peacefulreader

Summer = teachers lounging by the pool, drinking margaritas…

Yeah, that never happens. Well, maybe it does but not in my world. That is the summer I dream of but what summer really is is a far cry from that scenario. What summer really is is chauffering kids to camp, classes, and to playdates, inbetween pulling weeds, making bread, and hoping to get back to that major Spring Clean, you know, simple craziness.

I had a four-day class this week at my local university and it knocked my socks off and had me buying take-out pizza, which is highly unusual for our house. The class, Children’s Literature Workshop, clued me in to a TON of new books (I really thought I was in the know…) but sitting in class all day was hard. In the middle of me taking this class my husband’s Summer Art Camp began and Groovy Girl usually attends with a gaggle of girlfriends. Same is true for this time except I had four days to arrange for rides back and forth and playdates for the afternoon.

That and the class homework has been overwhelming. I should be doing homework right now. What am I doing blogging when I have four assignments still do for class.

I have spent a bit of time by the pool w/out the margarita, I have cooked for friends, I did take an amazing vacation, I have read quite a few books including a bunch of YA, and I have juggled all things successfully!

I need to get my homework done though so I can write reviews about the last few books (Fire by KC) I’ve read and the magnificent movie I saw at midnight last night (when I probably should have been sleeping so I could have done my homework today!)

Ahhh, I love summer with all its twists and turns, the heat, the rain, the garden produce, the bright orange tiger lillies in my neighbor’s yard-so much to love about this wonderful season. I want it to last just long enough for me to catch up, catch my breath, and have this organic margarita!

Imaginary Friends

As my Groovy Girl emerges as a stronger chapter book reader we pick out less and less from the picture book section of the library. Luckily, she is her mama’s girl ‘cuz last week at the library she went right to the NEW section and picked out a bag’s worth of books.

Here’s the catch though; she no longer wants me to read her picture books (it’s degrading somehow?) so she reads them and pulls the ones she thinks are “peaceful reader”-worthy!

Here are her first three picks:

Dotty

Erica S. Perl; Julia Denos

2010

Little Ida, who wears the cutest outfits to school, takes her space lunch box and her best/beast friend, Dotty. Dotty is a large cow-like creature with big pinkish-red polka-dots led by a blue string. Others in the classroom have imaginary friend animals with them as well but as the school days progress these students start leaving their “pets” at home. Ida can’t give up her friend Dotty and Dotty won’t let Ida give her up either. Just as Ida’s about to lose faith she finds out a very special secret about her teacher, Ms. Raymond! Dotty would make a wonderful read-aloud to students at school or home. Extra points for the polka-dot end papers!

Nobody

Liz Rosenberg; Julie Downing

2010

“When George awoke early one Sunday morning, Nobody was up and about.” This simple play on words will have children smiling as George and Nobody make a mess here and there around the house as they make a very funny “feast” in the kitchen. George’s parents wake up and he acknowledges that “nobody” has been at work helping him. Cute illustrations that will help kids understand this funny word twist.

Everything but the Horse;

A Childhood Memory by

Holly Hobbie

2010

Love this book. Love her illustrations. Sweet Holly recounts how her parents purchase a run-down old farmhouse and how exciting it was to live there with a wild array of animals. She envies the older neighbor girls as they ride their horses down the gravel lane. Holly creates an imaginary horse friend to share the barn. When her birthday rolls around her mom tells her to run to the barn to find her gift, which she is able to ride right out of the barn! Great memories and one that will have girls panting for their own ponies.

What picture books have caught your eye this week?

I've been to the market…

(Beet Greens, Broccoli, basil leaves and Kale peeking
out of my pink market basket)

and at the market I smelled in the beautiful earthy smells of vegetables and dirt. I watched loads of smiling people swirl around all the market stands, picking and choosing food for the week. I love to listen to the questions others ask; “what is this?”, “what do I do with this?”, and “how do I cook this?” I listen to the farmer’s answers, learning myself and sometimes I answer…I love the sense of community a farmer’s market creates.

Myself, I picked a bouquet of kale, a bundle of beets, a small forest of “trees” (broccoli, in our family), and a bag of basil. I plan to roast the beets and steam the head of broccoli for a nice veggie dinner tonight. We also have okra growing in our own garden and I will use my mother-in-law’s recipe for okra mixed with potato to add to our meal.

