Wonder by RJ Palacio

I first read Wonder in 2012 and lost track of how many times I’ve recommended it. This book about ten-year old Auggie who was born with Treacher-Collins Syndrome which affects a person’s facial features.

“My name is August, but the way. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” page 3

Now this #1 New York Times bestseller is being released as a major motion picture on November 17th, starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Daveed Diggs, and Mandy Patinkin.

We have a copy of the new version of Wonder which includes full-color movie photos, exclusive content and a foreword by Stephen Chbosky, co-screenwriter/director of Wonder.

I have adored Auggie, his friends and this amazing book for years. As Stephen Chbosky writes in the foreword, “RJ Palacio has given our world- and our troubled times-a ray of light. A silver lining big enough for any gray cloud. A standing ovation for empathy itself. She has taught us that no side “owns” kindness. We can only practice it.”

I am looking forward to this movie. The previews look fantastic! I just hope I bring enough tissues…

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The Perfect Score

“Award-winning author Rob Buyea offers a new series of unforgettable characters in The Perfect Score. Kid-friendly and full of heart, this new series is further evidence of Buyea’s masterful understanding of middle schoolers, a reputation first established with his popular Mr. Terupt series.”From Random House Children’s Books:

The Perfect Score is told through the voices of five students in 6th grade. Gavin loves football, but has never done so well in school, Randi is a gymnast who is trying to cope with her zealous mother, Natalie thinks like she is already an attorney, Scott who is almost always a hot-mess, and Trevor who really doesn’t like school, but would rather be there than at home. While they are all different, they share their universal dislike for the CBA standardized tests coming up.
The book is told in a short chapter — switching voices technique similar to Buyea’s previous Mr. Terupt books.  I personally yearned for a little more emotional connection with the characters. However, for Bob Buyea and realistic/school fiction fans, I think it will be a hit. A great choice for upper elementary or middle school students. 4/5 star rating

Realistic Fiction

 

*I was given a review copy by Random House Children’s Books in exchange for an honest review.

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Advertising Books Thru Media

Movie_Reel
Since 2012, my 4th grade students have created book trailers for favorite novels.  In the past four years these student trailers have had thousands of views. Video is an amazing way to promote reading and advertise fabulous books to other students.

We’ve also had the ability to connect with students around the world. For the past two years, we’ve partnered with Angels Soriano in Valencia, Spain. This year her students made hand-drawn book trailers of local fairy tales in their native Catalan language. You can view them here.

Here are the latest book trailers we have published. The students made them on Photostory3, which is a Windows 7 program for the PC. I hope they inspire you to go to your local library this summer and check out these books for some fun summer reading!

Dragon of the Red Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne

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City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

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People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau

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Wonder by RJ Palacio

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Nest by Esther Ehrlich

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A Dog’s Way Home  by Bobbie Pyron

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If you would like to read more about the trailers we have completed in the past with Angels Soriano, this Sway showcases our program in the 2014-15 school year. You can also find our complete list of book trailers at the top of this website on the Book Trailers tab.

 

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A Must Read – The Honest Truth

 

coverOh wow! You know when you read a book and you get goosebumps because it’s so great? When you stay up WAY later than you should because you can’t put it down? The Honest Truth is that kind of book! It has star power. This book has that elusive it quality. From page one, I knew deep inside that this book was something truly special. 

I felt this way when I read The One and Only Ivan. I felt it again when I read Wonder and again when I read The Fault in Our Stars (YA novel). This book was a gift that came to me one ordinary afternoon. Judy brought it to me and said, “You have to read it Julie. Josa and I loved it. We think you will too.” So, I took it home and put it to the top of my book pile.

As soon as I had a chance I picked it up and started in. It was love on page one. Mark, the main character, lives in Wenatchee, Washington. He is 12 and has been fighting cancer for a large part of his life. When he finds out that his cancer is back which will most likely mean he will die, he makes the decision to take life into his own hands. He packs a backpack, gets his dog Beau, and runs away to Seattle. This begins a life or death journey for Mark to climb Mt. Rainier with his dog….alone. It’s a quest filled with danger and problems at every turn. I couldn’t put it down. I absolutely had to know what was going to happen to Mark and his dog Beau.

This book spoke to me and pulled me back into the book trailer creative mode. My husband and I even took a drive to Mt. Rainier to take some photos and footage of the mountain. Here is the trailer, made with iMovie.

