I didn't realize just how much my daughter Mary and my niece Liz look alike until Mary sent me this pic. They even chose the darker rimmed glasses. I wish they lived closer together as I think they would be great friends if they did. Liz, like Mary, is very close to her mom.

Mary is holding McKinley and Liz is holding Kegan. Liz was born about 3 months before Mary and my Mic was born less than two months before Ben, Liz's brother. I spent time at my brother Bob and sister-in-law Lennie's home when our kids were little and my brown eyed, darker haired children looked more like Len's kids and her's like mine as Liz has my coloring. Who knows what the gene pool will do as far as our children are concerned. As they mature we see more of family in them and that makes me feel closer to the loved ones who are no longer with us. Mary looks like me but she is tall and willowy like her paternal aunt Marlene who I think is one of the most beautiful and kind women in the world. I smile to myself as I watch Mary mature into the same kind of woman as her aunt. I guess with the Holiday season approaching I am thinking about family. With both Mom and Dad playing Rummy with Mic in heaven I feel like the only "blood" family I have left is Mary as my brothers are not the kind to stay in touch, though I wish they would. But, not all mothers can say, as I can, that their daughters are not only the joy of their lives but also their best friend, so all things considered I feel blessed.

I just got home from the dentist and trying to sip a soda with half of my mouth numb is quite interesting. So far I haven't dribbled too much. At least this time it was just a filling and not another implant, root canal, or crown. We have spent a lot of money on my mouth in the last couple of years. Guess I inherited Mom's soft teeth. I never knew my mom without dentures as she had all of her teeth pulled years before I was born. No dental care when she grew up so she made sure, no matter how tight money was, that all four kids went to the dentist every year. As children we just don't realize how much our parents sacrificed for us. I am realizing it more and more as I let go of my grief over Mom's death just when we were becoming close and let myself remember what a wonderful, resilient woman she was.  Even though there wasn't much as far as "extras" in our home my mom made sure we always had a bountiful Thanksgiving and Christmas meal. All those hours baking and cooking on the wood stove made our kitchen cozy, or at times downright hot. You did not want to wear a big heavy wool sweater in Mom's kitchen during the Holidays as it was toasty and then some! Sadly, as a child and a teen I was so selfish I never thought to offer to help Mom with any of the preparations and she rarely ever asked for help. But, I knew I would be washing dishes for what seemed like hours after those meals while the boys and any guests for the holiday meal would be in the livingroom watching sports or chatting. The dishes were my job no matter how big or small the meal was.

I am feeling nostalgic all the way around today and listening to Rod Stewart's new CD Soulbook http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Soulbook/Rod-Stewart/e/886973025628/?itm=1  It has so many of my old favorites on it with even a few duets, such as Tracks of My Tears with Smokey Robinson and My Cherie Amour with Stevie Wonder. Right now I'm singing along with Wonderful world. I only sing when I am alone as I can't carry a tune at all.

My students are responding to a set of 10 questions Richard Peck came up with instead of book reports when he was a HS English teacher many years ago. He was at the American Association of School Librarians conference in Charlotte, NC last week and many of my students attended. One of them told him how I use his questions in my YA lit course. I should email him and thank him for making my students think about the YA novels they read from different perspectives. The response essays are a delight to read. These questions could so easily be adapted for children. There are so many ways for a reader to respond to books rather than those awful electronic reading quizzes.

And, Susan Beth Pfeffer's dystopian novels Life as We Knew It http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Life-as-We-Knew-It/Susan-Beth-Pfeffer/e/9780152058265/?itm=1&usri=pfeffer+susan and the dead & the gone http://search.barnesandnoble.com/the-dead-and-the-gone/Susan-Beth-Pfeffer/e/9780152063115/?pwb=1 the second book is the Life As We Knew It set of companion novels are frequently used to answer the Peck question about why a book is set where it is, location or time wise. I really hate to use the term series as to me this means the books are about the same set of characters, but B&N online notes the dead & the gone as Life as We Knew It #2. (I dislike when titles are all in lower case.) I checked the Library of Congress cataloging information on the verso and sure enough, even lower case here.

