and then I read...

Two more vacations and several books later, I'm back in New Jersey. The school year is approaching and there are still a lot of things I want to read. Just before I left for Minnesota to do some volunteer work at a bear sanctuary there, I took a ride up to the little Riverside Public Library because they were the only library in our county system with a copy of Lance Armstrong's War that wasn't checked out. I was enjoying watching the Tour de France on TV at the time, and this book was about last year's tour-- which was quite a bit more exciting than this year's. (Can't wait till next year, with Lance no longer riding, anything can happen!). I finished the book in Minnesota and then it was back to those Battle of the Books books.

I read Stormbreaker in the car on the long ride to Maine. It was an exciting spy adventure story featuring a 14 year old boy as the unlikely spy who saves Great Britain from computers which would have pretty much wiped out the school-age population of the country. Yeah, it was a little far-fetched, but kids will like it, and I did too.

I also read The Clique by Lisi Harrison which had the most unlikeable bunch of characters I've encountered in a long time. It's about a clique (surprise, huh?) of rich, teenage girls and the nasty way they treat those outside of their special little group. Except for the spending habits (3 of the girls chipped in to buy their friend a birthday present that cost almost $800), it's unfortunately probably pretty typical teen behavior. I didn't care too much for the book, but that doesn't mean our Battle of the Books participants won't like it!

A Boy at War was a quick read set during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor-- a sad and realistic story. On the way home from Maine, I read Stones in Water in the car. This was also a war story about an Italian boy and his friends who were captured and taken to a work camp where they were forced to build airstrips for the Germans. It was hard to write my Battle of the Books questions because I just wanted to keep reading. This was a story of courage, friendship and hope-- and it was very good.

House of the Scorpion

I finished reading House of the Scorpion a while ago and highly recommend it. It's a long book, so it's perfect to take with you on a trip. This is a science fiction story set in a country which lies between the borders of the United States and Mexico-- a place governed by powerful drug lords who grow poppies to produce opium which is sold to foreign countries. The poppy fields are tended by zombie-like people who have been captured by the border patrol when they tried to cross through "Dreamland" on their way either to Mexico or the United States. The main character is a clone, and is looked down upon because of this. The reason for his existence is a terrible secret which he eventually discovers-- too late?

To be perfectly honest, when I heard what the story was about it didn't really appeal to me, but I had heard so many good things about it that I decided I would read it. I really liked the characters and it was hard to put the book down. Easy to understand why it won the Newbery Award. Don't let the length deter you-- it's worth it!

I'm still working on those Battle of the Books questions, so I've also just finished reading The Million Dollar Shot by Dan Gutman and Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret. Both of these are quick, easy reads. I liked the determination of the main character in Million Dollar Shot and the choices he makes. Escaping the Giant Wave is a timely choice following last winter's devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia. This giant wave occurs off the coast of Oregon-- where my sister has just bought a new house. Uh-oh! I'll have to check to see how far from the ocean she is. Anyway, this was a fast-moving story which reminded me a lot of Earthquake Terror, also by Peg Kehret, except I liked the characters much better in Escaping the Giant Wave. I only have one more 5th and 6th grade Battle of the Books book to write questions for. Whew! ...Then I start on the 7th and 8th grade list.

Back From Vacation...

Well, I've been away on vacation, but I haven't stopped reading. Before leaving for New Mexico, I crossed two more Battle of the Books books off my list: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner and Finding Buck McHenry by Alfred Slote. Two very different books, and I enjoyed both. The Thief is set in a fictional land in a long ago time. The main characters are on a quest to steal a legendary stone which was a gift from the gods. If you like fantasy and mythology, get your hands on a copy of this book. It's a fast-moving story with a surprise ending!

Baseball fans will like Finding Buck McHenry. It made me interested in finding out more about the Negro Baseball Leagues and the players who played on its teams.

