Trying to clean out some of the emails in my inbox this a.m. and came across the info. on the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The exciting news is that this is the first year they have included a prize for "best young adult novel" with the author receiving a $15,000 publishing contract from Penguin. This annual award opens doors to debut writers. I can't wait to read Amy Ackland's Sign Language which will be published by Viking Children's Books. The book addresses a 12 year old girl dealing with her father's cancer so this is more of tween book than true YA but keep your eyes open for it when it hits bookstores.

What a gorgeous morning with the sun shining and birds twittering. Won't be long and the birds will be finding cool places to hide out as it will be in the 90s today with a heat index of over 100. I hope it has cooled down before we head out for an Alzheimer's benefit this evening. We haven't missed one of them since we moved to Lexington. Steve stepped down from the Board when we thought we were moving to Florida quickly but we keep attending events and benefits. The auction was dangerous - I "donated" a lot of money that way! We will be driving up in high style in a gorgeous Saab SUV. Steve's little convertible is in the shop again within a week of picking it up. Something wrong with the electronics and it won't accelerate. Last time he didn't get a car to use and we regretted it as it was over two weeks before the part came from Sweden. Same thing this time. I haven't ridden in it yet but Steve says it rides like a car. Guess my Hyundai Santa Fe doesn't compare! Duh!!

I finished up Donald Spoto's biography Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Enchantment/Donald-Spoto/e/9780307352064/?itm=1&USRI=spoto+enchantment I have been a Hepburn fan since I was a little girl but didn't know much about her life. It wasn't an easy one as she was a young teen during the Nazi occupation of Holland and was malnourished and weak when the American soldiers arrived. A soldier gave her 5 chocolate bars and she scarfed them down only to throw them back up again as she had no real food for weeks - just weak broth made from a few potatoes. She noted it was UNICEF that had come in to assist and she spent the last years of her life as an Ambassador for UNICEF, traveling all over the world but mostly in Africa. She was a real draw at fund raisers. She always seemed so calm and serene in her movies and interviews but she was very nervous and scared of talking to groups of people. She also was a chain smoker but what killed her was abdominal cancer that started in her appendix. Raised by a domineering mother who could not show affection and an absent father who showed little warmth toward her even when she tried to resume a relationship with him in his later years. A lonely little girl seeking love and finding it in two very wrong men for her - Mel Ferrer and an Italian aristocrat several years younger than her. But, she had two sons by her two husbands and loved being a mother. She quit acting to raise her boys. A fascinating woman and now that I know a bit more I'd like to read the biography her oldest son, Sean, wrote: Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit: A Son Remembers http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Audrey-Hepburn-An-Elegant-Spirit/Sean-Hepburn-Ferrer/e/9780671024796/?itm=1&USRI=sean+ferrer+audrey+hepburn it was reissued in 2005 and since her son is donating a portion of the royalties to UNICEF is a doubly good buy for me.

I am not a big coffee drinker but found the cover art for The Espressologist by Kristina Springer http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Espressologist/Kristina-Springer/e/9780374322281/?itm=1&USRI=espressologist+springer quite delightful. A closeup of a teenage girl about to take a sip of coffee that has a heart swirled into the foam. Then I flipped to the back flap to check on the author and this is a debut novel. Another reason I wanted to read it. I've been doing some research on the educational backgrounds and web presence of new YA authors and it is no surprise that Springer hold a master's degree in writing. The new talent care great credentials! She also has a very attractive web site: http://www.kristinaspringer.com/. I love when YA authors put the books they are reading now on their web sites or in their blogs as this will encourage teens who read the author's book(s) to explore the other authors and titles listed as well. I also see she has a second book coming out, My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours in September and a third, Pumpkin Princess, in Fall 2011. Clearly she enjoys writing YA novels. Anyway, her first person debut novel shares the life of 17-year-old barista, Jane Turner, who has theorized that you can tell a lot about a person by the coffee they drink. She is so into this she writes the types of coffee and the personality type down in a notebook. Medium Iced Vanilla Latte Smart, sweet, and gentle. Sometimes soft-spoken but not a doormat. Loyal and trustworthy. A good friend. Decent looks and body. And before you know it Jane is hooking up her friends based on the coffees they and the other patrons of the coffee shop drink. When her boss finds out about it he decides to use Jane's "gift" as a marketing campaign. The lines are often around the corner on the night the "Espressologist" is in and Jane is feeling real pressure to match people. It isn't fun anymore, especially since she matches up her best friend with the guy she should really be with. A delightfully funny and sometimes poignant view of the world from the eyes of a very likable older teen who seems to know a lot about everyone else and little about herself. Reminds me a bit of Tucker Shaw's The Girls http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Girls/Tucker-Shaw/e/9780810989917/?itm=7&USRI=tucker+shaw which is also set in a coffee shop and deals with two best friends not telling each other the truth and dealing with the fallout.

Last book for today is a nonfiction title with incredible color photographs that bring to life a part of the world few of us have ever traveled to - Afghan Dreams: Young Voices of Afghanistan by Tony O'Brien and Mike Sullivan, with photographs by Tony O'Brien. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Afghan-Dreams/Tony-OBrien/e/9781599902876/?itm=1&USRI=afghan+dreams+young+voices+from+afghanistan The duo, a photojournalist and a filmmaker, interviewed and photographed youth from varied backgrounds in their often very different daily lives. Interviewees are between 8 and 15 so this is a book for elementary through high school level libraries. When asked what they would wish for if they had a magic lamp like Aladdin, education was most often wished for. The lives these children and teens live is heartbreaking. A 15 year old boy dressed in a filthy Christmas sweatshirt with "ho-ho-ho" on the front tells of how he incenses cars or shops for good luck, but he has no luck. His stepmother would be angry if he went back to school. A 10 year old calmly states that he is a thief, stealing from people's pockets in the market. What he wants - his real father to come back. Many of the teens work as carpet makers in the morning and attend school in the afternoon when they can. In the rural area a 14-year-old girl walks 2 hours to school. She wants to become a midwife. The voices of children who will be the leaders of this country in the future and most of them address the need for education.

Can't procrastinate from grading any longer!

We are having July weather in June - ugh!! It is too darn hot for June. And, it doesn't help that I have a ton of boxes in the middle of my office which are blocking the air conditioning vents that are on the floor too. So I have a fan blowing on me. If I close my eyes I can be back in the U.S. Virgin Islands Montessori School Library with the hum of fans to keep us at least a bit cooler. Okay, with that bit of daydreaming this office is like an icebox compared to that library on a hot breezeless day on St. Thomas!

I had the first set of occipital shots last Friday and it sure felt weird to have the back of my head numb for a couple of days. It's no longer numb but it also isn't hurting like it was so the shots did work for that pain but not for the headache behind and above my left eye. That is what is so tiring. I go back in later this month for another set of shots and I hope they work more than this first set. He did say relief would not be overnight so I am optimistic.

I'm also working with a dietician at our neighborhood hospital to lose some of the weight I have gained due to being so sedentary as it will help to be lighter on my feet when recuperating from the knee surgeries. Hobbling around in a lighter body may also not be quite so tiring before the surgery as well since the knee surgery won't be scheduled until there is some relief from the occipital neuralgia pain. I have some time to work at getting down to "fighting form". I'm on a low carb diet and the first few days were a killer as I pretty much lived on bread, granola bars, and fruit with some protein. I still have bread but I do things like take the top off of a Subway turkey sandwich and eat it open face. Its been interesting trying to find low carb foods in the grocery store. I have really become a label reader. Once I got over the initial shock of it I am kind of enjoying watching what I eat. I track my meals on the Sparks People web site: http://www.sparkpeople.com/. I'll bring in the print outs to the dietician on a regular basis. I also carry a book in my purse that has the carb and calorie content for most restaurant meals so I can pick and choose when we go out. That was the one condition - I get to eat out as doing so is often my only outings from the house. There was a whole set of work out equipment at the clinic but since I can't do much besides stretching in the a.m. the physiologist gave me a pedimeter to wear. I over did it the first few days trying to get more steps in and my knee rebelled big time but it is heartening to see I am not on my behind 24/7!

