Monday Reading

Again, I've been lax.

I read a lot of books and forget to blog about them. If it weren't for
#IMWAYR, I'd probably never remember what all I've read.

BUT this has been a great week for reading Middle-grade Fiction.

First off, a book from a writer whose books I admire so much. Susan Hill Long writes funny, she writes poignant, she writes adventure and she writes books with true heart.

This one just came out and I predict kids will love it. Publisher's Weekly agrees.

Yes, there's a baseball subplot going on. And this is my favorite time of year to read baseball-related novels. But oh that Josie! How I love her.


I also just I finished an ARC, sent by the publisher. (Pubbing early March, thank you FSG!)

I was interested in this novel because I know a woman with Turner Syndrome, and have known her most of her life. But I've never read much about it and certainly not a middle-grade book.

WHAT STARS ARE MADE OF is a debut novel by Sarah Allen. The writer has Turner Syndrome and the book felt very authentic about the disorder. Libby, the 12-year-old narrator isn't so great at making friends or knowing the right thing to say and I loved how the author developed an unusual friendship between Libby and a new girl in her class. The story moves quickly along, and the narrator is definitely a character kids will relate to.
In the publicity material I received along with the book, the author quotes C.S. Lewis: "We read to know that we are not alone." So true.


Another Advance Reader Copy I was privileged to read is Rebecca Stead's newest

THE LIST OF THINGS THAT WILL NOT CHANGE.

Thank you, NetGalley!

The book's publishing in April, 2020.  I'm a huge fan of Stead's, and I bet a lot of kids will love her new book.
Two dads, a loving mom who's in the picture, a big blended family, a kid with all sorts of fun things in her life, a wedding and a lot of good things to eat.  :)

And of course, she's worried that her world will change with her new family.

Here's the starred review from Publishers Weekly.
I'm sure many more will follow, or maybe already have.
Plus, love that cover, don't you?

In my grownup reading world, I finished and enjoyed another Ann Cleeves book and I'm reading my second detective/ thriller/ mystery by another Brit, Mick Heron. My guilty pleasure/ nighttime reading.

I also read a ghost story, something I don't do often. It kept me awake at night, so think I'll avoid that genre.

Can't wait to hear all the book recommendations from my It's Monday What Are You Reading? pals!

So many books...

Recently, I was on a reading frenzy. And there were so many great middle-grade novels that needed reading!

Some were reviewed for a Christian Science Monitor spring round-up.

HERE'S THE LINK.  
(Click if you'd like to know more!)

And here are the books. Loved them all. Can't wait to catch sight of young readers under a tree, by the pool, on a bus or a plane, sitting on the front porch, at the public library- reading all summer long!

 




It's Monday. (Is it summer yet?) What's everybody out there reading?

 

October is Giveaway Month

I'm sharing my Book Wealth.

First up. An extra copy of the fabuloso LIAR AND SPY, by Newbery winner Rebecca Stead. Thanks to Random House, I have an extra copy or- sorry folks- I would not be sharing this one.

Oh, yes, I could pass a few of these brand-new, really good books around to all the October birthdays I know. I could do what I often do, pack them up and cart them over to my local library. Instead, I'm giving them away and this could be YOUR lucky day.

I recently reviewed it for the Christian Science Monitor. Read my review HERE.

Betsy Bird not only reviewed it for her School Library Journal Blog FUSE #8, she included a whole bunch of great links. CLICK HERE to go there.

Leave me a comment, below or on Facebook. You, too, can read one of my favorite books of the year. Contest will end next Sunday, October 7.

And check back often.
October's going to be Middle Grade Fiction Giveaway Month around here!

ADDENDUM : Just discovered Monday is Columbus Day. Since I'll be out of pocket that day, the drawing will be this Saturday morning, October 6. 
Hurry up and enter!

Liar & Spy

I'm a fan of Rebecca Stead's books. If your middle schooler, or young teen, wants a novel that surprises, Liar & Spy, just out this month, is it. CLICK HERE for my review in the Christian Science Monitor.






And while you're here, friendly reminder: ONE more day to enter for a big box of the latest, greatest middle-grade novels. COMMENT right here or just scroll down a few more entires, and be entered in the giveaway. Yay for brand new books!

