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The Summer Book is a dream.

Tove’s writing is precise, descriptive, without judgement. The work of a true naturalist. Tove is like V. Woolf, except more gentle and never boring.

February's Bibliography

(A list of all things referenced here in the month of February 2014)

Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo

Bink and Gollie, two for one by Kate DiCamillo

Bink and Gollie: best friends forever by Kate DiCamillo

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

The Moorchild by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

The Show Must Go On – Three Ring Rascals Series by Kate Klise

Ruby and the Booker Boys by Derrick Barnes

We Could Be Brothers by Derrick Barnes

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Library Sparks – March 2014

Flora and Ulysses: the illuminated adventures by Kate DiCamillo

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Penny and Her Doll by Kevin Henkes

Penny and Her Song by Kevin Henkes

Thoughts on Dead End in Norvelt

Dead End in Norvelt is surprisingly folksy. It was strange to meet a more wholesome younger Gantos alter-ego after having previously read Hole in my Life and watching Jack go to prison. I would really love to re-read the whole Gantos cannon and really get down to the bottom of his disfunction.

Bedtime reading tonight was a Bink and Gollie marathon. Ramona is mining these books for vocabulary. Mom, what’s Destiny, Film, Inquire, Andes Mountains???
I really love Bink and Gollie. And Ramona, who is a “marvelous companion”.

thoughts on The Moorchild

Abandoning books is hard for me. I need to be ok with walking away from books, because there is so much I want to read. I resisted abandoning The Moorchild because I so wanted to love this book. But it literally puts me to sleep. As soon as the author starts talking about the moor I just want to close my eyes and dream of moors.

thoughts on The Year of Billy Miller

The Billy Miller family reminds me of the Quimbys. So much of childhood drama comes from being misunderstood and the intense need for love. Cleary understood this as she was writing for children.

This book is worth the Newbery honor. It’s a really neat pick.

early thoughts on The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

"He was the loser Indian father of a loser Indian son living in a world build for winners.
But he loved me so much.”

This book is something you fall into and drown, love, and never quit thinking about.

early thoughts on The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

Almost immediately I see how this book is from the same place as Creech’s other Newbery winner “Walk Two Moons”. A quick shift in the sixth chapter reveals that this story is told by a very unreliable narrator and that this is a story where the journey is not just an epic sea voyage, but also an uncovering of the truth. Similar to Walk Two Moons.
If I taught children’s lit,Sharon Creech would be a whole course.

I finished Pride and Prejudice this evening. Despite the fact that I was assured to the fact of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy’s eventual marriage, I was still quite anxious to find it all neatly tied up.
This book was fine, but it felt more like history than literature to me. I am now downgraded to having really enjoyed Austen when I was younger.