Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I saw a review for this book on a blog I follow. I then happened to see it sitting out on a display in the children's section at the library, so I grabbed it. I absolutely loved this book. I definitely plan on reading it to my kids. It is a simple story, the author describes as being inspired by Chinese fairy tales she read as a child. The author of the blog I saw the book on said that she loved the book because it illustrated values she wanted to teach her children. I agree! This book focuses on finding happiness and contentment with your life. It also illustrates the joy found in family. It was a quick and easy read and would make a great family read aloud.




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A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

I had heard good things about the book A Crooked Kind of Perfect and when I saw it on a display at the library a few weeks ago, I picked it up. It is a quick and easy read aimed at the 'tween' audience. I read most of it while I was riding my exercise bike today, so it won't take you long to get through, but it was such a cute story. The main character, Zoe, is struggling with the same social issues most 11-year olds face. She feels like her family is a little on the crazy side and getting along with other 11 year old girls is hard! The book has a great message about life not being perfect and that is actually just perfect!

Fablehaven

The last few months I have been making my way through the Fablehaven books by Brandon Mull. If you haven't read them you need to. They are fantastic! I drug my feet a little with this series. I always seem to with the fantasy genre because somehow I always think I don't like fantasy books. I have no idea why I think that because lately I pretty much love any fantasy book I find myself reading. The more fantasy books I read, the more I realize that the genre is huge and covers far more subject matter than I can imagine, so I guess that is what I have to try and convince myself, there are certain types of fantasy books I do not enjoy, but the majority of them I find that I love! Anyway, the first book in the Fablehaven series started a little slow for me. I read it mostly because I was sure it was something my son would like, so I thought I better read it. Plus we were going on vacation and the paperback was dirt cheap at Wal-Mart, so I could have a small, lightweight book to travel with. From the descriptions I had read, the book seemed a little "out there" for me and frankly, pretty juvenile. Well, about halfway through the book I was hooked and by the time I got to the second book I couldn't read it fast enough. I finished the last one over the holidays and it is killing me that the final book doesn't get released until March! If you are a Harry Potter fan, it is pretty much a given that you will like Fablehaven. Like Harry Potter, the series appeals to adults and kids alike. I actually think a little younger child could read this series than could read Harry Potter. While it is definitely a book where good and evil battle and there are loads of bad guys, the scary parts aren't quite as dark and scary as some of the parts in Harry Potter. My seven year old Blake has heard all about it from one of his best friends who is reading the series and he has it all planned out that as soon as his dad finishes the last Harry Potter with him, we'll move on to the Fablehaven series.

The Penderwicks

A few months ago, a friend told me that I absolutely needed to read this book. She promised I would love it. She was right! I haven't read it aloud to my kids yet. My girls are too young for chapter books yet and we are in the middle of the Harry Potter series with my son, so we won't be reading any new chapter books for awhile, but The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall is outstanding. The story is about 4 sisters who befriend a neighbor boy. It is what I would consider an old-fashioned story. The sisters love each other and spend time together, not to say that they don't have conflicts, but for the most part they work together and understand the importance of family. Girls would love it and I think you could get away with reading it to boys because one of the main characters is a boy. As far as ages go, you could easily read it aloud to a first or second grade child and I think they could read it on their own by late second grade or third grade.