Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I really thought last week was going to be the week I successfully got back into my routine after break, folks. And I posted so nicely on Monday and Wednesday! I kept meaning to on Friday, too, but the day and its tasks got away from me, and so here we are. (At least I’m posting on a Monday holiday?) We had a (mostly) chill family weekend, with my son passing the sacrament in church for the first time (he said he wasn’t that nervous) and a fun day of family games afterwards. (He also had his first official basketball game of the year on Saturday.) Today we had pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then, after taking my 14-year-old to therapy, the kids and I headed over to Classic Fun Center. I parked at a table and finished 3 magazines and a graphic novel, while they skated, scooted, jungle-gymmed, and laser tagged (yes, I know those last two aren’t really verbs, and I don’t care). A nice arrangement all the way around!

As far as the graphic novel went, we’d read another graphic novel by J. Torres, so I figured we’d try Lola: A Ghost Story; it wasn’t, however, quite what I expected. For one thing, the title feels a bit misleading, given that Lola is only a memory by the time the book takes place. For another–it’s creepier than I expected, and open-ended. The description on the back implies that Jesse comes to a decision and plans to act upon it by the end of the book, and that’s not exactly what I got. (To be fair, ‘Ghost Story’ is an apt description.) Its most likely audience is going to be kids (or graphic novel readers) with ties to (or an interest in) the scarier side of Filipino folklore; I don’t regret having read it, particularly, but I also wouldn’t have particularly regretted not having done so.

Do with that what you will.

Seriously. The first two weeks of the new year have been jam-packed with things–mostly appointments–that have had me driving around a ridiculous amount of the time. (Except for the two days I had the stomach bug, because I wasn’t up for the driving and so rescheduled.) I took my youngest to therapy this morning–after grabbing bread, prescriptions, and library holds–and my son has the pediatrician at 4:30; tomorrow my older girls have appointments at 11 and 2. After that, things will quiet down a little.

In the meantime, I finished Maddie Gallegos’ Match Point! last night, which means one more graphic novel to pass on to my children’s grasping hands. (I’m still working through the batch I had my friend check out for me when I was looking for Christmas gifts for my 14-year-old.) It’s a debut offering with engaging heroines and a focus on parent/child difficulties–specifically, those between Rosie and her racquetball-focused father. When Rosie meets Blair, who’s new at her school and a passionate racquetball player, she concocts a plan to finally quit the sport herself; it’s then that the complications ensue. (Is anyone surprised?)

Blair was easily my favorite character in this book; she’s just–nice. (A quality that cannot be overvalued, in my opinion.) Rosie’s dad drove me nuts until his epiphany moment, which felt sudden to me; on the other hand, I suppose a dad and an eighth grade girl can take a while to figure each other out post-divorce, and both my dad and my husband are more insightful than average. I think my favorite part (because, hey, parent here) is Rosie and Blair’s reconciliation after their fight–I love it when honesty about feelings cuts through the mess in a timely fashion–but the racquetball tournament has some nice moments as well. This is a solid graphic novel choice for middle grade girls, especially sportier ones. (AND those with parents who would like them to be sportier.) I’m thinking my girlies will be fans!

Don’t be too impressed, folks–today’s victory was getting out of bed the second time. Even so, I doubt I’ll manage more than half of the things I was hoping to get done today. My hubby’s been coming upstairs late for the last week or two, and I’ve been struggling to fall asleep at night. Ugh.

Yesterday, however, was a milestone for my son–he was ordained a deacon in the priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Both my in-laws and my nephew and his wife braved snowy roads to attend church with us, which was much appreciated. And after church, my 14-year-old made her older sister’s birthday treats while I exercised and my hubby and son dealt with snow. (Yes, her birthday was in November. We’ve missed some birthdays at our family dinners in Clearfield.) Our drive north wasn’t bad at all–it had more or less stopped snowing by then–and we had dinner and dessert and games with family before I realized we’d lost track of time and desperately needed to get home and put the 8-year-old to bed.

In other news, my son also started basketball on Saturday, and I finished listening to Elana K. Arnold’s The House That Wasn’t There, which was unexpectedly bizarre. To be fair, the book’s jacket mentions “mysterious, possibly magical puzzles,” but after reading her “Boy Called Bat” series, I wasn’t exactly expecting the sudden fantasy/sci-fi twist that happened about a third of the way in. Oak and Alder’s story–she moves in, they initially can’t stand each other, but coincidental connections start to snowball–seemed relatively straightforward at first, and it ends in much the same way; the journey from ‘at first’ to the conclusion, however, was not at all what I was expecting. Let’s just say that the animals in the story behave in surprising enough ways that I won’t be passing it on to my realistic-fiction loving 14-year-old, shall we? (Anything else feels like a bit of an unfair spoiler.) If not-at-all realistic fiction is your cup of tea, this is a worthwhile book that appreciates the importance of friendship and families, and you should give it a try.

