I Kill the Mockingbird, by Paul Acampora

This was my most recent read.  I wanted something simple but good.  This was exactly that.  I believe it's a YA or even Juvenile fiction piece.  It's written from the perspective of an 8th grade girl.  Her mother has just won a scary battle with cancer, her father is the principle of her school - a Catholic school.  Her two friends are her constant companions throughout the story - her co-conspirators if you will, one of which she is realizing she has deeper feelings for than friendship.  She thinks he might feel the same but can't be sure... they innocently flirt with the idea throughout the story.

It's the end of the school year and a summer reading list has been issued, much to the chagrin of the main character, Lucy, and her classmates.  Their teacher being new since the death of their previous and favorite teacher (Fat Bob) doesn't quite get the students like their old one did. 

Fat Bob's favorite book is "To Kill a Mockingbird", as is Lucy's.  She wants people to create a sort of last tribute to Fat Bob and with the help of her two friends, comes up with a plan that gets the whole nation talking about it over the summer, and even many reading it.  I won't give away too much because that's the whole of the story, but it was the author's goal to get more people to read the book and I have to say, it worked.  It wasn't too long ago that I read it (though I can't find a post of it), but I find myself wanting to read it, again. 

It was a fun, light-hearted quick read - just what I wanted.  It's a good read for the young and old, alike. 

Wait Till Helen Comes, by Mary Downing Hahn

I read this when I was in 5th grade and it terrified me! I've been trying to get my kids to read it, for a while, now and they finally did.  Well, my daughter did.  She's in 4th grade and you know what she said about it? 

"That wasn't scary, Mom."

*sigh* 

Well, whatever.  hahaha

I read it, again, to see if I remembered it correctly.  It did seem to be more of a mystery, now, than a scary story.  It still scared me when I was younger, nonetheless.  ;)

If your kids are into suspenseful books, this would be a good one for them to read.  See if they think it's scary! ;)

Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse

By far one of the best books I have ever read.

I am so fascinated by stories of survival.  Although this one is fiction, it is written so well, one forgets that the narrator, if you will, never existed.

It's written in prose; my new favorite form of writing, I've decided.  It's quick to read, keeps you turning pages from the beginning with its realness; and though simple, is full of profound.  It perfectly portrays what life must've been like for those who chose to hang on and keep trying during what I can only imagine to be one of this nation's toughest times.

I would highly recommend it and am going to try to find non-fiction stories of survival from this era.

For those who may never read this, I want to share my favorite part (pages 220-221):

Thanksgiving List

Prairie birds, the whistle of gophers, the wind blowing,

the smell of grass

and spicy earth,

friends like Mad Dong, the cattle down in the river,

water washing over their hooves,

the sky so

big, so full of

shifting clouds,

the cloud shadows creeping

over the fields,

Daddy's smile,

and his laugh,

and his songs,

Louise,

food without dust,

Daddy seeing to Ma's piano,

newly cleaned and tuned,

the days when my hands don't hurt at all,

the thank-you note from Lucille in Moline, Kansas,

the sound of rain,

Daddy's hole staying full of water

as the windmill turns,

the smell of green,

of damp earth,

of hope returning to our farm.

The poppies set to

bloom on Ma and Franklin's grave,

the morning with the whole day waiting,

full of promise,

the night

of quiet, of no expectations, of rest.

And the certainty of home, the one I live in,

and the one

that lives in me.

November 1935

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever, by Jeff Kinney

This is Kinney's most recent addition to his much-loved series.

I read it because I read the other ones and I'm anal enough to have them all read. 

I think this one was my favorite in that it was the least obnoxious.  It wasn't the funniest one, though.  It's a quick read, does have some funny parts, and will surely be a favorite to your son or daughter if they liked the other ones.  :)

Matched, by Ally Condie

This, I guess, is the first of a trilogy... of which I will not be finishing.

It was an ok book - took me a while to get it read due to my having a baby (!!!) and not being that interested in it.

