Push, High Stakes, and 39 Clues series

It has been almost a month since my last post. I’ve been busy working, going places, and reading! Here’s what I’ve read this month:

High Stakes by Dick Francis

Francis just passed away a few weeks ago. He was certainly a prolific author with a large following. Both my husband and I enjoy his race-track mysteries. We listened to this one together on a long road trip.

I also recently finished the first seven books in The 39 Clues series – by Rick Riordan, Gordan Korman, Peter Lerangis, Patrick Carman, and Jude Watson. The idea of so many different authors working on a series with a continuing story line is a very intriguing concept. I’m truly enjoying the series as the child protagonists are outsmarting a variety of wily and wealthy opponents in the race to uncover historical clues and either save or destroy the world with some ultimate formula. Well done! Scholastic Publishing has another literary winner that could almost rival the ‘Harry Potter’ series! We’ll see. They are certainly publishing them at a faster pace.

Push by Sapphire

Wow! This is a hard book to read. The language seemed so outrageous when I first started reading, but that was soon replaced by outrage at the father who would rape his daughter and the mother who abused the child in so many ways. How could she possibly thinkthat she “was a good mother” because she had dressed her baby girl in pink and taken her for walks? I am glad I kept reading to the end. There are thousands (or millions?) of girls and women who have been raped and beaten and treated as property by immoral, uneducated swine who think they are men. Not in my book! How can we ever stop this abuse when the media (TV, movies, video games) glamorize violence and violent sex?

I would hope that educating children would help, but I have been witnessing the layoffs of guidance counselors, librarians, and other school staff who have the chance to provide that positive educational climate. We all have to do whatever we can one person/one day at a time to provide positive materials or role models to combat this kind of evil.