Okay, I had to blog about this book. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt impressed me so much I can't resist telling everyone about it. The book is much more than okay. (I couldn't resist the redundancies. Sorry.)

The book is a great story about a boy, Doug, in a disfunctional family who discovers the joy of using his artistic talent.  But that's only the tip of the iceberg.

The plot is exciting and the dangers and conflicts are real and realistic.

The book is written in a comfortable, easy style and involves characters and situations any young reader will identify with. It's fun to read.

And, in my opinion, it should become a literary classic. The depth and richness of the plot and characters is amazing.

I was drawn into the story and couldn't put the book down until I finished reading it.

I hope our library has Schmidt's other books because I can't wait to read them.

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I was six years old when my father died. One of the bullies at school told me, "He probably died on purpose just to get away from you."

That was only the beginning of the tormenting and bullying I experienced through most of my childhood. Most of the time the attacks weren't physical, but words can really hurt you.

I tried tattling, trying to avoid the bullies, or saying mean things back, but nothing seemed to help.

One Saturday a tough girl in our neighborhood shoved me down on the sidewalk, sat on my chest, raised her fist, and said she was going to "punch my lights out."

For some strange reason instead of reacting with fear or anger I calmly explained to her that the reason she had no friends at school was because she was a bully, and if she would be nice then people would like her.

She got up, walked away, and never bothered me again.

I've seen that sort of reaction to bullying work in other situations, too.

The website, http://bullies2buddies.com explains why. The person in charge, Izzy Kalman, is Jewish, but he bases his information on how to handle bullies on the teaching of Jesus Christ to turn the other cheek.

There might be exceptions, but that method is far more likely to have good results than tattling or fighting back, so I certainly think it's worth trying.

Except, of course, by people who think they know better than Jesus. ;-)

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I was deciding how many copies of my books I should take to the group book signings I'll soon be participating in when I thought of a question. How many books - not those I've written myself - do I own?

I started to count the ones in the nearest bookcase, but realized it would take me all day to count every book in the house. And the books vary greatly in thickness from picture books to huge volumes, so I couldn't just figure out how many feet of shelf space they took up. 

 There are 62 shelves of books in my house and the shelf sizes also vary. Trying to estimate the total was overwhelming but I figured there must be at least 2000 books in my house. Most of them I've read at least a few times.

And that doesn't even take into account the ones on my e-readers. (I haven't read most of those anyway, because I prefer the real, hard copies.)

Then there are the library books. I get and read some of those almost every week.

Obviously I'm a bookaholic and I have no intention of ever getting into recovery.

How many books do you have in your house?

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I love to do book signings.

Everything I've heard and read says authors who aren't famous rarely sell many books at events like that, and many people think they're a waste of time. And, to be honest, I've never sold a lot of books at signings.

But I keep doing them because I think they're fun.

The group signings are the best, because we not only get to meet and chat with people who come to meet us and look at our books, we also get to spend time hanging out with other authors.

As my bumper sticker says, "Bookaholics Unite!" and book signings are great places for that to happen.

And, even if we don't sell hundreds of books, the events are good publicity and may lead to future sales.

I've got two group signings scheduled in May, and can hardly wait for them.

On May 10th Sierra Writers will hold one at the Nevada City Winery in Nevada City, CA from noon until 6:00 p.m.

And on May 17th  the Gold Country Book Festival will be at the Garden at the Auburn Library in Auburn, CA from 10:00 a.m. until 2 p.m.

If anyone reading this post will be in either of those areas on the day of the signing I'd love to see you.

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No Ordinary Owl by Lauraine Snelling and Kathleen Damp Wright is part of a series about the S.A.V.E. Squad. That's a group of girls whose names start with the initials, S, A, V and E. They try to rescue and help animals.

I was surprised to see that Lauraine Snelling was a co-author of this book. While Snelling has written other books for kids, they're all about horses and only one book in this series is about that kind of animal. I have a feeling Ms Wright will go on to write more books on her own.

When I got No Ordinary Owl I didn't realize it was part of a series and it can certainly stand alone. It's about the girls in the S.A.V.E. Squad trying to help injured baby owls become able to be released.

But there's much more to the plot than that. This book is a mystery with lots of adventure included. And there's some conflict between the girls, too.

