My life with the Newbery

I have loved Newbery books and the Newbery award for over 6 years, which is saying a lot because I'm 12, so that is most of my life. When the awards were about to be announced on Monday, I was a little sad because this year I haven't been able to participate in any Mock Newberys or other Newbery-related events. This year I've been ridiculously, annoyingly, painfully sick. I was even a little worried that I might not have (Gasp!) read this year's winner. My mom consoled me by saying that I had read many amazing books this year, many of them due to the extraordinary "books as medicine" effort of authors all around the world. And then the announcement was made. You might have heard my squeal all the way from Indiana. It was The One And Only Ivan! I had read it (and, of course, loved it), but that's not all.  Early in the books as medicine barrage, Katherine Applegate had sent me an amazingly over-the-top and wonderful package, which included my own autographed copy of The One and Only Ivan, plus my very own Ivan. The stuffed version of Ivan has accompanied me on many recent medical excursions, which means that I had this year's Newbery with me all along. When I first read The One and Only Ivan I thought it was sad but wonderful. In a lot of ways, that has been true in my recent life. It is not amazing that Katherine Applegate won the Newbery because she wrote an amazing book, but I am unbelievably happy that I've had Ivan with me all the way.

Then Wood Walls and Dear America: The Fences Between Us

The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II may not sound like great reading, but I just finished two novels on this subject; not only did I learn a lot, they are both really great books. First I read Thin Wood Walls, by David Patneaude, which was told from the point-of-view of Joe Hanada.  I found myself stopping during the reading to check if our country really treated people this horribly. Joe's story made me think about how this little-known piece of American history tells us a lot about who we are and where the country.  Then I started on Piper Davis' diary, The Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson. Although Piper wasn't a Japanese-American she still lived in and then near one of the internment camps, giving at different point-of -view. As I was reading these books I was horrified about how we treated the Japanese Americans and surprised to learn that, despite this, many of them still volunteered for military service. I think everyone should take the time to learn about this part of our history, and these are two great books to start with.

Thin Wood Walls Rating: *****
The Fences Between Us Rating: *****

If Books Were Medicine, I Would Live Forever

If you have read my blog for a while, you know that I have a Mitochondrial Disorder, (a form of muscular dystrophy) and it has impacted my health my whole life.  Over the last 2 months, my medical condition has rapidly deteriorated.  I have feel awful; I’m in pain constantly, I have mostly lost the ability to walk and the energy I had.  Things have gotten pretty icky.  I have a whole team of doctors and they are trying lots of things to help, but there is no treatment or cure for Mito, and the things they are trying to keep me out of pain aren’t working perfectly.  In short, I am really sick. 

If you have read my blog, you know I LOVE books and I LOVE authors.  I have even gotten to meet some on an amazing trip to ALA in 2010.  I am still 12, so I don’t have Facebook, but my mom has friended some authors on Facebook for me so that I can see when they are publishing something new.  That is where my current medical disaster turned into something amazing.  An author I adore, Kathi Appelt, saw one of my mom’s posts about how I was doing and wrote her a note to ask about me.  My mom updated her.  Kathi, being the amazing person she is, asked if it might cheer me up to get some signed books from authors.   My mom, knowing how much I adore authors, said yes.  She didn’t tell me.

She should have warned the mailman, because I have been getting TONS of packages of books.  And I mean TONS (totally amazing!)!  The other amazing part is how much they are helping; I have had to have some totally awful medical procedures done, and my mom reads aloud to me to distract me (it works, try it).  And I am reading to relax and enjoy.  Really, books are medicine!  And the amazing excitement of signed books from so many amazing authors is the best pain medicine yet.  I was in the hospital last week and the books came with me. They cheered me up and brightened the uniform hospital room.

What I really want to say is thank you. Thank you to all of the authors who sent me books. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Thank you especially to the wonderful author who orchestrated this. Thank you Kathi! Thank you to everyone who has been so nice to me these past couple of months.

Two Crafty Criminals

... is an awful book. It took me forever to read because I kept putting it off and reading other books to avoid it (Graceling and Dancer and Nurse Matilda and so many others). I didn't find any of the characters in this book interesting in the slightest and nothing particular was exciting. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone because I wouldn't want to torture them. If this book gets the Newbery I am gonna be MAD.

Rating: * (it isn't any better than The Dark Frigate)

Love, Aubrey

I loved this book! It was quite sad, but I found it to be really well written. Aubrey's journey to overcome the death of her father and younger sister and her mother's abandonment was truly inspiring. Aubrey's friend Bridget was the best friend that anyone could have ever asked for; Aubrey was really lucky to have her as a friend. This book is a good example that you can have a incredibly sad and depressing book that is still worth reading. You should read this book because it is extremely well written and it is a compelling story.

Rating: *****

I'm Back!

After a little bit of a rough summer, I'm back at school and back to blogging more regularly. So far this school year, I've reread:
The Giver by Lois Lowry and
Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt
I've read:
Love, Aubrey by Suzanne Lafleur
Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
You can expect to see those blog posts coming soon! Happy reading!

Graceling

I LOVED this book!!!!! Katsa and Po are such interesting characters and I fell in love with the story of their adventures. I didnt want to put down the book, so I didn't (my apologies to the teachers whose classes I ignored while I read Graceling instead). It is simply awful the life that Gracelings have to live simply because they are Graced. Because they have a special talent, Gracelings are forced to be a slave of their king and to be shunned for life. I can't wait to read the sequel to Graceling!!!!!

Rating: *****