Tell Me What to Read: Round 5

Once again, the month is coming to an end. Which means. . . .time to tell me what to read in November.  

It can be any genre, any age level, and have been published last week or three hundred years ago. You can pick it because it's a book that everyone should read or because it changed your life or because it is great literature or just because it entertained you. You can DEFINITELY suggest the same book you suggested last month.

Here's how it goes:

1. Comment with the title of one book you think I should read (any book you want). One title only, please, lest my brain explode.
2. I'll select one comment at random and announce it on the blog later this week
   
3. On the off-chance that I've already read the book you select, I'll contact you and ask for a follow-up suggestion (make sure there is a way to contact you either by blog or email).
4. I'll get a copy of the book and read it by the end of November.
5. I'll write a review of it here. Even if I hate the book, I will not hate you.

And. . .go!

Just A Little Something

When we moved to Boston, Bart said he wanted to institute one day a month where we gave each other some sort of small gift. It could be any day of the month and any kind of gift.

You may remember that both Bart and I get kind of stressed out by gift giving. I wondered how this would go.

But, we decided to try it out, calling it "Bart Day" and "Janssen Day."

In September, I was out in the parking lot of our apartment, getting some things out of the trunk. I turned around and saw Bart just arriving home from work (I may have, um, screamed a little. I am super jumpy, all the time). He had a nice bouquet of flowers for me. Janssen Day!

A few weeks ago, I stopped in at Williams-Sonoma and bought two jars of Muirhead's Pecan Pumpkin Butter, the key ingredient for these dessert squares. For the past two years, we've gone to Williams-Sonoma the day after Thanksgiving and both years they have been passing these out as samples. And both years, they were completely sold out of the Pecan Pumpkin Butter. This year, I thought if I went in before Thanksgiving it might still be available. And what do you know? It was. I printed off the recipe and left it and the two jars on the kitchen table for Bart who was returning from a trip to Wisconsin. Voila! Bart Day.

What's not to love?

Tuesday was a rather rotten day, including a lovely incident where I set off the car alarm and could not turn it off. It wailed on and on, and I finally had to just give up and take the other car, which put me in a mega bad mood.

Yesterday morning, just after I finished up my classes for the day, I got a text from Bart informing me it was Janssen Day.

Later in the afternoon, when I checked my email, I found a note from the Hornbook Magazine confirming my new subscription. I have been longing for a subscription for about two years now, sitting on the floor in the UT library stacks reading back issues, and hunting down copies at the public library (always without success as they do not like to lend that magazine out).

It was an extremely thoughtful gift and just the perfect antedote to Tuesday's bad mood.

Now to begin plans for November's Bart Day. . .

Stitches by David Small

I have to say, I was just not as excited about any of the books nominated for the National Book Award this year. Last year, even though I ended up not loving a few of the titles, they all sounded at least somewhat interesting. This year? The list isn't so hot, in my opinion.

After boldly declaring that I was going to read all the books (gulp) before the announcement, I sat around twiddling my thumbs and making zero progress.

Finally, when I got Stitches from the library, I figured I'd dive in to that one because, well, it's a graphic novel, so I knew it would be fast. Which it was. I finished the whole thing in about an hour.

Stitches is David Small's memoir. You may know David Small, even if you don't recognize his name. He won the Caldecott Award for "So You Want to be President?" a few years ago, and he also illustrates many of his wife's books (his wife is Sarah Stewart, author of such lovely books as The Library and The Gardener).

His early life was pretty horrible. His mom suffered from some pretty debilitating depression and appears not to have really cared for David at all. His dad was a doctor and did a ridiculous number of tests on David throughout his childhood. When David is a teenager, a family friend notices a growth on David's throat and eventually he goes in for surgery. When he wakes up from the surgery, though, he finds out that the surgeon accidentally slashed his vocal cords and he can hardly speak anymore. He has a massive, ugly scar up the side of his neck - he says he looks like a poorly sewn boot. His home life continues to get worse until he finally leaves home at sixteen and begins making his way as an artist.

Obviously things work out okay for him - he's now a very successful artist and apparently happily married, but oh. my. word. This book was so ridiculously depressing. The pictures, which have a bit of an eerie, dreamlike quality to them, don't help. If I drank, I would have turned to the bottle to drown my sorrows after this book.

If you read many book blogs (or belong to any YA list-servs) you'll know that everyone is all up in arms about this book because it was published as an ADULT book and now is taking one of the five coveted spots on the list for YOUNG PEOPLE. The horror!

