Along for the Ride reading by Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen, my favorite YA author, has a new book coming out in June. Check out the video below to hear her read an excerpt.

How I Spent My Last Night on Earth - Todd Strasser

Unfrotunately, the two best things about this book were the cover, which is pretty fun, and the nickname of the main character Allegra. Want to guess what it is? Go ahead, I'll give you a minute...





If you guessed LEGS, you're right. I think that's pretty clever, but the rest of this book required too much suspension of disbelief even for me, and that's saying something! The premise of this book is that an asteroid is on target to possibly hit the Earth, and if it does, that's the end of the world as we know it an the story. Allegra, who's a very level-headed, not to be distracted by emotion kind of girl - of which I really don't think there are very many in high school - is now faced with the possibility that she will die tomorrow without really ever knowing love, and this is a bit of a fright for her.

Enter Andros, the hottie surfer dude who's really never spoken to her before. And yet, she goes off to the beach with him for the night to await the asteroid??? Whose parents would let a high schooler do that if they thought there was even the chance of the asteroid hitting? And it didn't even seem like she told them.

I don't know, it was too much for my grown up brain to wrap itself around. Usually my inner high school girl comes through and I can believe about anything, but this time I just wasn't buying it. If you're only going to read one Todd Strasser, make it Give a Boy a Gun, not this one.

Poetry Friday - This Is Just To Say

I recently read Sharon Creech's recently published Hate That Cat which is just as adorable as her book called Love That Dog. You can see a review of it from January. Anyway, Jack writes poems in both books inspired by this William Carlos Williams poem that I have always loved.

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast.

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.

-- William Carlos Williams

Bring Ally Carter to Oregon

Want author Ally Carter to come to Oregon on her book tour next year? Go to this link and request her!

View all Portland events at Eventful

Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress - Tina Ferraro

That is just a classic title isn't it? and how about the name Nicolette for the main character? Love it! This is the same author who wrote How to Hook a Hottie which I reviewed a while back. Nice easy to read little chick-lit romance that I read last night. This morning I was maybe re-thinking staying up until 11:00 to finish it, though...

Poor Nicolette. Ditched just before the prom by a boy she's been drooling over for months but who is, predictably, a slimeball. One question I have is, do we girls really choose so many lowlifes as our heart's desire (from afar, generally) as portrayed in books, or does it just make for better stories? I hope it's the latter, because if not, we need to be rethinking some of our choices. Anyway, also somewhat predictably, there's also another cute boy in the picture, one she's pretty much been oblivious to as a boy, really, because it's her best friend's brother.

There's lots of teenage drama and angst in this book, including BFF troubles, lying, divorced parents, a little half sister, and a photo of Nicolette holding a beer can (not hers, really). There's also some funny stuff, especially the list of the top ten uses for said unworn dress (yes, there is an actual wearing - yippee - but it's not one of the top ten list uses).

Finally, I liked how the author at the end of the story very smoothly brought in the idea of taking a used dress to a place where girls without too much money can buy gently used special occasion dresses for a fraction of the price. It's a great idea, because not too many people wear a dress like that more than once, but a lot of people could use a little help when it comes to paying for one. I think it's really cool how a lot of authors are bringing in social justice issues to their writing and helping to make more kids aware of things they can do to help out in their communities and the world at large. The Readergrlz do a great job of rounding a lot of these ideas up, so if you've got a moment, you might check out their blog or their website. I've got a posting about Justina Chen Headley's North of Beautiful contest here as well.

This book is available at the Multnomah County Library.

Coraline out in theaters this weekend!

In honor of Nail Gaiman's winning the Newbery last week AND in honor of the release of Corlaine which I can't WAIT to see - did you know the official premiere is happening here in Portland this week?? - I'm posting ths GREAT little teaser about the book/movie that I found on Neil's blog. Very fun and just a little bit spooky. Enjoy!

The House in the Night - Susan Swanson ; pictures by Beth Krommes.

It's official, I've now read another of this year's award winning titles. Woohoo! This book, The House in the Night, is the winner of this year's Caldecott medal, the award given for the best illustrated children's book, and this one's a beauty. It's all done in scratchboard which is where the artist begins with a piece of "board" (what kind, I'm not really sure) that's covered in black wax and then uncovers the color (white) by scratching the wax off as opposed to other art forms where the color is added TO the white. In this case some bright yellow was added to highlight particular elements in each picture. I saw an interview with this artist and she said doing the pictures for this book was easy because there were ONLY something like 17 of them. Ha! The art in this story has a very luminous quality to it.

The story itself is also lovely, inspired by a nursery rhyme that begins, “This is the key of the kingdom." The story is told in a circular, simple way, and another person whose comments I was reading noted that this allows the reader to really focus on the pictures in this book.

