Books

Friday Five – The Gary Schmidt edition

1. I’m reading Gary Schmidt’s new book, OKAY FOR NOW. In three pages I was completely sucked into the story, rooting for the main character. I would have read it in one sitting except that it was nearly 1am and I knew I should get some sleep.

2. Reading Gary Schmidt’s books makes me excited about writing middle grade and motivates me to get back to work on my two. Of course the flip side to that is if I play the compare game (hey, I know I shouldn’t do it but that doesn’t make it easy to stop.) and I realize how utter brilliant he is which makes me feel utterly ordinary.

3. Reading OKAY FOR NOW, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach very early in the book. That feeling you get when you realize another author has done something kinda sorta not exactly but somewhat similar to something you were going to do in your own book. It’s not like it was a super odd-ball character or unusual happening, the sort of thing that you could peg from book to book. No one else will give it a second thought. But I will at times. Sigh. And then I will remember the teeter totter of brilliance versus ordinary. And then I will just have to knuckle down and find my own brilliance.

4. In 2010 Gary Schmidt spoke at our local SCBWI conference at Asilomar. I was memorized. His talk about working with incarcerated students reminded me of my own work in similar situations. He made me laugh. He made me cry. I wanted him to adopt me. Okay, maybe not adopt me but I wanted to be one of his students. I know he teaches in some distance education programs but I can’t afford to sign on for a long term program. But I could afford some one-on-one time. I wish he would consider taking on a private student. Namely, me. (I have a similar writer crush on Beth Kephart and the same desire to somehow be a student in one of her classes some day.)

5. The first Gary Schmidt book I ever read was The Sin Eater, maybe 10 year ago. I remember being somewhat in awe, that you could write this kind of story, with this kind of emotion and so many layers for middle grade. I felt like it handed me a get-out-of-writing-jail free card and encouraged me to write my kind of books, the not-so-funny, probably going to hurt your heart kind of books.

If you haven’t read any of Gary’s books yet, you owe it to yourself to pick one up. Thanks Gary, for lighting the path.

Friday, June 3, 2011|Categories: Books|Tags: , , |2 Comments

Getting kids more interested in verse novels

My book Hugging the Rock is mentioned in this article, Give Verse a Chance on the wonderful new blog, From the Mixed-Up Files…of Middle-Grade Authors. The question is raised, how do we get middle graders to read more verse?

How about popping over there and joining the conversation?

Monday, July 12, 2010|Categories: Books|Tags: |2 Comments

Looking for books with varied structure

Can anyone point me to some titles of books that instead of being just straight chapters have other things, like notes, diary entries, etc in-between the chapters? Thanks in advance. YA or MG, both will work.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009|Categories: Books|Tags: , |19 Comments

Building a Poetry Shelf (room?)

It is poetry Friday, just barely, a little left in the night. I’ve been thinking of poetry today even if I didn’t get a post up.

I want to add to my poetry collection. I have many shelves (seven so far) of poetry. I was going to say more for children than adults but I don’t think that’s true. It’s probably 50/50. I’m not interested in adding any classic poets. We have a lot of those and they are not one I turn to again and again. I’m looking for contemporary poets. The trouble is that some poets are prolific and it is hard to decide which books of theirs to buy first.

So here’s your chance – tell me about your favorite books by contemporary adult poets. I have read some of Mary Oliver and Billy Collins but which books of theirs are your favorites? Who else should I seek out?

Friday, August 14, 2009|Categories: Books|Tags: , |22 Comments

Fathers and Daughters in Children's Literature

Thanks to everyone for suggestions about books and movies about fathers and daughters. For those who are interested, here’s the mostly full list. If you suddenly remember something that should be on here, please let me know. And none of these are listed in any particular order.

Middle Grade

Young Adult and up

Picture Books

Movies

Saturday, June 20, 2009|Categories: Books|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Follow-up on the Library Lovin' Challenge

Thank you everyone who came by to post a comment in support of the Library Lovin’ Challenge. It warmed my heart more than I can say to see so many people not just pause to say “here” but to actually take the time to share a library story of their own. I have often said that books saved me until I was stong enough to save myself. For so many of us the library was a lifeline, both as children and as adults. We loved  books and felt happiest when we were surrounded by books, reading books or sharing books with friends. We grew up to  be teachers and librarians and writers and so much more. And you all shared that love with me by posting over 200 comments to help me reach my goal.

