Poetry Friday - Flying Fish: An Ode

If you read my review on Close to Shore, you may know I'm a shark freak, so I thought I'd start off the year with this shark poem. If you're a shark freak, too, you may want to check out this site, which has a collection of 35 shark poems! they put it together in honor of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. I like it :)


Flying Fish: An Ode [excerpt]
by Charles Wharton Stork

How must it be to swim among your kind,
Dull with the cold and dreary with the dark,
Enclosed above, beneath, before, behind
In green uncertainty, from which a shark
At any time may dash
And doom you like some huge demonic fate
With lust insatiate?—
He cuts the water with a seething gash;—
What use to dart aside?
Those great jaws, grinning wide,
Will close your frolic as the long teeth clash.

But I forget your gift; the bonds that hold
The others of your race are loosed for you,
For you alone. The silver dolphin bold
Shoots like a spray-haired comet from the blue,
But may not poise or flit
As you do—. What if but a minute's space?
Hardly a longer grace
Has poet, saint or lover. Nor a whit
Less sure to sink are we;
Our wings of ecstasy
No loftier, no longer joy permit.

Yet joy it is! to scorn the dread of death,
To dwell for shining moments in the sun
Of Beauty and sweet Love, to drink one breath
Of a diviner element—though but one;
To reach a higher state
Of being, to explore a new domain;
To leap, and leap again,
Unheeding the gray menace of our fate
That follows till we fall:
For—fishes, men and all—
The grim old Shark will have us, soon or late.

A Kieran Scott Fest

I read FOUR of Kieran Scott's book the week that school started. It was really all I could do to make it home and crash on the couch, and these books were just the ticket. they're fun and funny, have a little bit of substance to them, strong cheracter development, and required virtually no effort on my part to finish. That a great beginning of school book.

Three of the books are in the "Non-Blonde Cheerleader" series about, coincidentally, a non-blonde cheerleader. In fact, she's the only non-blonde in her whole school in south Florida. She's just moved there from New Jersey, and its kind of weird. A totally different world from her old school. She misses some things about her old school, but there are some neat new things waiting for her to discover in Florida, too. The books are all about the cheerleading squad and deal with a lot of issues that come up in teams, among friends, and among not-so friendly groups as well. Plus hter's a little romance, so if you like that, this might be a series you'd enjoy.

The other book is called Geek Magnet, and really, how could I not read that book? It's about a girl who all the geeky guys are attracted to, and she's sort of wishing some other kind of guy would be attracted. but I'm here to tell you, the geeky ones are the best catches. They're the ones who can solve your computer problems, figure out your gas mileage, and keep your checkbook balanced. There are also some awfully cute geeks out there. And they're usually sweet! I oughta know - I got one of the best ones!

Middle school girls will enjoy Kieran Scott's works.

Miss Harper Can Do It - Jane Berentson

Really enjoyed this cute book written by the friend of a friend. It's set in current time and features a young woman whose boyfriend is in the service and has to go overseas to serve. It's the story of how she struggles to deal with all the emotions and situations that arise in this scenario. It's quite a light-hearted look, but it's thoughtfully done. IT was a perfect vacation book. Just a bit of thinking, but not too much. It's our next book club choice, and I'm eager to discuss it with my friends next week.

Recommended for adult women. Available at Multnomah County Libraries.

Jane Austen Addict 1&2 - Rigler, Laurie Viera

I read the first one of these books, but I have to admit, I totally skimmed the second one, and afterward, I decided I'd have preferred if they were actually one book that flipped back and forth between the characters.

The premise of these stories is really good, I think. In the first, a person from our time gets time-traveled back into Jane Austen's time. In the second, it's the opposite. And the two characters who switch time basically trade lives. I did like the main characters, especially the fiery modern day woman trapped in Jane's time when she was not too free to say the things she'd certainly have said at home. There were just too, too many details for my liking. I got a little bored. I still enjoyed them, but I didn't LOVE them like I'd hoped I might, being a bit of a Jane Austen addict myself. One thing's for sure, though, I do NOT want t end up in Jane Austen's world. I'm bit too outspoken for that for sure!

Available at the Multnomah County Library.

Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler

All Hail the Elf, the Shelf Elf, that is. It was from her blog that I won a copy of this book. Yeah!

This is a great book, but for older readers. The main character is a girl, Anna, who had a secret romance with the brother of her best friend and then he died. He had told her that he wanted to tell his little sister, and she'd promised not to tell. But she didn't know he was going to die. So now she's stuck with this big secret and she's having trouble moving on. She's tired of pretending, but she can't face the idea of gong against his wishes. The best friend, Frankie, has been struggling, too, of course, with the death of her brother, and neither of them really knows how to navigate her way through.

The two girls go off to the beach for a vacation with Frankie's parents and hatch a plan to try and get twenty boys to pay attention to them. Thus begins both the unraveling and the way through for both Anna and Frankie.

It's a very well done romance/coming of age story, but it has some mature themes, so it's better for the high school library than the middle school

Found - Margaret Peterson Haddix

I thought this Oregon Battle of the Books title was a very good page turner. It's a somewhat plausible premise at first, but it requires a little more suspension of disbelief as it goes on. Still, it's a very suspenseful storyline, and fans of Haddix will enjoy it. Not sure if I will read the sequel or not.

Close to Shore - Michael Capuzzo

I was trying to read a little more non-fiction this summer, so I picked up this book about the 1916 shark attacks on the New Jersey shore. I'm kind of addicted to shark stuff. Shark Week on cable? I'm sucked in - and I hardly EVER watch TV. I don't know why I'm so fascinated with sharks, because these bad boys are trouble, but I really am.

This book was, as is typical of shark stories, is creepy. It's about a great white that basically got lost due to some strange currents and ended up way up north where it had no business. The first attack it made was in 3 1/2 FEET of water!!!! Then it went upstream up a river! Basically the poor thing was starving and confused, no wonder it started attacking people. But it was a really scary time, and it caused havoc with the tourism of the time in New Jersey.

This book was told in a unique way - half the book was about people and half about the shark. I really enjoyed it. If you're interested in sharks, this is a great book.

The Magician - Michael Scott

Once again, not my favorite writing ever, and I really thought this had too much "catch-up" for those who hadn't read the first book so would need some cluing in, but still, the story drew me in and I was driven to find out what happened.

