The more I read, the less I write.  Sorry, but there are some really great books out there…  These three all stretch the imagination.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

I’ll be ordering this for our middle school library. I really liked the main character, Lucy, and her very supportive foster parents and friend. I spent three straight hours finishing this book because I HAD to see if they could do the three impossible tasks to break the ancient curse placed on Lucy’s family. Interesting tie-in with Simon & Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair”… Did y’all know it was based on an old Scottish ballad called “The Elfin Knight”?

The story contains some topics that aren’t typically included in middle school fiction (spoiler alert:  a teenage pregnancy resulting from date rape by a possessed young man who then is involved in a fatal car accident) but it’s not as bad as it sounds.  The details are limited and these unsavory events are actually germane to the plot.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I think I like book series almost as much as my students.  I bought this sequel to Hunger Games the day it came out and finished it in four days.  I was worried that this second book might not live up to my anticipation but it was actually better than I expected.  My only complaint is that the cliffhanger ending was just cruel.  How many days until the third book comes out???

I do think it’s interesting that Katniss, the main character, remains torn between two incredibly great guys, as she was in the first book.  Although her two romantic interests are very different from each other, they are both devoted to her.  Does this sound familiar?  I’m looking forward to introducing my library’s Twilight fans to this great series.  I know they’ll love it!

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

This is a strange story about a young teenage boy, Todd, who was born on a recently settled planet where all of the men’s and animals’ thoughts are audible (ugh).  The women of the settlement did not survive long, so only men remain.  Todd’s guardians, determined to save him from an upcoming manhood ritual, force Todd (and his dog) to run away.  Todd’s escape and his discovery of a girl in hiding with the whole town in hot pursuit results in a gripping, gut-wrenching read.

I’m not sure what else to say about this one… I picked it up because, after enjoying those last two books, I was looking for another fantasy/science fiction type YA series that I might could order for our collection.  I almost immediately realized that this was not the type book I could put in our middle school collection.  I didn’t particularly like the story or the fact that it was full of profanity and near-profanity but at the same time I couldn’t put it down…  …I just had to find out what happened to the characters.  It was sad, tragic, and occasionally disturbing.  I may change my mind later, once the story fades a little, but I don’t think I’ll be reading the rest of this series…  (LOVED the dog, though.)

Keep reading and keep learning!

Everyone has a story to tell. With Storybird, there’s no excuse not to. It has incredible artwork in a variety of styles. It’s easy. And if you don’t try to play with it when it’s overloaded (which it must have been last night), it’s quick, too! What a cool idea. I think this may be what we do in our first Jr. Tech Camp this year. By the way, I read about this in the Read Write Web blog and also in Scott Holcomb’s blog.

Check out my life story… …so far, anyway.

Keep reading and keep learning!

I’ve spent a good deal of the last several weeks waiting…  waiting in the car for my daughter to get through with her driving school,… waiting at the DMV for my daughter to get her license,… waiting at home for my daughter to text me that she’s gotten wherever it is that she absolutely HAD to drive…  The upside of all this waiting is that I’ve been able to finish a few good books!

How We Decide by Jonas Lehrer

I try not to buy books on impulse (unless I’m on vacation).  I first heard about this book on NPR and thought it sounded really interesting but talked myself out of it.  (We really can’t read EVERYTHING, now can we?)  But then I picked the book up when my daughter had to read another Jonas Lehrer book, Proust Was a Neuroscientist.  I can resist one book purchase impulse but not two.

Mr. Lehrer manages to make the inner workings of the human brain as it analyzes data and makes decisions quite relevant and humorous.  He uses examples from sports, television production, world series poker, and more mundane daily tasks to show how we use rational analyses and emotional instincts to make decisions.  When should you gather and study data to make a decision and when should you “trust your gut”?  The results of Mr. Lehrer’s research may surprise you!

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

As you might guess, I read this book because the movie is coming out in a couple of weeks.  I might have skipped it but a good friend mentioned that she wanted to name her son “Henry” after the main character.  She didn’t, but it’s awfully hard to pass up a book that would inspire that level of affection.

