Leaving on a jet plane!

I'm packing my bags getting ready for a very early flight to ALA tomorrow. As I write this, the house is being torn apart. Well, not totally. I am having vinyl siding put on the house. I finally gave in and decided to get rid of the rotting clapboard and get vinyl. Well, they are doing it while I'm in California. So, I don't have to listen to day after day of pounding. Although right now they are right outside my window pulling off the clapboard. Should I feel guilty that the rest of the family has to listen to this while I'm in sunny California? No, I didn't think so. They said they should be finished by the time I get home!

Trying to decide which book to bring with me on the plane. It is a long flight so it should be a big one. But I'm in the middle of a short one. So, I'll probably bring a big one also. I know I'll be coming home with lots and lots of new books so I don't want to bring too many. I'll bring a book on mp3 also just to be sure I have something if I finish the others. Do other people worry about being without a book?

Today's podcast is for yet another Great Stone Face award nominee. Roland Smith's Elephant Run is a great read. I know the kids have loved his other books and will love this one as well.

ELEPHANT RUN is an exciting, historical adventure novel by the author of the popular high-
altitude adventure book, “Peak”. In 1941, Nick Freestone joins his father at the family plantation in Burma to escape the bombs falling on England. Instead of finding refuge, he is plunged into the Japanese invasion of Burma. With the help of his young friend, Mya, Nick tries to learn more about the timber elephants trained on the plantation. Mya, a girl who hopes to become an elephant trainer, or "mahout," barely has time to show Nick around the plantation before Nick's father is taken prisoner by the Japanese. With Japanese soldiers in charge of the family home, Nick becomes an unwilling servant of the Japanese. But there are hidden passageways in the house, and soon Mya and Nick have found a way to escape into the jungle, riding on the back of a much-feared rogue elephant named Hannibal. Will Nick and Mya reach safety and what will become of Nick’s father? Read ELEPHANT RUN and find out for yourself. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face nominee, 2008-2009)

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/smith_elephant.mp3