I can't help myself.

So, last month I swore off award-winning books for the summer, but I just couldn't stay away. I didn't read a Pulitzer this month, but I did read a Newbery winner.

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead won the Newbery award in 2010.

It tells the story of Miranda, a thirteen year-old growing up with a single mother in New York City in the late 1970s. One day, the hidden key to Miranda's apartment comes up missing, and then Miranda begins to find small notes in her belongings with cryptic messages written on them that seem to predict the future.

This novel explores many themes. Friendship, identity, racism, time-travel, and death, are just a few. Also, throughout the novel there are multiple reference to A Wrinkle In Time, a book Miranda loves. It's been a really long time since I read A Wrinkle in Time, and I don't know exactly what they are, but apparently in addition to the outright references to the book, the plots of both books also have some similarities.

For being a short book, When You Reach Me is surprisingly complex with many interwoven plot lines. It is the type of book a reader could benefit from reading multiple times, just to see how everything works together from the beginning.

I'm still not sure if I actually liked this one, but even so, it is definitely worth reading.

Dissappointed.

I just realized that I never wrote about my May Pulitzer and Newbery selections, so here they are.

I'm sad to report that I lost a lot of respect for the Pulitzer Prize after reading this year's winner: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.

It wasn't that the novel was poorly written. In fact, it was put together rather cleverly. The chapters can almost be considered short stories - each one is about a different character and takes place in a different time and place, but even so, everything and everyone is interconnected.

However, in my opinion, the characters and plot are far from memorable, not at all likeable, and I found myself not really caring about any of it as I read. I finished reading the book about a month ago, and I'm now having a hard time actually remembering what it is even about. My recommendation on this one is don't waste your time with it.


The Newbery winner I read is the complete opposite. It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville is one of the most charming books I have read in a long time.

It takes place in New York City in the 1960s and describes how a 14 year old boy's life changes just because he takes in a stray cat. Very cute. I highly recommend this one.

Since I was so disappointed by May's Pulitzer selection, and because I don't care to read any of the Pulitzer winners that I have left to read on the list any time soon, I've decided to take a break from award winning books for the summer and just read for fun.

Any book suggestions are welcome.

Whoopie!

I was at my grandma's house the other day when she found a recipe for whoopie pies in a magazine. We both thought they looked really yummy, so I went into the kitchen and whipped them up.

We were right. They are delicious and quite possibly my new favorite sweet treat.

Two chocolate cakes sandwiched together with a marshmallowy filling. Mmmmmm. What's not to love?

Here's the recipe. I believe it came from AARP magazine.

Whoopie Pies

For the cake:
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk

Beat sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla until light and creamy. Mix cocoa, baking soda, salt, and flour. Blend with buttermilk into the creamed mixture. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto greased baking sheets. Bake 7-9 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool on wire racks. Makes 30 cakes.

For the filling:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients well. Sandwich a heaping tablespoon of filling between two cakes. Makes 15 whoopie pies.

Southern Critters

Shortly after Leslie and Marty moved to South Carolina, there was a story in the news about a woman who was hunting at a lake about 90 miles from Columbia. Click here for a picture of what she killed.

That's right. She bagged a 13 foot, 1025 pound alligator! 

That thing is massive. Knowing there were lizards that big roaming around in the wild out there made me very apprehensive about visiting. I’ve been fearing for Leslie and Marty’s safety the whole time they've been there, and I literally had dreams that I was eaten by alligators the week before the trip. It was pretty terrifying. I was certain I was going to have an alligator encounter sometime on the trip.

Well, my worst fears were realized, and Sunday morning, I came face to face with one of the critters.

He was pretty creepy and kept winking at me, which made me all the more leary of him.

Fortunately, he lived in the zoo, and I was perfectly safe, which was lucky for me, as I wasn’t allowed to carry my industrial strength pepper spray on the airplane. (It really works on alligators. Look it up if you don’t believe me.)

Not all of the animals were as creepy as alligators. There were tons of cardinals, which I love. Also, I didn't get a picture of one, but mockingbirds abound. They do really good impressions of car alarms and crying babies. Fun.

Tiny lizards run around, too. They are cute and don't frighten me like their larger alligator cousins.

We saw lots and lots of tadpoles...

And one tiny green frog.

This critter is really rare. The elusive Johnna raccoon.

In addition to alligators, I was kind of dreading sharing space with the giant palmetto bugs. I actually only saw two the whole week I was there, so no pictures of them. But I did get some neat pictures of these blue dragonflies.

Palmetto bugs aren't the only big insects. The praying mantis grows pretty large there, too.

Finally, we saw lots of turtles sunning themselves. If you look closely, there are two on the rocks in the foreground of this picture, and four on the tiny rock in the middle on the right side.