5 Reasons to Sneak Into Your Library's Children's Section

Adult readers are finally coming to terms with the fact that YA fiction is where it's at. What can we say? We're funnier, better paced, and are happy to serve as a melting pot for all those other demographics who've been disappointed by themselves, ages 12 to 74. But how much do we think about dipping back into the middle school or children's genre? Here are five reads you might have missed your first go-round at being 10, but aren't too old enjoy as a more sophisticated reader.


Granny Torrelli Makes Soup 
Sharon Creech

I could tell you how many times I've read this book, but if I kept track of how many times I read a good book, I wouldn't have time to read any good books. And if I did know, telling you would probably be embarrassing.

Sharon Creech is famous for her novel Walk Two Moons, which won so many awards the cover art is no longer visible under all the medals plastered to the front of the book.

But out of everything I've read by Sharon Creech, this is the book that sticks out in my head: a story of a twelve-year old girl, the blind boy next door, the new girl across the street- told only through stories she tells to her grandmother as they make soup in her kitchen. Sharon Creech has brings an original voice in every book she writes, so of course this one isn't an exception. She's awesome like that. This book has a simple, raw, and magical tone that I really wish I could bottle and use on my poetry assignments.

Ella Enchanted
Gail Carson Levine

I'll never exactly consider Ella Enchanted a children's book. When I heard Gail Carson Levine last summer at a signing, she said she couldn't understand why her publishers keep putting these nine year old girls on the covers of her novels.

Ella Enchanted is a re-telling of Cinderella. I imagine Gail Carson Levine's friends as a kid all twirling their princess skirts and going on vacations to Disney World for autographs while she rolled her eyes in a very future-author-y way and told them all that Cinderella was a wimp. One day, I'm going to a book that actually gives her an interesting character and you can all get my signature.

This is another book worth re-reading again and again. It lacks all the tackiness of a typical retelling. Instead it's sweet, sincere and believable and yes, better than Ever After with Drew Barrymore.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Kate DiCamillo

This book is told from the point of view of a porcelain rabbit. Of course it is. This is coming from the woman that brought us the mouse who fell into a bowl of soup and saved the world with a spool of thread.

Edward Tulane is probably the most original story I've ever read. Edward is a selfish and tampered toy, and he has little emotion other than a love for tailored suits his owner dresses him in. Each day his owner him sets him up next to a window pane, where he watches the empty street until she returns home from school.

When his owner travels to England by ship, Edward is thrown overboard into the Atlantic and rescued by a fisherman. He is sent on a journey of owner to owner through the years. Edward is a hobo on the road with one owner, a scarecrow or a street performer with another, each with a unique story to tell that makes me want to cry for one reason or another.

While I liked reading this book as a kid, re-reading it now, with the honors-English-curse upon me, I see all sorts of literary devices and symbolism. Now I love it.

The Whipping Boy
Sid Fleischman

A classic for a slightly younger audience than others on my list, I never thought I would like this book. If elementary schools had honors English courses, this might not make the heavy-symbolism-and-other-literary-devices cut. But this book has a clever little charm all its own.

The Whipping Boy is the story of a prince who has never gone a day in his life without finding some sort of trouble to get into deserving of a whipping. But as it is illegal to whip a prince, the castle holds in reserve a whipping boy, who is called out and beat in his place as a lesson to the prince. In 90 witty little pages, Sid Fleichman tells the story of the prince and whipping boy's unlikely friendship with snappy dialogue that puts some more "mature" authors to shame.

Tuck Everlasting
Natalie Babbitt

It's not the kind of book a kid would pick up on the shelf next to  Diary of A Wimpy Kid, but anyone who has taken a peek inside Tuck Everlasting is much more impressed with what they find.

Tuck Everlasting feels just like this cover to me: a simple, lazy summer day story, but wrapped up beneath all the yellow is a paranormal twist about mysterious family who has found they will never die. Here's the really crazy part: they're not the Cullens.

Sometimes children's and middle-grade classics become overlooked, because the only reason anybody reads a classic anymore is if a grumpy little English teacher in suspenders forces you to, and that only happens in high school. Tuck Everlasting, as well as the rest of the books here, are great examples of  middle-grade classics worth your time no matter what your age, no matter your lack of a grumpy, suspend-ered English teacher standing over you shoulder.

