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Pike’s Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile

Mt. Vancouver: Read 25 books from your TBR pile

Mt. Ararat: Read 40 books from your TBR piles
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 50 books from your TBR pile
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile
Mt. Everest: Read 100+ books from your TBR pile

I scaled Pike’s Peak by February 10th, and have now conquered Mt. Vancouver!!!!  (Some late-night insomnia has helped with the climbing-grrr).  You may think I’m cheating because many of these are juvenile and young adult, but they are on my shelves and need to get off.  I’m finally reading them and then they are going to find a new home in my friend’s classroom library in the fall.   So I’ve been climbing hard, and will be pushing on to Mr. Ararat.  Here’s what I accomplished on the way up Mt. Vancouver:

#13-Shades of Gray, by Carolyn Reeder
Excellent story of a teen boy scarred by the Civil War and filled with hate for the Yankees because of the loss of his family. He’s sent to live with his aunt and uncle and is dismayed to find that his uncle is a coward who chose not to fight for either side. As he gets to know his uncle, he finds that there is more to his uncle than he first thought and there’s more than one way to show courage.
Will’s story vividly brings to life the conflict among small landowners during and after the war as they try to survive in a countryside ravaged by both sides and coming to grips with the aftermath. It’s also an excellent coming-of-age story as Will deals with his feelings about the war and learns that war involves human beings with lives and loves. He also learns to deal with the local bully.

#14-Witness, by Karen Hesse
This tells the often overlooked story of the resurgence of the KKK in the early 20th century. Most people are unaware of the terror and lynching that accompanied the rise of the movement. It’s an important story that young people should know, and I found it interesting that it was juxtaposed with the notorious Leopold/Loeb case that was occurring at the same time. It was brought in to show the sanctity of human life as it was being threatened by the KKK in the little town in Vermont.

The poetry style was a little confusing at first as it was hard to keep track of the characters, but by Act 2 I felt comfortable with them and had gotten to know them. The story being told by the characters in this spare way was almost akin to reading a play and I found that I liked it as each character was able to show their feelings through their story. It has an interesting cast of characters that show a range of emotions and involvement: a young black girl, a younger Jewish girl and her father, a sympathetic single farm woman, a doctor, a newspaper editor, a constable, a preacher, a female rum runner, a young Klan member, a store owner and his wife. (couple cases of mild language)

#15-Morning Girl, by Michael Dorris
This is an interesting story that graphically shows the thriving Native American culture and what happens when the white men arrive in their big rafts. It’s a story of a family and the interplay between the sister and brother. Definitely saw the influence of Louise Erdrich and I liked the Birchbark House treatments better.

#16-Trouble Don’t Last, by Shelley Pearsall
Gives a well-researched account of runaway slaves during the 1850’s under the Fugitive Slave Law. An old man and a young boy flee their Kentucky farm and are aided by people on the Underground Railroad. Most of the people they encounter are based on real people. It’s an interesting account from the viewpoint of a young boy and would be a very good discussion starter about the topic of slavery and the Underground RR. It’s well-told and interesting.

#17-Gathering Blue (The Giver Quartet #2), by Lois Lowry
I loved this tale of the “broken” girl with a talent for threads who helps others and discovers that there are secrets in their village. Great companion novel to “The Giver”, with interesting characters and a great story.

#18-On Agate Hill, by Lee Smith
The structure of the novel was quite interesting as a shallow former documentary studies student finds a box with a diary and other items from just after the Civil War. They are discovered in a cubbyhole in Agate Hill and she petitions her former professor for a return to the program with this wealth of documents. So the novel consists of her intros to each section which include the child’s diary and other documents which recount the fascinating life of Molly Petree. She is orphaned by the war and grows up at Agate Hill with an interesting cast of inattentive relatives, attends a girls’ school, teaches school in a rural North Carolina mountain area, marries, and is involved in a coroner’s inquest. Letters, diaries, and reminiscences tell Molly’s story, which has some twists and turns, and she finds love and enlightenment during the journey. I found the child’s diary very interesting to read because it was written as a child would write and also as a child perceives events, sometimes very differently from the adults around them. The testimony from the inquest was also an interesting read as it was taken down verbatim as the shy man from the mountains gave his testimony. Although I didn’t absolutely love the book, I did like it and found the structure interesting and the character of Molly intriguing. (mild language)

