It's Monday 7/30! What Are You Reading?

Well, my week of quiet solitude is over!  On Saturday, we picked up our two teen sons from their week of sailing with their grandparents.  All of them were exhausted when we met up with them!  Though I wasn't happy to have the TV on all day yesterday, it is nice to have the boys back home.  Now it is almost August, and school starts four weeks from today - the summer is flying by!


We all enjoyed some good books last week:

• I am still reading Sharp North by Patrick Cave, a teen/YA dystopian novel and one of my Big Book Summer Challenge choices.  It's interesting and engaging so far, a unique story set in the UK years after disastrous flooding has changed the world.  My son, Jamie, loved it and recommended it to me.
• I am still listening to Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, a middle-grade audio book that won the Odyssey Award for Audio Book Excellence...with good reason!  It is wonderful, and I am enjoying it very much.
• I also read Book 5: Prince of the Elves in the popular Amulet graphic novel series.  The drawings were good, but I had no idea what was happening throughout the entire book - obviously the result of starting with Book 5!  From what I've heard, it's been a bestseller, so we will have to try starting with Book 1 to see for ourselves.
• My husband, Ken, is still reading George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings, Book 2 in this popular series of huge books!
• While on the boat last week, Jamie, 17, read The Rogue Crew by Brian Jacques, part of the Redwall series which was Jamie's favorite when he was younger.  He's not sure how he missed this one, but he thoroughly enjoyed this bit of comfort reading!
• When he returned from the boat, I convinced Jamie to try Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.  He read for hours yesterday and is LOVING it (as I knew he would!).  It's just such a fun, unique novel, filled with 80's pop culture references that I knew Jamie would enjoy.
• Craig, 14, took a break from reading while on his trip, but yesterday he reluctantly started his second required book for the summer, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.  He has been dreading this one!  To him, it looks like a "girly" novel.  According to the Amazon description, the story goes "...from hair ribbons and secret crushes to gunrunning and prison torture," so hopefully, he can tolerate the hair ribbons and crushes parts and enjoy the action and suspense!

Even though the kids were gone last week, I still had a very busy week with not nearly as much time for writing as I'd hoped, so I posted just one new review: Liesl and Po, a wonderful middle-grade audio book.  I also posted a link to a hilarious blog post, where a writer mom asked her 6-year old daughter to explain what various classic novels were about, from looking at their covers - lots of fun!


What are you and your family reading this week?


(What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Middle-Grade Review: Liesl and Po

I’ve heard great things about Lauren Oliver’s novels, but I’d never read one, so I was glad for the opportunity to listen to the middle-grade audio book Liesl and Po.  This unique tale of a girl who befriends a ghost was full of fun and adventure.

Young Liesl lives in her attic bedroom, locked there by her stepmother (the quintessential evil stepmother) since her beloved father died.  One night, a ghost named Po appears in her room, and the two lonely souls find comfort in each other and become friends.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, a young orphan named Will, who is apprenticed to a cruel alchemist, mixes up two wooden boxes and delivers them to the wrong recipients, with dire consequences. The two desperate children each set out on their own quests to right wrongs, and their destinies eventually intertwine in a magical story about friendship and family.

I really enjoyed this engaging adventure story, with surprises around every corner.  It reminded me a bit, in tone and subject matter, of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, though Liesl and Po has a wholly unique plot.  Po is a gentle, kind sort of ghost, but the bad guys in this story are truly evil, in fairy tale style.  In the end, good triumphs over evil, and every character gets what he or she deserves in a satisfying conclusion. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book, performed by the very talented Jim Dale (narrator of the Harry Potter audios and many other excellent audio books).  However, I just saw on Amazon that the paper book is illustrated with beautiful pencil drawings, so I think that either format would be an excellent choice for middle-grade readers and their families.  You can listen to a sample of the audio here.

HarperChildren’s Audio

This video provides a peek at the beautiful illustrations:
Video Trailer for Liesl and Po

And here is a wonderful video interview with Lauren Oliver about the writing of Liesl and Po:
Interview with Lauren Oliver

It's Monday 7/23! What Are You Reading?

Today is my birthday!  Happy Birthday to me - ha ha.  I am celebrating by relaxing alone at home - ahhhh!  My sons are off on their grandparents' sailboat for a week, so my husband and I are enjoying a rare bit of peace and quiet.  Life is so easy with just the two of us - we haven't run the dishwasher in 2 days, and it's still not full!

My 8th birthday!

We had a good reading week:

•  I finished reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and I LOVED this unique novel!  It is just so much fun but has some depth to it as well.  I found myself thinking about the characters days after I'd finished the book - always the sign of a good novel.  I can't wait to listen to the book discussion of it on The Readers, one of my favorite book podcasts.  And my husband and son will love this book, too!
  
• Now I am reading Sharp North by Patrick Cave, a teen/YA dystopian novel that has been sitting on my TBR shelf for far too long.  My Big Book Summer Challenge motivated me to finally read it.
  
