Instead of the picture books, which I usually post midweek, I have two books for tweens and teens this time.

Here's a book that just might get a younger reader interested in reading about history: Bugged: How Insects Changed History, by Sarah Albee, with illustrations by Robert Leighton. Bugs of all kinds are included: from those that make silk, or an amazing red dye, to those that bring disease and plague. When humans wandered across the world they took with them germs and lice, etc. bringing new diseases to new lands. When scientists discovered germs, no one believed that something that small could make something as big as a human sick. Next came ideas for cures and prevention. Not a bad read! There is a recipe for chocolate covered crickets, too.

This is a book I liked well enough that I am recommending it to anyone with a daughter, niece, or grand-daughter! Motor Girls: How Women Took the Wheel and Drove Boldly Into the Twentieth Century, by Sue Macy. Meet Lillian Sheridan, who, with a few other women, sold cars in Seattle in the 1920s. Or Mary Henderson who has just one patent to her name (1903) ... for a windshield wiper. Women were winning races and when they were eventually banned from the track (you know, because it was so dangerous, not because they were winning), one went on to race speed boats, others went on to drive ambulances. This is just a great read, don't miss it! (It's a National Geographic Book, so the pictures are wonderful)!

Reading Hermit With Dog