I choose this book because I thought it would be a wonderful way to embrace Father's day, which in recent years has become a somewhat difficult holiday for me. I was right, this book was an excellent choice. I laughed, I cried. It brought back wonderful and less than wonderful memories of being a teenage girl whose parents are divorced. This is a heartfelt memoir of a young girl growing up with her father. I was surprised by the life lessons cunningly wrought into the various stories that made up this book. I think some visuals, like the bike and the prom dress and the dead body of JFK (yes, I said that) will stay with me forever. I highly recommend this book! It is a wonderful read and reinforces once again the importance of literature in our lives.

War Horse by Michael Marpurgo

Last year I had several students - boys - who loved to read about history. I saw the previews for this at the movies and I realized that it was based on a book. Stories about animals always really choke me up, but I knew that I had to read this book.

I'm SO glad that I did!!! I love horses and if for no other reason, this book is a wonderful horse story. That said, it is also so much more than that! It's a story of love, trust, friendship, courage and loyalty. The personification used by the author for the horse, Joey, represents the best in all of us and all we hope to be. It reminded me much of the timeless classic, Black Beauty, but of course, more from a boys perspective. Like Black Beauty, it is told from the perspective of the horse, Joey. It is a brilliant story but if you read it ( and I highly recommend that you do!) better have the tissues handy! Joey and all the characters of this treasure are unforgettable.

I recommend this for readers of all ages, especially those with an interest in history. Great book for boys!

So, what else have I been reading?

So just like almost everyone else on the planet, I loved Katherine Stockett's novel The Help. The story, in case you haven't heard, takes place in the deep south, pre-civil rights Mississippi to be exact. It is about a young, white woman who wants to evaluate the society around her through a different lens, through the eyes of the "help". In this book, Skeeter assists Abilene, Minny and other black maids working for white families and raising white children, put their experiences into words. I really enjoy works of fiction that allow you to step out of yourself and see life through a completely different lens. This book helped me relate to the characters of Abileen and Minny, in particular, in ways that I had previously not experienced. This makes for a great book club discussion and I would highly recommend this book to all. If you haven't read it, what are you waiting for?

Update

So I wasn't kidding when I said that Game of Thrones was my new obsession. It happens so rarely that a book completely engrosses me and the characters in it seem like a part of my life. In fact, it has happened to this magnitude on only one other occassion -- when I was reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time.
When I read Lord of the Rings, I even dreamed about the events and characters in the story, it was that real for me. And though everyone that reads my blog knows that I LOVE Harry Potter, my degree of involvement in the story was not the same. While I was engaged in what happened to Harry and co., I was an observer and with both Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, I truly felt like I was "in" the story.
I had all these plans for all the wonderful reading I was going to do over the summer now that I had more time on my hands. I have been reading, but not quite as much as I had planned.
Literally almost 4,000 pages later, I am up to the latest book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series called "A Dance with Dragons". I had to make myself step away from the story and take a little break. Read some other things. As a Christmas gift to myself, I will pick "Dance" up in time for the Christmas holidays, though since it is sitting on my NOOK - RIGHT NOW - it will be difficult to wait. Look for more updates in the coming days and weeks as I spread my wings into new literary horizons! :)

My New Obsession

I kept hearing about this book and then I saw it chatted up on one of the Barnes and Noble book blogs. I haven't seen the show on TV, but this book is my obsession. There are so many characters, that I needed to keep a journal at first to keep track of them all. It's important to know and understand who all the players all and how they relate.

This book has it all: intrigue, mystery, politics, treachery, love, magic, wolves, dragons, princes and kings and so much more! The characters are real, you almost feel as if you know them. It's one of those stories whose very depth and breadth is all encompassing. I loved this story and I would highly recommend it to anyone, especially those who love fantasy writing. I am mid - way through book two now and I just can't wait to see the show on HBO, though I am glad that I read the book first.

Night is coming...

Juliet

We all know the tale of Romeo and Juliet, but what if the story were true? What if Shakespeare based his tale of star crossed lovers on real people?

Julie Jacobs is devastated when her aunt passes away leaving her nothing more than a key and a ticket to Italy. What starts off as a journey of self discovery turns into a quest to answer a centuries old mystery. This is a wonderful, riveting page turner. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good mystery or love story.

This One Should be Mandatory Reading for Every 5th - 8th Grader

I say that this book should be required reading for every 5th -8th grader, but truly every person should read this book. It is the tramatic yet inspiring story of one girl who survived being bullied in middle school/ early highschool. She experienced events that just made me shake with anger and amazement at how children could possibly be so cruel to one another.

This story really brings home that impact that bullying has - not just on the victims, but also their families. The implications are far reaching and long lasting. Some victims never overcome the trauma that they experienced in a place that is supposed to be safe.

If you have children, please, please, please talk to them about the repurcussions that their words and actions have on other people. Let's create a world that has zero toleriance for bullying.

Did You Love the Diary of Anne Frank?

Me too! It was one of those stories that you read and it changes you. It effects the way you view the world, the way you see yourself and the way you think of other people. I will never forget reading that book and what it still means to me.

I was always curious about the other people that lived in the Annex with Anne. I wanted to know more about her wise and inspiring father, her seemingly perfect sister, the annoying dentist.... but most of all, I wanted to know more about Peter, the boy that Anne loved.

The idea of love in such a time and place seems like the ultimate act of hope. Really that was who Anne was - a girl who loved and was full of hope. In her diary, she says: " I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." Amazing when you consider the things that she lived through.