• I am listening to Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, a middle-grade audio book that won an Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audio Book Production.  I can see why it won an award - I am loving it so far and hoping to have more time to listen with the kids gone this week!
• I also read another graphic novel that Scholastic sent me: Drama by Raina Telgemeier. I really enjoyed this story about a middle school musical production, especially since my son had the lead role in his middle school's musical this spring!
• My husband, Ken, is still reading George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings (Book 2).  He wants to read Ready Player One before I return it to the library but is too immersed in this hefty tome for now!
• Jamie, 17, finished The Sapphire Rose, Book 3 in David Eddings' Elenium Trilogy.  He really enjoyed this fantasy series that his Dad recommended.
• Jamie told me on the phone this morning that he is now reading The Rogue Crew by Brian Jacques.  He LOVED the Redwall series when he was younger and just discovered this one title that he'd never read before.  It was his first-ever purchase at his college bookstore!  And he loves to read books about sailing or the ocean while he is on the sailboat.
• Craig, 14, finished the first of two required summer reading books this week, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  He found it interesting, and is now enjoying a break from reading during his vacation (yes, I have one son who brings an extra bag full of books on vacation and another who doesn't read at all on vacation!).

I posted two reviews last week:  The Postmistress by Sarah Blake and Cardboard, a middle-grade graphic novel by Doug Tennepel.


My Big Book Summer Challenge is well underway, but there is still time to participate if you have a big book (or two) that you'd like to read this summer.  Check out the challenge and the links to some big book reviews!


What are you and your family reading this week?


(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted at Teach Mentor Texts.)

Middle-Grade Review: Cardboard

I’m not usually a big fan of graphic novels.  I did enjoy a few of the Bone books, by author Jeff Smith, that we had around the house and my son loved the Sardine in Outer Space books by Emmanuel Guibert books when he was younger, but I rarely read or request graphic novels now.  Scholastic recently sent me a few graphic novels (uncorrected proofs) that I hadn’t asked for, so I thought I’d just take a quick look when I had a few minutes.  The first one I read was Cardboard by Doug Tennapel, and I was impressed by its clever premise and creative story.

Mike is a single father without a job.  The opening panels make it clear that he is a good guy and a skilled carpenter, but he can’t find work in the depressed economy and is becoming desperate.  Today is his son’s birthday, and he wants to get Cam something special, but he doesn’t even have enough money for food.  On his way home, he sees a roadside stand where a mysterious man is selling toys, but he can’t afford any of them.  When he mentions that his son is a really good boy who deserves a good birthday present, the man offers him an empty cardboard box for exactly the amount of change in Mike’s pocket.  Mike thinks it’s pretty lame, but he figures he and Cam can do some sort of creative project with the cardboard box.

He brings it home, and Cam good-naturedly suggests they build a boxer out of the box, so father and son work together late into the night to build a cardboard man.  While they are sleeping, the cardboard man comes to life and announces that his name is Bill.  Mike and Cam are astounded but thrilled with the magical cardboard that brought their new friend to life, but the neighborhood bully, Marcus, discovers their secret and wants the magic for himself.

The story turns into a fantastical adventure, with all sorts of cardboard creations coming to life and wreaking havoc on the neighborhood.  It’s a battle of Cam’s (and Bill’s) goodness versus Marcus’ evil, and things quickly get out of hand until the boys are no longer in control.  As I said, I’m certainly not a graphic novel expert, but I enjoyed reading this and thought the drawings and text told an interesting story.  The novel is filled with action and is fast-paced, an original and exciting story sure to please young boys and reluctant readers in particular.

285 pages, Scholastic

It's Monday 7/16! What Are You Reading?

Whew, another crazy busy week.  I literally had appointments every single day last week - run, run, run!  Fortunately, all that time in waiting rooms gave me some extra reading time...a silver lining!

Here's what we read last week:

• I finished The Postmistress by Sarah Blake...almost in time for the book discussion at my library!  I had 10 pages to go when it was time for the meeting, so I finished it right afterward.  It was a good book, and it sparked some great discussions!  I'll post a review this week.
• Although I normally alternate between kids' books and grown-up books, I had another library book/discussion book that I couldn't wait to read!  I am reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline to prepare for a book discussion on one of my favorite podcasts, The Readers.  I've been hearing great things about this novel since it was published a year ago and am so glad I finally got to it.  It is really, really good, a story about a teen in 2045 who is competing in a huge worldwide online game inside the virtual reality world where most of Earth's human residents now spend their waking hours.  The game's creator (a sort of Gates/Zuckerberg geek success) was obsessed with the 80's, so the novel - and the game - are filled with 80's pop culture references.  It's a great story and lots of fun!
• My husband, Ken, is still reading George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings (Book 2)...and will be for a while!  He's enjoying this hefty book.
• Jamie, 17, is busy with school work but found time to continue reading David Eddings' The Elenium Trilogy.  He finished book 2, The Ruby Knight, and is now reading book 3, The Sapphire Rose.  He seems to be enjoying this series by one of his dad's favorite authors!
• Craig, 14, is still reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, one of his required reading books for the summer.  He's enjoying it and finding it interesting, but he'd rather be out with his friends than reading!

