Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson



Lonnie and Lili's parents were killed in a fire, and their social worker was unable to get them placed in the same foster home. They still get to see one another from time to time, and in between visits, Lonnie writes letters to Lili. He tells her about school, about his foster family, and about their life before, so she won't forget.

Lonnie's letters explore the issue of how families are created. Lonnie loves his foster mother and his foster brothers, and Lili loves her foster mother as well. Is Miss Edna becoming Lonnie's Mama, like his friend Clyde says? Is it okay for Lili to call her foster mother Mama, even though they already had a Mama of their own? Can Lonnie and Lili still be a family, even though they've each found a new family to love?

Easily the sweetest book published this year, Peace, Locomotion is a book for anyone who's ever pondered the idea of how far family can stretch.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Twelve Days of Christmas, Teen Book Style!

Here's a Christmas Carol about some of my favorite books!

This song is really, really long, so let's just start at verse 12, shall we?

On the twelfth day of Christmas, I really want to read:

12 challenged books

11 Gossip Girls

10 Georgia Nicolsons

9 awesome road trips

8 great retellings

7 Harry Potters

6 Maureen Johnsons

5 Percy Jacksons

4 books by John Green

3 sexy vampires

2 books about werewolves

And a book about that great spy, Cammie!

Merry Christmas, everyone!