Some of you may have heard me talk about the four areas of good writing: Plot, Character, Writing, & Setting. My favorite is character, then plot, writing, setting. This book is super strong on plot and pretty good on also setting, so those who are big fans of those areas will really enjoy it. If you like magic, this book is totally for you, too. I would suggest reading The Alchemyst, first, though.

Radiant Darkness - Emily Whitman

Loved this retelling of the Persephone story from her point of view. Since we did the whole mythology unit in 6th grade last year (we're doing it again, 6th graders - yeah!) when we read the Persephone myth and then the 6th graders read The Lightning Thief, I have been looking for more novels with a mythology bent. This one is great, but it's really for a little bit older audience than middle school, so I'll leave it to the high school to order.

London Calling - Edward Bloor

I listened to this story on my iPod, and I have to admit I had to start over three times because I just couldn't get hooked, and then I wouldn't know what was going on. But once I did get going on it, I really liked it. It's a time travel book. Martin Conway, a 7th grade boy, has an old time radio from his grandmother, and it turns out that the radio is a time travel device. It transports him back to London in 1940 during the World War II bombings. There's also a good amount of historical fiction mixed in with the storyline in addition to it being a time travel book, which is not completely unusual in time travel books and makes them appeal to a wider audience I think.

Fans of war books and time travel books will enjoy this Edward Bloor novel. I don't think he's written anything in a while (well, not that I've seen), so it was nice to see something new from this talented author of Tangerine, one of my favorites for boys.

Sun Signs - Shelly Hrdlitschka

This book was fun to read because it was written in emails back and forth between "distantstudybuddies" - kids who were attending school online as opposed to regular classroom work for different reasons. Kaleigh, the main character, is attending because she has cancer, but she doesn't tell any of her online friends the reason.

The story revolves around a science project Kaleigh is doing - all about astrology. That's right, a SCIENCE project about astrology. Hmmmm. But she does a pretty good job of fitting her ideas to the project. She learns quite a lot about science along the way, too, even though it's not all related to her astrology findings.

Kaleigh learns a lot about herself and other people through this distance project, too. It's not all a bed of roses, either. But real life isn't.

I enjoyed this story and will recommend it to middle school readers who like books told in a little bit different style than straight prose.

The Hunted - Gloria Skurzynski

I couldn't find a picture of this book, but this is a great mystery story. It's one of the National Geographic mysteries set in a national park. Last year I went to Denali with my nephew and we read one set there. This year we took another nephew to Glacier and read this one which is set there. We did it as a read-aloud, and as the reader I was having a hard time reading fast enough. This book was FULL of suspense. It was way more suspenseful than the other one we read. It was slightly less realistic in a few of the details ,but we forgave those because it was so exciting.

The main characters in this book are a brother and sister, the same ones who were in the other story. Their mother is a veterinarian and has been called in to help figure out why grizzly bear cubs are disappearing. The reason is a little bit scary, well actually a lot scary. And there's a whole side story about a ten year old Mexican boy as well.

If you like mysteries with a lot of suspense, this is a GREAT choice. Available at the WOMS library.

Summer Reading - One Week to Go

So far I've read 29 books this summer - and 12 of those I read in the last three weeks on vacation and I still have to blog about them yet, so stay tuned. Hope you've had a chance to enjoy some good books this summer as well! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone back at school next week! I'll collect summer reading sheets the second week of school :)

Happy reading!

~Mrs. FB

Touching the Void - Joe Simpson

Maybe it wasn't the best idea I ever had to read this book while my husband and a friend were off on a backcountry backpacking trip. Luckily, my husband and his friend are pretty reasonable guys. The guys in this book were nuts!!! And it's a TRUE story.

The two men in this book started out to climb a previously unclimbed peak in South America. And you know why it was unclimbed? Because it was crazy dangerous, that's why!! And guess what, one of the guys broke his leg on the climb! Not good. His buddy tried to lower him down, and was pretty successful for several hours, but then it finally got to be too much and he had to cut the rope and let him go. this should have meant his death, but it didn't. He CRAWLED back to camp.

It's an amazing story that is as much about the power of determination as anything.

If you're a strong reader interested in mountain climbing, I'd recommend this book. Available at the Multnomah County Library.

What I Meant - Marie Lamba

I got a nice note from the author of this book recently sugesting I might enjoy it, and she was right. It's a book that has a lot going on. There's a cultural element (the main character's father is Indian and her mother is American), there's a boy/girl element, there's a friend struggle, and there's a bit of self realization happening as well.

Interestingly, I expected the boy/girl element to do something different than it turned out to, and I was quite pleasantly surprised to be surprised. What did happen that's quite typical and annoying, but undoubtedly quite true to life, is that the girl went for the cute boy who's pretty much a jerk. WHAT was she thinking? But anyway, she did finally figure that out.

The Indian culture part (you DO remember I was from India in a former life, right?) was, as always, fascinating. The Indian aunt in this story, though, was unbelievable. Not that I didn't believe the writing, I just couldn't believe the nonsense she was pulling AND getting away with! The dad was too, in some ways, although I'm typically going to believe an adult over a child (sorry, kids), too, so his was easier to believe. Plus Sang, the main character, did do some stupid stuff she shouldn't have.

I felt really bad for Sang about the rift between her and her former bet friend. It was very strange, and sad, because her friend clearly needed someone, but she was hurting too much to really know what to do. At one point in the story Sang tells Gina's parents about something Gina has done, and Gina gets SUPER angry with Sang. But it was the right thing to do, and it took a lot of courage. Some really bad things might have resulted if she'd held back what she knew. Growing up can be really hard, because sometimes friends do things that might endanger themselves or others, and then you have to decided whether you can risk the friendship by telling. But really, you do, even if it's hard.

I will be ordering this book for the library in the future. For now it's available at the Multnomah County Library..

Summer Reading in full swing!

My husband just finished his summer reading challenge from the public library and turned in his paperwork. How about you? Are you participating in Multnomah County's summer reading program? And how about the WOMS program? If you're doing one, you should definitely be doing the other, because all the reading counts for both! Check out the WOMS library homepage if you need new forms or the rules or anything. there are lots of great book recommendations on my library page as well. Happy reading!

