Book Talk

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

2011-04-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares is written in alternating chapters by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. The book begins with Dash, written by David Levithan, finding a red notebook hidden on a shelf between two of his favorite books in his favorite bookstore. The book sends him on a scavenger hunt around the store. Dash, a lover of the written word, enjoys the game and decides to add to it. Besides finding the clues around the store, he creates a dare for Lily the girl who left the notebook. Dash, whose mother thinks he is spending Christmas with his father and whose father thinks he is spending Christmas with this mother, has plenty of time to come up with fun dares for Lily.

Lily, whose chapters are written by Rachel Cohn, is sad because her parents have gone on a 25th anniversary trip and left her at home with only her older brother Langston with whom to spend Christmas. Langston has a new boyfriend, so he comes up with the idea of the book of dares to keep Lily occupied during the holidays. Lily has never had a real boyfriend and immediately becomes impressed by Dash. However, more than Dash, Lily discovers a lot about herself through how she deals with the various dares. She has been very sheltered by her extended family, so when Dash dares her to go to a club at 2:00 a.m. she cannot even imagine fallowing through, but she does and surprised even herself.

I liked Nick an Norah's Infinite Playlist which is also by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, but I liked Dash and Lily even better. I found Lily to be delightfully strange and a great character and while Dash was a bit arrogant and pretentious, I enjoyed reading about him too. I really like books with interesting characters and I enjoyed their adventures combined with the gently developing romance between the two.

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

2011-02-03T08:18:00.000-08:00

I love to travel. In fact, I have been to all but 3 of the 50 states and 4 of the 7 continents. And I really like a good road trip. There is not a better way to see the United States than to drive across it. It is amazing how vast, varied and beautiful our awesome country is.

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson is a story of a road trip. When Amy's father is killed in a car accident, her life is turned upside down. Even though she has lived all her life in the same house in California, Amy's mother suddenly gets a job and moves to Connecticut. Her twin brother deals with the death through drugs and is sent to a treatment center in North Carolina. Amy finds herself finishing her school year up while living alone in California. When the school year is over, her mother has arranged for a Roger, a family friend, to drive with Amy from California to Connecticut. She has the trip all arranged with reservations at hotels along the way. However, Amy and Roger have other plans. They take an "epic detour" that takes them through Nevada on the loneliest highway, to Colorado to visit Roger's college, through Wichita, KS, to Louisville to visit Roger's girlfriend and end with a trip to Graceland to see the King. Of course, in Wichita, they eat at Nu way and enjoy Freddie's frozen custard.

It is fun to read about the details of their journey. However, this book is more than a road trip. It is part love story, but more than that, it is about Amy trying to deal with her father's death and Roger trying to come to grips with the end of a relationship. Both have to find a new beginning without someone they loved dearly.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

2011-01-25T07:04:00.000-08:00

Okay. I know. I have really been slacking lately. My last entry was in October which is really embarrassing. However, I am going to try to be better. I have read several good books lately so I should have several things to blog about.

I really enjoyed the book Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Samantha Kingston is a mean girl. She is part of the In-Crowd and she never lets anyone forget it. She has her popular friends and her good looking boyfriend, so why would she need anything else. She ignores the "little people" at school and enjoys making fun of many of her classmates. She doesn't think that anything can ruin her "perfect" life. However, in the beginning of the book, Samantha and her friends are in a car wreck and she dies. Now she is forced to live the same day over and over again until she gets it right.

This book is like Groundhog Day meets Mean Girls which makes it a really fun read. Samantha is clueless at the beginning of the book. She doesn't see how awful her friends really are. She thinks that everyone thinks she is cool and wants to be her. As she is forced to relive the same day over and over, she is surprised to discover that she isn't as great as she thought she was. She sees her friends as they truly are and she starts to explore her relationship with her boyfriend. As Samantha becomes more introspective, so does the reader. This book makes the reader think about his/her life and what is really important in his/her life.

Party by Tom Leveen

2010-10-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

Moving Day for the HHS Library is Monday, Nov. 1st! I'm excited to get into our new and improved home. I am ready for everything to have a permanent place; it is frustrating when every corner is filled with stuff just waiting to move. And it will be great to have the Reference section our of boxes and back on a shelf where we can find things--YEA!!!!!

Party by Tom Leveen is a really good book. It was one of those books that I pulled because I thought it might have some questionable content in it and I thought that I should know what it was before I put it on the shelf. However, I did not find too much to be worried about. It is a book about a party and there is drinking, sex and some talk of drug use but the way it is written puts all of it into perspective.

The book is about the last big party of the year! The 11 main characters are all going to be Seniors or just graduated and they are celebrating the end of another school year. We get the story of the party through the eyes of each of the characters. The plot progresses as we meet each character and see what happens at the party through their eyes. There is Beckett whose mother has died and is going to have to drop out of school to go to work; she feels that she is invisible and goes to the party just to see if anyone even knows she's alive. Morrigan has just broken up with her boyfriend and decides to meet someone new at the party. Josh is Morrigan's boyfriend and he is depressed over the break up. Anthony is the star football player who had a terrible year, but only a few people know why. Max and Brent are skateboarders. Azzize is a Turkish American who just wants to see what a high school party is like. Ryan goes just to hook up. And Ashley is the one person who kind of connects them all. The story hooks the reader as they find out about each character and the terrible thing that happens at the Party!

The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

2010-09-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

Sonia wants to be the first in her family to graduate from high school and go to college. Her parents are illegal immigrants and did not have the opportunities she has, and Sonia know that in America, education equals opportunities. She has big plans for her future.

However, Sonia’s plans are disrupted by her life. Her father works three jobs to support his family. Her mother is pregnant with twins and is on bed rest and her drunk uncle has come to live with them. Sonia is forced to cook, clean and take care of her family. She often has to miss school to help out at home and things look bleak for the possibilities of graduating. The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer shows what Sonia must do to find her future while dealing with her family, avoiding her drunk uncle and falling in love.

A Kansas Year

2010-09-13T07:49:00.001-07:00

A Kansas Year by Mike Blair is a beautiful book of pictures showing the beauty of one year in the state of Kansas. Blair goes through the year with incredible photographs that show Kansas at its best. January includes pictures of an ice storm and a couple of raccoons in their den. The author gets it right when he writes, "The reader should not be confused if one January entry is shirtsleeve warm, while the next is cold and snowy. The beauty of a Kansas year is found in its diversity, and that's why it's a compelling journey." Everyone who has ever lived in Kansas knows how true this statement is.

From the snow covered cattails to the Ninnescah on an August morning to a December sunset over the prairie. This is a breathtakingly beautiful book.

Sequels

2010-09-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

I just finished the third book is a couple of series and enjoyed them both a lot!

Kiss in the Dark by Lauren Henderson is the third book in the "Kiss" series.

Having solved the mystery of Dan’s death, Scarlett thinks that life will finally settle down. She is happy with her best friend Taylor and her boyfriend Jase and is even dealing with her archenemy Plum now attending Wakefield School. Of course, things do not remain calm in Scarlett’s life. Jase’s father and grandmother and Scarlett’s aunt do not want Jase and Scarlett to see each other. Jase’s father reacts almost violently to their being together and Scarlett’s aunt hauls her home in the middle of a date. However, when Jase’s father is found dead, everything blows up and Scarlett again needs to investigate what really happened and how his death is connected to her past and the death of her parents years ago. Once again Henderson presents an interesting mystery to be solved and Scarlett is right in the middle of it.

Although the mystery of Jase's father's death is solved in this book, another mystery is brought up about Scarlett’s parents. This opens the door for another book in the series.

The other book I just finished was the final book in the "Hunger Games" series Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Like the other two books--Hunger Games and Catching Fire--Mockingjay kept me on the edge of my seat; I couldn't stop reading because I had to know what would happen to Katniss.

The book begins after Katniss has been removed from the Quarter Quell by the rebels of District 13 who are leading the rebellion to over throw the Capitol. Peeta has been left behind and is taken captive by the Capitol. District 13 wants Katniss to become the Mockingjay a symbol of rebellion that will encourage the rebel troops to continue fighting for the good of the people. This throws Katniss right in the middle of the Civil War. In addition to trying to save her own life, she now feels responsible for the lives of the rebels. All the while, she hopes to save Peeta from certain torture at the hands of President Snow.

This book resolves all the open questions from the first two books. It is a good if not particularly happy ending to the series.

Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney

2010-08-31T06:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to school! The library is still a mess because we are supposed to move in a month at the end of September. However, we have lots of new books for you to enjoy!

“We all inherit someone else’s leftovers. They’re a part of your Blue Plate Special. A part of you,” observes Ariel, one of three teens, each from a different generation, who tell her stories in the novel Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney. Each of the three teens is 15 or 16 when she tells her stories.

The first is Madeline in 1977 who struggles to find love and acceptance wherever she can. Her mother is a drunk and Madeline eats to find happiness, so she must deal with being overweight in addition to her family situation. It is only when she meets Tad at the local McDonald’s that Madeline starts to find acceptance.

Desiree writes in free verse in 1993. Her family life is also a struggle with a mother who refuses to see the world as it really is. She accuses Desiree of acting like a slut while she lives with her worthless boyfriend Larry. Desiree spends her time trying to avoid Larry and dreams of being with her boyfriend Jeremy. But Larry is impossible to avoid and Desiree’s life spirals out of control.

The last teen is Ariel in 2009. Ariel is being raised by a single mother also, but her mother is caring and Ariel feels that she can talk to her mother about almost anything. Anything that is except for her relationship with Shane. Shane is the new kid at school and he is good looking and cool, but he is also possessive and wants Ariel all to himself. She finds that she does not have time for her friends any more and that she spends all of her time trying to make Shane happy instead of doing what would make her happy. Ariel discovers that she must evaluate her relationship with Shane when her mother takes her to see the grandmother she had never met.

The lives of the three teens are told in separate stories until we see how it all fits together about halfway through the book. It is a really good read about love, loss and forgiveness.

The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

2010-05-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

Colt and Julia are from completely different worlds. Julia lives on Black Mountain in her fancy mansion with all the rich people in town while Colt lives down on the Flats with the not-so-privileged. In their school, the two groups of people do not mix. But somehow Julia and Colt fall for each other and they begin a secret relationship in The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard. At school, they act like they don't know each other, but then meet at night by the river where no one else sees them.

But one night Julia is killed in an automobile accident and now Colt doesn't know what to do. He is traumatized by her death, but he is unable to share his grief with anyone. His friends didn't really know Julia and do not feel her loss and they do not know that Colt even knew her so he cannot share his feelings with them. Julia's friends, who are mourning her death, will have nothing to do with Colt. And since their relationship was secret, no one would believe that rich Julia was friends with poor Colt.

Julia's brother discovers the relationship between Julia and Colt and he gives Colt a notebook where Julia wrote letters and poems to Colt. Reading this notebook causes Colt to relive the year with Julia as he works through his secret pain.

Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

2010-04-20T11:51:00.001-07:00

I really like DJ Schwenk. I enjoyed reading about her troubles when she decides to go out for football in the book Dairy Queen. I felt terrible for her, but still liked reading about her working with her injured brother in The Off Season. And I really liked the way Catherine Gilbert Murdock finished her story in Front and Center.

Football season is over and her brother is doing better so DJ has returned to school and is looking forward to basketball season. She has a new boyfriend Beaner who is fun to be around and accepts DJ for who she is unlike Brian her first boyfriend. However, it doesn't take long for DJ's life to get complicated. As good as she is at basketball, DJ's coach wants her to be more assertive on the court. He says that she has to learn to be more vocal. But DJ is painfully shy and telling other players what to do is painful for her. Additionally many Division I universities are recruiting her to play basketball for them, but she has to overcome her shyness and participate in the recruiting process. The idea of talking to coaches and playing in front of large crowds of people make her physically sick. To top it all off, as great as Beaner is, DJ finds herself thinking more and more about Brian.

It is fun to listen as DJ tells the problems of her life and watch her make the decision that will affect the rest of her life. Front and Center is a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. If you read the first two books, you have to read the conclusion.

Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale

2010-04-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale is the first in the Pendragon series. There are now 10 books in this series. I am the first to admit that I am not a huge fantasy reading, but I have a library aide this trimester who is and she is a great authority on most fantasy series. Emily generously agreed to write a book review for the first book in this series which has been very popular in the past couple of years.

Bobby Pendragon may look like a normal fourteen year old, but what he doesn’t know is that he is going to save the world. In The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale, Bobby’s Uncle Press shows up one and night and tells him that there are some people who need their help. What Bobby didn’t realize was that the people in need of help weren’t on Earth.

Press and Bobby travel across space and time, using flumes, to the medieval territory of Denduron, which is on the edge of a dangerous revolution. Only one small push is needed to send the territory into disaster. The evil Saint Dane is there to provide that push, and Bobby and his new friends are the only things standing in Saint Dane’s way. All the while Bobby can only think about how to get back home. But soon Bobby comes to realize that Denduron is only the beginning.

The Sweetheart of Prosper County

2010-04-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

Somehow the month of March got away from me and it has been over a month since I have put anything new on my blog. Because of construction, the library has moved into a temporary space, so that is what I have been doing instead of reading. We are finally settling in and here are some pictures of our fantastic temporary space. The construction workers are really working on remodeling our new library and we are supposed to be in it sometime at the beginning of next school year. However, we are enjoying our new view and our new home, however temporary it is!

As we begin Spring, I start looking for books that have a summer feel to them. The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander is one of those books. The rooster on the front cover with the Country Fair blue ribbon makes me think of the many county fairs I have attended!

However, The Sweetheart of Prosper County is not just a lighthearted novel about the country fair, it is a novel about a family dealing with loss. Austin’s father died on Christmas Eve when she was only 6 years old, and even though, Austin is now a freshmen in high school, her mother is stilling wearing black T-shirts and refusing to celebrate Christmas or other holidays.

As her freshman year progresses, Austin grows increasingly tired of Dean Ottner the school bully making fun of her. It seems that she is his favorite target and she wants to shut him up once and for all. In order to do this, Austin decides to join the FFA at school and become a Sweetheart of Prosper County and ride in the Christmas Parade next year She thinks that Dean will not be able to make fun of the Sweetheart of Prosper County. So she asks her mother for a chicken for Christmas. so she can have an animal to enter at the County Fair. This is when a rooster named Charles Dickens enters her family, she becomes friends with Josh, a reticent cowboy, and tries to helps her mother deal with the grief from the loss of her father. If you are looking for a fun read, this is the perfect book for you.

