Reasons to Be Happy

Katrina Kittle's Reasons to Be Happy focuses on life's transitions that leave Hannah feeling like she no longer knows herself. A move to a new town, navigating the lifestyle of being the daughter of a prominent actor and actress, as well as her mom's terminal illness. As if that was not enough, a sense of lack of control over her life leads her down the dangerous path of becoming bulimic.

With some aspects of the first chapters I felt disconnected from Hannah, feeling like her first person narrative was lacking a true sense of who she was as a person. Yet, that made sense because of her current state of feeling so lost and not quite knowing how to get back to the person she knew herself as.

When I started reading the book, I thought that the whole book would focus on her bulimia; however, I was in for a surprise as the book took a major shift that I was not expecting. I'm having a hard time not mentioning exactly what it was because there is a lot that I would like to say about that phase in the book, but I would not want to spoil the surprise for others. I will just say that it reminded me of Becoming Naomi León, with its own surprise shift, leading to a life-changing experience.

On October 10th I will be posting a Q&A with Katrina Kittle as part of her Reasons to Be Happy Blog Tour.

*ARC provided

Clementine and the Family Meeting

I was first introduced to the Clementine series from a few years ago from an incoming sixth grader. Since then I always bought new installments when I saw that they were available in both English and Spanish and students continued to enjoy them. Lately, I have been buying my eight year old more and more chapter books. She already has Junie B. Jones, Ivy and Bean, and some Judy Moody books. Having an opportunity to read an e-version of Clementine and the Family Meeting had me falling in love with Clementine all over again and remind me that I will definitely need to add the Clementine books to my daughter's shelf. I know that my five year old is going to love having me read them aloud to her as well.

In this particular book in the series that will be released later this month, Clementine is anxious about the family meeting notice posted on the fridge. She wonders if she is in trouble. When the meeting finally comes, she is relieved that she is not in trouble until shortly after she realizes that her mom is pregnant, and she is not happy at all! To make matters worse, her friend Margaret is changing, her science project rat escapes from its cage over the weekend, and she loses her Grandmother's snow hat.

I found myself laughing at Clementine's antics and her sense of humor - such a lovable character. I can't wait to introduce her to my daughters. I highly recommend Pennypacker's series for different purposes for different ages: pre-readers like my youngest daughter will love it as a read aloud, transitional readers such as my daughter will enjoy it as a first chapter book, and tweens like my students still enjoy it as a fun, easy read. So many possibilities...

*Electronic review copy provided