Check back here at READ MY PRINT next Friday for the best on companion novels: one of those parallel posts.

Reading Now (The 50% British Edition)

Finding Violet Park
By Jenny Valentine

"The minicab office was a cobbled mews with little flat houses on either side. That's where I first met Violet Park, or what was left of her."

Admittedly, my copy of the book does not look as cool as the cover on the right. I loved reading Broken Soup by Jenny last year and now have found this second novel under the title Me, the Missing, and the Dead. While Finding Violet Park sounds quirky enough for U.K. audiences, apparently everything has to be watered down when it's shipped to America. I have decided to tell people I'm reading Finding Violet Park anyway and pretend like I'm British. I watch BBC. Close enough.

Click on the U.S. cover to zoom in. Go on. It's not half as fun.

The good news is that the inside of Jenny's books refuse to be American-ified. Unlike some more mainstream British authors (another fancy way of saying  Harry Potter) her American editions hold their ground, their quirk, and their heavy London accent. It's like reading an old Kate Nash album.




The Dead-Tossed Waves
By Carrie Ryan

"The story goes that even after the Return they tried to keep the roller coasters going."

I guess the British are so sophisticated, their zombie novels have sea shells on the covers. Will an American not read a book unless a girl has passed out on the cover?

As a companion novel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth, this book has a pretty good site staked out already. Hands and Teeth was a zombie novel that never said the word "zombie", and an apocalypse novel with no flashy technology, (which I consider even a bit more unbelievable). Instead the story took place in a community where you would expect the Salem Witch Trials to go down. Everybody wears peasant blouses, lives in little wood houses, and hangs out at the mill, overlooking a stream and field of daisies. And at the edge of the field there's a giant chain-linked fence with undead clawing at it.

This book caught my eye by starting right off the bat with such a more modern feel to it. The theory goes that humanity is surviving the apocalypse by living in these tiny little gated communities with no contact to any other tiny little gated communities. Yes zombie-apocalypse-preparedness-lovers, all you actually needed was a chain-linked fence. While the community most explored in the first book is controlled by a group of nuns who rule in renaissance-fair mode, I'm looking forward to seeing how other communities are fairing, apparently in the midst of broken down roller coasters and hopefully other more modern devices. I would also like it if less of the sequel took place inside a convent. Just an idea.

You Killed Wesley Payne
By Sean Beaudoin

"Dalton Rev thundered into the parking lot of Salt River High, a squat brick building at the top of a grassless hill that looked more like the last stop of the hopeless than a springboard to the college of your choice."

This book doesn't have a British edition but I liked the theme we had going here.

And I like the cover on the right better anyway.

While I've never read anything by Sean Beaudoin, I've heard some great reviews since picking up this book and his bio cracks me up.  Not to jinx this or anything, but I have hopes for this guy.

If I'm completely honest with you, I have to admit the real deal-sealer on this one was that title. Come on. It's completely U.K. edition worthy.

Bloomability
By Sharon Creech 

"In my first life, I lived with my mother, and my older brother and sister, Crick and Stella, and my father when he wasn't on the road."

Nobody, ever ever in the whole wide world is ever ever too old for a Sharon Creech book. I sound like a Taylor Swift single replay saying it like that but I needed you to listen. These books are for everyone and they always will be.  I love this woman and almost everything she does. I love it when I find a book of hers I haven't read.

And look, I went that whole paragraph without even mentioning how much cooler the U.K. cover was, or how everybody in England that reads Sharon Creech books apparently looks like that girl off Glee and can get away with serenely looking off into the distance at random moments and wears cool scarves.



Check in next Friday for five reasons to re-visit the children's section, plus Well Said! posts through out the week.

Jerry Spinelli- Well Said! Quote

Jerry Spinelli's novel Stargirl is a five star read and the reason I reallly hope someone gives me a porcupine necktie one day. The book has inspired "Stargirl Societies" at other schools across the country and a lot of ukulele playing at mine. Stargirl is one of my favorite characters I've read in the past few years, and this quote wraps her up perfectly. Click on the quote block for a bigger version to download.

