The Postcard by Tony Abbott

Must not be too crabby--I enjoyed this book. I am rather fond of "cozy" mysteries and this one is almost one. The Floridian setting was fun, the vintage postcards were visually appealing, and the film noir type sub story was intriguing.

When Jason's grandmother dies in Florida, he travels down to help his father clean out her house. While there, he finds a string of mysterious clues that lead him and a new friend, Dia, around various landmarks in St. Petersburg where they find pages of a story written by a man with some connection to his grandmother. There are a few problems-- Jason's father is an alcoholic, his grandmother had suffered from many health problems, and Jason's family is slowly falling apart. When the clues finally come together, some of these problems are explained or helped.

This would be a hard sell for my students, because of the heavy emphasis on old people in Florida and the somewhat slow pace. I feel bad, because Mr. Abbott has about 60 books to his credit and I don't have one in my library. I've read several of these, but none clicked.

http://www.tonyabbottbooks.com/

Summer Reading Challenge

Parents are always asking for summer reading lists. Students rarely do. I have many fond memories of hanging out at the public library browsing and reading whatever struck my fancy, but I do know that sometimes it's hard. If you are or live with a reluctant reader, talk to your public librarians. Be specific about what you want or they can't help you as well.

This list is for readers who want a bit of a challenge. Most of these are Classics, but at one time or another I loved them all.

Bellairs, John. A House with a Clock in its Walls.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahenheit 451
Farley, Walter. The Black Stallion.
Fitzgerald. The Great Brain.
Juster, Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth.
L'Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time.
Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows.

Just for girls:
Alcott, Louisa May. Eight Cousins.
Greene, Bette. Summer of My German Soldier.
Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables.

Walden's H.I.V.E.: The Overlord Protocol

My students often accuse me of liking every book I read. I assure them that this is not true, although I do tend to buy mainly books that I like personally, since it's easier to recommend them. There are times, however, when I read books that I don't personally like but which I know students will enjoy, and I buy them.

Keep in mind that it's the end of the school year, I'm still following 50 students around because they haven't returned their books yet, and I've pulled some crucial muscle in my leg that makes me move like I'm 103. This might explain why I read these books and don't remember any of them. So, my apologies. The first is very popular with students, and they are waiting eagerly for the second to come out. If you have a middle school library and lots of students who like spy and adventure books, buy these action filled stories of Otto Malpense (do love the name) who is sent against his will to the Higher Institute of Villianous Education for 6 years and plots his escape. The H.I.V.E. web site is ultra cool, and I'd spend more time on it, but I am now going to sit in my wheeled desk chair with a roll of book tape on my lap and repair books while I'm doing inventory.

http://www.bloomsbury.com/HIVE/

Matt Whyman's Icecore

The subtitle "A Carl Hobbes Thriller" was instructive in two ways: it told me what this was supposed to be, and hinted at a sequel.

Carl has managed to hack into the Fort Know security system and opened the doors. That was all he intended to do, for the challenge of it, but once he has, $10 million in bullion gets stolen and makes its way into the hand of terrorists. Because of this, he is pulled in and, because he is not quite 18, given the option to be debriefed at a remote location in lieu of being charged when he is older. This is how he ends up, after a harrowing plane ride, at a fish cannery/prison where the only chance of escape would mean freezing to death. Other criminals with ties to Carl's endeavor are there as well, and they are not as nice as he is.

At first, I wasn't sure how to categorize this. Like Strasser's Boot Camp, a lot of the story is the abuse that Carl and the other prisoners suffer. The spy novel fans will like the details of how Carl hacked into Fort Knox, but the real fan base here is the readers who like survival fiction. It then occurred to me that while girls like books about child abuse, boys like books about survival, and they are really the same thing. This will be very popular.

This made me think about an online reading map I saw, where one could enter the name of an author and a map would come up with other similar authors. Can't for the life of me remember what the address or name was.

Three more that didn't quite do it for me:
Gratz, Something Rotten. Tried a little too hard to tie a mystery in with Hamlet, also quirky Southern setting.

Bruchac. March Towards the Thunder. Too little Civil War, too much Native American daily life. Bruchac is a hard sell here, with the exception of Code Talker.

Rabb. Cures for Heartbreak. F-bomb early on, and rather disjointed.

Death By Bikini

Wow! I was expecting this to be a fun title, since Now and Zen and The Finnish Line were both deftly crafted stories of the intricacies of life and love while studying abroad, but I was just not expecting such a teasingly paced page turner!

Aphra lives with her father at their remote resort. Her mother left years ago, and the reasons behind this are presented bit by bit. Life at the resort is fairly humdrum, since there are no children her age, so when Adam arrives with his family under mysterious circumstances, she is at first intrigued. After a guest is murdered on the beach (strangled by her bikini ties, hence the title), however, she does a little sleuthing and suspects that Adam's father may have had something to do with the death. In the course of investigating, she is involved in some harrowing encounters with unlikely villains, and finds out more about her mother as well as the cute boy. Death By Latte and Death By Denim are the sequels to come.

Really enjoyed the adventurous but put-upon Aphra, thought the details of the island and the Japanese guest added a lot to the story, and was intrigued by the slowly revealed pieces of the mystery, but what struck me the most were how grippingly the chase scenes were done. Joan Lowery Nixon has always been my g0-to author when it comes to mysteries that girls especially like, but this series will certainly circulate even better.

The real crime in this book? It was published in paperback only. Not fair at all.

Also read Joan Bauer's Peeled. I usually love Bauer for her quirky characters and unusual plots, but this was just too much. A local house is thought to be haunted by the ghost of a man who may or may not have killed his wife and her paramour, and when the house is written up as one of the top ten spooky sites in the state, odd characters start arriving in town. One of these is arrested trying to break into the house, and another man is found dead. Hildy, a budding newspaper reporter, tries to find out what is behind all of the goings on. Hildy was rather a smarty pants, and the whole situation seemed overblown. It's tough enough getting students to check out Rules of the Road and Hope was Here. I think that in my library, this would not circulate well.

Oh. My. Gods.

Shades of Percy Jackson! Phoebe Castro's mother gets married to the headmaster of an exclusive private school located on a remote island in Greece and has to relocate there, only to find that the school is populated with the children of the ancient Greek gods. Phoebe has a hard time of it, since she isn't one and is therefore given a hard time by her snotty step sister and some of the other students. She keeps up with her cross country running in order to be able to get a college scholarship and escape all of the problems in Greece, but along the way makes a few friends and comes to terms with who she really is.