Well, I have spent the hours since I blogging last working on the article on booktalking and I am a bit saddened by the lack of support I see in the data from HS teachers for booktalking. Most of them did enjoy listening to the booktalks and do see booktalking as an effective reading incentive activity but only a couple of them actually said they might try it themselves. I hope my YA lit students are proactive and go out there and train more booktalkers at the schools they become school librarians in. At UHCL we made YA lit a required course of alternative licensure students getting secondary certification and what a great group of students they were to teach. I loved seeing these guys start out with their arms crossed and "yeah-right!" looks on their face to emailing me after they had classrooms of their own to tell me how they were booktalking in their classrooms. I loved it!
And, since I was a bit frustrated after I finished the rough draft of the article I started going through picture books as I knew there was no way I could stay grumpy if I read picture books. :-)

With Halloween tomorrow I had to read a book about owls. My all time favorite owl book is Jane Yolen's Owl Moon http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Owl-Moon/Jane-Yolen/e/9780399214578/?itm=1&USRI=owl+moon It is both the rhythmic text and the wonderful snowy night illustrations by John Schoenherr that makes this the most wonderful father and daughter story for those of us who grew up in cold country where we were so bundled up that we could hardly walk, but would have walked through the snow as long as needed to spend time with our fathers. This may be set it New England, but it may as well have been the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I grew up where the Great Horned Owl hoot can also be heard in the dead of the night.

I have found a new beloved title in Jennifer A. Ericsson's Whoo Goes There? illustrated by Bert Kitchen. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Whoo-Goes-There/Jennifer-A-Ericsson/e/9781596433717/?itm=1&usri=whoo+goes+there+ericsson As with Owl Moon B&N indicates ages 4-8 for this book but I am a lot older than that and this one stays with me! I will share it with lots of folks, old and young, but I won't give my copy to anyone. The illustrations are so beautiful I thought of buying another copy so I could frame some of them. The predictable text is an absolute delight - Owl is listening and watching for his evening meal. He is hoping for a mouse but it turns out to be a slinking Siamese cat - not a fit dinner for Owl. Something moving under the brush - perhaps a squirrel for dinner but it is a skunk - Owl didn't want skunk for his dinner. And so the evening goes as Owl predicts what the sound might mean but he is wrong each time and the man scares him away and little mouse can find his evening meal. A wonderful title for teaching little ones about the various animals who search for food at night as well as prediction skills. A must have for every primary school collection and public library. What a great storytime book to support the science curriculum or just as a fun Autumn read.

I really did want to like it, but Tim Hopgood's Wow! Said the Owl http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Wow-Said-the-Owl/Tim-Hopgood/e/9780374385187/?itm=1&usri=wow+said+the+owl is not going to be on my recommended. list. I have real problems with books that are meant to teach colors and they are not clearly the color indicated. The pink looks lavender to me and the orange ranges from almost red to gold. When teaching little ones colors we need to have very true colors and these are not. The indigo looks black and the red looks orange and I just ended up being frustrated. I will not share this one with my grandchildren as they will as confused as I am by how these colors came about.


And, since I was feeling grumpy I just had to add The Terrible Plop by Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrated by Andrew Joyner  http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Terrible-Plop/Ursula-Dubosarsky/e/9780374374280/?itm=1&usri=terrible+plopto my reading pile because the grumpy bear on the front reflected how I was feeling. But, soon I was laughing out loud at all of the animals running for fear of the Terrible PLOP! The rabbits were dining on chocolate cake and carrots by the lake when they heard the Terrible PLOP! And off they went, just like Henny Penny and her fear of the sky falling, in fear of the Terrible PLOP! The rhyming text is as delightful as the illustrations. "Up jump the rabbits ' Hop, hop, hop! They shout to each other, "Run! Don't stop! We must get away From the Terrible PLOP!" Bear is not happy about having his time in the sun being interrupted so he grabs the slowest little bunny by the ears and insists he sees where the terrible PLOP! happened. So, there they are at the lake, the apple swaying in the breeze when it happens again. The little bunny knows what caused the Terrible PLOP! but Bear is on the run in abject fear. It is hilarious and a great companion to other books that address the "sky is falling" wherever it happens to be!

They are all boy! Kegan is sitting on big brother Michael's back. Wish they lived closer so I could see them all dressed up for Halloween. I need to remind Mary she needs to take pictures of all three kids in costume.