The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones

2010-02-22T07:49:00.000-08:00

I'll admit it, I haven't been reading too much lately. I guess that I have been spending too much time watching the Olympics! Anyway Krista, one of my wonderful library aides, has agreed to fill it with this fantastic book review!

Blood sucking, mysterious, and evil is what everyone perceives as a vampire, but Cassandra Gray does not fit that stereotype in The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones. Her family strives on human tears to fuel them for their days.

Whether it’s breaking up with boyfriends, turning friends against each other, or working at the local hospital, she’ll do whatever she can to get the tears to keep her grandmother going. But she’s getting tired of the lying and deceit especially when she meets Scott.

Meanwhile the next generation needs to be made and it’s Cassandra’s turn in line. She must mate with her seemingly perfect cousin, Alexei. But is he all he is cracked up to be?

Now she must choose between the newfound emotion and her family. Will she risk everything, including exile to be with Scott? Or will she continue to stay beside her family and court with the darling Alexei?

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

2010-02-15T10:54:00.000-08:00

In Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, Anna has lived next door to Frankie and Matt her entire life. They are best friends who do almost everything together. Everything is perfect, especially on her fifteenth birthday when Anna and Matt share a kiss. Suddenly they are sneaking time away from Frankie to be together. Matt feels that he should tell his sister about their relationship and he swears Anna to secrecy. But then the unthinkable happens; Matt dies in a horrible accident before he can tell Frankie and now Anna struggles with what to tell her best friend.

One year later, Frankie’s family invites Anna to go with them to California for a three week vacation on the beach. This is the vacation that Matt, Frankie and their parents take every year. Although Anna has never been to California, she has heard so many stories from Matt that she feels like she knows all about it. Frankie sees the vacation as a chance for a summer romance. In fact, she invents the challenge of the Twenty Boy Summer. She says that she and Anna are going to meet twenty boys while they are in California. Anna says that she will go along but really the only boy she wants is Matt back.

This is a heartbreaking novel about a family trying to deal with a tragic loss while Anna struggles with her right to feel the same grief.

ABC's of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro

2010-02-05T11:49:00.001-08:00

In ABC’s of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro, Parker is a going to be a junior in high school and is looking forward to all the rewards that come with being an upperclassman. However, one week before school starts, everything falls apart. The soccer coach posts the list of players who will be playing on the varsity team this year and Parker’s name is not listed. She discovers that she is one of only two juniors who are on the JV team. To make matters worse, Parker’s popular best friends tell her that they will not be hanging out with her this fall because she needs to spend time “bonding” with her freshmen and sophomore teammates.

Feeling isolated, embarrassed and left out, Parker decides that making the varsity soccer team will fix all of her problems. So she works out a plan with her college age brother and his best friend the fantastically handsome Luke. "The Plan" involves Luke purchasing a kiss from Parker at the Sports Fair kissing booth. But Luke tells her that in order for the plan to work, the kiss must look real, so she needs to learn how to kiss.

Enter the good-looking freshman from across the street. Over the summer, Travis has grown several inches to over 6 feet tall and he has filled out so that he doesn’t look like a freshman and Parker learns that he is only 364 days younger than she is. Travis also worked at a camp this summer where he learned "lots" of kissing "techniques." Travis convinces her that her plan will only work if he gives her kissing lessons.

When she and Travis are caught together, Parker takes lots of teasing at school and this makes her resolve to make her plan work even stronger. The fact that Travis and Parker’s fathers are having a feud adds to the problems with the situation and gives the story a Romeo and Juliet feel. Of course, Parker learns what is really important but the romance that develops along the way is a fun read.

Two Parties, One Tux and a Very Short Film about the Grapes of Wrath By Steven Goldman

2010-01-27T06:33:00.000-08:00

Two Parties, One Tux, One Very Short Film about the Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman is a hilarious novel about the end of Mitchell's Junior year in high school. Mitchell and David are best friends. They do everything together; they are even taking a film-making class where they create Claymation-type films. But everything changes when David informs Mitchell that he is guy. Suddenly Mitchell doubt the direction his life is headed.

Although Mitchell has always been a good student, he decides not to read The Grapes of Wrath (a book that I love, by the way) and instead of writing the three page papers assigned by his English teacher, he turns in one of his film projects. Although the film is very short, it contains violence and nudity and causes Mitch's life to spin out of control. As a result he finds himself being called into the head master's office with a threat of suspension, dating one of the hottest girls in school, and trying to figure out what to do about David.

Michell's narrative shows his dry wit through his observations of the high school social scene and how he resides at the bottom of the social ladder. You will laugh as everything that can go wrong does and how Mitch deals with his life in a very humorous manner.

Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan

2010-01-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

Aiden is fifteen years old and living with his younger sister Maddy in a dugout on a homestead in Kansas. Their parents and brothers and sisters have all died and a fire has burned up any possibility of a crop this year. They are barely surviving on grasshoppers, dirt and other things that they can catch. The outlook is bleak in The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan.

Hope for the future comes in the form of Jefferson J. Jackson who is recruiting men to be loggers in the Pacific Northwest. Jackson will pay for Maddy’s and Aiden’s journey on a Wagon Train to Seattle and then Aiden will work for two years as a logger to pay off the passage. Maddy and Aiden know that this is their only hope for survival, so they join the Wagon Train on the Oregon Trail.

The journey is not easy as they have problems with wolves, dangerous river crossings and small pox along the way. Their adventures are both exciting and horrifying. Aiden makes friends with an Indian along the way who wants to vaccinate the Indians for small pox—what the Indians call the Devil’s Paint—and Aiden gets mixed up in his dangerous scheme.

This is not a happily-ever-after book, but it does a good job showing the struggles faced while the pioneers crossed the United States looking for a better way of life. Living in Kansas, this book hits close to home as I think of my relatives who homesteaded in Kansas and tried to survive when things were tough. In fact, the old dugout where my great grandparents lived is still there in Rush County.

Crash into Me by Albert Borris

2010-01-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

Crash into Me by Albert Borris is a very interesting novel. This is one of those books that I just couldn't put down, but had to read cover to cover. I had to find out what was going to happen at the end.

Owen wants to kill himself; in fact, he has tried to kill himself seven times. While spending time in a Psych Hospital, Owen meets Jin-Ae who also wants to commit suicide. Together they meet two other suicidal teens—Frank and Audrey. Together the four of the form, what they call, a suicide pact and a suicide pack. They decide to take a road trip where they will visit the graves of famous people who killed themselves. The trip will be a cross country journey starting in New Jersey and culminating with the four of them committing suicide in Death Valley, California. On this trip the four of them share secrets and learn many things about themselves. They discover truths about themselves and about life and love. Ultimately they each must decide whether life is worth living or if there is no turning back.

Kisses and Lies by Lauren Henderson AND Me, the Missing and the Dead by Jenny Valentine

2010-01-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have read, Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson, I just finished the sequel Kisses and Lies. In the first book, Scarlett gets her first kiss from Dan who dies as a result. As she deals with this death, she discovers that it was no accident, that someone murdered Dan and used her to do it. In Kisses and Lies, Scarlett uncovers the secrets surrounding Dan’s death and with the help of her friend Taylor, she works to discover who really killed Dan. This investigation takes her to Scotland to visit Dan’s family. Once again this novel is Gossip Girl meets Nancy Drew and it is a great mystery. Although the ending suggests that there will be another book in the series, the mystery of who killed Dan is solved by the end of this book.

Me, the Missing and the Dead by Jenny Valentine is a book I picked up because it was short and looked like a quick easy read. It was a quick easy read, but this is also a great book. Lucas Swain is 16 years old and one day he walks into a cab office to get a ride home and there he meets Violet Park. The kicker is that Violet Park is old and dead. He sees the urn holding her ashes on a shelf in the cab office. After some investigation, he discovers that someone had left it in a cab nearly 5 years ago. Lucas feels that it is his mission to discover who she was and where she belongs. To complicate things Lucas’ father disappeared 5 years ago and no one knows if he is dead or if he ran off, but there has been no sign of him for five years. The mystery of Violet Park leads Lucas to the truth about himself and his father. It is a great mystery the way the pieces all fit together

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson

2010-01-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break. I did, but I was ready to get back into the swing of things. The weather was too cold over the break to do much except eat, watch football and read. Of course, I did get to spend some time with my family which is always fun. I had a chance to read several books that have been sitting on my desk waiting for me to have some time. One of these was Witch & Wizard by James Patterson.

Before I go any further, I need to say that I love James Patterson. I have read every Alex Cross novel he has written and enjoy some of his other series too. I picked up Witch & Wizard as an ARC at the American Association of School Librarians National Conference in Charlotte earlier this year. In fact I spent part of the conference stalking him trying to get my picture taken with him. That didn't work, but here is a picture of him speaking at the conference--I did get a seat close to the front row, but that is as close as I got--too bad!

Witch & Wizard is different from most of the Patterson books I have read, but it is an interesting book. The book begins with the Allgood family standing in a large arena waiting to be executed. The New Order has taken over the government and the Allgoods are considered enemies of the state. After this brief flash, the reader is taken back to the beginning and what happened to get them in such a predicament. Like many books written now, this book has two narrators and the chapters alternate between them. Wisty and Whit Allgood are arrested for being a witch and a wizard. The problem is that neither of them knew that they had supernatural powers, but these powers seem to develop as they are put on trial and work on their escape. Wisty and Whit eventually join a group of young people who are working to overthrow the New Order.

Like all of Patterson's books, this is an easy read with short chapters and lots of action. It also sets things up for this to be a series of books. Whit and Wisty are interesting characters and it will be fun to find out what happens to them in the future.

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

2009-12-21T08:13:00.000-08:00

The holiday break starts this week and many students (and teachers) are looking for books to keep them occupied. Being out of school provides a perfect time to catch up on reading--and watching football--HA!

My Most Excellent Year: a Novel of Love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger is a great lighthearted read for the Christmas break. The characters and plot are not particularly deep, but they are people that you would like to spend your holidays with and it has a happy feel-good ending. Like I said, it is the perfect book to read over the holiday.

I first picked up the book because of the title; I really wanted to know how Mary Poppins and Fenway Park fit together. In a way that is very popular now, this book is told from the point of view of the three main characters: TC, Augie and Ale'. The three teens are given an assignment in their Junior English class to write about their "most Excellent year." All three of them write about their freshmen year is high school and thus the story is told in alternating views throughout their 9th grade year.

TC is perfect--he is the guy you would want for your best friend, boyfriend, brother, son... When he was 6 years old, his mother died of cancer and he "adopted" Augie as his "brother." In face, Augie and TC are so close that they call each other's parents Mom, Dad and Pop, they have beds and dressers in each other's rooms, and they share everything. TC and Pop share a love of the Red Sox, in fact, TC, like every member of his family, was named for a Red Sox player. Augie is even more of a stereotype than TC. He loves musical theatre, is a born performer and is the last one to admit that he is gay. His freshman year is filled with his search for love and his attempt accept himself even though everyone else already does. Alejandra moves to Boston as a freshmen and quickly becomes a love interest for TC. She is as strong willed as he is and works hard to resist him. Throw in a 6-year-old deaf kid who is obsessed with Mary Poppins and you have a great book that explores not only young love and friendship, but also what really makes a family.

The characters are kind of stereotypes, but they are very likable. This book isn't going to win a Nobel Prize or anything, but it is a fun book . And it made me happy when I read it. Sometimes we need to read "junk food" for the mind. And this book fits that bill.

Happy Holidays!

The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman

2009-12-15T08:20:00.000-08:00

It is cold outside which makes it perfect to sit in the warm house and read. Now is the time to get books to keep you busy over the holiday break from school.

The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman is one of those novels that makes me wish I had a sister. Katie and Michaela are best friends. They live in the East Village in New York City and study dance together at Anna Povlova’s famous ballot school. Michaela is a very promising ballerina and the plan is for her to attend Julliard after graduating from high school this year. Katie is just starting high school and is excited about attending the high school for the performing arts with Michaela. However, all those plans go out the window when their parents announce that they are moving to upstate New York so Katie and Michaela’s mother can teach Russian Literature at Fennimore Cooper College in Fir Lake, New York.

Katie is stunned. She has always been a city girl and cannot imagine not living where there is a deli on every corner. She doesn’t like bugs, animals or anything even close to nature. And the dance school is nothing like she is used to. She knows that she will never fit in at Fir Lake. And things go from bad to worse when Michaela seems to love living in Fir Lake. Her life changes completely and her new life does not include Katie.

This is a good novel about sisters, friendship and what is really important in life. Have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

2009-12-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

It is snowing today. I can sit in my office and watch the big fat snowflakes float to the ground. It is beautiful--and cold! It is a perfect day to sit inside, drink hot chocolate and read good books!

I just finished reading Sweethearts by Sara Zarr. In this book, Jennifer Harris is the girl who everyone makes fun of. In elementary school, the kids made fun of her for everything she did. They would tease her and then she would cry and then they would make fun of her for crying. The only solace she could find was in stealing and hiding food and then her classmates made fun of her for being fat. Her single mother waits tables to support herself and Jennifer and then goes to Nursing school at night in hopes of a better life. Since her mother is busy, Jennifer often goes to school with dirty hair or clothes. And, of course, the kids make fun of her.

Jennifer’s only friend is Cameron. She and Cam do everything together. But Cameron’s life is worse than Jennifer’s with an abusive father and a mother who cannot protect her children. Jennifer and Cameron rely on each other. Until one day in 5th grade, Cameron does not come to school. The other kids in class tell Jennifer that Cameron was killed and when her mother doesn’t deny it, Jennifer believes it.

In high school Jennifer’s life changes. Her mother marries a wonderful man and Jennifer changes to a small school. She changes her name to Jenna Vaughn and leaves her past behind her. She has many friends, a boyfriend and a supportive family--everything she always wanted. But one day, Cameron shows up on her door step and everything changes. Suddenly she is confronted with reconciling her past with her present. Is Jennifer Harris the same person as Jenna Vaughn?

Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson

2009-11-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson starts out like another Gossip Girl or Private novel. Scarlett attends a very posh girls’ school in London. She longs to be part of the popular group—the rich, polished girls who dress in all the latest fashions and date the best boys. But Scarlett is an athlete, a gymnast who spends most of her time training,and likes to wear sweats and doesn't think too much about her appearance.

Scarlett's parents died when she was only 5 and she lives with a guardian. However, one day after gymnastics practice, Scarlett is asked to attend a party with the “in-crowd.” Turning her back on her two best friends, Scarlett attends the party and finds herself kissing the boy of her dreams on the terrace.

