Andrea, Author at Mrs Payan Reads

One Crazy Summer and Empty

One Crazy Summer is a book that adds to the discussion about the Civil Rights Movement. The main character Delphine is struggling to take care of her two younger sisters during a trip to see their mother. I really enjoyed this book. The author did a great job of capturing the voice of this young girl and giving an interesting insight into the activities of the Black Panthers in California. The three sisters act like sisters and bicker and fight but they are loving sisters and they stick together. I would highly recommend this quick read to everyone. I learned a little bit about the Black Panthers and am curious to find out more after reading this book.

Goodreads Summary: In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp

This book describes a world in which the oil wells of the world have run dry. People are unable to sustain the lifestyles that they had before because many products are not available anymore. Think about all the products that rely on oil–plastic being one of them. This is a good cautionary tale about the effects of relying on a non-renewable resource and not exploring alternative greener possibilities for power. I did not love the style of the writing in this book as an adult, but I know that my students will love it. The beginning of the book read like some of the series that I read as a teenager. There are some complicated teenage relationships in the book which makes it more interesting for that audience. I would recommend this book to many students because it really makes you think about our world and what might happen if we’re not careful.

It’s Monday! What are you reading? 7/9

Jen and Kellee at TeachMentorTexts.com host a weekly meme entitled “It’s Monday! What are you Reading? From Picture Books to YA” This is a chance for people to share the books that they have been reading throughout the week, especially focused on kid lit and YA lit.

Books Finished this week:

I read a number of professional books this week. I am trying to figure out how to make my reading and writing blocks more intentional and organized. There are a number of district mandates that I need to follow.

Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles is a practical guide and I will definitely be pulling this one out multiple times this year. This book gave me a few ideas about how to tweak my literature study and a great sample schedule and calendar.

The Book Whisperer is an excellent resource to have for any teacher of reading. I have been very excited to find the Nerdy Book Club and all of the support on Twitter. I can’t believe that it took me so long to pick up this book and read it. I misunderstood at first about the target audience of the book. I wholeheartedly agree with Donalyn Miller that this type of reading classroom is the way to produce life-long readers. It was a great read for me this summer because it helped to validate what I already knew. My classroom was this kind of reading space when I had younger students and the flexibility to design my curriculum. Now, with middle school students and a more structured set of mandates from the district, my reading classroom has suffered. This book helped me to rethink some of the structure in the requirements for my students and I am glad that I decided to read it. I will be recommending it to many teachers in the Fall when I get back to school.

Power Tools for Adolescent Literacy was another book I read. This was a quick read because it is filled with practical lesson plans. Many of the suggested strategies are things that I already do, but there were some gems in here. I will definitely be pulling this book off the shelf while planning this year.

Inside the Writer’s-Reader’s Notebook by Linda Rief gives another set of suggestions about how to set up a notebook. It was interesting to see how this middle school teacher sets up her expectations to work with the multiple classes that she works with.

A Writer’s Notebook by Ralph Fletcher is not exactly a professional resource but I read it that way. I am trying to figure out how best to guide my students in setting up writer’s notebooks and how to set up my own. This book is full of ideas and I enjoyed reading it.

The rest of the books I finished this week were young adult or children’s books.

The Dark Frigate was part of the Newbery Challenge. I didn’t hate the book but it took a long time to hook me. I would not recommend it to any students unless they were big fans of Treasure Island or similar books.

Houdini: The Handcuff King by James Sturm is a graphic novel about Houdini. It was fun to read the graphic novel and the real biographical information mixed with a sort of glossary at the end that explained some of the historical points in the story.

Pearl by Jo Knowles was another book that I am sure my middle school students will love.

Dragons in the Waters by Madeleine L’Engle: I found this book in my library while browsing. I was excited about the fancy new cover that makes the book seem much more intriguing. I LOVED all of L’Engle’s books when I was younger and loved this one on the second read. I need to seek out all of her books with these new covers and stock my class library with her awesomeness…not just the class set of A Wrinkle in Time.

The Scar by Charlotte Moundlic is a book I read about in a post from Teachers Write. This picture book is an excellent example of how profound picture books can really be. The subject of how a child perceives his world after his mom dies is heartbreaking but this would be an excellent mentor text for voice because you can really feel that this is a young person talking.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia is a wonderful book and would be a great book to recommend for a Civil Rights unit. I can see why it was nominated for so many awards.

