REVIEW: Mother Goose

Moses, W.  (2003).  Mother Goose.  New York:  Philomel Books.

0399237445

Moses begins this picturebook with several of the Mother Goose rhymes shared on one page.  Among the first poems shared are Little Bo-Peep and Humpty Dumpty.  From there the reader turns to discover a traditional European landscape that includes all of the rhymes from the previous page.  Mother Goose continues in that structure for the rest of the book:  Share six Mother Goose rhymes, show a landscape that depicts all six of the rhymes.  The picturebook turns into a high-end matching game, if you will, helping young readers to remember the rhymes they just read or heard and to create visuals for those rhymes.

Moses's illustrations are beautifully painted, capturing historical European life with brush strokes that ever so vaguely reminded me of Monet's.

Other rhymes included are:  There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin eater, Three Blind Mice, It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring, etc.  All the favorite classics, plus some less known ones!


Activities:

Aside from matching the rhymes to the right part of the picture page, students could also examine the illustrations closely and create their own stories about what could happen in the towns.

Since the seasons change among the illustrations, a teacher could also talk about time passing.

A teacher could also lead students to discuss the fact that there wasn't actually any one real Mother Goose.

REVIEW: I Get So Hungry

Campbell, B.M.  (2008).  I Get So Hungry.  New York:  G.P. Putnam's Sons.

9780399243110

Nikki comes back to start a new year of school to find a new teacher and an classmate teasing her about her weight.

Throughout the school year, she deals with her dependency on food, pressure to be thin and her growing appreciation of her new teacher who is also heavy.

While many of the illustrations include abstract components, they also very realistically portray Nikki and the other characters with lots of multicultural representation.

Activities:

This is a great book to discuss proper nutrition, healthy dieting and exercise as well bullying and teasing based on weight and size.  Depending on the students' dispositions, a teacher can go into more specifics about using food to deal with darker emotions, the stress of being a child with an obese parent, the images in popular culture and the media that imply only skinny people are beautiful, the rise in childhood diabetes, etc.

Quotes of Note:

"On the first day of school

I walk into my new classroom and

standing in the middle is a rainbow

woman."

"I stayed home

and--" I say.

"--ate everything in the house,"

Arnold says.  "Hey, Supersize, don't 

break the desk."

"Potato chips always make me feel better

when I'm sad.  No one is supposed to eat in

class, but I can't resist."

"A diet?" Mom laughs.  "We come from a long

line of big-boned women.  we'll never be Skinny

Minnies."

I don't want to be so big anymore."

Big Announcement Part I of an Unknown Number of Parts

So, it would seem changes are more than afoot...we're stomping down RIGHT NOW.

As you can see, there's a new title in the corner.

Hence forth, we shall be The Hungry Readers.  If you ever attempt to check this blog and find internet emptiness, just google The Hungry Readers and you shall find us once more (but there should also be a fair amount of warning if moving is the case).

You may have noticed some plural pronouns in that last few paragraphs.  No, I have not had a break down nor am I having pronoun issues.  Rather I am no longer a lonely caterpillar.

My genius library student friend, Monica, is my now my *Official* partner in crime, bloggery, lit hunger, and reviewing.  So, expect to see posts from her in the not too distant future.

WELCOME MONICA!!!!!!!!!

Guess What Today Is?

Hello all,

I'm back with a special post today because it is International Literacy Day.

Adults reading this:  Take a moment and appreciate how easy it is for you to read.  How you do it every day.  How you don't even think about how, at one point, this was a skill you struggled to grasp and maybe even cried over because it was so frustrating to remember which letters made which sounds and how sometimes that 'e' or 'p' was silent, but now always.

Now think about the wee little children who may still have those feelings of frustration. It is so easy for a child to slip in among the cracks of the education systems worldwide.  Take some time--today, everyday--to read with a child.  Try to make it an enjoyable experience for him or her.

In the first grade, I was a struggling reader.  It's only because my teachers took notice and my dad began to spend each night reading to me aloud that I improved and got to the point where I'd read more books than anyone else in my grade a few years later.

Or if you aren't in a position to do that, get caught reading, in class, on the bus, in the office.  Show the world how enjoyable reading can be.

To learn more about International Literacy Day, click here.

