MOONRISE by Sarah Crossan

Joe Moon is seventeen years old.
He hasn't seen his brother, Ed,
since he was seven,
when Ed stole his aunt's car
and hotfooted it to Texas.

Joe remembers
taking a phone call from Ed.
There was an incident
a policeman was shot and killed
And Ed
despite proclaiming his innocence
ended up on death row.

Now, ten years later, Ed's execution is imminent,
and Joe travels to Texas
to see his brother,
and possibly to say goodbye.

A powerful (and horribly sad) story
of family
and love
and justice (or injustice).

WHAT I'M READING

My motto in life, "When the going gets tough, the tough get reading." And so I read a lot this weekend…

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

Hazel is a sixteen-year-old girl who has spent most of her teenage years been battling cancer that started in her thyroid and metastasized to her lungs. At a cancer support group, she meets osteosarcoma survivor, Augustus (Gus) Waters. Although Hazel has determined that she will not allow anyone to be close to her (she likens herself to a human grenade who will explode and cause pain in people's lives), Gus soon convinces her otherwise. A gorgeously written, very realistic (or at least it seems realistic) novel about teenagers living life with laughter and joy and courage in the face of really tough odds. Note to my elementary teacher friends: This is definitely YA- upper middle school and high school.

WONDER is another book that everyone is talking about (and should be). I downloaded it on Netgalley and read it in one sitting, then ran out and bought it today, planning to start it as a fourth grade read aloud on Wednesday. WONDER is the story of ten-year-old August, who was born with serious facial deformities. Because he has had to undergo many surgeries, he has always been home schooled. Now, in the fifth grade, his parents think he is ready to attend school with everyone else. Auggie has mixed feelings, mostly because he has spent his entire life with people staring at him and saying unkind things. Told through the eyes of several different people, including Auggie, his sister Via (short for Olivia), Olivia's boyfriend Justin, Olivia's former best friend Miranda, and Jack, a child who becomes one of Auggie's best friends at school. So much to love about this book- the varying voices of narrators, beautiful writing, but most of all, the messages of kindness and caring and courage. I can't wait to share this with my kids on Wednesday, I think we have a lot to learn from Auggie.

The third book I read this weekend was WHERE YOU LEFT ME, by Jennifer Gardner Trulson. Jennifer Gardner was a former lawyer, the wife of Doug Gardner, and the mom of five-year-old Michael and Julia, age 2, when 9/11 changed her life forever. Doug, an executive at Cantor Fitzgerald, was killed, and Julia had to remake her life without him. Her children, especially her daughter, were very young, and Trulson wanted to preserve their dad's memory, so she started keeping a journal and recording her memories on a hand held tape recorder. WHERE YOU LEFT ME also chronicles the development of her relationship with her second husband, Derek Trulson.

Finally, I'm reading STILL: NOTES ON A MID-FAITH CRISIS by Lauren F. Winner. I read Winner's faith memoir, GIRL MEETS GOD several years ago. A week or two ago, I read that Winner had a new book, STILL: NOTES ON A MID-FAITH CRISIS. The reviewer likened Winner's newest book to that of Anne LaMott, who is one of my favorite writers. Of course I immediately had to download the book. Winner has, in the last few years, gone through a divorce and pretty much journeyed away from God, and then is in the process of rethinking what she believes. I'm only about a third of the way in, but am totally enjoying her honesty and faith journey.

Next week's reading, I hope:

A MONSTER CALLS

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN

HUNGER GAMES

WHEELS OF CHANGE- Sue Macy

Do you ever think about all of the important stuff that has never occurred to you to think about? I guess that is kind of a weird question-- but really, do you ever come across a book, or article, or something that makes you stop and say, "Hmm, I never thought about that, or at least I never thought about it in that context, but it really is kind of important."

Take bicycles, for instance. Have you ever stopped to think about the role bicycles played in the women's rights movement? I hadn't, or at least I hadn't until I read WHEELS OF CHANGE: HOW WOMEN RODE THE BICYCLE TO FREEDOM (WITH A FEW FLAT TIRES ALONG THE WAY) by Sue Macy.

