I’ve long wondered if there were any novels written in verse that didn’t have girl main characters. Now, I know there’s at least one. I stumbled across Hate That Cat (Joanna Cotler Books, 2008) by master writer Sharon Creech. In it I met Jack, and traveled through his school year with him. He made me laugh out loud a number of times as he himself is learning about poetry and poets. (Regarding the latter, he always wants to know if they are alive.) Jack also tugged on my heart strings. Isn’t he lucky to have Ms Stretchberry as his teacher? Again.
Now I’ve found out that Hate that Cat is a sequel to Love that Dog. Even though the second book revealed what happened to the dog, I still have to go get the story and read it. I think I might also need to share these books with my grandsons now that they are old enough.
Sharon shares the inspiration for these stories and tidbits about them on her site. Click on novels, then choose which one you want to read about.
Tag: Sharon Creech
Ruby Holler
Books that make me laugh out loud are so much fun. The classic Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls always comes to mind when I think about laughing books.
There’s a red paint scene in Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech (Joanna Cotler Books, 2002) that made me laugh so hard, I couldn’t read it aloud to my husband without busting up. However, Ruby Holler is about way more than laughter. There’s kindness, compassion and love–it’s a very heartwarming story that I know I’ll be returning to.
Here’s a brief intro: Dallas and Florida are orphans living in a scummy orphanage. They always get brought back because they are “trouble” twins when they go home with someone. This time they go home for a temporary stay with two elderly people, Tiller and Sairy, who each want to go on a trip and think having a young person companion would be good. The kids are amazed when Tiller and Sairy don’t punish them for mistakes.
This books is a very worthwhile read. And, of course, if you’ve never read anything else by Sharon Creech, you’ll probably want to after reading this one. Here’s her website: http://sharoncreech.com/