As a thank-you to library lovers everywhere, I created a PDF of poem about the need for books, entitled, WHERE DO I GO, that you can download here. If you want to read it before downloading, it appears in this blog post.

If you’re interested, here is my original Library Lovin’ Challenge post. It was the brainchild of Jennifer R. Hubbard, whom we know around here on LJ as[info]writerjenn. Thank you, Jenn, for kick-starting this fabulous event!

And here are some of my favorite library stories from the many wonderful comments!

I remember walking home from the Bookmobile, so many books tucked under my arm that I was in danger of toppling over.

I haunted the local library as a kid. They awarded little pins for the number of books read (they kept track) and my little posterboard was covered with them.

I was the kids in the Edward Eager book, walking out of the library with the stack of as many books as they’d let us check out. My sisters & I all took ten each, every week (?) and then we’d swap as needed. Now I thrive because of my local bookmobile–they make life SO easy!

I remember when I was nine and moved from England to D.C the biggest wow wasn’t the snow or the Air & Space museum, which were incredibly awesome– it was the LIBRARY! You could take as many books out as you wanted. I was in heaven!! In England the max was six I think. I walked out that library on my first visit with a stack of books so high! US libraries really are the best!

I would walk across the street to the public library after school and then walk home, walking and reading at the same time. It was a considerable distance as I recall. It took almost an hour, but I would just walk and read, walk and read. It is a miracle I wasn’t hit by a car or didn’t fall into a hole or walk into a wall…I wonder if it would have been a faster walk if I had not been reading?

I think the library 3 blocks from my house saved my life when I was a kid. When I went to buy my house, one of my unspoken assumptions was that it would be a *good* house if it was within walking distance of a library. It is. 😉

I don’t remember a time that libraries have not been in my life- a place of excitement, refuge and knowledge. Our country needs these places now more than ever.

We visited the library every week as a child and I proudly presented my dogeared card to take out the maximum number allowed. Now, libraries provide lifeblood to my work and serenity in the chaos of frenetic lifestyles.

I think the Bookmobile is my all time favorite library. We lived at the end of a long dirt road and there were 8 children in our family. I think the Bookmobile ladies felt sorry for my mom! It wasn’t until years later that I discovered that the Bookmobile didn’t deliver directly to just everybody’s house and that there were designated stops which most people would go to. It was such a gift because getting us to town to visit the actual library was a rare occurrence.

I lived a half a block from the library and every weekend my mom and I would bring home two shopping bags full of books. I practically lived at that library all my growing-up years. I should have known I’d become a librarian!

When I was a newlywed we went to the door one Saturday to be greeted by a local law enforcement officer who had come to collect our overdue library books. How blessed was I to live in a community where the police had time to help out the library and nobody thought that meant there were too many police! I guess I loved those books a little too much!

Libraries: America’s Red Carpet For Immigrants
I know this is true because of how I felt as a newcomer to America.

I spend more time at my library than any other place in town.

My daughter is a new reader at age 5. I’m so thankful that she love reading and that she loves the praise she gets for it. That makes it easy for us. Anything we can do to promote reading among kids and their parents we’re all for it.

I love libraries almost as much as my 6 year old son does! His biggest bday present when he turned 6 was getting his very own library card!

Libraries were crucial to me, too, growing up. Now that I am a librarian, their effect on the education and development of children in our communities is so beyond supplementary – it’s, frankly, a little frightening in this frugal spending environment considering just how much libraries do for people.

The bookmobile saved my life as a kid. We had no money and with the exception of encyclopedias and some harlequin romance novels, no books in our house. It was so cool.

We need Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to become Andrew Carnegie so that libraries would have the funding they need.

As wonderful as this Internet is, it shouldn’t completely replace libraries. They offer something this connection can’t, a sense of the vastness and accessibility of knowledge.

I wish libraries were open 24/7. I love that adrenalin rush when I walk inside the library doors and know the world is waiting for me inside.Thanks, Ben Franklin. You started this and I love you for setting books free!

Sunday, March 29, 2009|Categories: Books|Tags: , |12 Comments

memorable mothers and fathers in children's literature

I am working on a couple of booklists, similiar to the 175 Cool Boys from Children’s Literature and 200 Cool Girls from Children’s Literature put together by uber organized Jen Robinson and could use some help building up my lists.

