Seeing as how the TV is kind of limited over the summer, I’ve been using the downtime to catch up on my reading. I should be using it to catch up on my writing, but that’s neither here nor there.

But HERE are some of the fun books I’ve been enjoying of late…

Kitty Kitty by Michele Jaffe
First off, kudos to Michele’s parents for spelling her name with only one “L.” Speaking for my sister, who is also a “Michele of the One L,” it’s nice to have some “One L” solidarity out there. (Sorry to any “Two L” Michelle’s, but you get all the monogrammed junk at the souvenir shops—like mugs and key chains and collectible thimbles—spelled your way so you already have that solidarity.)

Kitty Kitty is the sequel to Bad Kitty and is just as highlysterical as the first. I’m talking the kind of hysterically funny that you shouldn’t read them on a plane for fear of embarrassing yourself when you laugh out loud and scare the small child in the seat in front of you which sets him off into a screaming fit. Not that I’m speaking from experience.

Also fun is the graphic novel Bad Kitty: Catnipped.

The Dead and The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

On the total other end of the spectrum, this one is not a comedy AT ALL. This is a sort of sequel to Life as We Knew It – the story of what happens to a girl and her family after an asteroid collides with the moon, leaving disaster in its wake. I say “sort of sequel” because this book doesn’t pick up where the first left off. Instead, it’s a parallel tale about a boy and his family coping with the tragedy and what befalls them. Though this book is about survival and hope, it is not one to read when you’re depressed. Unless depressed is a normal state for you and you actually enjoy it. Then, by all means, dig in. But maybe save Bad Kitty and Kitty Kitty to read afterwards to lighten the mood.

And Finally … Kiki Strike!
A series by Kristen Miller

FYI: The exclamation point is not part of the series title. That’s my invention. But with a name like Kiki Strike! I think it’s fitting to have should an exclamation point at the end. Paul Ruditis does not require an exclamation point. Although it would be cool if my name had that weird, wavy hyphen thing. I don’t know what it’s called, but I think it would be fun to write my name like this:
Paul Ruditis~
Kind of looks like I’m sticking my tongue out at the world.

Anyway, the Kiki Strike! books tell the story of a group of delinquent girl scouts who discover at abandoned city underneath New York. These are not the kind of scouts who are cookie pushers (mmmm … thin mints!). These are kick butt teens who save the city through their adventures combining international intrigue, high (and low) tech gadgets, and lots and lots of disgusting rats. So, check them out:
Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City
Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb

These should keep you more than entertained until the release of DRAMA! Entrances and Exits on August 5th.

Signing off,
Paul Ruditis~~
(Okay, maybe two is overkill.)