Maybe the 8-year-old will like it.

It was so lovely to have four whole night to chill with my hubby, go out to eat (or have him bring home something), and see an actual adult movie in a theater. (We highly recommend “The Boys in the Boat.”) After church on Sunday we went up to Clearfield, reunited with our kiddos, and played games until 10 or so. Then fireworks, then home, where even my 8-year-old stayed up ’til midnight (yeesh) and it was even later for the rest of us. Thankfully, everyone slept in and we managed to take down most of Christmas on New Years Day; the kids and I slept in the next day, and then it was back to school and the grind on the 3rd. I actually woke up with a stomach bug yesterday, so I attended today’s PTA meeting virtually. (Which was honestly great–I sorted laundry and put a load in during the meeting, and I loaded and ran the dishwasher beforehand instead of having to get ready to leave the house.) I’m on my second can of ginger ale already and so far, the rice chex and string cheese have settled okay, so that’s progress.

I also managed–after switching the first load to the dryer and putting my second load of laundry in–to finish Brad Wilcox’s Because of the Messiah in a Manger, which I decided to read this Christmas season to help ground my Christmas-ing in Christ. I think it helped, honestly. I shared multiple bits with my hubby (and others) and gained at least one insight into scripture. For much of the book I questioned the necessity of linking it to Christmas, because it felt simply like a book of insights about Christ–but then, that’s the whole point of Christmas, right? And Wilcox did relate some of his insights to key figures from the Nativity. Ultimately, this is a manageably short book to read during the chaos of Christmas, and I appreciated the added spiritual note. If you haven’t read it, you should consider putting it on your list for December 2024.

I picked up Aimee Lucido’s Emmy in the Key of Code at a library sale some indeterminate length of time ago; when I realized it was a verse novel AND available in audio, I figured it would be a short listen and then I could donate it to the elementary school. The two problems with that turned out to be 1) it needed a visual reading, not just a listen and 2) it was good enough that I’m not sure I want to give it up. Emmy has just moved to San Francisco with her parents so her dad can pursue his musical dreams, and she doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere–until she ends up in an “Introduction to Computer Science” elective. To her surprise, coding is a revelation to her; it’s like a kind of music she’s actually good at. It also turns out to be her path to finding out where she belongs. It’s a circuitous path, yes, but Emmy finds her way down it nevertheless, and her story is both poignant and satisfying. I’d recommend reading a physical copy of this one–the coding bits and references don’t come through as fully over audio–and I’d recommend it to a wide variety of readers, because I’m not at all a computer coding sort of person, and I loved it. Let me know what you think!

My 14-year-old and I read Life in the Balance together BEFORE we read The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree; I didn’t get it reviewed quickly, however, because it was a thought-provoking book that needed a commensurate review. As time went by, the details faded a bit, which made procrastination that much more inviting, and here we are–probably two months later. (Give or take.)

Luckily, I have this child-free time to force myself to do the things that require significant concentration or a noticeable time commitment, and I’m determined to use it partly to review the books still on my ‘currently reading’ list that I’ve actually finished this year, so Life in the Balance is finally getting its due.

I’m just not sure where to start.

I suppose, then, I’ll start with Veronica. She’s been working towards the All-Star softball team for years, and this is her tryout year; with her softball-player mom’s help, she and her best friend are planning to ace their tryouts and rock being on the team together. Except that her also-alcoholic mom finally agrees to go to rehab, making herself unavailable for extra skill practice, and it turns out that the rehab is expensive–maybe too expensive for Veronica to be on the All-Star team at all. Veronica decides to enter the town talent show, aiming for the prize money to keep the All-Star team within her reach; as she practices for both, however, her feelings about both singing and softball begin to shift.

And then there are friend difficulties.

Life in the Balance deals with a lot of issues, obviously; the impressive thing is how well it deals with them, because you never feel like there’s too much going on. The issues are interconnected (which is where the need for balance comes in). Jen Petro-Roy doesn’t shy away from the pain caused by alcoholism; neither, however, does she focus on that pain exclusively. There are laugh-out-loud moments from the very beginning, providing necessary comic relief, and Petro-Roy’s exploration of how much kids should have to give up for a goal–AND how increased pressure changes our feelings about what we love–is at least as important as the rehab storyline. The friend difficulties feel realistic and stem from caring and real dilemmas rather than drama, making all parties involved feel both likeable and real. In short–too late?–Life in the Balance is a sensitive story about things that matter, making it a worthwhile read for just about anyone.

