What We're Reading at Our House - 4

As summer vacation closes shop, my 8 year old also winds up his summer reading. His school sent home a goal of 30 books (at least 100 pages each or 2 books to combine for 100 pages) for incoming 3rd graders. My guy is almost there. School starts August 22.

Fred and Anthony's Horrible, Hideous Back-to-School Thriller
by Elise Arevamirp with Elise Primaver (Hyperion Paperbacks for Children 2008)
A new favorite. The title is irresistible this time of year and it has lots of fun illustrations. It seems like it is out of print so look for it at a library.

Max Disaster #3: Alien Eraser Reveals the Secrets of Evolution
by Marissa Moss (Candlewick Press, 2009)
Another comic-like story. I love all the Amelia books so I was happy to see that she has a series for boys. Two thumbs up for sticking science in there as well.

There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom
by Louis Sachar
Reaching back to old school. The outdated cover almost turned him off completely. My son loves Sideways Stories so I selected this one for him. He enjoyed it quite a bit. I heard lots of laughs and that's a solid seal of approval.

Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
DK Publishing, 2011
It's about Star Wars. Instant must-have in our house. We checked it out last week and he's probably read it 6 times already.

Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
Dad is reading this aloud for the 2nd year in a row. They still laugh and laugh.

In Zanesville: a novel
by Jo Ann Beard (Little, Brown and Company 2011)
Yay! I liked this one very much. My friend Martha reviewed it on Goodreads and her good words were more than enough to get me to check it out. At times it was hard for me to keep track of the who's who of the teen girls, but I think that's supposed to happen. Our narrator takes us along with her for her 9th grade year in the 1970s and she doesn't explain much. I thought this storytelling fit really well with our teen protagonist because she is a teenager. I don't really want her to have deep thoughts and wisdom beyond her years. She and her BFF Felicia are figuring things out. They're definitely weird, but is that okay? She leaves quite a bit out so we have to do some work to piece together what is happening outside of what she is immediately doing and thinking. Another possible contender for the Alex Awards.

Just Kids
by Patti Smith (Ecco 2010)
On my to read list for ages. Once upon a time a woman at a work training I attended asked to take my picture because she thought I looked just like Patti Smith. I took it as a compliment. And maybe I should brush my hair. I haven't finished this book yet, but all I have to say is that I was a total sloth as a 21-22 year old. Holy cow. The people she met and worked with is pretty much EVERYONE. And she knew it then, too. She knew to learn from the people around her. Just really amazing. She wrote this book with a lot of love and you can feel it in every paragraph. (oh, and a sequel!)