Someone is trying to stop the girls from helping the baby owls. Maybe even several people are trying to block their way and the girls must find out who is responsible for the problems and find a way to save the owls while maintaining their friendship.

I don't want to reveal too much, so I won't go into details about those things.

Girls who care about animals and/or enjoy mysteries and adventures will consider this book a good one.

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Since I live in California I've read lots of books for kids about the history of the state. But The Adventures of Pearley Monroe is different from all the others.

In the first place, the main character is an African American boy. And, in the second place, the story takes place in the 1880s and is not just about the Gold Rush.

The author Marci Seither based the book on true events that happened to a real family and did an excellent job of portraying the world in which Pearley lived. Since I grew up hearing stories from my grandfather about that same time period I can vouch for the accuracy of a lot of it, although my grandfather lived in San Francisco instead of Gold Country.

And the life of Pearley, like the lives of many people in his world, truly was full of adventure. Even his discovery of the reason for his name is dramatic.

This book is a good one just to read for fun, but kids studying California history in school will find it educational, too.

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In case you wonder why there's no apostrophe in that title it's because the word is both plural and possessive. There are lots of writers at the conferences, which belong to the writers.

I love writers conferences!

Writing is a solitary job, but writers are communicators so when we get together we communicate with each other - a lot.

I've gone to lots of those conferences and spoken at some of them, but I must say my favorite is the one I just attended. It was the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. I could go on for pages listing all the great things about it including the beauty of the location, professional information and contacts, new and old friendships, inspiration, and publishing possibilities.

But there's one downside: I'm exhausted!

After the intensive information overload, steep paths between buildings, long days and a long drive home I slept for ten hours last night! But this is a bit personal for a blog post and you don't need to know about that.

However, if you're a writer you do need to know that writers conferences are certainly worth attending.

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I've blogged many times about reading. And I've reviewed dozens of books for kids here and elsewhere. I've even written and had books published.

But why do I care about reading so much?

In the first place I think it's one of the most important skills people can have. Reading informs us, helps to shape our personalities, entertains us, stretches our minds, helps us understand people different from ourselves, and provides respite from our problems.

I'm pleased to live in a community where people often line up waiting for the library doors to open.

A while back I had a bumper sticker made that says "Bookaholics Unite" and some other people have asked me where to get a sticker like that. (Maybe I should have more printed and sell them. Ya think?)

Lately bookstores and chains have been closing, newspapers and magazines have gone out of business, publishers have merged, and the internet is full of discussions about the future of books.

Zillions of self published books are competing with traditionally published ones and e-books are spreading like wildfire. (Please pardon the cliche.)

One problem with the proliferation of e-books is that the technology becomes outdated so books people buy today may not be readable in the future, but most often books are only read once anyway.

Personally, I still prefer hard copies and have lots of things on my e-readers I've never bothered to read. But, in the long run,  I don't think it matters whether people read hard copies, e-books, or handwritten scrolls just so we continue to read.

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I'm wearing a pin with the shape of a ribbon in bright blue.

No, it doesn't mean I've won a prize. It's the symbol of National Child Abuse Prevention Month and that's something I certainly care about.

I don't know why they chose the blue ribbon to represent fighting that reprehensible  problem. Maybe the blue represents bruises? Or maybe they chose it because all the other colors have already been used for symbolic ribbons. (You can see my previous post about the ribbons here: http://onwordsblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/ribbons.html )

But, regardless of the color, I hope everyone who reads this post joins me in hoping to stop child abuse.

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Mary Esparza-Vela is the author of the picture book, There's A Lion In The House.

It's a cute one, and the illustrations by Jack Foster capture the feeling of the text perfectly.

The story is about Robby, a rabbit who likes to tease - and maybe scare - his brothers. But he learns about something really scary - A Lion!

That night he hears a lion roaring right inside his house. What can Robby do?

He tries to wake his brothers, but they're no help. Finally he goes to his parents' bedroom and discovers the roar he thought was a lion is really the sound of his father snoring. Having spent years with a snoring husband, I can certainly identify. ;-)

I don't usually give away the ending of books I review, but this book is for kids who are much too young to read this post. It would make a great bedtime story for them.

