What Did You Read This Summer?

         This summer did not go exactly as I expected.  At the beginning of June I broke my wrist. I had to have a fairly routine surgery where the doctor drilled some pins and plates into my distal radius (that is the technical name for the big bone you have in your forearm). Ouch!  I had planned on being busy working and going on Ragbrai, but ended up doing a lot of sitting around instead.  The only good thing about breaking a bone in the summer time, is that I had plenty of time to read good books!  I read almost all of the ITA books for this year and many others. Two books I really liked were Wonder by R.J. Palacio and Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Both of this books would fall into the "young adult" or realistic fiction category, but they are very different stories.

          Wonder is the story of August, a boy born with several genetic defects that make his face look much different than those around him. Because of his shocking appearance, it is hard for August to make friends. He has been home-schooled until he begins going to middle school. This story is told from the perspective of not only August, but his family, and also the students at his new school.
           Blood Wounds is about a young girl named Willa who finds out that the father she has never known has died and has killed his new wife and two children.  This story follows Willa as she comes to term with this loss, uncovers secrets about her father, and learns about the family she has never known.