Children's and YA Lit: The Trouble With Heroes

 A few years ago I ran into someone that has read my blog since it started long ago.  She remarked that I no longer reviewed kids books. That was never my intent, but as my kids have grown older and I moved to a middle school job, I certainly find myself only rarely posting about children's literature. 

However, I'm still reading a ton of middle grade and YA books.

Kate Messner is an author I've been with since she first was published. The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z and Sugar and Spice, Messner's first two middle grade novels are ones I've thought about many times over the years.  They are such a great middle grade novels that would work well for book clubs.  

And Messner's middle grade novels just seem to keep getting better.

The Trouble With Heroes is Messner's latest novel. I picked it up over the weekend and devoured it.  A novel-in-verse, Finn is still grieving the death of his father - a real life hero who carried a woman to safety during 9/11.  

In anger, Finn kicks a headstone in a cemetery, causing damage. Because the headstone belonged to a woman known for her abilities as a mountain climber, her daughter proposes that as restitution Finn must agree to climb all forty-six peaks of the Adirondack mountains.

Finn learns a lot about himself during this time, but he also learns more about his dad.  And what he finds out helps him come to terms with his dad's death. 

Messner's book is a perfect pick for middle grade readers. Just as with her previous novels, I am left satisfied, but already counting down until she releases another.

Waiting on Wednesday: The View From Lake Como

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released novel I can't wait to read.

This week's pick: The View From Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani

Due out: July 8, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

Jess Capodimonte Baratta is not living the life of her dreams. Not even close.

In blue-collar Lake Como, New Jersey, family comes first. Recently divorced from Bobby Bilancia, “the perfect husband," Jess moves into her parents’ basement to hide and heal. Jess is the overlooked daughter, who dutifully takes care of her parents, cooks Sunday dinner, and puts herself last. Despite her role as the family handmaiden, Jess is also a talented draftswoman in the marble business run by her dapper uncle Louie, who believes she can do anything (once she invests in a better wardrobe).

When the Capodimonte and Baratta families endure an unexpected loss, the shock unearths long-buried secrets that will force Jess to question her loyalty to those she trusted. Fueled by her lost dreams, Jess takes fate into her own hands and escapes to her ancestral home, Carrara, Italy.

From the shadows of the majestic marble-capped mountains of Tuscany, to the glittering streets of Milan, and on the shores of enchanting Lake Como (the other one), Jess begins to carve a place in this new/old world. When she meets Angelo Strazza, a passionate artist who works in gold, she discovers her own skills are priceless. But as Jess uncovers the truth about her family history, it will change the course of her life and those she loves the most forever. In love and work, in art and soul, Jess will need every tool she has mastered to reinvent her life.

Fed by the author’s cherished Italian roots comes a bighearted, hilarious novel of the moment: the story of one woman’s determination to live a creative life that matters, with enough room left over for love. With a one-way ticket to Italy, Jess is determined to write a new story on her own terms--this time, in stone.

Non-Fiction Tuesday: Coming Soon: JFK: Public, Private, Secret

 

I love nonfiction and am always adding nonfiction books to my TBR.  There are some topics I consistently read about and the Kennedys is one of them. J Randy Taraborrelli is a well known author who has several Kennedy books to his credit already.  I have read several and enjoyed each one.

This summer Taraborrelli has a book coming out about JFK.

JFK: Public, Private, Secret is coming out on July 15, 2025

Synopsis take from Amazon:

From the New York Times bestselling Kennedy historian and author of Jackie: Public, Private, Secret comes the other side of the story―her husband’s: JFK: Public, Private, Secret.

In this deeply researched presidential biography, J. Randy Taraborrelli tells John F. Kennedy’s story in a provocative new way by revealing how public moments in his life were so influenced by private relationships with not only his family, but also Jackie’s.

But it’s the secret life that also surprises. As Congressman, Senator and finally President, JFK was a magnet for women. With exclusive interviews and meticulous research, Taraborrelli reveals not only the man’s many affairs but also the strength and resolve his wife showed in coping with them.

JFK’s women include:

· Jackie Kennedy, and her rules of engagement for Jack’s infidelity: “Show me some respect and don’t rub it in my face”
· Inga Arvad. JFK’s first love and how it ended over fears she was a Nazi spy.
· Marilyn Monroe. Why Jackie insisted JFK end it with her: “This one’s different, Jack. This one’s trouble!”
· Finally - the truth about of JFK’s relationship with Marilyn exclusively from Marilyn’s closest friend… and how it wasn’t what people believed.
· Joan Hitchcock. The mysterious brunette who comforted Jack after Jackie threatened to file for divorce.