I just finished reading Squished, and I have to say–if Christmas weren’t over for the year, I’d have a hard time choosing between Squished and the graphic novels that I actually did give my 14-year-old. Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter have created a fantastic portrait of a family of seven, focusing on Avery, the oldest girl. Avery has an older brother and 5 younger siblings and is desperate for her own room; she gets teased about and is often embarrassed by her large family, and yet her love for them shines through. She’s already facing changes like starting middle school and friend dynamic shifts, however, and when she learns a bigger change might be coming, she is NOT happy about it. How she ends up coping makes for a thoroughly satisfying story, and I’m expecting my graphic novel girls to love it.

Of course, they won’t actually get it until they come home from Grandma’s house, but it will be something they can look forward to, right? In the meantime, I still have a couple of days to chip away at the things I’d like to accomplish while they’re gone. Wish me luck!

Honestly? Our Christmas was lovely. The kiddos were thrilled, we spent time with family and played games–we are blessed. The days after Christmas, of course, find the kiddos squabbling and the house a bit of a disaster, but as of yesterday at 4, those kiddos are at Grandma’s house and my hubby and I are enjoying an anniversary stay-cation. (Well, I am. He does have to go to work today.) My docket for today includes deleting a whole ton of emails (because that situation isn’t pretty), going through pictures on my phone so those can be deleted, and reviewing books I’ve finished this year but haven’t gotten to yet. Which is why we’re here…

So. I finished reading The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree aloud to my 14-year-old the other day, and while it had plenty of sad parts, I think we both enjoyed it. After all, you know going in that Mafalda is going blind, so you’re prepared for much (although not all) of the sadness, right? And there are moments of hilarity plus a few good friends. Ultimately, this is a valuable read for anyone enduring (or preparing to endure) a significant trial. (And it’s got a cat!) I picked it up because it was a Batchelder Honor book in 2020–that’s the annual award for outstanding children’s books published outside the US and translated into English–and I’m glad I did. Let me know what you think!

One of my book groups picked Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End a couple of months ago, although it took me several weeks to move through the hold list at the library; when I started it I was fascinated but busy, and since I couldn’t up the speed much because of some of the vocabulary, I ran out of time and it was automatically returned when I was only half done. Since then I’d been diligently waiting for it to come in again–it’s a popular book–until a week ago, and it remained SO fascinating that I finished the rest of it in less than a week. My sister and my friend Britt have both read it as well, and we all agree that it’s ridiculously good. It talks about nursing homes and elder care and their evolution, about how we as a society deal with terminal illness, and about what doctors can and can’t do as well as do and don’t do. You know those kinds of books that you keep telling stories from to the people you live with? This is one of those books. (Just ask my husband.) I actually ordered a copy of it for us after finishing it, because A) it has some important things in it that I’d like to remember and B) books this good deserve to have the sales to prove it. If anyone in your life is aging or facing a serious (or terminal) illness, Being Mortal is an absolute must read.

Seriously.

In other news on the mortality front, I learned today that my old boss from my college days passed away this year. Dennis Bollschweiler was a father to me when my own father lived thousands of miles away and I needed one; he was fiercely loving, sometimes crotchety, a hard worker, and a brave man. He had a red face and a white mustache, and his loss fills me with sadness for those of us who loved him and with gratitude for the gospel and the Plan of Salvation–in other words, for our Savior Jesus Christ.

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
ris’n with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth. 
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Full disclosure: I finished Invisible weeks ago, but I didn’t immediately have time to review it, and lately I’ve been putting it off mostly because the memory is fading a bit. On the other hand, I am DETERMINED not to wrap it for my oldest before reviewing it, and so here we are. It may or not be my last review of the day–yes, I’m that far behind–but at least it’ll be done.

One of the coolest things about Invisible is that much of the dialogue is bilingual, and I think my AP Spanish student will enjoy being able to choose which language to focus on. More than that, however, it’s a book for both kids who feel too Spanish in America and kids who don’t feel Spanish enough–AND kids who feel ignored despite having all kinds of qualities worth being seen. It’s a little “Breakfast Club”-ish and a tiny bit “Stand and Deliver”-ish, and the ending reminds me a tad of Joan Bauer. If you like stories about underdogs making a difference, or kids growing to meet their potential, or second chances–well, you get the idea. Invisible is interesting, positive, and almost begs for a sequel or three. We’ll see what happens!

In the meantime, the rest of my day involves getting a pot of apples on the stove to cook down, meeting virtually with my oldest daughter’s therapist, exercising, taking my youngest daughter to therapy, and facing Walmart with some of the kiddos. May the odds be ever in my favor…