Friday, June 24, 2016

1 Poem, 1 Picture Book, 1 Audio Book, 1 Adult Book

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Howdy Campers! Happy Poetry Friday and Happy Summer Reading!

JoAnn starts off this round with Summer Reading and an Unfinished Poem, offering a terrific reading list and more. Mary Ann continues with Summer Reading--for Kids Who Hate Reading, Carmela gives us 7 Summer Reading Suggestions for Young Readers, and Bobbi brings us Summertime Adventures!

Summer--a splendid time to loll in the shade and read, your back against a tree.  Today's post will be short so you can pour yourself a lemonade and go read outside.

photo from pixabay

Today I offer you one guilty pleasure, one picture book, one audio book, and one poem.

GUILTY PLEASURE
My guilty pleasure is a summer page turner by David Baldacci called Absolute Power. Baldacci is a muscular writer; from the very first page I know I'm in secure hands and we're off on a breathtaking adventure.

PICTURE BOOK
I just read the inspiring picture book, Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead by Michelle Markel, illustrated by LeUyen Pham (Balzer and Bray).


“Smart and snappy…as inspiring as it is delightful.”-Booklist (starred review)

“Both for fun and education…go-girl power and a good read.”-Kirkus

“Concisely outlines Clinton’s journey from activist to First Lad of Arkansas and on to Washington, D.C….Pham’s (the Freckleface Strawberry series) watercolors are steeped in period detail.”-Publishers Weekly

"focuses on the mostly male political world Clinton had to navigate to get where she is...a lighthearted and cheering girl-power approach."-Washington Post


AUDIO BOOK
I'm also listening to a fantastic audio book, Most Dangerous—Daniel Ellsberg and The Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin (Roaring Brook).


This book was a Finalist for the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature, a National Book Award Finalist, and was selected for the 2016 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People List. It received starred reviews in Kirkus, PW, Booklist, Voya, School Library Journal, Horn Book, and BCCB. (Wow!)

“Lively, detailed prose rooted in a tremendous amount of research, fully documented. . . Easily the best study of the Vietnam War available for teen readers.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Sheinkin has done again what he does so well: condense mountains of research into a concise, accessible, and riveting account of history. . . [This book] will keep readers racing forward.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Thoroughly researched, thoughtfully produced, and beautifully written . . . a timely and extraordinary addition to every library." ―School & Library Journal, starred review

"Young people in the United States are growing up in a vastly changed world, one where endless war and all-pervasive surveillance is a matter of course. 'Most Dangerous' will help them understand how it has become so."―The New york Times Book Review

POEM
A poem for Poetry Friday (originally posted May 2013):

SEARCH FOR A BOOK
by April Halprin Wayland

What's the title?
Can't remember.

And the plot?
It was so tender…

Why is this your favorite book?
It lit a spark, it fanned an ember…

The book was in her skin, her cells,
she turned each page and oh! the smell…

At every page
I looked and listened,

every kitten on a mission,
delicately, in pastel.

It was drawn and it was written
to cast a purring lifetime spell.

What's the title?
Can't remember.

And the plot?
It was so tender…

Why is this your favorite book?
It lit a spark, it fanned an ember…

poem (c) by April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

Thank you Diane, of Random Noodling for this week's Poetry Friday Round-up!

posted by April Halprin Wayland on the road in Northern California with love

11 comments:

Bobbi Miller said...

What a great poem! Thank you! I always enjoy your recommendations, very inspiring.

Linda B said...

The poem is wonderful, April. I just had a great time at the library's annual book sale, looking for some 'favorites" and new ones, too. Markel's book is good, shared some things about Hillary new to me, and Sheinkin writes books that always teach me. Thanks for all!

Diane Mayr said...

Thanks for sharing your summer reading choices. I'm always looking for recommendations.

It was drawn and it was written
to cast a purring lifetime spell.


I love the way this flows!

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

Wonderful poem, and it looks like you are reading some good stuff! Have a fun summer.

Irene Latham said...

yes to lighting sparks and fanning embers...I'm on a memoir binge right now and there's been lots of sparky-embery stuff going on around here. Thank you, April. xo

jan godown annino said...

April, Appreciations for this inspiring list.
And thanks for your fun poem - makes me remember some fabulous
crisp paper book aromas from child days, which reading online or in a download can never match.

Happy lemonade & literature season to you.

Carol Varsalona said...

So many favorites that hit the spot-this line resonated with me:" It lit a spark, it fanned an ember…"

April Halprin Wayland said...

Bobbi, Linda B., Diane, Brenda, Irene, Jan, Carol--thank you sooo much for stopping by to read and connect! I'm in Berkeley, CA with family, trying to stay present. (Today my husband and I went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; there is so much to love at SFMOMA. One of the things I lsaw was how the museum visitors themselves were art against the wide white walls, and climbing the pine staircases...)

Cindy Johnson said...

Thanks for a wonderful poem (applies to so many books I loved as a kid and would like to re-read, if I could only remember the title!) and the great reading suggestions!

Susan B James said...

Love the list. Know Michelle Markels work and always enjoy it. If the Daniel Ellsberg book is anywhere near as good as his book,, Bomb, it will be a wonderful read or listen. And the poem is fantastic. Thanks.

April Halprin Wayland said...

Cindy~ Oy! Don't start with me about memory for book titles...!

And Susan, thanks for your comments. Especially re: the poem ~