getting to know autism.

I love reading books having to do with certain disabilities. It really helps me, personally, understand what it may feel like. I don't know what it's like to have something, not wrong, I don't want to say wrong, but different with me that everyone can notice within minutes of a first conversation. How awkward. At least I get to hide all of my weird quirks.

"Anything But Typical" by Nora Raleigh Baskin is the story of Jason Blake, a twelve year old with autistic spectrum disorder. Told in the first person, it describes what being autistic is like from the inside out. Jason's love of writing opens a whole new world to him. In that world, he can be whoever he wants to be; in that world, he is a "normal" kid.

Grab the tissues and enjoy this excellent novel!

when i grow up...

When I grow up, and actually have money and my own house, living the dream in whatever adorable neighborhood placed inside, insert cutesy small town here, I will definitely get any and all ideas on landscaping from "Home Outside" by Julie Moir Messervy. Whoa, what a lovely run on sentence.

Anyways. Everything inside this book is GEORGOUS. Extremely informative, with great pictures. I am inspired!

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columbine. still sad.

If "Columbine" by journalist and author Dave Cullen were just a shot-by-shot account of the mass murder at a Colorado high school, this book wouldn't be worth shit. We all were alive in America on April 20, 1999 and are well aware of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and how they shot and killed 12 students and a teacher, wounded 23 others, and then put their rifles to their heads and killed themselves. We've all heard the story of the girl who, seconds before she was shot, looked the killers in the eye and told them she believed in God. We've heard about the "Trench Coat Mafia" and the violent video games. We all know that Harris and Klebold were social outcasts who, angered by incessant bullying, decided to get even by staging the biggest massacre ever at an American high school.

What if all of that was not true? What if most of it wasn't? Personally, I hate the story of Columbine. It's sad, and makes me feel bad, and lets be real, who wants to feel bad? I wouldn't have even gave this one if I didn't hear that Cullen investigated the teens for TEN years, and found out things that were much more frightening then what we have been told.

There is much more to this story. I promise you. Whoa, look how serious I just was.

memiors for youngin's like me. and you?

Fresh out of college, who wouldn't want to take a year to travel around the world? All the sights, the people, the food, it seems like the perfect, find-one's-self adventure. This is exactly what Susan Jane Gilman did, along with her friend Claire. The thing is, she wasn't shacking up in the hostiles of Europe, she was in The People's Republic of China, in 1986, before cell phones, before the Internet and before the luxuries of the "modern world". In "Undress me in the Temple of Heave," Gilman recounts her refreshingly honest tales of anxieties, breakdowns, amazing sites, and wonderful journeys.

During their travels, Claire, who starts out upbeat and the energetic enthusiast of the trip, slowly begins to slide into paranoia and hallucinogenic episodes. She's convinced she's being hunted by the Mossad, the CIA, and the FBI because "her father is a very important business man". She deteriorates daily, until its up to Suzie to find a way to get her insane friend back into the United States before Claire sets off any alarms in Communist China.

I love memoirs, you can't make real-life shit like this up, you just can't.

talk about mysterious.

You gotta love a little bitchassness in a series, throw some mystery in there and you've got yourself "Deadly Charm" by Claudia Mair Burney. This book number three in the Amanda Bell Brown Mysteries series.

Forensic psychologist, Amanda Bell Brown, affectionately known as Bell, soon realizes after her marriage to Detective Jazz, she was emotionally and spiritually unprepared for marriage and this caused a strain in their relationship. Jazz left her when he found out she ran to the place she always felt safe; her ex-lover, Rocky. However, they remain madly in love with each other. Rocky invites Bell to attend a revival conference featuring the flamboyant and charming former television evangelist, Ezekial Thunder. Because of Thunder's checkered past, Bell reluctantly agrees to attend. When a horrible accident happens in the Thunder household, Bell suspects Ezekial's young wife, Nikki. Bell investigates to prove her suspicion is true. However, her suspicions don't stop there, she also suspects Nikki of being attracted to her husband. DRAMMMMAAAA.

Author Claudia Mair Burney is technically a Christian Fiction Author, but she doesn't preach, she keeps her morals, yet still has a good time. Love, murder, and healthy dose of G-O-D? I kid you not, take a look see into this series!

childrens books sure have changed since i was little...

In this day and age, people of every shape and color are procreating. Authors of children's books have finally come out with stories that kids in interracial families can relate too. "I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother" by Selina Alko, is rather adorable actually.

As a young boy awaits the latest addition to his family, he wonders aloud what the new baby will look like. Coming from a “semisweet dark Daddy chocolate bar” and “strawberry cream mama’s milk,” will the little one be more “pure coal black” or like a “mocha cloud”? Regardless, the new sibling will enter an adoring world, filled with a sweetness that is described in edible terms, all illustrated in the funky, fun gouache and mixed-media illustrations: a pair of lips are shaped like jelly beans; the sunshine is “lemon meringue.” The text is full of literary wordplay, but the food conceit creates a one-note show and the constant comparisons may grow tiresome. Still, this is refreshingly non didactic story about prenatal anticipation in an interracial home, and it will make a good choice for sharing one-on-one or reading aloud to a group, whose members may want to come up with their own food metaphors for their families.

The story appeals on all levels; the illustrations are gorgeous, the text poetic and musical. Alko artfully captures the excitement and curiosity of a young child awaiting a younger sibling. What's nice is that this child has no one pre-determined picture of the sibling-to-be; through masterful artwork and spoken-word style text, the book explores a range of possible images of his future sibling. Written from the child's perspective, the book celebrates the lineage of interracial families, while joyously affirming kids and parents of all colors.

Whether you're white chocolate, milk chocolate or dark chocolate, this book is a delight!

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