Love, Courage, Forgiveness, Family, The End of the World - I'm all over the place.

This time I have 5 totally unrelated books. I can't get a theme going with this bunch if I tried. Good reading though!
First, an adult book: A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. When we first meet Truitt, all we know is he's the richest man in town who envies other people's families. When we first meet Catherine, all we know is she's got a big fat secret. Catherine is travelling to Wisconsin to enter an arranged marriage with Truitt and neither one is as advertised. This is a story about forgiveness, redemption, love, regret, re-creating yourself, growing up and growing old. Good story.

Next up, A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck. Grandma Dowdel is at it again. This time, she’s helping her new neighbors the Barnharts. When12-year-old Bob gets a nasty “introduction” to the boys in town, it’s Grandma that helps him out. Grandma helps (without being asked!) Bob’s two sisters and even Minister Barnhart and his wife. In typical Grandma Dowdel fashion, there’s never a dull moment. The characters Richard Peck has created are memorable and loveable – even (or maybe especially) Grandma Dowdel.

I also read another Graphic Novel - Avalon High Coronation Volume 2 - Homecoming by Meg Cabot, illustrated by Jinky Coronado. In this volume, Ellie tries to get her boyfriend Will (possibly King Arthur?) to reunite with his parents and have dinner. But when his half-brother Marco (Mordred?) crashes the dinner, things are clearly not going as Ellie planned. Meanwhile, Marco's girlfriend Morgan (leFay?) is plotting against Ellie's bid as Homecoming Queen. With nightmares still keeping Ellie from sleep and Will's family troubles, could this really be the end of the world as she knows it?

Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings was fantastic. This book was so moving and I learned so much, I don't think I'll ever think about blindness or people who are blind the in same way again. Natalie's sporadic aniridia (she was born without an iris) has slowly been stealing her sight for years, but she's been able to get by. Now her doctor says there is nothing more he can do and maybe it is time for Natalie to go to a school for the blind to prepare for a day when she has no sight at all. Angry at this diagnosis, Natalie resists the lessons and life change, but slowly begins to open up to her new classmates and recognizes that she does need help. Heartbreaking at times, Natalie's story and her courage make for a wonderful book that will stay with me for a very long time.



The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman was a fantasy book that took me by surprise. When Elizabeth gets an after-school job at the New York Circulating Material Repository (a lending library for "stuff") she's excited to see the collections. When she discovers one of the collections is all the magic items the Grimm Brothers collected along with their famous fairy tales, she's REALLY excited. Magic talking mirrors, invisibility cloaks and magic boots are just some of the fabulous items in the collection. But when items in the collection start to lose their magic, it is up to Elizabeth and her new friends to figure out who's stealing it and how to stop them. A fun story that made me want to go back and re-read some of these great fairy tales!

I've got my work cut out for me for vacation reading. There's a BIG bag of books that is heading out east with me! These Young Adult books and adult books should keep me very busy for the next few weeks.  I wish you all a peaceful holiday season and a very happy new year.

True Love and Other Adventures

A few years ago I went to the Book Fest at the New York Public Library (an excellent event now held at Bank Street College) and saw Misako Rocks on a panel of graphic novelists. She told a funny story about growing up in Japan and when she first discovered her destiny. After seeing "Back to the Future" she recognized her true love and she realized that it was her fate to move to the United States and marry Michael J. Fox. She was very charming and it reminded me of similar feelings I had for Jason Bateman back in the day. Misako Rocks however turned her young love into a great graphic novel and I just watch reruns of "Silver Spoons." Anyway... for a walk down memory lane about first love, I recommend Rock and Roll Love by Misako Rocks.

Also this week I read The Kind of Friends We Used to Be by Frances O'Roark Dowell. It is the continuing story of Marilyn and Kate and how the two girls, friends since preschool, grow apart yet still love and care for each other. Kate becomes interested in music and song writing, Marilyn is on the cheerleading squad and runs for student government. While both make new friends, there is still a bond between these two seventh graders.

Indiana Jones Adventures, Vol. 1 by Philip Gelatt is a very quick version of a typical Indiana Jones movie. Indy is off on an adventure looking for priceless artifacts. There's some trickery, a beautiful woman and a few chase scenes thrown in. I'm all for graphic novel versions of popular movies and stories, but this one was a bit too short for my taste.



One Quarter Done!

I'm very happy to say that I'm one quarter towards my goal! Thank goodness! We are a few weeks into the 2nd quarter of school, so I'm a little behind, but I'm going to hit the books in December.

This week I finished Three Black Swans by Caroline Cooney. Cooney's a great story teller and this one is no different. It's about two cousins who come to believe that they are actually identical twins. But neither of them think they were adopted. Things get really interesting when a video of the "twins" hits YouTube and a third girl contacts them believing she's related also.



I also read a ghost story by Richard Peck Three-Quarters Dead. I loved, loved, loved Richard Peck's ghost stories about Blossom Culp as a child. I read them all (more than once) and enjoyed every word. This one didn't quite capture me as much as Blossom Culp did. When socially invisible Kerry is invited to be part of the popular clique she's thrilled, but when her three new "best friends" die in a car accident she's devistated. Until she gets a text message from the dead girls and is able to visit them in New York City. Could this really be happening? Can she survive the next car ride with the girls?

Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman was fantastic. Charles Darwin, a man of science, and his wife Emma were on opposite sides in matters of religion. Emma was deeply religious and wanted to be with her husband in this world - and in the afterlife. Charles though, had his doubts. The high infant and child mortality rates in England at the time were a very real threat to their ten children and a very good example of Charles' theory of survival of the fittest. This is a wonderful love story as well as a fascinating look at life in the Victorian Age. I'd recommend this one for both children and adults!

Happy Holidays!
Since the holidays are coming up, I thought I'd recommend a few books as gifts for middle school readers.

Do you have a gamer in the family? Would you like them to read more? Try one of these books as a jumping-off point:

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Set in the future where kids are trained for battle by using video games, Ender quickly rises to the top of his class (past the bullies) to become a commander in the army.

Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett – Johnny’s friend gives him an illegal copy of the computer game “Only You Can Save Mankind” and he is surprised when the captain of the alien air fleet he’s supposed to shoot up asks for Johnny’s help in getting back to their home-world. After he helps though, all the aliens in every copy of the game disappear and there are angry gamers around the world.

Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde – Giannine goes to a virtual reality arcade looking to have a fun time. But the CEO of the arcade appears in her game and tells her if she doesn’t complete the game correctly she’ll risk “fatal overload.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

For the past couple of weeks the students have been writing what they are thankful for on leaves in the library and I have put them up on the bulletin board. Friends and family seem to be at the top of the list of things we're grateful for. Seems like we certainly are a lucky bunch of people. Happy Thanksgiving.

This week I read Knucklehead: Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories About Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka. What a family! I can only imagine what Thanksgiving was like at their house with 6 boys running around! I'm sure there was lots of chaos. Sounds like my family, actually.... :-)

Witches, kidnappings and skeletons, oh my!

I finally got around to reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. I'm not quite sure how I managed to be an avid reader my whole life, and a children's and young adult librarian and NOT have read this book. However that happened, it is remedied now. First, I would have lasted about 10 minutes in any Puritan colony. I don't know how Kit managed to assimilate herself into this life so different from her own in Barbados. I'm glad she was able to create a good life in this strict environment while still staying true to herself.

Next up is Girl, Stolen: A Novel by April Henry. When Cheyenne is in the back of a car that is stolen, she has no idea who her kidnapper is, or even where he's taking her. Cheyenne is blind and has to rely on her other senses to figure out how to escape. Very exciting!

Saving the best for last.... Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. Never have I wanted to meet a skeleton detective more. Stephanie has no idea what she's in for when she meets Skulduggery at the reading of her uncle's will. It's quite a ride. He's funny, smart and a very sharp dresser. I listened to this one and Rupert Degas does an amazing job. In fact, the whole production is amazing. Great listen for the family on a long car ride... maybe to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving???

Speaking of Thanksgiving... Here in the middle school library the students and staff have been writing what they are thankful for and posting them on the bulletin board. Our gratitudes range from food and shelter to family and friends and even for dogs and turkeys, we are certainly a lucky group of people.

OK, now I've read 21 books!!!

A Heathier Looking Tree!

Our whole school is reading! After just a few weeks, the students and I are creating a much healthier looking tree by adding a leaf, apple, ladybug or catepillar for each book we read. There are all kinds of books on our tree, graphic novels, non-fiction, long novels and audio-books. I can't wait to see the tree in a few months!

Now, on to the books I read this week...

Just Another Day in My Insanely Real Life : A Novel  by Barbara Dee. Cassie is writing a fantasy novel but unconciously is writing the story of her family. Since her father left, Cassie's sister is supposed to take on more responsibility like grocery shopping and watching their little brother. But when Miranda drops the ball Cassie feels like she has to pick up the pieces. Trying to keep up with writing her novel, taking care of the family and keeping up with friends and schoolwork is just too much for Cassie and she realizes that she doesn't have to carry this burden herself.

On a totally different note, Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku by K.A. Holt is a silly book about a zombie trying to get along with the lifers (regular people) at his middle school. In this school zombies, lifers and Chupacabras (who I'd rather not meet!) don't really get along. But Loeb (a zombie) falls for Siobhan (a lifer) anyway. To impress her and to prove zombies aren't dumb, Loeb enters the school's poetry contest. I'm really glad we don't have Z's or Chupos at our school!

OK, that's 18!

Just a darn good book.

I am gearing up for the Parent-Child Book Group this Thursday night and re-read The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. After finishing it, I realized (again) how much I love this book. If you haven't read it, go read it. If you haven't read it in a while, go read it again. I love Jake.

I also totally scared myself this weekend reading R.L. Stine's All-Night Party. Yikes, maybe a mistake to read this before bedtime! Good read right before Halloween!

I went to BookFest@Bank Street College this weekend and had a blast! Laurie Halse Anderson was there and she was great. Very inspiring and I got lots of ideas to use at school. I can't wait to read her new book Forge, the sequel to Chains. It's at the top of the pile!

