Comfort Zone

My friend Carol has a wonderful post on pouring beer at Taste of Colorado. It is funny how we find ourselves in places way outside of our comfort zone. Carol writes about how she is a poor beer pourer, but a proficient writer. Well, I am great at pouring beer, but writing a blog is WAY out of my comfort zone. I do it so that I will become a better writer, and writing teacher. With that said, I want to comment on a couple of books.

The first is Alvin Ho, Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look. There are not many books where the main character completely shuts down at school. Alvin is a selective mute, but only at school. I laughed through this book. Alvin is a boy that is afraid of everything. He prepares himself for all the scary things in life with a PDK, a Personal Disaster Kit. There are steps on how to deal with substitute teachers, girls and bullies. His brother Calvin helps him add a list on how to make friends. I don’t want to give away the ending, but this is a great boy book.

The second book is Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel. This is a chapter book/graphic novel about the loveable (not really) Bad Kitty. Chapter 3 is very much like the TV show Dallas. Remember the year Bobby died, but we find out the next year that it was all a dream. Yes this entry dates me!

The third book is Gym Shorts Baseball Bats by Betty Hicks. My librarian told me that this is anew series. It is a great story of friendship, and how we sometimes have to admit that our friends are better at things then we are.

The last book is The Retired Kid by Jon Agee. Who knew life is so hard for kids. Brian just can’t take it anymore, so he retires to Florida. He soon finds that taking about hip replacements are not fun either.

A good laugh helps the soul.