Sunday Salon, Sunday Fascinations

A list of ten favorite quotations from children’s literature. Ooooh, I want one. I’ll have to make my own.

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Connie Willis has a new set of two books (a twology?) about her crazy time-traveling historians. The books are Blackout and All Clear, and in these two books the historians are traveling to World War II Britain. I can’t wait, but I’ll have to wait until after Cybils season. Maybe someone will give me the two volume set for Christmas? Hint, hint. Review of Blackout at Becky’s Book Reviews.

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I don’t really like short stories. Even if they’re good, they’re disappointing because there’s not enough. Nevertheless, this list, compiled by a group of NPR interns, looks worthwhile. I might even find a short story that I can enjoy on its own terms.

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I’m working on a project of collecting books for this orphanage in Zambia. Today I’ll list the picture books that I would like to send/take to Zambia this summer, and on future Sundays I’ll list the easy readers and middle grade fiction books that I would like to take to be placed in the library there. If you would be interested in helping with this project by providing any of the books (new, or used in good condition), please email me for more information. You can order any of the books from Amazon by clicking on the title link and have them sent to me (yes, I get a small kickback from Amazon which I will use to purchase more books). Right now the plan is for a group from my church to go to Zambia this summer and take the books that we have gathered with them.

Rabbit Makes A Monkey of Lion by Verna Aardema
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema
This for That: A Tonga Tale by Verna Aardema
My Five Senses by Aliki.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault and Bill Martin.
Listen to the Rain by John Archambault and Bill Martin.
Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang
Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll by Franklyn Branley.
The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown.
Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan
Along the Luangwa: A Story of an African Floodplain by Schuyler Bull.
Crocodile Crossing by Schuyler Bull.
I Can’t Said the Ant by Polly Cameron.
Do You Want to Be My Friend by Eric Carle.
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
Does God Know How to Tie Shoes by Nancy Carlstrom.
Mama Panya’s Pancakes by Mary Chamberlin.
The Little Fish That Got Away by Bernadine Cook.
Not So Fast, Songololo by Niki Daly.
Pretty Salma by Niki Daly.
The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola.
The Hatseller and the Monkeys by Baba Waque Diakite.
Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros.
Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean by Arthur Dorros.
Petunia by Roger Duvoisin.
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert.
Take This Hammer by Beryl and Sam Epstein.
Jambo Means Hello by Muriel Feelings.
Moja Means One by Muriel Feelings.
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag.
Trucks by Gail Gibbons.
Each Orange Had 8 Slices by Paul Giganti.
How Many Snails by Paul Giganti.
Look What Came from Africa by Miles Harvey.
Count Your Way Through Africa by James Haskins.
How Animals Care for their Babies by Roger Hirschland.
Count and See by Tana Hoban.
Is It Red? Is It Yellow? Is It Green? By Tana Hoban.
My Hands Can by Jean Hozenthaler.
Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins.
At the Crossroads by Rachel Isadora.
Over the Green Hills by Rachel Isadora.
Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats.
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats.
The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats.
Africa Is Not a Country by Margy Burns Knight.
A Hole Is to Dig by Ruth Krauss.
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss.
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf.
Jafta by Hugh Lewin.
Jafta and the Wedding by Hugh Lewin.
Jafta’s Mother by Hugh Lewin.
Jafta’s Father by Hugh Lewin.
Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni.
Swimmy by Leo Lionni.
Eating Fractions by Bruce Macmillan.
Beatrice’s Goat by Page McBrier.
Africa’s Animal Giants by Jane McCauley.
Animals in Summer by Jane McCauley.
Ways Animals Sleep by Jane McCauley.
Growing Colors by Bruce McMillan.
One Hen by Katie Smith Milway.
A Kiss for Little Bear by Else Minarik.
My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa Mollel.
Bread, Bread Bread by Ann Morris.
Houses and Homes by Ann Morris.
Shoes, Shoes by Ann Morris.
On the Go by Ann Morris.
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel.
Sikulu & Harambe by the Zambezi River; An African Version of the Good Samaritan Story by Kunle Oguneye.
Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill.
Vacation in the Village by Pierre Njeng.
A Is For Africa by Ifeoma Onyefulu.
Chidi Only Likes Blue: An African Book of Colours by Ifeoma Onyefulu.
Emeka’s Gift by Ifeoma Onyefulu.
Triangle for Adaora: An African Book of Shapes by Ifeoma Onyefulu.
The Icky Bug Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
The Ocean Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta.
The Yucky Reptile Alpahbet Book by Jerry Pallotta.
The Toolbox by Anne Rockwell.
Machines by Anne Rockwell.
The Bicycle Man by Allen Say.
Somewhere in the World Right Now by Stacy Schuett.
Seeds and More Seeds by Millicent Selsam
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.
Noah’s Ark by Peter Spier.
Monkey Sunday: A Story from a Congolese Village by Sanna Stanley.
Elizabeti’s Doll by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen.
Elizabeti’s School by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen.
Mama Elizabeti by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen.
Babu’s Song by Stephanie Stuve Bodeen.
I Love My Hair by Natasha Tarpley.
Oh Not Toto by Katrin Tchana and Louise Tchana Pami.
Rain Drop Splash by Alvin Tresselt.
The Camel Who Took a Walk by Jack Tworkov.
Four Feet Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams.
Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams.