This is where the book changes from the normal fancy prep school novel to something much more interesting. When Scarlett is kissing Dan, he suddenly gasps for air and suffocates in her arms. The popular girls accuse Scarlett of killing him and quickly her life changes. She changes school from the posh London girls school to an isolated highly academic school in the country. But all she can think of is what happened to Dan. Scarlett must learn to make a new life for herself and find out what happened to Dan.

This book has a good ending, but there is a sequel that I am anxious to read too.

Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty by Jody Elizabeth Gehrman

2009-11-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

Confessions of the Triple Shot Betty by Jody Elizabeth Gehrman is a lighthearted story of friendship and romance. Geena plans to spend her summer working at the Triple Shot Betty coffee Shop with her two best friends: Amber and Hero. She imagines whipping up lattes during the day and sleepovers at night. Hero goes to an exclusive boarding school and is only in town for the summer, and Geena is excited that her two best friends will finally meet. However, things do not go as planned. Amber and Hero do not like each other and this puts Geena in the middle of an uncomfortable situation.

However, Amber and Hero put their differences aside when they work to set Geena up with a guy who is her rival for valedictorian. This part of the plot borrows itself directly from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. In an interesting subplot, John the school’s golden boy decides he likes Hero who wants nothing to do with him. When John uses both Amber and Hero in his ploy to get what he wants, Amber, Hero and Geena concoct a creative plan to get back at John for all he has done.

Enjoy this story of three friends who have many different strengths and weaknesses, but come out on top and together in the end.

Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling

2009-10-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

If you are searching for a lighthearted book to read Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling is the perfect choice. I have to confess that I unwind every day watching the DVR of my soap opera, and Abby Savage, the narrator of this novel, loves soap operas. In fact, her entire life is a soap opera.

Her older sister Shelby is 20 years old and already married and divorced with one child. Her other sister Kait is pregnant with Steve’s baby. To make things worse Steve dated Shelby before he dating Kait; however, it makes it really a soap opera when Steve marries Abby’s mom and she is also pregnant with Steve’s child. Babies aside, Abby's best friend Cody will not admit he is gay and all Abby wants is to find a guy to date who has not dated or slept with any of her sisters or her mother! So she forms a 5-step plan to find her One True Love. But when Cody’s brother Jackson returns home from a summer spent helping the poor in Central America, he does not fit the One True Love plan and that complicates things. To make matters more confusing, Jackson used to date Kait and Abby suspects that he, not Steve, might be the father of Kait’s unborn baby. All of this makes for a fun soap opera read!

Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt

2009-10-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

In Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt, Remy Walker has just graduated from high school and now must make some major decisions about his life. His family has always lived on Walker Mountain in West Virginia. It is not an easy life, living in a trailer with unreliable plumbing and his father mining and selling coal by the pickup load. But Remy has never known any other life and unlike most of the people in his small town, he does not dream of living elsewhere. He has a job working as a mechanic at the filling station and he is content.

However, it is "funny how things change, Remy's girlfriend Lisa is going away to college in Pennsylvania and she wants Remy to go with her. He doesn’t plan to go to college, but they could share an apartment and he could find a job while she is at school. The idea of not being with her makes him sick. But so does the idea of leaving his home. He once went to live with his mother in Virginia Beach, but he didn’t like it, missing his mountain and way of life more than he thought was possible. Can he really follow Lisa?

To make things more complicated, a new girl has come to town. She is working on a government grant to paint murals on the water towers of small towns around West Virginia. Through Dana’s eyes, Remy sees the beauty of where he lives and struggles with making a decision.

When we get a certain age, we all must make decisions about our futures and whether we choose home or adventure? New or Old? Love or Family? This is a great novel that explores these struggles.

Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle

2009-10-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

I wish I had a sister. I have an older brother and he was okay, but I always wished that I had a sister. Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle is a story about sisters.

Carly returns home from a summer volunteering with a wilderness experience in Tennessee. While there she begins to feel that there are things that are more important than her small affluent Atlanta neighborhood and the ritzy private school that she and her sister attend. Carly is a sophomore and is excited to start the school year with her younger sister Anna as a freshman. But when Carly returns home, Anna has grown up. Suddenly Anna is beautiful! She has developed amazing curves and has a body that boys drool after. Now Carly is jealous of her younger sister and she finds herself at odds with Anna. Anna enjoys her wealthy lifestyle while Carly wants to live a more bohemian life. This puts her at odds with Anna and with her best friend since 2nd grade and even her parents.

Carly is an honest narrator as she struggles with her beliefs. When a new boy starts school, Carly develops a crush on Cole and she tries to figure out how he fits into her new belief system. Throw in an out of control party, some baby ducks and a back dive off the high dive and you have a great story about sisters!

Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford

2009-10-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a book that is laugh-out-loud funny, then Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford is the book for you. This book is told from his point of view and Carter’s point of view is priceless. He is starting his freshmen year in high school. “All I think about is girls,” he says at the beginning of the novel, “and I don’t do anything about it.” His entire purpose in life is to be cool and get girls. He goes out for football to look cool and get girls, he goes to parties to look cool and get girls, he tries to date the right girls to look cool and get more girls… Carter is ADD and this book wanders as his mind wanders and Carter’s mind wanders to the most hilarious places.

Football is the sport for cool guys, so Carter tries out for the team, after all a guy can spend a lot of time looking at cheerleaders when he is standing on the sidelines. Carter decides that being a kicker on the football team is the safest position, but he discovers that this isn’t even safe when even the girls drill team tries to kill him during practice. Carter gets himself into the worst situations and everything he says and does makes it worse—but seriously funny. It takes Carter his entire freshmen year to “finally get it.” But you will enjoy his journey.

I don’t find many books really funny, but students in the library yesterday were staring at me as I was laughing out loud at Carter and his escapades. Author Brent Crawford gets Carter’s voice just right. We have all met Carters in our lives. This is Crawford’s first book, but I am already looking forward to the next one! Check out his website for another laugh http://www.brent-crawford.com/blog/Welcome.html and he lives in Kansas!

The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti

2009-10-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

What would you do with $2 million? What would you buy? Would the money change you? Do you think people would treat you differently? I’m not sure what I would buy with that much money, but I do know that I would love to find out. This is exactly what happens to Indigo Skye in Deb Caletti’s book The Fortunes of Indigo Skye.

Indigo is a senior in high school and doesn’t know what she wants to do with the rest of her life. She has no interest in college and can only imagine herself working as a waitress. In fact, she loves her job waiting tables at Carerra’s. She is a fantastic waitress and thinks that she would like to do it for the rest of her life. Of course, Indigo doesn’t have too many choices because her mother does not have very much money and Indigo’s twin brother is very interested in going to college.

However, that all changes one day when a customer leaves Indigo a $2 million tip. Suddenly her life has changed and not necessarily for the better. Now she has to worry about what to do with the money. People start to treat her differently and she wonders if all they want from her is money. Maybe having that much money isn’t such a good thing. This is a great book about how Indigo deals with all the problems that come with being a millionaire.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

2009-09-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles is a modern Romeo and Juliet story. Brittany Ellis and Alejandro Fuentes are as different as they can be. Brit is from the North side of town. She is rich, captain of the pom squad, beautiful and perfect with a perfect boyfriend in Colin the captain of the football team. Alex is from the South side of town. He is dark, dangerous, the toughest guy in school and belongs to a gang. No one would ever call him perfect. However, both of their lives are changed when they are paired together as lab partners in Chemistry class. Their open dislike of each other is obvious from day one.

The longer they work together though, the more they learn of each other. Alex sees that Brittany is not so perfect and Brittany discovers that Alex is not so tough. And Brittany and Alex discover that they are a lot more alike than anyone would think. Both are acting like something they aren’t in order to survive in their very different worlds. These similarities draw them closer together. Brittany tries to deny what is happening while Alex makes a bet with his buddies that he will sleep with her before Thanksgiving. And the romance that develops is dangerous, forbidden and fun to read about.

This story is told in alternating chapters by Alex and Brit. We get to see Brittany’s not-so-perfect home life and what drives Alex to join a gang. His chapters are sprinkled with Spanish phrases when he speaks with his family and friends. The ending is a little too neat, but this is a good take on an age old theme of Romeo and Juliet.

Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp

2009-09-14T08:28:00.000-07:00

The weather has been great for the start of school. I love the cool evenings and it is really beginning to feel like football weather. In honor of the season, I want to talk about a great football book, Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp.

Hampton Greene is not the smartest kid in school, but he is one of the best football players. Hampton was introduced to what it means to be a member of the Knights football team when he first moves to town when he is nine. He meets his best friend Blaine and together they work hard to become starters of the Kennisaw Knights. Blaine is the star running back, but it is Hampton who makes the defensive plays that save the games. The Knights are working on their fifth undefeated season in a row and both Blaine and Hampton are feeling the pressure.

Hamp and Blaine have always been inseparable and Blaine’s world is black and white. The plan is that they will go to OU together and play football. They will date the most beautiful girls in school and be the Big Men on Campus. However, Blaine hurts his knee and is not as good as he was last season while Hamp has grown faster and better. This causes tension between the two friends. Also Hampton finds himself attracted to Sara who isn’t beautiful and wears baggy clothes and is much more interested in school than football. Hampton has always struggled with school, but working with Sara makes him realize that he is more capable that he ever thought. As this happens, Hampton finds himself growing further away from Blaine and learning to think for himself.

Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp is a great novel that shows how Hampton develops into his own person and discovers the really important things in life. And the football scenes are very well written. This is a great novel for the start of school and the football season!

How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt

2009-09-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

I loved Harmless by Dana Reinhardt. It is a fantastic book that makes the reader wonder what she would do if she were in the same situation. How hard is it to betray your friends? How hard it is to tell the truth when you know it will get you trouble? How quickly do lies pile up?

Since I loved Harmless, I was really looking forward to reading Reinhardt’s book How to Build a House and I was not disappointed. Harper (like Harper Lee, an incredible author of one of my all-time favorite books!) signs up to help a volunteer group of teenagers build a house in Tennessee for a family that lost their home in a tornado. Living in Kansas, it is easy to understand the terrible devastation left in the path of a tornado; this brings to mind the horrible fates of the people living in Greensburg and Chapman who lost homes in storms not too long ago.

Harper’s reason for spending the summer in Tennessee is because she is fleeing her life in California where her family is falling apart. Harper’s mother died when she was two years old and her father remarried when she was five. Jane and her two daughters Rose and Tess become a vital part of Harper’s family. But when Jane and Harper’s father separate, Harper doesn’t know where she fits in this family that is no longer hers. Harper finds solace in building a home for the family in Tennessee and becoming friends with the oldest son Teddy. Harper also finds a substitute home and family with the other teenage workers during the summer and contrasts her relationship with Teddy with her on-again-off-again relationship with her friend Gabriel back home. Her narration moves smoothly back and forth between sections she calls HOME that talk about what happened before and sections she calls HERE which describe what is happening as they build a house.

This is a great book for young women to read. Harper gets sucked into a tragic relationship with a boy back home because she needs somewhere to belong and it takes her time to understand this and remove herself from the situation. It is an empowering book for young women, but all readers will see and understand Harper’s struggles to find a HOME.

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

2009-08-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to a new school year! I love the beginning of school. I know that makes me a nerd and probably explains why I chose to be a teacher. There is just something really exciting about August and the start of a brand new year! Chris in the book Shift by Jennifer Bradbury is not so excited about a new school year. He is starting his freshmen year at Georgia Tech, but because of the events of his summer, he is angry and worried instead of excited about the future.

Chris and his friend Win decided to take the summer after high school and ride their bikes across the country. They want an adventure before they start college. They started in their home state of West Virginia and planned to ride all the way to Seattle to see Win’s uncle. The journey is almost everything Chris hoped it would be. He challenged himself in ways he didn’t think were possible and had many great experiences. However, he and Win get separated just before they reach the West Coast and Chris cannot find him. So Chris gets on a bus and returns home without Win only to discover that there was no uncle in Seattle and that Win has not returned home. In fact, no one has heard from Win. Stranger still is the FBI agent who shows up at school the first week to question Chris about what happened to Win and he seems to suspect that Chris killed Win.

This book is a great mystery of what happened to Win after he and Chris were separated. The book alternates between the present as Chris tries to figure out what happened to Win and the past as Chris recalls the details of the trip. Reading this book is a great way to start a new school year as Chris discovers what happened to Win and learns a lot about himself along the way.

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

2009-05-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading the National Book Award Winner What I Saw and How I lied by Judy Blundell. This is one of those books that stays with you even after you finish reading it. There are so many things to think and wonder about. It is the best book that I have read this year—of course, as you can tell from my blog, I haven’t read that many books this year!

This book is set in 1947 right after World War II. Evie’s step-father Joe has just returned from the war and started his new appliance business. Joe refuses to talk about the war and neither Evie, nor her mother, push him. However, one day he starts to get strange phone calls and he tells someone on the phone that they have the “wrong Joe Spooner.” Soon after, he loads Evie and her mother in the car and they head to Florida for a vacation. Evie has never been outside of New York and she is excited. When they arrived in Palm Beach, things are mostly boarded up, but they find an open hotel and begin to enjoy their vacation.

All is great until handsome 23-year-old Peter Coleridge shows up. He was a soldier that served with Joe in Europe, but Joe doesn’t seem to want anything to do with him. However, he immediately charms 16-year-old Evie who promptly falls in love with him. She becomes so absorbed in her feelings for him that she ignores the secrets and lies that seem to fallow him around. But when a tragedy strikes, Evie discovers that she must choose between her family and her love for Peter. Suddenly nothing is what it seems and she doesn’t know who to believe: her devotion to Peter? Her wonderful step-father? Or her mother who has been the one constant in her life? Her choices could destroy her and her family forever!

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

2009-04-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

I loved 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson so I knew that I would also enjoy her new book Suite Scarlett and I was not disappointed. Scarlett's family owns a small hotel in New York City. Everyone assumes that she must be rich because she lives in a hotel, but that is far from the case! In fact, the hotel has been struggling so much that the family has had to let go of all their staff and Scarlett's parents and Scarlett, her brother and two sisters have had to pick up the slack to do all the cleaning and cooking themselves.

The book begins on Scarlett's 15 birthday. For their 15th birthdays all the Martin children have received a suite in the hotel to care for. Scarlett gets the key to the Empire Suite and almost immediately Mrs. Amberson moves in for the summer. With the help of Mrs. Amberson, Scarlett's life is turned upside down.

