I was introduced to Jon Acuff and his books by the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. "Soundtracks" is the first of his audiobooks to which I've listened, and it is both hilarious and practical. Acuff narated his own book, which makes the delivery even better. I just finished listening to this one, and now I've borrowed the teen version, "Your New Playlist", that Acuff wrote with his two daughters. We're planning to add a hard copy of Soundtracks to our library.
After all these years, how did I not know that Madeleine L'Engle wrote such sweet middle grade novels? I picked up "Meet the Austins", the first book in the Austin Family Chronicles, at the suggestion of the Read Aloud Revival booklist, "Books About Kids in Big Families" (so much LOVE for all the booklists on this website!).
This book reminds me of other favorites like the Melendy Quartet by Elizabeth Enright and the books about the Pye and Moffat families by Eleanor Estes. Maybe it's because they all were written post WW2 when optimism and positivity were high, maybe it's because music is mentioned often, maybe it's because the families are close knit and work through their conflicts in a safe environment. Whatever the reason, they make me smile.
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