Looking for a good book for a lazy summer afternoon? Let me recommend a few I've read in the past month that I really enjoyed. I don't think you'll be disappointed. 'Uprising' by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

Can I give a book 10 stars? What a fabulous piece of historical fiction, but what would you expect when you take a former newspaper woman and turn her into a children's writer? Haddix has well-researched this book about three women who first had roles in the attempt to unionize the New York garment industry, then had their lives shattered in the Triangle Garment Factory fire.

I've read other novels about this fire before (Ashes of Roses, which I also highly recommend) but 'Uprising goes' into more detail, give more insight and tells a richer story that gives us not only fascinating background but the Author's Note at the end proves how we still have changes that need to be made in factory conditions around the world. Read this book--you will NOT be disappointed, even though you might shed a tear or two.

'Traitor' by Sandra Gray. The story was interesting; the characters believable. I appreciated the opportunity to look in side the life and decisions that members of the church might have made living as Germans during WWII. It's obvious why this book won the Whitney Award for its category and how it won Best Novel of the Year.

I must mention that there was one transition that I felt cheated. The scene had been set for a difficult and dangerous escape from Germany into France, but all we got was "we are leaving in one chapter" and "we are here in the next." I wanted to see how they got away without being killed, but it was good enough that I bought the second book in the series and I'm looking forward to reading it too.

'The Luxe' by Anna Godberson. I had heard much buzz that this book was completely inappropriate for teens. However, upon reading it (and after having read the fourth book of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) I can't help but wonder why it has received such vilified reviews. Yes there is some intimation of a few sexual encounters, but honestly they were mostly off-stage like a Victorian romance novel. The story was interesting and the characters intriguing, but book one leaves you hanging. That's why I also read book two--Rumors, but be prepared--you'll need to read book three--Envy once you start!

'Cream Puff Murder' by Joanne Fluke. I just love this cozy mystery series and find the recipes that accompany them interesting. If I were more of a baker, I'd probably try some, but at least I enjoy reading about the desserts. I love Hannah, the main character, and her constant battle of the bulge, interaction with her mother, attempts at a making a decision between her two boyfriends, the crazy cat and the way she solves the mystery. This is the most recent from the series, but with a little detective work of your own, you can jump into these books anywhere and figure out what's going on.

'Sunrise Over Fallujah' by Walter Dean Myers. Myers takes the reader into Iraq (not long before Saddam is taken down as the leader) and shows what it's really like to be at war. The language is sometimes strong, but the quality of story makes this a book I would highly recommend to even my junior high school students. It also allows the reader to consider the thoughts of those on the other side. Probably the best statement I've ever heard concerning the continuation of war there comes on page 224 where a U.S. Major is talking with a sheik and the sheik says: "Sir, the war you began is over. That war you won. It was not beautiful in the end--there were no violins, no birds singing in the sky--but it is over. What is going on now is a completely different war.In this war you merely stand on the side and hold the coats. This war is not about you or America. You are trying to stabilize a government in Baghdad. But there are others who are creating--how do the English put it? A shadow government?

And which government in the end will rule the Middle East is the new war. Look around you; it is my people who are being killed in the streets of Baghdad and Fallujah. Yes, yes, I know. They kill one or two Americans to make it look good is all." Think about it.

.Lu Ann Brobst Staheli is a Christa McAuliffe Fellow and Utah's Best of State Educator K-12. She is the author of When Hearts Conjoin, the story of Kendra and Maliyah Herrin which is available at www.UtahTwins.com.

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If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. - Rachel Carson