YA: African American History Month

So Amy has been sharing some books with you for African American History Month.  Now it’s my turn, and since my speciality seems to be young adult books that’s what I’m going to share.  There are some wonderful stories out there.  First I want to share a non-fiction book that I read aloud during February the one year I taught fifth grade.  Now often non-fiction books can be uninteresting to kids, especially longer ones but this book caught both their attention and mine.  It helps that it’s a biography, but the writing is very much in narrative format so it’s much more story like than dry non-fiction reading and by a YA author that I highly recommend: Walter Dean Myers.  The book is Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary.  This book, as you would expect, tells the life of civil rights leader Malcolm X and it is totally accessible for kids at least as young as fifth grade.  I’d say there are probably even third or fourth graders that could read this one.  Btw just a plug Walter Dean Myers has written many more books both fiction and non-fiction and my favorite of his books is Monster.

Next one of my favorite picture books from my classroom library: I Have a Dream, this book is the text of Martin Luther King Jr’s famous speech which before you read it aloud may need to be clarified.  I read this book to a class of third graders that was largely African American and they were seriously miffed at the use of the word Negro.  We had to stop reading and have a discussion that at that point in America’s history that was acceptable term for African Americans and a reminder that it was MLK Jr himself who was using it in this speech.  Besides being the inspirational words of Dr King, the pictures are all by artists who have won the Coretta Scott King (Dr. King’s wife) Award for art.  They are amazing, my copy of the book also came with a poster that I laminated for my classroom.

Now on to fiction books.  There are a number of wonderful historical fiction books that can be used to help teach the history of African Americans, and more generally the history of America.  All that I’m sharing are books I have used in my classroom that I have “taught”, or rather facilitated, discussions about.  The first is by author Christopher Paul Curtis: The Watsons Go To Birmingham – 1963.  The Watson family is an African American family living in Michigan.  Being as they live in the North, they don’t experience the same things as African Americans living in the South at that point in time.  The story centers on Kenny the middle child of the family.  Kenny’s older brother Byron is well on his way to becoming a juvenile delinquent when their parents have an idea, they will take Byron to live with Grandma in Birmingham, Alabama.  While the parents are well aware of the differences between the way they live in the North and how they are allowed to live in the South, this is all new to the three children.  While they’re visiting Grandma her church is bombed, Curtis uses the real life bombing of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church as a catalyst in this story.  It is chilling and the type of book you just can’t put down.

Another of Curtis’s books that I really enjoy and enjoyed reading aloud to my students is Bud, Not Buddy.  Bud is a ten year old orphan tired of living in foster home after foster home, he decides to set out and find the man he is sure is his father Herman E Calloway and jazz musician.  The story starts as Watsons did in Flint, Michigan this time though in 1936.  Bud takes off on a journey to find Calloway, and has quite a few adventures along the way.  It is certainly interesting to read about the Great Depression through the eyes of this 10 yr old African American boy.  As Bud is in the North there are some differences between the way he and the band are treated when he finds them and African Americans living in the South.

To get a better picture of those differences I’d recommend a book that was a required read for my eighth grade classes: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor.  Roll is the story of the Logan family; a rare African American family that owns its own land in the South rather than sharecropping on a white owner’s land.  Yet this does not change how the Logans are treated by their white neighbors, or maybe it does but not in a good way.  Much of the story centers on nine year old Cassie. Through her eyes we see the difference in education of African Americans, their treatment in stores, and why the land is so important to the Logan family.  Teaching in a school that was predominantly white with few other nationalities present at all I found this book to be a great way to show exactly what life was like in the 30s, especially for African Americans.  There are several other books about this family as well. Two prequels: The Land about Cassie’s grandpa, and The Well: David’s story about Cassie’s dad and uncle give some great background on this family.  Then there are shorter stories that are almost companions to Roll: The Friendship and Song of the Trees both center on Cassie, Mississippi Bridge is about Jeremy Simms and happens not long before the events of Roll.  There are two direct sequels that follow the Logan kids as they grow up, especially Cassie: Let the Circle Be Unbroken and The Road to Memphis.

While we’re featuring these books right now for African American history month please note they are great to read anytime, especially along with a history curriculum as you cross those time periods.

