Am loving the meds in relation to sleeping. :-) Woke up wide awake at 5:45 and have been on the computer working since 6:00. It wasn't that long ago that it took me a good hour with a heating pad on my back to loosen up enough to get out of bed. And, my new doctor, Dr. Boomershine, at Vanderbilt Clinic in Nashville - what a dream doc! He called me yesterday, himself - not a nurse, to let me know that my blood work had come back and he was calling in a supplement for me to the pharmacy as I am vitamin D deficient (all these hours on the computer I guess). I was in pleasant shock as I am accustomed to having to call, repeatedly, to find out what the results are, or get a generic phone message or postcard.

I am so delighted to see Carol Matas' The Burning Time back out in a new paperback edition from Orca http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Burning-Time/Carol-Matas/e/9781551436241/?itm=1 I read this book in 1994 when Delacorte published the original hardback edition and it has never left me. I can still see 15-year-old Rose hiding behind a screen, hearing her mother being tortured. These scenes are brutal as this book is written in first person from Rose's point of view. The setting is 17th century France when atypical women, like Rose's mother, are named as witches by other women being tortured until they name the other witches in their village. Rose's mother is an easy target for the lecherous priest as her father is dead and her brothers are away on business. Rose too is accused but she manages to escape, but only after she helps her mother make a difficult decision. When a teen tells me that historical fiction is boring, this is one of the books I offer him/her as an example of a historical novel that will immediately pull you in and not let you go, long after the reading is done. It has been 14 years since I first read this book and I opened it to the torture scene where her mother confesses to any and everything the priest accuses her of to stop the pain. I will start booktalking this one again.

Let's move the setting to Africa for the children's book of today - One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/One-Hen/Katie-Milway/e/9781554530281/?itm=1 This is a new Kids Can Press title. I really like the books that Kids Can Press publishes as they are often nonfiction titles that fill a niche that isn't filled by the larger publishers. Kojo, a young boy from the Ashanti region of Ghana, lives in a village where the families pool their savings so that one family can buy something important. When the loan is paid back, another family uses the money, and so on. When it is Kojo's mother's turn, she buys a cart so she can transport firewood to the market. With the few coins left over Kojo walks 2 hours to the nearest poultry farm and buys a chicken. With the money he makes from selling eggs, he adds more hens until he can build a chicken coop and eventually a farm where he also raises a family. Along with the narrative text there is a running text in larger print that reads to the rhythm of "This is the House That Jack Built". Although a fictional picture book, One Hen is based on the true story of Kwabeno Darko who invested his life saving, and along with a $1000 loan, started his own poultry farm. As a thriving business owner he, in turn, makes small loans to the villagers to start their own business. A short biography of Darko as well as information on donating to small loan programs is included. A very interesting book to use with children and even teens when discussing small businesses and how many of them start with a small loan and a lot of hard work at home before expanding into something bigger.

Sophie was in second heaven - Mama spent time in bed reading this a.m. I had to finish Lauren Myracle's Bliss so getting up at 6:30 to read before getting on this computer to grade all day seemed like bliss to me! While Sophie sprawled her big ol' cat body all over my lap I devoured the last few chapters of Bliss and I sat there with tears welling up in my eyes. The ending got me right in the gut and the heart. I wasn't expecting it so it was all that more intense. This book will appeal to the girls who read both horror/supernatural and romance/chic lit. What an enticing mix of an innocent first love and an gruesome obsession. I couldn't put this book down, especially with the Tate/LaBianca murders woven into the narrative and dialogue, making Sandy, the "unnatural" needy friend of Bliss all to0 real. Sandy has lost her connection with reality and wants to join her powers with those of the dead girl who threw herself from the 3rd story window of one of the buildings on campus. This book just might have goosebumps raising on your arms - did you hear that whisper?

On the children's book side, I am still moving my body to the rhythm of The First Music as told by Dylan Pritchett. This is an 2006 August House folktale so you may already have it on your shelves. I found my copy again when I was going through my shelves last night and remembered how much I like the story as well as the bold funky illustrations by Erin Bennett Banks. This is the story of how music began for the animals in Africa. Elephant stubbed his toe on a hollow log and in his frustration and hurt he thunked on it with his foot. What a great sound it made - "BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Padada BOOM!" Monkey started moving to the rythm and the leaves on the branch he danced on made a "Shh-ka-shh! Shh-ka-shh! Shh-ka-shh! Shh-ka-shh!" sound to add to it. Crane lost her balance as she danced and fell on crocodile's back who loved the tickling feeling on his scaly back - "Skee-de-lee! Key-key-key! Skee-de-lee! Key-key-key!" All the while the frogs watched quietly as they have short legs and cannot dance. But the frogs found their voice on the dawn of the 7th day - "Reep-reep-ree! Reep-reep-ree! Reep-reep-ree!" So, even if you have short arms or legs, you can still make music as the aimals of Africa do. I wish I had this book when I was an elementary school librarian - what fun during a primary storytime. Or, join with the music teacher to create a Reader's Theater piece with drums, shakers, etc. Oh what fun!! This one goes on my "gotta keep" shelf for when I have to read to little ones on short notice. :-)

I'll dance my way to the kitchen for another Diet Coke - Skee-de-lee!! :-)

A beautiful sunny Monday morning with joggers and walkers going by. I am going to go to the gym later this a.m. and try the elliptical machine. I have been walking but having trouble with shin pain so I'll try that instead. I want to make sure when I go back to see Dr. Boomershine in late August I can honestly say I have been following "doctor's orders." The darn medication is still making me woozy and sick to my stomach, but I am going to grin and bear it until my body adjusts to it. One of the side effects is weight loss - I am hoping that one effects me. :-)

Saw on Yahoo that George Carlin died this weekend. I was never a big fan of his, but he certainly is an icon of the 70s with his "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television." I remember my older cousin listening to his album (yes - it was vinyl) and just hoot laughing over it. I just thought it was vulgar, but I grew up in a household where swearing just wasn't done. I got my mouth washed out with dish soap for calling an ant a bugger. I didn't know it was a bad word!

I am reading Lauren Myracle's Bliss
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/BLISS/Lauren-Myracle/e/9780810970717/?itm=1 and am loving every moment of it. It is set during the 1960s and she prefaces the chapters with quotes from the time period, many from Mayberry RFD. Bliss is the very naive daughter of hippie parents who gets dropped of with her wealthy conservative grandmother. She is attending an exclusive private school and quickly becomes caught between the friendship of the very weird and needy Sandy and a group of "normal" girls. Bliss has a gift and can hear voices from the other side and she is hearing a very creepy voice from one of the buildings, talking to her about blood and keys and how she is the answer. I can't wait to hear Lauren talk about Bliss at the Abrams' luncheon at ALA. Lauren has a wicked sense of humor and she's fun to listen to speak. Lauren's Internet Girls series is very popular. TTYL http://search.barnesandnoble.com/ttyl/Lauren-Myracle/e/9780810987883/?itm=1 was even popular with the guys at the Montessori School in the USVI. What better way for guys to understand how girls "work" than to read the books they do? Although I love these books, I adored Rhymes with Witches http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Rhymes-with-Witches/Lauren-Myracle/e/9780810992153/?itm=1 as it combines the bitchiness of cliches in schools with a very dark twist as to how these girls gain their power over the student body. Certainly will have teenage readers pondering how far they will go to be part of the most popular group of girls in school.

On the children's book front I read a very interesting occupations title - When I Grow Up: A Young Person's Guide to Interesting & Unusual Occupations by Jessica Loy. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/When-I-Grow-Up/Jessica-Loy/e/9780805077179/?itm=1
B&N lists this as a paperback, but I have the Holt hardback in front of me as I type this. Color photographs add to the textual description of unique professions that focus on a specific person working in this field. Occupations include alpaca farmers, a chocolatier, guitar makers, a pet photographer, a robotics engineer, a set designer, a kite designer, and a game designer. In other words, the occupations that may interest the students who are exploring beyond the "norm". A great addition to the occupations titles in any elementary school library.

Only 4 more days before I leave to ALA in Anaheim. I am looking forward to immersing myself in books and talking with book people. :)

Friday is here and of course, the weekend will begin with rain and wind. We are supposed to attend an Alzheimer Association event at the Keeneland race track tonight. Hope it isn't raining then. Bourbon and BBQ - only in Kentucky. :-) Steve is on the local Alzheimer's Assn. Board so we really should be there, rain or no rain. When it rains I want to curl up with a book and read. Sounds good to me right now, but too much to do.

The wonderful news is that the latest biopsy results showed the second extraction was a "clean" removal so other than the "pretty" scar I will have on my back, I can quit worrying about it. Had to chuckle when I was in today getting the stitches out and found out I am one of the few people who has skin that has an "angry" reaction to what you put on wounds to help them heal. As my friend Larry says, "Some of us were wired by non-union electricians!" :-) That would be me and then some. So poor Steve is still on bandage duty for another week.