If you have more suggestions for picture books that would be especially appropriate for preschoolers in an orphanage in Zambia, please leave your suggestions in the comments section. If you want more information about donating books to this project, email me at sherryDOTearlyATgmailDOTcom.

Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland

Twelve year old Polly Madrassa talks like this: “I know just how to soothe a disturbed and distressed spirit, my dearest sister. Come along and we shall frolic together among the salty waves of the sea! We shall bask in the sun’s lovely rays.” For the entire book.

Ummm, yeah. It’s a little much for 309 pages. Polly’s favorites role models are Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet and L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. Hey, those girls are a couple of my favorite literary characters, too. But Polly takes her fan-girl admiration and imitation to the extreme. Her family and friends are sometimes charmed,sometimes confused, sometimes indulgent, and sometimes downright annoyed by Polly’s Austenite tendencies. Which was pretty much where I landed over the course of this book.

Polly is not only flowery talker and a drinker of tea, she’s also a matchmaker, a pastime that provides the plot of the story. Polly wants to find and facilitate “true love” for her dearest friends, Miss Wiskerton, Mr. Nightquist, and Mr. Fisk, and for her dear sister, Clementine. Polly pursues her matchmaking with all the zeal and finesse of another famous Austen character, Emma Woodhouse, which is to say much zeal and not much skill or tact. Of course, the course of true love doesn’t run smooth, to (mis)quote another famous author, and Polly’s matches turn into disasters, for the most part. But Polly has her heart in right place, and she learns eventually that her friends can not be manipulated like the characters in a book.

As I said, I became a little weary of reading Polly’s Jane Austen imitation, and I found it difficult to believe that any twelve year old could sustain such a personal drama for the length of time, about a month, that the book covers. However, on the other hand, the story was cute, and Polly’s misadventures are entertaining.

Scones and Sensibility would make a good evening’s diversion for the Pride and Prejudice/Anne of Green Gables crowd.

Other takes:
Young Adult Literature Review: Unfortunately, Polly’s speech wasn’t the only thing that wore on me but her interfering and meddling in the lives of other felt a little excessive. . . . However at this point in the story, I was pretty committed to seeing what happened with all of her matchmaking, and I kept reading. My persistence was rewarded.”

Frenetic Reader: “Though I wish some of the more minor characters and plotlines were explored more- Polly’s potential romance, for example-, I am completely enamored with Scones and Sensibility.”

One Literature Nut: “I really wanted to like this book, with its cute premise of a young girl infatuated with all things Jane Austen, the pastry shop, and multiple courtships, but I just didn’t.”

YABookNerd: “A cute tale that made me crave chocolate croissants and other goodies. Polly is sweet, funny, and hopelessly out of touch with her world, which only makes her more lovable.”

One Crazy Summer by Rita-Williams-Garcia

I had trouble getting past the initial premise of this story: loving father sends his three daughters (ages 11, 9, and 7) across the country on an airplane from Brooklyn to Oakland, California to spend a month with their crazy mother who deserted them seven years previously and doesn’t really want them to come. Negligent mother, Cecile, doesn’t even have a phone and may be living on the streets for all the father knows. How did he get in touch with her in the first place? How will he know if the girls arrived safely or if anyone met them when they did get there? What if Cecile is in jail (a real possibility considering the rest of the story)? Why would any decent parent send his young daughters on such a journey?