Here are the lists I am putting together:
 
Mother’s in Children’s Literature (if someone has already done this master list, please let me know.)

Fathers in Children’s Literature (yes, I have a list of fathers and daughters in kidlit but I’d like to broaden the list to all sorts of fathers in children’s literature.

And what the heck – grandparents too!

Here is the list so far:

MOTHERS
The mother in The Runaway Bunny (Margaret Wise Brown)
Homily Clock The Borrowers (Mary Norton)
The calico cat in The Underneath (Kathi Appelt)
Marmee from Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
Mrs. Frisby of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O’Brien)
The mother in Are You My Mother? (P. D. Eastman)
Sarah in Sarah Plain and Tall (Patricia Maclachlan)
The mother in Love You Forever (Robert N Munsch)
Mrs Walker from the Swallows & Amazons books (Arthur Ransome)
"Moms" from the Trixie Belden books (Julie Campbell and Kathryn Kenny)
Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter books (J K Rowling)
Mrs. Sowerby in The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
Caroline Ingalls in The Little House on the Praire (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Katherine Krupnik from the Anastasia series (Lois Lowry)
Mrs. Murry from A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
Mrs. Darling  from Peter Pan (J. M. Barrie)
Mrs. Milton from Spud (John Howard van de Ruit)
Mrs.  Quimby  from the Henry Huggins and Ramona series (Beverly Cleary)
Mrs. Tillerman from Homecoming (Cynthia Voigt)
The Other Mother in Coraline (Neil Gaiman)
The mother in So B. It (Sarah Weeks)
Mrs. Coulter in His Dark Materials series (Philip Pullman)
Mrs Connor from Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature (Robin Brande)
Mama from the  "All-of-a-Kind-Family" series (Sidney Taylor)

FATHERS
Pod Clock The Borrowers (Mary Norton)
Charles Ingalls in The Little House on the Praire (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Ted Walker from the Swallows & Amazons books (Arthur Ransome)
Peter Belden  from the Trixie Belden books (Julie Campbell and Kathryn Kenny)
Arthur Weasley from the Harry Potter books (J K Rowling).
Mr. Melendy from the Melendy books (Elizabeth Enright)
Mr. Darling  from Peter Pan (J. M. Barrie)
Mr. Murry from A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
Mr. Milton from Spud (John Howard van de Ruit)
Mr. Quimby  from the Henry Huggins and Ramona series (Beverly Cleary)
Myron Krupnik from the Anastasia series (Lois Lowry)
Fenton Hardy from the Hardy Boys series
Carson Drew from the Nancy Drew series
Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Elrond in Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
King Theoden in Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The preacher father in Because of Winn Dixie (Kate DiCamillo)
Pa Faulstich in Just Juice (Karen Hesse)
Henry Swann in Protecting Marie (Kevin Henkes)
Jakob in Family Tree (Katherine Ayres)
Mr. Penderwick in The Penderwicks (Jeanne Birdsall)
Mortimer Folchart in Inkheart (Cornelia Funke)
Isaiah Goodspeed in The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed (Heather Vogel Frederick )
Mr. in  Mr. And Me (Kimberly Willis Holt)
Mr. Peck in Boston Jane (Jennifer L. Holm)
Bill Casson in Saffy’s Angel (Hilary McKay)
Ben Sills in Words By Heart (Ouida Sebestyen) 
The father in Hugging the Rock (Susan Taylor Brown)
Saul Naumann in Bee Season (Myla Goldberg) 
The father in Tender (Valerie Hobbs)
Whip in One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies (Sonya Sones) 

GRANDMOTHERS
Mrs Oldknowe (sp?) from the Green Knowe books (Lucy M Boston)
Abigail Tillerman from the Tillerman books (Cynthia Voigt).
 

Sunday, March 8, 2009|Categories: Books|Tags: , , , |55 Comments

Looking for books

Can anyone think of any books that deal with the theme of the sins of the fathers?

Sunday, January 18, 2009|Categories: Books|Tags: |19 Comments

June carnival of Children's Literature – Fathers in Children's books

Welcome to the June 2008 Carnival of Children’s Literature. The theme of fathers in children’s books brought posts of the good, the bad, and even a bit of Dr. Seuss.


SPECIAL DAUGHTERS, SPECIAL DADS

To get us in the fatherly mood, a pair of special daughters give us a glimpse of what it was like to grow up with a pair of special dads. Terry at the Reading Tub shares thoughts on her dad and books and Kelly Herold tells us what it was like Growing up with a Rockstar.