Kelly pointed out that the publisher actually doesn't have a Young Adult or Children's imprint, so all their books are considered adult, which is a fair point. On the other hand, as someone on a list-serv pointed out, the National Book Award is for literature, and the strength of this book is primarily in the pictures, unlike the Caldecott award.

I don't know - frankly, I don't necessarily have a problem with it being on the list, but it's not a book I would recommend, and it's almost certainly not the one I'd vote for off the shortlist this year.

Max Et Les Maximontres

Speaking of children's classics, I know you are all familiar with Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.

As part of a second grade unit on Maurice Sendak last week, I read Where the Wild Things Are aloud seven times, to seven different classes, and was reminded again of how much kids love this book. When I pull this book out, the kids go insane (in a good, albeit loud, way).

Bart loves this book too - early on in our dating, it came up that this is one of his favorite books of all time.

I like it as well - I think the story is sweet and funny, the illustrations are gorgeous, and I particularly love the balance between image and white space and how the white text part is edged out until there is nothing but image during the wild rumpus, after which the pictures begin to shrink back down to their original size and eventually disappear.

And yet, surprisingly, it's a book I wasn't really introduced to until I was an adult.

Oh, we had the book growing up.

But it was in French. My dad served an LDS mission in Paris and speaks French, so I'm guessing the book was a gift from his parents.

All growing up, I had absolutely no idea what the story line was. I'd seen the pictures here and there, but when you can't read the book, it's not all that motivating to pick it up.

I had absolutely no idea about Max's threat to his mother, his banishment to his room, or his escape to where the wild things are. I had no idea that when he got home, to where someone loved him best, his supper was still hot.

It was a strange thing, to be 22 years old, and to flip open this book that had very familiar pictures, but have no idea what the story was.

And I can't stop thinking about how different the experience of reading a book for the first time is when you are an adult than when you've known the book since before you can remember. I was less into the wild rumpus than a kid probably is, and more likely to be teary at the idea of Max missing his mother and sailing home to find his dinner waiting for him.

"I'll Steer; You Push"

As a book lover, it's no surprise that I have my fingers crossed that my children will love books like I do.

I am always thinking about books I want to read to my own children someday and the list, of course, is very long, full of titles my mom read to me when I was a child, books like Little House in the Big Woods, The Wind in the Willows, and Hitty Her First Hundred Years.

But the books that best capture the feelings I have about my own childhood, the memory of cozy days and a generally blissful life, are, without question, the Oliver and Amanda Pig books.

I love everything about these books - the darling, happy pictures, the sweet stories, the length.

Just browsing through the covers makes me want a little child to snuggle up in a blanket on the couch with and read these to. They are so happy, so fun, so cute, so idyllic.

You better believe that when I have children of my own, I will run out and buy the entire set.

Any books you are just waiting to read to children (or nieces and nephews) of your own?

Friday

It is no secret that I really really like Michael Buble. My mom, who is far more in the know then I ever am, sent me his new music video and I have listened to it approximately 100 times since then.

And the video is so fantastic. I made Bart sit down and watch it a few nights ago because it's too good not to share.

It just makes me feel like dancing.

Massachusetts Children's Book Award: Part 1

You may remember that sometime during the summer I talked about the Massachusetts Children's Book Award list and how I was going to read all the books before school started so I could book talk them.

I gave up on that plan because I came up with a new! and improved! plan. Instead of booktalking them all in one fell swoop, I read the first chapter or two of one book from the list to the fourth and fifth grade classes each week during the last ten or fifteen minutes of the class period.

This, my friends, has been a giant, GIANT success. I am ridiculously pleased with how it's turned out so far.

I started out with Swindle (I read through all your comments on the post in an effort to find the best book to start with) and oh. my. word. I have never had so many kids ask for a copy of a book. I could have owned twenty copies (the library has one) and it wouldn't have been enough. It was fantastic.

Although none of the books that have followed have been quite as popular, all of them have had a generally positive response, and I've had multiple students ask for copies of each book. I read them on my own in an effort to stay at least a book or so ahead of where they are, so thus far I've read eight of the books of the list.

I have to say, though, by the time I read whatever book it is to the eleventh class of the week, I'm pretty ready to move on. My voice is also ready for the weekend. Shall have vocal cords of steel by the end of the school year. Or I will be rendered completely mute.

Swindle by Gordon Korman. This book has it all. Every single kid has loved this book. It's about a boy, Griffin, who finds a baseball card in an abandoned house and then sells it to a dealer who swears it's a fake and is only worth about $120. The next day, the dealer is on television boasting about how the card will probably bring over a million dollars at auction. Clearly, Griffin has no choice but to steal back the card. It's funny, fast-paced, clever, and just plain likable. I found myself grinning in my office as I finished it up.




Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson. I haven't read this one to my classes yet and I'll probably put it off until the end because, frankly, I'm not sure how much kid appeal this book will have. It didn't have much Janssen appeal, at least. I read this one a few months ago before school started and frankly, I had to look at the blurb to even remember what happened in the book. I vaguely recalled it dealt with race relations in the seventies, but beyond that, it was kind of a blur.





How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor. This one went over surprisingly well. The main girl is living out of a car with her family and is desperate to have a home again. When she sees a $500 reward sign for a dog, she comes up with the brilliant idea to steal a rich person's dog, wait for a reward to be offered, and then return the dog. Oh MY, do the students love this idea. If there is a plethora of dog thefts in the area around my school, it'll all be my fault. Not my very favorite book, but good enough and a pretty good read-aloud.




The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. A brother and sister end up in the same grade when the sister skips a grade, much to the brother's fury. They end up sort of accidentally challenging each other to see who can make the most in lemonade sales before school starts and they do some pretty mean things to each other in order to win. Also, the ending of this book made me want to pull out my hair. I haven't read this one yet, but the kids keep asking about the title, so I think it'll be coming up soon. And I think they'll like it.

Araminta Spookie 1: My Haunted House by Angie Sage and illustrated by Jimmy Pickering. This has the lowest reading level of any of the books off the list so far, which I think will be really good for some of the kids struggling a bit. Plus, I think they'll just love the story of a haunted house, complete with ghosts, talking suits of armour . I'll probably read this one next week for Halloween.

Billy the Fish by Charlie James and illustrated by Ned Jolliffe. This book was the second one I read aloud and while it didn't get the wild reception that Swindle did, the kids seemed to really enjoy it. Ned's little brother Billy eats some experimental fish food and turns into a fish (he can change back into a boy with relative ease, too). I thought it started out quite well, but I was totally rolling my eyes by the end. It just became progressively more stupid. I need some kids to finish it up so they can tell me if they loved it or if they agreed with me.





The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. I listened to this one on CD months before I saw this list and I think the narrator kind of ruined it for me. It was fine, but not great. The main character has Asperberg's Syndrome and I'll be interested to see what my students make of that.







Elijah Of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.This book made me insane. It was going along on plot line A and then suddenly, twenty pages from the end, introduced plot line B and solved the problems introduced there, completely abandoning plot line A. This did not win my heart. The story is about the first free born boy in a little all-black community in Canada in the nineteenth century.

The Eyes of Texas are Upon You

About two weeks after we arrived in Boston, Kristi asked me if I was homesick for Texas.

I thought, no, of course not. I'm totally settling into the groove here and Texas is nothing but a happy memory now. I was busy with work, the weather was lovely, there were plenty of things to do. No, homesickness was for wimps.

But now, nine weeks after moving, I'm missing Texas.

I know it's not fair to compare the city you leave behind - somewhere familiar and full of friends - with a new city that is still unknown and a bit lonely. I know, I remember, having some of these same sad lonely feelings when we moved to Texas, feeling like it would never feel like home.

I know that there is a tendency to make the place you've left an absolute paradise in your mind, because you aren't there anymore, forgetting everything you didn't love about a place (don't you worry, Bart has not even begun to forget the fire ants).

We were watching the pilot episode of Friday Night Lights recently (yeah, yeah, I know it came out years ago) and there was a shot of the main street. I made Bart pause it, and sure enough, it was the main street of our little city just outside of Austin. There was the church that we went to caucus at last fall. There was the water tower with the donut shop underneath. There was the sidewalk I biked up and down dozens and dozens of times two summers ago on my way to and from work.

I loved Texas. I think Bart was a little shocked by how wholeheartedly I embraced Texas.

I loved the weather, I loved the Texas pride. I loved our little house - the first place we ever owned, I loved HEB (oh you know how I loved HEB), I loved the University of Texas, I loved our many, many, many good friends. I loved the airport (if you've ever been in the Austin airport, you should know what I'm talking about). I loved the cheap and direct flights into Las Vegas (with the two hour time difference, we could get in only an hour after departing). I loved the little local library.

I know that it just takes time. That eventually we'll have good friends here, that I won't feel like I have no one to call or to hang out with. That someday if we leave Boston, I'll feel the same crushing sense of loss to be leaving a place I love.

But today is not that someday. Today, Texas is still my home, and I'm homesick.

Weekend

On Wednesday night, Heidikins came to visit. 

