20 - Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech

Hate That Cat: A Novel

This sweet sequel to Love that Dog made me smile. I'd love to create poetry lessons to share with kids that could inspire work like this. It is so much fun to try and imitate authors that one admires. :) I'm thinking we might read "Anabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe soon. It's a great poem and the story we're reading right now takes place in a lighthouse, so it would be related. Anyway, I digress. Hate that Cat continues Jack's dialogue with his teacher, who has looped up with Jack's class and continues to share wonderful poetry with him. I was so excited that this book used William Carlos William's poem about the figs in the ice box! It's one of my favorites, and Jack's attempt at imitation is cute!

12-16 and birthday books

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is the second book in a series about what would happen to the world as we know it if the moon were knocked just a little closer. This installment is set in New York City, where Alex Morales struggles to keep himself and his sisters alive through the first cruel winter. His struggles and experiences are quite different from Miranda's were in the first book. His mother is at work and his father is out of the country when the asteroid strikes the moon, meaning that he is the man of the house. He is able to rely on the Catholic church for awhile, but eventually even that chain of command breaks down and he is launched into a desperate struggle to get out of the dying city. I can't wait to see what the third book brings!

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Written in classic Conroy style, this story touched on a new topic: homosexuality and the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's. I saw echoes of Beach Music and The Prince of Tides in the characters and events. In particular the beautiful and damaged heroines with their sibilant names seem as though they could walk in and out of each other's stories: Shyla, Starla, Sheba, and Savannah. Conroy's description of the hurricane which rips through Charleston captivated me and reminded me of the scene from Beach Music in which Shyla and Jack dance in the beach house as the waves tear it apart during a similar storm. It's fascinating to see so many symbols and devices used in so many different ways.

When the Wind Blows by James Patterson

I haven't quite finished this one, but I am enjoying it immensely. It's written in standard Patterson style: short chapters, lots of action and dialog, fast moving story, nice blend of science fact and character-driven morality. Also, I am confused by what I once read, that the Max in this book is not the same Max in the Maximum Ride books. I think that this cannot possibly be true, as she is nearly the same character! The other bird-kids are different, but really in name only. (And I think I prefer their names in this to their names in the YA books.)

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

As usual, this came out right before my birthday and Mom and Daddy gave it to me as a gift. I enjoyed it, although I am getting a little frustrated that the characters (specifically Morelli and Ranger) are completely static at this point. I would like to see them grow and change, as real people do in real life.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

This is definitively the most amazing book I've read yet this year. It tops Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, although in truth the two are related. In One Second After, an EMP is detonated over the United States, destroying all electronic devices in an instant. The novel, which is set in Black Mountain, North Carolina (a place with which I am reasonably familiar), then describes the efforts of the people there to survive as their world is thrown into chaos. The threat of an EMP is very real in our world today, where people rely increasingly on electronics to complete simple tasks and the generation which knew how to complete those tasks without electronics is dying out. This should be required reading for every American. It's simply terrifying, beautifully written, and compelling.

100 Greatest Children's Books

I've read the ones in bold.