I lugged my laptop along to several appointments last week, so I also had time to catch up on a few reviews while sitting in waiting rooms!  I reviewed two of my Big Book Summer reads:  Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel.  I also posted a summary of Books Read in June (better late than never!).


There are eight of us now participating in the Big Book Summer Challenge, and reviews are being posted, so check it out.  There's still plenty of time left in the summer to read a big book, so join the fun!  And if you are already participating, be sure to add your own big book review links!


What are you and your family reading this week?


(What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Teen/YA Review: Blood Red Road

My first Big Book Summer read was Blood Red Road, a dystopian/post-apocalyptic teen/YA novel by Moira Young.  The book is written in a unique, sparse style that took some getting used to, but the compelling story pulled me in and held my attention.

Eighteen-year old Saba lives in a desolate future wasteland with her twin brother, Lugh, their father, and their 9-year old sister, Emmi.  Their mother died giving birth to Emmi, and the family lives a fairly harsh existence, plagued by dust storms and struggling day-to-day to find food.

Their difficult but peaceful existence is disrupted by a raging sandstorm one day that brings four mysterious, cloaked horsemen who snatch Lugh and take him away.  Devastated by the loss of her beloved twin, Saba sets out on a quest to find Lugh.  Away from the isolation and safety of their home, Saba discovers that the outside world is a dangerous and frightening place.  She is forced to take care of and defend herself for the first time in her life, and she learns she is much stronger than she thought.  Along the way, she meets a clever, attractive loner named Jack whom she’s not sure she can trust and an all-girl gang of revolutionaries called the Free Hawks.

The whole story is told in Saba’s voice, in a sort of slang, and written in a spare style without quotation marks.  Here’s an excerpt from the first chapter, where Lugh is trying to fix their roof with help from his sisters:

And then there’s Emmi. She’s doin what she always does, which is pester me an Lugh. She dogs my heels as I go from the ladder to the junk pile and back.

            I wanna help, she says.

            Hold the ladder then, I says.

            No! I mean really help! All you ever let me do is hold the ladder!

            Well, I says, maybe that’s all yer fit fer. You ever think of that?

            She folds her arms across her skinny little chest and scowls at me. Yer mean, she says.

            So you keep telling me, I says.

When I first began reading the novel, I found the style a bit off-putting, but it didn’t take long for me to get into the rhythm of it.  Once the story pulled me in, I got used to the unusual writing approach, and by the end of the novel, it felt like exactly the right way to tell the story from Saba’s perspective, reflecting the desolation of that time and place.

This is a fast-paced, action-packed story of a young woman finding her inner strength in a dangerous and lawless time.  It’s filled with twists and turns that keep you guessing…and cheering for Saba and her new friends.  The title page says this is Dustlands, Book 1.  I can’t wait for Book 2 (scheduled or release on October 30)!

459 pages, Margaret K. McElderry Books (Imprint of Simon & Schuster)

It's Monday 7/9! What Are You Reading?

I'm a little late posting today - spent all morning running errands and going to appointments.  Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer??

In fact, I was insanely busy all last week - post-vacation catch-up!  I am making progress, slowly but surely.  I am down to just 100 unread e-mails now (I started with 1000!).  So, little time for either reading or blogging last week, but I am hoping to get back to normal this week. 

Here's what we read last week:

• I finished Outlander by Diana Galbaldon.  I enjoyed it very much and would definitely read another in the series...when  have a few weeks to devote to it!
• I am diverting briefly from my Big Book Summer focus to read a novel for my library's book group, The Postmistress by Sarah Blake.  I don't know if I'll be able to finish in time for the discussion on Wednesday, but I am enjoying the book.
• I started a new audio, the middle-grade novel, Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt.  I have only finished disk 1, but I am loving it already.
• In a few spare moments (OK, I admit it, in the bathroom), I read a new middle-grade graphic novel, Cardboard by Doug Tennapel.  I liked it more than I expected to - it's a unique premise and a very clever story about magic cardboard that gets out of hand.
• My husband, Ken, finally got his turn with George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings (Book 2) now that our son finished the first three books!
• Jamie, 17, had to get back to work upon returning home (he still has 2 classes to finish this summer), so he's not reading as much as he'd like to, but he is continuing to enjoy David Eddings' The Elenium Trilogy with the second book, The Ruby Knight.

Two more bloggers signed up for the Big Book Summer Challenge last week - welcome!  Join the fun - there's still plenty of time to read a big book this summer (or two).

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a middle-grade/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Books.)

It's Monday 7/2! What Are You Reading?

No, don't worry, I didn't enter Witness Protection.  I disappeared for a few weeks because we were on vacation!  Our vacations are mostly tech-free - long road trips cross country, camping along the way.  We drove to South Dakota's Black Hills - one of our favorite places on earth! - to visit family and enjoy all the amazing scenery, and we made lots of fun stops along the way.  Although I did miss interacting with friends online, I have to admit that I didn't miss all the obligations and responsibilities - of course, now I have 950 e-mail messages to wade through!