After I swallowed the implausibility of that opening gambit, I enjoyed reading about Delphine and her sisters Vonetta and Fern and their selfish, crazy mother, Cecile/Nzila, who in addition to being totally obsessed with writing poetry is also associated with the Black Panthers. The summer of 1968, the year in which the story takes place, saw the Panthers’ leader, Huey Newton, on trial for manslaughter, and the Black Panthers were holding rallies and demonstrations with the slogan “Free Huey!” The Panthers also ran a feeding program out of a church in Oakland, providing breakfast for poor children, a program which figures into the story of Delphine’s crazy summer.

The book tries to present a balanced view of the Black Panthers and of the political and social climate of the time, and as far as I can tell, it does maintain some objectivity. While the Black Panther group is providing breakfast and a place of safety during the day for Delphine and her sisters, Delphine also becomes aware that that the Panthers have been involved in some serious violence, that they carry weapons, and that being close to the Panthers might not be so safe after all. The real villains in the book are not the “pigs” (police) or white people, but rather Delphine’s negligent mom and a traitor within the Panther group itself.

Final verdict: it’s a decent story, but I don’t think it should be the number one choice for the National Book Award. The ending is a little sudden and unbelievable.

Other takes:
Melissa at Book Nut: “There wasn’t enough of a happy ending to suit me; it almost felt like they were spinning in the same place all summer. The growth that does occur is very, very subtle. I sit and think about it, and the pieces fall together… and yet there seems something a bit off.”

Liz B. at A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy: “I’m not satisfied. I want a second book. I want to spend more time with the Gaither sisters. I want One Crazy Summer to be the start of a new series.”

Six Boxes of Books: “Delphine’s voice is well done; she’s an eleven-year-old who’s had to grow up too quickly and help take care of her sisters, but she still has the emotional maturity of an eleven-year-old.”

One Crazy Summer has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.
One Crazy Summer is also one of five books shortlisted for the National Book Awards, Young People’s Literature division.

Saturday Review of Books: November 6, 2010

“I like good wines, love, suffering, and books as consolation for the inevitable solitude.”~Pablo Neruda

If you’re not familiar with and linking to and perusing the Saturday Review of Books here at Semicolon, you’re missing out. Here’s how it usually works. Find a review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week of a book you were reading or a book you’ve read. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can just write your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

Betti on the High Wire by Lisa Railsback

Betti on the High Wire begins with a circus girl whose mama is The Tallest Woman in the World with a Tail and whose dad is the famous bumpy Green Alligator Man. Big Mouth Babo, the circus girl, lives in a circus camp and sleeps in the lion’s cage. The circus animals and circus people and Babo’s mom and dad all disappeared when the soldiers came, but the circus ghosts still fly around and haunt the camp.

And all of the leftover children live in the empty circus camp with Auntie Moo who takes care of them. Babo, who is very brave, knows that her very tall mama and her green alligator daddy will come back to get her someday. In the meantime Babo is the leader of the leftover kids, and she doesn’t like Melons (foreigners) very much.

If you think that’s a confusing beginning to a realistic fiction book for middle grade readers, I must tell you that I’ve organized it and simplified it for you somewhat. I didn’t mention that Babo lives in an unspecified war torn country or that she’s “broken” with one fish eye and some missing toes. I didn’t tell you about One-Armed George and Sister Baroo and Old Lady Suri and the Teeny Tiny Puppet Man. As I read the book at first, I was completely confused and unsure of what was real and what was a figment of Babo’s very active imagination.

Strange to say the confusion works to show us, the readers, how confusing the world is for a young girl caught in a country ravaged by violence and war and then swept away to be adopted in the United States. Babo’s name changes to Betti. She gets new clothes. She eats new food. She tries to speak and understand English. Her life changes. And throughout all the changes, Babo/Betti remains a fierce little survivor; her new dad calls her their “little tiger.” She meets her new situation, new parents, new world with verve and tenacity. And since Betti is the narrator of the story, we get to see just how confusing life can be for a girl who’s taken away from everything she knows and loves, even though that familiar place is dangerous and violent, to a new place where everything is scary and strange and unpredictable.

