Meet My Kids

I've made references to my kids in several posts, but a comment by KyleeJ made me realize that I've never really told you much about them. Many of the books I read were either read by them first or get passed on to them after I'm done, so you might want to know who is helping to shape my reviews.

--M is my 16-year-old daughter. She learned to read at an early age and loves it, but doesn't get to do much reading for pleasure during the school year. Right now she prefers manga and magical realism.

--C1 is 12 years old and the best reader in the house. She's the one who chooses to curl up with a book instead of watching TV or playing video games. Although her reading level is way above her grade level, she prefers to read books with a protagonist that is close to her age. Currently she is working her way through Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Alice series.

--C2 is a slower reader than her twin sister, C1. Up until recently, she has also been tough to fit as far as books have been concerned because her tastes were so narrow. Before, all she wanted to read were primary-level mysteries. Nowadays she still isn't reading quite at her reading level but she is branching out. This week she is finishing up Things Not Seen.

--My only son DJ is 11 and he runs hot and cold when to reading. Sometimes he can't be bothered with it and other times I have to force him to turn out his light amid cries of "One more page, please!" He reads the typical "boy" books, but he also enjoys books like Rapunzel's Revenge which has a female protagonist but doesn't make a big deal about "girl power".

I never was a person to coo over little babies, so I am excited that my kids are at the age where we can share books and other interests.