Too bad today is not trick or treat day as we are supposed to have temperatures as high as the low 70s today. It is already 65 this early in the morning. But, then it will get cold and rainy. Perhaps a duck costume! I love Halloween and have the Today Show on because they are all dressed up as characters from Star Wars. Al Roker said he saw Star Wars three times in the same day when it first came out. In some ways it is difficult to watch this as Mic was an avid Star Wars fan and had just about every figure and prop there was. Sadly, we sold them at a garage sale when we left Alaska. I would love to have all of that now. Hindsight is always 20/20. No matter what generation you are from you know recognize the major Star Wars characters. Yoda is my favorite.

We had a wonderful chat with Suzanne Crowley last night. It was very clear she had done her research for The Stolen One http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Stolen-One/Suzanne-Crowley/e/9780061232008/?itm=1&USRI=stolen+one+crowley  and we were all intrigued by the details. Imagine an entire warehouse next to the wharf to store Queen Elizabeth's close to 2,000 gowns. Many of them were encrusted with real jewels. Not Halloween costumes I'd like to wear though I love the elaborate costumes of Tudor England. It is unusual for an author to have input as to the cover art for their books, but Crowley chose the dress and even got to keep the gorgeous necklace. She has begun to collect pears, which do have a role of their own in The Stolen One. Wild red-haired Kat never met her parents, but she knows she isn't ready to settle down as the wife of a local farmer. She escapes to London, taking her less than willing sister along, playing the role of her maid. Soon Kat is one of the Queen's maids of honor and a confidant to Elizabeth. The rumors swirl through court that she is the illegitimate daughter of the Queen. Kat is in more danger than she realizes. Fans of historical fiction will be right there with Kat due to the lush descriptions of the settings and the wardrobes of the characters. When booktalking this novel, I wouldn't even say it is historical fiction - I'd focus on Kat and her quest to find out why her adoptive mother will not talk about her birth parents and the dangers she faces at court. Booktalks with teens is all about finding an element of the book that relates to teens today and that can be done with any genre, including historical fiction. There are plenty of teenage girls who will relate to feisty Kat.



Crowley's family history suggests that she is a descendent of Lady Jane Grey who was beheaded. Ann Rinaldi's Nine Days a Queen: The Short Life and Reign of Lady Jane Grey http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Nine-Days-a-Queen/Ann-Rinaldi/e/9780060549237/?pwb=2  would be a good compliment to The Stolen One. Offer it to the readers who bring back Crowley's book and want to read more about the Tudors. Jane Grey lived during the reign of Henry the VIII and lived in his court, developing a close relationship Katherine Parr and playing with Elizabeth and Edward. The intrigue of the Tudor court is fascinating and to think that if Elizabeth had been crowned queen instead of Jane Grey, and beheaded just days after being crowned queen, the future of England would have been drastically changed. I read Rinaldi's book when it came out in 2005 and I was fascinated by the intrigue and how the members of the court could start a rumor and destroy a life.

All of the cool costumes on the Today Show has me thinking of costumes for kids. A great book character Halloween costume would be Olivia, from Ian Falconer's delight series of books about a vivacious and imaginative young pig, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=falconer+olivia&box=falconer%20olivia&pos=-1  There are several picture books and board books to introduce your own vivacious little girl to Olivia. My granddaughter McKinley would be a very good Olivia as I can see her drawing all over the walls and trying on every outfit in her closet as she gets ready for school. Falconer used red as the only color in the first Olivia title and focuses on a different color in each book. A great set of books to introduce colors to preschoolers.

So, when I saw the cover of Trouble Gum by Matthew Cordell http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=trouble+gum+cordell&box=trouble%20gum%20cordell&pos=-1 I immediately thought of Falconer's books as it is illustrated in a very similar minimalist style and has a very feisty piglet main character. We now have a little boy piglet book for the boys who don't want to been seen with the Olivia books. Ruben is bored because it is raining outside. Mom tells him to go play with his little brother Julius and his cars. He proceeds to be a very loud ambulance and mother asked him to be quieter. But that doesn't deter Ruben for entertaining himself, if not Julius. His red Superpig cape does not keep him from landing with a THUMP! on a small couch pillow when he leaps off the arm of couch. Julius, in his round frame glasses, just quietly sit by and watches his older brother's antics. Of course, Grammy had an answer - GUM! Ruben teaches Julius how to chew gum with a smak, smak, smak while laying down, balancing on his head, etc. And, of course he swallows it. Mom said no more but Grammy reminds her that she too swallowed her gum when she was a piglet so Ruben was given another piece. Ruben's further antics will elicit giggles and even a few snort laughs from you and the youngsters you share this book with. And, of course there is a bubble disaster with Ruben delightfully shouting, "GUM!".

