It’s a Blogiversary!

Ce-le-brate good posts--come on!  One year ago yesterday (Blogger had tech difficulties yesterday), I started my blog.  Taking a look back to my first post…

“Even if I only reach a few teachers or parents and my blog helps them put books in the hands of their kids, it’ll be worth it. I know there are hundreds of children’s literature blogs out there, but I hope you keep coming back to mine, if only for the simple reason that your child (or even YOU!) loves the books I’m writing about. But I plan on including more in this blog than just books. If events or news related to education and the publishing world spark a passion within me, I’ll be expressing my opinion about that too.”

I still feel the same way and have these same intentions—I just have so much to say about books and this is my creative outlet in which to share.  It dawned on me that there was one entry that I never posted.  I was waiting for who knows what, but I think this is the right time to share it.

I live in St. Louis and the question that everyone asks you if you appear to be in college or older is, "So, where'd you go to high school?"  I personally think this gets you nowhere in terms of sizing a person up.  I wouldn't be able to tell you the first thing about who YOU are as a person if you told me you went to Lindbergh or McCluer.  But it's almost a guarantee that if I told a fellow St. Louisan I went to Clayton, an eyebrow would raise and something along the lines of "Oh, so you're a spoiled rich girl" would cross through ones head and maybe even issue from one's lips (no joke, this has been said to me).  I didn't start Clayton till I was a sophomore...my mom (a first grade teacher) moved my siblings and I into the district because of the well-rounded education she knew we would receive.

On to the point of my post...what if the universal question we asked others was "What was your favorite childhood book?"  So many people would be willing and delighted to answer this question.  As evidenced from the following quote,

“When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.”  -Kathleen Kelly, You've Got Mail (Nora Ephron, 1998)

The reading you accomplish when you are younger forms who you are and lets you imagine who you could be.  The magic is still there when you are younger and for some it never leaves.  Asking that simple question let's others open up and not close down because no one has the right to judge you based on your favorite childhood book.

Hiphip Hooray!  Here’s to my blog and may there be many more posts!!

Image from: phoenix.fanster.com

Luck Of The Irish Be With This Book!

Typically, I try to post a younger book review on Mondays, but I just read that one of my favorite books was voted Irish Book of the Decade!

Recommended for grades 4 to 8

From a walking, talking skeleton to vampires and the undead, magic--mind you, extremely powerful ancient magic--abounds in Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. The plot of the story revolves around an adolescent girl named Stephanie, who has just inherited her uncle’s estate and another unlikely treasure (or curse, depending on how you look at it).

The other main character is Skulduggery Pleasant, a frank speaking, and did I mention suavely dressed, ace detective, who just happens to be a skeleton. Skulduggery’s connection to Stephanie is through her deceased uncle. Skulduggery ends up becoming Stephanie’s mentor to the magical world of elementals and adepts, where her uncle’s death has set off a chain reaction leading to the breaking of a treaty between good and evil to attain the scepter--a supposed mythological artifact that will give whoever possesses it ultimate power.

Stephanie and Skulduggery set out on a thrilling and magical adventure to discover where the scepter is located, how to stop Serpine--the evil antagonist--from getting his hands on it, and just what lengths one will go to save a friend.

I loved the story and characters in this book so much, that half way through listening to the audio (you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t listen to this on audio; Rupert Degas reads the novel with great zest, sarcastic (sometimes dark) humor, and a gotta love Irish accent), I realized I wanted to read the story again; it was just that intriguing and funny.

The main character, Stephanie, is brilliant and humorous. I laughed out loud at her quirky, yet sometimes deadpan comments. Stephanie has supernatural powers of her own that develop through the series, but her true powers lie in her intelligence, strength in will and determination.

I’m always trying to think of what novel I hold up to par with Harry Potter and this would be the one. I really loved Skulduggery Pleasant and highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, mystery, and strong female protagonists.

*This is the first in the series and is now renamed Scepter Of The Ancients.