More summer reading

Being back a school for a week now has been terrific, once I got things back in order that is. As I was shelving books, I realized that I have tons that I want to review here on the blog, as well as books that I'm currently reading. So here's what I read this weekend, followed by some more of what I read this summer.


What my mother doesn't know by Sonya Sones. This is a girlie book, a fast read because it's told in the form of a series of poems (also known as a novel in verse), and covers the topic of Sophie's old boyfriend, new boyfriend and falling for an unexpected potential other new boyfriend? What I really liked about the book was how the titles of the poems chronicle the passage of time through Sophie's year. These were a few of my fav's - Art Class, I hate her, and But we're just friends. Overall I enjoyed the book, I think Sonya Sones totally nails the teenage girl voice in her writing.



The bronze pen by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Twelve-year-old Audrey Abbott dreams of becoming a writer, but with her father's failing health and the family's shaky finances, it seems there is no room for what her overworked mother would surely call a childish fantasy. So Audrey keeps her writing a secret. That is, until she meets a mysterious old woman who seems able to read her mind. Audrey is surprised at how readily she reveals her secret to the woman.
One day the old woman gives Audrey a peculiar bronze pen and tells her to "use it wisely and to good purpose." It turns out to be just perfect for writing her stories with. But as Audrey writes, odd things start happening. Did Beowulf, her dog, just speak to her? And what is that bumping under her bed at night? It seems that whatever she writes with the pen comes true. However, things don't always happen in the way that she wants or expects. In fact, it's quite difficult to predict what writing with the pen will do. Could the pen be more of a curse than a gift? Or will Audrey be able to rewrite the future in the way that she wishes---and save her father's life? Perfect for grades four to six.




Suck it up by Brain Meehl. Well this was my vampire book of the summer. Morning McCobb is a very unlikely vampire and he's been chosen to represent the IV League (International Vampire League) as their poster boy for the major coming out event. Why Morning? well he's young, geeky, and not a threat to humans because he's never even had blood from human or animal, Morning exists on Blood Lite a soy substitute. PR rep Penny Dreadful has been hired as Morning's handler and as well as pumping up the media on the day when the two worlds come together (that of the vampires and ours). There's one hitch with all of this and that's the fact that Penny has a teenage daughter and Morning is starting to like her more than a little. Will his true vampire colors show through?
There's great word play (dare I say -tongue and cheek) in this book, I really liked some aspects of this one and would recomend it for grades seven and eight.


Read on