Monday is upon us again. I started working two days a week at Montessori last week and boy did I feel it in my right arm and shoulder. I am inputting MARC records into the Destiny database and I "moused" myself into an aching shoulder and right arm. So I took some time off from my online addition during the three day weekend. Steve and I had lunch at Tavern on the Waterfront on Friday with our two for one coupon. Yummy! They have excellent food and the view from the second floor restaurant is superb. Only one BAB ( big a-- boat) right now, but in high season, which is just about upon us, there is a line of 80 to 150 foot yachts moored along the wharf. Walked around downtown for a bit, trying to find an eyeglass place that had glasses on sale (one pair of reading glasses is not enough!), but it was closed when we found it. It is in the International Plaza, where the Hard Rock Cafe used to be, which is now a Wendy's. Seems weird to see that Wendy's sign up there.

Since Dockside books was closed too on Friday we had to go back into town on Saturday. First time since we have been on the island we actually had a woman flag us down and basically get in the car for a ride into town. Seemed a bit strange and I think she was put out that we weren't going any farther than Havensight! Dockside was packed with people - so packed Steve sat outside and waited for me. I belong to their "club" and had a $5 coupon so I used it to buy the first book in Jan Karon's Mitford series. I had bought Shepherds Abiding from Hemingways when they went out of business and loved it. How could you not love a guy, and his buddies, working in a back room of the antique shop to repair an old, but damaged, nativity scene for his wife as a Christmas present. The story reminded me of O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi" as his wife had found the shattered angel he had accidentally knocked to the floor and had been thrown out with the trash. She was reassembled the angel as his present.

To keep me off of the computer I worked on some Christmas ornaments. I started working on a set of sequin and beaded ornaments where you cover a Styrofoam ball, using little gold nails with a sequin and bead on each and push them into the Styrofoam. So, along with a sore shoulder and arm, I now have a very tender thumbs from pushing those darn little nails in - but the ornaments are really pretty! I finally finished the advent calendars for the grandkids and all I need now is for Steve to cut the dowels the right length to I can add the hangers. We went to Office Max and bought tubes so I can send them. It will have to be Priority Mail by the time I get these ready to go.

On the YA front I finally got a copy of Gary Paulsen's How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And Other Outrageous Tales About Extreme Sports. Middle school age boys who love extreme sports will love this book. An old board with roller skate wheels nailed onto it for the 1950s version of the skateboard and big heavy Schwinn bikes with every bit of extra metal removed to make them faster for stunts so dangerous you cringe just reading about them. It was like reading about back home as Paulsen grew up on Northern Minnesota, about as "exciting" as where I grew up - Northern Michigan. From the stories I heard told about my three older brothers and some of the stunts they pulled as kids I think they and Paulsen would have gotten along fine.

When I teach Children's Literature I always talk about view point and use Yolen's Encounter to discuss how the Taino Indians felt about "being discovered." Another book I am going to add to this discussion topic is Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve's Bad River Boys: A Meeting of the Lakota Sioux with Lewis and Clark, which is told from the point of view of three young Lakota boys who swim out to meet the boats and were not given the welcome they expected. The Historical Notes at the end are quite interesting and I was glad to see a glossary of the Lakota terms used throughout the book, along with how to pronounce them.

All for now.

Shock of all shocks - I was up, on my own, by 7:30 this morning! I have cut out Diet Coke as my main source of liquid and I am sleeping better. Like that is any surprise as I was consuming large amount of caffeine. The headache for the first few days wasn't much fun, but it was worth it to sleep more than a few hours at a time. So I was actually awake to give Steve a kiss goodbye as he headed out for work. Of course, Sophie and I had to have our Mommy/Kitty time as I did some reading. I'm reading through the age appropriate sections of Joan Borysenko's A Woman's Book of Life: The Biology, Psychology, and Spirituality of the Feminine Life Cycle. It was published back in the mid 90s, but is still very appropriate today. Very interesting reading, takes the cycle from birth to death.

Spent the day at Montessori yesterday. Got there and couldn't park in my normal spot as the torrential rain we have had basically destroyed the parking lot that the parents drive through to drop their kids off. I normally park on Vessup Lane - not the not normal drop off point, but got caught up in the line. Ended up parking on the side of the road under a tree. Wondered how much iguana poop I was going to have on the car by the end of the day. I was lucky - no big offerings! It isn't just dropping coconuts you have to worry about landing on your head down here!

It is amazing to think that someone so young, born in 1977, can write something so creepy and fascinating and wonderful and thought provoking as The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray. Chris Wooding has created a London that no one wants to live in. After the Prussians bombed the city the wych-kin have begun to take over the city. Thaniel is the 17-year-old son of a legendary wych-hunter and is living up to his father's name, working beside Cathaline, the female wych-hunter who moved into his home to care for him after his father was killed. During a hunt they discover a young woman who appears to be crazed, but after they find the tattoo on her lower back they know she is possessed. Thatch, the 200 year old wych, was supposed to have taken over Alaizabel's body when the poison took effect, but it didn't work that way, and both the two women are fighting inside of her. Because Thatch is the one who is to open the doors to the presence that will destroy the world as we know it, the Fraternity is after Alaizabel. Thaniel and Alzaizabel fall in love, but it isn't a pleasant love story as the Fraternity abducts her again and after the spirit of the wych is removed, she is put in the insane asylum, run by the head of the Fraternity. With the help of the King of the Beggars and an honest police officer, they are able to stop Thatch, but as the Kirkus starred review states, "readers will get finger cramps from rapidly turning the pages." Don't read this one while you are home alone at night! Initially published in 2001, the Scholastic Point paperback edition came out this year. Now to see if I can find a copy of Poison - another Wooding title, with a young woman seeking her stolen baby in a world where humans are the lowest form of life. Oh, I love these creepy books!

Speaking of books I love, I have a copy of Nicola Davies' Ice Bear: In the Steps of the Polar Bear in front of me. The art by Gary Blythe is incredible! I lived in Alaska for 15 years so when I saw the book was about the Inuit and the nanuk, the Inuit word for polar bear I had to explore it. The text is sparse, but with the illustrations the combination is stunning. For example, the close up illustration of the bear's satiated eyes and nose, with splotches of blood on it, accompanies "Polar Bear is a white shape in a white world, invisible until it's too late. A lightning paw strike, a crushing bite, and the seal is gone." No more words are needed - the illustration says the rest. My favorite twosome is the next shadowy illustration of a mother bear with her little ones cuddled under her chin along with the text "But Polar Bear is gentle too. Mother Polar Bear, in her winter snow den, tends her newborn cubs. She lifts their tiny bodies in her great paws and suckles them." Accompanying each double page spread is a bit of factual information at the bottom of the page. I now know that a newborn is just over a lb. - about the size of a guinea pig. Beautiful illustrations accompanying sparse but well written text, enhanced by factual information. What more could a teacher or librarian want - an index? It's got that too! Way cool book!!

Okay - this is getting long. Time for me to do some grading and check my own class. I am taking an online two week class on Blackboard - an online teaching software program.

I know it is Sunday when I wake up to the sound of football commentary. Steve starts early! He had to go into the office for a bit yesterday so I went into town with him to do some browsing in the tourist shops for Christmas presents for the grandkids. Did find a female pirate for Ally. She loved the pirate set we got her when they were down visiting in July. A trip to Charlotte Amalie is always an experience. We stopped to throw out trash and a big new Dodge truck pulled up to the huge dumpster at the same time. The back was full and two guys jumped up into the back and started throwing out - a car! Well, pieces of one anyway! First out went the hood, then one of the doors. We didn't hang around to watch the rest, but had to laugh at how they were going about it. Supposedly there is a $1000 fine for abandoning a car on the island, but they are all over so I wonder if VIPD ever fines anyone. But, these two guys were disposing of an old car, piece by piece!

We curled up and watched an old b/w movie last night - The Thin Man, with Myrna Loy and William Powell , based on a Dashiell Hammett book. Hammett is the author of The Maltese Falcon, which is also the basis for another cool old b/w movie. We visited one of his old haunts in San Francisco, but I can't remember the name of it. Need to check B&N to see if The Thin Man is still in print. I absolutely love these old movies. Even my daughter knew the movies when I mentioned the dog. I could watch these movies over and over - they are hilarious. My earlier viewing was Lara Croft - Tomb Raider! I am trying to get the 2nd Advent calendar project done for MJ so I can get it in the mail so it will get there for the 1st and watch movies while I work on it. I had no desire to see this movie before, but it really wasn't too bad.

Received a Harcourt ARC of Ithaka by Adele Geras - the wonderful follow up to Troy. I was transported back to Ithaka and felt like I was walking the paths of this ancient island with young Klymene as she agonized over her love for Odysseus and Penelope's son Telemachus, who has fallen under the seductive spell of the selfish but beautiful Melantho. Teen readers will be wrapped up in the story of the young people in this enchanting novel. Klymene is able to see and speak to the gods and goddesses, including Hades and Poseidon, who frighten her with their warnings of death and revenge. At the adult level is the story of Penelope and her wait for Odysseus to return, as she weaves the story of his return on her loom. She waits, even though his husband's own father does not believe his son is alive and wishes her to remarry. A despicable band of suitors arrive on the island, knowing that the "laws" of hospitality of Ithaka will not allow Penelope to ask them to leave. But Leodes, a childhood friend of Odysseus, arrives on the island as a suitor and Penelope falls under the spell of love. Once the reader enters Geras's tale of love and deceit, with gods and goddess interfering in the lives of mortals, there is no release until the tale is finished. Ithaka will be as popular with the teenage girls as Troy has been.