I did enjoy the book.  Here’s the problem, though… I’m fairly certain that I will be disappointed in the movie because I liked the book so much.  This raises a question that has plagued those of us who love both books AND movies.  Is it better to read a book before seeing the corresponding movie or see the movie first, then read the book?  Please comment and let me know your thoughts.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

This was a vacation impulse book purchase.  It was recommended by the book store staff and has won a number of awards in France.  I guess I should mention that I didn’t read it in its original French but an English translation.  (Ha!  I’m not sure why I felt I needed to mention that.)  I also should probably mention that I didn’t understand half of it… even in English.  It’s full of philosophical references that went right over my head.  I tried to use context clues so I wouldn’t have to stop reading to look things up and, for the most part, that worked.  It was worth the effort.  The story is written, alternately, by a fifty-something concierge and a twelve-year-old troubled genius who lives in her building.  Both feel isolated and nearly invisible to others in the building but each tells her story with wit and a keen sense of the beauty and irony around her.  I just finished it tonight and I feel smarter…

Keep reading and keep learning!

The books I’ve read during the last couple of months have been all over the place.  They’ve taken me from Pakistan to Hollywood, Massachusetts to war-torn Russia, then to some future version of North America called Panem.  I’ve been inspired, entertained, and intrigued.  But enough about me… Here’s a little bit about some of the books I’ve read recently.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

This book had been on my shelf awhile and I’d put off reading it.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I thought it would be too educational or “do-goody” to be really interesting.  I was wrong to wait.  It was an easier and more satisfying read than I expected.  Although Greg Mortenson is definitely admirable and, at times, heroic, this book is candid about his shortcomings as well.  I found that refreshing.  His story also offers many insights into the culture of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.  Good stuff.  While this book was written for an older audience, Mortenson has since published his story in two additional formats:  Three Cups of Tea for grades 3-6 and Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and the Three Cups of Tea for grades K-3.

After by Francine Prose

I picked this book up while on vacation.  I hadn’t heard of it but it was a staff recommendation in a great little book store on Venice Beach.  Cool, huh?  I love finding little independent book stores when I’m out of town, even if it means I have to beg my kids to carry my purchases back home in their luggage.  This one was hard to put down, mainly because I kept thinking something was about to happen.  This story explores how a high school changes after a tragic school shooting at a neighboring high school.  Even though the story seemed to contain more suspense than action and raise more questions than answers, I think it will appeal to young adults.  They will appreciate that the school administrators are the “bad guys” and the teachers are powerless.

City of Thieves by David Benioff

While I was checking out at that little book store in Venice Beach, a customer came in, picked up this book, and exclaimed that it was the best book he’d ever read!  I wasn’t sure he was serious, but figured I should buy the book anyway.  I wouldn’t want to pass up the best book ever!  Ok. I can’t say it’s the best book EVER, but it’s great!  I thought it was interesting (it’s set in Russia during World War II) and surprisingly funny (it’s set in Russia during World War II).  I became very attached to the two main characters, a rather shy teenage boy who is arrested for looting a dead German soldier’s stash and a dashing, charismatic, witty Russian soldier who is arrested as a deserter.  The pair is released from jail on the condition that they find a dozen eggs for the General’s daughter’s wedding cake.  Given that their war-ravished city no longer contains food fit for human consumption, they are forced to venture toward the front lines.  I couldn’t put it down.  It’s horrifying and hilarious.  It’s also definitely for an adult audience.  I wouldn’t put this one in the school library.  NOTE:  It was nominated for the 2009 Best Indie Book Buzz (Fiction) Award from the American Booksellers Association.

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This book comes highly recommended by Kim Ford, the beloved librarian at Cypress Middle.  Enough said.

Ok.  I guess I’ll put my two cents worth in as well.  I loved it!  It has the whole future-world thing going for it but it’s nothing like the Jetsons.  It’s more like the Coal Miner’s Daughter meets Survivor in the Truman Show.  North America is structured into twelve districts that are increasingly more impoverished the further they are from the Capitol.  The Hunger Games is an annual competition of twenty-four participants (two from each district).  The one winner receives food for their district for the coming year.  The losers die.  I know, it sounds like a real “downer” but it’s not!  In addition to the obvious suspense, there is humor and romance.  I think you and your students will love it!  NOTE:  It was nominated for the 2009 Best Indie Young Adult Book Buzz (Fiction) Award from the American Booksellers Association.