In WHEELS OF CHANGE, Macy traces the history of the bicycle, from its earliest times, but focuses particularly on how it has impacted women in the United States-- everything from transportation/freedom, to women's health, to women's clothing (long bulky hoopskirts simply weren't very practical on a bicycle, thus the invention of the bloomer and/or shorter skirt lengths).

WHEELS OF CHANGE is a typical National Geographic book- gorgeously designed with tons of interesting photographs (I especially loved the one of four African American bicyclists riding their bikes on the Alameda Avenue bridge in Denver), paintings, and publications from that era, as well as glossaries, a timeline, etc. Short features between each chapter provide additional information- biographies of famous women cyclists such as Madame Curie, cycling slang, and how the bicycle was used in advertising. I also loved the forward about how bicycles have changed the lives of women in modern day Africa.

This is a definitely a book for upper grade/middle/high school or older readers. It's pretty long (over 90 pages) and densely packed with great primary source information. If I taught high school American history or women's studies, I could see reading aloud different chunks and talking about other inventions that have had a similar impact on history.

I also think, however, that younger readers would enjoy looking at the great photographs and memorabilia from that time period. I loved the shorter, usually one page pieces between chapters. The biographies of Amelia Jenks Bloomer, Frances Willard, Alice Austen (sometimes compared to Civil War photographer Matthew Brady) and Denver cyclist Dora Rinehart would be great mentor texts for intermediate grade writers. I could also see myself using some of the other shorter chunks of text to help kids understand text structure.

When I see National Geographic on the front of a book, I know the book will be terrific- accurate, interesting, and lots of great visuals. WHEELS OF CHANGE definitely fulfills all of those expectations.

Review copy provided by publisher

RECAP OF READING

Not much blogging going on right now. It's not that I am not reading, because I actually have read quite a bit. Think it's more that most of what I have read has been recommended by other bloggers, and since they have already blogged about it, I wonder what I would have to say that is new or different. Which makes me wonder why I am bothering to blog at all, but that's probably a whole different post. Anyway, as far as what I have been reading lately…

AFTER EVER AFTER by Jordan Sonnenblick

Jeffrey is an eighth grade leukemia survivor. The lasting effects of chemo have shaped Jeffrey as a learner and a human being. He struggles with math, for instance, even though his dad is an accountant and math whiz. Nerve damage in one foot has left him unable to participate in physical education, or play the drums with his beloved older brother, Steven. Because of his struggles, Jeffrey is totally surprised when Lindsey Abraham, a hot new eighth grader from California, becomes interested in him. His delight in this new relationship is overshadowed by worries about passing the state math test and/or being retained in eighth grade, missing Steven, who has taken a year off to go to Africa and play the drums, and concerns about his best friend, Tad, who is also a cancer survivor.

Jordan Sonnenblick is an author that's new to me. I don't teach middle school and probably won't use his work a lot in my classroom. Even so, I enjoyed AFTER EVER AFTER tremendously and think middle school kids would love the real-life issues and relationships, also how Sonnenblick moves in and out of various teen friendly genre- email, instant messages, bulleted lists, etc., to tell the story. I have gotten recommendations from Twitter buddies for a couple of more that I want to read.

JAKE by Audrey Couloumbis

It's Saturday morning, the week before Christmas, and Jake and his mother are at the grocery store when she slips on the ice and breaks her leg. The hospital social worker asks Jake for the name of a relative. Aside from Mrs. Buttermark, a grandmother-ish neighbor and family friend, the only person Jake can think of is a grandfather, his father's father, who he hasn't seen since his dad passed away many years earlier. A sweet story about relationships and reconnection-- I especially loved the connection between Jake and Mrs. Buttermark, because I know so many kids who rely heavily on neighbors, or people who aren't biological family, for physical and moral support.

