Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to discover books you'll love! Thanks to Jen, Kellee, and Ricki who share their own reading lives and support this meme, too.Here are more holiday books that I've enjoyed, and a few others. Wishing everyone a Merry holiday wherever you are, whatever your celebrations.
I'm not sure why I delay reading Kate Messner's books because I always love them. This return to Gianna and Zig and their lives, though a stand-alone novel, is a poignant story of Zig's yearning to reunite with his dad. It is fun to read about the friendship of Zig, Gianna, and Ruby, out garage-sale shopping one day and a woman gives Zig a box full of her late husband's electronics "junk'. Zig loves fixing things, is soon termed "Circuit Man" when he discovers a GPS unit which only needs a little fixing. Then, he and the girls are off geo-caching, soon so meaningful to Zig because he believes caches left by someone called "Senior Searcher" is his father! Through this adventure, Kate Messner expands Zig's story through showing his mother working hard to finish her nursing degree, working at a diner to pay the bills when Zig discovers the money made doesn't stretch far enough and they end up in a homeless shelter. They first spend a few terrible days at the mother's sister who's fighting her own challenges in an abusive husband. Zig's search continues with a few scary moments, and the resolution is both heart-breaking and satisfying. In Kate's hands, each character who even appears briefly, is shown to have a more complex life than one might see on the outside. She manages to show us we all need to find the deeper story. I am reminded of the quote: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." It's a great book.
Hoot & Peep stories to me are pure poetry. This time, it’s Peep’s first winter and she has all kinds of questions for her older brother, Hoot. She asks about snow and when “she” will get here, which of course Hoot has to explain that snow is not a “she”, but “a frozen thing that falls from the sky”. Then, Peep’s questions fly fast, like “Does it scrrinkly scrattle like falling leaves?” Hoot doesn’t answer much because he really can’t remember, but he knows a good place to wait, so they do. Hoot’s sweetest thing is his patience with the questions and that he ties a bright green scarf around Peep’s neck to keep her warm. That small mouse companion who travels right along listening is a fun addition as Hoot and Peep settle in to wait, for SNOW! Lita Judge’s illustrations with Hoot and Peep’s adventure, especially bring smiles when that SNOW arrives. It’s such a happy book!
