September books

The total for September was 20 books and 3 magazines finished, and 0 abandoned.

That brings the total for the year to 180 books, 50 magazines, and 5 abandoned.

Creative Coding in Python

by Sheena Vaidyanathan

I just skimmed this one to see if it would be appropriate for my teen.  The target audience is probably middle to high school.  It doesn't assume a knowledge of programming, but it doesn't go into as much explicit detail as other beginner Python books do.  It introduces pseudocode and flow charts.  It gives ideas for projects but doesn't give every single line of code.  I decided this would be a good fit for my 14 year-old, who has done a lot of programming in two other languages but is just now learning Python.  It is not too basic to bore him and gives a bit more of a challenge to implement the projects.  I would not use this with a child who has never programmed at all.

Getting to Know Python

by Simone Payment

This book gives a history of how and why the Python language was created and compares it with other programming languages.

Good Habits for Great Coding

by Michael Stueben

I just skimmed this one also.  From the title, I hoped it might be a good book to teach my 14 year-old good coding habits.  However, it is aimed at more experienced programmers.  It has a heavy emphasis on math in its examples which was even over my head (and I did minor in math in college).  So, it's not useful to me yet.

 The Penderwicks … (series)

by Jeanne Birdsall

I've heard Sarah MacKenzie (from Read-Aloud Revival) and others talking about how good these books are, so I went on a binge and read them all within a month.  (I reviewed the first book in the series last month.)  The stories are very engaging and captivating.  Once you get to the climax of each book, it is very hard to put down.  I definitely can appreciate the author's skill : the 5 books are one seamless story, with clues that were planted in earlier books being developed more fully in later books; she has a delightful and vivid way of describing people's thoughts and actions; she "gets" kids -- you can tell by how she describes their thoughts, emotions, struggles, and fears -- she's inside their heads.  The one thing that keeps me from whole-heartedly recommending them is the pervasive underage romantic involvement.  No, there's never, ever anything raunchy or anything like that.  Just a different perspective and attitude toward boyfriend/girlfriend relationships than I have or want to teach my kids.  The kids as young as 10 (and sometimes younger) are talking about crushes and boyfriends; there is an expectation of casual dating, multiple relationships and break-ups, and casual kissing that "doesn't mean anything."  My viewpoint is that it is better to wait until people are closer to adulthood and in a position to be ready to get married before pairing off in boy/girl relationships.

Goldfish on Vacation 

by Sally Lloyd-Jones

A man restores a fountain in New York City and invites children to bring their goldfish and release them for the summer.  At the end of the summer they get to go into the fountain to get them back.  The whole episode brings people out of their apartments and gets them talking with each other.  Based on a true story.

Humphrey the Lost Whale

by Wendy Tokuda and Richard Hall

The true story of the rescue of a humpback whale who wandered into San Francisco Bay and up the Sacramento River in 1985.

… According to Humphrey (series)

by Betty G. Birney

There are twelve books in this delightful series about Humphrey, the classroom hamster.  I was attracted to them because my 5th grade classroom had a fluffy gold and white hamster just like Humphrey.  And the kids got to take turns taking him home on the weekends … just like Humphrey.  When I first started reading them, I was afraid they might be a bit "twaddly", since Humphrey talks in all caps and three-fold repetition when he's HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY or SAD-SAD-SAD.  But the books actually teach really good lessons about friendships, family, and relationships.  I've been reading them first and then sharing them with my kids.

And not so many magazines this month...