I jumped at the chance to get to know Peter and Anne better - even if Annexed by Susan Dogar is historical fiction. I initially thought this would be a great book for two of my fourth grade boys that are history buffs. Wrong. Not appropriate for them.

At first I was surprised by some of the content of the book, but then I remembered that Peter was a 16 year old boy when he entered the Annex. Then the wet dreams and sometimes sexual content of the book made sense. No, there was never anything inappropriate between Anne and Peter, not really, but he does have some rather graphic dreams.

Even so, my heart broke, once again as the group was discovered. They were on the last train out of Holland before the Allies came - the last train to Auschwitz. My heart broke as they were seperated, and Peter's story reminded me, once again, why it is so important to never forget what happened. This was a terrible and yet uplifting story that I would highly recommend to older teens and adults.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

When I was a young girl, this was one of my absolute favorite stories. I loved the tale of a young woman struggling to fit it and finding ways to do so seemingly against all the odds. I think that is a story that just about every young girl can relate to. More than that though, The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a story of friendship, loyalty and finally love.

Kit is a strong female character for young women everywhere to look up to and admire. In a literary world crowded with pathetic codependents like Bella Swann from Twilight, our daughters need more examples of young women that the can admire. Kit does not need a man to establish her sense of self, unlike Bella Swann, but rather develops her own strength of character. I admire Kit because she is struggling through so much difficulty - the death of a loved one, the move to a strange new place, the intolerance of those around her - and yet, somehow she always chooses to do the right thing and further, encourages others around her to do the same.

This book has stood the test of time. It has been popular since I was a child and it still speaks to young girls today just as it did back then. I highly recommend it, especially for girls of an impressionable age looking to read a wonderful book about friendship and love and needing young lady role models that they can truly admire.

The Nazi Officers Wife

This book was the true story of Edith Hahn. Edith was a "U-boat" in Nazi Berlin during the worst years of the war. A "U-boat" in this sense is a person of Jewish descent who was posing as a person of Aryan descent.
Edith, calling herself Grete, survives a work camp only to find upon her return to Vienna, that most of her family and friends have been lost. She finds help and assumes another identity, going to work for the Red Cross in Berlin.
She meets and falls in love with Werner Vetter, a Nazi officer. This book is Edith's story of survival. It's amazing and compelling. If you read any history at all, this book is a must.

The Green Year: 365 Little Things You Can Do To Make a Big Difference

For those of you out there interesting in living a greener life and reducing your carbon footprint, this book is for you! It was amazing! It is meant to be read one page a day for every day out of a year. But in actuality, you can reader it in a much shorter period of time and the ideas you find in this book are so fabulous, that you will probably want to.

Of course there are the suggestions that you may already be familiar with - use reusable bags, check your tire pressure, and recycle your live Christmas trees; however, for every suggestion you may have heard, there are just as many creative green solutions that you may not be as familiar with.

I loved this book because it made me feel proactive, like there really is something that I can do today to make a difference. I loved it because many of the ideas are simple and family friendly. They also have a version specifically for kids if you are looking to raise awareness.

This is just a great, practical and well written book. Perfect for every person, perfect for every family.

Each Little Bird That Sings

I just finished reading this as part of a reading discussion group with my 5th grade girls. With both groups, the boys and the girls, it is amazing how much that I felt that I learned from each of these books.

Each Little Bird that Sings is the story of Comfort Snowberger, a 10 year old girl whose family runs the local funeral home. In the course of her short life, Comfort has been to 247 funerals.
Even so, the ten-year-old is unprepared for the series of heart-wrenching events that begins on the first day of Easter vacation with the sudden death of her beloved great-uncle Edisto. This is the story of those events.

Every one of my girls in the discussion group has lost a loved one, as I myself lost my dad this past year. It was amazing how insightful this book was in dealing with death. I don't want this comment to put the reader off though because this book isn't about death, it's about life. This book is moving, insightful and inspiring. Even as an adult it will be a long time before I forget Comfort and her family and the lessons that I learned will stay with me always.

For my girls, I think that this book was very helpful in assisting them deal with losses in their life, their outlook on death and even how to handle peer pressure or difficulties with a friend. After all, death isn't the only loss we endure in this life and each loss results in it's own sort of grief. Life is full of little ( and big!) surprises and it's how we handle them that matters...

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

"It's not how you die that makes the important impression, Comfort; it's how you live. Now go live a while, honey, and let me get back to work."

Everything, even death, served us, according to him. Everything had a grand purpose, and there was nothing amiss in the universe; it was our job to adjust to whatever came our way.

I think those two quotes are full of wise insight that all of us can apply to everyday life. I would highly recommend Each Little Bird That Sings to anyone... but especially to those in the age group of 9- 15 dealing with the loss of a loved one or pet.

Roses by Leila Meacham

Leila Meacham is a 71 year old English teacher and this is her first work. I listened to the reviewers and publishers compare her work to Gone with the Wind and, loving that book the way that I do, I thought that couldn't possibly be true. After reading Roses, I think it is in many ways a very apt comparison.

Mary Toliver has a connection with her land and family name that is very like that of Scarlett O'Hara. They both make sacrifices throughout both books for their land, sometimes those sacrifices effect not only their own lives but also that of those around them.

The story follows three generations of Tolivers and Warwicks, but focuses mainly on the story of Mary and Percy. The book is a real page turner, you never notice the 500 some odd pages as they go by. I felt engaged by all he various characters - large and small. I cared about their lives and they felt as if they were a part of mine.

Some books, when you finish reading them, the story quickly fades from your mind as you move on to the next story. Others stay with you forever. Like Gone with the Wind, and like Roses.