Summer Reading

It has been several years since I have been able to participate in the library's summer reading club. I picked up some books a week ago today and here is what I have read so (I can't believe I have read this much in just a week. I have stopped watching tv though, so that helps) far, along with my very unprofessional opinions.

I Feel Bad About My Neck- Nora Ephron
The author was on an episode of Oprah. While the book had some very funny parts (Natalee, you must get this book and read Chapter 2. YOU MUST) Towards the end it just seems like she is rambling about aging. It is funny though, and a quick read.

The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts- Richard Peck
I loved his Year Down Yonder so I thought this one sounded just as great, and it was. I know it is classified as a children's book, but it is on the suggested reading list that the state department of ed. put out. It is very cute and someone in the 5th or 6th grade would enjoy it.

A Girl Named Zippy- Haven Kimmell
Also very totally cool! I really love it because it is a woman's true memories about growing up in Indiana. She refers to Muncie as "the big city." I like the setting and it is a cool story. It does have its spots where she backtracks a lot, but it is a really cute book.

Fade to Black- Alex Flinn
A really cool book. It is about a high school junior who has just moved to a new school, and though the school wasn't supposed to, they told all of the students that he is HIV positive. It is about his struggle to be accepted. He struggles with the truth through the book, and as they say, "the truth shall set you free." It is a very good book and even has a section in the back for a discussion about diversity and acceptance. I would like to use it in a freshman English class.

True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet- Lola Douglas
This book is in the young adult section and it is very much a teenage girl's book. Here is the cool part. The main character is a hollywood star going out of control. Her mother and manager send her to Ft. Wayne for a year to avoid the press. She is enrolled in Snider High School and Lola does a great job of actually incorporating true details about Ft. Wayne. Anyone wanna guess where she has her first meal? Yep, Casa's. She has breakfast at Cindy's diner. Binges on Munchie's Scobby Snacks. I was in love with this book because it was interesting to read about Ft. Wayne in a fictional book.
"Teen star Morgan Carter’s mom is trying to kill her. At least, that’s what Morgan thinks when she’s sent to Ft. Wayne, Indiana after a near overdose outside LA’s Viper Room.Morgan’s going to recover out of the spotlight. Way out. She’s given a major make-under, a new name, and a completely different identity. Morgan’s plan? To write a tell-all book about her experience and stage a comeback. But when this LA girl finds love and a new life in Middle America, will she abandon it for another shot at superstardom?"
I did some digging and found out that the author lived in Ft. Wayne for 5 months. No wonder she got everything right, down to the costumes at the Johnny Appleseed Festival!

The Every Boy- Dana Shapiro
I am in the middle of this book now. I hope to finish it by noon. A boy's body washes up on shore. His parents only begin to really learn about him when his journal mysteriously appears. They thought they new their child, but as they read through his life, they realize they didn't know him at all.