REVIEW: The Ask and the Answer

Ness, P.  (2009).  The Ask and the Answer.  London:  Walker Books.

9781406310269

Interest Rating: !!!!

Well ladies and gents, the second book in the Chaos Walking series came out toooooooday!  It has, however, been out in Great Britain for several months now (not fickin' fair!).  And I managed to steal a copy from one savvy American who got ahold of a British copy.

The sequel to The Knife of Never Letting Go begins with the end.  Literally, the title of the section is "The End."  And the story picks up minutes? hours? after book one left off.  Which is good in terms of enjoyment...but it's not so good in terms of trying to describe the story, since it would give away the cliffhanger ending of the previous book.  Hmmm.  Dilemma.  I know!  I'll be vague.  Todd continues to face the problems set up in the previous novel.  Said problems remain unresolved for the most part.  More stuff happens.  Begin the wait for the third book in the series.  Vague enough?

But seriously now.  It's still 14 days until Todd's birthday, until he becomes a man.  Captured by his enemies, Todd's main focus is on being reunited with Viola, but he spends a fair amount of time trapped on the platform of a belltower, sent to work during the day organizing enslaved aliens.  

While the world initially seems to accept a transitioning in power (being intentionally vague here), the peace does not last and a splinter group of people denied freedoms begin setting off bombs throughout the city.  Todd and Viola must decide whose side they are on, if any, and find a way to survive or maybe even escape the chaos around them.

A major difference between this book and the previous one is that The Ask and the Answer is told both from Todd and Viola's perspectives.  Viola finds herself in a healer house for women, sectioned off from the men, with many freedoms denied to her and the others.  While she searches for any information of Todd she also finds herself positioned as a potential spy and asset for both the new government and those that fight the recent transition in power.

As with the last book, this work of science fiction deals with some tough issues and I have to admit I found almost no moments of levity compared to the few that existed in the previous novel.  I also struggled with Todd and Viola's desperate need to be together (not necessarily in a romantic way).  Given the traumas they endured in the previous novel, it made sense that they would look to each other for support, but as I was reading, their relationship felt vaguely Bella and Edward Cullenian.  Ick.  But that didn't last long, as Todd and Viola find themselves on different sides of a chaotic war, demonstrating war is much more complicated than black and white and there are no innocents left.  Ness does an amazing job of slowly creating doubt among his characters and uncertainty of any truth.

Activities to Do with the Book:

This is an excellent book for young adults to enjoy.  This series is a good recommendation for teens, especially boys fond of science fiction or alternate realities.

Discussions a teacher could provoke involve the use or avoidance of names, gender, different perspectives on issues and history.  There's also questions of morality and ethics that touch on issues of power and parallel the way that many Nazis "just did as they were told" at the Holocaust camps.  A teacher could have students consider the choices Todd makes and reflect upon how they would act in such situations.

Favorite Quotes:

"Your noise reveals you, Todd Hewitt.

A voice-

In the darkness-

I blink open my eyes.  Everything is shadows and blur and it feels like the world's spinning and my blood is too hot and my brain is clogged and I can't think and it's dark-" (p. 3).

"Cuz this is the end, ain't it?

Then end of it all.

The Mayor has me.

The Mayor has her" (p. 5).

"This is the end.  It's gotta be the end.  They won't let me live.  They won't let her live." (p. 13).

"I breathe into the darkness.

"You could bee a leader of men, Todd.  You have proven yourself very special."

I keep breathing, trying to hold on to it but feeling myself slip away" (p. 18).

"And that's all there is of New Prentisstown.

Home to three thousand, three hundred people, all hiding in their houses, so quiet they might be dead.

Not one of them lifting a hand to save theirselves from what's coming, hoping if they're meek enough, if they're weak enough, then the monster won't eat 'em.

This is where we spent all our time running to" (pp. 30-31).

Certified Resolution Writing Endeavor Review Report: Week Thirty-Six

Oh, long weekends.  How you confuse me.  As though I don't already have enough trouble remembering what day it is.