Just finished the Library Media Connection http://www.librarymediaconnection.com/ review for Karen Kincy's debut paranormal novel - Other http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Other/Karen-Kincy/e/9780738719191/?itm=1&USRI=other+kincy. I am feeling really old when I think about that fact that I've been reviewing for Linworth journals since the 1980s. Started out reviewing for Book Report when I was a high school librarian and have been reviewing and writing articles and books for Linworth ever since. This is the one journal, in its various versions, that I have had a long term subscription to as it covers both my professional worlds of school librarianship and youth literature.

Back to Other by Kincy. I had to go to her web site http://www.karenkincy.com/ to check out her web presence as I am so impressed with the new YA authors meeeting teens where they hang out - online. I had to chuckle over her twitter comment - "Author Kitty Keswick stopped by my website!" When you scroll down the page, there is an interview with Keswick. I personally still love the feel and smell of books and reading print, but I realize that if we want to get teens reading books we need to pique their attention via their modes of communication. There are more paranormal romances out there for teens now than anyone can keep up with but Other is well worth logging off, putting the phone on vibrate, and settling in and getting comfortable as you won't want to put Other down after you start reading it. Imagine a world where a centaur in the frozen food section of the grocery store raises a few eyebrows and an occassional cell phone pic but that's because there aren't any living in Gwen's small Washington town. But there are plenty of Others including werewolves, vampires, dyads and shapeshifters, which is what Gwen is. Due to the prejudices about Others by some of the small town residents Gwen's mom has asked her to subdue her inclination to shift into animal form but she only feels free when she takes wing in the dead of night and flies through the forest where no one sees her. At least she thinks no one does, but when Others show up murdered Gwen realizes she hasn't been as careful as she thought. The killer knows what she is and she may be the next victim. Add a cute fox spirit dude and some nasty werewolves to contend with and this is a fun and fast read. Thank goodness there are two more titles coming!

Speaking of teens and technology - NintendoDS is now offering 100 classics with author bios and book guides to help you select a "book that fits your mood" - or so says the advertisement in Entertainment Weekly. The add shows the Nintendo being held like a book so you have text on each side. Hmmm - I wonder if this will get gamers involved in reading. Who knows! Whatever the case, it looks interesting. Check out all the titles at http://www.100classicbooks.com/digital-books.html accessed from the Nintendo site. These are all those dry and boring oldies that are often required reading in school. Perhaps they will be a bit less boring when read on a gaming device! But please, don't make me read Silas Marner again in any format. Good heavens - I had to pinch myself black and blue to get through that one! Further browsing shows that there are another 10 books that can be downloaded via wi-fi. I just found the cost of the 100 Classics on Best Buy - $19.99. It was released yesterday and already backordered via Best Buys' online store. I wish I could be there to see the English teachers' expressions when they tell their students to take out their copy of King Lear and students boot up their Nintendos!

It is thundering like crazy, the wind is blowing and the rain is coming down. I'm posting this before the Internet goes down. I am so sick of rain - we are going to float away!

The thunder woke me up about an hour ago so I laid in bed for awhile listening to it and working on the crazy alliteration alphabet book I've been working on in my head for years. Always comes to mind when I can't sleep! So I got up a wrote down a few of the ones that came to mind this a.m. as I normally forget them by the time I get up. The rain is coming down in buckets and it sounds like Thor and the other Norse gods are involved in a game of bowling up in Valhalla. At least that is what Gramma used to tell me as she was more afraid of thunderstorms than I was!



Oh good - Steve is up. I can hear him pouring food into Sophie's bowl so she will quit her morning meowing. Back to bed with the Sunday paper for a bit. Yeah - a few days late and then some in getting to it.

What a beautiful day! We've had lots of rain but the sky is blue and it isn't supposed to get above the 70s today but up to 90 by the end of the week.

Spent more time this weekend going through books so that we can get one of my double bookcases out of my office so it will look bigger. We are slowly making progress toward getting the house ready to put on the market. Steve is painting the dining room and it is going to look wonderful compared to the ugly brownish gold that was in there. Apparently the builder used whatever leftover paint around as no two rooms in the house were the same color. They all complimented each other, but there was no way to match the paint to do any fix-ups.

I read some fun picture and early chapter books in the process:
If you have a little primary grade glamour puss, which I think my granddaughter McKinley is going to be, check out the Perfectly Princess series. Purple Princess Wins the Prize by Alyssa Crowne http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Purple-Princess-Wins-the-Prize/Alyssa-Crowne/e/9780545211741/?itm=1&USRI=purple+princess+wins+the+prize+perfectly+princess caught my attention as even the pages of the book are purple. Also because she has big brothers who she wants to show she is just as good as they are. Even we adult girls who have older brothers remember that feeling! Reading level on the series is 2nd grade so these books will be as popular as the other Scholastic Little Apple series - The Rainbow Magic books. There are a lot of them as there are different types of fairies, with several books in each group include The Rainbow Fairies, The Weather Fairies, The Jewel Fairies, The Pet Fairies, The Fun Day Fairies, The Petal Fairies, The Dance Fairies and the newest – The Music Fairies. There is a really cool website for the Fairies with activities and all kinds of stuff for computer literate primary age girls would enjoy: http://www.rainbowmagiconline.com/. I could see myself sitting down with Mary when she was little and doing some of these activities together. Keep in mind that I am a fairy lover myself and no one can make me grow up enough to quit believing in them! :-) I have Danni the Drum Fairy by Daisy Meadows http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=BOOK&WRD=danni+drum+fairy in front of me and what fun – figuring out how to get the instruments back from the goblins who stole them. If they don’t, everyone will find out about Fairyland! What little girl wouldn’t love these books? Lots of white space and line drawings break up the text so even the most “chapter book” reluctant girl may find these accessible.

Although our kids go through series like the ones discussed above so fast that we feel like we are at the library or bookstore every day, this is a good thing. Are these high quality literature – of course they are not. But, it is books like these that help us ensure our kids are lifelong readers. Once they have mastered the basics of reading, novice readers need to go through a stage in reading development referred to as unconscious delight – in other words, wallowing in books that don’t require a great deal out of the young readers, but they are practicing their reading skills in a safe, known, fun environment. In other words – they discover reading is fun. It isn’t just something they have to do for homework or points. Some of us oldies went through this stage with The Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope (I was devastated when I found out she wasn’t real – these books were written by several different authors from an outline given to them.) The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport is the first book in the series. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Bobbsey-Twins-of-Lakeport/Laura-Lee-Hope/e/9780448437521/?itm=3&USRI=bobbsey+twins+series. Penguin has brought them all back along with an easy reader series as well. Nostalgia! We hope our kids love the same books we did as children, but don’t get upset if they don’t. Allow them choose their own books and then step back and watch them become lifelong readers.

We are seeing teens going through the unconscious delight stage because they spent the last 8 years of school having books picked out for them by points or reading level. Many tweens/teens don’t know how to self select books, let alone consider that reading can be an enjoyable pastime just like sports, hanging out with their friends, or talking on the phone. Basically, we have to “wallow in unconscious delight” at some point in our reading life to discover it is fun before we truly become a lifelong reader. Let your kids read whatever they want and ignore the reading levels for a change. Little guys who love dinosaurs can read nonfiction books that some middle school kids can’t because they love the subject and they figure out the big words because they want to. So what if it is the 50th manga title your middle school son reading. He’s reading! I find graphic novels more difficult to comprehend than straight text as I am not as good at visual comprehension as our kids are.

The magazine you keep seeing your son or daughter scanning in the store every time you are there, buy a subscription. Magazine reading is very similar to the short bursts of information that standardized tests use for comprehension questions.

Okay, I’ll get off my high horse on this subject but we want our kids wallowing in “unconscious delight " reading so they don't become unconscious from boredom while struggling with the required reading book that they have no interest in at all. Perhaps if they were encouraged to “wallow” in the books/magazines/online sites they want to read, they could better handle reading the “stuff” they don’t want to as they are honing their skills reading and these books become less difficult to read. Can't change the boredom factor totally but they can progress through the books more quickly so they can get back to the titles they want to read.

I talked about the girlie series, what about the ones for the guys? Scholastic has Little Apple series for the guys too. I personally am so not into Pokemon but some boys love this little critter. There are many books in Pokemon Junior Chapter Book Series. Not all of them are still in print but you can buy used ones online for a couple of bucks and even Pokemon Battle Frontier: Team Rocket Truce http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Pokemon-Battle-Frontier/Tracey-West/e/9780545000734/?itm=3&USRI=pokemon+battle+frontier is only $3.99 new.

