Books-August 2011
1. Lost and found by Carolyn Parkhurst
2. This baby by Kate Banks (picture book)
3. Jack and the beanstalk by Nina Crews (picture book)
4. Fractions=trouble by Claudia Mills (intermediate book)
5. Oh, Harry! By Maxine Kumin (picture book)
6. Prudence wants a pet by Cathleen Daly (picture book)
7. The weird sisters by Eleanor Brown
8. Don't stop now by Julie Halpern (young adult)
9. Otto the boy who loved cars by Kara LaReau (picture book)
10. Melvin and the boy by Lauren Castillo (picture book)
11. Escape by night: a civil war adventure by Laurie Myers (intermediate book)
12. The lost sister by Russel D. McLean
13. The shimmering blond sister by David Handler
14. A cat like that by Wendy Wahman (picture book)
15. The lost and found pony by Tracy Dockray (picture book)
16. Jonathan and the big blue boat by Philip C. Snead (picture book)
17. Bone dog by Eric Rohmann (picture book)
18. Thelonious Mouse by Orel Protopopescu (picture book)
19. Long story short by Siobhan Parkinston (young adult)
20. The glass lake by Maeve Binchy
21. The one and only Stuey Lewis by Jane Schoenberg (intermediate book)
22. Shimmer by Alyson Noel (young adult)
23. The case of the nosy neighbor by Lori Copeland (audio book)
24. These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
25. The abandoned lighthouse by Albert Lamb (picture book)
1) I have read two of Parkhurst’s novels and loved them both. This is about a reality game on TV and focuses on a mother/daughter who need to communicate. Interesting premise and the games she made up for the game part were creative and seemed like they might actually show up on a TV show.
2) A lovely story of a toddler who is wondering about the new baby in her Mommy’s belly.
3) I liked this retelling of an old story with realistic pictures.
4) I like Claudia Mills’ take on early chapter books. Her characters are likable and nothing too bad ever happens. Would that we all lived in that world!
5) Harry is a helpful horse, cute story, a little contrived.
6) Prudence begs her parents for a pet and finally ends up with a puppy. A good story if parents are planning to get a dog.
7) I loved this book, it is written in first person plural in the voice of three sisters. Their father is a Shakespeare scholar, so there are an abundance of erudite quotes. Fun to read!
8) This is what happens when best friends (boy and girl) go on an adventure right after graduation. Oh, and yes, the girl is secretly in love with the guy. Does he love her, too?
9) Otto turns into a car and has a hard time finding others to play with. Or is it just a dream? Clever story and great illustrations.
10) Melvin is a turtle, brought home by a boy who finally realizes that turtles should live in ponds.
11) I did not like this book, for reasons enumerated in earlier posts.
12) A Scottish private eye; the story of a young girl who was kidnapped, or ran away. The main character finds her and she is safe. Good, but not really my type of story.
13) A great detective story with a white film critic and a black CT state trooper as the main characters. Kind of a fun read.
14) In case you ever wondered, this is what a cat wants in a best friend.
15) Too sophisticated for the intended audience. However, my daughter who is a horse lover would probably love this!
16) Jonathan takes a boat trip around the world, picking up his crew as he goes. Very nice pictures.
17) A little boy misses his dog who died; but he reunites with him on Halloween in the cemetery.
18) Thelonious loves the scat of jazz and makes beautiful music to the great annoyance of the cat.
19) Told from the point of view of Jonathan, this is the story of an abusive family and how the 14 year old boy tries to comfort and protect his 8 year old sister. Sad, but all too often, it may be true.
20) Read for book club, that was unfortunately canceled due to the Hurricane. A convoluted story of passion, love, marriage and betrayal, common elements in Binchy’s books. Well-told!
21) A short chapter book for young readers. Stuey has his share of problems, but they all get solved with relative ease!
22) A weird after-life story that throws in an historical perspective. With all the focus on vampires, ghosts and nether worlds, this book, part of a series will probably be a big hit.
23) I was not crazy about the voice of the person reading this book and the story itself was a little too preachy.
24) I read this in two days and requested another book by this author. Well-written, compelling characters and a little bit of a mystery, but the author gave good hints along the way.
25) A strange tale of a bear, a boy and his puppy spending the night in a non-working lighthouse. When the little boy and his dog climbed into a random row boat and floated out to sea, I thought it was a little over the top.