Overall, a wonderful picture book, and a fantastic choice for the Caldecott.

Violet in Private - Melissa Walker

Finally, one of the covers uploads. Blogger is just a little buggy sometimes!

I told you I'd read the third book in the series. I hate not finishing a series once I've started it, even if I don't love the series, which I still can't completely decide on where this one's concerned. That kind of makes me think I must have liked it or why would I be thinking about it so much?

Anyway, Violet is growing up and is a lot more like-able in this book than she was in the others. She's starting to get a handle on what she believes and wants and to think about how she can be part of the modeling world and still do the right thing. She's not around such a harsh environment, either, leaving her with less opportunities to make bad choices, and maybe as a reader I was more comfortable with that, too.

Whether I really liked these books and Violet or not, I know teen girls will enjoy them. Available at the Multnomah County Library.

Violet on the Runway & Violet by Design - Melissa Walker

"I can never see fashion models,
lean angular cheeks, strutting hips
and blooming hair, without thinking of
the skulls at the catacombs in Lima, Peru."
Naomi Shihab Nye (b. 1952), U.S. poet. "Morning Paper, Society Page," lines 1-4 (1994).

I just happened to see this quote from Naomi Shihab Nye this morning when I was looking for a poem by her, but it fits so beautifully with the novels I just read, I'm including it here. Plus there's the fact that I can't get the doggone book cover pictures to load, so this is going to be it for now.

Anyway, this is a very interesting series which I cannot decide if I like or I don't like. Well, actually, that's not true. I like the series, I'm not sure if I like Violet. I want to, I really do, but she just keeps making bad choice after bad choice and treating people in her life so poorly that I find it difficult to like her. Violet Greenfield, a high school senior when the stories begin, is 6'1" tall, and blessed with a high metabolism so she's quite thin. Needless to say, people notice her, but she tries her best to blend in, not believing she's special in any way. I kind of have a hard time with this. Everyone is special in some way. Granted, some people have more talent in some areas than others, no one can argue with that, but we all have something to offer. And if you don't believe that, I feel sorry for you, but I'm also kind of irritated if you don't try and figure out what that something is but are just content to wallow in a "poor me I'm so plain" pity party. ANNOYING! And guess what, that's kind of how Violet is. Except, she gets offered a modeling contract and goes off to New York.

In New York, Violet feels like she is someone worthy, and she gets WAY caught up in the whole party scene, which first of all is an unlikely scenario for too many people. But even considering that, it has TOO many people involved in it. And they're not really good people. They're conniving, anorexic, drug using, underage drinking, back-stabbing, not nice types for the most part. And Violet, who is smart, and beautiful and has some really great supportive friends at home, totally goes for all this. Did I say ANNOYING before? Yeah, well.

Of course, this kind of stuff does make for a pretty good story. And I read both books, didn't I? And I'm going to the library to get the third this afternoon, too, even though I already have THIRTY-SEVEN books checked out form the public library...I'm not sure what this says about me. I guess that I'm clinging to the hope that after the debacle that was Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the next debacle that was Madrid, Spain, and the further debacle that was Paris, France, maybe, just maybe Violet will have come to her senses and will actually stand up for the things she really does believe in without being sucked in to this nonsense of the modeling world. Please?

These books do have some mature themes in them. They are available at the Multnomah County Library.

Hate That Cat - Sharon Creech

This is a companion book to Sharon Creech's Love That Dog which even though I'm not the biggest dog fan, I did love. It's the sweetest story about little Jack in Miss Stretchberry's second grade class who learns to write poetry even though, according to Jack, "Boys don't write poetry. Girls do."

Now if you know me you know that I LOVE cats. In fact, I have two of the sweetest cats ever, Hummer and Bonkers, so you may think I'd be hesitant to read a book called Hate That Cat. But I know Sharon Creech never lets me down - she's one of the best YA authors ever - so I took the plunge. Excellent choice!

Jack is back and just as adorable as ever. Miss Stretchberry has moved grades along with Jack, and he's learning even more about writing. I love seeing his progress and his poetry. It's nice that Jack becomes more well rounded in this book, too.

This is a super quick read, told all in poetry form, and it is ac treat. I highly recommend it.

Available at the WOMS library courtesy of the GB Education Foundation.

Here's a picture of our cutest kittes, Hummer and Bonkers.

Notice they like to hang out by the books!

The Possibilities of Sainthood - Donna Freitas

Loved, loved, loved this book. Having gone to Catholic schools for 16 years, and having read more than one "Lives of the Saints" books myself (Saint Therese and the Roses by Homan, published in 1955 being my very favorite) this book resonated with me in many ways - not that I ever had a PRAYER of becoming a saint myself, mind you.

