Stargirl

So, everyone has been telling me to read this book. All summer I recommended it on other's recommendations and last night, I finally finished it. Incredible book! I love reading about teens who aren't afraid to be their own person. She makes friends with a boy, who does fall in love with her...but asks her to give up a very important part of herself. Does she do it? Read it and find out! I highly recommend this!

From the Mixed up Files..

So I read FROM THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER this weekend by E.L. Konignsburg. I loved it! I can't believe I never read this as a child! Can you imagine planning to run away? Can you imagine taking one of your siblings with you? What if your destination was the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City? This is a great book about two siblings who run away from home and spend time in the MMA in NYC. They have a schedule, they rely on each other and they experience an art museum after dark. There is even a little mystery involved!

Graphic Novels et al

So, this week I am doing well on my averages for reading juvenile and young adult fiction. I finished Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale, a graphic novel about Rapunzel...a totally different twist where our heroine is self sufficient and rescues herself. I was entertained. Also keep hearing the hype from many kids at the library about Alex Rider. Two of the books have been made into graphic novels, so I read the first two...very James Bond for younger readers...lots of excitement and a little romance. And, finally I read RULES by Cynthia Lord, this is NOT a graphic novel but addresses autism in a very creative manner. Catherine has a brother David who has a lot of RULES...she makes rules for him as well...it all seems to go okay until she tries to make new friends, but what happens when she makes a new friend who has his own set of rules. This is a very interesting book about friendship, autism, and kids with special needs. I definitely recommend it for all readers!

The Camel Bookmobile

Yes, I did a lot of reading on my vacation. This one was recommended to me by a co-worker. I loved it. THE CAMEL BOOKMOBILE by Masha Hamilton follows a bright eyed, optimistic librarian as she travels to Africa to help deliver books to tribes in Africa by camel. She meets several people along the way, her friends, she leaves them behind in the states to be concerned about her...she meets Mr. Abasi, the African librarian who wants to enforce the rules and regulations of the library to a group of people who are nomads...and she meets a tribe of people, those who welcome the books and those who do not. This is an incredible story. It is based on a true story but this is a work of fiction. As a librarian, I really loved reading this...and as a reader I enjoyed reliving my joy of reading through the eyes of the characters in this book.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Yes, somehow I missed the assignment in school to read A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith...so I decided to read it on the plane to Barcelona. What an incredible book, reminded me a lot of Frank McCourt or maybe even a more modern Charles Dickens. These people are poor, things happen, life is rough, and yet there is always a glimmer of hope. We follow kids who have nothing to working towards a better life, their parents and family want a better life for them. Don't get me wrong, there are no fairy tale endings...but there is this certain sense that things will work out, or the characters will figure out how to get things done! I am sad I haven't read this sooner...but now I have read it, and I definitely recommend it!

Learning about the French

So, I haven't written in awhile since I have been traveling abroad. My husband was working in France and I went over to meet him for a week and travel around...we went to Barcelona, Spain then on through France through Carcassonne, Toulouse and then finally Paris. It was fun! Before my husband left he was looking for a book that would help him get in the mood for being in France, OR give him some information to learn about French culture. When he went to Italy last year he found a great book about Italians. So, when I arrived in France, he asked me to read the book; SIXTY MILLION FRENCHMEN CAN'T BE WRONG by Jean Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow. I loved it. There were parts of it that drug...so I can't lie, I did some skimming, however there were chapters that I found helpful in interacting with the French. So often the French get a bad rap...as rude or whatever...I did not find that to be true, well, I met one rude Frenchman while I was there...a server at Le Chat Noire Cafe, because I asked for ketchup with my fries (in French I might add) he was very sarcastic when he returned with it...but that was ONE rude Frenchman of several people in France that I interacted with. So...some of the chapters that I found most helpful;

• Part One: Spirit (all 8 chapters were great!)
• Part Two: Structure I only could make it all the way through chapters 9, 10, 11, 12 and parts of the other chapters
• Part Three: Change - this section was a little more difficult that the first part, but I found chapters 20 and 21 to be helpful!

Yes, some of it is a review of French history, some of it is a look into the mind of the French, but most of it is based on the insights of a couple of Canadians...but it was definitely interesting and helpful!