Because of things like "work" and "cub scout meetings," I didn't get to see as much of her as I'd hoped, but it was still a lovely long weekend. We had a few meals here and on Thursday night, with Bart home from a business trip, we ventured into the North End and visited Mike's Pastry.

Yankee Girl wrote me a long long email a few weeks ago telling me all the things I must see and do in Boston and the longest paragraph of all was dedicated to the cannolis at Mike's Pastry and how to successfully navigate the madhouse. She told me that, "when you have entered Mike's Pastries with 30 people in front of you and make it out with your order in 5 minutes you may consider yourself a Bostonian." Done and done. 

Also, she wasn't kidding about the cannolis being the best thing ever. Heidi went back the next day. I spent the next day at work dreaming about going back. If you come to visit? I guarantee I will drive you there myself. And force you to buy a cannoli. 

Um, was that three paragraphs about a dessert? Yes, yes it was. You should see the inside of my brain. It's the dessert channel all day long. 

Heidi spent most of Saturday with Nancy Pearl Wannabe and Operation Pink Herring, and then Bart and I met up with them in New Hampshire for the famed Pumpkin Festival in Keene.

Keene? Is pretty much Gilmore Girls come to life, gazebo and all. OPH said she expected to see Kirk skipping around at any moment.  There were pumpkins EVERYWHERE, close to 30,000, I'm guessing (we left before the final count, but they've had around that number in previous years).

You will not be surprised to find out that this was far and away my favorite pumpkin of the night. I will not apologize.

Also, there were these guys wandering around in super-creepy masks and Heidi noticed that they were sort of following us around, seeing as we apparently looked like a group of girls. When they noticed Bart, though, they turned around and headed off. Glad he was there. 

It was a delightful weekend, even though I know the winter is not far off (the numbness in my toes after walking around outside for 90 minutes reminded me of this fact. Also the call from Bart this afternoon to alert me that it was snowing). 

This brings my total number of blog friends met to four and I have thus far managed to avoid being murdered in my bed. I shall try to keep this streak going. 

National Book Awards

On Wednesday, the five finalists for the National Book Awards were announced in each category.

It will come as no surprise to you that all my attention was on the Young People's Literature category. As in, I was refreshing the page like an idiot during my lunch break waiting for it to turn to 12 noon.

Last year, I read all five finalist books and turned up my nose at the book they chose as the winner (I'm still bitter on Frankie Landau-Banks' behalf).

This year, I'm going to try to read them all before they announce a winner, which is in about five weeks.

Last year, I'd only heard of one of the books when the list came out, but this year, I've heard of three. Next year, maybe I'll have heard of all five. (Note that I said "heard," not "read" or even "glanced at one page of.")

Anyway, here are the five books:

Stitches: A Memoir by David Small

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heligman

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

I have no dreams of correctly predicting which book will win, because I clearly have no insight in to why they insist on not choosing what was clearly CLEARLY the winner (listen, people, I read all five last year, and Frankie Landau-Banks was robbed. Robbed, I say!)

Ahem. I'll let you know what I think of these books as I plow through. Let me know if you've read any of them and have wise words of wisdom to pass along.

Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson

9 of 10: This is everything you want non-fiction to be; I was amazed that James Swanson could make a familiar story so gripping, but Chasing Lincoln's Killer was just that. 

A few weeks ago, at the National Book Festival, we were wandering around a bit during the second hour because there wasn't anyone I was particularly interested in seeing. We walked by the teen tent and because my heart leaps any time there is "teen" and "book" in the same sentence, I insisted that we see who it was. A quick look at the program revealed it was James Swanson, the author of Chasing Lincoln's Killer.

This was a book I suddenly remembered clearly since it was one of the first titles I noticed where a successful adult book was rewritten into a young adult version (the original version of this book is Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer). And suddenly I remember that I had a copy of the young adult version sitting at home somewhere in the recesses of my bookcase, from TLA.

James Swanson was a terrific public speaker, and I enjoyed every bit of his presentation. Considering how many many books I have on my to-read list, it should mean something that I came home and read his book within two weeks.

The main focus of this book is really John Wilkes Booth - why he murdered Lincoln, how his plan took shape and was put into action, and then what he did for twelve days before he was caught and killed. Swanson does a good job at not demonizing Booth, but he also has very little sympathy for the assassin. In an interview, he said, "I certainly didn't want the reader to sympathize with Booth. He was a racist, and he was a murderer. It was very important to me to write in the epilogue what I think his legacy really was."

