Currently Reading: I Am Malala by by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb (Contributor)

I am currently reading I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (2013).

I am a little over halfway finished with it.  I have been fascinated with learning more about the history of the region Malala was born and grew up in.   The first hand account of what happened to lead up to her being shot is interesting, although at times it has been a little dry.   Sometimes I have wanted to know more about her feelings in certain situations.  I have just gotten to the chapter about the actual shooting, so I will have to update my review as I finish reading this book.

Secrets of the Book by Erin Fry

Secrets of the Book by Erin Fry (2014)

I highly recommend this book for readers ages eight to twelve.   It is an adventurous read.  A boy named Spencer (who is going blind eventually, though not yet in this book) and his friend Gregor (who is on the autism spectrum) love to run, and that is how they become friends.   Spencer's mom is into doing kind things and so has him signed up to visit regularly with an older man at an assisted living home.  The older gentleman is Ed.  Ed has a book he acquired many years before in Europe.  It is rather magic - if just the right person taps the page and pulls the book mark across, the person on that page will spring to life outside the book.   We readers meet Teddy Roosevelt, Socrates, and Martin Luther King, among others.   However, there is someone after Ed, Spencer, Gregor and Ed's great-granddaughter Mel who want to get his hands on this book.  And there is another mysterious gentleman who looks remarkably like Al Capone.  How does this all tie together?  Read this book and find out!

Play It Again, Mallory by Laurie Friedman

Play It Again, Mallory by Laurie Friedman
(Published August 1st 2013 by Darby Creek)

I admit that I read this book because of the cover!  I loved the image of a young girl holding a tuba and does not look thrilled about it.    I was on mymediamall looking for a book to check out for my kindle, and being a youth librarian at heart, I decided to peruse the juvenile fiction offerings available.  I found this one, and had never read any of this series before. This book is geared toward second through fourth grade level readers, and I recommend it to readers of that age and level.

The main character is in fourth grade.  They have instituted a new arts exploratory program in her school
school.   Each of the older students much submit their first, second and third choices.   Mallory asks for drama first, ballet second and band third.   All her friends get their first choices, and Mallory gets put in her third choice!  The new band director says that she has a talent for matching students with the instruments that are right for them.   Mallory gets assigned the tuba, and she is quite sure that she cannot play the tuba.  Read this book to find out what happens!

(As a note, my mom started my on the flute many years ago - which I liked - but years later, my brother told me that with my ombrochere, I should have played low brass instead.  Perhaps that's what Mallory's band director saw in her!)

Sunrise (Ashfall #3) by Mike Mullins

Sunrise by Mike Mullin

This is the third book of the trilogy, and honestly, I did not care for the violence in this book.  I did enjoy that they are able to get a society going again. 

That is all I have to say about this one. 

The Pigeon

My son got a book for Christmas that he still adores, but it is the only book he wanted at bedtime for over a month.  This was the book:

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!  by Mo Willems.





Soon after, we discovered the rest of the Pigeon books at our local library.  There is the book about not letting the pigeon stay up late.  The one about the pigeon wanting a hot dog. The new one that came out just this spring about the pigeon needing a bath. And, of course,  my son's other big favorite in this series:

The Duckling Get a Cookie!?  by Mo Willems


This one is kind of fun because of the added animal character of the duckling.   I read it to my son with different voices for the two characters. 



If you have preschool aged children, I highly recommend these books.  Of course, there is also the excellent iPad app for the Pigeon.  My son enjoys this app on the library iPads (we don't own our own device at this time.)