WAIT – I nearly forgot one of my favorite books while not one I teach it is one I’ve read and referenced with my students (I taught middle school and knew they would read it in high school) To Kill a Mockingbird, I think the trial of Tim Robinson for the rape of a white woman being seen through the eyes of a young white child, especially the child of the man defending Tim is powerful.

Roots: The Saga of an American Family

Alex Haley, author of Roots, sparked a movement when the book was first published in 1976.  It was inspiring for African Americans to hear this long family history, from Africa, enslavement, war, and separation.  Through it all, there was a preservation of their history and heritage.  It also encouraged its readers to get in touch with their own history and heritage too, their “roots”.  The miniseries was incredibly popular.  It first aired in 1977, and starred Lavar Burton as Kunta Kinte, the main character through which the first half of the story was told.  To this day it remains one of the most successful mini-series in TV history, I’ve even heard there’s a remake in the works.

Before writing Roots, Haley had served in the Coast Guard.  After retiring from twenty years of service, he began his writing career.  His first book was published in 1965; he co-wrote Malcolm X’s autobiography.  Ironically, this was the same year Malcolm X was assassinated.  The publication of Roots represented years of work, it was a story that involved Haley’s own family history.  Haley, in researching his own family’s history, was able to trace his family tree back to a small village named Juffure.  In researching this book, he traveled to Africa and claimed to have met a distant relative in Gambia.  He received a Pulitzer Prize for his work, but was later sued by another writer named Harold Courlander, who was able to prove that Haley plagiarized part of his work, which was used in over 100 pages of Roots.

In a distinguished literary career, this was a small setback.  Highlighting the importance of oral history, the story of Kunta is told through many generations.  It was something the family was incredibly proud of, as Kunta considered himself to be a warrior.  He was kidnapped and forced into slavery in the colonies.  Here he is talking about this experience, and being separated from his family.  He wonders if he was being punished by God:

“What sins was he being punished for in such a manner as this?  He pleaded to Allah for an answer.  It was sin enough that he hadn’t prayed once since the morning he went for the wood to make his drum.  Though he couldn’t get onto his knees, and he knew not even which way was east, he closed his eyes where he lay and prayed, beseeching Allah’s forgiveness.”

The story of America’s past is also told through this family’s history.  Living through the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the early Civil Rights era, all of this is told through the eyes of this African American family.  While living on a Virginia plantation Kunta is given the name Toby.  It is there that he meets Bell, a house slave, that he falls in love with.  Their daughter Kizzy is sold away from her parents, ripping the family apart.  She eventually gives birth to George.  George becomes a skilled laborer, and is somewhat of an entrepreneur.  He and his wife Matilda have several children, all of whom gain their freedom.  Haley was first able to trace his roots to George’s youngest daughter Cynthia, who is Mr Haley’s grandmother.  Through multiple generations this family remained centered along the Atlantic coast – in between Virginia and Maryland, and even Haley’s military career brings him back to Annapolis, Maryland.

However flawed the history and research may be, this book is important in that it marked a beginning in African American history.  Through this story, families began to be more interesting in understanding their connection to Africa, their relationship with each other.  It was a story and a past to be proud of, and certainly Haley highlighted the importance of celebrating and remembering this past.

Black History Month

This week we’d like to take a slightly more serious turn and focus on African-American history month, before February slips away from us.  Because we’re all about books, we’d like to share some of the books we think are important and notable in black history.  In the few years that I’ve been teaching American history, I’ve used some of these books in the classroom.  Others I read while I was still in school.  Don’t be daunted by heavy subject matter, or indifferent to the history.  These books represent so much in black history and culture – each for different reasons.

The Warmth of Other Sons, Isabel Wilkerson – Focusing on a few individuals and their own experiences, she tells the tale of the Great Migration, which involved millions of African Americans moving out of the rural south.  In order to escape the segregated south, they endured so much – violence, discrimination, poverty.  This story is beautifully, painfully told through these voices.

The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander – Alexander, a law professor at Ohio State University, takes on the controversial topic of mass incarceration.  Comparing this experience to a new wave of segregation, in which African American men have lost their constitutional rights en masse.  This is a provocative subject, and not all will agree with her argument, but it is backed up by an immense amount of research, making it hard to disagree.