On the picture book front I have to comment on the Houghton Mifflin title Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing by April Jones Prince and illustrated by Francois Roca. A great story to go along with Curlee's informational Brooklyn Bridge that came out in 2001. Always looking for a publicity for his circus, P.T. Barnum assured people of the bridge's safety by leading across 21 elephants - good judges of a safe surface, testing it with their huge feet before proceeding. A beautifully illustrated bit of history that can be shared as a read aloud.

Back to work on the Advent calendar. Gotta get this in the mail soon! December 1st will be upon me too quickly. Thank heavens for express mail.

We are getting our afternoon squall come through. I was outside sitting in the sun reading earlier and there were boats headed out for day sails to Buck Island while the weather was still good. Last evening we stopped at the Oasis to have a glass of wine. I think I have found a new favorite place on St. Thomas. It is at the end of a road that meanders through Frenchtown. We sat on the patio that looks out on the inlet between St. Thomas and Hassel Island. No houses on that part of Hassel, just the remains of an old rock wall and chimney. Very peaceful and quiet with a wonderful ambiance. I could feel my heart rate go down while we sat there watching an evening squall come through. More than a little pricey, but well worth it for a bit of quiet at the end of the day.

I am not a fashion maven by any mean of the word, but I did get a kick out of browsing through Jeanne Beker's The Big Night Out, a NF title on fashion for teenage girls. Beker is host of the Fashion Television channel so I am sure she knows here stuff. Couldn't tell by this woman who lives in tank tops and shorts. I can't remember the last time I put foundation on my face or wore mascara. But, I am sure the MS age girls will love reading all the fashion hints in this new Tundra Books title. My favorite part is the question and answer boxes that are scattered throughout the book, along with the quotes on fashion from teenage girls.

The narrator in Kathleen Karr's Mama Went to Jail for the Vote is certainly at the cutting edge of fashion for her era - she is wearing Bloomers! This is a wonderful Hyperion picture book story about a young girl whose mother rides in the suffrage parade and is thrown in jail for picketing in front of the White House for women's voting rights. The story is based on actual events during the era of the Suffragists, discussed in the historical note at the end.

Ah, the sun is back out. These squalls are short but heavy!

Happy Halloween. This holiday just isn't as much fun when you don't have a little one around. Mary called to say MJ was going trick or treating as Tigger but he doesn't like how warm the costume is. But, I am sure once he figures out he is getting candy out of the deal he will decide it is okay. He certainly takes after Gramma and Mom with his sweet tooth. Buffy offered to lend up her Fiona before and after Midnight costumes but Steve wasn't too keen on going out as a female ogre in a tiara! We'll be party poopers and stay home tonight.

I had written a long posting on Friday and lost it when I tried to spell check it. GRRR!! It was about Shyam Selvadurai's Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. What a beautifully written coming of age novel set in 1980s Sri Lanka. Fourteen-year-old Amrith, the "adopted" son of his mother's best friend, is quite naive and doesn't realize that his jealousy over his newly met older cousin's attraction to his "sister" is because he, himself, is sexually attracted to and in love with him. Discovering he is different from the other boys is not a welcome revelation to Amrith, but with time he comes to accept himself and his mother's death. Selvadurai is a gifted writer and if Funny Boy, his first novel written in 1994, is as beautifully crafted as Swimming in the Monsoon Sea, one cannot question why he received both the Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Lambda Literary Award. Swimming in the Monsoon Sea is published by Tundra Books - one of the Canadian publishers I look at closely as their YA novels are always quite unique and wonderful for booktalking. Two of my favorite Tundra YA novels to booktalk are Mercy's Birds by Linda Holeman and More Than You Can Chew by Marnelle Tokio.

I'll end today's blog with a fun Halloween read for the little ones by Elizabeth Spurr - Halloween Sky Ride, a delightful rhyming Holiday House title. Witch Mildred is on her way to the Witches' Wobble, but along the way she picks up hitchhikers - a skeleton, a jack-o-lantern, a scared ghost, a cold mummy, a bat, and a lonely black cat - but the load is too much and the broom breaks. Not a problem - they are in the front yard of the Witches' Wobble. Big problem - all the food is gone - those greedy goblins ate all. Problem solved - the witch and her riders are welcomed with open arms to the neighbor's party where they eat candied apples and drink sweet lemonade. A delightful, not at all scary, look at some of our favorite Halloween characters.

Back to finding the top of my desk! The piles of books are teetering a bit to precariously for me.

Thirteen papers later my brain is mush! Grading online is a bit different than having the paper in front of you on paper, but the mark changes option in Word allows me to make comments and corrections on the papers so I actually do better with it. I am just stuck in front of a computer while I grade. Was talking to Buffy on the phone a bit ago and she suggested I get my butt on the deck with the laptop while I write or grade so I can get some color in this white face of mine. I am probably the palest local on the island! But, I have less "laugh lines" on my face than most of the women down here my age! Not sure what is worse - lines or being fish belly white.

Steve and I are having withdrawal. Shipwreck is closed down for renovation and the whole staff is off on vacation together. The owner takes his staff on a cruise, or to Mexico, etc. every year. I think that is pretty cool, but I really want my 1/2 of a Shipwreck burger and fries fix on Saturdays! I had a club sandwich at Tickles last Sat. and it just wasn't the same.

Finished listening to Michael Gruber's Witch Boy yesterday. I was not thrilled with the narrator's voice, which had a negative impact on how much I could enjoy this book. It got a bit long in parts and the main character - a ugly foundling raised by a witch and called Lump - was not terribly likeable until the very end of the book where he redeemed himself. Woven into the tale are recognizable folktale characters, such as Hansel and Gretel, who have been lovingly raised by the witch in the forest. A bit different than the tale we all know. Lump's name is actually Rumplestiltskin so you can just imagine how that tale is interwoven into the story of Lump's mad obsession with the miller's daughter. Offer this one to the younger teens who are beyond Harry Potter - even if they don't get the references to the Grimm's tales they will enjoy the coming of age tale of an ugly foundling child who grows up to be a not so ugly man.

Before I read The Good Lion by Beryle Markham and adapted and illustrated by Don Brown I hadn't heard of Beryle Markham, who moved to East Africa when she was three. This picture book is one incident in her young life when a "tame" lion on a friend's property decided she was prey. She was not seriously hurt, but the lion was caged for the rest of his life. Markham was saddened by the lion being punished for his natural behavior. A picture book to share with older children or teens - a good discussion starter.

All for now. I am ready to chill and watch the news.

Getting a slow start this early Tuesday morning. I love being at Montessori once I get there, but it is the getting up and getting there that kills me. I am so NOT a morning person! But, I am such an anal person that I find great pleasure in locating the exact MARC record I need and adding the local holdings as I build the database for the online catalog and circulation.

During one of the power outages last week I curled up and read through the three ring binder full of snippets written by a very prolific writer who is also a parent at Montessori. Buffy and I chat about books, writing and just about everything else under the sun when she pops through the library in the morning. This collection should be called Sassy Snippets! She has a sassy tongue and wonderfully naughty sense of humor. I was laughing out loud at some of Jesse's antics (he told her he had a woody and when she looked down he indeed did - Woody was on his Toy Story undies!). This is the perfect example of how life experience defines how we react to a statement! And then my throat closed up and my eyes teared while reading about her unconditional love for her son. Buffy takes you through a myriad of feelings and responses - from disgust, to laughter, to tears, to meditation. Hopefully she will be able to publish some of these little gems in magazines or elsewhere as a collection.

Staying in the adult frame of mind this a.m. I am sending out a recommendation to all those other "hot" (as in flashes) women out there! If you want to feel like you are not alone in this read The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again by Nancy Thayer. It is hilarious. I related more to the younger group of women the Hot Flash club was mentoring, but at least I know what I have to look forward to in my 50s and 60s! What a hoot. This title is in the middle of three about this group of women. Now I need to order the other two from B&N. I picked this one up in the airport in Charlotte because the title on the cover made me laugh when I read it.

Straying back to the children's literature mode, I have to recommend Pamela Duncan Edwards' (author of the beloved Some Smug Slug) new book, The Bus Ride That Changed History: The Story of Rosa Parks from Houghton Mifflin. There are many books out there about Rosa Parks, but this one is unique in that it has a "The House that Jack Built" cumulative text that children will love to join in on as you read. Add to that the conversation balloons of children who are talking about what it was like to live during segregation - separate water fountains, etc. The children and their converation baloons are on the bottom of the page, below the large illustrations that go along with the text. A must have for school library collections.

Okay, time to load up the diet coke and head out.

Yahoo! The Internet is back up and working. We have so many problems with Innovative DSL Internet service down here. The drop rate is incredible. There are times we can't even stay online long enough to finish what we are doing on a web site. This morning was one of those times. I finally gave up and actually cleaned for awhile. How disgusting is that! But, it did force me to look through some of the children's books I have piled around the living room and find the 5 books for my latest Reader's Advisory column for Library Media Connection. Got that sent in a bit ago.

