, but Sapphique had plenty of its own twists and surprises to keep us listening happily for hours. Reader Kim Mai Guest did a marvelous job with both books, giving each character his or her own unique voice. Fans of fantasy and dystopian novels (though this isn’t strictly dystopian) will thoroughly enjoy both books in Catherine Fisher’s imaginative and fast-paced set.

Listening Library

Listen to a sample of Sapphique:

It's Monday 5/16! What Are You Reading?

2011-05-16T08:37:00.000-04:00

Monday...and another dark, rainy day. It's supposed to rain all week, with possible thunderstorms and hail today! I am just hoping life will return to (somewhat) normal this week.

Last week, my family traveled to Washington, DC, to give testimony in front of the CFS Advisory Committee (within the Department of Health and Human Services) about how the immune disorder, ME/CFS, has affected our lives. If you're interested, you can watch our testimony at this link. While in town, we also met with a couple of our Congressional representatives to ask for more equitable distribution of funds for ME/CFS research.

Anyway, it was very rewarding but completely exhausting! My oldest son is still home from school, and I was pretty useless the rest of the week, though feeling better now. I had no time at all for blogging last week and not much time for reading, either, so please excuse me if I didn't have a chance to visit your blog or reply to your comments. I hope to be able to make the round this week! Here's our reading update:

I am reading The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht for my neighborhood book group. It took me a while to get into it because I was only reading about 5 pages a day! It's very good, and I'm glad to have a chance to read such a hot new novel - I often don't read new books until they've come out in paperback. Now I need to somehow find time to finish it before Wednesday - it's not looking good!
My husband, Ken, is now reading Once a Spy by Keith Thomson, a book I found at the library. He said he's enjoying it so much that he's also bringing it's sequel, Twice a Spy, with him on a business trip this week (it must be good for him to carry two hardcovers with him!).
Jamie, 16, read another 3 Redwall books by Brian Jacques last week, in his quest to re-read the entire series! Since he's been home sick, this has worked out well - these are his "comfort books," old favorites.
Jamie is also reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne for his American Lit class...but much more reluctantly than the Redwall books, as you can imagine!
I am still listening to Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton on my iPod. She has certainly led an interesting life, to say the least! I think I am almost done with this fascinating memoir.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

It's Monday 5/9! What Are You Reading?

2011-05-09T15:33:00.000-04:00

Please pardon the very late post today - our life has been a whirlwind of travel lately (and this week will continue in that vein). After our boys' two soccer games Saturday, we drove up to Connecticut to spend Mother's Day with my mom and my sister and their families (this week is also my mom's birthday). Then we turned around and drove back home less than 24 hours later! Despite the quick turnaround, it was good to see everyone. No one can make me laugh like my family! I hope everyone else had a good Mother's Day.

This morning, my son and I headed back up the NJ Turnpike to see our Lyme doctor (a 90-minute drive each way). We didn't have much time for reading this week:

I have finally, just today, finished Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. It took me over two weeks to read this hefty novel, but it is well-worth it, a unique story of a set of twins, born conjoined at the head, and raised in Ethiopa. I finished it today and thought, "Shoot, that wasn't for a book group...now who will I talk to about it??"
My husband, Ken, finished Fear, a thriller by Jeff Abbott.
He has now moved onto Once a Spy by Keith Thomson. I had pulled Twice a Spy off the New Release shelf at the library for him, but when he tried to read it, he discovered it was the sequel to another book, so I requested the first one from the library for him!
Jamie, 16, is still on his Redwall re-reading binge. I asked him today if he was planning to re-read the entire series (for perhaps the third time?), and he said, "Yes! And I'm trying to read them in chronological order this time," which is different than the order they were published in. I have no idea how many more he read this week - I gave up trying to keep track!
On our way to and from Connecticut, we finished listening to Sapphique by Catherine Fisher in the car. Though I think we all favored the first book, Incarceron, slightly, the sequel was well worth our time and provided a satisfying conclusion to the story.

Because I've been reading the same book for two weeks, I didn't post any reviews last week but did post a variety of other fun stuff: my April reading summary, a photo of a surprise bookmark Jamie found in one of our older books and a discussion of found bookmarks, and my lists of Top Ten Books I Read Based on Recommendations both here and at Book By Book.

Tomorrow we head to Washington, DC, for a special awareness event and lobbying day on Wednesday for kids and teens with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (the immune system disorder that both of my sons and I have) - exciting but hectic! So things may be quiet here at the book blog for much of this week.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(what are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey).

Children's Book Choice Awards Winners Announced

2011-05-06T19:10:00.000-04:00

At a big event Monday night, the 4th annual Children's Book Choice Awards were presented. Why is this awards show news-worthy? Because kids themselves choose the winners!

Here are the major category winners:

Kindergarten to second grade: Little Pink Pup by Johanna Kerby (Putnam)

Third to fourth grade: Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf)

Fifth to sixth grade: The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles: Book 1) by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion)

Teen: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (Dutton)

In addition, David Wiesner was named Illustrator of the Year and Rick Riordan was named Author of the Year. This is a big honor for Riordan, who just 5 years ago was a middle-school teacher stunned by the success of The Lightning Thief back in 2006 when I corresponded with him after reviewing his first book for Family Fun magazine (don't you just love stories like that in the writing world?)

Check out this article at Publisher's Weekly for all the details, plus photos from the awards ceremony.

