Getting Away from Doom & Gloom

For the past two months or so - I guess caught up in The Hunger Games frenzy - most of the books I've been reading have been about dystopian societies or futuristic novels set in a fragmented United States.  Don't get me wrong, they were good and I recommend them all - Legend by Marie Lu, Numbers by Rachel Ward, Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Line and Away by Teri Hall, The Maze Runner series by James Dasher, and Blood Red Road by Moira Young - but I was depressing myself.  I needed to read something fun but meaningful, something light but not stupidly insulting, something that might make me think but not disheartened.  So, I read Jordan Sonnenblick's new one Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip, good, but a bit like wanting a hot fudge sundae and only having a pop sickle. . . good, but just not quite satisfying.

Then, a new order came in! This innocuous little book - Wonder by R. J. Palacio  - was included. I was craving that book that would meet all my needs. You know how sometimes things are just so good you want to clap and jump and maybe even grab somebody by the front of their shirt and say, "You HAVE to read this!"?  This book did that for me. 

Here is the trailer.

Sequel to Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

If you've read any of my postings, you know I am a big fan of Jordan Sonnenblick - the person and his writing. His newest book, After Ever After, has confirmed it.

This is Jeffrey's story. Now he is the eighth grader, suffering from late effects from his treatments. He walks with a limp, he has trouble focusing, and math just does not compute for him. His best friend, Tad, also a survivor, may not be strong enough to walk, but has strength of character and observation. Steven has taken off to Africa to find himself through drumming, leaving Jeffrey without his main go-to guy.

Jeffrey learns that he needs to start depending on himself, but it sure isn't easy with a gorgeous new girl in school, Tad challenging him in so many ways, and a state mandated math test he is sure he will fail.

You will laugh, you will cry, and you will be sorry if you do not read this one!