Wonder by RJ Palacio- WONDERFUL!

Okay, not to state the obvious, but I have evidently not found enough inspiration to add to this blog in months!Too long, but still....all that changed today.
I ordered a little book from the library for which I had heard an author interview on NPR ages ago. The library network finally got it to me last month. My intention was to sit and read it with my own fifth grader, a boy, who struggles with finding engaging reading materials. He drug his feet, but I persevered and started reading aloud anyway. He got hooked, and kept asking for "one more chapter, please"... the chapters are short, sometimes a page. He was grounded to my side, enthralled, but eventually we quit for the night. And, then, as it does, life interrupted us. He took it to school to read after finishing OAA testing, but only made it a few more pages there. And then it sat, on my desk, like a box from Tiffany, you want to open it, and see what gem lays inside, but once you do...the mystery is gone.
Then, yesterday, I got the email from the library informing me that it is due, tomorrow. And, no, you cannot renew it, because there are requests waiting.
So, today, while I have the mostly excellent excuse of trying to mend a broken shoulder, I decided to devote my morning to unwrapping this Wonder.
Now, half a box of happy tissues later, I have my inspiration to jump start this blog. Because everyone should read this book. Really. From 4th graders to 400 year olds. ( I guess that would be reading it to one of those turtles, but, still, I think they'd even find the value).
Yes the book is going back to the library for the next patiently waiting reader to unwrap, and be gifted this gem. But I am going on Amazon first, because my children, my children's friends, my friends, and my future friends, will all get a crack at my copy.
Allow yourselves all this gift.

The book is called Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

It is a book of kindness and generosity, and human nature and human frailty, and the unfairness of it all that blooms forth into what is good about life on this planet. And middle school. I don't want to ruin it for you, because part of the joy is the surprise that is the main character. But I want you all to be interested enough to not miss out....hmmmm. It is about a boy who is starting fifth grade, and is told from his point of view, then deliciously, the narrarators change around and back, like a perfect symphony. Aaargh. Just read it!

The Hedge Knight by George R R Martin

What it doesn't say in the title or description (which read something like "a prequel to the Song of Fire and Ice series), is that this is a comic book. NOT an "Archie and the Gang" comic book, but an adult comic book. I had never read an adult comic before, and although the experience was mildly annoying and not what I expected, I'm glad I spent an afternoon in the car, waiting for volleyball practice to be over reading this instead of another magazine that would point out how unthoroughly my house is dressed for autumn. I wasn't looking for a comic, but who needs guilt either?
Verdict? It's a comic, but...
Not for the kids.

A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin ( Book #3 )

Still caught up in the lengthy, delicious, violent saga of the Lannisters and Starks, Baratheons and Tyrells. This series is crazy addictive and seriously deranged. I'm having a blast.
Still, not for the kiddies.
There is a reason it is a series on HBO. And, if you could have an HBO of books in the library this series would be there too.
Brave it if you dare to get completely sucked in and spit out craving the next book, but look elsewhere for fantasy for young adults.

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

Way back when, when Judy Blume was renowned for her writing aimed at kids and early teens, she was edgy in a "still kid friendly" way, she attacked previously un-noveled themes like getting your period and bullying. Then, she came out with a novel about teen sex, and then an adult novel about adult sex, and all of the sudden Judy Blume was not so easily put in the juvenile section of the library.
In Summer Sisters, she continues in the adult novel arena, with a novel about girls who grow up together, spending summers on Martha's Vineyard, and the sex, crazed devotion, betrayals, upheavals etc. of your typical old money, ex-hippie, divorced, chemically imbalanced family of the Vineyard. It is an easy read, beach book.
What was most amazing to me about this book, because although I read it through the end- it is junk food, was the "Readers Guide" section at the end of the book. Since when did Judy Blume become Thoreau instead of Collins? Do we really need guidance, book club groupies and readers alike, to understand the complexities of this book? Really?
So, sisters of summer and year-long, if you want a slice of cheesecake, this book is worth a pull from the shelf. But not for your kids. UGH. They can do better! And Book Clubs....please tell me you aren't this desperate.

