Historical Fiction Pick: The Lacemaker and the Princess

After taking one month off from blogging to finish writing a novel, I figure I'd better get back to doing some recommending!

I just finished reading The Lacemaker and the Princess by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, a sumptious tale of a young girl who witnesses the French Revolution firsthand.

Isabelle is a poor lacemaker who, through an extraordinary turn of events, becomes the playmate of Therese, daughter of the King and Queen of France (better known as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette).

Bradley does a wonderful job of painting a picture of the French Revolution both from the side of the disgruntled, starving citizens of France and the blissful ignorance and extravagance of the royalty. Isabelle is put in the interesting position of understanding both sides of the battle -- Therese is her friend who lavishes riches on her, but outside of the walls of Versailles, Isabelle's family lives in squalor.

I'm a great fan of literature set during this period, but this book presented such a unique vantage point that is rare in a novel for kids. We sympathize with all the characters in the book -- through the eyes of an innocent young girl who tries to see good in everyone. We are also left with a vivid picture of France at the time -- from the poorest sections of Paris to the opulence of Versailles with its blood-red marble walls.

What a wonderful book for any middle schooler through high schooler. I love it when an author can make history come alive -- and author Bradley has done just that in The Lacemaker and the Princess.

Tears and Hope: The Great Gilly Hopkins

I've just finished reading The Great Gilly Hopkins, by the Newbery Award winning author Katherine Paterson. I highly recommend this terrific novel for 9 to 13 year olds as a wonderful example of a great book for girls.

Beautifully told, funny and heartbreaking, this story follows the trials of Galadriel "Gilly" Hopkins, a sixth grader who has bounced from foster home to foster home.

We meet her just as she is landing at the home of Mrs. Trotter, a dedicated foster parent whose heart is as big as her sizable body. Gilly, who has learned not to count on anyone or anything, is at first resistant to Trotter's kindness -- but as the story moves along, she begins to trust her new family, including the blind next door neighbor and another younger foster child who lives in the house.

Tragically, Gilly sabotages her own happiness when she writes a letter to her mother desicribing the torture of living with Trotter. Although the letter is filled with lies -- when Gilly's maternal grandmother arrives in response to the letter, a series of mishaps occurs to convince her that Gilly is indeed in the wrong place.

By the time Gilly realizes that she is finally, truly happy, it is too late.

I cried myself silly at the end of this book -- you won't be able to help yourself, but you'll end up loving Gilly, Trotter and the whole gang, and when you close the book you'll believe that Gilly will be OK, after all.

That's a great book for girls in my opinion -- where the main character grows, learns to love a little more, and finds hope in the world.

It's a gray, rainy fall Houston day -- with a "cool" front coming through. I hope that you are warm and cozy wherever you are -- and that you and your girls can curl up with great books like The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson (who also wrote the classic Bridge to Terabithia).

Happy Monday!

Anyone Up for Some Adorable Picture Books?

Mondays stink. Even my girls think so. They are OK with school, and they love their teachers and friends, but still, Monday mornings at my house are filled with moans and groans (mine included).

Everyone needs some cheering up on Mondays -- so here are a few picture books for girls (all right, for boys too) that will make you smile on a Monday or any day....

First, give Plaidypus Lost, by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel a try. Susan came and did an author's visit at my kid's school last spring, and I was lucky enough to be in the audience. Once you've read a few of her books (which she collaborates on with her illustrator sister Janet), you can imagine how funny she was in person.

Plaidypus Lost (that's right P-L-A-I-D) is a tribute to best loved toys everywhere -- most especially those stuffed friends that go everywhere -- the ones that parents live in fear of losing (see my posts about Knuffle Bunny). This stuffed creature is made out of, yep, you guessed it -- a plaid flannel shirt -- and is constantly in danger of being lost forever. Of course, he is always found by his owner who swears she will "never, ever, ever" lose him again.

With clever, sing-songy prose that is as fun to read as it is funny -- this is one of those books that girls of all ages will love to read -- whether by themselves or with a grown-up.

Another great picture book for girls is Cha-Cha Chimps by Julia Durango. This counting book is filled with hilarious illustrations by Eleanor Taylor and clever rhyming verses. Girls will love this literary dance lesson and mom readers will especially will love the end, when Mama Chimp escapes for a little cha-cha-ing of her own.

I love books that leave us laughing and reading together. These are a few that are sure to leave you and your girls doing the same.

Remember, EVEN Mondays can be fun when you sit down and read a book with your girls!

Enjoy!

Back from Hiatus ... with Books for Girls Who Love to Write

Argh! Eleven days since my last blog!

I have no excuse except that I am exceptionordinarily (thank you, Clarice Bean) busy lately -- mostly with writing for money (aka freelance writing). I have been writing some weird stuff (not creepy weird, mostly just mind-numbingly boring weird).

Anyway, the irony of this is that while I am finally making money writing (I hear my parents cheering -- 15 years after receiving my bachelor's degree in writing) -- I don't seem to have enough time to write what I love -- which is the kind of stuff you read about on my site -- great books for kiddos -- and especially great books for girls.

So apparently, I'm going to have to start staying up later, drinking more coffee and focusing a bit more, because I have loved to write fiction for almost as long as I've loved to read.

Which brings me to my recommendations for today ... which are ... (I hope you'll be impressed after such a long-winded intro)... Books for girls who love to write, most especially Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly by Gail Carson Levine and What's Your Story?: A Young Person's Guide to Writing Fiction by Marion Dane Bauer.