I think the Ready, Freddy! primary level series is a delight and I’d start with volume 1: Tooth Trouble by Abby Klein. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Tooth-Trouble/Abby-Klein/e/9780439555968/?itm=1&USRI=ready+freddy+series. There are enough line illustrations by John McKinley to break up the text. Freddy may be fascinated by sharks with their wicked looking teeth, but he’s embarrassed as he’s the only first grader who hasn’t lost a tooth yet.

For the primary age boys who love sports check out the Gym Shorts series by Betty Hicks. Henry and his buddies try out various sports, from basketball to soccer, to swimming, to baseball, to track and the latest adventure: Doubles Trouble http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Doubles-Troubles/Betty-Hicks/e/9781429944304/?itm=2&USRI=doubles+troubles. about tennis. The wonderful line drawings by Simon Gane break up the text and make this a fun book for sports minded early readers.

For the slightly older readers (7-10) who love to laugh introduce them to the Melvin Beederman, Superhero Series. Longer in length, the text is still broken up by line drawings. The latest title in the series by Greg Trine, Invasion from Planet Dork http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Invasion-from-Planet-Dork/Greg-Trine/e/9780805081671/?itm=1&USRI=melvin+beederman+invastion+from+planet+dork is hilarious. How many times have we seen movies and read books about aliens being used for experimentation. Well, what if the Evil Aliens are coming to Earth, specifically Los Angeles, to kidnap Earthlings for their own science class experiments? This ones hits the bookstores this week.

Summer is upon us and kids are out of school. Don't let them lose the progress they have made toward becoming a lifelong reader. The public libraries have fun reading programs if you child likes to be involved. As long as the programs are self competitive and don't list names and charts that clearly show ranking I am all for them. But I'd not have my own children involved in the ones that "pit" children against each other. They deal with enough competition in other areas of their life, reading should not be a competitive sport. It is like yoga or running - you work to improve your own skills not to be better than someone else. If you don't have a suitable summer reading program, make up your own. Read with your kids, read to your kids, have them read to you and talk about the books. Spend a Saturday at a used book store and let them pick out some books. Hit garage sales. There are ways to build your child's book collection without it costing you an arm and a leg.

All for today.

Sorry - had to add this post. I was chuckling aloud as I watched the trailer for Lane Smith's new book - It's a Book http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Its-a-Book/Lane-Smith/e/9781596436060/?itm=10&USRI=lane+smith+it%27s+a+bookput Click on this link and if you don't at least smile you aren't a true book-aholic like I am! http://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage.aspx?isbn=9781596436060&m_type=2&m_contentid=1635367#video

A beautiful breezy a.m. in Lex but it is going to be a hot one, up to the high 80s again. And very humid. Thank goodness for air conditioning and fans. You wouldn't think the northern most areas of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan would get very hot but I remember summers where sleeping was impossible in the upstairs of our house. I think Mom cooking on a wood stove also helped keep the house hotter than Hades. They'd close up the doors and close the curtains so the living room was the coolest. I remember laying on the hardwood floor that was a bit cooler due to the fans. I think living like that as a kid makes me appreciate the regulated air conditioning and heat we now have. And, we did get the gas fireplace fixed, just in time for it to heat up and not need it. It even has a remote - how cool is that? :-)

My mom was a great one for home remedies. She is most likely smiling down on me from heaven as I take my tbs. of natural apple cider vinegar mixed in with cranberry juice each morning. Apple cider vinegar has many supposed natural remedies - http://www.homeremediesweb.com/apple_cider_vinegar_health_benefits.php I am taking it to help my immune system but I wish it did all the other things listed on the Home Remedies Website.

She would also be chucking over my love of Greek yogurt since I hated her Finnish speciality called viili - basically curdled milk. She has a starter she used that she swore came over from Finland initially with my grandmother. I hated the stringy slimy stuff but she ate it every day and swore it helped her digestion. She knew what she was talking about long before yogurt became a craze in the U.S. Mom was a born naturalist long before the "back to the earth" folks
joined in on what the old Finns knew for decades.

As some of you know, I have an interest in debut novels/picture books. I am also amazed at the qualifications of the new YA authors. For example, Jessica Warman has a MA in creative writing and went to Yale. These new young authors decide they want a career in writing and go about getting the education to enhance their natural skills. Warman shows her skills in Breathless http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Breathless/Jessica-Warman/e/9780802798497/?itm=1&USRI=warman+breathless We females who have older brothers ofen idolize them. Those who don't go that far certainly look up to them and ask them for advice. I still remember my oldest brother Dan telling me the guy wasn't worth the ground I walked on when I told him about the mean things one the guys I liked in Junior High said to me. It isn't that I made great choices in men the rest of my life after that comment, but it stuck with me all these years. I thought about Warman's main character Katie and how I would have reacted if my brother Larry, who I was the closest to as a teen as he was the closest in age, suffered from schizophrenia. How would I have felt if he was sent away to a psychiatric hospital and was begging me to come get him? Could I handle the pressure? And, what would I say to my classmates if my parents sent me away to a boarding school? Would I go so far as Katie did and say my older brother was dead? It certainly would be easier than to admit the truth - her brother suffered from drug induced schizophrenia and was institutionalized. I certainly wouldn't tell them about the time he dropped the cat off our roof, expecting it to get up and walk away - cats always land on their feet, don't they? Well, not from that height. They called Katie's father, a psychiatrist, the Ghost as he was rarely around but when he was, he called family meetings and produced Ziplock baggies of drug paraphernalia he found around the house. Their artist mother is as calm as a still pond but insubstantial enough for a wind to blow her away. Katie is an innocent when it comes to the viciousness of private school girls and is often the object of their nastiness, especially when she begins to date Drew, the captain of the boys' swim team. Katie's roommate Mazzie has issues of her own over her mother's death and handles the scene at Katie's house after her grandfather's funeral when Will waves a loaded handgun between himself and their father better than Katie does. When her father apologizes as they are ready to leave for school, Mazzie responds with, "Shit happens, Sir." It sure does in this family. Katie finds solace in swimming - she can forget about everything at home and at school while she swims. But she has to surface sometime and when she does she learns an orderly at the hospital has been killed and Will is the prime suspect. Do you stop loving a brother who is criminally insane? No, you don't. Warman creates scenes so poignant and realistic between Katie and Will and Katie and Mazzie that I found myself holding my breath for fear they would know I was eavesdropping. An incredible debut.

On a lighter note: Steve says I tend to chatter too much so I had to smile to myself as I read the delightfully sweet The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood and Renata Liwska. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Quiet-Book/Deborah-Underwood/e/9780547215679/?itm=1&USRI=the+quiet+book There are many kinds of quiet from the first one awake quiet, thinking of a good reason you were drawing on the wall quiet, last one to get picked up from school quiet, first look at our new hairstyle quiet, first snowfall quiet, to “What flashlight?” quiet as little bunny is sneaking in a last few pages of his favorite book. The gentle illustrations of a variety of young animals including a little moose, bear, bunny, mouse, hedgehog, and porcupine are perfect for a bedtime story. I have to keep in mind the “Best friends don’t need to talk quiet” next time Steve and I are on the beach together as are bear and bunny as they quietly skip rocks. Sometimes there is no reason to talk when best friends are together and Steve is certainly the friend I want at my side during a quiet walk on the beach, but he had better not expect me to handle “Top of the roller coaster quiet” as I won’t be like bunny and cover my eyes and hold my breath. My breath would be coming out in a loud shriek of fear – I hate heights!

That's it for today.

Isn't the brain an amazing thing? I just got back from the eye doc's for my second contacts fitting. I have the distance correction in one eye and close up in the other. As long as I don't think about it and start trying to look at something with only one eye, it works great. I was wearing bifocals but getting eye strain from having to move between the transitions as I use two monitors and also look down at print documents in front of me. I hope this works better as I can buy cute, cheap sunglasses again. I was in second heaven once the lasik surgery settled in back in 2001. I had worn glasses since I was in primary school so seeing the depth and variety of colors of the leaves in a tree was a wonderment to me. But, lasik only lasts 5-10 years for most folks and clearly I'm one of them.

