Dining with Squirrels

What I'm Reading

I kept telling Ben how great this book was and he kept saying “but I’m not going to read it, Mom.”  So then I continued to update him as I read it, finishing with “but I know you’re not going to read it.”  I plan to leave it in his path without comment.  I love young adult fiction.  This subject matter [the destruction of a post-slavery community of blacks on the island of Malaga by the whites on the mainland] is so serious, and living it through a 14-year old boy made it not less complicated and terrible, but more poignant and convicting.  Gary Schmidt won the Newberry for this.  He also teaches at nearby Calvin College.  Go, Gary.

Another graphic novel — this one a memoir.  By David Small, winner of Caldecott Medal, E.B. White Award, Christopher Medal.  This one is NOFK.  Not Ok For Kids.  Super dark, super gorgeous, terrible story.

I’m not a big fan of Anne Lamott’s fiction.  Her, I love.  This was a birthday present from Linda and it TOTALLY surprised me.  Gripped me by the throat actually and had me eying my daughter beadily all day, wondering what hell she might be planning to put me through in about 10 years.  Ms. Lamott’s nonfiction seems just annoyingly effortlessly fabulous, but I think if I were her I would be insanely proud of this story — a real accomplishment.

by Bernard Beckett who finds himself both “one of New Zealand’s most outstanding writers” and a Royal Society genetics research fellow.  Poor Bernard.  This book ROCKS. Peter and Kristen — read it!!  Very short, sucks you right in, and you’ll never guess where it’s headed.  I’ll say no more.  It’s mysterious.