The book ends, ". . . we still remember Booth to this day. But he is not the hero of the story. The real hero is Abraham Lincoln and the principles for which he lived - and died: freedom and equal rights for all Americans."

Swanson made it very clear in his speech that he deeply admires Lincoln and sees him as one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. And, as I happen to agree with him, the angle of this book appealed to me a lot.

I've been simultaneously listening to a book in the car, which having seen the movie trailers, I know what's going to happen and it is almost unbearable to watch events unfold when you know the tragic way things are headed.

This book is a million times worse. You know Lincoln will die. You know John Wilkes Booth is successful in his assassination attempts. And it's real. This really happened. There are so many moments where you hope, futilely, that something will go wrong for Booth - he'll get the date wrong, the door will be locked, his gun will misfire, anything. And yet, of course, you know it won't.

And, as usual, everything hinges on such small and seemingly trivial things. If only John Wilkes Booth hadn't gone to Ford's Theater that day to pick up his mail and heard that the Lincolns were coming to the show that night. If only the guard at the bridge into Maryland hadn't let him go past after the curfew.

I loved that Swanson seems fascinated by the inexplicable things that people do. For instance, Dr. Mudd, the infamous doctor who set Booth's broken leg and gave them a place to stay for a night, sent his cousin to report the Booth's visit to the soldiers in town - he knew he couldn't keep it a secret forever since a few people had seem them come and go. And yet, somehow, for who knows what reason, the cousin, a loyal Unionist, didn't report it. Not until several days later did he mention it to the authorities. Who knows why?

Or when Booth and his companion set off across the river from Maryland (dangerous Union territory) into the safety of Virginia, but then found themselves accidentally still in Maryland, they waited an entire night and day before setting off again into Virginia, despite knowing the terrible risks of remaining in Maryland and with soldiers hot on their trail. Again, who can possibly explain why?

One thing that really shook me about this book was re-realizing that Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated. What a shock for the country that must have been - for us, looking back, it seems practically inevitable that Lincoln would die; his assassination is perhaps one of the most memorable parts of his legacy. On the other hand, as you read about the security of the time in this book, you shake your head in amazement that EVERY president up until then wasn't assassinated. My word - they let any old anybody into the White House for a private audience with the president. Frankly, I'm amazed Lincoln made it a month in office, let alone five years and through the whole Civil War.

What really impressed me about this book is the fact that Swanson kept the story so streamlined. I think that many many non-fiction writers struggle with staying on topic. There is always so much tangentially related (and often fascinating) information that they want to squeeze in there, and so the story wanders off into other avenues, before returning, eventually to the main story line, only to be derailed shortly thereafter. This book? Does not do that. This book is extraordinarily tightly edited - never once did I think, "why in the world are you going on and on about this? What does this have to do with anything?" This book clocks in at just 200 pages - there is not a wasted word.

By the way, the movie rights to this book have been sold and in an interview Swanson was asked who he thought should play Booth. His answer? Johnny Depp. I wholeheartedly agree. Can you imagine how fantastic that would be? 

This book received as an ARC from the publisher at the Texas Library Association in March 2009.

Time to Share Your Wealth of Knowledge

A few weeks ago, Bart and I started discussing Thanksgiving in great detail.

For the last two years, we've spent it with friends in Austin. It required a total of five minutes of travel, practically no cost, and allowed me to volunteer for the fun parts (dessert, sweet potatoes, turkey), and then lay around on Ralphie's living room floor. I am a little heartbroken not to be repeating the festivities this year.

Sadly, plane tickets to Austin for Thanksgiving would have cost $1200. Sorry, Texas friends, we don't love you quite that much. Or at least our savings account doesn't.

Instead, we've decided to go to New York City for Thanksgiving. We can get there for a fraction (and I mean FRACTION) of the cost it would be to fly somewhere, we can priceline a hotel, and basically just live it up.

This is the part where you come in. I know that lots of you have visited New York numerous times or have even lived there. Tell me what we should see, where we should go, where we should eat, what areas to stay in (or avoid at all costs), etc. If it's about NYC, I want to know it.

(Also, for the last three years, Bart has spent the morning of Thanksgiving raking the leaves in our front yard (we had two enormous trees), stacking up a dozen bags or more for the garbage man. I have a feeling he won't miss that bit of the festivities at all).

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

8 of 10: Flygirl was a great historical fiction offering. I've mentioned before that I like historical fiction about big events but from an angle I wasn't previously familiar with. This one did that perfectly. 

Ida Mae loves to fly. Her father was a crop duster, and he taught her how to fly his plane. She applies for a license and after her test, the instructor tells her she certainly can fly, but he'll never give a woman a license.

