My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

The holiday break starts this week and many students (and teachers) are looking for books to keep them occupied. Being out of school provides a perfect time to catch up on reading--and watching football--HA!

My Most Excellent Year: a Novel of Love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger is a great lighthearted read for the Christmas break. The characters and plot are not particularly deep, but they are people that you would like to spend your holidays with and it has a happy feel-good ending. Like I said, it is the perfect book to read over the holiday.

I first picked up the book because of the title; I really wanted to know how Mary Poppins and Fenway Park fit together. In a way that is very popular now, this book is told from the point of view of the three main characters: TC, Augie and Ale'. The three teens are given an assignment in their Junior English class to write about their "most Excellent year." All three of them write about their freshmen year is high school and thus the story is told in alternating views throughout their 9th grade year.

TC is perfect--he is the guy you would want for your best friend, boyfriend, brother, son... When he was 6 years old, his mother died of cancer and he "adopted" Augie as his "brother." In face, Augie and TC are so close that they call each other's parents Mom, Dad and Pop, they have beds and dressers in each other's rooms, and they share everything. TC and Pop share a love of the Red Sox, in fact, TC, like every member of his family, was named for a Red Sox player. Augie is even more of a stereotype than TC. He loves musical theatre, is a born performer and is the last one to admit that he is gay. His freshman year is filled with his search for love and his attempt accept himself even though everyone else already does. Alejandra moves to Boston as a freshmen and quickly becomes a love interest for TC. She is as strong willed as he is and works hard to resist him. Throw in a 6-year-old deaf kid who is obsessed with Mary Poppins and you have a great book that explores not only young love and friendship, but also what really makes a family.

The characters are kind of stereotypes, but they are very likable. This book isn't going to win a Nobel Prize or anything, but it is a fun book . And it made me happy when I read it. Sometimes we need to read "junk food" for the mind. And this book fits that bill.

Happy Holidays!

The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman

It is cold outside which makes it perfect to sit in the warm house and read. Now is the time to get books to keep you busy over the holiday break from school.

The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman is one of those novels that makes me wish I had a sister. Katie and Michaela are best friends. They live in the East Village in New York City and study dance together at Anna Povlova’s famous ballot school. Michaela is a very promising ballerina and the plan is for her to attend Julliard after graduating from high school this year. Katie is just starting high school and is excited about attending the high school for the performing arts with Michaela. However, all those plans go out the window when their parents announce that they are moving to upstate New York so Katie and Michaela’s mother can teach Russian Literature at Fennimore Cooper College in Fir Lake, New York.

Katie is stunned. She has always been a city girl and cannot imagine not living where there is a deli on every corner. She doesn’t like bugs, animals or anything even close to nature. And the dance school is nothing like she is used to. She knows that she will never fit in at Fir Lake. And things go from bad to worse when Michaela seems to love living in Fir Lake. Her life changes completely and her new life does not include Katie.

This is a good novel about sisters, friendship and what is really important in life. Have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

It is snowing today. I can sit in my office and watch the big fat snowflakes float to the ground. It is beautiful--and cold! It is a perfect day to sit inside, drink hot chocolate and read good books!

I just finished reading Sweethearts by Sara Zarr. In this book, Jennifer Harris is the girl who everyone makes fun of. In elementary school, the kids made fun of her for everything she did. They would tease her and then she would cry and then they would make fun of her for crying. The only solace she could find was in stealing and hiding food and then her classmates made fun of her for being fat. Her single mother waits tables to support herself and Jennifer and then goes to Nursing school at night in hopes of a better life. Since her mother is busy, Jennifer often goes to school with dirty hair or clothes. And, of course, the kids make fun of her.

Jennifer’s only friend is Cameron. She and Cam do everything together. But Cameron’s life is worse than Jennifer’s with an abusive father and a mother who cannot protect her children. Jennifer and Cameron rely on each other. Until one day in 5th grade, Cameron does not come to school. The other kids in class tell Jennifer that Cameron was killed and when her mother doesn’t deny it, Jennifer believes it.

