Memories

It is amazing how our memories of the past can creep in when you least expect them, and how memory loss can rob us of our sense of self.  Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper, is a study in memory, love, and loss.  I found this book to be beautifully written.  The characters is fully developed, with rich detail and relatable voices.  Each chapter is written from a different characters point of view, and weaves between the present and the past.  This is not a story that comes to a neat and happy ending, but that would not of fit with the rest of the book.  Below you will find a complete summary. I hope that everyone has a restful break, and filled with lots of great books to read!

From the Publisher

This "poetic, poignant" (US Weekly) debut features last great adventures, unlikely heroes, and a "sweet, disarming story of lasting love" (The New York Times Book Review).

Eighty-three-year-old Etta has never seen the ocean. So early one morning she takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots and begins walking the 3,232 kilometers from rural Saskatchewan, Canada eastward to the sea. As Etta walks further toward the crashing waves, the lines among memory, illusion, and reality blur.

Otto wakes to a note left on the kitchen table. "I will try to remember to come back," Etta writes to her husband. Otto has seen the ocean, having crossed the Atlantic years ago to fight in a far-away war. He understands. But with Etta gone, the memories come crowding in and Otto struggles to keep them at bay. Meanwhile, their neighbor Russell has spent his whole life trying to keep up with Otto and loving Etta from afar. Russell insists on finding Etta, wherever she's gone. Leaving his own farm will be the first act of defiance in his life.

Moving from the hot and dry present of a quiet Canadian farm to a dusty, burnt past of hunger, war, and passion, from trying to remember to trying to forget, Etta and Otto and Russell and James is an astounding literary debut "of deep longing, for reinvention and self-discovery, as well as for the past and for love and for the boundless unknown" (San Francisco Chronicle). "In this haunting debut, set in a starkly beautiful landscape, Hooper delineates the stories of Etta and the men she loved (Otto and Russell) as they intertwine through youth and wartime and into old age. It's a lovely book you'll want to linger over" (People).

Book Sale and "Creepy" Reading

Did everyone have a chance to attend the Morristown Festival of Books?  What a truly inspirational celebration of reading.  Just a reminder that the PA Fall Book Sale is coming up!  Make sure to visit the sale, hosted in the Higgins Library, October 26-30.  Lisa Safron, author and mother of Peck alum Renee, will be on hand to sign copies of her new book Cut, Paste, Gone.  A summary of the book is available on my blog of Upper School students Peck Reads!

With October comes Halloween, and for some reason I feel compelled to read books with a creepy edge, for instance the books from this October/November blog entry three years ago.  While I can't read "hard core" horror, like Steven King (I don't think I slept for two weeks after I read The Shining), I do enjoy a darker fantasy novel and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs fits the bill.  This book falls in the YA category, but is totally entertaining for an adult audience.  Using a combination of clever storytelling and photographs, Riggs will suck you into this spine-tingling thriller.  I am looking forward to reading the next two books (Hollow City and Library of Souls) later this month.  Happy Halloween and Creepy Reading!

From School Library Journal (June 1, 2011)

Sixteen-year-old Jacob, traumatized by his grandfather's sudden, violent death, travels with his father to a remote island off the coast of Wales to find the orphanage where his grandfather was sent to live to escape Nazi persecution in Poland. When he arrives, he finds much more than he bargained for: the children from his grandfather's stories are still at the orphanage, living in a time loop in 1940. The monsters that killed Jacob's grandfather are hunting for "peculiar" children, those with special talents, and the group at the orphanage is in danger. Jacob must face the possibility that he, too, has certain traits that the monsters are after and that he is being stalked by adults he trusted. This complex and suspenseful story incorporates eerie photographs of children with seemingly impossible attributes and abilities, many of whom appear as characters in the story. The mysterious photographs add to the bizarre and slightly creepy tone of the book. 

Welcome back!