Last week, my submissions were to short story and poetry competitions. I usually avoid these. Mostly because they cost money to enter. Money that few people, and especially I, as an unpaid writer and grad student, don't have much of. Plus I have yet to win or even place in any of these things. I have to admit though, aside from wanting my damn money back with each contest rejection, they do send out the nicest rejection letters.  They tend to seem much more sympathetic and sorrowful than most rejections, as though they'd like to accept you, but they can't count beyond three, or ten, or however many honorable mentions they're going to give and as though they'd like to give me award money, but they too are too financially strapped to afford it.  So, here, instead accept this book/magazine/journal for free...It doesn't include my story, but it does have the ones the judges felt were only slightly more enjoyable than your work.

As for this week, I spent all of yesterday editing the novel in poems that I wrote several years ago, trying to parse down the word count so I could send it off to a certain competition.  I really like narrative poems.  There's nothing like being able to edit an entire novel in one day even though you should be doing other work.

In other news, you may notice some changes are afoot on the blog.  Although I am naturally opposed to rating systems for books, I've decided to implement one of my own.  It'll be in exclamation points, because that's a language I understand.

A summary is to the left, but to make things simple !!!!! = LOVE,  ! = HATE.  It may take some time for the new system to actually make an appearance in the reviews.

You'll also notice some more changes to come in the future of this blog.  But you'll have to wait for the big announcement...which will be made on an unknown day at some yet to be determined time.  Get comfy.  It may be a long ride.

And don't forget!  Tomorrow is International Literacy Day!  

REVIEW: Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug

Newgarden, M., & Cash, M.M.  (2007).  Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug.  New York:  Harcourt, Inc.

9780152058135

Rating:  !!!

In this wordless picturebook, Bow-Wow chases a bug around the neighborhood.  As the story goes on, Bow-Wow's chase becomes more and more fantastic.

This is a good book to encourage young readers to work on developing visual literacy by having the wee little ones pay attention to the expressions on Bow-Wow and other characters' faces.

And on the off chance, a child becomes a fan of Bow-Wow, this is one book in a series of concept books.

Activities:

Aside from using Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug to have children narrate and describe the pictures they're seeing, a teacher could use this book to discuss what a child should do when faced with a bug in the house or classroom.  Another teaching moment would be to discuss making friends with other children who share similar interests.

With slightly older students--say first or second grade--a teacher could show several of the pages in this book as an example how to play the mirror game (in which two students face each other and mirror each other's gestures and expressions).  I found those pages to be particularly cute.  

REVIEW: Rocko and Spanky Have Company

LaReau, K., & LaReau, J.  (2006).  Rocko and Spanky Have Company.  New York:  Harcourt, Inc.

0152166181

With a title like Rocko and Spanky Have Company I could see all sorts of potential for trouble.  I mean, Spanky?  Really?  Despite my pre-judgements I was pleasantly surprised.  As I was reading it, I was reminded that childhood daycare had a weird little sock monkey doll that I never quite understood why it was there.  Since the twins are sock monkeys, I probably would have been very entertained had this book existed when I was little.

Rocko and Spanky are twin sock monkeys who are getting ready to have company over.  They spend (too many pages) cleaning up parts of their house, shopping and preparing a meal for their guests.  The activities Rocko and Spanky go through are very mundane.  While reading it, the story was really starting to feel plotless.  But then I reminded myself that it was a relatively realistic (since we are talking about sock monkey dolls) representation of the process of preparing for a guest.

The illustrations are fun and colorful (although they could have been more humorous, especially on the pages in which their cleaning--that way readers would have more of a reason to pause on those pages and the book wouldn't have felt quite as teachy).

Activities:

This is yet another book that can be shared with first time party hosts to let the young-uns know about everything that goes into preparing for company--including cleaning, shopping, cooking, etc.

The end of the story also includes a recipe for peanut-butter and banana sandwiches, so students could learn how to prepare their own snacks before or after the teacher shares this book.

Quotes of Note:

"Rocko and Spanky are twins."

"All that cleaning made me tired," says Rocko.

"Urp!  Me, too," says Spanky."

"Now what should we serve our guest?" says Spanky.

"I know-peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches!"

"Wanna play with my new Super Ball?" asks Rocko."

REVIEW: Ninety-Three in My Family

Perl, E.S.  (2006).  Ninety-Three in My Family.  New York:  Abrams Books for Young Readers.