In high school Jennifer’s life changes. Her mother marries a wonderful man and Jennifer changes to a small school. She changes her name to Jenna Vaughn and leaves her past behind her. She has many friends, a boyfriend and a supportive family--everything she always wanted. But one day, Cameron shows up on her door step and everything changes. Suddenly she is confronted with reconciling her past with her present. Is Jennifer Harris the same person as Jenna Vaughn?

Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson

Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson starts out like another Gossip Girl or Private novel. Scarlett attends a very posh girls’ school in London. She longs to be part of the popular group—the rich, polished girls who dress in all the latest fashions and date the best boys. But Scarlett is an athlete, a gymnast who spends most of her time training,and likes to wear sweats and doesn't think too much about her appearance.

Scarlett's parents died when she was only 5 and she lives with a guardian. However, one day after gymnastics practice, Scarlett is asked to attend a party with the “in-crowd.” Turning her back on her two best friends, Scarlett attends the party and finds herself kissing the boy of her dreams on the terrace.

This is where the book changes from the normal fancy prep school novel to something much more interesting. When Scarlett is kissing Dan, he suddenly gasps for air and suffocates in her arms. The popular girls accuse Scarlett of killing him and quickly her life changes. She changes school from the posh London girls school to an isolated highly academic school in the country. But all she can think of is what happened to Dan. Scarlett must learn to make a new life for herself and find out what happened to Dan.

This book has a good ending, but there is a sequel that I am anxious to read too.

Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty by Jody Elizabeth Gehrman

Confessions of the Triple Shot Betty by Jody Elizabeth Gehrman is a lighthearted story of friendship and romance. Geena plans to spend her summer working at the Triple Shot Betty coffee Shop with her two best friends: Amber and Hero. She imagines whipping up lattes during the day and sleepovers at night. Hero goes to an exclusive boarding school and is only in town for the summer, and Geena is excited that her two best friends will finally meet. However, things do not go as planned. Amber and Hero do not like each other and this puts Geena in the middle of an uncomfortable situation.

However, Amber and Hero put their differences aside when they work to set Geena up with a guy who is her rival for valedictorian. This part of the plot borrows itself directly from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. In an interesting subplot, John the school’s golden boy decides he likes Hero who wants nothing to do with him. When John uses both Amber and Hero in his ploy to get what he wants, Amber, Hero and Geena concoct a creative plan to get back at John for all he has done.

Enjoy this story of three friends who have many different strengths and weaknesses, but come out on top and together in the end.

Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling

If you are searching for a lighthearted book to read Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling is the perfect choice. I have to confess that I unwind every day watching the DVR of my soap opera, and Abby Savage, the narrator of this novel, loves soap operas. In fact, her entire life is a soap opera.

Her older sister Shelby is 20 years old and already married and divorced with one child. Her other sister Kait is pregnant with Steve’s baby. To make things worse Steve dated Shelby before he dating Kait; however, it makes it really a soap opera when Steve marries Abby’s mom and she is also pregnant with Steve’s child. Babies aside, Abby's best friend Cody will not admit he is gay and all Abby wants is to find a guy to date who has not dated or slept with any of her sisters or her mother! So she forms a 5-step plan to find her One True Love. But when Cody’s brother Jackson returns home from a summer spent helping the poor in Central America, he does not fit the One True Love plan and that complicates things. To make matters more confusing, Jackson used to date Kait and Abby suspects that he, not Steve, might be the father of Kait’s unborn baby. All of this makes for a fun soap opera read!

Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt

In Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt, Remy Walker has just graduated from high school and now must make some major decisions about his life. His family has always lived on Walker Mountain in West Virginia. It is not an easy life, living in a trailer with unreliable plumbing and his father mining and selling coal by the pickup load. But Remy has never known any other life and unlike most of the people in his small town, he does not dream of living elsewhere. He has a job working as a mechanic at the filling station and he is content.

