I have actually gotten in some good reading time lately, which is amazing considering how crazy my life has been of late. There is a mix of middle grade, picture books, YA and adult titles, something for everyone!
Picture Book
Henry Aaron’s Dream by Matt Tavares
I have known about this book for sometime (Matt is going to be my guest author in May) and it was worth the wait. It is not only a beautifully illustrated book, but the story about Aaron’s journey to the major leagues (it ends with Hank’s first major league at bat) is inspirational and something that my baseball fanatic students will love. For elementary schools in Georgia, this will be a must purchase for the study of famous Georgians (2nd grade). Check out Matt’s website for a REALLY cool story that he uncovered while doing the research for this book. Also, if you are local, Matt will be at Little Shop of Stories on May 2nd and he will be doing a signing at the Gwinnet Braves game on May 4th (against the Pawtucket Red Sox!!) I will be at both!!
Middle Grade/YA
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner
I bought this book for my media center and read it over the weekend. It is a great story of a middle school girl who is grappling with passing science (by finishing a MONSTER leaf project), going to the sectionals for cross country, the aging of her grandmother who lives with her family, her feelings for her best friend , who happens to be a guy and dealing with your typical middle school group of mean girls. With a 6th grade daughter of my own, I thought this book was so true about many of the things that girls this age are dealing with. I think it is a great title for fifth graders (and middle schoolers) who will be dealing with all these issues all too soon!
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
As luck would have it, I had this book checked out from the public library when the announcement was made that it had WON the Newberry! I LOVED this book! There have been LOTS of reviews, and you can read one here and here, but I will say this, I wonder how much kids who read this book will understand the 25,000 Pyramid storyline – or even, for that matter the talk about Dick Clark. Monica at Educating Alice is reading this to her fourth grade class and I think it would make a great read aloud, and in that case, you could explain (and maybe even show a clip) of the show. And I just LOVE how the book ends (you willhave to read it to find out!)
My Life the Musical by Maryrose Wood
I gave this book to my daughter, the budding Radio City Rockette, for Christmas. If you have a middle school age girl (or her mom) who loves musicals and Broadway, they will LOVE this book. It is about two teenagers ( Phillip and Emily) who live on Long Island and they are in LOVE with the musical Aurora. When they find out that the musical is closing, they are on a quest to find tickets for the last performance and also the identity of the elusive author of the musical. The book is peppered with lots of musical trivia and lyrics and sub story lines of family, identity and usual teenage issues of fitting in. This made me want to go out and see a musical!
Adult
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir by Elna Baker
This book was HYSTERICAL! This is a memoir of Elna Baker trying to grip with the fact that she lives in NYC, is young, an aspiring actress and Mormon. She tells of how she deals with dating or rather trying to date in NYC and keep her Mormon values. Her one tale of meeting a famous older actor is hysterical and I have spent WAY too much time trying to figure out WHO it is (she does not reveal his identity, but tells us he is as famous as Newman, Redford, Beaty). It was a quick read, but one worth the laughs!
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Spring Break Books
Spring Break is almost over, and I have survived....... so far. We actually had some nice weather and I got to spend some time outside with the kids. On Tuesday we headed down to Turner Field (where the Braves play) to get some tickets for this weekend and we ended up taking a stadium tour - it was pretty cool and the kids loved it. We got to watch the Red Sox opener on Monday (they lost) but we were redeemed with a win last night. And I did get to have at least one fruity drink with an umbrella in it while sitting on my deck with some girlfriends - almost as good as being at the beach!
The one good thing about spring break is, I have read a TON of books this week, not having to get up at the crack of dawn has let me read late into the night. Here are some books I picked up this week:
Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb
LOVED this book, and I think I loved it more than I normally would because I read it after reading all about Margo on her blog tour ’07. Reading it, I couldn't help but think of my own kids and what would happen to them if I died suddenly. What would my husband be like as a widower father, would he meet and want to marry some crazy woman with lots of figurines? I am recommending this book to any teenager I know, some have lost a parent and will identify with Mia, some have both parents and hopefully might appreciate that fact for a second or two (hey, they are teenagers, I think that’s all you can ask for!)
Shug by Jenny Han
I finally got this book into my library and I snatched it up and read it in a night. Loved the character of Annemarie (Shug) and her struggle to go from being a kid to a teenager and what a difficult thing that is. As a mom to an 11 year old boy, I really took thought as I read about how Shug’s Mom & Dad interacted, how she talked about her Mom’s drinking and how she felt about the whole situation. I still see my kids as little, kids who don’t have an opinion about what my husband and I fight about or how much I drink, but through Shug’s eyes I am reminded about how “in tune” with reality kids can be. This is the reason why I think adults, especially adults with children should read intermediate and YA books, I think we “get” something different out of reading them than our kids do, but we DO get something from reading them.
