Biographies are interesting. I figure the author most likely likes the subject, or why write about it? However, lately it seems the same few people are being written: Lincoln, Hamilton, Sonia Sotomayor and Amelia Earhart. Now, this is great. I enjoy learning about them as much as the next person. But how many times can you read about them? Therefore, when someone not as popular or new comes along, I am on it. The Diamond and the Boy: The Creation of Diamonds & The Life […]
Oh! To be sixteen once again
As a 16 yo, I didn’t experience a first love. A couple of crushes, but none of them were anything more than an occasional glance in the lift, or a quickening of pulse when they appeared in front of me. To read Rainbow Rowell describe it so minutely in normal-speak without being elaborate is a welcome peek into a world when feelings run amok, you barely understand what’s happening and yet you feel so much (so – much like my current mid-thirties, GOTCHA, dumb-ass […]
Boogie your Wiggle and Wiggle your Boogie
First, I am not a Laurie Berkner fan. Yet, Monster Boogie is a real treat. You do not need the music or a CD of Berkner signing or playing the music for you to enjoy it. As you read out loud you will fall into a natural rhythm of a song. You will love the bounciness to the words and will have fun. Therefore, this is not a before bedtime story. It would be great for a preschool classroom. The illustrations by Ben Clanton are […]
Lorraine’s Lesson
When I saw the title, Lorraine: The Girl Who Sang the Storm Away, I assume it was going to be a fictionalized story of a famous singer. But it turns out to be a fun story about a grandfather, granddaughter and overcoming fear with the song in your heart. The fact that the characters are black and in a non-traditional family setting is never brought to the forefront of the story. It is just “there” which makes this a nice book for anyone. Ketch […]