 

Earlier today, I shared the trailer link with Dan, crossing my fingers that he would like it. I was pretty thrilled when I read that he does! Whew!

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If you love realistic middle grade novels with a heavy dose of action and adventure, then this is a good match for you. Pick it up at your local school/public library or at your favorite bookstore. Dan Gemeinhart, the author, is a teacher-librarian who lives in Wenatchee, Washington. This is his first novel. I sure hope it’s not his last!

 

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The Red Thread Sisters

What would you do to help a friend?

reese and book

Friendship and family are the themes of Red Thread Sisters by Carol Antionette Peacock. Wen, an eleven year old girl who has spent the majority of her life in a Chinese orphanage, is suddenly adopted by her forever family and moves to Boston, Massachusetts. Wen is bewildered by her conflicting feelings of joy over being adopted, and sadness that she must leave her best friend, Shu Ling. Wen and Shu Ling  have been the only family either of them have ever known, and it’s heart wrenching to leave her behind. Wen promises to find Shu Ling her own forever family so she too can move to America. Of course, that’s not an easy task.

Courtesy of http://carolpeacock.com/bio.php

Courtesy of http://carolpeacock.com/bio.php

Carol Peacock bases some of the background of the story on her own experiences adopting her two girls from China. If you would like to learn more, please read this interview with Carol Peacock. I thoroughly enjoyed this realistic fiction book, especially this ancient Chinese legend, included in the beginning of the book, and woven throughout the story.

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.

The legend really made me stop and think about the people who have become important parts of my life. They are my red threads. Who is your red thread? Leave a comment and let me know. In the meantime, please send enjoy the book trailer. Red Thread Sisters is one of the 2015 Battle of the Books selections.


 

 

 

 

 

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Look Alex Reads too!

How many books have you read so far?

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It looks like Alex is  participating with summer reading fun. Look at him enjoying the fabulous Bulldog yearbook from 2009-2010! Today marks one week since school let out for summer vacation. What books have you read so far? I hope by now you have read at least ONE book to keep your reading skills sharp. I am reading Odd Weird and Little by Patrick Jennings. He is the author of Guinea Dog, Guinea Dog 2, My Homework Ate My Homework, Invasion of the Dognappers, and Lucky Cup. He’s also a local author, but local I mean he lives somewhere  in western Washington State! Who knows, he might be your neighbor. If you look on his website, you can find out the answer if you READ carefully!

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Anyway, Odd Weird and Little is a funny  book about bullying. Yes, usually books about bullying are serious because bullying is a serious topic. Yet, Patrick Jennings knows how to take a subject like bullying, twist some humor into it and create a book that readers will love and learn from. Woodrow and his classmates are surprised by the new kid who comes into their class. He is small, like really small, wears a full suit, strange old-fashioned glasses over his HUGE eyes, carries a suitcase, comes from Quebec, Canada, and allegedly only speaks French. I have a idea who Toulouse, really is, but need to wait until I get further into the book, to confirm my hunch.  Do you have an idea from my description so far?

http://www.readerkidz.com/2014/03/09/accepting-your-friends-for-who-they-are/

http://www.readerkidz.com/2014/03/09/accepting-your-friends-for-who-they-are/

I hope you will leave a comment and let me know. Even better, go to your local library and check it out yourself, read it and then leave me a comment about what you think of the book! Here’s a link to a blog post where the author explains how he got the idea for Odd Weird and Little. You can also visit Patrick Jennings virtually on his website (check with a parent first) www.patrickjennings.com To leave a comment, just click on the bubble at the top of this post, fill in the required information and type your reply. Push send! Easy, peezy!

Don’t forget to send me your Super Summer Reading pictures! Mrs. Adei in Ghana, told me that she thinks she has some students who will want to participate too! Remember, we are trying to excitement about reading span every continent this summer! Send them to:

summer read email picHappy Reading! Mrs. Hembree 

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A True (…sort of) Conversation

 

“You HAVE to read this book!

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The morning bell had just rung and kids were streaming past the library doors. Parker surged against the tide to come inside the library. She set the book down on the counter and looked at me.

“Really, Mrs. Hembree, you need to read this book. I know you’ll like it! I brought you my personal copy so you wouldn’t have to wait. See here on the inside?  I wrote my name inside.”