Babymouse Rock Star by Jennifer Holm & Matthew Holm
Actually I checked this out for my 9 year old daughter, she is in LOVE with Babymouse right now and heck, so am I. Love her spunkiness and her dreams of stardom. Love the graphic novel format and as a fan of the color pink, I love the black/white and pink colors of the book – add Hannah and I to the Babymouse fan club! I just ordered the series for my library, I have a feeling they will fly out of there!
Waiting for Daisy by Peggy Orenstein
I am a sucker for the Mommy memoir – maybe it is because I can on some level connect with the author. This book is the story of Peggy Orenstein, she has put off motherhood and now she is READY to take a stab at it, only her body decides that she isn’t so ready, she has breast cancer. So she deals with that (she tells the reader very little about this ordeal, other than to tell us, she was diagnosed, she had surgery, radiation and she is cancer free). Then she goes full force into trying to make a baby with her husband and, well, it’s not as easy as it looks. So she takes us on her journey, and in the end, you will be surprised how it ends, but YES, it does have a happy ending (I have yet to see a Mommy memoir that doesn’t have a happy ending). I had a blip of infertility trouble (miscarriages, fertility drugs & hormones) and although I was young when this happened (I was 25/26) this book still brought back some of those thoughts and fears and the craziness of that time in my life. Who would have thought that once I got what we had been working toward and praying about that one day I would want to give them away (ok, might be kidding about that, but get back to me at the end of Spring break)
I Feel Bad About my Neck by Nora Ephron
I love Nora Ephron, love her writing, love her movies, love her (well, I’ve never actually met her, but I think I would love her) and although this book is talking about a time in my life that I have yet to experience (aging for the over 50 set) it was still an enjoyable read. One of the quotes in the book says “ Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of 35 you will be nostalgic for at the age of forty-five” – that quote alone was worth reading the book for. At the age of 37, I see lines on my face, I see the pooch that is my stomach, no matter how many crunches I do, it is still there, reminding me that I gained and lost 40 pounds with each baby (3 times) and forgot to put stretch mark cream on religiously after I gave birth because, well, I was busy.
I am buying the book for my Mom for Mother’s day, she will enjoy it and hopefully we let me borrow it again when I hit 40 and 50 and 60.
Anatomy Of A Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky
I picked up this book after Margo Rabb on one of her blog tour stops said that she was hoping to read this because it is like an updated Forever by Judy Blume. Well, I remember reading Forever, it was 8th grade and I stealthy checked the book out of the library (the adult section!) I read it during class and under the covers at night. It wasn’t that my parents would have forbid me to read it, but somehow I thought with it’s sexual content, that I was embarrassed to have my parents find me reading it. It was the first book I read that made me blush, and was certainly my first book with any kind of sexual content. GOD, I loved that book (note to self, pick up a copy..)
Well, Margo was right, even though I last read Forever about 20 years ago, I can see the similarities. The first love/first sexual encounter kind of story. The story follows Dom as the brainy, pre-med, serious high school student who suddenly (and unexpectedly) falls for a BOY! The relationship takes a while to get going (even I was yelling in my head JUST KISS HER while reading parts of the book) the relationship quickly becomes intense. Scenes like making out in the car and getting “caught” by the cops, almost every adult can relate and realize that even in this age of IM’ing and MySpace that teenagers still go “parking” (and get caught!) The end of the book is predictable, they go off to separate colleges, one of them starts to lose interest and the end is near. I see this book as this generations Forever, the first book that a young teen reads that explores sexuality in their terms. I actually bought this book because they did not have it at my local library, so I see my daughter and her friends in a few years (she is 9) stealing this book off our bookshelf to read between the sheets!
I have Clementine by Sara Pennypacker and Rules by Cynthia Lord left in my bag to read this week - hopefully I'll get through a few more too!
GO SOX!
The one good thing about spring break is, I have read a TON of books this week, not having to get up at the crack of dawn has let me read late into the night. Here are some books I picked up this week:
Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb
LOVED this book, and I think I loved it more than I normally would because I read it after reading all about Margo on her blog tour ’07. Reading it, I couldn't help but think of my own kids and what would happen to them if I died suddenly. What would my husband be like as a widower father, would he meet and want to marry some crazy woman with lots of figurines? I am recommending this book to any teenager I know, some have lost a parent and will identify with Mia, some have both parents and hopefully might appreciate that fact for a second or two (hey, they are teenagers, I think that’s all you can ask for!)