Every Last Cuckoo - Kate Maloy

I adored this book. It's a grown up book about a 75 year old woman whose husband has just passed away and she's a little bit lost. It kind of reminds me of the book I read earlier this summer called Hunting and Gathering. By creating a community, everyone gains. It's beautifully written with some chapters of flashback set throughout the story. It's interesting in that it's a coming of age story but for a 75 year old woman, whereas I usually read coming of age stories for adolescents. Every stage of life is a new beginning.

A wonderful, heartfelt book that had me laughing and crying. Beautifully done. Thanks to She Is Too Fond of Books for the recommendation. I'd also highly recommend this blog to grown-up book lovers who are reading MY blog :)

Happy reading!

The Chosen One - Carol Lynch Williams

This novel reminded me quite a lot of Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka which I read not too long ago. This book, however, was much more brutal in its portrayal of the poylgamist sect that Kyra's family belongs to than the group of polygamists in Sister Wife. In Sister Wife I was disturbed and angry about the fact that they have young girls marry much older men and give them really no choice in the matter. But things went much farther in this book. People were beaten and even killed for disobedience in this novel, and it was very disturbing. Even one of those topics, beating people for not agreeing with you OR forcing children to marry grown men would be a lot to take. Both in one story was really difficult to get through. There was quite a lot of suspense, which constantly made me want to listen to the next part (I had this on my iPod), but I couldn't necessarily listen to too much at once.

I longed for more closure to this story than the author gave. Perhaps it's for the best, because now I might have hope, whereas if she told me what really happened, it might not be the outcome I wanted. But nonetheless, I really wanted more closure for several of the things that happened near the end of the story.

Due to the violence in this story, I'd recommend it for 8th graders and above.

Death of a Witch - M.C. Beaton

This is a fun series kind of like Miss Marple, but set in Scotland with a young policeman as the detective. They're kind of slow, and not too gory. Just a nice, easy reading mystery. There's also a BBC series starring Hamish MacBeth, the police officer. Great summer reads for detective story fans. I actually listened to this one and have put several more on hold from the public library.

The Alchemyst - Michael Scott

Not to be confused with AN alchemist, this is the story of THE alchemYst. This novel is a 2010 Oregon Battle of the Books novel.

This novel takes place in modern day, but involves a lot of characters who are somewhat older. As in hundreds or even thousands of years old! Yes, it's true. Nicholas Flamel, his wife, his enemy Dee, his cohort Scathach and many others who appear in this story are immortals.

The story is non-stop action beginning with the theft of the Codex from Nicholas Falmel's (not the name he is known to present day people by) book shop. The Codex has fallen into the hands of some pretty evil people, but teenage employee Josh happened to rip the last two pages out of the book as it was being stolen, and without it, the book is nearly worthless. The evildoers will stop at nothing to get the book back, including killing and murder of a witch who's lived for centuries.

Human boy Josh and his sister Sophie seem to be involved in this story by accident, but it turns out there's much more to it than that. Flamel believes that Josh and Sophie are the "two" spoken about in a long ago prophecy, and that they are destined for magical greatness.

I think middle school students will love this story, especially those who enjoy fantasy. I'm not the biggest fantasy fan, so I didn't LOVE this book, but darned if I'm not interested enough in what's going to happen next to have put the sequel on hold at the library. And guess what, I just got a notice it's in! Gotta go pick it up. See you later!

Ever - Gail Carson Levine

Know me, know I love fairy tale stories. so of course I enjoyed this tale by Gail Carson Levine, who I'm excited to get to meet in October at the Oregon School Libraries conference.

This story is told in two voices, alternating chapters - one voice is of a boy, Olus, and one is of a girl, Kezi. The boy is an immortal, Akkan god of the winds, and the girl is just a regular, although beautiful and wonderful, girl. I liked how she interwove their stories and their lives and made them seem nearly as similar as not, even though they obviously had some critical differences.

Kezi's father has unwittingly drawn a curse of death on her, and Olus is determined to find a way around it because he is madly in love with her and doesn't want to lose her. He figures the only way to save her is to turn her immortal, not an easy task. Both he and she must overcome difficult obstacles if they are to make this work, and there is a grat deal of tension to see if they can achieve what they've set out to do.

The one thing I didn't like about this novel was that Kezi simply gave up her final time with her family just in case it would be her last time with Olus. I would have liked it better if she'd shared her time between them or they'd both gone back to spend more time with her family.

A story for lovers of fairy tales romances. Available in the WOMS library.

Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen

OK, I'm back for my review, although I'm still mulling this one over.

If you've ever seen my READ poster outside the library, you know I'm a Sarah Dessen fan. And if you've ever heard me talk about books (which is basically anyone who's ever heard me talk) you know that character is my number one thing in writing, then plot. But give me good characters, and even with a mediocre plot, I'll probably still like it. And you may also know if you've read my reviews or seen my reading list, I'm a sucker for a good romance.

So here's the thing with Sarah Dessen: she's a queen of all three. Her characters are always full of depth, always learning about themselves, always experiencing new things. Her plots are always interesting and keep things moving. And there's always a romance. Of course there's not always a sa-woon (bonus points for you if you get this reference), but it always comes around. And I just thought of this - Sarah's main characters are always girls, but the boy really becomes a main character in her stories as well, and his voice seems as equally authentic as the girl's. I wonder if it's any more difficult for her to write the boy's voice than the girl's, seeing how she's a girl and all.

In this novel, the perfect and very grown-up Auden is sort of waiting around to go to college, a bit at a loss and feeling a little antsy. She decides she needs a change of pace, so she packs up and goes to stay for the summer with her father, her step-mother Heidi, and her new baby sister, Thisbe. She's not really that excited about going there - she doesn't like Heidi much, and she's not very interested in the baby, but she's hoping this will be a chance to connect with her father, and at least it's something to do.

As with all Dessens' novels, this is a journey of self-discovery for Auden, who although she hadn't seemingly noticed, basically missed out on being a child. It is Eli who teaches her it's never too late, but it's a wide variety of characters in the novel who teach her how to get back what she's missed. Strong friendships are formed with girls as well as boys. I really like this about Dessen's novels; the friendships with girls are always equally, if not more, important than those with boys. Sometimes it seems like when a girl meets a boy in real life, she forgets her girlfriends, and we all need our girlfriends. Absolutely.

