Suite Scarlett

Suite Scarlett
Maureen Johnson

Today was my first day of summer vacation. I have about 250 books set aside to read this summer. There is no chance at all that I’m going to get through all of the them – but I’m going to try my hardest.

I chose Suite Scarlett as my first summer book. I discovered Maureen Johnson after reading about a censorship challenge to on of her earlier books, The Bermudez Triangle. I frequently read her blog and Suite Scarlett was the third of her novels that I’ve enjoyed. It was a great way to start the summer.

Scarlett Martin has just turned 15. Her family owns a hotel in New York City – a hotel that is just barely surviving. On the morning of her 15th birthday, Scarlett’s parents have had to let their final employee go, so now it’s just the family to run the hotel. Scarlett had planned to get a summer job so that she could have some spending money. Now she’s expected to work at the hotel. Scarlett has an older brother, Spencer (whose one desire is to become an actor) an older sister, Lola, and a younger sister, Marlene (who is a cancer survivor and a completely spoiled brat). The idea of running the hotel without any help might seem overwhelming, but it’s not so bad when you only have a couple of guests.

Enter Mrs. Amberson – an obviously rich former actress – who announces she has come to stay at the hotel for the summer. She decides to hire Scarlett to be her personal assistant and proceeds to enmesh herself in both Scarlett’s and Spencer’s business. When the play that Spencer is in is threatened because the location is condemned, she decides to save the day, but not without a few missteps – some of which turn into disasters.
Suite Scarlett is a perfect summer read. It’s fun and light, there’s a romance, and you know everything will be ok in the end.

The Penderwicks

The Penderwicks
Jeanne Birdsall
Yearling, 2005

What can I say? I loved it. It has been compared to Elizabeth Enright’s books and I totally get the comparison. The Penderwicks is the story of four sisters whose father rents a cottage for a three week vacation. The owner of the cottage, Mrs. Tifton, lives in the mansion next door and she despises the girls almost immediately. Fortunately for the girls Mrs. Tifton is not seen often and they are able (for the most part) to avoid her as they go about their adventures. Mrs. Tifton’s son, Jeffrey, becomes an important playmate and eventually the story centers around whether Jeffrey will be sent to military school instead of focusing on his true love, music.

While some of the problems addressed in The Penderwicks are serious, there is never any real doubt that things will be better in the end. I’ve been snowed under with state testing this past month, and this was the perfect book to pick up and enjoy as I wait for the last two weeks of school to pass by and summer to begin.

Where I've Been

May is testing month at my school. I help the testing coordinator with North Carolina End of Grade Tests and they pretty much consume our lives. In addition, I agreed to serve on a team for North Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage (a three day spiritual weekend). Pilgrimage is one of most important things I've ever done, and I always rejoice in the opportunity to share the love and grace of God with others.

Testing is almost over (we have restests today and Algebra I tests later this week) and next week is the last week of school so I can finally start reading and writing again. To be honest I've done a little bit of reading, but just haven't had time to write about it. I'm going to post a review in a few minutes and I hope to get more out over the next week or so.

I'm debating about joining Mother Reader's 48 hour reading challenge. It was through this challenge that I encountered many of the bloggers that I read daily. I do have several commitments this weekend so if I do decide to participate, it will be spotty.

The True Meaning of Smeckday

The True Meaning of Smekday
Adam Rex

Earth has been invaded by the Boov who have demanded that all Americans move to Florida. Gratuity Tucci (all of 12 years old) decides to drive to Florida and hopes to find her mother who disappeared when the Boov showed up. On the way she picks up a Boov (named J.Lo) who has gone AWOL. During their journey another alien race shows up and they threaten everyone’s existence. Only Gratuity and J.Lo can save humans and the Boov.

I really wanted to love this book. The website is really cute and I was sure the book would be just as cute. It was, to a point. My problem with the book was that it was too long. Rex could have easily chopped 100 – 150 pages off it and it would still be as cute, but it wouldn’t have gotten to the point of being tiresome.