I also took some time out to sit in the sun and finish Tim Bowler's Apocalypse. Oh my - what an incredible book. I loved Firmament so I had a feeling I was going to like this one. And, when I read the blurb on the book jacket that refers to a family sailing into fog and wrecking on an island inhabited by a group of religious fanatics I was hooked into reading it. My hair still raises on my arms as I think of a 15 year old boy realizing that a naked man with a birth mark on his neck and face, who the islanders call the Devil, is his twin, just many years older than he is. And, that the tiny boat he bent over to pick up from the water that is handed to him through the waves by the very same man and caused him to lose focus and run their sailboat onto the rocks, is the prayer boat of the wild girl Ula. She was asking for help and some how the man thought Kit could be her savior. But, she is the one who keeps Kit alive on the island after his parents disappear. Add to that a shrieking sea serpent that causes waves of tidal wave proportion to cleanse the island, ghosts from long dead islanders who chill Kit to the bone, and blood thirsty fear-of-the-Devil crazed islanders, brandishing clubs. In other words, once you pick this book up to read it, it won't let you go, even after you have finished it. My brain is still roiling with questions and I know I am going to go back and read this one again. Adventure, mystery, intrigue, and horror all rolled up into one beautifully written novel. Oh my but Bowler is good!

Was working on a column discussing picture book biographies and really enjoyed the fictional account of Henry David Thoreau's time in his cabin and the fear that his woods would be used to make toothpicks! Check it out in The Trouble with Henry: The Tale of Walden Pond by Deborah O'Neal. You can't help but chuckle over his deaf aunt shouting out that he is nothing but "a crazy little rooster." :-)

All for now. The sun is setting and I do hope Steve is bringing home some diet coke. I am having withdrawal twitches as I type!

After reading what Wilma is doing to Cancun and could be doing to Florida in a few days I should not be fussing over our winds and rain squalls. But, I gotta admit I am getting tired of the rain. The white caps on the ocean are pretty though. I am just glad I am not on one of those ferries bound for St. John and Tortolla that are bouncing by.

We started watching The Chronicle of Riddick last night. What a strange movie! I am not a big SF movie person but this is one of those you just keep watching because it is so creepy. Guess we will finish it tonight - we have the director's un-cut version so it is looong. I never know what Steve is going to pick via our Blockbuster online. For awhile it was the old episode of The Prisoner. I could never figure out why the guy couldn't say anything in a normal tone of voice - he had to scream it. Gave me a headache.

But, Matthue Roth's Never Mind the Goldberg certainly didn't give me a headache. What a fun and educational reading experience. I now know a lot more about Orthodox Jews than I ever did before. That is one of the things I love about this book - a teen reader can relate to Hava as she is a typical teenager (has an attitude and love anything punk) in many ways, but her life is built around her religious views and mandates. Pretty hard to be in a heavy metal mosh pit and not touch a male in the crowd. Consume large amounts of alcohol, but only kosher varieties. Hava is one of the most delightful novel characters I have read about - the only true Orthodox Jew acting in a sitcom about an Orthodox Jewish family. The baby hollering "osser" all the time is hilarious. What I do wish was included is a glossary of the Yiddish terms that are used throughout the book. In most cases I could figure them out from the context, but an affirmative glossary would have helped. Although there are plenty of new 2005 YA novels to choose from, there isn't another one like this Scholastic Push offering - it is raw, gritty and very Jewish! :-) Booktalk it and it will find a wide readership. Also give Roth's website to the teens - www.matthue.com. Fun site to browse through - he is also a musician. As Hava says, "Oy vey, dude!"

Shoe Baby by Joyce Dunbar is sitting on my desk in front of me. I love the bright blue cover with the exuberant illustration of a smiling baby inside a giant shoe. What fun - the rhyming text has the baby visiting the ocean, the zoo, having tea with the King and Queen, while asking everyone, "How do you do?" Finally he falls asleep to wake up to a giant fussing over his lost shoe and a giant mother crying over her lost baby - who, of course, is the infant in the shoe. Great book to read aloud to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. The rhyme romps along with the baby and the illustrations are bright and colorful enough to enchant a little one. It certainly is a delight for my tired eyes - reading glasses and all. Candlewick is a premier publisher of books for little ones!

Bagel and soy cream cheese for lunch - here I come! :-) Oy vey, dude! I love it. :-)

GRRR!! It is raining again! I woke up to a beautiful sunny day and even spent a few minutes outside reading in the sun - that is until my feet felt like they were frying. I also had a hummingbird buzzing my toes - it must have thought my pink toenails were some kind of flower! But now it has clouded over and is raining. And, I was bribing myself to write rubrics for my classes by promising myself a trip to the beach later on. I hope it clears up again. I am so sick of rain. I think I am getting webbed feet!

But at least it isn't snowing and freezing cold like in Kringle by Tony Abbott. For those of you who have been reading my blog, you know I am a Christmas freak. And when I saw this beautiful Scholastic book with the flying reindeer on the front I knew it was my next read. I finished it last night and what a fun read. Would make a wonderful family read aloud during the Holidays. A unique tale of how Kringle (Santa Claus) came into being. He was the son of parents who had helped the elves and they in return help Kringle save the world from the Goblins. The magical bell that his mother had found years before makes a sound that rings out his name. Kringle escapes from the Goblin attack and is taken in by the elves. Kringle is the child the Goblins seek, kidnapping all children in their path, both searching for him and feeding on their fear. Kringle knows he must rescue the children from the Goblins' underground den and does so with the help of the elves and the few humans that are left in the area after the Romans left. Quite a fascinating tale as the Nativity story is intertwined with Kringle's tale and that of the Longest Night of the Year.

Staying with the Christmas mode, Walter Wick has a new picture puzzle book - Can You See What I See? Night Before Christmas. I picked it up because I collect copies of the Night Before Christmas, but this is not an illustrated version of the poem. The poem is on the endpapers, but the pages are filled with Christmas ornaments, treats, decorations, etc. that children must find. I love the last blue-hued page with Santa's sleigh flying before the moon, with a small village below. This book will help fill those Christmas vacation hours for little ones. A gotta have under any child's Christmas tree.

It is still raining - harder than ever. Of well, guess that means I can't avoid writing those rubrics by escaping to the beach. Darn anyway!

Even the Diet Coke isn't helping wake me up this a.m. It is such a bummer to be jarred out of a dream by the alarm. And I think I had finally fallen back to sleep. I woke up at 2:22 - how weird is that - and then couldn't fall back to sleep. Kept thinking about all the things on my "to do" list, which seems to get longer every day. Living in the islands is not a vacation, vacationing in the islands is! The leak in the kitchen area finally stopped so I can now try to get this apt. back in order. I have books from one end of it to the other, from board books to upper level YA novels - what a mix!

Don't you just love the name Lola? I can hear Barry Manilow singing in my head! :-) Lola Douglas is the pen name under which Lara Zeises wrote True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet. The title suggests this might be just "fluff," but it isn't. Written in a combination of diary entries, letters to her party animal best friend back in Hollywood, and script like dialog, Morgan Carter relates the sometimes funny, often heartbreaking account of her losing battle with cocaine and alcohol and adjusting to living incognito as Claudia Miller, "typical" high school student in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Claudia/Morgan's interactions with the high school counselor and the people at AA are frank and poignant, leaving the reader little doubt about how painful it is for this self-centered rich brat to come to terms with who she was and what she must do to make sure she doesn't end up back in the same situation. But the joy of this book is Claudia becoming friends with Emily and Eli, a set of delightful twins who help this jaded teen realize normal teenage activities are actually fun. But Claudia is "outed" as Morgan by Debbie Ackerman, the girl Eli didn't choose instead of Claudia as the recipient of his affections. Claudia/Morgan's adventures aren't over as there is a book 2 coming in 2006. At first I was a bit overwhelmed by the name dropping, from Paris Hilton to Katie Holmes and every hot young actor in between. I felt like I was reading an In Touch magazine, but then realized that this would have been this young starlet's world. Although necessary, the name dropping with date this book quickly, but not before lots of teenage girls will vicariously live the life of a Hollywood Starlet.

Gotta head out to Montessori!

It is thundering again! Or maybe it is still the herd of buffalo thundering through my digestive system! ARGH!!! I won't want to eat another buffalo burger for a long time after spending two days sick from the one at Jack's. It isn't until I get really sick that Steve tells me he was a bit worried when I said the burger didn't taste like it normally does - really salty. Guess that is a ploy to cover the taste of old meat. YUCK!!!

But, I did get some reading done while I was laying in bed. Finished up the final chapters of the 630 pages of The Dream Merchant, a Candlewick title. Maureen White, an authority on translated children's books, got me interested in translated titles when we worked together at UHCL so now I tend to look for the YA titles that are translations. They are typically quite unique and Isabel Hoving's The Dream Merchant certainly is and then some. The Gippart Corporation is so greedy and corrupt that they are using young children to do experimental dream and time traveling. Josh is only 12 when he is "hired" by Gippart to dream travel to find the Tembe in hopes that they can figure out how to travel through time so they can sell more of their products. They have already glutted the markets in real time as well as dream time. Three young humans and the ghost of Josh's twin sister do find the Tembe and help to end a generations long feud between two brothers. An absolutely fascinating book, all 630 pages of it! If this book were marketed like Harry Potter they would be selling kid size versions of the snake bracelet that Jericho gave her brother Josh - the bracelet that falsely convinced the Gippart team that Josh could travel through time.