0810957604

When prompted, the narrator lists all of the 93 members of his family to his disbelieving teacher.  The poem goes beyond just listing members to share about the family's eating habits, the difficulty of fitting everyone in the car, etc.

The rhymes are occasionally forced, but still effective.  There is a lot of repetition of certain stanzas to help nervous readers through the text.

The illustrations are fun and humorous, with the pets often shown in awkward or cute positions.

Activities:

Ninety-Three in My Family could be used as an example approach to have students describe their own family.  It could also be used as a more advanced counting book or a book to show addition.

This book could also be used to help mediate conflicts common to large families including disputes over food, such as when children feel like their pizza topping preferences are ignored.

Quotes of Note:

"One day, my teacher asked me, 

"How many live with you?"

I counted quickly in my head.

I told her, "Ninety-two."

"I shrugged my shoulders and began

to list my family:"

"My mommy and my daddy,

My sister's gerbil, Ed,

Six goldfish and my sisters,

Darlene and Winifred."

"Whenever people ask me

How many live with me,

I tell them true, there's ninety-two.

Plus one (that's me!), we're ninety-three."

International Literacy Day Approaches!

Teachers and parents!

Just a few days until International Literacy Day on Tuesday!

Have you thought of a way that you can encourage literacy in your classroom or home?

REVIEW: Sweet Dream Pie

Wood, A.  (1998).  Sweet Dream Pie.  New York:  Blue Sky Press.

0590962043

Ma and Pa Brindle are awake late in the night in their attic, looking for the utensils necessary to make sweet dream pie.  As they begin to mix the ingredients, magical and sweet things begin happening around the neighborhood.  Then after the pie is shared with the other residents of Willobee Street, a new magic begins as dreams come to life.

Mark Teague's illustrations are in his usual style, with many colors and curves (both of which serve this the special pie well).

As with so many books, this story could be critiqued for it's treatment of gender.  Ma Brindle does the majority of the cooking (although her husband does help by setting the table) and it falls to her to get the child-like dreams to behave (and *SPOILER* she accomplishes that by sweeping the dreams away).

Activites:

After sharing this story with students, a teacher could guide them in making their own favorite type of pie.  Other potential lesson could be on the sense of community and sharing presented in the novel.

If used as a read aloud for younger children, a teacher could guide them in counting the number of cats (and later dogs) featured in various illustrations.  

Quotes of Note:

"I haven't slept a wink tonight," Pa said.  "I've been craving a piece of Sweet Dream Pie, just like the one you made me long ago."

"When the dough was ready, Ma rolled it out on the table, and when she did, all the people on Willobee Street (including little Amy McPherson) rolled out of their beds and onto their floors."

"Standing side by side, the Brindles blew upon the pie to cool it.  A welcome breeze sprang up, whirling napkins and party plates into the air and clearing the fog."

"No one had ever tasted anything like Ma Bindle's Sweet Dream Pie.  It was so sweet, happy tears just rolled down everyone's cheeks."

"Ma Brindle had never seen so many wild dreams.  They were everywhere and into everything!  The dreams were too happy and too excited, doing things they shouldn't do."

REVIEW: The Secret Olivia Told Me

Joy, N.  (2007).  The Secret Olivia Told Me.  East Orange, NJ:  Just Us books.

9781933491080

Olivia has told the narrator of this picturebook a secret.  A BIG one.  The narrator does her best to keep it secret, but inevitably lets it slip to a friend and the secret spreads and grows from there.  

The untold secret is wonderfully represented as a red balloon that is blown up as the secret spreads.  The fact that the secret remains unsaid is relevant and allows students to imagine their own life experiences on to the text.  

The illustrations are wonderful, done in black and white outlines, with very intentional use of the color red.

Activities:

A teacher could guide discussion of when the color red is incorporated into the illustrations and the significance of its use as well as the meanings traditionally given to the color in literature.  Why are the rest of the illustrations in black and white?  Students could also think about the balloon as a symbol and consider intertextuality, or other children's books that include balloons.  Another important topic to discuss is secrets, what advice can students give one another to keep secrets.  If a secret slips out, what do you do then?  How do students feel the narrator handled the situation?  How do they think Olivia handled it?  Are there secrets that children should report to an adult? etc.

In response to the book, students could journal about how they feel about secrets.  Have they ever told a secret?  Have they ever heard others share secrets, but exclude them?

