Fall headfirst into July’s hottest stories—danger, desire, and happily-ever-afters await.

Laurie Gray

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3 comments posted.

Re: Summer Sanctuary (5:59am June 22, 2010):

Thank you for sharing your experrience as a librarian, Patricia! In Summer Sanctuary, Matthew's church frowns upon Harry Potter, but he checks the books out of the library for Dinah. She reads through them so quickly and enjoys them so much that he thinks maybe he'll read them himself. I had several advance reviewers who were quite livid that I would have Matthew go against whe his church said and check out the book for a friend who is homeless. They also frowned on this sentence on p. 2: "At that moment I was convinced that the whole summer was going to suck--only I'm not allowed to say 'suck.'" One parent admitted she smiled when she read it because she doesn't allow her kids to use the word, either, but ultimately decided that she didn't even want them reading the word in a book, even in this context, and for that reason alone probably wouldn't let her kids read the book.

Re: Summer Sanctuary (8:47pm June 21, 2010):

What do you think about Huckleberry Finn? Would you recommend it as a good read even though it's replete with racism and the "n" word as it was used in that era?

Re: Summer Sanctuary (6:45pm June 21, 2010):

I think A Wrinkle in Time was probably my all-time favorite book growing up. As far as some of the classics that are hard to get through, I've found them a bit easier as audio books. It helps to have an articulate reader who makes it sound the way it's supposed to. And some of them even have little helpful explanations. Still, I think there's lots of room for some "dessert that's good for you." My book Summer Sanctuary is an easy read, but one that might make you think a little here and there, too.