Happy Mother's Day!

In honor of Mother's Day, Bookworm Readers has selected a few excellent books involving mothers and their children. Happy Mother's Day to all!

- The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick

- Julep O' Toole: Miss Independent by Trudi Trueit

- 12 Again by Sue Corbett

- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

- The Diary of Melanie Martin by Carol Weston

- From the Files of Madison Finn by Laura Dower

- My Life Starring Mum by Chloë Rayban

- As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President! by Donna Gephart

- Tennyson by Lesley MM Blume

- Dizzy by Cathy Cassidy

- Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

- Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary

- Poor Little Witch Girl by Marie Desplechin

- So B. It by Sarah Weeks

The Princess Diaries

Mia Thermopolis's life is tough for a high school freshman. She's being ignored by her crush, is the least popular person in the school, doesn't have a date for the Cultural Diversity Dance, is completely and utterly flat-chested, and oh, yeah-her mom is dating her algebra teacher! Sounds pretty bad, huh? Well, think again. As if all of THAT weren't bad enough, Mia has just found out that she is the heir to the throne (yes, a PRINCESS) of a tiny European country, and of course she's the most un-princessly person in the whole world! Now Mia's having to take "princess lessons" with her obnoxious grandmother (the queen)! But the one good thing is that she's being accepted by the popular crowd, which might not do good things to she and her best friend's relationship...Can Princess Mia sort things out before the Cultural Diversity Dance and learn that being a princess isn't always a bad thing? Meg Cabot has created a royally witty and humorous novel that will have readers wanting more!

Sisters Grimm #6: Tales from the Hood

Sabrina and Daphne Grimm (the Sisters Grimm) are back in the kick-butt sixth novel of this bestselling fairytale/mystery series by Michael Buckley. This time, the Grimm's friend, Mr. Canis (the Big Bad Wolf) is being put on trial for crimes in the past. Granny Relda is frantic-she hates seeing Canis surrender to the Wolf inside of him, and won't give up. But Sabrina has other thoughts-how could this killer be a friend of the Grimms? She starts wondering if it really would be better to lock him up, much to Relda's dismay. Can the Grimms plead Mr. Canis's innocence before it's too late? Daphne and Sabrina must investigate the story of Little Red Riding Hood to find evidence for Canis's case that might just surprise them and change the whole story...

Tennyson

Tennyson Fontaine and her little sister, Hattie had always lived happily with their dad, Emery, their moody poet mother, Sadie, and their wild dog, Jos, in their rickety little house called Innisfree in Mississippi. But then one night, Sadie disappears, and Emery must send his daughters to their strange old Aunt Henrietta's home so he can search for his wife. But Aunt Henrietta's house, Aigredoux, holds many dark secrets of the Fontaine family's past, which Tennyson learns through her peculiar dreams. Tennyson is haunted by the once-great plantation, so she decides to bring Aigredoux's past forward for all to see, in her own words. Can Tennyson ever bring back the safe family she loved? And can she free herself of Aigredoux's web of secrets and lies? Lesley MM Blume (author of Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters and The Rising Star of Rusty Nail)'s new novel will suck readers in just like the Mississippi River.

The Sisters Grimm #5: Magic and Other Misdemeanors

Big trouble has come to Ferryport Landing, home of sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm (the great-great-great-great grandaughters of the original Brothers Grimm) and their grandmother, Relda. These fairytale detectives have a couple of big problems on their hands: first, magical items that have been mysteriously disappearing from local Everafters, which in the wrong hands could cause lots of bad and dangerous things to come to Ferryport Landing...And the evil mayor, Queen of Hearts, is taxing ridiculous amounts of money to humans in an evil plot to get rid of the Grimms (the founding family of Ferryport Landing) once and for all! And, finally, dangerous "tears in time"-portals to the past and future-are appearing all over town, and could cause major trouble, confusion, and pain. 

   Can Sabrina and Daphne save Ferryport Landing (and all of its citizens) from the future before it's too late? This quick and intriguing mystery by Michael Buckley is fantastic, enchanting, and difficult for readers to put down! A five-star book indeed!

Soccer Chick Rules!

Tess Munro is a total soccer chick. So when the school district puts her schools' sports program on hold, Tess and her pals Ibby and Bo known that they need to step in. So now Tess is stuck with levy meetings, a peppy cheerleader club president, an evil next-door neighbor, and an impossible fundraiser in the form of a Halloween haunted house. But on Election Day, will the levy pass? And can Tess's soccer team defeat their rivals and win the last game of the season-or forever? 

Dawn FitzGerald has written an awesome, kick-butt sports story that soccer chicks (and non-soccer chicks) of all ages will love!

Interview with the Awesome Donna Gephart!

Guess what, readers? This month, Bookworm had the honor of interviewing the oh-so-awesome (A-W-E-S-O-M-E) author, Donna Gephart, who  wrote As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President! Enjoy!

Click here for a review of Donna's book.

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Bookworm: What inspired you to write As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President!

Donna: As If Being 12 3/4... started as a short story about a mother/daughter relationship and blossomed into a coming-of-age story about a gawky, klutzy spelling bee whiz whose mother just happened to be the governor of Florida and running for the President of the United States.

Bookworm: Are you like Vanessa in any way?

Donna: Do you mean other than my size 9 1/2 feet? Okay, size 10 feet...and being occasionally klutzy...and loving the color purple? Yes, growing up, I had a close relationship with my mother just like my main character, Vannessa, and often wished she weren't so busy working. But I've never been followed everywhere by a bodyguard or fielded serious death threats. Thank goodness!

Bookworm: Do you have any experience in politics?

Donna: I follow politics and worked on a political campaign shortly before writing this book.

Bookworm: What are your favorite YA (young adult) books today?

Donna: There are so many wonderful ones! Some of my favorite authors are: Jerry Spinelli, Christopher Paul Curtis and Louis Sachar. Two novels I recently read and enjoyed are: Skin Deep by E.M. Crane and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

Bookworm: Have you ever been in a spelling bee?

Donna: A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y. In third grade, I lost on the word "meant". I thought it was spelled "ment" and Cindy Brown went on to win that spelling bee. And my son was also in a spelling bee in third grade. Like Chester Fields in the opening chapter, my son couldn't spell "thoroughly". While doing research, I interviewed an amazing speller at my son's school who went to the National Bee in Washington, D.C. twice.

Many thanks to Donna for the great interview, and good luck with future books!