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Posts Tagged ‘Bridget Mason’

It’s Here! The Ultimate Summer Reading List

Did you catch our earlier post about the hot new read for Hunger Games and Harry Potter fans? That pick came from friend and Olliebop Guest Writer Bridget Mason — and as promised, she has more fantastic Young Adult Summer reads to recommend for tweens and teens. Bridget is a mother, former book buyer and a Young Adult lit enthusiast. With many thanks to Bridget for sharing her best bets with us. Can’t wait for summer! - BOP

Ultimate Summer Reading List for Tweens & Teens … By Bridget Mason

This summer reading list is not about “have to read” books, it’s about “want to read” books. It’s summer! There’s no better time to curl up in the hammock and fall into the reverie of a great story. The selection and writing for Young Adult novels have never been better, so there’s bound to be a book that hooks the curiosity of your tween or teen. In whittling down my recommendations, I had two unbreakable vows: to only recommend books that have 1) excellent writing and 2) fast moving, well-developed plots {no slow starters, here!}. Nearly all also feature strong character-driven narratives; I love a charming, but flawed protagonist, don’t you?

The list is eclectic, but reflects the current trends in teen lit. Dystopian novels {e.g. The Hunger Games} are the biggest sub-genre in YA fiction right now and, accordingly, make up the biggest portion of my recommendations. Fantasy is still very popular, but paranormal romance {e.g. Twilight} has faded, so you won’t find any vampires on the list. There’s always room for just flat-out amazing stories of adolescence and humanity {see Wonder below}, and my twelve-year-old son insisted I include a few sports-themed novels, as well.

For Hunger Games Fans:

Divergent by Veronica Roth {14 and up}

One of the best dystopians I’ve read since The Hunger Games. Protagonist Beatrice Prior lives in a dystopian society neatly divided into five factions representing a particular virtue: Abnegation {selflessness}, Candor {honesty}, Amity {peace}, Erudite {intelligence} and Dauntless {bravery}. On Choosing Day, all sixteen year olds must decide to which faction they will enter and commit their lives. Beatrice struggles with defining herself and, as you can expect from a dystopian novel, tyrannical leaders threaten the whole of society. Divergent has it all: fast-paced plot, lots of surprises, romance, original premise and a feisty heroine. If you love Divergent, the follow-up novel, Insurgent, just came out, too.

Legend by Marie Lu {12 and up}

After I read this book I thought, “This is it. The next Hunger Games. I predict huge,” and, come to find out, Legend’s movie rights have been sold to CBS Films. This is a clever novel – furiously paced and intricately plotted – and it’s easy to imagine on the big screen. I love books that switch between narrators and was fascinated by the disparate views of the orphan/reputed criminal, Day, who is surviving in the slums with the Republic-educated prodigy, June, who is hoping to follow in her military family’s esteemed footsteps. The intersection between these characters, the twists and turns of the plot, and the political intrigue of this post-apocalyptic Los Angeles will astonish even the most prescient readers.

Also highly recommended: 

  • Matched by Allie Condie {14 and up}
  • Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey {13 and up}
  • Incarceron by Catherine Fisher {12 and up}

 For Harry Potter Fans:

Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson {12 and up}:  Winner of the William C. Morris YA Debut Award

Girl of Fire and Thorns is the first in a trilogy that has garnered stellar reviews from some of the most esteemed YA fiction writers {e.g. Tamora Pierce, Megan Whalen Turner, Veronica Roth} and I am in full agreement. The novel is built around Elisa, the second daughter of the King who doesn’t see herself as a likely candidate for greatness, but as the bearer of a godstone, she is the Chosen One. Carson creates a fascinating character in Elisa. She is intelligent and insightful, but also overweight and full of uncertainties.  After being coddled throughout her childhood, she is thrust into adulthood when her father makes a political marriage for her to a neighboring king. Elisa must now fulfill her duty to her country and her destiny as the once-in-a-century godstone bearer. Take this book on your summer camping trip! This is high fantasy in top form, the world-building, maturation of the main character, magical elements, and collision course with destiny all come together in a adventure that will keep your flashlight on and the pages turning under the cover of your sleeping bag.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielson {10 and up}

The False Prince is the first book in the Ascendance Trilogy. See the previous Olliebop post on The False Prince, here. Also, if you love this book, try The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner {Newbery Honor Book}; both have charming, but irascible, main characters that pull you into the intrigue and political landscape of their worlds.