So, we read lots of great books over the past 3 weeks (it's actually been a full month since my last Monday update).  We read far fewer than usual, though, because all of us were focused on some really BIG books - perfect for my Big Book Summer Challenge!  Here's the run-down:

• Before we left, I finished Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a teen dystopian novel and my first Big Book of the summer, at 459 pages.  It's an unusual novel, written in a unique style, but it grew on me - the story was gripping.
• During our trip, I read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.  At 850 pages, it lasted our entire trip (and I am still working on finishing it!).  I am loving it - it is just as good as everyone has told me for years - an epic story about a woman in Scotland in 1945 who gets sent back in time to the 1700's.
• My husband, Ken, finished reading George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.  He loved it but very kindly held off on starting Book 2 because he knew our son would fly through both books (he was right!).  
• Next, Ken read Running Blind by one of his favorite authors, Lee Child.
• Jamie, 17, started the trip by reading and enjoying The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, a recent re-release by favorite author Nancy Farmer, while he waited (rather impatiently!) for Ken to finish Martin's novel! 
• Next, as predicted, Jamie flew through George R.R. Martin's series, reading A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords (which we gave to Ken for Father's Day while we were away!).  He loved the series and can't wait to read Book 4!
• After polishing off those three enormous novels, Jamie delved into the duffel bag of books he brought with him (he reads a LOT on our trips!) and started The Diamond Throne by David Eddings, Book 1 of The Elenium trilogy.  Eddings is an old favorite author of my husband's, so he picked up two of his trilogies at the used bookstore for our son before we left.
• Craig, 14, started his assigned summer reading for school while we were gone with Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and was surprised to find it fascinating!
• In the car, we listened to a new teen audio book, Revived by Cat Patrick, a creepy sci fi/romance about a girl who is part of a secret government program to test a new drug that can revive people who have died.  Ken and Jamie thought there was too much romance and not enough action, but we all enjoyed the intriguing and unique story.

So, that's about it.  I did manage to post two new reviews before we left:  The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern and The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez, a teen memoir.  I also posted a summary of Books Read in May...and now it's already time to summarize June!


It's still early in the summer - plenty of time left to sign up for the Big Book Summer Challenge if you haven't yet!  It's an easy-breezy challenge - you only need to read one big book (over 400 pages) this summer to participate.  Sign up today and join the fun!  Here are a few pictures from our trip.  If you are interested, you can see more at our trip blog.

Ken and I at Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park, SD

Craig and Jamie at Mount Rushmore

All of us at Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin

Teen/YA Review: The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir

I always enjoy reading memoirs, so the new teen/YA memoir The Pregnancy Project, by teen Gaby Rodriguez, caught my eye.  Gaby’s story is a captivating one, well told with the help of author Jenna Glatzer.

Gaby comes from a long line of teen mothers.  Her own mother became pregnant at just fourteen and went on to have seven more children.  Her grandmother and aunts were all teen moms, too, as well as some of her own older sisters.  Gaby, an intelligent, hard-working young woman, was determined not to follow in their footsteps and become another statistic.  Her family’s history, though, made the topic of teen pregnancy intriguing to her.

So, when it was time to choose a year-long Senior Project along with her classmates, Gaby came up with something truly unique.  With the approval of her principal (and her mother and boyfriend), Gaby pretended to become pregnant in order to observe how friends, peers, family, and teachers treated her and to explore the stereotypes of pregnant teens.  This memoir is the story of Gaby’s project and her experiences inside the world of a pregnant teen.  It is eye-opening, to say the least.

I was fascinated by this memoir and by Gaby’s story.  Apparently, so was the rest of the world, as Gaby became an overnight sensation, sought after by every newspaper, TV network, and talk show in the nation (and beyond).  Lifetime even made a movie about her experiences (I’d like to see that).  Her memoir provides an inside look at high school, poor Hispanic populations, and the plight of pregnant teens.  It should be required reading for every teen girl.

216 pages, Simon & Schuster

 

It's Monday 6/4! What Are You Reading?

Wow, last week was just a nonstop whirlwind of activity, but I survived!  Our oldest son, Jamie, graduated with honors from high school this weekend.  We are so proud of him!

So, amid all the preparations, house guests, graduation activities, and party, none of us had much time for reading, and I had no time at all for writing blog posts or book reviews.  I don't expect it to get much better this week:  we have more house guests, our son's 8th grade graduation, and lots of vacation preparation.

