I suppose it’s kind of telling if your 9 year old daughter comes home with library books and you pick one up and say, “Hey, cool! This looks good. Can I read it??” But, that’s what happened. I did “let” her read it first, since I was still trying to slog through the French book. Thankfully, I gave that up, and thoroughly enjoyed being lost in Gerald Morris’s world of princesses and knights.

The book, according to the author’s note in the back, is based on an Arthurian romace tale written by Chretien de Troyes. Morris took the basic story (originally called the Knight of the Cart) and then added some extra characters, including heroine Sarah. She’s a fabulous character: strong, stubborn, kicks butt, and learns a few lessons along the way. You can’t help but love her. And many of the great Arthurain characters come into play, Kai (Arthur’s foster brother, often spelled Kay) and Gueneviere; Lancelot (though he goes under a different guise in this one); Gawain; and Morgan and Morgause. Merlin doesn’t show up at all, which doesn’t distract from the story at all and Arthur plays only a minor role.

The story’s pretty basic. Sarah’s mother and guardian (her father’s never identified) — who’s a Jew — were brutally murdered by a knight and she’s set out for revenge. On the way, she witnesses the kidnapping of Gueneviere and Kai and ends up setting off to rescue them (with help, of course). She, of course, manages to get her revenge, learn a little about killing and mercy and save the day in the end. Still, the adventure along the way is one worth joining in on.

Maybe I should let my daughter pick out my books more often.

I was in Spokane visiting my in-laws and I mentioned Julie’s post on Ballet Shoes. My mother-in-law happened to have a copy, and sent it home with me. I finally got around to reading it. It’s another one I missed out on as a kid (I missed out on a lot!), and even as an adult I found it kind of cute. It’s not really about ballet, I guess — only one of the three sisters ends up being a dancer — and I thought Noel Streatfeild kind of copped out in the end (nothing like a very pat “they all will live happily ever after” ending), but other than that, it was a lot of fun to read.

I liked this one, but not as much as I thought I would. It’s an interesting set-up for a story: Kira, an orphan in a village, is set to the task of restoring the Singer’s robes because she has a Gift for embroidery (Lois Lowry called it something else, but I can’t remember what it is right now). But, as the story went on — Kira’s learning how to dye colors; her friendships with Matt (who is the main character in Messenger and Thomas); their discovery of Jo and her singing; and Kira’s eventual discovery of the town leaders — it lost it’s power. None of Kira’s discoveries were that interesting, and when she eventually did discover how to make the color blue, it felt, well, a little anti-climatic. Even though there was never really a climax. It was really all set-up, which is interesting, but in the end, not terribly engaging.

Still, it’s Lois Lowry, so it didn’t suck.

I thought, after about the first third of this book by Garth Nix, that this was one of those books that was uncomprehensible, weird and just going nowhere. But I kept with it anyway. Call it stubborness on my part; a book has to be really bad before I’ll stop (unfortunately, that means there have been times when I wish I could have my time spent reading back). However, this was not one of them. It’s a pretty weird story — the world in which Sabriel inhabits is half “modern” half, well, fantasy. Sabriel is an “Abhorsen” in training — someone who “binds” the dead, that is, makes the dead stay that way. The first third is pretty creepy and confusing: dead things are chasing her, she needs to rescue her father, there’s this weird thing called Mogget, and by the way what is Charter Magic? Stick with it, though, and it becomes a straight-up fantasy/adventure, most of the questions you have during the first third are answered (or at least it makes more sense as you go on) and the creepiness gets less, well, creepy.

And Sabriel is a good girl-hero too. Strong-willed, yet she makes several mistakes that could be costly that she has to figure out solutions for. There’s romance, but she’s no damsel in distress, or silly head-over-heels in love maiden. By the end, you really like her and all the characters surrounding her. A good book.

There are times when I wish my life was more interesting so I could write a gripping, intriguing memoir. But, alas, I’ve lived a pretty normal boring life with no major catastrophes. Unlike Rachel Simon and her sister. This was a fascinating memoir. Not having much experience with people with metal handicaps (I learned you’re supposed to emphasize the people, not the handicap), it was a real eye-opener. I admire the way Rachel deals with her sister: she’s honest and blunt about her feelings of anger and resentment, yet, you can sense the very deep and unconditional love there. Her sister, Beth, is 11 months younger than Rachel, and spends her days (all day, every day) riding the buses of a Pennsylvania town (Rachel doesn’t ever say what town). As a holiday present, Rachel offers to ride the buses with Beth for an entire year. And during that year she learns a bunch: about herself, about life, about people, about her sister, about love.

It’s an amazing journey. The backstory about her childhood is both fascinating and heartbreaking. And what and how Rachel learns from her sister’s experiences (and from the bus driver) is so totally honest and true that you just want to cheer at the end.

My only beef is with our library again. This book was cataloged as a Young Adult biography and I think that’s misleading. Not that it isn’t appropriate for young adults. I just think putting it in that category would discourage many people from picking it up. And they really should.

I really hoped I would this book by Julie Andrews Edwards better than I did the last one. And I did, but only marginally. The basic plot — an orphan discovers an abandoned cottage and sneaks away to spend time in it, even lying to cover herself until she falls deathly ill when she discovers the people who own the cottage are wonderful and all she really needs is a family — probably could have been intriguing. And, I’m sorry to all those who loved Mandy as a child, the writing is just plain silly. Too much exposition, not enough action. There are probably many, many ways to show us that Mandy was unstable emotionally rather than saying, “Mandy had just had an emotionally confusing conversation” This wasn’t the bottom of the barrel — Edwards was attached to her characters, I think. I have read worse books. But there are also better ones out there.

I’m at a loss on what to write about this book by Pam Munoz Ryan. Not because it’s bad; on the contrary, it’s really really good. But, it’s not really “about” much of anything. It defies description — a Hispanic book? a coming of age book? a book about choices and destinies? yes, all of that and more — and when my husband asked what it was about, I was only able to answer, “Well, it’s about a girl named Naomi Leon.” And her finding herself. There’s really not much more to say. Except that I couldn’t put it down, and stayed up late last night to finish it, hanging on every word.

I love books like that.