WAR & WATERMELON by Rich Wallace

Brody Winslow is going through a lot of changes. He's starting seventh grade and will be going to a new school. He's trying out for the football team. And trying to figure out the girl thing. Maybe most importantly, his older brother, Ryan, has just graduated from high school, and is trying to figure out what to do with his life. He's not sure he wants to go to college, at least not right away, but the Vietnam War is in full swing, and if he doesn't go to school, he will probably go to war. Brody is caught right between his parents, who love their son and don't want him to go to Vietnam, and his brother, who doesn't want to go to school, but also doesn't want to fight a war he doesn't believe in.

I enjoyed this book. I grew up during the Vietnam War. When I was about eight, my cousin, Greg, who was a junior in high school, came to live with us for a couple of years. I remember many, many similar conversations around our dinner table. I think this book would be perfect during a study of that era. If kids didn't have some background knowledge, however, I'm not sure that they would really "get" the historical aspects of WAR & WATERMELON.

THE GREAT WALL OF LUCY WU by Wendy Wan-Lung Shang

Lots of people have been "talking" about LUCY WU. Mary Lee's brother, Dave, reviewed it on YEAR OF READING a couple of weeks ago. Karen reviewed it on LITERATE LIVES. Lucy Wu thinks she is going to have a perfect sixth grade year. Her sister, Regina, is leaving for college so Lucy will finally have her own room. She loves basketball and is eagerly looking forward to the start of a new season. Things change, however, when Lucy finds out that her great aunt Yi Po is coming to stay for a few months, and will be sharing Lucy's room. Lucy's parents decide she should attend Chinese School, which meets at the same time as basketball practice. And the class bully, Sloane (whose mom is President of the parent organization), does her best to make Lucy's life miserable.

Like Dave and Karen, I loved this book. Wendy Wan-Lung Shang really gets the life of a sixth grader, and especially a sixth grader from a different cultural background- that balance between trying to fit in, trying to be your own person, and yet also still retain your family's rich cultural history. And Shang teaches kids a heck of a lot about the Cultural Revolution in a way that is interesting and not preachy or forced. This one would definitely be on my shelf if I taught upper intermediate grades or middle school.

And right now? Well right now I'm rereading Patrick Allen's CONFERRING, in preparation for an online PD experience (thanks to Cathy Mere for organizing this) and am also reading he adult novel, ROOM, by Emma Donoghue.

STUPID FAST- GEOFF HERBACH

Despite my best efforts, I don't find many books that appeal to my school-hating, sports-loving, techno-god, artistic, rap-writing sons. They just don't find many books they even want to try. I think a lot of this is because the high school guys in books just aren't kids that my boys know or want to know.

I spent a good chunk of my afternoon reading STUPID FAST, a new YA novel by Geoff Herbach, an author that I really believe knows boys like mine. In a recent blog post, "So That Post- Pubescent Boys Shall Read" Herbach writes of his experiences as an adolescent:

"In some ways, I was a pretty mainstream kid: I played sports. I played in the orchestra (bad cellist). I joined clubs, etc. I looked good on paper. But, at the same time, I didn’t feel normal. I was paranoid. My feelings were bruised a lot. I had the sense that I didn’t understand the world. I showered twice a day, but always felt dirty. I always felt on the outside of something. Unpleasant. These weren’t terrible times, at all, but I often felt terrible. I could’ve used a good book…

Oh! I was so alone… Um, wrong, dork.

Having taught 18 and 19-year-olds for the last six years, I’ve come to the understanding that this generalized sense of somehow being unfit is the most generalizable aspect of teendom. It does not matter what demographic the kid comes from. What gender. What clique or sub-group of that clique. When my students write about high school, most write about themselves as feeling like dorks, being dorks, standing on the outside looking in.

These days, there are lots of titles geared for teen girls that speak to this outsiderness. There are not many for boys. Why?"

