My Western Sky

In 2016, I heard some buzz via Twitter about a book that sparked a bidding war between thirteen publishing houses and received an unprecedented eight starred reviews . Being the unabashed book nerd (and librarian) that I am, I moved this book from a blip on my reading radar to #1 on my must-read list of 2017. This book is THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas. I attended the North Texas Teen Book Festival in early March, a few weeks after the release of THE HATE U GIVE. I bought a copy at the event and went to an author panel that included Angie Thomas. I listened to her speak with passion and humor about her just-released book, and I instantly became a fangirl. Since much of the world was still sleeping on the brilliance of this debut author, there weren't throngs of people surrounding her, and I am still mad at myself for not meeting Angie in person when I had the chance. I read THE HATE U GIVE slowly and had to put it down several times because it was hard and made me feel unc

As I was googling a picture for this post, I realized that summer reading is often associated with the beach--like I need sand, surf, and sun to enjoy a book during the summer months. I decided to use this picture because typing these words next to this image is the closest I will get to the beach. By my own choice, this is going to be a "working" summer for me, filled with lots of teaching opportunities, writing time,  and not much traveling. But at least I will have my books even if I won't have a beach. I also realized that this is my SEVENTH year to post a summer reading list on my blog! I've loved sharing my suggestions with you over the years, and I still can't believe that  my Summer 2016 post had 1,725 page views! (Insert OMG emoji here!) Thank you to all of you who wait patiently for my suggestions and share them via social media. This is why I do this--to spread the Summer Reading Gospel! Full disclosure: I do not read all of these books. I'