I look forward to paging through some of my recipe books to figure out something new to do with these beautiful kale leaves. I’ve yet to hit upon a stunning recipe for this healthy vegetable. Any suggestions?

I do have basil growing in our garden but it is not at the BIG leaf stage, which is just how I like it sprinkled on my pasta, sandwich or grains. We planted late after our vacation and I hope to have basil well into September when I can heap it into the food processor and make jars and bags of pesto to help me through the winter season.

What’s selling at your local market? Have you been yet? I encourage everyone to find their local Farmer’s Market and shop their at least once a week. There’s a handy website to locate a market near you: Local Harvest offers lots of information.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Anyone with a food-related post can play along; click on her link to see her review of Gloria Whelan’s book, The Boy Who Wanted To Cook.

Before I fall by Lauren Oliver

I’m doing my best to catch up some YA reading this summer. People talk about these books all year long and I tend to save them for summer. This book was on my to-read mental list and while we were in DC we stopped by my husband’s old neighborhood, Adams Morgan. I went right to the lovely little used bookstore-the name of which escapes me-but a little magic happened and I found Before I Fall on a shelf with a $6 price tag inside. It was a sign.

I pushed back my major beach read, A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand, and started reading, right after we visited the National Zoo, which by the way was missing most of its animals the day we visited. Disappointing. It was hot.

Before I Fall

Lauren Oliver

470 pages

2010

Samantha Kingston has it all; the world’s most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High-from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. (inside front cover)

It sounds like quite the life but it took only a few pages into the book to realize Sam leads a crazy life-one that was a little scary for me; a mom of a young girl that will one day soon be a teen. Sam’s a mean girl-she wasn’t always but became one in order to hang with Lindsay and be well, popular. As the reader you know from the beginning of the book that Sam is going to die in a car crash after a party but it gets snagged up in time and she relives that day seven different times, trying to get it right…or at least a little better.

While the characters and their ability to be visciously mean to other people scared me I did enjoy getting to know the characters and the degree to which Sam Kingston is allowed to grow into a more thoughtful person. It’s as if she goes through seven stages of Dante’s Hell in order to get to heaven. While she’s learning we get a peek into what makes the other characters, like Lindsay, mean.

It’s good to know, according to Lauren Oliver, that bullies are basically insecure and choose to lash out due to their own lack of self-esteem. Mentally it is good to know this but it doesn’t help when you are the one made to feel like crap everyday of high school because some other h.s. student has decided to thrash on you. As Sam figures out how to make things better she notices the intricate threads that bind us all together. Beautiful lesson for teens to learn.

The writing is eloquent with lots of gentl emetaphorical comparisons. I loved Kent McFuller-he was a wonderfully written cool-geek! This is a snippet of conversation between Kent and Sam:

…”You remember my old house on Terrace Place, right?” The smile is back. It’s true: his eyes are exactly the color of grass. “You used to hang out in the kitchen and steal all the good cookies. And I chased you around these huge maple trees in the front yard. Remember?”
As soon as he mentions the maple trees a memory rises up, expanding, like something breaking the surface of water and rippling outward. We were sitting in this little space in between two enormous roots that curved out of the ground.like animal spines. (142)

This book should be read by parents as much as its intended young adult audience. There is a ton of drinking, smoking and sex in the book-I know it happens in high school but for this group of friends it was all part of their scene. As a mom all I could think was “please don’t let my child act this way…”

Other thoughts on Before I Fall…

The Brain Lair
Slightly Bookish…she even has a playlist set up for this book.
Fate is Kind Book Review

Lauren Oliver’s website.

Indie Bookstore

If The Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney

It’s been years since I read any of Cooney’s popular titles but I picked up this title as my husband and I browsed for books for Teenage Boy to take on vacation. I’ve griped about this before but he does not like to GO TO the LIBRARY anymore…!? I hope his senses will return to him one day but as I expect him to read-we get him the books, he picks out a few that he “deems” somewhat interesting and he reads them. He read this one over vacation and when I asked him how it was he looked at me and shrugged very nonchalantly (if you have teenagers you know what I mean) and said it was okay in a very flat line voice. So I had to pick it up and read it just to see what that meant.

