This recently re-issued classic children’s book is damn delightful. John, Janey and Pete are children growing up in 1950’s midwest. Their babysitter, Mr. Pudgins, has a magical pipe, a flying car and a pet Dodo. The children have a series of magical adventures, until Mr. Pudgins has to leave to share his magic with a new group of siblings. This book was re-issued as part of the Nancy Pearl’s Book Crush series for NPR. It’s a really sweet book with only a few issues. […]
“Everything that isn’t loving a child is just for show.”
Grace is a married mother of three. Her youngest, three year old Jack, is terminally ill. She has a background in epidemiology. She also is having an affair with her high school boyfriend. An allegation is made by an unknown party, accusing Grace of Munchhausen’s by proxy – making Jack sick in order to get attention from medical personnel. She is horrified to realize that she does perfectly fit the profile of a MBP mother. This book was absolutely heartbreaking, but I absolutely adored it. […]
Love and Monsters in a New Age
Wow, what a book to start the year. The novel starts sort of mysteriously and I don’t want to spoil the mystery (though it’s been out a while now so you may know the mystery anyway–I think I knew before I bought the book, but I didn’t read it right away so I had forgotten by the time I picked it up again). I will say it’s a post-apocalyptic novel–you get that within the first three pages, so that’s not a spoiler. Also there are monsters and […]
A Young Woman’s Dreams
Last year, my sister bought me the young adult memoir-in-verse, Brown Girl Dreaming. And then it went on to win the National Book Award for young readers! Hooray! I have been meaning to read it again and again, and something else got in the way. So when I was at my conference, chilling in my hotel room, I decided to pull out the audio copy I had borrowed from the library and listen to it. It was a good choice. Jacqueline Woodson covers her birth […]