From 7 to 37 - What We're Reading This Summer

Me - 37

I started out my summer sitting on my couch getting absolutely nothing done because I had gotten sucked into Caroline Leavitt's Is This Tomorrow.  I have been a fan of Caroline's for years, but I think this one is one of my favorites - it grabbed me from the beginning and wouldn't let go. 

From there I moved on to The Good House by Ann Leary (fabulous) to The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman (sad, but gripping), and now I'm on a Anne Rivers Siddons kick.  I'd read Peachtree Road years ago and happened to pick up Off Season a week ago at the used book store.  I got so hooked that I ran out and bought four more of her books.  They're addictive enough to keep you interested, but you can easily concentrate on them while you're sitting next to the pool.

Haley - 11

My daughter has always been a huge fan of Beverly Cleary (LOVE Ramona!) so when I saw several books by her that looked a little more mature, I snapped them up - First Love, Fifteen, and The Luckiest Girl are sitting on her shelf waiting to be read. 

But right now, Haley's literary heart belongs to Sarah Dessen.  Her nose was buried in Dreamland during the spring and she constantly carries around Lock and Key so she can read it when she has a spare minute (which, in pre-teenland is rare).

Michael - 9

Like many mothers out there who are parenting young boys, it's hard to make the flutter of pages sound more enticing than the sounds of construction that come from Minecraft.  But I'm determined to win.

Enter the 39 Clues series.

Michael had been a fan of the Magic Treehouse series when he was little, so when another mom at the bookstore told me, "My son loves 39 Clues.  It's like Magic Treehouse for older kids."

Sold!

Sarah - 7

I don't know if I'm alone on this one, but I was pretty happy to see my daughter's interest in the Junie B. Jones series wane and watch her move on to Ivy & Bean.  Her bookshelf is full of the Beverly Cleary Ramona books that my older daughter has outgrown and, of course, picture books about bugs.

Every once in a while she still asks me to read her a story before bedtime.  This is code for "let's read Dinosaur, Dinosaur together" because we've come up with our own way to rap the story.

Who knew that a picture book could bring out the DJ Mama in me?