Notes from a Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick

Many students have been encouraging me to read this ... and I am glad I finally did. This author does not disappoint - he does a terrific job of capturing characters personality and emotions. I was sad to see this story end.

From Amazon:

After drinking some vodka and taking his mom's car for a spin to his father's girlfriend's house, who just happens to be his former third-grade teacher, 16-year-old Alex Gregory finds himself on his neighbors' lawn with police yelling at him and a broken gnome under his car. It is hard to believe that Alex would do anything like this; most of the time he hangs out with his friend Laurie, a sassy petite karate expert, and plays guitar in the school jazz band. He is also trying to get over his parents' recent split. For drinking and driving, Alex is sentenced to 100 hours of community service at a nursing home with Solomon Lewis. Sol is a difficult, crotchety, eccentric old man with emphysema who lashes out at Alex in strange Yiddish phrases. Soon Alex grows found of Sol, who teaches him something about the guitar, respecting the elderly, and taking responsibility for his actions.

Happy Reading! If you read Notes from a Midnight Driver, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it! :)

Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes

I listened to this book and the narrator did a great job of giving the characters a believable voice. I found this story to be sad and heartwarming at the same time.

from Amazon:

Mitch Sinclair, 12, is at Bird Moon Lake because his parents are divorcing. But there are tense moments with his grandparents, so Mitch fantasizes about moving into the empty house next door. Then Spencer Stone and his family, who own the cottage, arrive. Spencer and younger sister love the lake, but it’s also the place where their barely remembered brother, Matty, drowned at age four. Told in overlapping chapters, the story is spare. Mitch tricks Spencer into thinking Matty is haunting them; then he does something worse. After the boys become friends, the truth becomes both barrier and bridge.

Happy Reading! If you read Bird Lake Moon, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it! :)

Wow! Summer is over already?!

I hope everyone had a great summer!

I wanted to first start with a Question of the Week ...

The Question of the Week is: What was your favorite thing about summer?

I enjoyed having more time to read and enjoying the warm weather.

Please cast your vote in the poll located at the top of the blog :)

I also thought I would share some titles that I really enjoyed reading this summer:

* Wings by Aprilynne Pike (so good! it reminded me of Twilight)

* The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (same author of Shug - this was a great summer read!)

* Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (the sequel to The Hunger Games - I could not put it down!)

What did you read this summer? Leave a comment and let me know!