A worthy first attempt, but I wouldn't buy it on its strengths as a mythologically oriented book. A little too trite in that respect-- the descendants of Hades are Goths, for example. Too easy. Since my daughter runs cross country, I was looking forward to that part of it (and it's a major part), but the racing and training scenes were just slightly off-- I checked the author's web site, and it does turn out that she doesn't run.

I will sneak this one in as part of my romance book buy to keep my insatiable "pink" readers in books, since the romance/school/ general teen angst parts of the books were quite fun. The cover alone would sell this one in my library, and it will be a good choice for readers who aren't really interested in mythology, sort of like sneaking zucchini into brownies. There is a sequel coming out in spring of 2009.

http://www.teralynnchilds.com/index.htm

Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci

This book was quite the page turner, but it dropped the f-bomb all over the place, and without discretion. It wasn't a one time thing from a character in a horrible situation, it was used conversationally. As a parent who has grounded an 8th grader several times for using this word, I'm not about to have it in a middle school library. There was no need. It added nothing to the story. Sigh.

Told from alternating viewpoints, this book follows a suburban community where two mothers have died from a sudden and bloody flu that has also hit several teenagers. The other main characters are two boys, both computer hackers, who learn details of a conspiracy to sicken people in the US by contaminating the water supply. These alternating viewpoints are skillfully woven together, and the details of the investigation, virtual spying, and biological agents used in the poisoning are interesting. This book certainly gives one something to think about. When I biked past our local water tower this morning, I thought about how easy it would be for terrorists to poison it!

Timely and well-written mystery for high schools, or middle schools if you haven't been fighting with language issues, as I have!

Student Interview with Rachel Hawthorne!

As part of career day at Blendon (see Linda Gerber Interview!), our 8th graders were to shadow people in different jobs and ask them questions. One of my 8th graders is a huge Rachel Hawthorne fan, and Ms. Hawthorne very graciously granted this student an e mail interview. Authors are wonderful people. My student (and I!) were thrilled.

Sarah:I have thought of many story ideas. It’s just hard to put them on paper and keep them going. What should I do if I get caught in my story?

Rachel Hawthorne: It’s easy to get distracted by other story ideas so I work on only one story at a time. I do keep a file called “ideas” where I’ll jot down notes for other stories but I only work on the one story. What you might consider doing is setting yourself a deadline for when the story needs to be finished—say three or four months—and try to meet that deadline.


Sarah: What made you want to be an author?
Rachel Hawthorne: I’ve always wanted to be an author. I’ve always written—stories, journals, letters.

Sarah: Is it a hard process to get in manuscripts and see if your books
can be published?

Rachel Hawthorne: Getting published depends on a lot of factors coming together: you need to have the right manuscript on the right editor’s desk at the right time. Sometimes an editor will turn down a story because she just bought one that had the same theme. Or maybe the story sounds too much like another one they just bought or maybe the subject isn’t right for the time. A few years ago, no one was buying vampires. Now everyone is looking for vampire books. Timing is everything.

I advise you to finish your story and then begin researching to find yourself an agent. Once you’ve sold your first manuscript, you can usually sell on proposal, which means that you tell your editor the idea before you write it. If she likes it, she’ll go ahead and give you a contract with a deadline. You then write your story.

Sarah: In all of your books the girls are from Texas. Why is that so?

Rachel Hawthorne: The girls are from Texas because I live in Texas and it’s easier to write about what I know.

Sarah: As an author is there any certain message that you want to get through to your readers?

Rachel Hawthorne: I don’t really strive to tell messages. I just like to write a fun story. And while I’m the author, my characters usually take over and determine what happens in the story. (Makes me sound psycho I know.)

Sarah: Is there any special education you need to become an author?

Rachel Hawthorne: Not really—but that said, education does broaden your horizons which helps in writing, gives you a larger canvas to work with because it can open your mind to possibilities. I do recommend English and grammar classes.

Sarah: Out of all of the books that you have written, which is your favorite? Any favorite characters?

My favorite is the one I’m writing right now—Suite Dreams. It’s almost finished. Favorite character is a toughie. I’ve loved all the heroes in the books. Why write about someone you don’t love?

Sarah: You do so well with characterization, distinctly making each character different in there own way. Any tips on doing so?

Rachel Hawthorne: Thank you. I have a degree in psychology which I think helps with my character development. I also have a vivid imagination so I can very clearly picture the characters in my mind: how they sound, how they act, how they think. I do a lot of people watching. Some authors I know will cut out pictures from magazines so they can see their characters. I also try to give each character a small habit or character trait that’s unique to that character. Dani had her chocolate chip ice cream; Dawn has her Life is Good hat; Ashleigh loved scary things. I try to figure out what my characters love, what they fear. Who are they? If they were sitting in my living room, how would they sit? Basically, just see them as people.

Thank you for the wonderful questions and for enjoying my stories so much!

Delaney's Attack of the Fiend

The best thing I can say about this book is that I don't normally like medieval fantasy novels, yet I kept this one as a special treat for the weekend. I have enjoyed the other books in the series (Revenge of the Witch, Curse of the Bane, Night of the Soul-Stealer), and this one was good as well. So read it. As Jen Robinson said about reviewing The Battle of the Labyrinth, "No? You want a real review? OK."

We know that things are getting worse for Tom Ward and the Spook. The forces of evil are gathering, and they are going to have to stop it. In this book, the forces take the form of witches at Pendle who are trying to put old differences to rest long enough to raise the fiend (aka the devil). One of the first things they do toward this goal is to break into Tom's mother's house and steal her trunks, kidnapping his brother and his family so the keys can be ransomed.

A lot goes on in this book, and the thing I liked best was that the occurrences not only are fast-paced, thrilling, and interesting-- they also add to the character development. We meet a friend of the Spook's who is a priest, we see more of Alice's influence over Tom, and Tom himself learns a lot about his past.

A 14 year old who is trying to find out who he is AND while doing so will manage to save the world from certain doom-- perfect. If you haven't picked this series up, make it your first choice for a rainy, cool summer day. Keep some cheese handy to nibble on!

The Disreputable History of Franki Landau-Banks

There's a lot going on in Frankie's world. She has suddenly gone from being a skinny girl with frizzy hair to being the sort of girl who turns boys' heads. She's trying to keep up with her school work and debate club at the prestigious and exclusive Alabaster Academy. Her sister has moved on to college, and her father is busy networking with the "old boys" from his days at Alabaster. Her boyfriend is a senior on whom she has crushed for a long time.