Other great stories:

· How JFK’s grief over his infant son caused him to make rash decisions that pulled the USA into Vietnam for the first time.
· The real truth, once and for all, about the Mafia’s involvement in JFK’s election.
· The startling drug abuse that clouded the President’s decisions during the disastrous Bay of Pigs...
· … and how Jackie managed to wean him from those drugs in time for the nearly cataclysmic Cuban Missile Crisis.
· The Kennedys’ secret plans to renew their wedding vows, made just before JFK’s assassination.

The JFK presented in Taraborrelli’s definitive biography is a complex and endlessly fascinating historical figure, despite―and maybe even because of―his many flaws.

Monday Mini-Reviews: Another Five Star Weekend

 In April my reading felt hard.  I couldn't concentrate on anything and although I ended up reading some good books, my state of mind as I worried about my job didn't lend itself to pleasure reading.

This month will be better. I now know that I will be split between four buildings.  While I don't think that's a good solution and it certainly doesn't reflect how important I believe school libraries are, it's what the district has decided.  There are fifteen elementary and middle school librarians in my district that they have reduced down to four.  Eight of us applied for the four open spots, so I am feeling grateful I have a job.  

There are still a lot of questions about what next year will look like, but this weekend I happily lost myself in some amazing books.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans is a debut novel that is absolute perfection.  Told through letters, Sybil Van Antwerp has used the written language as her preferred method for communicating with others in her life.  Each day she sits at her desk and writes a variety of people: her brother Felix, Joan Didion, her dear friend Rosalie, her children, the president of a college who won't agree to let he audit courses there, and a young boy named Harry.  Through these letters we get to know Sybil and start putting the pieces of a puzzle together as her story is fleshed out. 

Throughout the book we know that there is one piece of the puzzle that Sybil is unable to share with anyone, and there is also an ongoing letter that appears from time to time.

I finished this book on Saturday and have thought about it ever since.  There is so much wisdom in this story and Sybil was someone I loved for her imperfections.  This is the perfect book club selection, but also a book that is perfect for readers of all ages.  This is the book I'll be pressing into everyone's hands in 2025.  

This wasn't the only five star read of the weekend, either.  I'll be sharing the other amazing book I read yesterday very soon.

Friday Five: It's May!

The last month of school always seems so frenzied and this year my youngest daughter is graduating from high school, so there is an added busy-ness to things.  I've also got a different job description and instead of one library where I work full time, I'll be managing four school libraries and a couple paras traveling in between buildings.  I'm trying to think through what those changes mean, what my new schedule might be, and do a lot of cleaning out of my office since I won't be there all the time (things also have a tendency to walk away if no one is around to keep track of them).   I don't really need much for spring, but that hasn't prevented me from shopping.  

Enjoy this week's finds! 

1.  Chino Patch Pocket Shorts

2.  Pearl Huggie Drops

3.  By Anthropologie Flutter Sleeve Top

4.  Wide Leg High Rise Cropped Jean

5.  Yana Puff Sleeved Embroidered Park

6.  100% European Linen Square Neck Jumpsuit

7.  Shayla's Pullover

8.  Cheesecloth Frill Full Length Dress

9.  Andrew Marc Sport Solid Banded Tank

10.  Princess Charlotte Turns 10

That's it for me this week. What's caught your eye?

Waiting on Wednesday: Overdue

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released novel I can't wait to read.

This week's pick: Overdue by Stephanie Perkins

Due out: October 7, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

Is it time to renew love or start a new chapter?

Ingrid Dahl, a cheerful twenty-nine-year-old librarian in the cozy mountain town of Ridgetop, North Carolina, has been happily dating her college boyfriend, Cory, for eleven years without ever discussing marriage. But when Ingrid’s sister announces her engagement to a woman she’s only been dating for two years, Ingrid and Cory feel pressured to consider their future. Neither has ever been with anybody else, so they make an unconventional decision. They'll take a one-month break to date other people, then they'll reunite and move toward marriage. Ingrid even has someone in mind: her charmingly grumpy coworker, Macon Nowakowski, on whom she’s secretly crushed for years. But plans go awry, and when the month ends, Ingrid and Cory realize they’re not ready to resume their relationship― and Ingrid’s harmless crush on Macon has turned into something much more complicated.

Overdue is a beautiful, slow-burn romance full of lust and longing about new beginnings and finding your way.

Monday Mini-Reviews: The Quantity Is Small

 My Monday Mini Review post is meant to be "mini" in the sense that I don't intend to write long reviews.  However, this month "mini" means small in quantity.  I've had a lot of times where I could read, but just really don't feel like it.  It's a strange feeling for me, and one I hope I get over soon, but for now I'm still trying to pick up something to read, and hoping that it will catch my interest.

