Maximum Ride, or Max, is the leader of her “flock.” A group of 6 genetically altered children who have avian DNA and can fly…with wings. They have escaped the school (the euphemism for the research lab they grew up in) and are out in the world on their own, trying to find their parents, stay alive, and avoid the Erasers (another set of genetically altered kids that resemble wolves) who are tracking them down.
I had no intention of liking these books. None. But because I like to keep up and read alongside what my kids are reading, I went ahead and dove into this one. And, frankly, it hooked me. So much so that I finished the whole series in a little less than two weeks.
I really had to get used to James Patterson’s way of writing. He rights in quick sentences, no fluff, not a lot of detail. And because this book is told in 1st person from the perspective of a 14 year old girl, he writes in the vernacular and jargon of a sassy teen. And Max often talks right to the reader. Sometimes I feel like Patterson nails the voice of a 14 year old girl — just gets right in that sweet spot with the cadence and the language. And at other times, the voice is painfully not the voice of a teenager; it almost yells to the reader “middle age white guy trying to sound like a teenage girl.” During these passages, well, lets just say some of them are cringe-worthy. Especially when Patterson — through the voice of Max — gets preachy about responsibility and global warming (yes, you read that correctly, there is a anti-global warming thread throughout this series…).
But if you can put all that aside and read on, you have yourself a solid story that winds up to be compelling, interesting, and a fun read. Teenagers will love it (mine sure did). I even think this one would grab the attention of teenage boys, even though it is told from the point of view of a female. The story spins from one intense moment to the next and the characters are easy to care about.
I recommend this book series for boys and girls age 11 and older.
This is a good old-fashioned ghost story. Complete with rain storms, a dark lake, and disappearing characters. There is even a creepy doll.
Ali’s mother, Claire, and her aunt Dulcie have a secret. And like all good secrets, they yearn to be revealed and discovered. Who is that girl ripped out of the picture from their childhood? Claire and Dulcie claim that they do not remember. Ali thinks otherwise. So, when Ali gets invited to go the lake house to babysit her cousin Emma for the summer, she sets out to discover who the girl in the photograph is and why she is such a secret.
This book is written very simply without a lot of fanfare. The older the reader, the faster the book speeds to its conclusion because the story is pretty straightforward and, I guess, pretty predictable. I guessed early in the story what the secret was and how this whole thing might play out. My 12 year old did, too. BUT, having said that, I still think the story holds the reader (I mean it IS a ghost story, afterall…) and is a good little story. It is not terribly scary, which is good for a tween novel, and I would rate it as a PG book. Tweens and teens will relate to the angst that Ali feels at trying to fit in with her hip aunt and her desire to both separate from her mother and defend her. There are a couple of twists and turns and then the final result brings peace to everyone.
And there is just enough eerieness to keep the story moving along.
And the story definitely puts the ka-bash on secret-keeping, that’s for sure!
So, I would recommend this novel for boys and girls ages 9 to 13.
This book has been an unqualified favorite of ours since Ty was about 9 months old. The book has a delightful, old-fangled feel to it. The action takes place on a farm as “Ma” and “Pa” try to get baby to go down for his nap.
For those of you out there who have (or had) babies who don’t sleep, this book will shoot straight to your heart. Because the baby in this book, will not sleep, preferring to dance away his naptime. (I, for one, think that babies who do not sleep should be institutionalized, but the parents in this story seem to have an unending, UNENDING supply of patience.) Finally, his parents literally throw up their hands, pick up their dancing shoes, and dance the baby silly until he collapses in exhaustion.
One of the most beloved things about this book is the old-fashioned vocabulary. You will need to take time to explore these words with your child. But that is part of what makes this book so charming. Words like “wig” “long johns” “chow” “tuckered out” and “fiddle” pepper this book in a wonderful homage to times gone by. The illustrations, too, are just right for this book. One of my favorite pages in all of children’s literature is in this book. I would frame it if I could.
They danced until the sun went down.
The moon was full and bright.
“I’m tuckered out!” Pa finally said.
“It’s time to say good night!”
The simple but expressive drawings are the right complement to the nostalgic mood. The rhymes scan perfectly and provide language acquisition and reading readiness… oh, and they are cute and fun, too!
Plus, really, kids will love the rascally nature of this baby who defies his parents and avoids his nap through his good-natured boogie-ing. The book is made of sturdy pages with flaps that reveal the antics of this very awake baby
I must warn you. This book is very hard to find. I have yet to see it on a shelf anywhere, so dial up Amazon or the order desk at your local book store and get this book for kids age 0 – 5 years. And get ready to read it over and over and over!
Awards: ALA Notable Children’s Books, Younger Reader’s Awards
Book by Karen Beaumont
Pictures by Jennifer Plecas
This is my last January Top Lists Post. And, okay, I admit, it’s a doozie. And it is ironic since I have had the world’s worse week of parenting. But Fridays are all about books here at MamaBloo… so here we go!
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I own a lot of parenting books. That doesn’t make me an expert on parenting, but it does make me an expert on Parenting Books — which is why I needed a top 11 and not a top 10. I have read a ton, especially on sleep. When my son was born, he was born without the ability to sleep. My daughter, on the other hand, sleeps so much we actually called the doctor. Hey, you get what you get, huh? Anyway, here are my picks on parenting books. I will admit, a lot of these books I didn’t finish or am still in the process of reading. That’s okay, though. Let me know if I missed one that you found especially helpful!