My Bondage and my  Freedom, Frederick Douglass – A leader in the abolitionist movement, Douglas is one of just a few freed slaves who were able to write about their own experience.  First published in 1855, it details his own experience in becoming a free man.  A few years earlier, he had written Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and here had described his desire to become a free man.

The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison – Morrison, who has become a unique voice in African-American literature, won a Pulitzer Prize for this book in 1993.  Telling the story of Pecola Breedlove a young black girl who longs to be someone else, the title of the book becomes a metaphor for a better life.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou – Another important voice in African American literature, she first published this book in 1969.  Long known as a talented poet and writer, this book is autobiographical, following her departure from the south.  Leaving Arkansas for St Louis, where she is sexually assaulted at a young age.  She eventually makes her way out west, to San Francisco.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X – Written with the help of Alex Haley (who wrote Roots), Malcolm X tell his story of escaping poverty, serving time in prison, converting to Islam, and becoming a leader in the somewhat militant Black Revolution.  He was a revolutionary, and his assassination in  1965 was a dark time in the era of the Civil Rights movement.

Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington – Born a slave in Virginia a few years before the start of the Civil War, Washington was an important leader in the early Civil Rights movement.  Martin Luther King Jr would later be compared to him, as they both had a non-violent, non-confrontational approach to their leadership in the movement.  Not only was he able to overcome his past and lack of early opportunity, he was able to educate himself, and help many others achieve that same dream.

They are worth the read, worth the time, and deserve recognition.  This is no way a definitive list, these are just some of our favorites.  Black history and culture should be celebrated every day, all year round.  The month of February is a special time of reflection and remembrance.  Through these voices, the tale of African American history is told – through slavery, segregation, discrimination, and violence.

New Fiction Friday: The Kowalski Family

This week’s NFF comes from a surprising find!  We really enjoyed this romance series, and the newest in the series is being released in just a couple of weeks!

I came across the first book in this series by Shannon Stacey in the top free list on iBooks the description looked good, so I downloaded it.  Yep, Exclusively Yours was a great book.  Keri Daniels works for an entertainment magazine, her editor finds out that once upon a time she used to date no recluse author Joe Kowalski and wants her to get an exclusive.  The last thing Keri wants to do is try to get an interview with her ex, the man she left behind, but she also does not want to lose her job so she makes the call.

Joe has never gotten over Keri and sees this as an opportunity to spend time with her, maybe even get her back.  He tells her that if she wants her interview she will have to accompany him on the annual family camping trip.  For each day that she participates in every activity he will answer one question.

The chemistry is still there and so is the animosity that Joe’s sister Terry holds for her former best friend Keri.  This family is so much fun.  I would love to go on one of their camping trips.  When I finished Joe and Keri’s story I went back to iBooks and found several more books, all cost money and while I love to read with the number of books I read in a year I don’t buy them.  So off to the library website I went to put the books on hold.

Undeniably Yours is the story of youngest brother Kevin.  A nasty divorce has left Kevin a changed man, and after reading why he split with his wife I totally understand.  Kevin owns a bar and one day he spies a woman, Beth,  being hit on unwelcomly, he comes to the rescue only to find out the man doing the hitting was the woman’s boss and he fires her.  This does not bode well for Kevin who finds himself quite attracted to her.  At big brother Joe’s wedding he once again runs into Beth and in one of those oh so typical one thing leads to another scene they end up in his hotel room.  A few weeks later, you guessed it OOPS.  Beth wants nothing to do with Kevin and nothing from him, he on the other hand wants to be a part of his child’s life and a part of Beth’s.

Book three in the Kowalski family series moves us on to the cousins from Maine. In Yours to Keep, Sean Kowalski is out of the army and looking for a place to settle down.  He wants nothing to do with the family lodge in Maine so he decides to visit the Massachusetts branch of the family taking up residence in the apartment above Kevin’s bar, until Emma Shaw comes along that is.  Emma is a friend of Kevin’s sister-in-law Lisa. (Yeah it takes a while to keep all the Kowalskis straight, especially when you count in the kids).  Emma is in need of a fiancee and fast.  She has told her grandmother that she is engaged because her grandmother is worried about her and thinking of moving home from Florida.  The problem: Emma said she was engaged to Sean who was in the army and totally safe, but now he’s home and Emma’s grandma is coming for a visit.  Somehow she talks Sean into faking the relationship but spending all that time together has them each wondering if it could be real.  Then Grandma and Sean’s Aunt Mary start conspiring, uh oh.