Felton Reinstein, the main character in STUPID FAST is a fifteen-year-old geek, a nerd, a dork. Felton's life is further complicated by a very difficult family life. His professor father committed suicide when Felton was five. Felton lives with his mom, who insists on being called Jerri, and a younger brother, Andrew, a gifted pianist.

The year he turns 15, Felton's luck begins to change. He begins to grow. And grow. And grow. In a PE fitness test, he discovers he has also become much faster, in fact, he has become one of the fastest kids in the school. The track coaches beg him to come out for their team. The football coaches also can't wait to get hold of this rising star. Felton makes new friends and finds himself fitting in with a crowd he had never imagined joining. He also falls in love with Aleah, a concert pianist, whose father is teaching a summer course at the local university.

While things with his peers are on the rise, however, things at home are falling apart. Felton's mother is sinking deeper and deeper into the throes of depression/mental illness. Felton escapes to the weight room or practice field, but his little brother has nowhere to go. And things just keep getting worse, and worse, and worse…

I loved this book. Loved Felton, whose insecurities mirror those of the teenage boys I know. Loved that STUPID FAST was about football and the power of sports as an outlet in kids' lives. Loved Felton's less than perfect family. Loved the format of the book- short chapters with great titles.

This one is going on my kitchen table in about the next five minutes. One of my guys just might pick it up!

HOW LAMAR'S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY by Crystal Allen

We are two days from the end of the school year. I should be doing paperwork because I'm buried. Or unloading boxes from the car because I'm moving schools and the back of my car is full of books. Or even doing dishes, because my dishwasher is broken for the third time in six weeks. But I'm not. Instead, I've been reading, because I just found a terrific new novel by a first time author. Listen to this great lead:

Since Saturday, I've fried Sergio like catfish, mashed him like potatoes, and creamed his corn in ten straight games of bowling. And it's just the middle of the week. People call Wednesday "hump day," but for Sergio it's "kicked in the rump day." I'm his daddy now, the maddest, baddest, most spectacular bowler ever.

That's the voice of thirteen-year-old Lamar, the King of Striker Lanes Bowling Alley. Unfortunately, Lamar is also the brother of Xavier, "the Basketball Saviour," an all-star player who dreams of going to the NBA, if he can only pass his algebra class. Lamar and Xavier's mother has recently died and the two boys are being raised by their dad, who is much more impressed by his older son's basketball trophies than his younger child's bowling abilities.

Xavier is not a very nice big brother and finally Lamar has had it. He teams up with the town punk to pull off a get-even prank, which quickly backfires and alienates his brother, his long-time best friend Sergio, and his girlfriend, Makeda, not to mention the rest of his basketball loving town. Lamar has to figure out a way to get himself out of all of the trouble he has caused.

LAMAR'S BAD PRANK is an almost perfect middle school novel. It's laugh out loud funny (in some places the voice almost reminded me of WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM), but also a great story of sibling rivalry, and of a kid who makes a mistake and has to fix it.

A terrific read. I hope Crystal Allen has something else coming out really soon!

BANG- SHARON G. FLAKE

As a teacher, I have always had a special interest in kids that Donalyn Miller describes as "dormant readers." You know them-- those kids that for whatever reason, just don't read. I'm pretty good at matching kids with books, but this year, there are a couple of sixth grade girls with whom, well, let's just say, with whom (is that proper grammar) I have not experienced a lot of success. They just don't read. Yet.

Last week, I came across these girls in the hall. They were huddled together over a book. "Whatcha reading?" I asked, trying to keep the excitement/glee out of my voice.

They held up the cover. "BANG!" they said. BANG was a book I had never seen.

"Any good?" I said, trying again to maintain an even voice.

"Yeah," they both exclaimed simultaneously.

I looked at the front cover, "I never heard of this book," I said. "Can I read it when you are done?"

"There are more in there," M said, and went back into the classroom to fetch one for me. And so for the past week, we have had our own informal reading club on the playground. The girls ask me how much I have read. What I think. How I think the book will end. And I have loved every minute of it.

