wordy wednesday - not too grown up yet

When I was very little my grandmother decided to go to college. She conquered all her fears-including algebra- and got her bachelors degree, and eventually her masters, in Library Science. Over the course of my childhood vacations I spent many, many days with her in her libraries -both the school ones she worked in professionally and the ones she volunteered in at church. I loved helping to straighten the shelves, stack the books, stamp the cards.

 In the summers we  would spend many warm nights, our faces moist from cold cream, lying on top of cool cotton sheets, reading. Each of us lost in our books, the whir of the oscillating fan and the summer crickets the only sounds in the room. I usually found it curious that she was usually reading a children's or young adult book instead of the more grown-up choices of a crime novel or political biography. But now, having worked in a library and now working in a school, I finally understand. Maw was reading those books so that she could recommend them, understand them and discuss them with her students. And now, as part of my job, I too need to be able to recommend, understand and discuss these books with my students, for my students. So I am reading, reading, reading lots and lots of children and youth books these days. And I am loving it. I thought for this installment of Wordy Wednesday it might be fun to show off my more youthful selections of late, so without further adieu,  here is what is on my nightstand currently:

Read and Loved

One Crazy Summer

This is one of those books that gets inside you and sticks to your ribs.

I love and adore it. If you can't get your kids to read it, read it to them. No matter how old they are.

Read and Enjoyed

Close to Famous

Cute book, especially if you have a young baker or food network addict in your house.

Fun, current, interesting and wholesome without being cheesy. 

Reading

The Liberation of Gabriel King

I am two pages in and I am hooked. Can I stop blogging now so I can go read?

Waiting to Read

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

This one is a little meatier than the others so it is on my Summer Reading List. Hoping to take this one camping with us in June and soak it up while the boys fish.

While we are talking kids books, make sure and check out my pal Melissa's new blog It's Worth Reading. Make sure to notice her adorable school picture (I want her hair. Seriously.) and send her some love for me!