Summer Reading

By the time the summer rolls around, I have a stack of books by my bedside and a cue of titles on my Kindle to read. I have just finished listening to Impossible by Nancy Werlin which I highly recommend. The story is a tale of generations of women who are cursed... the curse they bear is that they will become pregnant at the age of 18, give birth to a daughter and then go crazy. But what if the curse can be broken? Is it impossible? Although the tasks that need to be accomplished seem insurmountable, true love and cleverness may be enough to break the curse. I have also read The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks which was a page turner. I am almost finished with Lowboy which is about a schizophrenic young man who runs away from home and does not take his meds. The main character,Will Heller, allows us into his brain in such a way that you cannot help but feel confused and empathetic. The book is like a bad accident- you are afraid to look, but cannot turn away.I am not sure this is a book for everyone- it requires patience and attention, but it is well worth the effort. Another book that I am currently reading is The Soloist which is also a movie playing in the theaters. This is the story of a brilliant violinist, who also suffers from mental illness. He is discovered living on the streets by the author, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, who can't help but be drawn into this talented and troubled mans life. The writing style is pure newspaper reporting- bare and to the point, but the story more than makes up for the lack of literary accomplishment. I think I will go read right now... what are YOU reading?
UPDATE: Finished The Soloist- very readable, heartbreaking... here is a blogpost from ALA online( American Library Association)-Steve Lopez, the author, spoke at the summer ALA conference ALA Blog

Book Expo America

Well, I had a thrilling day meeting book publishers, listening to authors and editors, and grabbing galley copies of books for The Wheatley School IMC. My shoulders are killing me from lugging around a thousand pounds of books and catalogs, but it was well worth it. Once I conquered the traffic of the Long Island Expressway, and I mean conquered, I entered the cavernous Javits Center in NYC. Two huge floors of books- I was like a kid in a candy store. At my first stop, I met a librarian from Cleveland and we shared our top titles that we are dying to read. This was while we were waiting to hear Charles McGrath of the New York Times moderate a discussion between John Irving (The World According to Garp) and Richard Russo (Empire Falls), They discussed their writing styles, both storytellers, and if they write to please others- no, they write to please themselves. It takes them about 5 years to write a book, so they both commented on how important it is to care about their characters- after all, they will be living with them for quite some time. Both authors also commented on their love for Charles Dickens as a storyteller. Neither man reads many other current authors, only for lack of time due to their focus on writing both their novels and screenplays. Then it was off to scour the shelves to see what forthcoming titles I MUST order for the IMC. Later in the afternoon, I attended an YA editors BUZZ session. Six top editors book talked their newest most favorite book due out in Fall 2009. It was spectacular. I was able to snag the galleys for three of the books mentioned, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, which sounds like a perfect book for all us Hunger Games fans, as well as those who love The Giver and The Uglies. In addition, I snagged Viola in Reel Life by bestselling author Adriana Triiani, which focuses on a girl from Brooklyn New York who has to attend boarding school in the small town of South Bend Indiana while her documentary filmmaker parents are shooting in Afghanistan for a year. Finally, I got a hold of The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander and I cannot wait to read it. Set in Texas, it is the story of a 15 year old girl who is tired of waiting on the sidelines of life and wants to ride on the hood of the shiny pickup truck in the annual parade in Proper County. Becoming the Sweetheart also involves participation in the Future Farmers club and our protagonist becomes involved with her lovable Rooster, Charles Dickens!
I have a bunch of other titles, so come into the IMC and check out my haul!

Claudia Gray and I at Barnes and Noble

This evening I went to Barnes and Noble in Manhasset to meet and listen to Claudia Gray, the author of Evernight the first book in a series of 4. She was very funny, honest, and easy to talk to. She autographed her newest book,Stargazer, for The Wheatley School IMC.

KINDLE 2.0

I am so in love with my new Kindle, V. 2.0 that there could not be enough snow days to satisfy me. For those not in the know, a Kindle is an electronic E-book reader which is available exclusively through Amazon.com. Essentially, you "order" a book through the Kindle store and within minutes the content is delivered to your reader. The Kindle is the size of a small paperback book, is extremely lightweight and user friendly. Bestsellers run about $9.99 for each title. Available content includes newspapers and blogs and many other applications. ( I just got mine this weekend so I am not a user expert). I do know that I can change the font so I can read without my glasses, bookmark text I find interesting and carry a whole library around with me in my bag. A book lovers dream.

Challenging, but enjoyable

Now, this is a book that is very hard for any high school student to read, at least for Wheatley. It ought to be described as "intellectual's prose" or something. It's called The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary, translated from French by Alison Anderson. It's crammed full with vocabulary and also proper nouns.

Anyway, the plot focuses on two different people: Renee, a 54-year old concierge of an eight-apartment building for the rich, stating in her second journal entry: "I am a widow, I am short, ugly, and plump, I have bunions on my feet and, if I am to credit certain early mornings of sefl-inflicted disgust, the breath of a mammoth;" and then we have Paloma, an amazingly smart 12 1/2 year old girl occupying one of the apartments with her mother, diplomat father, and obnoxious sister (all whom she promptly cuts down to size), loves haiku poems, and plans to commit suicide on her 13th birthday by setting her apartment on fire and taking an overdose of sleeping pills while no one is around.

Both characters share very intelllectual minds, embrace Japanese culture, keep closeted their superior minds over society, and write in journal entries social, artistic, theological, philosophical, and cultural criticisms and commentaries and finely detailed happenings in their building. When a new resident arrives, a Japanese gentlemen titled Monsieur Ozu, both persons' lives and plans are put into completely new environments in which they find themselves exposed and beginning to look at things anew.

I suppose this would be a read more for college students or something, but I was truly able to enjoy this book. Even though I refused to pull out a dictionary every time I came across unknown words, I was able to feel everything. It's funny, scornful, elightening, and also inspiring.

You can most definitely find this in Borders or Barnes & Nobles and Jo Beth recently brought it into the IMC. It has praise from numerous magazines and newspapers, national and foreign, and is oficially an international bestseller. I'd have to put this up as one of the greatest books I've ever read.

Dairy Queen

This is one terrific little book. DJ, a farm girl from Wisconsin, where cows and football rule, tells her story with a clear and humorous voice. She is a typical HS student with older brothers who were stars on the school football team. DJ also shares a passion for football, and all sports. Unfortunately, her father is no longer able to take care of the farm due to hip surgery, and all the work falls on DJ. A former track and basketball star, her dreams of team sports are lost due to the demanding schedule of running a farm. At the same time, Brian, the QB from the opposing school's football team, has come to Scwank farm to help DJ with the chores- by order of his coach. Neither Brian nor DJ are happy with this situation, but DJ could use the manpower and Brian is supposed to learn the meaning of work, or his coach will not let him play. Over the course of a summer, DJ and Brian work side by side, and eventually, come to help each other, and form a very unique relationship. DJ and Brian earn each others respect by being true and honest, but still being teenagers. DJ eventually takes on the role of Brain's trainer, and DJ decides to go out for the boys football team- I kid you not! The beauty of this book is the dialogue and characters- they are so endearing and true. I cannot wait to read the sequel The Off Season

BAA

The B.A.A. has selected Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro as our next "group read". Ishiguro's book is haunting, both in his subject matter and his writing style. As a reader, the story envelopes you - and you find yourself part of the unraveling truths that the main character discovers, as she reflects upon her years as a student in the cloistered world of Hailsham, a private school where studetns were always told they were "special". Now they are discovering what "special" really means. The B.A.A. welcomes new memebers- we meet Wednesdays after school. Stop by the IMC to pick up a copy.