It's Perfectly Normal: Chaging Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley. It's sex ed week for the sixth graders at school. I've found that each age and stage brings new questions about sexuality, and I'm already anticipating fresh lines of inquiry sparked by the school curriculum. I try to answer every question my own tween asks matter-of-factly and honestly. This book, with it's easy, funny and straightforward style, helps. And, it's way, way better than Google.
Building Resilience in Children and Teens by Kenneth R. Ginsberg and Martha M. Jablow. Yes, I'm still reading this dense, but useful book about raising kids with an eye to who and how they'll be at age 35. This week's chapter? "The Value of Play." While we're currently the poster family for over-scheduling (there were five (FIVE!) separate organized sporting events yesterday), I'm already bracing for the hours of unstructured time we'll face this summer. Ginsberg says, "Unstructured free play (or downtime in the case of adolescents) not only offers protection against harmful effects of stress, but it also gives children opportunities to discover their own interests and competencies." Okay, but I hope he's got a whole chapter coming up on how to hold it together when your kid says he's bored every thirty seconds, and by the way, can you please drive him hither and yon to visit his friends right this very second.
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey. This has been on my list for awhile, and it seems like a perfect May book. A couple of weeks ago, I asked for help on what to read next, and people recommended Some Luck by Jane Smiley. I started it, and immediately realized it's not a May book. If you're a teacher, you know that May is insane. The kids are crazed, there are reports to write, curriculum to plan, and decisions to be made for both the current and upcoming school years. It's break-neck, and you can't read a serious, sweeping novel like Some Luck. But, maybe I can read this sci-fi adventure? Dan, my "vegan" spouse, loves the series and says I might, too. Also, I'm curious about it because it's written by two people - Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, who use Corey as a pen name. I always want to know how collaborative writing works. I'll probably read the book and then read lots of interviews about their partnership.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling. This is the perfect May book. My sister Mary was reading it when we went to Chicago in March, and I listened to her laughing out loud at it each night before bed. Now I too am laughing during nightly reading. It's only a little awkward when my tween reading companion looks over my shoulder and sees sub-headings like, "Your Boobs Must Be on Fleek." I also liked Mindy's previous book, which I helpfully reviewed on Goodreads with the two words, "Super fun."