Antonia Labella, the main character in this novel is determined to become the first living Catholic saint. And she's not just pining away wishing for it, either. This girl's got a plan, including saints journals and a vigorous writing campaign with a new petition to the Vatican (perferably to the Pope himself if he's available) each month proposing a new idea and offering herself as the model candidate.

Antonia is a very funny young woman with so many great ideas and possibilities. What she doesn't have is the sense God gave her in the boy department. I mean, hello, Antonia. Open your eyes once, girl. Saints be praised, there's resolution in that department finally, too, but it's a long time coming.

This book, by ckass of 2K8 first time novelist Donna Freitas was a delightful read which I highly enjoyed.

Available at the Multnomah County Library.

The World to Come - Dara Horn

I read this book for my grown up book club, and although I enjoyed many things about it, I found it a bit too choppy for my liking. I mean, I don;t mind thinking when I'm reading a book, in fact I love that, but I do mind when so much of the thinking isn't because of a natural flow. I will look forward to reading this very young author's work in the future, because she has great things to say and I think she'll smooth out and be a great read in the future.

I did ADORE the fact that my friend who did our book club dinner made us an entire Jewish feast to go along with the book. Who knew kugel was so amazing?

Poetry Friday - Yes

This poem is a favorite of mine that my very good friend Suzanne gave me several years ago. It's good to remember!

Yes

It could happen any time, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen.
Or sunshine, love, salvation.

It could, you know. That's why we wake
and look out -- no guarantees
in this life.

But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon,
like evening.

~ William Stafford ~

The Find Beauty Challenge contest

Justina Chen Headley, author of Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies), Girl Overboard, and the about to be published North of Beautiful (Feb. 1) is sponsoring a community service contest. Here are the details:

You tell the world what's really beautiful to you.
In 90 seconds.
On YouTube.

You might win fabulous prizes...like an iTouch. AND you help a child in a third world country.
For every video about beauty that fans upload, author Justina Chen Headley will donate $10--up to $1,000--to help children in third-world countries born with cleft lips and palates.

Be sure to ask your parents if it's OK before you do this. To enter, create a YouTube account, upload your video, and send a link to north@marthabee.com. She'll add it to the North of Beautiful channel (http://www.youtube.com/northofbeautiful). Tell all your friends to vote for you!

ALA Awards - Today's the BIG day!!!!

You know I've been waiting for the awards to be announced, and today was the big day! Turns out I haven't read many of the winners, but we DO have some of them in our library, so woo-hoo for that. Here's a list of some of the winners. For all the award winners, go to this link at ALA.

HAPPY, HAPPY reading, and congratulations to all the winners of this year's awards!

Margaret A. Edwards Award
This award honors outstanding lifetime contribution to writing for teens.

The recipient of the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award is Laurie Halse Anderson, also the winner of this year's Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction (see entry from a few days ago).

Newbery Medal

The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

	Title	Author
	Newbery Medal and Honor Books and Poster 2009	-----------
	WINNER
	The Graveyard Book	Neil Gaiman
	HONORS
	The Underneath	Kathi Appelt
	The Surrender Tree	Margarita Engle
	Savvy	Ingrid Law
	After Tupac And D Foster	Jacqueline Woodson

Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott Medal is presented to the most distinguished American picture book for children.

	Title	Author
	Caldecott Medal and Honor Books and Poster 2009	-----------
	WINNER
	The House in the Night	Susan Marie Swanson
	HONORS
	Couple Of Boys Have The Best Week Ever	Marla Frazee
	How I Learned Geography	Uri Shulevitz
	River Of Words: The Story Of William Carlos Williams	Jennifer Bryant

Coretta Scott King Awards

The Coretta Scott King Awards recognize an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to "the true worth and value of all beings". The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award is presented to a writer and/or illustrator at the beginning of their career as a published children's book creator.

WINNER
We Are The Ship	Kadir Nelson
HONORS
The Blacker the Berry	Joyce Carol Thomas
Keeping The Night Watch	Hope Anita Smith
Becoming Billie Holiday	Carole Boston Weatherford

Pura Belpré Award

The Pura Belpré Award is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

	WINNER AUTHOR AWARD
	The Surrender Tree	Margarita Engle
	HONORS
	Just In Case	Yuyi Morales
	Reaching Out	Francisco Jimenez
	The Storyteller's Candle = La Velita De Los Cuentos	Lucia M. Gonzalez

Robert F. Sibert Award

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished informational book published in the English language during the preceding year.