However, it is "funny how things change, Remy's girlfriend Lisa is going away to college in Pennsylvania and she wants Remy to go with her. He doesn’t plan to go to college, but they could share an apartment and he could find a job while she is at school. The idea of not being with her makes him sick. But so does the idea of leaving his home. He once went to live with his mother in Virginia Beach, but he didn’t like it, missing his mountain and way of life more than he thought was possible. Can he really follow Lisa?

To make things more complicated, a new girl has come to town. She is working on a government grant to paint murals on the water towers of small towns around West Virginia. Through Dana’s eyes, Remy sees the beauty of where he lives and struggles with making a decision.

When we get a certain age, we all must make decisions about our futures and whether we choose home or adventure? New or Old? Love or Family? This is a great novel that explores these struggles.

Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle

I wish I had a sister. I have an older brother and he was okay, but I always wished that I had a sister. Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle is a story about sisters.

Carly returns home from a summer volunteering with a wilderness experience in Tennessee. While there she begins to feel that there are things that are more important than her small affluent Atlanta neighborhood and the ritzy private school that she and her sister attend. Carly is a sophomore and is excited to start the school year with her younger sister Anna as a freshman. But when Carly returns home, Anna has grown up. Suddenly Anna is beautiful! She has developed amazing curves and has a body that boys drool after. Now Carly is jealous of her younger sister and she finds herself at odds with Anna. Anna enjoys her wealthy lifestyle while Carly wants to live a more bohemian life. This puts her at odds with Anna and with her best friend since 2nd grade and even her parents.

Carly is an honest narrator as she struggles with her beliefs. When a new boy starts school, Carly develops a crush on Cole and she tries to figure out how he fits into her new belief system. Throw in an out of control party, some baby ducks and a back dive off the high dive and you have a great story about sisters!

Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford

If you are looking for a book that is laugh-out-loud funny, then Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford is the book for you. This book is told from his point of view and Carter’s point of view is priceless. He is starting his freshmen year in high school. “All I think about is girls,” he says at the beginning of the novel, “and I don’t do anything about it.” His entire purpose in life is to be cool and get girls. He goes out for football to look cool and get girls, he goes to parties to look cool and get girls, he tries to date the right girls to look cool and get more girls… Carter is ADD and this book wanders as his mind wanders and Carter’s mind wanders to the most hilarious places.

Football is the sport for cool guys, so Carter tries out for the team, after all a guy can spend a lot of time looking at cheerleaders when he is standing on the sidelines. Carter decides that being a kicker on the football team is the safest position, but he discovers that this isn’t even safe when even the girls drill team tries to kill him during practice. Carter gets himself into the worst situations and everything he says and does makes it worse—but seriously funny. It takes Carter his entire freshmen year to “finally get it.” But you will enjoy his journey.

I don’t find many books really funny, but students in the library yesterday were staring at me as I was laughing out loud at Carter and his escapades. Author Brent Crawford gets Carter’s voice just right. We have all met Carters in our lives. This is Crawford’s first book, but I am already looking forward to the next one! Check out his website for another laugh http://www.brent-crawford.com/blog/Welcome.html and he lives in Kansas!

The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti

What would you do with $2 million? What would you buy? Would the money change you? Do you think people would treat you differently? I’m not sure what I would buy with that much money, but I do know that I would love to find out. This is exactly what happens to Indigo Skye in Deb Caletti’s book The Fortunes of Indigo Skye.

Indigo is a senior in high school and doesn’t know what she wants to do with the rest of her life. She has no interest in college and can only imagine herself working as a waitress. In fact, she loves her job waiting tables at Carerra’s. She is a fantastic waitress and thinks that she would like to do it for the rest of her life. Of course, Indigo doesn’t have too many choices because her mother does not have very much money and Indigo’s twin brother is very interested in going to college.

