Peter Brown in The Creepy Carrots Zone

Creepy Carrots is a Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Nominee this year and one of the favorites. It's about a young bunny who gets stalked by his favorite snack...CARROTS! The illustrations make this book kinda creepy too and knowing the inspiration behind the artwork makes the book more special. I hope you enjoy this little tidbit by Peter Brown, illustrator of Creepy Carrots!

GOING OVER by Beth Kephart - Book Trailer

Going Over by Beth Kephart

I just finished reading "Going Over" by Beth Kephart which has just been released this month. "Going Over" is about two teens living in Berlin, Germany in the 1980's. Ada is almost 16 and lives in West Berlin. She has pink hair, works as a teacher in a preschool at St. Thomas Church and sprays graffiti on the Berlin Wall at night. Stefan is 18 and lives in East Germany. He works at the Eisfabrik which is the local ice house and spends his free time on his balcony staring into his telescope at the stars and looking for Ada on the other side. Ada keeps pressuring Stefan to defect, but he knows it is too dangerous. His own grandfather tried to escape and never came home. The dangers are very real, but so is his love for Ada and who would take care of his grandmother?

"Going Over" was a rather tough read. It is written in both Ada and Stefan's perspectives and jumps around a lot. There is also a lot of reference to German places and words and a history that not too many teens know about. I've attached a help page to this blog for help with this book. Please be patient with the help page. I was using a lot of pages that were translated over from German and some weren't all that clear.

Bottom line, I did enjoy the book and it did bring some interest in a part of history that I haven't really studied. It gave a good look at life at that time and you know what?...that time wasn't too long ago. I would recommend this book as a "get-around" read and not really a "have to".

Going Over

By Beth Kephart

Self Sunday - The Finisher

The first book from David Baldacci for teens. The tale is about the village of Wormwood and the fact that no one has left except Quentin Herms who vanished into thin air. Vega Jane knows Quentin hasn't just disappeared so she's following the trail to find him. This book is for ages 10 and up.