Title	Author
Robert F. Sibert Award 2009	-----------
WINNER
We Are The Ship	Kadir Nelson
HONORS
Bodies From The Ice: Melting Glaciers And The Rediscovery Of The Past	James M. Deem
What To Do About Alice?	Barbara Kerley

Michael L. Printz Award

The Michael L. Printz Award is presented to a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.

WINNER
Jellicoe Road	Melina Marchetta
HONORS
Kingdom On The Waves	M. T. Anderson
Disreputable History Of Frankie Landau-Banks	E. Lockhart
Nation	Terry Pratchett
Tender Morsels	Margo Lanagan

In a Blue Room - Jim Averbeck, Ill. by Tricia Tusa

So I heard this might have a chance at the Caldecott, and since I never look at picture books, and I'd love to have read a winner in any medal category, I decided to check it out from the public library. I really have no clue about what's out there om picture book land, but I do know I liked this one.

It's a very sweet story about little Alice who's having hard time sleeping. Her mother tries everything she can think of, but Alice keeps saying she needs a blue room. In come lilacs and lilywhites, tea, a quilt, bells, everything a little girl could possibly want for sleeping, but none of it blue...until her mother gently turns off the light and the blue light of the moon streams in, bathing everything - lilacs and lilywhites, tea, a quilt, bells, even little Alice - in the perfect shade of blue for sleep.

A sweet and charming book which may very well win the Caldecott. I hope so, and then I'll add it to my list of already read winners! Let's cross our fingers. Now I'm off to sleep...

Poetry Friday - Praise Song for the Day

Well, I see these Poetry Friday posts on other people's blogs all the time, but I've never been organized enough to do it myself. Today (I'm writing this on Tuesday for posting on Friday - my friend Stacie showed me how you can schedule things to post later - way cool!) was all about change, and I'm motivated to make this change. To post a poem every Friday and become part of the community. Poetry Friday is becoming quite the event in the children's literature blogging community. Kelly Herold at Big A Little A is credited with generating the excitment for this often neglected area of literature. So here's the poem I'd like to post this first week. If you saw the Inauguration ceremony, you'll recognize it as the poem Elizabeth Alexander wrote for today's ceremony.


Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

I read a winner!!!!!

OK, the biggest of the bigs are being announced next week, but they made a pretty darn big announcement early and I actually read it and reviewed it just recently. I doubt I'm as excited as Laurie Halse Anderson herself, but I'm pretty excited. CHAINS is the winner of the 2009 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction!!!!

You can read Laurie's delighted reaction (doing the happy dance in her longjohns, no less)here!

Paper Towns - John Green

Remember I told you I was trying to read some of the books that might just win awards this year? Well, there's been quite a bit of buzz about this one - many people think John Green is going for the three-peat with this one - a third Printz win/honorable mention. And I wouldn't be surprised. It's fabulous.

I often laugh out loud when reading books, and I often cry when reading books, but I really don't remember a time when I was laughing so hard that I was crying for the entire first chapter of a book. My husband was looking at me like I'd gone off the deep end, and then even he started laughing, just watching me laughing. I tried reading some of it out loud to him, but I couldn't even get through two words at a time because I was just laughing hysterically. John Green is seriously funny. But he can also be seriously serious, and this book has its share of serious parts too, after Margo leaves town and no one knows where to find her. Quentin "Q" Jacobsen, her neighbor and classmates has some clues which he tries to follow but he doesn't get too far, and sometimes he's not even sure whether he should be trying to follow her. But he has to follow his heart.

I love that John Green has awesomely developed male main characters because there just aren't enough of those in YA literature still - even though more and more are coming. Yeah, authors! This book is another amazing piece from John Green and I'll wait anxiously to see if he wins another award with it!

Mitali Perkins' new book is out today!

Following my "I love everything from India" post of just a few days ago, you'll probably not be surprised to find out I really enjoy Mitali Perkins' work. She's the author of Monsoon Summer, The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen, First Daughter and others, and today her new book, Secret Keeper came out.

In keeping with my resolution to try and jazz up my blog a bit, let's see if I can embed the YouTube trailer I saw for it today on the Readergirlz blog. Wish me luck! Here goes...


Enjoy!

Author visit to our book club!

If you haven't yet head, there's a fun new mother-daughter book club at WOMS called GAB (Girls and Books). Our first book was The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick, and she was kind enough to come to our meeting last week and share about her writing. It was super fun to have her here, and I'd just like to give a shout out to Heather and to all authors who visit book clubs. An author visit to a book club is a pretty special event! Here's a photo from our visit.



If you haven't yet joined the GAB club but you're interested, feel free to contact Mrs. FB (leave a comment here or drop me an email) and I'll give you the details.

