No more holes and book reviews

The ceiling hole has been replaced with a recessed access panel.  The slates sleep peacefully where they have been for years.  All lights turn off and on, off and on, just like they are supposed to.  The walls and ceiling are spackled and painted and NOW all I have to do is clean.

But not just yet.  I have a couple of books to tell you about.

On Saturday, I stopped by my old library workplace and picked up three books.  The first book is Perfect Square by Michael Hall.  What a visually clever picture book!  Check out the video above.  Every day, the square is cut, wrinkled, ripped and segmented.  And every day the square recreates itself.  Look carefully.  Each illustration is made of a perfect square.

The second book I read on Saturday was Bumped by Megan McCafferty.  In the not too distant future - the end of this century - most people lose their fertility between the ages of 18 and 20 due to a incurable virus.  So, the government pushes teens to procreate younger and often and those babies are auctioned off to the highest bidders.

Some girls choose to be "amateurs", getting pregnant with no guidance and then offering their babies up for adoption.  Others, like Melody, have been groomed to be Pros, with agents and contracts and scholarships and all kinds of perks.

Melody was adopted herself.  And so was her identical twin sister, Harmony.  But Harmony was adopted into the Church, where teen girls enter arranged marriages at thirteen and have as many babies as they can until they lose their fertility.

Harmony is intent on bringing Melody to God.  Melody is intent on completing her contract without delay.  Melody's best friend, Zen, is intent on getting Melody to love him.

When Harmony is mistaken for Melody by Melody's agent, things get insane.  And the plot gallops towards the end...and a cliff hanger.   It's a SERIES!!!!

McCafferty creates a credible vocabulary for this fertility obsessed culture, even creating a store that sells fake "baby bumps" that pre-teens can purchase to get positive attention from the older infertile public.  The pop lyrics, social media, even courses at the high school have elevated teen pregnancies to THE goal for all teens - girls and boys.

And THEN I read Withering Tights by Louise Rennison.  I laughed until I cried.  This novel about a 14 1/2 year old girl's summer adventure at a theater school in the Yorkshire Dales is clever, cute and hilarious.  Read it.