By now, you may have read my post inspired by hearing speaker Aranka Siegal share her experiences about the Holocaust. My mother is currently reading Upon the Head of the Goat, an account of what happened during that time. I thought I would read this book, which is a series of short stories inspired by […]
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Guilty. I had never read this classic from the 1960s. I had picked it up as a child at a garage sale, but the language was too difficult for me, and I stopped after chapter one. When I went to visit my parents recently, I saw the book on the shelf of my room, and […]
Emmaline Roke’s story begins in the 1830s, in England. Her father worked a shop in a pleasant village, and all is well until her father’s death. At this point, the family is evicted from the shop, and Emmaline’s mother is forced into factory work to support the family. Emmaline dreams of being a seamstress and […]
Wow, I really enjoyed this book. It’s hard to write about without spoilers, though. So here’s the short version—without spoilers. For spoilers, you’ll have to scroll down. I picked up this novel because it was recommended by a literary agent at a writing conference I attended. When I noticed the low price and the Newberry […]
I re-read this book for a YA/kidlit class I’m teaching later this month. Gary Paulsen was one of my favorite authors as a kid. I devoured each of his books, loving the way his characters expanded their horizons to develop skills needed to survive life-or-death situations while under the age of sixteen. The Voyage of […]
I looked everywhere for this book. It is out of print, and I had to find a used copy online. When I was a kid, my mom and I always used to check this book out of the library. It was my absolute favorite book because the concept of going barefoot in June represented to […]
I loved this book as a child, and I re-read it for educational purposes—I’ll be presenting some workshops on using literature to encourage closer reading later this year. The book was even more poignant than I remembered it, and I love the freedom theme running through it. The novel follows Annemarie and Ellen, two girls […]
This was one of my favorite books when I was younger, so I thought I’d re-read it. The book was not as good as I remember it, mostly because of the outdated writing style, but I enjoyed the plot and remember why I loved it so much as a kid. The premise: the world has […]
In my kids’ mystery series, the protagonist’s mother is crazy about correcting grammar—to the extent that she gets distracted and lost, runs late, or loses track of all else in her life. The character, Mrs. Hollinger, is based loosely on a combination of me, my mother, and every grammar guru I know. But she was […]
