This is powerful.  It’s a short book, intended for middle grader readers, but is so well written that I finished it in one sitting.  Jerome is a young black boy mistakenly shot by a white police officer.  Ghost Boys delves into the trauma this causes not only for the boy and his family and friends, but also the officer and his family.  I learned more of this history of prejudice and other boys who were murdered because of their race.  This book will be a definite must-read for my children, at an appropriate age.

Harry’s Trees by Jon Cohen

Enjoyed this slightly magical story about heartbreak and affects of the choices we make.  The characters are well fleshed-out, the storyline is engaging.  It was overall a fun read.  (There is one potty-mouthed character and one or two scenes that contain excessive language, or general ickyness but it does not happen often, that I remember).

Nancy and Plum by Betty McDonald

A fun read aloud for my kids, written by the author of the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series.  I liked this book better than Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.  It even drew my 5 year old in, which I was not expecting.  A fun and funny story about 2 spunky orphaned sisters.

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge

Great classic, along the same vein as Anne of Green Gables or Pollyanna.  Old-fashioned in some ways, always relevant in others.  Read this for a book club and really liked it.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

This has been on my too-read list for a very long time.  My 14 year old handed it to me immediately after she finished it.  I am glad I finally got around to it!  I loved the structure of the story, it’s a story within a story as Sal tells her grandparents about an experience she had while they are driving across the country.  We flip back and forth through time and learn more about both timelines as the book progresses.  Two sad family tales are intertwined, one with a happy ending, and the other not.  Love Sharon Creech’s approach to storytelling. 

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

Probably my favorite book of the year so far.  The writing is absolutely beautiful, without being flowery.  I fell in love with each of the characters, they are so well defined.  This story is filled with hope conquering darkness, faith overcoming fear and the sacrifices we make for family.  Love.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

It’s taken me a while to get through this one.  So many people have had it on hold at the library that I had to return it before I was done and then request it again.  A fascinating look at Michelle’s life.  Even if you disagree with her politics, I highly recommend reading this book.  You’ll gain additional perspective into her life and that of her husband.  My favorite part of any animated movie is the bonus footage of the actors reading their lines and the animators creating the art.  So I especially loved the behind-the-scenes looks into life at the White House.

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky

We have slowly been working our way through this book during our homeschool morning time, reading about a couple of women each day for weeks.  Loved the broad overview about so many inspirational women and their contributions to science and to history.  It inspired a lot of talk about oppression and how much we’ve missed out on throughout the history of the world because minorities and women have been held back.

Cold Podcast
Holy Smokes.  This is engrossing and horrifying.  I binged the back episodes over a few days and could hardly believe how crazy this case is. I wish the story had ended differently.

What have you been reading lately?