Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

That’s what this morning was, folks. I headed to the library after dropping something off at the elementary school to find a sign saying SLC libraries were closed until noon because of the snow; from there I went to Walmart, where they wouldn’t let me make my return (even for store credit!) because it was over 90 days, I pulled into their curbside pickup only to receive (as soon as I’d parked!) a text saying my order was delayed and not yet available, and I headed to PetSmart from there only to find they’re currently out of small crickets. Seriously? And so here I sit, eating (admittedly tasty) leftover soup for lunch, preparing to review Christina Soontornvat’s The Tryout so I can slip it back to the library without my 13-year-old catching a glimpse of it. (She’s getting it for Christmas, so I’d prefer she NOT see the library copy I previewed just lying around.)

The good news is that Soontornvat’s debut graphic novel is excellent; it hits the kinds of themes that matter to middle schoolers–friendship shifts, the lure of popularity, efforts to try new things–without being unrealistic or bogging down in the awfulness. (Books that make me squirm half the time are painful for me, because I lived through junior high once already, you know?) It also paints a strong picture of the complexity of being half Thai in not-metropolitan Texas, and experiencing different perspectives through other people’s eyes can only help our ability to relate to those around us. This is a graphic novel that both kids and adults should be happy with, and I’m excited to put it under our Christmas tree!

(Our NAKED tree. But still.)

Seriously, though. On the 20th I taught Sunday School and our ward presented its Primary Program, which involved a musical number by the kiddos and me AND a musical number with the Primary kids and the youth in addition to the littles’ other songs and speaking parts. That night we finally had my 16-year-old’s birthday dessert, with my sister and parents over for good measure; the following morning I went to Costco, put soup in the crockpot, brought the crockpot to my aunt’s, took my oldest to one appointment and my son to another, and went with my older girls to that aunt’s house for a bridal shower for my nephew’s fiance. (Hence the presence in Utah of my sister, my brother’s family, and my parents.) Tuesday was my ‘hit Walmart for Pie Night and Thanksgiving shopping’ day, and two and a half pies got made before bedtime; I finished the half pie with my hubby on Wednesday morning before he left for work, after which we did virtual piano lessons (oh, the cough that lingers!), my second girlie got a significant haircut, and more pies were made before we packed for Clearfield and drove there to make the last one. Pie Night meant all the kids got to bed late, but the littles never sleep in much at Grandma’s house (the big girls, of course, were sleeping over with cousins). My fabulous mother-in-law made biscuits and bacon gravy for breakfast, which was lovely, and since we ate our Thanksgiving dinner around 4-ish, the day was a pleasant progression of NOT-rushed dinner preparations. Dinner was lovely as well, and there were some games, a slow stretch while missionary families talked to their missionaries, and then more games before we headed home. (We were thinking we’d stay over, but decided against it). Blessedly, ALL the kids slept in the next morning, and while people were still tired, we unpacked and cleaned while the World Cup played in the background. Yesterday involved more cleaning, more soccer, and a doctor’s appointment for the never-ending cough; my youngest gets a course of antibiotics under the assumption that it’s likely sinus infection-y by now. Today my hubby subbed in my daughter’s primary class after helping me try to set up the Zoom for our women’s meeting (the less said about that endeavor, the better); we got home in time for me to throw some pumpkin bread in the oven before heading back for tithing settlement, but we managed at least SOME of our Sunday family things. The tree even made it up, although it’s still naked!

Anyway. I haven’t the energy to list and review our pies tonight, so instead you get a brief review of Katherine Center’s How to Walk Away, which I finished listening to last night. I enjoy her stories of healing and reconciliation peppered with romance, and while this one felt weightier in some ways–the heroine’s spinal cord is crushed in a plane crash at the very beginning–it was still hopeful and satisfying and sometimes hilarious. The short story included at the end of the edition I listened to was a delightful surprise–a lead-in to her Things You Save in a Fire–and the whole audiobook was incredibly compelling for me. If you’re looking for women’s fiction with substance, growth, and happy endings, this one’s another win from Katherine Center.

