As I have mentioned many times before on this blog, I teach second grade children.  Recently it was brought to my attention by a THIRD grade teacher that there are not enough easy chapter books for third grade girls.  What do you think?  Do you know of any I could suggest to her besides the classic Magic Treehouse, June B. Jones, Boxcar Children or Magic Schoolbus?  We are in the business of encouraging and fostering a love of reading in children and we both buy hundreds of books for our classroom libraries.  I have spent so much of my time worrying about having interesting things for BOYS that I never thought about girls’ books, although I have all the ones I mentioned and more.  Please help me, reading friends.  You will be doing a great service for children who may not have parents who care enough to supply their own children with good books.  We have Accelerated Reader at our schools and spend at least 30 minutes a day reading self-selected books.  Any suggestions you could send my way would be very much appreciated!

I love the premise of these books.  The idea of reading a book and figuring out clues by yourself and decoding secret messages is awesome and will appeal to most children, especially bright children.  However, I got a little bit bogged down in the writing.  I am not one for a lot of detail and these books seem to contain that.  I tend to get lost in the explanations and start to lose the story.  That is my reading style, however, I know that others thrive on lots of detail and explanation.  The characters are interesting – two children and their granny.  The parents solve mysteries as well.  I would recommend these books for older children.  My eight year old granddaughter, who is a very fluent and advanced reader found these books difficult, so maybe fifth and sixth graders would be the right age group.  Keep the mysteries for children coming – we could use more Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys for this new generation.  These books address that need.

The Case of Red Rock Canyon: THE TEAM: Max, Mia and Nellie (aka Granny) Holmes, along with their good friend, Morris, are known as the Crypto-Capers. They travel all around the world solving cases. Each member of the group has specific talents. Morris is the computer genius. Mia is the puzzle solver. Max is thick with logic and reasoning a very detailed fellow, while Nellie is fluent in various languages. With each book you will see each member s talents unfold, and we have barely scratched the surface of what each of them can really do. THE STOLEN ITEM: A missing Orchid Ruby Necklace THE ASSIGNMENT: The Case of Red Rock Canyon leads the team to Las Vegas, Nevada, where they are thrown into the dramatic world of theater to solve their next mystery. A week before the opening night of one of the most talked about plays on the Strip. It s main attraction a one-of-a-kind Orchid Ruby Necklace goes missing. The detectives soon become ensnared in a plot that could destroy them all. They must sift through the clues to figure out what is truth, and what are lies. One of their lives will be in the balance. Can they be saved? Only you can control the answer to that question. Join the Crypto-Capers on their adventure of self discovery and courage. Help them by solving the cryptograms and participating in the various activities. They are not for the faint of heart, but for the bravest and most confident of souls. Can you do it? We are counting on you. Good luck! Other books in the series: The Case of the Missing Sock.

The Case of the Missing Sock: The Team: In this story siblings Max and Mia Holmes, along with their good friend Morris and their flamboyant Granny Holmes, are known as The Crypto-Capers. They are a group of detectives who unravel crimes by solving cryptograms that criminals leave behind. Mia is an expert puzzle solver. Max is great at deduction and reasoning. Morris is a computer genius, and Granny . . . well, Granny is the muscle of the group. Don t let her size or age fool you she is quite handy. The Stolen Items: An antique sock (just one) and Prada sunglasses. The Assignment: The Case of the Missing Sock leads the Crypto-Capers to Florida, where they are hired by a Mr. Delacomb. The mystery leads the team to different locations. Clues flourish throughout the mystery. Suspects by the handful seem to pop up at every turn, but who committed the crime? Help the detectives solve the case by solving the cryptograms and puzzles. Good luck!

From the cover: Natalie Raines, one of Broadway’s brightest stars, accidentally discovers who killed her former roommate and sets in motion a series of shocking vents that puts more than one life in extreme peril.

Natalie and her roommate, Jamie Evans, were both struggling young actresses, Jamie had been involved with a mysterious married man to whom she referred only by nickname.  Natalie comes face to face with him years later and inadvertently addresses him by the nickname Jamie had used.  A few days later, Natalie is found in her home in Closter, New Jersey, dying from a gunshot wound.

Immediately the police suspect Natalie’s theatrical agent and soon-to-be-ex-husband, Gregg Aldrich.  He had long been a “person of interest” and was known to hav stalked Natalie to find out if she was seeing another man.  But no charges are brought against him until two years later, when Jimmy Easton, a career criminal, suddenly comes forward to claim that Aldrich had tried to hire him to kill his wife.  Easton knows details about the Aldrich home that only someone who had been there-to plan a murder, for instance,-could possibly know.

The case is a plum assignment for Emily Wallace, an attractive thirty-two-year-old assistant prosecutor.  As she spends increasingly long hours preparing for the trial, a seemingly well-meaning neighbor offers to take care of her dog in her absence.  Unaware of his bioletn past, she gives him a key to her home…

As Aldrich’s trial is making headlines, her boss warns Emily that this high-profile case will reveal personal matters about her, such as the fact that she had a heart transplant.  And, during the trial Emily experiences sentiments that defy all reason and continue after Gregg Aldrich’s fate is decided by the jury.

In the meantime, she does not realize that her own life is now at risk.

