On the Wings of Heroes

On the Wings of Heroes is written by Richard Peck. I love Richard Peck!! Once again, he has perfectly captured a time period in this historic fiction. On the Wings of Heroes tells the story of Davy Bowman and how his young life changes during WWII. When Davy's older brother, Billy, leaves home to fly B-12 bombers over Europe, Davy does all he can to help with the war effort at home. He collects scrap metal, paper, and even milkweed for life vests. As always, Peck has filled this book with the right combination of humor, oddball characters, adventure, and heart-warming moments.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This post is dedicated to the hilarious novel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney (who was recently voted one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people). All school year long I had seen students (mostly boys) with this book. I had wanted to read it, but just hadn't gotten around to it. As a thank you present, a student gave me a copy of the book telling me, "I LOVE this book," so I knew it had to be one of the first books I read this summer. I'm sure glad I did. It was hilarious.

The novel tells the story of Greg Heffley's first year in middle school. The book is written in a fun font that makes it look like an actual diary. It also has drawings littered throughout it. In fact, the book is advertised as "a novel in cartoons." Kinney perfectly captures life as a middle school boy as Greg deals with his annoying brothers, bullies at school, and problems with teachers, family, and friends.

I highly recommend it for anyone who is currently a middle school student, has worked in a middle school, has children in a middle school, or was once themselves a child in middle school.