And, the trip to Nashville went wonderfully yesterday. I cannot say enough good things about Vanderbilt's clinic, especially after the nightmare of dealing with the UK clinic. It was like night and day in how I was treated by everyone from the receptionist to Dr. Boomershine, who is wonderful. How can you not love a doc who has a wicked sense of humor and a tiny ring in his left ear? :-) He went over literally 10 years of blood work results with me, along with all the other results from tests that have been run on me. Basically, all the visits to various kinds of doctors and the tests they ran ruled everything else out. That leaves fibromyalgia. So, the initial diagnosis from a neurologist has been reconfirmed by a fibro specialist. And, I have a treatment plan to start working on and new meds. I am feeling so upbeat as to the future of being able to control this and enjoy life again that I don't mind, too much, that I am really sick to my stomach right now from the new medication. I can live with that as I know once my system gets used to it, it is going help the pain levels. Might be a couple of rough weeks as my system learns to accept it, but after 10 years of dealing with this, that is a blink of an eye in comparison.

So, as far as days go - this is a good one. No cancer, and a doctor who understand fibromyalgia and is working with me to control it. :-)

Sorry - not booktalk/review today. Feeling really yucky, but wanted y'all to know I am doing okay. I owe so many of you emails and I am sorry - I will get there, eventually. :-)

I thought I came home with a lot of freebies when I go to conferences, but Steve had a whole suitcase full of stuff - two mini tambourines, a set of reindeer antlers and a whole washing machine load of IT company t-shirts. Guess I missed out on quite a bit by not going to Orlando with him - including Universal shutting down 1/2 of the park just for the Microsoft conference folks. Oh well, I was still sorting through books on the floor of my office when he came home yesterday so it was a good thing I stayed home. ALA in Anaheim is coming soon so I can't complain - I'll get my conference "fix" and then some very soon. No more taking an empty suitcase with me for books now that the airlines are charging for checked in bags. Guess I need to check if that counts for me since I made the reservations quite a while ago. It already takes "forever" to get through security and off the ground due to the over sized bags folks are taking as carry on as it is.

Open on my desk is Jan Greenberg's new poetry/art compilation, Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Side-by-Side/Jan-Greenberg/e/9780810994713/?itm=3 I was on the Printz committee in 2002 when we chose Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art as a Printz Honor book. I am a huge Georgia O'Keefe fan and I often open my copy to her art work and the accompanying poetry. Then I find myself browsing and reading others. Although the VOYA review I just read on B&N suggests a limited teen audience for Greenberg's new compilation, I beg to differ. I think teens are quite capable of enjoying ekphrasis. For more on this concept: http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Ecphrasis. Even young children are capable of understanding the connection between what we see and the words we put on paper - a conversation between two arts forms. We ask children to draw a picture about what we have read or they read to themselves both in school and at home. So, a teen's ability to understand and enjoy the connection of the art from around the world and poems, many of them translated, is a given, in my my opinion. I think many teens, especially those from diverse backgrounds, will savor this book, the art, the untranslated poem (even if unable to read it - the format is interesting) and the translation. Might even have a few girls writing their own poems about the good looking Florentine in the Botticelli - Portrait of a Young Man. The earnestness on his face makes me smile. Though not quite as "pretty" to look at is Memling's Portrait of a Young Woman, but what young woman doesn't dream of of a young man falling to his knees to breathlessly say, "Never have I beheld a woman like you." I can hear the sigh across America from teenage girls who wish the same. Were I her - I would indeed "permit him to touch my hand." Like her first collection for Abrams, I am smitten with Greenberg's second collection of art and poetry. And, I am positive I am not the only one. There will be teens who will be smitten as well.

On a humorous note - I also fell in love with Bruce Hale's Snoring Beauty with hilarious illustrations by Howard Fine. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Snoring-Beauty/Bruce-Hale/e/9780152163143/?itm=1 This new Harcourt title will have you in stitches, even if you are sorely lacking of sleep as are many of us who share a bed with someone who snores. The whole kingdom has to deal with the snoring in this wacky retelling of Sleep Beauty as indeed, the princess gets run over by a pie cart and is turned into a dragon that only a quince will awaken. Let's just say the fairies in this retelling are... ummmm... unique! The princess, now a quite huge purple dragon with red ruby lips and claws, is fast a sleep in the street, snoring loud enough to send people in search of a new kingdom to sleep in. So, tonight, instead of getting angry by the snoring dragon next to me, I will get the ear plugs as Prince Quince does, and grin and bear it! :-)

Hadn't realized how it had been since I posted! Steve left for Orlando on the 6th and I have taken advantage of the time alone to catch up on work and recuperate from the surgery to have more tissue removed from my back. I went in on the 5th and Steve left the next day so they had to put a water proof bandage on the incision. Internal and external stitches so I hope they took enough tissue this time so that the second biopsy will come back negative. Been an interesting week as I still can't put a whole lot of pressure on my back so it makes sleeping difficult. I went in on Thursday to have the bandage changed and the incision checked. She put another water proof bandage on it but that came off yesterday. I got a fairly good look at it in the mirror - let's just say I won't be wearing low back dresses anymore. Luckily we have some very large bandages and I was able to, with a mirror in one hand the the bandage in the other, get it on top of the incision, but just barely. Would need an arm about 6" longer to have done it well.


Woke up at 5 a.m. as I crashed at 8 p.m. last night even though I had slept from 3:00 to 7:00. Guess I have been really over doing it. Spent from 8 a.m. until Mary called me about 2:30 working around the house. I laid down as my feet were sore while I talked to her and realized just how tired I was. I was getting sleepy while she talked so decided on a nap. Woke up at 7:00, ate a big chunk of watermelon for dinner and crawled back into bed. Sophie and I read Stephen King's Duma Key for a bit. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Duma-Key/Stephen-King/e/9781416552512/?itm=1 I haven't read a King novel in years, but I am enjoying this one immensely. No "f word" every 2 sentences like some of them. I have listened to a couple of King's novels and although I tend to skip over all the profanity in his books when reading them, you sure can't when listening to them. The main character, Edgar, is a wealthy contractor who loses his right arm and almost dies in an accident on a building site when a crane basically smashes his truck like a tin can. He also has brain damage that results in severe anger and the inability to find the right words, especially in times of stress. His wife files for divorce and in an attempt to deal with his loss of life and the lifestyle he has known for decades he rents a house on a remote Florida key. Duma Key calls to people with certain gifts and Edgar discovers that his phantom arm can help him draw stunningly eerie, yet beautiful paintings. I am at the point where he has just met the aging Elizabeth, who owns most of the key, and the "once a lawyer" recluse who takes care of her. It is going to get creepier I am sure, but I couldn't keep my eyes open and crashed.


Rather than creepy - utterly delightful is a good descriptor - is Maryrose Wood's How I Found the Perfect Dress http://search.barnesandnoble.com/How-I-Found-the-Perfect-Dress/Maryrose-Wood/e/9780425219393/?itm=1. The covers on both of the Wood's novels about now 17-year-old Morgan are eye catching. The bike tour crush, Colin, from the first book, Why I Let My Hair Grow Out http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Why-I-Let-My-Hair-Grow-Out/Maryrose-Wood/e/9780425213803/?itm=2 has come to the U.S. to attend a robotics competion, but he is so exhausted he barely can keep his eyes open to do his part in creating a robot, let alone spend time with Morgan. Colin has made it very clear that until she is older their relationship is not going to be anything other than a friendship, but the chemistry between the two is undeniable. Morgan, on another visit to the faerie kingdom (this time to a faerie dress maker and a Leprechaun's workshop), discovers that the faeries are enchanting anyone who cares about Morgan. Poor Colin spends his nights dancing at the faerie ball and wakes up more exhausted than when he went to sleep. Colin does not believe in faeries so it is up to Morgan to fix the problem with the help of a very grouchy Leprechaun, who wants a date to the faerie ball. Problem is - there aren't any female Leprechauns. Morgan decides that a female lawn gnome (yes - she can communicate with them) is about the right size. But it isn't going to be easy to get Colin to believe he is enchanted, let alone put on the ... "interesting" looking magical boots that will break the spell. I was right there with Morgan during the whole escapade and loved every moment of it, even her walk into the fountain (gate to the faery world) at the Junior Prom.

On the children's front, I have been indulging myself with the reprint editions of Jim Arnosky's All About series. Scholastic recently reprinted these books in paperback. I have the ones on manatees, frogs, alligators, sharks, and owls in front of me. When I was working in the Montessori library on St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the guy who had been the janitor/maintenance man there for a number of years told me that he would spend his free time in the library reading books from the nonfiction section. He was a fount of information on lots of things from his hours spent with the books. I agree with Gary as to the value of reading children's NF. I may not want to read an adult level books on any of the above animals, but I do enjoy reading the children's books as authors like Arnosky offer wonderful color illustrations along with a text that is easy to read. Factoids in smaller print highlight the illustrations, offering more information beyond the narrative style text . Did you know that baby manatee suckle from the mother's armpit? That was a new tidbit of information for me. I love manatees so this is the first of the series I revisited. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/All-about-Manatees/Jim-Arnosky/e/9780439903615/?itm=1 Although I would buy the hardback copies for a school library, this series is the perfect gift for elementary age boys and girls who prefer to read nonfiction over fiction. At $5.99 a piece these are affordable for home collections. Hand these to your kids on the way to the beach and they may be so busy reading and viewing Arnosky's cool illustrations that they won't be asking, "Are we there yet?"