“Okay, okay!” I replied with a big smile on my face. “I recognize the cover, but I never read it. I’ll read the book as soon as I can.”

“No, Mrs. Hembree, you need to start reading it today…like right now!” Parker insisted. “I’ll stop by later and see what you think.” Just as quickly as she came in, she was gone, caught up in the morning chaos of kids making their way down the hallway to class.

That book drop began our multiple recess book conversations about True (…sort of) by Katherine Hannigan. She did stop by an hour or so later to see if I had started it. (I hadn’t had a chance.) Her insistence was infectious, so that night I did take it home and began falling in love Delly Pattison from page one. Delly is one of six children in the Pattison family: Dallas, Tallahassee, Montana, Galveston, Delaware, (Delly for short) and RB, the baby. She is tiny and always in trouble.

And Delly Pattison was trouble: little trouble on the way to BIG TROUBLE, and getting closer to it every day.

Reading True (…sort of) was like getting a Delly present, or as she says, a surpresent. A surpresent is a present that’s a surprise. That’s what True (…sort of) is- it’s a surpresent into a Delly world of readeliciousness. That’s reading deliciousness. (my new word). I finished the book in 2 days and couldn’t wait to tell Parker. As she came down the hall on her way to class that morning I asked her to stop by later that morning.

“Did you finish it?” Parker asked through the crowd of kids.

“Yup, I LOVED it! We gotta talk! Stop by at recess!” I yelled back to her.

She came at recess and we started talking. Those conversations lasted for days, usually starting with, “What did you think about the part when….” or “Why do you think….” or “How about ……what did you think of that?” Other  kids would gather around the check out desk listening to our conversations, and interrupting with, “What book are you talking about? Can I check it out?”

Eventually Parker and I decided to sit down for a long conversation so we could include it on the blog. Mr. Schu on the blog Watch. Connect. Read. publishes long conversations with authors, so I thought we could try something similar. 

Why did you want me to read this book?

Parker: I wanted you to read this book because I know you liked Ida B and this was kind of  a very adventurous book and I thought you might like it.

What was your favorite part?

Parker: Probably my favorite part is where Ferris Boyd got lost or kind of disappeared and they went on a Dellyventure.

Don’t you love the words she uses? Like surpresent. I want a surpresent! I love all the words that were her own. She even had a Delly dictionary made up with words. A Dellyictionary I guess it is. Words made up by Delly (Delaware) Pattison. I like that. The words give a lot more depth to Delly.  I thought that I really knew her.

Then there’s Ferris. Why did you think she didn’t talk people couldn’t touch her?

Parker: Maybe because she was really shy and whenever that father came over, and whatever happened inside, I think, kind of connected to why she didn’t talk.

Did you have the idea that she was being abused before the author let you know?

Parker: Ya, I did. How did you think the author came up with the idea of Ferris not talking and being abused? Do you think it’s some kind of influence (she witnessed) reflected in the book?

I wonder if she came across a student who dealt with selective mutism.

Taylor, who has been listening to us talking, and has not read the book, joins our conversation.

Taylor: Do you think the characters would be based off some people you’ve met, or something that happened to you?

 I bet, for her, she either met somebody, or read about it. I know I’ve had students who have suffered from this same problem. I think I’ve had three in my career, who could talk, but chose not to.  (selective mutism: when a person who can talk, choses not to talk, at all or very selectively).

If you could talk to Katherine Hannigan, what would you ask her?

Parker: What gave you the idea for writing this book?

Why would it be good to meet her?

Parker: Because I could actually meet the source of the book. And knowing the source of the book, I could know more about her personality so that I could see why she wanted to write this book.

What do you think about the title, True (…sort of)? It’s an interesting title.

Parker: I know!  On the back (of the cover) it says, ” At the end of the day Delly watched Ferris Boyd slump out of the back door of the school, then she ran to the front. “Go with Cletis,” she hollered at RB. “I’ll be home later/” RB went pale with worry. “You in trouble?” “Nah,” she said. “I got a project.” “What kind of project?” Delly told the truth, sort of.

So you think Delly never told the entire truth. She always told portions of the truth. That’s how the book got it’s name?

Parker: Yes!

What do you appreciate about Delly?

Parker: What I would say I appreciate about Delly is that she cares about others. She wants to help Ferris Boyd. Do you think that RB is a good guy or a good leader for little kids?