Mrs. Amberson is a world traveler, a former actress and a very eccentric person. She tries to help Scarlett's older brother Spencer who wants to become an actor. When she takes over producing a theatre production, she introduces Scarlett to Eric an actor who has just moved to New York. Scarlett now has a budding romance, a new job and the family's failing hotel to worry about. It is sure to be an interesting summer!

Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks

2009-04-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

In Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks, Odella's mother harbors guilt from an accident that happened when she was only 16 years old. Sally and three of her friends drove their car out on Mistik Lake and fell through the ice. Everyone was killed but Sally. The people of Mistik Lake say that it wasn't her fault; that she wasn't even driving, but Sally still feels the guilt and finds herself running from everything. When Odella is 16, her mother finally runs away from her family moves to Iceland with her lover. This book is how Odella learns to live with that abandonment, but it is also about why Sally feels the need to always run away from love.

Odella feels a pull to Mistik Lake where her family has a cabin and she and her two sisters spent most of their summers growing up. One summer she meets Jimmy and falls in love. The draw to Jimmy forces her to move back to Mistik Lake to spend the summer before going to college. She finds a job working at the meat counter of the local grocery store with a man who once dated her mother. That summer Odella finally learns the dark secrets about her mother and herself.

This is a gentle read that will be enjoyed by anyone who has ever lived in a small town. The citizens of Mistik Lake are so intertwined that it is hard to separate the families from one another and, of course, everyone knows everyone else's business. Odella, who has lived in a city her entire life, finds it hard to understand how everyone knew her mother and has stories to tell about her growing up. Mistik Lake tells the story of a teenage romance and the adults who have their secrets as they struggled to find love themselves.

Last Dance at the Frosty Queen

2009-04-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

Last Dance at the Frosty Queen by Richard Allen Uhlig is definitely a spring time novel. As high school graduation approaches, Arty Flood wants nothing more than to escape his small Kansas town and see the world. But Arty’s life is a mess and it takes money to escape. His boss at Stiles Style, a clothing company for dogs, owes him over $1000 in back wages, the town sheriff blackmails him into dating his daughter, he is having an affair with his drama teacher and his family’s funeral home business is failing.

But Arty’s life begins to look up when the girl of his dreams swims into his life. Vanessa has problems of her own, but she helps Arty see that he must accept responsibility for his own actions and make things happen instead of blaming everyone else. She also lets him see his small town through the eyes of an outsider and shows him that you don’t have to escape to learn how to live.

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

2009-03-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged for a month. I am really embarrassed that I have been so bad about posting and reading for that matter. A couple of weeks ago I got the chance to go to Boston for an IB conference. The conference was really enlightening and taught me a lot about the program, but touring Boston was even better! This is a picture of me with the duckling statues in Boston Commons. These statues are of the 8 ducklings and their mom from Robert McCloskey's children's book Make Way for Ducklings. In the book, the ducks return home to Boston Public Garden. The book was originally published in 1941 and it won a Caldecott Medal somewhere along the way. It is a children's book that is still in print today and still a fun read! My new friend here was "feeding" the ducklings, but he said that it was okay if I took a picture with them.

The HHS library has a bunch of new audio books. They are in the format of Playaways which means that the book is loaded onto a small mp3 sort of player. It fits easily into a pocket and was great to listen to on the plane. I listened to Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. It is a fantasy book and different from any other book I have read (or listened to). The audio book has a full-cast audio which means that even though Matt narrates the book, the other characters have different people reading their parts. This makes the book very easy and enjoyable to listen to.

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the airship Aurora. His father worked on the Aurora before he was killed in an accident and Matt has worked on the ship for several years. It is the only place he feels at home and close to his father.

Matt is on lookout one day and he spots a tattered hot air balloon. The airship rescues the balloon and finds an old man injured in the basket. The man dies a few days later after telling Matt about the creatures he saw in the sky. A year later Matt meets Kate who is a passenger on the Aurora. Kate is the granddaughter of man who died in the hot air balloon and she has come to find the strange animals that her grandfather claims he saw. She and Matt have many adventures include a run in with pirates, a ship wreck and the discovery of the amazingly new flying animals. Airborn is a great book filled with adventure for all!

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009-01-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

Like Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery," Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins begins with all the young people between the ages of 12 and 18 joining together where two names will be called: one boy and one girl. These two names will designate who will represent the area in this year's Hunger Games. When Katniss's 12-year-old sister's name is read, Katniss immediately volunteers to go in her place. Thus she finds herself in the ultimate survival game: 24 young people thrown into an arena forced to fight to survive until only one remains. These games sponsored by the Capitol are televised so that all can see who will kill or who will be killed.

Katniss has many survival skills that help her in these games, and she is not afraid of hunger because her family never has enough to eat. But the idea of killing another human being sickens her. Plus one of the contestants is a neighbor Peeta. Katniss and Peeta went to school together and they train together. Soon she discovers that Peeta has been in love with her since they were small children. And Katniss credits him with saving her life when her family was starving. In order to win will she be able to kill Peeta? Is Peeta really trying to kill her?

The gruesome idea behind the Hunger Games adds a desperate component to the novel as you read to see who survives. Once the games begin, it is nonstop adventure and excitement. I couldn't put this book down. I had to know what would happen to Katniss, Peeta and the others in the Hunger Games.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

2009-01-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

I love books with strong female characters. I am so tired of stories where the poor defenseless girl has to be saved by the big strong man--ick! It is really thrilling that so many authors today are writing books where the female protagonist learns to solve her own problems. Graceling by Kristin Cashore is a great example of this.

In this fantasy novel, some people are born with "Graces" that provide them talents in various things; for example, a person might be born with a talent in sword fighting or a talent in running. Others can tell that you are a Graceling because when your talent develops your eyes change colors so that you have two different colored eyes. Katsa is a Graceling. Her grace is in the area of killing. Called the Lady Killer, Katsa has been in service to her uncle the king since she was very young. Her job is to threaten, maim or kill anyone who does him wrong. She is feared wherever she travels.

Katsa doesn't want to spend her life killing for King Randa who does things she doesn't agree with, so she forms a Secret Council to help right the wrongs that are happening in the Seven Kingdoms. On one of her secret missions, Katsa meets another Graceling, Po, who challenges her to become her own person. Po is a talented fighter, but no match for Katsa. However, they become friends as Katsa deals with her identity, her womanhood, and who gets to control her life.

Besides having a great character in Katsa, Po is not afraid to admit that she is stronger than him and can beat him in a fight every time. He encourages her to find out who she really is. This discovery is really important when Po and Katsa set off to another part of the Kingdom to deal with a truly evil king who has his own Grace that is worse than anything they could ever imagine. This adventure is exciting and fast-moving as Po and Katsa try to save the Kingdom while running for their lives.

Graceling is a great adventure story, a wonderful love story and a fantastic story of finding one's true identity. It is definitely on my list of 10 top books of 2008.

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

2009-01-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

I am having lots of trouble getting back into the swing of school. It is 2:30 p.m. now and I am really struggling because I am missing my afternoon nap. I can't believe how easy it is to get into the afternoon nap habit in only 2 short weeks of vacation!

I didn't read too much over vacation, but I did enjoy The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard. This book is the 2009 Big Read book sponsored by the State Library of Kansas. And it is a great book for this purpose with lots of things to think about and discuss. It would be a good book club selection.

The Virgin of Small Plains is a book set in the Kansas Flint Hills written by a Kansas author. The book is about a Cold Case from 1987. It is a very cold case in fact: Rex and his brother and father are searching for calves during a blizzard when they find a dead bloody girl in the snow. They take the body to the town doctor who with the help of the town sheriff destroys the girl's face so she cannot be identified. She is buried in an unmarked grave and people claim that "the Virgin of Small Plains" can perform miracles. People come from all around to be healed by her.

Mitch is dating the doctor's daughter Abby. Sneaking out of her room in the middle of the night, he is hiding in the supply closet when the dead girl is brought in. He sees the seemingly respectable men covering up the crime and recognizes the girl. He hurries home and tells his father about what he has seen and his father quickly packs him off away from town instructing him to never talk about what he has witnessed.

The book takes place 17 years later. Mitch has never returned to Small Plains and Abby has never gotten over it. In another blizzard, Abby sees Mitch's mother running through the town cemetery and then finds her frozen to death. This brings back the death 17 years earlier and Abby decides that she must know what happened to the virgin and who she really was.

This book is told through a series of flashbacks and several different characters' points of view. It is a great mystery to find out who the virgin is and what happened to her on the snowy night years ago.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

2008-12-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

I loved Impossible by Nancy Werlin! It is part fairy tale, part romance, part adventure--what's not to love?!

Lucy's mother is crazy. She went crazy after having Lucy at age 18. Lucy has lived with her foster parents and has a normal perfect life until her mother returns. Lucy's mother lives as a bag lady and follows Lucy around singing the Simon and Garfunkel song "Scarborough Fair." You know the song, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme..." However, her mother has a slightly different twist on the lyrics to the song.

Since her mother has returned, Lucy knows that something is going to happen and it does. Lucy's prom night is a disaster complete with a rape, a death, and a pregnancy. And suddenly, Lucy is like her mother, going to have a baby at 18. But Lucy discovers that something is really strange. Not only did her mother have a daughter at 18, but her grandmother did and so did her great-grandmother and so did her great-great-grandmother, and after the baby was born, they all went crazy. With the help of the boy-next-door Zach, Lucy finds a letter from her mother and discovers that the women in her family are cursed and the song is the key to breaking the curse. Zach, her foster parents, and Lucy must work hard to complete the tasks and break the curse before the baby is born and Lucy slips into madness.

Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

2008-12-09T11:02:00.000-08:00

Girls, have you ever felt like you live in a male dominated society? Do you think that boys get more attention in class than you do? Do you feel like you always do what your boyfriend wants to do and he never does what you want to do? If you have these feelings, then The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart is the book for you.

Frankie Landau-Banks is a sophomore at Alabaster, an exclusive boarding school, and she dates one of the most popular senior boys at school. Frankie is smart, clever and very ambitious, but everyone underestimates her. Her boyfriend thinks she is "adorable" and her family calls her "Bunny Rabbit." But Frankie knows that she is worth more than just being "cute." Her father brags about the great friends that he made when he attended Alabaster and that he belonged to a males-only secret society. Frankie wants to have the experiences her father talks about and she wants to be more to her boyfriend than "arm candy." So Frankie uses her computer to infiltrate the Loyal Order of Basset Hounds and makes the members do what she wants. She comes up with some elaborate schemes and hopes that the male members of the society will see how ingenious, creative and superior she is. Of course, this is complicated even more when she learns that her boyfriend is the leader of the Basset Hounds.

This novel is filled with word play which adds to the humor and the fun of the book. But seriously, readers must consider what drives Frankie to make the decisions she makes and what all girls need to do to find equal footing with their male counterparts.

Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances

2008-12-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas stories. I love watching hokey Christmas movies on TV and I love reading Christmas stories! Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle is a fun collection of 3 interrelated Christmas stories.

As I have said before, I adore John Green. He could write a recipe and I would be dying to read it. So when I saw this book, I had to read it since it combined two of my favorite things: Christmas stories and John Green.

On a very snowy Christmas Eve in Virginia, a train gets stuck in a snow drift. Jubilee is traveling to her grandparents' in Florida, Jeb is trying to get home to his girlfriend and a group of cheerleaders are going to a competition. When the train gets stuck, Jubilee (called Julie) gets off the train and walks to a nearby Waffle House. Jeb and the cheerleaders follow shortly. In the first story, "Jubilee Express," Julie is upset about leaving her "perfect" boyfriend on Christmas, however, at the Waffle House, she meets Stuart who rescues her from cold and cheerleaders as they brave the snow to make it to his house for Christmas. In "A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle," Tobin undertakes an epic journey through the storm to the Waffle House where there are cheerleaders waiting to play Twister. Through a series of adventures, Tobin begins to see his best friend, The Duke, in a different light. Later that night, Tobin and Duke visit the nearby Starbucks where they meet up with Addie in the final story "Patron Saint of Pigs." Self-absorbed Addie who works at Starbucks needs some time to come to terms with the fact that she cheated on her boyfriend Jeb who then stood her up on Christmas Eve. Thus the stories come full circle back to Jeb and the train in one really nice book about romance, hope and Christmas!

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson

2008-11-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

I loved Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. It is one of those books that made me laugh and cry and despite the struggles of the Hattie had such a hopeful message at the end. I can see why it was a Newbery Honor Book last year. It deserves the honor!

During World War I, 16-year-old Hattie is an orphan who has been passed around from family member to family member never really finding a place to call home. In 1917 things are looking pretty bleak. Her best friend Charlie has gone off to France to fight in the war and her aunt wants her to get a job working at a local boarding house, but Hattie wants more. And things start looking up when she receives a letter from Uncle Chester in Montana. The letter includes Uncle Chester's will leaving Hattie his 320 acre claim near Vida, Montana. All Hattie has to do is move to Montana and prove up the claim by planting crops and building fencc.

This book tells of the hardships of homesteading and trying to make a living from a plot of land. These hardships ring true here in Kansas as farmers even today struggle against the environment to grow crops and make a life. But it easy to see comparisons between the treeless plains of Montana and the wonderful prairies on Kansas and how hard it must have been for the homesteaders here in our state.

But this book takes the story deeper. Not only is Hattie homesteading, she is also dealing with the struggles of the first World War. Many of Hattie's neighbors are German immigrants and I was surprised by the discrimination they faced since we were fighting the Germans in the war. The way people were treated was terrible. It is sad to think about that part of our past. And I am sure that some of that is going on today with the wars we are fighting the Middle East and the distrust of people of Middle Eastern dissent.

This is a wonderfully realistic book, not so much with a happy ending as a message that "next year will be better." Hattie definitely uncovers the meaning of family and home.

Night Road by A.M. Jenkins

2008-11-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Night Road by A.M. Jenkins is a different kind of vampire book. This book looks at the lives of vampires and how difficult it would be to live as one. Most of the books out now glamorize the vampire way of life, but Night Road explores how hard it would be to outlive everyone you care about and to have to rely on unsuspecting humans for food. It is really an interesting way of looking at vampire-life with a little bit of romance and danger to thrown in to the mix.