Yahoo - Houghton Mifflin just reissued a paperback edition of David Macaulay's Black and White. I remember when this book won the Caldecott and all the talk about the multiple stories within. In 1990 this was a very unique book and still holds its own today in the world of children's publishing where format and style can, and often is, as intriguing as the story itself. Oh what fun! I can't wait to share this with our grandkids. :-)

An overcast Saturday - humid and buggy. Even though I can hear thunder it looks like sun to the West though so we might be able to see a sunset. I took an afternoon nap after we ran errands in town and woke up to no Steve and no broken air conditioner. I hope that means he and the landlord are off to Home Depot to buy a new one! It is so sticky in here from the rainy weather. Makes me want to go back to sleep. Stopped in the new Jack's location in town. Sure is a strange set up. A bar and a few tall tables, but mainly gaming machines all along the walls. Had a buffalo burger, which I normally love but it is clearly a different cook at the new location. I like the atmosphere at the Jack's in Tutu much better - besides you get to sit outside and watch the iguanas running around and then browse the craft shops after you eat.

I changed a few of the titles in my YA Lit class for next semester and added Nancy Werlin's Double Helix now that it is in paperback. One of the best SF YA novels I have read. Nancy clearly did her research on genetics for this novel - very realistic. I thought of Werlin's novel when I read Margaret Peterson Haddix's Escape from Memory, even though the setting for the two novels is quite different. Double Helix is in a "normal" contemporary setting with the medical experimentation taking place in an underground lab beneath a "legitimate business". On the other hand Escape from Memory is set for most of the story in a Eastern European recreated village populated by people who had been relocated after Chernobyl. I had a difficult time suspending my disbelief of the village's possible existence in this day and age. Also, the female villain was a bit much. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read about a girl who discovers she is the daughter of scientists who had discovered how to makes copies of a person's memories and transfer this data via computer input and output. Although not as cleanly written as Werlin's novel, I do think teens will enjoy Escape from Memory, especially those teens who have already read other Haddix books. My favorite of hers is Turnabout, where the old women are becoming young again. Before I read that book I had never thought about what would happen if you un-aged to your birth!

Steve is doing yard work outside so I shall do some work inside putting books away. I need to find my "inner librarian" and do some shelving and weeding!

Another cloudy and dreary day. Oh well, I will be so busy in the library today after being gone for over a week that I won't notice. Hopefully the rain will stop so I don't have to use my trash cans under the leaks. Was watching the pelicans having their breakfast as they dove into the ocean below us. That was the one thing I missed about living above Brewer's Bay - the pelicans. There were flocks of them in the shallow waters near the runway. Guess they didn't mind being deafened by the landing and departing planes.

Forgot to take another book out of my luggage at the airport on the way home from Philly so I had to buy a book. Found S.E. Hinton's Hawkes Harbor. I really did enjoy it. A mix of a coming of age and a vampire story. It was published for the adult market, but I do think older teens would enjoy it as for most of the story the main character, Jaime, is an irresponsible 20 something. Guys would like the smuggling and gun running adventures as Jaime follows the unscrupulous Kell around the world, from one scam to another. Until he finds himself in Hawkes Harbor and listens to the tales of ghosts and treasure in the caves. Thinking there must be treasure in a chained closed coffin, Jaime unleashes a vampire who claims him as his unwilling servant. Jaime is at the brink of insanity due to his transformation and Grenville's cruelty and is hospitalized when he is shot while saving a friend from the vampire. He begins to heal at mental hospital and Grenville is also "healing", becoming human again with the help of a doctor. A bit of a convoluted story, but certainly one that keeps you reading. I finished it before the plane landed in St. Thomas and thoroughly enjoyed it. Certainly a departure from her earlier YA novels, but a fun read nevertheless.

For those who have enjoyed Yolen and Teague's other dinosaur books, add How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? to your collection, library or home. Little ones will love both the rhyming text about how not to, and how to, behave while eating as well as the humorous illustrations of multi-ethnic parents dealing with their dinosaur children at meal time. The facial expressions of the parents, the dinosaurs, and the family pets are a delight. What fun! For the young dinosaur aficionado, the end pages have the names of each of the dinosaurs depicted in the story. There is also a mini version of the book included.

Off to Montessori for the day.

The weather isn't a whole lot better back here in the islands than it was in Pittsburgh and Philly, just a bit warmer. Actually, a lot warmer! I don't need a jacket down here to stay warm. I'm sitting in front of a fan in a tank top and shorts, but it is blowing moist warm air on me as our air conditioner hasn't been fixed yet. Everything is on island time down here. It hasn't worked for close to two weeks and our landlord came down today and said he is checking into ordering parts! Who knows when they will come in if he does that. Adding to the moist air is the leak in our dining room/kitchen area ceiling. The puddle of water on the floor is not quite as big as it was a few days ago from what Steve says. Oh the joys of living in the islands! :-) But, I am not complaining too loudly as I sat outside this morning while the sun was still trying to shine through the clouds and read for a bit. It was such a delicious feeling to have my feet actually warm, hot in fact, than cold like they were in PA.

I finished reading Donna Jo Napoli's The King of Mulberry Street that I picked up the ARC for at the Random House booth at AASL. It just came out this month and is a great title to add to upper elementary and MS collections. An interesting immigrant tale about Dom, who is put on a ship as a stowaway when he is only 9 years old and figures out how to live on the streets, with the helps of another boy from Napoli. Dom is unique in that he is a Jew, something he needs to hide from his fellow street kids. Such prejudice back then between the different ethnic groups, who live in their own part of the NYC. Italians don't get along with the Irish, etc. Dom becomes street wise quickly and starts his own sandwich selling business on Wall Street where the business men will pay as much for a piece of a good Italian sandwich as what is paid for a whole sandwich in the neighborhood. This novel is based on stories Napoli heard about her own ancestors who came to America at a very young age. Would work well as a read aloud for Social Studies.

The students in my SJSU Literature for ages Birth-6 have been discussing emergent literacy and how important it is to share books with infants, no matter the age, even in the womb. The subject of sign language with little ones came up - a way of communicating before they are able to articulate words. I recently received a Houghton Mifflin book Let's Sign!: Every Baby's Guide to Communicating with Grownups by Kelly Ault. A wonderful book to share with little ones as you teach them basic sign language for "eat" to "sleep". Wish I had had this book when my kids were little as Mic had a speech impediment and I often couldn't understand him. He would have learned and used sign language quickly. We made up our own, but this book would have been a wonderful way to introduce it to both him and his sister, Mary.

Back to grading. I have chats with both of my YA Literature classes tonight.

GRRR!! I just had a whole posting written and I lost it because I am too quick with the back arrow icon! I forgot I lose things in MadChatter when I do that. I am visiting a friend who was the HS English teacher at Montessori in the VI. She moved back to the rural Philly area. It is a beautiful area - too bad it has been cold and overcast since I got here.

The American Association of School Librarians Conference in Pittsburgh was wonderful. My booktalking session Saturday morning was such fun to present to a full house. We ran out of handouts and they turned people away from the session because of the fire code regulations. Had to remind people they can access the bibliography of YA titles on the AASL website: www.ala.org/aasl. Go to the Conference section and it should have a link to the handouts.

Spent over an hour at the Linworth booth after the presentation signing copies of both Tantalizing Tidbits for Teens and Tantalizing Tidbits for Middle Schoolers. We sold out of the HS edition and I made many promises that I would get the 2nd edition of the HS one out as soon as possible. All the positive feedback from the session and the books have me fired up to go back home and finish up the manuscript for the 2nd edition. It is so invigorating to be around other librarians who love YA literature as much as I do. :-)

Haven't had much time to read since I have been here but I did start a new one by Donna Jo Napoli. And, read Haddix's Escape from Memory. A very interesting SF title about implanting chips into the brain to gather a person's memories. I'll write more about it when I have time. Janna and I are off to do some shopping. I think I am going to have to buy some warm sox and a sweatshirt. BRRRRR!!!

There is actually a bit of blue sky out there this a.m. Yesterday was horrible. The rain just kept coming down in buckets. An old panel truck slid crossways in the middle of road on Donkey Hill so traffic was backed up for what seemed like miles. Thank goodness I was going the other way and was able to get around him. The kids were wild yesterday. Being cooped up inside was not helping their mood at all. We had the trash can under the leak in the roof and lots of mud on the floor from the kids trooping in and out. Then Steve and I came home to water dripping from the ceiling in our kitchen. At least it isn't in the corner where my bookcases are like last time. Now if the sun will stay out for a bit and dry up some of the standing water. Nevertheless, the mosquitoes are going to love all the new breeding places.

