The Summer Hideaway

by Susan Wiggs
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 discs
genre: romance

This was so much better than the last few I've tried! There was actually a plot and some character development. Claire Turner is a private duty nurse. She's been on her own and on the run since she was 17 years old and saw her foster dad (a respected cop) murder her two foster brothers. Ross Bellamy is coming home after two years in Afghanistan and is dismayed that his grandfather is "giving up" on medical treatments for his brain tumor. I didn't enjoy the back story quite as much . . . every time the story went back to the 1940s and 50s, I urged it to hurry back to the modern story. (Yeah - what's dumber - talking to my stereo while I drive, or continuing to check out romance stories?)

Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?

by Roz Chast
Carver County Library paperback 240 pages
genre: graphic novel memoir

This was very interesting! Although there were aspects of Chast's experience that were quite different from mine (Jewish, only child, loss of both parents vs. Christian, three sibs, dad's still alive), there were enough similarities for this book to really resonate with me! Issues of managing time, money, and feelings were key. Dealing with the accumulation of stuff over decades - this really hit home!

I gave it to Louise, hoping she would read it quickly so Ann could perhaps read it, too. I hoped to go to the discussion of the book at the EP library on Monday night. But just now I realized that my appointment for Pepper's grooming is also on Monday night. Reschedule the grooming? Sigh. I would love to talk with others who have read this book and are dealing with these issues.

Her drawing style isn't my favorite, but she is a wonderful storyteller.

Wildflowers from Winter

by Katie Ganshert
Hennepin County Library paperback 293
genre: Christian romance

Bethany is an architect in Chicago. When events in her hometown of Peaks, Iowa draw her back there after a decade's absence, she struggles with her past and present.

Dan - her dad's dad, grandpa Dan is the most stable, positive part of her past
Pastor Fenton - zealous in a bad way; he's the reason she rejects God
Evan - cute guy who has been farming Dan's land for the last five years
Micah - Evan's brother, hospitalized and unresponsive
Robin - Bethany's best friend in childhood, they've not kept close

This was good, but not great. Too many things that didn't fit . . . too many tragic deaths just to make the living characters more sympathetic (Bethany's dad when she was nine, Robin's mom not too many years later, Robin's husband just before he learns they're pregnant . . . ). We have book club tomorrow night and it will be fun to discuss it with the others. If I had to pick a favorite part, it would probably be at the carnival when Pastor Fenton has a stroke - because of Bethany's revelation about the nature of God.

Jack's Run

by Roland Smith
donation copy paperback 246 pages
genre: YA adventure

I read this in bits and pieces during lunch this school year. It's a quick little sequel to Zach's Lie. I think I like it better than the first book! Jack/Zack/Mack is heading to California to stay with his sister while his parents are holed up in preparation for Alonzo's trial. His sister auditions for a singing show (brilliant move for a person in a witness protection program . . . ) and they are again being hunted. The kids are taken to a vineyard until their parents give up Alonzo's journal. Action. Adventure. Danger. Good stuff. A little too much, but middle school appropriate.

The Hundred Dresses

by Eleanor Estes
illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
PRMS paperback 80 pages
genre: children's realistic fiction, Newbery Honor book

Janet Aquino was shocked last fall when I admitted I had never read this book. Since I was helping some of her students, I read it. Wanda Petronski is the odd girl who lives in Boggins Heights and wears the same dress every day to school. Maddie is the narrator of the story. Peggy is her best friend and the chief tormentor of poor Wanda. As they ask her questions, Wanda says that she has a hundred dresses at home in her closet. Only when she doesn't show up for school one day do they try to truly learn more about Wanda. Short, with good conversation points. Not sure how the boys react to having to read this . . .

The Hunt

by Andrew Fukuda
Hennepin County Library paperback 293
genre: YA vampire / dystopian future

The "people" are actually vampires who thrive at night, eating bloody raw meat since almost all "hepers" - human beings - are gone. Gene (who doesn't use a name, like the people, but remembers his later) has survived by being very, very careful. Shaving all hairs from his face and body. Cleaning thoroughly and using scent to mask his own. Not making any sudden movements. No laughing, raised eyebrows, etc. School is easy for him academically since he's very smart.  But he has to constantly be on his guard and cannot make any friends. When he is selected by "lottery" to be part of a heper hunt, staying alive gets much harder.

