Walk Two Moons

by Sharon Creech
While preparing to take our 3-week long road trip across the United States, I stumbled upon this book that talked about a girl who tells her story as she is traveling across the United States. I was excited to find that in the story she travels from the Chicago area to Idaho, exactly the way we were planning to go. I really enjoyed reading about her travels as we were making the same trip. I tried to stay a step ahead in my reading and I actually found that as we arrived in places like The Badlands (see picture of me and Clarissa above), that I already knew some of the touristy information from the book or was able to tell the kids a story from the book about the place we were visiting. Although this book was a tear-jerker, I really enjoyed it. Oh, who am I kidding, I love books that make me cry. I love the idea of this girl sharing her stories and experiences with her grandparents. This is a children's book, but again, I wouldn't read it to my younger children, I would wait until around Jr. High before letting them read it as it does have some dramatic events that take place.

The Maltese Falcon

by Dashiell Hammett
I picked up this book for free at a children's museum that had a literature promotion going on. This is a 1930s detective novel that is so typical of the 30s crime scene that I'm pretty sure every detective movie and book must be based off of this one. Although detective novels are not my typical genre and as a result I may not be qualified to judge this, I think it was a very good book. All the details were described so well, that I felt like I was watching a movie instead of reading a book. There is, as a side note, a movie that was made in 1931, but I haven't seen it yet.