Oooo! My favorite subject! BOOKS! ;o) The "Ramona" series by Beverly Cleary, follows Ramona as she grows up, family relationships are a big part of the plot/theme of these books... everyone learning to get along and repsect each other through funny but normal situations. She's a great girl with all the normal ups and down of being a kid. They are my DD's favorites, she is 9 now. Cleary has many other children's books, definitely an author to collect. Several Judy Blume books are for kids that age: The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo Frecklejuice and the "Fudge" series, Superfudge, Fudge-O-Mania, Double Fudge. (Fudge is a kid.) The Spiderwick Cronicles is a fantasy series, think Harry Potter for younger readers. The books are MUCH shorter than a HP book! Much more managable, with some sketched illustrations to keep it interesting. Andrew Clements, another author writing for that age group. And if you want to take her beyond chapter books, try the poetry of Shel Silverstein. Excellent, and she'll read them for years to come. If I sit down to read Shel Silverstein with my 6 y/o, my 9 and 12 y/o's are soon by my side, too. They all enjoy the humor and eccentricity of his poetry and drawings. While the vocabulary is managable for a young reader, they have to think a little harder to "get it" with some of his writing which makes them great fun to read together and talk about. Although other poems are just plain silly fun. Lemony Snicket ("Seris of Unfortunate Events"), Ronald Dahl ("James and the Giant Peach") and E.B. White ("Charlotte's Web") write for just a tad older, but a high-reading 7 y/o could read them. Finding a good series she will follow is a great idea. Also consider introducing her to different authors. If she likes a book, she should look for others by the same author, even if they are not in a series. I am helping to set up our school's bookfair tomorrow, and I am so excited! I'm hopeless when this is what I get excited about. But there you go, I love to see all the new titles and I LOVE LOVE LOVE to help the kids find the "right" book when they come to shop. Most authors have websites now where you can get a really good idea of what their writing is all about, and find some fun activities for kids to go along with the reading. So google the author and check it, it will be fun. If your GD finds an author she really likes, don't forget to try the author's website for fun kid activities. If she loves to read, introduce her to good children's literature and start a lifetime of appreciating literature. There is some fantastic literature for kids, with themes and characters and conflicts that they will relate to and that will make them think.

We obviously live in different states! Glad you got away with it though. Here it's often the intent will make the crime. For instance, you used to have to exit a store before you could be accused of shoplifting, but not anymore and actually to hide something might not get you a theft charge, it'd still probably be a vandalism, malicious mischief or similar charge, possibly a theft or some other charge possible, but with the extenuating circumstances, I know I'd never convict you if *I* were on your jury! :D I didn't have quite as lively experiences as you but I sure appreciate the situation you're in. Years ago now, my dad had car trouble one time and was only able to get his car to about 30 mph on the freeway. (Had a plugged catalytic converter.) Instead of getting off the freeway and coming to my house, or calling someone he stayed on the freeway determined to just drive home and with the camera system they watched him and sent a squad. The highway patrol was a hotdog and put in for an examination order and *he* recommended no night driving and some other limitations to his license and from there, things just snowballed. I tried to handle some of the things and had a PI buddy check it out but technically the HP did everything legally, though they agreed that ethically/morally it was questionable. So my dad had to go in for a driver's interview and during the interview my dad is carrying on about how he drove ambulance in the War and drove the CO's Jeep, etc and the examiner goes, But that was 50 years ago! And the day he went in was a snowstorm, he was late getting there because he got lost (didn't know where he was going) and was so flustered that he couldn't remember where he parked his car when he was going to leave! After that, they wouldn't let him drive home so they called my sister to pick him up. I went with so we could take his car home. As soon as we walked in he yells at the top of his lungs CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT???? TELLING ME I CAN'T DRIVE MY OWN CAR!!!! I tried to tell him to shut up or he could well lose his license. What do you suppose happened? Well he then got an order to come in for a road test, which he failed, not just once but 3 (or was it 4?) times, then decided the world is out to get him so he's not taking the test any more. The silly part is that he was failing the parallel parking and since he was handicapped, he never parallel parked anyway and I tried to tell him to just not do it. Start the attempt and just stop. At worst, he's lose 5 points (3 for procedure and 2 for proficiency) and if he was careful they might even give him the procedure points but once he knocked over the poles it was considered an accident and an automatic failure. Stubborn? Just a little... He was at the point he could have asked to have parallel parking waived, but his temper took over. Then got caught driving without the license! Sheesh. With that is a mandatory court appearance and he basically went in with a chip on his shoulder figuring "put me in jail" or something. He wouldn't hire a lawyer, was so hard of hearing anyway and didn't shave for a week or change clothes. Looked like a bum off the street. They started the hearing and the judge stopped it and said "you need a lawyer", he said he wasn't going to get one, so they appointed a (totally incompetent) public defender who essentially plea bargained for jail time and a fine for him. The judge went wait a minute and said let's clear this up now. Asked my dad if he had his license with him, he did, asked if he'd give it to him, he did, then the judge said, Will you let me keep this if I dismiss everything against you? Surprisingly he agreed to it. Now he never said he wouldn't drive again.... Oh well, after that is another even longer story but it is an interesting life at times, isn't it? I think you should get your dad a t-shirt "I'm a little rascal on my Little Rascal"

I make a sprouted grain brown bread we love. I seem to have so much time but no time to do anything these days, lol. Thomas looks good!. I have some Lincoln in your packet to send. It is a new one to me. Sooz, forgot to mention,... if you want to save some peas like the pics you posted, I would bury them a bit under the soil. The root ends need better contact with the soil and the tops will grow up through it. Root ends will go down. But best to just figure out a more controlled method and start over. Someone must have 'flagged' the visitor. Makes the thread a bit confusing. I had no problem with it. Maybe they will learn something eventually. One comment was about the growing method. (Now deleted). I can plant all or any of these seedlings in my garden. Even densely planted. My winter grown herbs are now in deck pots. Cilantro, leeks, basils. The peas and radish I just planted the dry seed. This is a short video and ten yrs old so bad quality taken with one of those mini video cameras. Some people went nuts and attacking about Craig's method. (he actually named CherokeePurple) Lots of different ways to garden. On my gardening forum, someone out of the blue went ballistic how wrong he was... The ballistic person had no idea Craig wrote this book.... 😂....I'm pretty sure the ballistic guy was banned from the forum. Or left in a huff. That is my method as well. Dense tomato planting. But I start mine about 5-6 per cell. 10-15 per cell for the 'hunt' F2-4.

Reader_in_transit - Yes, it's true that Anthony Doerr's All The Light We Cannot See is presented in alternating chapters, but they do not jump the reader between time periods, and one story does not serve as a framework for the other. Instead, the chapters jump the reader between the lives of two protagonists, and both stories are equally compelling and wonderfully written. The two characters are children, a French girl and a German boy, whose lives are dramatically changed by WWII - in very different ways, as you might imagine. In this case, I vote a resounding "yes" in favor of the alternating chapters. In this book, the technique is used effectively and enhances the novel ... IMO.