The next set of Kowalski books, the “All” set take us up to Sean’s brothers in Maine.  Josh has fallen while trying to trim a tree and broken his leg.  Mitch the oldest is home to try and help him get the lodge ready for the next season.  Mitch owns his own business and lives out of a suitcase the vast majority of the time.  He has no desire to settle down with a woman all he wants is a good time.  Paige settled in town just a few years ago she’s sworn off men.  So what happens when these two decide to just play for a while?  All He Ever Needed is their story.

Ryan Kowalski is home for his turn to help clean up the lodge, though it means taking time away from his construction business.  Being home is not all bad though, especially when he reunites with Lauren Carpenter the ex-wife of his former best friend.  Though the circumstances of their reunion are not good.  Ryan caught Lauren’s son breaking windows at the lodge.  They can’t seem to resist one another and again one thing leads to another but Lauren lives in Maine and Ryan lives and works in New Hampshire, they’re not sure they can make things work.

Josh Kowalski has finally told his family how he feels about being left behind to run the lodge.  They all got to go off and have lives of their own never stopping to think that they’ve left him holding the bag.  Now his brothers and sister have agreed to help him get free at the same time he discovers that his long-time best friend Katie is a woman after all.  So what really is All He Ever Dreamed?

The newest book in the series is finally out, Liz is moving home to Whitford.  On her way back into town she runs her car off the road and into a tree.  She’s filled with a sense of worry and anticipation as this means the imminent arrival of Chief Drew Miller.  Drew, her big brother Mitch’s best friend and also the man she slipped away from said brother’s wedding to have a quickie with, not the person she wants to see first thing in town.  I just finished this one and it was great!  This half of the Kowalski clan goes on the annual camping trip (of Doom LOL) with the other half.  You get to see all the characters again and it is just plain fun.

I’m looking forward to the next two books, though they are not directly Kowalskis’ they are friends from Whitford.  Taken With You is the story of Hailey, the town librarian and then Falling for Max the story of Max about whom the rumors abound and Tori also new in town.  I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I have.

Winter’s Bone

Just a few weeks ago we shared our review of The Maid’s Version, Daniel Woodrell’s latest book.  This happened to be the first of his books that I’d read.  Often when I enjoy a particular book by a writer, I become interested in reading their earlier books.  This is the case with Mr. Woodrell.  He happens to be from my home state of Missouri, from the southern part of the state near the Ozarks.  The region is well-represented in his book, it’s a unique flavor and introduces the Ozarks to a broader audience.  It happened to serve as the setting (or one of the settings) in The Maid’s Version, and in one of his more notable books, Winter’s Bone.

In 2010 Winter’s Bone was made into a movie starting the then-unknown Jennifer Lawrence.  She plays 17-year old Ree, who is desperate to find her fugitive father and save her family’s home that had been used as collateral when her father was bailed out of jail.  Ms. Lawrence has so far based her successful career off a few notable literary characters – of course she is best known as Katniss Everdeen, heroine of the Hunger Games trilogy.  Last year she starred as Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook, which was based off the book written by Matthew Quick.  Winter’s Bone was one of her first major film roles, one which earned her an Oscar nomination.  Ree, the strong young woman she plays from the Ozarks, is just as tough and courageous as Katniss.

Ree’s situation is incredibly dire from the beginning of the story – she hasn’t seen her father in quite a while, and had no idea that he had put their home up for collateral when he was bailed out of jail.  Her father had a long history of being on the wrong side of the law, as had many of Ree’s family.  As the head of the household, she does what she can to survive.  She has two younger brothers (though in the movie there is a brother and a sister), and the three of them live with Ree’s mother who seems to be in a permanent state of shock.  She is useless as a provider and caregiver for the family.