However, that all changes one day when a customer leaves Indigo a $2 million tip. Suddenly her life has changed and not necessarily for the better. Now she has to worry about what to do with the money. People start to treat her differently and she wonders if all they want from her is money. Maybe having that much money isn’t such a good thing. This is a great book about how Indigo deals with all the problems that come with being a millionaire.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles is a modern Romeo and Juliet story. Brittany Ellis and Alejandro Fuentes are as different as they can be. Brit is from the North side of town. She is rich, captain of the pom squad, beautiful and perfect with a perfect boyfriend in Colin the captain of the football team. Alex is from the South side of town. He is dark, dangerous, the toughest guy in school and belongs to a gang. No one would ever call him perfect. However, both of their lives are changed when they are paired together as lab partners in Chemistry class. Their open dislike of each other is obvious from day one.

The longer they work together though, the more they learn of each other. Alex sees that Brittany is not so perfect and Brittany discovers that Alex is not so tough. And Brittany and Alex discover that they are a lot more alike than anyone would think. Both are acting like something they aren’t in order to survive in their very different worlds. These similarities draw them closer together. Brittany tries to deny what is happening while Alex makes a bet with his buddies that he will sleep with her before Thanksgiving. And the romance that develops is dangerous, forbidden and fun to read about.

This story is told in alternating chapters by Alex and Brit. We get to see Brittany’s not-so-perfect home life and what drives Alex to join a gang. His chapters are sprinkled with Spanish phrases when he speaks with his family and friends. The ending is a little too neat, but this is a good take on an age old theme of Romeo and Juliet.

Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp

The weather has been great for the start of school. I love the cool evenings and it is really beginning to feel like football weather. In honor of the season, I want to talk about a great football book, Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp.

Hampton Greene is not the smartest kid in school, but he is one of the best football players. Hampton was introduced to what it means to be a member of the Knights football team when he first moves to town when he is nine. He meets his best friend Blaine and together they work hard to become starters of the Kennisaw Knights. Blaine is the star running back, but it is Hampton who makes the defensive plays that save the games. The Knights are working on their fifth undefeated season in a row and both Blaine and Hampton are feeling the pressure.

Hamp and Blaine have always been inseparable and Blaine’s world is black and white. The plan is that they will go to OU together and play football. They will date the most beautiful girls in school and be the Big Men on Campus. However, Blaine hurts his knee and is not as good as he was last season while Hamp has grown faster and better. This causes tension between the two friends. Also Hampton finds himself attracted to Sara who isn’t beautiful and wears baggy clothes and is much more interested in school than football. Hampton has always struggled with school, but working with Sara makes him realize that he is more capable that he ever thought. As this happens, Hampton finds himself growing further away from Blaine and learning to think for himself.

Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp is a great novel that shows how Hampton develops into his own person and discovers the really important things in life. And the football scenes are very well written. This is a great novel for the start of school and the football season!

How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt

I loved Harmless by Dana Reinhardt. It is a fantastic book that makes the reader wonder what she would do if she were in the same situation. How hard is it to betray your friends? How hard it is to tell the truth when you know it will get you trouble? How quickly do lies pile up?

Since I loved Harmless, I was really looking forward to reading Reinhardt’s book How to Build a House and I was not disappointed. Harper (like Harper Lee, an incredible author of one of my all-time favorite books!) signs up to help a volunteer group of teenagers build a house in Tennessee for a family that lost their home in a tornado. Living in Kansas, it is easy to understand the terrible devastation left in the path of a tornado; this brings to mind the horrible fates of the people living in Greensburg and Chapman who lost homes in storms not too long ago.

Harper’s reason for spending the summer in Tennessee is because she is fleeing her life in California where her family is falling apart. Harper’s mother died when she was two years old and her father remarried when she was five. Jane and her two daughters Rose and Tess become a vital part of Harper’s family. But when Jane and Harper’s father separate, Harper doesn’t know where she fits in this family that is no longer hers. Harper finds solace in building a home for the family in Tennessee and becoming friends with the oldest son Teddy. Harper also finds a substitute home and family with the other teenage workers during the summer and contrasts her relationship with Teddy with her on-again-off-again relationship with her friend Gabriel back home. Her narration moves smoothly back and forth between sections she calls HOME that talk about what happened before and sections she calls HERE which describe what is happening as they build a house.