A Crooked Kind of Perfect

A Crooked Kind of Perfect
Linda Urban
Harcourt, 2007

Zoe Elias just wants a piano. What does she get? An organ and six months of free organ lessons. It’s not perfect but her life isn’t perfect either. Her father is afraid to leave the house and so her mom spends a lot of time at work, earning enough money to keep the family afloat. Her dad takes lots of courses from Living Room University “where you can learn any trade without leaving the comfort and privacy of your own home.” (p. 25) He’s taken such classes as “Earn Bucks Driving Trucks” and “Golden Gloves: Make a Mint Coaching Boxing.” Zoe learns to play the organ using the book Hits of the Seventies and is chosen to be at the Perform-O-Rama (a local organ competition). The only hitch? With her mom working so much and her dad afraid to leave the house, how is she going to get there? Life is not perfect for Zoe, but as she learns, a crooked kind of perfect is sometimes good enough.

It would be easy to dismiss A Crooked Kind of Perfect as just a sweet story but that would be doing it an injustice. I simply loved Linda Urban’s characters and her refusal to use stereotypes. I can’t label a favorite character – I loved them all! Zoe’s father really appealed to me but maybe that’s because I had an agoraphobic great-grandmother so I could understand his fears. Neither Zoe nor her friend Wheeler were whiners, although many would think they had plenty to whine about. The theme of not giving up, even when life isn't perfect is an important one (and one that kids need to be constantly reminded of). This book couldn't have a better title.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this book will be around for a while – it’s a book that teachers will love and I think kids will love it too.

My Mother the Cheerleader

My Mother the Cheerleader
Robert Sharenow
Harper Collins, 2007

Few people would admire Louise’s mother. Besides being a neglectful alcoholic who frequently “entertains” truckers in her boarding house in New Orleans, she is also a Cheerleader – one of the women who gather in front of Louise’s elementary school to scream horrible racial insults at Ruby Bridges when she is escorted to school each morning. Louise has been pulled out of school as a protest to integration. She spends her days helping around the boarding house, cleaning up after a mean, legless man and cleaning his bedpans. Louise had never even thought much thought about the fairness of segregation. As she says, “My first reaction to the news that William Franz was to be integrated was to wonder why the Negro kids wanted to go to such a crummy school.” (p. 10)

One day a man shows up looking for a room. Although Morgan Miller says he’s in town to visit his family, it becomes evident that he is also interested in the protests down at the school. Both Louise and her mother are fascinated by Mr. Miller – Louise because he’s interested in reading and her mom because she’s interested in men. Neither is prepared for the conflict this man will bring.

Every morning Louise’s mother goes to the school to fulfill her duty as a Cheerleader. The day after Morgan Miller arrives, she continues her routine. She’s startled, however, to see Morgan step out of his car to watch the whole scene. He tells her that he witnessed the whole thing in order to see “real courage” because he needed courage in order to visit his brother. Unfortunately, his visit (in a car with New York plates) gets noticed by the redneck men who also attend each morning’s sessions.

There is nothing romantic, nothing pretty about this book. Louise is a character who is definitely not thriving in her environment – but at least she’s surviving it. She does realize that “Acts of courage come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes what seems like a small moment to one person constitutes an unprecedented act of bravery for another.” (p. 286)

I wouldn’t call this a fun read, but it was a good one and an important one. As a child of integration (my elementary school was integrated just a couple of years before I started first grade), I cannot imagine what a segregated school would have been like. It’s thanks to the courage of people like Ruby Bridges that I didn’t have to.

Back from Vacation

San Francisco and Northern California were absolutely amazing. It was my first trip to California and we had a spectacular time. I loved going to see redwoods, and I’ve never driven along such a coastline. I can’t wait to go back.

The only down part was knowing that my beloved iBook was very, very sick. Two weeks and two days without it were entirely too much. And the iBook wasn’t the only thing sick. My eldest daughter, mother, and mother-in-law had terrible colds and they decided to share the love once I got back. I’m finally, slowly beginning to feel better. And my iBook is back after receiving a new motherboard.

Now you would think after being offline for more than two weeks that I would have a boatload of book reviews to post. Nope. I spent all of spring break reading adult fiction – mostly murder mysteries. I do have one review that I’ll post later tonight (I hope) and I just finished A Crooked Kind of Perfect and I hope to write the review tomorrow. I still have a pile of fiction to read and I hope to start devouring it after Saturday (my eldest daughter’s birthday).

I’m very, very behind on reading my blogs and I know there’s not much hope of catching up so I think I’m going to start fresh. I must say it’s good to be back in a routine.