Who knew that the Ozarks, tucked in the southern part of the state, was a hotbed of illegal activity?  Ree’s father was arrested in a meth lab bust, something his brother had also been involved in.  This is a way of life for Ree’s family and neighbors in the area.  This makes it even more difficult for Ree to get help and locate her father, something she must do to save their home.  She shows little concern for her father’s welfare, she’s only interested in helping her siblings in mother, for whom she has become a caregiver.  Her biggest obstacle are some of the “heads” of the crime family.  Although in the book it’s not described as organized crime, or compared to the mafia, that’s the sense I got when reading the book.  One particular individual who is feared throughout the region is described similarly to a crime boss.  This is one person no one wants to cross, yet Ree knows that there’s no other way to find her father.  She fearlessly approaches him, gaining the respect of everyone involved.

I was so impressed by Ree’s character, and loved Jennifer Lawrence in the role!  The ending of the movie (and book) is quite shocking – making Ree a complete, fearless badass!  If you’re a fan of Miss Lawrence, this movie is a must-see, and the book is a must-read!

Ender’s Shadow and its sequels

More love for our fellow Ender fans out there!

This would be the set of “Ender” books I just wasn’t as in to, though I do own them all.  I’m not even sure why I didn’t enjoy these books quite as much maybe because they aren’t centered on Ender.

Ender’s Shadow is actually a companion book to Ender’s Game.  It is the story of Bean.  We start with Bean as a baby hiding in the tank of a toilet when someone comes to kill him and all of his brothers and sisters.  Bean it seems has highly developed survival senses.  These help him stay alive on the streets where he manages to work his way into a gang with some expert manipulation.  We meet Achilles, the boy who is to become not only his nemesis but also Peter Wiggin’s (Ender’s older brother.)

Bean is taken on by Sister Carlotta to be trained for the International Fleet specifically for Battle School. It is at the point that Bean finally goes to Battle School where his story and Ender’s begin to align, there are some differences that I think we can just chalk up to the stories putting us in the mind of different characters with two very different viewpoints.

The rest of the Shadow books follow the kids of Ender’s jeesh as they make their way back on Earth, we also meet up again with Ender’s parents and brother Pete. In Shadow of the Hegemon the kids from the Battle School begin to disappear one by one until Bean is the only one left.  With no one else to turn to Bean decides to ask for help from Peter Wiggin, not his first choice of allies.

Shadow Puppets continues the story of Peter taking over the world with the help of Bean, Petra, and the rest of Ender’s friends.  Peter is sure he knows how to make things right again on Earth but he can’t do it on his own the problem is sometimes he’s not sure who the kids are more loyal to him or Bean.

Shadow of the Giant was the original end to this set of books.  Bean has begun to grow and grow, he is going to become a giant in just a few short years and he will continue to grow until his internal organs can no longer support his body, it is expected that he will die in his 20s.  Bean and Petra want a family and they want their family safe.  This is probably the book I enjoyed most of this set until the newest one came out.

Shadows in Flight tells the story of Bean and his children who have the same genetic change that he does.  This is the only one of the Shadow books that I’ve read multiple times.  I really liked the interaction between Bean and his children and between the children themselves.  I was disappointed though that they didn’t somehow meet up with Ender which was what I expected to happen.  However all is not lost as there are rumors of a book titled Shadows Alive that will tie up the loose ends of the Ender and Bean sagas.  My fingers are totally crossed that this happens.

Just like the Ender books the Shadow books also have two graphic novels: Ender’s Shadow Battle School and Ender’s Shadow: Command School.

New Fiction Friday

So Stephanie Plum has turned 20.  Miss Plum is the main character in Janet Evanovich’s hugely popular Plum series.  She’s not really 20, and in fact she’s hardly aged at all, but the series began back in 1994.  This comedic mystery series has been a favorite for so many in those twenty years, and book twenty-one is slated for release later this year.  Written by Janet Evanovich, millions of books have been sold around the world.  There’s no question the series is very successful, and I confess I’ve read every book in the series.  Centered in the unglamorous city of Trenton, NJ, Plum starts the series unemployed, and reaches out to her cousin Vinnie for a job.  Vinnie owns a bail bonds business, and thus begins a new chapter in Stephanie’s life.

