A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck

Having just finished a pretty heavy classic, I decided to find a quick, fun read.  Someone gave me a stack of Newbery Award books a while back, and since I remembered loving A Year Down Yonder by the same author, I chose this one.  Turns out that A Long Way from Chicago is the prequel to A Year Down Yonder, and it's every bit as entertaining.

With chapter headings such as, "Shotgun Cheatham's Last Night Above Ground," and "A One-Woman Crime Wave," you know you're not in for your run-of-the-mill coming-of-age novel.  Told from the perspective of a young boy, it chronicles the summer visits of Joey and his sister, Mary Alice, as they visit their eccentric, cranky, and very large grandma in her small town.  In each chapter, you get to watch the children grow up, but you also learn just a snippet more about Grandma. After each adventure you fall a bit more in love with her--her faults as well as her good qualities.

I would totally recommend these books for kids age nine or ten and up--real gems!

The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins

It isn't every day that I am completely engrossed in a book.  I do my reading in snippets--a bit at the gym in the morning, some with my book propped up by a salt shaker while I eat lunch, etc.  Every once in a while I come across something I can't put down or read in bits and pieces.  With Harry Potter, I believe this was because the magical world J.K. Rowling created was so new and fascinating.  I can't think of anything since Harry Potter that has been so utterly gripping as The Hunger Games.


I was afraid to read these books--there is a lot of hype about them, and I have heard countless people tell me what they probably told you too: "The first one is great, the second is good too, but it doesn't end how you want it to . . . "  I have also been warned against the violence in the books.  And with good reason--these aren't stories for the faint of heart!


That said, I want to tell you why you should at least consider The Hunger Games series, if you haven't already read them like half of the reading world.


1. It's original. I mean, there are a lot of dystopian books out there, but none with such a believable, fascinating (albeit horrifying) premise.


2. The characters are believable.  No offense to the Twilight series, but Katniss is no Bella . . . I found myself really rooting for the main characters.

3. Yes, there was violence, but it wasn't the mindless killing I expected it to be. Katniss, the main character, regrets her part in any killing, and she makes a point of disagreeing with the entire Hunger Games. (I'm just assuming everyone knows the basic storyline here)

4. There was no mushy, inappropriate romance junk. I still wouldn't let anyone younger than 15-16 read it, just for the sake of the disturbing premise, but it was much more appropriate than the Twilight Books.  Ok, I'm afraid I'm going to get on my soapbox here for a minute . . .

Soapbox:  I am incredibly concerned about the youth of this decade being exposed to far too much intimacy through books like Twilight and the rest of that series.  They are so not appropriate for kids who are younger than . . . thirty, maybe?  Mostly the last one--far too much information about sexual matters.  And although they are written by a member of the same church I belong to, and even though the main characters are married--for heaven's sake, do we really need to know every private detail?  I believe books of this nature are porn in the form most tantalizing to young women.  Girls don't go around looking for pornography pictures; Satan knows he can snag women (young and old) through books and movies like Twilight.  I confess, I did read the series and watched the movies--the storyline is very interesting, but there is a real danger there you need to be aware of for young women.  Please be very careful with your young girls! Ok, I'm through.

5. Suzanne Collins can really write.  I think sometimes authors get in the way of their story--they write in an awkward way that never lets you forget you're reading a book.  In contrast, each one of these books draws you right in, and you're living the story with Katniss.  The first person voice isn't distracting at all, like others written in this style, and you forget you're reading.

6.  It provides very interesting food for discussion--is it possible for the world as we know it to become like Panem, this futuristic world?  What would you do if you were forced to join the Hunger Games?  Is war ever right?  You could have a great discussion with your kids about what type of government is really the best, as well as how the gospel of Jesus Christ can solve every social problem in the world.  I have heard the complaint that it doesn't teach a great moral lesson, but I beg to differ.

Now, about the individual books themselves: The Hunger Games could stand alone, if it weren't for the cliffhanger-ish ending.  It is powerful in and of itself, fascinating, and really well done.  Catching Fire is much the same, butI know people who have decided not to read Mockingjay because it's gotten a bad rap.  I submit that it is every bit as good as the other two books; while things don't end "happily ever after," the way Collins finishes it is absolutely brilliant, and she leaves you with a lot to mull over.

I have yet to see the movie, but I am very excited to give it a try.  I have heard good things.  So give the books a try if you are brave enough, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom Series by Alexander McCall Smith (Portuguese Irregular Verbs)

Have you read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series yet?  You really must.  And then after you do (because I think it helps to fall head-over-heels-in-love with the brilliant Alexander McCall Smith first), you have to reserve a few short days to read this series, The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom.  It includes Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances.