I flew through this novel in one evening, but now I want to read it again, a little slower this time, to savor the strong writing, the strong characters, the lessons. Hmmm. Maybe I'll make a wordle of fun Sarah Dessen-isms. That would be way cool!

This book will be available at the WOMS library as soon as my first shipment comes in :) See you there to check it out!

After Tupac and D Foster - Jacqueline Woodson

Jacqueline Woodson is an amazing author who's incredibly gifted at creating characters who seem incredibly real. Probably why she's won the Margaret Edwards award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults.

This novel centers on three young African American girls, Neeka, D, and the narrator, whose name is never told. Neeka and the narrator have grown up across the street from one another and been friends forever. D appears from nowhere one day, and she melts into the pair almost effortlessly, creating a threesome that, in their minds at least, is forever. Yet, the first line of the novel, “The summer before D Foster’s real mama came and took her away, Tupac wasn’t dead yet,” tells readers that this will not be the case.

Interestingly, as close as the three are, Neeka and the narrator know almost nothing about D, a foster child who does not live in their neighborhood and who earns their envy with her ability to travel around town anywhere she likes. All three of the girls long for something more and envision a future that is different from their present. They are searching for their Big Purpose, as adolescents do, and wondering what it is and how they'll get there.

The main characters are huge fans of Tupac, and although I am not a fan of his music, I can understand identifying with music and how it can seem like a musician is speaking directly to you, particularly as an adolescent. It seems that most people have a soundtrack from when they were young. For these teens, Tupac clearly would be part of that list.

The novel is filled with dialect and may be a bit challenging for some readers because of this, yet without it the story's authenticity would surely be lost.

As I write this entry, I find myself wondering what will happen to these three girls. Wondering and worrying. Remember what I said at the beginning about Jacquline Woodson being a genius at character development? That's how you know. You wonder and you worry.

Available at the WOMS library.

Schooled - gordon Korman

Really enjoyed this quick, fun Battle of the Books choice. How does this guy keep thinking up funny story lines? I mean, really. He's got like a zillion books out, well, OK, I just went to his website and he's only got SIXTY!! And the guy's only two years older than I am. Wow! Anyway, he just keeps cranking them out, and they're always good.

Cap is a hippie kid who lives with his grandmother as the only two remaining people on a former commune. He's always been homeschooled and hasn't really had much contact with other people for any reason. Suddenly, he's catapulted into "real" life when his grandmother falls and breaks her hip and there's no one to care for him. Cap is put into foster care and has to go to regular school (Claverage Middle School, lovingly referred to by the kids there as C Average MS). Imagine, if you will, you've never been to a regular school and suddenly you're plonked down in the middle of a middle school after the first week. Does NOT sound like fun to me. The thing about Cap is, though, he 's sort of like the kid in Jerry Spinelli's book Loser. He doesn't really notice what's going on, and he just goes along with it. Cap doesn't always get it, but he certainly doesn't think everyone's out to get him, which they actually are.

But here's the really great part. Cap just being true to himself and not reacting works in his favor. And suddenly where he'd been the king dweebie, now kids are getting on his bandwagon. It's awesome.

The story is fun and funny and pulls at your heartstrings all at the same time. You cheer for Cap the whole way because you just can't do anything else. Even the bully's won over in the end.

A great read. Available at the WOMS library.

Stick Figure - Lori Gottlieb

This is a non-fiction journal of an eleven year old girl with anorexia. It is not broken down into individual entries like many diary books are, though, and reads really more like a novel. I found it to be fascinating and frightening because the little girl in this novel is SO young, and yet she already has a clear idea of the importance of women being thin in our culture. Most of the other anorexia stories I've read have been about older girls, and while I am still disturbed and distressed by anorexia in older girls, I'm not as surprised by it. My niece is eleven, and it sort of threw me for a loop that girls her age, little girls, are thinking the kinds of things Lori does.

However, from reading the book, it is clear that this little girl did not become so hyper aware of the importance of being thin just by reading magazines or watching TV. There were clearly family dynamics that were very unhealthy playing into this child's self image. She was trying to gain a little control and be who she thought she needed to be to get love. Food was where she could do that. I sometimes see students trying to gain control in whatever small way they can when they feel like things are spiraling away from them - they won't do their homework, they won't participate in class, whatever. This is the same, but its consequences are different, and for Lori they nearly killed her. At eleven years old she had to be in a full time treatment facility and nearly got to the point where she was on a feeding tube.

I thought this book was very powerful, but I wish it had had something more at the end that talked about how she had gone on to overcome the situation. The author found a publisher for these journals when she was in her thirties, and she did do a very short epilogue, but she really kept herself distanced from the issues in the book and that was disappointing.

Available at the WOMS library.

Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen

My fabulous friend Ms. Frisk loaned me her copy of Along for the Ride yesterday, and I sat down and read it in one sitting last night. I loved it, of course, but I'm still processing it, so I'm going to let it percolate a few days before I write my review.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

The Plain Janes - Cecil Castellucci

Just read the Plain Janes last evening. It's an Oregon Battle of the Books choice for grades 6-8. The Plain Janes is a graphic novel that revolves around a girl names Jane and the new friends she makes at her new school, Buzz Aldrin HS. All of them are also named Jane (in one form or another). Jane had to move to suburbia when there was a bombing incident in the where she lived city and she was hurt. Her parents freaked out (as well they might have) and took her away from everything and everyone she knows. Jane's lonely, so she is trying to get these new friends to do things together. To do this, she hatches a plan to create a group call P.L.A.I.N. - People Loving Art In Neighborhoods. The group's mission will be to do "art attacks" on the city. The girls love it, and all their friends (who don't know it's them) love it. The city, does NOT love it. This is a story of the power of art and the power of kids!

There's a discussion about this book happening right now at Readergirlz. Tune in if you're interested in learning more.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels because I really love to get deep into a story (I'm not a huge short story fan either), but as a librarian I really like them because graphic novels pull many kids in in ways traditional books do not.
I also love the message in this book and believe it's definitely true that art saves AND that kids have the power to make change. What better way to "illustrate" the power of art than through a graphic novel, too!