As an unlikely bounty hunter, Plum represents New Jersey’s finest.  Solving mysteries and chasing down criminals,  she’s a bit like Nancy Drew all grown up.  Only slightly clumsy, ditzy, and a bit promiscuous.  From the beginning of the series, she has been followed by Lula, a reformed prostitute she once saved from a murdering thug.  Her gun-toting, frequent funeral-goer grandmother also tags along.  She may be my favorite character in the series, and when the first book in the series One for the Money was made into a movie, she was played by the incomparable Debbie Reynolds.  The best, and also the most frustrating, is the love triangle between Stephanie, her sometimes-boyfriend Joe Morelli (who is Trenton P.D.), and Ranger.  But, really, after 20 years she can’t decide which one to choose??

You either love the series – or hate it, Stephanie Plum isn’t exactly a great heroine.  Miss Plum and I too have a love-hate relationship.  Each time a new book in the series comes out, I wonder why I keep reading.

In this latest version of the Plum saga, Takedown Twenty, she is searching for the killer of elderly women who have shown up dead in local dumpsters.  All these women have a few things in common – their age, their marital status (they’re all either single or widows), and their mutual love of playing bingo.  All of the usual cast of characters appear, her crazy grandmother, her sidekick Lula, and both of her love interests.  Nothing overly exciting – and as always, my favorite part of the book is her relationship with Morelli and Ranger.

Throughout the course of this series Stephanie has gone through many cars, each one either stolen, caught fire, or exploded.    Needless to say, she has bad luck.  She has been shot, attacked, mugged, and practically run over.  These seem to be recurrent themes in the series, making the stories seem almost formulaic.  I mentioned that I have read each one, and at the same time wonder why I’m still reading the series?  While sometimes predictable, and yet delightfully steamy, I can honestly say I have been entertained.  I’ll even admit to kind of liking the movie.  Love her or hate her, it’s a great credit to Janet Evanovich for continuing to write best-sellers, and keep her audiences entertained and wanting more!

Veronica Roth

Veronica Roth has lately achieved the almost success and popularity as Suzanne Collins.  If you’re unfamiliar with her work – you may be soon!  Divergent the movie is set to release in March.  I came across Divergent almost by accident after reading the Hunger Games trilogy and really enjoyed it but somehow lost track as each new book was being released so when I saw that Allegiant was out I put in on hold at the library and proceeded to wait about three months for it to come in.  This is the third book in the Divergent trilogy.   

Tris is once again imprisoned in the Erudite building awaiting her fate and contemplating the video released by Tobias (Four) at the end of the last book.  Tobias’s mother Evelyn the Factionless leader has taken over the city.  She forces everyone in the city to live as if they are factionless, gone are the clothing and traits that identify each faction; every person in the city must wear more than one color they must intermingle in their living quarters.  There is a contingent of rebels that wants to maintain factions however.  The factionless and faction rebels have several small skirmishes culminating in a large one at the over the bowls used at the Choosing Ceremony.  When the fight ends in death Tris accepts an invitation to a meeting of the rebel group.  In the meantime Tobias tell her that her brother Caleb has been sentenced to be executed in two weeks.  While unable to get beyond her brother’s betrayal that lead to her own near execution when she decides to leave the city with a group of rebels taking Caleb along is her one condition. 

Tris and a group of her friends escape the city losing Tori, to be found by someone Tobias thought was dead his former initiate instructor Amar.  They are taken to headquarters of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare at the former O’Hare airport, confirming for the reader that Tris’s city was indeed Chicago, just in case you weren’t sure because sometimes books like this take place in fictional places that just have similarities to our world.  At the Bureau they are told that the cities were an experiment.  Their goal is to get Divergent people, people with pure genes.

This story moves fairly fast considering how long it is, and while I enjoyed it there were almost too many twists and turns for me.  The end shocked me, I never saw it coming.  Maybe I should have; I’m sure other readers did but not me.  It is a realistic ending though not entirely happy, such is life.  I’d honestly be curious to see an update of this world a few years later, or a companion book from another city/experiment similar to Scott Westerfield’s Extras after her Uglies trilogy, another great futuristic yet in the real world set of books.  There you go, three sets of books to read if you like this genre, and three more sets of books that get kids and adults alike to learn to love reading just for fun: the Hunger Games trilogy, the Divergent trilogy, and the Uglies set.