So of course, following him around takes precedence over everything else.

Michael is involved in the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, a secret society her father had joined during his youth. Membership is, of course, limited to boys, but she follows the group and overhears some of their plans. She locates their "sacred text", The Disreputable History, and finds that while the group pulled a lot of pranks in the past, it has now devolved into a social/drinking organization. Determined to be a member despite her gender, she embarks on planning a serious of wildly elaborate pranks, e mailing directions to the members while pretending to be the president, Alpha.

The pranks are a success-- but Frankie starts to realize that while the Bassets enjoy the pranks, their main reason for being in the group is to bond with each other, and while she might be able to arrange the pranks, the patriarchal quality of the group will insure that she will never actually be a part of it. Frankie briefly owns some "girl power", but the important thing is that she realizes the disparities and starts to act on them. She has a lot of promise at the end of the book.

While this is written in an odd sort of voice (omniscient but oddly immediate narrator occasionally lapses into present tense), it has the distinction of being the only book I've read to successfully include e mail messages as part of the story. There are also some facets of Frankie's personality that are not adequately explained or developed, but perhaps that is because Frankie hasn't quite figured herself out yet. A slight drag in the middle of the book, before Frankie started the pranks, could be attributed to my extreme fatigue last night. I'll check with my daughter after she reads it.

Ultimately, I loved Frankie. She was intelligent, brash, eloquent, and inventive. She thought about her place in the universe, and when she was unhappy with it, attempted to change it. She makes the whole book smart. Well, that and the use of the word schadenfreude.

I didn't care much for Lockhart's other books, but can't remember why. Tempted to go back and read them again.

For an in-depth discussion of this book, check out:
http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1225

For E. Lockhart's blog, check out:
http://www.theboyfriendlist.com/

Sic Transit Gloria Librorum

Phyllis Whitney's The Golden Unicorn (1976), enjoyed a nice circulation in the 80s, but has been gathering a bit of dust. It's a decent story, reminiscent of a sanitized but somewhat overwrought Nora Roberts. Courtney, a 25-year-old successful news writer whose adoptive parents have both been killed finds a clue that her real parents might be connected to a famous, reclusive painter. She makes arrangements to interview said painter, and spends time at her house along the beach. The extended family is hiding a variety of secrets and grudges, and these come to light in sometimes dangerous ways.

Thinking about fixing this one up-- the mylar cover is coming off, as is the front cover. The clothes and mores are dated (although the main character has a career, there's some noise about women marrying well and not working), and there is a tone to the whole story like something that would have been excerpted in Redbook in 1973. Was leaning heavily toward deaccession, but then checked out the author web site:

http://www.phyllisawhitney.com/main_page.htm

And found out that Ms. Whitney passed away just this February at the age of 104. I think I'll make the minor repairs and trot this one out next year and see what the students think.

At least the book is not gratuitously vulgar, like David Hernandez's Suckerpunch. I understand that it falls into the category of "gritty", considering the main plot is about two boys trying to prevent an abusive father from moving back home, but there were just several sexual references that were disturbing and completely unnecessary. Didn't finish, not buying.

Various Titles, Apparently Cranky Librarian

A.M. Jenkin's Repossessed has appeared on several lists-- quick picks for reluctant readers and the like. Great cover, interesting premise (demon comes and takes over boy's body), and for some odd reason I could notpick it up. Older Daughter read it and had the same reaction, and then she said "But I don't think it's appropriate anyway-- the main thing the demon wants to do with the boy's body is have sex." Sooooo... this goes in the "thanks but no thanks" pile.

The same is unfortunately true with Robin Benway's Audrey, Wait!. Some clever writing (loved the opening paragraph, a description of how a popular song is embraced by various people) and I loved the premise (Girl breaks up with musician boyfriend who is then inspired to write a song about the event. The song becomes a hit, and the girl is catapulted to notoriety.), but the first chapter was liberally sprinkled with the f bomb, and there is some middle school inappropriate discussion (again) of sex. This said, Older Daughter is enjoying the book.

Shanahan's The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year that I Truly, Completely Lost It appealed to me so little that I started to suspect that my dislike of Australian titles is somehow on par with my dislike of talking animals and that I should try to work through it, so I tested it on about ten girls at school, and none of them wanted to pick it up either. The original title is My Big Birkett.

I did read Siobhan Vivian's A Little Friendly Advice, and I liked the feeling of tension that was built up throughout the novel. Ruby turns 16, and her father, who left without a word 6 years earlier, shows up. She deals with this by celebrating a little too hard with her friends (the casual use of alcohol and the lack of consequences didn't thrill me, although Ruby develops a dislike of drinking because of the episode), and is in a funk for most of the book, until she finds out the real reason for her parents' breakup, which her best friend knew. This reason seemed to be a little anticlimactic. I liked Ruby and her friends, but something about the plot didn't do it for me. Not sad enough for the fans of sad literature, but too depressing to be happy.

An Na's The Fold was a very interesting examination of one culture's ideas of beauty, and how that idea impacts one young girl. I'd heard about the was an Asian concern that eyelids without a fold were somehow less appealing, and that some Asian women get plastic surgery to create a fold, so it was helpful to read this and get more insight into the phenomenon. However, I didn't like the main character. Joyce is misguided on many issues, a bit whiny, and although she finally decides against getting the surgery that her aunt has offered as a gift, it doesn't seem that she has really come to accept herself all that much.

My main criterion for buying a book is getting something that students want. Students do ask for a huge variety of things, so when I read a book, I think "Which student would I hand this to?" I'll buy things for a small, specific audience, but if I can't think of a single student who would grab it, I can't buy it. This results in boxes of new books that are usually all checked out within 24 hours. I would like to be able to buy books (like Climbing the Stairs) just because I liked them or I thought they were good, but I just don't have the budget. *Sigh*

Linda Gerber LIVE!!!

Linda Gerber was here at Blendon for our career fair! She is very fun to hear and passionate about her writing. The students were thrilled (although sad that I don't have her new book Death by Bikini yet), and Linda graciously answered questions about her writing and experiences for this

First Ever Author Interview!!!:

Ms. Yingling: In The Finnish Line, you write passionately about women being allowed to ski jump. When you were in middle school, in what sports did you compete, or want to, and how did Title IX affect your opportunities?

