How the reading coming?

Have you all started Moon over Manifest yet?  I'm about 100 pages into it and it's sooo good!  I love the characters and the setting and the writing - you're going to love it!  I'll be posting my review towards the end of next week.  Love you all!

Breaking Stalin's Nose

June ended up being too crazy for me to read a second book, but I wanted to give anyone else a chance to comment about it if they read it.  Was it a good read?  Should I pick it up when I have some time?

Dead End in Norvelt

This month we are privileged to have our first guest reviewer - Mom!  Here's her analysis of the book:

romp

 noun \ˈrämp, ˈrȯmp\:   high-spirited, carefree, and boisterous play

farce

 noun+: a light dramatic composition marked by broadly satirical comedy and improbable plot

Dead End In Norvelt

noun+:  a synonym for "romp" and "farce"

You just gotta love it!  This is the kid's version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or my favorite new author's Wyrd Sisters.  If you take it seriously, you'll be insulted.  If you look at it askance, you can be charmed.  This book takes a 1950's dying small town, mixes it with "duck and cover" paranoia and turns it on its head.  I loved everything but the nosebleeds - "please please NO MORE BLOOD!" 

And what really saved the ridiculousness of it was the humanity of the individuals - Jack's mom, dad and above all, Miss Volker.  I love Miss Volker and her obituaries; she loved those old people - her peers and friends.  And she took care of Jack, in her own way. Cautuerizing his nostrils with a vet's instrument??  Yup - those were the days.....  and NO - I don't think kids were driving around in cars at 10 - but most certainly at 14 - and wasn't that fun?!!

The horrible murdering?  Nah - it was just a kid's murder mystery - and the author gave plenty of foreshadowing so that it wasn't a surprise at the end that those old people didn't kick the bucket naturally.

Well dear family - there you have it - Mother is wyrd!