I have piles of books all over the floor after a day with my books yesterday. The time just flies by and I am happy as a kid in a candy shop - or me in a dark chocolate only candy shop. :-)

I remember when Aliki’s Digging Up Dinosaurs http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Digging-Up-Dinosaurs/Aliki/e/9780064450782/?itm=1&USRI=digging+up+dinosaurs#TABS first came out and we were all delighted to see female characters in the book and even more delighted when the second edition was published with a female paleontologist on the cover. Back in the 80s we were still seeking out the books that set aside the sexual stereotyping of only men in medical and science professions. So, when I picked up the “almost board book” (slick, thick pages to weather lots of little hands), with the attention-getting cover art, by Jonathan London and David Parkins’ I’m a Truck Driver http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Im-a-Truck-Driver/David-Parkins/e/9780805079890/?itm=1&USRI=i%27m+a+truck+driver I didn’t even question whether or not there would be female truck drivers. Of course there are! Well, maybe not truck drivers as this book addresses many types of big equipment. The pages alternate between a boy and his dog and a girl and her cat operating/driving different piece of large equipment that are all pictured on the endpapers. Perhaps the choice of pets can be seen as sexist to a degree but the girl is clearly loving being a power shovel operator, a big crane operator, a steamroller driver, a fire truck driver, a snowplow driver, and a combine operator. This one is going to my grand kids and I suspect McKinley will be as crazy about this one as will be Kegan who loves trucks.

A gotta have for every middle grade through high school library is Superstar Stats: Everything Cool About Everyone Who’s Hot! http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Superstar-Stats/Jenifer-Morse/e/9780545178211/?itm=1&USRI=superstar+stats by Jenifer Morse and the Scholastic staff. The color photographs of big names in entertainment, sports, business and money and more. A double page spread on each person with basic name/age information and some statistics about how they excel in their areas. The wide range of ages, cultures, backgrounds should pique any level reader’s attention. You may have to buy multiple copies of this one as it is paperback.

I just finished writing the Library Media Connection review for Neal Shusterman's Bruiser http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Bruiser/Neal-Shusterman/e/9780061134081/?itm=1&USRI=bruiser+neal+shusterman that will come out in later this month. I don't think there is a Shusterman book I've read that I haven't enjoyed. This one delves into the question of how far would you go to accept the physical pain of someone you love? I know as a parent I would have gladly endured the pain Mary went through having heart surgery as a toddler. I killed me emotionally to hear her scream with each vial of blood they drew. She'd start screaming as soon as we drove into our family doctor's office building parking lot for almost 2 years afterward. She was traumatized both emotionally and physically by the surgery and the events surrounding it. Today, she remembers little of it other than the scar that curves from her side up her back and the surgical steel clips used to do the repairs that mean she cannot have an MRI. But, I digress - Bruiser is a big lunk of a teen who everyone at school predicts will end up in prison. He doesn't interact with anyone as he fears doing so. He goes home to his abusive, alcoholic uncle and little brother, never complaining about the abuse his uncle inflicts on him. His world is turned upside down with "do-gooder" Bronte decides Bruiser is just misunderstood. He certainly is that but she has no idea the pain she is bringing on him by making him care about her and her family. He literally takes on their pain, bruises, and scars of those he loves. This is one of those books that makes me go back to the fact that every reader has his/her own conversation with a book based on their life experiences.

All for today. Two more late book reviews to write!

I am wondering how Mary's family trip up to her dad's camp went this weekend. They were taking Zoey. This pic is of Mary curled up with Zoey at 13 weeks. She now is so long she takes up the whole couch and over 85 pounds. Mary was trying to figure out how to fit her in the front seat with her while Scott drives. The three kids take up the whole backseat. I can't imagine having a dog that big. I'd worry about getting knocked over.



It has been a quiet weekend. Yesterday was our 8th anniversary and we just stayed home and watched old movies. I had not seen Mr. Roberts

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Mister-Roberts/Henry-Fonda/e/12569736351/?itm=1&USRI=mr+roberts with Henry Fonda, James Cagney and William Powell. I love William Powell as Nick in The Thin Man series of movies http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/The-Complete-Thin-Man-Collection/William-Powell/e/12569673991/?itm=2 with Myrna Loy. Some folks know this movie more for the canine star, Asta. Anyway, Powell plays the older philosophical doctor on a cargo ship during WWII in Mr. Roberts. Fonda, who plays Mr. Roberts, wants to be in the action but Cagney, the tyrannical captain, won't approve his transfer to another ship. It is a delightful movie and a nice way to end our anniversary.



I've not been doing well after the 2nd episode and most of the weekend before last in the ER - first at St. Joe's and then UK Hospital's ER. Our neighborhood St. Joe's doesn't have a neurologist on call and the main St. Joe's wasn't taking ER patients as their power was out. So I was sent to UK's ER by ambulance. First time in one and I hope my last. I got to UK around 1 a.m. and was put in one of those rooms with the curtains between patients. I got to listen to a drunk UK student whine and throw up - she was found sitting in her car passed out and brought in by UK's police. What a "story" she had for her mother the next morning! Oh fun! The guy on the other side of her was waiting to be admitted and listened to a foul mouthed group of comedians roast Bob Sackett on Comedy Central that lasted all night. I've now heard the f-word more times than I ever want to. The nurses didn't ask him to turn it down and it could be heard well outside of of the room as the door was wide open. I had the bed next to the door so got to see everyone going by in the hallway and they saw me. Sleep wasn't possible. No lights out and even worse, no call button. I had to scream to get one of the nurse's attention to help me get to the bathroom, which was filthy. A male nurse, but I had to go bad enough I wasn't too worried about it. I cannot figure out how that ER area could be so dirty when I saw no less than 4 different cleaning people come through while I lay there. One of them emptied out the holder on the wall for needles and syringes and used his bare hands to pull one apart and shove it down inside. I was cringing as he did that. I lay there all night with few checks from the nurses and a couple of the neurologist docs checking in on me, giving differing opinions as to what was wrong since the CT Scan from St. Joe's didn't show stroke damage but I was experiencing partial paralysis of my legs and arms as well as slurred speech. One of them so kindly said, "Did you know your left eye is drooping?" Duh! The headache was so bad I thought my left eyeball was going to pop out and the nurse sent in one of UK EMT guys with Tylenol as the neurologist had forgotten to write an order for pain meds! They didn't do the MRI until almost noon, much too late to show any stroke damage so it was a waste of my time and money. They finally let me leave when I assured them I had gained enough use of my legs to go home. Four UK neurologists later and no clear answer to the episode that I have yet to recover from.

Thank goodness I had an appointment with a Pain Management doc set up and saw him on Friday. It didn't take him long to make a clinical diagnosis of occipital neuralgia with headache and whiplash damage to my neck from the fall down the steps in Denver. He was pretty surprised I'd been dealing with the pain for a year and 1/2. No treatment is what has resulted in the episodes and the 24/7 headache. I go back in next week for the first treatment to the occipital nerve. I am feeling like there may be light at the end of the tunnel, but it sure has been long in coming. The Worker's Comp. rep was with me at the appointment and apologized for it taking so long for her to get me in to a doc who deals with head trauma. The UK neurologists were clueless. Specialist put blinders on and can't see beyond what they are accustomed to diagnosing. It is going to take awhile but I will get back some quality of life. The WC rep. won't schedule my knee surgery until the trauma doc can give me some relief from the headache and inflamed nerves episodes that resemble strokes. She took one look at how exhausted I am and said there is no way my body could handle both the pain treatments and the surgery. So, in the meantime I'll keep hobbling around and hope for the best. What a horrible last few weeks it has been. I don't wish an ER overnight visit like I had on anyone.

So, I've been trying to take it easy and give my eyes a break from the computer screen but it hasn't been easy. I've been going through some of the picture books again and love Liz Rosenberg and Julie Downing's Nobody. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Nobody/Liz-Rosenberg/e/9781596431201/?itm=1&USRI=nobody+rosenberg I'm sure those of you who are parents had a Nobody living in your house who enticed your kids to do the things they wouldn't do on their own. This is the case with young George whose imaginary friend, Nobody, loves to get into mischief as they do early one morning before the parents are up. Downing's grayish version of Nobody is delightful in a spotted footed sleeper and corkscrew-like curls. What expression she can add with just a few lines. And George - freckle faced, with hair standing on end. George and Nobody decide to make omelets. "It was a lot of work. Nobody called out words of encouragement. Nobody mopped up the first few mistakes. Then George sat and waited because he wasn't allowed to turn on the stove when Nobody was around." Two shocked parents arrive in the kitchen in their bathrobes to find the kitchen in shambles. "George, what were you thinking?" But, it isn't going to end in a scolding as mom sees George's face and gives him a squeeze and says, "I was really in the mood for pancakes. Do you think you could help me make some?" "But, of course," answered George. "Pancakes are my specialty." I wish I had this book when my kids were little as their invisible mischief maker was named "Not Me!"