Linda Gerber: Alas, competitive sports and I were not a good mix in middle school. I still remember the day we were doing archery and I shot my arrow right into the tennis courts where the boys were doing their tennis unit. (Yes, where I went to school, boys and girls took P.E. separately. The girls had to wear these totally embarrassing one-piece gym uniforms but boys got to wear t-shirts and blue shorts. How fair is that?)

I watched Title IX in action as more and more girls challenged stereotypes and discrimination and fought their way into sports such as football and wrestling. It gave me the courage to challenge my own boundaries.

When I started writing _The Finnish Line_, I /didn't know/ women ski jumpers weren't allowed to compete in the Olympics. I couldn't believe
it! Mo's story took on a whole new meaning then.

Ms. Yingling: You have two Students Across the Seven Seas titles. What is the most important thing you have learned from studying other cultures? What do you think is the most important thing for students in the United States to learn about different cultures?Linda

Linda Gerber: I've lived abroad twice and my kids attended an international school in Japan with students from 17 different countries and do you know what I noticed? We're all the same! We might look different and have different customs, religion and/or beliefs, but we all want to be happy, safe and loved. Those different things about us make us interesting and unique, not bad or wrong. So many of the world's problems could be solved if everyone learned that one, simple fact.

The same thing goes within the boundaries of a middle school, no matter which neighborhood you live in or where you buy your clothes or what sport you play or the kind of music you like to listen to.

Ms. Yingling: Do you feel that you write your characters, or do they write themselves and assume a life of their own, sometimes surprising you? Who is your favorite book character, either one you have written or one you have readLinda

Linda Gerber: That's a tough one. Some characters come to me fully-formed and ready for action. Others are coy and make me work for every detail and nuance of their personality. They all do take on a life of their own. If they didn't, I'd be worried. My daughter still laughs at the day I was writing the ending to one of my upcoming books and I started to cry because I didn't know one of the characters was going to do what he did and it completely took my by surprise.

Choosing a single favorite book character is too much like choosing a favorite child. It's impossible! From my own work, I really liked Baba and Jiji from Now and Zen because they were patterned after our adopted Grandma and Grandpa in Japan.

Favorite characters from a book I recently read... Cammie Morgan from Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series because she's fun to follow. And I adore Artemis Fowl and about anyone else Iain Colfer creates. And Vlad from Eight Grade Bites. Oh, and Gilda Joyce! See? I can't choose just one.

************
Death by Bikini is being followed soon by Death by Latte and then Death by Denim, which Linda was rushing home to work on when she left here! Keep an eye on this fabulous new young adult author!

Climbing the Stairs

I very much enjoyed Padma Venkatraman's story of a girl struggling against social conventions in India during World War II. Vidya's father, a doctor, does not care about the strictures of the family's Brahmin caste, and is willing to continue her education to include college. However, when he is critically injured in a protest against the British, the family must move in with the rest of the family, who believe that women should only be married. Vidya finds the library at her grandfather's house, and is allowed to read there. This is a great picture not only of how women were treated in another place and time, but also a good depiction of what was going on in India during World War II. I can't think of anything else I've read set then.

However, I probably won't buy this. I have a lot of great Indian fiction, and it's not something that is asked for a lot. (Did eventually get a copy. 7/13)

Two books with chocolate on the cover

Tricia Rayburn's book, The Melting of Maggie Bean, is a good addition to books about eating disorders, which are wildly popular among 7th grade girls especially. Maggie is a very overweight girl who eats vast quantities of chocolate to cope with her father's unemployment and the general unhappiness of her family life. She wants to try out for the Water Wings, the school synchronized swim team, because she is a good swimmer and her mother helped start the team, but is afraid because of her weight. Her parents make her go to a weight loss support group, and she starts the long process of losing weight, exercising, and trying to improve her life. Some of this book stretches credulity a little (Are swim teams really that popular?), but in general is a good addition to weight issue fiction.

Loved the cover of Rebecca Sparrow's The Year Nick McGowan Came to Stay, but there really was very little mention of chocolate. There were, however, a distractingly large number of references to 1980s pop culture. Set in 1989, and in Australia to boot, I couldn't get into this story of a girl whose father volunteers to keep a problem student at their house because he was no longer accepted as a boarder at the school because of discipline problems.

Pirates of the Retail Wasteland!!!

Adam Selzer has a warped and very funny sense of humor. Like How to Get Suspended and Influence People, this book walked that very fine line of almost inappropriate, and never tipped far enough over that parents would complain. It also lent itself to reading aloud and guffawing, which is why I don't have it in front of me to quote-- older daughter tried to rip it out of my grasp but I won, so she is reading it now.

Leon and his friends are upset that Sip, their favorite coffee house/hang out might be forced out of business by Wackford's, a chain coffee house whose primary purpose seems to be to house corporate drones working on lap tops. They plan, with the help of the "McHobo" manager, to take over on one Saturday, turn Wackford's into an office, and film the resultant chaos for a school project. This seemed somewhat far fetched, but it really didn't matter because the sub plots were so much fun.

Leon has the best parents in teen literature. They embarass him gleefully and with abandon. The father's attempt to create hair dye that adheres to hair but not skin results in a green mohawk, and later, no hair at all. They are still cooking out of vintage cookbooks and dressing the part as well. They aren't mentioned a lot, but I adore them.

There's some girlfriend issues, some hysterical poetry attempts to get the gym teacher to quit (the reworking of Ginsberg Howl begged to be declaimed out loud), and line after line that made me giggle. My only problem with this book is that I'm afraid that my daughter may try to start collecting tacky vintage album covers to decorate her walls.

Assorted Titles

Some books are fine but don't meet my needs. Looked at (but did not read entirely) four fantasies aimed more at girls last night. Since I have plenty of those, I think I'll pass on:

Coombs-- The Runaway Princess. Maybe for elementary collections, where girls are enthralled with princesses. The princess in this is atypical-- brave and boisterous-- but I prefer The Enchanted Forest Chronicles for that.

Levine-- Ever. Love this author, but not this one. High fantasy with completely made up world, lots of made up words (for stuff like mother and father, which just irritated me), and then people peeing on the grass. Lost me about there.

Selfors-- Saving Juliet. Time travel is almost impossible to sell, and I have at least two other time travel back to the time of Shakespeare books (one is by Susan Cooper). I would like it, but it would gather dust in my library. Great cover, too.

Wilce-- Flora Segunda. Liked the title and the premise, but it was a bit too self-consciously quirky for me.

