"Sometimes he'd tell me the myths that go with the constellations, or we'd talk about who was the better general, Odysseus or Patton" p 42.

Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry made me cry twice. That's not really a trait I look for in books, but, hey, that's later on, lest it be a turn-off for you. Before all that, Heart of a Shepherd made me laugh and cheer out loud. Full of endearing characters, it was just what I was hoping to read over the holiday weekend.

See, I was headed to Spokane, in eastern Washington. My betrothed's (yes, betrothed, if you missed the updates on Twitter or Facebook) family lives there. It was 4th of July. Heart of a Shepherd looked both patriotic and like the topography I was headed to. Also, it was short. And sometimes, you just want a short book. One that lacks a little commitment.

Brother (that's what everyone calls him) is counting down the months until his officer father returns from combat in Iraq. In the meantime, he's the man of the ranch with his aging grandparents while his four older brothers are off at school or stationed elsewhere, and a barely known artist mother in Italy. Brother, being the youngest, is the only one not somehow involved with either the Army or ROTC. Everyone else knows just who they are and what they will do with their lives, but Brother can't really see himself as a soldier or a rancher. And those are about the only things he knows.

Brother is a charming and thoughtful boy who purposefully crumples up his perfectly done homework (to keep up appearances) and has read all the dragon books on his shelf - so he steals ship books from his brothers. He's shouldering a great deal of responsibility and handles it seriously, but appropriately, for a kid his age - there is the necessary worry and fear that would be inherent in that situation. He also personifies his chess pieces as his loved ones - and purposely loses because he can't bear to kill his grandpa's queen (being grandma). Adorable.

There was a lot of honesty in this story. It felt like real people in real situations. While religion was portrayed in the best of light, this isn't an "inspirational fiction" book (keep reading, I know that phrase makes many of you shudder). There was a really awesome priest (all the characters, save grandpa, are Catholic) and Brother's grandfather's a devout Quaker. It's the same kind of versatile combination we found in Hattie Big Sky: safe for the wholesome-seekers and entertaining for the heathens. There was no blatant didactics that overshadowed all other features of the story, there were no conversations with, or beseechments to, God, just a quiet religion that served as the foundation of identity for several characters. Or perhaps this is exactly what inspirational fiction should be.

Basically, as the worst kind of Catholic (lapsed) who regards religion with suspicion, this book didn't piss me off AT ALL.

I especially loved the grandparents; the chess-playing grandfather, the mechanical wiz grandmother. Both veterans.

I truly have nothing bad to say about this book, and you do know how much I like to balance these overly positive reviews with something negative. I mean, it can't be THAT good, right? *shrug* I'd love to see a sticker on this. It's probably a shoo-in for a Christopher Award, and here's a hope for a Newbery (honor, I'd imagine) from my direction (but what do I know? A: nothin'). I really need to do a negative review. I miss being snarky.

Oh, wait, I DO have one complaint. I couldn't tell the four older brothers apart. They all blended together into lovable mush (clearly, not a huge deal for me).

Anyway, give it a go, it's both enjoyable and a good one to have in your arsenal. It's solidly middle grade, I'd say 3rd-6th.

Here's some quotes, in case you were on the fence:

p 2-3: "Rosita's my queen, of course. She's a fifth grader up at the school and my best friend's sister. She can birth a lamb and kill a rattlesnake with a slingshot, which is what I look for in a queen. Plus, she's as pretty as a day in spring, and she laughs when I'm the one talking."

p 27: "The lambs aren't supposed to have names - only horses and dogs are allowed to have names - but I call them Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Bilbo. I know better than to call one Sam, because Sam is my favorite Hobbit in the whole story."

p 30: "I reckon my grandpa's the only Quaker member of the National Rifle Association. he's a dead-serious pacifist and the best marksman around. he's gotten coyotes, cougars, and even a full-grown bear. No trophy antlers cluttering up our parlor, though. It's not the Quaker way to shoot a vegetarian."

Getting the Juby

I'll confess. I haven't read any of Susan Juby's other books. I started Another Kind of Cowboy, but after a few pages I realized I was still scarred from Freak Show and couldn't go on. I avoided her Alice series (Alice, I Think, Miss Smithers, Alice MacLeod: Realist at Last) despite good reviews, because I was having a difficult time separating it from the Phyllis Reynolds Naylor books; a syndrome I have about similarly names books; see Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) by Headley and the book by Avi I read in junior high that shares the first half of that title. I don't like to read two same-ish titled books out of an, I don't know, twisted loyalty to the first book, or more likely, the idea that there would be some Back to the Future-like conundrum where the world would cease if I held both plots of same-titled books in my head at once.

Anywhoo.

I was wrong then and now; not reading Juby's other books?* "Big mistake. Big. HUGE." Getting the Girl is a laugh-out-loud mystery. A funny book? A mystery? Aimed at teens? Omg. I'm happy to encounter ONE of those qualities in YA books. Add in a side detail of food and cooking? I think Juby wrote this book just for me. And all the teens I'm going to make read it. Will this make it into my summer booktalks? Yep. And to make it even more awesome, I can talk this one up in both the middle schools and the high schools. Making MY life just a little bit more easy.

Shall I stop gushing and tell you why I like it? Hell, why not.

Sherman Mack is really into Dini Trioli. She's the perfect girl - cool, aloof, older. Sherm is sure an older girl will appreciate his sensitive ways, despite her dating the popular jock. But when he figures out that Dini is in serious danger of getting D-listed and ostracized by a cruel school ritual, he decides that if he can uncover the D-listers and make the school safe for all girls, Dini will have to fall in love with him. What he doesn't know is that there's physical danger, a pink bike, some crossdressing, and a burnt omelet in his future.

Short chapters help with a snappy pacing that's in tune with the book's sharp and witty dialogue. There's certainly a level of predictability with the plot and romance, but it's with the B-level lines, so it provides more a level of comfort than an annoyance; Juby maintains a balance between predictability and surprise (humor helps a ton with this) that will please readers coming from different interest points (mystery, romance, humor, etc).

It's been so long since I've read something I've truly fell in love with. Not since Ellen Emerson White, and I've been making the EEW love last a long time by reading the out of print stuff at the rate of about one a month. The added bonus with Juby is that it's going to be so much easier to sell than EEW due to the better covers and the more plot-driven story (rather than EEW's entirely character-driven ones - although I was able to sell THE ENTIRE President's Daughter series to an aspiring writer-teen last week. Which made my day.).

Anyway, Getting the Girl should be a sure bet across the board. Well, maybe not for the emo kids. It would cheer them up and ruin their demeanor. We wouldn't want that.

*And let us not forget that there is another teen book called Getting the Girl. One by Marcus Zusak. But as I'm not convinced by Zusak; i.e. yes I, too, believe Book Thief is brilliant, but as I Am the Messenger made me want to die slowly, I don't care a whit. Therefore, my opinion is still out on the man. Also, I haven't read Zusak's version and have little to no intention to do so. Especially not with a subject heading of "self-actualization (psychology). Fiction." ugh.

And there's my completely cheesy answer...

to the rgz monthly theme.

Really. I should have spent more than those 10 minutes on it.

At readergirlz. At Buildungsroman (it's the same both times).

All the same. If you're reading this, you are probably part of the family I speak of. Unless you are reading this with malice. Then you aren't.

Also, while my blog promises tend to be hollow, I think you'll get a book review sometime this week. If you like that kind of thing. If not, well, stop being so malicious.