COULD DR. SEUSS BE A FATHER FIGURE?
Susan Gaissert presents Hop on Pop: A Critical Analysis.

THE BEST AND THE WORST OF FATHERS
Jen Robinson posts about the five best and five worst fathers from children’s and young adult literature that she’s read about this year.

I share Erica Harrington’s post about my book, Hugging the Rock, in which she suggests that maybe the father wasn’t such a rock after all.

MISSING FATHERS
Jeannine Atkins talks about The Power of Absent Fathers and Becky Levine ponders the absence of fictional fathers on her own bookshelf.


FATHERS – HERE, THERE and EVERYWHERE

Joyce Moyer Hostetter shares some thoughts on fathers in children’s literature as well as a sneak peak into the sequel to her novel BLUE.

Libby at Lessons from the Tortoise presents a potpourri of ideas about fathers in books.

In a comment in my blog, Annie Mitchell shared her thoughts about the fathers in Bridge to Terabithia.

Fran Cannon Slayton talks about Sounder and the grandfather she never met until she wrote her book, How to Stop a Moving Train

BOOK REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS
Jules at 7 Imp give us Father Knows Best, a review of How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevtiz

Becky’s Young Readers reviews Happy Father’s Day by Dan Yaccarino.

Because I Love You by Max Lucado is reviewed at Quiverfull Family Blog

Nancy Arruda writes about the  Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Lester.

Becky’s Book Reviews presents Going for the Record by Julie Swanson.

Franki and Mary Lee at A Year of Reading offer the Author Interview: Shelley Harwayne.

Mary Burkey points us to her Audiobooker blog, featuring the Odyssey Award, which was won this year by the producer of the audiobook of father-and-son team Walter Dean Myers & Christopher Myers’ book Jazz. The Myers are also featured here and here.

Book Moot, reviews Miracle on 49th Street by Mike Lupica in Audio Books That Charm.

Kelly Herold reviews Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

LISTS OF CHILDRENS BOOKS WITH STRONG FATHER CHARACTERS

Daddy Dialectic
The Friendly Book Nook
Book Buds reviews books about dads
Peter at Collecting Children’s Books
Fathers and Daughters in Children’s Books at Susan Writes
Mitali Perkins:A Baker’s Dozen of Father Daughter Books

Thank you everyone who submitted to this carnival!

Would you like to host a future carnival? Click here for all the details.

Monday, June 23, 2008|Categories: Books|Tags: , |23 Comments

Middle grade historical fiction

Okay, my own brain is frozen but I know there are lots of folks out there who can help. My friend

is looking for some good historical middle grade fiction to read. If you’ve got some suggestions for her, why not pop over to her blog and let her know.

Thanks!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008|Categories: Books|Tags: , |1 Comment

Animals that hold our heart from children's literature

 I love all the great booklists that bloggers have put together like Jen Robinson’s List of 200 Cool Girls from children’s literature, Journey Woman’s list of Great  Antagonists of Kids’ Lit!  and the list of 100 Cool Teachers in Children’s literature over at A Reading Year. But as I read the lists I realized that something was missing. Something that quite often walked around with legs and a tail and a personality that that dared us to forget them.

Yes, I am talking about a new list, 100 Animals (or maybe more) that hold our heart from children’s literature.
 
Here’s the catch – no talking animals, only realistic portrayals of dogs being dogs, cats being cats, and so on. What do you say? Who should be on the list? I’ll start it off. Once we get to a nice round number (dare I hope for 100?) I’ll compile a master list.
 
 
100 Animals (or maybe more) that hold our heart from children’s literature 
 
1) The dog Old Yeller from Old Yeller by Fred Gipson 
2) Another dog called Winn-Dixie from Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo 
3) Flag the fawn in The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
4) The very special dog Shiloh from the book Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 
5) Hunting dogs Old Dan and Little Ann from Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Your turn! What animal in children’s literature has a hold on your heart?

Tuesday, November 6, 2007|Categories: Books|Tags: , |75 Comments

Need book recommendations – mom going through chemo

I could use some help from the collective brains out there, please. I’m trying to help a friend find some books for two girls under the age of 10 whose mom has breast cancer and going to be going through chemo.Maybe someone already has a list put together? Other than Robert’s Snow, my brain is coming up empty.

