Life after Magic Treehouse: Take Three

And here's the list from my friend Kristen H, who has two boys older than Jacob. She admits some are more pulp fiction than others. I put stars next to those that she says are particularly pulpy.

*1. Junie B. Jones

2. The Ramona Books by Beverly Cleary

*3. Bad Kitty series

4. Boxcar Children

5. Flat Stanley

6. Geronimo Stilton. We just borrowed a bunch of these from the library and they are a hit in our house!

7. The Littles. (Ah, nostalgia. I loved the Littles.)

*8. Beast Quest series

9. Arthur's chapter books by Mark Brown

10. Dick King Smith's animal books: Babe the Pig, etc.

11. Jigsaw Jones

12. Choose Your Own Adventure . . . until the reader figures out that you always either a) get the treasure, b) die, or c) disappear forever

13. Encyclopedia Brown

14. the old Hardy Boys

15. Cam Jansam's books

So we'll start there. That should take him to say, 4th of July. I hope.

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann Ross

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind was on my bookclub list, so I read it. Nice contrast to Abbie Deal in Lantern in Her Hand.

Abbie Deal did what was right. What was necessary. What was expected.

And so does Miss Julia, the character in Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind. But then her husband dies and Miss Julia adapts to her new life where she doesn't feel that she needs to play a role for anybody. So she's in her later years, learning to be opinionated and independent, because she finally feels like she can be.

Funny. Ross is good at dialogue, developing characters, and situational irony. The tale Ross weaves around this character is charming.

My favorite thing about reading Miss Julia is that I KNOW women like Miss Julia who feel they have to play a role, but really are feisty and sassy underneath. They say, "Whatever works for you," when they really want say "No, that doesn't work at all." They say, "I'll have to ask someone else before I give you my opinion," when they really have an opinion of their own. Truthfully, I don't know what to do with these polite, ever-pleasers. I want to say, "Let it out! Level with me! Just tell me what you want!" Maybe it's because I married OLE-DUR and had an opinion plenty long before I got married. So it's incredibly satisfying to read about Miss Julia, finally coming to her own. It's about time, Sister. Sing it.

This is the first book in the series and I'll probably pick up the others eventually if I can find them in the library. Not sure that I need to One Click it buy it on Amazon, but still, fun to keep on my "go back and read the rest of the series" list.

Lantern in her Hand by Bess Alldrich

I found the suggestion for Lantern in her Hand, by Bess Alldrich, on the blog Memories on Clover Lane, which I occasionally peruse (the blog, not the book). The book got such a great review that I read it.

Lantern in her Hand is about the life of Abbie Deal. Born in the mid-1800's, the story is about her life. She is young, she marries, she raises her kids, she sees Oklahoma start from wilderness and be tamed, she grows old. She dies. She sacrifices---she never learns to paint or sing, but her children do. She never has lots of money, but her children do. She is never famous, but her children become so. And it's worth it, the sacrifice, of course it is.

The book would be rated G. It's squeaky clean. It's Little House on the Prairie all over again. I should buy a copy and put it next to Limberlost. It's sentimental, it's meaningful. It does have some nice moments. I could teach it in any class and no one's parents would email me about the content. It would probably be a nice, clean, appropriate book for a book club.

But personally, I found it troubling. Haunting really, and the themes have taunted me as I've been doing the dishes or dropping kids off at school, or trying to find where Lego Mater is so that my youngest could stop pining for him. (MAY-TER! I want MAY-TER!) Through all these mom tasks, I've been thinking about Abbie Deal.

One of the main themes in the book is sacrifice---Abbie never wears her heirloom pearls, always saving them for the lovely, wealthy bride she wants in her posterity. She makes sure her kids have music lessons and art class, but never takes them for herself.

Couldn't Abbie have both? At least eventually? Couldn't she nurture herself and her kids, especially when she wasn't taking care of babies anymore? It was annoying---in her 40's Abbie finally had the chance to take piano lessons, but no, no, no, she said she was too old. Later, she had the chance to go to Europe, but oh no, she couldn't bring herself to go. And, of course, she never wore the pearls. I wanted to call to her: ABBIE DEAL! TAKE PIANO! ABBIE DEAL! GO TO EUROPE! ABBIE DEAL! WEAR THE PEARLS!

But she didn't.

I think what the author intended for me to get out of the book is that, "Oh, yes, it's all worth it. As a mother, I make sacrifices and it's noble to never set myself a place at the table even if I'm setting a banquet for everyone else."

But I got something else out of it. I think there's value in taking care of the mom of this family---me. Seeing if there's anything I can do that will make HER happy.

I am not Abbie Deal. So I wore my pearls to church on Sunday to remind myself of this. As I was putting on my pearls, my oldest son came into the room. "Are those REAL pearls, Mom?" And I could tell him yes. And what I saw on his face was the realization: his mom is worth real pearls.