I am concerned, however, that this particular GN will not appeal to my 6th graders that much, and they are the main Battle of the Books competitors. I'll be interested to see how they like it. It felt like 8th graders and up would really "get" this book, but I don't know that 6th graders will. I'm afraid many of them are going to obsess over a few things that they're not mature enough to handle and miss the main points. We'll see.

Cubanita - Gaby Triana

I picked this book up at the public library hoping to find another addition the the Hispanic literature at my library, but the subject matter in this one is too old for middle school. It's about a girl who's getting ready to go off to college, and the things she's interested in just aren't really the things middle schoolers are interested in. I like how there was a lot of Spanish sprinkled through the text, but I speak Spanish, so it was ok for me. There weren't quite enough contextual clues sometimes, I thought, to make a non Spanish speaker comfortable.

A quick read good for older high schoolers.

The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han

Belly (Isabel) and her mom have been going to her mother's friend Susannah's beach house every summer since Belly was just a beach ball in her mama's tummy, and this summer, when Belly is 15, is no different. But at the same time things feel a lot different this summer. For one thing, Susannah's always tired. For another, Susannah's boys, Conrad and Jeremiah, who've never seen Belly as an actual girl seem to finally notice she IS one. One thing that's not different is that Belly still feels left out a lot of the time when the other boys, including her own brother, plan things that don't include her, and even sometimes purposely exclude her. The story is told in a mixture of present tense and flashback.

Belly finds acceptance through a summer romance with a really nice guy, Cam, but no matter how sweet he is, he can't seem to give her what she really wants. Jeremiah wants to be the one she wants, but it is Conrad who has always had her heart. Whether he wants to or even can handle a romance alongside other weighty issues facing him provides serious tension at the end of the story.

There are many issues wound together in this novel - divorce, coming-of-age, serious illness, and romance. Balancing all these and getting them to work together could not have been an easy writing task, but Jenny Han has done it quite successfully in this novel, which I read is the first in a planned trilogy. I will look forward to reading more about Belly and the rest of these important people in her life.

The Book Thief - Makus Zusak

Finally, I'm to the YA books, but interestingly I re-read this book for my grown up book club. and I wasn't even the person to suggest it! Love, love, love this Printz honor book by Markus Zusak, an Australian author. This book, however, is not an easy read. It is very long, over 500 pages, and it is a Holocaust novel, so the themes are challenging. And the narrator of this book is quite unique as well. The story is narrated by Death. This may make it sound even more ominous, but actually the portrayal of death is something we discussed at book club last night, and Death is actually portrayed as a kind, benevolent, and even thoughtful "being", not the Grim Reaper vision we often associate with death.

Liesel Meminger, who is only nine or ten when this book begins, is sent to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann as a foster child in Nazi Germany. She arrives there plagued by nightmares and behind in school, and is soothed and aided every night by the very caring Hans Hubermann. Liesel forms an incredible bond with Hans, and without him, I believe she would not have survived the emotional traumas of her young life. Not only did Hans provide her with shelter and emotional support, but he taught her, slowly, painstakingly, how to read, even though he wasn't the best reader himself. And of course a Book Thief would not have been able to survive without knowing how to read.

This, too, is a story of powerful character development, not only of Liesel and Hans, but of her foster mother, of the crazy mayor's wife, of Max who's a Jew hiding in teh basement of the Hubermann's home, of the boy next door (Rudy), of Death, and again, of many more minor characters in the story. But this story also has very strong writing, including amazing descriptions, and very strong plot development. It is an incredibly well rounded piece of literature which tells a similar story to others that have been written in the Holocaust genre, but in a different and very interesting way. Zusak pulls his readers in and pulls them along, uniquely using foreshadowing and interruptions in the text to increase tension and compel readers to continue the story.

I highly recommend this book to mature readers - YAs AND adults who have an interest in Holocaust literature. It's a fascinating book that will not disappoint.

The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen

I listened to this book on my iPod and I thought it was fantastic! It's another grown up book (I'm getting to the YA books though, I am, I promise!).

This story is by an author who wrote another book called Garden of Spells. I read that and I thought was pretty good, so when I read that she had a new book out, I decided to give it a try. This one is excellent. I was trying to decide what genre to call this, so I looked at another review and that person called it "magical realism romance." Now magic and realism don't really seem to go together, but that description does definitely seem to fit this fun novel. And although I certainly knew there were elements of magic in the story, books appearing at will, coffee pots boiling over when two people are together, a cold wind, etc., the full realization of the magic about knocked me over when it was revealed near the end of the book. Perhaps other readers might have figured it out sooner, but I was clueless. Interestingly, this other reviewer thought Allen's other book was stronger than this one, but I do not agree.

Character development is once again very strong in this book, even that of some characters who are more minor players, like bad boy Julian and the superstitious maid "Helena". Josey, the main character, still lives with her widowed mother who she is forever trying to please and forever failing. Josey's main comfort is candy, of which she has an entire closet full. Her other comfort is the mail. But it's not because of what's being delivered, it's the who in this case. Josey has fallen hard for the mailman, Adam, a man with deep secrets of his own. Then there's sleazy Della Lee who is hiding in Josey's closet full of advice, and Chloe who has books following her unbidden everywhere she goes and is in a desperate state about a break-up.

This was a great, light summer read/listen. Recommended to readers who enjoy light romance with an ability to suspend some disbelief. Available at Multnomah County Libraries.

Hunting and Gathering - Anna Gavalda

My friend Megan (who I used to TEACH in middle school and who's all grown up now!!!) loaned me this book saying it was one of her favorites. When I first started it, it was a little slow and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I am so glad I trusted Megan and stuck with it because this turned out to be a beautiful story that I have already recommended to some of my friends! The focus of this story was on my favorite element: character. There are four very different characters in this book, most of whom really have nothing in common. Their lives become intermingled, however, and all become, really, the saviors of the others.

The story is set mostly in modern day Paris, and features Camille, a poor, anorexic young artist; Philibert, a wealthy young man with a terrible stuttering problem and a penchant for ancient history; Franck, an angry, wild young chef who loves motorcycles and women; and Paulette, Franck's grandmother who is not well. Besides the obvious relationship between Franck and his grandmother, these four characters come together in unusual ways to live together in a grand old apartment (I believe they said it was four or five thousand square feet!!). Without each other they are all floundering, but together these quirky characters have something magical, and it was so much fun to watch it unfold.