It greatly reminded me of the Hunger Games - taking place in the future, a girl who has to choose between two guys (one she's paired with, one she's not), an all-powerful government that pretty much controls everything that happens because of chaos that happened in the past resulting in war, teenagers rebelling against the system, everyone being seperated into districts or providences... VERY similar. 

It's about a girl who's matched with a guy, her best friend.  But, she falls in love with someone she's not supposed to fall in love with and wants to rebel and make her own choices.  The government she has to answer to controls everything - from the food they eat, the songs they listen to, to when they die.  It was mildly entertaining, but not enough to get me to want to finish the series to find out what happens.  Maybe some day.  Who knows.  :)

Deep and Dark and Dangerous, by Mary Downing Hahn

This one was better than the last one I read.  Although, it was strikingly similar to the one I read when I was in 5th grade.

Both stories had two girls, somehow related, who were being torn apart by a ghost girl, who drowned.  This one might have scared me a little when I was younger; it was well-written in the mystery and horror (if you will) area.  I got it for my kids, along with several other Halloween books appropriate for the season, but this one was neglected.  I had nothing else to read, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  It was decent, considering.  ;)  If you have kids in, I don't know, grades 4-6, maybe, and they like a good thrill, this would be a good book for them. 

Darth Paper Strikes Back, by Tom Angleberger

Our library had this when I placed it on hold, but I didn't want to wait for them to tell me it was ready so I just went and got it.  :)

This one was as equally entertaining as the last one... with an unexpected ending.  :)

Harvey was the antagonist in the first book, always making claims that Origami Yoda wasn't real, that he was just a wad of paper.  This book is another "case file"; stories put together to help a cause.  The cause was Dwight (the creator of Origami Yoda in the first book) and his potential to get kicked out of school.  The kids who've come to know him as an ok guy instead of just the weirdo they thought he was have put together some letters to the school board in attempt to keep him in school with them.  Harvey and his Darth Paper seem to be against the plan the whole time, always adding rude comments or pointing out the bad things about Dwight.  Convinced that the school board will see Harvey's point over Dwight's new friends', Tommy presents his case to the school board, anyway. 

Will they let Dwight stay in school or send him to the reform school for naughty kids? Guess you'll have to read it to find out! ;)

I'm assuming by some slight indication at the end of the book that there are more to come - which I'm very pleased to assume because these have been fun books that I'm so glad my kids have the chance to add to their brain's library.  :) I recommend sharing them with your kids, too!

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger

My son brought this home from his school library - he said there was a long waiting list of kids who wanted to read it.

I read the inside cover and thought it sounded funny, so I read it.  :)

It was pretty funny! It's about a kid (Tommy), who is in 6th grade and is having a debate over whether or not Origami Yoda is real.  Sure, he's "real", but does he really have the wisdom he's been giving advice to kids with? Or is Dwight (the creator of the finger puppet, and, coincidentally, biggest weirdo in the 6th grade) smarter and wiser than people think? The book is a conglomeration of other kids' experiences with Origami Yoda, all compiled to create a sort of case file.  The gist of it is, you ask Yoda a question and he gives you an answer.  An answer that is usually a very good one.

The big question Tommy is debating on asking, is why he compiled other people's experiences, in the first place.  Does Sara like him? (heehee)

If you want to know what Yoda had to say about that, you'll have to read it for yourself.  ;)

It's a very cute book that I'm very glad my son read because it actually has some non-obnoxious lessons in it, plus, it's just good, clean fun.  :)  I prefer this one over Diary of a Wimpy Kid, any day.

We currently have on hold at our local library, "Darth Paper Strikes Back".  Should be fun! 

The Doll in the Garden, by Mary Downing Hahn

When I was younger, I loved a good ghost story - anything with mystery! I once read a book by Mary Downing Hahn called, "Wait Till Helen Comes".  I was in 5th grade and it terrified me!

My kids love a good ghost story, even though they can't sleep afterwards.  I think we have it in our blood to find such things so fascinating.  My MIL gave us some books this summer, this book being one of them.  When I saw who the author was, I snagged it, immediately! I've told my kids about the other book I read many times but they haven't gotten up the gumption to read it just yet.  I thought they'd like this one, though, so we brought it home.