John Green- Well Said! Quote

I refer to this man as That One Guy Who Says Everything Funny. While I haven't had the opportunity to read a book by John Green yet, I have yet to read a quote of his I haven't loved to pieces. This quote from The Fault In Our Stars essentially describes my life. Click on the quote block for a larger version you can download.

Gail Carson Levine- Well Said! Quote

I've become completely addicted to the new Well Said! quote bar to my right. Every time I want to sit down and write something I end up just clicking the refresh button over and over and reading more quotes. I'm not all that productive anymore, but it did inspire me to make this.  

Back-To-School Reads

A brand new movie can be relied on to pop up every Friday, but new books are a little harder to watch out for. In the back-to-school spirit, however, authors can be relied upon to spew books onto the shelves August through November- which is good, because it means I'll be heading to school every day, right across the street from Barnes & Noble. Check out these new reads from old favorites this fall . . . also known as my to-do list.

Reached, by Ally Condie
Coming November 13

Ally Condie's dystopia romance, Matched, premiered less than two years ago. The book stole its ideas only from the best- riding on the heels of The Hunger Games, and bringing back those really weird memories of having to read Fahrenheit 451 for English. It was an action-romance-adventure-dystopia that centered around heavy government censorship and control. I can think of about ten different books that meet the same requirements off the top of my head. At the same time though, Ally brought something calming and unique to the fast-paced dystopian table by writing in a beautiful, poetic tone. She's inspired almost too many quote boards on Goodreads and Pintrest. As the series went on with Crossed last year, her ideas grew up- out of Suzanne Collins and into themselves. Now, she's ready to release a third, and the way this series has climbed the Good-Better-Best staircase, I can't pretend I'm not excited. Aren't trilogies fun?



The Kill Order by James Dashner
Coming August 14

Speaking of trilogies, James Dashner just had to spoil the magic number and write a prequel to his Maze Runner series, bringing his count up to four. I have mixed feelings about prequels (mostly several bad feelings mixed together). My theory is this: you start your book at the point a character's life is worth writing a book about. Before that, their lives were composed of tragic backstory, mean aunts and uncles, and no dates. However, reading more into this specific prequel has got me intrigued. Maze Runner focused on a group of adolescents in post-apocalyptica, going through a group of mysterious tests designed to find the leader among them worthy of saving the world. This new book explains how the world was driven into the unique apocalypse written about through the rest of the series. While I've told you my opinion of The Maze Runner series before (a trio of Orson Scott Card rip-offs that don't live up to the original . . . that I couldn't stop reading for some reason) I'm willing to give this a shot out of curiosity. I guess his theory is this: if you go enough generations back, it could be possible to run into something interesting to write about.


Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale
Coming August 21

While I'm not entirely sure if it's true, I like to believe I was present at Shannon Hale's first ever book signing. I was seven, and Goose Girl was in its first printing and original cover (I swear they've gone through about seventy now). Since then, Shannon Hale's new reads have slowly become less and less appealing. It seemed almost as if she'd thrown in the towel on fairy tales for good- writing things like Austenland and Midnight in Austenland and who knew what other times of the day. It's exciting and refreshing to see her turning back instead to some roots I'd almost forgotten she had. Palace of Stone is the fairy-tale-esque story of Mira, a girl from a small mountain village thrown into the society of royal court when her friend is selected to be the next princess, and Mira accompanies her on the journey. This book is the sequel to Princess Academy, a novel Shannon wrote in 2005 and the reason I wanted my name to be Laurel for so many years as a kid.


Erasing Time by C.J. Hill
Coming August 28

Have you ever read an author who writes the fun, fluffy, pink pleasures in life, and noticed those moments between the lines where they hint at being secretly a much cooler, more dramatic person capable of writing something a whole lot more action-packed and lip-gloss free? No? I have every time I've read a Janette Rallison novel. They're fun, romantic, and witty, but I've always wished she would give Suzanne Collins a run for her money instead of Sarah Dessen. Now she is- publishing her own dystopia drama, Erasing Time, under her pen name, C.J. Hill. Erasing Time is the story of two twins transported to the year 2447. While I would probably be guilty of picking something a whole lot more crazy as my pseudonym, I'm still excited to see her write a more serious book. It might not debut at the top of New York Times bestsellers lists, like most of the other books here, but it's one that I already have confidence would earn the spot in a more fair and much cooler world.