I read a review of this book today to see what someone else thought of it, and they mentioned that it was a daunting 500+ pages. I thought that was interesting, because I would have said it was more like 200-300 pages, as it flew by for me.

This book is recommended for adults who enjoy strong character development and is available at the Multnomah County Library.

Something Borrowed - Emily Griffin

This is a grown up book that I won from Good Reads a social networking site about books. I had some struggle with this book because I found myself liking the main character very much and cheering her on even though I totally didn't agree with what she was doing. It was kind of interesting.

The main character Rachel ends up having a fling with her best friend's fiance. That is NOT ok. Usually if I don't like a character's behavior as much as I didn't like this character's, I'd immediately not like that character also. This time I felt like although her methods were awful, I felt like she and the guy, Dex, really did belong together, and that she was allowing her friend (funny, I typed fiend first - exactly the word to describe her!) to manipulate her and she should end that friendship. Should have done long ago, actually. But, she should NOT have done what she did.

It was an interesting read. Light enough so that I could read it by the pool with no problem, but with something to think about. And it did have a pink cover...

Available at the Multnomah County Library.

To be read pile - holy cow!

OK, I knew I had a lot of books on the pile for summer, but I guess I didn't realize just how many there were...Here are two pics of my (and Hummer's, I guess) TBR piles! Which ones do you think I won't read???

Are you doing your summer reading???

So far I've read three books - how about you? Need the details? Click here for everything you need to participate in WOMS Summer Reading!

Also, don't forget you can still sign up for Multnomah County's Summer Reading program. Use all the same reading for both programs and get double prizes. Plus you might win a trip to Disneyland if you do the Multnomah County program!! Just stop by any library branch to sign up if you didn't get signed up at school.

Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies - Erin Dionne

Do you think I wouldn't pick up a book with chocolate cookies all over it AND written by an ERIN?!? Of course I would! And I was not disappointed.

This book is a fairly new one in the WOMS library - I bought it at the last book fair. It's the story of 13 year old Celeste, who is overweight, due in large part to her obsession with chocolate cookies. Sad to say, I can relate to that obsession which is why I NEVER, EVER buy Oreos. (Luckily, I can always count on my sister-in-law Christy to bring them to every family event. One of the many reasons I love her!)

Celeste is having some struggles at school because of her weight - other kids bully and tease her. I know this happens, but still every time I read a book that has something like this in it, I feel uncomfortable. And actually, I think that's a good thing. I hope kids have the same reaction and that it makes them think about things they say or do or watch others say/do without stopping them. The final straw for Celeste is when her aunt submits her application for the Miss Husky Peach modeling contest. It's enough that Celeste is bigger than most girls, but does she need to parade around about it? She's thinking NO WAY, NU-UH, NEVER!

But she can't summon up the courage to say no, and even when she does try to say no her mother isn't listening. So she goes along for the ride, thinking she'll just sabotage her chances instead of telling her mom no. One of her means of sabotage is actually trying to make more healthy choices about eating using her eating journal (yeah, health teachers!)so she can lose twenty pounds.

This novel has a lot of issues wrapped in it that teens are dealing with. Crushes, self-esteem, appearance, friends, bullying...and although it's an ambitious pile of issues, Ms. Dionne does a great job pulling it all together. I think I'm gong to suggest this one to our mother-daughter book club. Lots to talk about!

If you'd like to read more about this author, click here.

Available at the WOMS library and the Multnomah County Library.

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls

This was an incredible memoir which I listened to on my iPod over the last week or so. (It kept me awake on a solo drive to Bend!) Jeanette Walls is a very successful reporter working in New York now, which is a great, but not terribly amazing. But reading this story and finding out about her path to get there makes it and incredibly amazing fact.

Jeanette Walls grew up poor like most of us have never personally encountered. Often the places she live were dilapidated and sometimes even downright dangerous. For much of her life she had no indoor plumbing, sometimes having to go out and dig a hole in the hillside to go to the bathroom. She was often hungry. One story she relates is of a time when she and her sister ate a stick of butter for dinner because that was the only food in the house. Many days she dug through the garbage cans in the lunchroom or bathroom at school to find something to eat. She often went without a warm coat or shoes that fit. IT is an existence I cannot even imagine.

The relationship she had with her parents is also something I can never imagine. Her parents were certainly not caretakers of their children (she has three siblings). Even though they could have worked to support their family, buy them food, clothes, mattresses, they chose not to. Her father actually did work sometimes, but he was an alcoholic, and this would often lead to him losing his job, so his income was not steady. And generally he drank away whatever he did earn, so it wasn't that helpful anyway... Her mother worked very infrequently as a teacher, but basically felt that her children should be able to take are of themselves. She had her own things to worry about.

And yet, in spite of all these obstacles in her way, Jeanette Walls made it! It's an incredible story. What is also incredible is that she's not bitter or blaming - things I am nearly sure I would be if I were in her position.

As a teacher I think this was a really good book for me to read, because although I hope my students are not in such extreme situations as Jeanette was, I am sure I'd be surprised, and I want to keep this in mind. I expect kid to come to school ready to learn, but what if they come to school just hoping to get some food out of the garbage can. How can I expect them to be ready to learn? And how can I make a difference for them? I want to think about this. As a librarian I want to keep this story in mind as well, because Jeanette and her family found a lot of refuge in the library and books, and I want my library to be that kind of place. A place where kids who need a refuge, who need resources, can get them, whenever they need them.

I read an interesting interview with her here, which gives some different perspective on issues that I was thinking about as I read. I think reading this book has made me think more about others, and any book that does that deserves a recommendation from me. This one definitely does for high school readers and up.

Available at the Multnomah County Library.

Report for Murder - Val McDermid

An author friend of mine, Chelsea Cain, who writes AMAZING murder mysteries (for grown-ups) suggested this author as one of her favorites at a recent book reading I attended, so I thought I'd check her out. It was nothing like Chelsea's work, much more slow going and mellow, but I liked it a lot. It's set in England with a Scottish reporter as a writer who turns into a detective when someone is murdered at the all girls boarding school where she's gone to do a story on their fundraising efforts. There were not many grisly moments in this novel, nor many that were too scary, but there was certainly tension that kept things moving.

I'll definitely be reading more of this author's work.

