A Smart, Smart School, by Sharon Creech
When it comes to Sharon Creech, I feel there are two categories of fans. Those who love everything she does, and those who mostly like her work. Oh, I am sure there are a few people who do not like her at all, but those people are wrong. I am in that second category. I have liked most of the things I have read, but have found a few special ones. I like A Smart, Smart School, but it is not my favorite. However, if […]
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Somehow I never read this as a kid and had always wondered if was any good. I finally picked this up on vacation in August (only £3, bless used bookstores) and it turns out that this is a classic and won the Newbery Medal for a reason. Often when you read a children’s/middle grade book, there’s a preachy tone or a sense they’re trying hard to impart a lesson, and that lack of authentic voice makes the book feel boring and irritating. Walk Two Moons […]
Saving Winslow by Sharon Creech
As I mentioned in another review, I read two radically different books this weekend. The first was Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteiu and the second, Saving Winslow by Sharon Creech. If you read my review of Boteiu’s book, you know that Creech and Boteiu have little to nothing in common with their themes in these two books. Saving Winslow is a cute story about love and protection. You are dealing with the theme of “you get attached to something/someone and the leave.” There […]
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech
When I first came to work at the bookstore one of my coworkers had been in the business for several years (but not at “our” store) and one author he liked was Sharon Creech. I would read a few of her books because of his recommendation and the new one that had just come out. But I realized she was an author that wrote books you “liked or not” that book but not necessarily a “like or not” the actual author kind of author. I […]
Because Internet by Gretchin McCulloch
To Marry Medusa by Theodore Sturgeon
Come Closer by Sara Gran
The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey by James Lecesne
Coming Out Party by Nikki Levy
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
An Act of God by David Javerbaum
Unexpected Stories by Octavia Butler
Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith
Henrietta and Eleanor by Libby Spurrier
Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech
Break Shot by James Taylor
Because Internet: 4/5 Stars A book whose title and public relations/previews made me really not want to read, this ended up being a) much different from what I thought it was going to be and b) a lot better as well. This is not an amateur at language in a way that may very well be accurate enough, but would also be facile or shallow. Instead, Gretchen McCulloch writes an interesting analysis of language for amateurs, but using the tools of her work as a […]
Guys Read: Heroes and Villains by Jon Scieszka
This series rocks! READ THEM! You need more? (sigh) Okay…… Guys Reads started around 10 years ago with Guys Write for Guys Read: Boys’ Favorite Authors Write About Being Boys. Jon Scieszka, however, is no stranger to getting boys to read. His Time Warp Trio series was his way of writing for the boys in his classroom who did not have anything to read. Flash forward a few years and Scieszka is knows for many picture books and novels, including the Guys Read series. I […]