Terhune--Lad, a Dog. Mine is an anniversary edition; the original is from 1919. Considering how old it is, it reads pretty well, and I'm always short on dog stories. If modern books were bound this well, I wouldn't be gluing 20 books a week back together. I will keep for texture.

Swift-- Gulliver's Travels. Not a big circulator, but I do have the occasional student who wants a challenge, and this is pretty interesting as, again, older things go. I have a weird Whitman-like binding printed in Romania, but again, will keep for texture.

Stevenson-- The Unprotected Witness. Sequel to Bones in the Cliff, which I liked a little more, but this was an easy to follow mystery that will appeal to students who read the first book.

I think that R.L. Stine is the next big frontier in my alphabetical reading, and as all the books come back I will make sure I have read everything before that. There are a couple of sequels that I have missed as they came in, since students were waiting so eagerly for them.

Clare's City of Bones

You think you're having a rough day? Clary goes out with her friends to a club and sees a boy murdered by two Shadowhunters-- only he isn't a boy, but a demon. Later, Clary gets a panicked call from her mother, telling her not to come home. Clary does, of course, only to be set upon by a demon and rescued by the very Shadowhunters who killed the demon in the club. Things only get worse-- she finds out that her mother had a relationship with a Shadowhunter gone bad-- Valentine, who wanted to find the Mortal Cup and use it to turn children into his own private army. Downside of that? Most of them would be killed. Clary finds out that she herself is part of this world of demons and demonhunters, even though her mother tried very hard to keep her from realizing it.

There's plenty of action in this book, some romance (Clary's long time friend Simon versus the hot but smarmy Shadowhunter Jace) and some clever twists on the whole vampire-witch-fairy stories that the teens seem to adore. At first, I thought it would be a self-involved Goth tale (starting out at the club put a bad taste in my mouth), but it improved. Some of the writing is very clever. Hearing the suggestion that Valentine sent the demon after Clary's mother because "maybe he wants to get back together", Jace says "It wouldn't be my move. First the candy and flowers, then the apology letters, then the ravenous demon hordes. In that order."(Page 153)

With the exception of a drawn out battle for Simon after he gets himself turned into a rat, the book improved steadily from the begining, and in the end, I liked the book. Much better than Twilight, but not quite as clever as Blue Bloods. I will look forward to the sequel, The City of Ashes, which is already out, and The City of Glass, which comes out in March of 2009.

http://www.cassandraclare.com/
http://www.mortalinstruments.com/

The Battle of the Labyrinth!!!!

Basic premise: Luke, who when last seen was joining forces with the evil Kronos to take over the world, has found a way to breach Camp Half-Blood-- the Labyrinth, which stretches amorphously under the United States. Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson set off to find Daedalus, who created the Labyrinth, and figure out a way to stop Luke from attacking. Also, Grover is searching for the god Pan. Joined by the human Rachel Dare, who can see through the "mist" that hides monsters, they work their way through the confounding Labyrinth, encounter and subdue many monsters, and occasionally vaporize demonic cheerleaders.

Why this is so fabulous: The writing. It starts off with the oft-quoted first line "The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was blow up another school," and continues with chapters such as "Nico Buys Happy Meals for the Dead", "We Visit the Demon Dude Ranch" and "We Play the Game Show of Death". (Which, by the way, skewers the No Child Left Behind Act-- this alone makes the book worth picking up!). The plot is action is well-paced, the main characters continue to grow, and a new host of amusing secondary characters are brought to life in Riordan's inimitable style. Percy ends up on the island of Calypso, and I swear I cried when he left.

None of my students have complained about this latest installment, except to say that they want the fifth one right now. As a former Latin teacher, I have to say that along with Caroline Lawrence's Roman Mysteries, this series is one that I wish I had writtten. Bravo, bravo. Riordan deserves all the praise and popularity that this series has brought him.

Young's Storm: The Infinity Code

Young is a science writer, which explains the huge range of gadgets that are used to help the teen members of Science and Technology to Over-Rule Misery (STORM), as well as some of the problems that these bright teens have to solve in the course of the book.

What I'd love to know is how she can write such compelling action. Similar to Pearson's Steel Trapp that I read last week, this is even better. STORM is working on global threats with the help of a teen software developer's millions. Doesn't hurt the suspense that one of the member's fathers is missing, held hostage by evil doers that want to use his skills, and only STORM can save him. How can one not like a book where the teen characters take off on their own on a train to St. Petersburg in December without their passports or warm clothes. Or money. Or food.

That must be the appeal of spy fiction. It's so popular now, and I am enjoying it myself. It's the feeling of empowerment, independence and excitement that make these books appeal to so many students, and this one is certainly going straight to the top of my list. Will, Gaia and Andrew were all likable characters, despite their quirks. The plot is a bit far fetched, but possible. Great cover. Sequels sure to come. (Storm: The Ghost Machine on 18 September!)

My one beef with Penguin Putnam-- the library copy of this book was added on March 26th of this year and is already splitting at the spine. Can't you make a book that holds up for more than two months?

It's Disgusting!

James Solheim's 1998 title It's Disgusting and We Ate It: True Facts From Around the World and Throughout History is still available, and for good reason: it doesn't need a pitch for your average 6th grade boy to pick it up and read it. It's not my sort of book, but the research seems fine, and it does give the students some history. I've seen groups of my most reluctant readers gathered around this at lunch-- we assume right before they dare each other to put their orange push pop in the mash potatoes and eat it.

Unfortunately, this author's only other available title is about Santa's secrets, which is a bit young for my crowd.

Lichtman's Do the Math: Secrets, Lies and Algebra

While Non-Fiction Food Week, has been fun, if I don't post some other titles, they will back up!

Remember that I am entering the Spring of My Discontent, when I spend a lot of time removing titles from my book orders because I have spent my entire budget for next year.

This book would be interesting if I could buy everything that I liked, but it will have a limited appeal in my library due to the use of math problems within the text, and the fact that there is really not as much of a mystery as I would like.

Tess is a math whiz who has some problems. First, she sees a popular boy photocopy a math test; later, he and his friends all get unprecedented perfect scores. Then, one of her mother's friends is found dead in her garage, a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning. Did her husband, with whom she had problems, have something to do with this?

Tess and her friends work through these problems, and their relationships are the best part of the book. Tess does have to make some tough decisions about what she should be doing. This is an interesting first attempt, but I am going to have to pass.