Contest announcement for Sarah Dessen fans

Want to win a copy of Sarah Dessen's newest novel, Along for the Ride? I know I do, which is why I entered the contest over at Susane Colasanti's blog. If you'd like to win, all you have to do is go to her blog and make a comment about which of Sarah's books is your fave and why. Pretty easy, hey? Here's the link! Enjoy!

Poetry Friday - "Sonnet 43"

My husband and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary next week, so for the last poetry Friday of the school year, I give you (and him), this most beautiful love poem. Happy anniversary, my love!



How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

2 books with so many similarities

Rules for Hearts - Sara Ryan
Sweethearts - Sara Zarr

OK - SO many strange coincidences between these two books that I somehow started reading at the same time.

1) Both have HEARTS in their names
2) Both have authors name Sara (and neither have an H)
3) Both have long lost boys who've been "found"
4) Both have female main characters with things in their pasts they haven't shared with many (or even any) people
5) Both the boys disappear for periods of time in the novel and no one knows where they are adding a layer of mystery to the present in addition to the past.

Both of these books are a bit heavy, not typical "pink" books, surely, but both are very well done and were interesting stories. The stories, incidentally, go in very different directions despite their similarities. I just found the coincidences so interesting, especially since I was reading both at the same time.

Lulu in Marrakech - Diane Johnson

I found this title on a recommended list and I listened to this book on my iPod. I have to say I was sorely disappointed. The plot didn't move along much, the main character wasn't very like-able, and the conclusion was non-existent. It didn't even seem like one of those stories where there's going to be a sequel so they just drop you off on the side of the road. It just ended. Very disappointing and highly NOT recommended.

Not Anything - Carmen Rodrigues

No picture available for this one, sorry.

I really enjoyed this book! It's sad and sweet and a nice addition to our Hispanic literature collection.

16 year old Susie lost her mother several years ago, and now it's just she and her dad living in Miami and they don't really communicate very well. And for Susie, keeping herself insulated from most people (and the pain she might face if she loses them too) is working just fine. Or so she thinks.

When her English teacher Mr Murphy asks her to tutor Danny Diaz, Susie isn't very interested in the job. He keeps after her though, and finally convinces her to take on the case. But when Danny begins to break open the hard shell she's carefully constructed, will Susie be able to let him in?

This is a bittersweet coming of age compounded by the death of a parent, again something I've not had to deal with. It has some of the same themes as What Girls Learn by Karin Cook and Define Normal by Julie Ann Peters.

All three of these books are available in our library.

Something Maybe, Elizabeth Scott

Hannah is a smart girl, but she's making dumb boy choices. WHY do girls so often do this? They get wowed by the super hottie, and the super sweetie, the much better choice, obviously, gets left standing in the rain. It does make for a good story, however, which is what you have here. Throw in a mom with an, um unconventional job, a dad who's a famous star but doesn't have time for his daughter unless he wants something, and you've really got the fixin's for some action.

Of course Hannah would prefer that no one even know she HAS parents (as is the case for most adolescents I think, but really, really so much worse for Hannah). She does everything she can to keep them under wraps, but when your dad's famous this can be tricky. Especially when he tricks you. I felt bad for Hannah because she just wanted her dad to love her for her, and it seemed like that was just too much for him. I so cannot even imagine this kind of situation because my own experience was so far opposite of this.

Pick up this story at the public library to determine whether Hannah eventually sees the error of her ways with the boys or not.

Sophomore Switch - Abby McDonald

I received this book in my mailbox one day from the book elf. Whoever you are, publisher, publicist, author, real elf...thanks so much!

Tasha (American girl) and Emily (British girl) are both looking to escape. Tasha made a huge mistake at a party and now there's a video all over the Internet with her on it - and it is NOT flattering. Emily's boyfriend has dumped her and her parents are very high pressure people. What better way to avoid your problems than moving to another country for a college exchange program? Well, maybe these girls could think of about 100 ways now that they're living each otehr's lives, but it's too late.

Wild child Tasha feels stifled and way over her head academically at Oxford. Strait-laced Emily thinks the academics are a blow off and all the people are shallow at UC Santa Barbara. Neither one has really made any friends. This exchange isn't really working out to be all that they'd hoped for. Finally, in desperation, they start e-mailing one another for tips to survive, even they don't even like each other (based on what they know of each other, that is). This turns out to be quite helpful in helping each one to fit into her environment, but in the end, is it really a good idea?

If you want to find out, this book will be available soon at the Multnoamh County Library and the BHS library (it's a better choice for the high school library, and I'll be sending it up there).

I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks again, book elf!

Sweet Life - Mia King

This is an adult book that I saw on another author's blog. When she talked about it, it reminded me of another book I read recently (The Last Time I Was Me), so I checked it out from the Multnomah County Public Library. It was a nice, easy read, with great character development and enough of an unknown to keep me really interested.

The premise of this story is that a family has moved to Hawaii from New York on the spur of the moment, and instead of the paradise they've expected to find, the couple finds their marriage disintegrating. He moves out, and she stays in the (moneypit of a) house they've bought. Their young daughter stays with the mother. In order to cover expenses, Marissa (the wife) must take boarders in to their home, a prospect which she finds a bit frightening. The results of this bold move, however, turn out to be exactly what she needs and the friendships she forms sustain in her during a time when she is floundering as she's never done before.

Throughout the story, there is a possibility that the two will reunite, but the possibility that they will not is just as likely. This is what really kept me reading. I don't find too many authors who can develop the tension in such an unpredictable way outside of mystery authors.

A lovely book that I definitely recommend for a summer read.

Julia's Chocolates - Cathy Lamb

This is a book by the same author who wrote The Last Time I was Me which I really enjoyed. Both of these are adult books. I did not like this book quite as much as the first, however. IT took me too long to get into the story, and also the woman was fleeing a relationship with a man who abused her, and it is difficult for me to read about these things.

I also did not agree with some of the choices this woman made. I could kind of understand where she was coming from, but it was so clear that she was doing the wrong thing, I had a hard time being sympathetic.

There were some things I really did love about this novel, however. One was the library where she worked, and where she befriended two young children who were clearly in need of a friend. Unfortunately, I think there are lots of kids who are not getting the care they need from home, and I am happy that some of them can find solace in libraries (but I'd rather they didn't have to!). I also loved some of the crazy characters in this story, and the powerful relationship she had with her aunt who she's come to live with. And the yummy chocolate references, as always, made me salivate!

