I didn't know!

That Best Day Ever was set at Lakeside!  In the first chapter when the narrator talks about his wife wanting to stop in Port Clinton I wondered and then, boom!  There was Sloopy's and the gate fees and the grocery store and all the rest!
The rest of the book isn't very Lakeside-ish, it is dark and grim!  But GREAT!  Even if you don't go to Lakeside!
But you should.
Just not with this guy. 

When Dad Killed Mom

was a really, really good book.  The title isn't as subtle as The Last to Let Go, sure, but it was really, really good.  TLTLG was good.  But I really had a hard time liking the main character.  It was easy to like her brother and her mom, and Dani.  Her sister wasn't a very big character.  I felt that we didn't get to know her that much. 

Ghosted

Does your neighborhood have that tradition of "ghosting" people?  Putting a ghost on someone's front door with treats?  I have a friend whose neighborhood did that.  I think it is cool!  Probably because I do love fall and Halloween!  We moved to an apartment and so I think I am going to do that this year!

That has nothing to do with Ghost.

Ghost was an incredible book!  If I didn't want Towers Falling to with the Newbery so badly, this would be my choice.  This most certainly has to be an Honor Book.  And if Towers Falling isn't going to win, which will go down as a 1954 moment if there ever was one, by the way...especially if one of those Fox Books wins, then I would hope that Ghost would take the big prize.

Judged the Cover...

But I didn't even look carefully at it!  All of these years I kept thinking on the cover was a dude with a cowboy hat!  And he was looking away from the cover, you know, with his back to the reader! Dude! It isn't!  It's Max holding Kevin on his shoulders!  I wish I would have just taken the time to LOOK at the cover before judging it and thinking, BORING!  Because Freak the Mighty wasn't boring at all.  I also wonder if maybe I could appreciate the story more now at this time in my life because I know a kid similar to Max and one with the same physical concerns as Kevin.
This is a heart-breaking yet beautiful book.  Loved it.  Loved it. Loved it.
And it is weird that I judged this book by its cover when the characters in the book are sometimes judged by their covers.  Max, because he is so big and looks so much like his father who is in prison for murdering his mother and Kevin who has Morquio Syndrome.

Blurry....

So Boys of Blur is a Newbery Buzz Book.  My dear friend, Rebekah, tried to read it and didn't like it at all.   She even broke up with it. Although, she is more comfortable with breaking up than I am anyway. I am really trying to read some of the "good" books this year.  I don't know, honestly, if I will do this next year, obsessively try to read all of the books with the award buzz, but we'll see.  But I wanted to read this.  Plus, it was short!
While Rebekah didn't like it at all, I have to say that I did like.  I liked the atmosphere of this tiny town right near the Florida Everglades, on the banks of  Lake Okeechobee.  I liked learning about the sugar cane fields but I DIDN'T like reading about the poor rabbits.  I just can't imagine how scared those little rabbits must be.  Ugh.  It just makes me so sad.  A lot of  football players learned their speed from "running rabbits" in the sugarcane fields.
I like the main character, Charlie, a lot.  He is a good dude.  And I liked the whole family, really.  Cotton, especially.
Turns out that the book is inspired by Beowulf.  I had to read Beowulf in eleventh grade, but I didn't remember much about it so I found these little videos!  They are fabulous!  And then I got into the book even more.  I loved the book trailer, too!  But overall, it just didn't hold my interest as much as I wanted it to.  I am not sure why...maybe I wanted to know more about Charlie?  More about Mack?  About Bobby Reynolds?  I guess I just wanted more.  I still can highly recommend this book. Especially for fans of high school football and creepy stuff.  The battle between good and evil was well done!

Nothing is Black and White (SPOILERS)

I had a visceral reaction when I realized that this book was about a deserter from WW2.  The thing is, had it been the Vietnam War, okay, sure, we have heard that all before, right?  And as Waylon sang:
and the men
who could not fight 
in a war
that didn't seem right
you let them come home,
America
But WW2?  That was the "Good War," right?  Did ANYONE desert from that?  Is this fantasy? What? What?  What kind of person would do that?
And then I felt like a real jerk and fool for thinking that way.
See the thing is this.
If you are a Christian, which I am.  So for me, as a Christian, killing is always wrong.  Christ prohibits it.  There really is no "just war" no matter what Augustine said.  Augustine wasn't Christ.
Turns out there were conscientious objectors in WW2.  The thing is, the enemy was so clear in WW2. Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito were evil, evil men.  The hideousness of their actions can't be described. But as Jesus said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul."  Ah, man...it is so hard.  As you know, I am a fierce, fierce patriot.  I have so much respect and thanks for our veterans and servicemen and women.  And I am not sitting in judgement of those who follow Christ and serve in the armed forces.  No, no, no.
See.
See how much this books makes one think??
This is a fantastic novel.  So not preachy.  No easy answers.  And no cliches.  Fantastic.
There is just so much in here.
Stepping on the Cracks should be required reading.   And then required discussion should follow.