Cole has been a vampire for almost 200 years. He has seen many changes in the world and has learned how to deal with his circumstances by traveling around and avoiding relationships of any kind. When he is summoned to the Building in Manhattan, Cole knows something is going on. In the Building he meets Gordon, a new vampire who is just learning the way of life and how he is supposed to act. Cole is asked to take Gordon on the road and teach him how to live as a vampire. Gordon is a reluctant student who just wants his old life back. And Cole is forced to confront his many demons of the past as he teaches Gordon to avoid these same pitfalls. Of course, Gordon's refusals to give up his past life causes dangers for them all. But most of all, Gordon must succeed in learning how to manage his new lifestyle or it will be Cole's responsibility to destroy him.

This book is a fresh new look at the vampire way of life!

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

2008-10-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

Science is amazing. It is absolutely incredible to think of the things we can do today that we couldn't do 100 year ago or 50 years ago... My Uncle Bus just celebrated his 90th birthday. He lives in St. Louis and his kids live in California and South Carolina and he visits them often. "After all," he says, "they are just a short airplane ride away." That is so different from his childhood when he grew up in Kansas and Oklahoma and never traveled very far from his home until he joined the army and they sent him to WWII. Uncle Bus talks about his pacemaker and his heart by-passes and the many things that the doctors can do now that they couldn't do before. And all that raises the question of how much should we do just because we can. Cloning, genetic engineering and other biological advances are possible, but does that make them ethical?

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson explores these questions. Jenna Fox has been in an accident and was in a coma for over a year. When she wakes up, her parents have moved her from Boston to California and she can't remember anything about her past. Slowly these memories come back, and Jenna learns some disturbing truths about herself. Jenna discovers that she can recite Thoreau and tell about obscure events in history and she can remember things that happened when she was only a year old, but she can't remember the accident and what happened to her friends Kara and Locke. After much exploration, Jenna finally understands the horror of what has happened and what she truly is. The excitement of the novel is what she decides to do about it.

This is a great novel about what makes us human and the extents parents will go to in order to save a child, but it is more than that. I don't want you to think this is a boring book that makes you think. It is an exciting adventure of self-discovery. The people Jenna meets and the choices she makes build to a thrilling climax. This book will make you think, but it is also an truly enjoyable story.

Paper Towns by John Green

2008-10-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

I will start off by saying that I love John Green. His book Looking for Alaska was a Printz award winner for the best YA book of the year a couple of years ago. But I think that I liked An Abundance of Katherines even better because of how quirky it was. It was a Printz honor book. Green seems to remember what it was like to be young and even though his books have male narrators and main characters, they can be enjoyed by both male and female readers. Additionally his books have just the right mix of serious and humorous elements. They are a joy to read.

Paper Towns is John Green's latest novel and it is just as good as the other two. Quentin has lived next door to the fabulous Margo Roth Spiegelman almost his entire life. While they were good friends when they were younger, now that they are in high school, they exist in entirely different circles. Margo is part of the popular crowd while Quentin is a geek. However, Quentin is quite content with his station in life and has no desire to be part of the popular group. But he loves the exotic and chaotic Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar or at least across the street.

One month before his high school graduation and one week before prom, Q is shocked when he finds Margo outside his window in the middle of the night. She has planned an adventure and wants Q to go with her. The adventure involves righting the many wrongs of the world. The conservative Q has the time of his life and can't wait to tell his friends about it the next day at school. However, the next day, Margo doesn't show up to school and Q discovers that she has disappeared. Her parents say that she has run off AGAIN and since she is 18, they refuse to look for her. But Q thinks there the something strange going on and he sets out to find her. To help the search, Margo leaves strange clues for him to find and Q worries that maybe Margo has gone off somewhere to die. Through the search for Margo, Q discovers that he is searching not just for the person, but for who Margo really is. Add in Q's two best friends and Margo's friends and Green produces a story that you can't put down until the last page.

How to Be Bad by E. Lockhart

2008-10-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

I know this sounds really nerdy, but I like the idea of authors talking about writing and working together. Although it isn't true, I think of the world of Young Adult Literature as being a small tight-knit community where the authors know each and discuss their upcoming books. I think this idea was fostered by Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, two very popular YA authors. I really enjoyed their collaboration and the book that resulted which is now out in a movie, by the way. I hope to get a chance to see it one of these days.

How to Be Bad by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski and Lauren Myracle is another one of those great collaboratory efforts by very popular YA authors. E. Lockhart has written The Boy Book and The Boyfriend List as well as The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, a book that is getting lots of talk as the award season starts. Sarah Mlynowski has written Bras and Broomsticks and Frogs and French Kisses, neither of which I have read. Lauren Myracle has written TTYL and TTFN two interesting books that are written as instant messages between three girls. The three authors of How to Be Bad are well established in YA Chick Lit and this novel is a great example!

How to Be Bad is about three very different girls who develop a close friendship while on a road trip from Niceville, Florida to Miami. Vicks, Jesse and Mel all want the same thing to get out of Niceville for a while. Vicks' boyfriend Brady has left town to attend the University of Miami and she has only heard from him once in the two weeks since he has been gone. Jesse is dealing with her mother's recent diagnosis of breast cancer and she just wants to get away. So Jesse comes up with the idea to go see Brady in Miami. However, neither Jesse nor Vicks has any money, so when Mel offers to go along and pay for the gas, they jump at the idea. Wealthy Mel has just moved to town and she wants to fit in. So the three girls embark on an adventure that leads them through a hurricane, into a fight with an alligator, to Epcot Center and finally to Miami. Through their adventures, the girls learn many things about themselves and their friendship.

The three girls alternate chapters taking turns telling the story, so the reader gets to know all three girls and what they are feeling. It is a fun story, but also one that makes you appreciate the friendships in your life.

Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox

2008-10-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox is one of those books that I just couldn't put down. It was odd and different from anything I have read before and yet I had to find out what was going to happen. It is really an amazing book--weird and wonderful.

I first picked up Dreamhunter when the sequel Dreamquake was selected as a Prinz honor book last spring. I wanted to read it but decided that I need to read the first book in the series. It took me several months, but I finally got to the bottom of my "To Be Read" pile and there it was. And I am glad that I finally read it!

Dreamhunter is set in a world where only certain people can enter a mystical location known only as the "The Place." Only certain gifted people can entire "The Place"; others walk right over it. But the gifted people known as dreamhunters are transported to a place where they catch dreams that they later share with the others of the community. There are dream palaces where people go to sleep and share in the dreams of the deamhunter. People pay to share these dreams and good dreamhunters can become very wealthy.

Cousins Laura and Rose belong to the first family of dreamhunters. Laura's father discovered "The Place" many years before and Rose's mother is a very famous dreamer. When Laura discovers that she has inherited the gift from her father, she must deal with the fears of entering "The Place" alone. To add to Laura's reservations, her father disappears leaving strange clues for only her to find. Laura must follow these clues to discover what has happened to her father. But more than finding her father, Laura finds the government secrets of how these dreams can be used against the people. Now Laura must decide how much of what she knows to share with her family and her community and how to protect herself from the dangers that follow.

This is a fascinating story of the power of dreams and nightmares. I can't wait to read the next book!

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You

2008-10-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You by Peter Cameron. James Sveck is 18 years old and enrolled in Brown for the Fall term; however, New Yorker James does not want to attend college instead he wants to buy a house in the Midwest and read the Classics. He is a loner who doesn't really fit in. He is different and doesn't like other people especially people his own age and following a disastrous experience with a national student seminar in Washington D.C., he concludes that he is better off alone.

This book is a wonderful coming of age novel in which James struggles with his sexual preferences and what he wants from the future. At times it is difficult to like James as he tells his story, but still I hoped that he would discover his way and his place in the world.

Harmless by Dana Reinhardt

2008-09-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

We all make mistakes and we all try to get out of them. The three girls in Harmless by Dana Reinhardt are just trying to get out of trouble by making up one little harmless story. However, it turns out not to be so harmless after all.

Emma, Anna and Mariah are freshmen in high school and best friends. One night they lie to their parents and attend a party with a bunch of senior guys from a neighboring high school. When they are caught in the lie, the three girls invent a story about being attacked by a man down by the river, so they don’t have to admit to attending the party. The girls give a generic description of the guy and hope that the situation will blow over. However, one small story becomes one huge thing when their parents insist that they go to the police. Then when a man who fits the description is arrested and everything really blows up. The girls learn that it would have been easier to tell the truth and take their punishment from the start because lies pile up and more than Emma, Anna and Mariah are hurt. This is a haunting story about what happens when you tell a lie that you think is “harmless.”

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gavrielle Zevin

2008-09-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

With all the rain, this was a good week to sit inside and read. However, after five inches of rain on Friday, the weekend turned out being fairly nice out! So I didn't get as much read as I had thought I would since I had to go out and enjoy the nice weather--finally. But I did enjoy Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin. It was a nice light-hearted book and a good read.

In this novel, Naomi falls down the steps of her high school and finds herself in an ambulance with a stranger who claims he is her boyfriend. At the emergency room, she discovers that James is not her boyfriend, but someone she had just met, but she also discovers that she cannot remember the last four years of her life. Everything from the time she is twelve to the present has been erased from her memory. These events include her parents' divorce, her new sister, and her best friend Will. Throughout the course of the book, Naomi spends the school year discovering who she is and why she likes the things she likes. It is a fun book of self-discovery.

The Snows by Sharelle Byars Moranville

2008-09-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

The Snows by Sharelle Byars Moranville in a different sort of book. This novel follows 4 generations of the Snow family when each is 16 years old. It also parallels some of the very important historical events of the US. But more than anything it shows the universal struggles that teens go through to reach adulthood whether they are living in the 1930s or the 2000s.

The story begins with Jim Snow as he tries to deal with his family and the difficulties of life during the 1930s. Jim's father has a successful barbershop in a small Iowa town, but he is not happy with his choices in life and decides to uproot his family and move during the Great Depression to an uncertain future in Colorado. While struggling with this move, Jim falls in love and tries to protect his little sister Cathy from all that is going on around them.

The second story is about Cathy who struggles with love during World War II. Cathy falls in love and has a secret romance with a young soldier heading off to war. However, Cathy has to cope with love lost and fear and shame when she is sent to a home for unwed mothers.

The third section is about Jim's daughter Jill who comes of age during the 1960s. Jill experiments with drugs and rebellion until her father sends her to live with her adopted older sister Mary Suzanne who teaches at Kent State University. While there, Jill gets a little too close to the dangers of the riots at Kent State in 1969.

The final section is about Jill's daughter Mona in 2006. Mona travels back to Iowa for her Great Aunt Cathy's funeral and becomes reacquainted with her extended family and discovers their secret past. The neat thing about this book is that Mona brings it all together and all the characters come together at the end of the story. It is interesting to see how the characters face some of the same problems at 16 years of age even though they face them years apart.

Taken by Edward Bloor

2008-08-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

It is back to school time! Things are starting to settle down, so I thought that I had better get back to putting books on my blog. I didn't have as much time to read this summer as I thought I would, but I did read some fun books and some interesting books. One of them was Taken by Edward Bloor.

Taken is set in the year 2036 where the world has changed in many ways. One major change is that one of the main struggles for prominent families is to protect their children from being kidnapped and held for ransom. This is an everyday occurrence and the main character Charity has been trained in what to do if she is every taken. So she is prepared when she is held for ransom at the beginning of this book. She knows how crucial the first hours are and how important contact with her family is.

While Charity is held, she has time to reflect on her life so far and her family which consists of her father, a famous dermatologist, her step-mother, a famous TV personality, and Victoria, her cook/maid, and Albert, her butler. Victoria and Albert are the people who are responsible for Charity’s day to day raising since her parents are always busy and gone and Charity feels closer to them than she does to her parents.

This book has some interesting commentary about race and social issues in the future. However, the best part of the book is the surprise at the ending. You will not expect what happens.

Deadline

2008-05-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, enough girl books! Its seems I have been reading a lot of a “girl” books lately, and I needed to branch out and read something different. So I decided that Chris Crutcher’s new book Deadline would be just the right change! I love Chris Crutcher! He visited our school three years ago and gave fantastic presentations! He knows how to relate to teenagers in both his speaking and his writing.

Deadline is about Ben Wolf who is told at the beginning of the book that he has about a year to live. Ben is a senior in high school and 18 years old and with the help of his doctor he decides not to pursue treatment that probably wouldn’t work anyway and he decides not to tell anyone about his condition. Ben wants to live his senior year to the fullest without everyone feeling sorry for him. So he sets out to make changes in his life. The first change is that he decides to go out for football. Ben weighs 123 pounds soaking wet, but he has always wanted to try football and this is the time in his life to do everything he always wanted to do. He also finally gets the courage to talk to Dallas Suzuki, the girl of his dreams. Ben discovers that hiding the truth from people he cares about is harder than he thought. This book hits hard Crutcher’s message of Life is short, live it to its fullest. Ben learns to tell people the truth and show them you care. Crutcher does a great job describing the action of the football games and he keeps the humor going in the book so it doesn’t feel too dark despite the subject.

Running Loose by Chris Crutcher is one of my all time favorite books. The main character Louie Banks goes through a series of struggles in this book when he refuses to purposely injure another player and is kicked off the football team. Louie finds comfort in running. Louie is one of the greatest characters in young adult literature. I was thrilled to learn that Louie returns in the book Deadline. He has returned to his hometown and is now the football coach at Trout High school in Trout, Idaho. He is also a father figure to Ben and his brother Cody. This is just another great part of this book.

Before I Die

2008-05-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

In Before I Die by Jenny Downham, Tessa is 16 years old and was diagnosed with leukemia 4 years ago. The doctors have done what they can and now they have given Tessa only months to live. Tessa decides that “I want to live before I die.” She makes a list of things that she wants to do before she dies. This list includes having sex, falling in love, getting her parents back together, breaking the law, experimenting with drugs and finding fame. After all her best friend Zoey says it best when she states “that there are no consequences for someone like you.” This book is full of great characters from Zoey, who has her own problems while helping Tessa complete her list, to Adam, the shy awkward young man next door who is dealing with his father’s death and his mother’s grief, to Cal, Tessa’s younger brother, who wonders if he will still be a brother after Tess dies, to Tessa’s father, who gives up everything to care for his dying daughter, to her mother, who left the family right before Tessa was diagnosed. This is a sad book that also gives hope for life and the lessons learned while living.

Story of a Girl

2008-05-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever made a mistake that you regretted and wished that you could take back? Deanna Lambert in Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr definitely knows that feeling. When she was 13, her father caught her having sex in the back seat of a car with Tommy Webber who was 17 and a friend of her brother. Deanna certainly didn’t love Tommy and she wasn’t even sure that she liked him, but he was 17 and he knew the right things to say and do to convince an 8th grade girl to do things she knows she shouldn’t.

