What are you READING?
Like my teens’ pediatrician (and my colleague), I often ask kids what they are reading when I see them in the office. Some kids, admittedly, are not readers, so I may ask what kinds of books they like.
Here’s what some kids I’ve been around are reading lately:
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown
Wings of Fire—the graphic novel series based on the popular chapter book series by Tui T. Sutherland
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston, the first in a series. The fourth book, Amari and the Metalwork Menace, is due out in February 2026
Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems
What am I reading right now? I’m really good at reading multiple books at once as I also am good at starting books and maybe or maybe not finishing them. Currently I’m reading Heartstopper 2 by Alice Oseman, On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entraday Kelly and Kwame Mbalia, Persuasion by Jane Austen (re-read for the umpteenth time), and Emmett by L. C. Rosen, the last two by audiobook.
What have I realized this week? That I don’t really like the character of Emma. Emmett is a modern day revision of Jane Austen’s Emma and I’m not fond of him either. Maybe that’s the point? I didn’t really like Gwyneth Paltrow’s version of Emma or Anna Taylor-Joy (even though she played her well), though I did think Cher in Clueless had her own charm (played by Alicia Silverstone). And though Jane Austen’s version has her redeeming characteristics and they all have a redemption arc, I guess I’m not impressed by the spoiled, rich girl who has it all and thinks she’s being charitable when she’s mostly pretentious. Perhaps why GP plays her so well. I still like the novel—Emma is just no Elizabeth Bennet, obviously.
What are you reading? Is there a novel character you dislike but will still read about?