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Hundreds of years ago there was no such thing as freedom of speech in England. People who spoke out against the king or others in power were likely to be imprisoned and tortured in the stocks or killed.

But sometimes underground movements managed to communicate and spread their protesting ideas to others without getting caught by using a sort of code. Lots of them couldn't read and write and written things could be discovered and used against them. Of course telephones hadn't been invented yet so those people would wander through the street markets calling out messages only others on their side could decipher.

Years ago I read a book called The Real Personages of Mother Goose by Katherine Elwes Thomas. That book, which was published back in 1930, suggests many nursery rhymes were originally hidden political statements. For example Humpty Dumpty and Rock-a-Bye Baby might have been about overthrowing kings.

Common people often sang in the streets for the purpose of collecting coins for their music, but not everyone could sing or had an attractive voice. For that reason I wouldn't be surprised if some of those political rhymes were actually performed there like modern rap music. 

Even if my guess isn't correct, it's fun to try rapping out some of those rhymes.

A more recent book, Pop Goes the Weasel; The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes by Albert Jack, disagrees with Ms Thomas about the history of some specific rhymes, but agrees with her basic premise that some were originally political statements.

And, since I have a creative imagination, I enjoy thinking about rappers on the streets of England sharing news about their causes.

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I love books with creative, new concepts and Chris Grabenstein's  recent book certainly has that. The author obviously has a creative imagination.

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library is about some kids who win a prize, participation in the opening night celebration of the town's new library.

The town has been without a public library for twelve years and the billionaire who built the new one is the world's most famous maker of video games. Kyle, the main character, really wants to go to that event, but so do most of the town's twelve year olds, the only kids who can participate in the competition.

I hope it's not a spoiler to say Kyle does get into the library.

But he and the other kids who got inside are locked in and must win a live game with themselves as the characters in order to get out again.

The book includes puzzles for the reader, too.

But that's not all that makes this book a good one. What happens to the kids inside the library is scary and challenging. The characters and conflicts between them are realistic and, especially for Kyle, the stakes are high.

And, without being the least bit teachy-preachy, this book sneaks in information about libraries and is likely to inspire young readers to spend time in the real libraries where they live.

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Years ago I considered doing reviews of children's books for publication and chose a book from the  new section in our library to practice reviewing. It was written by Lawrence Yep and I enjoyed it a lot.

The next day I went to see my new physical therapist, who turned out to be Lawrence Yep's nephew!

I never published that practice review, but have read many books by that author and enjoyed them a lot. He has written a lot of middle grade ones set in historical China, some about Chinese people in the California during the Gold Rush, and others set in San Francisco's Chinatown.

But recently I've discovered some completely different books by Yep.

They're American Girl books about a young ballerina. The only thing they have to do with China  is that the books are printed there. ;-)

And these books are as well written as his others.

In the About the Author section at the end of the American Girl books Yep says he became interested in ballet because of seeing The Nutcracker as a boy, and because his wife bought him season tickets to the San Francisco Ballet.

That reminded me of the many times we took kids from the California School for the Deaf in Berkeley to see The Nutcracker every year. While they couldn't hear the music, the kids always enjoyed the performance.

And if you go to my website  http://www.janetanncollins.com  you'll see a mention of the time I performed with the San Francisco Ballet even though I don't know how to dance.

But, to get back on topic, I want to recommend all of Lawrence Yep's books. He's an excellent writer.

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If you're anything like me, you probably worry about not having enough time - at least sometimes.

Years, seasons, months, days, morning, noon, and night are all natural parts of creation. But humans invented weeks, hours, minutes, and seconds and those are the things that tend to worry us the most.

Centuries ago people didn't have five day work weeks or hourly schedules to keep. They got up in the morning, did what needed to be done, and went to sleep at night.

In the Middle Ages church bells would let everyone in a community know when it was time for certain things like prayers.

Later wealthy people might have owned a clock, which would have been displayed in a prominent place and wound daily. And a pocket watch was a status symbol as well as being helpful.

School bells let kids know when they had to be in class.

As technology increased it was important for trains to run on time, so clocks and watches became more common.

Now they're everywhere. This morning I counted the clocks in my house and, including those on the stove, microwave, and computer I have more than a dozen, mostly digital.