Isn't this just the cutest picture of Michael, McKinley and Kegan at the pumpkin patch? Well, Kegan looks like he may be sitting on a pumpkin stem, but I still love it! It wasn't long after this picture was taken that WI had a dusting of snow. BRRR!!

We are having wonderful weather in Lexington, but I am in no shape to enjoy it. Lucky me - I caught the flu from a guy next to me at physical therapy last Friday who was snuffling and coughing and then literally sneezed on me! When that happened I had a feeling it was going to be a lost cause and it was. I am starting to feel a bit better, but just taking a shower wore me out. I can't imagine being a child and feeling like an elephant sat on you. Mary said Michael has been sick with this wicked flu and said he was too sore to walk. Poor kiddo. On top of the flu he has been having nose bleeds from the cold dry weather in Green Bay.


Speaking of Michael, his teacher told Mary he is the second best reader in his First Grade class. Happy Gramma!! Her Parent Teacher conference was the same day of the book fair (Of course - smart librarian!) and Mary treated Michael to two new books. She has fallen in love with The Library Lion by Michelle Knudson and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Library-Lion/Michelle-Knudsen/e/9780763622626/?pwb=2  I don't know where my copy is, but I would never have given away a book both about a lion and the library. Mary is so enchanted with the illustrations that she has claimed ownership of this one and doesn't mind reading it over and over again. The other book Michael picked out is Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Splat-the-Cat/Rob-Scotton/e/9780060831547/?itm=1&usri=splat+the+cat  which is quite hilarious. I need to send Michael a copy of Merry Christmas, Splat http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Merry-Christmas-Splat/Rob-Scotton/e/9780060831608/?itm=2&usri=splat+the+cat  as I love any Christmas book and a book about a this funny cat and Christmas. What could be better?

Speaking of Christmas, Steve did the sweetest thing for me last night. He had to run to the store and when I went to crawl back into bed there was a very large lump in my side of the bed. Warming my side of the bed was the cutest stuffed Christmas moose you've ever seen. He has the plaid flannel ear-flap caps that many a male Finn wore when I was growing up. It made me think of my dad and uncles as they got ready to go deer hunting, all bundled up. Never could figure out how they walked in all those clothes! So Merry Moose and I spent the day in bed emailing students about their Spring 2010 course schedules. Out of the corner of my eye I was watching a day long marathon of my favorite 1980s TV series with Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman - Beauty and the Beast http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Beauty-and-the-Beast-The-Complete-Series/Ron-Perlman/e/097361377643/?itm=1&usri=beauty+and+the+beast  I remember avidly watching this on my roommate's tiny little b/w TV while I was going to school for my MLS at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. I'd love to have my own copy of the series as it is such a cool show! I just can't see Ron Pearlman as Hellboy as he will always be the lion-like Vincent to me. I'd take a small DVD player and this series with me on a vacation for sure.

I noted that I mentioned Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Hunger-Games/Suzanne-Collins/e/9780439023481/?itm=2&usri=hunger+games  in my last post. I have the perfect book to suggest to the readers who want another book like it - Maurice Gee's Salt http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Salt/Maurice-Gee/e/9781554692095/?itm=1&usri=salt+gee . This fascinating dystopian tale published by Orca will reach stores this month. This is the first title in a trilogy by a New Zealand author who has many accolades and has come out of retirement to write this trilogy. It took less than a handful of pages for me to be hooked as I could visualize the dark and brutal world of the Burrows where the dark skinned folks like Hari and his father fought for every bite of food and every bit of warmth. Hari often snuck into the Company compounds to spy on the families who ate their fill and dressed in sumptuous clothes, not rags. It is when Hari's father is captured and sent to the Salt that Hari sets out on a journey to rescue his father. At the same time, Radiant Pearl of the Deep Blue Sea was fleeing from an arranged marriage to a despicable older man, Ottmar of the Salt. It is the mysterious Tealeaf, who used her powers to ensure Radiant chose her as her maid years before and trained the young girl to defend herself, who leads her young charge away from the privileged life. As the reader anticipates, the two teens end up together as they escape poverty and privilege and join forces to rescue the men who have been sent to mine an ore that can destroy with just a few drops, but also eats away at the men who dig for it. Once you begin reading Salt, there is no way to not keep reading as you have to know if Hari rescues his father and if the two young people will overcome their differences. Now I have to wait for volume 2!!