I always take several books on vacation with me and this year I decided they would NOT be kids' books! On the flight out, I read Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst. This was a mystery, and a rather odd one. The main character comes home to find his wife dead, having fallen 25 feet out of an apple tree in the backyard. He's not sure whether her death was an accident or not, and he's determined to learn the truth. There is only one witness-- his dog. He decides that if only he could teach the dog to communicate, he could know what really happened. His friends, of course, think he's nuts, but that's what he sets out to do. The story has some funny parts, some sad parts, and some parts that are disturbing. Overall, I enjoyed the book and thought the dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback was pretty cool.

Then I read It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong. I've wanted to read this one for a few years now. Knowing how sick Armstrong was makes his achievements as a cyclist even more amazing. An inspiring story which I finished reading while sitting by the pool in Albuquerque on the first day of the 2005 Tour de France-- Lance's final professional race.

On the flight home, I started reading House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, another book I've wanted to read for a long time. I haven't finished it yet, but it made the flights home go really fast!

Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage

I took a break from Battle of the Books books to finish reading a book I had started back in August or September. Miles from Nowhere is the story of a couple from California who bicycled around the world in 1978 and 79. They encountered brutal headwinds all the way across South Dakota, were routinely forced off the road by rude drivers in Florida, and then faced dirt and rats in Egypt, dysentery in India, heat, humidity and bandits in Thailand... wow! I could never have survived the trip! And this was back in the late '70s when there wasn't all kinds of fancy, lightweight equipment available. They had chosen to do the trip because they didn't want to look back on their lives when they were older and find that they had never done any of the things they'd wanted to do. Despite all the discomforts, they saw all kinds of amazing things on their trip and made friends all over the world. What an experience! I wondered how different things would be if someone did the same trip today (but I'm not volunteering!). My mother-in-law gave me this book as a birthday gift. I really enjoyed reading it.

Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman

In June of 1980, Grand Island, Nebraska was hit by seven tornadoes in a period of three hours. Night of the Twisters is based on this event. Most of the story follows two boys who are alone in the house when the storms hit. The house is demolished, but the boys survive and now must try to find the rest of their families and help in rescuing their neighbors. A real page-turner.

Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm

I've been meaning to read this book since it came out with really good reviews in 1999. It's a Newbery Honor book and is based on the author's grandaunt. The story takes place on the Nasel River in the state of Washington in 1899. May Amelia is the only girl in her family-- in fact, the only girl in the whole Finnish-American settlement on the Nasel River. She has 7 brothers and is a character you've gotta love. Although the main character is a girl, boys will enjoy this book, too. Nothing "girly" here-- May Amelia does go to a dance in Astoria one night, but finds it boring and doesn't stay long. Instead she has an adventure with a Chinese boy who is a friend of hers who tells her that she's not very good at being a girl, but is "heaps more fun than a real girl." Great characters and a beautifully told story.

Three Days by Donna Jo Napoli

Ooh, this one is hard to put down! Eleven-year-old Jackie has accompanied her father on a three week long business trip in Italy. Everything is going great until her father suddenly dies from a heart attack on the way back to their hotel one night. Unable to speak the language, Jackie is picked up by two men in a white car. She is sure they are taking her to the hospital or the police, but as they continue to pass exits on the highway, she realizes they must have something else in mind. The rest of the story tells what happens during the next Three Days. It was hard to stop reading long enough to write those Battle of the Books questions!

Earth To Matthew

Okay, so here's my strategy... before I lose momentum, the plan is to read as many of next year's Battle of the Books books as I can-- AND write the questions to go with them. So I started with Earth To Matthew by Paul Danziger. Danziger is not one of my favorite authors, so I didn't expect this to be my favorite of the B.B. books. Matthew is a sixth grader. He's got an older sister who drives him crazy, a girl at school who is his arch enemy, and another who is his first real "girlfriend". This whole girlfriend thing is kind of confusing to Matthew, who often thinks he would be having more fun with the boys. Part of the story takes place during a field trip to the Franklin Institute Camp-In, which should be familiar to some of our kids and fun to read about. Earth to Matthew should be a quick, easy read for our 5th and 6th grade teams.