I have always been fascinated by the Selkie stories so I dove right into reading Betsy James Long Night Dance. What a cool book - it is part of the Seeker Chronicles. Now I want to read the second book, Dark Heart. Kat is the daughter of an Upslope man and a Hill woman. She bears the shame of her mother's heritage - her red hair. With her mother dead, Kat does all the housework in her father's home. Women are treated very poorly by the men and Kat is getting restless. She wants to go down to the ocean, which is forbidden to her. Giving in to the call of the sea Kat finds herself on the rocky beach singing a song she once heard in the Downshore village. She does not know it is a song that calls to the seal people, even when she finds the badly wounded young man on the shore. Her father is furious when Kat brings the wounded Nall home with her and she and her brother hide him in the barn until they can take him to the healer in the Downshore village. Here Kat discovers her true nature and seeks to learn of her Hill country family. James' writing is so descriptive you feel like you are with Kat as she takes the first steps to discover who she is and to allow herself to be loved.

Jennifer Eachus' Angel: A Tale of Wonder is a visual delight. A small sized picture book, with lush illustrations of a little girl and the young angel who comes to her and asks her to tell her what she knows about wonder. Young Lara asks her family what wonder is and the answers vary, but what Lara realizes is that it is the angels that make the world wonderful. A quiet beautiful book to share with anyone.

Now to spend the rest of the day grading!

Withdrawal big time!! Our Internet connection has been down - I went cold turkey all day yesterday and it wasn't a pretty sight - the constant trying to log in and first the sighs of frustration and then the #@@**!!!s of irritation! But, I did get my presentation for AASL finished and a book review for VOYA written so it wasn't a lost day. But I am so behind in grading!

Every time we get stormy weather, and we are supposed to have this windy rainy weather for the rest of the week, our Innovative DSL goes wonky. The power went out about 4 a.m. yesterday. No biggie as our air conditioner quit Sunday evening anyway! Who knows how long it will take for someone to come out and fix that. At least the weather is cool so we aren't miserable. Hopefully it won't be too warm in the library today.

Read Rachel Cohn's Pop Princess recently. Picked it up because I really liked Cohn's MS level novel Steps. A funny, yet heartfelt look at a young teen dealing with her father's new family in Australia. Cohn is also the author of Gingerbread and Shrimp, two other popular teen novels. Felt kind of silly sitting on the plane reading a book with a girl's bare midriff and a belly button stud on the front cover, but it was worth the interesting looks from fellow passengers. An eye opening look into the real world of a one hit wonder, (her name really is Wonder!) who realizes that being a pop princess is not what she wants out of her musical career. Perhaps taking some time out to go to college and major in music might not be a bad idea. But Wonder Blake has to learn from her own mistakes, including an infatuation with the guy who is in love with Kayla, the "real" pop star who Wonder is the opening act for and who was in the same band with Wonder's sister who died. Girls will love vicariously living the pop princess life with Wonder. Should help shatter some of those fantasies about what it would be like to be the next Britney Spears! :-)

Have been browsing through and "playing" with Imagine by Norman Messenger. The limited text and the delightful illustrations ask you to use your imagination - "Imagine a house without windows.. You wouldn't know if it was day or night." There are double page spreads where you need to find items, such as giants hidden in a Medieval looking landscape or the animals within a forest scene. Such fun. For the mathematically inclined there are also math puzzles on the top of each page. Those I ignored. I am NOT mathematically inclined! :-/ But, this is a an intriguing interactive picture book to share with children, especially those in 2nd through 6th grades. A wonderful family vacation book to keep a child entertained in the back seat of the car - as long as they don't get motion sick when they read!

The waves against the little island in the bay are splashing up higher than I have ever seen them. Could prove to be an interesting day. This weather better settle down before Thursday afternoon when I leave for AASL in Pittsburgh. Off to Montessori for the day.

Looks like only one ship in today. That means the traffic shouldn't be so bad when I pick Steve up from work today. Had to dig out my ugly Dr. Scholls sandals for today - still hobbling around with this broken toe. It didn't care for being put in dress shoes for 4 days. I think my feet were in shock both from the shoes and from hose. I haven't worn socks, let alone anything but beach sandals for months. But, I look at this way - that means I need to buy new shoes that fit better. Good excuse to go shoe shopping! :-)

I read Graham Marks' Zoo while on the flight to Greenville, NC. What a cool book! Pair it up with Werlin's Double Helix, one of my favorite YA novels about genetic engineering. In Zoo, the 17 year old son of a cell phone mogul is kidnapped and the parents don't seem too thrilled about getting the police involved. That is because the kidnapper knows more about their behind the scenes genetics company: Doctor Corporation/Birth Sciences Inc. They have been producing generations of "perfect" babies and Cam is one of them. Only he doesn't find this out until he gets shot in the arm and the soon-to-be vet of Tee's (the girl who shelters him after he escapes from his kidnappers) finds a chip implanted in his arm. It is time to confront Daddy and Mommy Dearest and the confrontation is more than expected. Lots of twists and turn in Zoo - a down right fun read. Perfect for high school guys.

With Halloween coming up next month, take a look at The Warthog's Tail by Debby Atwell. It is a witchy version of an old folktale: "Dog, dog bite warthog so I can get home in time for Trick or Treat." The dog won't accommodate her, nor will the stick or match until a mysterious old man suggests the use of persuasion: "Speak politely, put a little heart in your smile, and then... just trust." The little witch eventually does get home to dress up in her bunny costume for trick or treating. The illustration where the dog bites the warthog's tail is a hoot. The look of shock on the wacky looking warthog's face is enough to have any child, or adult for that matter, laughing. This is the perfect example to use when explaining to someone that a picture book requires both the pictures and the text to tell the tale. The parting comment from mother witch is" Wait there, dear. I'm just putting an old costume away. I'll be right with you." When the reader sees the costume on the bed all questions are answered. Cute book! :-)

Time to get my dad's birthday card together so I can mail it at lunch time today.

Good afternoon from the hazy islands. It is a hot one today. It was so good to crawl into my own bed last night, with the feather bed topper. It was like snuggling into a cloud after sleeping on a hard hotel bed for the last 3 nights. At least the hotel bed wasn't like in China - I made the mistake of jumping onto the bed once and I went "thunk" - OUCH!! I don't think the hotels over there knew about mattresses. We seemed to be sleeping on the box spring part of the bed.

And this morning I wallowed in reading in bed with Sophie for a little bit. She was in second heaven. It was so cute - she had her paws wrapped around my hand so I would continue to scratch her neck. She sprawled across my lap so I had to hold the book to the side to read. There is no doubt my baby missed me. :-) That is after she gave me a good talking to when I walked in the door last night! Her tail was going and so was her mouth - I heard all about what she thought of me being gone for over three days.

Harry Potter move over! I just started reading a translated Dutch fantasy novel called The Dream Merchant by Isabel Hoving. It is 630 pages long so I think I will be at it for a bit. Josh loves gadgets of any kind and he also has the gift for falling asleep most any where. That is why he is recruited by Gippart to dream travel. People have become bored with buying their gadgets in this world so they are going to train Josh and his friend Baz to dream travel to other worlds so they can sell their gadgets there. But, this kind of travel is very dangerous. Just ask the girl with the huge scar on her chest - her heart almost burst in an attempt to do what Gippards is sure Josh can. So far, and I am only 36 pages into it, I am fascinated. Looks like another great fantasy read for MS.

I just received the shrink wrapped copy of the Twentieth Anniversary Edition of Van Allsburg's The Polar Express, with the Caldecott blazing in gold on the slipcover front. What a wonderful Christmas gift for any child, or adult, who doesn't have a copy of this book. Such magic inside these pages. I have not seen the movie and I am not sure I want to. I am not a big Tom Hanks fan so I think he may ruin the experience for me, but I am sure we will see it come out on at least the cable stations this Holiday Season. I had a friend say her little one got scared by it - something about the animated eyes, kind of creepy.

All for now, need a bit of a break before my class chats with Lara Zeises. Lara is such a cool person and a fantastic YA author.

I have Kenny Chesney's latest CD in front of me - Be as You Are. The songs are all about living in the islands. He isn't Jimmy Buffet, but they are fun songs. Had to chuckle at the one called Island Boy. At one point he sings "he's a stone throw from St. Croix". It may be more than a stone throw away, but it can be seen on a clear day. I think Steve is becoming the Island Boy he sings about! The locals on St. John say Chesney is pretty much a fixture on the island now and no one pays much attention to him. I have only been over on St. John a few times and I haven't seen him, but not sure I would recognize him. Anyway, the CD is fun to listen to. Was a birthday present for Steve from his daughter Monica, but I am the one who listens to it. Monica likes country music too - unlike her father. :-)

As I watch Hurricane Rita approach the Texas coast I have been trying to remember the name of the MS level novel I read about a 12 year old girl and a 14 year old Mexican orphan surviving the 1900 storm. It is Stolen by the Sea by Anna Myers. It is a solid addition to a collection as is Sherry Garland's The Secret Storm about a young teen who has already lost her parents to a hurricane and is trying to ride out the Galveston hurricane with her grandfather. I have a feeling both titles will be very popular in Texas and surrounding areas.

