Choose to Read Ohio

by Carol3 Comments
I wasn't aware of the Choose to Read Ohio program until I went to the Ohioana Book Festival last weekend, but it's a really cool idea. "Choose to Read Ohio spotlights Ohio authors and promotes reading across Ohio. The State Library of Ohio, in partnership with Ohioana Library Association and other Ohio partners, developed this initiative to encourage Ohioans of all ages to share literature by authors native to, residing in, or associated with Ohio." I don't have a local book group to discuss the selections with, but I'm going to participate here at my blog. The '09 - '10 titles are: Children's Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey by Louise Borden Trouble Don't Last by Shelley Pearsall Where the Steps Were by Andrea Cheng Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey Young Adult Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper Deadline by Chris Crutcher After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline...
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Donner the Western Dragon by Suzanne Davis Marion

by Carol5 Comments
Donner the Western Dragon: A Hero's Tale by Suzanne Davis Marion, illustrated by Marj Hales Amber (10) loves dragons, so when I saw this book I couldn't pass it up. The story is a cute book to read aloud with younger elementary children. Donner and his family live in a cold northern forest along with several other dragon families. Unlike the other young dragons, Donner does not like to play rough games, wrestling and snorting fire. He would much rather spend time with his best friend Una, a unicorn. They enjoyed the vivid colors of the flowers, and sometimes they would watch the dragonflies skating on the water for hours, admiring their pretty iridescent colors and their graceful flight. (pg. 7) All the other dragons, even Donner's father, make fun of him, but one day when disaster strikes he is the only one the dragons and unicorns can turn to. His unique personality and talents help him become a hero. The story is a...
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Bad Luck?

by Carol7 Comments
"The cops want to talk to me, and I don't know what to tell them. All I know is that I don't like being connected to two murders through one client. It means you're either really bad luck, or you're not telling me everything I need to know". (pg. 147, Among Thieves by David Hosp) I haven't actually started this one yet, but I'm still guessing the he's not telling everything he know. What do you think? Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. The rules are easy and I only cheated a little. Grab your current read, open to a random page, and give us two teaser sentences. Remember, no spoilers. I borrowed my copy from the library and the above is my honest opinion. I am an Amazon associate....
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“Squish” by Daniel M. Hoyt

by Carol3 Comments
"Squish" by Daniel M. Hoyt The year is 2136. In this short story, the main character, Meyer, is an investigator hired to find the imposter among the many clones his boss, Benton Reege, has made of himself. These clones are stationed throughout the solar system and each is in charge of various research or industrial facilities. As Meyer makes the rounds, with his brain being "squished" into new biobods at each stop, he realizes that more is going on than he was told. This is an quick tour of the solar system, with little bits about the different planets and asteroids. For example, in this fictional future the technological advances are astounding, but they still can't make biobods that could actually live on the surface of Venus. "That could be solved if we could grow Venusian bodies that don’t crush halfway to the surface — it’s 92 times Earth’s pressure.  We can lick the temperature problem.  It’s...
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Ohioana Book Festival

by Carol9 Comments
I went to the Ohioana Book Festival in Columbus this past Saturday, an event celebrating Ohio's authors, along with my husband, Amber(10), my brother and sister-in-law. It was really fun day, at least I enjoyed it a lot. I know Amber did too. As for the rest of the bunch, I think they had an okay time, but were basically there because I wanted to go. There were tons of authors chatting and signing their books. I think we all came away with something. Amber bought The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. This is a picture of the two of them. She was really nice to Amber, interested in talking to her and encouraged Amber to send her an e-mail after she reads the story to tell her if she enjoys it. We actually picked up a bunch of books.  In addition to that one, Amber also got Pencil, Paper, Draw!: Dogs (signed) by Steve Harpster, who told her that the...
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