An innovative teacher could also make copies of some of the characters from the book and create popsicle-stick figurines for students to re-enact the drama of The Secret Olivia Told Me.  

Quotes of Note:

"Olivia told me a SECRET.

I promised I would not tell."

"As I played with my classmate, Ayanna,

the secret accidentally slipped.

Before I could catch the secret,

it tumbled right out of my lips."

"Tabby passed it on to her classmates.

She blew up the secret, too."

"The secret became even bigger,

with parts that were not true.

The secret was no longer special

because now everyone knew."

REVIEW: When You Reach Me

Stead, R. (2009). When You Reach Me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books.

9780385737425

Set in the late 1970s, twelve-year-old Miranda was named for a horrible kidnapper. Kinda. Her single mother, once a law student had to drop out and become a paralegal when she discovered she was pregnant, but that didn't stop her from naming her baby after the famous Miranda rights.

Told in the first person, with some jumps through time over several months, Miranda struggles with being a latch key kid, rereading A Wrinkle in Time, preparing her mom to appear on her favorite game show, being friends with girls, no longer being best friends with a boy, being friends with kids from different economic backgrounds, going by a potentially crazy homeless man each school day, race issues, the fact that her mom hates her job, etc.  Despite the fact that the book is set in the late 1970s, it's very timely (pun intended), with a mention of revamping the national healthcare system and mentions of the implications of global warming.

As they read, students may need some help making connections among some of the objects incorporated and understanding the way time is described.  Also, students would benefit from having previously read A Wrinkle in Time (although it is not strictly necessary...but Stead does give part of the ending away).  In contrast, kiddies should have an easy time relating with Miranda emotionally and in a plethora of different ways.  She is often jealous of classmates, she likes a boy for the first time, she has problems in her relationship with her mother, she lacks a father.  And on and on.

On the blog street, authors and reviews are already using the 'N-word' when mentioning this book. And by 'N-word,' I mean, 'Newbery.'  And the way so many elements of the narrative are interconnected to create deeper meanings, does parallel some other winners within the last decade (at several points I was reminded of The Higher Power of Lucky in terms of knot tying, absent fathers, and connecting elements, but this book didn't have the actually-intended-for-adults-memoir-feel).  But who knows what a group of librarians sequestered in a hotel will actually chose when January arrives.

As I was reading, I kept expecting the rest of Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet to pop up.  The Wind in the Door was published five years before When You Reach Me was set, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet was published in 1978, the year part of this book took place.

Activities:

This book could easily be paired with the classic science fiction novel A Wrinke in Time and could provoke conversations about physics, theories of time travel, etc.  Teachers could frame lessons about the events of the 1970s around the book, race relations, epilepsy, relationships with friends, etc.

In place of a test on When You Reach Me, the class could design a game show based off of the book and create trivia questions to answer and compete with.

Quotes of Note:

"So Mom got the postcard today. It says Congratulations in big curly letters, and at the very top is the address of Studio TV-15 on West 58th Street. After three years of trying, she has actually made it. She's going to be a contestant on The $20,000 Pyramid, which is hosted by Dick Clark" (p. 1).

"If I'm not wrong, this is the beginning of the story you wanted me to tell.  And I didn't know it yet, but it was also the end of my friendship with Sal" (p. 24).

"So I figure it's because I never had a father that I don't want one now.  A person can't miss something she never had" (p. 28).

REVIEW: The Miraculous Tale of the Two Maries

Wells, R.  (2006).  The Miraculous Tale of Two Maries.  New York:  Viking.

0670059609

Through first person narrative, Wells retells the legend of the two saints named Marie who did good deeds in the town in France that is named for them.

Best friends, Marie and Marie are swept away in their boat during a storm.  After dying at sea, they ask God for a second chance to live, promising to do good deeds if they can return.  Seizing the opportunity, the girls paddle their boat through the air, helping those who live in the town.

While this book does a good job of giving readers a window into traditional French culture, the text does assume a Christian worldview, with God entering the text as a character.  

Activities:

A teacher could ask students to pick and research other legends or historical stories connected to specific cities.

A teacher could also guide students to look more closely at the legend of the Maries, by having them look at alternate versions of the tale, perhaps with the hope of having older student write their own interpretation.