About right now I wish I had McKinley's pigtail hat! BRRR!! We are looking at 40s tonight and high 50s tomorrow. I actually turned on the heat in the house a bit ago as it got so chilly in here. I am bundled up with a heating pad on my knee and an afghan and I hear the heat kicking on again. YES!!

I am now over my snit after a not so great news appointment at the orthopedic surgeon's office today. Not only did I have to sit in a waiting room full of sniffling and coughing fellow patients I also sat for way too long in a freezing cold examing room. The knee surgery was a bit more complicated than cleaning up a meniscus tear due to a growth that was impacting the kneecap and had to be removed. Between that and the slow healing normal for a fibromyalgia sufferer, I am looking at another month of physical therapy along with limited walking and standing. So, I won't be taking a long walk through the neighborhood to enjoy the Autumn color as the leaves will have fallen before I get the possible go ahead in late October or early November. At least Steve and I can take a relaxing drive along the backroads down to the KY river to enjoy the Autumn colors.

I took my first "big outing" since the surgery yesterday and attended a writer's workshop lead by Ellen Hopkins, YA author of Crank, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Crank/Ellen-Hopkins/e/9780689865190/?itm=1&USRI=crank+hopkins Glass http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Glass/Ellen-Hopkins/e/9781416940913/?itm=1&usri=g and the not yet published final book about her own daughter's meth addiction.  She was very open about her daughter's addiction and how it has impacted the family. It was heartbreaking to listen to her talk. Mic died in hiking accident and I thought I would die for a long time. I still miss him every day of my life but I cannot imagine watching my child kill herself a little bit at a time each day. She asked us to do a bit of writing of our own and I actually got the writing bug again as I used to write poetry before I began teaching at the university level and writing professional materials. I even bought a small spiral bound notebook to try writing poetry again. Don't know if I will have much time to write poetry as I am always behind with work due to my inability to work the long hours I used to. Brain stops working so much quicker these days.
We all received signed copies of Tricks http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Tricks/Ellen-Hopkins/e/9781416950073/?itm=1&usri=t written in her signature poetry style, that tells the story of a group of teens who find themselves selling themselves into prostitution. I have read about 1/2 of it already - I stayed up last night until I couldn't keep my eyes open as it is so good. I am feeling maternal toward these teens and would like to give their fictional parents a piece of my mind! I took a picture of her with my cell phone but I haven't figured out how to get it onto my laptop yet.

My students have been emailing me about the second Suzanne Collins title Catching Fire http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Catching-Fire/Suzanne-Collins/e/9780439023498/?itm=1 which I don't seem to have a review copy of it or I would have read it immediately as I loved Hunger Games http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Hunger-Games/Suzanne-Collins/e/9780439023481/?itm=2 I enjoyed getting to know Katniss, a strong a fiery female character living in a dystopian world that should scare us all silly.
With that book in mind I went looking for my copy of Margaret Wild and Anne Spudvilas' Woolvs in the Sitee http://www.amazon.com/Woolvs-Sitee-Margaret-Wild/dp/1590785002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254270204&sr=8-1 which is one of the creepiest dytopian futuristic picture books I've ever read/viewed. The stark illustrations draw me back to them over and over again. They portray a young boy who fears the wolves in the city, who aren't the 4 legged kind who roam the woods, but the ones who stalk the remaining humans when they venture into the city streets. He writes on the walls in phonetic spelling that often takes some thought to decipher. The boy's upstairs neighbor, an elderly woman, rushes out to get him when he thinks he sees bloo sky that, instead, turns out to be a painted wall that is quickly turning black. The old woman then disappears and he goes in search of her, leaving the reader to only imagine what happened to both of them. This is one of those picture books you would never give to a child as it is more horrific than any scary tale about a folklorish witch.

Which, of course, brings me to Arthur Yorinks' The Witch's Child illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Witchs-Child/Arthur-Yorinks/e/9780810993495/?itm=1&usri=w This is the book that sits next to the above YA level picture book.  Again, another picture book I would not share with young children. Upper elementary, yes, but not little ones. They'd be scared silly that a witch would turn them into thorny bushes! Smith's illustrations are beyond creepy in detail and nature. Let's just say the ending to the witch is similar to the Hansel and Gretel folktale with the witch's child being adopted by the little girl's parents. A little girl brave enought to enter the witch's house and try to mend the witch's child, a child of straw and leaves that even a lonely witch could not bring to life, but the love of a little girl could. There is a reason these two 2007 titles are still sitting on my bookshelf - they are ones I could not bear to give away. Nor will I!