Still, we did squeeze in a little reading:

• I read The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir by Gaby Rodriguez, a very unique teen/YA memoir written by a young woman who pretended to be pregnant during her senior year in high school in order to observe how friends, peers, family, and teachers treated her and explore stereotypes of pregnant teens.  It was a fascinating memoir.  I'd like to see the Lifetime movie made from her book.
• Next, I decided to get started on My Big Book Summer Challenge with an easy one, Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a dystopian teen/YA novel.  It is written in a very unusual style with sparse prose and no quotation marks, but the story is so engaging that is has grown on me.  It's getting hard to put down now!
• My husband, Ken, is still reading A Game of Thorns by George R.R. Martin, but he says he only has 150 pages to go now!  He's really enjoying it.  He was already perusing the TBR shelves last night, trying to decide what to read next while we're on vacation. 
• Jamie, 17, had a very busy week, filled with all sorts of senior activities at school, plus trying to finish his work (he was sick a lot this year so has some work to finish over the summer), but when he needed a break, he read Spiral by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Book 5 in the Tunnels series.  Talk about Big Books - these are all huge!  Jamie loves this series and says it just keeps getting better.
• Craig, 14, finished Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen, part of his series that begins with Hatchet, a favorite in our family.  We'd listened to the audio many years ago, but Craig enjoyed reading the book.  He is now finished with his reading requirements for middle school!  Thank goodness he has some required summer reading for his new high school or he'd probably not read at all during the summer!

 Remember to sign up for the Big Book Summer Challenge - in keeping with the easy-going nature of summer, there are few requirements - just read one book over 400 pages (or as many big books as you like!).  Check out my own stack of big books I hope to read this summer and sign up yourself!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

It's Monday 5/28! What Are You Reading?

Happy Memorial Day!  These Monday holidays always feel strange, to not have to get up to the alarm and run around first thing on a Monday morning - not that I'm complaining!  My younger son has been in Connecticut with his grandparents this weekend, and my husband, older son, and I have been taking it easy, trying to recover a bit from our hectic weeks.  And there is lots more to come!  This week, we have a raft of school functions, leading up to Jamie's high school graduation on Friday and Craig's "graduation" from middle school next Wednesday, accompanied by lots of family visits!


So, not a lot of time for reading this week, but we all managed some:

• I am almost...wait a minute...OK.  I have just now finished The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern.  This completely unique novel grew on me, pulled me in until I felt I was part of it and came to care about the characters.  I'm sorry it is over now.
• I am still listening to Ghost Knight, a middle-grade novel by Cornelia Funke.  It's very good so far.
• My husband, Ken, is still reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin and enjoying it.  He thinks our oldest son would probably like it, too.
• Jamie, 17, has been reading Spiral by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Book 5 of the Tunnels series.  He says the books just get better and better, and the authors have amazing imaginations!  I've only read the first one, so I will have to check out the rest of the series one of these days.
• Craig, 14, has been reading Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen, one of many sequels to The Hatchet, a favorite in our family.

I did finally find time to write a couple of reviews last week (while in medical waiting rooms!):  Faith by Jennifer Haigh, a hit with my book group, and the teen/YA novel Dead To You by Lisa McMann which I loved.


But the big news here is that I am hosting my first-ever reading challenge!  Big Book Summer Challenge is an easy, laid-back challenge perfect for the relaxed summer months, a chance to tackle one or more of the long books you've been meaning to read but never seem to find time for.  Check it out and sign up!  Here are my own big book goals for the summer.


What are you and your family reading this week?


(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Big Book Summer Challenge!

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hey, I just wanted to let you know about a challenge I am hosting over at Book By Book - my first-ever hosted challenge - Big Book Summer Challenge.

It is all about taking advantage of the long, relaxed summer days to tackle some of the bigger books you may have been putting off!

Here is a picture of the big books I hope to read this summer:

(but you don't have to read a whole stack of big books to join the challenge - just one is enough, if that's what you want to do!)

So, head over to Book By Book for details on the Big Book Summer Challenge and sign up yourself!

Teen/YA Review: Dead To You

I can’t hold in my enthusiasm any longer…I LOVED this book!  I was already a fan of Lisa McMann’s Wake, Fade, and Gone trilogy and her novel Cryer's Cross, so I was excited to see she had a new teen/YA novel out, but Dead To You surpassed even my high expectations.  It is a gripping novel of suspense with a unique premise that I could hardly bear to put down, but it has plenty of emotional depth, too.

Ethan was abducted from his neighborhood when he was just seven years old.  Now 16, he has finally been returned to his family in Minnesota, but it’s not an easy transition.  Ethan retains no memories of his life pre-abduction, and after nine years without him, his family has moved on, even having another child (whom Ethan thinks of as the “replacement child”), though of course his parents are thrilled to finally have him back. 

Ethan’s abductor acted like his mother until she abandoned him, and Ethan feels guilty that he doesn’t hate her, in spite of what she did to his family.  Meanwhile, his younger brother, Blake, just seems bitter and angry toward him. The biggest challenge of all is Ethan’s memory, which remains stubbornly blocked for reasons that none of them understand.  There are some positives, too, like the pretty girl down the street who says they were best friends when they were little, and his adorable little sister, Gracie, whom he bonds with in spite of her role as the replacement child.