Tales From Silver Lands…UGH! This was a hard book to get through. I usually like traditional tales but these were dry and oh-so-boring.

Empty by Suzanne Weyn is a book I will recommend to students. I really wasn’t all that thrilled by the writing in the book. The first 50 pages or so read a lot like a Sweet Valley High book or something similar. The subject matter is interesting and it is good food for thought. I can see middle school students being intrigued by this book and going to find out more about oil supplies and renewable energy.

Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes is a great story. I expected it to be more sad than it was and that was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed reading about Martha and her family trip complete with a tween romance gone wrong. I thought the relationship she had with her grandmother was quite touching.

Books I am Currently Reading:

So What do They Really Know? by Chris Tovani
Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman
La Linea by Ann Jaramillo

What’s on the horizon in reading:
I have an entire shelf of books to read…I have forbidden myself to request any more books at the library based on recommendations that I see on Twitter until I read more of my shelf. I don’t know which books but I will be getting them from that shelf.

Some Excuses and a Quickwrite

So, that commitment to making the time for writing is proving to be more challenging for me than I thought it would be. I definitely have writing more on my mind lately and I know I have done a much better job of blogging about my reading, but I have not set aside the time at home like I said I would during week one. I know that it has a lot to do with the commitments that I have had since school finished. I have had a meeting or training to go to every single day since school ended except for this week (I know that I am just making excuses here, but I am only human). Some of that training has made me more of a writer as I am spending my mornings in the Milwaukee Writing Project involved with writing. It helped last week to have “homework” to write about the writing circle topics. I have to write before Monday, but this week was a week off because of the holiday and I have used my time to feed my reading habit. I am rather obsessed with reading and the challenges like #bookaday and #nerdbery might have made me feel a little competitive and given me an excuse to be reading non-stop (I am accomplishing a goal here…not procrastinating or being lazy or avoiding housework).

I was really inspired by Jen’s blog last Sunday and read Ralph Fletcher’s book A Writing Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You this week. I need to figure out what will work for me and my students and get my notebook going. Just having the thoughts about what I might put there has brought ideas to my mind. I start every school year with a lesson I got from Nancie Atwell’s books, sharing my writing territories. I cannot wait to share that list this year and actually to have written some stories and quick writes about those territory ideas. I know this will be one of the sections in the notebook along with a section for quotes. I know that part of the appeal of Tumblr for some of my creative students is the ability to capture great ideas there…I want them to have that in their notebooks too. I also have been musing about how to use my class blogs better. I like the way a lot of bloggers have certain memes that they do on certain days. I would love to get my students to think about their blogs this way…Mondays we talk about what they are reading, Tuesdays it’s time for a top ten list, Wednesdays is about food, etc. I just really need to think about requirements and workshop and how to set everything up. Okay, that was a complete teacher brain moment. I was talking about my own writing here. It never fails to astound me how my brain never stops thinking about what might work best for my students.

Now that I have spent more time than necessary talking about why I haven’t written this week, I decided that I would give Monday’s quick write a shot. I have actually been mulling over this idea for the past few days after having read it on Monday. I absolutely love the idea for story stew and can definitely see using it on multiple occasions this year in writing.

The woman sat there stroking the well-worn fedora as if it were a cat on her lap. She rocked a little bit in her seat every time her hand moved lovingly down the rim of the hat. She couldn’t believe she was here. Just this morning she and Edwin had been crunching on cereal in companionable silence at the dining room table. She with her new P.D. James thriller, and he with his New Yorker. This morning had been one of those pleasant oasis mornings that she looked forward to each and every night and had learned to depend on throughout their 50 years of marriage. How could she be here now? He was just there, in that chair, engrossed in a story one minute and then babbling nonsense to her the next. She had known something was wrong when his magazine slipped out of his hands. There was no way he would carelessly abandon his reading unless it was involuntary. She had hesitated, not wanting to recognize the signs. Then, without really knowing how she got there, her hand was dialing and she was soon connected to the dispatcher.
“9-1-1, What’s your emergency?” The voice of the operator was all business.

She hesitated again for a fraction of a second then, “My husband, I think he is having a stroke.”

“Is he conscious?”

“Yes.”