And it started early, no less! Thursday night was Literacy Night at the elementary school plus a leadership meeting for the youth at the church (which my girls needed rides to, since my hubby was still at work). Being on the PTA board means I’ve got to be on time if I possibly can plus stay until we’ve cleaned up–although to be fair, my son was a big help with that, and my youngest had fun occasionally helping and running in the emptying gym with friends. Yesterday morning I started making pumpkin bars before taking the littles to school; after baking two pansful, I went to my knitting teacher’s house to learn how to finish my scarf while they cooled and then came back to frost them once I was done. (I finished it in time for the service project! Wahoo!) Then it was off to the school with them, where we set up for our ‘Thankful for Teachers’ luncheon and presided over (and ate at) said luncheon. I only did a bit of cleaning up before heading home to grab my youngest and take her to the doctor, where I got the ‘it’s a virus and try U,V,W,X,Y, and Z’ line. (It’s not that I didn’t believe him, but she’s my 4th–I was already doing everything except Z, you know?) When we got home from that the rest of the evening was relatively quiet, but this morning was the Primary Program practice at 9, which involved everyone but my hubby. (All the kids and I are singing one song, and the youth–including my older girls–are singing another.) The big girls left for their housecleaning job at 9:30 and I left at 10 because it’s Saturday and I have things to do before we go see a family friend in her high school’s production of “Newsies” at 1. Tomorrow is the Primary Program and I’m teaching for my Sunday School teaching partner, who had a stroke and really needs to take it easier than she is. And so it goes!

Anyway. Before I head back to my chores I also need to review Nest Egg, which I finished listening to at least a week ago. It’s the first in the ‘Aloha Chicken Mysteries’ and was recommended by my friend in Kanosh; the occasional Hawaiian words weren’t made easier by the audio version, but it was a fun story and I definitely didn’t see the climax coming. Saffron has inherited her late uncle’s chicken farm in Hawaii and is determined to clean it up, sell it, and get back to her life in D.C.; when suspicious things start happening, however, she is drawn further and further into the community. Cozy mysteries are more my friend Britt’s thing than mine, but this was entertaining to listen to and good enough that I’ll give the second book in the series a try. In the meantime, my chores await!

That pretty much describes Michelle Cuevas in a nutshell, folks. I finished her The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole the other night, and there were tears. On the one hand, this book DOES actually talk about caring for and feeding a pet black hole; on the other hand, this book follows eleven-year-old Stella as she struggles to deal with her grief after losing her father. Throw in a hilarious five-year-old brother, a hamster named Stinky Stu, and an epic journey full of surprises, memories, and Brussels sprouts, and you have a definitely bizarre and yet somehow fully relatable look at the ways kids figure out how to handle what life throws at them–and who helps them do it. I definitely recommend this one!

In other news, my oldest turned 16 yesterday, and I’m not ready for her to be growing up like this. The stakes get scarier and the choices get more serious, and I’m terrified even though she’s an amazingly good kid. Gaahhhh!

I believe I’ve already mentioned that nonfiction read-alouds are a harder sell with my 13-year-old, but Russell Freedman’s Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott captivated her about as much as it did me. It probably helped that she’s familiar with Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks, but the story of the boycott itself still grabbed her, and really, I shouldn’t be surprised. I am humbled and inspired at the thought of those who walked daily in the heat of an Alabama summer to win rights that should never have been in question, not to mention awestruck at the level of organization achieved by the intricate network of carpools and rides the leaders developed (and the sheer publicity required!). Freedman provides plenty of photos for context, and as always, his text is both informative and accessible. I enjoyed reading this for myself; I loved reading it with my daughter.

In other news, my son completed his science fair board more or less by himself and without prodding, and that was fantastic; less fantastic is knowing that my oldest turns 16 tomorrow. I am NOT ready for this!

I appear to have missed Veterans Day, which is unfortunate; it does mean, however, that I have THREE completed books to choose from this morning. What to review? What to review?

I suppose I’ll go with the heaviest, which also happens to be a)due and not renewable this week and b)the one most recently finished, since I’ve been reading it aloud to my 7-year-old and we finished it within the last half hour or so. Telephone Tales came onto my radar in 2021, when it won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award. (The Batchelder Award is reserved for children’s books originally published outside of the US and in a language other than English, and it’s intended to encourage US publishers to translate and publish children’s books from around the world.) The premise of Telephone Tales intrigued me–a collection of stories for children short enough to be told in in the time a payphone gives for one coin–and so I put it on hold at my library. It proceeded to sit on my shelf for over a year until I realized that it could be a read-aloud with my youngest, and while the stories were often bizarre to an American audience, she was interested enough that we persisted. (VERY bizarre to an American audience. I wish I could ask native Europeans who’ve read it what they think, because it felt European enough that they might not have blinked an eye.) Most (if not all) stories came with large, not-finely-detailed illustrations, and they ran from poignant to amusing to thought-provoking to really, just plain odd. The format makes it handy for a read-aloud, so parents with children old enough to process stories outside of their cultural experience might want to look into it; I’m still trying to decide exactly how I felt about it!