Much less fun to read, but certainly a book I won't forget reading is David Patneaude's Epitaph Road http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Epitaph-Road/David-Patneaude/e/9781606840559/?itm=1&USRI=epitaph+road It came to mind as it is Memorial Day and I remember how my breath stuck in my chest the first time I saw all the small white crosses in a Veteran's cemetery. My dad was a WWII vet so talking about the military and the men who died during that war was part of my growing up. Dad was in the South Pacific so he didn't see the mass graves in the concentration camps but that is what I thought of when Patneaude described the mass burial memorial for the thousands of people, mostly men who died from a virus that killed 97 percent of the male population on earth. Imagine being a teenage boy, one of the few males, and the son of one of the women who worked closely with the government and monitoring the small splinter groups of men who choose to live in isolated settlements. Kellen is this 15-year-0ld teenage boy and he is furious that his mother is not going to allow him to spend the summer with his father, a fisherman who docks in a small coastal village on Washington state's coastline. When Kellen and the two new girls who have moved into his group home overhear the adults talking they figure out what is going on. The women in control have decided it is time to deal with the rebellious men and they know just how to do it - not much different than the last time. Now it is a race against time and the authorities as the three teenagers ride out on their bikes to save Kellen's dad.

That's it for today. A long post and then some.

Folks - don't throw away the publisher's catalog you receive - they are a wealth of information. I know most of us like to order things online, but the print catalog from the publishers are a delightful way to get to the know the authors and books before you receive them in your library or home. If the cover of Bloomsbury and Walker Books for Young Readers' catalog doesn't get your attention - half of a female face with a golden tear trailing down from a closed eye with a golden lid - I would be very surprised. I recognized the cover and had to flip through the catalog first to find Captivate by Carrie Jones http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Captivate/Carrie-Jones/e/9781599903422/?itm=1&USRI=captivate+jones so I could read the blurb on its sequel Need http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Need/Carrie-Jones/e/9781599903385/?itm=2 in which you find out about the trial of gold dust. Need also has an arresting cover - this time the lips are gold. For those of you who want a paranormal romance, but not focused on vampires or werewolves, Jones has offered up a pixie king who is both sexy and dangerous. Zara's world is turned upside down when he states she is fated to be his queen. Let the girls know about http://www.needpixies.com/ as they can learn about the author, watch book trailers, read reviews, and even enter a contest. Very cool! Use the Internet to pique the teens' interest in reading. Bookmark book trailers on the library computers and display the books that go with them near the computers. You'll be replacing books regularly! :)

The other thing I look for in publishers' catalogs is the debut titles. Jen Nadol's The Mark http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Mark/Jen-Nadol/e/9781599904313/?itm=1&USRI=the+mark+nadol caught my attention as it deals with the ability to see the glow around a person who is about to die. If you know this, should/could you stop the death from happening?

I chuckled aloud when I read the blurb for Jean Reidy and Genevieve Leloup's picture book debut - Too Purpley! http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Too-Purpley/Jean-Reidy/e/9781599903071/?itm=1&USRI=too+purpley as this little fashionista has been my daughter and is my granddaughter! What fun to watch the girly/girly clothing demands, except when you are running late! I sent McKinley a princess costume and she loves it - so does her brother Kegan, which just tickles my fancy!

Some freebies are better than others and one of the best I've seen lately is the Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online, a booklet from the government that can be ordered free of charge from http://bulkorder.ftc.gov/. You can order them in bulk and hand them out at PTA meetings and other venues where parents and educators meet. Our teens and tweens know more about the online and cell phone environments than most adults do. I just upgraded to a Blackberry and have yet to figure out how to use its features. Wish I had a teen around to help me set it up!

Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) are wonder freebies as well and even better when they are signed by the author. Benedict Carey's The Unknowns

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Unknowns/Benedict-Carey/e/9780810979918/?itm=1&USRI=unknowns+carey is one of those books I thought I would dislike as I am so not into math, but I enjoyed it as a futuristic adventure and not as a math teacher might! Honestly, I ignored most of the mathematical computations that a group of young teens use to create a map to the underground tunnels that will take them to the nuclear power plant where a plan is underway to destroy the trash covered island the tweens live on. People have been disappearing from the enormous trailer park next to the underground nuclear power plant, but it isn't until their math tutor disappears that young Lady Di and Tom Jones pay attention. They know how to sneak from one place to another just about anywhere on their island but they need help to find the entrance to the nearby gigantic, ordorous dump, Trashmore. They are assisted by a unique set of characters who also live in Adjacent, the harsh environment that they call home. The best part of this book is rooting for Di and Tom as their self esteem and self confidence rise when they solve each piece of the puzzle their tutor left as clues. Give this one to the middle school tweens who enjoy math and/0r like solving puzzles.

Before I forget again – Beastly http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Beastly/Alex-Flinn/e/9780060874186/?itm=1&USRI=beastly - Alex Flinn’s wonderful retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale, will be a movie, coming out July 30th. Just came across the page I pulled out of the 4/2/10 Entertainment Weekly with a picture of Neal Patrick Harris, who will play Kyle’s blind tutor. He is wearing greenish, very cool almost Wicked looking glasses. Vanessa Hudgens plays the girl who believes in him. And, of all people - Mary-Kate Olsen plays the witch who curses Kyle. Olsen is nothing like the chubby character I imagined from the book! I watched the trailer here: http://beastly-trailer.blogspot.com/. Kyle also looks nothing like I imagined, but this does look like a movie I will enjoy. Doesn’t follow the storyline as closely as I’d like, even in the trailer, but most movies don’t.

The tattoo-like markings on Kyle's body remind me of the markings I imagined Green inflicts upon herself in Green Angel by Alice Hoffman http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Green-Angel/Alice-Hoffman/e/9780439443852/?itm=5&USRI=ash+hoffman – one of my all time favorite YA novels. I haven’t read Green Witch http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Green-Witch/Alice-Hoffman/e/9780545141956/?pwb=1& the sequel yet, but it is on my “gotta read” list. I am a big Hoffman fan and wish I had time to wallow in her books.

I am sure the green round glasses remind me of the ones worn by the residents of OZ in Wicked http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Wicked/Gregory-Maguire/e/9780061350962/?itm=6&USRI=maguire+wicked as we went to see it in Louisville Saturday afternoon. It was wonderful! Gregory Maguire is a gifted author and I've been dying to see the play. I was spellbound! But, it also brought to mind just how adult in theme and nature Maguire's books actually are. Wicked http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Wicked/Gregory-Maguire/e/9780061350962/?itm=6&USRI=maguire+wicked#TABS brings Elphaba to life as a child and a woman who is much less wicked in nature than most of the good folks of Oz. But the themes of prejudice, adultery, child abandonment, etc. are not child/tween appropriate. I also found myself at the edge of tears many times while reading Son of a Witch http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Son-of-a-Witch/Gregory-Maguire/e/9780061714733/?pwb=1&#TABS - written 10 years after Wicked and as brilliant. Is the teenage boy found beaten in a gully outside the castle Elphaba supposedly died in really her son? Liir sets out on a quest to find out who he is and where he belongs in this chaotic realm of Oz, so very different from the one I imagined while reading Baum's classic tale so many years ago. I am currently reading the 3rd title in the Wicked Years Series - A Lion Among Men http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-Lion-Among-Men/Gregory-Maguire/e/9781616795481/?pwb=1& and it is heartbreaking so far. Abandoned at birth and used as a lab experiment, the adult lion, named Brr for his cowardly quivering, may have traveled far to find out more about Elphaba from the old seer Yackle, but he really is in search of who he is and how anyone, even a lion, could abandon a child/cub. Maguire clearly isn't writing for children and I am always amazed when I hear of tween reading these books.

Back to finding the top of my desk!