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
Coming October 2

I'd be lying if I said this wasn't on the list. Even though I've now begun to finally notice the FOR TWELVE AND UNDER sticker on the backs of these books, for some reason I can't get rid of them. For so many people, the Percy Jackson books were such a fun and memorable part of our childhood that we can't seem to stop, even as we grow up. However . . . unlike other long-term series with similar fan bases (my fancy way of saying Harry Potter) the Rick Riordan books' biggest flaw is perhaps how little growing-up his series has done along side his audience. Granted, I might just be saying this because of that dang sticker and the fact I check these books out with a high school ID now- and yeah, it's true, the books are still a huge draw for kids. But this new novel will be featuring a hero and heroine going on 17. I have hopes for a more mature story this go-round, while sticking to the witty, goofy and clean roots that I fell in love with in the fifth grade (also I'd like Percy and Annabeth to be romantically reunited and save the world with some cool sword fighting, than you Mr. Twelve-and-Under).


Check back next Friday for a special post on altered books- ideas in using well-worn paperbacks for everything from lampshades to works of art (which, lately, I've been so obsessed with my room looks like a publishing press exploded inside).

Summer English Reading

English is the only school subject you can consistently depended on to give you a grade for liking to read. English teachers throw out novel reading assignments the way French teachers drink Diet Coke (which is to say, constantly, if you haven’t taken French). A novel as summer homework, though, can be hard to tackle, even as a big reader. Usually you’ve been assigned a book that’s easy to avoid at the bottom of your beach bag- too heavy, with one of those ‘Barnes and Noble Classics’ covers. But now it’s August- time to get down to business. Finishing your summer reading without late nights and headaches is still possible.

Watch the Movie

Reading all 1,000 pages of The Count of Monte Cristo isn’t very tempting. At least, not when all you know about the novel is that it probably will at some point involve a count, and he will live on Monte Cristo. Probably. 

            Get familiar with the story you’re about to read. Watching the movie before you read the book is not cheating. Cheating is bringing your math notes to the ACT. Cheating is counting the Percy Jackson movie as studying Greek mythology. But getting exposure to a difficult novel can help hold your interest later. As you read, you’ll have a better image in your head, and through a dry patch, you’ll be able to push through, knowing what’s going to happen next. Reading Monte Cristo, you can now know that his son looks like Henry Cavill and is secretly Superman.

Cast Your Novel

In some instances, there is no Henry Cavill to watch out for. You might not be reading Romeo and Juliet either. So if your book’s stubbornly stingy, there are other solutions. My second favorite method is called casting your novel, as you probably figured out by now. Treasure Island might have felt as dry as . . . an island? (I’m running out of good ones that relate to the classics) but try imagining that cute kid from third period as Jim Hawkins- and your seventh grade math teacher would be perfect as Long John Silver. If watching those two running around in peg legs and tights isn’t interesting enough, you have very high expectations for life.

Stop Wasting Time

You’re finally warming up to the idea of actually finishing that bowling ball in your beach bag (I’m still referring to the book, although I’d feel sorry if you have an actual bowling ball in your beach bag as well). Choosing an amount of pages or number of minutes to read can make it feel like work, but having a time and place to read each day can help you be consistent. Pick a situation to read where your summer won't be in the way- set your phone aside, get comfortable, and plow through a chapter or two. 

Read for Yourself
It can be hard to complete an assignment for a class you've never been to before. I've heard scary things about the teacher. Should I use black or blue ink on my annotations? Will anybody be able to read my notes? Don't be scared to mark the book up in a way that makes sense to you- even if it means writing in a reference a teacher won't understand, or drawing devil horns above the name of the character you hate most. Hold your own attention by reading the way you want and leaving the kind of trail through the book that makes sense to you- not what you think the teacher wants to hear. 

Earn a Reward 
Sometimes the hardest thing about summer reading is knowing there's a much more interesting book sitting on your nightstand than the one your teacher assigned to you. If you have a novel you're dying to finish, try disciplining yourself by allowing yourself to read it only after you've done your summer reading. Shoot for a day to have your reading done and plan a celebration for yourself. Even for a reader like you, not every book is going to be easy. So congratulate yourself on a job well done when you've made it to the end!

Check in next Friday for your last scoop on summer reads before heading back to school!