Here's a new juvenile novel which is likely to be quite popular with girls: 3 Willows - The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares. During the summer between 8th grade and high school three girls face different life-changing challenges that help to propell them toward adulthood.
Through each of their experiences the author shows young teens who are realistic. I think that 5th - 8th grade readers will fall in love with these characters and will want to hear more of their stories in future books!

One of my favorite quotes is by Francois Mauriac ~ "Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are... but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread."



Here is a list of some of my favorite Picture Books... the ones I love to reread. If you would know me - read these books:

(Just a note: Just because they are picture books, it doesn't always mean they are written for children!)

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse - Kevin Henkes

Mr. & Mrs. God in the Creation Kitchen - Nancy Wood

Sorry - Jean Van Leeuwen

Bub or the Very Best Thing - Natalie Babbitt

The King's Equal - Katherine Paterson

Stellaluna - Janell Cannon

You Are Special - Max Lucado

Fireflies, Peach Pies & Lullabies - Virginia Kroll

Who Came Down That Road - George Ella Lyon

Flotsam - David Wiesner

The Secret of Saying Thanks - Douglas Wood

Fanny's Dream - Caralyn Buehner

Love You Forever - Robert Munsch

The Runaway Bunny - Margaret Wise Brown

Christmas in the Trenches - John McCutcheon

Old Turtle - Douglas Wood

Tadpole's Promise - Jeanne Willis







Another favorite quotation: "The art of reading is in great part that of acquiring a better understanding of life from one's encounter with it in a book. ~ Andre Maurois

Here's a list of books I've read since this blog began almost 3 years ago. I'd appreciate comments and dialogue on any you have also read:

Anne of Green Gables - Montgomery
Bad Boy - Walter Dean Myers
Bluish - Virginia Hamilton
Heat - Mike Lupica
Olive's Ocean - Kevin Henkes
An Abundance of Katherines - Green
Dragonrider - Cornelia Funke
Dairy Queen - Murdock
Time Traveler's Wife
Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
Born to Rock - Gordon Korman
Feed - M.T. Anderson
Dark Hills Divide - Carman
Vanishing Act - Feinstein
I'd tell you I love you but then I'd have to kill you - Ally Carter
The Thief - Turner
The Book Thief - Zusak
Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson
Buddha Boy - Kathe Koja
Last Shot - Feinstein
The World is Flat - Friedman
Evans Above - Rhys Bowen
Evan Help Us - Rhys Bowen
The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling
Neither Here Nor There - Bryson
Amulet of Samarkind - Jonathon Stroud
Emma Jean Laqarus Fell Out of a Tree - Tarshis
A Brief chapter in my impossible life - Reinhardt
Cripsin at the Edge of the World - Avi
Escape: The Story of the Great Houdini - Fleischman
Here Lies the Librarian - Richard Peck
Matilda - Dahl
Phantom Tollbooth - Juster
Born Confused - Tanuja Desai Hidier
Touching Spirit Bear - Mikaelson
The Kite Runner - Hosseini
Airborn - Oppell
Alana - The 1st Adventure
Avalon High - Meg Cabot
Be More Chill - Ned Vizzini
Dead Guys Talk - Barbara Joose
Toad Heaven - Gleitzman
Catalyst - Anderson
Doing It - Burgess
Adam Canfield Watch Your Back
Eat, Pray, Love - Gilbert
The View From Mt. Joy - Lorna Landvik
The Alchemyst - Michael Scott
Forever in Blue - Ann Brashares
Snowflower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
The Penderwicks - Birdsall
Our Only May Amelia - Jennifer L. Holm
The Off Season - Murdoch
Austenland - Hale
Miracle on 49th Street - Lupica
A Year in Provence - Mayle
The Friday Night Knitting CLub - Jacobs
A Good Year - Peter Myle
Cupid - Julius Lester
Two Old Women - Wallis
26 Fairmont Avenue - Tomie de Paola
The Priest and the Senator - Greeley
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Hosseini
Oh My Stars - Landvik
Away - Amy Bloom
The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
Clementine - Sara Pennypacker
Pants on Fire - Meg Cabot
Whittington
Big Boned - Heather Wells
Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana - Ann Rice
The Willoughbys - Lois Lowry
Your Oasis on Flame Lake - Lorna Landvik
Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt - Rice
Marley: A Dog Like No Other - Grogan
Run - Ann Patchett
On the Wings of Heroes - Peck
Fairest - Levine
Pontoon - Garrison Keillor
Swindle - Korman
The Magician - Michael Scott
The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Selznick
Whiteth0rn Woods - Maeve Binchy
Grace (Eventually) - Anne Lamott
The River Between Us - Richard Peck
Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke
The Uncommon Reader - Bennett
They Came to Bahgdad - Agatha Cristie
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street - Birdsall
Chains - Laurie Halse Anderson
The Tales of Beedle the Bard - J.K. Rowling
One True Thing - Anna Quindlen
Loving Frank - Nancy Horan
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox - Colfer
The Soloist - Steve Lopez
The Underneath - Appelt
The Graveyard Book - Gaiman
Jesus - A Life of Enlightenment - Chopra
Bloody Jack - L.A. Meyer
The Shack - William Paul Young
Curse of the BLue Tattoo - L.A. Meyer
Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Evanly Choirs - Rhys Bowen
The Game of Silence - Louise Erdrich
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - Lockhart
Among the Hidden - Haddix
My Side of the Mountain - George
The Last Book in the Universe - Rodman Philbrick
Eggs - Jerry Spinelli
Three Cups of Tea - Thomson
The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
Rules - Cynthia Lord
Anything But Typical - Baskin
Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth... - Konigsburg
Harry: A History - Anelli
The Cat Who Came to Breakfast - Braun
Minders of Make-Believe - Leonard Marcus


I'm always looking for good books for my adult book group as well as suggestions of new chapter books for students in grades 2-6.

~Jan J