All for now - I heard the newspaper just hit the front stoop so I am headed back to bed with the newspaper and the early news on TV.

This is where I would like to be - walking on the beach in the evening with Steve. Am more than a bit stressed out right now and a walk on the beach sounds good. Yesterday afternoon the biopsy results on the mole I had removed from my back came in and they are positive. So, I have to go back in to the doc's and have a larger piece of tissue cut out. Not looking forward to it, as the initial mole removal wound (between the size of a dime and nickel) has not healed and I can't sit back on anything that pushes against it. I don't want to think about how sore it is going to be from a larger tissue removal. Right now the removal is scheduled for the 25th - only 2 days before I leave for ALA in Anaheim. Might be a miserable flight over.

The picture above was taken on our last evening on Tobago. I was not keeping up with Steve as I kept stopping to pick up shells and to look at the tiny jellyfish that were being washed in. Their "streamers" were bright blue - too pretty to be something that can leave a nasty sting. I was supposed to go to Orlando with Steve for a week while he attends a Microsoft workshop, but with my summer school work load and being on the "wait list" for any cancelled appointments with the doc I decided a week at home alone with Sophie is probably what I need to catch up a bit. Steve said he was going to take his golf clubs when I said I couldn't go - he won't miss me a bit!

The weather here in Lex is overcast, but at least I am not writing this in the middle of a nasty wind/rain/thunderstorm like yesterday morning. We didn't lose power, but we did lost the Internet connection. Steve's big gas grill was moved right across the back deck as were our rocking chairs. The wind threw the grill cover into the yard as well as the plastic table we had on the deck. So the new plants I bought are more than watered! I found two gorgeous square planters of purple and yellow pansies. ECU colors! :-)

Since the Internet was down for part of the morning yesterday I opened a big box of new books from Scholastic and I was hoping the power would stay out even longer. I was in second heaven to see several of Walter Dean Myer's older YA novels in paperback editions perfect for classroom use as they have additional information in the back of each one. Although it didn't get a lot of attention when it initially came out, one of my favorite Myers' books is The Glory Field. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Glory-Field/Walter-Dean-Myers/e/9780545055758/?itm=3 It takes the Lewis family from Sierra Leone in the 18th century to present day Harlem. The title refers to the family's land in South Carolina. Myers has a way of weaving factual historical events and information into his novels that are rich in family traditions, but do not shy away from subjects as intense as drug addiction. I will admit I am not any more intrigued by the cover on the new paperback edition as I was the stark black cover of the first edition hardback when it was published in 1996. But, I hope teens continue to read about the Lewis family who began their lives in America as slaves but found their own place in both South Carolina and Harlem.

I also am delighted to see the new pbk edition of Myers' Fallen Angels http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Glory-Field/Walter-Dean-Myers/e/9780545055758/?itm=3. I love the cover art for this book - very realistic. This particular Myers upper level YA novel is used so often in schools that there are even SparkNotes available for it. It was required reading in my YA literature for many years. I am sure teens will be looking for it after reading Myers' newest war novel Sunrise over Fallujah. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sunrise-over-Fallujah/Walter-Dean-Myers/e/9780439916240/?itm=3 I had the pleasure of listening to Myers talk about the research he did for this book, including the visit he had from the government because he was asking too many questions about the war in Iraq. Myers have family members who are "lifers" in the military so his view of this war is both heartfelt and well researched. My copy is sitting next to the bed and I have yet to start reading it. I read Fallen Angels when it came out years ago and I sobbed over this book, especially when an infant was used as a bomb. I will read Myers' newest book about yet another war we shouldn't have gotten ourselves into, but it will to have to wait for just a little bit more before I am ready for it. I cannot think of a YA author I have more respect for than Walter Dean Myers. He is a brilliant writer as well as one of the most genuinely kind men, but with a wicked sense of humor that "pops out" when you least expect it. I have been known to let out a very unlady like snort laugh at his presentations at conferences. For those of you who want to know more about this wonderful YA author - visit his web site: http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/

On a much more fun note - I read Wuv Bunnies from Outers Pace by David Elliott and illustrated by Ethan Long. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Wuv-Bunnies-from-Outers-Pace/David-Elliott/e/9780823419029/?itm=1 The cover states it is a graphic novel, but from my perspective it is a hilarious chapter book for kids with as much illustration as text. To me, graphic novel means the narrative text is limited, or in some cases, non-existent, and the dialog is in conversation balloons in "cells" of illustrations that work their way across the page and down. This book is a cross between a picture book and an early chapter book for lower elementary, but older readers will enjoy it too as it supremely ridiculous, thus making it fun for most readers, no matter their age. Two alien bunnies come from Outers Pace to warn Hercules Smith and his barking beagle Sheldon that the Funny Bunnies (not ha-ha funny, but weird funny) are coming to invade earth and turn humans into carrots. The Wuv Bunnies crack jokes continuously - real groaners, but you can't help laughing. All I can say is that I love this book and will have to purchase a copy for my grandsons as they aren't getting mine. When Steve is one of his groaner joke moods, I am going to pull out my copy of this book and give him a shot of the Wuv Bunnies jokes such as "What do crooks eat with their milk? Crookies!! GROAN!!!

That's it for today - been up since 6:00 and I am frantically trying to keep up with work and doctor's appointments, etc. I admit it may be a losing battle, but I am not giving up my time to Blog.

Not exactly the gorgeous island villa that art thief Thomas Crowne (Pierce Brosnan) takes the insurance detective Catherine Danny (Rene Russo) to in one of my all time favorite movies, The Thomas Crowne Affair http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/The-Thomas-Crown-Affair/Pierce-Brosnan/e/027616745224/?itm=1, but right now even the Tobago Hilton pool sounds good as a place to relax. Another humid over cast day here. This kind of weather makes me want to curl up and watch movies all day.

I did a bit of that this a.m. - also watched Marie Antoinette with Kirstin Dunst. http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Marie-Antoinette/Kirsten-Dunst/e/043396159105/?itm=1 Very unusual revisionist style with music bordering on rock music, but it is a fun movie to watch.

Anyone who reads my blog knows I am a big Alice Hoffman fan and I couldn't resist taking some time out from children's and YA to read her adult novel The Ice Queen. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ice-Queen/Alice-Hoffman/e/9780641852152/?itm=1 A 30-something miserable with her life librarian is struck by lightening and survives it, but can no longer see the color red. She becomes an unwilling participant in her brother's research on lightening victims. She isn't any more willing than the rest of the participants in his group in talking about how the physical and emotional trauma of the strike has changed her sex life, let alone her soul. Talking about the physical affect with the heart doctor is one thing, but she isn't about to let her involvement with the group get personal. She just isn't a warm woman that way. But, she certainly heats up when she begins a torrid, literally and figuratively, romance with a lightening victim whose skin is burning hot to the touch. I'll just let you take it from here, when I say they need a bathtub full of ice water to be intimate! Hoffman's books are intriguing because she deftly weaves a bit of fantasy into her often starkly realistic novels, but she creates characters so intriguing that the reader is swept into their lives, holding our breath, until the end. Fantastic book and one I'll keep to re-read at a later time. Older teenage girls who have read Hoffman's YA novels like Green Angel and Incantation may well enjoy this book even though the protagonist is much older.

Summer is just around the corner and we all need a good camping picture book to share with little ones. Otis and Rae and the Grumbling Splunk http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Otis-and-Rae-and-the-Grumbling-Splunk/Laura-Espinosa/e/9780618982066/?itm=1 by Laura and Leo Espinosa, a new Houghton Mifflin title fits the bill perfectly. And don't worry it's not too scary for even the youngest listener - the Splunk looks like a friendly orange bear with too short legs. Otis and Rae's heads look a bit like white marshmallows, which may sound a bit cannibalistic as many of us roast marshmallows when we camp, but these two little ones in blue and pink hats with ears are too adorable to think about eating. Wonder if this husband and wife team thought about marshmallows when they created these two best friends. Rae is the outgoing one and tells Otis scary stories while he munches on his favorite food - PB&B (peanut butter and banana sandwich). They do run into a Splunk but he turns out not to be such a bad guy and a PB&B takes care of the loud grumble that gave him his name. A delightful book for story time, no matter where you are reading it aloud - around a bonfire or during story time.

Now to see if Blackboard is back up so I can get some work done. This is the downside to being a DE professor - I am dependent upon the system working when I need it to, which doesn't always happen.

An overcast but warm day in the lows 80s. We may drive up to the theme park near Cincinnati later today to catch the last few hours and see the fireworks. Tomorrow is the Lexmark day but Steve will be golfing and I will be enjoying my NYTimes and chick flicks.

This picture is of a beach on Tobago. I finally got my pics loaded to my computer. Had to find the camera in my mess of an office. I wasn't crazy about Tobago at all, but I do love the scenery of this island - very hilly.