Taking us far away from the storm - to Iceland to be exact - I have to say I am not sure what I think of Gunnella's illustrations in Bruce McMillan's The Trouble with Chickens. She is an Icelandic artist who creates very stylized women, with very large bodies with legs like tree trunks. Since this book is intended for young readers I wonder if they would believe Icelandic women look like this or that Icelandic horses are as huge as the one depicted. The story is quite cute - the women can't reach the wild bird eggs so they bring chickens to the village. The chickens do everything with the woman and soon forget they are chickens, including laying eggs. The women start exercising - so do the chickens and soon they are strong enough to fly down and lay eyes in the nests on the cliffs. And the women are now strong enough to rappel down the cliffs to get the eggs. I think I would offer it to the art teach to use as an example of a unique illustrative style.

There are nine sail or powerboats within my view. It is a beautiful sunny and breezy day. The sails are moving the boats along at a good pace. We are fortunate so far this hurricane season. We have not had but a couple of bad storms with some flooding, but nothing major. I have the Weather Station on again today and am looking at the gridlock on the highways out of Houston. 45 is the only highway out of Galveston and it converges downtown with the other highways that head north or west. What a mess. Tried to get into the UHCL website just to see if I could check my email or do some grading, but figured they would be shut down. They are. They were still up yesterday so I was able to assure my students not to worry about the scheduled chat for tonight.

I was going to walk down to the beach later today but my toe is blue and I am limping. How something so tiny can hurt and throb so bad is beyond me! I stubbed it on the tub last night and heard the cracking/popping noise before the pain set in so I knew I had done some damage. OUCH!! This better settle down before Sunday when I cram my feet into my cowboy boots. I always wear them when I fly to keep my ankles and feet warm in the plane. I am headed to Greenville North Carolina so I don't think I have to worry about the storm.

Was reading the chapter in the text I am reviewing on humor and was very surprised that Rennison's books were not included in the discussion. How could the five books about wacky Brit Georgia Nicholson not be included? The latest is entitled Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers. How could that title not get a teenage girl's attention? I snort laughed at the first book about Georgia - Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging. Gotta love her cat. And Joan Bauer's Thwonk about a girl who has her own Cupid who gives her what she thought she wanted - the guy of her dreams to fall madly in love with her. Mad is the operative word here - he is acting like a mad man - quite funny reading. It should have been on the list.

Speaking of funny - you gotta love Willa the Wonderful by Susan Milord. Willa is a delightful little pig who decides that she is going to be a fairy princess for career day. Her teacher and the other adults in her life aren't too sure about how good of a career choice this is, at least until she saves her classmate's little brother. Her determination reminds me a bit of Falconer's Olivia. Two fun little pigs to introduce to young readers. Willa the Wonderful is a great book to use when introducing a career unit with little ones.

All for now. I am going limp into the kitchen for my third diet coke of the day! :-)

I am having a terrible time focusing on anything right now other than Hurricane Rita and the possibility it will to do to the coastal region of Texas what Katrina did to New Orleans and surrounding areas. Friends who live in the Brownsville area have already loaded up their travel trailer and headed inland. Thank goodness. UHCL has closed down until Monday and my online chats are cancelled for this week. I feel so helpless and guilty as the weather is beautiful down here in the VI. Sunny, breezy and in the 80s. After living in the Houston area for years I feel like my "home" is in danger and I can't even be there to help. My thoughts and prayers are with all my friends, students, and everyone else in the Texas coastal areas.

Haven't read a YA book in the last couple of days as I am reviewing a new YA Literature university level text for VOYA. As I read through the lists of suggested novels I get more and more frustrated with the range of novels listed, with no suggested interest levels. Children's books are in the same list with adult titles with older teen appeal. This has been my biggest frustration with any textbook I use for teaching YA Literature - the flow of children's and adult novels into the realm of YA fiction. I know the general definition of YA literature as anything teens will read. But, that doesn't help the instructor who is trying to get her students to focus on the novels that are intended for teens and exposure to the authors who write for teens - Crutcher, Giles, Lynch, Flinn, Zeises, etc.

It also what frustrates the heck out of my students as they want to focus on the novels for "tweens" - those books for 10-12 year olds as they end up on BBYA and other recommended booklists for young adults. Those are the ones I DON'T want them to focus on. The tween who loves Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn Dixie is at a very different emotional and maturity level than the 17 year old who is reading Lara Zeises' Bringing Up the Bones. How does one course effectively cover all of the literature for ages 12 through 18? If I had my druthers I would only focus on the books for 15-21. Enough of my whining for now, but I am sure my frustration level will stay high as I finish evaluating this textbook.

Anyone who reads my blog knows I am a Christmas fanatic and love anything to do with the Holiday Season. So I was excited to read The Finest Christmas Tree by John and Ann Hassett. The cover art with the tree being pulled behind a tractor brought a smile to my face. I closed my eyes and saw my dad and brothers hauling in the spruce tree still covered with bits of ice and snow, arguing over which was the best side to face out while I couldn't wait to start decorating it. We could cover up any hole, no matter the size, with enough tinsel. :-) Anyway, the book addresses what happens when artificial trees become the rage and Mr. Tuttle doesn't make enough money from his cut Christmas trees to buy Mrs. Tuttle her annual Christmas hat. It might be time for him to sell his tree lot for toothpicks. But a mysterious letter stating that his helpers would be arriving to pick out his finest tree brings Mr. Tuttle back into the Christmas spirit. The ending is a bit anti-climactic, but I still like the book and look forward to reading it to MJ and Allyson.

I really do need to do some grading in WebCT before UHCL closes it down.

It is a beautiful breezy Sunday morning with the sun shining, but there are clouds on the horizon. This time of year there is no telling what the weather will be like. It is nice to have Steve home and back to our "normal" schedule, which includes sharing a Shipwreck burger for lunch on Saturdays. They are so large I can't imagine eating a whole one. There is good reason Shipwreck gets the local vote for best burger on the island every year. While we were eating lunch they had a Bob Marley music video playing. It was really good - brought back lots of great memories since my son loved Marley's music and I would often hear it in the background when we had our late night chats on the phone. Will have to see if I can find it on B&N. Most people seems to prefer Amazon, but I love B&N because of the membership discount and the free shipping, even down here to the islands. I order and I have the books, CDs, or DVDs within a week.

Speaking of B&N, I had to read the professional reviews for Henry Garfield's My Father the Werewolf because I was expecting an exciting read and it wasn't. It felt like I was reading an outline for what could have been a really great horror novel. The reviewers weren't any more thrilled with it than I was. A 2Q from VOYA. The third person narrative focused on the middle-age hippie father in the first part of the book and then switched to Danny, the 14-year-old son who had the responsibility of making sure his father got to the island off the coast of the small Maine town they moved to after his father is attacked by a werewolf on Pismo Beach in California. The tale is told so matter of factly, with almost no emotion. The characters are not rounded out so that the reader does not feel any real connection to them. The strait between the island and the mainland freezes over and Danny tries to scare his werewolf father back onto the island by shooting off fireworks, one of which burns down the building of the insurance company his dad works for. A disappointing read, but just the title alone will attract readers.

I have been browsing through Kelly Ault's Let's Sign: Every Baby's Guide to Communicating with Grownups. The theory is that teaching sign language to babies prior to being able to use verbal language to express their needs allows them to communicate their needs. Not just the typical sign language we tend to use with babies, but actual American Sign Language. Not sure how I feel about this but it is a cool book to add to any early childhood based collection.

I think I smell Steve's famous Sunday French toast. :-)

Woke up to the sounds of large machinery and digging this a.m. Since this island is mostly rock, digging is more like pounding, and very loud! One of the houses below us, right on the water, is being remodeled into two apartments and they always start work on it early. Due to the heat many islanders get up at dawn and do their yard type work early. I picked up Steve from the airport last night and we stopped to have a late dinner at Tickles, which is in Crown Bay marina. There was only a handful of people in the place and it wasn't quite 10 p.m. yet. If it had been Friday night in Houston we would have been on a waiting list to get in. The town was dead when we drove through. For all the talk of this being a party island, Charlotte Amalie closes up pretty early at night.

Read about one of the pirates who sailed the waters of the Caribbean. Matter of fact Sir Frances Drake died of dysentery somewhere in the West Indies. Nothing like the Queen of England knighting a pirate who raided Spanish ships to build up her coffers. Laurie Lawlor's Dead Reckoning is about Drake's three year voyage to plunder Spanish ships. It is told from the point of view of his nephew, renamed Emmet for this fictional retelling of the adventure. Lawlor didn't have as many historical documents to work from as some authors as many of these were destroyed due to the nature of Drake's "business". He never was accepted into high society as he was a very crude man. Very well written novel that leaves little to the imagination as to how cruel and difficult a pirate's life was.

How about a Christmas version of the three bears in which the visitor is Santa instead of Goldilocks. That is just what happens in The Three Bears' Christmas by Kathy Duval. The story is quite cute, with Santa nibbling on their gingerbread cookies instead of porridge. He leaves behind a mitten, his hat, boots and jacket. The last page shows Santa flying away in his sleigh, minus those items. It's going to be a cold flight back to the North Pole for this Santa. :-) Little ones will love comparing it with the "real" tale of the Three Bears.

All for now. Just glad the Internet is back up. The stormy weather has had it down quite a bit the last few days.

