What I’m reading – Page 9

Double O book club

Shelf Awareness link is now working:)
Also President Obama, an avid reader, is launching a book club with Oprah Winfrey. Called the Double O Book Club, the joint venture will feature titles from “distressed” publishers and be tweeted from the White House.-–John Mutter

Just read this great little paragraph from Shelf Awareness. Can’t wait to see their selections. I never really participated in Oprah’s book club but adding my favorite president to the mix will make me read and write about it!!

J and I read a not-very-exciting book last night at bedtime, new from our public library; The Great Doughnut parade by Rebecca Bond. Here is the excerpt from the publisher:
“Just where is small Billy going? Why does he have a doughnut tied to his belt? Does he know he is being followed by, first, a hen (with a cluck, cluck, cluck), then a cat (all quiet and slinky), and, farther down Main Street, a band . . . and firemen? Then sign painters . . . brick layers . . . even cloud catchers! Author/illustrator Rebecca Bond reveals the truly marvelous things that can happen when a doughnut is tied up with string.

okay…I have to admit I have never once been curious about what might happen when a doughnut is tied to a string, especially tied to a belt loop…I did poll my family (we mostly all thought the doughnut would fall apart) and made my husband read the book to see if I was perchance missing something. He agreed with me; the book lacks imagination, a good rhyme scheme and as J put it “who would want to eat a doughnut after it has been bouncing back behind you?” Oops, now I’ve spoiled the ending for you. I’ve not read any of her other books and the illustrations by her were alright. I have to admit I was drawn in by just the word doughnut…sadly, just fluff.

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury (2008)
I picked this book out again for Tristan, the 13-year-old, to read but the blurb inside the front cover had me. I finished it in the middle of the night on Sunday because I am suffering from some serious insomnia not because I was so gripped by the story. Again I liked the book but the front cover gave me a different impression or else how I read the blurb gave me a different impression, I’m really not sure (lack of sleep). I thought the book was going to be a bike ride then swing ahead into the later future where Chris discovers some amazing tale about what happened to his friend, which I guess would have been slightly more fantastical and cool. Instead it goes from bike trip to first week of college-still good. As it is Chris and Winston, two high school friends, set out on a long distance bike trek from West Virginia to Seattle, Washington. The tales along the way are interesting, their friendship is expressed in back-and-forth chapters between past, present and trip. The difference in boys is Chris comes from a loving, supportive family and Winston, a wealthy, cold family with a controlling father and vacation-happy mom. Chris becomes disenchanted with Winston and his antics and lack of responsibility and their relationship spirals out of control. The rest you will have to read yourself. One interesting fault that I had with the book was why Jennifer Bradbury had them ride so far north. She has them trek from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois up through Wisconsin and Minnesota, making note of a stop to see a statue of Paul Bunyon and his blue ox, Babe!! As a Midwest girl I kept thinking “why are they going straight north out of Iowa”- instead of cutting nw through South Dakota. Just me being a picky reader, knowing the lay of the map land way too much or very sleep-deprived. Bradbury does have a great website/blog and I enjoyed her story of how the book came to be. Also the ending (not a spoiler) to Winston’s tale is hmmm…I guess I really can’t say without spoiling so never mind. Suffice it to stay Winston’s character grew on me.

Reading by candlelight…

And flashlight last night we read four great books, My honey, J and I all crowded on the love seat, and read Half a pig by Allen Ahlberg, The Lonely Moose by John Segal, How Mommy met Daddy by Katharina Grossmann-Hensel and The Perfect Bear by Gillian Shields and Gary Blythe, all picked from our local library! Half a pig was interesting but long! The Lonely Moose is a quick, sweet tale about friendship. How mommy met daddy is odd on the last page but the idea is how two very different people can come together and become, through love, a better version of yourself. The Perfect Bear took our collective breath away with the amazing illustrations, which had an antique quality and really bring the Velveteen rabbit-like tale to life! The expressions on the tiny face of the “do not touch bear” were so true and real. All four of these books will be added to my to-buy list for school, especially the bear book. It’s not easy reading by a flashlight held by a wiggly 6-year-old!! Thank heavans we are not pretending to be pioneers for the long term. Family decision last night though was we should spend every Saturday using minimal electricity…getting snuggy on the love seat was a positive experience. We’ll see what the teenager has to say about this new family development as he was at a sleep-over!!

