should be John Green.
The Fault in Our
Stars
is my absolute favourite (as well
as my daughter’s). A word of caution
for parents of younger children: this
book is incredibly heart-breaking.
It is the story of a 16-year old and a
community of teens battling terminal
illness while also learning to love.
You can’t go wrong with any of John
Green’s books.
There is nothing better than
reading a book and falling in love
with it, and then realising that the
author has written a host of great
books. This certainly holds true for
Asian protagonists, and I also love
multi-cultural characters.
Outside
Beauty
is a wonderful story of a
terribly complicated and extremely
non-traditional family. Also on your
Kadohata list, I would add
A Million
Shades of Gray
(not to be confused with
a similar adult title of many fewer
shades of grey and one million fewer
shades of depth and intelligence).
Kira-Kira
is also a wonderful read.
Kadohata is another one of those
authors whose works you’ll find
yourself picking up one after another,
enjoying every one.
other books in this series are likewise
recommended (
Forge
and
Chains
).
Nostalgic and noteworthy
No list could be complete without a bit
of nostalgia added in for the mums.
I will date myself here by saying I
assume that we all grew up with
Judy
Blume books. Blume is definitely an
author to revisit with you children. I
recently repurchased a copy of
Blubber
,
which has been, I believe unfairly,
criticised of late. Contemporary
reviewers seem bothered that there
doesn’t seem to be a sense of justice
for Blubber, I mean Linda. Let’s be
realistic: life isn’t always fair. This
book is an excellent segue into a
discussion about bullying with your
teen, which we know is as relevant
today as when Blume wrote it in the
1970s.
Deenie
is next on our Blume
list and I am looking forward to
rereading it, as it is always an entirely
new experience revisiting these books
as a parent.
And while there are, of course,
many great new books out there,
I again am often nostalgic for the
books of my childhood. I have been
successful in introducing many of
these to my daughter and her friends.
A clear favourite is the
Five Little
Peppers
series by Margaret Sidney.
These books were among my own
mother’s favourites as a child as well,
and there is something beautiful about
passing on a love for a particular book
among generations. The books were
actually first published in 1881 and
they have stood the test of time. Begin
with
The Five Little Peppers and How
They Grew
, the first in the series. If you
haven’t read these yourself, you must.
They are heart-warming and seriously
addictive.
While I hope you’ll have plenty
of time for lounging on the beach,
spending sun-filled days with friends
and family and exploring new sites, a
well-planned reading list for you and
your daughter is the perfect addition
to your summer holiday plans. It is
the chance to create your own private
mother-daughter book club and to
keep their minds active and learning,
without having it feel like homework.
The summer is about fun. Reading
together is, too.
Joan Bauer. We read
Almost Home
,
followed by
Hope Was Here
. If you are
going to pick just one, I would suggest
Hope Was Here
. This is a wonderful
story of starting over. Hope has even
given herself a new name. The story
immediately pulls the reader in and it
is filled with beautiful characters. It is
a story that you won’t want to see end.
Another name to add to the
list of great and prolific writers is
Cynthia Kadohata. First of all, I
am a bit of a sucker for books with
Laurie Halse Anderson is yet
another author with a list of must-
read books. I highly recommend
Fever 1793
, part of
The Seeds of America
Trilog y
. I am a huge fan of historical
fiction generally and this is a well-
researched novel about the epidemic
that decimated Philadelphia in
1793. It is a window into a period of
history very different from our own
and will undoubtedly pique your
child’s interest to learn more about
history and that period of time. The
Summer 2014
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