A beautiful Saturday and instead of curled up reading in the yard swing I've spent it hobbling around doing laundry as poor Steve has walking pneumonia. A trip to the Kroger clinic and a bad diagnosis - allergies - so by the time he went in to the regular GP he was very sick. Poor guy is covered with blankets and/0r sweating and sounds like he is coughing his lungs up. I've been washing loads of mattress pads, sheets and towels. The doc said it would get worse before it got better and that sure has been the case. I've been popping my vitamins and praying I don't catch it. That's the last thing I need!

Although the appointment isn't until June 1st, I am delighted that my fibromyalgia doc at Vandy got me in to the Vandy neurologist who also has a background with immunology. If she can figure out what is causing this 24/7 headache I'll be one happy camper. I have honestly forgotten what it is like not to have a headache. Perhaps an accurate diagnosis will also explain the elevated heart rate so I won't be so tired. I still think the headache has something to do with the fall down the stairs in Denver as I've never had a headache like this one before. Once they figure this out I can have the knee surgery and start walking as exercise again. I miss being active.

Talked to Mary today. She is recuperating from surgery and has actually had time to read. Her babysitter brought her the Twilight series and she loved it. She acknowledged it got a bit overdone and Bella's too whiny at times but Mary has always love vampire books. She's been reading Feehan's Carpathian Dark vampire series. I've not gotten into it yet but love Feehan's spicy paranormal romance series, The Drake Sisters, The Leopard Series, and the Ghostwalkers series. Half Price Books had a copy of The Only One, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Only-One/Christine-Feehan/e/9780843951707/?itm=7&USRI=y+one+feehan , a novella trilogy by Christine Feehan, Susan Grant, and Susan Squires in the $1 rack so, of course, I had to buy it. The Feehan entry Dark Descent is really good. I see why Mary likes these vampire books. I was not impressed with Grant's The Star Queen as I am not a big futuristic/dystopian romance reader. But I was intrigued by Susan Squire's Sacrilege, also a vampire entry. I may just have to look into her books as well. So many books, so little time!! These are my bathtub or vacation books so I buy paperbacks in case I drop them, which I often do, in the water or can leave them behind for someone else to read when I finish them on a plane or by the pool.

I have read all the books but not seen any of the Twilight movies. Even with staying out of the "craze" I realized very quickly that Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Shiver/Maggie-Stiefvater/e/9780545123266/?itm=2&USRI=shiver+maggie is one to offer to the Team Jacob girls. I have an advance reading copy of Linger, http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Linger/Maggie-Stiefvater/e/9780545123280/?itm=1&USRI=linger+by+maggie+stiefvater, the sequel, to review but I have had so many of my YA literature students booktalk Shiver this semester that I knew I had to read it first. And, it is good! Very well written - the imagery and the sensations are so well described that you can almost feel the coarseness of Sam's fur when Grace buries her hand in it. And, feel his fear as the cold sets into his bones and he fears morphing into his wolf form in front of Grace. Is this love or obsession? Or, is there a difference? I am about a third of the way through and I have page markers galore so I can go back and read passages. I love Grace's practicality when it comes to others assuming someone takes after their parents. "It seemed you ought to pick the sort of person you would be, no matter what your parents are like." It's a good thing she feels that way as her parents are self absorbed with their professional lives and she pretty much takes care of herself. Being home alone leaves her plenty of time to watch for her wolf - the one with the yellow eyes who stopped the other wolves from tearing her apart when she was a child. She knows those eyes so well that she recognizes them on the naked boy curled up against the patio doors as the wolf who saved her. He was shot by vigilante hunters after the wolves who killed (or so they thought) the son of the wealthiest family in town. A superb book - so much better written than the Meyer's books. A great companion novel to the best YA werewolf book ever written, Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Blood-and-Chocolate/Annette-Curtis-Klause/e/9780613228367/?itm=4&USRI=blood+and+chocolate about a female werewolf. Klause has also written one of the best YA vampire romances, The Silver Kiss http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Blood-and-Chocolate/Annette-Curtis-Klause/e/9780613228367/?itm=4&USRI=blood+and+chocolate. Check out the paperback reprint - black background with two red leaves - to draw the eye of the Twilight series readers. Another great YA vampire title is Vivian Vande Velde's Companions of the Night http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Companions-of-the-Night/Vivian-Vande-Velde/e/9780152166694/?itm=1&USRI=companions+of+the+night I am hoping this vampire craze will introduce teen readers to the well written vampire/werewolf romances.

I've been a Neal Shusterman fan every since I read Downsiders http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Downsiders/Neal-Shusterman/e/9781416997474/?itm=9&USRI=shusterman - a wonderful fantasy about a society of people who have lived for generations underneath New York City in the subterranean tunnels built in the 1860s. They only come Topside at night, when they need something they do not have Downside. Talon ventures Topside to steal antibiotics for his very sick little sister and encounters Lindsay, a lonely teenage girl who is willing to help him. Their friendship blossoms and Talon does the forbidden - taking a Topsider into their world. An superb book that creates a world that is incredibly believable. And, that is what is essential - the suspension of disbelief - so that the author created world becomes real to the reader. Shusterman is a master at creating these worlds. So I entered the world of teenage Brewster without any reservations in Shusterman's newest title, Bruiser. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Bruiser/Neal-Shusterman/e/9780061134081/?itm=1&USRI=bruiser+shusterman It won't be out until late June but put it on your purchase orders now. Imagine what it would be like to fear caring about anyone because if you do, the emotional and physical pain inflicted on those you love occur to you. Their bruises appear on your body and their heartache causes you to sob, while they feel just fine. This is Brewster's world - he is an outcast at school because of his odd behavior. He is emotionally safe other than suffering his uncle's and brother's injuries until teen Bronte takes him on as her latest "rescuing a stray" case. Brewster doesn't stand a chance when he begins to care about Bronte and her unusual family. This is a beautifully written but heartbreaking novel.

Of course, I have to introduce at least one cool children's title. I have my eye out for new authors and flip open review books to check on the credentials of the authors even before I read the book blurb. Tannis Bill, the author of Pika: Life in the Rocks http://www.amazon.com/Pika-Life-Rocks-Tannis-Bill/dp/1590788036/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271553987&sr=1-1 has taught elementary school for 19 years and has training in early reading intervention. I had hamsters as pets when I was a kid so Jim Jacobson's photograph of an adorable pika (looks like a hamster) on the cover got my attention. Bill's simple yet informative text and Jacobson's close up photographs of this cousin to the rabbit little critter will delight young animal lovers. A glossary of vocabulary words related to the pika as well as additional information about pikas' habitats and other resources make this Boyds Mills Press title a great addition to any primary school collection.

That's it for me tonight. I am watching a very creepy Hitchcock movie - Strangers on a Train http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Strangers-on-a-Train/Farley-Granger/e/85391532422/?itm=1&USRI=stranger+on+a+train as I type this. It based on Patricia Highsmith's classic novel of obsession. The screen adaption is written in part by Raymond Chandler. That name should sound familiar as he created the private detective Philip Marlowe from books like The Big Sleep http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Big-Sleep/Raymond-Chandler/e/9780394758282/?itm=1&USRI=raymond+chandler. He is right up there with Dashiell Hammett as a "father of noir". I love Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Maltese-Falcon/Dashiell-Hammett/e/9780679722649/?itm=1&USRI=maltese+falcon but he is much better looking and a much bigger guy than Humphrey Bogart in the classic movie version http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/The-Maltese-Falcon/Humphrey-Bogart/e/12569676015/?itm=1&USRI=maltese+falcon But the movie version of The Thin Man http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Thin-Man/Dashiell-Hammett/e/9780679722632/?itm=1&USRI=thin+man got it just right with William Powell as Nick Charles. I love this series of old b/w movies. There is nothing that tickles my fancy more than Nick shooting a pop-gun between his slippered feet on Christmas morning - pinging glass ornaments from their Christmas tree, as full of tinsel as the trees I helped decorate as a child.