The Red Shoe by Ursula

I just finished The Red Shoe by Australian author Ursula Dubosarksky. It took me a few tries to get into this book but once I did I really loved it. In the 1950’s outside of Sydney this family demonstrates the quirkiness that exits in every family. Matilda, as the youngest tells most of the story to us. She has spies living next door that she spies on, an imaginary friend named Floreal who came out of the radio one night and a father who is out to sea and missed for most of the book. Matilda has two older sisters, Elizabeth and Frances who struggle with their own demeans. Elizabeth, the oldest, quits school one day and decides to have an emotional breakdown. Frances observes and rarely talks. The spies next door create a bit of mystery as well as a trip the family took to the “Basin” for a picnic a few years ago. Interspersed among this fictional family’s unusual tale are real newspaper clippings from The Syndey Morning Herald delivering to the reader facts about a Soviet defection and other various real events of the day. I was intrigued by the cover of this book, sitting on the middle grade new shelf at the library and I am so happy I gave it a try. Wow, if I didn’t have to go to school every day I would get a lot more reading and blogging done!!! Yeah Spring Break!!

Chains

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I finished Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson last night and was at once elated to have enjoyed it so much but also crazy about the ending…I wanted something to occur (and I do not want to give it away)-it did not happen!! In fact the story will be continued but when….I am going to have to check on her blog to find out more information because I was really not ready to be done with Isabel’s story. I feel so proud of her for repaying her debt to Curzon.
I also finished last night the YA book Compound, which Tristan and I read in tandem. It makes me mad that I have to work out special deals in order to get my 13-year-old to read. He has been a reader but now he is an electronic dude and it is really frustrating to me. So I went to the library for him, picked him several (8) choices, brought them home, let him pick several and the Compound by S.A. Bodeen was one of his choices. We read it in about 4 days, partially because it is not a a difficult read but also because it was pretty gripping and we were both fascinated to see what would happen with this family. Really rare idea for a book topic and that is all I am going to see but we loved it. We are ready to go on to our next doom and gloom selection. He has already read The Graveyard Book…again because I went to the bookstore, bought it for him and handed it to him!!! It is tough being a reading, thinking Mama in the digital age…

What I have read this week…

is two fabulous historical fiction books for middle grade and YA. I read first A thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg, which was great, great, great and I am thinking of ordering it for my elementary library because it is very readable and has such a strong female main character. I think I have a few higher level readers that would enjoy it as well as a great read-aloud for teachers. The story is set in the South and the author uses Medgar Evers’ and Emmitt Till’s death as well as the Birmingham church bombing, killing 4 young Sunday School attendee’s as a backdrop. I have been fascinated with this part of our American history for years and love Mildred D. Taylor’s books for their honest portrayal and great characters. Addie Ann reminded me a great deal of Cassie, thoughful, wanting to make the right choices but not always knowing which path to take. I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to get caught up in an era when we, as a country, were not at our best, but that many used as a time to stand up and demand justice everywhere including their own backyards as this story proves.
Chains by Laurie Halse Andersen is the second historical fiction (I have about 3 chapters left) and I am riveted to the tale of Isabel and her sister, Ruth. My husband can attest that as I read this story I am disgusted with how this slave at this time in history (backdrop is the American Revolution) is treated. You really get, as a reader, that deep understanding of slaves mattering no more than furniture that works…like a vacuum cleaner, (well could be furniture it some homes?otherwise known as an appliance:)). There is such intensity to this book. I continue to be shocked along Isabel’s journey at what befalls this brave young heroine. It always makes me incredibly sad, even when I read in a historical picture book to students nonetheless, when I read about families ripped apart and sold away from each other. Teary-eyes during story time is not always a bad thing for students to witness. As a mama I can’t imagine anything worse than having my sweet children sold from me!!! Henry’s Freedom Box describes this heart-wrenching practice by slave owners to further keep slaves feeling less than human. In Chains Isabel’s sister Ruth suffers from perhaps epilepsy, which of course causes trauma in the household and Isabel discovers she cannot, no matter how hard she tries, protect her sister. Isabel is a great character, with tough choices to make, constantly thinking of how to get out of her place in life. She expects to work hard but it is her ability to see herself as human and thus unable to make her own choices that drive this character forward to the hope of freedom. It seems so much has been taken away from Isabel yet her soul stays strong.

My Library by Eve Bunting is the winner!!