The book starts 3 years later. Now Deanna is a sophomore in high school and she has to live everyday with her big mistake. Of course, Tommy told everyone in school about what happened so for 3 years, Deanna has been the skanky 8th grader who had sex with a high school senior. She faces the rumors at school and she faces how much she has disappointed her father at home. No matter that she has never been on a date or kissed another boy since, Tommy’s story has turned her into the “school slut.” This is a heartbreaking story of how one event can define a person’s life, but more than that, this is a wonderful story about finding self-respect and forgiveness.

Story of a Girl is another short book with only 192 pages and fairly large print. It is an easy read that gives you lots to think about whether you have been the object of hurtful rumors or whether you have been part of the group that spreads hurtful rumors.. I can see why this book was a National Book Award finalist.

Safe

2008-05-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

It's spring time and I have been looking for short books that can be read quickly so that I can enjoy the great spring weather--if the wind would just stop blowing! I guess I am in Kansas, so I should be used to the wind!

Safe by Susan Shaw only has 168 pages, so it is a short book, but has a really good story. I had trouble putting it down once I started it. With the death of her mother when she was three, Tracey has experienced loss. However, life with her father is happy and her best friend Caroline lives right down the street. But on the last day of school, Tracey is walking home and she is attacked and raped by a classmate’s older brother. Now her safe world has been crushed. The only place that she truly feels safe is in her own home playing the piano. She isolates herself from her friends so that she doesn’t have to ever leave her home. Her father is wonderful and her friends are very understanding as she works through this very difficult event in her life. This is a great book as Tracey struggles to find a way to feel safe within herself and her world. She must find a way to heal.

Tracking Trash

2008-04-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

Tracking trash: flotsam, jetsam, and the science of ocean motion by Loree Griffin Burns is an interesting book. It talks about Curt Ebbesmeyer’s study of ocean motion by tracking trash that washes up on beaches. He got started in the unusual study when his mother asked him why there were so many sneakers washing up on the shores of the ocean around her hometown of Seattle. Curt discovers that a ocean tanker had lost 5 containers of Nike tennis shoes—that’s 33,000 pairs of shoes lost in the ocean. Since shoes float, Curt was able to track the path of the shoes by seeing where they ended up on shore. He did the same thing later with the path of plastic bath toys that were lost from a ship. He uses this information to explain ocean currents and motion.

Besides how fascinating the tracking of the trash was, the idea that so much stuff is lost off of ships transporting goods from Asia to North America is staggering. No wonder we have a problem with ocean pollution. There is one point where the book shows the trash that has washed up on the shores of uninhabited islands. This book really brings home how important it is to recycle and reuse what we can to protect our natural resources.

This is another very short book with lots of pictures, but it has a powerful message to all who read it. It is interesting and has great information for reports.

Kissing the Bee

2008-04-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

It feels like rain again today. We had a nice spring rain yesterday and it feels like we might get some more today. I am definitely ready for warm and sunny. Of course, it won’t be too long before I am complaining about how it is too hot! Can’t make some people happy, I guess!

Kissing the Bee by Kathe Koja is a great spring time novel. It is short—121 pages in length—so it is a quick read. But it is also beautifully written. Dana, Avra and Emil are best friends; Avra and Emil are dating, but the problem is that Dana also loves Emil. This is a strange romantic triangle because the three of them do everything together from working on Emil and Avra’s prom dress and tux to going on dates to working on Dana’s final biology project about bees. The story is told from Dana’s point of view and she weaves the information about bees into the plot to create wonderful figurative language. Dana plans on attending college next year on a scholarship for science writing and Avra plans to leave their small town right after prom. She doesn’t plan on waiting until graduation, but just getting in the car and leaving with Emil. Emil keeps his plans to himself.

Dana also keeps her feelings about Emil to herself because Avra is her best friend. But one day Dana and Emil take a trip without Avra to a local apiary to see the bees and everything changes in their relationship. Dana has always considered Avra to be the queen bee in the hive and has always worked hard not to upset her. But now she is in love with her best friend’s boyfriend and there is no way to avoid the inevitable. This is a great story of young love and friendship and what each means to the other.

The Nature of Jade

2008-04-22T06:23:00.000-07:00

In The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti, Jade DaLuna struggles with her anxiety disorder, her dysfunctional family and her senior year filled with Advanced classes. Her dad wants things his way, her mother seems to be reliving high school by attending all dances and events and her younger brother would just like to read Nania books all day.

The only calming influence in her life is the webcam at the zoo where Jade can watch the elephants all night long if she wants. One night she spots a young man in red jacket with a toddler also watching the elephants. The red jacket returns each evening sometimes with the toddler, sometimes by himself. Jade becomes obsessed with meeting him. Is the baby his? How old is he? Is he married? Jade decides to volunteer with the elephants in the zoo hoping to meet the boy. Finally they meet and Sebastian is everything that Jade expected him to be and more. However, Sebastian has a secret that will cause problems for Jade and himself and their relationship. Jade must confront the reality that Sebastian has a past.

This is a very gentle romance. The story is told from Jade’s perspective as she analyzes the world. Her analysis usually compares humans to animals, more specifically the elephants she works with. There is a great cast of characters from Damian the elephant keeper to Delores the zoo ticket taker to Tess Sebastian’s grandmother to Oliver Jade’s 10-year-old brother. I really enjoyed reading this book. In fact, I couldn’t put it down on Saturday morning. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to plant some flowers around my yard, but all that had to wait until I had finished this fantastic book!

The Innocent's Story

2008-04-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Innocent's Story by Nicky Singer is a different kind of book. It is a mix of supernatural ideas that create a story that is hard to put down. Once I got into the plot, I had to know what was going to happen.

Cassina is 13 years old. On the way home one day, she and her younger sister are blown up by a bomb in the train station. Cassina becomes a "para-spirit" that can move among the living and enter into living hosts finding a place to live in the brain of the person. She first enters into the brain of her father, but finds it too hard to deal with the pain he feels. She meets other para-spirits as she moves from host to host. One of the hosts she enters is the brain of the man who set the bomb and killed her. While staying in his brain she contemplates what would make someone kill innocent people. There are some inevitable comparisons with 9/11. But it is fascinating to read how Cassina learns about the world and what happens when she is confronted with the hatred of her murderer.

Spanking Shakespeare

2008-04-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

I am not sure what to say about Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner. It is really laugh-out-loud funny, irreverent and borders on obscene in parts. It’s not a book for everyone, but if you are looking for something to make you laugh and don’t mind reading about bowel movements, sex and other adolescent issues, this is a good book for you.

Shakespeare Shapiro is a senior at Hemingway High School where the major project for all seniors is to write a memoir. In his memoir, Shakespeare shares the funniest and most embarrassing moments in his life, from being born on Hitler's birthday ("Whenever I did anything wrong, my father would call me Adolf") to his father's blackmail techniques ("I'm about ten seconds away from telling you things [about our sex life] that will haunt you for the rest of your life," his father cheerfully threatens an 11-year-old Shakespeare). With his dysfunctional family and terrible luck, it is easy for the reader to feel sorry for Shakespeare even as he sinks into bouts of self-pity. However, Shakespeare meets Charlotte and realizes that his life is not so bad after all. Keep in mind that nothing is off limits to Wizner: he pokes fun of bodily functions, sex and religion in this book.

Gray smudges make it look like a teen really slaved over the writing and revising of this book. I even tried several times to unfold the corner that is part of the unusual appearance that makes this book different.

Like I said, this book is not for everyone, but if you enjoy off-color humor, you will enjoy Shakespeare Shapiro. The author Jake Wizner teaches 8th grade English and History, so it is easy to see where some of his humor comes from.

Golden

2008-04-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Today is a great day to be a Kansan as the KU Jayhawks won the National Championship last night. With the game going into the overtime, we all stayed up too late watching the ending, so everyone is dragging today. But it is still exciting! Go Jayhawks!

I love fairy tale books. Who knew? I sure didn’t know that I did, but I really enjoyed reading Beastly by Alex Flinn and I just finished Golden: A Retelling of “Repunzel” by Cameron Dokey. And I thought it was a fun read also.

In Golden, Rapunzel’s mother makes a deal with a sorceress that if she does not love the baby just as she appears, she would have to give the baby to the sorceress to raise. Rapunzel is born with no hair and with no hope of ever having any and her mother who is beautiful is horrified and thinks she is horrific looking so she gives her to the sorceress. However, the sorceress has an alternative reason for wanting Rapunzel as her own.

Rapunzel is raised by the sorceress and she has a very happy and content life until they are forced from their home and the sorceress tells Rapunzel that she had another daughter who has been cursed by an evil wizard and locked in a tower. She hopes that Rapunzel can figure out a way to break the curse and free her daughter. What happens is an interesting twist on an old fairy tale. And the fun twist at the end is how Rapunzel gets her long beautiful hair!

Dairy Queen

2008-04-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

I know that you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I loved the cow wearing a tiara on the front of this book. It is the reason I picked it up to read it in the first place. So many great books have terrible covers that they don't encourage readers to read them that I really love it when a publisher gets it right and has a great cover like this one.

And Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock lives up to its great cover. Life has been difficult for DJ Schwenk since her father injured his hip. At 15, DJ quits basketball so she can take over the milking on her family's dairy farm. So she is not feeling optimistic about a summer filled with milking, cleaning the barn, and baling clover until a family friend sends Brian Nelson to help out. Brian is the quarterback from a neighboring rival school and his coach thinks that working with DJ over the summer will get him into shape for football in the fall. Brian has looks and brains, but he is a slacker and this causes friction with DJ. However, training Brian for football is the best part of her summer. And everything seems to be looking up until DJ decides that she is tired of living life like a cow. She does everything expected of her. "I just did what my parents told me, and my coaches, and [my friend], and [my dog] even. . . . I was nothing but a cow on two legs." So DJ decides to break her "cow mentality" and do something no one expects: go out for her high school football team. This causes problems with her father who doesn't like anything out of the ordinary, her best friend, and Brian who plays for an opposing team.

Don't get me wrong Dairy Queen is about so much more than football. There are family issues, problems with friends, even a budding romance and of course, cows! This is a great novel for all and even if you have no interest in sports, you will enjoy DJ's story of her 15th summer.

I am looking forward to reading the sequel The Off Season that continues DJ and Brian's romance and tells what happens with her family.

Last Kiss

2008-03-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

Last Kiss by Jon Ripslinger is a good mystery novel. Lisa Wells had it all--beauty, intelligence, wealth, athleticism, popularity and a promising future. But Billy O’Reilly knows how unhappy she really is, how lonely she really feels and how trapped she is by her ultra-controlling father. No one knows about the secret relationship Billy and Lisa have been having. He has been sneaking into her bedroom for the last several weeks. But the relationship has gone sour. Lisa is back to dating her “father-approved” boyfriend and making plans for college. However, Lisa begs Billy to come and see her one more time. But the next morning, Lisa is found dead and Billy is the prime suspect. What follows is a good mystery as Billy and his friend Windy turn into amateur detectives in order to clear his name and discover what really happened to Lisa.

Love, Meg

2008-03-28T07:52:00.001-07:00

I have been terrible about not reading lately. I hadn’t read a book since Spring Break. Last week was the National Junior College Men’s Basketball tournament here in town and my house was filled with family. So between school all day, basketball all evening and playing cards all night, I didn’t get anything done. But it was a fun week. This week I am trying to get back on schedule.

I was tired this week, but it was great to have my family around. The book Love, Meg by C. Leigh Purtill is all about family. Meg is 15 years old and the only family she has ever known is her sister Lucie. Lucie is always looking for something better so she and Meg move around a lot usually once or twice a year. So Meg is used to finding new friends and then moving and having to start all over. The latest move has been to Hollywood where Lucie has a new boyfriend and maybe a decent job. Meg has just started Hollywood High School when she comes home one afternoon and meets Lucie’s brother Lonnie. Lonnie tells Meg of a family she didn’t know existed and turns her world upside down. Meg feels that Lucie has betrayed her by hiding her family from her and she moves to New York to find out what it is like to have a family.

Dragon's Keep

2008-03-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

It is always hard to get back into the swing of things after Spring Break. And it is raining this morning so that doesn’t help. I went to Natchez, Mississippi for the week. Natchez sits on the Mississippi River and the weather was really nice. I was disappointed when I got back to Kansas and it was cold. I heard that it was nice several days last week. Maybe with the start of spring on Thursday, we will start to get some warm weather.

Natchez is a neat town that time seems to have forgotten. In 1850, there were more millionaires per capita in Natchez than anywhere else in the US. The town was surrounded by huge cotton plantations and the town was filled with huge antebellum mansions. Each spring these mansions are opened for public tours. They are fabulous. I am a Great Plains girl—born in Oklahoma and raised in Kansas. My ancestors came to the plains in covered wagons, so they didn’t bring much with them. However, the people who settled in Natchez had furniture shipped from Europe. And it is still sitting in these antebellum homes where the people still use some of it today. It is incredible—a real eye opening experience. I felt like I had walked back into the time of Gone with the Wind!

I thought that I would get some reading done over the break, but with traveling and touring, I didn’t get much read. I did finish Dragon’s Keep by Janet Lee Carey. The great magician Merlin prophesied that the 21st queen of Wilde Island would “redeem the name of Pendragon, end war with the wave of her hand, and restore the glory of Wilde Island.” Rosalind is born to be the 21st queen of Wilde Island. Her parents have high hopes for what she will accomplish. However, Rosalind is born with a dragon claw in place of the ring finger on her left hand. Most of her life is spent trying to hide this deformity and find a cure, so that she can marry. When she is 17, Rosalind’s father goes to war to help England and hopefully make a match with the King’s son. But Rosalind is captured by a dragon and her life is changed forever. How will she fulfill Merlin's prophesy?

As I have said before, I am not crazy about fantasy books, but this is a good book. I enjoyed reading the adventures with the dragons and Rosalind’s search to be free from the dragon’s curse.

The Appeal by John Grisham

2008-03-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

I was excited to see that John Grisham was returning to writing books about lawyers and trials when I read The Appeal. I loved The Firm and The Client and A Time to Kill—all fantastic books about trials and lawyers set in Mississippi. I enjoyed some of his other books; Playing for Pizza was fun and Bleachers was good, but those books don’t compare to his legal thrillers.

