Laurie Halse Anderson and her hubby are Team in Training, they're raising $5000 and running a half marathon for the National Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Click the link and help them reach their goal!
Friday's All Things Considered had a neat piece on Wimpy Kid. The line drawings are so cute.
Anne of Green Gables is 100 this year, and, like Jane Austen, is having an all-Anne, all year celebration. I have just discovered an LM Montgomery that I haven't read, however. Has anyone else read The Blue Castle? (Wanna read it with me, Leila?)
Help a (Big) Sister Out... I'm looking for MG books with girl-power Asian girl heroines. These books are for a semi-reluctant, sparkle-struck, lipstick-and-glitter girly-girl, whom I think would read more if she found more books that were like her and had heroines as outrageous as Ramona Quimby. I'm thinking the Bindi Babes might be right up her alley, anything else??? Thanks in advance.
12 comments:
The Blue Castle is one of my all-time favorites of Montgomery's. Can't believe it never came up in our conversations. Let me know what you think!!
Good Enough by Paula Yoo is out now! Grab her that. It's hilarious. Yes, the protag is a senior in high school, but it's not naughty. I think it's super cute.
Does she like fantasy? Is she old enough to read Tithe?
How about Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet? Seeing Emily by Joyce Lee Wong?
P.S. Anne rules all.
Thanks, LW -- Even though she's turning 12, her maturity skews a bit younger -- she really LOVE, love, LOVED Ramona, and can't seem to let go. Right now she's reading Laurie Friedman's Mallory series, and her vocabulary isn't good enough to read Lisa Yee's books without getting frustrated, I don't think. So, I'm in the middle, trying to find her something that will excite her with a "bad" girl who isn't too "bad!" Thanks for your help!
How about Project Mulberry by Park? Even better, but Sis should probably preview to make sure it's a maturity match -- The Re-Gifters. (Can't remember author, Cybils graphic novel nominee from the Minx imprint which, by the way, is all about strong girls. Also from that imprint, but not specifically Asian strong girl, was The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci.)
Like Mary Lee, I also thought of the Re-Gifters but wasn't sure about the age appropriateness since I haven't read it yet!
Thanks for the shout out!
The Kiki Strike books have an Asian character, and she's much more to the fore in the second of the books.
Millicent Min comes to mind as well, although she's not the lip-gloss and sparkle type.
Grace Lin's books are awesometastic - The Year of the Dog is wonderful and skews youngish in MG; and the sequel, The Year of the Rat just came out.
I think that Lenore Look's "Ruby Lu" series sounds just about right for a Ramona fan.
As for The Blue Castle -- my mother and I both read that book when I was thirteen. She loved it; but I thought it was too romancey-schmaltzy. I've re-read it since then and found it wonderful (although my 13-yr-old self still thinks the love scene at the end is too schmaltzy!)
Thanks, everyone! (Incidentally, I think my sister is only the lip gloss and sparkle type as far as Ramona was -- just enough to sort of trowel it on, think she looks mature, and then continue to try and take over the world...) I hadn't heard of the Ruby Lu's, and will definitely consider some Babymouse or something -- graphic novels! Why didn't I think of that sooner!?!
I love The Blue Castle, and I've lost track of how many times I've read it, but I was just thinking about it yesterday. It always had added appeal as a kid because I had a friend whose mother wouldn't let her read it. I found out, just a few months ago, that her mother thought she would find it boring, not that the plot was too racy. Still love it, though.
I love The Blue Castle! It's no secret that Colleen McCullough was accused of plagerizing it for The Ladies of Missalonghi. While I don't know what Ms. McCullough was about, I like them both and find that The Ladies is a more grown-up, less schamltzy version of The Blue Castle.
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