Woke up to three ships lined up waiting for a pilot to bring them in. There are two more out there waiting. Looks like they are about to duel for the next spot - facing away from each other and waiting to turn. The OK Corral on the high seas! Don't I have a vivid imagination? :-)

There has been discussion online as to the value of Orca publishing the Orca Sounding titles in hardback. I think it would be great for libraries as long as they keep them the same small paperback size. Beth Goobie is one of my favorite Orca authors and her latest Soundings title is Something Girl. My heart hurt when I read this one. Sophie is being viciously abused by her father, both physically and emotionally. All she wants if for him to love her, but he keeps slamming her again walls and telling her she is nothing. Teachers at school suspect the abuse but Sophie denies it, covering up the bruises. She is friends with a young neighbor who knows what goes on at Sophie's house and tries to give Sophie safe haven in her own home. It isn't until Sophie is beaten so badly that she is hospitalized that her mother, who is also abused, is willing to press charges. This story is all too real - the upstanding man who is part of the small town community who no one suspects is a child and wife abuser. A heart wrenching 105 pages.

On a much more upbeat note, I snort laughed over Susanna Gretz's Riley and Rose in the Picture. What a great read aloud. Riley and Rose have nothing to do on a rainy day but draw and argue. Riley draws circles and square and triangles, but Rose uses her imagination and her crayon to turn the shapes into a story. Riley is not too keen on this until Rose tells him his rectangle on triangles is a boat in the waves. Now Riley loves boats and gave it a triangle sail and before you know it they are in the picture on one wild sailing adventure. What fun! Gretz's use of facial expression on Riley the dog and Rose the cat are a hoot!

Off to Montessori for the day. Oh man is the traffic going to be a bear tonight when I pick up Steve. Oh well, at least the people watching is fun as you sit in traffic.