Thanks in advance.

Monday, November 5, 2007|Categories: Books|Tags: , |11 Comments

Books that start with the end?

I’m trying to think of any books that start with a chapter or snippet or something about the END of the book at the very beginning, you know, you have an idea of how something ends but you read the book to hear the whole story? I’m drawing a blank.

Thursday, October 11, 2007|Categories: Books|Tags: |37 Comments

What should I be reading?

I know, I know. Long time no post. I could have been posting daily but do you really want to hear me whine, still, about how I am not adjusting to the move? I didn’t think so. So I’ve been quiet. Happy to answer emails but don’t feel like I should shout to the world in electronic format that will long outlive me about my frustrations with everything.

Funny thing, I read other writer’s blogs about their day to day lives and I’m fascinated but I figure I’m too boring to keep people mesmorized that way. On top of that, I started this blog to talk about my writing life and while moving and getting settled informs my writing life I’m not doing much writing. Hence, the silence.

Plus I am tired. So very very tired. All the time. But I am trying to poke my head up a bit. I have a couple of speaking events coming up for the end of the school year and then I am going to feel a bit more free. The last event is 5/21 and I’m taking the whole week off from work. Maybe then I can finally get caught up on some rest, if even for the short term.

In any event, anticipating my upcoming time off I need, want to read. I am actually feeling like I could read fiction again and focus and enjoy it but I’ve been so out of it that I have no idea what is new and is out that I should be reading. Okay, the Newbery and Printz books. I have those on the list but what else, especially middle grade fiction (NOT fantasy/sci fi).

Tell me what I should be reading, please?

Tuesday, May 8, 2007|Categories: Books|Tags: |14 Comments

Book pics

Just a quick posting of some of the books in the new house. This is the library. The wall to the left of the picture wraps around and there are two more bookcases there plus the TV. On the right there are more bookcases as well. We painted this room red before we moved in. New furniture is on its way, a camelback couch and a pair of leather chairs. Eventually we’ll redo the fireplace mantle/tile. (The entire house was a formal Italian style which isn’t us.)
 

And these are the bookcases in my office.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007|Categories: Books|Tags: |44 Comments

What are your favorite books for 2006?

Mother Reader wants to know.

Hop on over to http://motherreader.blogspot.com/2006/09/top-picks-for-2006-so-far.html and let her know your favorites for the year in the following categories: Picture Books, Early Elementary, Elementary, Middle School, and High School.

Monday, September 11, 2006|Categories: Books|Tags: |1 Comment

Happy Poetry Month! A list of verse novels

Last edited 10/25/2010

If I’ve missed one, please comment and let me know so I can add it to my master list. These are in order by title, not author, because that’s the way my brain works.

Count thus far 132!