Stve and I began our relationship because we both love the ocean and islands. Yesterday was our 6th anniversary. We were married barefoot on the beach - Steve in an aloha shirt and me in a little white dress with flowers in my hair. I'd put up a picture but I have no idea where the CD of wedding pics is - besides, I would just get depressed seeing myself in that little white dress that I couldn't get into now if I tried. They say men gain weight when happily married - women do too!

We stayed at one of the most beautiful and romantic resorts in the Caribbean - the Cuisanart Resort. http://www.wiol.com/anguilla/Cuisinart/default.html?ref=google&gclid=CPHB7Y6G0ZMCFQE4GgodsVfGhw Lots more expensive now then it was 6 years ago!

Finished reading Maryrose Wood's why i let my hair grow out. What a wonderful mix of realism and fantasy, set in one of the most fantastical places in the world - Ireland. Sixteen year old Morgan is dumped by her egocentric boyfriend Raph and goes into a tailspin, giving herself a buzz cut and then dying in orange stripes. This freaks her parents out, who decide what Morgan needs is a week long biking tour in Ireland. The way she's been acting, this vacation is as much for her parents and little sister as it is for Morgan - they need a break from her too. The bike tour idea doesn't seem all that bad when the hottie tour host, Colin, picks her up at the airport. Another great looking Irish dude enters her life when she purposely leaves behind her helmet and her riding partner and heads up what she doesn't realize is fairy road. Morgan wipes out big time and wakes up in Long Ago Ireland, where she is Morganne with long strawberry blonde hair and the waited for "savior" who is supposed to end the fairy curses that are raising havoc. The hunky dude, Fergus, who finds her has an uncanny resemblence to Colin. :-) Morgan moves back and forth between her modern day bike trip and her budding relationship with Colin, to the past where she must solve a riddle to rid the kingdom of the fairy curse. This is a fekking funny book! Hey - watch your language, as Morgan's mother would say! A gotta read book. Can't wait to booktalk it. Morgan has a wickedly sly sense of humor. I agree with the B&N reader review - Wickedly Radd Book!

Can't wait to read the sequel where Colin plays a major role - How I Found the Perfect Dress. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/How-I-Found-the-Perfect-Dress/Maryrose-Wood/e/9780425219393/?itm=2 It is sitting on my bedside table just waiting for me. :-)

A really cool nonfiction title I am reading in bits and pieces - the way many of us read nonfiction - is 50 Ways to Save the Earth by Anne Jankeliowitch, with photographs by Philippe Bourseiller, a new Abrams title. http://www.wiol.com/anguilla/Cuisinart/default.html?ref=google&gclid=CPHB7Y6G0ZMCFQE4GgodsVfGhw The color photographs are stunning and look great on heavy slick paper. A double page spread, with at least one color photograh, address each of the 50 ways we can help save the Earth. The hints that precede the text are directed at young readers, such as asking their parents to put a brick or bottle filled with sand in tank so flushing the toilet uses less water. Did you know we drink only 1% of the water used in our homes? A third of it is used to flush the toilet. When we lived on St. Thomas we used cistern water for everything but drinking. We often took "camp showers"- turning off the water while you soap up your hair and body, etc. If you run out of the rain water in the cistern you then buy it, and it isn't cheap. We really cut back on paper products too - used cloth napkins at all times. I went back to paper napkins and using paper towels, but just purchased more cloth napkins. Every little bit helps. A must have book for every level library and I plan on using it as a "coffee table" book that guests can pick up and browse through again and again.

On to other things.

Decided I was tired of the orange and changed the blog over to ECU colors - purple. We'll see how long that lasts before I decide to change it again, now that I know how to do it. And, I'll add some pictures when I find my camera and the adaptor to download the pictures. My office is a disaster area!

Finally got my favorite picture posted to my profile. It was taken in my office at ECU with me surrounded by children's and YA books. Pretty much what my home office looks like too.

The birds woke me before 6 a.m. Half asleep, reaching for his first Diet Coke out of the fridge, Steve mutters at me, "Why are you awake?" Guess he thought I was going to fuss at him about his cacophony of snoring that either keeps me awake or sends me fleeing to the extra bedroom. But, he must have woke up a bit more shortly after as I was sitting in bed reading a review book for VOYA when he "galloped" across the bedroom in his undies. I asked him what the heck the deal was with that - he told me it was his jockey shorts, of course! See what happens when you live in horse racing country! Let's just say life with Steve is never boring, even at 6 a.m. in the morning!

Am starting to recuperate from our trip to Detroit last week. We drove up late Thursday afternoon and hit rush hour traffic in Cincinnati and Dayton so we didn't get in until after 11:00. We got about 45 minutes without rain the whole trip so I was chilled and achy from getting out in the rain for pit stops. Thank goodness for the heated seats in my Santa Fe. I'd never have another car without them. Now to find a lap blanket with a car plug in. Steve was using the GPS and what a pain as we took 75 straight up and it kept telling us to get off at every exit. He had it set up to avoid freeways. I had to laugh at the "caution!" quip every time he was speeding! I am surprised he didn't turn that off. We had a great time at the festivities at the Birmingham Country Club, thanks to an invite from Microsoft. Steve's team came in first at the tournament so he came home happy - a free driver and putter, with selection help from the club pro. I won't even talk about getting lost on the way back to the club for dinner - I saw parts of Detroit I didn't want to see!!

Down side - we didn't get to see my brother, his wife or my niece. I made the mistake of trying to lift a box of books into the house before we left and I woke up Saturday so sore I could hardly breathe and exhausted. So we came straight home - I dozed off and on the whole way and spent the rest of the weekend in bed. Can't wait to get in to the specialist next month. I am so tired of hurting and being exhausted. I had never even heard of fibromyalgia 6 months ago - well, I sure know what it is, first hand!!

I am listening to Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Blue-Smoke/Nora-Roberts/e/9781596001848/?itm=6 (Thanks Diane!) Great book that I think teenage girls would love as it starts out with the main character, Rena Hale, at age eleven when she is the first to see the fire engulf their family restaurant. Due to this traumatic event, she plans to become an arson investigator. I am at the point where she is in college and the son of the arsonist, who had attacked her when he was only twelve, has been released from prison and is out for revenge. He has a love of fire and the sound of crackling human flesh as it burns. I couldn't help but vocally voice my opinion about that scene while driving home from the mall. The people in the cars around me must have wondered what I was carrying on about and why I had such a grossed out look on my face. Anyway, I am loving this suspense romance. Haven't read on her books in years.

I remember back in the early 90s when I took a YA Literature course from Betty Carter at TWU as part of my Ph.D. program and we read Killing Mr. Griffith,http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Gallows-Hill/Lois-Duncan/e/9780440227250/?itm=1 which was made into a movie. After reading it, I did my booktalking session for that course on thrillers. Ever since then I have been a Lois Duncan triller fan and one of my favorites is Gallows Hill http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Gallows-Hill/Lois-Duncan/e/9780440227250/?itm=1. It came out in 1997 and is only available in paperback now but I watched a movie, during my Sunday morning wallowing in the NYTimes and movies, with a plot that sounded very familiar, I've Been Waiting for You. The credits note that it is indeed based on Duncan's Gallows Hill. And, as per usual, the book is much better. I became fascinated with Duncan as an author and the types of books she writes after reading her autobiographical Who Killed My Daughter? http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Who-Killed-My-Daughter/Lois-Duncan/e/9780440213420/?itm=2 In 1989, Duncan's college age daughter was shot and killed while driving home in Albuquerque, NM. After getting little help from the police, consulting psychics, and hiring a private investigator, Duncan learned her naive daughter had gotten caught up in an Asian drug ring due to her boyfriend. I read the book well over 10 years ago, but I remember crying while I read it. A quick browse of her web site http://loisduncan.arquettes.com/ will give you an idea of how many YA novels she has written, if you aren't already aware of this well known YA author.

I finished Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Hunger-Games/Suzanne-Collins/e/9780439023481/?itm=1 and am impatiently waiting for the next book, even though this one won't hit the bookstores until September 2008. Fantastic book! The teens who love virtual reality war type games (the ones that take skill and aren't just gory) will really get into this book as it recruits 13 pairs of teens, ages 12 - 18, and pits them against each other in a broadcasted battle for their lives. The rich viewers can bet on their favorites and send "gifts" to help them out - like water or medication - in this case a salve to heal a nasty burn on sixteen-year-old Katniss' leg. If you don't find yourself rooting out loud for Katniss while reading this book, I will be surprised. I woke up Sophie with my whoop of support when she survived an ambush. Anyone who says reading or listeing to a book is a passive act, has never been around me when I am interacting with a book. Passive - my fanny! Scholastic is releasing Hunger Games in audiobook format at the same time, so there's another option for the teenagers who don't read but have ear buds in at all times.