These first three should be required reading. Seriously. Well, at least for people like me. If I taught Parenting 101, these would be my texts.
1. Sacred Parenting by Gary L. Thomas. Freaky good. But will rock you to the core. This book basically pulled me apart and put me back together again as it discussed how being a parent is also about our own journey as parents. That we are not out to change our kids, but that they — through God’s divine divine-ness — will change us. I shook through most of reading this book, and I have to admit, I have not finished it. I have to be ready to take out a electron-microscope and examine me when I pick up this book. Not always confortable, but required, I think.
2. The Optimistic Child by Martin E.P. Seligman This book takes a RESEARCH-based look at the phenomenon and epidemic of depression and entitlement among kids today. Seligman looks at how accomplishment and learning to deal with failure (when it occurs) actually teaches our kids to view themselves and the world more optimisitcally — no more trophies for just “showing up” to the game! He looks at depression and at ways to prevent it in our children by looking at their behavior and helping them express themselves. This book absolutely changed my paradigm of parenting. It has made me really look hard at how I coach my own children to interact with their failures AND their successes.
3. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Childby Marc Weissbluth M.D. This book takes a deep look at the importance of sleep in a baby and child’s life. Warning, it does support some version of “crying it out” when the babies are young, so if you are anti-cry-it-out you just need to steel yourself for that section. But don’t throw it away just because of that! This book goes through why we need sleep, how the lack of sleep affects us, and looks at ways to help kids get the sleep they need. It is relevant from birth to adolescence. Best sleep book out there, in my opinion (and I have read over 14 books on sleep… 14….).
These next six are the next “phase” of reading — for when you have time (ha ha.. .when we have time… I am funny…).
4. Touchpoints – Birth to 3 by T. Berry Brazelton M.D. The basic premise in this book is that there are these “touch points” throughout early childhood that are time just before a “rapid growth in any line of development … when, for a short time, a child’s behvior falls apart.” This book walks parents through these touchpoints and dicusses what is actually going on and offers good counsel on dealing with this new stage for your child. I loved this book grounded me as I watched my son grow up through his third year. It doesn’t really offer anything life-changing, but it kept me rooted in reality as I watched his little mind, body, and emotions grown and change!
5. Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax M.D. This was recommended to me by a total feminist, so if it has convinced her, you should sleep soundly with its credibility. This book takes a look at the emerging science of gender-differences and how boys and girls are just plain DIFFERENT. This is not news to those of us who have both a boy and a girl in our posse. This book states that a lot of these differences are on a physiological level (girls actually hear 10 times better than boys…. not news to most of us…). I admit I am not all the way through this book, but what I have read has help me rapt as I think about the reprecussions of these changes in how we discipline, educate, and form our kids.
6. Nurture by Nature. by Tierger and Barron-Tieger This takes the Meyers-Briggs personality test (ya know, ENFP, ISTJ??? ) and puts it into a parenting book. I have a friend who states that the more kids she had, the more she realized that she had little influence over who they were – -they were just born that way! This book promotes that idea. It really helped me look at my kids as the unqiue people they are — why one follows rules and the other doesn’t, how one loves stuffed animals and the other doesn’t care and so on. A nice tool in the arsenol for dealing with them as individuals rather than a pack.
7. How to Say It — Kids and How to Say It — Teens by Richard Heyman Ed.D. Just a little handbook for how to deal with issues that face your kid. This book tackles topics like BULLEYING and HOMEWORK and JEALOUSLY and CURFEWS and CHORES and on and on. It could almost be a “bathroom reader” as each topic is only 1-2 pages long and offers a down and dirty look at what to say to you kids/teens about these topics. It both tells you what to say and what NOT to say!
8. Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottman. This one was Dave’s read. After reading 30+ parenting books, I finally begged and pleased and blackmailed him to read JUST ONE book and report on it. This was it. We have read Gottman’s work on healthy marriages and have found him to be very insightful and this book was no different for looking at how to raise emotionally healthy kiddos. He advocates an emotional-coaching type of parenting that no one, NO ONE, can be successful at 100% (or even 75%) of the time — but it is a good goal!
9. Parenting with Love and Logic by Cline and Fay This book advocates letting children make choices and then letting them learn from the consequences — both positive and negative. Okay, so this one is a controversial book, I think. People tend to love it or hate it. I am not really in either camp. I think there is enough to glean from this book that it worth the read. Here is the thing I love most about this philoshophy, it creates a non-emotional response from the parent. Intead of yelling and getting all caught up in the heat of the moment, it allows parents to step back and allow the consequences to unfold — giving the child choices that the parent can live with (not an “either or” when the “or” is punishment…). Some people think the book is too harsh.. and I can really really see their point. But if you read with your own parameters in mind, you can get some good stuff from this one.
These last two are for commiserating and laughing.
10. Operating Instructions by Anne Lammott. This is just one of my favorite authors in the whole wide world. This book is a memoir about the first year of raising her son and it will both make you laugh and cringe… because you have been there! Beware, if you are currently in your first year of raising anyone, this book will NOT be funny to you. You need time and perspective on the insanity of that first year in order to find the meaning in this book.
11. Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. Same goes for this book. Be sure you are out of the infant stage before you pick this one up. But when you do, get ready to laugh your behind off! Off! Gone! If only it worked for weightloss…
