Never Mind! : A Twin Novel ~ by Avi and Rachel Vail, 2004, young adult fiction
Edward and Meg are like night and day. How could such different people be twins? Well, they are, but they don't have to like it -- or each other.
For seventh grade, brainy Meg is attending ultra-competitive Fischer, while freewheeling Edward goes to an alternative school downtown. But it's just when they're finally out of each other's shadows that the trouble begins. Meg's aspirations for popularity and a boyfriend combine with Edward's devious planning and lack of singing ability to set off a showdown the likes of which twindom has never before seen.
Why is this final showdown so much fun? Could it be that Meg and Edward are more alike than they thought?
Click here to read what Avi posted online about writing this book with his friend Rachel. (I didn't realize he has a twin sister.) This book was among Donna's books that I "inherited" when I helped her sister Jane clean out Donna's apartment. It looks like fun, and it's about twins. For those of you who don't know, I have twin daughters who are "identical," though they aren't exactly, you know. This "twin novel" is about Edward (who says, "She's twelve noon, I'm midnight!") and Meg (who says, "I'm not like him at all!"). This is the book I want to read next.
(Click that link to see my rating system and links to what I've posted about some of these books, as well as the other 54 books I've read this year.)
55. Am I Alone Here? : Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live ~ by Peter Orner, illustrated by Eric Orner, 2016, essays, 6/10
"[He] understood that mostly what we humans do is daydream, that while we're going about the business of our lives in one direction, we're daydreaming it away in another" (p. 211).
"This is how we'll be remembered down the line, as caricatures in the mind of a surviving family member" (p. 218).
56. How Do I Love You? ~ by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Carolyn Jayne Church, 2008, children's, 8/10
57. Love Is . . . ~ by Wendy Anderson Halperin, 2001, picture book, 7/10
"What is love? . . . the love we express can best be seen in what we do and say" (back cover).
58. Meditations: A Collection for Women ~ by Ronnie Polaneczky, edited by Virginia Mattingly, illustrated by Nancy Loggins Gonzales, 1996, gift book, 5/10
60. Coast Road ~ by Barbara Delinsky, 1998, fiction (California), 9/10
61. Flight of the Sparrow: A Novel of Early America ~ by Amy Belding Brown, 2014, historical fiction (Massachusetts), 9/10
"As they ride past the hill where the meetinghouse stands guard over the stones of the burying ground, Mary recalls the last time she sat on the pew bench listening to her husband. The world has become so disordered, it seems as if years — not months — have passed" (p. 172).
62. To the Top! : A Gateway Arch Story ~ by Amanda E. Doyle, illustrated by Tony Waters, 2012, children's picture book, 9/10
63. Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness ~ written and illustrated by Anastasia Higginbotham, 2018, children's picture book, 7/10
64. Death Is Stupid ~ written and illustrated by Anastasia Higginbotham, 2016, children's picture book, 7/10
65. The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy ~ by Michael F. Patton and Kevin Cannon (illustrator), 2015, philosophy, 6/10
"Knowledge about any subject becomes more robust as we question, challenge, and ultimately improve on it" (p. 11).
66. The Mother I Could Have Been ~ by Kerry Fisher, 2019, fiction (England), 4/10
"And some people twisted and turned and agonised, trying to please everyone without ever pleasing themselves and, in the end, cauterized the pain of not fitting in, of not getting it right, by cutting themselves off" (p. 204).
Book I'm currently reading
No Happy Endings: A Memoir ~ by Nora McInerny, 2019, memoir, 288 pagesI've read only 50 pages since posting about it yesterday. That's a mere 20% of the book, according to my Kindle.
Clawdia
Words of the Day
checkup / check up / check-up
- As a single word, checkup is a noun. Example: "Clawdia is going for a checkup tomorrow."
- As two words, check up is a verb. Example: "We need to check up on Grandma."
- When hyphenated words, check-up is an adjective. Example: "I need to schedule a check-up appointment."
Same letters, different "spellings" and different meanings . . . BUT . . . not all the online sources I found agree on these differences. I think I'll just leave it as it is and use a phrase like "get Clawdia's health checked."
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.
Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.
6 comments:
Oh dear. Poor Clawdia! I hope all goes smoothly for her.
The distinction between "checkup," "check up," and "check-up" is intriguing. Words are one of my favorite fascinations in this life.
I can see why you find Avi's twin story compelling. My grandpa was a twin, and the two were said to be identical. Of course this was long before you could test for this, so who knows? I was also fascinated with my daughter-in-law's mother who was a twin. She and her twin brother were very close, but they were complete opposites.
"[He] understood that mostly what we humans do is daydream, that while we're going about the business of our lives in one direction, we're daydreaming it away in another." I just read a book called Chatter, when the ongoing narrative in our head goes south and is circling. Perhaps reading is one way we tame our chatter.
Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It ~ by Ethan Cross, 2021
Is this the book you read, Deb? It sounds good to me, and I may get a copy.
Never Mind reminded me of my grandchlldren. They are but 13 months apart and I can see what an interesting teenage time we are going to have with them! Am I Alone Here? Has been on my TBR llist for a bit – don’t you just love books about books/reading? I read Coast Road and it’s wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing such a comprehensive list!
I am behind on reading blogs so by now Clawdia has been to the vet and already returned. I hope it went smoothly.
The twin book sounds really fun.
Yes, Chatter is the book I read. I feel like I took away a lot from it.
I found it on your blog and put it on hold at my library that same day, Deb. So I'll be reading it soon.
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