My NCIS is over and Ziva is back home where she is supposed to be so all is right in my TV world. I have not decided if I like the California version with Chris O'Donnell yet. One week wasn't enough to draw me in but I plan to give it a chance. But it doesn't have Mark Harmon so how could it match up? :-)

I

I think Kegan and McKinley are going to be as close as my Mic and Mary were as kids. These two are even closer in age and McKinley already has Kegan and her older brother Michael wrapped around her little finger. Well, for that matter, her Mom and Dad too! Mary said they are now getting their summer weather. She called me yesterday from the park and she was in shorts and a tank top.

It has gotten chilly here in Lexington due to all the rain we have been getting. But, the flowers and wild strawberries in the front flower bed are growing like crazy. Steve picked a bunch of the tiny strawberries for me. They bring back memories of picking them as a kid and my mom making a white cake and covering the white frosting with the tiny berries. The coup was to find the first ripe ones so Mom could bring the cake to the St. John's Day celebration in late June. Summer came slowly to Upper Michigan - perhaps not as slowly as to Finland but my grandparents brought many of the celebrations with them.

I've been reading The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest by Dan Buettner. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Blue-Zones/Dan-Buettner/e/9781426204005/?itm=3&USRI=blue+zone. I found out about this book from Veronica, one of the other LS professors at ECU whose husband is Greek. One of the Blue Zones is a Greek island, very near to the one Nick grew up on. One of the secrets to a long life is "Your Tribe" - in other words, your family and close friends. I did not realize what a close knit tribe I grew up in. My dad and his brother married my mom and her sister so my cousins are double first cousins and the two families grew up together. I was the youngest so I missed out on many of the activities but it just seemed normal for my mom and Aunt Ruth to be together. Their friends were people my dad had grown up with as both families settled in the same little area. I have come to realize I have missed out on so much by leaving my tribe behind when my kids' dad wanted to move as far away as possible and that was Alaska. So now I am rethinking this whole tribe thing and how those close connections are what may be why my parents' generation were as healthy as they were.

Speaking of the Zone, many of us grew up watching Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, which to me is much scarier than the blood and gore movies of today. There is no skill in scaring an audience by cutting people into piece with blood spurting everywhere. But, to scare viewers with the possibility that the person sitting next to you in that little diner may actually be a Martian in disguise and the cook is from Venus, is a gift. Mark Kneece, one of the founders of the Sequential Art Department at Savannah College of Art and Design, has brought 8 of the Twilight Zone episodes back to life via graphic novels that will appeal to readers from upper elementary through adult. This series, including Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone: Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Twilight-Zone/Rod-Serling/e/9780802797278/?itm=2 which spooked me when I saw it years ago and again in this graphic novel. Give these to the resistant reader boys and they will be asking for each one. I hope Kneece adds to this series as it will be very popular and 8 books isn't going to be enough.

Although I was not impressed with Nuggest on the Flight Deck by Patricia Newman, with colored pencil illustrations by Aaron Zenz, I am still very aware that it will be popular with elementary age boys http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Nugget-on-the-Flight-Deck/Patricia-Newman/e/9780802797353/?itm=1&usri=n They will be delighted with the detailed drawings and enjoy the jargon used on an aircraft carrier. Nugget is the term used for a new aviator on his first tour of duty, but the illustrations make him look like an upper elementary age boy, rather than a young cadet. Young readers may think it odd that a boy is taken on a training mission. Nevertheless, it is still worth purchasing for the military and jet avid young readers.

Since the inception of Harry Potter there have been a lot of dragon focused fantasy for middle grade readers, but Shadow of the Dragon, Book 1: Kira by Kate O'Hearn is a bit unique in that it is set in a kingdom where girls must be married at age 13 and they certainly cannot have anything to do with dragons, which are trained and used by the king's army. Kira is a feisty 12 year old who is fascinated by dragons but not by the idea of being married. When Lord Dorcon, her father's nemesis, arrives at their farm to collect the family, Kira and her little sister Elspeth escape, but the middle daughter does not and is thrown into prison with the other girls who the king plans to starve to death. Kira's father and brother are forced to join the army. Not about to accept defeat at the hands of girls, Lord Dorcon continues to search for the girls, driving them into the mountains ruled by a rouge dragon. Their fate changes when they find an infant dragon who grows to allow Kira to ride him. With the help of a wizard, the sisters intend on rescuing their sister. A fun read. Upper elementary and MS readers will be impatiently waiting for the next book, which focuses on Elspeth. O'Hearn's debut novel will be enjoyed by fantasy readers who may have the same dream of riding a dragon that the author had, but she was vicariously riding between the skyscrapers of Manhattan.

