Manny is back in Super Manny Cleans Up! Kelly DiPucchio and Stephanie Graegin have created a story that is all about environmentalism. Manny and Gertie are seeing that there is a lot of trash in their local park and decide to do something very bold and important: to clean it up. With help from their friends (some real and some not so real) they clean up! The story is sweet. You think it is going to be another story about friendship and using their imagination. […]
Gus the Fisherman
The River Why, by David James Duncan, is one of those books that I love to re-read. I’ve read it probably ten times over the last 20 years, and it always makes me happy. Sure, I basically know the story by heart, but it does my heart good to re-read it. So, what’s it about? Well, it’s about a lot of things. And if you asked me the last time I read it what it was about, I’d probably say something different than I’m going […]
“Stop the logging, stop the lies. Save the monarch butterflies.”
For years (and years) my favorite Barbara Kingsolver book was The Poisonwood Bible, followed by Prodigal Summer. And then I read Flight Behavior and I believe that I have a new favorite. I have enjoyed everything I’ve ever read by Kingsolver, but there is a timeliness to Flight Behavior that makes it extra special. The story features Dellarobia Turnbow, a slight-statured, red-haired farmwife in rural, western Tennessee. Dellarobia has no family outside the family she’s made with her gentle giant of a husband, Cub, and […]
A Modern Adventure Tale for the Middle Aged Yuppie-Hippie
I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars and finally went with three for a few different reasons. For starters, the title, while super cute, is a bit misleading. I picked the book up off of the library shelves knowing nothing about it, looked at the title, and flipped through the photos section. Lots of pictures of the author’s adorable small children and wife hanging out in Churchill, Manitoba. Looked cute, heartwarming, a family adventure. However, the book actually goes in a lot of different directions, […]