Hello!  I hope that all of you had a wonderful, restful, and fun summer with your children.  My family and I went on a long road trip this summer, and I had an opportunity to read a lot of great books for adults and children that I will be sharing in the next couple of months.  I do want to draw your attention to a great event for book lovers, happening right here in Morristown in two weeks!  The Morristown Festival of Books will be taking place this year October 2-3.  If you had a chance to attend any of the events last year, you know what a spectacular event this is.  If you did not attend last year, or you are new to the area make sure to take advantage of this wonderful event.  They have a great lineup of authors attending, and it is a wonderful celebration of the written word.  I hope to see you all there.  For more information visit http://morristownfestivalofbooks.org/

Finally, feel free to visit the blog that I write for our Upper School students to check out what I am recommending for your kids each month!  http://peckreads.blogspot.com/

Library Summer Programs

Looking for ways to keep you kids engaged reading this summer?  Check out your local public library for some inspiring programs.  Here are a few more suggestions from some great librarians!

Encourage a Love of Reading Throughout the Summer

Summer Reading has arrived!

It is so hard to believe that the school year is nearly over.  Thank you so much for another great year in the library.  It has been a pleasure to work with your children and to see their growth over the last 9 months.  Enjoy the time with your family this summer, and the extra time for reading!  On the right of this page you will find my reading lists for the summer.  Keep in mind that the age suggestions are general and your child can read books from any of the lists that you feel are appropriate for them.  I have also provided a list for young adults, which contain subject matter that might not be suitable for kids under 14.  You might be looking for something to read as well, so I have assembled a list of the top 10 adult books to read this summer.  If you need more then 10, I came across this great list from NPR this morning with some less known books that should be on everyone's lists too.  I have only read The Revolutions from that list, and it was an interesting steampunk/sci-fi work.

http://www.npr.org/2015/05/22/408523960/beyond-the-bestsellers-nancy-pearl-recommends-under-the-radar-reads?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150522

Have a great summer and happy reading!
-MKM

Reading really is good for you!

We all know that reading to young children is a good thing, and a new study shows us an interesting insight into a child's brain while being read to.

MRI shows association between reading to young children and brain activity

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150425215617.htm

Angel of Losses

This is a book for those whole love fairy tales, family dynamics, history, and a good love story.  I did enjoy this book, but it took me longer to read it then I thought it would, hence the posting for April in May.  I sometimes found the organization of the book a little odd, and confusing (perhaps an editing issue?) but overall an interesting tale.  Enjoy the book, and I will post my summer reading lists next week!

From the Back Cover

The Tiger's Wife meets The History of Love in this inventive, lushly imagined debut novel that explores the intersections of family secrets, Jewish myths, the legacy of war and history, and the bonds between sisters.
When Eli Burke dies, he leaves behind a mysterious notebook full of stories about a miracle worker named the White Rebbe and the enigmatic Angel of Losses, both protectors of things gone astray and guardians of the lost letter of the alphabet, which completes the secret name of God.
Years later, when Eli's granddaughter Marjorie stumbles upon his notebook, everything she thought she knew about her grandfather—and her family—comes undone. To learn the truth about Eli's origins and unlock the secrets he kept, Marjorie embarks on an odyssey that takes her deep into the past, from the medieval Holy Land to eighteenth-century Venice and Nazi-occupied Lithuania. What she finds leads her back to present-day New York City and her estranged sister, Holly, whom she must save from the consequences of Eli's past.
Interweaving history, theology, and both real and imagined Jewish folktales, The Angel of Losses is a family story of what lasts, and of what we can—and cannot—escape.

Brightly

I wanted to take a moment to share with all of you a great new website from Penguin Random House Publishers.  "Brightly" was introduced by the company as a resource for parents to help raise readers. The site contains some great articles on encouraging reluctant readers, guided reading by age/stage, audiobook resources, and even books for "grown up readers" too!  Take a moment to check it out!

http://www.readbrightly.com/

The Museum of Extraordinary Things

Wow, February and March were months of crazy weather and Spring Break, but I am happy to be back into the school routine.  Over the Spring Break I had the opportunity to read The Museum of Extraordinary Things.  This book was recommended to me by a Peck parent, and I loved it.  In my conversations with others, that feeling does not seem to apply to everyone.  It is safe to say that it is a book that will not appeal to everyone.  Alice Hoffman (The Dovekeepers) is an imaginative story teller, and the story is filled with interesting characters.  This book feels like a fairy tale to me, and that may be the issue that some folks had with it.  I will leave the decision up to you.  Happy Reading!