Neff's Hound of Rowan

This is the first book in The Tapestry series. I checked the Rowan Academy web site and didn't see the other titles listed yet (but it's a cool site); the author's site, http://www.henryhneff.com/, mentions that the next title is The Second Seige. If Mr. Neff titles the next book something with "third" or "final" in it, I will be eternally grateful.

Must admit that I wasn't in the mood for a 414 page fantasy book, but I was glad of it. There is a subgroup of my students who adore fantasy, and they are voracious. One of them is my son, and this is exactly the sort of book he will love. Firmly based in reality, clever, full of details about the magic involved. I'm thinking this would make a great birthday present. Definitely buying for library.

Max (whose mother is missing, in proper pseudo-orphan tradition), has a mystical experience in a museum, is visited by strange representatives from Rowan Academy, and allowed to enroll their by his busy but loving father. Max has mad skills and turns out to be just the student who can help in the fight against the enemy.

This is where I get vague, because I didn't want to read the book. Astaroth? Isn't this from Bed-knob and Broomstick? What forces are they fighting? Who is stealing the Potentials and why? Somehow, I didn't quite care about Max. There are lots of interesting characters introduced ( I loved Mum, the cook, having to sniff all the students so that she wouldn't eat them!), good lines and interesting magic, but if I had been able to connect to Max more, I would have been more compelled to pay attention. I'll have to reread this when I get a copy for the library.

Hautman and Logue's Bloodwater Mysteries

Both of these authors have some great titles individually-- Logue's Dancing with an Alien flies off the shelf when girls have to read science fiction, and Hautman's Sweetblood is adored by the fans of vampire fiction. I don't know how I missed this series, consisting of Snatched (2006), Skullduggery (2007), and Doppelganger (2008), but I will be adding them to my list to purchase. I always need more mysteries.

Started with the third by mistake, but wasn't overly confused. All center around Roni Delicata, a someone unhappy girl who reports for the school paper and solves mysteries with various friends in her spare time. I read Doppelganger, which seemed like it might be like Face on the Milk Carton at first, but went in a completely different direction. One of Roni's friends thinks that his parents kidnapped him as a toddler, because an age progressed picture of a missing child looks a lot like him. When the two investigate, they find a lot more intrigue, creepy strangers, and lies than they bargained for.

Not terribly long, fast moving reads. Need more like these. Note to publisher, however: First cover BAD. Other covers better. Perhaps since I waited, they'll have redone the first cover to match.

Carolyn Wyman, Amazing Food Writer

These three titles might be hard to obtain, and they are in paperback, so I had to send them to the bindery, but the students have loved them. How can you NOT pick up a book entitled Jell-o: A Biography.

The research in these books is phenomenal. Wyman doesn't just cover dry facts about the history of products; she includes almost every pop cultural reference to the products she can find. There are cartoons, vintage ads, tv clips-- you name it. The pages are sometimes a little crowded for my taste, but the presentation does make these nice for browsing.

My favorite is probably Better Than Homemade:Amazing Foods that Changed the Way We Eat. From Birdseye frozen foods to Jiffy Pop, convenience foods are given great coverage. Why did they appear? How popular were they? What the heck is really in them? Fascinating stuff.

Had a student yesterday who was borrowing this "just for study hall" decide to take it home so he could share it with his parents!

Candy: A Sweet History

The students really enjoy Beth Kimmerle's book from 2003. Packed with tons of vintage ads, wrappers and memorabilia, it covers lots of current favorites as well as bygone candies of the past. I put this one cover out on a shelf, and it is checked out almost immediately. I have wondered if children actually read these books, or if they just drooled over the pictures, but yesterday after posting A Century in Food, I gave it to a student who brought it back after study hall and checked out a book I have all about the Kellogg's company! He wanted to know more.

Exciting news-- I have an author interview to post! Linda Gerber, author of Now and Zen, The Finnish Line, and the new Death by Bikini will be coming to my school for career day and very graciously answered some questions for me! She will also be at the Polaris Barnes and Noble on May 17th, so I hope that some of my students will be able to make it there!

The Century in Food

This Beverly Bundy title from 2002 is a must have if you frequently have students doing research on various decades. It is also a fun read. Broken down into decades, the book covers fads, newly introduced foods (with lovely time lines) and general historical events. Lavishly illustrated with period photos, this was so intriguing to me that I bought a copy to have at home. It's a fun book to give to students who are sitting in study hall and don't want to read anything.

Want to know what foods were introduced the year you were born? What exactly was the deal with Pringles? Has it really been over twenty years since the "new" Coke fiasco? Read and find out!

Food Non-fiction Week!

Every year, one of the teachers does a nonfiction project, and by far the most popular topic is food. This would explain why I picked up Marilyn Powell's Ice Cream: The Delicious History.

Very fun book, although a little dry for middle school students. Using a variety of sources, Powell traces the history and impact of ice cream while adding her own personal experiences as well as recipes to the narrative. I enjoyed it, but wished that it had more pictures. There are a few, but they are random, and this could be much more appealing if it included pictures of 1950s ice cream parlors and soda jerks, which are described but would still be hard to visualize for younger students.

Also read Limb's Girl, Almost 15, Flirting for England. I hadn't like the first in the series, although I felt I should have. The new one has a great title, but I felt left out while reading the book-- I didn't quite follow the huge cast of characters, and things seemed like an inside joke. Fantastic cover, and I should have liked it. Of course, I am also in the process of taking titles that I did like OFF my lists to purchase because there won't be enough money for everything next year.

Lastly, a bit of news-- Rick Riordan's Battle of the Labyrinth is an "embargoed" title. This means that even if one got out to the dreaded mall area over the weekend, the book store can't sell you the book because then Hyperion can cease supplying them. Sigh. A bit silly, but there you are.

Korman's Swindle

Gordon Korman is my "go to" author when I have a boy who wants a funny book. Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag, Don't Care High, The 6th Grade Nickname Game, and the more recent Schooled, Born to Rock and Son of the Mob books are all brilliant. Innovative, funny, easy to sell in one sentence. I usually have at least two copies of his titles, and have been known to threaten students lest they lose the out-of-print titles.

That said, Swindle didn't do anything for me. It was fine-- funny and well-paced with decent characters-- but too young for middle school. Also, I haven't had anyone who wants to read about baseball cards at all. This read a little too much like a 1980s title for me, something I had read before.

