Hi, this is my first entry in this wiki and my third experience with wikis! I was going to write about Twilight by Stephenie Meyer but I just finished one by Caletti called Wild Roses and I HAVE to write about it! I loved Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by her and, when I first started this one, I wasn't sure I was going to like it as well. The main character, Cassie, is having a hard time dealing with her step-father, a violin virtuoso named Dino. He is mentally ill, depressed, paranoid, and generally high strung. He is under pressure to perform a new show and goes off his medication so that he can write the songs. Her mother is great but has to walk a tightrope with her husband and her daughter. Thrown into the mix is Ian, who is taking lessons from Dino and who has the potential to be great. Her dad would like nothing better than for Dino and Daniella's marriage to fail since he is still in love with Daniella. The family issues are ones that many, many of our students deal with every day. Cassie and Ian fall in love, her dad reveals a secret about Dino that she hopes will show her mother what a kook he really is. As a divorced mom, some of Cassie's feelings hit a little close to home and made me feel sad and uncomfortable.

I really like how Caletti portrays families, even though it DID make me uncomfortable. The bottom line is that her mom and her dad love Cassie unconditionally and, when she messes up, they forgive her and hope that she learns a lesson from her mistakes. They aren't perfect but she knows that her parents are always there for her. The author did the same thing in Honey, Baby, Sweetheart. There is some strong language in the book but I hope that wouldn't stop you from ordering this book for your high school girls.

Twilightby Stephenie Meyer

First, let me say that I am not a big vampire fan or maybe I am but I just haven't met the right ones ;-) I didn't like Interview with the Vampire when I read it years ago because Lestat and his mother seemed a little incestuous--EWWW. Anyway, maybe that has tainted the rest of my reading but I rarely pick up a vampire book. For one thing, the kids don't seem to need encouragement to read them --the Darren Shan Cirque du Freak's fly off the shelf--so I don't have to read them to push them. I decided to try Twilight after hearing lots about it. I LOVED it!

It is set in Washington state where Bella goes to live with her dad. Her mother is involved (maybe married to??) a professional ball player and Bella knows that their relationship can't grow until her mom gets to travel with him. She is a sweet girl who loves her parents and puts her mother's happiness first when she moves. She's spent summers with her dad but she really doesn't want to move from Phoenix to the cold, damp Washington area. Bella makes lots of friends right off the bat when she begins school. One particular family really intrigues her. They are all gorgeous, smart, stylish, and mature. They stick together and are aloof with the rest of the students. She sits next to Edmund in Biology and feels a strong attraction to him. He won't give her the time of day but she can't get him off her mind. He comes to her rescue when a car sliding across the ice almost crushes her. This is when she realizes that he is not a normal teen ager. They begin a relationship and she falls madly in love. A Native American friend warns her that he and his family are "cold ones" and aren't allowed on the reservation. Edmund does finally tell her that they are vampires but they limit their hunting to animals. He knows that the attraction between them is dangerous and tries to fight it but finally gives in. When she is with his family, another vampire smells her and begins to hunt her. The family all come to her rescue and a very exciting climax sets us up for the next book! I have it on order and will grab it before I let the kids have it!

There is some violence in this book but no language or sex. Her love affair with Edmund remains chaste in this book.

New books---

I read Jumping the Scratch by Weeks who is the same author who did So B. It. This one wasn't quite as sweet as the other since the topic is much darker but it is a very good story. Jamie and his mother have moved in with his disabled aunt after his mother and dad split up. They live in a trailer park in Michigan and his mother goes to work in the afternoons at the cherry packing factory. His aunt had worked there but there was an accident and she has lost her short term memory. They struggle to make ends meet. Something has happened when the book starts that Jamie needs desperately to forget. He aches that his aunt can't remember and he can't forget. I picked up pretty quickly that there was some sexual abuse but I don't know that kids will get that until closer to the end of the book. Jamie doesn't have many friends but makes one of a strange girl in the trailer park. She notices things about him that he tries to keep secret. He finally can't stand it and tells his aunt what happened thinking that his secret will be safe since she can't remember from day to day. Of course, this is the one thing that she does remember and she and Jamie's mother come to his rescue.

This book is appropriate for middle school and high school. The details of the abuse are not given but this would serve as a good example of how pedophiles attract their victims. His mother does the right thing by his aunt and by him once she finds out what happened. The characters are believable and the reader hurts for Jamie and wants him to be happy.

The other book that I read during this weekend is Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock. I don't know if she's written anything else but if she has, I'm buying! This book is great. DJ Schwenk is the only daughter of a dairy farming family. Her two older brothers were star football players and both of them are currently playing college football. Her dad has been disabled from an old football injury, her mom is a teacher and is also the interim principal at the local elementary school, and her younger brother is involved in summer baseball so it is up to DJ to milk and keep the farm running.

The coach from the rival school who is a friend of the family asks DJ to help train his quarterback, Brian. Brian is good but is not focused, he's a little whiney, and he is not used to working hard. DJ had trained with her brothers and knows what it took for them to get as good as they were. She doesn't want to agree to it--he's the rival quarterback!--but he is supposed to also help her around the farm as well so she agrees.

DJ and Brian get to be good friends and she falls for him. She doesn't think that she has a chance. DJ decides to try out for football and doesn't tell Brian. He gets furious with her for it since she's trained him and she knows all his moves.

I thought this was a great book. The ending is wonderful, the relationship DJ has with her parents is crazy but, in the end, they work everything out. Her younger brother is odd and DJ and he come to an understanding. I won't tell you what happens with Brian... you'll have to read it to find out! DJ is a great girl but doesn't really know it so it makes her especially sweet.

I think that guys might like this because there is lots of football in it and I know girls will because DJ is so neat. Buy it!

 Create your own educational wiki!Help Add to Del.ici.ousPublic, not yet premium Privacy Policy RSS