The Girl's Like Spaghetti by Lynne Truss

Published in 2007.
Subtitled Why, You Can't Manage Without Apostrophes!
I wasn't too successful getting Sugar Bear to read with me for the Read Together project (although he has been reading some Pokemon as well as a few science things on his own). I did pick up Lynne Truss' new children's book for us when I saw it at the library, though, because earlier this year we read Eats, Shoots & Leaves - which shows pictures of the differences in two sentences simply depending on the use of commas - and loved it.

This book does the same thing with apostrophes. I really enjoyed this sort of play with language when I was a child - and, by the way, I'm about half was through reading the grown-up version of Eat, Shoots & Leaves - and I'm glad that Sugar Bear enjoys it too.

His favorite set of sentences in this book:

Look, it's behind.
Children are watching a turtle race
and pointing to the turtle in the back of the pack.

Look, its behind.
Children are looking at some horses,
one of which is facing away from them.
To see what other Read Together participants read this summer, click here.

Holes by Louis Sachar

Published in 1998. 233 pages.
Awarded the Newbery Medal in 1999.



I'm a multi-tasking fool with my reading of Holes, having first selected for the Newbery Challenge and then putting it (as well as several other Newbery Medal winners) on my Book Awards Reading Challenge. Finally, because I had purchased A Reading Guide to Holes a couple of years ago, I picked Holes to read and discuss with my eleven-year-old daughter as part of our summer Read Together project.

My daughter Sugar Plum had previously read Holes, and then we rented the movie as a family - and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So this was a re-read for her - and a post-movie-viewing for both of us.

After Part I of the book, I asked Sugar Plum to write a post about the book. You can see that here.

Now that we're done with the book, she and I are both writing about two questions (which we also discussed):

1. All of the children in this book are boys. Do you think that this is a "boy book"? Why or why not?

It actually didn't occur to me until I was finished reading that there were no female children in this book. To me that means that the story and the message are gender-less. While I have read an interview with author Louis Sachar in which he talked about writing for reluctant male readers, I do think that this book can appeal to everyone. Besides, I don't believe in "girl books" and "boy books" as a matter of general principle! One last thought: A long time ago, before I had children, I took a women's studies course at UCLA in which I did a small research project on the main characters of Newbery Medal winners to determine how stereotypically male or female they were. Not surprisingly, Newbery book characters are generally non-stereotypical, as I would expect from the best children's literature.

2. How do you think the book compares to the movie? Which did you like better?

I almost always like the book better than the movie. In this case, though, perhaps because I saw the movie before reading the book and because I saw the movie quite a while ago, I can't really say that I liked one better than the other. I did see Sigourney Weaver every time Warden Walker appeared on the page, and I pictured Khleo Thomas as Zero too.

You can read Sugar Plum's answers here.

By the way, you can find other "Read Together" reviews here.

2007.51

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Published in 2006. 563 pages.


After finishing this second teen vampire novel by Stephenie Meyer, I'm still completely enamoured of her writing - and of her character Edward Cullen!

Both of my daughters read New Moon before I did, and Jelly Bean especially is obsessed with this series. She heartily recommends the Twilight Lexicon website to find out more. (By the way, School Library Journal labeled New Moon as "Grade 9 Up". Sugar Plum, who is in sixth grade, is a fantastic reader, so the reading level wasn't beyond her ability. I didn't find any of the content inappropriate for her either.)

I'd promised my daughters that as soon as I finished New Moon, I'd take them out to lunch and we'd have a Read Together book discussion. Knowing that I had a day off work today and that Sugar Bear would be at Kidz Kamp this afternoon, I'd been trying all week to get the book finished. I finally read the last of it this morning, and we went to Food for Thought for lunch and had a great discussion! I asked each of the girls to come up with two or three discussion questions, and they did a great job.

This sequel to Twilight picks up right after Twilight ends, and I'm anticipating that Eclipse, due out next month, will continue where New Moon ended. I love the characters of this series, and while I am not aware of the existence of any vampires in my life, the story lines seem plausible nonetheless. I was on the verge of tears at several points in New Moon as I struggled along with Bella about her feelings for Edward and for Jacob.

I do think I liked Twilight better than New Moon, but I whole-heartedly recommend this series! All three of us - mother, 16yo daughter, and 11yo daughter - are great fans of Stephenie Meyer!

2007.39

Read Together

Jennifer at Snapshot is hosting a "reading together" program for parents and children this summer. When she invited me to join, I was all over the idea!

Sugar Plum (my 11yo) and I have already decided we are going to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Holes. We will most likely read these independently and then discuss them. I'm really looking forward to talking to her about these books, because she always has some great insights about the books she reads.

Jelly Bean (m 16yo) has to read one of a list of four books this summer in preparation for her English class this fall. One of the four is Frankenstein, which I have been meaning to read for many years, so I told her I'd read it too. She'll probably read three or four of the four - so I may as well. (The others are King Lear, Wuthering Heights, and Great Expectations.)

Sugar Bear (my 8yo) is not a big reader, so I'm hoping to find something that he and I can read together. Maybe we'll try Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but I don't really know yet.

If you'd like to read with your children this summer, head over to Snapshot and sign up!