“Is he breathing?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, Ma’am? We are sending out the responders. They will be there momentarily.” It was all so calm and efficient. How could they be so calm? When the fire truck got there, the two firefighters started to administer first aid and to try to stabilize Edwin until the paramedics arrived. Then it was a whirlwind with sirens waking up the whole neighborhood. She had come in the ambulance with them and had to sit to the side trying to stay out of the way as they administered to Edwin. She had grabbed the hat as she left the house. Edwin would want his hat for when they came home. He was never outside without it.

“GRAN!” Ellie screeched as she barreled into the waiting room. The five-year-old was filled with an exuberance that she envied sometimes. The old woman cringed slightly and then grinned at Ellie, not wanting the young girl to see her inner turmoil.

“Ellie, we walk inside and use our inside voice,” her mother admonished. Katherine looked haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She let out a big yawn and approached the older woman. “Geez, Mom. I am sorry you had to go through that alone. Any news?”

“Nothing yet. The doctors seemed to think that they could stabilize him, but we won’t know about the damage until he wakes up.” She looked down at his fedora and started stroking it again as a tear made a path down her face. There were so many years between them, and so many years to look forward to. She clung to that piece of their shared history and prayed that it would be a part of their continued future. She looked at their beautiful daughter and recognized the fright in those pale blue eyes. Katherine sat down next to her mother and placed her hand over the old woman’s hand, trying to still the movements.

While the two women spoke, Ellie had found a piece of paper and her crayons in her mother’s purse. She sat contentedly on the floor and used the coffee table in the waiting room as her own personal writing desk. Her tongue stuck out the corner of her mouth as she squinted in concentration.

“Look, Mama” Ellie ran over to Katherine with a grin on her face. She handed the paper to her mother who gasped and shoved it toward the older woman. The old woman looked at Katherine and saw the tears threatening to spill over in her eyes. She took the paper and read what little Ellie had written there. On the paper was a drawing of a man and a woman. The man had on a nice hat and the couple were holding hands. In her kindergarten handwriting Ellie had written the words, “Don’t be sick and sad, Gran and Gramps.” If only it were that simple.

As happens frequently with my quickwrites, this one got away from me and took on a mind of its own. I am collecting all these little seed ideas from these exercises. One of them will germinate soon, I’m sure.

Super Books (Again)

This summer there is no end to the fabulous books that I have been reading. Every Monday I make my way through the other book blogs from teachers and librarians out there and end up with at least 2 or 3 new books on my to read list. The best part about this is that every book I have picked up this summer has been well worth my time. Last week was a great reading week with enjoyable book selections.

I was very excited to go pick up the copy of Bitterblue that finally came in for me at the library. I had been waiting not so patiently for a few weeks. I absolutely loved both Graceling and Fire and was really anxious to read the newest book by Kristen Cashore. This book definitely lived up to my expectations. Here’s the Goodreads blurb about the book (they said it far better than I can):

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle—disguised and alone—to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

What I loved about this book is that I was re-introduced to the characters that I loved in the first book. I also love the fact that Bitterblue is another strong female character that learns a lot about life and love throughout this book. Although this book was a bit thicker than Graceling and Fire were, I devoured it in as short a time as with the others. At the end of this book I had that bittersweet feeling when you are glad to know how the story ends but sad to see the characters go. I hope to see a lot more from this author in the future!

I purchased The Glass Maker’s Daughter by V. Briceland through the Kindle store with one of their deals. I was intrigued by the cover and the title and thought that this book would be historical fiction. I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading and it became obvious that this book was a fantasy novel. Risa is a daughter of one of the seven chosen families in the land. As such, she expects to be sent to the boarding school to be taught how to use the magic of the land to form the enchanted glass that the people expect from her family. Fate is not on her side and she unexpectedly gets left behind. Then one morning her parents are summoned to the castle and do not return. She is suspicious of the Prince and unsure of how to proceed. Risa must rise to the occasion and work to save her home and her land. This book was one that caught my attention from the beginning and kept me reading. I loved it that there was yet another strong female lead character in this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy (and a little romance) and will certainly look for the other books in the series to read.