I love my job!

Or, I guess I should say my career. My avocation. 

My reason to fall out of bed and into my chair every day.

What am I doing on this hot summer day?

Reading a book to review that's so much fun, so quirky and odd and delicious, I can't stop filling it with stickie notes. 

 Next up, Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead.  Does it get any better than this?

Late to the Dance?

OK, maybe I will and maybe I won't. But for any of you reading this, with 500 words ready to go, check out the contest (alas, ending tonight!) over at the Kidlit.com blog. That's the blog of Mary Kole, an agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. As luck would have it, I'm just rereading the middle grade novel, great voice and compelling story, written by one of her authors: Love, Aubrey.

And reading the kidlit blog, I found this link to Rebecca Stead's great article on NYKids Time Out about that ever changing demographic: 'Tweens.

This is a blog I'll be reading often. Lots of great stuff.
Now if I can just gather my wits and get 500 words off- Time's a-wasting!

Reading With Goodreads and Facebook

Today's New York Times, and not even in the Book Review section, has Motoko Rich writing about "The Book Club With Just One Member." On many levels this headline caught my eye. And how could I not read an essay that begins with a quote from the new Newbery winner, Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me. Miranda, the 11-year-old main character, has a favorite book which is entertwined throughout Stead's novel. She's read A Wrinkle in Time over and over, even feels it's her very own book, hers alone. "The truth is that I hate to think about other people reading my book.. It's like watching someone go through the box of private stuff that I keep under my bed."

Rich's essay ponders those of us who feel that possessiveness about the books we read and the ones who share their reading tastes via Book Clubs, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads. She makes a lot of thoughtful points, quotes from other of my favorite writers, even brings David Foster Wallace's books into the mix (along with Katherine Paterson and Lois Lowry).

One conclusion seems to be that there are books whose understanding is helped along by communal reading. Those challenging books (Wallace), the ones you never honestly got through in college (Ulysses). "Some books particularly lend themselves to collective reading--" she says, "partly, of course, because everybody is reading them."



I like the image on the New York Times' page. Reminds me of sitting in a tree reading Nancy Drew. Come to think of it, I can't remember ever wanting to discuss Nancy's latest escapade with too many kids. But I guess I outgrew that. Two-plus Book Clubs later, I've now pretty much stopped the communal discussions over a nice glass of chardonnay, but I do like hearing what others are reading and sensing the excitement. In fact, Rich acknowledges one obvious point- the more people talk about a book, the better it sells. "Some of the biggest sellers of recent years--Eat, Pray, Love...The Kite Runner...The Help-- were propelled by word of mouth."

OK, back later. After I update my Goodreads page.
;)



Related posts: Katherine Paterson

Lois Lowry

Book Reviewing

Reading books, then writing about them, seems like a perfect gig, right? Opening a new book with great expectation and anticipation, a story no one else has insisted You Must Read This and then proceeded to tell me what happens- All good. But there's a lot of responsibility in this newness. And then there's the pulling together of the review. You know a lot of really accomplished writers are going to see it, and you don't want to get it wrong. Apostrophes count. Just recently someone commented on something I'd written and cautioned me to watch for typos. Typos? Me? I'm the original line editor. What I think he meant was my propensity to leave out commas in short compound sentences. I do that occasionally and I know I do it (like that).

Is that so wrong? Well, I guess not, as long as I realize what I'm doing and do it intentionally. That's my story anyhow.

Check out Barbara O'Connor's recent blog posts (scroll past the hilarious antics of her new puppy Ruby...) to see how even the most experienced writer anguishes over her latest manuscript edits. Or at least that's what accomplished writers should do. There's nothing worse than reading a book filled with grammar and puncutation mistakes. I know. I've been sent books, albeit just galleys, so filled with errors that I wonder how they could ever fix them for the actual book.

But back to my reading and writing about books. Today's Christian Science Monitor featured my review of Rebecca Stead's book When You Reach Me. That was one hard book to review! I didn't want to give too much away because the story is complicated and hinges on events that take place early in the writing but later in the story. Aha, see that right there makes no sense when I write it. You just have to read the book. It was a terrific book, well-written and accomplished and unusual. And I loved reading it.