Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I would never have checked Friendship Over (The Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine, #1) out of the library if I hadn’t enjoyed Julie Sternberg’s “Eleanor” series so much.  (That would be the series that starts with Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, in case you’re wondering.)  Her writing is simple and succinct and packed with feeling; it’s also laugh-out-loud funny when it wants to be.  When I saw she had another series, I thought–why not?

I wasn’t disappointed.  Friendship Over deals with real issues that kids face, and it does it without being saccharine or cliched.  What’s not to love?  If you’ve got a mid-elementary school girl who likes contemporary fiction, and you prefer her to read books with some actual substance rather than drivel, this series ought to be a good compromise.  (I actually ordered this one for my 8-year-old for Christmas.)  It’s a shorter, easier read, but it’s a thought-provoking one.  Let me know what YOU think!

…to think that I’d actually have the time or brain power to review the book I finished yesterday.  No, between dishes and exercising and making treats for the girls’ piano recital and shopping online for Christmas stuff, I’m poopered and it’s late.  On the other hand, my hubby and I did get to see “Star Wars:  The Last Jedi” today, so here’s my review of that.

Go see it.

Seriously, it was good.  It kept me guessing, too, and I didn’t see the ending coming.  I did spend the last third of it wondering when it was going to end–it’s a fairly long movie–but not because I wasn’t enjoying it; I just kept wanting to know which cliff we were going to be left hanging off of.  Possibly that happens with any middle movie of a trilogy?  (At least, if it’s not based on a book you’ve already read.  I wanted to throw Peter Jackson off of a cliff for a good two-thirds of “The Two Towers,” but that’s something else entirely.)

Yeah, just go see it.  I’m too tired to try and say more without risking spoilers, so I’m off to bed!

Okay.  The cards are maybe half done, and more things have been ordered.  Piano recital Saturday, followed by a family Christmas party.  And I have ideas for more people.  That’s something, right?

How are YOU guys doing with your Christmas prep?

All Christmas letters are printed AND signed.  Cards have been acquired, and the list has been found.  The dance recital is successfully concluded.

Someday I shall return to actual blog posts…

Cards have been ordered and will be picked up tomorrow, as well as gifts for at least 6 people.  A Christmas letter draft has been written, a gift for my dad should be in Idaho next week, and more piano practicing for the recital happened today (as well as dance practicing for THAT recital).  What shall I do tomorrow?

I spent the morning in our storage room, taming the chaos and (FINALLY!) finding the winter coat my two-year-old will be wearing this year, which means that my lower back is killing me.  Here, then, is a short review of unhealthy snacks, for your reading pleasure:

Hershey’s Gold Bar:  Weirdly delicious.  Even my hubby, who was disappointed when he read the wrapper and realized it wasn’t actually chocolate, liked it when he tasted it.

Hot Cocoa Oreos:  Mmmm.  These are tasty, too.

Trader Joe’s Scandinavian Tidings:  Hmm.  Love the white ones, the red ones are pretty good, and the green ones are just weird.  Gummy candy shouldn’t taste like a Christmas-Tree-scented candle smells.

What snacks are YOU enjoying this holiday season?

You know that feeling you get when you finish a book and know, just KNOW, that someone you love is going to love it?  I finished Trenton Lee Stewart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society last night, and I’m kind of ridiculously excited to hand it off to my daughter.  What’s not to love about a rigorously tested group of gifted kids saving the world from the plans of an evil egomaniac?  If you can imagine a mashup of Harry Potter, A Wrinkle in Time, Ender’s Game, and the movie “Sneakers,” you’ve pretty much got The Mysterious Benedict Society–and if you enjoyed all four of those, I’m betting you’re going to love this!  (And if you need a Christmas gift for a reader who loves mystery and adventure, look no further.  I may not bother giving my oldest the library’s copy, considering…)

Okay, so I know I skipped a post on Wednesday, but that was because my fabulous hubby took me to see Billy Joel in concert.

We were a little busy.  And it was AWESOME.

I suppose I’ll spare you the play by play, however, since it would take forever to type, and instead pass along this lovely recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes.  Everybody in the family likes it, doubling it just feeds our family of six (although our youngest is two, so definitely triple it if you have four kids but they’re all in elementary school or older), and it’s beautifully forgiving.  Forgot to do self-rising flour instead of regular?  No worries, just throw in some baking powder and salt before you pour the batter on the griddle.  Want to do half whole wheat?  You’re good!   Don’t have quite enough leftover pumpkin?  Just use more applesauce instead.  If you want a lovely fall breakfast–or breakfast for dinner–my family can wholeheartedly endorse this one.

Okay, that sounds ominous, but it’s true; I got the second Babysitters Club graphic novel and decided to read it for fun before giving it to my older girls, but other than the title–The Truth About Stacey–I remember nothing about the original.  I did enjoy the graphic novel, although the premise was a bit more unlikely (also a bit more sitcom-episode-y?).  The rival ‘Babysitters Agency’ made for a neat plot conflict and resolution, while Stacey’s parents’ efforts to help her diabetes was a nice contrast.  Both situations, however, read a little differently from a parent’s point of view!  Bottom line?  If you have an interest in reading it, pick it up and enjoy it; if you’re not drawn to it naturally, you probably won’t miss it.

Do with that what you will.

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the gift to children’s literature that is Andrea Beaty?  Because really.  Her picture books are a delight–Rosie Revere, Engineer, and Iggy Peck, Architect, and Ada Twist, Scientist, not to mention Hush, Baby Ghostling, etc.–and the Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies duo is quite the romp, but I LOVED Dorko the Magnificent.  I texted screen shots of pages to more than one person just to share the laugh, and yet if Robbie had had a different style of narration I probably would have cried a few times as well.  (The style worked perfectly for the book, though, and there was plenty of poignancy.)  If Joan Bauer had Anne of Green Gables on the brain–in a very contemporary setting–she might have written Dorko.  Robbie has all the passion for magic that her characters have for their various hobbies, but with Anne’s penchant for getting into scrapes rather consistently.  And Grandma Melvyn could conceivably be a modern-day mashup of Marilla, Rachel Lynde, Mr. Harrison, Mrs. Gibson, and whatever other of L.M. Montgomery’s crotchety older characters  that you can think of.  (Although she’s also very much her own person.)

Anyway.  Comparison can only take you so far, however, because Andrea Beaty is fabulous in her own right.  Robbie’s quest to wow the world (starting with Hobson Elementary School) with his magic act intersects with Grandma Melvyn’s move into his home in an unforgettable mix of disaster and triumph; the relationship between the two of them, however, is what makes the book great.  It’s a classic plot–the sort that’s classic for good reason–and it’s executed almost flawlessly.  Get this for your kids, read it yourself, and recommend it to a friend, because it’s a thoroughly delightful read.