Mallory's favorite genre is contemporary realistic fiction. She adores reading about girls like her and what they're going through. Mallory is also obsessed with soccer. Therefore, Mallory adores Nancy Rue's Lucy series. There are four books in the series all revolving around Lucy, a feisty middle schooler who not only plays soccer, but also is trying to maneuver her way through family issues, friends and frenemies, school and faith. Nancy Rue has an authentic voice for middle schoolers, truly reaching them where they are. She tackles real problems with honesty and grace. Not only has Mallory gobbled up every word in the series, but she's reading them all over again. 

Mallory has been reading the Scenarios series by Nicole O'Dell. Specifically, she's reading All That Glitters. This tween novel is the story of a twin who wants to be an individual. Drea longs for her own identity so fiercely, she begins to make some bad choices in order to gain popularity and attention at school. When she's gotten pretty far along on her downward spiral, she hits a fork in the road. Drea will either need to tell yet another lie, break another set of rules, and put herself in another questionable situation OR come clean with her parents and put an end to the madness. The fun part? The reader gets to choose which path the protagonist will take. These books are great, because they give a tween reader a choice, something they crave to be able to make on their own, but in the safe setting of fiction. The Scenario books also give the reader a view of the consequences of both a good and bad choice without actually having to face those consequences in real life. I read this book too, and it launched great conversations between Mallory and I on making good choices even when they're hard. Some of the content is geared towards teens (drinking, brief mention of drugs, and making out with boys), but as Mallory and I chatted about, it's good to discuss these things before you're actually faced with them, so you are more prepared to say, "No", when the opportunities arise. 

Over the summer my husband lost his father, I lost a father-in-law and the kids lost their Papa. We were blessed with a lovely Father's Day celebration with him this year, the whole family gathered around overflowing and splashing with love. But goodbyes stink. And when you're little they're confusing. So, even though Maguire is reading chapter books -- no flying through them -- a dear friend sent this picture book to help illustrate the temporary goodbye of a loved one leaving earth until we meet them again in heaven. Never Say Goodbye by Lea Gillespie Gant is priceless. I gathered Maguire and the other kids too, yes even the high schooler, and had a little family story time. I couldn't get through the book, because its comfort and truth about death transcends age. As tears flowed down my cheeks, Mallory gently took the book from my hands and finished the story for me. For anyone experiencing loss, I highly recommend this book to shed a little light on death and heaven on young and not so young hearts.

Who knew there were so many different Bibles to choose from? My Bible App on my phone has 616 versions in 376 languages! So, how do you know which Bible is right for your kids, nieces and nephews, students in the Sunday School you teach or at the camp where you're a counselor? Which version will resonate best with what age group? Over the years my kids have amassed a large collection of Bibles (gifts from baptisms, take homes from Sunday School and VBS, stuffed in Easter baskets and more). I'm not an expert. And I certainly haven't looked through all the Bibles, but I know which ones they keep in their beds, which ones they turn to again and again. My husband picked up Bible Stories (DP 1999) at Cosco in 1999 when it first came out for our then, one year-old, Maddie. The eye-catching illustrations with all of the major stories from the Bible accented by photos of actual Biblical sites and artifacts along with historical facts, have made this book a family favorite -- so much so, that the binding and many of the pages are now taped. Mallory's Sunday School class uses the Adventure Bible (Zondervan). She loves this version with "Did You Know" and "Live It" boxes inserted into the text to make the scriptures relevant to her so much that she asked for it for Easter this year. Max keeps the ESV version in his bed. This is the version his boys' middle school Bible study uses and he's old enough now for a "real" Bible. Maddie has the You Version App of the Bible on her smart phone and on her iPad. She loves having the Bible with her where ever she goes. Not a morning goes by that she doesn't check out "the verse of the day". In fact, she often "shares" it with me or my husband. I'm sure there are many more great kids' Bibles, but these are the additions that resonate with my kids.

Because it's summer, and because it's just so darn good, Mallory is rereading the original Harry Potter book. J.K. Rowling wrote these books intending for kids and the series to grow together. Therefore, each sequential book is a bit more mature and also a bit more dark. If the average third grader read the first book and then waited one and a half years to read each additional book, the timing would be perfect, and when they originally released it was. But now all the books are available, and once you're immersed in the world of Hogwarts, you want to keep reading. The only problem is kids might not be ready. Individual parents need to gauge their own kids, but in our house, you're allowed to read The Sorcerer's Stone in second grade and are permitted to read the next book in the series the following summer - one per year. This allows my kids to mature with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and be prepared for where the plots take them. Mallory has completed the first three books and isn't allowed to read the fourth until next year. At first, she was dismayed. But she's a problem solver, so she just started reading them from the beginning again to get her HP fix. And you know what? It's just as good the second time around!

We are in the car All. The. Time. I have four kids who are super busy and none of them can drive. Today alone we spent two hours and fifteen minutes in the car transporting them to and fro. Since I haven't figured out yet how to read and drive at the same time, we listen to books on CD to pass the time (mainly to make toting around their older siblings more tolerable for Mallory and Maguire). Right now, we're listening to Double Fudge by Judy Blume. It is hilarious. Although Maddie and Max rolled their eyes at a middle grade read, they can't help but laugh out loud when it's playing on our rides. Double Fudge is classic Judy Blume--characters so real, you feel like you know them--a little too well. It's narrated by her, the author herself, in her full on thick New York accent. There's humor about strange relatives, jokes about little brothers, real life questions about what money can and can't buy, how you feel when a pet is sick and how crummy it is when friends move away all peppered into the plot. But mostly it's just plain fun. And a great way to make the drive time not only tolerable, but pleasant.

Mallory recently pulled out of her older sister's book cupboard the The Blood Diamond Treasure by Heather Gemmen Wilson. I met Heather at the Write to Publish writer's conference way back when I was pregnant with Mallory, so it only seemed fitting for Mallory to dive into one of Heather's books. After getting only 30 pages in, Mallory rushed into my room exclaiming, "Mommy, I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK!!!!" Mallory tends to overdo the explanation marks and facial expressions of life, but these were warranted. The Blood Diamond Treasure is a great read for middle grade girls. It's short enough (around 150 pages) that it doesn't seem daunting. IMing, earbuds and iPods make the story hip and relevant. This adventure laden tale takes the main character, Lydia, to Liberia on a hunt for diamonds while exposing her to the poverty of a third world country. But, this book is more than a mystery or a travel adventure. It is a journey filled with faith and inspiration.