From the Publisher: 

Mesmerizing and illuminating, Alice Hoffman's The Museum of Extraordinary Things is the story of an electric and impassioned love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century.

Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father's "museum," alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.

The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father's Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor's apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman's disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie.

With its colorful crowds of bootleggers, heiresses, thugs, and idealists, New York itself becomes a riveting character as Hoffman weaves her trademark magic, romance, and masterful storytelling to unite Coralie and Eddie in a sizzling, tender, and moving story of young love in tumultuous times. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is Alice Hoffman at her most spellbinding.

Mac Barnett TEDx Talk

My book review for the month will be published next week, but first I wanted to share a TEDx Talk with all of you from one of my very favorite authors of children's books, Mac Barnett.  If you haven't had a chance to read one of his books, please take the time.  They are full of incredible imagination, and are a great example of excellence in writing for children.  In this talk, he shares his thoughts on the nature of fiction, art, and reality, and why children are the greatest readers of fiction.  Enjoy.

Empty Mansions

I have always been fascinated by American history.  I majored in history in college, and continue to read a great deal on the subject.  Therefore it was surprising that W.A. Clark was not a name that I had come across nearly as often as his contemporaries Rockefeller and Carnegie.  He was, at times, more wealthy then both of these men, and this wealth was passed on to his daughter Huguette Clark.  This nonfiction work is the result of a partnership between journalist Bill Dedman and Huguette Clark's cousin Paul Clark Newell, Jr.  Very little is known a Huguette's life, as she was notoriously shy, and later in life, agoraphobic.  It is a fascinating look what happens behind the doors of the most wealthy of the gilded age families. 

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
Janet Maslin, The New York Times * St. Louis Post-Dispatch
When Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bill Dedman noticed in 2009 a grand home for sale, unoccupied for nearly sixty years, he stumbled through a surprising portal into American history. Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the nineteenth century with a twenty-first-century battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named Huguette Clark, a woman so secretive that, at the time of her death at age 104, no new photograph of her had been seen in decades. Though she owned palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, why had she lived for twenty years in a simple hospital room, despite being in excellent health? Why were her valuables being sold off? Was she in control of her fortune, or controlled by those

managing her money?

Dedman has collaborated with Huguette Clark's cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., one of the few relatives to have frequent conversations with her. Dedman and Newell tell a fairy tale in reverse: the bright, talented daughter, born into a family of extreme wealth and privilege, who secrets herself away from the outside world.

Huguette was the daughter of self-made copper industrialist W. A. Clark, nearly as rich as Rockefeller in his day, a controversial senator, railroad builder, and founder of Las Vegas. She grew up in the largest house in New York City, a remarkable dwelling with 121 rooms for a family of four. She owned paintings by Degas and Renoir, a world-renowned Stradivarius violin, a vast collection of antique dolls. But wanting more than treasures, she devoted her wealth to buying gifts for friends and strangers alike, to quietly pursuing her own work as an artist, and to guarding the privacy she valued above all else.

The Clark family story spans nearly all of American history in three generations, from a log cabin in Pennsylvania to mining camps in the Montana gold rush, from backdoor politics in Washington to a distress call from an elegant Fifth Avenue apartment. The same Huguette who was touched by the terror attacks of 9/11 held a ticket nine decades earlier for a first-class stateroom on the second voyage of the Titanic.

Empty Mansions reveals a complex portrait of the mysterious Huguette and her intimate circle. We meet her extravagant father, her publicity-shy mother, her star-crossed sister, her French boyfriend, her nurse who received more than $30 million in gifts, and the relatives fighting to inherit Huguette's copper fortune. Richly illustrated with more than seventy photographs, Empty Mansions is an enthralling story of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms.