Laura has been a media clerk at Fox Hills Elementary for 15 years.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
The Lake House by Kate Morton, Theodore Boone: The Scandal by John Grisham, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and Appleblossom the Possum by Holly Goldberg Sloan.
What was the last great book you read?
The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands and The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom
The last book that made you cry?
The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart
The last book that made you laugh?
The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
What kind of reader were you as a child? What childhood books and authors stick with you the most?
I devoured books. I had a bike with a basket on the front and I would ride my bike to the library every week in the summer and fill my basket with books. I loved the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene, and the Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner.
What is the best book you were required to read as a student?
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
What book did you hate reading as a student?
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
What is your favorite book to recommend to children?
Project Sweet Life by Brent Hartinger
If you could only bring three books to a desert island, which would you pack?
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Chosen by Chaim Potok, and Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
I enjoyed reading about you because we laugh and cry at the same books! Dan Gemeinhart is my new favorite author! His books are so popular at school and everyone loved The Book With No Pictures–so funny!! Thank you for sharing your book choices with us!
Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed reading the “Honest Truth” . It made me cry also. I like to recommend books to students, I have never read “Project Sweet Life”. I’m going to put that on my list of books to read. Thanks for the recommendation.
I loved the Little House and Boxcar Children books as a child too!! They are still some of my favorites. It was fun reading about you. Thanks for sharing!
Laura, what great book choices on your night stand. One fun thing I have done over here at West Kearns is taken some of my favorites that I have bought and shared them at school with the teachers. I have them sign their names in my books when they read them. The Lake House has a lot of signatures. We have a little “book club” of sorts after the teachers read them. Also, The Honest Truth has been a big hit with teachers as well as students because of book chatter from a chattering librarian over here. Thanks for your fun reviews!
“Appleblossom the Possum” was such a cute tale (pun intended). It was a fun addition to The Battle of the Books and it is one of my favorite recommendations to 3rd graders who like books with cute animals in them. Thanks for sharing!
Johneen, I LOVE your idea of sharing books with teachers and having them sign them and then talk about them. How clever is that!
I always wanted a bike with a basket! I love your variety of book choices
Wow! I can’t believe how similar our reading lists are! We might be kindred spirits. I felt the same way about The Scarlet Letter, but when I went back and read it as an adult, I appreciated it much more. I will have to read the ones you recommend because I bet I’ll enjoy them.
I have never heard of Sweet Project Life, sounds like an interesting book. Thanks for sharing. I love that you would ride your bike to the library. We lived to far to ride mine but I sure would have liked to.