Can just barely make out the two peaks on St. Croix through the haze, but at least it hasn't started raining yet. I am going to take a chance and head off for Tutu and the mall to do some shopping. We call it the mall but it pretty much is all shoe stores and beauty supplies. Shoes are very big deal with the women down here as are hair extensions of every color and style you can think of. I would kill myself walking on the rocks and uneven sidewalks (where there are any) in the spike heels that are so popular. Give me my Dr. Scholls sandals! Man am I becoming an old woman!

How many times have we picked up a book because the cover art was appealing and then found out the story wasn't? Well, that isn't the case with Vivian Vande Velde's The Book of Mordred. The book is as dark and intriguing as the cover art. For those of us who can't resist a bad boy, this is the perfect book for us. Mordred is multidimensional in this novel. His involvement in three women's lives is narratated from their point of view and you see him as a loving but often arrogant and bullheaded man. How many of us remember King Arthur had made him a Knight of the Round Table. This book suggests there was more than a personal grudge that caused the battle between father and son. Alayna, the young widow of a magician, and her daughter Kiera become an integral part of Mordred's life. He is their champion. Enter Nimue, the sorceress who imprisoned Merlin in a tree. By his request in this version of the story. I was spellbound as deeply as if Nimue or Merlin had cast the spell themselves. I have always loved Vande Velde's writing style and her latest book is no exception. A wonderful addition to any HS library collection.

While I was selecting books for Montessori the other day I saw a picture book by Michael Bolton! What celebrity isn't going to take a stab at writing a children's book? The ones I have liked so far are John Lithgow's and Jaime Lee Curtis' books. Garrison Keillor attempt at a children's book is called Daddy's Girl. The illustrations by Robin Preiss Glasser are a delight, but the four separate poems by Keillor are not. His rhythm and rhyme is very choppy. Let's just say he shouldn't give up his radio show to become a children's author! There is also a CD of songs he written for his little daughter Maia Grace. If you are a Keillor fan (my husband is and listens to his show every Sunday afternoon) you might like this book and CD, but I will admit right up front I find his voice very irritating so I have a hard time listening to him sing or speak. But, to each their own - which is fine since we have thousands of children's books to choose from. :-)

Off to the mall to drop off three rolls of film from when the kids were down and then back home to grading before a chat with my online class tonight.

So maybe staying up until almost 4 a.m. wasn't a good idea! My night owl tendencies were in high gear last night and since it is just Sophie and me this week I took advantage of it and watched the premier of Bones and the season premier of House on Fox. Was busy working on the 2nd advent calendar so time just flew by. But now I am regretting my late night viewing and then reading in bed. I was really hyper when I got home last night as I made two shopping excursions to Hemingway's bookstore to buy books for Montessori at 1/2 off. Ended up spending $800, but got lots of great titles, including some really cool art books. It was like Christmas or shopping at Foleys on someone else's money. :-) But, I did buy myself a few Christmas related titles. Think that is why I was up so late even though I had gotten up early to go to work. Oh well, a nap will fix it!

Did a booktalking session with the Middle School at Montessori yesterday. They were a lot of fun. We were talking about Gary Paulsen's Rifle, one of my favorite of his books though it didn't get much attention. We talked about how an antique Civil War era rifle could fire because of one spark from the fireplace. That is my favorite passage in the book. It is written in such detail that you are stunned when it comes to a conclusion and you know what happened to the bullet. Every book I talked about was checked out - that is what makes booktalking so satisfying. The students want the books!

Then I had little ones in who don't even know how to put the books back with spines out! We use shelf markers but they haven't gotten that process down yet either but the joy in their faces when they find the book they want and carefully write their names on the card is a delight to watch. The boys trashed the dinosaur section, but it was worth it to see them so animated about the different type of dinosaurs.

Oh dear - I hear a YA novel and maybe a nap calling me! :-) After I figure out what Sophie is fussing about. She is the most vocal cat I have ever had, but then again I encourage it as we have conversations all day long while I am home alone!

It is raining so hard that I can't even see the ferry I can clearly hear going by. Good thing Steve's flight when out before this rain hit. Not that I was glad to be up at 5:45 this morning though. He is in Seattle all week at a conference. He said he was looking forward to a few days of cooler weather. It has been sweltering down here with heat, humidity, and a grittiness in the air that is causing sinus problems.

Spent yesterday watching football and working on a Christmas advent calendar for Ally. Not much choice in TV viewing as we have the NFL channel and Steve has the TV on that pretty much all weekend. Watched a great Chiefs game - Steve is from KC so we try to watch those games. The Texans game wasn't televised, but since they got beat I guess it didn't matter. Also saw the end of the emotional Saints game. We watched the Texans beat the Saints in a preseason game in New Orleans the first year the Texans played. I can't imagine that the Saints won't ever play in that stadium again.

On the not intended for teens reading front I am just about finished with Swan Adamson's Confessions of a Pregnant Princess, the sequel to My Three Husbands. These are fun beach reads, but I would not give them to a teenager. Venus is only 25 and has gone through three loser husbands and is now in Rome at the insistence of the rich Italian prince who has fallen for her. Old enough to be her father, Marcello may not be the man of her dreams, but the men she thought were right were certainly wrong! Venus is a basket case, but a lovable basket case as are her "two dads" and her space case mom.

On the quality side - I finally bought a copy of John Green's Looking for Alaska because it was such a popular topic of discussion on YALSA-BK. It is stunning! I couldn't put it down until I found out if Miles made any progress in his search for the Great Perhaps as he enters the Alabama private school his father had attended. My heart went out to him and his love for Alaska, but then again, all the guys were in love with her. She drew them to her like bees to honey, even the Alaska who could be quite bitchy and mean tempered at times. The relationship between Miles and his roommate Chip is a co-dependency to a degree, but they help each other grow and mature as they deal with life with and without Alaska. I also learned a lot of great last words from famous people. What a well written debut novel. I am hoping we will see more from this young author. This guy can write! Gritty, true upper level YA - we need more novels like this.

Houghton Mifflin has republished the 1912 edition of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with illustrations by Jessie Willcox Smith. These are the style of illustrations I remember from my own copy of this book as a child. Wish I had kept it since I now collect copies of this book. I am waiting for the first book version to come out that states that Clement C. Moore did not actually write the poem even though that was what the guests assumed when it was read aloud to his children. I did research on the issue of the poem's authorship back in the early 90s and that's when I began to collect copies. I do have number of them now!

Why is it the nights you actually make a dinner and have it in the oven when your husband/wife calls and says they are going to be late from work? Oh well, it will heat up when Steve gets home. So I have a few hours to veg by myself before he gets home. I have VH1 Country blaring on the TV. I love country music but Steve does not, and that is saying it mildly! :-) We do not have a country station in the islands so I have to listen to CDs or VH1 Country. Didn't have that problem in Texas! :-)

I snort laughed my way through Ron Koertge's Where the Kissing Never Stops. What a wonderful book with a delightful main character, Walker. His sense of humor is wonderful as is his ability to accept his weight and his use of food to deal with stress. But, as soon as he and Rachel become a couple his weight starts to come off. Being out working on the property that his father left him when he died helps too. Walker would have a pretty normal life with a girlfriend and a best friend who acts like a psychologist, but his mother works as a stripper at the Ye Olde Burlesque Club. Having a 40 year old mother with that profession would be difficult enough for a teenage boy who lived in a big city, but Walker lives in a small town outside of Kansas City. Walker had me at hello! :-)

On the visual delight side - take a look at Katya Arnold's Elephants Can Paint Too!. What a fun photo essay comparison of her young students learning to paint at school with the elephants she works with in Asia. The narrative comparison is delightful too - "A young elephant sucks its trunk the way babies suck their thumbs." The left side of the page shows a child painting and the right side shows an elephant painting. The author and her husband established painting schools where they train about 30 elephants to paint. The proceeds from selling the elephants' paintings are used to help saving the diminishing number of Asian elephants. Cool book for any age, but little ones will certainly relate, and think it cute, how much they are like elephants.

Now I am going curl up and reading Looking for Alaska!

Getting up at 6 a.m. means I get to watch the boat come out to drop off the pilot who brings in the cruise ships. The pilot boat looks like a toy next to the huge cruise ships. I hadn't thought about how they also need pilots to enter the Mississippi in New Orleans - so many that they had a group of homes called Pilot Town. I heard that Carnival is sending three of its cruise ships to house some of the people who lost their homes in New Orleans.

Took yesterday off totally from any work related activities. Didn't have much choice as the Internet connection was so sluggish I didn't have the patience for it to load screens. Seems to be fine this a.m. So, I wallowed in a Fern Michaels' novel - Weekend Warriors. Not one I would recommend to teens. Just an adult beach read about a group of women out to seek their own kind of justice when the legal system failed them. Got my attention enough that I want the sequel. I am sure I will have to order it from B&N as I found the first one in the bookcase at Bottom's Up when we went for the prime rib special Sunday night. Most of the marina bars/restaurants have at one bookcase of paperbacks since the only public library on island is in downtown Charlotte Amalie and it is sorely in need of collection development in all areas.