Each book follows the mundane life of the socially awkward German professor, Dr. Moritz-Maria von Iglefeld, whose sole accomplishment was to publish Portuguese Irregular Verbs.  He finds himself in all kinds of embarrassing situations, although of course he is never to blame.

Although lacking the depth of the Ladies' Detective Agency series (McCall Smith is still at his best when writing from a woman's point of view), these are still absolutely brilliant.  The illustrations are simple, the stories quite ordinary, and the books very short (each one 120-ish pages).  They won't take up too much of your time, but are definitely worth every smile they put on your face.

The Magic Thief Series by Sarah Prineas

          I absolutely loved this book!  It had plenty of mystery, fantasy, and adventure.  It's kind of like Harry Potter, in the way that it has magic and wizards--just no wands.  I liked the way the author described everything. It's one of my favorites.

Clarice Bean, the Utterly Complete Collection by Lauren Child

Lydia:  I thought this was a good book. It was about a little girl who wanted to be a mystery solver like the girl in her book--until she solves a mystery of her own. I really liked it because it was written by the same person who wrote Charlie & Lola. I also like the pictures. There are lots of them.  I love the way she describes things.

Jessica:  Lydia talked me into reading these books, and it didn't take much effort, since our entire family is in love with Lauren Child's Charlie & Lola series.  They were so entertaining!


Clarice Bean is a pre-teen girl growing up in England who deals with some very normal problems--a mean teacher, a pesky younger brother, and homework she doesn't want to do.  The whole series reminded me of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, which I loved when I was little.  These are for a slightly more mature audience than those, strictly for comprehension reasons.  Any pre-teens would really enjoy them.  They are clean, clever, and perfectly darling!  I found myself wanting to talk like Clarice, who is the author of these "diaries."  Listen to how delightful she is--for example, in describing the neighborhood organic grocery store:


It's all about selling things that haven't been sprayed with chemically things.
I am not sure what that word organic exactly stands for really.  Who does know?  They should call it "with bugs" or something so people know what they are in for.  You might find a caterpillar in your broccoli but that's the point.
Mom says, "There's nothing wrong with eating a caterpillar."
I say, "There is if you are vegetarian."


On the irritating boy who sits behind her in class:
And I can hear Robert Granger breathing.  That's what he does.  He sits behind me and breathes.  It drives me utterly crazy.
And I turn around and go, "Stop breathing, will you!"

And he says, "Clarice Bean, of course I cannot stop breathing because then I would be dead and how would you like that?"
I decide not to answer his question because Mom has taught me if you can't think of anything nice to say, then sometimes it is better to say nothing at all.  You see, I am trying really hard to keep it zipped in class.


Describing tofu:
. . . .[It] looks a bit like a very palish cheese but tastes of nothing.


The diary-like feel ("epistolary" form--am I not so smart?) keeps you reading just a bit more to see what Clarice will talk about next.  I don't know what to call it, but I love that she uses different font sizes and styles to emphasize words (reminds me of my wonderful sis-in-law, Chelsea, who does the same on her blog).  It's such a cute way of writing! 


Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is cute as can be, Clarice Bean Spells Trouble was my very favorite and had the best story line--very laughable throughout, and Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now was still great, although it dealt with more serious issues of divorce and moving, etc.  They are such quick reads--I think I read each one in a day.  I wish there were more of them!

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

  This is supposed to be a retold story of Peter Pan, but it has a lot more adventure and way more details. It tells what happened before Peter Pan became the Peter Pan he is now. It was so fun to read I just couldn't put it down. I loved it!

Children of the Promise Series by Dean Hughes

These books were given to me by a neighbor several years ago, and I promptly tucked them away on a shelf.  I liked their pretty covers, but I wasn't in the mood for LDS fiction (honestly, I'm never in the mood for LDS fiction).  But having nothing to read a while back, I thought I'd give them a sporting chance.  So, dust covers removed, I began to "plow" my way through the series . . . or so I thought.  Instead, I found myself completely drawn in by Hughes' writing style, the stories, and the characters themselves.

He really did his research--I have to applaud that.  Although the main characters are fictional, almost everything that happens in the series is based on fact.  It follows the Thomas family, an LDS family living in Salt Lake City preceding, during, and following World War II.  With realistic dialogue, likeable characters, and a thrilling, fast-paced storyline, I didn't want to put the books down.  Any of them.  I think what I liked the most was learning about a piece of my family's history--both of my grandpa's served in WWII, and seeing what things were like for both them and their family and girls back home really struck a chord with me.  Very much worth reading, especially at this time of year--it begins around Christmas-time and describes the varied Christmases the family experiences as they spread all over the world.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

If you're looking for something light and quick to read, this might just be the ticket.

