Signs at a debate

Kid Reporter Leila Sachner and I are at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, today, covering the second presidential debate. Like the previous two debates (one presidential, one vice presidential), one of the hubs of activity is the MSNBC set on campus. And like at those previous debates, the students who came to the same brought signs with them. Some are Obama supporters, some are Romney supporters, and some are just... having fun. Here's a selection of some of the signs on parade at Hofstra.

The Perfect Summer Romance

The Summer I Turned Pretty is a pretty good summer read

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Author: Jenny Han

Publisher: Simon and Shuster, 2009

No. Of Pages: 276

Reader Age: 12+

A house on the beach, lifelong friends, and a second mom (but cooler)—could life get any better for 15-year-old Belly? Yes!

In The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, Belly replaces her glasses with contacts and finally gets noticed! In Cousins Beach for the summer with her mother, Laurel, her mother’s best friend, Susannah, and Susannah’s two sons, 18-year-old Conrad, and 16-year-old Jeremiah, she becomes more than Steven’s little sister. Belly becomes a pretty girl.

But Belly’s desperate attempts to win Conrad’s heart lead her to Cam, a boy she meets at a cook out. He’s cute, single, and intelligent. Perfect! But their summer romance doesn’t last long when Cam sees through Belly and discovers her love for Conrad.

Things get really weird when Susannah reveals some shocking news. Will her news change everything? I'm certainly not giving anything away.

I love novels and when I saw this one, I knew I had to read it because it looked like a great summer romance story. I was right—it swept me away!

I loved this book because I could really relate to Belly’s character, and reading it put me in the world of Cousins Beach, Delaware. I could not put this book down! I know that’s an expression, but it’s true.

Even in all the excitement going on at my summer camp, I sat on my bunk reading. I read every free second I had. My friends got annoyed because every time something interesting happened in the book, I would yell out a comment. By the time I finished, my friends knew every little detail about it because I would tell them everything.

I got really into the book (as you can probably tell). It was very emotional. I laughed and I cried. Those of you looking for a summer romance, this is the way to go! In my opinion, it was perfect!

—Leila Sachner

PHOTOS: (TOP) Book cover courtesy Simon and Shuster. (BOTTOM) At home with her cat, Leila Sachner in her favorite reading spot. (Photo Courtesy Leila Sachner)