My Life as a Book by Janet Tashjian

daughter died. It wasn’t a true story, but it was an important one to help her deal with the pain.”
    I can tell some of the other kids are ready for me to sit down, but I keep going anyway.
    â€œI also realized it’s in our nature to learn new things. And that even though they’re called permanent markers, they eventually do wear off. I also learned that avocados make messy cannonballs and monkeys can wear diapers.”
    â€œOkay, Derek. On to Maria.”
    â€œAlso, if you spit into the wind on a ferry, it totally gets all over your face, and guys with muscles and Boston accents should not be tormented with poop.”

    â€œThank you. It’s Maria’s turn now.”
    I slide into my seat, pretty proud of my report and animation project. I feel like a rock star until Maria takes out her laptop and presents a slide show she created to accompany all three books with music she wrote and performed on the cello in a dress she made during her summer sewing class.
    As my mother always asks, “Does it ever end?”
    No, I don’t think it does.

About the Author

    Janet Tashjian is the author of many popular novels, including those in the Larry series— The Gospel According to Larry ; Vote for Larry ; Larry and the Meaning of Life —as well as Fault Line ; Multiple Choice ; and Tru Confessions . She lives with her family in Los Angeles, California.

About the Illustrator
    Jake Tashjian has been drawing pictures of his vocabulary words on index cards since he was in grade school (he’s currently fifteen) and now has a stack taller than a house. Jake loves to walk his dog, Cinder, every morning.

Henry Holt and Company, LLC
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    Henry Holt ® is a registered trademark of
Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Text copyright © 2010 by Janet Tashjian
Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Jake Tashjian
All rights reserved.
Distributed in Canada by H. B. Fenn and Company Ltd.
    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tashjian, Janet.
My life as a book / Janet Tashjian; illustrated by
Jake Tashjian. —1st ed.
p. cm.
“Christy Ottaviano Books.”
Summary: Dubbed a “reluctant reader” by his teacher,
twelve-year-old Derek spends summer vacation learning
important lessons even though he does not complete his
summer reading list.
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8903-5
[1. Summer—Fiction. 2. Secrets—Fiction. 3. Family life—Fiction. 4. Books and reading—Fiction. 5. Animals—Fiction. 6. Children’s art.
I. Tashjian, Jake, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.T211135My 2010 [Fic]—dc22 2009018909