86. Nothing But The Truth: A Documentary Novel by Avi

I love this book. I think it perfectly captures the illogical thinking of teenage boys, and the out of control politics of education and patriotism. It also shows perfectly how something can be totally blown out of proportion to serve different people's personal agendas. In the book, a ninth-grader gets suspended for humming the national anthem, and the story is picked up by the national news media. The story really is not that simple, but soon grows out of control. The great thing about the novel is that you get to see everyone's viewpoint because it is written in the form of diaries, memos, letters, etc. from everyone involved. I love this book. If you really want to think about the fine line between patriotism and fascism, you should read this book. It's really short and well worth the time. It also won a Newberry Honor award. I highly recommend it.

85. The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker

Yes, this is the original children's book on which Disney loosely (very loosely) based their movie The Princess and the Frog. I haven't seen the movie, though I've heard it is cute. But I think about the only thing the same between the two is that, in both, the princess gets turned into a frog. I love this book. This is probably the second or third time I've read it in some form. This time I listened to it on CD and the reading is incredibly well done. I just love the wackiness of it. The main character, Emma, does not like being a princess, and she's horrible at magic (which runs in her family). In order to avoid being forced to marry a prince that is pompous and interested only in himself, she escapes to her neighborhood swamp and kisses a talking frog. But instead of turning him back into a prince, she is turned into a frog and spends the rest of the book trying to get out of this predicament. It is a hilarious, quick read. It is also the first in The Frog Princess series, which has about 5 or 6 books in it. My girls love this series and have also read and re-read it. And it is versatile enough that my little girls love it and I still think it is intelligent and funny. A good read that I would definitely recommend.

84. Best Loved Bedtime Stories: The Ugly Duckling and Other Stories by Dalmatian Press

This is another of Lily's picks for bedtime stories. Like I've said before, she seems to really like collections of stories. This has quite a few of your well-known bedtime stories, like The Ugly Duckling, Puss in Boots, and The Little Tin Soldier. But then about the second half of the book, there are a whole collection of related stories about a bunch of little animals that live in a forest with some gnomes and giants who are all friendly. I really like these little tales. They remind me of the Beatrix Potter books, but shorter. The illustrations in the whole collection are really great. And the thing I like best is that the stories are broken down into divisions that are just right for Lily's age. The stories tend to be between 2-10 pages with about a paragraph per page. Perfect! She loved this book and I really enjoyed reading it to her.

83. Buddy (A Puppy Place Book) by Ellen Miles

The Puppy Place is a cute little series of books about...that's right, puppies. Each book centers on how one particular puppy overcomes its hardships and ultimately finds a good home. I've only read this one, but Emma has read several, and she says that's how they go. In this one, Lizzie and her family volunteer to foster a dog and her three puppies until the puppies are old enough to adopt out. Lizzie's family often fosters dogs for their local shelter where she also volunteers. One of the puppies, which they name Buddy, is the runt of the litter and is struggling to do well. The family has to spend extra time just keeping him alive. It's a cute little book about puppies and caring for them and fun to find out how the puppies find just the right homes. Emma seems to really like this series, as would any kid who likes dogs. It made for a pretty good bedtime story. It also includes tips for caring for puppies in the back. Over all good book.

82. Juliet the Valentine Fairy by Daisy Meadows

Yet another fairy book for Ruth. This time Jack Frost has stolen all the things that help people get along: specifically, friends, couples, and families. Valentine's Day isn't going to be very fun unless Kirsty and Rachel help the fairy get them back. It was pretty funny. I've probably said this before, but one of the things I really like about these books, is that the good guys try to be nice to everybody, including the bad guys. I like that they're not vindictive, but just try to solve the problem, and still try to help the goblins and Jack Frost even when they're being mean. I like that. A fun book for Valentine's Day.

81. The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech

This is a fun little, feel-good book. It's about an angel that lives in a tower of an old home in Switzerland. She's lived there for hundreds of years and is not quite sure what an angel is supposed to do. (The story is told from her viewpoint.) Enter a spunky little girl named Zola who can see the angel. Zola has definite ideas about what the angel should be doing. She starts to get the angel more involved in every day life in this village. It's a great story, very appropriate to the Christmas season. I really love Sharon Creech's writing.

80. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura Schlessinger

I honestly thought I'd hate this book. I thought it would make me feel guilty because we all know that I hardly ever actually feed my husband. I picked it up out of sheer curiosity because I have a friend who gives it as a present at every bridal shower that we both go to. I have to say that, though I love this person, we don't have a lot in common. But as I picked it up and started to read, I was fascinated by how mean women can be to their husbands and not think it is a problem. Wow!! Some of the stories were mind-boggling to me. I couldn't put it down. I found that it actually made me feel better about myself as a wife, because I think John and I have a pretty positive relationship. I try to be nice and he does too. (We're not always nice to our kids, but we try to be nice to each other.) I'm definitely not perfect. This book definitely gave me a few things to think about. But over all I found it positive. So if you like your husband, I think you might enjoy this book. If you think your husband needs to shape up, this book might make you feel really guilty, but it also might help you have a better relationship. Dr. Laura is definitely anti-wild feminism. But she basically advocates a golden rule philosophy and putting your family first. I think what the church teaches protects women from a lot of the more liberal things she discusses in the book. So it's up to you. You may or may not like it. But I definitely found it interesting.

79. Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

This book is a creative, original retelling of the classic fairytale Cinderella. The things that remain the same as the original are the stepmother and stepsisters, the glass slipper that the prince finds, and that Bella disappears at midnight. It reminds me a little of Ella Enchanted, another great book. It's a really fun, exciting read and there were some nights we couldn't put it down because we wanted know what was going to happen. I liked that the stepsisters and stepmother were more likable. Kate picked this for her bedtime story, which was great because I had been thinking about reading it for awhile. The only thing I found a little disconcerting was that the viewpoint changed with each chapter. My little girls had a hard time with that. Ruth was constantly asking, "Now who's talking? Well, who's that?" This shifting viewpoint seems to be all the rage in children's literature right now. The thing I like about it is that you come to understand more than just one character. The shifting viewpoint really helped me sympathize with Bella's stepmother and sisters, even though they weren't very nice to her. It's a good read. I would definitely recommend it.

78. A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned by Michael J. Fox

I picked up this book because it looked interesting. Turns out it is written as a gift book for graduates. I liked it ok. Fox tells about how he dropped out of high school and never went to college, but felt that a lot of his experiences taught him what he would have learned in these more conventional ways. Fox tells a little about his struggle as a young actor, his battle with alcoholism, and his more public battle with Parkinson's Disease. He really has a remarkably positive outlook on life. The only thing I don't like is the occasional bad language. It's a short little book that is fun to read. I wouldn't buy it but it might be worth checking out from the library.

77. Gabriella the Snow Kingdom Fairy by Daisy Meadows

This is another Ruthie pick. Kirstie and Rachel try to help the snow fairy find all the things necessary for a perfect snow holiday. These books are silly but obviously good enough that I can read them constantly without getting bored. They're cute and I can't say enough good things about the pictures. There are just enough words to the pictures to make it perfect to read-aloud to Ruthie's age. She loves them.

76. A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

This is another book I read for my book club. A 16 year old girl is forced to leave her home in Chicago and go live with her grandma in Hicksville, Illinois during the depression. I think Richard Peck is really good at depicting small town America. I think this book is hilarious. The grandma is quite the character and the girl learns, over time, to appreciate her grandma's eccentricities. The older ladies in my book club really related to the stories, and remembered similar stories from their own childhood. It was fun to hear those too. I would recommend this book to anyone. It is short and sweet and worth the hour it will take to read.

75. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

This is the second time I've read this book. I read it when it first came out a year or so ago and this time I read it for my book club. I like the dilemmas this book brings up: What is the difference between a body and a consciousness? Is it right to take control if you make things better? Is love felt just by our consciousness or spirit, or does it extend to the very cells of our bodies? There are a lot of older ladies in my book club and I wasn't sure they would love this book. But I was surprised by how many enjoyed the story. The lady that reviewed it said she didn't think it read like science fiction. It was just a good story. I think that describes the best science fiction. It reads like a story that seems very familiar but with a few twists. The story, told from an alien's point of view, is of a alien that comes and takes over a human that doesn't want to be taken over. It really is interesting. My biggest complaint is that it is really heavy to carry around. Other than that I would recommend it to anyone.

74. Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nielson

This was the last book that Kate and I read for the mother-daughter book club. They picked it because the author has been a librarian at our library for about the last 10 years. She came and talked at the club meeting and she was very interesting. She said she got the idea of writing the book because she had so many pre-teen girls asking for mermaid books and she couldn't think of any. She was able to sell the book to Scholastic without an agent which is pretty amazing, so she obviously found a good niche. I really liked the book. It takes place on an island in the Victorian era. A girl is haunted by a mermaid and eventually leaves to visit her world. It kind of reminded me of The Perilous Gard, another book that I really liked. The heroine is very strong, yet compassionate. I would recommend it to anyone. Kate really liked it too.

73. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

This is one of those books that Mary chose for her bedtime story, but that I've been meaning to read for at least a year. The author, Jessica Day George, comes to a lot of the library's book fests and she's always fun to listen to talk. I really had never heard of her before I saw her the first time at the library. And I must say, I think this book is amazing. It is based on a Nordic fairy tale, East of the Sun, West of the Moon and a little bit of Beauty and the Beast. It made a great read-aloud because it is so interesting that you just want to keep reading, but the chapters are short enough that you can read one a night in not too long and make yourself stop that way. My favorite part, though, is the names. The little girl, who is the main character, is just called, "Lass". And the polar bear is an "isbjorn". I just really liked her names for things; it made it very fun to read out loud. I would highly recommend it. All my girls loved it, even the younger two. It is a beautiful story.