For Pete’s sake! I thought the list would never end.

Some of the books on the list, I’ve read and loved. Some I’ve read and not loved. But they are all worth checking out. I’d add to the list the anything by Alan Gratz. (Yes, I do recommend him for boys, even though the sexual activity is thick in Something Wicked. I don’t see how you can leave such a great boy writer off a boy book list.) I’d also add The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers. And what about Paulsen’s books? There were a lot of fantasy books and spy books but I think boys still like the wilderness adventure books. My son does, anyway. I am glad to see they didn’t leave Colfer off the list. They got Airman which is one of my favorite books.

But that’s one of the greatest thing about the Internet, you can still interact, even in your pj’s.

So here I sit, drugged and mellow, and ready to thrill you all with my philosophy on what makes for good reading.

I’ve said a lot about the content of this particular Gratz book having more teen sex in it than I like to read, but we all have different thresholds for these things. I certainly don’t think there is anything sinful about reading books written by people with nonChristian worldviews. I read such books all the time. I think there is great value in the practice, actually. We are living in the world and we aren’t called to separate ourselves from it.

We are called not to love the same things that the world loves, but reading well-written books by nonChristians doesn’t constitute loving what the world loves. The question for me is always: Did I get my time’s worth from this book? When I read or go to a movie I’m investing a block of precious time. I want to choose my books and movies carefully.

Sometimes, like when I’m on Vicodin, I like to watch movies that will just entertain me. There is some value in entertainment, I think. But with all the good books and movies out there, why not pick something that enlarges me intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually even while it entertains me?

So did Gratz’s book do any of that? He said in one interview, “I’m not writing Deep, Meaningful Books here.” But I think we can get meaning out of the books all the same. And they have value beyond his meaning, too. To me, these two Horatio Wilkes mysteries had value because I’m a wannabe writer and Alan’s a very good writer, with a cadence and wit to his prose that I’d like to learn. They also had value in that they educated me a little on Shakespeare. They had entertainment value because Horatio is a fun, likable kid. Then they made me think about teen sex, and the world we live in, and it’s always good to think about culture and how we are to interact with it.

In the end any book we read can have value if we think about what we’ve read. It’s only mindless reading that is dangerous and destructive, I think. As my friend Becky Miller likes to point out, we have to read with discernment. We have to look at what we’ve read and not allow things to slip in unnoticed. If we do that, then almost anything can be turned to profit.

But the really great thing for you is that right now you can check out Horatio yourself, free of charge. Spend a few minutes with him and see if you want to spend a few hours with him, listening to his story. You can read the entire first book, Something Rotten, online for free. Go check it out for yourself.

I just posted my review of the book–we’ll, it’s a pretty poor review. I’ve never really done well with analyzing literature–might have helped if I’d have gone to college, or heck, even stayed in high school for the full four years.

So my review is less of a review and more of my yammering about what I liked and what I didn’t like about the book. Go check it out if you have a few minutes–as usual, I’m too long-winded.

So the quick take is: This is a smart and funny book, that I liked very much from an author I will keep reading, but Something Wicked deals with mature themes so read it before you give it to your kids.

Gratz was a recipient of an SCBWI grant–the Kimberly Colen grant–in 2003, and his first young adult novel, Samurai Shortstop, came out in 2006.

I’ve read only two of his books so far, the two Horatio Wilkes mysteries, Something Rotten, and Something Wicked, and I wanted to write book reviews for the two books. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like I can do them justice. I’ve never read Shakespeare so I’m guessing I’m missing some inside jokes. I enjoyed both books immensely even without having any background in Shakespeare’s works, but I feel like if I try to write reviews I’ll miss something important.

And I have another confession to make–I wanted to interview Mr. Gratz, but the day before I had him penciled into my schedule, my dad took a tumble from his wheelchair and broke his hip. So I didn’t get the interview. I’m bummed about that because I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask. I wanted to ask about his road to publishing, about what role the SCBWI award played (yes, I’m very interested in that–wondering if I’ll have a book published in three years, now) and I wanted to ask about the sex in the books, I wanted to ask about conservation, and about teen alcoholism, and teen violence…

Well, maybe he’ll give me an interview one of these days.

So I’ll keep trying to write reviews and to think of interview questions. But for today I’d like to give you a couple of links of interest. The more I read about Mr. Gratz, the more I like him. He’s smart and funny (of course I knew that because Horatio is smart and funny–made, at least that far, in the image of his creator, it appears).

So here are three links to get you started in your quest to learn more about Alan Gratz and Horatio Wilkes:

• For Readers Powell’s Books, Tech Q&A
• For Writers Interview on Cynsations
• For Teachers Something Rotten Reader Guide and  Something Wicked Reader Guide

Please go and visit other sites on the blog tour:

the 160acrewoods, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, By the Book Reviews, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maggie Reads, Never Jam Today, Reading is My Superpower

It’s been great fun setting it up–time consuming as it has been.

And I’m so excited that we have Alan Gratz onboard. And Jeanne DuPrau. We also have some great blogger/reviewers signing on to the tour. I’m really having fun with it. The thing I like best after reading children’s books and writing children’s books, is talking about children’s books. So this is just too much fun.

And I’ve always kind of figured life should be about having fun. I know, I know, we have to work. But who says we have to work to make thousands and thousands of dollars to buy bigger houses and cars? I’d rather work at what I love doing and be happy in my mobile home.
So check out my new fun site at kidzbookbuzz.com.