Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Today is my mother’s birthday, and since she and my dad are actually in town, I went with them and one of my mother’s sisters to Cafe Rio for lunch.

I’m still stuffed. On the other hand, since I wasn’t actually EATING dinner, I read three new library books to the kiddos!

Anyway. I finished reading Gillian Goerz’ Shirley & Jamila Save Their Summer yesterday–before my 12-year-old’s dance concert at the school, which she repeated tonight–and I quite enjoyed it. Shirley Bones is very much a 12-year-old, probably-on-the-spectrum Sherlock Holmes, but Jamila is a delightfully unexpected Watson who wants to spend her summer playing basketball. With some maneuvering (from more than one quarter), they find themselves summer partners of a sort; as the nature of their partnership starts to change, however, rough patches inevitably follow. How they (successfully) navigate those is a pleasure, because the more our kids can read about compromise and conflict resolution done well, the more hope they have of making it work in their own lives.

Not to mention the whole “it’s a fun graphic novel with an intriguing mystery and multi-faceted characters” thing. My 12-year-old is going to be pleased as punch to get this one!