Stargirl Caraway, the eccentric, spontaneous heroine, always sings to her fellow students on their birthdays and always looks out for those who might be having a rough time.  Slightly odd, but always genuine, she is unafraid to be her own person.

If I had a pre-teen/teenage daughter (or son, I guess, although I can't see boys getting into this one much), I'd probably encourage them to give Stargirl a try.  It was clean and a really quick read--I think it only took me a day or two--but it was well-written and kept me reading to find out what would happen.  I believe it has a sequel (which I haven't read yet . . . ) called Love, Stargirl--I'll be sure to post if I ever read it!

The Great and the Terrible Series by Chris Stewart

This was a very interesting series. Now, I am not an LDS fiction reader, but this came highly recommended from a friend, and although I didn't love it, I'm not sorry I read it.  It's about a group of the noble and great spirits who make their way through life during the last days of the world.

Likes:  It really made me think about how Satan works (sort of put me in the same mindset as reading C.S. Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters"--only that's a completely different book--and such a good one--maybe I'll re-read it!).  The first book takes place in the author's rendition of the pre-existence, where you get to know the main characters of the series.  Good dialogue, good writing style, and the guy definitely knows his military stuff.

Dislikes:  It's definitely packed with action and a bit too much blood and gore for my taste.  I don't like reading about people's brains getting blown out, etc--maybe if I were a guy I would have liked it more.  Also, the whole adversary and devil's helpers thing started to scare me a bit.  And all the evil that leads up to the end of the world was just too much for me.  I'm afraid I did a lot of skimming through so I could get to the end and find out what happens.  The first and last books were my favorites.

If you are interested and want to know more, DeseretBook.com has a great review summing up the entire series.

Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull

Fablehaven: a magical preserve where frogs eat people, fairy's turn big, and goblins go to school. When Kendra and Seth go to their grandparents house for a week they see some pretty strange things. Will they ever get to the bottom of it? And will they ever see their grandma again? Fablehaven is a great series of books.

Jane Austen Mystery Series by Stephanie Barron

Jane Austen--I love all of her books, each one more than the one I previously read, because each improves upon reading.  But sometimes I'm a little disappointed that she didn't live just a tiny bit longer . . .

So for someone who loves Jane Austen as much as I do, this series is a perfect goldmine.  It has been a while since I read them, (and there are two I haven't read yet) but I was completely enchanted by them.  Stephanie Barron has studied and perfected the voice of Jane Austen.  Based on a fictional "diary" found in a manor house years after her death, these books are a sort of record of her life in between her novel writing and letters to her sister and other family members.  Each one centers around some kind of mystery, some involving murder.  Barron includes a lot of actual instances and facts from Austen's life, and you travel with her on her real-life journeys, so you feel like the mysteries could actually have happened . . .

As I recall, these books are clean enough for older teenage readers and definitely recommended for any and all Jane Austen-fan grown-ups like myself!

Once Upon a Time: Before Midnight & The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey

I find that I have to intersperse my heavy reading with lighter books so my brain doesn't start to hurt . . .  and this series was a perfect "'tweener."  It was recommended to me my my lovely sister-in-law, Amy (who has excellent taste in books).  The series has several titles, all of them retold fairy tales, and three or four of them are written by Cameron Dokey.  Now they aren't life-changing and tend to be a bit predictable (because of course we all know how the fairy tale ends, right?), but they are clean and fun--and who doesn't like a nice happy ending once in a while?

Before Midnight is a retelling of the Cinderella story.  There is an unusual twist on the father and step-mother relationship that makes it different from the familiar Disney version, and I really liked it.

Another title I read was The Storyteller's Daughter.  You'll find a lot of stories out there about Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, etc., but you don't often hear about Sharazad, and I found her tale quite intriguing.

I would really recommend this series (hopefully all the others are as good!) for any preteen daughters you might have who are perhaps too caught up in vampire series books. . . .  You are safe with these, and they're still interesting and have enough romance (but not too much) to keep them reading.

Sarah's Quilt by Nancy E Turner

A sequel to These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner, Sarah's Quilt had so much that I loved in it. It changes the way you look at our easy life nowadays, as the main character goes through drought and loss of cattle, land, etc. If you have read and enjoyed the first book, I'm sure you'll like this one. I did think it was a bit unrealistic that so many major things happen in such a short amount of time, but it's still believable and very interesting to read. I can't decide if I liked this or the first one better; in the second, Sarah Prine has been through so much and has become an amazingly strong woman, but I think I liked her better young, bold, and naive. Still, this one was clean, and you can't argue with that! (If you're interested, here's a good review of the series.)

