back to back

Born to Run
Christopher McDougall, © 2009
non-fiction; 290 pages

and

When You Reach Me
Rebecca Stead, © 2009
youth science fiction; 199 pages

I just hit back-to-back home runs with my latest reads. The first, Born to Run, is a non-fiction account of a novice runner/journalists journey for the perfect stride while discovering the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico and helping "Caballo Blanco" organize the greatest race to never be seen. Fast paced, fact filled, and fun.

When You Reach Me, is the most fascinating and intelligent children's' fiction book I have read since becoming a teacher. Stead does an amazing job of dropping subtle hints along the way that there is more going on than just a drama about the struggles of a young girl and her single mother trying to survive in New York City in the late 1970s. I can best describe it as a contemporary version of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

read them both