I think he’s good because he’s always trying to do the right thing. He kind of annoys Delly because he always wants to hang around her, but he wants to do the right thing because he sees how his sister doesn’t always make good choices. He’s trying to influence her. He’s like an old soul in a young body. He wants to do the right thing!

Our conversation shifted at this point from talking about the book to talking about reading. Others have joined in our group, curious about what we are talking about.

Finish this sentence: Reading is……

Parker, Taylor, and now Yana: AWESOME! Because it’s sometimes fiction, sometimes, non-fiction, and it gives you a good idea of adventure or imagination or mystery or comedy…things like that! Realistic fiction!

School libraries are….

Yana: The coolest thing ever! Because you have so many books! You can’t even count them all! There’s too many to read.

Parker: But that’s good because then you have more books to read!

So girls, if somebody read True (…sort of) already, what other book would you suggest? If they likes those themes in that book, what else might they like in our library? Besides Ida B. It doesn’t have to be by the same author.

Parker: I would recommend… Out of my Mind, and Wonder!

All three girls chimed in and shout WONDER! So cool! And Almost Famous, and Anything but Typical.

That sums up our True (…sort of) conversation. A copy for the library is ordered and Parker already has friends waiting to read her copy! Thanks for the great conversation girls! Below is a video with the author Katherine Hannigan who discusses her book. For me, it was interesting to see how she handwrites notes to herself in a spiral notebook as she works out the beginning drafts of her books.

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If you enjoy Realistic Fiction, what book would you add to our list?

Do you have a “Delly-ism” to add to the Dellyictionary?

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book reviews

 

Looking for a good book?

The summer is winding down, but reading sure isn’t! Check out the latest middle grade books I’ve been reading.

 

greatwall

 

An honest betrayal of sixth grade girls, pressures of family expectations, what it’s like to be Chinese/American and dealing with life as a whole. The main character is bullied by another girl at school and has to deal with a family who wants her to spend every Saturday at Chinese school, when she would rather be at basketball practice.

 

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Like a favorite wool cloak, Real Boy will wrap you inside a wondrous tale of magic and friendship. A joyful, amazing story that will surprise you over and over. A must read by the author of Breadcrumbs.

 

sugar-by-jewell-parker-rhodes-206x300

Ten year old Sugar lives on the sugar cane plantation in the years following the end of the Civil War. She’s free, but that doesn’t mean she can play and run free like the white children. She’s a worker just like the adults, planting, weeding and cutting the sugar cane. When the owner of the plantation brings in some Chinese workers, sugar finds herself in the middle of the worker racial divide.

 smidgen of sky

 

Piper’s dad disappeared and is presumed to have died four years ago in a plane crash over the Atlantic. Still, ten year old Piper holds out hope that one day her Daddy will walk through the front door declaring, “Piper, I’m home.” When her mom falls in love with Ben and they decide to get married, Piper’s life starts careening out of control. Can she be loyal to her dad and accept this new situation too?

 

homesick

Mom has left for New Orleans because she can’t handle Benny’s dad anymore. Now Benny is stuck at home alone to deal with the mess that is his dad – a hoarder with a big problem. Pizza boxes and dirty dishes fill the kitchen, a motorcycle is being restored in the living room and every space is filled with Dad’s stuff. Cardboard covers the windows so nobody can see what’s inside, including the rats who have moved in. When the town wins the America’s Most Charming Small Town Contest, the townspeople threaten to clean up the house. Benny is torn between loving his dad, missing his mom, and wishing for a life a little less chaotic.

 

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I admit it – I am almost scared to hand out this book fearing it will give kids new ideas on how to torment teachers! Imagine walking into homeroom only to find it’s been filled with ball-pit balls or finding the gym is covered with thousands of crickets. Yikes! Pickle is a hilarious story about Ben who begins a “prank- club” but hides the real purpose of the club behind the pickle-making cover.

I hope you are finding some fun books to read this summer. You can still sending photos too! I’ll be in the library starting to set it up starting tomorrow. A couple folks got a sneak peek!

sneak

 

 

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Rack up Those Reading Minutes!

