Jenna and I have read together since
she was a baby. After we had moved to
West Valley, she researched a program for a Mother/Daughter book club (which
I've mentioned in a few past posts) but I think Wonderstruck is the last thing that we read together.
http://beneaththewraps.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-last-two-books.html
I have tried to get her to read with
me - but she's either too busy, not interested, or just seems to have outgrown
us reading anymore. Too bad. I've recently read a couple that I think she
would like.
The characters in both books are the same age
as Jenna.
Rebel McKenzie (Candace F. Ransom)
wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up (one
who works with ice age mammals and not the dinosaurs). There is an Ice Age Kids' Dig and Safari camp
offered twice in the summer. She doesn't have the money, but decides to make
her way to the camp - mostly without a plan of fitting in once she arrives -
but gosh, darn-it, she scrapes her feet and gets reported as a run-away.
In order to keep her in
line, her mom and sister decide that she will spend the summer watching her
seven-year-old nephew. As if that wasn't
bad enough, Rebel also has the responsibility of looking after the huge cat that's part of the rental agreement for her
sister's trailer. Rebel is not happy.
Bambi
is the girl who lives across the way. A
winner and contestant of several beauty pageants. Rebel is not at all interested until she
learns there is money involved. If she
were to win a pageant, she would still have an opportunity to go to the second
dig. Instead of keeping a close eye on her nephew, she drags him and his bully along
to learn skills to help her succeed at winning a pageant. On the road to success, she makes discoveries
that aren't ice age related. She forms
friendships and matures faster than I believe is possible.
I
enjoyed the narration and the humorous descriptions.
I really liked how the story end - though it did take me by surprise. I found the growth of the character turned
out quite fantastic.
The
other book, After All, You're Callie
Boone by Winnie Mack, had quite a bit of humor to it also. I laughed aloud and would read Jenna certain
pages that I'd come across. In this
book, Callie is also the same age as Jenna.
Her best friend since the first grade has started hanging around with
her nemesis, and she doesn't understand why.
Amy won't even take the time to explain to Callie why they're not
friends anymore, and learns the truth through vicious gossip.
Hoot
moves into the house across the street.
He befriends Callie, even though she is less than pleasant to him - and
not just once. How can she possibly be
seen around town with a boy? How would
she explain him?
Callie
is interested in swimming. After a
fiasco at one pool, she is told to never return. she continues training at
another with her dad's assistance.
Normally,
I like books with polished endings and not ones that will leave the reader
hanging to draw his or her own conclusions.
I did not care for the last two chapters of this book because the ending
is not polished. But then again, neither
is life. Things happen that cannot be
helped. We may not control the outcome
or the situations or outcome of other people.
That is life. And life goes
on.
I
enjoyed both .books. They both faced devastation and realistic choices of youth. I
laughed more with Callie than I did with
Rebel - though many of her descriptions did put a smile on my face. The grammar's not perfect - but then again,
that really is how a lot of youth talk - especially in that particular
area. I did like the ending of Rebel
much better than the ending for Callie.
Jenna
was the outgoing sponge before we moved to West Valley. She did try, but felt unsuccessful and I
noticed that she had withdrawn. Slowly
she's coming around to being outgoing again.
Last night she had two of her friends over. We took them to what was supposed to be a
pot-luck dinner. Turned out to be a
coleslaw salad, Jell-O salad, coffee cake, cookies and brownies. Jenna thought it was awesome, though her
friends and Roland and I would have preferred some more substantial food. Roland
says we're always doing hot dogs from now on.
We
ended up taking the girls to McDonalds before returning them to their
homes. As it turns out, one of Jenna's
friends is just as freaked out about bridges as I am. (see this post)
