The Rancho Rosetta Trilogy:  Millicent Min, Girl Genius, (AR 8.0, Level 5.8) Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time, (AR 9.0, Level 3.8) and So Totally Emily Ebers (AR 9.0, Level 3.9) are about the adventures of three VERY different kids during ONE memorable summer.  Each novel is told from the point of view of one character.  It is intriguing to witness events from different view points.  And these three kids couldn't be more different!

Millicent Min is academically gifted but socially inept.   She feels that her intellect is too intimidating for other kids.  Feeling isolated by her peer group and by her classmates in high school, she is elated to find a kid who doesn't know how smart she is.  Over the course of the summer, she becomes best friends with Emily Ebers.  She also tutors the basketball jock, Stanford Wong.  As the tutor and tutee get to know each other, she also inadvertently befriends him, as well.  How long will she be able to hide her intellect from Emily and endure the juvenile jokes from Stanford? 

Stanford Wong is the big man on campus at Rancho Rosetta.  Admired by all, he is annoyed to find out that he must take a make-up English class over the summer.  Embarrassed by his failure, he is further chagrined to have to be tutored by the hated Millicent Min!  YUCK!  In addition to his school troubles, he must also contend with his disapproving and distant father and with the removal of his Grandmother to the retirement home, Vacation Village.  Another complication is his developing feelings for the incomparable Emily Ebers!  Will Emily figure out he is not as great as she thinks he is?

Emily Ebers is the kind of person everyone wants to befriend.  Sunny and light, Emily can't figure out why her mother has divorced her father or why her mother has moved them across the country to California.  However, she is determined to meet new friends, so she is immediately drawn to Millicent because of shared interests.  Stanford Wong also attracts her eye, when she notices him in the drug store, where her heart is immediately engaged!  What will she do when she finds out about both Millicent and Stanford?

Lisa Yee has also written Warp Speed, which I have blogged about before.  She has a keen sense of humor.  Check out her blog for some of her funny insights!

When Parents Text: So Much Said...So Little Understood is written by two best friends, Lauren Kaelin and Sophia Fraioli. It's a social account of funny text messages exchanged between parents/grandparents and their children/grandchildren. When "old fingers meet tiny keypads," we can expect to see hard-to-understand-and-yet-loving messages and emoticons.

Please check out the authors' website whenparentstext.com to get some more tastes of these hilarious texts.

You are warmly invited to a special visit at Almaden Branch Library on Saturday, May 7, at 2:00 p.m. from Julie Riera Matsushima, an advocate for special needs children and author of For the Love of Aimee, her memoir about helping to raise her special needs granddaughter, Aimee.

"Aimee and her twin sister were the first grandchildren born to Julie Matsushima, but the family's joy at birth quickly turned to panic when Aimee was diagnosed with irreparable brain damage. From those first heartbreaking days of Aimee's life, as Julie sat at her bedside in the neonatal intensive care unit, a special bond formed between them. Even at only a day or two old, Aimee drew Julie in with a responsiveness that seemed to defy her grim diagnosis." — book cover

Julie’s book “invites the reader to share in the disappointments, challenges and amazing accomplishments Julie and Aimee experience together during Aimee's first ten years. This incredible book will elevate the awareness of everyone touched by a special needs child to the difficulties facing them.”

This program will be an informative and inspirational visit with a local author, grandparent, activist, and community leader. We hope that you can join us.

You are warmly invited to a special visit at Almaden Branch Library on Saturday, May 7, at 2:00 p.m. from Julie Riera Matsushima, an advocate for special needs children and author of For the Love of Aimee, her memoir about helping to raise her special needs granddaughter, Aimee.

"Aimee and her twin sister were the first grandchildren born to Julie Matsushima, but the family's joy at birth quickly turned to panic when Aimee was diagnosed with irreparable brain damage. From those first heartbreaking days of Aimee's life, as Julie sat at her bedside in the neonatal intensive care unit, a special bond formed between them. Even at only a day or two old, Aimee drew Julie in with a responsiveness that seemed to defy her grim diagnosis." — book cover

Julie’s book “invites the reader to share in the disappointments, challenges and amazing accomplishments Julie and Aimee experience together during Aimee's first ten years. This incredible book will elevate the awareness of everyone touched by a special needs child to the difficulties facing them.”

This program will be an informative and inspirational visit with a local author, grandparent, activist, and community leader. We hope that you can join us.