Also highly recommended: 

  • The Naming and The Books of Pellinor by Alison Croggon {YA fantasy quartet also includes The Riddle, The Crow, and The Singing}
  • Graceling by Kristen Cashore

 For Contemporary Teen Lit fans {Adolescence/Empathy/Humanity}:

Wonder by R.J. Palacio {11 and up}

This is, unequivocally, the “must read” book on this entire list. I carried my Kindle everywhere for two days, snatching minutes whenever and wherever I could to read this book. I recommended Wonder to my son, Ben, {age 12} and despite baseball games and homework, he finished it in two days, too. The novel follows the story of Auggie, born with cranio-facial abnormalities. As Auggie says of his face, “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” He is home schooled until fifth grade when his parents decide he needs to learn to navigate the outside world and they send him off to private school, Beecher Prep. Auggie’s journey through fifth grade is an emotional tilt-a-whirl, populated by authentic, funny, flawed characters, and an exploration of what it means to be “normal.” Wonder is the rare book that I want to press into everyone’s hands and then stand over them until they finish the last page.

The Absolutely True Diary of Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie {13 and up}
Note: Book has been banned in some communities due to strong language and sexual references

National Book Award winner in 2007, this book is a marvel. It follows Junior, a teen on the Spokane Indian Reservation, who transfers from the reservation school to the all-white high school. Junior is in that most untenable position of not fitting in at his new school and being a “traitor” back on the rez. Alexie, a poet, novelist, screenplay writer and stand-up comedian, pulls all his talents together, here, to create a deceptively stripped-down narrative that perfectly evokes the life Junior is attempting to put together while trying not to completely abandon the one he is leaving behind. Masterful writing and riveting storytelling.

Also highly recommended: 

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead: Winner of the 2010 Newbery Medal

For Sports Fans; Especially Baseball … by Ben Mason, Age 12

  • Two Hot Dogs with Everything by Paul Haven {10 and up} A Kirkus review calls it “Charles Dickens meets Harry Potter at the old ballgame.  Huge, magical and delightful.”
  • The Big Field by Mike Lupica {10 and up}
  • Heat by Mike Lupica {10 and up}
  • Change Up by John Feinstein {10 and up}

 

About the author: Bridget Mason and her family live in Wilton, NY. In her former life, she was a fiction buyer for Borders Corporation, where she had her finger on the pulse of the nation’s literary tastes and helped create some best sellers along the way. She is now a freelance writer and continues to enjoy a literary life.

 

Welcome BlogHer Friends!

I am so pleased that Olliebop has been featured on BlogHer, with the spotlight on Bridget Mason’s guest post, Say “Pyoo-ber-tee…” One Mom’s Tale of the Talk. Congratulations, Bridget!

For first time visitors… Olliebop is an optimistic resource, created especially for on-the-go families with tweens and teens. Ollie is our yellow lab who is a marvelous foot warmer. I type; he sleeps! Olliebop specializes in fetching finds for families that make life easier, more beautiful, and all around more fun.

 

Popular posts from the past:

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So many exciting plans here for 2012! Join us as a subscriber {big pink box to the right} and be sure to catch all the bonus finds on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Here’s to making the most of this fleeting time in life! Hope you’ll join us for the ride.

- Beth {BOP}

Photo by Heather Bohm-Tallman

Say “Pyoo-ber-tee…” One Mom’s Tale of The Talk

I’m delighted to introduce Bridget Mason, a new guest writer on Olliebop! Bridget and her husband Bob are parents to Ella, age 8 and Ben, age 11. Bridget always has a good tale to tell {often about her mischievous dog, Sparky} and we enjoy talking about “our Ellas” and our boys, too.

 

This essay involves having “the talk” with her son, Ben. This is something that we parents all share in common but our experiences sure are different! The talk can get complicated, and doesn’t always go as planned {be sure to link to Julia Sweeney’s hilarious video at the end of this piece}. Bridget’s enthusiastic and ever-curious son, Ben, guided his parents through this adolescent milestone, together.  Here’s their story…
Say “Pyoo-ber-tee”
By Bridget Mason

 

Ben sat on the examining table in the pediatrician’s office.  We were waiting for the doctor to come in.  He had been hit in the wrist by a wild pitch during his baseball game.