This is a great book for young women to read. Harper gets sucked into a tragic relationship with a boy back home because she needs somewhere to belong and it takes her time to understand this and remove herself from the situation. It is an empowering book for young women, but all readers will see and understand Harper’s struggles to find a HOME.

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

Welcome back to a new school year! I love the beginning of school. I know that makes me a nerd and probably explains why I chose to be a teacher. There is just something really exciting about August and the start of a brand new year! Chris in the book Shift by Jennifer Bradbury is not so excited about a new school year. He is starting his freshmen year at Georgia Tech, but because of the events of his summer, he is angry and worried instead of excited about the future.

Chris and his friend Win decided to take the summer after high school and ride their bikes across the country. They want an adventure before they start college. They started in their home state of West Virginia and planned to ride all the way to Seattle to see Win’s uncle. The journey is almost everything Chris hoped it would be. He challenged himself in ways he didn’t think were possible and had many great experiences. However, he and Win get separated just before they reach the West Coast and Chris cannot find him. So Chris gets on a bus and returns home without Win only to discover that there was no uncle in Seattle and that Win has not returned home. In fact, no one has heard from Win. Stranger still is the FBI agent who shows up at school the first week to question Chris about what happened to Win and he seems to suspect that Chris killed Win.

This book is a great mystery of what happened to Win after he and Chris were separated. The book alternates between the present as Chris tries to figure out what happened to Win and the past as Chris recalls the details of the trip. Reading this book is a great way to start a new school year as Chris discovers what happened to Win and learns a lot about himself along the way.

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

I just finished reading the National Book Award Winner What I Saw and How I lied by Judy Blundell. This is one of those books that stays with you even after you finish reading it. There are so many things to think and wonder about. It is the best book that I have read this year—of course, as you can tell from my blog, I haven’t read that many books this year!

This book is set in 1947 right after World War II. Evie’s step-father Joe has just returned from the war and started his new appliance business. Joe refuses to talk about the war and neither Evie, nor her mother, push him. However, one day he starts to get strange phone calls and he tells someone on the phone that they have the “wrong Joe Spooner.” Soon after, he loads Evie and her mother in the car and they head to Florida for a vacation. Evie has never been outside of New York and she is excited. When they arrived in Palm Beach, things are mostly boarded up, but they find an open hotel and begin to enjoy their vacation.

All is great until handsome 23-year-old Peter Coleridge shows up. He was a soldier that served with Joe in Europe, but Joe doesn’t seem to want anything to do with him. However, he immediately charms 16-year-old Evie who promptly falls in love with him. She becomes so absorbed in her feelings for him that she ignores the secrets and lies that seem to fallow him around. But when a tragedy strikes, Evie discovers that she must choose between her family and her love for Peter. Suddenly nothing is what it seems and she doesn’t know who to believe: her devotion to Peter? Her wonderful step-father? Or her mother who has been the one constant in her life? Her choices could destroy her and her family forever!

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

I loved 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson so I knew that I would also enjoy her new book Suite Scarlett and I was not disappointed. Scarlett's family owns a small hotel in New York City. Everyone assumes that she must be rich because she lives in a hotel, but that is far from the case! In fact, the hotel has been struggling so much that the family has had to let go of all their staff and Scarlett's parents and Scarlett, her brother and two sisters have had to pick up the slack to do all the cleaning and cooking themselves.

The book begins on Scarlett's 15 birthday. For their 15th birthdays all the Martin children have received a suite in the hotel to care for. Scarlett gets the key to the Empire Suite and almost immediately Mrs. Amberson moves in for the summer. With the help of Mrs. Amberson, Scarlett's life is turned upside down.

Mrs. Amberson is a world traveler, a former actress and a very eccentric person. She tries to help Scarlett's older brother Spencer who wants to become an actor. When she takes over producing a theatre production, she introduces Scarlett to Eric an actor who has just moved to New York. Scarlett now has a budding romance, a new job and the family's failing hotel to worry about. It is sure to be an interesting summer!

Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks

In Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks, Odella's mother harbors guilt from an accident that happened when she was only 16 years old. Sally and three of her friends drove their car out on Mistik Lake and fell through the ice. Everyone was killed but Sally. The people of Mistik Lake say that it wasn't her fault; that she wasn't even driving, but Sally still feels the guilt and finds herself running from everything. When Odella is 16, her mother finally runs away from her family moves to Iceland with her lover. This book is how Odella learns to live with that abandonment, but it is also about why Sally feels the need to always run away from love.

Odella feels a pull to Mistik Lake where her family has a cabin and she and her two sisters spent most of their summers growing up. One summer she meets Jimmy and falls in love. The draw to Jimmy forces her to move back to Mistik Lake to spend the summer before going to college. She finds a job working at the meat counter of the local grocery store with a man who once dated her mother. That summer Odella finally learns the dark secrets about her mother and herself.

This is a gentle read that will be enjoyed by anyone who has ever lived in a small town. The citizens of Mistik Lake are so intertwined that it is hard to separate the families from one another and, of course, everyone knows everyone else's business. Odella, who has lived in a city her entire life, finds it hard to understand how everyone knew her mother and has stories to tell about her growing up. Mistik Lake tells the story of a teenage romance and the adults who have their secrets as they struggled to find love themselves.

Last Dance at the Frosty Queen

Last Dance at the Frosty Queen by Richard Allen Uhlig is definitely a spring time novel. As high school graduation approaches, Arty Flood wants nothing more than to escape his small Kansas town and see the world. But Arty’s life is a mess and it takes money to escape. His boss at Stiles Style, a clothing company for dogs, owes him over $1000 in back wages, the town sheriff blackmails him into dating his daughter, he is having an affair with his drama teacher and his family’s funeral home business is failing.

But Arty’s life begins to look up when the girl of his dreams swims into his life. Vanessa has problems of her own, but she helps Arty see that he must accept responsibility for his own actions and make things happen instead of blaming everyone else. She also lets him see his small town through the eyes of an outsider and shows him that you don’t have to escape to learn how to live.

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

I haven't blogged for a month. I am really embarrassed that I have been so bad about posting and reading for that matter. A couple of weeks ago I got the chance to go to Boston for an IB conference. The conference was really enlightening and taught me a lot about the program, but touring Boston was even better! This is a picture of me with the duckling statues in Boston Commons. These statues are of the 8 ducklings and their mom from Robert McCloskey's children's book Make Way for Ducklings. In the book, the ducks return home to Boston Public Garden. The book was originally published in 1941 and it won a Caldecott Medal somewhere along the way. It is a children's book that is still in print today and still a fun read! My new friend here was "feeding" the ducklings, but he said that it was okay if I took a picture with them.

The HHS library has a bunch of new audio books. They are in the format of Playaways which means that the book is loaded onto a small mp3 sort of player. It fits easily into a pocket and was great to listen to on the plane. I listened to Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. It is a fantasy book and different from any other book I have read (or listened to). The audio book has a full-cast audio which means that even though Matt narrates the book, the other characters have different people reading their parts. This makes the book very easy and enjoyable to listen to.

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the airship Aurora. His father worked on the Aurora before he was killed in an accident and Matt has worked on the ship for several years. It is the only place he feels at home and close to his father.

Matt is on lookout one day and he spots a tattered hot air balloon. The airship rescues the balloon and finds an old man injured in the basket. The man dies a few days later after telling Matt about the creatures he saw in the sky. A year later Matt meets Kate who is a passenger on the Aurora. Kate is the granddaughter of man who died in the hot air balloon and she has come to find the strange animals that her grandfather claims he saw. She and Matt have many adventures include a run in with pirates, a ship wreck and the discovery of the amazingly new flying animals. Airborn is a great book filled with adventure for all!

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Like Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery," Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins begins with all the young people between the ages of 12 and 18 joining together where two names will be called: one boy and one girl. These two names will designate who will represent the area in this year's Hunger Games. When Katniss's 12-year-old sister's name is read, Katniss immediately volunteers to go in her place. Thus she finds herself in the ultimate survival game: 24 young people thrown into an arena forced to fight to survive until only one remains. These games sponsored by the Capitol are televised so that all can see who will kill or who will be killed.

