Hurt Go Happy, by Ginny Rorby (Middle school) Date Read: July 1st (out of 5 possible ivy leaves) For me, this book's strength comes from the firsthand way it shows the isolation of deafness. Speech-reading is no simple task, and Ginny Rorby brings the point home neatly by leaving blanks in the dialogue when Joey can't understand, as well as feeding the reader Joey's mistranslations from time to time. Unfortunately, Joey's mother doesn't get it, and it's not long before you'd like to reach into the book and shake the woman by the shirt front. That's when you know you've gotten it.
	The Garden of Eve, by E.L. Going (5th grade and up) Date Read: July 2nd For the longest time, it's tough to figure out if you're dealing with the supernatural or reality in this book. That's probably exactly why the last half of the book works. Once you've been drawn in, it's easy to go along for the ride when things start getting . . . interesting. And for the record, I had a passing thought very near the beginning which turned out to be the truth behind Alex's secret. I felt very clever in the end. Oh, and one of my bookselling pals, Martha, spotted a subtle reference to Ida B., which made me smile.
	The Black Book of Secrets, by F.E. Higgins (5th grade and up) Date Read: July 3rd Loaded with juicy mysteries and confessions, and immensely satisfying on all fronts. I expect this story will appeal to fans of Avi's historical mysteries, and judging by the number of misfortunes in the plot, possibly the Lemony Snicket crowd as well. From an authory perspective, I noticed Higgins contrived a crafty way to tell the story from both third- and first-person POV. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I’m eager to read more from her.
	Unexpected Development, by Marlene Perez (High school) Date Read: July 3rd I read this because Caitlin, my very first fan-who-didn't-know-me-before-I-wrote-Miss-Spitfire told me to. As she said: "They always write about chicks stuffing their bras, never girls trying to squeeze into them." She’s absolutely right. This’ll give girls with cup-envy a thing or two to think about. By the way, I got a kick out of discovering the book was bound in red and purple to match Megan's hideous Pancake Palace uniform.
	Vaccinated, by Paul A. Offit, MD (Adult non-fiction) Date Read: July 8th Ever heard of Maurice Hilleman? Me neither. But if you've never had measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, and a bunch of other nasty diseases I've forgotten, it's thanks to Hilleman. This fascinating and surprisingly quick read is the story of the brilliant mind and one-man driving force behind nine – yes, nine – of the world's most important vaccines. For my money, the author also effectively debunks the MMR/mercury autism scare, thank you very much.
	The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School, by Candice Fleming (4th grade and up) Date Read: July 8th Sideways Stories from Wayside School meets Aesop's fables. Some of the morals seemed like just a bit of a stretch, but heck, it's a fun book, and I think it's got great kid-appeal. The stories are zany, and the morals don't get in the way. Teachers ought to enjoy it, too, as a fun way to bring fables into a modern perspective. And where oh where can I find an Eleanor Roosevelt lunchbox like Humphrey's??
	Undercover, by Beth Kephart (High school) Date Read: July 12th Sensitive and loaded with beautiful language, this whole book is written as carefully as a poem. Unfortunately, it's also yet another book that's suffered recently from my wild-and-crazy schedule. I know I didn't appreciate Undercover as much as it deserves, only because I didn't have time to savor it. I read it in bits and snatches over a period of too many days, which bums me out, because it's really a lovely piece of work.
	Beastly, by Alex Flinn (High school) Date Read: July 14th I didn't know if this book was going to work for me – c'mon, Beauty and the Beast in NYC? – but it did. The fairy tale chatroom intro did the trick for setting the mood and cleverly suspending my disbelief. Apparently I was expecting chick-lit, because the characters were much more interesting and developed than I'd bargained for. A comparison between Beastly and Donna Jo Napoli's Beast would likely make for an interesting book club discussion.
	Frannie in Pieces, by Delia Ephron (High School) Date Read: July 27th I'm not sure yet what I think about this book. I came away feeling sort of fragmented, which in a sense could be a complement, given the whole jigsaw puzzle-piece aspect of the plot. However, I also felt frustrated when Frannie didn't "get it," and I think I was expecting something much more upbeat overall. (Apparently I didn't read the flap copy too closely, so whose fault is that...?)
	The Old Man and the Sea Audio read by Donald Sutherland (Adult fiction) Date Read: July 28th Except for one short story in high school, this is the first real chunk of Hemingway I've ever read. I've heard the jokes about his sparse and simple style (Q: According to Hemingway, why did the chicken cross the road? A: To die. In the rain. Alone.) but the reader adapted to it in a way that made the old man's voice seem perfectly natural, and I enjoyed the book in the end. This classic-a-month thing is going pretty well for me so far, incidentally.
	First Light, by Rebecca Stead (Middle school) Date Read: July 30th You can't help thinking (just a little) of The City of Ember when you read this book, but it's in no way a knock-off. It's also good fun to read about the arctic in the middle of a heat wave.