I also read Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson for this conference and participated in a great discussion about it along with Guardian of the Dead and A Curse Dark as Gold. Great discussion! I learned so much. Thanks to all who participated!

Red Ribbon Week

It's Red Ribbon Week at Briarcliff Middle School and the SADD Club, sponsored by Mrs. Kersh the Student Assistance Counselor, has been putting up signs and making announcements to let our school community know about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. The Library Media Center got involved too. The SADD Club gave me some informational posters to put up in the library to go with a book display with information about alcohol, drugs and addiction and their effects. Here are some pictures of our book display:

A wide range of books...

This week I finished three more books and they really couldn't be more different from each other.

First this week I read the 8th book in the Ranger's Apprentice series, The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan. Will, Halt and Horace travel to Clonmel to take on a cult of so-called religious men who are really murderers and thieves. When they get to Clonmel Will and Horace discover that Halt has a brother (!) - a twin brother (!) - and he's a king! I love these books, they never disappoint!

 Next up was The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow. Told in the form of a scrapbook, this book is filled with pictures, drawings, notes and even knitting. Lydia and Julie really want to be popular. They just have no idea how to make that happen. So they decide to take notes on what the popular girls do to be popular and keep them in a notebook. After several months that range from almost-becoming-popular to even-more-unpopular-than-ever, Lydia and Julie's friendship is put to the test. The girls learn more about friendship than they ever do about popularity and find some new friends along the way.

Saving the best for last, A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg was fantastic.  It's 1963 in Mississippi and Addie Ann loves her brother Elias and her Uncle Bump more than any other people in the world.  Elias goes missing after saving Addie Ann and her cat from a bad situation and now Uncle Bump is accused of a crime he didn't commit. Reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Help by Kathryn Stockett this book captures the frustration, anger,fear, hope and dreams of African Americans at this time in our country's history. Great book.

Sad Looking Book Tree

I put up a Book Tree in the library and will add leaves with the titles of books as I read. So far, the tree doesn't look too healthy (but the squirrel and birds look so happy!). The kids are going to help me fill up this tree by adding leaves of their own. Hopefully soon the tree will look a little healthier!

Just finished Overboard by Elizabeth Fama. Inspired by actual events this is the story of an American girl who survives the sinking of a ferry in the waters off Sumatra. Incredible story. I was exhausted after reading it!

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey draws on some of the ancient Maori myths and legends from New Zealand. Ellie must use her tae kwon do skills and her new-found magic to save the north island from destruction by mythical creatures. These are supernatural creatures I'd rather not meet in person!

OK, that's 10. Double digits - Yay!!!!!

Still Going...

I read a few good ones this week:

Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen is about two boys who befriend a woman suffering from breast cancer. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I thought that would be appropriate. As usual, Gary Paulsen didn't disappoint.

Ghost Boy by Iain Lawrence. Have you ever wanted to run away with the circus? That's just what Harold Kline does. He meets friends and animals that he will never forget. I don't think I'll forget them either.

Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet, Elspeth Graham, and Juan Wijngaard is a beautiful book about tea pickers in India. The illustrations are lovely and I've never quite read anything like it. 

Vampire High by Douglas Rees is a fun read. What would it be like to go to a school for vampires? Cody doesn't like to do homework being accepted to Vlad Dracul Magnet School seems like a total win. Since vampires can't go swimming, all Cody has to do is be on the school's water polo team and he'll get straight A's. Great deal, right? Seems perfect, until he falls in love with the beautiful Ileana.

OK, 8 down, 92 to go!

A few more down...

I just finished The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. What a sad story, but so beautifully told. I also read a fun graphic novel, Cat Burglar Black by Richard Sala. I really liked it, but will K. ever figure out who's behind the voice in the statue? I'm looking for a sequel.

 I've started Vampire High by Douglas Rees. It doesn't sound like this is a good place to go to school!! Yikes!

I love Halloween Decorations

While the 8th grade teachers try to decide what to be for Halloween, I thought I'd post some pictures of the Halloween decorations in the library. You can never have enough tacky decorations in the library...

October has great reading weather!!

2 down - 98 to go

Just finished A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce. It's a great story in the tradition of "name the helper" fairy tales. I've always had a little trouble with the Rumplestiltskin story (why would the father lie about his daughter's abilities? Why would a troll/goblin/magic man want a baby?), but Bunce gives a great history to her mysterious helper.

I also finished The Black Book of Secrets by F.E. Higgins. Another good read with a little mystery to it. We all have our secrets - some more sinister than others. Would you want your secrets recorded in a black book?

Now I'm working on Guardian of the Dead. It's just mysterious and scary enough to be PERFECT for October. I love Halloween and this book is getting me in the mood!

Here we go!

OK - What can I do to read lots of books in a short amount of time and make sure I stay on track? Make a pledge to read 100 books during this school year then post it on the internet and tell all the students in my school so they can keep me honest, of course!

My plan is to read 100 books during the 2010-2011 school year. I'm going to read all kinds of stories - funny, sad, scary, adventurous, quiet, long, short, with pictures, without pictures. All kinds of stories.

Wish me luck and give me suggestions! I’ll keep you posted on this blog!