I have been reading a lot!! These are the books I have read since last week. Now I know these are YA (Young Adult) novels are not something most of you would ever read, but I find them to be very enjoyable and also informative.

A great adventure story about a Boy Scout Camping Trip in Hawaii. There is an earthquake and a tsunami.....admist personality conflicts within the troup. I learned about Hawaiian folk lore along with information about the different terrain and types of lava.

This is the story of a girl who begins seeing her boy-friend as more of a boyfriend....while he starts noticing other girls at his school instead of his long time gal pal. It sounds schmaltzy, but turns out to be a sensitve treatment of a fairly common yet painful experience.

A couple of misfit kids become great friends because they are both suffereing from painful experiences in their lives. One minute they are hanging out haveing a great time and next they are at each other throats verbally trying to wound the other. Eventually they find some resolution in their respective persoanl problems and recognize their respect and love for they have for each other.

Cracker is the story of a dog trained by the Army and shipped to Vietnam. The author did her research well and we learn about the sensitive missions dogs were part of and the number of lives they helped to spare. I never knew the extrodianary lengths the dogs of Vietnam went to and the way many of them were just disposed of after their years of faithful service. It was a great story and I think girls and boys would enjoy this book.

This is the story of Cap Anderson, a boy raised in a hippie commune. When Cap's grandmother has to go into rehab for two months, for a broken hip, Cap attends public school and is voted Class President of his Jr. High....it is interesting like reading about a creature from another planet being plopped in a Jr. High.