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller

The author and I are the same age, which interests me, as I can compare her young life with mine. And, while, this is more a biography of the author's mother, it made me contemplate how our history through our own eyes is a different history than through our parent's scope. How much do I understand of my own mother's history?
There is no question that the background of Alexandra Fuller's life was exotic by our standards, and her mother's just so. Africa. "Nicola Fuller of Central Africa" is how her mother introduces herself.
I was learning the rules of flashlight tag, the magic of Halloween (you really knock on strangers doors and they give you candy?) and how to identify jewel weed- the natural antidote for poison ivy- by pushing a leaf of the plant under the creek it grows near and watching the leaf become a weaving silver infinity of moonlight. I was trying to stay up past my bedtime in the summer, and perfect my hula-hooping.
Alexandra Fuller, daughter of Nicola Fuller of Central Africa, was living through the Rhodesian Civil War, learning how to kill puff adders and riding around in the back of a bomb-proofed Landrover dressed as an insecticide drum. Three siblings were lost before the age of two, and with it went an awful lot of Nicola Fuller of Central Africa's sanity. Understandable enough as a mother. Confusing as a child.
So, how can this book be humorous? Hopeful? Well, it just is. I laughed out loud and feel like Alexandra is an old friend.
This is a book you can share with your teens. Older teens, certainly, and younger teens as well. I feel so triumphant when a worthy book can be handed over to the kids. It will enlarge their imaginations in ways that romances about vampires never can.
And, I would truly enjoy joining the Fuller family for cocktails under the Tree of Forgetfulness.

Iron King, Iron Daughter, Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

I dove into this series late this summer. My beautiful gothic library has now created a "teen reads" section. Ripe for plucking out books and taking them in first...
This is a new series, not a trilogy, as the next installment is due out next year. Tailored for the teen adventure/romance/sci-fi crowd, Kagawa delivers, albeit with an essentially annoying heroine. Clueless, self absorbed whiner was my initial assesment. Didn't change much in books one through three, although she does indeed mature in some ways. How many teen readers will just identify with her, instead of identify the flaws?
Also, it is a romance (as stated above)... but romance is? She falls in love with a guy who treats her terribly, is moody and violent. But, as it turns out, it is just a facade, for her deeply loves her and forsakes his heritage in order to be with her. GAG.
Really? This is what we need to feed our girls? Even if he's a total, complete jerk, deep down he's really Prince Charming.
Really.
And, they make some sort of devotion declaration that bonds them blahblahblah, so now they are "married" and it's okey dokey to have sex.
If you are truly waiting to have sex until you're married, that is a pastor, justice of the piece, family, "I do", "I do" and public, legal recognition that you are now hitched. Publish the banns, or don't give me some "we're as good as" trash.
So...although it is readable, and full of swashbuckling adventure, sword play, moments of triumph and failure, and on the surface "teen appropriate", I have to say the reality of the books was trite and disappointing and continues to send messages to girls that we've been trying to combat for generations. Not to mention the message to boys who might venture into the realm of girl-centric teen reads. If your teen does read this book, do her, or him a favor and have a sit down discussion about the themes of the book, open their eyes to see past the surface.

The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

Oh, my.
First off, since this is a blog about the appropriateness of books for teens and young readers, DO NOT PUT THIS ON YOUR CHILD'S CHRISTMAS LIST.
Or, any other list. Do not let them take it out from the library, or buy it at a garage sale. This is NOT a book for children.
Yet...
Despite the modern (read ; profane) language and the excruciatingly detailed devouring of flesh (both literal and sexual) the prose is darkly lyrical, hypnotising in it's juxtaposition of passion and ennui. This is not a skimming tale, but puts you in the trenches with our hero? Jake Marlowe.
Werewulf.
Somehow you're rooting for him, even though he's the evil. And, no, there isn't much redeeming about him except his own thoughts and self disgust. Much like the popular Twilight series, there is a lovestory in this book, but not muddled up with a cross species spectacle. It is a fairly tidy book, lengthwise (there were some rather untidy bits within) but quite readable, and not a "horror tale" to give you nightmares. I'm not a horror fan. Recommended for the adult (read- over 25...35?) reader.