More Summer Reading!!!

Wish you could go on vacation to someplace far away and exotic? Just last night, I was in a forest close to the Canadian border...with WEREWOLVES! Not long ago, I was in New Jersey, experiencing life through a fifteen year old Italian girl. As Dr. Seuss says, "Oh, the place you will go!" There's NO limit to the places you can go within the pages of a book!!!!

The link below has some great books listed by grade level that'll take you away from the Houston heat (at least mentally!).

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklinks/resources/usa.pdf


Don't forget to write! I'd love to hear where you travel to on your book adventures!!!!

Wings

Wings by Aprilynne Pike is a beautifully written book. Pike's first novel (and I hope she writes more....I could see a 2nd novel about these same characters), stretches the reader's imagination ever so gently to suggest that all those we know as human might not be as they appear.

Laurel, the main character, has moved to a new town and begun high school which is quite a change from being home schooled. On the first day of school, she meets David in biology class. They become friends and as Laurel begins to trust him, they discover that while Laurel looks human and sounds human, she's not human!

The characters are wonderful and there's enough romance, suspense, and drama to keep the reader quickly turning pages. For the guys who might be thinking this is a "mushy love story", I promise there are guns, fights, and people get thrown in the river with huge rocks weighting them down.

I'd give this novel two thumbs up. You'll have to check it out from the public library for now, but I'll be adding it to the BMS Library as quickly as I can. Happy Reading!

The Possibilities of Sainthood

Mamma Mia! This is one fun book. Fifteen year old Antonia Luchia Labella is still waiting for her first kiss AND she wants to be a saint. You might think that first kisses and sainthood can't possibly go together. I mean, aren't saints supposed to be holy, virginal and untouched? Oh yeah, they're also supposed to be dead!

Antonia has it all worked out. She wants to be the Patron Saint of First Kiss and Kissing. She thinks she knows exactly how her first kiss will happen and who the kisser will be...but is she right?

Along her way to sainthood, Antonia's life is full of twists and turns as she navigates life with her stereotypical Italian mama who refuses to let her date until she's sixteen, her forgetful grandma, her best friend Maria, her hateful cousins and Andrew, the boy she wants to kiss and Michael, the pesky, good looking creep who always turns up in the most impossible places (like the fire escape outside her window!).

This book's on the Lone Star list and will be one of the Name that Book titles for 2009-2010. Move it to the top of your "must read" list!

Box Out by John Coy

You know the old expression "you can't judge a book by its cover?". Well, for Box Out by John Coy, the expression clearly holds true.

I picked this book up reluctantly...because it looks like it's about basketball, a sport that I've never played and don't particularly enjoy (apologies to all you basketball players and fans!). And is often the case, I found more than just a book about basketball.

Coy's book does have tons of b-ball play by play but also has enough of a plot to keep readers like me interested and driving toward the finish. Liam, the protagonist, gets promoted to Varsity as a sophomore due to an injury. He's ecstatic, his dad is ecstatic and life couldn't get any better!

Until...Liam discovers that the Varsity team has some team building practices that he doesn't agree with (mandatory prayer in the locker room) and his girlfriend dumps him long distance. It is pure fun to see how Liam copes and stands up for what's right in spite of peer pressure from the team.

Check this one out at the Houston Public Library this summer (you'll need to put it on hold and have it transferred to the library branch nearest you) or from the BMS library in August.

What's new with you?

Sorry it has been awhile since I've posted, but I've been traveling a bit, trying to button up the BMS library for summer and starting my two grad. school classes. I've also been doing some reading (surprised?!... NAW!!)


One of the YA books I've read is Gym Candy by Carl Deuker. I love his books and he's written several. I always get insight into a guy's point of view. This is helpful since I'm not a guy. I think it's good to know how the other side thinks. So even if you're a girl, this book is worth reading.

So what's Gym Candy about? Football, steroids, relationships, personal integrity, and decision making. This is one of the Lone Star book titles that will be on the Name that Book list for next year's competition....hint to all you NTB readers....READ THIS!

Speaking of Name that Book, the list for next year's books hasn't been released by Library Services, yet. I'll have it out on the blog as soon as it gets posted.


Happy summer and HAPPY READING!!!

Wanna start an online book club?

Love to read but can't find anybody near you to talk about books with? Start an online book club!

Goodreads.com at http://www.goodreads.com/ is one place to make that happen. You can either invite people you know to join or open your book club up to anybody that enjoyed the book you want to talk about.

Make sure the adults in your life are OK with you being online and go for it! It's fun and easy. OF COURSE, you can always jump in and post to this site! I can't wait to hear from some of you dedicated BLACK MS Panther readers!