I really loved this story once I got past the confusion of the first few chapters. I realized that the story was supposed to be confusing at first, to mirror the confusion that Babo/Betti felt and experienced. This book would be a wonderful resource for any child who is trying to understand a new adopted sibling or cousin or friend from another country. It would be great story for anyone who’s interested in bridging cultures and what it takes to bring about inter-cultural understanding. In fact, anyone who has never even thought about confronting and adapting to a new culture should read the book just to make themselves think about it just a little.

Or read it just for the fun of meeting Betti and watching her navigate the “high wire” of becoming an American girl. Good story.

Betti on the High Wire has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.

Leaving Gee’s Bend by Irene Latham

1932. Ludelphia Bennett is ten years old, and she’s never set foot outside of Gee’s Bend, her small town tucked into a bend in the Alabama RIver. Ludelphia is blind in one eye, the result of a childhood accident, and she can’t swim. She’s never been on the ferry that crosses the river over into the village of Camden. No one in her family has ever seen a real doctor.

So when Ludelphia’s mama gets very sick after the birth of new baby sister, Rose, and Ludelphia’s friend, Etta Mae, recommends that Ludelphia fetch the doctor from Camden, the town across the river, it takes all the determination and bravery and quilting that Ludelphia can summon up to sustain her in her journey. That’s right, quilting. Stitching. Ludelphia sews on her patchwork quilt to tell her story, to calm her nerves, and to hold her world together.

The dialog in the book has just enough dialect to catch the flavor of the south in the 1930’s. And crazy Mrs. Cobb is a villain just scary enough for a middle grade book, and still not absolutely horrifying. The story itself twist and turns, but resolves in satisfying way as Ludelphia learns something about the world outside of Gee’s Bend and returns with not only help for her mama, but help for the whole town. And the ending is not an unrealistic solution to everything, just a way through for Ludelphia and her family to go on with their lives.

I started again with the needle. Mama always said you should live a life the same way you piece a quilt. That you was in charge of where you put the pieces. You was the one to decide how your story turns out.
Well, it seemed to me some of them pieces had a mind of their own.

I reckon when you grow up in one place you just naturally think every other place is the same as your home. I reckon it takes leaving to appreciate all the things about that place that make it special.
Dear Lord, I did want to go home.

Other takes:
Maw’s Books: “I enjoyed learning more about this real town of Gee’s Bend which is steeped in quilting history and was the inspiration for this novel. The book felt a bit slow near the beginning of the book but once Ludelphia began her journey, everything began to move along and I was fully invested in her story.”

Megan at Leafing Through Life: “Lu will meet both good and evil people and hopefully emerge on the other side with a better story for her quilt than she could have ever imagined. Drawing inspiration from the real Gee’s Bend’s rich quilting history, Irene Latham has crafted a beautiful story of her own. Leaving Gee’s Bend is a coming of age story set in a vividly drawn 1930s sharecropping community.”

Hope is the Word: “Irene Latham is not only a master at using dialect very unobtrusively, she also has a talent for figurative language. Again, Ludelphia’s voice is unforgettable.”

An interview with Irene Latham at Cynsations.

Leaving Gee’s Bend has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.

The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee Frazier

Mama was always pointing out that of the millions of genes that made them all human, only seven or eight told their skin what color to be. A minuscule amount, she said. A very small difference.
So that was what Minni chose to believe, even though somewhere deep inside her brain, in a little drawer she rarely let herself open, lived the concern that the difference she’d been assured didn’t matter actually mattered a lot. That what she’d been told was small might be enormous. Not here, with her family in the sky. Never here. But somewhere. Maybe even everywhere except here.

Minna, actually Minerva Lunette, is the light-skinned twin, and her sister Keira Sol got the dark-skinned genes of her African American mother. Hardly anyone can believe that red-headed, fair-complexioned, blue-eyed Minna and kinky-haired, brown-skinned, brown-eyed Keira are twins, born in an airplane on the same day from the same mama.

This middle grade novel is a beautifully written exploration of race, racism, biracial identity, and what it means to be black in particular. “There are many ways to be black,” says Minna’s mama, and yet Minna wonders if she can really be black in her soul if her skin is pale and freckled. And Keira wonders if her twin sister secretly, deep down inside thinks she’s better because her skin color is lighter.

