I am not one to assign superlatives to phases of my life (This is my best accomplishment, That was the worst day, This is my favorite movie). But I think, after living through the last ten months, this has been the most difficult time in my life.

I am going through a divorce.

There, I finally said it.

The strange thing is, no one has died. Everyone dies, yet death is never a cliche. Divorce looks a lot like a cliche. But it doesn’t feel like one.

Read the rest of this entry »

My little guy hardly looks like a “sensitive outsider” in this picture, and he’s not really. He’s as cheeky as they come.

So I suppose this book could really be for anyone who has ever felt they have something to offer, but no one around them seems to appreciate or understand.

Frederick, by Leo Lionni, is the story of a mouse who is a bit out of place in his family, but finds transcendence through words and imagination when he and his family face hunger during a long winter.

The other day, my three-year-old found it, and when I read it to him, I couldn’t stop crying. It’s one of those books where the words are very simple, very straightforward. And yet, as you read it, you know the story is speaking volumes between its pages. It resonates, and you believe that somehow, it will leave you better off for having read it.

What books resonate for you like that?

Here’s a little interview I did with my son after we went out and bought him The Last Olympian, the fifth and final book in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan.

sm: How did you first find out about the Percy Jackson series?

srr: Last year, I won a reading contest at school and got a $50 Barnes and Noble card as a prize.  With the money, I bought books 1, 2, and 4.  I bought the rest later.

sm: Tell us about the books.

srr:  There are 5 books in total, written by Rick Riordan (pronounced “ry-er-don”).  They’re about a kid who is half Greek god, half mortal.  He goes on different quests in each book.

sm:  How did you like them?

srr:  They’re the best books ever!

sm:  Even better than Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia?

srr:  (nods his head with his thumbs up)

Read the rest of this entry »