Wah Wah Wah

It all started at work when my bestie and I were reading Good Grief, It's Mother's Day and the book has the adults speaking the iconic "Wah Wah Wah" words.  We started saying how terrible that is.  That there are hardly any adults in the Peanuts World and when they are there, they aren't very invested in their children!  I wanted to find out if there was a reason behind this, but while Schulz and Peanuts:  a biography did answer a lot of questions, it didn't answer this one!  So I guess it will remain a mystery!
This was a good book, but it seemed to be really long at the start, like lots of detail about the his growing up and starting out and all of that, but then rushed at the end.  And there was controversy.  The family gave David Michaelis full access to Schulz's papers and then they really felt like he did a poor job painting the picture of the man himself.  The truth is probably somewhere in between but for Schulz and his family's sake, I hope that Michaelis's portrait of Schulz was more morose than it had to be.  Judging though, from the fact that Charlie Brown never did get to kick that football...

I Wonder

what the stats are on series that make it all the way to 12, like DOAWK and haven't lost any of their magic.  This has to be a record.  The Getaway is great. 

I think

The Long Haul is my favorite DOAWK.  It is the ninth one, and I almost missed it because I got so behind on the series!  I just skipped it and read ten after eight!  But you don't really have to read these in order! I found this to be super funny!  I love this guy!

Still as Fresh!

An eleventh book and still just as good as the first.  Double Down was very funny and I love Roderick and all of the characters.  And I can see why this series is just so popular!

Fans of Dory

And while I know one person who isn't a fan of Dory, I think she secretly is and just tells me she isn't to get me stirred up, because I just can't see how anyone couldn't love Dory Fantasmagory.  Dory Dory Black Sheep is the third in this series by Abby Hanlon and I LOVED it!  I read it again last night with another FOD who texted me just now with "I 3> Goblin" and when you read this book, you will, too!
Keeping a series funny and fresh must be hard work, I am sure, but Hanlon really knows how to do it!  Long live Dory!  Rascal!

Classy Hamster

I have complained about books in which authors seem to kiss up to libraries and other authors.  I don't know why it bothers me, it just does.  When it doesn't seem to "fit" in with the rest of the story, it just seems like product placement.  Is it weird that a book about a talking hamster can get library-love right when so many "big time" authors get it so wrong?  There is a lot of library-love in Einstein the Class Hamster Saves the Library, I mean, it is even in the title!  But this book is not a kissy-uppy deal, it seems to me.  It is "ripped from the headlines" as we hear about more and more schools choosing to close their libraries or downsize them in the district, but this is just done so well.  And it just seems like something that Einstein, whom we have come to know and love from his previous books, would do.  It's no secret that I love all things Tashijan, but I really feel that my love for this book is not biased!

Who Is Jeff Kinney

Who is/was What was/is Where is are very popular series.Who is Jeff Kinney? is in the series.  He is the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, of course!  And I just finished Old School, which is the tenth one.  I didn't realize I totally missed the ninth one!  So I have to read that.
This one proves that DOAWK is not getting old at all.  Very funny.  Great stuff about the Girl Scouts and about grandpa.  No wonder kids can't get enough of this series.  And I thank Kinney for writing books that turn kids on to other books as well.

The Tashjians are Back!

Mom and son team, Jake and Jean Tashjian, of the My Life as... series have a new series, Einstein the Class Hamster.  This is pretty darn cute.  I see this is an easy-to-recommend series.  It is cartoony and great fun.

Couldn't Wait...

After reading the DOAWK series for the first time, I put my name on hold for Hard Luck at the library, but I couldn't wait.  I bought it and read it on my iPad.  And I am so glad.  The Magic 8-Ball stuff was hilarious.  It all was!  I can't wait until next year for the next one!

Oh man...

Third Wheel was probably my most favorite of the DOAWK series so far.  So so funny.  And the drawings of Rowley's new hair!  I love it!  And Fregley and Ruby Bird!  Love it!  Love it!  Great addition to the series.

Wintertime with Greg

Cabin Fever!  Loved it!  And, is it me, or does Greg seem to be getting nicer as he gets older.  I loved Greg's decision at the end.  But of course, he's isn't the most humble guy! 

Scoot....Scoot (Warning: Spoilers)

Some of the characters that Greg draws can be seen "scooting" in his cartoons.  I like that word.  I must use it more often.  I can't remember if there were any scooters in The Ugly Truth, but I do remember that this was a very enjoyable addition to the series.  Rowley and Greg are not friends through most of this book and that is sad, but the good news is, they patch things up at the end.  I was just talking to a woman who is reading The Third Wheel right now and we were discussing Greg's and Rowley's friendship.  Greg knows he needs Rowley, probably more than Rowley needs him, but they are the cutest friends!  Greg learns a lot of ugly truths in this book, as his Grammie has "THE TALK" with him and tells him of the horrors of getting old.  The best part was the wedding toast at Uncle Gary's fourth wedding.  Hilarious!  I wonder if Uncle Gary will get married again before the series is over.