Mr. Korman's web site mentions two books that are coming out before too long-- The Juvie Three and The 39 Clues series, the first book of which is being written by Rick Riordan (whose fourth book, The Battle for the Labyrinth, comes out on Tuesday, although I know one teacher who already scored a copy!). I'll look forward to those, but will pass on this one.

What my REALLY reluctant 4th grader is reading

There are no good books in the WORLD. Nothing. They are all BORING.

Thank goodness for Dietlof Reiche's I, Freddy series. I have not read these; they seem a little young for my middle school library, and we all know how I dislike talking animals, although 4th Grader assures me that "it's not like they talk to the humans or anything."

Must admit, I am almost tempted to read these, given the description (from Follett) of Freddy in Peril: "A cat, two guinea pigs, and a colony of brave sewer rats band together in order to save Freddy, a golden hamster, from an evil scientist who's discovered that Freddy can read and write, and plans to hamster-nap him in order to dissect his brain."

The cobbler's children have no shoes, isn't that the saying? I'm just glad that my daughter loves these. We're donating a set to her elementary school library, I am so grateful. Since this author is German, here's a challenge:
http://www.dietlof-reiche.de/

Pirates of the Retail Wasteland Contest

Book I Most Want to Get My Hands On:
Adam Selzer's
Pirates of the Retail Wasteland.
Is it ironically fitting that I would have to go to a Barnes and Noble to HOPE they have it, and I try never to go near strip malls because they make me break out in hives?

But I do have a gift card. Hmmm. I'm heading there to buy this one. I'm calling ahead and demanding that they stock it. Yaaarrr! (They had to order it. I did mention that they should stock it. I'm not entirely sure the clerk rolled her eyes at me... apparently, orders are done at a higher level. Have to go back this weekend.)

This author's other title How to Get Suspended and Influence People was reviewed here on March 22, 2007. I loved it. I will attempt to put the banner here, but I've having weird editing problems here. So check out the web site:

http://www.adamselzer.com/contest.html

Thesman's Nothing Grows Here

This is a charming novel that I didn't know I had until I looked more closely at the "T" authors. From 1994, this is the story of a Seattle girl whose father passes away, leaving her and her mother lacking funds. They move into a rundown but friendly apartment complex where the mother cleans. It's a hard adjustment to a new way of life, but friends and neighbors make it easier for Maryann, who misses her father, her house, and her old life. I rather hoped that the mother, who buys a partnership in a local coffee house, caught the Seattle coffee wave and ended up with a Starbucks like hit on her hands, because she and her daughter worked very hard to make the best of their situation.

I didn't like Jamie Michael's Kiss My Book. Couldn't get past the fact that there was a young writer who was accused of plagiarism in much the same way as the main character in this book was, and it seemed mean-spirited to then write a novel about it.

Spring is in the air

Well, it was snowing here in Ohio, but in the literature I read, it was prom time.

Dorian Cirrone's Prom Kings and Drama Kings was a worthy and noble Pink read. Sure, it has the pink cover, but espouses a better message. As Emily's mother said "Do something that will make people cheer for you," and while Emily hasn't figured out yet what this is, she is trying.

Emily is crushing on her next door neighbor, basketball player Brian. Following him one night, she sees boys from her school trying to cut down a tree at a rival school, and she and her fellow reporter, Daniel, are the ones who get nabbed by the police. They have to perform community service together, and end up helping out at a nursing home. In the meantime, Emily helps facilitate a romance for Brian's grandmother (a very fun lady) and Brian invites her to the prom. Complications ensue when Emily and Daniel plan an article about how wasteful the prom is, a prom for the nursing home, and a lower cost prom in Emily's back yard. Emily comes closer to finding out what she can do that will make people cheer for her, and to no one's surprise, no one cheers louder than Daniel.

Beany-esque. This is my highest compliment. I started reading this at 4:30 and finished it at school, which I rarely do. It made me sigh big, contented sighs. Oddly enough, I remember not liking this author's other book, Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You. I may be wrong, but there may have been some inappropriate language early on. I may have to take another look.

A more serious book, but with a similar plot element (and I'm jealous. Even the very overweight Jamie has two boys interested in her, which is two more than I had in high school) is Susan Vaught's Big Fat Manifesto. This was a very powerful book about personal identity. Jamie has embraced being "Fat Girl" as hers, but comes to question this in the course of the book, especially when her boyfriend has bariatric surgery and loses a lot of weight. The details of this surgery are quite graphic, but informative.

There's a lot of discussion about weight, obviously, and interestingly enough, Jamie never really thinks about going on a diet. She's in good health, but her doctors are obviously concerned. She herself is not happy that she can't find "cute" clothes and isn't cast in the leading roles in the plays. She writes a "Fat Girl" column for the school newspaper and hopes that this can help her get a college scholarship, only to have her entry thrown out because it is not "in the public good". This is a conflicted novel, but very interesting. I loved Jamie's in-your-face attitude at the beginning (the turns of phrase were almost worthy of Sonnenblick), but I understood when this tone became more serious as she struggled to strike a balance between who she wanted to be, and who she was afraid she might become.

More of a high school book, although the profanity is limited to lots of "sh**", I still think I will get this for my problem novel readers. This would be a great book club book for a mother-daughter discussion group.

Steel Trapp by Ridley Pearson

Bravo, Mr. Pearson! I've waited for this author (The Kingdom Keepers, Peter and the Starcatchers) to turn his talents to young adult spy novels, and he has with Steel Trapp: The Challenge.

Steven "Steel" Trapp has science skills, a dog named Cairo, and a photographic memory. On his way to the National Science Challenge in D.C., he sees a woman leave a briefcase on the train. When he tries to return it, she denies it is hers, and Steel heads into an adventure filled with clues, adventure, and danger.

While Steel and the other characters were engaging enough, and the plot woven quite skillfully (it fell into place almost too nicely, but was so clever I didn't mind-- even worked one of the science projects into the crime!), it was the writing that I loved about this book. The book is 78 chapters long, but some chapters are less than a page. Almost every chapter ends with some action or question that made me think "Okay, dinner can wait-- what happens now?" This gave the book a real edge-of-the-seat excitement that students really like. Number one student complaint about books? Nothing happens. Well, not in this book. This is no doubt the start of a series, and this book will never make it back to the shelves. I think it's more appealing than Pearson's other two YA efforts, even if there are a few cliches.

By the way, Beany and I had a very nice visit. Her father was gone for the summer, so I helped her with the boarders that she took in so she could earn money to fix up the basement into a rumpus room. Her brother Johnny is so cute, but he was pretty busy with his research. (Read The More The Merrier.)

