Books I've Read

Amanda and Leo are turning eleven, but this is the first birthday they are not celebrating together. In fact, they haven't been speaking to each for a whole year. Very good, but now I have to read the following two books again, because I can't remember how it all ties together!

Tara is to spend the summer at her mother's sister's home in the small town of Willow Falls, a place where odd things happen. Things get weird, eventually.

A very involved story of Mia, who has synesthesia (but doesn't know what it is), and her cat, Mango. Quite a bit of weeping on my part.

With Rebecca Stead. Very nice story of a girl visiting her grandmother in Australia reuniting with her forgotten green friend Bob. I liked it very much!

Several teens end up at a campground to see an eclipse of the sun. A very enjoyable and moving story. I need to look up lucid dreaming. Some of the mechanical stuff seemed a bit off, like, a bus driver replacing a faulty crankshaft (page 89) and the latitude-longitude/GPS/computer explanation (page 248), but the astronomical stuff was checked by real scientists, so it's good.

Rory is nearly twelve years old, finally. But she lives in Willow Falls, so you know odd things are going to happen.

The no-kidding last book in the Willow Falls series had me in tears at the end. Just wish I could remember the previous books!

Jeremy Fink is turning thirteen soon. A mysterious box arrives in the mail, a box that Jeremy's deceased father intended for him to open on his thirteenth birthday. But the keys are missing! Great story!

Josie's sixteenth birthday is coming up, but since she was born on February 29th it is only her fourth birthday. This was a very excellent book which I enjoyed very very much.

A sequel of this is being published soon so I thought I had better read the first one. Very good story of four twelve-year-olds competing in a candy making contest.

The last book in the Willow Falls series, it satisfactorily ties up all the loose ends that have confused me all through the series.

Rei, a Japanese-American, is living in Japan. She is taking a ikebana class with her aunt. One of the teachers is murdered, and the aunt is suspect. Very interesting, learned a lot about Japanese culture.

Lisa is a Jewish girl who lives in Denmark during World War II and the German invasion. She joins her brother in the Danish resistance.

Subtitle: How politics is placed told by one who knows the game. A fascinating insider's look at political maneuvering up to 1988, but mostly in the 60s through the 80s. One anecdote I had just read in an Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, here was presented a lot of background information. Great stuff!

Two French fishermen friends are shot by Prussians when they won't reveal the password to cross the French lines. Oh, Spoiler Alert!

Joe Gunther investigates the appearance of two dead guys, and his mother and brother's car accident.

A very good story of a boy who experiences the Pearl Harbor attack.

I enjoyed this story very much. Pretty exciting in parts. Lots of radio stuff, even some amateur radio. Story ended pretty abruptly, though.

87th precinct investigates the murder of a model.

Short book about a student driver, her instructor, and the lady they hit.