The Appeal is about a trial in Bowmore, Mississippi where Krane Chemicals has dumped a lot of toxins in the soil and contaminated the ground water. The people of Bowmore have a higher cancer rate than anywhere in the US, in fact, it is 17 times higher. There are so many people who have cancer in the county that it has gained the nickname “Cancer County.” Jeanette Baker lost both her husband and son to cancer and she is suing Krane Chemical for their deaths. Wes and Mary Grace Payton have risked everything to represent her case because they believe that Krane Chemical should pay for what it has done. At the beginning of the book, the jury rules on the Baker case and then the entire book is about the appeal. And what the huge multi-billion dollar company will do to get out of paying for what it has done to the city of Bowmore.

Of course, like all of Grisham’s books, many of the legal and political practices make me angry! But I really enjoyed this book! And I am glad that Grisham has returned to what he does best!

Skin Hunger

2008-02-26T10:32:00.000-08:00

Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey is a fantasy novel with two different story lines. The first is about Sadima a poor farm girl whose mother dies giving birth to her and is raised by her brooding father and brother. Sadima discovers that she is able to communicate with animals when she meets Franklin a servant from the city. He encourages her to come to the city when she is old enough. After several years, Sadima heads to the city and discovers a new life living with Franklin and Somiss his master who are secretly working as magicians in a world where magic has become illegal. Somiss is cruel and selfish and Sadima tries to find a way to save both Franklin and herself.

In the other storyline, Hahp is a second child who has been given to the wizards to train in the magical ways. He is taken to the school where the students are forbidden to work together in anyway and they are kept dirty and hungry until they learn to conjure their own food. Many of the boys die of starvation. Hahp resents the wizards and his father for sending his there and vows his revenge.

The connection of the two stories is not revealed until near the end. And the ending leaves the book open for a sequel. In fact, it is the first book of a planned trilogy called A Resurrection of Magic. I can’t wait to read the next book. I hope that the author writes it quickly!

Girlfriend Project

2008-02-21T06:50:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a light-hearted, quick read The Girlfriend Project by Robin Friedman is just the book. It isn’t anything new, but it is a fun. Reed wants a girlfriend. He’s a senior in high school and has been afraid of girls since he asked one out as a freshman and she laughed in his face. However, now Reed has grown several inches, gotten contacts and doesn’t look like so much of a dork. With the help of his two best friends, Ronnie and Lonnie, Reed starts the girlfriend project in an attempt to learn about girls and find the perfect one for him.

If you like this book, then you will really like 24 Girls in Seven Days by Alex Bradley. It has a similar plot with the main character’s friends helping him find a date for prom using a dating site. However, I liked this one better. There’s more to the story and it is an entertaining guy’s eye view of dating.

Both of books are fun reads filled with humor and romance!

Stuck in the 70s

2008-02-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of the trimester before final exams. It is usually a busy day. However, if you need something to read during final exams. This is a fun read.

Stuck in the 70s by D.L. Garfinkle is a light-hearted book. Tyler wakes up in the middle of the night to find a gorgeous naked girl in his bathtub. Shay thinks this is a practical joke. One minute she is partying in 2006 and the next thing she knows there’s a dorky guy staring at her insisting that it is now 1978. Spoiled rich girl Shay wants nothing more than to get back to 2006 while Tyler wouldn’t mind if she would stay for a while. They strike a deal. Tyler will try to figure out a way to get her back to the future and Shay will help Tyler shed his science geek reputation and become part of the popular crowd. Soon Shay is turning Tyler’s life upside down with her modern ideas.

This book is told in alternating chapters by Shay and Tyler so the reader sees both sides of the story. It is a fun story of finding love and one’s true identity and what is really important in life. It is not a deep book, but a fun read.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

2008-02-11T07:03:00.000-08:00

Beastly by Alex Flinn is the best revenge against that arrogant, good looking jerk that sits across from you in Math class. Kyle Kingsbury is very good looking. The problem is that he knows it. And he doesn’t mind letting everyone know that he is better than they are because of how he looks. However, Kyle messes with the wrong girl. Kendra is a witch—a real witch. Kyle decides that it would be funny to ask her to the school dance and then stand her up. He intends to humiliate her in front of the entire school. But Kendra gets her revenge by turning Kyle into a beast—a real beast. The curse can only be broken if Kyle can find a girl he can love who will fall in love with him. This is a great new take on the Beauty and the Beast story and a fun romance.

Tithe

2008-02-06T06:26:00.001-08:00

We got another nice snow last night--probably 5 inches. It is really pretty out. I like the way the snow looks before it has been all tracked up and dirty. It is pretty as I look out the library windows and see snow on the top of the buildings and on the tree branches.

I am not a huge fan of fantasy books. I usually purchase them for the library because of good reviews and then never read them. However, many of the library’s patrons really like fantasy and every once in a while I will find a book that I really should read. Tithe: a modern faerie tale by Holly Black was one of these books. It has been very popular so I thought that I would grab it and see why everyone was reading it. And, like all the fantasy books I read which isn’t many, I enjoyed it.

Tithe is a strange, but a good read. Debauchery, despair, deceit, and grisly death-what more could you ask from a fairy tale? 16-year-old Kaye has always been considered a freak. Part of that is because she has spent most of her life in seedy bars with her mother’s struggling rock bands. But part of it is also because of her childhood memories of being friends with fairies. When Kaye meets Roiben, the wounded and incredibly good lucking elven knight, she is unprepared for what happens next. Her childhood friends return to tell her that Roiben serves the evil Unseelie Court and that Kaye has been designated as a tithe, a mortal sacrifice that binds the courts together. But what if Kaye isn’t really mortal? You will enjoy reading about Kaye who is a clever, courageous heroine with an appealingly wry voice, and Roiben who is a gloriously damaged and darkly noble tragic hero. This book is a fantastic example of urban fantasy. And, of course, there are a couple of sequels.

Right Behind You

2008-02-04T06:42:00.000-08:00

Go Giants! I was glad to see them win the Super Bowl! I think that I am always rooting for the underdog! However, I am tired of the Patriots and want to see someone else win. Plus I really like the idea of Peyton winning last year and Eli winning this year. What a great story!

I watch a lot of the pre-game stuff. I can't believe that Paula Abdul has a new single out! She was popular when I was in high school, but hasn't done much except reality TV since. The song sounded too computerized--I wasn't sure that she was even singing! I wasn't too impressed with the commercials this year. I did like the one with the dog training the clydesdale. That was cute. Otherwise, none of the others really stuck out except maybe the baby investing online, but that was a little creepy! Oh well, I enjoyed the game.

I just finished reading Right Behind You by Gail Giles. The book reminded me a lot of Looking for J.J. which I read a couple of weeks ago. I am surprised to find two books about children killing children published so close together. I really like Right Behind You, maybe even more than I liked Looking for J.J. Looking for J.J. was more of a mystery to find out what happened. Right Behind You tells what happened from the beginning so there is no mystery involved there. But it is a great story of redemption and forgiveness.

At the beginning of the book, Kip is 9 years old when he douses a 7-year-old neighbor with gasoline and sets him on fire in a jealous rage. He is put in a psychiatric hospital for juvenile offenders where he spends the next 5 years of his life, trying to deal with what he has done. At the age of 14, he is released from the facility and encouraged to change his name and start a new life. So Kip becomes Wade and he moves to a small Indiana town to begin again. Things are good at his new school where he makes new friends, finds a girlfriend and joins the swim team, but Wade is filled with guilt and shame and struggles with keeping his past hidden—after all does he really deserve to be happy?

Feels Like Home

2008-02-01T07:07:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton the other day, so I was really surprised to find the book Feels Like Home by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo. In this book the main character Mickey loves the book The Outsiders. It was something she shared with her older brother Danny before he went away. Danny was 6 years older than Mickey, but he always took care of her. He made sure that she had a front-row seat at all his football games and he never left her alone. Danny was the town hero his senior year when he helped bring home the first State Football championship in decades. But then tragedy struck and Danny was blamed and he left town in shame.

Feels Like Home starts 6 years after the tragedy. Mickey is now 15-years-old and her father has died. Danny returns home for the funeral even though Mickey has not heard from him for 5 years. Mickey has not forgiven him for leaving and she does not want him to be part of her life now. She is struggling to get past the grief and to deal with her brother’s return. To add to her struggles, her best friend Christina, whose mother would like her not to be friends with a “gringa,” tells her that Ricky Martinez, the new football star in town, likes her. This book does a great job showing the small Texas town’s obsession with football and racial and social conflicts. Plus it is just a really good story about the complexities of being a family.

The Real Question

2008-01-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

It is cold and windy here today. It is even snowing a little bit, not very much, but the wind makes it look worse than it is. It is kind of neat because the snow has piled up a couple of inches or so on the outside of the library windows. It is definitely a good day to stay inside and read! Plus it is Kansas Day. So Happy Birthday, Kansas!

I just finished reading The Real Question by Adrian Fogelin. Fisher Brown is a straight A student. He has studied hard and done everything expected of him since 6th grade. His father pushes him to succeed in school, to ace the SATs and to get into a great Ivy League university and to help Fish stay motivated, he puts index cards with questions on them around his room. One day when Fish finds the card that says, “What is the Real Questions?” Fisher wonders what is the real question for his life. The pressure seems to be too much and he slowly feels himself beginning to crack. So when his father leaves town, Fish decides to take a break. The careless and carefree Lonny asks Fisher to go with him to help roof a house for a former girlfriend and Fish sees it as the escape he needs. However, Fisher finds himself stranded several hundred miles from home and he must decide where his real future lies.

Hail Caesar

2008-01-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

When I was in high school, I loved the book, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I read it and her other books several times. The thing that I really liked about The Outsiders is that it was written by a 15-year-old. That book is still really popular today and I think part of the popularity is that it is written by a teenager. A couple of years ago when Eragon came out, I loved that it was written by 17-year-old Christopher Paolini. Books written by teens are always popular with other teens. So I was excited when I picked up Hail Caesar by Thu-Huong Ha. Ha was 15-years-old when she wrote this book.

Senior John Miller has it all. In fact, he is the king, the emperor which is why they call him Caesar. His friends and even his teachers call him Caesar. He rules the school. He can do whatever he wants and have whatever girl he wants. That is until a new girl comes to town and Eva is not impressed by him or his reputation. She forces Caesar to confront the type of person that he is and figure out what type of person he would like to become. Ha holds nothing back in her description of the parties and the meaningless sex and the language she uses when she writes.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

2008-01-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

I am glad that Parent Teacher conferences are over for another trimester! I used to like conferences because I had a chance to meet my students’ parents. But now that I am in the library, I don’t have that many students. This trimester I have two student aides. I saw both their parents in the first 30 minutes of conferences, so that made for a lot of sitting. I did do a book fair during conferences and that helped me see a few more people. But I still had plenty of time to read.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a great book. It is one of those rare books where I laughed while my heart was breaking. Alexie writes a heart-wrenchingly hilarious coming-of-age story about Arnold Spirit growing up on “the rez” in Washington State. Arnold is a goofy looking freshman with a good jump shot and a pressing desire to be something different from the other people on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Arnold sees how alcohol, poverty and lack of education has doomed the members of his tribe, so he knows that he must do something different. After he is kicked out of school for hitting a teacher in the face with a book, Arnold transfers to a small school off the reservation. On his first day, Arnold wonders what he is doing at “Reardon where the school mascot is the Indian making him the only other Indian in town.” The dominate mode of the novel is humor. Arnold wants to be a cartoonist, so it is filled with his cartoons to explain his view of the world. Even through all the tough times he faces, Arnold finds a way to see the good in the world and find hope for the future.

All-In

2008-01-23T11:14:00.000-08:00

I have a friend who has a weekly Texas Hold'em Poker game. The 10 dollar buy in gets you a certain amount of chips and once you lose them you are done. I have never done very well. Always being one of the first to lose my chips, I usually spend the rest of the night talking with the other "losers" in the kitchen! I am a terrible liar, so everyone knows when I am bluffing. That makes for a lousy poker player.

The book All-In by Pete Hautman is about a teenager who is a fantastic poker player. In fact, he makes so much money playing poker that he leaves his home town to move to Las Vegas and play full-time. The descriptions of the tournaments are exciting. I never thought that reading about the action in a card game could be thrilling, but Hautman has a gift. Denn Doyle is 17 years old and he has won and lost a fortune playing poker. He gets on some one's bad side and they set him up to lose everything. Now Denn's only chance is a winner- take-all tournament; however, he has to come up with the $10,000 entry fee.

If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?

2008-01-14T07:36:00.000-08:00

I finally had some time this weekend to work in my yard. I have had snow in my yard since the ice storm before Christmas. With a couple of nice days last week, most of the snow has melted, so I was able to get out there and do some raking. I had two great big cypress trees in my backyard and they are really messy. I needed to rake up all the junk they lost plus the broken limbs from the ice storm. I moved the big limbs out into the front yard so they could be picked up. The city says that it is working on picking them up, but it might be March before they get to my neighborhood, and I just am not patient enough to wait that long. So I found someone with a truck who would pick them up for me. It will be nice to have that done. I also packed all the leaves and stuff in garbage bags and set them out by the curb to be picked up with the trash today. I felt pretty good about my yard when I finished, so I didn't feel bad about spending several hours reading a book.

The book I read was If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? by Melissa Kantor. This book is nothing new, but if you like romantic fiction it is a good read. Lucy's father has remarried and moved her from California to New York, so she can live with her new stepmother and her two new stepsisters. Her father has some business to finish in California so Lucy is there alone. She feels invisible at her new school until she has a conversation about basketball with the "cutest guy in school." And suddenly Lucy's life is looking up. She sees that maybe she can have a prince since she has a wicked stepmother and two wicked stepsisters. However, Lucy starts to see that maybe the prince isn't so perfect after all. This book is witty, light and very entertaining and Lucy is a strong female character.

Absolutely Positively Not...Gay

2008-01-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

I had to laugh at the book Absolutely Positively Not...Gay by David LaRochelle. The main character Steven is a closet square dancer. At school every year before Christmas, our students go to the gym and square dance. The gym is filled with students who really enjoy the activity. So it was funny to see Steven who doesn't want his friends to know that he likes to square dance. Steven has other problems too. He doesn't like sports, his best friend is a girl, and he just can't seem to find any enthusiasm for the Victoria Secret catalog, but he is "absolutely positively not gay!" This book treats the subject of sexuality in a humorous, but honest way. Steven tries to deny who he really is by dating as many girls as possible and reading a book that attempts to curb his "deviant behavior." This book is sometimes laugh out loud funny and sometimes it really makes you think about teens and the world we live in. We all can understand how Steven feels as he searches for someone to talk to--someone who shares his feelings. And everyone--gay or straight--can understand the need to be accepted.

