It's Monday!

           Every Monday, it's a pleasure to link up with a group that reviews books they want to share with others. If you visit, you'll be sure to find a book or more that you know you'll want to read! 
          Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who link up.   Tweet #IMWAYR

           This week I'm reading some older books that I have put off (except for this first one, not out yet). No reason, but they just kept getting moved to the bottom of the piles. 

The Memory of Things - Gae Polisner

        Young teens today don’t remember the day of 9/11. Older teens might remember people crying and watching television constantly. If you’re eighteen and graduating from high school, you were three when “it” happened.  This story immediately starts the reader wondering how 16-year-old Kyle Donohue is going to get himself out of a situation he never, ever imagined. Unfortunately he cannot, but in the days that follow, Kyle discovers more about himself, throwing doubts away, finding the strength he did not know he had. On 9/11, his school is dismissed after watching the first tower fall, and those who needed to get to Brooklyn were led to the Brooklyn Bridge, left to cross by themselves and go home.

          On the bridge, Kyle finds a girl covered in ash, crouched down and wearing a pair of wings. He sees she is in trouble, acting as if she might jump, and takes her home. His mother and younger sister are stranded in California and his father, a New York City policeman, is at the disaster. The next week Kyle is in charge, a first time to make decisions on his own. Although he questions himself often, this caring young boy does the right thing, and learns that what others have questioned about him is wrong, that he is the boy he wants to be.  Kyle’s favorite uncle who lives with them is wheelchair bound from a recent and terrible accident, and his caregiver didn’t make it that day. Kyle can’t get a call through to anyone at first, so the choices are up to him. He must care for the uncle, and must decide about the girl.        

           Gae Polisner’s story takes us through the first moments, the very real events and feelings that happen, but allows Kyle to be the main part of the story, interspersed with the girl’s story, told in poetry. This girl doesn’t remember anything, even her name, and Kyle’s doubts of how to help her feel safe show his inner turmoil, but the instinct to do good, too.  



         You will be touched by this story of the teens, which also shows the universal essence of that day and those that follow as everyone’s memory of 9/11. It is Kyle’s story, but everyone’s who must face new challenges. I am reminded of the words that ask “What kind of person will you be when no one is looking?” There is the tension when one cannot make a phone call to check on some loved one, the quiet of the skies except for the military planes, and the unrelenting news of what has happened, along with the terrifying imagining what might be next. Beautifully written, yet not out till September. Look for it! Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

City of Thieves - David Benioff

             This book has been on a shelf in my library for a few years. I may have picked it up at an airport, hoping to get to it on vacation, but didn't. This week I did get to it, and in the last day I slowed down, because it is such a compelling story I didn't want it to end. I could guess one thing that had to happen, and after reading about the unlikely friendship between two young men, formed in these five days, meeting  the two new friends, Lev and Kolya, loving their individual quirks, it was hard to let go. I know some of the siege of Leningrad, have read other stories, yet this by Benioff, based upon interviews from his grandfather about one week of his life and the search for a dozen eggs encompasses all the horror and the goodness that appears in war. It is both hard to pick up and to put down. People starve, people destroy books to access the glue to make a kind of candy, People share one onion as a meal, and people die from the cold. It is not a pretty story even while admiring those who persevered, but it is often sweet to observe those who continue to care for friends and loved ones. And it is riveting to imagine those who only served to follow orders, but went further into hell, I think mostly because they could. I am avoiding specifics so you will find the book and read it. Benioff's writing of his grandparents' story will top my favorites list for a long time. It's a great coming-of-age story. FYI-I see that it is on high school reading lists, suitable for older teens and adults.

The Thank You Book - Mo Willems

              I forgot to share about this last week because I ordered it to arrive on its birthday, and also the day that one granddaughter comes to visit. The other granddaughter came with her mom to pick her sister up, so both had a good look and happily took the book home. I think she and her sister have read all the E & P books, and own most of them. We are a bit sad lately to say goodbye, but happy to say thank you right back to Mo Willems for the cheer he has brought in every book. This time, the thanks are from all the characters from the books, and while Gerald keeps pestering Piggie that he's forgotten an important "someone", we are led to believe that it's Gerald. But it isn't! You'll have to get the book to find out who. Thanks, Mo Willems!

Happy Girls!

Anna Carries Water - Olive Senior and Laura James

          Discovering that children in other places in the world carry water for their homes is one thing this book teaches, but one other one is that children the world over want to be like others, and sometimes are afraid of certain things. The simple text and bright, colorful illustrations tell a wonderful story about young Anna, who really only wants to be able to carry her can of water on her head, without spilling, and like all the other kids! She tries, and the others just tell her to carry with her hands because it spills every time. On the way to and from the well, the children pass by a field full of cows, and Anna often is the last one, and is frightened that the cows might chase her.  At the end of the story and one more time getting water, Anna feels even more frightened, forgets about the water and hurries home from the cows. Without nerves, Anna realizes that she has carried the water, and everyone applauds. There is so much to love and connect to in this story. It shows beautiful connections between a distant culture and our own.

Singing Away The Dark - Caroline Woodward and Julie Morstad

         I love Julie Morstad’s illustrations, so many great books: the recent When Green Becomes Tomatoes, This Is Sadie, The How-To Book, Swan, among many others. I found this one displayed at my library, and snatched it up.  This story, told in rhyme, shows a young girl leaving home, walking down snowy hills past a forest to catch the bus to school. It’s a long way, and the woods are dark, and animal shapes are a little scary. Then there’s cattle blocking a road, and she must find another path. The text says: “I softly sing to calm myself/and plan the safest way.” The book’s simple poetry will help open conversations about being a little scared and what actions, like singing, can help.

Bear & Hare, Where’s Bear - Emily Gravett

          I’ve read the later Bear & Hare books, but this first one is new to me. For young children, a game of hide and seek is what it’s all about, and when hare can’t find bear, the friendship and love wins, bear appears and hare is happy.

Now reading: I’ve had it since it came out, but have never read Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, so I’ve started, and of course it’s great!