Great!

Yes I chose Lions and Liars because of the cover!  And I am glad I did!  What a great story!  I really loved this story, especially all of the different characters that Frederick Frederickson meets when he accidentally winds up in a camp he was never supposed to attend.  So good!  Loved this!

Yeah...

I wasn't feeling One Amazing Elephant.  I was feeling some parts of it.  I liked the way in which the whole mother-daughter thing was addressed.  I just...I don't know.  It was a little too The One and Only Ivan for me.   I did like the alternating viewpoints, between the elephant and Lily but I think that one of the big reasons I like that was because the elephant's chapters were so short and I just wanted the book to move along quickly!  But I was reading this one and again, that is hard for me, so that probably took away a lot of my enjoyment of it.  I didn't like that the bad guys were all smokers.  I am not a smoker any more, but I do think that smokers get a bad rap.  I mean, smoking IS bad for one!  But not all smokers are evil.  In fact, I think all of the smokers I know are super kind people!  So it was hard to see that the bad guys were all smokers.  I just don't think this has Newbery power.  I would have given it 3 and 1/2 stars though, if 1/2 stars were allowed.

Gifts

Gift of Magic is an old book, written the year I was born by Lois Duncan.  That link takes you to Lois Duncan's home page, but it hasn't been updated in a while.  Neither has her twitter feed.  That's because Duncan died in June.  She is in heaven now and I bet that if there was any need for her to communicate from heaven, Duncan would have done it, because the whole supernatural world was obviously of great interest to her.  I loved her books as a teen.  And I do enjoy reading them now.  This one was very good and creepy.  I think my most favorite is Summer of Fear.  I wonder if that is available to listen to, because I really would like to read it again.  This one only seemed dated in the name of the main character, Nancy.  But I have an Agnes in one of my storytimes, so I am thinking there is a chance Nancy will come back around some day, too.

Quirky and Lovely

Raymie Nightingale was fabulous.  One of those books that bring to mind sappy words like, "heart-felt" and "endearing" and "touching" and all of the rest.  But it is not sappy!  And is REAL.  And funny and I just really loved this funny/sad/touching book.  I do think this could be a Newbery winner, for sure.

Life Real Life

I really didn't like the main character of Drag Teen at first.  I also didn't like the way that the author, Jeffery Self, depicted the parents, at first.  But then it all just really worked for me.  So if at first you don't like the main character or think that the whole thing is just going to be a cheeseball, stereotyping deal, keep at it, because it doesn't take too long to get sucked into the book and also to understand that the voice of the narrator is so real, I mean some main characters are just TOO smart, too understanding, too evolved, that they aren't real.  This kid was real.  His attitude toward his parents was real and the changes that happen to him seemed really, real, too.  I wonder how old Self is because really got this kid's voice.  I wish I could remember the kid's name!  It isn't because I didn't care about him, because I really did!  It's just that I listened to it and it is told in the first person and so it wasn't said very much and well, I am old.  Still, this kid's voice, a gay teen who loves drag and comes from Clearwater, FL which doesn't seem too progressive, is so real.  Just real.  Also, even if one isn't gay or a drag queen, there is a lot in here about self-acceptance and self-discovery and just plain teenishness that will appeal and was done very well.  I really ended up liking this book, very much!

Because of this Website

Does the Dog Die, I was able to read Because of Winn-Dixie.  Well, reread it.  Because I remember reading it along time ago, but I really didn't want to reread it if Winn-Dixie died.  And while I was pretty sure, almost 99% certain that he didn't, I just wanted to make sure.  I have been struggling through The House of Small Shadows and it has been very depressing and I didn't need anymore depressing right then.
Does the Dog Die is about movies, which I didn't know when I looked at it quickly on my phone but just discovered now.  I just found this on goodreads, so that is another good resource for those of you, who like me, subscribe to the No More Dead Dogs way of life.
This is a great story.  Nowadays it might seem like every other book for kids is about a girl from the south, without a mother or a father or both, but Because of Winn-Dixie was early on, so you can't get mad at it for that.
What I loved most, not surprisingly, was the relationship between India Opal and her dad, whom she just calls, "The Preacher."  I loved that the church her father pastors was welcoming of all, even the stray dog, Winn-Dixie, named after the store.  I LOVED Glory Dump and Otis and Miss Franny Block.  All lovely characters and lovely people.  And they call came together, because of Winn-Dixie.