I'll end today's post with a really fun graphic novel style picture book for the elementary age (well - any age person who loves super heroes - even dinosaur ones) boys who aren't ready yet for the adult level superhero graphic novels/comics. Following up the popular 2005 Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Captain-Raptor-and-The-Moon-Mystery/Kevin-OMalley/e/9780802789358/?itm=1, Kevin O'Malley and Patrick O'Brien join forces again with the 2007 Captain Raptor and the Space Pirates http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Captain-Raptor-and-the-Space-Pirates/Kevin-OMalley/e/9780802795717/?itm=2. Walker has published both and they should readily accessible as the second one was published last summer, but I wanted to talk about it now as schools are creating summer reading lists. This is a great one to add for 2nd and 3rd grade. The boys will love a dinosaur superhero in space. I was chuckling aloud at the pirate jargon used by Bloody Bart Scalawag, the pirate captain who tries to trick our superhero, but he is no match for the brawn and wits of Captain Raptor. Way cool books!!

Time is going by too fast! The last two weeks were a blur of grading, reading student portfolios and grant applications. The end of the semester is always extremely busy.

I wasn't able to go to the department gathering for our graduating students, or the College of Education ceremony last Friday, as I was in Washington, DC on an IMLS grant review panel. What an interesting but exhausting experience. Had the opportunity to meet and chat with wonderful librarians and LS faculty from all over the country. But the all day meeting, 3 hours in the DC airport, and getting home at 11:30 Friday night did me in. I was in bed most of the weekend. Didn't even have the energy to go out for Mother's Day dinner. Mary send a wonderful edible fruit arrangement that was yummy and Steve helped me set up the new ice tea maker he gave me. I am supposed to be weaning myself off of Diet Coke, both high octane and unleaded. So, I'll start with weak regular tea and move on to herbal as my carbonated soda addiction eases.

The coolest Mother's Day gift was a small filbert tree. I kept pointing them out to Steve at Lowe's as they have gnarled and twisted trunks and are so cute. When Steve told me my other gift was in the driveway I knew it wasn't a new car as I love my Santa Fe, but I was intrigued as I headed for the front door to look. I am delighted with the tree - now to decide where to have him plant it. I am the planting supervisor these days.

Steve's brother is in town for a few days and the three of us went to a minor league baseball game last night. The Legends are based in Lexington and though they aren't the greatest, they were quite good last night and it was a fun game to watch. Part of the fun is the sound effects and silliness of the announcer. I enjoy these more than the major league games, just as I enjoyed the minor league hockey games we used to go to in Houston. I'd scream myself hoarse by the time the game was over. There were lots of pop-ups last night that went over the roof and Steve kept teasing me that he could hear my car alarm when one went over. We were parked in the closest lot so I wondered. I knew I had reason to worry when we were in the parking lot about to get in the car and a ball hit the car next to us, just missing Rich by a few feet and way too close to my car. I haven't gone out yet to see if I have any dents on mine!

Just finished listening to Robin Cook's Abduction. The review on B&N aren't great: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Abduction/Robin-Cook/e/9780425177365/?itm=1 and I have to agree with them. I was glad I listened to an abridged version a friend lent to me as I was getting bored with it as it was. It is basically an Atlantis type story about a female scientist, the company owner, two very crude divers, and a ex-Navy commander whose small exploratory sub is sucked into the undersea world because the inhabitants are concerned about the drilling going on near them. The inhabitants are human-like but when they are tired of the genetically created human bodies, they die and their "essence" is added to a new body that isn't allow out of incubation until age four. A creepy book, but not creepy enough to keep most readers involved, even the most avid Robin Cook fans and I am not one of them. Unless you are addicted to Atlantis type stories - skip this one.

However, don't skip Craig Crist-Evans' Amaryllis, a coming of age YA novel set during the Vietnam Era. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Amaryllis/Craig-Crist-Evans/e/9780763629908/?itm=1 The Amaryllis is a real ship that ran aground on the Florida coastline near West Palm Beach in 1965. The setting is that of the author's teenage years of skipping school and surfing in the very area the two brothers in this book surf. But, Jimmy is left to watch the bulk of the ship rust in the salty sea are while Frank, he eighteen-year-old brother's feet rot in the jungles of Vietnam and his mind rots from an escalating addiction to heroin. Frank's fear of the Viet Cong and his decent into drug addition are chronicled in his letters to fifteen-year-old Jimmy who is left behind to deal with his drunken and often abusive father. Jimmy shares these letters with Sally and they form a bond as Jimmy learns to accept the realities of his home life and his fears if Frank will ever come home. The last couple of chapters I read through tears that silently slipped down my cheeks as I grieved for this younger brother with so much of the world on his shoulders in a time where the whole world seemed to have gone crazy to many young Americans. Hmmm. How many younger brothers today are watching the surf in Florida or other places they spent time with older brothers and wonder if they will come home from the Middle East. Bluntly - war sucks - no matter what generation it tears apart.

I can't leave things on such a downer, so I will close with Dear Deer: A Book of Homophone by Gene Barretta. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Dear-Deer/Gene-Barretta/e/9780805081046/?itm=1 The text is a delight, but what makes this book a chuckle out loud experience are the zoo animals Barretta has created to accompnay the text. The moose with reading glasses for "the moose loved mouse. He ate eight bowl" has a bib on to keep himself clean from the pink (strawberry flavored?) treats he is eating. Little ones will be counting the bowls. I love this moose just as much as the one in Fred Gwynne's A Chocolate Moose for Dinner http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Chocolate-Moose-for-Dinner/Fred-Gwynne/e/9780689878275/?itm=1 that was published in 1976 and still available. I read this one to my own kids - I think I laughed more than they did. But, I have to admit, my favorite illustration of Barretta's is of the tiniest critter of the bunch - a flea that is sitting on a leaf with a thermometer in his mouth and a hot water bottle on his head. "The bee flew away from the flea with the flu. And the bee can be sure that if he had the flu the flea would flee, too." The text is in large print with the homophones in bold face, making it easy for the adult reading this aloud to emphasize them, or for the older reader to pick them out on his/her own. A gotta have book for every elementary school collection and one that can also be used with tweens and teens as a starter fun writing activities.

All for today. This is my "week off" but need to get back to getting course documents ready. We are leaving for Detroit on Thursday afternoon. Steve is playing in a Microsoft golf tournament on Friday and then we are going to visit my older brother Bob in Kalamazoo. :)

A very dreary and chilly day - down into the 40s last night. We closed up the windows and put the down comforter back on the bed! BRRR!! I just ground one of the new flavored coffees Steve came home with for me. I'll get warm from the inside out.

Steve was up before 5:30 this a.m. and I woke up too so it is going to be a long day. I'd go take a nap but the cable guy is supposed to come some time today to switch out our cable box. I don't even know how to use it other than to turn it on and watch the channels I want - NBC news in the evening and my occasional favorite show - but Steve is a big TV watcher in the evening. He found the cutest Christmas movie that we watched last night - We're No Angels with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray. http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Were-No-Angels/Humphrey-Bogart/e/097360541441/?itm=1
A 1955 classic about three convicts who escape from Devil's Island and decide to rob the local island shopper keeper, but instead they end up being their guardian angels. The three use their "criminal talents" to add money to the cash register (Bogart can, and does, sell a silver brush set and hair tonic to a bald man), steal a turkey and even cook a Christmas meal for the family. They play match-makers for the daughter and Adolph, Aldo Ray's pet asp, takes care of the problem of Uncle Andre. What a great feel good movie. Steve is such a delight - he finds these little Christmas tidbits to share with me, even though he pretends he is a Scrooge and hates Christmas.

Speaking of tidbits, I often need to read graphic novel collections in small bits as I am not a big fan of the superhero comics. But, I did laugh out loud a couple of times over the play on words in Captain Carrot and the Final Ark. The title is but one of the zany episodes in this alternate Earth environment where Captain Carrot is the animal version of Superman. In one of the episodes the two superheroes meet and Captain Carrot refers to Superman as a big pink monster. I guess from a 3 foot tall rabbit perspective he would be. The play on words is constant - Gnu York City, Broodway, Boa's Ark, Sandy Eggo, San Anteatas Fault, etc. One of my favorite lines - "By the flea collar of S'Kuubi-Duu" spoken by Ally-Kat-Abra who is into mysticism. Lots of references to pop culture. Not sure all teen readers will catch the tongue-in-cheek and sometimes biting jabs at our human world by the writers, but most will.

Oh, cats with powers reminds me - I am listening to Stray by Rachel Vincent. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048801/ What fun! Faith is a smart-mouthed were-cat and shapeshifter. Her human friends know her as a grad student majoring in English, but the appearance of a stray (a were-cat not part of a Pride) and the disappearance of her sister causes her father, the head of the Pride, to force her to return to their East Texas ranch. No animals but cats there - other animals are terrified of the were-cats, even in human form. They know a predator when they smell one, no matter what they look like! Faith is sparring words and claws with her older brothers and a couple of other Toms who'd like to be Faith's mate, but she isn't about to have any of that. She wants to escape from the ranch. Older teenage girls will love this book, even though it does get a bit "spicy" at times.

