Whew! We made it to the summer. My girls weren't finished with school until June 13 and 14 (kindergarten lets out a day earlier than the older kids). It seemed like a long haul this year, probably because of all the snow days we had to make up at the end. It's a relief to have everyone finished for the summer.

Although we haven't been out and about much with school only finishing this week, we have book recommendations and comments to give!

K has checked out "Lucille" by Arnold Lobel repeatedly from our library. Lobel also wrote the Frog and Toad books, which she also likes and I find particularly charming. In Lucille, the main character is a horse named Lucille who is tired of pulling the farmer's plow. The farmer's wife decides to clean her up and take her to town to buy a fancy hat, beautiful red shoes, and a lovely white dress. Lucille then meets all of the farmer's wife's lady friends. Of course, she ends up knocking them over, spilling tea, and ripping her dress. Lucille decides in the end, it's better to be a horse. She even eats the hat for dessert! K likes this story because the pictures are cute, and what little kid can resist the idea of a horse dressed up in high heels?

J read the favorite coming of age book, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" by Judy Blume. As a kid, I devoured everything Judy Blume wrote. J seemed to identify with some of the troubles Margaret has, including how her friend Nancy treats her. This is something she's been struggling with at school herself--who is really your friend and who isn't. It's been a hard lesson for me to watch her learn sometimes, yet I know it's an important one. I often say to her, "You are who you hang around with in middle school". She's really taken it to heart.

Yes, "Are You There. . . " also deals with girls experiencing puberty, and Margaret's own search for a religious identity. I remember very clearly when I read the book that some of my friends' mothers couldn't believe that my mother allowed me to read it. I couldn't understand why they were so upset (and frankly, neither could my mom). Um, all of this 'growing up' stuff was going to happen to everyone eventually, right? But if this is something that you feel your child isn't ready for, you should skip this book or wait until they are old enough to handle it. I recommend ages 10-13 for this one.

J also read the Internet Girls series by Lauren Myracle (TTFN, TTYL, L8r, G8r). Myracle is sort of a Judy Blume for this generation, writing about tweens and teens in a meaningful way to them. I will admit, I have not read these. J was a bit shocked by some of the content--they deal with a set of friends in high school, and there are incidents of drinking, smoking pot, and sex. We talked about all of these things after she read the book. J did say that all of the characters in the book do have to face the consequences of their actions, good and bad, which she thought was a good thing. What makes the book attractive to teens is that they are written entirely in 'text speak', like you were listening in on someone's IM conversations. We also talked about IM and what would and would not be appropriate for IM conversations in real life. Again, these books are geared toward teenagers, so if your child is younger, you may find them unacceptable certain ages.

Am I sorry I let her read these books? No, although I admit to having a moment of panic when I realized what was in the Lauren Myracle books. But I reminded myself that I read books like this at the same age. My mom was there to answer questions that I had, and J knows that I will do the same for her. Hey LancMoms, I know it's a constant challenge to keep up with what kids read, watch on TV, and browse on the Internet these days. There are certainly issues that our moms never had to deal with. If you need some guidance, I like www.commonsensemedia.org, a site that reviews all kinds of media and gives recommended ages. Keep reading and talking to your kids!

Next time, bowling and storytime with alpacas--yes, really!