My review: I enjoyed this book.  The story seems a little different from the typical Mary Higgins Clark story, but none-the-less compelling and a page-turner.  Actually there are two main stories that really never connect, but they deal with one character, Emily Wallace, I guess that is where they connect.  I read this book in two days.  I always enjoy books authored by Mary Higgins Clark because they have a great story line, but they are clean.  I don’t have to worry about language and graphic sex.  In a book of this nature, you would expect violence, but even that is not offensive to me.  This is Clark’s 28th suspense novel and I’m sure we will see more in the future.  This is a great summer read!

Sarah Anderson is in deep grieving for her husband Charles. Two years after his unexpected death, she finds it difficult to carry out even her daily tasks. One night she attempts suicide by drowning in the sea.

Once in the water, though, she is pulled into an underwater world. In this world, life is different. When she reemerges, she can’t decide whether or not what happened was a dream.

It’s really difficult for me to review this book, because I’m not entirely sure that I “got” it. The writing is absolutely beautiful, there’s no doubt about that, but the underwater world didn’t make any sense to me. I couldn’t tell if the story was about Sarah going crazy, being willing to face death, or learning how to move on, and the ending didn’t really answer any of that for me.

One thing I did really enjoy was Sarah’s assessments of the Australian people and culture. While I’ve never been to Australia, it was a huge culture shock for me to live with Australians when I was in Japan, and I found many of her observations, unsurprisingly for the amount of time she was there, spot on.
All in all, it was an enjoyable and fairly quick read, I just didn’t really understand it.

Jade is the 2nd in a series of 4 books by Marilynn Griffith.  I haven’t read the first one yet, but as each one is a completely separate story, I could follow it easily.  Here is a little about the book from the back cover:

Designer Lily Chau doesn’t know if she’s finally got it together or if life is starting to unravel.  With a successful boyfriend and a great job at up-and-coming fashion house Garments of Praise, it seems she has the perfect pattern for success.  But her mother’s health is failing, her boyfriend just won’t pop the question, and being a pattern maker is a far cry from having a clothing line of her own.  Lily is sure her hands are just too full to draw her deepest dreams.

Raya and Chenille, Lily’s pals at Garments of Praise, offer plenty of advice and sympathy.  And Jean, Lily’s co-worker and second mom, even goes behind Lily’s back to boost her chances of success.  When she’s chosen for the reality show The Next Design Diva, it seems like the chance of a lifetime for Lily.  But the mysterious designer chosen to mentor her sends her spinning.  He’s fresh, fine – and way off limits.  Suddenly Lily’s life goes from carefully patterned to nothing but a tangle of threads.

My review: I enjoyed this book.  I picked it up as just something to read, and then ended up being surprised by the depth of the issues such as friendship (even when someone storms away from you slamming the door behind them) and frustrated dreams (that when they start becoming reality are sometimes scary and sometimes not what you expected).

One issue that the author dealt with that I particularly appreciated was depression and mental health in general.  This may be the first Christian novel I have read that has the main character taking a prescription drug to help her deal with her depression.   Most characters will turn their problems over to the Lord and they make it through.  Don’t get me wrong – that is fantastic and for the most part that is what we all need to do.  However, I also believe in the value of medication for depression in some cases and I strongly believe a Christian should never feel a sense of guilt or failure if they need to use counseling and/or medication to help them through.

Another interesting point of this novel is the age of the main characters.  They are much older than the typical romance story.  I like that because, well, life doesn’t always turn out the way we expected, does it?  And yet it can still have wonderful surprises.

Lily goes through many painful things in her life.  Yet her hope and strength come from the Lord.  I ended up really enjoying this book, and look forward to reading more of Marilynn Griffith.  Who has 7 children, by the way.  7 children and still finds time to write?  Puts me right to shame!  Hope you will look into her books and appreciate them as I did.

Robin Jones Gunn has another winner with Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes.  I sat and read this book in two days.  What I love about these books is that I get to go on a quick, vicarious trip to places I may never go – the Netherlands being one of those places.  Ms. Gunn not only takes us to visit the touristy sights, but we also visit the “spiritual” sites as well such as where Corrie ten Boon grew up.   The trips usually involve two sisterchicks traveling together, but this time the main character, Summer, went to visit a penpal she had since the third grade.  Now both were in their forties or early fifties and they are meeting for the first time.  I love the history sneakily taught in these books, I love the scenery we can easily visualize, and I love the characters.  They are gals I can relate to.  I think these books would appeal to almost all women, especially those who are interested in travel.

From the book cover:

How can reading a picture book in one country make a difference to a family in need living thousands of miles away?  And what does a goat have to do with it, anyway?

When Mrs. Rowell’s fifth-grade class is inspired by a rainy-day book to reach out with helping hands, wonderful things happen.  Not the least of these is an enthusiastic team effort by the entire class to reach a common goal.

In this true story young readers will discover that even the smallest goodwill efforts are rewarded with positive results.  Humorous illustrations show the philanthropic process from inspiration through brainstorming to getting down to work, collecting funds, and celebrating success.  Give a Goat is a template for adults and children who want to work together to experience the satisfaction of giving to others and making a difference in the world.

This book may inspire you, too.  Making a change for the better is as easy as giving a goat.

My Review: This book will motivate children to do for others.  This true story shows how a classroom can work together to help others and get their minds of themselves.  My class was so motivated, that we gave the largest amount in our school of 800 to children with leukemia.  When children are presented with a need, especially if it deals with other children and families, there is no limit to what they can accomplish!  This is a great jump-off book to read whenever you have a project in mind for children to work on, especially in relating to giving to those in need!  We loved it!