I won’t say any more because this is a story best discovered bit by bit by the reader.  It won’t take you long to uncover its secrets, though, because it is so compelling, even when it is horrifying.  It was one of those books that I couldn’t stand to put down but also never wanted to end.  McMann has a talent for telling gripping stories populated by very real-feeling characters.  I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

243 pages, Simon Pulse

It's Monday 5/21! What Are You Reading?

Our crazy, hectic season continues!  Last week was a rough one for me - my husband was away on business, my mom came to visit, my son finished high school, more houseguests came for the weekend, and my younger son had the lead in his school musical!  We went to both shows, Friday and Saturday night, and Craig did an outstanding job as Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance (check out his photo below).  Lots of activity and excitement for all of us!

So, I had no time at all for reading blogs last week or for writing my own reviews or blog posts.  None of us had much reading time, either, though I squeezed in a bit in doctor's waiting rooms last week:

• I finished the teen/YA novel Dead To You by Lisa McMann in record time.  I could hardly bear to set it down - it was absolutely compelling and original, about a teen boy who is returned to his family at 16, after being abducted at 9, and the conflicts that arise as he tries to readjust to his long-lost family.  Amazing book.
• Now I am reading The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern, a novel I borrowed from my mom a few months ago and have been dying to read.  It's a very strange book - unique and magical - but I am becoming immersed in its characters and plot.
• I started a new audio book last week, Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke, a middle-grade novel about a British boy away at boarding school for the first time who encounters murderous ghosts and must enlist the help of a ghost knight to help fend them off.  It's very good so far.
• My husband, Ken, is still reading George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.  He says the beginning is very confusing, with dozens of different characters to keep track of; he's appreciating the lists and charts at the end!
• Jamie, 17, finished re-reading an old favorite, Peter Raven Under Fire by Michael Molloy, a middle-grade pirate adventure.
• Jamie also re-read The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima, Book 3 of the Seven Realms series.  He loves this series and can't wait for the release of The Crimson Crown this fall!
• Craig, 14, finished Attack of the Fiend, Book 4 in The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney.  He needs to read one more book before the end of the school year - I'm not sure what he's chosen for his next one.

As I said, no time for writing reviews or other blog posts last week.  Hopefully, things will be a bit less hectic this week!

What are you and your family reading this week?

What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.

Craig as Frederic (in the striped shirt) in The Pirates of Penzance.

It's Monday 5/14! What Are You Reading?

Just another Manic Monday...

Life continues to be insanely busy, as we hurtle toward the end of the school year and graduation.  Last week, we had play rehearsals, doctor's appointments, physical therapy, soccer, school, and Craig's 8th Grade Semi-Formal Dance (see photo below).  I enjoyed a lovely Mother's Day yesterday - just a quiet day at home with my family (we are usually traveling to spend the weekend with my mom, but she's coming down this week instead).  My husband and sons cooked breakfast for me, gave me flowers and gifts, and took me out for a very nice dinner.  And I finally had some time to start planning our vacation (which is good because it's less than a month away!)  Up this week...lots of houseguests, more doctor's appointments, book group, and Craig's musical (he has the lead in Pirates of Penzance).

So...busy, busy, busy.  Our books provide a brief respite from all the activity:

• I finished Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voight and really enjoyed the warm and tender coming-of-age novel for middle-grade readers and teens.  You can read my review here.
• I also finished Leisl and Po by Lauren Oliver, a wonderful audio book, read by Jim Dale, about a girl who befriends a ghost.
• I just finished reading Faith by Jennifer Haigh for this week's neighborhood book group.  Haigh is one of my favorite authors, and this novel did not disappoint.  It's about a family's reaction when their son/brother, a Catholic priest, is accused of molesting a young boy during the flurry of such accusations in Boston about ten years ago.  It is haunting and thought-provoking.
• Last night, I started a new teen/YA novel, Dead to You by Lisa McMann.  I loved McMann's Wake trilogy and her novel, Cryer's Cross.  Although I just started it, this novel about an abducted teen returned to his family after 9 years, already has me in its grip.
• My husband, Ken, finished Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson and enjoyed the psychological thriller about a woman with amnesia.
• Ken is now reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, a gift I gave him for Easter.  Neither of us have read this popular series (or watched its spin-off TV show), but I thought it sounded like something he'd really like.  He says it is very complicated, with lots of characters, so it takes a while to get into, but he's enjoying it so far.
• Jamie, 17, finished re-reading The Exiled Queen, Book 2 in the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams, one of his new favorites.
• While he is waiting for Book 3 from the library, Jamie picked up another old favorite, Peter Raven Under Fire by Michael Molloy, a middle-grade pirate adventure that he has probably read at least four times before!  This is his version of comfort food.
• Craig, 14, is almost finished with Attack of the Fiend, Book 4 in The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney.  He loves this series!

I managed to write two book reviews last week:  Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson and Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voight, a middle-grade/teen novel.  I also posted a clip from the news about Little Libraries, an idea I just loved!


What are you and your family reading this week?