Keep reading and keep learning!

Last week, I had the great pleasure of attending the Int’l Reading Assoc. Conference in Minneapolis.  I was so impressed!  I guess I don’t get out often enough, but I felt very much like a kid in a toy store.  Rather than go into great detail, I’ll just list some of what I loved about my trip (in no particular order):  Minneapolis’ weather, listening to authors, all those BOOKS, meeting teachers and librarians from all over the world, free stuff and BOOKS, great sessions on writing and digital literacy, the shopping cart escalator at the two-story Target, having to FedEx BOOKS home because I maxed out my luggage, Ben Carson’s keynote address, …and did I mention all the BOOKS?

I heard authors Gordon Korman and Patrick Carman speak about their recent books, One False Note (2nd book in The 39 Clues series) and Skeleton Creek, respectively. I’m planning to read both books as soon as school’s out.  Both Korman and Carman were hilarious!  I’m sure the books will be just as entertaining.  I wrote a post about the first “39 Clues” book (The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan) back in November.  The books in this series have different authors, although some authors will pen more than one.  Korman will be writing another one later in the series.  Patrick Carman is the author of the fifth book in the series, which hasn’t been released yet.

Carman’s Skeleton Creek experiments with a new format.  The two main characters adopt different ways to tell their stories.  Ryan writes his story and his friend, Sarah, films hers.  The story is told in alternating written chapters and short video chapters (via the internet).  I’m looking forward to reading/watching this one!

NOTE:  The first two South Side Middle students who comment on this blog post will receive a copy of either One False Note or Skeleton Creek, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR!

Keep reading and keep learning!

I’d like to share about a couple of books I’ve read recently…

All of the Above – by Shelley Pearsall

This book was enthusiastically recommended by Kim Ford, a middle school librarian who constantly motivates me to read more.  I jump at every opportunity to hear Mrs. Ford talk about the books she’s read.  (Check out the Kim’s List page on her blog!)  When she said that she’d like to have every student in her school read this book, I knew I had to read it.

This book, based on a true story, is set in a middle school in a poor, inner-city neighborhood.  Despite low expectations (The math teacher writes “I never really expected any of my students to show up – and I didn’t have a plan when they did.”), a handful of students accomplish something incredible together and learn about themselves in the process.  The book is written from each character’s point of view so the reader gains insight into each one’s life and motivations.  Although the story is not without setbacks, it is uplifting and inspirational.  If you spend your time in a middle school, as a student or a teacher, I think you’ll like it.

The Geography of Bliss – by Eric Weiner (pronounced whiner)

I think that even though people are always texting “lol” to each other, it’s rare to actually laugh out loud when reading something by yourself.  Some might even call it odd.  For that reason, I won’t recommend reading this book in a public place.  Despite efforts to control myself, I laughed right out loud while reading it in a hotel lobby, at Starbucks, and in a waiting room.

The humor isn’t even the best part of the book, in my opinion.  The author travels all around the world, looking for the happiest (and, in one case, the unhappiest) countries.  Reading it is like taking your own trip around the world.  Weiner delves into what makes different places unique: the people, the culture, the “feel” of each country.  I didn’t come away from this book with the “universal secret to happiness” (spoiler alert: there isn’t one), but it nudged me to think more about what makes me happy.  It’s a great read.  It’s also written for an adult audience so I wouldn’t recommend this for our middle schools.

Keep reading and keep learning.

Our school’s book club, which is open to all of our faculty, parents, students, and community members, recently read and discussed Teaching, Parenting, and Mentoring Successful Black Males: A Quick Guide by Mychal Wynn. This little book is based on another, more detailed Mychal Wynn book. Many of the 66 short strategies in this book are ideas we’ve all heard many times before.

The benefit we gained by reading this book as a group was in the discussion we had at our book club meeting. We heard opinions and additional suggestions from administrators, teachers, parents, community members, and even students. We appreciate all who read the book and participated in our book club meeting!