Kids don't need to learn how to tell time from traditional clocks anymore.

In some ways all the changes to time are helpful since we can synchronize and connect with people all over the world.

But sometimes we need to ignore the seconds, hours, and minutes that control our lives, take a deep breath, and just enjoy the days, months and seasons.

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I love and appreciate my brother a lot.

The other day I thought it would be a good idea to have a holiday like Mothers Day and Fathers Day to show appreciation for our brothers and sisters.

I googled Siblings Day and, lo and behold, discovered there is such a thing. It's not officially recognized by the US government, but many states recognize it.  The date is April 10,  so it's coming soon.

I think it would be a good idea if Siblings Day became something we all celebrated - at least everyone who has a brother or sister or more than one child.

Children tend to quarrel and compete with their brothers and sisters  even if they love them. It might be helpful to have one day a year when they were expected to list the good things about their siblings and maybe even make cards or gifts for each other.

For adults, that would be a good time to connect with the brothers and sisters they don't contact often and share some memories. For those of us who are still in contact with our brothers and sisters Siblings Day is a great time to express our love and appreciation for them.

It's too bad there aren't appropriate greeting cards for sale, but maybe just sending "Thank You" cards would work.

Maybe if we spread the word and enough people celebrate that day, cards will become available. And Siblings Day will become recognized by our government in the USA and perhaps even in other countries.

Even if only a few of us get involved we can make people in our own families feel appreciated.

So why don't we all mark our calendars for April 10th and plan to celebrate Siblings Day this year?

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When I was a kid my neighbor and best friend got a new thing called a television set. Every evening I'd go to her house and we'd watch the Howdy-Doody show. Some of the other kids in the neighborhood would peer in the window to watch it until her mother rearranged the furniture so they couldn't see the TV to keep them from trampling her flower bed.

It wasn't long before lots of people had TVs, but my mother considered it a luxury we couldn't afford. But then when kids were allowed to stay home from school to watch Eisenhower's presidential innauguration and I was one of the few who had to go to somone else's house to watch it, my mother relented.

Soon we, too, had a TV.

In the San Francisco Bay Area we could get three channels, 4, 5, and 7. (I wondered where Channels 1, 2, and 6 were. My mother said probably somewhere on the East Coast.) But when Channel 4 went "superpower" a wide, dark stripe appeared down the middle of the screen so we couldn't see anything. I guess a tree was blocking the signal since my neighbors could still see it. But it wasn't long before we got one more channel, Channel 13.

In the summer time, like many kids in our small town, I participated in Junior Theater. Two years in a row those of us who had important roles in the play went to San Francisco to publicize our performances on KCBS Channel Five. I actually got to be on TV!!!

Of course most of you are too young to remember the early days of television, but what shows did you watch when you were growing up?

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When I was a kid before there was television (yes, I'm old) there was radio. And, as kids, we loved to listen to the shows.

As a preschooler I was allowed to stay up an hour later than usual on Saturdays to listen to The Lone Ranger because my mother loved that program.

Later all the kids in our neighborhood listened to Big John and Sparky on Saturday mornings. That was followed by Space Patrol. After listening to that show we'd all go out, meet the other kids, and pretend to be flying to distant planets and having adventures in outer space.

And in the evenings we'd listen to the same programs our parents liked.

But just listening only requires a certain amount of attention.

Often while the radio was on we'd play on the floor, making things with my brother's Tinkertoys or Erector Set or building towns with blocks. Then I'd fill the houses with doll house furniture and my brother would drive his toy cars and trucks on the streets between them.

Somehow listening to radio programs seemed to stimulate our imaginations and creativity.

I worry about today's kids who are so addicted to video games and other technology. Are they becoming less creative as a result? Or will those devices stimulate their imaginations?

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As I mentioned in a previous post http://onwordsblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/medieval-manners.html
many of our customs such as shaking hands began because of cultural things in the past.

One thing I didn't mention is keeping toilet lids down. That obviously originated because of the need to reduce odors in chamber pots and outhouses.

Now that California is having a severe drought and people are trying to reduce water usage by flushing less often we're rediscovering the practicality of that custom.

But ever since indoor plumbing was invented it has always been considered polite for men to lower toilet seats after relieving themselves and that is not just to be polite.