If you have to choose to read only one Cathy Lamb book, I'd choose The Last Time I was Me, but this one is also good.

My Life in Pink and Green - Lisa Greenwald

Lucy's mother and grandmother own and run a local pharmacy. But now's not the best time for a small, local business like that, and the business is failing. Lucy, however, is sure she can come up with a plan to save the business. Enter pink and green. See Lucy has some skills in the "pink", meaning girly, area. She's really good at doing hair and make-up, and tehy just happen to sell that stuff in the pharmacy. She's also really good at coming up with clever "green" marketing ideas, which of course are always popular.

Put the two ideas together with the persistence of a bulldog (Lucy) and you know that while the pharmacy might not make it in the end, it will at least have a fighting chance.

I really enjoyed this book by a member of the Class of 2K9.

Being Nikki - Meg Cabot

Time to catch up on my blogging. I get super busy with school stuff at the end of the year, so I have been neglecting my blogging. well no more! Today is the day I vow to catch up. hang on to your hats, kiddies, cuz here we go!

I am a HUGE Meg Cabot fan, but I have to say I didn't adore Airhead, the first book in this series as much as I have loved most of Meg's other books. I liked it, though, and I was definitely sucked in enough to want to know what happened next, so you can imagine how excited I was when Meg Cabot said on her blog that if you wanted a review copy, all you had to do was ask. How nice was that? But then she sent it a few weeks before the actual release date and said if we read it early we weren't allowed to blog about it until the official release date! That was kind of brutal. Of course I could have written it and scheduled the post to appear, but I wasn't organized enough. Obviously, since I'm just getting to it now!

Can I tell you that this book was WAAAAY better than the original? Because it was WAAAAY better than the original! That's pretty unusual, I think, for a second book to be better than the first in a series. My theory about this one, though, is that I had to have some time to come to terms with what had happened to Nikki, and it took me a whole book to get to the place where could handle it. Se what happened in book 1 was that Emerson Watts, an average looking but pretty smart girl died, and so did Nikki, a supermodel with shall we say less than the sharpest smarts...But really, only Nikki's brain dies and only Emerson's body died, and then the doctors did a whole body-brain transplant thing. See why it was a little hard for me to believe. I mean, come on. But I guess we might be getting to the point where it could happen. Well, maybe not anytime immediately or anything, but not that far from now. Maybe.

So anyway, Em didn't know any of Nikki's friends or how to be a supermodel or anything, and she didn't really WANT to, either. But she's had no choice. In this installment, Being Nikki, I'd come to terms with the whole transplant thing, so I could just go with it, and it was a pretty exciting story. I do admit I wanted pop Meg Cabot one, though, at the end of the novel. How could she just leave us hanging like that?? WAY unfair!

Recommended.

2 pink books - not too good :(

I have been on kind of a bad streak with the books I've been listening to on my iPod lately, which is very disappointing. (Currently, however, I've got one that's better, thank goodness!).

These were more books I got from a suggestions list. I think it was "If you liked Bridget Jones's Diary then you'll like these". I really did like that book, but I guess it must have had something these didnt' These two books weren't terrible, and both had some funny parts, especially Altar Egos, but overall, they just weren't that great.

The titles were

Man Eater by Gigi Lavangie Grazer and Altar Egos by Cathy Lette.

These books are ok beach fare, but not on the top of my recommended list.

Poetry Friday - "At the Library"

I can hardly wait for the long days of summer when I can lounge away my whole day reading - by the pool, on the back deck, sprawled on the living room couch...you get the idea. And of course I'll be heading to the library to get a lot of my reading materials and to participate in the Multnomah County Library's Summer Reading program (they have one for grown-ups, too!)

At the Library

It’s fun to look
for a special book
And then to sit
And look at it.
You turn the pages one by one
Until your special book is done
And then --
                    go find another one.

                  - Sharon Siegelman

The Man Who Walked Between the towers - Mordicai Gerstein

This is a children's book which won the Caldecott a few years ago. I picked it up after watching the movie Man on Wire which is a documentary of Philippe Petit's 1974 literal walk across a wire that was strung between the Twin Towers in New York City. The movie was fascinating. This guy is a crazy man. But a crazy man with the best balance of anyone I have ever seen. It was amazing.

The book is a children's book, so the story itself is fairly simple, but the drawings are outstanding. It has some pages that are foldouts, so the drawing is three pages long. It's really cool.

A very interesting story about a man who had an idea and followed it through, no matter the obstacles.

Wings - Aprilynne Banks

Mrs. Frisk invited me to go to the Supernatural Summer author visit at Barnes and Noble with her the other day, and Aprilynne Pike was one of the four authors speaking. It was a fun event, but it was kind of strange for me to hear four authors speak when I'd only read one of their books, this one.

This is a fairy (or faerie in this book) story, and you know fantasy is generally not my genre, but my general rule is that as long as there are more real people parts than fantasy parts, I'll give it a go. Such was the case with Wings, a story which I really enjoyed.

Fifteen year old Laurel is in her first year in public school, and she's pretty nervous about how things will go. Luckily, she meets some nice kids right off (not sure how realistic that is), including David. David's a super smarty in science, and it turns out Laurel really needs him as a friend because not too far into the book she begins blooming. For real. As in a giant flower is sprouting from the middle of her back. She has no idea what to do, but she decides, of all things, to tell David about it. Not her parents, but a boy she barely knows. Again, not too sure how realistic this is.

David, being the science guy that he is does a little investigating. And you know what he discovers? He discovers that Laurel, who is named after a plant, eats only vegetables and fruits and drinks only Sprite, is not actually a girl. she's actually a PLANT. Right down to the square cells and the clear "blood" and the lack of a heartbeat. Wow! that's kind of different...

There's a whole second layer of the story as well having to do with some property Laurel's family owns that's very important to the faerie world as well as a fairy who's got some romantic interest in Laurel and who, consequently, is not a big fan of David.

Although there were parts of the story that were not too realistic, the whole faerie thing notwithstanding, I found myself enjoying this story and looking forward to the sequel. I've ordered this book for the library so it will be available at WOMS in the fall.