Two Must Reads

Dear Jo- Christina Kilbourne

What Mr. Matteo Did- Priscilla C ummings

These are two very powerful novels that deserve a place in every library. Dear Jo is the story of a girl falling victim to an internet predator. Told through the journal entires of her best friend, who very nearly falls prey as well, this is a powerful look at the dangers of on-line chatting. This is a novel that I expect will be flying off the shelf. I believe this would also be important for parents to read.

The second novel centers around three 6th. grade girls who report their music teacher for being sexually inappropriate with them. This story will keep you on the edge of your seat as the story unfolds to eventually reveal that two of the girls have been coerced into this lie by the other girl. Things literally spiral out of control and lives are changed forever. This is not something that is generally addressed with tweens; in particular, what can happen if you lie about something like this.

The Lady and the Unicorn- Tracy Chevalier

Tracy tackles the origin of the famed medieval tapestries, now hanging in a protected environment in Paris. They depict a mystery; that of a lady seducing  a unicorn. This story looks at the  man who commissioned the tapestries, but even more at Nicolas, the painter hired to paint the pictures.  An arrogant rogue, Nicolas attempts to seduce every young woman that comes his way but in particular is interested in the young daughter of the man who hired him. Throughout we come to gain some knowledge of all that went into the weaving of tapestries and all the rules and regulations that permeated the guild. Chevalier’s gift is to seamlessly weave the story into the history introducing us not just to the facts, but the sounds, sights and flavours of that era. A very worthy read! I just picked up Burning Bright by the same author.