Our Booklist

The house feels empty and echo-y without Travis in it. And Katie is much higher maintenance without a big brother to keep her entertained. We had a lot of rain today, and I've checked the weather for Travis's camp repeatedly -- I think they've had less rain than we've gotten. Guess there is nothing I can do about it, anyway.
So... I finally put together our homeschool group's "fall" reading list. Actually, the other moms and I got together months ago and picked the list. All I was supposed to do was arrange the books in order so that we wouldn't have two really long books back to back, or too many "boy" books together, or really long books to read around the holidays, or long books when one of the moms is really pregnant and crabby, etc., etc. Maybe you can see why arranging a little list of books kept getting pushed onto the back burner. But I cleared my desk (well, mostly) today, and got this done too. I can't say I'm thrilled about every book on the list, but considering that it was a compilation by four homeschool moms with strong opinions and very different tastes, I think it looks pretty good.

August 2009 - February 2010 Reading List

August 17
Group A: The Phantom Tollbooth (256 pgs) – Norton Juster
Group B: Lassie Come-Home (256 pgs) – Eric Knight

August 31
Group A: Number the Stars (144 pgs) – Lois Lowry
Group B: The Rescuers (160 pgs) – Margery Sharp (this is O.O.P.)

September 7
Group A: Prince Caspian (238 pgs) – C.S. Lewis
Group B: Pollyanna (184 pgs) – Eleanor H. Porter

September 21
Group A: The Westing Game (192 pgs) – Ellen Raskin
Group B: A Little Princess (208 pgs) – Frances Hodson Burnett

October 5
Group A: Summer of the Monkeys (288 pgs) – Wilson Rawls
Group B: The Mouse and the Motorcycle (176 pgs) – Beverly Cleary

October 19
Group A: Strawberry Girl (208 pgs) – Lois Lenski
Group B: Justin Morgan Had a Horse (176 pgs) – Marguerite Henry

November 2
Group A: Treasure Island (224 pgs) – R.L. Stevenson
Group B: Little House in the Big Woods (238 pgs) – Laura Ingalls Wilder

November 16

Group A: Esperanza Rising (288 pgs) – Pam Munoz Ryan
Group B: Time Cat (224 pgs) – Lloyd Alexander

November 30
Group A: A Single Shard (192 pgs) – Linda Sue Park
Group B: Amos Fortune, Free Man (192 pgs) – Elizabeth Yates

December 14
Group A: Sing Down the Moon (128 pgs) – Scott O’Dell
Group B: The Velveteen Rabbit ( 96 pgs) – Margery Williams

January 11
Group A: The Hero and the Crown (304 pgs) – Robin McKinley
Group B: The Enormous Egg (188 pgs) – Oliver Butterworth

January 25
Group A: Calico Bush (224 pgs) – Rachel Field
Group B: Stuart Little (131 pgs) – E.B. White

February 8
Group A: The Book of Three (224 pgs) – Lloyd Alexander
Group B: Dear Mr. Henshaw (160 pgs) – Beverly Cleary

February 22
Group A: Catherine, Called Birdy (224 pgs) – Karen Cushman
Group B:

A: Independent Readers B: Read-Aloud Group

*The last book, Catherine, Called Birdy, has already been "recalled" by the mom who recommended it. I think A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver would be a nice replacement, but we will see.