Jumping off Swings is another excellent book by Jo Knowles. What I love about all of her books is that I can definitely see recommending them over and over to all students. The length is quite manageable and I can see many students really connecting with these characters. In this book, Ellie has gone too far searching for love and is now pregnant. Josh buckled under the pressure from some of his “friends” to just do it already. Caleb and Corinne are the friends who support Ellie and Josh through it all. The book tells the story by alternating perspectives of all four of these teenagers. I stayed up way too late yet again with this book…this author seems to have that effect on me. I will be recommending this one to all of my students. I would highly recommend it to any teenagers who enjoy realistic fiction.

When I was walking through Target the other day, this book jumped into my basket. I had heard great things about Smile by Raina Telgemeier and am looking to expand the graphic novel section of my class library so I thought, why not? I am so glad I picked it up. This is a funny and touching story that I am sure all middle schoolers will be able to relate to. I loved the fact that, since it was a memoir, it was set in the years that I was in middle school. The late 80’s and early 90’s references and clothing drawn here were very entertaining for me and I am sure would be great fun for modern day middle schoolers. Who didn’t go through that self-conscious and awkward stage in middle school? This character has real challenges to feeling good about herself and her friends do not make it much better. This is an excellent graphic novel and I can’t wait for her next one!

It’s Monday! What are You Reading?

Jen and Kellee at TeachMentorTexts.com host a weekly meme entitled “It’s Monday! What are you Reading?” This is a chance for people to share the books that they have been reading throughout the week, especially focused on kid lit and YA lit.

Books Finished this week:

The Glass Maker’s Daughter by V. Briceland. I thought this book was going to be historical fiction, but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a fantasy. I really liked the strong female protagonist and will look forward to more from this author.

Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean by Les Standiford. This is a non-fiction book about the building of the railroad that connected Miami and Key West. This was a near-impossible feat and the construction was plagued with horrible luck with hurricanes. This book was recommended to my mother and me while down in Key West for the Key West Literary Seminar. We have gone there for a few years in a row now and always enjoy it. That connection made this book interesting for me. There were some parts of the book that were rather dry…more because I do not usually read non-fiction, but I am glad I got through the book because it is a very interesting story.

The CAFE Book: Engaging all Students in Daily Literary Assessment and Instruction by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. I am excited to think about how to adapt a system like this for my 8th grade classroom and the CCSS. I definitely need a more organized approach and I love the two sisters’ ideas for keeping track of things.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba. I read this book on the site We Give Books. I did not realize they had such quality there. I will definitely go back and read more there as well as using these ebooks on my SMARTboard this year.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier. I enjoyed reading this book and was transported back to middle school by this story. I know that my middle school students will be able to relate to Raina’s story and I can’t wait to bring this book to them.

Jumping off Swings by Jo Knowles. I am so glad that I am participating in Teachers Write. I can’t believe that I had not heard of this author before. I love all of her books that I have read so far. She has a great way of dealing with tough issues and I just know that my students will love these books.

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore. It finally came in at the library! I devoured this thick book in two days. I love the characters that Cashore creates. I was so glad to see Katsa and Po again. Bitterblue is every bit the strong female character that Katsa and Fire are.

Books I’m Reading:

The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes, Dragons in the Water by Madeleine L’Engle, and Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke

Books to read this week:

I have a huge stack from the library so I will make my way through those titles. Boy 21 and Pearl are at the top of that stack. I also will pick up at least one more professional book this week and I want to read about writer’s notebooks with a couple Ralph Fletcher titles.

Happy Reading!

Thursday Quick Write 6/28

Today the quick-write prompt that I chose was to write a story from the perspective of another character. This prompt actually coincided nicely with the topic that my writing group chose in my workshop today, although I am tweaking it a bit.
Before I start with my writing, I want to say that I really liked the idea of using a word cloud to help to discover a theme in a piece of text. I think this would be a great experience for students. I also think it would be a good exercise for them in word choice.

Summerfest from the perspective of an inanimate object

Brainstorm: Stage
Spitting Different types of music Breath Heat Over-worked Different shoes
Loud Back breaking with dancing Equipment scrapes Annoying screams

Here are my attempts:

Heat spills off my back
Stomping, jumping, and twirling
Can’t they just stand still?