42 Miles by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone
A Dangerous Girl by Catherine Bateson
A Lion’s Hunger: Poems of First Love by Ann Warren Turner
A Place Like This by Steven Herrick
After the Death of Anna Gonzales by Terri Fields
Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse
All The Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg
Almost Forever by Maria Testa
Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart by Vera B. Williams
Angel Of Barbican High by Michelle A. Taylor
Autobiography Of Red: a novel in verse by Anne Carson
Beanball by Gene Fehler
Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
Becoming Joe DiMaggio by Maria Testa
Been To Yesterday: poems of a life by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Behind The Wheel by Janet S. Wong
Bird by Susan Hawthorne
Borrowed Names by Jeannine Atkins
The Braid by Helen Frost
Brains For Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?! by K. A. Holt and Gahan Wilson
Brimstone Journals by Ronald Koertge
Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
Brushing Mom’s Hair by Andrea Cheng
Burned by Ellen Hopkins
By The River by Steven Herrick
Call Me Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
CrashBoomLove by Juan Felipe Herrara
Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
Crossing Stones by Helen Frost
Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes
Dead on Town Line by Leslie Connor
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
Do-Wrong Ron by Steven Herrick
Escaping Tornado Season: a story in poems by Julie Williams
Fallout by Ellen Hopkins
Far from You by Lisa Schroeder
Fearless Fernie by Gary Soto
Foreign Exchange: a mystery in poems by Mel Glenn
Frenchtown Summer by Robert Cormier
The Fruit Bowl Project by Sarah Durkee
Geography of Girlhood by Kirsten Smith
Glass by Ellen Hopkins
Girl Coming in for a Landing by April Halprin Wayland
Girl_X recreated by Leanne Rowe
God Went to Beauty School by Cynthia Rylant
Hard Hit by Ann Turner
Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech
Heartbeat by Sharon Creech
Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass
Hold Me Tight by Lorie Ann Grover
Home of the Brave by K. A. Applegate
Hugging the Rock by Susan Taylor Brown
Identical by Ellen Hopkins
I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
Jinx by Margaret Wild
Judy Scuppernong by Brenda Seabrooke
Jump Ball: a basketball season in poems by Mel Glenn
Kaleidoscope Eyes by Jen Bryant
Keesha’s House by Helen Frost
Laurie Tells by Linda Lowery
Learning To Swim: a memoir by Ann Turner
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
Loose Threads by Lorie Ann Grover
Love Ghosts and Nose Hair by Steven Herrick
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Margaux with an X by Ron Koertge
North Of Everything by Craig Crist-Evans
Nothing by Robin Friedman
On Pointe: a novel by Lorie Ann Grover
One Night by Margaret Wild
One Of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother Dies by Sonya Sones
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Pieces of Georgia by Jennifer Bryant
Poems From The Madhouse by Sandy Jeffs
Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Realm Of Possibility by David Levithan
Ringside 1925 by Jen Bryant
Rubber Houses by Ellen Yeomans
Running Back to Ludie by Angela Johnson
Scout by Christine Ford
Secret of Me by Meg Kearney
Seventeen by Liz Rosenberg
Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge
Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs by Ron Koertge
Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham
Simple Gift by Steven Herrick
Sister Slam and the Poetic Motormouth Roadtrip by Linda Oatman High
Soda Jerk by Cynthia Rylant
Something About America by Maria Testa
Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
Soul Moon Soup by Lindsay Lee Johnson
The Spangled Drongo by Steven Herrick
Spinning through the Universe by Helen Frost
Splintering by Eireann Corrigan
Split image:a story in poems by Mel Glenn
Stardust otel by Paul B. Janeczko
Street Love by Walter Dean Myers
Stop Pretending: What Happened When my Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
Sweetgrass Basket by Marlene Carvell
T4 a novel by Ann Clare LeZotte
Taking of Room 114 by Mel Glenn
Talking In The Dark by Billy Merrell
Things Left Unsaid by Stephanie Hemphill
Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood by Jame Richards
Tom Jones Saves The World by Steven Herrick
The Trial by Jennifer Bryant
Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Under The Pear Tree by Brenda Seabrooke
Volcano Boy:a novel in verse by Libby Hathorn
Voyage of the Arctic Tern by Hugh Montgomery
The Way a Door Closes by Hope Anita Smith
The Weight of the Sky by Lisa Ann Sandell
What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
Where the Steps Were by Andrea Cheng
Whitechurch by Chris Lynch
Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?: A Mystery in Poems by Mel Glenn
Who Will Tell My Brother? by Marlene Carvell
Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials by Stephanie Hemphill
Witness by Karen Hesse
Worlds Afire by Paul B. Janeczko
Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy
You Remind Me Of You by Eireann Corrigan
The Year it All Happened by Catherine Bateson
Your Own, Sylvia by Stephanie Hemphill

Saturday, April 1, 2006|Categories: Books|Tags: , , |33 Comments

February reading

What I’ve been reading this month for pleasure:

What I’ve been reading for research: (3 guess what the topic was for the NF proposal I just turned in)

Wednesday, March 1, 2006|Categories: Books|Tags: |8 Comments

Fathers & daughters, take 2. The full list

Thanks to everyone for suggestions about books and movies about fathers and daughters. For those who are interested, here’s the mostly full list. If you suddenly remember something that should be on here, please let me know. And none of these are listed in any particular order.

Middle Grade

Young Adult and up

Picture Books

Movies

Sunday, February 12, 2006|Categories: Books|Tags: , , |5 Comments

January reading

A day late but here’s a list of most of what I read in January. Some of them got put back on the shelf before I remembered to write them down.

Some reading was rereading of old favorites:

New reading

 

Thursday, February 2, 2006|Categories: Books|Tags: |3 Comments

Books I read in July

Okay, the idea was to post this list on the first of every month but I’m running a bit behind. Here’s what I read this past month. I might have missed a few but I think this is most of them.

 

Sunday, August 7, 2005|Categories: Books|Tags: |8 Comments