BANG is the story of an urban teen named Mann, whose younger brother had been the victim of a gun battle while he was playing on their front porch two years earlier. Mann's parents have retreated into their canyons of grief and Mann is pretty much left to try to process things on his own. He turns to his best friend Kee-lee, the oldest son of a single parent. Mann and Kee-lee, both very talented artists, paint pictures, smoke marijuana, and keep track of the number of people who have been shot in their neighborhood. Mann's father, desperately afraid of losing his remaining son, decides he will help his son and Kee-lee become men. Drawing on African tribal customs, he sends the two on a journey that quickly becomes fatal.

BANG made me incredibly sad. I was saddened by the way grief shredded Mann's family, and especially how it impacted Mann's father. Second, I was saddened by Mann and Kee-lee, two super artistic kids who could make something of their lives; they remind me of way too many kids I teach and know. They have so, so, so much talent and so, so, so much promise, and they have to overcome so, so, so many barriers stand to grow into the shining stars they could be. I was also sad that it was a book where so many of my kids could see themselves.

At the same time, I think it's a book that might be incredibly appealing to urban adolescents. I'm going to try to get my boys to read it this summer.

WARNING: This is definitely YA-- probably not appropriate much below sixth grade.

DREAMING ANASTASIA- Joy Preble

Today I'm privileged to be a part of the blog tour for WAKING ANASTASIA, the debut novel by 2K9 author (and high school teacher!), Joy Preble.

Anne Michaelson is a typical Chicago high schooler-- she worries about getting into a good college, talks boys, boys, and more boys with her best friend Tess, and takes ballet lessons on the side. One day, she and Tess are at the ballet, and Anne notices a young man watching her. The next day, she sees him in a coffee shop, and discovers that Ethan is not just another high school hottie, instead he is Etanovich, an almost hundred-year-old Russian priest, living in the body of a high school boy. Ethan has spent decades searching for a young woman whom he believes is destined to unlock an mystery and free Anastasia, the only surviving daughter of the Romanov family, who was carried away by Baba Yaga, a famous witch from Russian folklore, on the night that Tsar Nikolas II and rest of the Romanov family were murdered. All of a sudden, Anne understands the feelings that she is someone else, the frightening dreams that have been waking her every night, and the weird electrical sensations coursing through her body…

This is terrific read. There are so many layers, so many ways readers could enter into this book. First, it's just a fun page-turner, with a hint of romance, a little teen age drama, and lots and lots of action. Second, it's a novel that will send kids off on journeys into Russian history and folklore-- I found myself wanting to know more about the Romanovs, and more about Baba Yaga and her hut in the woods. Finally, those literary and writerly types will want to read and reread to study how Preble uses Anne, Ethan, and Anastasia as alternating voices in different chapters, how she moves from setting, how she transitions in and out of dream sequences, and how she weaves Russian folklore and history throughout the book (the book kind of reminded me of SNOW IN AUGUST, one of my adult favorites). Wow, wow, wow!

For an interview of Preble, visit Shelf Elf. For a book giveaway, check out Presenting Lenore, and for a really fun interview of Ethan and Anne, go to The Shady Glade. You might also want to visit Joy's blog to see pictures of yesterday's book launch and signing at her local bookstore.

I'll definitely be passing this on to one of my sons' high school English teachers tomorrow…

NEW SERIES: HERO.COM/VILLAIN.NET

This has been a "re-thinking" summer for me. One of the things I've thought about a lot is the role of popular culture in the classroom. First, I've thought about popular culture in connection to G, the little guy I've been tutoring three days a week. G is a third grader reading at a beginning first grade level. He is also an ELL, who speaks primarily Spanish at home. G struggles to remember basic sight words like with and want, but he loves the Transformers, and doesn't have any trouble with Decepticon or Optimus Prime. He also loves lowriders (it's a kind of car, for the uninformed) and can read engine, hydraulics, chrome, and velvet and suspension with absolutely no problem.