This picturebook could be used in a history or French class to help add some variety or fun to the course.

An ideal option would be to share this story before actually taking a class trip to France, to see Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

Quotes of Note:

"If you ever go to France, into the sunny south where the horses run wild in the lavender, you will find the tiny town called Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.  Inside the town church is a wooden boat, and in the boat are two wooden ladies[[one in a rose dress and one in blue.  Both are called Marie."

"Marie and I were local girls.

We were best friends, and w both shared the name Marie.  We knew everyone in our little town."

"An incoming storm tide flooded us suddenly.

Waves tossed our boat far under the sea and then suddenly up again, right up to Heaven.  We were only sixteen, Marie and I."

"Another chance!" said God.  "Nobody gets another chance!  Particularly if they disobeyed their parents!"

"If we promise to live a life of good deeds?  If we cross our hearts and hope to die?" wheedled Marie.  "Could we just see our families for five minutes more?"

REVIEW: Catching Fire

Collins, S. (2009). Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic Press.

0439023491

Enjoyment Rating:  !!!!

So, I got ahold of an advanced reader's copy of this book MONTHS ago. And let me tell you, I've had trouble keeping quiet about it.

But now, I can shout about it. Yay! On to the review....

(Warning! This review does include spoilers for the first book in this series The Hunger Games)

Several months have passed since Katniss won the hunger games. And while her family now has a new house, warm water and more money than they know what to do with. Life is far from perfect though. Katniss is directionless, still treated distantly by her supposed boyfriend Peeta, kissed once by her best friend, Gale, who said he "had to do that. At least once" (p. 27). (That's right, readers, a potential love triangle!)

Add to that a threat from the President of Panem that she needs to make her romance with Peeta convincing because some people in the other districts have interpreted some of her acts during the hunger games as civil disobedience instead of as the desperate choices of a love-sick girl.

All these tensions build as Katniss embarks on a celebratory tour of all the districts with Peeta and after that to learn about the plans for the 75th Hunger Games. Can she quell the calls for a rebellion against a government that she herself hates? To find out you'll have to read this second installment of The Hunger Games Trilogy.

Collins's writing is consistent from the last book. I eased right into the narrative. There were a few moments of explanation of what occurred in the first novel, but not so many that it got annoying. There are also some plot points that are very similar to the last book, which do have the potential to become tedious, but Collins clearly tried to avoid that.

Overall, Catching Fire should keep readers engaged, managing to raise the stakes of The Hunger Games to new highs.

P.S. Dear Suzanne Collins,

Don't keep me waiting for the final book.

Heartsies!

Activities to Do with the Book:

A teacher could guide students to compare real historical uprisings and why they happen with the events of Catching Fire. Students who have been studying various political theories could examine Catching Fire to see which philosophies are at work. Then students could even discuss how they would structure their own imaginary country.

In terms of the culture in the Capitol in both of these books, a teacher could recommend students to do a little research into the history of ancient Rome and pull out parallels in papers.

This series is a wonderful recommendation for students who like strong female protagonists, social commentary, distopia literature or an engaging story.

Also, since birds factor largely into the imagery of this series, a teacher could encourage students to include projects based on this book that involve the social networking site, Twitter.

Favorite Quotes:

"I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air. My muscles are clenched tight against the cold. If a pack of wild dogs were to appear at this moment, the odds of scaling a tree before they attacked are not in my favor" (p. 3).

"You have no access to information about the mood in other districts. In several of them, however, people viewed your little trick with the berries as an act of defiance, not an act of love. And if a girl from District Twelve of all places can defy the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same?" he says. "What is to prevent, say, an uprising?" (p. 21).

"Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you have provided a spark that, left unattended, may grow to an inferno that destroys, Panem," (p. 23).

"If I feel ragged, my [beauty] prep team seems in worse condition, knocking back coffee and sharing brightly colored little pills. As far as I can tell, they never get up before noon unless there's some sort of national emergency, like my leg hair" (p. 48).

"I don't try to move away. Why should I anyway? His voice drops to a whisper. "I love you."

That's why.

I never see these things coming. They happen too fast. One second you're proposing an escape plan and the next...you're expected to deal with something like this" (pp. 96-97).