I just–as in, about 4 minutes ago–finished another Battle of the books book to pass on to my 5th grade son, and I figured I’d review it quickly so I could do just that! I wasn’t familiar with Kate Messner’s “History Smashers” series before I got the BOTB list, but overall, I’m impressed–History Smashers: Pearl Harbor is informative, accessible to its target audience, and full of well-integrated sidebars and comic panels. I learned some interesting things, and I’m hoping my son will, too; at the very least, I’M excited about the rest of the series. If you have a middle grader interested in history–or a middle grader that you want to GET interested in history–this one’s a solid choice.

In the meantime, we are most definitely grateful for the precipitation, dinner was lovely, and I’m really looking forward to bedtime. Goodnight all!

Welp–a week happened. Whoops! I suppose I was preoccupied with a friend’s family struggles, a Sunday School lesson, making rolls and pumpkin bars the morning of Fast Sunday, and a funeral which the entire family I grew up in attended. (A family friend we knew in RI; he was over 80.) Here I am, though, and this morning I’m reviewing Maggie Edkins Willis’s Smaller Sister, which (after a fair amount of deliberation) I just ordered for my 13-year-old for Christmas. (I don’t think she reads my blog regularly, but if she actually does and is reading this–Child, stop now!)

I deliberated for as long as I did because Smaller Sister isn’t a light read; it deals with anorexia and disordered eating, and there are some heartbreaking mean girl experiences there for good measure. On the other hand, it deals with a sister relationship that struggles as the sisters struggle but survives, and its message about body image resonated strongly with me. My 12-year-old has always gravitated towards the emotionally complex, and positive/hopeful messages/outcomes for difficult situations? That’s something I don’t mind her rereading more than once. Our daughters–and those of us who love them–should definitely read this one.

Remember the Idaho trip we postponed because my oldest was throwing up the morning we were supposed to leave? That finally happened this past weekend, and we really did pack a bunch in. We drove up Thursday afternoon and went to DI with my parents on Friday morning; Friday evening we had salmon and lemon rice for dinner and my brother’s family came over afterwards. We had cinnamon rolls on Saturday morning, a firepit at my sister’s at lunchtime, and then pizza for dinner at my brother’s, followed by pumpkin carving. We went to sacrament meeting at my brother’s ward before getting an elliptical from my sister, which would only fit into the car if we put down enough seats that my son ended up driving home later that night with my nephew and his fiance. (AND the gecko that was that same nephew’s until he went to college, passed to my brother’s youngest boy after that, and is now ours. We’ve gecko-sat for Palmer before, but now we’re his forever family!) I drove home with the girls after lunch, and it was not the best drive in the world–I pulled over to doze twice, and my youngest was carsick enough to think she was going to throw up, although she very thankfully didn’t. We stopped at my in-laws’ for dinner and then made it home in time to get the girls to bed on time; my son rolled in around 12:30 am.

And then yesterday was Halloween. But my oldest two had friends trick-or-treating with them, and they all seemed to have fun!

Today I spent the entire morning at the school doing PTA and school volunteer work, but I did manage to finish Illegal this evening, and that was a victory–it’s been hanging around my library shelf for YEARS. (Not an exaggeration.) It’s a graphic novel by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin–illustrated by Giovanni Rigano–and to be fair, it went plenty fast once I actually read the first five pages. Illegal is the story of Ebo, an African boy who leaves his country determined to find his brother so they can make their way to Europe, their sister, and a better life together. It’s a heartbreaking picture of the impossible choices too many people must make and the unreal experiences that refugees often endure, and there’s a reason it’s being taught in schools. Illegal is a book that cannot fail to foster empathy and understanding; don’t miss it.

Have I mentioned my impulsive (and relatively recent) purchase of 50 or so books at the library sale? They were 10 for a dollar, and given my current PTA status, I figured I’d donate most of them to the school for literacy night and keep what I wanted to keep. The catch, of course, is that I wanted to read them first…

Yeah, I have problems. On the other hand, I did finish Shine! the other day, and once I review it I can pass it on to my 13-year-old before donating it for next month’s school event. (It was good enough to be no hardship to keep, but I’m trying to be sensible!) If you’re not familiar, Shine! is the first book Chris Grabenstein and his wife, J.J., have co-authored, and it follows Piper Milly as she moves from a regular school to an expensive private one when her father gets a job there. She’s sure she’s going to be miserable in what she expects to be a sea of snobs, but to her surprise, there are plenty of nice kids to offset the mean ones. Piper is torn, however, between her preference to be inconspicuous and the reality of her mother’s legacy with the school. Can she find the right place for herself while still becoming the person she wants to be?

The Grabensteins’ collaboration has likable characters, a fantastic message, and a female main character passionate about science; it’s also a thoroughly entertaining story. (Honestly, if I weren’t on the PTA board, I’d probably end up keeping it.) Don’t miss this one!