an adventure trilogy

One of the books I read over the holiday break was Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey. It was full of pirates and adventure and mystery and treasure!

Deadweather is the story of thirteen year-old Egbert "Egg" Masterson who lives on an awful island, growing awful fruit, with his equally awful father and siblings... that's a lot of awful.

Rick Riordan said of Deadweather :

"The best way I can describe it is Lemony Snicket meets Pirates of the Caribbean, with a sprinkling of Tom Sawyer for good measure."

With the Pirates of the Caribbean in mind, Egg reminded me of a young Will Turner. His partner, Guts, could be a bit Jack Sparrow-ish. And the lovely Millicent Pembroke has all the courage of Elizabeth Swann.

My favorite quotes from the book:

"Of course, I'd eventually learn that the truth is much more complicated - that not everyone who lives on a pretty street is a good person, and that in even the rottenest places you might find someone you can trust with your life."

"No one had ever been nice to me like that before. And I'd long since learned never to cry over pain or cruelty, but I didn't know what to do with kindness. I was pretty sure you weren't supposed to cry about it, but the tears just started leaking out and I didn't know how to stop them."

"Except for Millicent and her mother. They fought constantly, not in the normal way, but in their own odd style - with words that seemed pleasant on the surface, but had ugly meanings stuck to their undersides."

Deadweather and Sunrise is the first book in a new series called The Chronicles of Egg. I can't wait for the next book, New Lands coming out May 14, 2013.

You know what that feels like?

I just read Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt. It's - sort of - a companion book to the Newberry Honor book, The Wednesday Wars... but it stands on its own just fine.

Okay For Now is a heartbreaking story of friendship, family, art, and reading. It's a rollercoaster of emotions as you follow Doug Swieteck through eighth grade in a new town. There's moments of joy and despair... you'll keep hoping for the best, but dreading the worst.

Doug tells his own story in a wonderful, conversational narration. "You know what that feels like?", he frequently asks the reader. “OKAY. So I was going to the library every Saturday. So what? So what? It's not like I was reading books or anything.”  Kids will love it; I loved it. “By the way, in case you weren't paying attention or something, did you catch what Mr. Powell called me? "Young artist." I bet you missed that.” 

Read Okay For Now. Buy it for kids who love realistic fiction, or historical fiction, or books about quests, or the telling of a great story through the observations of an awesome young boy.

be open-minded, flexible, and creative

I was listening to Science Friday on NPR... and I learned about "One Minute Mysteries" by Eric and Natalie Yoder.

The books look fun and engaging. 

While searching One Minute Mysteries, I stumbled upon this cool website: OneMinuteMysteries.com  Check out the Case Files to view sample puzzles.

My favorite quote:

"When solving these puzzles, throw out all your assumptions about what is going on, and of course, be open-minded, flexible, and creative."

The Dark

Lemony Snicket's 2013 picture book, 

The Dark, illustrated by Jon Klassen.

"Lasszlo is afraid of the dark.The dark lives in the same house as Laszlo. Mostly, though, the dark stays in the basement and doesn't come into Laszlo's room. But one night, it does.This is the story of how Laszlo stops being afraid of the dark."

so many books...

... so little time.

the hero with a thousand faces

"The cave you fear to enter 

holds the treasure you seek."

- Joseph Campbell

I just ordered...

... which begs the question, "What is normal?"

You can read the first two chapters free on amazon.