Who's ready for Halloween? It won't be long now before the neighborhoods are filled with ghouls and ghosts, princesses and pirates. This month, Kidsreads.com is spotlighting some great books as we head toward the new year, along with some highly-anticipated events (cough cough, Harry Potter!) that are happening in the next few weeks.

Well, the wind is whipping outside today, and I am humored by the folks on our block who have landscapers blowing their leaves, which is an exercise in futility. The way I see it, the leaves have been whipped up and down the street all day, and I am fairly sure at this point that no one has a leaf-free lawn. I have this handy-dandy little weather forecaster on my desk, and I see no temperatures to be above 60 for the next five days, thus my theory holds true. No matter how warm the fall is in the Northeast, by Halloween the temperatures plunge and the heat goes on. This is the first Halloween in almost 20 years that no one here at the house is dressing up for the holiday. I have not even pulled out the large lighted pumpkins that usually fete the place; will have to get something up by Sunday lest the trick-or-treaters be disappointed! While no one is dressing up here, there are requests for the black bean chili (I do not like red kidney beans) that I make each Halloween. Nice to know SOME tradition remains.