Revisiting Fave Books Celebrating Great Moms

This weekend is Mother's Day and my previous blog post was on the bleak bad-mom side (talking about filicide) as is typical of many murder mystery characters and plots. But there's also the mother whom we all would like to have, or grow up to be. Unfortunately, the traits that make a "good mother," per experts, are dauntingly demanding: empathetic, patient, emotionally strong and resilient, humble, respectful of others, authoritative without being authoritarian, supportive, and, of course, loving. We know most of our mothers, and ourselves as parents, fall short of those goals from time to time. Maybe it's easier to avoid the things that make for really bad mothering: neglectful, abusive, overprotective, aloof, partial, overindulgent, interfering, untrustworthy, and so on. In thinking about motherly role models, I found myself turning to favorite, formative childhood reading. Everyone wants to meet the brave and kind Ma of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, the brilliant yet supportive scientist Mrs. Murry of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, the family rock Marmee in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, or adoptive parent Marilla's love-beneath-a-stern-exterior in Anne of Green Gables from L.M. Montgomery. More recently, readers can embrace the warm but fiercely protective Mrs. Weasley of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. So for timely Mother's Day inspiration, why not reacquaint yourself, or younger readers, with some top moms (and dads) in literature? Check out http://mentalfloss.com/article/57128/30-best-parents-literature

Books for Young Sleuths, From Toddler to Teen

Mystery fiction is not just an adult pleasure. Holiday book gifts can deliver the joys of detection and puzzle-solving to young people from teen down to toddler. Yes, there's even something for 3- to 5-year-old sleuths this year--appropriately titled Who Done It? by Olivier Tallec. On each page of the picture book, young readers are asked to choose a culprit from a lineup of human and animal characters in response to questions such as "Who ate all the jam?" Spotting the guilty party is not always clear-cut; maybe it's the fox with jam on his face or maybe the rabbit with the upset tummy. Children are exposed to concepts that even trip up adults, such as judging expressions and postures, and avoiding quick assumptions. Of course, some answers are easy and designed to get a giggle from small readers, such as "Who couldn't hold it?" Moving on to readers aged 10 to 12, check out Greenglass House by Kate Milford, a 2015 Edgar Award winner for Best Juvenile Mystery. Twelve-year-old Milo, adopted son of innkeepers of a spooky smuggler's inn called Greenglass House, is spending his winter holidays there when an odd assortment of visitors arrive in the middle of a blizzard. Soon objects have gone missing and secrets abound, and Milo joins the cook's daughter Meddy to follow the clues. For teens, The Art of Secrets by James Klise, 2015 Edgar Award winner for Best Young Adult Novel, provides a more complex and thought-provoking view of the modern world and human character. Muslim immigrant Saba Khan's family apartment burns down, perhaps due to a hate crime, but her high school and community rally to aid with fundraising. Soon she is living in a rent-free luxury apartment, enjoying Facebook fame and even being secretly romanced by a popular boy. The good feelings turn ugly, however, when a piece of "found" art donated to a school fundraiser turns out to be worth a half million dollars, and is later stolen from the school. A web of greed, jealousy, shocking accusations, hidden motives, lies and secrets enmeshes the characters. Check out the other nominees in the Juvenile and YA categories of the 2015 Edgar Awards: http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html