Looking for J.J.

2008-01-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

I like to watch sports of TV. I watched the KU basketball game last night. It was not a very good game, so I didn't have to pay close attention which was good because I was reading a really good book.

Looking for J.J. by Anne Cassidy is a good mystery novel. Six years ago 10 year old Jennifer Jones killed her best friend. She has now been released from prison and is trying to make a new life for herself. However, the tabloids will not leave Jennifer Jones alone. They want interviews and want to know why one child would kill another and want to see what kind of monster she is. J.J. has become Alice as she tries to put her past behind her. However, Alice is haunted by what happened when she was 10 years old and so is the reader. The story of the murder is told in flashbacks as the reader discovers what happened with J.J. and her friend and her family. If you like books that keep you guessing, this is a good one. And I really liked the ending because it seemed real. I don't like books that have those canned endings that tie everything up nicely and put it in a neat little box. Life is messy and I like books that reflect that. Looking for J.J. does that.

Twisted

2008-01-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! And Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

I am a few days behind. The Jayhawks won the Orange Bowl last Thursday night, so it is a good time to be from Kansas! Of course, I stayed up and watched the game and then I was tired the next day. I don't think that I was the only one though.

I am still trying to get back into the swing of school after the Christmas vacation. One of my New Year resolutions is to blog more often. We'll have to see how that goes; it doesn't look too promising. I don't know what happened to the vacation time. I thought that I would have lots of time to read, but somehow that didn't happen. I guess that there were too many friends and family members to see because I only read one book over the break.

The book was a really good one. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson was a really good read! I loved Speak and also enjoyed Prom which are also by her, so I knew that I would enjoy it. I liked the twisted pencil on the front cover of the book which is what made me pick it up to begin with. (Yes, I judge books by their covers.) Anyway I don't know why, but I expected it to be a fun read like Prom instead of being thought-provoking like Speak. However, this book really made me think and it was a great combination of funny and sad. Tyler Miller was socially invisible before he spray-painted the school and became "dangerous." As he describes himself, "I was a zit on the butt of the student body." But the physical labor he does for his community service with the school custodians and his summer job working for a landscaper transform him from a wimpy junior to a strong, ripped senior. Suddenly the girl of his dreams sees him and his new muscles in a new light and his social life has hope. When naked pictures of Brittany are posted on the Internet, the police and the school come after Tyler. When there seems to be no justice for Tyler, he considers many possible escapes including running away and suicide. Although the book doesn't have a "happily-ever-after" ending, Tyler perseveres and shows strong moral integrity. This book is sad and funny and hopeful!

James Patterson books

2007-12-17T07:40:00.000-08:00

The weather was definitely frightful this past week. The ice storm kept us home from school for 3 days and then 8 inches of snow kept me in the house for most of the weekend. It was a perfect time to catch up on some reading. In fact, the first day I didn't have electricity so there wasn't much else to do. Thankfully I had a gas fireplace to keep me warm and a kerosene lantern to read by. I curled up by the fire and read most of the day until the power came back on. I was one of the lucky ones who was only out of power for a day. I know that several places in town were out until Sunday--that made it almost an entire week without electricity. I would not have made a very good pioneer because I was pretty whiny after only a couple of hours without my modern conveniences.

I used this opportunity to catch up on the James Patterson books. I really enjoy his books. They are filled with suspense and keep me on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next. I just finished Double Cross the latest book in Patterson's series about Alex Cross. Alex is a psychiatrist who works with the Washington D.C. police department and the FBI. He profiles serial killers. Double Cross is about a serial killer who they call the DC Audience Killer because he likes to kill in front of a audience. The first murder involved throwing a popular mystery writer off a balcony into a crowd of people. From there his murder become even more gruesome and more public. To make things worse, Kyle Craig who Alex Cross had put in prison in a previous book has escaped from prison and is seeking his revenge against Alex Cross and anyone else who had something to do in his capture. Each chapter has a new twist and turn.

Patterson isn't for everyone, but I really like his short chapters--usually only a couple of pages long. The books read quickly and like I said are filled with action and suspense. However, they also tend to be pretty graphic in their violence.

Another Vampire Book

2007-12-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine is another vampire book. What makes this book different is that the vampires are not the good guys like all the other vampire books that are out right now. In Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Edward, the vampire, is good looking, kind and nearly the perfect man and so many vampire books portray vampires in that manner. However, in Glass Houses which is the first book in The Morganville Vampires Series, the vampires are vicious and scary and not desirable at all!

Claire's parents send her to Texas Prairie University because they think that the town in small and the school is safe. Claire immediately gets on the wrong side of Monica, the leader of a gang of popular girls. They push Claire down the stairs and threaten to kill her. Claire is frightened and moves out of the dorm into the Glass House with three strange roommates: Eve a Goth girl, Michael who sleeps all day and Shane who left Morganville and returned under strange circumstances. From Eve and Shane, Claire learns that the town of Morganville is controlled by vampires and it is not safe to be out after dark. Somehow the Glass House has protective powers and they are safe inside. Claire with her talent of upsetting the wrong people has a vampire join Monica and her gang in threatening her and what happens is nonstop action as the reader discovers all the strange happenings in Morganville and the Glass House.

The downside of the book is that it is part of a series and although it solves the immediate problem, it ends in a place that makes you have to read the next book. We have three of the books in the series in the library.

Vampires

2007-11-28T10:19:00.000-08:00

Vampires are such a big deal right now. In the library we can’t keep vampire books on the shelf. In fact, there is even a show on TV on Friday nights. I can’t think of the title right now, but the vampire main character is easy on the eyes!

I just received a new series in the library. It's called The House of Night series. They are written by a mother/ daughter team from Tulsa, Oklahoma and the books are set in Tulsa so it feels kind of local to me. I have an aunt who lives in Tulsa, so I know about several of the different places they go in the book. There are two books in the series so far. The first one is Marked and the second is Betrayed by PC Cast and Kristin Cast.

Marked takes place at the House of Night which is a school where people go to become vampires. Once a teenager is marked with a blue half moon on his/her forehead, he/she must move to the House of Night in order to survive. The days are reversed and they attend classes at night and sleep during the day. They learn of the vampire culture and about what happens to them as they change from a fledgling to an adult vamp. The change is difficult and painful and many do not make it through the several years it takes to completely change from human to vampire. The story is told through 16-year-old Zoey Redbird’s point of view. Zoey has never fit in the human world and she welcomes the move to the vampire world. However, Zoey sees that one of her classmates is misusing her powers and she must do something about it. This book is fast paced and fun to read, but like all vampire books, there is some suggestive language and sexual content

Thanksgiving

2007-11-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

This is our last day of school before the Thanksgiving break. It seems like with the pressures of Christmas, Thanksgiving is a holiday that gets skipped over. We go from buying candy for Halloween to buying Christmas gifts. In fact, I was in a store the other day looking for Thanksgiving napkins and all they had were Christmas ones. The lady at the store said that they didn’t get any Thanksgiving stuff this year because it is not a big commercial holiday. I guess that it another reason to really like Thanksgiving. And without paper napkins, I guess that I will have to be more environmentally conscience and use cloth ones. It is really nice to take a little time and think of all the things that we have to be thankful for: family, friends, a home to live in, food to eat and football to watch on TV.

A Swift Pure Cry by Soibhan Dowd really made me think of how easy my life is and how lucky I am. Everything’s been wrong in 15 year old Shell’s life since her mother’s death. Her father’s drinking keeps him out of work and the family rooted in poverty. Shell must care for herself and her younger brother and sister. Shell becomes an easy target for Declan, a boy in her school, who gets her pregnant and then runs away to America. Shell has no one to ask for help and the events that fallow are heart-breaking. However, when the police in town find a dead baby’s body suspicion falls on Shell and she has no family and no skills to deal with the investigation. The mystery surrounding the baby and its parentage make for a good read.

Because this book is based on true events that took place in Ireland in the 1980s, it is even more horrific and really rips your heart out in some places. However, the way Shell and her family survive is both a tragic and hopeful story.

Football Books

2007-11-16T05:45:00.000-08:00

I love football. And it is a great time to be a football in Kansas with the Jayhawks having an undefeated season! Our high school football team is also undefeated. We are playing tonight for the State semi-finals. Needless to say, lots of people of thinking football!

I have read several good football books lately. Right now I am really enjoying Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. I have always enjoyed Grisham’s crime novels like The Firm and The Client, so I was worried that I wouldn’t like his straying from what he does well. But so far, it is really fun. It is about Rick Dockery who is a third string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. However, in the game before the Super Bowl, Rick finds himself in the game and panics. He blows a 17 point lead in less than 11 minutes and the citizens of Cleveland run him out of town. Rick ends up in the hospital with a concussion from a huge hit on his last interception and Browns fans storm the hospital trying to find him. The description is really funny. Rick decides that isn’t ready to give up the dream of playing professional football yet, so he begs his agent to find somewhere he can play. And that is when he finds himself in Parma, Italy playing for pizza! Actually he gets paid unlike many of the other players on his team who play for the love of the game—and pizza.

The amazing part of this book was that a league like this really exists in Italy. They are a bunch of guys playing American football in a place where football usually means soccer, where hundreds of thousands of people show up to watch the World Cup, and where they can only have 3 Americans per team. And one is almost always the quarterback. I am anxious to see what happens to Rick. The book is humorous and the football scenes are well written—I can almost feel the hits as I read.

We have received several new nonfiction football books this past month. The Blind Side: evolution of a game by Michael Lewis is waiting for me to finish Playing for Pizza. It is the story of University of Mississippi football player Michael Oher and it explores the rising salaries of the offensive left tackle in the NFL. I guess that the blind side in football is the left side of a right handed quarterback where defensive linemen can inflict serious damage without being seen. So one key to a safe and effective passer is a good offensive left tackle—one of the more unglamorous jobs in football. In the book, Oher goes from being raised by a crack-addicted homeless mother to being adopted by a wealthy family. It is a fascinating story even without the football.

Another book that I have been browsing when I have time is The Physics of Football: Discover the Science of Bone-Crushing Hits, Soaring Field Goals, and Awe-Inspiring Passes by Timothy Gay. It is really interesting as it looks at the science behind hang time and sweet spots and turf. I have just read sections of it, but it really makes me think. Of course, that’s just my being nerdy again.

One more book I want to mention is another that I just pick up when I have time. It is called The Football Game I’ll Never Forget: 100 Stars’ Stories. It has 100 of the greatest football players of all times writing about the games that they remember most. It has chapters by Joe Montana, Frank Gifford, and Brian Sipe. It is a fun, colorful book of football history.

Funny Books

2007-11-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

We just finished finals last week and are starting new classes this week, so things are pretty quiet in the library. We did have some researchers in this morning looking for information on Rock and Roll stars from the past. It was fun to search through the books to find facts about The Jackson Five and Ritchie Valens and others…I’m not sure what the teacher is going to have them do with their information, but musical topics sound like fun to read about and research.

I think research is always fun—guess that makes me a real nerd. Reading should also be fun. And there are a string of books that are funny and really fun to read. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar is one of these funny books. In this book, Scott is trying to navigate his first year in high school by avoiding being hit in the back of the head on the bus, being relieved of spare change by upper classmen and falling into the category of the lowest of the low. While trying to survive at school, Scott’s home life is also changing when he discovers that his mother is having a baby! Throughout the book, Scott writes advice for his new sibling who he affectionately refers to as “Smelly” and “Fluid-dwelling piece of protoplasm.” Scott’s adventures and his views of the world are sometimes laugh out loud funny!

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green is another funny book. Colin has always dated girls named Katherine and he has always gotten dumped by them—19 times to be exact. So after high school graduation, he and his friend Hassan leave Chicago on a Road Trip where he tries to get over the latest Katherine and prove that he can mathematically prove the success of relationships with future Katherines. Hassan is the hilarious sidekick and Colin is the ultimate nerd and together they are hilarious!

Keturah and Lord Death

2007-11-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

It is a marvelous Friday afternoon. It is finally becoming fall here and the trees are changing colors and starting lose their leaves. What a wonderful time of the year! And on Fridays everything seems brighter and better...especially in the fall when I am ready for a weekend filled with watching football and reading good books.

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt is a wonderful book. I started reading it because it was a finalist for the National Book Award this year. The first chapter is really strange and I wasn’t sure that I was going to finish it because I am a firm believer that life is too short and there are too many books for me to waste time reading something I don’t enjoy. However, I am really glad that I continued to read. I guess there is something to be said for sticking with a task until you finish it. Because I would have missed out on a great book had a quit reading after a page or two.

In this book, 16 year old Keturah gets lost in the woods and after several days is confronted by Death. In the book, Death is characterized as a “severe, but beautiful” man wearing a black cape and riding a black horse. Keturah is not ready to be taken by Death so she tells him a story, refusing to tell him the ending unless he lets her live another day. He grants her wish if she promises to return the next day with an ending to her story. The story she tells is about a young woman looking for her “one true love,” so Death agrees that if she finds her true love by the next day he will let her live. What transpires is a delightful story filled with romance, adventure and the supernatural. And the ending is truly surprising. It seemed so predictable until the last couple of pages. I can see how this book became a finalist for the National Book Award.

Graphic Novels

2007-11-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

We just finished putting the new display out in the library—several new graphic novels. I don’t really understand the popularity of graphic novels. Some of them seem…sort of…graphic??? I read somewhere that 40 percent of material printed in Japan is in the graphic novel format. I guess everyone from children to the elderly read them. I’m having trouble imagining that…guess that I need to travel to Japan and see it for myself…

I did read one graphic novel that really stuck with me. The Arrival by Shaun Tan is a wordless graphic novel. It is filled with absolutely beautiful pictures showing a man who travels to a distant land and tries to make a life for his family. It is reminiscent of the late 1800s in some ways, but it is also interspersed with futuristic images and strange creatures. The Arrival received many awards and nominations in Australia. I’m not sure that I understood it completely, but it was timeless in the way it portrayed the immigrant spirit surviving in a foreign land.

I haven’t quite figured out manga yet…just can’t make myself read from back to front and right to left. I keep getting lost on the page because I revert back to the American way of reading. However, we have several fun new manga (hope I’m using that term correctly) graphic novels. Sorcerers and Secretaries by Amy Kim Ganter and The Plain Janes by Cecil Castelluci (really liked Boy Proof) both caught my attention. Neither was particularly deep, but fun reads!