Paul Fleischman is one of my favorite authors who spans the writing spectrum from picture books to YA novels. His Whirligig is one of the best coming-0f-age novels I have read. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Whirligig/Paul-Fleischman/e/9780440228356/?itm=4
It takes maturity to accept your responsibility for the death of a young woman - maturity gained from traveling on your own, creating and placing whirligigs around the country in her honor, as Brent does in this heartfelt novel.

But Fleischman can also make me smile in how he is able to take a classic story and make it his own as he did with Dateline:Troy. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Dateline/Paul-Fleischman/e/9780763630843/?itm=7
I remember the discussions about whether or not the copies of newspaper articles, spanning time periods from WWI to the Gulf War, that parallel the events of the Trojan War in the Iliad, are to be considered text or illustration. I think it was in reference to how this book was addressed by the Newbery committee, which looks at text, not illustrations.

Perhaps not quite so dramatic, but quite unique in how Fleischman brings together the cultures with their own Cinderella story into one book, is Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Glass-Slipper-Gold-Sandal/Paul-Fleischman/e/9780805079531/?itm=1
Julie Paschkis' illustrations beautifully compliment the text based on different cultural (Poland, France, China, Russia, Mexico, the West Indies, etc.) versions of the tale with her culture specific illustrations. The endpapers are a world map, indicating the countries addressed in the retelling of this well known fairy tale. Give this one to the Geography and History teachers as well as the English teachers. What a great way to teach how interrelated we all are. An absolutely gorgeous book that belongs in every 398.2 section from elementary through high school.

When I remember, I will add the Barnes and Noble online link to the titles, but I can't promise I will each time. :-)

Now to warm up with some coffee and get back to grading. Writing in this blog is my "fun" time on the computer lately.

I wonder if Steve is freezing his bippy off in shorts on the golf course this morning. BRR!! We have all the windows open so the house is cold. I'm in sweats with an electric throw around me. I hate the cold!

I treat myself to a movie on Sunday a.m. when I read the NY Times. This morning it was The Last Mimsy. What an absolutely delightful children's movie. It must have gotten lost in all the hype about the Harry Potter and Narnia movies. It shouldn't have. The concept of a civilization in the future seeking help from the less corrupted past to save them by sending back Mimsy - a stuffed rabbit with such sophisticated computer code that current day scientists are stunned. Mimsy and the other "toys" that will be needed for a young brother and sister, Noah and Emma, to create the time tunnel to send Mimsy back with Emma's uncorrupted genetic code are found on a beach near Seattle and the story begins. And what a story it is. A whimsical touch is Emma finding a picture of Alice with Mimsy in a book about Lewis Carroll. Timothy Hutton plays their lawyer father who is as bewildered as their mother by the psychic abilities their children suddenly possess. The movie is based on a classic 1943 short story called "Mimsy Were the Borogroves". It has been reprinted in a collection of short stories, The Last Mimsy: Stories Originally Published as the Best of Henry Kuttner. I had never heard of this SF author until I just did the research on this movie. I may just have to look into this. I suspect the movie tie-in version of this reprint will have more readers than me wishing they had time to read Kuttner's more than 170 futuristic stories written under a variety of pen names, many of them with his wife. And who says movies take us away from reading? Many of us seek out books after we see a movie.

On a totally different genre note, I recently read the ARC for Rachel Vail's Lucky, a HarperCollins title that should be in stores on Tuesday. What fun! The cover art of a 40's looking green party dress got my attention, as did the words "Some girls have all the luck" on the front. Although the first book in a sister trilogy, it certainly stands alone. Phoebe is the self-centered daughter of a high powered broker mother and a teacher father. It is clear who wears the proverbial pants in this house! Phoebe and her friends who also live in their exclusive subdivision have decided rather than a small celebration for their 8th grade graduation, they are having a huge party that their parents are paying for, of course. All is going well until Phoebe's mother makes a bad decision and finds herself knocked from the top of her broker pedestal. Reality sets in when mother and daughter are gown shopping for Phoebe and the green gown is just what she wants, but mom's credit cards, one after another, are denied at the cash register. Will Phoebe have the strength to tell her friends that her family can no longer afford their portion of the party? Instead of being the one who supports her best friend Kirstyn when her life with "her crazy parents and no sisters" gets out of control, can Phoebe let Kirstyn help her this time? A charming chic lit title that will be devoured by Vail's already established bevy of young teen readers as well as those who discover her for the first time by reading Lucky.

When I see the name Meg Rosoff on the front of a book I think of her Printz Award Winning novel, How I Live Now, which I proudly predicted would win and did! I have yet to read What I Was, her new YA novel, but it is on my "gotta read" list. Rosoff also writes delightful children's picture books. Meet Wild Boars, published in 2005, was a hoot. She has again teamed up with illustrator Sophie Blackall and with their 2008 Holt title Jumpy Jack and Googily they are bound to have another hit. Jack is a snail who is very timid and afraid there may be a monster with two fingers on each hand and scary teeth and huge eyes around every corner. Googily (who just happens to have two fingers on each hand, big eyes, etc.) checks to make sure all is clear for his friend. But, Googily is afraid of something too and it may well be lurking under his bed. I snort laughed when I saw/read what it was as will every child and adult who interacts with this witty romp through childhood fears. Can't wait to read this one to the grandkids. This is a keeper in my own picture book collection.

All for today.

So much for sleeping in on a Saturday morning - woke up before 6 a.m. Steve has the house windows open so the chirping of the birds are driving me crazy. What a racket. I's in my office while Steve is still sleeping. Normally he is up long before me so this kind of feels good.

Arrived home a bit before 5:00 yesterday. I was so tired I dragged my stuff in, sat outside on the rocking chair for a bit, and then went to bed. I slept until 7:30. Got up to have a bowl of soup for dinner and crawled back in. This trip about did me in. Glad I don't have to do it until July. But it was great to see everyone.

I finished listening to Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides on the way home. Along with the 2003 Pulitzer Prize it also won the Audie Award for audiobooks. I felt like I was "watching" a movie in my head as I listened to the Greek accents of Desdemona and Lefty and the Americanization of the accents as the family settles into a new life in Detroit. The interview with Eugenides at the end of the audiobook indicates that Middlesex is not autobiographical in any way other than being set in his home town of Detroit and the main character is born the same year as the author. However, Cal/Calliope's first person narration is so compelling you feel as if you are reading an autobiography, supplemented by the omniscient third person observations of family and friends. I take back my comment from the last posting that I would not recommend this to a teen. Certainly not to the "average" teen who asks me for a good read, but certainly to the more mature teen who is ready for a 500+ book that delves in the sexual identity of a teen. As I listened to this book I remembered a few of the girls who, when they reached puberty, looked more like boys than they did girls, but the possibility of any of them being a hermaphrodite never crossed my mind. As a teenager I don't think I even knew that word, let alone what it meant. However, many teens will relate to Cal's need to leave his family to find himself after he reads the doctor's file and realizes that what it starkly states, and what the doctor is telling them, are two different things. I was enthralled through all 16 CDS and told everyone at ECU about this book. Man this guy can write!! Is is so thought provoking you cannot read and set asides - it requires discussion. Now I need to check Half Price Books for a copy of Eugenides' first book The Virgin Suicides - set in 1970s Detroit and addresses the suicides of five teenage girls within one extended family. Yes, Eugenides writes edgy novels, but these are the types of novels that will hold older teens' attention who want more than the YA realistic novel can give them. I suspect I won't set Eugenides' first novel aside without talking about it any easier than I can Middlesex - which, by the way, is the name of the modernistic home Cal's family moves into in the exclusive Grosse Pointe area of suburban Detroit. The only home offered for viewing to a potential Greek buyer.

I'll stay with controversial edgy writers and discuss Frances Lia Block's Blood Roses, a HarperCollins title that will arrive in bookstores next month. Unlike Eugenides, who writes flowing prose about multi generational families, Block writes sparse modern/urban fantasy novels and short story collections that are also intense and edgy . Every word can stab like knife, or the thorn of the elusive blood rose that the two sisters search for in the canyon above LA, even though it is said you only see them if you die. Going against everything their mother has told them about strangers, they enter the home of a photographer where the young man who lured them there from the record store begins to tell stories of Jeffrey Dahmer as they sit on plastic covered furniture. When the older man leaves the room, the younger man changes his mind and tells the girls to hurry and leave, which they do. Only then do they find the blood red rose bush. Thus begins this "cannot-put-it down" short collection of deliciously creepy tales. Block does not tell straight forward, cute stories. Her writing insists the reader vicariously enter bizarre, scary, sensual scenes - such as tattoos slowly covering a teenage girl's body as she lusts for the tattoo artist and Hollywood mothers who are youth sucking vampires. What causes the hair to rise on my arms when I read Block's books (which I love) is the realization that there often is no line between where the fantasy and reality begin and end, causing me to ponder if we always know what reality truly is. Do you? Sometimes fantasy, though scary at times, makes a person feel more alive than life itself.