La
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Last night J. and I read three fantastic picture books from the library, which I must share! The first one we read was Kate DiCamillo’s Louise the adventures of a chicken and while reading, I was so accutely aware of my own life and how it fit into Louise’s!! I made it through a few pirates and “cages” to get to my happy home that I adore now. It took me taking all those “adventures” to get to the place I am in and this is a good, just as Louise finally appreciates her chicken coop. The second book we read was My Library by Eve Bunting. I have been a fan of Eve Bunting’s for awhile and have used her more poignant books to make teacher-y points to students. I love The Wall, Smoky Nights and Fly Away Home, all books that have a clear message. This new book (2008) has the lovely message of how important our libraries are to each of us!! Of course, I love this message. Lots of books are written about the library but this one made J. and I feel so happy after. I think it was that the animal children were the problem-solvers in the story. They found good solutions by reading the books on the shelves, pointing out there is a book for every problem! The third lovely book we read last night was Big Bad Bunny by Franny Billingsley, illustrated by g. Brain Karas. This is a very, very funny story that you don’t automatically get (which makes you think a little-always good!) until the author wants you to and the illustrations fit perfectly. We felt there were two sets of drawings, the illustrator really convinced us of two seperate actions going on in the book. I don’t want to tell anymore because you have to read it cold to appreciate the humor. J. loves to rate the books we read so she laid them out on her bed in order of her likes: The Library won with Big bad bunny second and Louise, third. The good thing is she really loved them all as did I! Another great night of story time at the Holt house!

Beyond Junie B.

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Those of you who are following along might remember me ranting about how much I disliked, then grew fond of Ms. Junie B. Jones because she was making J. and I laugh at bedtime and sometimes randomly throughout the day, which is a great thing, of course, but after reading a bunch of Junie B.’s I am pretty tired of the language. How many stupid’s, shut up’s and your just dumb do we have to plow through? Many of those particular words are not acceptable language in our peaceful, hippie house so often I would pass over every third insert dumb, stupid, shut up… in reading chapters to J. but then I keep thinking when she is able (soon) to read these to herself she will read those on her own and think me a liar or be disagreeable that the author had to choose these words over and over even though J. is taught to expand her vocabulary. Sorry Barbara Park…yet the books are so funny. I wish we could go back and rewrite them with out those words because those are not the words that make the stories drop down funny. I am happy to see many other books out there for this age group though that don’t have any stupid’s, shut-up’s or dumb. For example, we and many of my 2nd and 3rd grade library patrons love the Ivy and Bean series by Annie Barrow( see previous posts). I hope to find more kid lit out there like this for this beginning chapter book, mostly girl group. I think maybe it is a generational thing, Ms. Park?

Baby Dragon by Amy Ehrlich

I have bountiful boxes of beautiful books in my little back workroom and going through the boxes is, of course, like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one. I came upon these two gems today as I was checking titles on the invoice. Baby Dragon (2008) by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by the fabulous Will Hillenbrand. This book reminded me of how you feel when you read the classic Audrey Penn‘s The Kissing Hand; sweet on your Mom because you know she loves you every minute of every day; even when she’s mad at you. The illustrations in this book are above average as you gaze back to the horizon, deep into the pictue and the mountain peaks. I can’t wait to share this with all my little readers but first I will have to take it home to share with my own dragons to see how it makes them feel.
The other gem I found has some laugh-out-loud parts but ends on a very loving note. When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005)by Suzanne Collins and illustrated by Mike Lester reminded me so much of my own home life as poor Charlie has a melt-down because the power has gone out. Ms. Collins has written this in great rhyming text and the illustrations together cause for laughter. I will not spoil the ending but the sibling relationship involved, well, we’ll read it tonight and see if my 13 year-old can see himself in Charlie McButton!!!

Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

My step-daughter Kaylee gave me this lovely fat book for Christmas, telling me she had read it and liked it and now it was my turn. Here it is February and I am just beginning it. I’m intrigued by the title alone. On a kid lit note I received many boxes of books last week and was so excited to pull out the 4th Ivy and Bean book by Annie Barrows. J and I love this series and bonus: students also check it out so much that I have even ordered a second set. I also pulled out of the box The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, which I am very excited to read as well. While my dishes ran in my new dishwasher I finished the Frid ay Nig ht K nit ting Club and I cried even though I liked the female friendships plus the excitement of James/Marty and then wondered why we needed cancer to add to the chaos. I thought there was enough going on before she went to the gynecologist. I loved the relationship between Walker and Daughter, Dakota very much.