Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White ★

Belle Prater's Boy
by Ruth White
January 1998
Yearling

"Think of all the millions of dawns this old world has seen, " Woodrow said.  "But it will never be this same one again . . . or that same one when she left."

Never have I read a book that made me want so badly to return to my own childhood.  I think this was due in part to Ruth White's wonderful descriptions of small town life in West Virginia in 1953, and partly the fact that the feelings that we possess and the friendships that we make as children are in so many ways stronger and truer than those we have as adults.  This is the story of two cousins, Woodrow, a cross-eyed, but very clever boy and Gypsy, the local beauty.  Through their close friendship, both cousins learn to deal with tragic losses and move on with their lives.  I know I say this every time I read an award winning book, but this one truly deserved the Newbery!  I highly recommend this as a fantastic discussion book for young children and their parents.

The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich ★

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum Book 1)
by Janet Evanovich
August 1994
Scribner

Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company.  She's got no experience.  But that doesn't matter.  Neither does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli.  From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants, to the time Steph hit him with her father's Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e.  And now the hot guy is in hot water - wanted for murder.

This is another one of those series that I've watched go up in numbers since I first started working in libraries ten years ago and always thought to myself "I really should read those one of these days."  Well I guess the stars finally aligned because I've read a few of them now and am absolutely in love!  Now before anyone gets too excited, I need to set one thing straight.  These books are fluff.  And I mean that in the best possible way. If you're looking for intellectual stimulation, you're in the wroooong place.  If, on the other hand, you want a gutsy bounty hunter with spunk, wit and charm who is constantly finding herself in hilarious situations then Stephanie Plum is your girl!  My highest recommendations for this series go to those who 1. enjoy a good mystery but can't really handle "scary" 2. miss advanced technology from the nineties and 3. to those who read solely for the immense pleasure of escaping from real life for a few hours.  To everyone else I say wait for the movie which is set to be released in January 2012!

The Stephanie Plum Books
One for the Money
Two for the Dough
Three to Get Deadly
Four to Score
High Five
Hot Six
Seven Up
Hard Eight
To the Nines
Visions of Sugar Plums
Ten Big Ones
Eleven on Top
Twelve Sharp
Plum Lovin'
Lean Mean Thirteen
Plum Lucky
Fearless Fourteen
Plum Spooky
Finger Lickin' Fifteen
Sizzling Sixteen
Smokin' Seventeen