#19-Nothing But the Truth, by Avi
This book was brilliantly structured. It’s called a documentary history because the entire book consists of transcripts of conversations, memos, newspaper articles, etc. so that the reader is forced to examine what’s happened based on an outside view and make a judgement of the motives. There is no inner voice from characters, only what they actually say or write. Very thought-provoking and interesting to see how the story subtly changes in the telling. It involves a boy suspended from high school for humming the National Anthem when students are supposed to be quiet, and then exposes the extensive fallout from this act. At first I kept laughing to myself at the cast of stock characters: bumbling superintendent, too-busy-to-listen asst. principal, unintelligible coach, strident radio talk show host, earnest but ineffective principal, polite get-the-facts reporter. But then I unintentionally started seeing the real faces of people I know, and I was struck by a truth: these are called “stock” characters because we are all familiar with them and know someone like them. They are real, and the way this modern tragedy unfolds and snowballs is also real. Students, parents, and school personnel will all find a moral in this tale.

#20-Unbroken: A World War II Story Of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand
This is a fascinating story told with the same current breathlessness as the author’s “Seabiscuit”. Louis’ story is amazing in its depiction of human depravity and the victims’ subsequent resilience. The suffering of the Pacific POWs is almost unimaginable and the descriptions are graphic. I was reminded of “Ghost Soldiers” by Hampton Sides, which depicts the Bataan Death March and rescue. Even though some of the book is difficult to read, it’s an important story, and ultimately, an uplifting one.

#21-The Hundred Penny Box, by Sharon Bell Mathis
Not sure what the story was trying to tell except that children should be respectful to their elders who have a story to tell. It was so spare that maybe it was too spare. Lovely illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon.

#22-Kira-Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata
This had some lovely visual images as Lynn explains the world to Katie. The book centers on family sacrifice, racism, and the bond between siblings as Katie tries to make sense of her world as a Japanese-American in rural Georgia. There’s a lot of sadness in the novel, but it eventually ends in a somewhat hopeful manner. I think it’s more of a young adult than children’s novel because of the themes. (instance of language, references to parents making babies)

#23-Stepping on the Cracks, by Mary Downing Hahn
Excellent evocation of the homefront during WWII. Two girls with brothers fighting overseas are forced to confront questions on the morality of war and desertion, as well as the brutality of domestic abuse. The book is well-written and serves as a great intro for middle readers to discuss important themes as they relate to two girls faced with neighborhood bullies, too much homework, and a tough teacher.

#24-Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See
Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it, just liked it. Interesting details about women’s life in China during the 19th century.

#25-Lost December: A Novel, by Richard Paul Evans
This is a prodigal son story with a happy ending that covers some dark territory, like gambling addiction and deceit.

I signed up for the What’s in a Name 5 reading challenge this year.  I’ve done it other years as well and it’s fun to find books to fit the categories.  I’ve finished with it, so that’s my second challenge of the year done.  Here’s the rules and here’s what I read; of these 6 books, my favorite was The Honorable Prison, by Lyll Becerra de Jenkins.

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title; On Agate Hill, by Lee Smith
2. A book with something you’d see in the sky in the title; Two Suns in the Sky, by Miriam Bat-Ami
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title; The Witches of Worm, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
4. A book with a type of house in the title; The Honorable Prison, by Lyll Becerra de Jenkins
5. A book with something you’d carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title; Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See
6. A book with something you’d find on a calendar in the title; The Porcupine Year, by Louise Erdrich