The Prodigy

by Alton Gansky,
PRMS, paperback, 340 pages

Wow! This rocked. I started it Wed p.m. after church and read 'til 11:30. Last night, I picked it up after Curriculum Night (9:30ish) and finished it at 11:15.

The story begins with the birth of Toby to an unwed teen mother in the Appalachians. Toby is an unusual and special child. But is he performing miracles, or . . . ? Suspenseful, exciting, thought-provoking. I had never heard of this author before, but will look for more of his titles!

At one point, I checked to see who the publisher was (Zondervan) to decide if this was going to end up with a Christian perspective or not. Very cool book! I hope our book club decides to read it.

Rex Libris: I, Librarian

by James Turner
Dakota County Library, paperback, unpaged graphic novel

Funny, smart, and a little bit wicked. Librarians as secret superheroes. I know of at least one person I want to buy this for as a gift. Very clever stuff!

Rain Song

by Alice Wisler
Hennepin, Carver, and Dakota counties (I got three out so I could share)
paper, 295 pages

It's been a few weeks since I read this (and book club doesn't meet until next Monday), but I liked it for the most part.

I was frustrated by some unanswered questions - I hope we talk about these at Book Club:
- What was the purpose of Monet's character? What was wrong with her? What was she supposed to represent?
- Why couldn't Nicole have attended the reunion and gone to Japan later, like in August?
- Why didn't her father get grief counseling or share with anyone? As a missionary, I would think he'd have some support.
- Was it realistic that Nicole would overcome so much history to get on a plane and visit Harrison?

But overall, I liked the unfolding of the story. I loved the relationships between Ducee and everyone else. Iva was a hoot - my favorite character.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

by C.S. Lewis
my collection, paper, 189 pages

Louie and I watched "Prince Caspian" last week and that whetted my appetite for Narnia. I hadn't read any of the books in many years, so picked this one up and read it in an evening. Now I want to re-watch the movie version of it and read the other books in the series.

Beautiful stuff. I'm glad Lewis wrote these allegories.

Words By Heart

by Ouida Sebestyen
my collection, paper, 135 pages

Wow. This was an amazing book. It's been in my collection a really long time (I had it in my LA classroom when I taught freshman English in Jordan!), but I don't think I had ever read it before. Lena is a black girl growing up in 1910 in a white community. She's very good at memorizing and wins a Scripture contest. Her father is her hero and he lives his faith in a way that's hard for Lena to understand.

I really enjoyed this story. It says a lot in its short 100+ pages!

Frazz: Live at Bryson Elementary

by Jef Mallett
Dakota County Library, paperback, 128 pages

Wow! I never even knew this comic existed! I'm so glad I stumbled across it at the library! This is good like Calvin & Hobbes - smart, funny, (a bit less cynical). Frazz is the cool elementary school janitor and Caulfield is the hypersmart kid who comes up with the best lines. Great comic collection! I'm buying one for school and one for me at home!

Wonder Woman: Love and Murder

by Jodi Piccoult (with lots of other people - comic books are so collaborative!)
Dakota County Library, hard cover, unpaged

Wow! I've always loved comic books, and Jodi Piccoult is such a great author. This was a hit! Now I have to track down the next volume . . . Amazons Attack. The authors are different, but there's a great story line going on. Reminds me of when Superman died . . . Won't buy this for PRMS. I just don't think it's one the kids would get into.

Places I Never Meant to Be

edited by Judy Blume
Hennepin County Library, paperback, 202 pages

This volume of short stories and comments by censored writers is powerful. The stories are not here for shock value at all and I almost enjoyed reading the authors' comments after their stories as much as the stories themselves. My favorite short story was Spear by Julius Lester. Many of the stories are sad. Walter Dean Myers' The Beast is in the Labyrinth was powerful. A very good collection. Not sure about buying it for PRMS . . . not many kids read short story collections. Wonder how I can "sell" them better.

The Last Lecture

by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
Dakota County Library, audiobook read by Erik Singer
4 1/2 hours

I have seen parts of the last lecture given by Pausch. Incredible guy (and a big egotistical, but he admits it). So sad that he died so young. But amazing that his story has inspired so many people. We listened to this on the way to & from Strawberry Lake and it affected Louie, Morgan, and Nick too. I'd still like to see the books (for the photos). It sounds as though his parents (and his wife!) are incredible people. Highly recommended.