Katniss has many survival skills that help her in these games, and she is not afraid of hunger because her family never has enough to eat. But the idea of killing another human being sickens her. Plus one of the contestants is a neighbor Peeta. Katniss and Peeta went to school together and they train together. Soon she discovers that Peeta has been in love with her since they were small children. And Katniss credits him with saving her life when her family was starving. In order to win will she be able to kill Peeta? Is Peeta really trying to kill her?

The gruesome idea behind the Hunger Games adds a desperate component to the novel as you read to see who survives. Once the games begin, it is nonstop adventure and excitement. I couldn't put this book down. I had to know what would happen to Katniss, Peeta and the others in the Hunger Games.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I love books with strong female characters. I am so tired of stories where the poor defenseless girl has to be saved by the big strong man--ick! It is really thrilling that so many authors today are writing books where the female protagonist learns to solve her own problems. Graceling by Kristin Cashore is a great example of this.

In this fantasy novel, some people are born with "Graces" that provide them talents in various things; for example, a person might be born with a talent in sword fighting or a talent in running. Others can tell that you are a Graceling because when your talent develops your eyes change colors so that you have two different colored eyes. Katsa is a Graceling. Her grace is in the area of killing. Called the Lady Killer, Katsa has been in service to her uncle the king since she was very young. Her job is to threaten, maim or kill anyone who does him wrong. She is feared wherever she travels.

Katsa doesn't want to spend her life killing for King Randa who does things she doesn't agree with, so she forms a Secret Council to help right the wrongs that are happening in the Seven Kingdoms. On one of her secret missions, Katsa meets another Graceling, Po, who challenges her to become her own person. Po is a talented fighter, but no match for Katsa. However, they become friends as Katsa deals with her identity, her womanhood, and who gets to control her life.

Besides having a great character in Katsa, Po is not afraid to admit that she is stronger than him and can beat him in a fight every time. He encourages her to find out who she really is. This discovery is really important when Po and Katsa set off to another part of the Kingdom to deal with a truly evil king who has his own Grace that is worse than anything they could ever imagine. This adventure is exciting and fast-moving as Po and Katsa try to save the Kingdom while running for their lives.

Graceling is a great adventure story, a wonderful love story and a fantastic story of finding one's true identity. It is definitely on my list of 10 top books of 2008.

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

I am having lots of trouble getting back into the swing of school. It is 2:30 p.m. now and I am really struggling because I am missing my afternoon nap. I can't believe how easy it is to get into the afternoon nap habit in only 2 short weeks of vacation!

I didn't read too much over vacation, but I did enjoy The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard. This book is the 2009 Big Read book sponsored by the State Library of Kansas. And it is a great book for this purpose with lots of things to think about and discuss. It would be a good book club selection.

The Virgin of Small Plains is a book set in the Kansas Flint Hills written by a Kansas author. The book is about a Cold Case from 1987. It is a very cold case in fact: Rex and his brother and father are searching for calves during a blizzard when they find a dead bloody girl in the snow. They take the body to the town doctor who with the help of the town sheriff destroys the girl's face so she cannot be identified. She is buried in an unmarked grave and people claim that "the Virgin of Small Plains" can perform miracles. People come from all around to be healed by her.

Mitch is dating the doctor's daughter Abby. Sneaking out of her room in the middle of the night, he is hiding in the supply closet when the dead girl is brought in. He sees the seemingly respectable men covering up the crime and recognizes the girl. He hurries home and tells his father about what he has seen and his father quickly packs him off away from town instructing him to never talk about what he has witnessed.

The book takes place 17 years later. Mitch has never returned to Small Plains and Abby has never gotten over it. In another blizzard, Abby sees Mitch's mother running through the town cemetery and then finds her frozen to death. This brings back the death 17 years earlier and Abby decides that she must know what happened to the virgin and who she really was.

This book is told through a series of flashbacks and several different characters' points of view. It is a great mystery to find out who the virgin is and what happened to her on the snowy night years ago.