I'm currently awaiting my turn for a book at the library, so I've been trying to find things around my house to read that I haven't read, already.  (And some things I have.) I saw this book and thought I'd see if it was as spine-chilling as the one I've read, before.

Alas, it wasn't.  Maybe if I were still 10 or 11, it might have been.  Being an adult, I saw where it was headed early on, which isn't saying it's bad.  I'm just a little too grown up for it.  (It's no Mary Higgins Clark, that's for sure.)

I think my kids might find it intriguing, though.  ;) If your kids like this sort of thing, I would guess it's more mysterious than scary, if I were to try to look at it from a juvenile's point of view.  A friend of mine and I were talking, yesterday, about how being an adult can sometimes take the fun out of things.  Oh, well.  :) 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney

AND

My son acquired these books over a series of birthdays and everyone in my family has read them at least once, so I thought I'd find out first-had what all the laughter was about.

I have to say, except for a few parts, I didn't think they were that funny.

First, I've seen the first movie and after I've seen a movie, the book sometimes just isn't that great.  That held true, in this case. 

I definitely read things from an adult's point of view, which, I believe, is why these books just weren't that funny to me.  Mostly, they were a quick read, slightly entertaining, and one of them (the yellow one) was really obnoxious.  Greg Heffley is obnoxious.  He's so full of himself! It's no wonder Rowley doesn't want to be his friend! (hee hee)  As I read these as a parent, I couldn't help thinking, "I sure hope my kids don't try this crap".  I know, I need to lighten up, they're meant for the younger readers in my house, not for me.  And my kids love them.  When I said they've read them at least once, it's more like 3-5 times PER BOOK.  They LOVE them.  From an adult's point of view, though, I give them a "meh" with a simultaneous shoulder shrug.  ;)

But, now I can say I've read them and I know what my family (husband, included) is talking about when they say things like, "Remember when Greg tried to use the force to elevate the remote control from the coffee table to his hand?" or "Wasn't it funny when the one kid played the tuba behind the curtain?".

Castle Dracula: Romania's Vampire Home, by Barbara Knox

Ever since I read Twilight, my husband's been, erm, harassing me to read a "real" vampire story.  So, I'm currently reading Dracula, by Bram Stoker.  One of our family's goals for the year is to learn something new every month.  This month we chose "places around the world".  We all decided to pick somewhere individually and then at the end of the month, share what we've learned with each other.

I picked Transylvania, since I'm sort of in the middle of it at the moment.  I have to admit - and this may be due to my hair color, that or shear ignorance - I didn't know it was a real place.  I totally thought it was fictitious! Nope.  It's real.  ;)

Although, my library is lacking on information about it... I'm thinking of looking up Romania, to see if that helps.  Anyway, I did find this book, which is a children's book, but that didn't stop me.

I learned that Dracula means "son of the dragon", since Dracul means "dragon".  Dracula was based on a real person, Vlad the Impaler... and his dad was known as Dracul, so Vlad became, well, Dracula.  He was a cruel prince who used to impale his enemies.  He'd invite the poor over for dinner, then lock them in and burn the place to the ground.  Nice, right? And the castle he lived in, now also known as Castle Dracula, was Castle Bran and really exists.  This is what Bram based his character and castle on, I read. 

Nice, huh? Apparently, one can visit this castle and roam freely about.  How awesome would that be?

Anyway, I also learned that, according to legend, vampires can take many forms, not just bats. 

It was a quick read, of course (like 10 minutes? maybe less?), but it was interesting.

Dracula's quite interesting, but I don't have much reading time these days so I'm slowly working my way through it...

Cleopatra, by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema

I know this is a book for young readers but I found it at the library yesterday and decided I wanted to read it.  It's a brief story of the life of Cleopatra, something I've been interested in as of late.  It gave key details, and listed the source the authors obtained most of their information from.

What I found most interesting is that it's not really known how she committed suicide.  I was always under the impression it was done via the bite of an asp, but there's no proof that this is the case.

It was obviously a super quick read but gave me the quick info I was looking for.  (The pictures were great, too! lol)