My latest YA read is Paul Fleischman's ZAP. I loved so many of his other books - Joyful Noise, Bull Run, Mind's Eye, and Seek - but this disjointed play did not appeal to my reader's taste. Who knows - maybe it would like it if I saw it in on the stage. I am sure many high schools will follow behind Pacific Grove High School and perform it. It is a must have in a HS collection as we have so few modern plays that have YA appeal. Teens may like the idea of a play that changes scenarios with the sound of a click/zap. Maybe it is because I get so frustrated with Steve's channel surfing that I didn't like it! I was half way through the campy and stupidly fun to watch horror movie Snakehead Fish when he decided watching some documentary on Area 51 would be more entertaining.

I snort laughed my way through Simon James' picture book Baby Brains Superstar. What a hoot. I kept thinking about all the bright eyed parents I have met who assured me their babies/children were gifted (I taught preschool years ago). My favorite illustration is of Mrs. Brains laying on the floor with headphones around her pregnant tummy playing classical music. And like so many parents with "gifted" children Mr. and Mrs. Brain forgot that their music composing, guitar playing infant son was still a baby mentally and began to wail "Where's my mommy?" when he saw all the people in the crowd at his very own rock concert. This Candlewick title will bring a smile to any parent's face and will delight young children.

Off to Montessori. Via email I heard our server software came in. We having been trying to get Follett's Destiny up and running since we got the software in February. Everything runs on island time down here.

Just made my reservations for AASL in Pittsburgh in October. Am flying through Philly on the way back and spending a few days with a friend. Can't wait. Janna and I became friends at Montessori as she used to teach English there but went back home to be near her family. I miss chatting with her so this should be fun.

I refused to get out of bed this a.m. until I finished Laura Whitcomb's A Certain Slant of Light. It is one of Houghton Mifflin's Graphia titles and what a wonder reading experience. I love ghost stories anyway, but this one has a delightful slant to it. Helen is Light (a ghost) and she has attached herself to a number of human hosts (Quicks) through the years, but none of them have been able to see her. Her latest host is Mr. Brown, a high school English teacher, and it is in his classroom that she realizes one of the students can actually see her - Billy Blake, who recently almost died from an overdose. But, Billy's spirit isn't inside his body anymore, it is James, a ghost who took over the body when Billy was slipping away. He convinces Helen to look for a body to inhabit so they can be together. She inhabits the spiritless Jenny, the daughter of a severely religious couple. The reactions to their inhabitation by family members is quite interesting as they do not know how either of the teens acted in the past. They revel in their physical feelings but all good things must come to an end and they know they must leave the bodies behind. It is time to make peace with what has not allowed them to go to heaven. I was enthralled with this book. Helen and James' use of quaint old English interspersed with modern teen slang brings a smile to the reader's face as stoner dude Billy is quite a handful for prim and proper James to acclimate to. Give this one to any teenage girl who loves ghost stories. Heck, to anyone to wants to read an intriguing story. A ten in my book! :-)

I was sitting in front of the fan as I read Helen Lester's Tacky and the Winter Games. What a fun book, especially when the weather is this hot. I went bobsledding, downhill skiing on frozen fish, and won a skating race with Tacky and his team. Tacky is not your typical penguin with his rotund form and his Hawaiian print shirt - he is a delightful penguin. There are several other Lester books about Tacky, all of which are great fun. Perfect story time fare.

Man it is hot out there today! Steve is working on trying to get one running lawnmower out of two rusted old things. We have been to Home Depot twice today for parts. Now he is trying to create a "patch" so he can put the wheel back on - most of the side is rusted out. I told him to let our landlord buy a new mower but this has now become a challenge! So what if the tools and parts cost more than a cheap lawnmower!

When I saw that Eddie De Oliveira wrote Johnny Hazzard I decided to give him another chance. I really did not care for his first book, Lucky. I really wanted to like Lucky because it is upper level YA - about a 19-year-old questioning his sexuality. Sam, the main character, finally decides that sexuality is like a Venn diagram since he, and the guy he likes, also like girls. It wasn't the subject matter that I didn't like and I did enjoy the gritty Brit humor and language. It was the main character Sam I didn't like - he was more than a bit too whiney for me. The same thing is true of 15-year-old Johnny Hazzard in De Oliveira's latest book, Johnny Hazzard. Johnny and his older sister are spending the summer in London with their father and his new wife, as they always do. Johnny is usually bored senseless, but this summer he goes out with his new skateboard and runs into a skater girl. She is older than him, but she doesn't seem to mind and before Johnny knows it he is in a relationship, both emotional and physical. Then the story comes to a grinding halt when Sam and family go on a family vacation and you get a history lesson on the war monuments and cemetaries in and around Brussells. This 15-year-old is even quoting Winston Churchill and crying as he walks through museums. De Oliveira also has a lot to say about U.S. politics and Michael Moore (really likes him I guess). If you take out the history and politics it might have been an interesting but short read as Sam gets dumped by the older girl, as is expected. But, again the main character Johnny is one of the most wimpy whiney teens I have read about. I guess it is obvious I am not a fan of this young British author's main characters.

Hey! I hear a lawnmower! Now I'm impressed! :-)

It is a hot one today. But, it is a three day weekend and we have lots of tourists on the island enjoying their last long weekend of the summer so hot weather is a good thing. Too bad the sun wasn't out a bit more. Not sure what we are up to with Steve off for three days, perhaps nothing more than relaxing after our summer company. I have been working on putting one of my Reader's Advisory column Q&As together and discovered that locating well illustrated editions of children's classics is not easy - that is if you don't want an adaptation or an abridgment. But, part of the fun is the search - just what a librarian would say! :-)

Finished Walter Dean Myers short but intense YA novel, The Beast. I just looked at the reviews for it and they are not outstanding, but good. I am not sure what to think of this novel. At times I was wondering where Myers was going with the story and others I had to stop and reread a paragraph as the imagery is so well done. Once we leave and then return home it is not the same - actually it might be, but we aren't. We see it with different, more experienced, eyes. That's what happens to Spoon when he leaves Harlem to attend a suburban prep school for his senior year. He returns home for Christmas to find his girlfriend doing drugs and his buddy dropped out of school. "And suddenly I knew there was a reason I hadn't been home since August. It wasn't clear to me, but I knew it had to do with the mix. Chanelle, Brand, even Julie had all taken the train or driven from New York up to Wallingford, but the distance had been different. They had taken their lives, their successes, with them, and I had left mine behind." He had also left behind Gabi, who couldn't cope with her mother's cancer, her younger brother's gang involvement, and her blind grandfather. She let the beast catch her and things would never be the same between her and Spoon. Their talks of a future together had become just that, talk. They had taken separate paths.

When I was a kid my brother Dan had a hamster that rode around in his pocket. My brother Larry was given a guinea pig to use in a maze for his science fair project and discovered he had a whole family of guinea pigs! My own children had hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, turtles, and hermit crabs. But, none of them are quite right when that child wants a dog, or in my kids' case, a dog and a cat! In Angela McAllister's Monster Pet! Jackson wants a pet that is big and wild and all his. But, dad brought his home a hamster. Jackson named him Monster, but he certainly didn't act like one. He couldn't fetch a stick and he couldn't climb a tree and he certainly could not roar. Jackson got bored with him and Monster was lonely. That night Monster found his way out of his cage and into his hamster food and into the garden. He was now a monster size hamster and had Jackson learning how to store food in his cheeks and exercise on the wheel. I wonder what would have happened if Jackson hadn't fallen out of bed and woke up? :-) Charlotte Middleton's illustrations make the monster size hamster so goofy looking he isn't the least bit scary so even little ones will love this book about how important it is to care for your pets, even the littlest, meekest ones.

Read through the articles online this a.m. about Louisiana and Mississippi. Last night I sat there in tears as I watched the news. Such devastation and so many people homeless. This is such a poor part of the country to begin with - so many of the residents do not have the financial means to leave even if they could. As a country we will be feeling the affects of Katrina for years to come. I feel guilty for sitting here in air conditioned comfort looking out over the beautiful blue Caribbean and realizing what impact the warm waters of the ocean can have on the strength of a storm.

Took a break from a YA novel and read the Mary Higgins Clark mystery I picked up at Dockside's book sale last month. The Second Time Around is a fun read about a Wall Street Weekly reporter who is writing a story about the fatal airplane crash of a Nick Spencer, the charismatic son of a microbiologist who has developed a vaccine to cure cancer. The patients Nick injected with the vaccine have gone into remission but someone doesn't want the company to get FDA approval for the vaccine so the later test results have been altered. Carley, the reporter, is the stepsister of the ice queen 2nd wife of the dead man who knows more about his death than her bereaved widow persona suggests. In other words - a fun beach read - too bad I didn't read it at the beach!

Read a cute nonfiction picture book - Saving the Liberty Bell by Megan McDonald - about how the liberty bell, then known as the Great Bell, was secreted out of Philadelphia so that the British could not melt it down for ammunition. The rumors were spread that the city's bells were sunk in the harbor when in reality they were moved out into various small town and hid. The story of how John Jacob Mickley and his father carried the Liberty Bell in their wagon, covered with dung and straw (and rumor says, a petticoat), is a fun way to introduce a discussion of the bell or the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The Historical Note at the end gives more information to share with students. I liked the story but am not as crazy about the illustrations - the petticoat is a bit much! I don't think petticoats were that gaudy back then. :-)