Ear-piercing sound vibrates through me. Tonight it is one of those pathetic boy band groups. I know I will have to hear teenage screams all night as well as the nauseating music. Every year it seems to get worse. When I first started, the music was decent at least and that made it easier to have the stamina to get through it all. Now, the endurable music is few and far between and I feel exhaustion creeping in. Night after night crews scrape and bump equipment on and off my back without even trying to take care. There are scars and scrapes everywhere showing the long years of service. Every night I endure an endless barrage of mediocre music while supporting multiple areas of my body so that I won’t ache so much in the morning. The worst is when the band is energetic and likes to move. I cringe as their heels dig in every time they jump, twirl, or stomp their way through another song. Each type of shoe brings its own particular brand of torture. Stilettos seem to be made especially to bring pain. Thank goodness I only have to work during the festival season. I am not sure I could survive this workload if I had to do it all year.

Not a lot of writing here but an interesting exercise. I would like to revisit this sometime when I have more time to spend refining it. I can see how an activity like this would work well in the classroom as a prompt.

Teachers Write 6/26 Quick Write

Today’s quick write prompt is a multi-media prompt. The assignment was to find an image of a person and to begin to develop the character from that image by also finding songs that would represent the character. I will focus on the girl in the image here.

The girl in this image has long brown hair, and brown eyes. She is beautiful and has a round face with a long nose. She is a smart girl and works hard in school. Her passion is music and many people do not know this about her. She has been playing the cello since she was 6 years old. At this moment in time she is sitting on this boat furiously hoping that this friend of hers will realize that she is crazy about him and kiss her. She doesn’t want to look too interested in him and so she is pretending to be content to sit and contemplate the horizon. She does not want to be too hopeful because she has messed up friendships in the past by reading signals wrong. This friend of hers just lost his dad a month ago so she is trying to be there for him without adding pressure to his situation.

External Song: James Taylor You’ve Got a Friend

Internal Songs: Bonnie Raitt Something to Talk About Cello Suite No.1– Bach

As she stared into the distance, Katie couldn’t help but feel a tickle of anticipation. Surely Taylor was feeling something too. They had been spending a lot of time together since his dad died. She had been there at the hospital, through the awful next days at the house, and through the whole funeral. She had not left his side. Everyone said what a great friend she was, but she wanted more. She peeked at Taylor, he seemed so deep in thought. Katie wondered if he was thinking the same thing that she was. She knew she should say something, but she couldn’t. It had been so awful when she lost Chris’ friendship. She had read that situation wrong and made a move at the wrong time. What followed was awkward and horrible. She could not do that to Taylor…not when he had just gone through this awful time. On the other hand, they could have something amazing if he felt the same. Katie wished she had her cello with her. When she was playing her music nothing seemed impossible. This opportunity was surely the one she had been waiting for. They had hardly had any time alone lately with all of Taylor’s relatives around and his mother so worried about him.

Children at the Beach

As we pulled up to the beach house, I could barely contain my excitement. This was it, this once a year ritual that my brothers and I had. As soon as the car came to a stop, we vaulted out and raced to the beach. Knowing we were going there, we had come prepared and all of us had swim suits on.
“Last one there is a rotten egg,” my kid brother, Kevin screamed. You had to love that little kid attitude. Kevin burst into giggles as he darted toward the water. The kid had two speeds: lightning fast and asleep. I stopped just long enough to peel away my dress and reveal the turquoise bikini that had cost me babysitting money and a fight with my dad. Then, it was full speed ahead into the frigid water. Once we had all gotten used to the water, we all sort of congregated together. Standing here in the water, I thought about how we always seem to be at war except for these first few peaceful moments on vacation. I wonder why I had been so adamantly against this trip. I thought back to Thursday when I announced to my mother that I would not be coming to Englewood this year and that was my final decision. That went so well that seven fights and three nights grounded in my room later here I was. I don’t know what I was thinking. How could I forget about the salty air and the soothing sound of the waves crashing on the shore? I looked over at my brother Lenny who now had had enough of standing still and was searching the shore for sea glass, coaching Kevin about the finer points of a search on the beach. These two dorks drove me bonkers every day of the year, but I couldn’t imagine life without them.
“Lenny, where should I look?” I shouted, as I got down to the business of being an older sister.

It’s Monday! What are you Reading?

This week I spent a lot of time in meetings and trainings so it didn’t quite feel like summer vacation yet. I managed to get quite a lot of reading in but not so much writing for the Teachers Write camp. I am hoping to turn that around this week while still making the time for reading.

Books Finished this week:

Brody’s Ghost byMark Crilley–a graphic novel that was okay. I had a student begging me to find the sequel earlier this school year so I know that some 8th graders will like it.

Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block–I am not sure I know why people seem to like this book so much. I know that there will be some students who will enjoy the unconventional style of the book. I need to read more of the books before really passing judgement…perhaps Weetzie will grow on me.

The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting–I just began with the Newbery challenge so I am woefully behind anyone who started in January but I will plug away at these books. I went through the list this week and realized I have already read quite a few in the last ten years or so. I am planning to reread the books I read as a child and don’t really remember but may not reread books that I have read more recently…especially ones that I have used for teaching and have read multiple times in the last five years. This book was pleasantly surprising and entertaining after suffering through some of the last one.

Babymouse: Burns Rubber, Babymouse: Cupcake Tycoon, Babymouse: The Musical, Babymouse: Dragonslayer by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm–I am almost embarrassed to say that I had never read any of these graphic novels before. I really enjoyed the quick and easy reads and was astonished at all of the literary references. I loved that the musical one referred to so many musicals also. I could see using one of these fun scenes as a lesson about allusions for my 8th graders. I am definitely going to try to get some copies of this series for my class library.

Lessons From a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles–Participating in Teachers Write has given me so many great ideas for my writing, but it has also exposed me to a number of excellent authors. This book was riveting and I stayed up way too late reading it and didn’t do anything the next morning until it was finished.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater–I have been waiting to read this book for a long time now. I finally ordered it from Scholastic this Spring and opened the box while my students were in the room…long story short, I had to wait until summer to read it as it circulated the room to my Shiver series readers. I like this conclusion to the trilogy and felt satisfied by the way everything was resolved.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green–This book is heart-wrenching and I spent the last 50 pages or so sobbing. However, I would never have wished back the time that I spent reading and loving those characters. The voice of the main character is so candid and I truly wished throughout the whole book for a miracle cure for everyone.

See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles–I connected with this book on a very deep level. I lost my father when I was thirteen and I remember the moments in the ER when we found out. I felt exactly the way Fern describes feeling. Her grief in this book reminded me of my own grief at that age and I spent yet another morning crying through a book. (My husband thinks I am nuts at this point I am sure) I will be ordering multiple copies of this one for my class library.

50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James–This one is most definitively NOT a book for young adults. I was curious about it and knew it was trashy but wanted to indulge in a little guilty pleasure. Holy naughtiness, Batman! Enough said.

Books I am Reading:

The Glass Maker’s Daughter by V. Briceland–So far it is entertaining. I have not gotten very far in the book.

Last Train to Paradise by Les Standiford–I am slowly but surely plugging along in this non-fiction book. It is interesting but slower going than my usual choice of novels.

The CAFE Book–I love the ideas that the two sisters have about literacy instruction. Although I teach 8th grade, I am enjoying reading about this assessment system and imagining how to alter it for my grade level.

Books to Read this week:

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia–this one is calling to me from the tbr shelf

I will be picking up holds from the library tomorrow: The Dark Frigate and Tales from Silver Lands. I will try to get through at least one of these if not both

I am also planning to read a few picture books from my pile of potential mentor texts and will probably pick up and start another professional book.

Lastly, I have to say that I love the book a day challenge. I have been doing this challenge for 12 days and have read 17 books already. It makes it easy to give myself permission to sit and read because I am accomplishing a goal 🙂

Happy Reading!

Summer Reading

This summer I am participating in the book a day challenge. I have made it a goal to read at least 1 book a day this summer so that at the end of the summer I will have read at least as many books as I have days off. I am starting off the summer way ahead of my goal which is great because then I might be able to pick up one of the books that I need to sink my teeth into later this summer while still meeting my goal. I have to warn you reader, this may be a long post because there are a lot of great books to talk about.

Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block is a book that I have been curious about for a couple of years. Earlier this week I saw a new Weetzie Bat book in the library and was reminded that this was a series I wanted to read. I found the first book in this series to be quite interesting. There are many people who simply rave over the style of Francesca Lia Block’s writing and I can see how it would appeal to people. This book is a poetic and modernized fairy tale and the characters are fun to read about. I would recommend it to teenagers as it deals with some fairly tough issues in a very light-hearted way, but I am not sure I understand why it is so well-loved.

I read The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting this week as part of the Newbery Challenge. It was a different story from what I thought I would read, but I enjoyed the book. It is obviously written in the 1920’s and if I were to read it with students there would be some race issues to talk about since the thinking at that time was quite different from now. All in all, I found this to be a fun adventure book and I enjoyed reading it.

I had some students in fifth grade a few years ago that thoroughly enjoyed Babymouse books. At the time there were only 1 or 2 of them, but I never picked them up to read. This week I decided to remedy that situation and discover what my students had seen and what Colby Sharp kept raving about on Twitter. The four different books I read from the Babymouse series were all fun reads. I loved the many literary references that were made throughout the books and enjoyed Babymouse’s exploits in each book. I will definitely pick up some of these for my class library to recommend to students who need a quick and light read some days. Although they seem to be written more for students in middle grades, I think young adults would also be entertained by Babymouse.

Forever by Maggie Steifvater is the third book in a trilogy about the wolves in Mercy Falls. I love all the books that I have read by this author and really enjoy the depth of the characters. Sam and Grace have gone through so many ups and downs throughout this trilogy and they seem to be star-crossed in so many ways. The end of the second book in this trilogy was quite a cliff-hanger so I was excited to read this one to find out how everything is resolved. There were many people who did not give this book very good reviews on Goodreads and I couldn’t disagree more. I think the author did a brilliant job of wrapping up this complex plot in a way that really helped me to suspend my disbelief and jump in to the story. I enjoyed getting to know two more characters in this book and I love the way she switches point of view so the reader can see the depth in all the characters. I would highly recommend the whole series starting with Shiver.

     One of the things I have been doing for the last few weeks is an online writing camp for teachers and librarians called Teachers Write. There are assignments and prompts throughout the week and plenty of opportunities to post writing and give feedback to others on their writing. One of the organizers who has been extremely generous in giving her time and talent to this program is Jo Knowles. I am ashamed to say that before this program I had not heard of her before…and, boy, was I missing out! This week I read two of her books and realized just how talented she is.
     The first book I read was Lessons From a Dead Girl. This book was a haunting tale told from the point of view of Laine, a teenage girl who is telling about the complicated relationship she had with a girl who has just died. Laine recounts how much she wanted to be friends with Leah Greene and how excited she was in fifth grade when Leah seemed to choose her as a friend. Things quickly become strange for Laine when Leah makes her do things behind closed doors that she says are just practice. This book really dives into the difficult topic of abuse and victimization from an original point of view. When I started reading this book I could not put it down and ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning (way too late in other words) to finish it.
     The other book I read this week by Jo Knowles was See You at Harry’s. This week the book had recognition as an editor’s pick in the New York Times and it is well-deserved. I read this book in one sitting riveted to my spot by the powerful narrative voice. The protagonist Fern feels invisible to her family and annoyed by her baby brother Charlie. Her parents are busy with the family restaurant, her older siblings are wrapped up in their own lives, and it seems like Fern is always stuck watching Charlie, who is three-years-old. All Fern wants is for her family to understand her and for her mother to show some of the affection to her that she seems to reserve for Charlie. Then, tragedy strikes this family and leaves everyone reeling and grieving in their own way. The author captured the moments when tragedy strikes in such a realistic way. Fern’s thought processes as she grieves are laid bare on the page and echo the way I was thinking when my father died (I was 13 at the time). The descriptions bring the reader into the moment and help her to see and feel what is happening. I highly recommend this book, just make sure to have some tissues at hand.

Last, but certainly not least, is the book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It is the story of Hazel, a girl who is living with cancer and her struggle to come to terms with dying. One day at her support group Hazel meets Augustus Waters and the two of them are kindred spirits. The kids in this book have jokes about cancer and understand one another because of the common experience of cancer. I found the voice of Hazel to be honest and witty and just the way I would imagine a teenager with cancer to react to her world. This book is a tough one to read because it is a star-crossed relationship story if I ever read one, but the uplifting power of love is really at the heart of this story and the ending, though not a happy one, leaves the reader feeling satisfied and not completely devastated. Anyone who knows me well knows that I will avoid a sad story like the plague because I just don’t want to be brought down by the stories I read. This sad story, however, is one that I am glad I read. I will certainly recommend this book to all my students in the fall and would highly recommend it to all my friends as well. Beware when picking up the book that you will most definitely need a box of tissues by you. I sobbed for the better part of 50 pages at the end of the book, but would still recommend the experience to everyone.