As if being a woman isn't bad enough, Ida Mae is also black. She's extremely fair-skinned, though, and light enough to "pass" is she chooses.

When World War II breaks out, and the army begins the Women Airforce Service Pilot program. They'll train the women how to fly the planes, and then the women will be responsible for flying them around the country delivering them to the bases that need them.

Ida Mae is determined to get in and she fakes a license (using her dad's old one) and interviews as a white girl. Her mother is furious, not just because she fears the danger, but because she feels like Ida Mae is turning her back on the family by pretending to be white.

Ignoring her mother's wishes, though, Ida Mae presses on and gets herself signed on and she begins training in Texas. For her, it's both exciting and terrifying, as not only is the program extremely rigorous (only about 1/3 of the girls make it through), but because she's always concerned about her race being discovered and getting arrested or, worse, even killed (she is in Texas, after all, where racial tensions run high).

I don't have any particular interest in planes or flying, but I was surprised by how fascinated I was by the whole thing. It's dangerous, yes, but it's also exciting. And these girls have a lot to prove since many of the instructors make it very clear they think women have no business being there. You really can't help but cheer these girls on.

The story didn't really go the direction I expected - it didn't resolve nicely, which, in hindsight, I should have expected. But it felt authentic that way, so I have no complaints.

The Publishers Weekly review said that the book feels "constructed to educate" and I can't help but agree with that, but it does so in a way that didn't bother me at all. I genuinely liked Ida Mae and was fascinated by this aspect of WWII I hadn't known anything about previously.

Also, is it just me, or does that girl on the cover resemble Julie Andrews in a major way?

Never Were There Such Devoted Sisters

Merrick and Philip came to visit last weekend.

You may remember Merrick as the sister I went to London with long long ago, before even I had this blog (did such a time ever exist? The horror!).

We had more fun in London than we probably should have. We saw plays, ate Hobnobs as if we'd never eat again, visited the Borough Market more times than we needed to, cruised through boring museums and amazing ones alike, did homework, bought skirts, and generally lived it up for eight weeks.

Two weeks after we arrived back in the states, I moved to Texas and since then we've only seen each other for a few days at a time - a Disneyland trip, Christmas, Dad's 50th birthday party last fall, etc.

This was another short visit, just less that 48 hours total. We had a great time, laughing, eating, and driving around in the pouring rain (also, clutching our stomachs with laughter at Philip's attempts to blow up our temperamental air mattress).

I wanted to cry when we dropped them off at the airport. I don't know when we'll see them next, as they are on the opposite Christmas schedule from us and we'll miss them by hours in each direction.

I hope that someday Merrick and I get to live close to each other again. It doesn't need to be bunk bed close like it was in London (that might be somewhat awkward), but a few hours of driving away would be absolutely feasible.

And I hope Landen is close too. I need my sisters closer than a continent away.

(We clearly were having too much fun to bother taking many pictures)

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr

9 of 10: I think Sara Zarr is a stand-out author and Once Was Lost is, I think, her best yet. This book about faith and family is as far from prosaic as it gets.

Sam is a pastor's kid in a small town; she's grown up around the church, hearing the stories of the Bible and being surrounded by the congregation of her church.

And yet, despite being so on the inside, she's also kind of on the outside. The kids at church are all nice to her and some of them are good friends to her, but she also knows they don't invite her to all their parties because she's the "pastor's daughter" and she's tired of that. And when your family is supported by the congregation, it means everyone has an opinion on how you live and what you spend. New phone? New outfit? It's sure to attract a comment from someone about how "we must be paying you too much." It's not an ideal way to live.

And, of course, life isn't perfect and is getting less so by the second for Sam. Her mother got in a car accident after hitting a tree in a DUI and is now in rehab. And her father, beloved for always knowing what to say and do for the members of the congregation, clearly has no idea how to deal with this situation or with Sam as the two of them live alone for several weeks.

To make matters a thousand times worse, Jody, a young teen in the congregation, is kidnapped off the streets of their little town, drawing major media coverage and putting even more commitments on Sam's dad as he acts as spokesperson for the family as they search for their lost daughter.

For Sam, this is all too much at once. She feels her faith, once a certainty in her life, beginning to unravel, threatening to snap and leave her even more alone and confused then she already is. And of course, who can she talk about this to? Certainly no one at church, least of all her father.

