music monday

Penelope

Penelope is about this twenty-five year old girl. She loves plants, and does not like ‘interviews’. These interviews are set up by her mother, Jessica, and the matchmaker she hired, Wanda. They found eligible young men for Penelope who were blue-bloods. These were the only ones who could break the curse.

One problem. As soon as any of them see her, they run away. Why? Penelope was born with a pig nose. A REAL pig nose. The only way to break the curse set against her family because of her great-great-great-grandfather Ralph’s actions is for a true blue-blood to accept the pig-girl the way she is.

Penelope gets very tiered off all these ‘interviews’, and soon takes matters into her own hands. She sets up the next few days of interviews on her own. Things don’t go as her mother or Wanda thought, or, for that matter, the way Penelope thought. Will Penelope ever be rid of her curse? Will she do something rash?

Monday Music

Watch Wherever We Go ,by the Newsboys, on Youtube.

'how it could have ended much sooner'

I found this at thelionscall.com, and I think it is very funny.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Jenna was in an accident. She does not remember it. She does not remember anything. She was in a coma for over a year. She just woke up two weeks ago. Jenna is now 17; she has blond hair and blue eyes. She does not remember people- even her mother, father, and grandma, but her father says that will come. If she watches the videos. For some reason, her parents documented most of her life as she grew up. Jenna uses the videos to help her remember. Soon, Jenna begins to remember bits and pieces of her former life. But she knows something is wrong. She was not supposed to remember things that happened when she was less than two years old.
With knowledge come questions- lots of them. But there is one question Jenna is afraid to ask. One question no one will answer. What happened in the accident? Jenna finds out lots of things about people, herself, and the outside world through her neighbor, and friends at school.
For a girl that just woke up two weeks ago and remembers nothing, Jenna asks some very deep questions, questions that get the reader thinking too.

A Quote

So, Noel got a hold of this quote and shared it with me, and I absolutely love it, so I want to share it with you:

"Books are chocolate for the soul. They don’t make one fat. One need not brush one’s teeth after reading. They are quiet. One can bring them anywhere–no passport required. Books have only one downfall: even the fattest book has a last page, and then one needs a new one again.”

~Antonie Schneider

Other Books By Mary Anne Rodman

Like I said... here are some other books by Mary Ann Rodman:

Yankee Girl


My Best Friend


First Grade Stinks (coming out next month)


Surprise Soup (coming out in the Spring of 2009)

Jimmy's Stars Tour- Day 3

'For the duration'-11 year old Ellie hates this phrase. She has had to give up so many things for the war effort- for until the war is over. Like rubber, and driving, like replacing meat with soy extender, and giving up her roller skates for the scrap metal drive. But there is one thing she does not want to give up- someone.

Ellie's older brother Jimmy has been drafted, 'for the duration', and Ellie is devastated. Ellie adores Jimmy. They do so many things together, and are very close. Jimmy can always make Ellie smile. She hopes that the war will be over before he has to go, but the war does not listen to Ellie's pleas. " ...the days slipped by as fast as the trees shed tier leaves. And the war didn't end."

Then there is Aunt Toots. She is going to live with Ellie and her parents 'for the duration'. She is going to stay in Jimmy's room. She moves all of Jimmy's things- how much more of this can Ellie handle?

'Jimmy's Stars' was a joy for me to read. I read the last half or so on an airplane on my way home this summer. My mom kept looking over from across the isle (like everyone else near me...) because I was really getting into this book. I cried. It was a silent cry, but the tears continued to pour down- some sad, some happy. Thank goodness my mom had an extra pack of travel Kleenex (moms think of everything don't they :P ), or I mightn't have made it through the flight. I cried, smiled, laughed- sometimes all at once...

I finished the book just before we got to the airport, a few minuets before our descent. I looked out the window, saw the orange sun setting, closed tho book, took a deep breath, and let out a very satisfied sigh.