100. The Egypt Game - Snyder (1967)
99. The Indian in the Cupboard - Banks (1980)
98. Children of Green Knowe - Boston (1954)
97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - DiCamillo (2006)
96. The Witches - Dahl (1983)
95. Pippi Longstocking - Lindgren (1950)
94. Swallows and Amazons - Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn - Brink (1935)
92. Ella Enchanted - Levine (1997)
91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Sachar (1978)
90. Sarah, Plain and Tall - MacLachlan (1985)
89. Ramona and Her Father - Cleary (1977)
88. The High King - Alexander (1968)
87. The View from Saturday - Konigsburg (1996)
86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Rowling (1999)
85. On the Banks of Plum Creek - Wilder (1937)
84. The Little White Horse - Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief - Turner (1997)
82. The Book of Three - Alexander (1964)
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Lin (2009)
80. The Graveyard Book - Gaiman (2008)
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family - Taylor (1951)
78. Johnny Tremain - Forbes (1943)
77. The City of Ember - DuPrau (2003)
76. Out of the Dust - Hesse (1997)
75. Love That Dog - Creech (2001)
74. The Borrowers - Norton (1953)
73. My Side of the Mountain - George (1959)
72. My Father's Dragon - Gannett (1948)
71. The Bad Beginning - Snicket (1999)
70. Betsy-Tacy - Lovelae (1940)
69. The Mysterious Benedict Society - Stewart ( 2007)
68. Walk Two Moons - Creech (1994)
67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher - Coville (1991)
66. Henry Huggins - Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes - Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago - Peck (1998)
63. Gone-Away Lake - Enright (1957)
62. The Secret of the Old Clock - Keene (1959)
61. Stargirl - Spinelli (2000)
60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart - Funke (2003)
58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Aiken (1962)
57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 - Cleary (1981)
56. Number the Stars - Lowry (1989)
55. The Great Gilly Hopkins - Paterson (1978)
54. The BFG - Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows - Grahame (1908)
52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
51. The Saturdays - Enright (1941)
50. Island of the Blue Dolphins - O'Dell (1960)
49. Frindle - Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks - Birdsall (2005)
47. Bud, Not Buddy - Curtis (1999)
46. Where the Red Fern Grows - Rawls (1961)
45. The Golden Compass - Pullman (1995)
44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Blume (1972)
43. Ramona the Pest - Cleary (1968)
42. Little House on the Prairie - Wilder (1935)
41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Speare (1958)
40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Baum (1900)
39. When You Reach Me - Stead (2009)
38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix - Rowling (2003)
37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Taylor (1976)
36. Are You there, God? It's Me, Margaret - Blume (1970)
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire - Rowling (2000)
34. The Watson's Go to Birmingham - Curtis (1995)
33. James and the Giant Peach - Dahl (1961)
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - O'Brian (1971)
31. Half Magic - Eager (1954)
30. Winnie-the-Pooh - Milne (1926)
29. The Dark Is Rising - Cooper (1973)
28. A Little Princess - Burnett (1905)
27. Alice I and II - Carroll (1865/72)
26. Hatchet - Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women - Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling (2007)
23. Little House in the Big Woods - Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux - DiCamillo (2003)
21. The Lightening Thief - Riordan (2005)
20. Tuck Everlasting - Babbitt (1975)
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dahl (1964)
18. Matilda - Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee - Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy - Fitzhugh (1964)
15. Because of Winn-Dixie - DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Rowling (1999)
13. Bridge to Terabithia - Paterson (1977)
12. The Hobbit - Tolkien (1938)
11. The Westing Game - Raskin (1978)
10. The Phantom Tollbooth - Juster (1961)
9. Anne of Green Gables - Montgomery (1908)
8. The Secret Garden - Burnett (1911)
7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)
6. Holes - Sachar (1998)
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - Koningsburg (1967)
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Lewis (1950)
3. Harry Potter #1 - Rowling (1997)
2. A Wrinkle in Time - L'Engle (1962)
1. Charlotte's Web - White (1952)

Those bookstore emails come in handy sometimes...

I get emails from Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, and Borders. Interesting how all three start with the letter B. At any rate, those emails sometimes clog my inbox. They irritate me. They are often filled with books I will never read and coupons I will never use. And they always seem to come on the same day! Today's emails, however, brought up several interesting things.

The first is this article from NPR about James Patterson's unusual writing process. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this. Apparently, Patterson researches a topic and writes his , then sends his notes to a "teammate" who writes the first draft. Then Patterson reads and edits the manuscript until he is satisfied. When he explains it in the article, it sounds so normal. Honestly, upon firs treading the article, my thoughts were along the lines of "How cool! What neat way to work as a team." However, this seems so far removed from my own writing process and from what is considered "usual" that I am struggling to form an opinion of it. The comments on this article brought up another interesting point. This may not be an authentic way to write novels; it may smack of a kind of literary dishonesty or laziness.

I was excited to see the following upcoming books: Return to Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney, and Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs and Lullabies by Emma Walton Hamilton.

Next post: on rereading novels, movie adaptations, and fanfiction (gasp!).

Some books I'd like to read

Disclaimer: Lest I freak anyone (my mom, my husband, my girlfriends...) out, this is not an indication of immediate plans.

Raising a Modern-Day Joseph: A Timeless Strategy for Growing Great Kids by Larry Fowler

The Year & Our Children: Catholic Family Celebrations for Every Season by Mary Reed Newland

Start Your Family: Inspiration for Having Babies by Steve and Candace Watters

I was wandering through the Christian bookstore today and I saw titles 1 and 3. Both looked interesting. I mean, I'll be a mom eventually, and there are few things more important than establishing a firm basis of faith for our children. What they choose to do with it is their decision, but it's my job to give them the right tools.

The second title came up when I was browsing the other two on Amazon. It seems appropriate, given that we want our children to value both our heritages. (Now if I could just find the Methodist version of that book, and a church to match. :/)

Anyway, I guess I'll buy these eventually, because the public library doesn't have them.