Easter weekend was beautiful here in Lexington. I was feeling a bit blue as I didn't get to see the grandkids dive into their Easter baskets of candy. And, clearly from this picture, I also missed out on sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap! And, as you can see Mary's family has expanded by one - a very large one! Zoey, a St. Bernard puppy, became the newest Quade family member when the elderly fellow who bought him could not take care of an exuberant puppy by himself. So, Zoey found a very active, loving home with two little ones climbing all over her. Mary seems smitten with her and loves to take walks with Zoey and Michael. Michael is still a bit uneasy around Zoey as he scares easily as many Asperger kids do. I read an article about a service dog brought into a family with two autistic children and how they both calmed down due to the dog's presence. I hope that would be the case with Michael and perhaps it still will be, with time. I also read an article in the latest Rolling Stone magazine, "The Surfing Savant" about Clay Marzo, a Aspie who can read a wave better than the top world rated adult surfers, but he lacks the social skills and coping strategies that would allow him to be in the midst of all the surfers at competitions and events. He is happiest surfing his Maui waves and being with his girlfriend. As I read this article I so felt for his family as I do for Mary and Scott as they figure out ways to help Michael. Like Clay, I believe in my heart of hearts that Michael will discover what he excels at and this will help him deal with all of the things in life that he does not handle well. When Michael is interested in something he can focus for extended lengths of time. He has a fascination with anything train related and he spends hours with his trains and tracks. And I was very impressed with how long he can spend on homework. I am not impressed with the amount of homework being sent home with a First grader - it is just crazy. When do these kids get to be kids and how many parents having the time in the evening that Mary takes to sit down with Michael and complete the assignments?

We just got back from a quick lunch. It is a beautiful but breezy day so a ride in Steve's car with the top down was heavenly. I spend so much time inside I sometimes feel like a mole. But, I do have two large windows in my office that look out over a very pretty green space so I can't complain too loudly. However, I can complain very loudly over the lack of doctors who will take worker's compensation patients. I am still dealing with the 24/7 headache since the fall down the stairs in Denver at ALA Midwinter last winter. After the trip to the ER room and the scare over a CT scan showing a possible skull lesion being cancerous I went to yet another neurologist and he is just "fishing" for a medicine fix. Two medications later - one made the headaches worse and other made me swell up like a beach ball - I am resigned to just waiting it out until the June 21st appointment with the UK neurologist. No one seems to know what the cause of the headache or the elevated heart rate is but I suspect the heart rate is high in part because I am dealing with the pain as best I can. To make matters worse the orthopedic surgeon won't schedule the knee surgery until there are some answers to the headache and elevated heart rate so I am dealing with that as well. No darn wonder people get upset about our health care system. We have good insurance and still can't get into specialists as there aren't enough to go around.

When the headache won't let me spend anymore time on the computer I will lay down and listen to books with lights out and just finished up Angel's Rest by Charles Davis http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Angels-Rest/Charles-Davis/e/9780778323044/?itm=8&USRI=angel%27s+rest+davis which is set in Virginia's Allegheny Mountains. A father returns to his childhood home with his children and all of the memories return, even the fact that he cannot use his birth name or acknowledge who he really is - a man who was there when his father was accidentally killed when he was 11 years old. His mother took the blame for what clearly was not a self-inflicted gunshot wound as the dying father begged them to claim when the police arrived. No lawyer, even the big shot one who lived in the biggest house in town, could save her. Charlie repressed the memory of what really happened that day and he believe for a time that his mother did shoot his father and is very angry with her. When she is taken away to jail, the old black man who spent his days sitting in Charlie's father's shop downtown, takes over the care of young Charlie. Lacy has lived through an attempted lynching and is very aware that Charlie's grandfather was involved in this race hate-filled crime. Like Charlie's mother, Lacy did not want this impressionable young boy put in custody of his grandparents. The wild card is Hollis Thrasher, the emotionally and physically wounded Korean War vet, who returns to Angel's Rest to break Charlie's mother out of jail. The three run as far as they can North and take over the care of a lighthouse in a remote area. Here, Charlie's memory of the day his father died returns and he begins to understand the sacrifices his mother, Lacy and Hollis Thrasher made to save him. This debut novel is heartbreaking and even more so when listened to as the raw grief felt by the characters is even more intense when heard. The main character may be an 11-year-old boy but this is not a children's or YA book, though I am sure there are older teens who may enjoy it.

Excuse me if I already wrote about Sarwat Chadda's Devil's Kiss http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Devils-Kiss/Sarwat-Chadda/e/9781423119999/?itm=1&USRI=devil%27s+kiss+sarwat+chadda but I came across this fascinating YA novel again as I was going through my shelves of advanced reading copies I'd read. I wanted to see what the final cover at would look like as the advanced copy is just a black cover with red text - not very appealing. The final cover art shows a young woman with a sword in her hand. Though I cannot imagine 15-year-old Bilqis SanGreal actually wearing a wispy white dress like the one on the cover, the sword does fit. Know as Billi, this teen knows her life will never be spent hanging out with other girls in the mall. She is the daughter of a Templar Knight and she too will become a Templar. Her time is spent in weaponry training and learning the obscure history of the Templars. But, she is still at teenage girl with raging hormones that come to live when she meets the mysterious Michael. Little does she know but she is attracted to none other than the Angel of Death. The battle rages to save the souls of innocents as Michael unleashes the unholiest of creatures to destroy the Templars and the world as they have vowed to protect. This is a superb debut novel and one that will get the attention of the myriad horror and paranormal romance readers as Billi also has discovered her attraction to Kay, a childhood friend who will also have a role in defeating the Angel of Death. This is supposed to be the first book in a series so I am sure I am not alone in impatiently waiting for the 2nd book in the series to see what Billi gets herself into next.

That's it for today - back to email and grading.

Did you know that coconut oil, milk, and even the coconut "water" are big on the health food scene? We found So Delicious Cultured Conconut Milk in the health food area of Kroger and I had to try it as it has all the live cultures of regular yoghurt. It takes like sour coconut milk - no surprise there. Guess I shouldn't have tried the plain - I thought I was getting chocolate flavored but the brown "thing" pictured on the front was a coconut, not a cocoa bean. With a price over $2.50 for 6 ounces it won't be something I try again.

I am having email withdrawal but it has been good. I have stayed off of my work email for the last couple of days. I spent yesterday wallowing in my books! :-) So now I have the debut YA novels I want to read all in alpha order by author and the other "gotta reads" by favorites authors and ones that pique my fancy in order as well. In the process I boxed up three boxes of books to go to Mary and the kids and two more for a friend of Steve's little girl. :-) You can even see some of the floor in my office. If I took the empty boxes out you could even see more!

The debut YA authors are an educated group -most of them with Masters in Fine Arts and veterans of numerous well known writing retreats/workshops. Plan to do more research into this area as I find it quite fascinating. I haven't gone through the picture books to see what the trend is here but I am seeing professionals in areas such as graphic art joining the world of children's illustrator/authors. I am looking forward to going through those books in more detail.

Also have a pile about as high as my desk of picture books and NF that I want to go through as the illustrations/storyline/format piqued my interest. For example, I picked up Stormy Weather by Debi Gliori. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Stormy-Weather/Debi-Gliori/e/9780802794192/?itm=1&USRI=stormy+weather+debi+gliori What a lovely bedtime story. It honestly hadn't dawned on me that Gliori is also a very talented illustrator as well as author of children's books. Just scanning the 100 entries that come up on B&N make me realized I've been a bit dense as I know her books, it just wasn't clicking that this is the same author whose humorous spooky stories have me laughing aloud. But this delightful tale of a mother fox and her kit reading a book in bed under a multicolored quilt begin and end this rhyming story of mothers and little ones snuggling down to watch the storm go by. The kit has the bunny and owlet in his arms that are part of the mother/child pairs that watch the storm. The illustrations are bold yet soothing. A perfect book to read on a night the rain is coming down or even the snow (hopefully not anymore this spring!). Gliori lives in Scotland and writes/illustrates from a studio in her garden. No wonder she can let her imagination run as wild as she does. I'd see dragons too if I had that kind of place to write from. :-) I also have a copy of Trouble With Dragon http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=BOOK&WRD=trouble+with+dragons+gliori as it is so delightful. I've always had a thing for dragons. These self centered dragons are not aware of what they are doing to the ecological balance of the earth as they scorch trees and anything else they feel like - even the North Pole. Santa standing in a pool of water holding presents sure is a wake-up call little ones will respond to. Hmmm - maybe Al Gore should show this picture at the UN to get across how critical global warming really is - might work better!

