Show YOU care

Yesterday, our family took its annual "First Day Out of School Trip to Water Country". It was a great day. Early yesterday morning, I began picking kids up from sleepovers, etc. at 7:20 (Yes, the parents were thrilled), so everyone was a little grumpy (including the adults). But as the day went on, we could actually feel our family gel. By the time we headed home, the kids were giggling and playing with each other, you know, actually interacting again. It's hard to explain, but during the school year it's easy for us all to focus on our own stuff. The kids are tired and easily lulled by games or ipods. But summer---ahhh, that's when it all comes together. Thank God for summer. We had a great family day with lots of fun.

Our town hosts a coastal plain league baseball team in the summer. Since we're a small town, I always notice when someone new is around. And when the Steamers come in early summer, I DEFINITELY notice. Just as I'm typing here not one, but TWO very hot young baseball players have jogged past my window. Hmmm..

Last but definitely not least, I have a new writer/ role model/ hero: Cynthea Liu. She's the author of GREAT CALL OF CHINA and a new one, PARIS PAN TAKES THE DARE, that i just downloaded onto my kindle yesterday. I really like her work, but what I really LOVE about Cynthea Liu is that she's such a giver. I am so inspired by her giving nature through her blog, contests, free-tiques and other modes of support for young writers. Now she's gone a step further, and she's hosting a 'party' to raise money and books for a Title I school. Part of the fund raising is a silent auction where you can bid on things like signed books by herself and lots of other authors, manuscript critiques by herself and other authors and agents, and other cool stuff. I strongly suggest you run to this site http://www.cynthealiu.com/showyoucare . You can leave an e-mail in support of the school, sign up on the library support page (where someone has supported a sum of money per number of signature), and check out all the cool auction items. It's a great cause and a great and rare opportunity for some amazing critiques. I think you might fall in love with Cynthea Liu, too.

Have a great day!

Happy Tuesday

It's been a few days,eh? We enjoyed a beautiful, beautiful week-end at the beach. Weather was just amazing. But now the house is a wreck, laundry calls, dogs are wired, and I'm exhausted. Plus, I haven't written in DAYS.

Happily, I got my garden in (whoo hoo!), planted my upside down hanging tomato things that might turn out to be a bust, and planted some beautiful hydrangeas (birthday gifts!). All I have left to do at the cottage is plant my window boxes, cutting garden box, and find a space to transplant the watermelon. And there are three more weeks of school, so I won't be back there for a bit.

Last night I finished GREAT CALL OF CHINA. Great job, Cynthea Liu! I really liked it. It addresses the subject of female babies filling the orphanages in China. The protag, Cece, is a teen-ager who was born in China and adopted by an American couple. She takes summer coursework at a university in China, but her real objective is to investigate her birth circumstances. I would definitely recommend it. The subject is handled beautifully.

I was thinking that I haven't posted any redneck parenting tips in ages, so here's a few for you this morning.
Redneck Parenting Tips for the last weeks of school:
1. Slather on a ton of sunscreen before school because recess gets longer and longer at the end of school
2. Find those darn library books that have been missing, or find your checkbook.
3. Visit the lost and found at school and claim all those missing coats, hats, gloves, etc.
4. Prepare the kids NOW that the television will be disabled for the summer.
5. Practice up on Wii Fit, so you can beat your kids on summer family game nights.
6. Stock up on water and sunscreen.
7. Teach kids how to cook, so you don't have to open Mama's Restaurant every day at lunch. Mama's Make-Your-Own-Sub is WAAAAY better.
8. Figure out a desirable daily schedule with mandatory quiet time built in. Napping is optional, but quiet still activities are a must while Mama naps or writes.
9. Start wearing sleeveless shirts to get rid of that awful soccer mom tan on your arms.
10. Buy at least one pair of shorts that were sold in this decade, so your kids won't laugh at you all the time.

Have a great day! Enjoy your final redneck days of school.

Some great books....

What a week for books! Susane Colasanti's new book came out last week as did Lauren Myracle's PEACE, LOVE, AND BABY DUCKS. I also read a great mg novel GOOD ENOUGH by Paula Yoo, and I'm reading GREAT CALL OF CHINA by Cynthea Liu. Good stuff.

You KNOW I'm a huge Lauren Myracle fan and if anyone out there with daughters has NOT read her books ELEVEN, TWELVE, and THIRTEEN, YOU MUST! And good news! Publisher's Lunch yesterday confirmed that Lauren Myracle has just sold FOURTEEN, so hopefully we'll see that one soon. As much as I LOVE that series, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that her new book, PEACE, LOVE,AND BABY DUCKS is her best yet. It has all the great elements of the series including sisterly love and great growing up issues, but this book's protag has an edge that will hook you from the first page. Loved it. I've said it before but it bears repeating: Lauren Myracle is the Judy Blume of my kids' generation, only they don't quite know it yet. Though she deals with a lot of issues that make us cringe, she addresses them beautifully and with sensitivity and even humor. Plus, the parent characters are well-drawn.

GOOD ENOUGH by Paula Yoo surprised me. I didn't expect to like it so much. I'm not usually one to comment on a cover, etc. (although I'm about to do it again on the Cynthea Liu book), but the cover isn't very appealing and I really knew nothing about Paula Yoo. I can't even remember why I downloaded this book. I think Cynthea Liu may have recommended it. At any rate, it's excellent. The main character, Patti Yoon, reels from the HYP (HarvardYalePrinceton) pressures of her Korean parents. She spends her spare time taking practice SATs on her computer in a quest for a perfect score, but through the course of the book, she comes to realize that her real love is music. She knows that music is not a practical course of study, and hides her Juillard audition from her parents with the help of a 'hot trumpet player'. I found Patti to be one of the most endearing characters I've encountered in a while. Check it out!

Now I'm in the midst of GREAT CALL OF CHINA by Cynthea Liu. I must say, on the surface, GREAT CALL OF CHINA is everything GOOD ENOUGH is not. The cover is fabulous and the author's blog makes you want to check out everything she's ever scribbled, so I couldn't wait for this one. And I haven't been disappointed. The protag is of Chinese descent, adopted as a two-year-old by her American parents. For her seventeenth summer, she heads to China to study Anthropology, research her roots including a visit to her orphanage, and perhaps pursue a yet to be determined love interest. I'm loving it, and I think you will, too. Go, Cynthea Liu! Some of you may have not heard of her, may be saying, "Cyndi Liu who?" (sorry I couldn't resist that corny joke), but she is one of the most generous authors out there with an interactive blog mostly dedicated to the craft of writing. Cool chick all the way around.

Have a wonderful Tuesday, and don't forget to check out MG and YA books. They're hot, hot, hot!