today begins banned book week

Celebrate your freedom to read.

The top 10 most frequently challenged books of 2011

1) ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle – offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

2) The Colour of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa – nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

3) The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins – anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, occult/satanic, violence

4) My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler – nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

5) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie – offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

6) Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint

7) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley – insensitivity, nudity, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit

8) What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones – nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit

9) Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar – drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit

10) To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee – offensive language, racism

Callie is cool.

I read Drama by Raina Telgemeier yesterday. It's modern and inspirational and a must read if you love theater... this leads to the title "Drama", which definitely has a double meaning here.

It's a great middle grade graphic novel. Wonderful and respectful with all of a relationships twists and turns.

naughty john

I'm currently reading a very scary book: 

The Diviners by Libba Bray.

Just so you know, Ouija Boards freak me out... and that's how this book gets going. I was hooked by the first two chapters.

The characters are amazing; the setting is brilliant. There are supernatural powers and an evil, evil, evil killer on the loose. I love it.

The writing is beautiful and plays like a movie in my head. And speaking of movies... Paramount has already picked up the rights to The Diviners. This will be one very scary movie!

Read at your own risk (and probably only during the day... it's that scary!)

The Diviners is the first book in a four book series... that's a lot of terror.

but I also know that life goes on

Can Henry rebuild his life after the worst-case bully scenario?

a poorly chosen book cover for a heartbreaking tale

I just read The Reluctant Journal of Henry K Larsen by Susin Nielsen.

It takes only a moment for Henry's life to fall apart. In the wake of IT, Henry reluctantly begins to record his thoughts in a journal. The subject matter is terribly dark, but Susin Nielson's storytelling is heart warming and beautifully written.

I loved this book. It was brutal, and reminds us all that IT changes everything.

think for yourself

Banned Book Week

September 30 - October 6

Banned Book Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Celebrate the free and open access to information.

What will you be reading?

unexpected

I just finished Sharon Creech's newest book, 

The Great Unexpected.

It's a book about coincidences and unexpected connections. It's also about unexpected kindness and unexpected forgiveness. That's a lot of... unexpected.

Two story lines intermingle chapter by chapter, changing fonts to keep you organized. Naomi Dean and her talkative best friend Lizzie Scatterding live in the sad town of Blackbird Tree. Meanwhile, across the ocean in Ireland, a mystery unfolds.

It's an unusual, quirky story that includes a Dingle-Dangle Man, Unfortunate Souls, a winding bridge, and a couple of rooks (blackbirds).

Two quotes I loved….

"Did a delicate cobweb link us all, silky lines trailing through the air?"

"I had big thoughts to match the big wind. I wondered if we find the people we need when we need them. I wondered if we attract our future by some sort of invisible force, or if we are drawn to it by a similar force. I felt I was turning a corner and that change was afoot."

Sharon Creech reads the first chapter of The Great Unexpected:

the secret series

The Name of This Book is Secret by pseudonymous bosch is an awesome book. You've probably already read it, and if you haven't - you should.

In The Name of This Book is Secret, Cass and Max-Ernest discover The Symphony of Smells - a box filled with smelly vials of colorful ingredients. The Symphony of Smells reveals a mystery surrounding a dead magicians diary and the pursuit of immortality.

What made me remember The Name of This Book is Secret, The Symphony of Smells, and Synesthesia today?

This video:



Using one sense to interpret another is pretty cool... 
or even avant-guarde.