Years and Years and Years Ago

I listened to Wild Fire.  On a CD!  At the drive-in!  This was a LONG time ago!  And I LOVED it!  I just finished Plum Island, which is the first in the John Corey series and I loved it, too.  Because John Corey is hilarious. 

Here is just one of my favorite quotes:
She has clear, grey eyes, grey hair and a sort of interesting face with translucent skin.  A face that reminded me of an old painting.  Not any particular painting.
Or artist.
Or style.
Just an old painting.

I LOVED THAT!

Anyway...fantastic cop.  Fantastic book. 

Those Presbyterians....

When I read The Wednesday Wars I couldn't help but wonder if the author, Gary D. Schmidt is a Presbyterian.  He really knows them well!  I say that with all love and respect, as you know.  :)
So I read Okay for Now and loved that.  I had to read this one, in which Doug from OFN is a minor character.  TWW takes place before Doug moves to Marysville from Long Island and doesn't really feature Doug as much as his tough brother, who is a source of misery for Holling Hoodhood, the only WASP in his class and therefore the only kid who has to stay behind on Wednesday afternoons instead of going to religious education classes at the local Roman Catholic Church or synagogue.
The backdrop for this story is the Vietnam War and wow, there is a lot of powerful stuff here.  When kids come in looking for historical fiction, the tendency is for them to look for books on the American Revolutionary or Civil War and to a lesser extent, WW2, but this is one that I will push and push along with with Shooting the Moon and Countdown, One Crazy Summer and others that are from less written about time periods in history.
There is so much in this book.  The dynamic between Holling and his father, his sister's trip out west, so much more.  It is so neat to see the way that Holling develops in the book.  And it even made me want to read Shakespeare!  Fantastic book.  It also taught me what a jerk Mickey Mantle was!

Almost a Love Song

Not Exactly a Love Story was a quick and fun read, filled with down-to-earth and believable characters, perfect for a guy or girl, looking for a good, solid story.  Vinnie is dealing with a lot:  his parents' divorce, his mom's remarriage to his gym teacher, a move from Queens to Long Island and The Girl Next Door.   Vinnie's got a crush on her, of sorts, and while at first, he hardly ever speaks to Patsy face-to-face, he is calling her and talking to her every night at midnight.  He won't tell her who he is, but they talk anyway, hiding behind his anonymity, he can say anything he wants, without fear of rejection, and so can Patsy.
I loved the way the characters were honest about their self-doubt.  No character was a caricature, nor were the parents unreal monsters, like they are in so many YA books.  They are just real people.  I think this simple, touching coming-of-age book will be easy to recommend to many.