Must leave you with a fun one. It was so darn hot when I got home yesterday I looking over at the subdivision pool wishing it were open. I'd have been the sixth in line after Lynne Berry's five ducks in Duck Dunks as this rambunctious bunch goes to the beach. In rhyming text, Berry will delight both parents and little ones as they vicariously hit the beach to skip, run, and dive in where they bob, spin, paddle, and eventually get the shivers so it is time for sun and lunch and some kite flying. They return home very tired little ducks from their day at the beach. Hiroe Nakata's delightful illustrations, rich with the blue of the sea and the golden yellow of the sand as a background, bring these ducks delightfully to life, their round little bodies decked out in bikinis and trunks. For parents who plan to take their little ones to the beach - this is the perfect book to get them excited about what is to come. For PreK-2 librarians - a great end of the school year storytime book. Wrong time of the year for Berry's Duck Skates - will have to wait for winter for that one. Thank goodness that is months away.

That's it for today. I may go crawl back in bed now that the birds have stopped. Hopefully there aren't too many errors in here. The birds may have woke me, but I didn't said I was lucidly awake! :-)

It was a beautiful day so I decided to get out of the house at lunchtime. Had to get some books and summer clothes sent out to the grandkids in Green Bay so I noshed on my favorite - turkey breast Subway sandwich. I was so good - I didn't even order the meal deal with the macadamia nut cookies like I often do. I'd like to stop avoiding mirrors so those cookies are off my "okay to eat" list. It was them or white wine, and the wine won out. :-)

I was "bad" and stopped at Half Price Books and came out with three audiobooks for $9.99 a piece. I was so pleased with myself. That is cheaper than my audiobook subscription is each month. Also bought several books on fibromyalgia. I have now past the stage of denial and hit acceptance and decided if I am going to deal with this for the rest of my life I am damn well going to know what I am dealing with! Still want a copy of Fibromyalgia for Dummies, which they didn't have so I'll have to order that from B&N. Was also delighted to see three titles from Fern Michael Sisterhood series on the shelves and snapped those up too. Okay - I admit it - I am a bookaholic. I could think of much worse addictions!

I leave for Greenville in the a.m. and will drive back home on Friday. Look forward to seeing everyone at meetings on Weds. and Thursday. The LS Program is becoming an independent department so we will pig out on desserts after our last departmental meeting with the Instructional Technology faculty. I am on soda and ice detail. Might stop and pick up goodies I can eat as most desserts have some type of dairy in them. And, since I leave tomorrow I cannot make my gooey yummy brownies as they would be crunchy brownies by Thursday - not good!

I am about 1/3 of the way through Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, the 2003 Pulitzer prize winner on CD. Wow! Not only have I learned a great deal about Greek history I have found myself with my mouth open on more than one occasion. This is a tale of a wayward gene that makes it way through the family gene pool, recently brought to life by a brother and sister who decide to pass themselves off as husband and wife when they flee to the U.S. from their rural town in Greece after the Turks ransack the town. Their children carry the gene to the next generation where a baby (girl child by all appearances) is born, but at puberty, instead of developing breasts and hips he/she becomes masculine. Calliope/Cal narrates the tale and it is spellbinding. The couple is now living in Detroit in the middle of Depression and Desdemona is being forced to go to work by her brother/husband and finds herself in the black part of downtown Detroit. Can't wait to find out where this leads. What a humdinger of a book. At this point I would, in no way shape or form, recommend this to teens!

But, I would most certainly recommend Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I kept reading wonderful reviews about this book on YALSA-BK and other listservs, but since it wasn't within arm's reach I hadn't read it yet. While I was in my ECU office the last time I found it and put it on top of my "gotta read" pile and I am so glad I did. What a ride into a catastrophe that seems too plausible. Sure - a meteor could hit the moon and push it out of orbit. And, in doing so, chance the climate and life as we know it on Earth. Seventeen-year-0ld Miranda goes from worrying about dates and prom to worrying about whether or not they will have enough food and wood to last through the winter and which one of them may die first. Will it be their mother who is hobbling around on a sprained ankle, her older brother who isn't eating enough but chopping wood during every waking hour, or her younger brother who dreams of a career as a baseball player? Or, will it be Miranda - she is eating only one meal a day and constantly hungry. No looking in the mirror - she isn't going to like what she sees. Then the flu strikes the household and Miranda makes a trip to the hospital to discover the flu has taken her mother's doctor boyfriend and most of the hospital staff. It is up to her to save her family. Written in diary format, the reader vicariously lives through this horrific time with Miranda as she pours out her feelings into a diary she is not even sure she will live to re-read. This is one of those books that just has to be on the shelf of every YA section and I most certainly plan on booktalking it.

All for today. Need to figure out what I need to pack and finish up responding to student emails before I hit the road in the a.m.

A quiet night in the Clark household. I just went through the ALA Anaheim preliminary program while watching an old NCIS on the USA channel. Shame-facedly I admit I munched on Frito's while I did both. So I was multi-tasking/eating - in other words, my inner teen is alive and well. If I keep this up I am going to be feeling like Virginia in The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler. I really was skinny for awhile, but I think those days are gone.

We went to Macy's sale today to pick up the multi-colored Martha Stewart bowls I wanted. They are made of some light weight stuff that doesn't break - which is important these days when I never know if my hands are going to listen to me or not. So now I have a set of bowls in every hue that Steve says are hideous, but function is what matters right now. Then we went to Lowe's and bought shrubs for around the back porch/deck. I ran out occasionally to supervise - too dang cold out there. Really cooled down late afternoon and now it is raining, which is good as Steve put the shrubs in. We have marigolds and a some deep purple petunias I found to put out front. I was looking for wild strawberry plants but they didn't have any. Will have to check Home Depot.

Lowe's had these really cool gnarled and crooked filbert trees that I loved. Think I am going to go back on Monday and get someone to carry one out to the car for me. If I bring it home, Steve has to plant it - right!? :-)

We were listening to Lake Wobegon a bit ago. I am not a big fan but listening to him talk about the Lutheran church and rhubarb pie makes me so homesick! I chuckled when he said the ice was pretty much off the lake. I immediately thought of Martha Brooks Mistik Lake. I felt like I was reading about back home in Upper Michigan even though this is set in Manitoba. Brooks writing about summer cottages with bedding that smells moldy no matter how many times the sheets are washed because they had been left in a unheated cottage all winter made me think of my great aunt and uncle's cabin on Lake Gogebic. The largest inland lake in Upper Michigan - http://www.lakegogebic.com/ I loved going there, but everything smelled musty.

In Mistik Lake seventeen-year-old Odella and her summer crush on the local boy resembled so many of the cousins or friends of local families who came up North for the summer. The guys we grew up with were no big deal to us, but they sure were easy pickings for the city girls who flirted with them - just as Odella's mother had years before with Mr. Isfeld, the man who owns the store where Odella now works. There is a reason that this quiet stoic man is willing to let her enter his world. It may well be the same reason her mother has a drinking problem and then runs away with another man to Iceland and never returns. Like a handful of the city girls I remember, Odella honestly does find her true love in one of the local boys from Mistik Lake and returns to discover her own cultural and familial roots. For those of us who grew up in a rural lake environment this book is so realistic I could almost hear the lake lapping against the posts - all that are left from the docks that were there when the mines still functioned. Odella is so purely, imperfectly human that she is a character I found myself forgetting wasn't someone I grew up with as I read this book. Perhaps just for a time I was Odella and that was very sweet.

You might recognize Martha Brooks' name as a YA author as she wrote the stunning The True Confessions of a Heartless Girl, which I also loved and is set in the Canadian prairies, which we drove through every summer on our way from Alaska to Point Mills. The closer we got the more I could smell Mom's homemade blueberry pie. Brooks has a way of reaching into the psyche of the lost and lonely Northern girl and making her real to even those teens who run around in flip-flops and shorts year round. Brooks goes to the heart of "every" girl and her novels hold a place in mine. Noreen and her Pembine Lake are not so much different from the lakes and people of Upper Michigan. People like me. When time allows I plan to collect the rest of her YA novels and curl up for a Martha Brooks' weekend read-a-thon.

All for tonight. I received my review books for VOYA and Library Media Connection so I need to put them in order by review due date and maybe start reading before I crash. Tomorrow morning is the NYTimes!