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Isn't McKinley adorable? Mary says she'll add a pink bow or something to the costume so it is clear she's a little girl. Wish I could be there to see the kids all dressed up for Halloween. I had as much fun on Halloween as my kids as back then I dressed as a witch (green face and all) and had a cauldron and turned out the lights and read or told scary stories in the elementary school library. Sure can't do that anymore! Now it is a harvest festival and no Halloween type decorations. Need to find the lighted jack-o-lantern for the front porch. I am buying Halloween candy I can't eat or else I will!

I played flamingo (my bad left leg up with my foot on my other ankle) while holding onto the counter tops as I made chili for dinner. I was in the mood to cook and that is very unusual for me so I ignored not being allowed to stand for any length of time on my left leg as I was going to cook. I am paying for it now as my knee is hurting like Hades but I am not taking anything stronger than Advil as I have to keep myself awake until 12:30 a.m. and set an alarm for 6:30 a.m. so I get a max of 6 hours of "bed time" for the next 5 nights. I am seeing a cognitive/pain doc to help deal with the fibromyalgia insomnia and pain. He assures me that if I am willing to give this the 5 days of 6 hours and then add a 1/2 hour until I am past the number of hours I need I will not need to take sleep meds. and I'll get more "refreshing" sleep. He swears that they have a 97% success rate with this technique and biofeedback with fibro patients. Since I am more than tired of hurting 24/7 I am willing to try most anything. Acupuncture only worked for a few weeks as the fibro pain got smart and just moved from the area he was working on.

So, I stopped at Barnes and Noble and picked up Dan Brown's Lost Symbol http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Lost-Symbol/Dan-Brown/e/9780385504225/?itm=1 I had read both previous books about Langdon long before the movies so I was really disappointed to have Tom Hanks play him as Hanks just doesn't live up to the good looking young guy I had in my mind! I am interested to see if I now see Tom Hanks in my mind as I read this. Hopefully I can stay awake until after midnight by reading this.

I also picked up a copy of the graphic novel of The Gunslinger Born http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Dark-Tower/Peter-David/e/9781615531318/?itm=1&usri=1 which was on sale for less than $7 so I didn't think I could go wrong as I loved Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. Again, I read it when it first came out so I've forgotten much of it but it will be interesting to see if the illustrations work for me. This graphic novel series is a gotta have for HS level graphic novel collections and at $7 it is a bargain! I'll write more about it when I finish reading/viewing it.

We all know that Stephen King writes really creepy horror that gets into your head and does not want to leave. Another author, who is incredibly gifted in creating dialog and narrative that makes the reader look behind him/her to see if the creepy character is Neil Gaiman. Lots of discussion about The Graveyard Book http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Graveyard-Book/Neil-Gaiman/e/9780060530921/?itm=1&usri=1 which to me is very much a MS level book and isn't one I'd hand to an elementary school student. But, that Newbery designation causes many librarians and teachers to misjudge this book as a children's book. It is pure creepy tween reading. Perfect to create an October book display around. He has also taken on the Norse mythology I grew up with in his Odd and the Frost Giants http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Odd-and-the-Frost-Giants/Neil-Gaiman/e/9780061671739/?itm=1&usri=1 Don't let the short length trick you into believing it isn't a sophisticated story even though it seems quite simple and easy to read. Odd is a young boy lamed in an accident while trying to use his deceased father's cross-saw. Odd states things as he sees them - simple yet confusing! It is his blunt look at the world and his simple logic that saves him from forever being lost in the world of the Norse gods. Although the reviews suggest ages 8-12, this is one I would suggest MS teachers read aloud when studying mythology as it is an absolute delight.