They wrote a book?

By now, it’s safe to assume that everyone has heard or seen the Ylvis song “What Does the Fox Say?”  At this point the video has over 350 million views.  I personally can attest that at least 100 of those views are from me!  Some think the song is hilarious – others annoying and a bit ridiculous!  I understand both sides, and probably the only reason I’ve seen the video so many times is that my daughter loves it!  Right before Christmas Ylvis, the duo of Norwegian brothers Vegard and Bard Ylvisaker who made the video, was able to turn this song into a children’s book.

I knew my daughter would get a kick out of this book – and of course she loves it just as much as she does the song.  It’s certainly no great work of literature – but it is fun to read (and helpful if you’ve ever tried to figure out the lyrics – I know I’m not the only one!!).  The first time we read it together I laughed so hard I cried – each lyric, and each crazy sound is written out.  It’s a bit ridiculous – but hilariously fun!

My favorite part of the day – always – is reading to my daughter at night.  Not because I know bedtime is coming soon and I can finally relax (ok – sometimes that’s it)…  But it’s because it’s sometimes the only time during our day that we are cuddled up, relaxing, and enjoying something we both love.  I read because I love the books just as much as she does.  I read because I want her to love reading like I do.  I read because it’s such a great bonding experience – and what better way to spend this time than laughing together!  I love this book – it’s hilarious, silly, and the perfect book for a kid who loves to laugh!

Amy

Betty Hechtman Mysteries: A surprising find!

In the mood for a good mystery?

My rediscovery of mysteries came with the release of Betty Hechtman’s crochet mysteries, series starting with Hooked on Murder. I’m a crocheter, my grandma taught me and I’d been searching for books with crocheters in them as most of the “yarn-related fiction” centered on knitters.  Now let me be clear I have nothing against knitters, I even know how to knit.  I simply prefer to crochet and was really noticing the absolute dearth of crochet-centric books.  Now that being said I have read some of those knitting-centric books and enjoyed them, especially the Blossom Street books by Debbie Macomber, which I’ll review at some point in the future, there is a new one due out soon.

Finding Hooked on Murder was a complete accident.  I was searching a list of crochet books on the library website, looking for pattern books when lo and behold there it was just what I’d been searching for a fiction book with crochet.  Squee!  So I checked it out only to find it was the first in a series… double Squee!  I immediately but the first three books on hold and have been watching for each new book to be released since then.

Molly Pink is a widow, her husband of many years passed a year ago.  In the time since she has gotten a job as event planner at Shedd and Royal Books.  Part of her job is to supervise the weekly crochet group, the Tarzana Hookers.  Molly is not a crocheter herself and the leader of the group Ellen Sheridan was her husband’s partner in his public relations firm.  After her husband’s death Ellen forced Molly to sell her the other half of the firm.  Why does this matter, well one day Ellen leaves a bag of books at the bookstore.  Molly decides to do the kind thing and return them, however what she finds is Ellen murdered and she becomes the prime suspect.  Molly decides not to rely on the police to solve the crime as the detective that interrogates her has a personal interest in Molly’s new significant other. (Molly hates the term boyfriend for a man in his 50s.)  During the course of the book Molly and her best friend Dinah learn to crochet and join the Hookers.

There are seven other books in the crochet mysteries series: Dead Men Don’t Crochet, By Hook or by Crook, A Stitch in Crime, You Better Knot Die, Behind the Seams, If Hooks Could Kill, and the newest (a post of it’s own) For Better or Worsted.

I love this series for multiple reasons: Molly truly is an ameture detective and as such makes mistakes, I have yet to guess the who the murderer is which I have easily done in other mysteries I’ve read since starting this set, every book contains at least one crochet pattern and a recipe.  Another thing that spoke to me was Molly’s co-worker Adele’s tirade about crochet being looked down on by knitters.  Now I have met knitters that think crochet is cool, I’ve met crafters that do both, but I have also had that experience of being looked down on because crochet is my yarn craft of choice and it was in a yarn store.  Fortunately it does seem the climate of yarnies is becoming one of more evenness.  Sorry that was a bit off topic.  All in all, this is a great set of books you should totally check out whether you crochet, knit, macrame, tat, or none of the above.