"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." -- Seneca the Younger --

"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do." -- Epictetus --

"Self-confidence is the best outfit. Rock it and own it." -- Unknown --

The Meanest Doll in the World

Title: The Meanest Doll in the World

Author: Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin

Illustrator: Brian Selznick

Rating: ★★★★☆

Age Category: Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    "Wrapped in humor and adventure are serious considerations of self-esteem, the power of intimidation, and the nature of friendship." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Look for something positive in each day, even if some days you have to look a little harder." -- Unknown --

Sonnet 32 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 32

by William Shakespeare

If thou survive my well-contented day,

When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover,

And shalt by fortune once more re-survey

These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,

Compare them with the bettering of the time,

And though they be outstripp'd by every pen,

Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme,

Exceeded by the height of happier men.

O, then vouchsafe me but this loving thought:

'Had my friend's Muse grown with this growing age,

A dearer birth than this his love had brought,

To march in ranks of better equipage:

But since he died and poets better prove,

Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love.'

"It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is." -- Erasmus --

"The best mirror is an old friend." -- George Herbert --

"The family - that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor in our innermost hearts, ever quite wish to." -- Dodie Smith --

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." -- Søren Kiekegaard --

The Whisper in the Ruins

Title: The Whisper in the Ruins

Author: Lisa M. Hendey

Rating: ★★★★☆

Age: Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    Patrick and his twin sister, Katie, are shocked to find someone threw a brick through the stained-glass window of St. Francis of Assisi at St. Anne's. Who would do such a thing? Before they can investigate, Patrick is swept into another adventure-to the town of Assisi, Italy, into the year 1205. There he meets a brave young man determined to leave his family's wealth behind in order to answer God's call in his life. Francis's father is furious, and will do almost anything to stop his son. Will Patrick be able to help Francis, and get back to St. Anne's in time to solve the mystery?

"There is more to life than simply increasing its speed." -- Mahatma Gandhi --

Sonnet 7 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 7

by William Shakespeare

Lo! in the orient when the gracious light

Lifts up his burning head, each under eye

Doth homage to his new-appearing sight,

Serving with looks his sacred majesty;

And having climb'd the steep-up heavenly hill,

Resembling strong youth in his middle age,

yet mortal looks adore his beauty still,

Attending on his golden pilgrimage;

But when from highmost pitch, with weary car,

Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day,

The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are

From his low tract and look another way:

So thou, thyself out-going in thy noon,

Unlook'd on diest, unless thou get a son.

"Our peace shall stand as tall as rocky mountains." -- William Shakespeare, "Henry IV, Part 2" --

"There never was any heart truly great and generous that was not also tender and compassionate." -- Robert South --

"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." -- Emily Dickinson --

"A smile is the shortest distance between two people." -- Victor Borge --

The Doll People

Title: The Doll People

Author: Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin

Illustrator: Brian Selznick

Rating: ★★★★★

Age Category: Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    "It is entertaining and satisfying, and likely to hold the attention of young readers, regardless of their interest in dolls." -- The New York Times

"Our deeds determine us as much as we determine our deeds." -- George Eliot --

Sonnet 19 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 19

by William Shakespeare

Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws,

And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;

Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,

And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;

Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,

And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,

To the wide world and all her fading sweets;

But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:

O, carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,

Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;

Him in thy course untainted do allow

For beauty's pattern to succeeding men.

Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,

My love shall in my verse ever live young.

"There is no such word as 'too late,' in the wide world -- nay, not in the universe -- Dinah Craik --

"Inhale the future, exhale the past." -- Unknown --

"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." -- Theodore Roosevelt --

"Make it happen. Shock everyone." -- Unknown --

Whittington

Title: Whittington

Author: Alan Armstrong

Rating: ★★★★☆

Age Category: Middle Grade

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    Bernie keeps a barn full of animals the rest of the world has no use for--two retired sulky horses, an overly enthusiastic rooster, some banty hens, and a Muscovy duck with clipped wings called the Lady. The Lady is pretty much the Law, and so, when the tough-looking cat who calls himself Whittington shows up one day, it is to the Lady that he makes an appeal to secure a place in the barn.

    This is the earthy story of Bernie's barn, not without its life-and-death dramas. It is the story of Bernie's grandson, Ben, who is reading below grade level and struggles with lessons from his sister, Abby, every day in the barn. And it is the rousing and exotic tale the cat, Whittington, tells as balm for Ben after the grueling lessons--the adventures of Dick Wittington, who once made his fortune because of a nameless cat. Masterfully interwoven, these threads become a novel about the healing, transcendent power of storytelling and how, if you have loved ones surrounding you and good stories to tell, to listen to, and to read, you have just about everything of true value in this world. 

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you." -- Walt Whitman --

Sonnet 30 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 30

by William Shakespeare

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

I summon up remembrance of things past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:

Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,

For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,

And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,

And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er

The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,

Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

All losses are restored and sorrows end.

"Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can choose to grow flowers or you can choose to grow weeds." -- Unknown --

"When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this -- you haven't." -- Thomas Edison --

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." -- William James --

"What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?" -- Jean-Jaques Rousseau --