When I was a little girl I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and my brother hadn't put the seat down. I sat down in the dark and fell into the toilet. Landing in cold water in the middle of the night is not a pleasant experience. I couldn't help screaming and woke my mother, who made sure my brother remembered always to lower the seat from then on.

Lots of things we consider a matter of manners really do have practical purposes.

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Gordon McAlpine has written a very British book for kids, though a lot of it takes place in the United States.. It's also very creative.

The Poe twins, Edgar and Allen, are descended from the famous author of similar name. They have the ability to read each others' minds and use their intelligence to outwit the extremely evil villain - with a little assistance from their ancestor in the Great Beyond.

The book is part adventure, part mystery, and part fantasy and takes readers into a world that's just scary enough to be fun.

It's called The Tell-Tale Start and is the first one in a series called The Misadventures of Edgar & Allen Poe but, unlike many series books for kids, this one has a satisfying ending while still tempting readers to want the next one.

I predict this series will be a big hit.

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Yes, it's March, not November. But, I have a lot to be thankful for. Although I don't often post personal stuff on my blog or elsewhere on the internet I can't resist expressing my appreciation for all the people who have helped me lately.

My diagnosis of a rare cancer in my eye (about six people in a million get it) was followed by a month of medical appointments and an outpouring of help and encouragement. Friends and family drove me to tests and treatments and spent nights with me. (Special thanks to Lynn, Connie,  Lianne, Robert, and Bill.) Others sent cards and gifts, and hundreds of people prayed for me and many of them sent good wishes over the internet.

Now the treatments are over. I'll need to have periodic tests and check ups for years to come to make sure the cancer is really gone, and I might have a partial loss of vision in that eye over time, but the worst is done.

However my gratitude to everyone who gave me help and support will probably last as long as I live.

Thanks to all of you.

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When I was a kid my brother and I quarreled a lot. That's the norm with siblings. Of course we loved each other, but there was always competition between us.

Now he's one of my favorite people. There's something special about sharing memories and we have lots to share.

I've known lots of other people who have had similar experiences with their brothers and sisters. Once we're grown most of the competition is over and the things we shared become important.

That's a helpful thing for parents to know because seeing our kids quarrel can be frustrating.

What about you? If you have brothers and/or sisters how do you get along with them now compared with your relationship as kids?

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Valentine's Day was only a couple of weeks ago and we saw lots of information about love.

One of my college Psychology professors gave us this definition of love: "When the happiness and well-being of another is essential to one's own happiness and well-being a state of love exists."

Today I want to talk about hate.

Since hate is the opposite of love the logical definition would be: "When the unhappiness and suffering of another is essential to one's own happiness and well-being a state of hate exists."

That means when we hate someone, we give them control over our own lives.

Forgiveness means choosing not to seek punishment or revenge and, while it seems difficult, it's actually much easier than hating someone who has offended or harmed us because it frees us from the bonds of hatred.

Okay, that's enough preaching for today.

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In case you can't tell by my previous reviews, I've become a fan of Margot Finke's books. And I think the newest one I've read, Trial by Walkabout, is her best yet.

Like Finke's other books, this takes place in Australia and the reader learns a lot about the aboriginal culture and natural environment of that land. But that educational stuff is incidental.

In the story the main character, Josh, learns a lot about himself and the meaning of friendship when he finds himself in the outback with Bindi, an Aboriginal boy. But that isn't the primary benefit of the book either.

The best thing about Trial by Walkabout is the exciting plot. The life-threatening dangers are completely believable. This is a book boys won't be able to put down!

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I never post personal information on the internet. I haven't ever mentioned the names of my kids or grandkids except for one foster granddaughter who is an adult and requested me to do it.

But in this post I will talk about something personal.

I've been blogging twice a week for nearly five years and have never missed a post, but I might have to miss some in the future and want to explain why.

I've got cancer in my eyeball.

That's a rare kind of cancer and only about six people in a million get it, but I'm one of those six. Maybe I should have played the lottery instead!

I've had surgery, but will need more treatments and other medical visits so it's possible I may not be able to blog every Wednesday and Saturday even if I schedule posts in advance.

If I do miss some posts I hope you'll understand.

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