(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Craig and his friends ready for their semi-formal (Craig is in the middle, in black)

Middle-Grade/Teen Review: Dicey’s Song

Apparently, the Tillerman series by Cynthia Voight is quite well known and has been enjoyed by generations of young (and not so young) girls.  I knew none of that, only that the second book in the series, Dicey’s Song, had won the Newberry Medal and that the series had been recently re-released by Simon & Schuster’s Atheneum imprint.  So I read this warm and tender novel with few expectations and was pleasantly surprised.

In the first book of the series, Homecoming, the four Tillerman children are abandoned by their mother, who is lost in her own misery, so they set off from Rhode Island and make their way all the way to Maryland, to a grandmother they’d never met.  It didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the first book; the relevant details are woven into this story seamlessly.  Twelve-year old Dicey is the oldest of the four children and has gotten used to being responsible for…well, for everything.  So, though they are all happy to be living with Gram, it is a big adjustment for Dicey to go back to being a kid and to share the heavy load of her responsibilities with someone else.

The novel begins the day before school starts, so all four children have a lot of new things to adjust to – new school, new classmates, and new challenges.  Things are difficult at first; each of them has his or her own problems that they must work together as a family to solve.  Besides all this newness, Dicey is facing the additional changes of growing up and entering adolescence.

I really loved this gentle, well-written story with surprising emotional depth for a teen novel. I think this novel will appeal to older middle-grade readers as well (not to mention adults like me!).  Though it seems set slightly in the past, the issues and challenges that the children face are relevant to today’s kids.  I am looking forward to reading more about the Tillerman’s.

247 pages, Atheneum

 

It's Monday 5/7! What Are You Reading?

Life is still insanely busy and rushing past at breakneck speed, but I did manage to do some catching up on my book blogs last week!

Despite the busy week, we all enjoyed some good books:

• I finished Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson, a unique thriller about a woman with amnesia that kept me captivated until the very last page.  Everyone in my book group enjoyed it, too.
• I am now reading Dicey's Song, a middle-grade/teen novel by Cynthia Voight, part of her award-winning series about the Tillerman family.  The books have recently been re-released, and this is my first time reading any of them.  It is excellent - warm and real, about four siblings who have lost their mother and gone to live with their previously unknown grandmother in another state.
• I am also still listening to Leisl and Po by Lauren Oliver on audio.  I am almost done (finally) with this excellent middle-grade novel about a girl and a ghost.
  
• My husband, Ken, temporarily set aside The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman, a nonfiction book about World War II, so that he could read Before I Go To Sleep before it is due back to the library!  I think he is enjoying the unique suspense novel so far.
• Jamie, 17, finished re-reading Maddigan's Fantasia by Margaret Mahy, one of his all-time favorite novels.  He and I are still reading lots of ancient Persian poetry and prose, trying to get him caught up in his World Lit class.  Not the most exciting stuff I've ever read.
• When he needs a break from all his make-up schoolwork, Jamie is re-reading The Exiled Queen, Book 2 of The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima.
• Craig, 14, is reading Book 4 of The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney, Attack of the Fiend.

As I said, I finally had the chance to catch up on reviews last week.  I posted:

• Review of The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, a British novel that won the Man Booker Prize for best novel last year and kept me engaged with its thoughtful story of a man looking back at his life;
• Review of another British novel (I've been on a British streak lately), The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart, which was entirely different, with its funny, warm look at love and marriage;
• A summary of the books I read in April;
• Review of Ship Breaker, a teen/YA dystopian audio that my family enjoyed on a recent road trip;
• And a review of the middle-grade novel Night of the Spadefoot Toads by Bill Harley.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a middle-grade/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Middle-Grade Review: Night of the Spadefoot Toads

Our family loves Bill Harley, author, storyteller, and entertainer-extraordinaire.  His CDs and DVD feature a mixture of silly songs and outrageous stories that we can listen to again and again (and still laugh like crazy!).  He wrote a holiday picture book, Dear Santa: the Letters of James B. Dobbins, that quickly became a favorite in our household (even now that the boys are teens) for its warmth and wit.  So, I was eager to read his latest middle-grade novel, Night of the Spadefoot Toads.  I expected silly humor but instead found a serious, engaging novel with an environmental bent that I enjoyed very much.

Ten-year old Ben is not happy.  His family just moved thousands of miles from his beloved desert in Arizona to cold, wet Massachusetts.  He left behind his best friend, his pet lizard, and the desert landscape he loves.  Ben feels like he doesn’t fit into this new place.  He has no real friends yet and misses the reptiles that lived near his home.  Then, he makes an unlikely friend – his new science teacher, Mrs. Tibbets (who his fellow students estimate is at least a hundred years old!).  She asks Ben to help her with some yard work and, while at her house, shows him some of the unfamiliar flora and fauna in the woods behind her house.

Before long, Ben is as excited as Mrs. Tibbets about the expected appearance of the spadefoot toads, a species that emerges from underground just one night a year (sometimes not at all) after a hard, soaking rain in early spring.  Just as things seem to be looking up for Ben, he learns that Mrs. Tibbets is being forced to sell her house and land to developers, thereby further endangering the rare toads that live there.  In his desire to help the toads, Ben begins to neglect his schoolwork, his family, and even some budding friendships.  He needs to figure out a creative way to save the toads without damaging his own life.