Tiger, tiger burning bright....

The whole "Tiger, tiger burning bright" is the only part of the poem The Tiger that I remember at all, but I think we had to memorize it back in high school.  So much for that.  How sad.  I've also seen it written with a "y" instead of an "i" but I don't why.  Oh!  I am a poet!
Not really.
Okay.  So my friend, Mrs. Sawyer, her grandson is in Thailand.  And here he is with a tiger!  Is that not the coolest thing you have ever seen?  Apparently before tigers get to be two years old, you can hang with them like that!  Of course, I think maybe all of the tigers that Ted took a picture with are girl tigers and who could resist a guy like Ted!  Is he adorable or what?  You can read about all of his journeys here.
Of course, I am rambling.  I don't know what to say about DiCamillo's The Tiger Rising except that it is one of those books that everyone should read.  Kids, teens and adults.  I feel that way about The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, too.  Great, great stuff here.  It makes you understand that a writer like DiCamillo just KNOWS more about life than a lot of us, well at least more than me anyway, that is for sure.  A wonderful, beautiful book.

Never Heard of Zora Neale Hurston????

When I was looking on goodreads.com about Zora and Me I noticed that someone said they had never heard of Zora Neale Hurston.  This very much surprised me.  Obviously, I am not the most educated of book bloggers.  My degrees are in criminal justice, library science and ministry.  And when I take those Books You Should Have Read quizzes, I always end up on the VERY low end.  But Zora Neale Hurston?  Seriously?  As an undergrad I read her.  I mean, come on?  Anyway, it made me feel a little better about my reading history to see that someone had not heard of her, but it makes me feel bad for the people who haven't heard of her, or read her stuff.  It was Zora's name in the title that drew me to this fictional tale of Hurston's childhood, seen through the eyes of a fictional best friend, Carrie.  I am also really surprised at the low ratings of this book.  I can understand folks who say they don't think kids would enjoy it, whatever, but when I rate a book, I rate it on my enjoyment of it, and I can't see someone not enjoying this beautiful, yet dark, story of childhood in Eatonville, FL.  I recommend it highly.  Tough story, but great story.

I Don't Know...

I DO know that E.L. Konigsburg is a very well-respected and acclaimed author.  I do not know why The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World is just so...I don't know...disagreeable.  I've tried reading From the Mixed Up Files... and A View from Saturday but I couldn't get very far in either of them, but I know people love them.  I don't know any kids who love them, but a lot of adults do.  I DID love Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth when I was young, and I will read it again to see if I still do because I just don't know what is my deal with Konigsburg.  This book wasn't terrible, I just don't think it was interesting.  And I don't think that a kid would like it.  I don't even want to really write about it because I got so so sick of listening to it that I am just so tired of it.  It's the story of a kid who moves to Florida from NYC and befriends an old lady who is selling her house and the son of the woman who is handling her estate.  There's a lot of very interesting history here as the story weaves its way around and is tied to Sheboygan Wisconsin, the so-called Degenerate Art as proclaimed by Nazi dirtbags, and scumbag former Nazis like Ivan the Terrible and Kurt Waldheim.  So I liked the history, and I liked the adult characters of Mrs. Wilcox and Mrs. Vanderwal, and I liked Willie, the main character's friend.  But the main character himself, Amedeo, was kind of one dimensional.  It was just a weird book, I thought and I don't know how I could recommend it.