Sharon Creech’s new book, Heartbeat, is a must read. Just go get and sit down and read it. It’s a fast read and a tear jerker and a book you want to just hug close to yourself when you are done reading because you are so glad that you read it but you are so sad that it is over.

If you don’t burst out laughing during the first chapter of Wendelin Van Draanen’s Swear to Howdy, you need a lobotomy.

Another recent read: Ghost Girl: a Blue Ridge Mountain story by Delia Ray. Liked it a lot! Based on the story of a real teacher and school that was built by President Hoover and his wife during the 1930s.