On the First Day of December ...(And Second)

It's December!!
And to celebrate I'm going to post a book a day and why I loved it!!
So celebrate the holidays and give people a book. Keep writers writing, publishers publishing, kids, children, teens and adults reading, and imaginations blooming.

And because I'm late. I'm doing December 1st and 2nd today!!

First up: Bull Rider by Suzanne Morgan Williams. This is a beautiful vignette into the life of a rural American family dealing with war and how it effects us all. When Cam's big brother Ben returns from Iraq severely injured, Cam, a huge skateboarding fan who has never had the slightest inkling to follow in his big brother's bull riding boots makes a pact with Ben: he'll ride bulls, and the never-ridden UGLY, for a fifteen thousand dollar prize if Ben works as hard as he can to get better. It's a beautiful book about healing, courage, and dealing with tragedy. And the relationship between the brothers was incredibly real, not sickly sweet. Morgan Williams did a superb job of creating characters we not only love but also relate to!



Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted was my decadent read while waiting for a twenty-four pound turkey to cook on Thanksgiving Day. (I don't remember the last time I got to read during the day!) This is a beautiful story about Lucius and Aurora -- young teens new to the same school. Aurora is immediately popular while Lucius becomes the school pariah because of a mysterious explosion that blew his hands off. (He now wears prosthetic arms and uses hooks for hands.) Baratz-Logsted does a beautiful job of giving bits and pieces of information about Lucius's past while developing the relationship between him and Aurora. One of my all-time favorite relationships in the book is between Lucius and the school security guard, unlikely allies in a hostile environment: high school.


So every day I will send a book recommendation your way hoping you have a wonderful holiday filled with beautiful words, images, and endless-reading days. Ahhh ... Maybe that's what I'll ask for Christmas. A day to read. :-)