Hours Spent Reading: 27
Books Read: 8
Pages Read: 2330
Money Raised: $715.54
What I'm listening to: Life Begins At The Hop
Please remember that I'm reading to raise money for Room to Read, which builds libraries, stocks them with books, and trains people to become their librarians.
Ok, so here's a problem with working at a library and read-a-thons. I'm always thinking "Great! This can be when I read all the books that are due back and I haven't gotten to yet, plus all those books that I bought and haven't read yet because my book buying eyes are bigger than my reading eyes..." But then I start checking out all these extra books for the read-a-thon. Because I didn't have enough already?
Then, when you spend a day at the library in the middle of a read-a-thon?
I think it shows admirable restraint that I only walked away with 1 extra book today.
Somehow, I had never heard of this one before, when it caught my eye on the book cart this afternoon.
Cody has grown up with his dad, helping him with CIA stuff, his entire life in deep undercover. He changes identities every week. He speaks 5 languages and knows many, may ways to kill you. After a cafe bombing in Santiago, Cody's facing his biggest challenge-- junior high.
It sounds like it should be a comedic romp, but it's not. Cody has some serious PTSD issues from the bombing. He's completely unprepared for junior high-- how to dress and talk like a normal kid, to not be smarter than your teachers, all the unwritten codes he's never had to deal with before-- it's not easy to adjust. Plus, his dad is still out there, somewhere, fighting the bad guys.
To make matters worse, it looks like the guys who were after his dad in Santiago are now after Cody. Luckily, his neighbor is an Army Ranger who's just returned from Iraq missing an arm. The guys bond (without talking about it) over their mental recovery and physical training.
Not to say that there aren't funny bits. It is darkly comedic. And good. I'm surprised it didn't get more buzz last summer when it came out. It should have.
Book Provided by... my local library
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This one is on my list. I'm waiting impatiently for my local library to buy it. It sounds like it's worth the wait though!
I've got this one one my pile (it was nominated for a MG Cybils last year), but I haven't quite gotten around to it, yet. Sounds like I should.