I found myself pulled into this intriguing novel right from the start.  The characters are well-drawn and realistic.  Although it does not feature Harley’s renowned silliness, it is clear that he remembers what it is like to be a kid, just as his funny stories from his own childhood told in his live shows and CDs, illustrate.  The facts about the toads in the novel are all true, and the book won the Green Earth Book Award.  This is a sure winner for middle-grade readers who like to read about kids like themselves or have an interest in animals and the environment.

218 pages, Peachtree Publishers

NOTE:  If you'd also like to check out Harley's fabulous sense of humor, I highly recommend Yes to Running! in either CD or DVD form (see link below).

         

Teen/YA Review: Ship Breaker

Before our recent spring break road trip to Oklahoma, I perused the teen/YA shelves at the library for something that would appeal to the whole family.  My sons are 14 and 17 now and no longer content to listen to whatever audio books Mom chooses – and often they prefer to listen to their iPods now – so I was hoping to find an audio that would engage them, as well as my husband and I, during our long hours of driving.  I chose Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, a teen/YA dystopian novel that sounded action-packed; like most kids their age, they both read and enjoyed The Hunger Games, so I thought that a dystopian novel might work.  Well, I still couldn’t get my youngest son to listen with us (he’s just at that age when he needs to make his own choices), but the other three of us enjoyed Ship Breaker very much.

It’s set in a post-apocalyptic time along the US’s Gulf Coast, where one huge storm after another has changed the landscape and the economy.  Although there are a wealthy few in charge, most people in the Gulf Coast region have to scrape together a living by working on a crew, helping to scavenge metal and copper wiring from the huge oil tankers that have run aground there.  Nailer, a teen boy, lives from one day to the next with his violent, drug-addicted father, working light crew with his group of rough peers, hoping he doesn’t grow so much that he can no longer crawl through the ships’ ductwork. 

After one particularly bad storm, a wealthy clipper ship wrecks a short distance from their beach, and Nailer and a crewmate, Pima, find it before anyone else notices it.  The ship is filled with more wealth than they have ever seen or heard of – including silver platters and gold jewelry – but as they are scavenging whatever they can carry, they discover a girl about their own age who is barely alive.  Now they have a problem: do they turn the girl over to the adults and allow the girl herself to be sold for her parts or try to hide her so they can collect a ransom when her family comes looking for her?

It’s a dark, gritty story populated by coarse but likeable characters faced with often unthinkable ethical dilemmas.  My husband, son, and I really enjoyed the audio which captures the tone of the desperate time and place.  The story was fast-paced and exciting and kept our interest over the long hours in the car!

352 pages, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Brilliance Audio

   

It's Monday 4/30! What Are You Reading?

Monday already?  The weekend went by in a flash - very busy!  In fact, I've had almost no time for writing reviews the past few weeks, so my backlog keeps growing!  My family and I have been reading, though:

• I finished the middle-grade novel The Night of the Spadefoot Toads by Bill Harley and enjoyed it, though it was different than I expected.
• Next I read The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, a novel which was short-listed for the Man Booker prize.  I'd heard it mentioned on several of my favorite book podcasts, so I requested it from the library.  It was very good, a literary novel but surprisingly engaging and even a bit suspenseful.
• I am now reading Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson for one of my book groups that meets this week.  I love this book!!  I hate to set it down, have been staying up way too late reading (promising myself, "Just one more page..."), and even trying to squeeze in 5 minutes of reading time wherever I can.  It's hugely suspenseful, about a woman who's lost her memory, so she wakes each morning having no idea who she is or who the man sleeping beside her is.  The bulk of the novel is her journal, where she is trying to put together the puzzle of her past and how she came to be this way.  Fabulous!
• I am still listening to Liesl and Po, a middle-grade audio by Lauren Oliver which is very good so far.
  
• My husband, Ken, finished Black Hills by Dan Simmons, a historical novel set in one of our favorite places, the Black Hills region of South Dakota.  He said it was very good.
  
• He is now reading The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman on his Kindle, a novel set during World War II.
• Jamie, 17, hasn't been reading nearly as much as he usually does because he has just one month left to finish all his school work in time for graduation (he missed over 70 days of school this year due to medical problems), so he's been concentrating on that.  He and I were reading some ancient Persian poetry for his World Lit class last week (it is just as exciting as it sounds).  For fun, he is still re-reading one of his all-time favorite novels Maddigan's Fantasia by Margaret Mahy.
• Jamie finished An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina, the autobiography that inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda, for his World Lit class.  He said it was an excellent book, fascinating and stunning, and that I have to read it!
• Craig is reading Attack of the Fiend, Book 4 in The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney.  He loves this series!

So, lots of good readings last week, but no blog posts other than my Monday summary! I am hoping to get back on track this week.


What are you and your family reading?


(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)