So I wear the pearls. I think Abbie would have been a lot happier had she worn hers every now and then.

8th grade essay grading

Occasionally my old school district, where I used to work pre-mom, will hire me to grade essays. This week I have been wrestling with a batch of 8th grade expository essays. It has been delightful! It's good to flex the mental muscles that I once trained to do this sort of work and good to interact with my former colleagues at my school. And I am reminded why I liked teaching junior high---these kids are funny and clever! I have entertained Eric with passages that are just too good to be kept to myself. Wish I could share them here . . .

So I told my sister that I've been grading 8th grade expository essays this week and she said, "You realize you are describing my own personal version of hell---having to grade 8th grade essays."

I laughed. And told her that sadly, I'm actually good at it.

We all have quirky talents to contribute. Of this I am sure.

Flipped and American Experience: Dolly Madison

Two good movies to check out. I found these on Netflix.

1. Flipped. Cute, innocent, clean little coming-of-age romance. This is what I will watch with my daughter when she's 12 and is home on the weekends because 12 is too young to have a social life, and still young enough to enjoy Movie Nights With Mom. Put it right next to Anne of Green Gables and Ever After. Just such a nice movie with universal appeal. I recommended it to my sister and she watched it and loved it. This is one of those movies people mean when they say, "There are good, clean movies out there, I know there are." Good. Clean. Funny. Delightful. Great way to spend an hour or two.

2. American Experience: Dolly Madison. I knew nothing about Dolly Madison, wife of president Madison. Fascination little documentary, interesting, clever, informative. Really good for anyone who has any inkling of interest in American history. Had I been able to watch this instead of hearing a lecture about the War of 1812, I may have actually been interested. This is how history should be taught and learned. Great stuff.

State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy

I had a bad attitude about this book when I saw it on our book club list for this year. I'd tried other culinary-based fiction and came away wishing I'd tried another place to feast. So far, the only one would could pull of writing with a foodie twist was Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires, but that was non-fiction.

So food mystery? Please.

But I was wrong! I love it when I'm wrong and the book is good! State of the Onion is a pleasure. No Pulitzer necessarily, but a fun, breezy, escape-y, "ooh, that sounds yummy", good plot, decent writing, nicely constructed foodie mystery.

My library doesn't have the rest of the series and that makes me sad. So I wrote them a nice note on their website and suggested they purchase the rest of the series. Usually they take my advice (it's nothing personal, I think they are just glad someone has a suggestion) and I hope they do. If not, I'll have to find another library or treat myself to buying the rest of the series.

Nothing sketchy. Well, not really. It is a murder mystery, so don't be shocked when there's shooting. But it's such a nice little murder mystery . . . think Poirot, but with more food, in the White House, with a female protagonist.

Yes. Think that. Then roll your eyes that I'm trying to compare Poirot to a White House food chef and go find yourself a copy of State of the Onion.

To Mormons with Love by Chrissy Ross

It's the English major in me that likes to clump books together: maybe the grad student, actually, looking for a fun class to teach. But along the same lines as Mirvis's portrayal of insider/outsider in Jewish culture, a great read is Chrissy Ross's To Mormons with Love. Not about Jewish culture, but about Mormon culture, specifically Happy Valley culture, which is grandly different than Mormon culture at large.

Ross, not a Mormon, moves into a community that is predominately (OK, about 95%) Latter-day Saint. Ross is devotedly Christian, as are her husband and three sons. And Ross talks honestly about what she experiences.

There are two things I really liked about this book. 1) Chrissy Ross is funny! It's a delightful read. Her intent is to explain and entertain, but not to lecture. And 2) There's no agenda here. There are no sides. It's just one woman trying to get her footing. And she actually does become friends with her Mormon neighbors (Imagine!) and they become friends with her. She never says it outright, but the gist of her writing is, "They aren't perfect. I'm not perfect. We can still be friends and not agree. I drink wine. They don't let their kids play on Sundays. We can still be friends."

I liked it. She's honest. She calls it like she sees it and it's not always perfect. It's human. That's what I liked. It's human.

And my very favorite, part, I have to admit, was when she talked about going to her (Mormon) girlfriends at 39, wanting another child and wondering if she's too old. Their response . . . "Girlfriend, this is UTAH. You can be pushing your grandbaby in a stroller and nursing your own baby at the same time. You are not too old!"

See? Foibles and all, you gotta love girlfriends like that.

And I think that's Ross's point.

I think this would be great for any book club, whether you have Mormon readers, non-Mormon readers, or a blend of both. It's a short read, though, so I think you could easily pair it with Mirvis's The Ladies Auxiliary and have one great discussion about insider/outsider religious culture.

Laura and Liz, have you read this one yet? You can get it on Amazon. Worth the money, and then it can be one of those books that's fun to loan out.