Hi blog readers! Having a good summer? Read a lot? I have!!! I find I'm averaging 5 books at a time. I usually have 2 audiobooks going, or book or two that I'm reading with my children, a physical book and an ebook. I just jump from one story to the next!! Check out my Shelfari if you want to keep up with all the titles- here I only highlight a few.

I recently finished two books about death:

Butter- An overweight boy decides he's had it and begins to plan a suicide by eating. This is some pretty mature content- not all middle school readers could handle this. Truthfully, it's not eating that he thinks will kill him, so he includes some things guaranteed to put him under: od on insulin, foods he's allergic to, and alcohol. He's lucky that some friends called an ambulance instead of letting him do it. But the story isn't really about that, it's about how 2 boys at school made him a virtual celebrity by promoting this last meal. Hard to stomach, if you'll forgive the pun.

See You At Harry's- Be warned- you will need tissues if you are a crier. The main character is a teenage girl who's dealing with a lot as she starts school. Her older brother is being picked on because he is gay. Her father has just come up with a ridiculous idea to promote the family's ice cream restaurant that involves all of them in a commercial that she finds humiliating. And her younger brother is always bothering her. It doesn't help that her mom and older sister always make her watch him. During one such session, he runs out into the parking lot, and the inevitable happens. How can a person move on with their life after such a tragic accident? Personally, I don't know. But the characters all try to grapple with their new reality. Luckily they finally come together as a family, instead of falling apart. Anyone who has ever lost a family member tragically would have a difficult time reading this, but then again, it might also be therapeutic.