Summer with Greg

Jeff Kinney had to slow down the books if he wanted to stretch them out and I am glad he did.  Dog Days is the fourth and still as funny as the first three, in the DOAWK series.  Greg's family is going through a "tight time" and so there's not going to be a family vacation this year, but there is still lots for Greg to do.  Greg is hard to like and that surprised me!  Rowley is my favorite character.  I worry that Greg will end up just like Rodrick.  But there is still time...

The Last Straw

I'm not a big fan of Harry Potter.  But I know it got a lot of folks hooked on books, so I have to give it credit for that.  DOAWK however, I am a fan.  The Last Straw was still as good as the first two.  Now I am on to the fourth one, and I notice that on goodreads, they have gotten even higher approval stars as the series progresses.  I know that could just be because true fans are reading them now, but it is something to be considered.  I have noticed, too, that when I see a kid reading in public, like a at the mall or at Denny's, he or she is reading a DOAWK.  That's pretty cool.  I still can't figure out how old Greg is, but I notice that the pace of the books slow down.  The first book spanned a whole school year, the second one did too, the third one was half a year and the fourth is now a summer long.

Roderick

Rodrick Rules in the second in the DOAWK series.  Even though I watched some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I missed Greg blowing down the streets of NYC.  I can see way, these books are pretty addictive.  Rodrick is featured in Rodrick Rules more prominently than the first, anyway.  He is Greg's older brother and man, what a grump!  I am on to the third!

Better When Read

So a long time ago I listened to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and I enjoyed it, but having read it, I can see why they are so popular.  Greg is no saint.  He is a hilarious middle school kid.  And there is really no reason for me to describe this any more, because everyone already knows about Diary of a Wimpy Kid, especially now that there have been movies!  Great book and I am on to the second!

The Third One!

My Life as a Cartoonist is the latest in the My Life as a...series by Janet Tashjian and her son Jake.  Again I can't say enough that this series isn't a cheap rip-off of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.  In this one Derek and Matt meet Umberto, a transfer student who starts right in bullying Derek.  It's funny and real and Derek and his friends are totally likable and lovable!  Great series.

More than a cartoon

My Life as a Book left we with the same feeling that My Life as a Stuntboy did.    It is Diary of a Wimpy Kid...but it's more than that.  It's just so good and serious in parts and really, really awesome.  A large part of this book deals with the accidental drowning of a teenager.  I know...it seems weird.  How can that be in a cartoon book?  Well, it is and it is really well done.  Great book.  Can't wait for another.  This was the first and Stuntboy is the second.  Bring on the third! This book also introduced me to parkour, which I had never heard of before!

The Book I Almost Never Got to Finish

I started reading My Life as a Stuntboy last week and I took it into work with me when I was about 3/4 finished.  A patron saw the book and said it looked like something his son would love to read.  How can you say no to a patron who is dying to read a good book to his son?  So I just said, "Here!  Take this copy!" and inside I was SAD!  I was almost to the end!  I wanted to find out what happened to twelve-year-old Derek who, while doing stunts on UCLA's campus with his buddy Matt, is discovered by a stuntman.  The stuntman, Tony, believes that Derek will be a perfect stuntboy for a film he is working on.  At first I thought this is weird, no way Derek's parents will let him be in a movie because some random dude met him on a college campus and offers him a job, but the book explains that.  Living in LA, everybody knows people who work in the movie industry and Derek's dad works in it, too.  So I guess it was too weird.  The book is written in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid way, cartoons (Derek draws cartoons of his vocabulary words so that he can remember them with greater ease).  If you like Wimpy Kid, you will definitely like Stuntboy, but this is a worthy book all on its on, not just a cheeseball rip-off.  I loved it!  I'm glad I got my hands on another copy and I hope father and son enjoyed it as well!

The Nursing Home on Cemetery Lane

True Story.

I had friends who opened up a nursing home on Cemetery Lane.  They figured that might hurt their business so they changed the actual address of the place to Windsor Way.  But still, it was Windsor Way, off of Cemetery Lane.

What fun. 
43 Cemetery Lane is the address of a series of books by Kate Klise, and illustrated by her sister Sarah Klise, who are the geniuses behind Grounded and a bunch of other books.  Dying to Meet You is the first in the series and the only one I have read so far.  I really, really enjoyed it so much!
I can't wait to read the next one!  Hooray!