*Sigh*

Book Characters; or, Beany, my BLF

Oh, the power that authors have. They bring characters to life. If I don't like the characters, I usually don't like the books (Artemis Fowl-- are there any likable characters?). Betsy Ray, Anne Shirley, Alanna, Beany Malone-- they are all my friends. If I were much, much younger, I would want Alex Rider and Encyclopedia Brown to be my boyfriends. Certainly, there are many books that are driven by other factors. I liked Unwind because of the action and philosophy. I didn't like Raquel (yesterday), but it was interesting to read what others thought of her. The language is Fahrenheit 451 is beautiful, and Montag intrigues me. But when I read a book more that once, it is usually so that I can visit a friend.

Read Tarshis' Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree last night, and took an immediate, visceral dislike to her. She's quirky and priggish and if I met her in person I would probably want to slap her. It ruined the book for me. I didn't feel that she could really facilitate any meaningful change in her middle school. This book has gotten great reviews, the lovely woman who brings my book fix from the public library loved it, and I could not continue reading because of Emma-Jean. I even feel bad in that horrible way you feel when you can't like a coworker or neighbor even though that person might be very nice.

And you know, I've been missing Beany and wanting to read one of the books again, and I really do miss her in the way you miss a friend whom you don't see often. She must be my BLF-- my best literary friend. Guess what I'll be reading tonight?

Vande Velde's Remembering Raquel

This is not the sort of book I expected from this author, who usually does magic/fantasy/scary stories, but it is an interesting story indeed. Raquel is dead, killed by a car when she walks into the road without looking. Was it an accident, or suicide? This sounds like it might be the start of a mystery, but it isn't. Since any death of a young person sends a community into turmoil, this question arises because not many people liked Raquel, but now everyone is claiming some connection with her.

Told from different points of view, this was sort of a disturbing book. Raquel never came across as a particularly likable character to me, although I did feel sorry for her best friend and her father. The reviews of this all indicate that connections are made, and although the ending is ambiguous, people learn things about themselves-- how they treat others, the importance of respecting people who are different, etc. Again, I was left with this sad feeling that Raquel's was a very unfortunate accident (the DNR form that caused the EMT to "let her slip away" probably belonged to her mother, who had died recently), and that in a year's time, all the schoolmates who were upset wouldn't even remember her.

This was a very well-written and insightful book which would be popular with students wanting sad books or problem novels. Has a great cover. I guess I don't want to buy it because it makes me so sad, but perhaps that is the very reason that I should.

http://www.vivianvandevelde.com/

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

This reminded me of so many things I couldn't name, "Classic" literature written around the time this novel is set (1899). Chopin's The Awakening? Something by Henry Miller? Classics that ended up being somewhat dry and boring, whereas this one certainly is not. After I finished, I felt rather as if I had gotten away with reading a book that looked like it should have been Important, but instead was Fun. I gave it immediately to my daughter (14), who adored it.

Liked Bookshelves of Doom review on this: http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2008/04/the-luxe----ann.html

In short, this book starts with the death/disappearance of one Elizabeth Holland, socialite, beautiful person, kind soul. Or so it seems. It was painfully obvious from the beginning that more was going on here. Elizabeth's family is in straightened circumstances, due to the death of her father. The only way the family can make it is if she marries well, but of course the man her mother has chosen is a cad who prefers her headstrong sister. Elizabeth is no saint, but keeps her secrets well from her family... but not one of the servants who uses this information against her. The plot is a little contrived, but still compelling, and there are quite a number of characters, so it is not a surprise that they are not as developed as they should be.

This is more of a high school novel. There are some assignations depicted, but it is the heft of the book and the historical setting that would make it hard for me to find an audience in my school. Will I read the sequel? Absolutely. And it's not a bad way to get girls into some historical fiction.

Under London

I never need an excuse to read a book set in any version of London. Ran across two great ones this weekend. Both are great mystery/fantasy/horror, but I'll put Tom Becker's Darkside first because he worked in vampires, werewolves AND Jack the Ripper.

Jonathan's father is mentally ill, and while he is in the hospital and a friend is watching out for Jonathan, he's stalked (at the British Library!), attacked, and chased to Darkside, a creepy, semi-Victorian side of London peopled by descendants of criminals. Aided, although almost eaten, by the werewolf Carnegie, Jonathan manages to escape being put into a carnival. He's still wanted by denizens of this dark community, however, because his mother was a Darksider, although years of dealing with this side of London has caused his father's mental problems. A wonderful cover, fast-paced story, and plenty of gory details (stalker ends up in pool of barracudas!) make this a book that fans of Shan's Cirque du Freak will love. The sequel comes out September 1.

Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams' Tunnels also occurs underneath London and bears some similarities-- Will's father is an archaeologist, his mother is out of touch with reality, and he finds a semi-Victorian underground world inhabited by the descendants of religious types who thought the world above was evil. After seeing suspicious men traveling about London, Will's father disappears, and Will finds an entrance to the underground world. His friend is taken captive, Will finds out some secrets about his own past, and spends a lot of time being chased by people who do not mean well!

This book apparently is being made into a movie, has a sequel (Dirt?) coming out, and has been hailed in the UK as "the new Harry Potter".

Both of these will be loved by fans of Charlie Fletcher's Stoneheart, which also may have a sequel coming soon!

Racy Books, Traumatized Librarians

I'm not going to mention the title, because people might go pick it up. But really, does YA fiction have to be SO graphic about sex? The reviews don't hide this-- I think I just loved the cover so much that I had to read it. This is exactly why I try to read everything before I buy it. Sigh.

Had a student yesterday ask why I didn't have Meg Cabot's Ready or Not, since it is the sequel to All-American Girl. I told her it was inappropriate, and she wanted to know why.

"8th grade health class issues," I replied.

"Huh?" quoth she.

"With her boyfriend." Blank stare. "The book is about whether she is ready or not to... have relations with her boyfriend."

She still didn't get it. I said she would have to ask her mother. Then she got it. I cannot imagine having a conversation with my middle school librarian like this without dying a thousand deaths, but the student sneered in a way that indicated I should have just yelled "sex!" across the library. See? See what these books are doing to the youth of America? And people have complained about Naylor's Alice books?

For librarians-- you might pick up Bennett's The Uncommon Reader. It has its missteps as well, but how can you not love a book about Queen Elizabeth becoming addicted to reading?