And guess what…it was okay but only okay with a shoulder shrug…

The story was predictable.The characters were flat.
The candle on the cover doesn’t fit-Jack Fountain on a bike, a television camera, a little boy in a Jeep-any of these would have worked.
It never fully adds up and Cooney doesn’t give me a good reason for Aunt Cheryl.
It was kind of sad to think no one cared about these kids to look deeper into their tragedy! Come on neighbors down the street!

Can you feel my shoulders shrug?

Read The Compulsive Reader’s post if you want a different perspective.
Benjamin at Teen Reads talks about it .
Goodreads synopsis

My husband tells me that I never read books I don’t like because all my reviews are positive so this one’s for you, honey.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

(2009)

Fantasy

471 pages

I just finished and am overwhelmed with how wonderful this book was to read. Cashore created a world of kingdoms ruled by kings where two people, Katsa and Po, meet and become friends in the truest sense. Both Katsa and Po are graced with a special talent far beyond what others can imagine. Katsa, orphaned at a young age lives with her uncle, King Randa, who has control over her and uses her killing grace to his advantage but through her own rebellious feelings she forms a council to right some obvious wrongs. On one of the council’s missions she meets Po, a prince from one of the seven kingdoms, and things begin to change in her world as Po teaches her that no man, especially Randa, can control her; that her control always lies within her.

I don’t want to go into detail as much of what was great about this book took me by surprise; points I don’t want to now hand to you, if you haven’t read it. I like fantasy and I thought Cashore built a believable world with very likeable characters. I liked how the characters from part one were not forgotten as I liked Raffin and Helda. I want to know more about Po’s family, Katsa’s decisions and Bitterblue’s struggles.

Last night we drove for two hours home from a music fest and I couldn’t put the book down, even though my head was nodding, begging for sleep and I was reading with a tiny book light. I woke up this morning, picked the book up again, read, made breakfast, read until I turned the last delicious page. I think I will probably be at the library when the doors open tomorrow morning to get Fire.

After Thoughts: I’m a little perturbed because I did some research about Fire, the “sequel” to Graceling and it’s about a different character and as much as I can gather does not further Katsa and Po’s story. (How many of you already knew this…?) I will still read it but am not racing to the library to get it.
I also read a few other reviews and want to comment. The whole relationship issue was believable to me…this is something many people grapple with today and marriage is complex. Can you marry someone and not feel a little “owned” even when you love that person? Yes, but it’s not always easy and the book makes that argument. Katsa and Po are not high school teenagers either and Katsa hasn’t had any positive guidance in this area either. She knows she doesn’t want someone to be in charge of her life. I think it is a worthy debate and thought the example of love was done well; showing depth from both characters.

I did think the book ended quickly but I didn’t think it let the story just drop off. I was ready to read about Katsa’s lessons with Bitterblue and Po’s journey home. I think Katsa and later Bitterblue offer strong female characters for readers and great examples of friendship and self-esteem exist in the book.
Find Kristin Cashore at her blog, This Is My Secret.
Find Graceling at an Indie Bookstore near you.

Weekend Cooking; Grow It, Cook It

Grow It, Cook It;
Simple Gardening Projects and Delicious Recipes

DK Publishing

Consulting Editor: Jill Bloomfield

2008

80 pages

This is one from my own collection; my mom gave it to Groovy Girl two years ago and we’ve made nothing from it in all that time. Shame on me! This summer that is going to change as G.G. is taking over the garden space in back and has very definite ideas about planting….and she has my mom in her back pocket. I thought I should highlight this book so we can challenge ourselves to use it more frequently.

It’s kind of amazing the wonderful books that already reside in my cookbook cupboard-yes, they reside in a cupboard or two and it makes them a little out of sight out of mind. I go to specific cookbooks for specific recipes and I need to learn to mingle a bit more in different books. I pulled this one out a few days ago and started reading. The first twelve pages give an excellent overview on gardening-everything from tools to making your own compost. The two pages on “pots and plots” gave me great ideas on using a variety of everyday items (like a laundry basket) that could be used for a planter.

There are two pages on “Kitchen know-how,” which includes an easy vocabulary list with pictures to match. The remaining pages are filled with how to grow a vegetable or fruit plant with a companion recipe; each spread takes about four pages. Bloomfield begins with tomato and most of the planting directions involve container gardening but could easily be translated to an actual garden plot.