Chains - Laurie Halse Anderson

I'm hoping this year that I might have read at least one of the books that gets a Newbery Honor at least, since often I haven't read even one of those, let alone the winner before the announcement, and I heard some buzz about this one, so I checked it out from the public library. Newbery or not, this book is flat out amazing. I LOVED it. I am a big fan of Laurie Halse Anderson, especially Speak and Fever, 1793, and this one exceeded my expectations.

I read this book in nearly one day over the winter break because I simply could not put it down. The book is set in 1776 during the Revolutionary War. Isabel, the main character in this novel, is a young slave girl, who along with her sister was supposed to receive her freedom upon the death of her mistress. Enter the greedy, evil son of the mistress, and suddenly not only is Isabel not free, she's been sold to a pretty awful New York couple who are Tory Loyalists.

Desperate to find freedom for herself and her sister, Isabel uses her invisibility as a slave to eavesdrop on her master's conversations and then reports her findings to the Patriots. Unfortunately, her work does not lead to the conclusion she was hoping for, and Isabel finds herself facing difficult choices.

The characterization in this book is incredibly strong, and I found myself deeply attached to Isabel. The themes are also tremendously powerful, exploring freedom, power and humanity in complex and thoughtful ways. Clearly Ms. Halse Anderson did amazing research to create this vivid portrait of slave life and the Revolution, and readers will feel themselves being pulled into the time period as thought watching a movie.

Except for the ending, which left me extremely disappointed and frustrated - you'll see why when you read it - I'd say this was pretty nearly a perfect piece of historical fiction. I'd be interested to hear how others felt upon turning to the last page.

This book has not yet been ordered for the WOMS library, but its sure to be on the order list soon.

Now and Zen - Linda Gerber

This is another good installment in the Students Across the Seven Seas series (say that five times fast!). In this book Nori Tanaka travels from Ohio to Tokyo, Japan, where even though it looks like she belongs, really she's as foreign as all the rest of the kids. But don't tell the cute guy from Germany, OK, because maybe he'll like her if he thinks she's from Tokyo...

I enjoyed this book for what it was, a chick-lit light romance with a few lessons thrown in and some cultural information about Tokyo. It's not an all time classic, but it's entertaining. I'm quite curious as to whether the whole part about sumo wrestlers not washing that diaper thingy they wear because they're afraid their skills will be washed away, too, is true. That's nasty!

Thanks to Mrs. Yingling for a link to this author's blog.

Born Confused - Tanuja Desai Hidier

I think I must have been born in India sometime in a previous life, because for some reason I'm kind of obsessed with India. Give me a book about India, a movie about India, a Bollywood flick, anything. I love them all. So of course when I saw the cover of Born Confused, even though I already had a zillion books checked out from the library, I had to get it.

In many ways this is a typical coming of age novel, where the protagonist, Dimple Lala (and how great of a name is that??!!) is trying to figure out who she is, who she wants to be, and how to get there. But the cultural pulls, both from her Indian born parents and her American roots, make Dimple's coming of age a bit more challenging.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I think this book is more suitable for older readers for a couple of reasons. One is its complex and thought provoking themes such as arranged marriage, race, cultural identity and the power of art and creativity. I think older readers would appreciate these themes more and be able to think about them with more depth. The other reason is the writing itself. Not only does the author use a lot of Indian words without a glossary, the writing itself can be pretty complex, and less sophisticated readers might be lost. The writing is amazing and beautifully done, but it might overwhelm some readers.

This book is available at the Multnomah County Public Library, and if you are a lover of all things Indian like I am and are a mature reader, I'd highly recommend this excellent novel.

Want to be notified when I make a new post?

For the new year, I'm trying to learn some new tricks in the blogging world, and today I've learned two! Thanks to J. Kaye's Book Blog I learned how to link to a specific blog entry, which is a pretty spiffy little trick but not that intuitive if you ask me.

And now, all by myself, I figured out how to add an RSS feed of my blog. Now you can my site to your Google or My Yahoo or Netvibes or Newsgator or Bloglines page, and whenever I have a new post, it will pop up there. Kinda cool. Click on POSTS under the "Subscribe To Mrs. FB's Book Blog" for this option. It's on the right hand side of this page. There's a little orangey-yellow square with some white lines in it. See it?

You are also welcome to request email updates, which will send you an email whenever I make a new posting. Request an email update by posting in the comment section or by sending me an email at erin_fitzpatrick-bjorn@gbsd.gresham.k12.or.us

Now it's your turn to go out and learn something new!

It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health - Robie Harris

I received this book from the publisher via The Picnic Basket website, and I have been procrastinating on writing my review for this book because I am so conflicted.