Both of these books are excellent primers for girls who have a writer's heart beating within them (perfect for 10 years old and up) -- giving great advice and providing many fun writing exercises. Levine (who wrote Ella Enchanted) and Bauer (who wrote Runt and A Bear Called Trouble) both speak in a language writer girls will understand -- and won't make them feel like they are being talked down to....

These are books that I would have eaten up (and then licked the plate) when I was a writer kid. If you've got one of those girls with a fire in her for writing -- and dreams of having a book with her name on it on a library shelf -- buy her these books. Fan that flame -- no matter how many years it takes to ignite -- don't let it go out.

OK, I'm officially back. Another pot of coffee anyone?

Historical Fiction Pick: Fair Weather by Richard Peck

Us City Folk never stop moving, do we?

Case in point, I've got to leave for a dentist appointment in 18 minutes and if I don't get this post up by then -- what with everything else I've got going on today -- it will become a post for tomorrow.

City folk are crazy. Just ask Rosie Beckett, main character of Richard Peck's Fair Weather. This engaging historical fiction novel initially attracted me because of the years that I spent living in Chicago. That city's rich history has always intrigued me -- and this book centers around the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition -- where an entire "white city" was erected for the sake of this fair.

Rosie lives downstate on a farm -- she thinks going into her own small town is an experience! When the family receives train tickets from their Chicago aunt to visit and attend the fair, Rosie and her sister are sure their strict, hardworking mother will never let them go....

Never underestimate the actions of a mother when she wants to separate one of her daughters (Rosie's sister Lottie) from a no-good boyfriend.

The rest of the book is a non-stop adventure as Rosie, Lottie, little brother Buster and their cantankerous Grandad head north to the fair. Peck expertly weaves the history of the Exposition into the story -- where the family ride the frightening (newly invented) Ferris Wheel , attend Buffalo Bill's Wild West show and learn a few surprises about themselves and their Grandfather.

This book is funny and heartfelt and I loved every minute of it -- any girl with a hankering for history will do the same. If your girl is searching for historical fiction as a reading assignment, she'll enjoy this book and learn about an important event in history. The Columbian Exposition introduced new inventions (the hamburger, carbonated beverages), showcased amazing feats of science (widespread use of electric lights) and for the millions who attended, including the wonderful, independent-minded Rosie Beckett - the world was never the same.

Maybe that world is fast paced and crazy -- but as long as we slow down now and again to spend time together and enjoy a good book, like Fair Weather-- that's OK with me.

I'm off to the dentist ... just got this in under the wire! Have a great day!

Picture Book Pick: Trixie's Back -- and Better Than Ever!

It may seem to many that I am being paid by Mo Willems to promote his books -- sadly, this is not true. I am such a big fan, though -- along with my 7 year old who is a HUGE fan -- that I can hardly help myself. That said, you and your girls MUST read Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity.

My 7 year old immediately pulled it off the shelf when we were at Barnes and Noble the other day, made me squeeze my bottom into one of their teeny Adirondack chairs -- and ordered me to read it with her.

That's what I love about Mo Willems and my darling daughter who is blossoming as an early reader -- she likes to read Trixie's lines and I get to be everyone else.

As we sat, my hips wedged into the tiny chair, we were thrilled to see that Trixie was back -- bigger and better and heading to Pre-K, with her beloved Knuffle Bunny, of course. We chuckled as Trixie argues with her classmate Sonja -- who happens to bring a Knuffle Bunny impostor! We laughed as Trixie realizes in the wee hours of the morning that she is sleeping with the wrong Knuffle Bunny! And we all out guffawed as Trixie refuses to budge until her dear Dad solves the problem.

Willems' illustrations are fantastic as usual -- superimposed over actual photographs. And the subject matter couldn't be more appropriate for girls who still cling to Blankies, Lovies, Wubbies, or in my 7 year old's case, Bear. My own sweet girl felt Trixie's pain, and hugged her Bear a little closer that night.

Your girls will love this picture book -- and so will you. Enjoy Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity -- and have a wonderful weekend!

A Great Series: The All-of-a-Kind Family Books

During a crazy, busy week at my house, where I'm trying to be a good mom, freelance writer, blogger, short-order cook, laundry maid, chauffeur and half-way decent wife (oh, and my seven year old wants me to sew the arm back on her favorite bear -- I guess that makes me a bear surgeon?) -- I am going to instead revert back to my childhood and share one of my favorite series of books ever written. They are the All-of-a-kind Family books, by Sydney Taylor.

Written by the author to share her childhood memories with her own daughter, these books tell the story of a turn-of-the-century Jewish family on New York's Lower East Side. The sisters in the book, Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie, live in a tight knit family full of love and tradition.

Girls will enjoy getting to know the family members and reading the funny and sometimes touching stories of their lives. As a girl, I loved the fact that the sisters all seemed to have radically different personalities, not unlike me and my own siblings (and not unlike the two little girls that I call my own). But still -- they all helped each other, loved each other and, most of all, laughed together -- like family is meant to do.

The books describe in detail the different elements of Jewish traditions and celebrations, a part that I particularly enjoyed -- as well as the rich exposition of everyday life in turn of the century New York City. In the first book, for example, we see the family face illness, take a trip to the beach, celebrate the fourth of July -- they even add another family member -- and needless to say all of these events were handled just a little differently 100 years ago!

Enjoy this series of books with your girls -- start with All-of-a-kind Family and move on to the others -- this is a great series for independent readers ages 9-13, but also fun for family read aloud. I can't think of a better way to spend time together!

Now if you'll excuse me ... I've got a teddy bear prepped for surgery.