Top Ten Books for High School Graduates Guest Post by Author Amy Reade

Award-winning author Amy Reade joins me on the blog today with an AWESOME and timely post. I'm sure there are moms (and dads and other gift-giving family members) who'll find this piece super informational. Books make great graduation gifts and Amy's post is packed with some great book ideas and summaries to help you decide. So on with the post...

Top Ten Books for High School Graduates by Amy Reade

I don’t have a child graduating from high school this year (two more years!), but there are millions of people who do, so I thought a bookish gift guide might be a useful post for this graduation season.

Many high school graduates have had their fill of books for the last four years, so the items on this list have to tread a fine line: they have to contain lots of useful advice, but they also have to be compelling enough to make a grad want to delve back into reading. And bonus: many of these are great for parents, too.

We’ll work our way from #10 to #1. Ready?

10. The Schmuck in My Office: How to Deal Effectively with Difficult People at Work by Jody Foster, MD. All high school grads have to enter the real world at some point, and this book teaches them how to deal with the schmucks that are in every workplace.

9. Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda. What started out as a collection of Twitter posts to inspire his followers every morning and evening has taken on a life of its own. Lin-Manuel Miranda (yes, THE Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame) has compiled this lovely book of self-affirming “pep talks” that are perfect when someone needs a little lift. And we all know that there are going to be days that your grad needs a little lift.

8. Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania by Frank Bruni. It can be hard for kids to see the big picture when they graduate because it’s been a heady last semester and they’re headed off into the unknown. For kids going to college, this book serves as a reminder that it’s not where you’re going that’s important—it’s what you do with your opportunities that matters.

7. Very Good Lives: the Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination by J.K. Rowling. Most people know J.K. Rowling’s story by now: she was down-and-out when a publisher took a chance on a main character by the name of Harry Potter. This book derives from a Harvard graduation address Rowling delivered in 2008, and it highlights the importance of failure and what failure can teach us. Sometimes it’s good for kids to know that it’s okay to fail.

6. The 5-Ingredient College Cookbook: Easy, Healthy Recipes for the Next Four Years and Beyond by Pamela Ellgen. Even though the title suggests that these recipes are for the college-bound, they’re really for everyone.

5. Why Didn’t They Teach Me This in School?: 99 Personal Money Management Principles to Live By by Cary Siegel. This teaches some real-world lessons about money management, which many kids are sorely lacking when they graduate from high school. You’re never too young to learn the practicalities of money or the lack thereof.

4. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. The last thing you want to do is make your kid cry, but this is a beautiful book that is well worth a read. Written by a professor who had recently learned he had terminal cancer, this is his last lecture to his students, his last gift to them. Once your child has read it, make sure you read it, too. It’s a lesson we can all take to heart.

3. The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College by Harlan Cohen. I actually had a naked roommate, and I wish I had had this book those many years ago. It’s full of tips and advice for every step of the way through college.

2. Make Your Bed: Little Things that Can Change Your Life…and Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This book derives from a commencement speech given at the University of Texas at Austin. I’ve seen the speech online, and it’s fabulous and powerful. I would highly recommend the book to anyone, not just grads.

1. Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss. You knew this was coming, didn’t you? This is hands-down my favorite book to give high school graduates because it’s fun, it’s both childish and grown-up at the same time, and it’s perfect for every kid, whether they’re off to college, the military, trade school, or the work force. It’s a classic. 

Are there other books you would recommend? A hearty “Congratulations!” to all the grads and families out there.

Author Bio:

Amy M. Reade is a recovering attorney who discovered, quite by accident, a passion for fiction writing. She has penned eight mysteries and is working on two more, plus a Cape May County historical mystery series. She writes in the Gothic, traditional, contemporary, and cozy mystery subgenres and looks forward to continuing the two series she has begun since December, 2018. She also loves to read, cook, and travel. 

She is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Secrets of Hallstead House, The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, House of the Hanging Jade, the Malice series, the Juniper Junction Holiday Mystery series, and the Libraries of the World Mystery series.