I think this book is a fantastic resource and a great choice for kids age 10 and up IF they're reading it with an adult available to talk about it. The book is illustrated with cartoony pictures, and is quite frank about a wide variety of topics on sexuality and the changing bodies of adolescents. The "story" is narrated by a bird and a bee cartoon characters who are quite funny, but also very reflective of the nature of an adolescent. The book has great information, and plenty of it. All adolescents could learn things from this book, I am quite sure, and it addresses

That aside, I don't think I can put this on my middle school library shelves due to immaturity of user. It does have fantastic information that kids want, and NEED, but some kids would parade it around the playground pointing out the pictures, and then we'd have a passel of trouble.

I will probably keep it in the professional section for health teachers who may want to use some parts of it.

Any parents looking for a great book to use with their children to talk about sex, however, should look no further. This one is terrific.

WOMS Library wins!!

Wow! I'm so excited. I just found out that I was a winner in a contest for librarians! Way back in October I saw a posting on this blog called Class of 2K8, a group of YA authors whose first books were being published in 2008. Here was the contest information:

School librarians rock, and we know it! Help us spread the word about the Class of 2k8's new fall contest, just for some of our favorite people on Earth. It's easy to enter and fun!

School librarians can enter by sending us an anecdote about books, reading, or life in the school library, or a snappy quote about books and writing. We'll be posting our favorites on our Class blog during November, but winners will be chosen randomly from among all entries. In addition, if you pass this on to other school librarians and they mention the referral, you and your school will be entered in the drawing twice--double the chance to win!

Prizes include:
First Prize: Your choice of a full set of Class of 2k8 books OR a free author visit from a Class of 2k8 author in your region (if available)!

Two Second Prizes: A $50 gift certificate from Indie Bound (formerly BookSense) plus three books from the Class of 2k8 to add to your school library.

Three Third Prizes: Three books from the Class of 2k8 to add to your school library.

So I sent in a poem a student of mine had written about the library, and they posted it, which was pretty fun in itself. But then today they wrote and told me I was one of the third prize winners. So we'll be getting copies of three of the books people in this group published. Very exciting!!

Here's the official entry where you can see my name announced as a winner :) Look for new books soon!

The Best Girl - Emma Harrison

This was another "beach" book, but it takes place in the mountains of Colorado, so I felt right at home since I was surrounded by snow myself!

Farrah, who prefers to go by Jane (and can you blame her since she was actually named after a Charlie's Angel), has just finished her first semester of college, and is about to spend ten days trapped at a posh resort preparing to be the Best Girl (instead of Best Man) in her older brother's wedding. Perhaps the word trapped may have given away the fact that she's not too excited about it. Until she discovers that the boy she's been crushing on all semester, Cute Conner, is actually working at the resort. Even better, she discovers he likes her. What he has not yet discovered, and what she's trying desperately to keep him from discovering, is that she's actually part of the wedding party - the one that he constantly complains about because these rich people are always so demanding, like they own the planet. What can it hurt to tell him she's just hte family's nanny? He'll never find out, right? Riiiight!

Of course the plot becomes more and more complicated as she has to go to crazier and crazier lengths to keep the truth from Conner. And of course he finds out and of course it's not too pretty.

This is another quick read with a bit of romance and some great things to keep in mind about love and just life.

Available at the Multnomah County Library.

Secrets of the Savanna - Mark & Delia Owens

This is the third book written by scientists Mark and Delia Owens that I have read. I read the first when I went to Zambia, which is where they did a lot of their research and work with elephants to try and end the horrific poaching that was such a problem in Zambia. I really enjoyed this series, although I think those two did some incredibly crazy stuff that I could never have done because I am just not enough of a risk taker. The great thing is that their work really made a tremendous difference, both for animals and people in Zambia, and I was really impressed by the great lengths they went to to make such an important difference.

I am reminded of a quote from Margaret Mead that these two definitely practice:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

How I Created My Perfect Prom Date - Todd Strasser

So what do you think about dating your stepbrother? But what if you didn't know he WAS going to be your stepbrother when you started dating him? And besides, you only did it to get back at another boy and prove you could make him into someone everyone would be after. Kind of. Right?

This was another quick read, teen romance which I picked up over break. Beach books, I call them, although there was definitely no sign of the beach during this Arctic Blast winter vacation, was there?

I thought this book was funny and fun, and I liked how it had alternating chapters between the two main characters, a boy and a girl. If you're just looking for a light read, give this one a try.

P.S. this book is by the author of Give a Boy a Gun, and The Wave but it is WAY different than those books. I think it's pretty amazing how an author can write such divergent works, don't you?

The Geography of Girlhood - Kristen Smith

This book is a nice addition to the genre of books written for teens in verse instead of in prose. Verse writing is tricky because the writer has to tell the story completely, but they have so few words to flesh it out. Kristen Smith does a lovely job of that here.