Nick of Time by Ted Bell

This book was a lot of fun because it had a sort of taste of Treasure Island to it--there were a lot of fun parallels to that book, which I also enjoyed, but that's another story. Literally.

Anyway, I loved the fun adventures going on throughout the book and the mysteries involved. And the history. I thought it would be a perfect book for my boys when they get older. My only complaints were that there were a some unanswered questions (there's time travel in the story, which always presents a few), but then again, they could be resolved in the sequel, which I haven't read. Also, the author seemed to jump inside of anyone's brain he wanted to. That's not necessarily a bad thing--I just prefer first person or third person from one or two points of view. Other than that--really fun, perfectly enjoyable, and a light, quick read.

The Missing: Found & Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Definitely a fast, exciting read, I have had a lot of fun reading these books. Written at about a 6th grade level (give or take a grade . . .), they involve everything from time travel to history. I would highly recommend them for kids. They are clean and entertaining, and the second book even has a fair bit of English history in it. And Haddix--could you have a cooler last name as an author?

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The city of ember is a great book about a city surrounded by darkness. The city's people believe that they are the only light in the dark world, except two kids named Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow. They find a secret tunnel and think they've found a way out of ember. Was ember an underground city? Did the passage they found lead to anything? You'll find out if you read the city of ember.

These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

Another epistolary novel, this book is set in Arizona territory back in the 1800's. It has a realistic feel to it--it covers everything from the pioneer treks across the country to the first blood transfusions and hospitals. Set in a believable diary form, you really felt like you were watching Sarah Agnes Prine grow up. She begins her journey traveling in a wagon train (where she even meets up with some Mormon pioneers, among others) and ends . . .

No, I won't ruin it for you--besides, a description of just the story line doesn't quite do it justice--instead you have to read it, and you'll find yourself caught up in the life of this brave, believable pioneer woman. It made me really think about every day life back then and what my ancestors went through. Thanks to Jera & Amy for recommending this book!

*Disclaimer: There are some wild-west-ish parts that are a bit racy--one at the beginning and another mid-way through the book. Also a bit too much about the intimate life of the main characters, so be forewarned. I skipped them--they probably weren't too bad, but I'd rather skip parts than have them in my head! :) Hopefully you feel the same way.

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

If you haven't yet discovered this series, it's time you did. My wonderful Grandma Alma, who served two LDS missions to Africa, got me hooked on these books. Written (by a man, I might add!) from the perspective of Precious Ramotswe, a self-appointed female detective, they are set in Botswana, Africa.

What I love most about this series is the taste it gives you of every day life in Africa. From the beautiful style of speaking to the pumpkin soup and bush tea, each page contains little pearls of wisdom. The people are courteous (or at least expected to be so), life is slower, and there is a respect for humanity and nature that emanates from the pages. But it is far from boring! Each book has a key mystery to solve and several minor ones along the way, but you find yourself enjoying the culture and wisdom every bit as much as the mystery.

*Disclaimer: The very first book (and only the first--there are 10 all together) has a chunk in the middle that I remember being inappropriate--the only thing I've objected to in the whole series.

Here are all the books in the series (so far):

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Blue Shoes and Happiness
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
The Miracle at Speedy Motors
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
The Double Comfort Safari

How can you not love books with names like that?

Little House on the Prarie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is a great series of books about Laura Ingalls Wilder. It talks about her life--how she lives in the prairie, a dugout and in lots of other homes.

My favorite book in this series is: On the banks of Plum Creek.


Jessica:  I grew up on these books and loved the pictures and stories.  As a mother, I thoroughly enjoy reading this series to my children.  I think it is so good for them to realize that life wasn't always as easy and convenient as it is now.  Plus the real-life situations the Ingalls family dealt with has helped spark discussion with my own children about how to deal with their problems.  A perfectly beautiful series!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riorden

I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter books, and this series by Rick Riorden has come pretty close to that level of enjoyment for me. They are a series of books about a young unlikely hero--Percy Jackson, son of Posiedon. Following adventure after adventure, you find yourself brushed up on your Greek mythology and thoroughly entertained into the bargain. They are well-written with a hip (but not really disrespectful) teenage voice to them (written in first person), and the dialogue is totally believable. I thought each book in the series improved upon the one before it.