Mrs. D’s Reads

Ok, clearly summer is long past, but here are some of the things I read during the warmer months.  Part Two coming soon…

Thirteenth Child

by Patricia Wrede

Grades 5-8

This great read is sort of Little House on the Prairie meets Harry Potter. Some great and unique elements to this story about a civilizations trying to keep the unknown at bay with magic. At the same time, there is a growing segment of their civilization that is rejecting that path. The family at the center of the story is trying to navigate a path through it all.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

YA-Adult

Another re-read for me this summer, but my daughter was reading it for her summer assignment for English. (Bravo LCHS for having such a great reading list for your Honors Freshman English students!) I loved getting to see her discover Alexie’s unique storytelling style, and getting to discuss both his writing and his story with her. This won the National Book Award for good reason.

Nobody’s Princess and Nobody’s Prize

by Esther Friesner

Grades 6-12

This is a really nice couple of historical novels about the young Helen of Troy. What kind of adolescent grows up to be a woman whose beauty caused wars and mayhem in the ancient world? In Friesner’s imaginings, it’s a girl who is fierce, independent, and likes to fight so much that she dresses as a boy to get the chance to train and travel. Readers will root for this heroic misfit on the verge of her womanhood and her historic beauty.

Half-Blood Prince

by J.K. Rowling

Grades 3-adult

Of course with the movie coming out I had to re-read this tragic chapter in the Harry Potter series. So much is revealed, and so much is lost, in this pentultimate volume. The movie was fun, but had none of the emotional import Rowling is able to communicate in the book. It held up really well in this second reading.

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher

YA

Asher’s innovative storytelling and compelling tale will capture readers from the beginning. A girl commits suicide and leaves a sort of post-mortem chain letter that is to be passed around to all the people who she felt had a hand in her decision to kill herself. Some of them did harm, and some of them did good, but they have to keep the message going to find out which role they played. A really good read.

What I Saw and How I Lied

by Judy Blundell

YA

I was excited to read this National Book Award winner, but for me it was a surprising winner. The characters were interesting, and story held together well. It’s definitely a good read, but I wasn’t wowed in the way I have been by some of the other recent winners. That said, it’s a good historical novel about the realities of a family falling apart post-WWII and how the process of growing up can happen in an instant.

Ever

by Gail Carson Levine

Grades 5-12

I have really been enjoying Levine’s forays into re-imaginings of myths and traditional stories. This one has a god who wants to feel and experience what humans do. When he falls in love with a human, and she with him, they are both willing to sacrifice themselves to be with the other. Surprisingly well-developed for a myth-based tale, and some wonderfully modern ideas that work well in this context.

Tentacles

by Roland Smith

Grades 5-12

This long-awaited sequel to Cryptid Hunters takes a little while to get moving, but when it does it goes at breakneck speed to a cliff-hanger ending. Smith asks more questions than he answers, but fans will love revisiting these characters as they search for a giant squid and try to avoid the long reach of Noah Blackwood. Great adventure, nice development of the characters and relationships, and just a good, fun read.

Catching Fire

by Suzanne Collins

YA to adult

This sequel to The Hunger Games is a good one. Of course our heroes are still just trying to survive, now outside of the games. However, their victory in the Hunger Games has sparked an unexpected movement of rebellion in the districts, and the powers that be are trying to use them to subdue the resistance. Another cliff-hanger ending, but readers will love this sequel and long for the next.

American Teen

American Teen

YA-Adult

This was an interesting documentary I watched with my daughter this summer. Some apparent cliches are fleshed out as filmakers follow around five teens during a year of high school. There are predictably adolescent moments, but filmakers don’t demean them. They treat the very real feelings and experiences of these teens as the important life moments they are to the subjects. Not perfect, but definitely interesting.

Time Traveler’s Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

Adult

I re-read this story, which I loved the first time, in preparation for seeing the movie that came out this summer. It was powerful in different ways the second time around, and ironically, reading it again made me more reluctant to see the film. I still haven’t seen it.

The Angel’s Game

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Adult

My parents introduced me to this Spanish author, who’s other novel, Shadow of the Wind, is a terrific story, full of magical realism, set in the incredible city of Barcelona. The Angel’s Game has some connections to the other novel, but stands alone as a mystery and tragedy beautifully translated.

The Last Kingdom

by Bernard Cornwell

Adult

Another novel passed to me by my parents, this is the first in Cornwell’s novels about Alfred the Great. Vikings, Saxons, lots of fighting, and the birth of the British kingdom. If you love historical novels, Cornwell is someone to pick up.

Devil’s Cup

by Stewart Lee Allan

All ages

This was one of my first coffee reads this summer, and it’s a nice way to start. In this modern travelogue, Allan takes a journey tracing coffee from it’s origins in Ethiopia, to Yemen, Java, and then to how it spread over Europe, South America and the rest of the world. There are some great travel moments, some wonderful insights, and just a good, solid history of coffee.

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lilly Ponder

by Rebecca Wells

YA to adult

I am a Wells fan from way back, and Little Altars Everywhere is my favorite. Calla Lily Ponder had some great southern characters, and it was a good read, but it didn’t have the humor or the dark edges I have loved about Wells’ previous books. However, Calla Lily’s story is a good one, and worth reading.