Walking Under Trees; Summer time

The community center opened up again with limited admittance but I do not plan to return - not yet. Every morning, I get out before 9 am to take a 40 minute walk.

If you live on the East Coast, Eastern PA especially, then you know that 9 am is not early enough. I am so drenched by the time I get home that a shower feels redundant.

I have rediscovered the joy, the luxury, the calm and cool, of walking under trees. This morning I crossed streets three times to take advantage of the deeper shade on the other side. Maples give superior shade. Sycamores are shady, too, but their branches are so high up that sun slants through their leaves. (Never mind, sycamores. I love you for so many other reasons.)

When the temperature drops under a tree, I always think of the scene in "To Kill a Mockingbird" where Scout has to recount what she thinks happened when she and Jem were walking home from the school pageant. Scout had her ham costume on and could only see what was underneath her. But she knew she was under a tree because the ground was cooler there.

Would I know I was in the shade of a tree with my eyes closed? I think I might on these hot summer mornings. I won't try it because the trees with the best shade have the bumpiest sidewalks.

My route takes me into neighborhoods with the most trees and the oldest trees.  I keep moving. Still some shade is so deep that I want to sit with my back against the trunk and dream; or look up into the jungle above me, made of crossing branches and thick green leaves, and wonder.  Or, just breathe in shade-cooled air.

Today, I walked down the island in the center of the street. One side of the street had disappearing sidewalks and intermittent shade. The other side was largely shade-less. Sturdy trees marched down the center of the street and so did I. I know an invitation when I see one.

The trees do invite you to take advantage of their shade. If you are lucky enough to have a tree on your property, sit under it for a spell.

Walk under trees whenever you can. Walk there now for the shade. Walk there in the Fall for the color. In the Winter, look up at the lacy fingers against the sky. In the Spring, celebrate the many greens of fledgling leaves.

Walk. Linger. Breathe.

Popularity Papers!

Back when I worked as a children's librarian, a publicist from Abrams (Jason Wells who is now with Magination Press) sent Amy Ignatow to our library to talk about her new series of books, The Popularity Papers.  The drawings are adorable and the books are funny!

This summer my 8 and 1/2 year old granddaughter discovered these books. She LOVES them. Although the books are about kids getting ready to enter middle school - and then in middle school - let's face it, our 4th graders are already worried about that inevitability. And if we can just dredge up those memories of our own childhoods, we will realize that concerns about popularity and the opposite sex are there all the time. They just aren't at the top of the things kids worry about - yet.

Yesterday, my granddaughter brought me Book 4, The Rocky Road Trip. I have no words to tell you how wonderful, warm, funny and wise that book was. Seriously. I will stop this post right here and just bask in the memories of that road trip to family members who are lovely and to family members who are NOT!  and the Fun Facts, and Bye Bye Miss American Pie and bears and ... ahhhhhhhh.

The family structures are not white picket fence. They reflect the times we live in. 'Nuff said.

I wonder if Amy Ignatow could be persuaded to do a reunion book. Maybe Julie and Roland could, I don't know, get Married and Lydia could be the Maid of Honor and Melody could be the wedding planner. Or is that too Hallmark channel for this series??

If you have a pre-teen, take a look at these books. Read them yourself. Amy Ignatow is a genius.

Be Kind to Monsters!

In Kelley Armstrong’s A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying, Princess Rowan, the oldest of twins, wants more than anything to be the Royal Monster Hunter. But birth order requires her to become Queen. Her younger brother, Rhydd, brave, loyal, thoughtful - and diplomatic -must assume the mantle of Monster Hunter.

Ho hum - mismatched family expectations. Isn’t it always the way? The book breaks with tradition when a tragedy catapults the 12 year old twins into confusion and action. Rowan gets her wish in the most awful way possible.

In order to become the Royal Monster Hunter, Rowan must train with the best hunter in the kingdom. Accompanied by the last Monster Hunter’s tame warg, who barely tolerates Rowan, and soon joined by a baby jackalope, Rowan finds the elusive monster hunter.  He is wounded and his young apprentice turns her away.

Rowan tries to, and fails to, impress the young hunter-in-training. She gets kidnapped. She barely escapes an attack by a pegasus. She and two possible allies fight off giant spiders and collect firebird feathers.

Then, they meet the most horrendous monster of all, the very same monster that forced Rowan and Rhydd to change their futures. A battle of wit and cunning, (Rowan is small for her age and that monster is HUGE), ensues!

Palace intrigue changes the expected outcome of this novel. Unanswered questions foretell future installments.

I am more than ready to read Rowan and Rhydd’s further adventures!!!

Eerie-on-the-Sea might be very pleasant in the summer sun but in the winter…brrrr. Herbert Lemon is the Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel and just one of the odd characters that lives there. When a strange girl slips into the window of his basement room, Herbert, age 11 or 12 or 13 or thereabouts, falls into a grand, creepy adventure.
There is a man with a hook for a hand, a miniature model of the town with mysteriously moving figures, and a legendary sea monster. They all search for something. And who better to help them than the Lost and Founder of the Grand Nautilus hotel?

Herbert and Violet are looking for Violet’s parents who disappeared from that very hotel 12 years before. Can the Malamander answer Violet's questions? Is this monster horrible or harmless?

The second book is out now, Gargantis!


In 2018, Adam Gidwitz introduced his monster saving series, The Unicorn Rescue Society. Since then, URS members have protected a jersey devil, a chupacabra, a basque dragon, a Sasquatch and, most recently, a water serpent from Cuba.

Remember this, reader friends, mythical monsters are born that way and need our protection.

‘Nuff said.