yarn along - april something 2013

"~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~"
                                                                      Ginny at Small Things


This week I am continuing with my Newbery challenge and reading Julie of the Wolves.  I finished The Witch of Blackbird Pond and returned it to the library.  I LOVED that book.  I was sure I read it in school and liked it then, but don't really remember it, so maybe I always just thought I read it.  I recommend it to anyone looking for some interesting history.  It's from the past, but it could be today.  How often do we pass judgement based on not enough info...or gossip.. or here-say...hmm....
Julie of the Wolves is by one of my favorite young adult fiction authors, Jean Craighead George.  Before I had kids, I had a job helping the reading teacher at school.  I loved that.  This is the age of books we read aloud, so I got a taste of many authors.  I enjoyed reading My Side of the Mountain, and The Other Side of the Mountain....and others by Jean.  I even convinced my mom, a bird lover, to read them.  She enjoyed them.  So Julie is living alone, trying to get into a wolf family in order to survive.  She has escaped something, or someone and is lost.  Not into it too far, but it's not a long book.  I told the Librarian I needed to renew it, but she said that's ok...just bring it back when you're done.  She's good to me that way!  I did find 3 more Newberry books to bring home while I was returning the witch and attempting my renew.  I think this is a good challenge.  Perhaps I should suggest it for a summer reading with this Librarian, and we'll see who can read more than I can!!  I have a head start, but I'm gonna need it!!  Might I challenge you all, in the near future, to pull out a young adult fiction book, and read it for YOU.  Not for a kid, just for your own enjoyment.  You might be surprised.  Julie of the Wolves won the award in 1973.  I had not read this before, although I had many of her other books.  The author was alive until last year and I think lived in my area of the world.  And if I remember correctly, my cousin and his wife met a family member of hers in Alaska.  It's a small world sometimes....
I returned the WILD book from my kindle, back to the Library.  I was looking for something else in my reading.  Maybe it's the simplicity of the YA fiction, that made reading it not enough fun right now.  There are too many books out there to read something that doesn't trip my trigger.  That's what Cheryl Dingle from my book club told me a loooong time ago.  Not in the book club anymore, but I still hear that whenever I'm struggling with a book that is supposed to be so good.  If it's not good for me, right now or ever, move on.  It's OK.  There is no test on pleasure reading, after all.  NEXT!!
Can't remember the books I picked up yesterday...Thimble Summer,.. The View from Saturday...Graveyard something.... We'l see...

And then there is the knitting...well, the shawl is at a crawl and it is so small, that you hardly notice the difference from last week to this, so I'll wait to put it in next week.  I've spent quite a bit of time since last week's Yarn Along reading other people posts and checking out their yarn projects and making notes..
Thanks for continuing to inspire me, oh Yarn Along buddies!!