I entered Latitude 33 Bookshop with my daughter and her list of summer reading books. As I meandered through the recommendation tables, my favorite way to get a feel for a bookstore, my daughter marched straight to the counter with her list. She couldn’t have been luckier than to meet up with Jessie, truly the Pied Piper of YA readers. While I looked at the choices for the books on the end caps, Kelsey and Jessie giggled and laughed like two girls on a sleepover. They covered The Hunger Games, Kelsey practically turned green with envy when she learned Jessie read the sequel. Kelsey explained how much she loved Little Brother, encouraging Jessie to read it. It was an exchange of “if you like this, then read this,” both players equally matched. Jessie examined Kelsey’s list, found the books she had, and offered alternatives for the books she didn’t have in stock. Jessie was so excited about Along for the Ride and Down the Rabbit Hole: An Echo Falls Mystery, that Kelsey agreed to buy them with her own money – that is the result of incredible hand selling! Read the rest of this entry »
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Another day, another award! National Book Foundation (NBF) announced the first winners of the Innovation in Reading Prize yesterday. The NBF awards the prize to individuals or institutions, or partnerships between the two, that have unique methods of encouraging or supporting life-long enjoyment of reading. The jurors looked first for innovative methods, but where there were two equal candidates, the jurors then examined the need in the community that the candidate satisfied. The winners receive up to $2,500. Claire and I rooted for a bookstore to win. Alas, our hopes were quashed by some truly terrific individuals and institutions:
James Patterson’s ReadKiddoRead.com – James Patterson’s son didn’t enjoy reading, so James spent summers looking for books that his son would enjoy. Then, being who he is, he started writing books his son would enjoy. Now he’s sharing all that he’s learned on a website ReadKiddoRead.com. This is a terrific website, it has lists of great books that kids will love by age. There are even lesson plans for teachers. Okay, how many parents out there take solace from the fact that James Patterson’s son didn’t like to read? While my kids love to read, there are other things that I love that they can’t stand; I look and them and wonder how they could be my child.
readergirlz - I LOVE THIS SITE! Claire is going to die when I send it to her. readergirlz is an online community for teen girls that pairs up a YA novel with a community service project each month. This month the book is Red Glass by Laura Resau. The book is about illegal immigration and the activity is awareness of Dream Act and possible participation May Day marches. readergirlz interviews the author (and asks about her favorite bookstore, the most important question) and this month is holding an online chat with Laura Resau. Read the rest of this entry »
The American Booksellers Association announced the winners of the Indie Choice Book Awards. The ABA described the new awards last February, then named the nominees (and automatic honor award winners) in March. Members of the ABA, largely booksellers, vote on the winners. I find this award particularly useful because the very same people I trust to guide me to great reads chose the winners. And here they are:
Best Indie Buzz Book (Fiction): The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Claire loved this book and I’m looking forward reading it this summer. It certainly creates a buzz, I’ve heard several people talking about it and more than one bookseller recommending it.
Best Conversation Starter (Nonfiction): The Wordy Shipmates,by Sarah Vowell. I always enjoy Sarah Vowell’s work on This American Life and NPR; this book is on my must read list.
Best Author Discovery: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski. No surprise here, given its Oprah and Stephen King backing. My husband enjoyed the book. But, in my crowd, there was far more discussion over another nominee, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, so be sure to add it to your reading list.
Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book (Fiction): The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. I had this book yesterday at lunch with Claire and she raved about it, along with pretty much all of Gaiman’s books. Claire mentioned that The Graveyard Book was inspired by The Jungle Book, the homage is even in the title. My 12 year-old is reading her way through this entire category of nominees and her favorite, thus far, is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Her copy is being passed around by all of her friends. Read the rest of this entry »
We recently had a free afternoon in Long Beach and while we could have 
gone to the Queen Mary, we chose to poke around some bookstores. One gem we found was Once Upon a Story, a sweet children’s bookstore. Once Upon a Story has a nice selection of books for every age. The front two sections concentrate on picture books while the back third is overflowing with YA books. The store offers lots of reading activities for the kids from three story hours a week, to book groups for a variety of ages, a YA Galley Book Group (what a treat to read the ARCs before all of your friends) and a Mother Daughter Book Group. We would love to have those options close to home!
But best of all, there is a special treat for the adults on Sundays when a massuase works on you for free. The store is located by the Coffee Cup Cafe and benefits from people stopping by after breakfast, the perfect duo!
At the cash register, I found the greatest invention for kids going through a fear phase, Monsters Go Away Spray. It’s a small spray can that easily fits into a child’s hand. Monsters in the closet? Under the bed? In a dark corner? Then spray these organic oils to make them disappear. I wish I had this when I was a child and feared spiders crawling in my bed. Read the rest of this entry »
Levi Strauss, originator of the American 501 uniform, was born 180 years ago today. Why do I know this? Claire and I have children who attend an elementary school that requires the children to wear uniforms, but on Levi Strauss’ birthday they can wear jeans. Levi Strauss is their hero. Mr. Strauss was a Bavarian immigrant who arrived in New York in 1847 to work in his brothers’ dry goods store. In 1853 he joined one of the largest mass immigrations in history and traveled to California to make his fortune. No simpleton, he knew his money was buried in the 49ers’ pockets rather than the Sierras and he set out supplying the miners. [If only those of us who bought up shares in Silicon Valley start ups remembered Levi's story and invested in Herman Miller and his Airon chair, at least the company still exists.] A tailor in Nevada, Jacob Davis, contacted Levi about making durable pants for the miners. They made jeans out of brown sailcloth with metal rivets at the points of strain, the pockets and the bottom of the button fly. They obtained a patent on this use of metal rivets. In flowed the money and the name ‘Levis’ is synonymous with jeans.
There is only one book that is perfect for this day of donning jeans, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. In case you haven’t heard the story, just before they leave for summer, four high school juniors find a pair of jeans in a thrift store that fits all of them even though they are different sizes (personally, I’m looking for a pair of pants that would fit me in the size I wore as a high school junior, now that would be magic). They decide that they each will wear the pants for awhile, then ship them to the next girl for her turn. The book follows the girls’ summer with four distinct voices, characters and experiences. As the jeans travel around, they acquire patches and mementos and take on the character of a clothing scrapbook. What I appreciate about the story is the emphasis on the importance of girlfriends and supporting your friends. In this age of “mean girls,” it’s nice to have a book that shows how girlfriends mess up and still hang in there for each other. Friendships take effort whether it be finding the time to have fun or being supportive or holding each other accountable or forgiving one another for blowing it. This series of books (there are four in total) gives examples of the mistakes girlfriends make, but ultimately shows the triumph of their relationship.
The story has spawned other sharing adventures. I learned of four girls who were so inspired by the book that they decided to get a pair of “magical Read the rest of this entry »
Claire
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