I know Gliori more as an author of the hilarious Pure Dead series http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=book&SID=385065 for 4th-7th grade. I think older readers would enjoy this series too as Gliori has created a family, the Strega-Borgias - that is a delight to read about, from the mother who is no where near as gifted in the magical arts as her children are. Add the maternal spider and the dragon who is in love with Loch Ness Monster as the "household pets" and you can't help but at least chuckle aloud at their antics. This series would also be fun to listen to on a family car trip. For those had the least bit of problem with the Harry Potter books stay clear of these as Gliori add demons and other not so nice creatures to get the best of the Strega-Borgias but in their owns bumbling/fumbling way they always come out on top. Gliori uses such humor in her description of the demons, imps and other creatures that you can't help but laugh rather than be scared of them.

That's it for me today. We are watching an old B/W horror movie about zombies. I don't mind these old ones as they aren't the least bit gory. They had to use scare tactics with a bit more "finesse" than bloodbaths and chopped off heads like modern day horror movies. So I am going to sign off and spend some time with Hollywood's leading men. We watch the Turner Classic Movies (TMC) channel more than any other and when I saw Leading Men: The Most Unforgettable 50 Leading Actors of the Studio Era http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Leading-Men/Turner-Classic-Movies/e/9780811854672/?itm=1&USRI=50+most+unforgettable+actors+of+the+studio+era at Half Price Books I couldn't resist it. So now let's see how many of their movies I have seen. Well, first of all, if I have to browse through the book to see if I agree that they are 50 most unforgettable! I noticed there is one for Leading Ladies as well so I'll have to keep my eye out for it at Half Price. I spend too much money in that store! And yes, I know Cary Grant is in it - his picture is right in the center of the cover, book-ended by Bogart and Gable. I wasn't a big Jimmy Stewart fan but the more of his movies I see, the more I do. He's on the cover too. What a classy guy - we watched a documentary with him in it a while back and he was delightful. We also watched one on the Warner Brothers - they were not delightful! What a wicked web they wove for each other . With brothers like that who needs enemies! If Edison hadn't monopolized the early film industry on the East Coast the Warner Brothers may never have gone to California and we wouldn't have the Hollywood lore we do today.

Okay - now to see if I've seen all the Grant and Stewart "essential" films listed. Robert Osborne wrote the introduction - love his voice!

I decided to take some time off from grading - it is Spring break after all - and start going through my books and get them in order. Right now I am focusing on getting the debut titles in alphabetical order as well as the books that are intriguing me and the ones by favorite authors. There are a few I've read everything they ever wrote. :-) Alex Flinn is one and right now I am re-reading Beastly http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Beastly/Alex-Flinn/e/9780060874162/?pwb=2 as it is required reading in my YA literature course. I am still cracking up over the chatroom messages from Froggie - he is not at all happy about having to live in a pond - his stuff keeps floating away! The chatroom is the brain child of a psychologist who wants to help the ones who have been transformed. There is mermaid who decides to become human and lose her voice for the guy she saves from drowning, a frog prince, a bear, and Kyle, who goes by NYCBeast. This is a delightful modern version of Beauty and the Beast and I'm enjoying revisiting his transformation into a young man who actually cares about others.

As I was doing my stretches this morning while watching the Today Show I was delighted to see Mike Lupica as one of the guests. He was promoting his latest sports novel The Batboy http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Batboy/Mike-Lupica/e/9780399250002/?itm=2&USRI=mike+lupica about a 14 year old who gets to hang out with his idols who play for the home town major league team. This is more than just a boy and his favorite sport type of book - it is also about a man redeeming himself with his son for having used steroids in his baseball career. Lupica said he was at a Broadway show and a woman politely tapped him on the shoulder and told him she was a school librarian and said she couldn't keep his books on the shelves. She went on to say boys who were resistant readers were the ones reading his books. I had to smile as I hear him say that. We are the authors' biggest fans and supporters! :-) So, there I was this morning, going through my books and finally found the copy of Lupica's Miracle on 49th Street http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Miracle-on-49th-Street/Mike-Lupica/e/9780399244889/?itm=2&USRI=miracle+on+49th+street about a 12-year-old girl who confronts a Celtics MVP that he is her father. His college sweetheart, her mother, never told him and she has recently died from cancer. Caring for no one but himself, the thought of a daughter doesn't set well with him, but Molly doesn't give up easy. The hardback copy, which is is what is in front of me, has Molly sitting on a bench in what appears to be Central Park, with a basketball by her side. Looks like a book for girls who like sports. Don't know too many middle school boys who would pick it up. No surprise that the paperback edition has the same kind of miracle snowy look background, but it is of a basketball being spun on a finger. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Miracle-on-49th-Street/Mike-Lupica/e/9780142409428/?itm=1&USRI=miracle+on+49th+street I imagine the girl on the cover turned away too many of Lupica's MS male readers. Often the paperback covers are much more "generic" than the hardback one. Sales is the bottom line and tweens/teens are visual. If the cover doesn't get their attention they are not going to pick up the book.

I am also having a great time going through the Nonfiction books I've not had time to enjoy - I had to chuckle as I picked up a title in the Capstone series - Killers Animals. Hippos in the Wild by Jody Sullivan Rake. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hippos/Jody-Sullivan-Rake/e/9781429640107/?itm=1&USRI=hippos+in+the+wild+rake I had not thought of hippos as deadly but the picture of a huge hippo - mouth open (can be as wide as 4 feet) with one tusk looking deadly sharp I have changed my mind before I've even opened the book! The book is full of hippo facts, including some that will have elementary age boys laughing aloud - male hippo will turn they butts to each other and poop on each other! That's taking it a bit father than the pi-- on you type comments of posturing males! Like most all of Capstone's books - a wealth of bold color photographs and high interest short bits of text on each page.

Never enough community helpers and career books in elementary schools - we start the career units early these days! I am sure there are lots of kids who wonder what the toilet looks like in a jail's holding cell. Well, they can find out in Beyond the Bars: Exploring the Secrets of a Police Station by Tammy Enz. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Beyond-the-Bars/Tammy-Enz/e/9781429633772/?itm=1&USRI=Beyond+the+bars+exploring+police+station. This is one of the Hidden Worlds series. Others covers hospitals, shopping malls, and sports stadiums. As always, Capstone goes for the high interest topics. That's why boys gravitate toward their books and why we hand them to the kid who sits in the library and refuses to look at anything!

Lots and lots of new bios on President Obama but Jennifer L. Marks' Presidente/President Barack Obama http://search.barnesandnoble.com/President-Barack-Obama/Jennifer-L-Marks/e/9781429637329/?itm=1&USRI=barack+obama+jennifer+l+marks is the first early picture book style bio I've seen that is bilingual. Wonderful full page photographs but the best part of this book is the Spanish/English time line that runs along the bottom of the pages that only goes up to the point in his life the information on the double page spread covers. It's one of the Pebble Plus Bilingual series.

Another title in this series is El Ejercito De EE.UU./The U.S. Army by Matt Doeden http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=BOOK&WRD=u%2Es%2E+army+matt+doeden I picked this one up because so many of my students are either married to men in the military or someone in their family is in the military. I wanted to see where the author got his information from. When I am asked about evaluating nonfiction titles I tell students the first thing to look for is the author's credentials and if it doesn't appear he/she has the credentials needed in the subject area, check to see who did he/she consult with. The consultant on this book is John Grady, the Director of Communications with the Association of the United States Army. This reassures me that someone who knows the facts and has the background to catch errors in either text or illustrations has gone over both before the book went to press. Pass up the books where there is no evidence that that author doesn't have a background in the subject area nor are they any acknowledgements to anyone who does.

Okay - now this is just plain cool! I found a craft book with a project in it that I used to do with the left over fabric from when I used to make the kids' clothes when they were little but I had never thought of doing it with old t-shirts, but it makes sense as this fabric is so stretchy! Anyway, you cut the old t-shirts into 2" strips and then braid three strips together, sewing on new pieces as you go until you have enough to roll into what you want - a glass coaster, a place mat, a rug, etc. You sew the braids together and its a durable, throw in the washing machine rug. This and other projects in Cool Crafts with Old T-shirts: Green Projects for Resourceful Kids by Carol Sirrine. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Cool-Crafts-from-Old-T-Shirts/Carol-Sirrine/e/9781429640091/?itm=1&USRI=cool+crafts+with+old+t-shirts. This is a gotta have title for public libraries with craft programming as well as middle and high schools with crafty girls. :-)

Back to my piles of books!