Librarian Mom: Summer Reading: Part 1 of 2

Summer Reading: Part 1 of 2

This time last year, I was frantically making lists of recommended books for summer reading for my classes. I did that every year I was a school librarian. For every grade. It was great fun, but also lots of work; I pored over "best-of" lists from library journals and websites, and crammed in all the reading I could before the deadline so I could recommend titles from personal experience. Then I'd try to make sure all the lists were balanced: enough books from different genres, books that might be likely to appeal to boys and girls, books of different reading levels…like I said, it was a ton of work.

But every year, I started that work in the same place: my own tattered, battered reading log, which I've kept in the same spiral notebook since 1999. I'd go through the books I'd read in the past year, and star or highlight my favorites so I could be sure to include them.

This year, for the first time in almost a decade, I'm not putting together summer reading lists for a school library, or any library, for that matter. But it's the time of year to pull out my notebook; I just can't help it. So, without regard to genre or gender balance, I'm going to use this space to list some kids' (and a few teens') chapter books that I've read and loved in the past year, in chronological order by when I read them, with some personal notes. Enjoy!

Els's Picks, Part I: June 2007-January 2008

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little, by Peggy Gifford.

This little gem about procrastination might be the quintessential summer reading book itself. Added bonus: photographs—ostensibly taken by the protagonist's brother--documenting Moxie's late-August day spent *not* avoiding her required summer-reading title, Stuart Little. Boy, did I feel for her. And for her beleaguered mom.

Heat, by Mike Lupica.

I listened to this one on CD in the heat of the summer, while packing up my daughter's room for our big move. Even though I'm not a sports fan, I got totally caught up in this story of a kid who's trying to make it on his own with his older brother after their father's death, with baseball as the center of his life.

The Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt

A gorgeous coming-of-age story, set against the backdrop of the growing unrest over the Vietnam War. But what I remember best about it is the lusciousness with which the author describes the tray of perfect cream puffs that, for various reasons, become an important plot point.

Forever Rose, by Hilary McKay

Well, really you should read the four other books in McKay's series about the artistic, eccentric, troubled but loving Casson family before reading this one. Like many other fans, I have a special soft spot for Rose, the youngest Casson sibling, and this last book in the series is all about her.

Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman

Central premise, in 25 words or less: boring, conventional guy discovers that his dead dad was the trickster god Anansi. Then his long-lost magical brother moves into his house and moves in on his fiancée. Mayhem ensues. [okay, well, that was 30 words. But a description of a book about a trickster god is no place to get picky about rules.] Technically, this isn't a children's or even a teen book, but it's one of those crossover adult books that teens will totally love.

Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis

I wrote a long post about this book on my mostly-dormant other blog back in January, so I'll just say here: Up until about the last 40 pages, I thought it was a good story but a little episodic and rambling. Then it hit me with a one-two punch that I'm still not entirely over.

The Green Glass Sea, by Ellen Klages

In a just world, it would've won a Newbery Honor this year. Like honor winner The Wednesday Wars, it's a totally gorgeous and beautifully written historical novel that feels contemporary. And like Elijah of Buxton, it takes you right up to the edge of something terrifying (in this case, the dropping of the first Atomic bomb) through the eyes of a kid (in this case, the lonely and nerdy child of a scientist at the secret labs in Los Alamos) who has only the most fragmentary understanding of what's going on. But this book is entirely its own.

Red Sea, by Dianne Tullson

Bratty teenage girl, dragged along on a year-long sailing trip with her mom and hated stepdad, has to save herself and her mom when their boat is attacked by modern-day pirates. I picked this one up because I had to read it for work, but I finished it in one gulp because I had to find out what happened. Great survival story for teens.

That brings me halfway through the year. To be continued in a few days…

June 3, 2008