Lots of wondering and identity searching and hidden emotional undercurrents and minefields fill this book. It’s not easy being biracial in a society that places so much importance and emphasis on skin color. And it’s especially not easy when everyone around you —black, white, even your own grandmother–judges people and responds to situations in terms of race rather than inner character.

Sundee Frazier, the author of The Other Half of My Heart, is biracial herself, so she knows whereof she writes. The story is told from the point of view of Minna, the light-skinned twin, partly because it’s Minna who experiences the most confusion about her racial identity as the twins visit their black grandmother in North Carolina. Maybe also we get Minna’s thoughts because Ms. Frazier is also fair-skinned, although with curly dark hair, she reflects the racial heritage of both of her parent, white and black.

I give the book lots of points for frankly discussing many of the ins and outs and complications of growing up as a person of mixed race. Is it OK to “pass” for white without saying anything when others are being discriminated against for their darker skin color? Do all light skinned people secretly think they are somehow better than darker skinned people? Can a person be black in her soul if she’s white on the outside? Can anyone ever understand what it’s like to be someone else or live inside someone else’s skin? If your mama’s black and your daddy’s white, what are you? Is there a place in our society, or can there be, where skin color truly doesn’t matter?

Examples of mixed race twins:
Two sets of black and white twins–in one family
Amazing twins.

Other takes on The Other Half of My Heart:
Great Kid Books: “In The Other Half of My Heart, Frazier raises questions about race, identity and inner strength, in a way that helps children think about these issues without giving them the answers.”

Sandra Stiles at The Musings of a Book Addict: “This is a story that shows the struggle of being accepted for who you are no matter what your color. It also show how strong the bonds between sisters and especially twins are.”

An interview with Sundee Frazier at Angelina Hansen’s blog.

The Other Half of My Heart has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.

Crunch by Leslie Connor

crunch: n. a crucial point or situation, typically one at which a decision with important consequences must be made.
a severe shortage of credit or money.

Or energy. A fuel shortage has stranded Dewey’s parents far away from home up north “almost in Canada” with their “eighteen foot box truck with a roll-up rear door.” No fuel available even for truckers with ration cards. Eighteen year old Lil is in charge of the family and the house, and fourteen year old Dewey is running The Bike Barn, a low-key bicycle repair shop that has become a hopping joint since the fuel crunch has put all the cars and trucks out of commission. Dewey has the help of his thirteen year old brother, Vince, who is an expert bike repairman, but the three older Marriss children also have responsibility for the twins, five year olds Angus and Eva.

Will they be able to keep up with all the business that’s coming their way since everybody needs a bicycle in good working condition?

When will Mom and Dad be able to come home?

Will The Bike Barn be next in the rash of thefts that has hit their small town, especially thefts of bicycles?

And what should they do about The Spive, Mr. Spivey next door who openly borrows (takes) their eggs, their grapes, the tools, and who knows what else?

The premise here was a little weak, but I didn’t care. In the book there’s absolutely no gasoline available, all over the country, but electricity still flows freely. Don’t they need fuel to produce electricity? Maybe it’s just down here in Texas that we use a lot of petroleum and natural gas to produce the electricity. I think that if there were no fuel at all for the trucks and cars, there would also be an electricity shortage. But you can correct me if I’m wrong.

Anyway, there’s no electricity shortage in Crunchworld. And the trains are still running. But the freeways are full of cyclists. And Dewey’s father’s bicycle repair shop is, as I said, doing a lot of business. One of the most interesting parts of this story was that it showed what’s involved in running a business. Like in the book Rocky Road, the young teen protagonist ends up running the family business, and Dewey, like Tess, is quite a capable business person. There are difficulties, but the difficulties are overcome with a combination of determination, hard work, and ingenuity. And they get by with a little help from friends.

Crunch follows what I think is a good formula for middle grade fiction (maybe for any fiction): put your characters in a crunch, a hard place. Squeeze them a little, and make it even harder. Then, let them figure out how to solve/resolve their own problems and live happily ever after. I definitely recommend Crunch, especially since it’s both boy and girl-friendly.

