Last week I shared what was in my pile to read next.  I hoped that if I told you I would read those four books, I would make time to get them done, but school is starting and I didn’t find the time for all of them.

Here’s what I did read that I think you’d like too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really like Melonhead.  He makes me laugh.  When I am reading I know things aren’t going to work out – (I thought, “Oh, please make the deliveries first.  Just do it and then go watch.  Oh, you really have to.”  Knowing, of course, that he and Sam would not do that.) – and I can totally understand the reason for the choices they make.  Melonhead is all about doing and working really hard to keep out of trouble so his mom doesn’t have to worry about him.  His dad travels often an in Melonhead and the Undercover Operation he gives Adam a list called The Melon Family Guidelines for Life that he hopes will help Adam and his mom stay calm.  Its a list of 9 actions to consider and take like 2. plan ahead or 4. when in doubt, ask an adult or 8. remember the ways of ladies.  These G’s for L replace the Remind -o-rama with do’s rather than don’ts – and they sort of smooth things out.  Melonhead works very hard to follow them but that can be difficult when you take being a Junior Special Agent for the FBI seriously and you feel certain that the newly posted person on the 10 Most Wanted Criminals in the country lives in your neighborhood.

The characters are terrific – even if they only make a cameo appearance in this book.  The actions are laugh out loud, but not outrageous.  I don’t know which I like best: the human periscopes or the old lady disguises.  I like how Adam and Sam have friend that are girls like Jonique and Lucy Rose and friends that are old like Pops and Madam and Mrs. Wilkins.  And there is a serious side too.  I am glad there are four Melonhead books so far ( a new one is coming out on September 10), along with four Lucy Rose books because these are great characters to have around.

Billy Broccoli is moving into a new house with a new step family and going to a new middle school – the very same school where his mother is principal.  Billy is small for his age – usually the smallest in his class and while he totally loves baseball, he’s not that good.  You see he’s a bit of a klutz.  Right from the start you can tell that things are not going to go smoothly for Billy.  Then enters his neighbor, bully and football star Rod and his ghost, room resident from the early 1900’s, Hoove.  Billy is trying to figure out how to survive in all his new situations and Hoove is trying to receive passing grades from the ghost board so he’ll be able to travel and see the world.  He’s been trying to pass for 99 years and it hasn’t worked yet.  Time runs out when he hits the 100 year mark so Billy and Hoove work to help each other out.  I like how they do it.  At first I wasn’t sure, but the more I read the more I realized they are going to help each other out – one will gain a bit more confidence and the other humility.  I liked  Ghost Buddy – Zero to Hero and I’m looking forward to reading the other two books about these characters.  I am anxious to see how they change and grow.

The last book I read was the sequel to Emily’s Fortune.  In the author’s note at the end of the book Phyllis Reynolds Naylor wrote:  “sometimes after you finish writing a book, you feel as though there’s more to the story and so you write another.  That’s what happened after Emily’s Fortune was published.”  I’m glad she did.  When you read Emily and Jackson Hiding Out you get to find out what happens in Redbud.  Do Emily and Aunt Hilda get along?  Does Jackson join their family, or does he go on West?  Will Uncle Victor leave them alone?  What of the ladies and the prospectors from the stagecoach?  It’s fun to read and find out.  It won’t be what you expect.  Isn’t that one of the best things that can happen in a book!