It seems like the books I've read in verse (Stop Pretending, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, Shakespeare Bats Clean Up, Love that Dog) tend to focus on the feelings of the characters and leave lot of the action out. And it works beautifully, although it wouldn't work, I don't think, in prose. It's interesting.

Penny, whose mother abandoned her when she was six years old, is now trying to navigate the world of high school, which is hard enough WITH your mom there to help you. The voice is very strong, and I found myself really feeling for Penny as she struggles through her emotional pain.

A nicely written novel which I am happy to be able to recommend to mature readers looking for another novel in verse. I hope to read more from this author in the future.

Available at Multnomah County Library.

Gamma Glamma - Kim Flores

I really liked this funny book about a girl who undertakes a science project involving makeovers of real people to see if she could change their status in the world that is high school. Clearly, she hadn't read Frankenstein yet!

If you've read a lot of the entries on my blog, you'll know that character development is the main thing I enjoy in a book, and Luz is a wonderfully developed young woman. She is an admitted science geek, that's why she's at Gamma High, but when she realizes that the science fair competition is on the same nigh t as the Homecoming dance, she really doesn't want to do it. Unfortunately, the fish in the tank are dead and Luz is basically forced to do it. She comes up with a plan that she's SURE the science teacher could not possibly approve, but the fish are still dead and her plan is approved. Thus begins the circus that is Luz's science experiment. And the results are quite dramatic...although not necessarily good news for those involved, except maybe for Luz and Swen??

Luz's sense of humor, her smarts, and her inventiveness make her a really fun character to get to know in this creative novel which really captures the high school experience.

Sciencey types, those who like a laugh, and fans of a little romance will enjoy this great book by Kim Flores.

Available at the WOMS library.

How to Hook a Hottie - Tina Ferraro

This was a cute teen romance that was also pretty funny. Kate's parents have promised her that if she can make $5000 before the end of the school year she doesn't have to go to college and she can start on her plan to become a millionaire by age twenty right away. She has no idea that she will catapult to popularity and that her plan to earn money will get completely out of control when she starts up a matchmaking service. But of course, everything does go berserk, and Kate, who never thought she'd be in such a position, is not quite sure how to handle everything. A quick, fun read for fans of teen romance with some good lessons in it as well.

Available at Multnomah County Library.

Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride - Helen Halstead

This is one of those books in the "Pride and Prejudice Continued" genre (not actually a real genre, but you know what I mean) that I love to read because I so love P&P. I thought this one was pretty good, but a little slow for me. It was quite true to the original, so that was fun. I wonder how many times the authors of these types of books have read P&P. And how many other books of Austen's and the period have they also read. It would be interesting to know. Clearly, this woman was very familiar with the style because she did a good job of imitating it.

If you liked P&P and haven't read any of these sequels, this might be a nice choice to try. Available at Multnomah County Library.

In Her Shoes - Jennifer Weiner

This is a companion book to some of Jennifer Weiner's other fluff books that I've read, and I can't figure out exactly why I keep reading them. I mean, they're OK, but I have a zillion books on my shelf - have you SEEN my Shelfari list??? I think since I've read the other ones I sort of feel some sort of obligation to keep reading. Perhaps I should put this on my New Year's Resolutions list to stop doing that...

If you're just looking for an easy read about relationships, this one would be a good way to pass the time, but there are better books out there for doing that.

Christmas Book Blog Swap - WOW!

Somewhere in my blog trollings in November I saw a post about a Secret Santa Swap between book bloggers, so I thought I'd participate, and what fun it turned out to be. Dawn from Concord, queen of She Is Too Fond of Books, was my Secret Santa, and it was like she KNEW me. She sent me a whole bunch of goodies that were all prefect choices for me. I got YUMMY chocolate truffles - hand-made in Concord, a calendar of great books which I'm afraid is going to be running my library hold list up quite high, a great mix CD for yoga (which I just recently stated doing) and some of my favorite Burt's Bees lip balm. I also got a great new blog to read through this swap, and that just might be the best gift of all - it's certainly a gift that keeps on giving! Thanks, Dawn!




And then, as if the cosmos were linking us together or something, my mother-in-law sent me this fun hanging ornament which I am planning to put in my own library! How cool (and random!) is that?


I'm super glad someone decided to organize this, and I hope that Christine, who has a very cool blog (Between Concrete and Sky) about books and photography, two things I love, received her gift from me - it was scheduled to arrive on Christmas Eve - nothing like waiting until the last minute to mail a Chrismtas gift...