Nestled in are big tips like “grow marigolds in the same pot as your tomato plant. These flowers can keep away aphids, which might otherwise infest your tomato plant. This is called companion gardening.” (19) I didn’t know this and it makes me want to run out and buy a few marigold plants as my tomato plants often suffer from buggy yuck! The tomato recipe follows eggplant growing directions and combines the two veggies in a Tomato and Eggplant Tower (23) Yay. Yum. Groovy Girl has an eggplant growing in the back garden. Recipes range from mini pumpkin pies, giant beanstalk stir-fry, mashed potato fishcakes, onion and leek soup, chocolate and mint mousse and lemonade ice-pops. All very yummy looking with eye-catching photographs.

My personal favorites are the Sunflowerpot loaves (aren’t they cute!) and Green leaf tarts (spinach). We didn’t plant any spinach this year but if I can find some at the Farmer’s Market today I may try to make these over the weekend. The sunflower link above will take you to google books where you can browse a few pages of this fabulous kid-friendly book.

Buy it from an indie bookstore here. Find Jill Bloomfield at her website…teachkidstocook.com.

I was up early this morning, waiting for my chicken man-doesn’t everyone have one? Tim Daley of Daley’s Shamrock Acres delivered 6 homegrown chickens to me and they are now in my freezer. For an ex-vegetarian who still thinks like a vegetarian it seems strange to get so excited about six beautiful chickens but I am. I can’t wait to slather them with herbs and a little butter and cook them up for my family.

Happy Cooking over the long holiday weekend! This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click to her post to see what everyone else is cooking up! Anyone with a food-related post can play along.

Vacation Blues

A vacation is a beautiful thing until you get home. Dirty laundry times 10, cranky kids and (a few) dead garden plants are what you get when you return. Oh, and a lot of wonderful photos.

Surfer Boy

We absolutely loved the OBX and would vacation there again in a heartbeat!

Handsome Husband and Teenage Boy

We stopped in Richmond, VA to visit my stepbrother, Sean, and walk through VCU-one of Teenage Boy’s college choices for soccer. We had lunch at a very earthy place right off campus, 821 Cafe, which served a well-rounded vegan, veggie and meat-menu.

Cousin with Groovy Girl on Roanoke Island boat

What I miss about vacation: my in-laws, watching the pelicans skim the water, dolphin sightings, watching the sand crabs scurry, walking in the sand, collecting seashells, hot tubbing, kids giggling as they chased the waves, cooking meals together, touring Roanoke Island and cocktail hour-appetizers included!

Owens’ Restaurant Anniversary Celebration (me, Teenage Boy and Writer Girl)

I’ve been in school meetings since our return but one day soon my laundry will be done, the house will return to normal and summer will flow forward.

I hope everyone has an amazing journey this summer-one that will bring you umpteen piles of laundry equaling the number of smiles!

Weekend Cooking; Little Klein by Anne Ylvisaker

Weekend Cooking is a weekly meme over at Beth Fish Reads. Pop over and see what she’s talking about.
This week I’ve been on the North Carolina coast (the Outer Banks) and I’ve done a fair amount of reading (5 books) but only a minimal amount of cooking as we’ve shared kitchen duties and handsome husband and I only had one night to cook. We made a variation of fish tacos after visiting a local fish market. Oooh, I loved picking out fresh caught fish and after thinking about mahi-mahi we choose sheepshead at the recomendation of the fish guy. We also bought a pound of fresh prawns, deveined them, sauteed them in butter and white wine and gobbled them up for an appetizer.

Another night we headed into town and on a friend’s recommendation and ate at Owens’ Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills. It was a culinary delight. The calamari appetizer was yummy as was the bottle of white wine we shared and toasted with to celebrate my in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary. I had the grouper and shrimp special with delicious sea breeze mashed potatoes! All ten family members loved their meals, except Teenage Boy who deemed his clam linguine a little too “saucy.” He didn’t leave unhappy though and I would recommend this excellent restaurant to anyone traveling to the Outer Banks.

One morning I made these banana pancakes thanks to Janssen at Everyday Reading-they were a huge hit. Thank you Janssen for sharing this recipe.

