Kids:
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
Ping is a duckling who craves adventure, but also loves his duck-y family. This story is about both Ping’s solo adventure down the Yangtze River and his joyful return to his family. It’s a great story, but the real magic is in the illustrations.
Older Kids:
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
At some time or another, every child or teen thinks about running away from home and making a go of it on their own. In My Side of the Mountain, Sam does just that. He tells his parents goodbye, travels from his city home in New York City to a tract of land in the Catskill Mountains, and teaches himself to live off the land. Sam makes human and animal friends, has fantastic adventures, and begins to grow from a boy to a self-sufficient young man. This book offers something for everyone – young, old, guy, gal, city slicker, or country bumpkin.
Young Adult:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Here are the facts:
My hubby has never been a reader, much to my dismay.
I picked The Hunger Games up from the library, then hubby stole it from me and read it cover to cover in a day.
This is all the motivation you should need to read it! (I loved it, too.)
Adult:
- The Art of Racing in the Rain: a Novel by Garth Stein
The best book–by far–that I’ve read in the past 6 months. Another book told from the perspective of the dog, but this one is completely different than its peers. It was much deeper than I expected, and has something to teach everyone. Who knew doggies had such profound thoughts? I was very excited to hear it’s being made into a movie (due out in 2012).
Aspiring Alverna 