Hope you are all enjoying a fun and relaxing holiday season like I am :)

Change of Heart - Jodi Picoult

I fell in love with Jodi Picoult's writing when I read My Sister's Keeper, and I am afraid that book was SO amazing, that the other books of hers I've read just haven't been as good. this one in particular, I kept wanting to quit reading, but I needed to know what was going to happen. I guess that means something...

I think the main problem with this story was that I did not feel empathy for the main character who is a prisoner on death row. I want to say more, but I can't without giving things away. Jodi Picoult certainly gets readers thinking about things, and this is another of her books where I wonder what I'd think if I were a mom and I read this book. If you like Jodi Picoult's other books, you'll probably want to read this one.

Available at Multnomah County Library.

The President's Daughter books 1,2,3,4 - Ellen Emerson White

I really enjoyed this series which I started around the time of the elections. the main character is Meghan Powers, whose mother decides she's going to run for President, and she wins! Sounds pretty exciting, right? Well not to Meghan. She never wanted her mom to even run much less win! The series begins when the family still lives in Massachusetts, runs through the election, and carries on to the White House. There are many moments of suspense, some WAY too unbelievable, but of course FICTION is often about suspending disbelief, and if you can do that, I think you'll enjoy these books a lot, especially if you're interested in politics or what it's like to live in the White House.

Available at the Multnomah County Library.

Call Me Hope - Gretchen Olson

How would you feel if your parents named you Hope and then your dad left and your mom called you Hopeless all the time? It's not something anyone would wish for, and certainly not something the main character of this story enjoys. Her mother is quite verbally abusive to her, calling her names, belittling her, and generally just being mean. Hope tries so hard to be good, but it seems like she can never meet the mark. Even though you know this story is fiction, it's really hard to read some parts because you know that this really is the way some parents treat their children.

When she reads the Diary of Anne Frank in school, Hope makes a connection with Anne and the difficulties Anne's facing that help her to find ways of coping. The counselor at her school also gives her some great strategies she can use. The other thing that helps Hope through is finding people that show her they care about her, like the two women who run the resale shop where Hope gets a part time job.

This story is an intense read, but Hope's power of spirit and her constant attempts to overcome her difficulties make it an excellent piece o literature for middle grades and will hopefully open up some avenues of discussion for children in situations of verbal abuse.

Sea Otter Resuce - Roland Smith

This is one of the non-fiction Battle of the Books titles for this year, and it was a quick read and super interesting. It's about the Exxon Valdez oil spill that happened up in Alaska in 1989. I spent some time up in Alaska (even Valdez) this summer, so I was really interested in this story. Roland Smith used to be a veterinarian, so when the oil spill happened he was asked to go up and help. His first hand knowledge of the animals and of the rescue effort made this a really great piece. Plus there are awesome photos of the rescue efforts. Those little sea otters are sooooo cute. But only when they're not covered with oil.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was one of the worst ever and caused the deaths of thousands and thousands of animals, including the sea otters, birds, seals, some whales, and many other animals. It was a devestating event that no one was properly prepared for. Luckily, as a result of the spill, people learned a lot about how to do a better job of containment and clean-up in the event of a spill, and new rules were created which will require all oil tankers in the future to have basically two hulls to help prevent spills in the case of an accident.

I'd definitely recommend this book for lovers of animals and the envirnonment.

The Host - Stephenie Meyer

I have to say it took me about 200 pages to get into this book (it's over 600 pages long), and that isn't really like me. I did grow to like the story, although it's not really my kind of book. This is a sci-fi futuristic book, and although I enjoy most sci-fi, I realize now that I don't really enjoy alien sci-fi. That's just a little too weird for me. Sort of like I only like fantsy that has real people in it, I guess I also only like sci-fi that has people in it, not aliens. I think that's what saved this book for me. It did have real people in it, and now that I think about it, I think they came in around page 200...coincidence? I think not. Honestly, had it not been our book club book for this month, I probably wouldn't have finished it, but I'm glad I did.

Recommended for lovers of alien sci-fi stories middle school aged and up.

A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula LeGuin

If you've ever heard me a do a book talk, you undoubtedly know that fantasy is not really my genre, so you will probably not be surprised to hear me say that a book with the words wizard and earthsea (not even a word!) was not my favorite I've read this year. It's a Battle of the Books title, so I forced my self to read it (I listened, actually), but it was just a little too wizardy for me.

Having said that, if you LIKE fantasy, I think you will really enjoy this book. It's got a good mystery, pleny of adventure, lots of magic, and a good plot going. It's the first in the Tombs of Atuan series, and I'd definitely recommend it to fantasy fans or those who are interested in exploring this genre. It's well written and has been around for quite some time, written by Oregon's own Ursula LeGuin.

Copies of this title are available on the OBOB spinner rack in the WOMS library.