Connect with Amy on the following sites:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Instagram

Amazon

Meet My Rescue Squirrel, Sarah ... A Heartwarming Story from Author and Reiki Master Charline Ratcliff PLUS FREE BOOK!

Now, some of you might look at this photo and think, “wow, that is a really brazen squirrel!” and yet, without knowing the whole story, you wouldn’t know about the milestone of trust that she and I have formed.

I first ‘met’ Sarah in the late summer / early fall of 2017. She was a cute squirrel and being silver with two white rings on her tail definitely set her apart from the brown squirrels I was accustomed to seeing. She would always waltz into the fenced side yard and then dig through the various planter boxes, looking to unearth the acorns or peanuts that the Blue Jays had buried for their winter stash.

When Sarah disappeared later that fall, I really thought nothing of it. I simply assumed that squirrels, much like other animals without a winter food source, went into some form of hibernation. (And yes, I’ve since learned that squirrels don’t actually hibernate, although they do sleep a lot.)

Several months later, I was again in the side yard when I thought I noticed another silver squirrel. Initially, I was exuberant because, truth be told, I had been missing Sarah and her mischievous antics. Upon closer inspection though, I realized with horror that this squirrel was actually Sarah.

However, she did not have the same carefree attitude as before. Now, she crept slowly and stealthily across the ground, keeping as low a profile as possible, while she searched for food. It hurt my heart to see her slink through the garden area, rarely daring to lift her head higher than a couple inches. Gone were her cutely perfect, rounded squirrel ears. What was left instead were two ears that resembled a backward capital “L.”

As my eyes continued to travel the length of her body, I was shocked to see that her fur looked as if it had been ripped off; all the way from the nape of her neck to just past the shoulder blade area of her upper legs. While the skin was now whole (minus fur), I’m certain that directly after whatever it was that had happened to her had happened; her back had probably been, at best, an angry, oozing mess. I felt in my bones that she was lucky to be alive and I was grateful that she felt safe enough to still traverse my garden.

Her sad appearance prompted the purchase of shelled (but unsalted) peanuts and as the months went by, Sarah healed and her fur grew back. (Although her ears never will.)

Over time, she has seemingly come to know and trust me. When I return home from a trip, she is immediately aware and I will generally find her in my side yard the following morning. She has even developed ‘manners,’ if one could call them that, but those manners fly out the window if I don’t happen to hear her initial few knocks upon the bottom of the sliding glass door.

She watches me closely, and when she realizes that I haven’t heard her knocking, she will then run up the exterior screen door until she can see me over the chair. At that point, she will bang dramatically (and quite loudly) until she has successfully attracted my attention; only descending from her seemingly precarious perch once she sees me coming toward her with nuts in hand – because then, for her, everything is once again right with the world.

I smile every time this happens; grateful for Sarah’s friendship and trust. Yet, even more than that, I find myself humbled by her ability to release the trauma of such a horrific past experience…

ABOUT CHARLINE RATCLIFF:

Mine is not your typical life's story. Growing up, my family life, schooling, and lifestyle were anything but conventional, average or predictable. Being tenacious, an avid reader and hard-working allowed me to prevail against the pitfalls of my unusual upbringing.

It wasn't until my late twenties that the writing muse found me and thus has begun an extraordinary voyage of self-discovery. I began writing novels, blog posts, book reviews, provided author interviews, and even started mentoring other writers.

Having finished the writing of my most recent Historical Fiction, "A Life in the Age of Pompeii," I am about to embark on the writing of my next historical novel, "The Queen's Lost Daughter."

Author Interview with Educational Children's Book Author Carole P. Roman

Please tell us a bit about your Countries books:

The If You Were Me books are an introduction to customs and culture around the world. It is a series designed to place children in the same shoes as a child in different parts of the world, letting them experience the things that are important in their lives. The idea of countries, borders, and customs is hard for young ones to grasp, so I broke it into various subjects that small children could identify with- what their name might be, where the country is located, what they would call their parents, what kind of food would they eat, what one thing identifies the country, like a landmark. They finish each book able to identify both similarities and differences. With the added benefit of having multiple books, they can compare how life is all over the world.