Have you read any of the winners? Do you agree with the kids' choices? Who would be your choice for Author of the Year?

Found Bookmarks

2011-05-06T08:23:00.000-04:00

Have you ever found an unusual bookmark in a library book or used book you purchased or borrowed? It's often a quirky little bit of serendipity that makes you wonder about the book's previous readers!

This happened within our own home a couple of weeks ago. My 16-year old son, Jamie, was home sick and reading straight through the entire series of Orson Scott Card's that begins with Ender's Game. He was reading book 3, Xenocide, when he called me over to show me what he'd found stuck in its pages - this adorable little laminated photo of himself, at about 18 months old, sitting on Santa's lap! That must have been the last time I read the book.

This unexpected find made us both smile and reminded me that I'd heard before about blogs that post odd bookmarks found within books. Here are two of them: Forgotten Bookmarks and Pre-Owned Bookmarks.

I typically use real bookmarks to mark my place - paper ones from our local indie bookstore or nice ones I received as gifts - but my husband uses whatever slip of paper he finds nearby - receipts, golf score cards, greeting cards, etc. Jamie doesn't use bookmarks at all - he just remembers what page he was on! I could never do that.

How about you? What do you use as bookmarks? And what is the oddest thing you have ever found stuck in a borrowed or second-hand book?

Great Books for Kids and Teens

Middle-Grade Review: Wonderstruck

It's Monday 1/30! What Are You Reading?

ALA Announces Award Winners!

Teen/YA Review: Divergent

It's Monday 1/23! What Are You Reading?

2012 Reading Challenges

It's Monday 1/16! What Are You Reading?

Middle-Grade Review: Breadcrumbs

It's Monday 1/9! What Are You Reading?

Best Kids/Teen Books Read in 2011

It's Monday 1/2! What Are You Reading?

Fall Into Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

Teen/YA Review: Marcelo in the Real World

Middle-Grade/Teen Review: After Ever After

Kids' Books for Christmas

It's Monday 12/26! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday 12/19! What Are You Reading?

Middle-Grade Review: Nicholas St. North (The Guardians)

It's Monday 12/12! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday 12/5! What Are You Reading?

Teen/YA Review: Goldstrike

It's Monday 11/28! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday 11/21! What Are You Reading?

Middle-Grade Review: The Roar

Top Ten Unread Kids/Teen Books on My Shelf

First Peek at Hunger Games Movie Trailer!

It's Monday 11/14! What Are You Reading?

Picture Book Review: The Hundred Dresses

PW's Best Children's Books of 2011

Fall Into Reading Challenge Question #7 & Update

Top Ten Kid/Teen Books That Took Me Out of My Comfort Zone

It's Monday 11/7! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday 10/31! What Are You Reading?

Teen/YA Review: The Eleventh Plague

It's Monday 10/24! What Are You Reading?

Picture Book Review: M.O.M. – Mom Operating Manual

It's Monday 10/17! What Are You Reading?

Teen/YA Reviews: Linger and Forever

Today Show Features Wonderstuck

It's Monday 10/10! What Are You Reading?

Teen/YA Review: Bruiser

It's Monday 10/3! What Are You Reading?

Middle-Grade Review: Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf

Top Ten Kids/Teen Books I Want to Reread

It's Monday 9/26! What Are You Reading?

Fall Into Reading Challenge 2011

Top Ten Kids/Teen Books Everyone Has Read But Me

It's Monday 9/19! What Are You Reading?

Teen/YA Review: Cryer’s Cross

Top Ten Kid/Teen Sequels We're Dying To Read

It's Monday 9/5! What Are You Reading?

Middle-Grade Review: Alibi Junior High

Top Ten Kid/Teen Books on my TBR List for Fall

It's Monday 8/29! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday 8/22! What Are You Reading?

Middle-Grade Review: The Search for WondLa

It's Monday 8/15! What Are You Reading?

Teen/YA Review: Revolution

Top Ten Underrated Books for Kids and Teens

It's Monday 8/8! What Are You Reading?

Teen/YA Review: Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

It's Monday 8/1! What Are You Reading?

Teen Fiction Review: The Black (Morpheus Road)

First Look at Gale and Peeta in Hunger Games Movie

Top Ten Kids/Teen Books That Tackle Tough Issues

It's Monday 7/25! What Are You Reading?

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, book and movie

It's Monday 7/18! What Are You Reading?

Teen/YA Review: Deadly

Top Ten Kids/Teen Authors I'd Love to Meet

It's Monday 7/11! What Are You Reading?

Some of the Books Jamie Read on Vacation

It's Monday 7/4! What Are You Reading?

Middle-Grade Review: My So-Called Family

Courtney Sheinmel’s middle-grade novel, My So-Called Family, is definitely a 21st-century type of story, about a girl who has a donor instead of a dad. It’s a well-written book that takes a look at the meaning of family.

It's Monday 6/6! What Are You Reading?

Teen/YA Review: The Deathday Letter

The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson is a teen/YA novel with more depth and warmth than first appears. It grew on me the longer I read, and, as I finished it, I was surprised to realize that I had actually liked it quite a bit.

It's Monday 5/30! What Are You Reading?

Courtney Sheinmel’s middle-grade novel, My So-Called Family, is definitely a 21^st-century type of story, about a girl who has a donor instead of a dad. It’s a well-written book that takes a look at the meaning of family.