Our vacation is winding down (only one more day-aaaggg), we’ve had a great time and I’ll be sad, sad to leave the beach behind. I did read several fantastic books on this trip and one of them was… Little Klein by Anne Ylvisaker.

I adore this little book and will recommend it to everyone this year. One chapter in particular whispered “weekend cooking post”–Recipe for Sleep. It’s dear. Harold Sylvester George Klein is the smallest Klein boy surrounded by three older brothers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and an exhausted but nurturing mother. Little Klein’s mother worries and doesn’t like him to be out on his own-she’s keeping him her baby as her last little one. (I can relate) LeRoy, a stray dog with his own sweet character voice in the book, finds the Klein boys and loves the smell of them. Everybody should read this book.

Recipe for Sleep is one of the sweetest chapters I’ve ever read in a book. Little Klein is having trouble sleeping while his older brothers are gone and he’s plagued by nightmares and worry. He begs Mother Klein to let LeRoy sleep with him but she resists. Instead she reads to him, sings to him, tells him stories but nothing much works.

“Would you read to me about cake?” called Little Klein from the bedroom one night.
Mother Klein shrugged. “What do you mean?” she called back.
“I mean, will you read to me about cake? You know, crack an egg, one cup of flour, like that.”
Mother pondered.
Though he was small for his age, Little Klein had the appetite of one of the Bigs. He was transfixed by the magic with which water and heat turned crisp dry oats into warm mush for breakfast and the way an unappetizing lump of raw eggs and flour and cocoa could turn into a cake with the texture of a spring meadow. Even the power of butter to fuse two pieces of bread together delighted Little Klein.
“Well, excitement is in the mind of the beholder,” said Mother Klein. She pulled her worn cookbook off the shelf and opened it. “It’s worth a try.”
“What kind of cake?” she asked.
“Chocolate,” said Little Klein, snuggling down into his blanket. (199-120)

Charming and beyond. This chapter’s close connection to comfort food make me think Ysvisaker probably is no stranger to the kitchen! Mother Klein goes on to read recipe after recipe to Little Klein.

What a great book!!
Click for Anne Ylvisaker website.

Get Your Latest News Here….Newsgirl by Liza Ketchum

I snatched this one up from the new books display shelf at my local library. The cover was appealing and the blurb convinced me to check it and bring it home. I wanted to read it before we left town but Cutting For Stone took a loooong time to finish so I decided to brought it along and finished it in DC.

Amelia, her mother and her mother’s friend, Estelle arrive in San Francisco from Boston by boat. They arrive broke and in need of shelter and food. Estelle and Amelia’s mother plan to open a dress shop and have brought trunks of fabric but have spent too much money on the trip. They’ve taken a chance on this trip to build a new life for themselves; to find a home where women can exist on their own so it comes as no surprise that strong-willed Amelia sets her heart on sellling newspapers even after repeatedly being told it’s not a job for young ladies.

She cuts her hair and begs her mother to sew her boy’s clothes in order to join up with a gang of enterprising young men. Her desire to write the news for the local paper sends her to the flagship flight of a hot air balloon where she assists and takes the ride of her life, making everyone think she and her companion are dead. She brings home money, has adventures and struggles with her identity both as a “boy” and as a fatherless daughter. She breaks ground in a new land and follows her dream, which make her a powerful character, perfect for young readers.

My thoughts:

I think this one will appeal to its intended audience more than adults. Ketchum spells out all the complicated questions Amelia has and a young audience will appreciate this help. Everything under the sun occurs to Amelia and this overwhelmed me as a reader. The fire, kidnapping, looting, a street fight and money stolen seemed a lot for one book. Someone mentions getting shanghai’d on the docks…she gets shanghai’d by two sailors.

Trapped in a runaway hot air balloon and her struggle to get home seemed enough of an added adventure to focus on. After her ballooning experience while she is stuck in the mountains was enjoyable as she learned about panning for gold. The story did push the envelope on women’s rights, racism and pioneer struggles. I enjoyed the idea of the subtle same sex relationship between Estelle and Sophie and that Amelia eventually concluded having Estelle in her life was just about as good as having a father but in general the book left me feeling a little flat.

In a Nutshell:
Author’s website: Liza Ketchum
Genre: Historical Fiction
Time Period: 1851 (Gold Rush, California)
Audience: elementary (4-6)
Pages: 317

Other reviews:
Kiss the Book