One thing that is working for me is a good rom-com.

I read this book in just one sitting and loved every minute of it.  Elle agrees to house-sit for her sister in New York City so that she can hopefully overcome writers block and produce a screen play whose deadline is looming.  Living next door is a billionaire bachelor, Parker Warren, who also happens to be the guy that Elle made out with in a stairwell a couple of years before. 

Elle wants nothing to do with Parker; he's on the cover of magazines, while she writes her screenplays anonymously.  The two seem to have little in common, but Parker asks Elle to pretend to be his girlfriend for the summer in order to deflect attention from a big business deal.  

Anyone familiar with rom-coms knows how this one will end, but that's the beauty of a rom-com.  I enjoyed every bump in the road the two faced and the attraction that they had for each other.  

If you're looking for the perfect book to bring to the beach, to curl up with on a rainy day, to get over a reading slump, to escape into for an afternoon, this is a great choice.  I loved the NYC setting and the love story between Elle and Parker.

Friday Five

We've had rain nearly every day this past week, usually during the night.  It would be lovely to just sleep in on these days, but usually by the end of the school day, it's sunny and I can be outside and go for a walk.  I'm enjoying the warmer weather a lot.  

Here are a few things I found this week to share:

1.  Leather Alternative Cross Body Bag

2.  Striped Stitchy Sweater

3.  Garden Brunch Crew Socks

4.  Casual Printed Ruffle Sleeve Mini Dress

5.  Mongolian Cashmere Crewneck Sweater

6.  Elegant V-Neck Ruffle Denim Detail Dress

7.  Cicy Bell Womens Wide Leg Jeans High Waisted Stretchy Baggy Loose Denim Casual Pants with Pockets

8.  Cloud 9 Terry Sweatshirt

9.  Nerissa Platform Sandal

10.  Marlene Wavy Sweater

That's it for me this week. What's caught your eye?

Waiting On Wednesday: Something To Look Forward To

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released title I can't wait to read.

This week's pick: Something To Look Forward To by Fannie Flagg

Due out: August 25, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

Joyful and surprising interconnected stories that celebrate the ways people from all across America are learning to cope and to connect in a changing world—from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Fannie Flagg once said that what the world needs now is a good laugh. And that is what she gives us in these thirty warmhearted, often hilarious, always surprising stories about Americans finding clever ways of dealing with the curveballs life throws at us.

We meet Velma from Kansas, a loving great-grandmother who struggles to bridge the generational divide with her great-grandchild in California. Why, for instance, does her great-grandchild sign letters to Velma with “(they/them)”? We cheer for Helen, in Ithaca, New York, who takes an audacious course of action when her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Four men in Bent Fork, Wyoming, make a bold decision after learning that the café where they eat breakfast every day is about to be sold to a stranger from out of town. And observing them all is Special Agent Frawley, an odd visitor from another planet, sent to Earth to figure out what makes human beings tick, only to fall in love with one of them—and with her cat.

With her infectious humor, wild imagination, and her great understanding of Americans—and of the human heart—Fannie Flagg holds up a mirror to all of us and lets us laugh at the sometimes eccentric, sometimes brilliant ways people learn to deal with and, ultimately, prevail over life’s challenges.

Waiting on Wednesday: Mean Moms

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released novel I can't wait to read.

This week's pick:  Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum

Due out: July 29, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

A deliciously satisfying and suspenseful story about what happens when a clique of wealthy Manhattan private school moms start getting a taste of exactly what they deserve, instead of just what they can pay for.

Meet Frost, Morgan, and Belle―a wealthy, gorgeous group of New York City moms, the queen bees of downtown Manhattan. Their children attend Atherton Seminary, the top private school in the city, and their social lives revolve around elaborate themed parties.

On the first day of school, the arrival of a new mom and mysterious beauty from Miami named Sofia shakes up their world. When Sofia quickly integrates herself into their clique, inexplicably bad things start to happen to the women. Frost is the victim of a hit-and-run electric scooter incident. Nell's dream of launching a fashion line is thwarted when the clothing samples cause people to break out in a rash. Morgan's new sound bath spa is robbed at gunpoint by a moped-driving thief. Morgan declares it all a "negative event cluster," but the other women aren't so sure.

Is someone at school out to get them? Another mom with a vendetta? Let’s not forget to mention the handsome headmaster, Dr. Broker, who every mom has a crush on (and one of them might be sleeping with).

Spanning the course of one eventful Fall in New York, ending with a Surrealist New Year's Eve Ball―and a possible death, Mean Moms is part satire of upper crust mom-ing and part mystery, interrogating the line between friendship and jealousy, and getting at the question of: What would happen if the woman standing next to you at school pick up was actually a sociopath?