Secondly, I've been reading Tom Newkirk's incredible new book, HOLDING ONTO GOOD IDEAS IN THE TIME OF BAD ONES (if you have not read this book you definitely should- I will be posting about it in the next few days). Newkirk has a whole chapter on pop culture as a literacy tool. He says:

All education, particularly literacy education, is a trade. There are skills and texts that, as teachers, we endorse and are committed to teaching. But these must connect, in some way with the attitudes and tastes students bring into class. Schools do not reproduce popular culture- but it is self-defeating if they ignore or dismiss it. The surest way to alienate any group is to indicate that their allegiances and interests are not respected (p. 109).

Ouch! So much for my high and mighty beliefs about children's literature!

I've also thought a lot about one of the readers (or nonreaders) living at my own house. Son #2 is an incredibly bright kid. When it comes to technology, he's the man. He has a terrific sense of humor and is very clever with words. He's a budding entrepreneur, who swears he will be a millionaire before he's 25, and I suspect he is right.

Much to my chagrin, though, he does not like to read, not at all, not one little bit. He CAN read. He reads the newspaper each morning, or at least part of it. He reads magazines and tennis shoe catalogues. He reads the obligatory thirty minutes I require each night, but he would never, of his own accord, choose to read a book. Son #2's passion is video games, and if he had his way, he would spend all of his waking, and non-sporting hours, with a controller in his hands. Son #2 is a lot like many of the kids I teach. I can surround them with wonderful books, read aloud and talk books until I'm blue in the face, even MAKE them sit quietly with a book for 30 or 45 minutes, but I can't MAKE them love books.

With all this in mind, I've found a new series for these kids. The first two books in HERO.COM/VILLAIN.NET just came out this Spring. The books in the HERO.COM series are about heroes, and VILLAIN.NET are about bad guys. I just finished HERO.COM: RISE OF THE HEROES, and I think it's definitely a book that will interest some of my video game loving kids. In the opening chapters, four middle-schoolish aged kids- siblings Lorna and Toby, and their friends Pete and Emily, are on the computer in the middle of a terrible lightning storm. The computer is hit by lightning, and when it reboots, these very ordinary kids are on a website, HERO.COM that they have never seen. A disclaimer at the bottom of the website says the site "is not responsible for any damage, destruction, or loss or property…The site does not condone the use of powers for monetary gain, selfish or evil pursuit…" The children try out the website and discover they have superpowers- things like flying, xray vision, invisibility, reading people's minds, etc. Of course, along with these powers, come encounters with bad guys, and the four unlikely heroes find themselves embroiled in a battle with the evil Dr. Tempest. This battle takes them to the farthest ends of the world.

This is not a book I would describe as outstanding children's literature. It's mostly plot, plot, plot, with only a few hints of real character development. Even so, it's a series that I can't wait to put out this August, because I think some of my reluctant fifth grade/middle schoolish readers are really going to love it. And if it helps some of those kids cross the bridge from their world into mine, I'm all for it.

HERO.COM/VILLAIN.NET also has a fun website. Kids can take a quiz to decide whether they are heroes or villains, create superheroes/villains, and view book trailers. I think my video game kids will love this site.

THREE LITTLE WORDS: A MEMOIR- Ashley Rhodes-Courter

When Ashley Rhodes was about three years old, the Florida Department of Human Services determined her mother unfit, and took custody of Ashley and her younger brother. The two children spent the next ten years bouncing from foster home to foster home. Some of the situations were passable, several, however, were absolutely horrific. In one particularly unbearable situation, Ashley lived in a trailer, approved for two children, with eleven other foster children. The children were made to drink hot sauce or crawl around the dirt backyard on their knees for punishment.

When Ashley was about twelve, she was adopted by Gay and Phil Courter. Gay and Phil had already raised two biological sons. When they survived the crash of a private plane, they decided they had been left on Earth to do something special. They adopted Ashley and took on all of the complications of life with a child who had never experience a normal, loving home (not to mention all of the regular teenage issues).