One of the (many) things I love about Sara Zarr's writing is that I never know what the plot is going to do. In Sweethearts, I had no idea if Jenna and Cameron were going to end up together. In Story of a Girl, I had NO idea how things might play out. This book was no different. In a mainstream book about faith, I just couldn't predict if this would end with Sam losing her faith in God altogether or finding it strengthened or if she would simply accept that she didn't know what to think.

There's a boy, too - Jody's older brother, in fact - but, based on the other books, I just didn't know if this would be a friendship, a romance, or nothing at all. And will Jody never be found, will she be recovered safe and alive, or will her body be uncovered somewhere? It is so refreshing to read a book that you can't predict any of the major story lines for.

I'd thought when I read Sara Zarr's first two books that she has an incredible knack for writing from a teenager girl's perspective. But in this book, the voice was so strong and so real, that every 50 pages or so, I'd close the book, see Sara Zarr's name on the cover and remember with a start that it was written by her and not, in fact, by the narrator. Sam was that real to me.

Sara Zarr's three books all have a fairly major premise, but in all of them the real substance of the story is in the character's development and the process of maturing and making decisions based on increased understanding of themselves and the world around them. Even with a plot like a kidnapping and a DUI, this book feels quiet - I didn't fly through it, but instead found myself engaged by every single page.

I may have become a mega-fan girl in spite of myself!

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

6 of 10: The Art of Racing in the Rain was a faster read than I was expecting, but not one I'd necessarily recommend. A little too much swearing for me, and also the main character was a dog. And I, um, don't really love animals.

This was the September book for Tell Me What to Read. I requested it right away, but it took me a while to open it. When Bart and I went down to DC for the National Book Festival, I read the entire thing on the two plane flights. It was, obviously, quick read.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book, but my initial expectations weren't very accurate. 

The book is all told from the dog's point of view. His name is Enzo and he lives with his owner, a young guy named Denny. Denny is a race car driver trying to make a name for himself, while working at a car repair place to pay the bills. Enzo is crazy about racing, too, watching it alone at home on the television while Denny is gone at work.

Enzo's life changes a lot, though, when Denny gets married and he and his new wife have a baby. Life, as it usually does, isn't what they expected and some things are much more difficult than anticipated. Denny's wife, Eve, gets ill, a fact that Enzo discovers far earlier than the humans find out. And that's just the beginning - it's a bit like Gone With the Wind, where you think "WHAT MORE CAN POSSIBLY HAPPEN?" And, I'm not saying this book is the next Gone With the Wind.

Enzo also believes that he'll be reincarnated as a human after his dog life is over and he looks forward to being able to read, to speak, and to having thumbs (the thumbs is the biggest thing for him). He feels like he understands humans pretty well and is constantly frustrated by his inability to communicate very well with them. 

I don't know - this book was more interesting than I thought it'd be, considering it was about a DOG (I'm sorry, all you mega-animal lovers; I just don't get it), but it also never gripped me. I didn't particularly like any of the characters and the book had a bit of a grungy, depressing feel that made me slightly uncomfortable.

Has anyone else read this? What did you think? 

What I'm Going to Read: Round 4

As usual, there were many many good suggestions. Every time I compile the list for the month, I think "I need to read all of these!" As if my reading list wasn't long enough already.

Anyway, the book of the month is The Girl With the Silver Eyes, suggested by Lisa from Books Lists Life.

• The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter by Holly Robinson (Mad Hadder)
• The Zookeeper's Wifeby Diane Ackerman (Jenn)
• Follow the River by James Alexander Thom (Laura Muir)
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson (Shelly)
• The King's Flower by Mitsumasa Anno (RA)
• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (Lexiloo)
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Sherry)
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (Carly Jane)
• The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett (Kelly J)
• The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb (Saskia Tielens)
• Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (Heidikins)
• 11 Birthdaysby Wendy Mass (Brianna Soloski)
• Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel (Karmacoy)
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Jenae and Sara)
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Ang)
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Laura)
• Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald (Sammy)
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Becca)
• Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Murrillier (Science Teacher Mommy and Angiegirl)
• The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (Stacy)
• North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (Suey)
• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Jenny)
• Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting by Michael Perry (Karen DV)
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Katie and Yankee Girl)
• The Opposite of Love: A Novel by Julie Buxbaum (J)
• The Goats by Brock Cole (Jessica)
• Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (Alison Stewart)
• Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell (Miri)
• The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (Sara Millett)
• These is my Words by Nancy Turner (Mom)
• The Girl With the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts (Lisa)
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Merry)
• My Life in France by Julia Child (Heather)
• Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (Zillah)
• A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins (Kimberly)
• Jack Tumor by Anthony McGowan (Kelly)

Of these, I've read only three, two of which I've reviewed in the past.

• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Review here)
• Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell (Review here)

And, here we go again! I'll let you know in a few weeks what I thought of this month's book.

Three Quarters of the Way Through

• Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Still conflicted on this book. It just wasn't quite what I wanted. 

• Rumors - Anna Godbersen
I LOVED this series. I am DYING for the last one to come out! 

• Envy - Anna Godbersen
This one is not quite as good as the first two, but still fun. 

• Fire - Kristin Cashore
This is one of the best books I've read so far this year.

• Academy 7 - Anne Osterlund
Still Star-Warsy. 

• This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen
I will never stop loving Sarah Dessen 

• Keeping the Moon - Sarah Dessen
Probably my least favorite of her books, except maybe That Summer. 

• Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler
  
This book was a crushing disappointment. 

• The Finishing Touches - Hester Browne
Fine, but forgettable. 

• One Lonely Degree - C.K. Kelly Martin
Bleck, too depressing. 

• Catching Fire - Suzanne Cullins
There are not words to show my devotion. 

• Feathers -Jacqueline Woodson
This book fell a bit flat for me; I need to read one of her other books. 

• The Lemonade War - Jacqueline Davies
Not my favorite either. The Massachusetts Children's Book Award and I got off to a bit of a rocky start. 

• Another Faust - Daniel Nayeri
Too weird. Just. . .too weird. 

• When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead
A book I meant to write about - funny, smart, and completely engrossing. Clearly, I never did, though. 

• The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
This one deserved the hype. I feel oddly awesome to have finally read it. 

• Small Steps - Louis Sachar
This is a rather flat follow-up to the absolutely amazing Holes. 

• The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han
Another one that had me frantically Googling the release date of the sequel. 

• Fairy Tale - Cyn Balog
Tried too hard. 

• Life with Picasso - Francoise Gilot
I still cannot believe I managed to read this whole book. 

• Downtown Chic: Designing Your Dream Home: from Wreck to Ravishing - Robert Novogratz
I want a garage door in my kitchen.

• Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella
Maybe my favorite Sophie Kinsella now. I kept forcing Bart to listen to me read parts aloud, while I HOWLED with laughter. 

• Practice Makes Perfect - Julia James
Romance. Definitely romance. 

• Banker - Dick Francis
I need to read something else by him, since this book was phenomenal. 

• Valley of Fire - Janet Cox
Total Mormon chick-lit. Loved every page. 

• Radiant Darkness - Emily Whitman
Surprisingly memorable. 

• Fade to Blue - Sean Beaudoin
This book was so weird. As in, I literally had no idea what had happened when I closed the book. I was just so glad it was done. 

• The Hunger Games - Suzanne Cullins
Just as good the second time. I can't wait to read Catching Fire to Bart. 

• Hate List - Jennifer Brown
  
This book was just marvelous. It deserves the hype it's getting. 

• Once Was Lost - Sara Zarr
A terrific Sara Zarr book - maybe my favorite so far. 

• Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
Bless you people who tuld me you hated this book too. I feel so much less alone. 

• On the Wings of Heroes - Richard Peck
Richard Peck, your books are just too good for words. Not that that stops me. I forgive you for telling teachers to pass out vocab lists when they read aloud.

• Princess Ben: Being a Wholly Truthful Account of her Various Discoveries and Misadventures, Recounted to the Best of her Recollection, in Four Parts - Catherine Gilbert Murdock
This book dragged on and on. It gave me no hint of how awesome her other books would be. 

• Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie - David Lubar
A fun audio book. Kind of cheesy. 

• Dairy Queen - Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Holy cow, I loved this book (pun unintended but appreciated). 

• Swindle - Gordon Korman
My students LOVED this book. A total winner. 

• The Off Season - Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Even BETTER than the first one. I am shaking with excitement about the third one. 

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
So lovely. So glad to have read it. 

• Judy Moody - Megan McDonald
I can see why these are popular - very cute and fun. 

• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo
I was biased against this book going in, but it won me over in spite of myself. Darling. 

• Billy the Fish - Charlie James
Funnyish but too weird and didn't have a strong enough plot. 

• Flygirl - Sherri L. Smith
Great YA historical fiction. 

• Goldengrove - Francine Prose
Much different and better than I expected. 

• Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus - Barbara Park
Having been around elementary schoul students for a month now, this book rings pretty true. 

• The Fairy-Tale Detectives - Michael Buckley
I so wanted to love this. Instead I just liked it. 

• The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
  
Bizarre, but semi-charming.