My first day without bandages on my fingers as the blisters have gone down. They still look awful and won't bend much, but I decided to give them some air this a.m. Mainly because I am out of bandages and will wait until my noon break to run up to Walgreen's to buy more. What is bugging me now that the pain has eased is that my nails are way past needing to be done and there is no way I can handle someone holding my left hand to do my nails right now. Aren't I ever vain? Will have to hide my hands during The Music Man at the Opera House tomorrow night. I am sure I will enjoy this more than the Revival of Queen we saw a couple of weeks ago. I didn't even know who Freddie Mercury was so I had no idea how good the impersonator was until I watched a bit of the live concert of Queen DVD of Steve's. I recognized TV commercial (I want it all) and football game music (Another one bites the dust!) and had no idea those were part of Queen songs. Hey - I was raising little kids back then, not listening to rock music. I looked around me in amazement as bald headed guys were playing air guitar along with their teenage sons. Was an unusual crowd for the Opera House and then some - first time I have ever seen them allow drinks into the theater - guess they were trying to make it feel like a concert. A group of women were waving their cell phones back and forth like lighters from back when. I am sure I will feel more at home with The Music Man crowd. :-)

While going through some old books in my office at ECU I came across a copy of Tomie de Paola's Fin M'Coul: The Giant of Knockmany Hill published in the 1980s and remembered the giant he fooled was Cucullin - the very same legendary warrior from Holly Bennett's The Warrior's Daughter. No mention of Fin M'Coul dressed as an infant giant besting Cucullin, spelled Cuchulainn, in Bennett's YA novel. :-) No surprise as the narrator is the warrior's daughter, Luaine, who has inherited strength from both her warrior father and strong willed mother to endure great hardship when she is wed to the king who wants her father's lands, not her. He sends his poet out to curse her with words and a poisoned shard of glass. But Druid powers beyond the king's control save Luaine and he will rue the day he tried to kill her. The pronunciation guide is great fun - I sat and sounded out the names, and discovered I wasn't saying them right in my head, but that didn't matter - I was wrapped up in this wonderful retelling of an Irish legend. Loved this book, but still favor Bennett's Bonemender series. Although I loved all three, I think younger teens will like The Bonemender's Oath the best as it is a fast paced adventure about Gabrielle's 11 and 13 year old niece and nephew being stolen by pirates. The bonemender, her brother and her elf husband chase after the pirates and find the children but it will take every ounce of healing power Gabrielle has to save them.

It is a beautiful sunny day in Lexington and I am looking forward to getting out of the house for a bit as I figure I can actually handle the steering wheel on the car today. :-) Might even stop at Half Price Books! Not like I need more books, but I am addicted to that store.

It is a gloomy cool day but we are headed for Keeneland to watch a few races this afternoon. I bet by the name of the horse, not the statistics so I never win, but it is fun. Steve is off running errands this morning while I slowly get myself going. It is even slower than usual the last few days as I had yet another accident with my hands. I thought it was just my right hand as last spring I sliced my middle finger open and about passed out from it, but didn't go to the hospital - found a butterfly bandage and "sucked it up". Then a month or so later I burned my index finger on that hand with melted wax from a mug that was not supposed to go in the microwave. Again, I didn't go to the hospital. So when the tea kettle lid fell off and boiling water poured over my left hand I screamed bloody murder and stuck it under cold water and then in a bag of ice. I was sitting there in a bit of a daze, and even watched a taped episode of NCIS before I gave in and Steve took me to the ER. By that time my fingers were swelling and the doc hands me a little packet of KY Jelly and tells me if I can't get my wedding rings off, they will have to cut them off. Well, that wasn't going to happen so again I yodeled, with tears rolling down my face, as I dragged my rings over the burned finger. Then I kept harping at Steve about where they were until we got home. I never take my rings off, except to clean them, so I was not a happy camper about taking them off. Who knows when I can put them back on as the biggest blister, which has yet to pop, is on my ring finger. I also ended up with tetanus shot in my right arm so that aches. But, I do have this wonderful white goo to slather the fingers in and lovely loopy pills to help with the pain so I am surviving, even if I can only type with my index finger and thumb on my left hand.

The funny (not ha-ha kind) part was that I was boiling water to make a Cup "O Soup as I had oral surgery Weds. a.m. to have the implant screw for the crown to replace the molar that had to be pulled and my mouth was hurting and I couldn't open it very far. So, when my doc called Thursday to check on me I told him what happened and he said, " Only to you Ruth!" He is so right. If it all didn't hurt so dang much it would be the ha-ha kind of funny.

The good news is that I received my paperwork from Vanderbilt for my appointment on June 19th with Dr. Boomershine. Don't ya just love his name? :-) I looked into a fibromyalgia study going on here in Lexington but my neurologist told me exactly what he thought of that idea - the study is being conducted for the drug company. So, I will be good and wait to see the specialist.

Since I couldn't type at all the first day I read a lovely children's book - Listening for Crickets by David Gifaldi. Lovely, but sad. I picked it up because of the attractive cover. I did think that it was going to be about an Asian young boy though by the coloration of the boy's face and hair. I didn't notice the big ear (only half his face is shown) until I had finished the book and re-examined the cover. I love the visual tidbits you catch after reading. Ten-year-old Jake has ears like a bat and has to go to special reading classes so he is teased in school. But that doesn't stop him from becoming a bit of a walking encyclopedia of bat facts, which he shares regularly. Things are home are even worse as his father is a sometimes violent alcoholic, who uses words as a weapon more often than his fists. Money is tight and Jake and his little sister Cassie share a bedroom. When their parents argue at night Jake makes up wonderful stories for Cassie so that they can concentrate on something besides angry voices. And then he builds them their very own Dragon's Nest, by cutting out a hiding place in the hedge between their home and the elderly Mrs. P next door, who Jake helps out with her cats. One more lost job and the dad goes over the edge and it is Mrs. P who saves the day. I love books where an elderly character takes a child under his/her wing to give them a safe haven. A must have book in every elementary school. I did cringe when I read about the reading program - dotted books and computerized tests - that Jake was involved in, but I loved his LEP teacher for her realization that Jake did well with audiobooks. Gifaldi is a 5th grade teacher and his knowledge of what occurs in an elementary classroom in dead on the money.

Tired of pecking at this keyboard so I shall end this now. Y'all keep your fingers crossed I don't fall down the bleachers at the track or something stupid like that today! I have always been accident prone, but this is ridiculous!!

It is Saturday night and I am sitting in a hotel room in Greenville, wishing I were home, but I did get a lot of work done in my ECU office today. Good heavens it is cold in there though! You walk around the corner toward my office and the temperature drops dramatically. When I wasn't busy moving books around, I was freezing my bippy and sitting on a heated blanket. I do love it in that office in the winter though - the heat is as high as the air conditioning is! Before I left, there were 12 boxes of books and a pile of other books (ran out of boxes!) to go to the Teacher Resource Center so that my students can request them! The cool thing about the LS Program at ECU is that, although it is online, our students can request any print materials they want from the library and the library pays for the postage there and back. This way they can see a copy of the book and can then order it for their own library or personal collection. :-)

I have a new laptop so maybe I can catch up on my Yahoo email. Mine died a couple of weeks ago and Steve has been tolerating me using his. I have over 700o messages to deal with. The problem is I am "addicted" to Adbook and YALSA-BK so I can't just delete them. I have to browse each message and sometimes I can't resist answering. So, that slows me down big time.

I noticed we are going to be talking about Alex Flinn's Beastly on Adbook. I love this modern retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale. It has always been one of my favorite fairy tales as I love cats. :-) And, I was a big Beauty and the Beast TV show series fan in the 1980s. Who would have thought the feminine looking female in that series, Linda Hamilton, would be the buff woman in The Terminator movie? Once I catch up on some email I hope I can get involved in the discussion!

I am currently reading Holly Bennett's The Warrior's Daughter. I am a major fan of Bennett's The Bonemender andThe Bonemender's Oath so I was delighted to see a copy of her new book in my mail at ECU. So, I am immersed in the wonderful Celtic story of Luaine, the daughter of the legendary warrior, Cuchulainn, and his strong willed wife Emer, who stood proudly before him when he returned from war, still savaged by the war rage within. The tale begins when Luaine is but seven so I am in the midst of her tale - she is about to reach the puberty. I am loving the idea of a feared Druid priest befriending the young girl and his raven, Fintan deciding she is his new mistress. I cannot tell you what happens as I am still in the middle of the tale, but I am loving it. I noticed The Grey Veil is her next book. Can't wait!! Not all U.S. librarians are aware of the wonderful authors who are published by Orca, such as Bennett.

I am exhausted, but in reality, I am happy. I have a great life with a wonderful husband and great daughters and grandkids. I had someone ask me if I succumbed to the depression that happens to many people who have fibromyalgia. Well, I think it has to do with realizing that I am so fortunate in my life. I am listening to The Starter Wife, which has been made into a TV movie with the actress from Will & Grace, and I thought about how much better my life is than the millionaires who are miserable in Hollywood! Not that I wouldn't like to try having that kind of money for a few months, but money does not bring happiness. I have to admit I am laughing aloud as I listen to this ridiculous novel of a woman who was married to a Hollywood up and comer for close to 10 years - anything before 10 means - a starter wife. So, here she is, 41 years old, growing hair in places she didn't know she could, and living alone in a her friend's Malibu beachfront home, getting upset because the rude neighbors are letting their dogs poop anywhere, including right where she steps. I have reached the point where she almost drowns in a kayaking attempt and is saved by a man who she is now infatuated with. She has no idea he is homeless! So, tomorrow's trip home should prove to be interesting.

All for today. Time for a shower and Tylenol PM. Yes, I have caught Steve's virus! Hopefully I will wake up tomorrow morning feeling a whole lot better. Just talked to Steve and he and Ron stayed up until 4 a.m. playing cards last night! Sophie must be wondering why Daddy is staying up so late and why a strange man is staying in the extra room while Mommy is gone. Can't wait to cuddle with my cat, shedding or not!