This is FANTASTIC! Check it out!

Okay, so it's been awhile...SORRY!

SHEESH! You guys sure do get irritated with me when I don't update. Hello...two words: BOOK FAIR! Did you miss it? I was standing there all day...didn't you see me? Okay enough. Our book fair did wonderfully because you guys are the BEST STUDENTS EVER! Did you hear that Timberwood, huh? Sterling students ROCK! We sold over $3800, and now we can get even more cool stuff for our library, so way to rock it out Bearcats.

Okay, so what's new? Well, the LONE STAR books have been announced... Hellooooooooo...where have you been? I know...no displays yet...I'm still cataloging a lot of the books, but who can pick 'em? Me, that's who! Tons of the books we have talked about that you guys check out like rabid dogs--Compound, the Hunger Games, Gym Candy, Suck It Up, The Dead and the Gone, Unwind...oh and not to mention...Neal Shusterman, author of Unwind and Antsy Does Time (um, yeah, he made it on the Lone Star list this year TWICE) will be at the TeenLitFest in January. You get to meet all kinds of fab authors, get their autographs, hear them speak. We are planning on getting a bus together to go to this free event at Kingwood High School on Saturday, January 31, 2009, so if you are interested, let me know, and I'll give you the hook up.

Okay, so what am I reading?

Well, I started on The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (a Lone Star winner). The cover has the question "How far would you go for someone you love?" OMG. Not only is that question enough to get me to dive right in, but the book is like eating birthday cake in little bitty pieces when you really just want to shove the whole thing in your mouth. Itty bitty little chapters about a girl who has been in a coma for a year and who can't really remember anything, but she can remember extraordinary facts about random things that have nothing to do with her. Her parents are freakishly rich and kind of freakish as well. When Jenna asks her grandmother, Lily, "Why do you hate me?" Lily responds. "I don't hate you, Jenna. I just don't have room for you." OUCH. That had to hurt. So what really happened to Jenna? I DON'T HAVE A CLUE, but as soon as I'm done, you can check it out.

I'm also reading Laurie Halse Anderson's (Speak) new one Chains. WOW. This one is an historical novel about young Isabel who was promised her freedom by her original owner who dies. The owner's nephew swoops in and quickly grabs hold and sells Isabel and her sister Ruth, who both become the possessions of a hateful couple in New York. That's as far as I am, but I can tell this one will not only be one that keeps me on the edge of my seat, but I better keep the Kleenex box handy as well.




Last, I am reading a grown-up book, which I am loving because it is by one of my all-time favorite authors, Wally Lamb. The book is called The Hour I first Believed, and it is about a couple's struggle to stay married before, but mostly after, their encounter with the students during and after the Columbine massacre. The male was a teacher there and the female, the school nurse. The story really isn't about the shooting--instead, it's about people and how they relate to each other, which is why I love Wally Lamb so much. One of my all-time favorite books is I Know This Much is True, which is a book about twin brothers, one of whom is schizophrenic. His writing is special and slow...I know he loves what he does because he takes his time, making every word count.



Gee Whiz! I hope I never have to make a top five list of my all-time favorite books. I could never pick! Gladden OUT!



p.s. Here is a video I made of the current Lone Stars...I cannot get enough ANIMOTO!