Since I started out talking about Halloween, I need to end on that note with the boootifully delightful Never Say Boo! by Robin Pulver and illustrated by Deb Lucke http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Never-Say-Boo/Robin-Pulver/e/9780823421107/?itm=1&usri=1 Poor Gordon - his ghostly parents have moved in the abandoned house across the street from the elementary school and have insisted he attend. But, his fellow classmates are more than a little scared of him. "Bummer!" as Gordon will say more than once. He has a blood curdling "BOO!" but knows better than to open his mouth, even when the teacher, Ms. Boodle, starts asking questions for which the answers all start with boo, including boomerang and booster. His haunted lunchbox is not a big hit, but Gordon saves the day when there is a fire in the school. Well, let's just say he wasn't booed for his "BOO!" that cleared the school. :-) Lucke's illustrations are as funny as the text as poor Gordon's teeth keep falling out of his mouth and he has a scar on his head similar to Frankenstein's monster. I know, I know - no Halloween books during story time in the school library, but at least this is a gotta have for the picture book collection. And, what a fun way to introduce words that start with boo.

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Isn't she the most beautiful child you have ever seen? Well, I may be a bit prejudice as I am her Gramma, but this pic of McKinley is my screen saver. She has the same fine, white-blonde hair that I had as a child. Her mom's wasn't quite that blonde but she was a towhead as well. I have the weather for here in Lexington, Mary's Green Bay, and our, hopefully, next home, Ft. Lauderdale on my main page to compare the weather. It is as beautiful in Green Bay today as it is in both Lexington and Ft. Lauderdale, though not quite as warm. Perhaps Mary has taken the kids to the park again while the weather is nice. Winter will arrive in Green Bay way too soon. Hopefully we'll have this warm Autumn weather for awhile yet. I'd like to be able to take a walk in the neighborhood after the trees change, but my knee won't allow that yet.

Speaking of weather - I just received a copy of Mitzi's World: Seek and Discover More Than 150 Details in 15 Works of Folk Art by Deborah Raffin and illustrated by Jane Wooster Scott. The folk art depicts the seasons in the detail rich Americana folk art. I like the winter scenes best, even if I only like to look at snow from behind a window pane these days. Hopefully we won't get ice storms here this winter. Mitzi is a little white and black dog that kids, and adults, will enjoy finding in the illustrations, along with lots of other listed items. I am not a Waldo or I Spy fan but I do like this book. I like to look at the art even without trying to find the items listed. The only thing the kids might find confusing is that there are 15 illustrations but the last page states "And now a new year begins". Nevertheless, this is a wonderful book to curl up under a blanket with a child as the rain or snow blows outside.

My adult reading as of late has been Wild Women and Books: Bibliophiles, Bluestockings, and Prolific Pens from Aphra Behn to Zora Neale Hurston and from Anne Rice to the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Brenda Knight. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Wild-Women-and-Books/Brenda-Knight/e/9781573242714/?itm=1 A very interesting set of short biographical essays about female writers from religious zealots to cult favorites like Anne Rice who arrived to an event in a hearse. J. K. Rowling is included as well as Laura Ingalls Wilder as far as authors with child appeal. I don't agree with Knight's list of "Other Beloved Children's Authors" as it includes Anne McCaffrey who is an adult author with teen/tween appeal. She listed Beatrix Potter but does not highlight her; that is a disappointment. But, at least the list includes Judy Blume.

I am listening to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Picture-of-Dorian-Gray/Oscar-Wilde/e/9781556852534/?itm=1&usri=1. I read it years ago as a teen but listening to it has been very entertaining, especially Lord Henry's witty, but cutting, anti-female comments, which are down right funny when heard rather read.

What would people today sell their soul to the devil for? Well, how about a 1958 Cadillac? That is exactly what happens to Eunice, aka Bug, a multiracial girl whose grandfather made a deal for his soul, and his granddaughter's. He may have died but somehow he beat the devil and now he's come to El Paso to collect on Bug's soul. She isn't about to give it, or her Cadillac, up to Beals, who is tied to the car. Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis Gill http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Soul-Enchilada/David-Macinnis-Gill/e/9780061673016/?itm=1&usri=1 is wickedly funny and very much an urban tale. He pulls no punches as far as the gross out factor or Bug's gritty language, but you have to keep reading to find out if Bug, with the help of Pesto, a car wash manager who is also an agent for the ISIS, International Supernatural Immigration Service, figures out a way out of the contract her grandfather signed. Now I have to tell you - I sure wouldn't sell my soul for a Cadillac - it would be more like a Jaguar!! No - I am just kidding!

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