 

We were both scanning the room.  There was a battered Dr. Seuss book and a couple of Highlights magazines.  The wallpaper border had dragons and fairies and fanciful curlicues. Ben’s eyes had caught the pamphlets encased on the wall.  It seems like the last time we were here, he was still wearing Thomas the Tank underwear and asking for a sticker.  I am struck by this figure, this boy, edging toward manhood.  At eleven, he is almost the same height as me, but has his father’s big, strapping build.  His hands, with their grubby fingernails, belong to a boy; his feet, wide and long, belong to a man.

 

“Hey Mom?  Can you grab one of those pamphlets to take home?”
I look over at the wall.  The pamphlets cover the gamut: bedwetting, lice, obesity, diabetes.
“Which one are you looking at?”
“Uh. That one — “Puberty for Boys.”  I wanna read that.”
I pause to look at him, eyebrows up. He’s grinning. We laugh.

 

I take the pamphlet, scan it quickly (it has pictures), and put it in my purse.  The doctor knocks and comes in.
The pamphlet sits on the counter for days.  It gets buried under a couple of catalogs and school papers.  I completely forget it exists.

 

“Hey Mom?  Where’s that pamphlet we took from the doctor’s office?”
A quick jolt of nervousness whizzes through my stomach, but I affect nonchalance and point in the general direction.
He unearths it from the counter rubble with an alacrity that he never applies to finding his shoes or tennis racquet or backpack.

 

“Can we read this?” he says.
“Now?” I ask.
“Yeah.  Let’s go upstairs, on your bed, and read it.”
I hook my arm over his shoulder and off we go. I am trying to match his easy manner.  But I’m not ready for this.  He might weigh more than me now, but he’s still my baby.  We continue the climb and we stretch out on the bed, our heads are together as we read, “A lot of changes happen as you grow up, especially as you reach puberty (say:  pyoo-ber-tee)…”

 

He reads it aloud; I answer his questions.  He’s unabashedly curious and completely open. We talk about changes that will occur – his voice deepening, hair sprouting, body parts growing.  Ben lifts his arm and proudly points to his armpit.  “I’m gettin’ some pit hair. Oh yeah,” he boasts, with a head swivel and a finger point.  I can’t see any hair, but it is a perfect segue into talking about deodorant.

 

We’re both sitting up now.  I had just fielded, and bobbled, a question on “vas deferens” and Ben was moving on to sperm travel and erections.  “The pamphlet mentions something called wet dreams,” he says, “what are those?”
“Oh boy.  Okay.  We’re getting technical,” I say, “this is a little out of my area of expertise.  Wet dreams, um, that’s also called nocturnal emissions and that happens when…”

 

“Hey guys, what’s up? Looks intense,” my husband remarks as he enters the bedroom.  Silence.  We lock eyes and then his eyes travel with mine over to the pamphlet:  Puberty for Boys.
“Oh,” he says.
“Yeah.  Oh,” I say.  “Ben has some questions and I think it’s time for the handoff.”
“Okay, then.  Wow.  Didn’t expect this today,” Bob says, “c’mon bud.”

 

Father and son head to Ben’s room.  Bob gives me one last look over his shoulder.  I try not to look too relieved and give him the thumbs up sign.  I hear the cadence of their voices, punctuated by laughter, and I am divided between wanting to know how it’s going and wishing we hadn’t already arrived at this place.  How can he be ready for the sex talk when he barely cuts his own steak?

 

When they emerge, I hear Ben say, “Dad! That was great.  Can we schedule one of these talks, like, every Tuesday or Thursday?” Bob laughs and puts his arm around Ben’s shoulder.
“Buddy, we’re gonna have to hold off for awhile. I’m out of material.”

 

Bridget Mason and her family live in Wilton, NY. In her former life, she was a fiction buyer for Borders Corporation, where she had her finger on the pulse of the nation’s literary tastes and helped create some best sellers along the way. She is now a freelance writer and continues to enjoy a literary life.

 

Having the talk is ideally part of an ongoing conversation that builds over time — though it can also accelerate unexpectedly. Or, some parents wait for a moment like Bridget’s and it just doesn’t materialize. Whatever the rate of communication, this article includes some helpful tips on how to approach the dialogue about puberty and sexuality. And as promised, click here to watch Julia Sweeney’s video about her unusual experience with the talk. Set aside 10 minutes, consider clearing kids from the area, and prepare to laugh; perhaps quite loudly.

 

Here’s to the unexpected moments of parenthood… With thanks to Bridget for sharing one of hers! - BOP