Have you been to the library lately?

la foto-6b

check out Ulises and Pakal are at our local library earning more minutes toward their summer reading goals for the KCLS summer reading program. They have already read 500 minutes and earned their halfway prize. Now they are on their way to earning the finisher prize! Every year the KCLS offers a free summer reading incentive program. It’s easy to participate.  Just stop by your local branch of the KCLS library and pick up worksheet. Not in town?  Download a reading log or sign up online and track your minutes virtually. Go here and sign up now! Just remember, the deadline to submit your minutes is August 31st! Thanks for sending in your photo Ulises and Pakal!

deadweather

I have also been reading this summer.  If you like Pirates of the Caribbean or wild adventure stories, especially ones with kids, pirates, blood, stumps and gore, then you will want to read Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey. Josa gave me this copy with high recommendations. I agree with him. This story of Egg, a 13 year old boy who lives on Deadweather, a pirate infested island with his Dad and siblings will take you on a fun, read-in-the-summer entertaining romp of a story! (You can read it in Australia in the winter too, but since it’s summer here, it seemed an appropriate description.) The sequel New Lands is already published, so once you finish one, get the next one and read it too. Then tell me about it, but not too much. I want to find out what happens to Egg, Millicent and Guts and the rest of the crew when they leave Port Scratch.  I tweeted yesterday that I really enjoyed the story and today I noticed this on the author’s  Twitterfeed:

deadweather snipGeoff has his own website http://geoffrodkey.com/ which I highly recommend you visit. Look for yourself, especially the letters to his son at summer camp. The underwear issue is particularly good.

rebel

I fell in love this summer with Rebel McKenzie. Rebel is an aspiring paleontologist and wanted more than anything to go to the Ice Age Kids’ Dig and Safari summer camp. Instead of digging up prehistoric bones, she has to dig deep into her bucket of patience and discover ways to keep her nephew Rudy occupied while she babysits all summer. Things get really crazy when Rebel decides to enter into the Miss Frog Level Volunteer Fire Department Beauty Pageant. I love Rebel’s free-thinking ideas and love of science. She knows how to speak her mind, although not always with the best manners. But that’s why I love her!

overtheedge

Most readers who know me also know I love a good mystery! I think I was born a mystery reader because all my best childhood reading memories involve a mystery story. I also love to travel. That’s why this series about our national parks is so awesome. You can travel to one of our parks and enjoy a great mystery all at the same time! This book takes place at the Grand Canyon, and brought back great memories of my recent trip there.

shoelessjoe

If you are a baseball fan, then Shoeless Joe and Me should go on your reading list. This is one of the Dan Gutman baseball card time-travel adventure series books. Go back in time and learn more about why Shoeless Joe, one of baseball’s greatest outfielders was banned from baseball. Was he given a raw deal? Check it out and find out!

bugjuice

When I was a kid, I loved going to “sleep-away camp”. The food, camping, swimming, games and dirt was the highlight of my summer. However, Eleanor hates camp! She hates the bugs, the dirt and especially the lake when she finds out she has to be in the “baby” swim group. Will she change her mind about camp, or get out of dodge and back home where things are normal? The book is the sequel to Pickle Juice on a Cookie, but you don’t have to read one before the other.

JH Paperboy

Do you remember Darth Vadar – specifically the voice of Darth Vadar? Here is a link to a video some of his best quotes. The man behind the voice is James Earl Jones and what you may not know is that he barely spoke for eight years. His stuttering problem was so severe that he chose not to talk, rather than deal with the hardships of stuttering. The book Paperboy is set in Memphis in 1959, and 11 year old  Victor, has a similar problem to James Earl Jones.

“The reason I hate talking to people who don’t know me is because when they first see me I look like every other kid. Two eyes. Two arms. Two legs. Crew-cut hair. Nothing special. But when I open my mouth I turn into something else. Most people don’t take the time to understand what’s wrong with me and probably just figure I’m not right in the head” (page 5)

Once I started Paperboy, I couldn’t put it down. Paperboy is about stuttering. It’s also about facing problems head-on as a kid and dealing with reality. Reality is when you take on your best friend’s paper route, talking to strangers and working through the hardships of not being able to communicate what you really want to say, when you want to say it. If you have ever  struggled with stuttering, or know someone who has, then this book will have even deeper meaning for you. Like James Earl Jones, the author Vince Vawter suffered through a stuttering problem in his childhood years. This book is partly his story, and partly the story of a boy you won’t soon forget.

secretzoo

I went  hiking today with Reese and Mrs. Adair. I brought along Secret Zoo just in case I had a chance to read a couple pages. It seemed like the perfect book to have on a hike in the Pacific Northwest, home of the infamous Sasquatch! A whole bunch of angry, nasty Sasquatches is who the scouts find when they ventured into the Secret Zoo after Megan. This is book one of a fantasy/adventure series. Except for the huge pawprints Reese made in the river mud, thankfully we didn’t see any signs of Sasquatch.

reese

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What have you been reading this summer?