Have you always known you wanted to be a writer?

I am an avid reader. I will read everything. I don’t think I had the confidence to write until Createspace came along and said, you don’t need to worry about rejection- we will give you a platform. I have written my entire life, plays, stories, I did a vanity published romance years ago, but with Amazon, KDP and Createspace, I can now do it successfully.

How did you come up with the idea to write books about children from different countries?

I was in Vegas for a family vacation. My grandchildren and I were walking on the strip and when my oldest grandson saw the Eiffel Tower, he asked what it was. I tried to explain national identity and realized his four-year old mind couldn’t understand what I was talking about. I ruminated all night and at about dawn, both the format and  the name of the series came to me. I wrote Mexico, France, Norway, Turkey, and Kenya that first week, wanting to make sure I explored the “four corners of the earth.”

What do you enjoy most about writing for children?

I love their discovery. I enjoy hearing from parents that they are having fun reading the books and learning right along with their children. When I hear that I created an opening to further discussion or exploration to learn more, or somehow one of my books helped a child deal with peer pressure, problem-solving, or any other kind of distress, I feel completed.

What kinds of things do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I work in a family business, so I am pretty busy with my day job. I do yoga, play with my grandchildren, have lunch with my daughters-in-law, beta-read my son’s books (he is author Michael Phillip Cash). I promote all of our books on social media and keeping our names in the spotlight. I play a wicked game of craps and love Words with Friends.

Who are some of your favorite children’s book authors?

I love JK Rowling. I read Harry Potter when it first came out and was not impressed with it. However, my grandson was having a reading issue in school. I started reading with him on Facetime nightly and now a year and over twenty books later- we are reading for an hour together every night. I adored harry Potter after reading it with him, and will admit was teary when we finished the last book. We are reading the Percy Jackson series right  now. He enjoys the Hilo books by Judd Winnick. I loved Martha Doesn’t Like to Share by Samantha Berber, Knuffle Bunny by Mo Wiiems and No, David, by David Shannon are some of my favorites too.

What types of books do you like to read?

I am a big history reader, both fiction and nonfiction. My entire life was spent reading blocks of genres. My 20’s were filled with science fiction, my thirties were spy thrillers, my forties were all about historical romance, fifties were the years of historical fiction and now we are in a free-for all- I’ll read anything.

What would readers be surprised to know about you?

I can work on my books and have an entire conversation while being creative. I am the Queen of Multitasking.

How can readers connect with you?

Website

Facebook

AmazonAuthor Page

Twitter

Goodreads

What are you currently working on?

I have just completed If You Were Me and Lived in...Cuba, as well as If You Were Me and Lived in..the Ancient Mayan Empire. I am finishing up an early reader chapter book- my first called Oh Susannah: It’s in the Bag and I am starting another self-help with my social media partner called Self- Publishing- As Easy as ABC. I am also doing my own Blog radio show called Let’s Say Hello to our Neighbors highlighting children’s books. http://www.podfireradio.com/

What advice would you give aspiring authors?

Don’t be afraid, join a good discussion group on Goodreads and ask questions. Write and when you are done, be prepared to wear multiple hats, otherwise no one will hear about all your hard work.

ABOUT CAROLE P. ROMAN

Carole P. Roman is the award-winning author of the Captain No Beard series. Both Captain No Beard-An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life and Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis have received the Kirkus Star of Exceptional Merit. The first book in the series was named to Kirkus Reviews Best 2012. Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis has been named to Kirkus Reviews Best of 2015. Each book in the series has won numerous awards including the NABE Pinnacle Award, IAN Award, Moonbeam Award 2014, National Indie Excellence Award Finalist, Shelf Media Outstanding Series Award, ForeWord Review Five Star and Finalist in the Book of the Year, and Reader's Views Children's Book of the Year 2013.

Carole P. Roman is also the author of the award-winning non-fiction culture series, "If You Were Me and Lived in...", that explores customs and cultures around the world. She has co-authored a self-help book, Navigating Indieworld A Beginners Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing. She lives on Long Island with her husband and near her children and grandchildren. Carole invites readers to connect with her via her website.

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