Other takes:
Welcome to My Tweendom: “Leslie Connor has written a mystery that has an interestingly timeless feel to it. Dewey and his brothers and sisters are all memorable characters, and having the parents stranded far away made for adventures with a more important feel. There is equal boy and girl appeal with mechanics of bicycles given as much room as character interactions.”

Angela Leeper at Book Page: “The Mariss family’s teamwork and quirky lifestyle make readers want to join along as they play, laugh and dine on clam chowder after a busy yet rewarding day on the farm.”

Ms. Yingling Reads: “This was fun in the way that The Boxcar Children was fun– there seems to be more scope for adventure when parents are not in the picture.”

Crunch has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.

Rocky Road by Rose Kent

“Ice cream warms the heart, no matter what the weather.” That’s the Dobson family motto. So it should make perfect sense for the Dobsons—Ma Delilah, craft-loving twelve year old Tess, and turtle-loving Jordan–to open an ice cream shop in Schenectady, New York. Except they live in San Antonio. And they have no money, other than an emergency fund that’s only for, well, emergencies. And their old broken down car has no heater. And Delilah, who has wonderful, stupendous, fantastic ideas also deals with something that Tess calls “Shooting Stars.” Delilah goes full bore with boundless energy and endless schemes until she crashes so hard that she can’t even get out of bed. And Tess is left to pick up the pieces.

I enjoyed the characters in this story:

Tess, who loves her mom but is tired of get-rich-quick schemes and spending sprees that only end in disaster. Tess also loves her little brother Jordan, sewing and decorating and all sorts of crafts, and Rocky Road ice cream.

Delilah, whose “Bible” is The Inside Scoop, a manual on how to open a successful ice cream shop. Delilah knows she has mood swings, but she won’t go to a doctor because she doesn’t want those people trying to get inside her head and she can’t afford medical treatment anyway.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Fred Morrow, retired U.S. Navy who has a crusty exterior, an artificial leg, and a heart of gold.

Jordan, who’s hearing-impaired and loves turtles and sometimes throws tantrums when he has a hard time communicating.

Winnie, a loving senior citizen and retired nurse who sings with a group called THe Salty Old Dogs.

Gabby, Tess’s new friend who’s into peer mediation and vegetarianism and peaceful resolution to conflict and Chinese astrology.

So, the characters were fun, and the details on how to start and publicize and run a business were good to read. But the parts about Mom’s bipolar woes felt just a little forced, like an ABC Afterschool Special with a theme. Rocky Road, although it was a cute story, sometimes felt like a lesson in how to deal with a deaf little brother and a bipolar mom who’s running your family into poverty. Maybe it wouldn’t read that way to you at all.

By the way, every one of my children who saw the book lying on my bed pointed out to me, separately and without being asked, that Rocky Road ice cream is NOT pink. Why, they asked, is it called Rocky Road with strawberry ice cream pictured on the front? Children are very literal.

Other takes:
A Year of Reading: “I love the way that Rose Kent combines something as fun as ice cream with difficult life issues. A great combination that works well.”

Melissa at Book Nut: “The conflict is all with Tess and her mother; Tess feels so much older than her twelve years, mostly because her mother — due to an eventual diagnosis of bipolar disorder — is so unreliable. And the whole crazy mother thing is often so overdone. But in this case it worked . . .”

Rocky Road has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.

Vote Early, Vote Often

Ha! Not really. You just get to vote once, but please do vote today if you haven’t already done so.

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Badge - 2008 election

Encouragement from some of my friends:

“Remember everyone, today is the day to vote! Don’t let a little rain get in your way! Vote make a difference, your voice does count!” ~Suzanne

“Lots of people have already voted. If you haven’t, please do. In reading Romans 13 some time ago, I realized that “being in subjection to the governing authorities” in our nation at least partially involves voting since that’s the way our system is run.” ~Marge

“Vote! May God’s grace be with us today and may he guide each hand that votes. Pray before you go!” ~Joanne

“Put not your trust in princes, nor in mortal man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he whose hope is in the Lord his God which made heaven and earth, which keepeth truth forever, which executes justice for the oppressed.” – Excerpts from Psalm 146:3-7 ~Hannah

Let the Christians Vote as Though They Were Not Voting. ~John Piper