"I was born with a reading list that I will never finish."  -Maude Casey

I'd Rather Be Reading

     Today is the first day of my Fall Break!!! More time for reading here I come!!  I am so excited to get started on some of those books that I have had stacked on my pile for quite some time.  Please don't judge me by the piles of books in my bedroom!  I promise some day I will get to them all...maybe?  The bad thing about my reading list is that seems as though for every book I read off that list, at least two more get added. At least I will never be able to say I have nothing to read.  

     I'm currently reading The Cutting Room Floor by Dawn Klehr.  This is the story of Riley and Dez.  Riley is dealing with the fact that her girlfriend has not only just dumped her, but did so in a very public manner, which also outed her at the same time.  Her good friend Dez has a big crush on Riley and we are slowing figuring out that he may have played a role in this public break-up and outing, in an attempt to get Riley to fall for him.  I have also resumed my listening of The Girl of Fire and Thorns.  My hope is to get a lot of listening time this week as I work in the house...I have to do something to make cleaning more enjoyable!!

Book Review

Grief Girl: My True Story

by Erin Vincent

Publisher: Delacorte Press

2007

Lexile Range: 660L

     This book is exactly what any teenager who is dealing with grief or loss needs to read.  Erin Vincent lost both of her parents, in a tragic accident, when she was only fourteen years old.  In this memoir Erin takes the reader on her journey of dealing with the death of her parents and trying to pick up the pieces of her life with her older sister and much younger brother.  Erin holds nothing back when she shares the heartache and the joys of living without her parents' love and support.  From dealing with a sister whose dreams have gone to the side so that she can raise two younger siblings, to a little brother who remembers very little of his parents, Erin is forced to accept and deal with these very harsh realities.  Although I personally did not lose anyone as a teenager, I can remember this fear being my worst nightmare.  By sharing her story, Erin is able to allow others who are experiencing the same situation know that they are not alone.  This is definitely one of those books I will recommend to students for years to come.

What's on your reading list?

     October is shaping up to be a very busy month for me with my reading.  For this class, I need to narrow my list down from about five to two nonfiction titles.  I'm still trying to decide between The Bomb, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, and They Called Themselves the KKK.  Of course this is subject to change depending on what I find next time I hit the shelves.  I have only about twenty more days to go until my presentation at this years Indiana Library Federation conference.  I'm trying to read at least a couple more titles for this presentation as well.  I still have Gone, Gone, Gone, Man Up!, Ham: Slices of Life, and Two Boys Kissing on my to-read shelf.  Of course this does not even include the bag of books I picked up at the ALA Convention in Chicago this past summer, the ROSIE titles I have to have read by May, or the books I have already downloaded to my Audible account.  Yikes!  Looks like I better get off here and start reading!!!  So, what's on your list to read?

Happy Reading!!!

Jennifer