I just realized that this is my 50th post, which is exciting!

Here are two books that I'm reading right now:

"Le carnet à secrets," follows the experiences a girl named Clem, who is entering 5th grade. She has typical problems: her brothers are bratty and annoying, she tries to do everything right but in her mother's eyes, always seems to be wrong, etc. I like the book so far, though I feel that Clem acts younger than written (more like a third grader than a fifth grader).

"Mrs. Harkness and the Panda" is a nonfiction book about an American woman named Ruth Harkness. Ruth's husband was an explorer who had gone to China in 1934 to find a panda to bring back to the United States (at that time, no one here had ever seen a panda before!). Unfortunately, he died while still in China, and in a bold move for her time, Ruth took over the expedition. She faced many obstacles but eventually did find a baby panda and bring it to the States. This was a heart-warming picture book, although I was a little troubled by the panda being taken away from its home. I like that the book discussed this question in the last few pages.