My second favorite is Loose Diamonds by Amy Ephron She celebrates the memories of her interesting life.with humor and touches of sadness and wonder..this is a modern day story . The chapter titled "I Love Saks" brings us back to a more elegant time when a department store met the customers' needs and wants. "Loose Diamonds" shows us that jewlery is only a posession;the gem is in the memory.

The title of this book is "The Scent of Rain and Lightning" by Nancy Pickard.  Considering the stormy weather this May, the title caught my eye.  The dilemna was: do I read it or return it to the publisher(who wants to read about more rain?).  I'm glad I read it!  The setting is a large, wealthy cattle ranch in Kansas run by a very influential family (think Dallas and Bonanza).  One violently stormy night 3 year old Jody's father is murdered and her mother disappears.  She is raisied by her grandparents and her three uncles.  23 years later, the convicted murder is released from prison.  Yikes!  Who is really guilty, who is innocent?  Twists and turns in the plot and good character development make this a great summer read.....whether it it stormy or sunny.

The definition of MANIFEST: "A list of the ship's travelers; To reveal; To make known"

Keep this in mind as you read this well-deserved Newberry Award Winner for 2010.

It's summer, 1936 and Abilene, 12 years old, has just jumped off the train in Manifest, Kansas, an immigrant coal-mining town. Her father, Gideon, loved the town as a young boy, and arranged for her to stay with an old friend, Shady (part-time preacher/ boot legger).

When Abilene finds a hidden box with various objects, she and her new friends Ruthanne, Lettie and Sadie help her piece together the history of the town, its people and ultimately her father's story.

WWI, bootlegging, immigrants, labor laws, drought, influence and mysterious characters all enter into this charming book.

Don't miss the author's notes; they document the historical periods of 1918 and 1936!

In the book "The Glass Room, it's inhabitants were free to gaze out of their large windows onto a beautiful view.  In the book "Room", by Emma Donoghue, there are no windows.  For years, Ma and her five year-old son Jack have been held captive in an 11x11 foot, lead-lined soundproof shed.   Ma has created a loving, warm environment in order to keep her sanity and to teach Jack about the outside world.  When the kidnapper appears, we know Ma complies so that he will bring them supplies.  The story is told by Jack.  How would you try to escape from such dire conditions?  Read the book and marvel at Ma's ingenuity and Jack's bravery.  It's an amazing story that you won't forget.

Poetry is so much fun to read aloud, and, to many of us, it brings back wonderful memories of our own parents reciting verse to us.  "The Owl and the Pussycat" is here (anyone know what a runcible spoon is?), and so is "Hurry Hurry Mary Dear" and "Hush Little Baby".  For $10.99, this is a beautiful addition to any child's library.  The illistrations enhance every verse.

You may remember this character from "Wednesday Wars", Mr. Schmidt's earlier book. This is not a sequel, so it stands alone, but is a story with the same characters. In "Okay for Now", Doug Swieteck and his family move to upstate New York. It's a small town in 1968. Doug delivers groceries by wagon on Saturday and escapes to the library where he discovers a gorgeous book of John James Audubon's bird plates. Each chapter shows the plate that the librarian helps him draw. Along with his librarian friend and Lil Spicer, a strong girl character, Doug gains new insights and strengths for the challenges in his life. We think it's as good as "Wednesday Wars" which is high praise indeed. Ages 10-14.