Shug by Jenny Han
I finally got this book into my library and I snatched it up and read it in a night. Loved the character of Annemarie (Shug) and her struggle to go from being a kid to a teenager and what a difficult thing that is. As a mom to an 11 year old boy, I really took thought as I read about how Shug’s Mom & Dad interacted, how she talked about her Mom’s drinking and how she felt about the whole situation. I still see my kids as little, kids who don’t have an opinion about what my husband and I fight about or how much I drink, but through Shug’s eyes I am reminded about how “in tune” with reality kids can be. This is the reason why I think adults, especially adults with children should read intermediate and YA books, I think we “get” something different out of reading them than our kids do, but we DO get something from reading them.
Babymouse Rock Star by Jennifer Holm & Matthew Holm
Actually I checked this out for my 9 year old daughter, she is in LOVE with Babymouse right now and heck, so am I. Love her spunkiness and her dreams of stardom. Love the graphic novel format and as a fan of the color pink, I love the black/white and pink colors of the book – add Hannah and I to the Babymouse fan club! I just ordered the series for my library, I have a feeling they will fly out of there!
Waiting for Daisy by Peggy Orenstein
I am a sucker for the Mommy memoir – maybe it is because I can on some level connect with the author. This book is the story of Peggy Orenstein, she has put off motherhood and now she is READY to take a stab at it, only her body decides that she isn’t so ready, she has breast cancer. So she deals with that (she tells the reader very little about this ordeal, other than to tell us, she was diagnosed, she had surgery, radiation and she is cancer free). Then she goes full force into trying to make a baby with her husband and, well, it’s not as easy as it looks. So she takes us on her journey, and in the end, you will be surprised how it ends, but YES, it does have a happy ending (I have yet to see a Mommy memoir that doesn’t have a happy ending). I had a blip of infertility trouble (miscarriages, fertility drugs & hormones) and although I was young when this happened (I was 25/26) this book still brought back some of those thoughts and fears and the craziness of that time in my life. Who would have thought that once I got what we had been working toward and praying about that one day I would want to give them away (ok, might be kidding about that, but get back to me at the end of Spring break)
I Feel Bad About my Neck by Nora Ephron
I love Nora Ephron, love her writing, love her movies, love her (well, I’ve never actually met her, but I think I would love her) and although this book is talking about a time in my life that I have yet to experience (aging for the over 50 set) it was still an enjoyable read. One of the quotes in the book says “ Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of 35 you will be nostalgic for at the age of forty-five” – that quote alone was worth reading the book for. At the age of 37, I see lines on my face, I see the pooch that is my stomach, no matter how many crunches I do, it is still there, reminding me that I gained and lost 40 pounds with each baby (3 times) and forgot to put stretch mark cream on religiously after I gave birth because, well, I was busy.
I am buying the book for my Mom for Mother’s day, she will enjoy it and hopefully we let me borrow it again when I hit 40 and 50 and 60.
Anatomy Of A Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky
I picked up this book after Margo Rabb on one of her blog tour stops said that she was hoping to read this because it is like an updated Forever by Judy Blume. Well, I remember reading Forever, it was 8th grade and I stealthy checked the book out of the library (the adult section!) I read it during class and under the covers at night. It wasn’t that my parents would have forbid me to read it, but somehow I thought with it’s sexual content, that I was embarrassed to have my parents find me reading it. It was the first book I read that made me blush, and was certainly my first book with any kind of sexual content. GOD, I loved that book (note to self, pick up a copy..)
Well, Margo was right, even though I last read Forever about 20 years ago, I can see the similarities. The first love/first sexual encounter kind of story. The story follows Dom as the brainy, pre-med, serious high school student who suddenly (and unexpectedly) falls for a BOY! The relationship takes a while to get going (even I was yelling in my head JUST KISS HER while reading parts of the book) the relationship quickly becomes intense. Scenes like making out in the car and getting “caught” by the cops, almost every adult can relate and realize that even in this age of IM’ing and MySpace that teenagers still go “parking” (and get caught!) The end of the book is predictable, they go off to separate colleges, one of them starts to lose interest and the end is near. I see this book as this generations Forever, the first book that a young teen reads that explores sexuality in their terms. I actually bought this book because they did not have it at my local library, so I see my daughter and her friends in a few years (she is 9) stealing this book off our bookshelf to read between the sheets!
I have Clementine by Sara Pennypacker and Rules by Cynthia Lord left in my bag to read this week - hopefully I'll get through a few more too!
GO SOX!
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