Liked:
fast pace
interesting elements to the story

Disliked:
unresolved ending with Ashley June in the dungeon . . .
unrealistic fight and escape with rabid vampires on top of them
the revelation at the end about who the scientist was

It's worth reading this book IF you plan on reading book two, The Prey. Not sure I will.

Oh, Yikes! History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments

by Joy Masoff
PRMS audiobook 2 discs
read by Johnny Heller
genre: YA non-fiction

This is definitely middle school appropriate, but it's not the grossest or wackiest. This is a more interesting way to learn about history than most textbooks' treatment. Aztecs, Henry VIII, Christopher Columbus, and others are shared in a not-very-flattering light.

A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper

by John Allen Paulos
Hennepin County Library paperback 203 pages
genre: non-fiction, analysis

Not sure where I read about this book, but the concept intrigued me. I couldn't read more than a few chapters, though. This book made my brain work too hard and I honestly didn't understand some of his analysis of news stories. The one I really like (and that stuck in my brain as an educator) was asking people to estimate the population of a country, but starting with an "anchor." When "people were asked to estimate the population of Turkey. Before answering, they were presented wiht a figure and asked whether the actual number was higher of lower. Of those who were first presented with the figure of five million, the average estimate was 17 million; of those first presented with a figure of 65 million, the average estimate was 35 million." People use data as anchors to actual information, even though they are not based on fact. (Turkey's population at the time of the study was 50 million.)

Bury the Dead: tombs, corpses, mummies, skeletons, & rituals

by Christopher Sloan
PRMS audiobook 1 disc
read by Matthew Greer
genre: YA non-fiction

Put out by National Geographic, this brief book had interesting historical info on different cultures and death practices. It was a bit "over" average middle schoolers' level, but short enough to work for kids who are into this type of thing.

Medicine in the Industrial World

by John D. Clare
part of the "The History of Medicine" series
PRMS hardcover 62 pages
genre: non-fiction

I initially picked this up after I checked out my Florence Nightingale book to a student and wanted an example for doing bibliographies. Then I checked it out because I was curious. Some of it was super interesting. Some was familiar info. Some stuff bugged me, like the author basically saying Nightingale was a "creation of the newspapers." Wow. He completely dissed her contributions in the field of medicine.

The Red Queen's Daughter

by Jacqueline Kolosov
Hennepin County Library paperback 399 pages
genre: YA historical fiction, fantasy

A student (Anna R) raved about this book and basically demanded that I read it. So I did. And it bugged the heck out of me. I'll need to ask her what about it she liked so much and really *listen* to her answer.

Here's what I didn't like:
- the "white" magic and how she explains its role in the world
- the pathetic lack of strength in the protagonist, Mary Seymour
- the twisting of the historical account
- the continual rescue of magic to an extremely difficult situation

Seriously. Did Mary truly fall in love with her cousin? Or was she just that suggestible?

I liked her dog / spirit. He rocked.

A Matter of Days

by Amber Kizer
Hennepin County Library audiobook 7 discs
read by Alex McKenna
genre: YA futuristic, SciFi

Loved this! Reader McKenna brought the story to life amazingly well, as Nadia and her little brother Rabbit set out from Seattle to meet their uncle Bean and their Grandpa in West Virgina. The deadly virus BluStar has decimated more than 90% of the human population. Roving gangs have wreaked yet more havoc. Their trip is fraught with dangers (both natural and human) and small joys. What a wonderful piece of storytelling! I am buying the book for my media center asap!

The kids' dad died overseas in combat. Their mom was a nurse who resented the military life that claimed her husband. Zach is a surprising hero. Wanted to write down the dog's name . . . but I may have to re-listen to get it. Something like "tiwocky" - it was an acronym. Relistened - it's Teotwawki "tee-oh-twocky" - The End Of The World As We Know It.

Wonderful book!