Leave me a comment and let me know!

Send me those photos too!

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What is Your Destiny?

 

destiny

What is your destiny for this summer?

Are you destined to go on a vacation with your family? Will you take the time to hang out with friends? Will you have the chance to sleep in and not worry about the alarm clock? My summer destiny is all about books, and that’s a GOOD thing!

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Finally I have the time to read for long stretches of time and catch up on the books I on my “have to read list”. I brought a big pile home for the summer. I don’t know if I’ll get to all the books in my piles, but I’ll sure give it a try.Sometimes there is a hidden power that makes me pick up one book before another. I’ve learned to trust that inner voice and listen to it. That’s why I picked up Destiny Rewritten first.

 book 1

 Destiny Rewritten by Kathryn Fitzmaurice seemed like the obvious choice in this time of change. You can see in the background of the photo the world we’ve been living in this school year. Construction! The old school is going to be torn down, and in August we’ll be moving into the new school. In fact, the piece of wall hanging off, is part of the wall to our old library, and the windows up above in the new building is our new library.

Kathryn sent me this signed copy a few weeks ago. I set it aside because I wanted to have the time to savor it. I first heard about Kathryn when I read her book, The Year the Swallows Came Early. I loved it from paragraph one. Last year her novel, A Diamond in the Desert captured the Japanese-American experience in the internment camps in California during the 1940’s and I made a book trailer about the book. Yes, I guess you could say I’m a fan of Kathryn Fitzmaurice.

Sometimes fans get presents, and that’s what I got! A signed copy from Kathryn! If you are a fan of poetry, realistic or romance fiction, I urge you to add this book to your summer reading list. It won’t let you down.

Destiny Rewritten is the story of 11 year old Emily, who really, really dislikes poetry. Not a problem, right? A lot of kids don’t like poetry. No big deal. Wrong!

When your mother is a poet, is an English professor at the local university, and names you Emily Elizabeth after her favorite poet Emily Dickinson, you are supposed to like poetry. Except, not this Emily. She likes romance fiction and writes letters to to the romance writer, Danielle Steele, hoping she will write back and help her with her problems.

Because she has a very big problem. Is she destined to be a poet? If so, why can’t she even write a simple line of poetry without feeling like someone asked her to solve the problems of mankind?

To make matters more complicated, her mother is a bit of a free-spirit  who didn’t document all those special moments of Emily’s childhood in a baby book like the other moms. Instead, the highlights were written in her rare copy of the The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, purchased the day before Emily was born. Was that chance? Was it kismit?

Chapter One

Things (that seemed to have nothing to do with me, but did, and) that changed my life:

“My destiny was decided in a secondhand bookstore the day before I was born when my mother, Isabella, found a book of poems. She’d been searching for a name for me, something that would set my life’s direction. ….Then, there is was, a first edition of Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson…..”She will be named Emily, and she will be a poet,” my mother declared.”

 A MAJOR crisis strikes when the book is lost. Emily’s mother thinks it’s all part of her destiny, but Emily will have none of that type of thinking. She’s more pragmatic than her mother and needs answers to important questions. For example she wants the answers to the identity of her father. Her mother won’t tell her outright because she thinks Emily will find out when the time is right. Emily wants to know whether it’s okay to like romance fiction and happy endings more than gloomy poetry by a dead poet.

I loved every page in Destiny Rewritten and am glad I saved reading it for a special time. It authentically captures the topsy-turvy feelings middle grade girls. It seemed like the perfect book to close my school year. My own destiny is a bit in limbo as we close down one school, pack up and prepare for a move to a new school.  Yet, I have a feeling that September will open a happy chapter in a new library adventure. In the meantime, I’ll be reading, and reading, and reading!

You can find a copy of Destiny Rewritten by Kathryn Fitzmaurice at your local library or bookstore. In the fall, it will be located in our Realistic Fiction section.

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Have you ever thought about your destiny?

Is it different than what others thought?

Have you ever done something that didn’t make sense at the time, and then seemed absolutely perfect later on?

Leave a comment and let me know!

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