I adopted my sons out of the foster care system when they were seven and nine. Although I had known my boys for several years, nothing prepared me for the length of the adjustment period, or for the depth of the heartache they had gone through. I wish this book had been available to me, then, because I think it would have made our journey a lot easier. This memoir is a must read for anyone involved with children in the foster care system.

"Broken promises crippled me for many years. As the Courters kept their promises to me, my faith in others were expanded. Day after day, they were there for me; until one day, I not only felt safe, I did not want to leave. Maybe that is one definition of love" (p. 289).

THE JUVIE THREE- GORDON KORMAN

I'm always on the lookout for books to lure my boys into the "Land of Reading." This weekend, while I was at our state reading conference, I had the privilege of hearing Nancie Atwell speak about her new book, THE READING ZONE. During the Q and A, someone asked Atwell what she was reading. She said she had just started THE JUVIE THREE by Gordon Korman, but thought it was definitely a winner. I totally concur.

Gecko, Arjay, and Terrence are juvenile delinquents who have been placed in a special halfway house. The three will live in an apartment under the supervision of Mr. Doug Healy. They are expected to attend school and therapy sessions, and also do community service. One slip up and they will be sent back to their previous detention facilities. 

Gecko and Arjay understand this, and pretty much toe the line. Terrence, however, is a gang wannabe, anxious to leave at the first possible opportunity. One night, in an attempt to escape, he climbs out onto a fire escape. His roommates catch him and a scuffle ensues. During the scuffle, Mr. Healy is knocked off the fire escape and suffers a serious head injury.  

The boys know they are in big trouble. They load an unconscious Mr. Healy into a stolen car and leave him at a hospital emergency room. They then return to the apartment, where they decide their only hope is to pretend that all normal routines are in place until Mr. Healy returns. They anticipate this won't be more than a day or two, but when Mr. Healy awakens, he has amnesia, and doesn't remember anything about his life…

This is a terrific read, a book where you can't wait to turn the page to see what happens next. At the same time, there's real depth to the characters, and the friendship the three boys develop. A great middle or high school read. Now if I could only get one of my boys to read the first few pages…

WINTERGIRLS- Laurie Halse Anderson

Just finished reading an ARC of WINTERGIRLS (actual publication date- March 19). All I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW!  Laurie Halse Anderson is an amazing author! I want to buy copies of this book for my niece (and every other teenage girl I know! This is an amazing story!

WINTERGIRLS is narrated by Lia, an upper middle class senior in high school. Lia has been hospitalized twice for anorexia, and is still deep in the throes of this horrific disease. She lives with her father, a college history professor and author who wants to believe Lia is fine, her stepmother, and her nine-year-old stepsister, Emma. Her mother, from whom she is semi-estranged, is a cardiac surgeon. 

When the book opens, Lia has just received the news that Cassie, her long-time best friend, has been found dead in a motel room. Lia and Cassie have been estranged for several months, but the night she died, Cassie called Lia's cell phone 33 times. Lia did not answer any of these calls. 

Cassie, it turns out, has died of complications related to years of bulemia. She and Lia have supported each other's eating disorders for years and years. Now Lia must battle demons of guilt. Why didn't she answer the phone when her friend called? Why did she discourage her friend from seeking help for her struggles? Why did the two girls challenge each other to see who could be the thinnest? As the last one alive, is  Lia really the winner of this challenge?

Laurie Halse Anderson has done an amazing job capturing the voice of an anorexic. She captures Lia's steep descent into a dark, frozen place where there are no feelings, and consequently no hurt. Maybe more importantly, she captures that one moment when Lia decides to come back from this dark forest, to a place of light and hope.

 I know this book is going to be a huge hit when it comes out. I imagine thousands and thousands of girls reading it and somehow finding the courage to fight their own demons. I am going to mail my copy to my sweet niece tomorrow. I'm going to buy copies for my sons' high school and middle school teachers. It's a book every teenage girl needs to have available.