26 Ways to Prevent (Summer) Reading

I just love this poster published by one of my favorite library journals, The Horn Book.  The only thing I would change is I think I might cross out the word "summer" in the title...  

Historical Fiction Multimedia Style

I LOVE historical fiction.

Something about making history come alive through storytelling is just fun.  So when I stumbled upon this totally cool post this morning from one of my Facebook "friends", Free Technology for Teachers, I was intrigued and compelled to spread the word.  Imagine the idea of historical fiction in the classroom via historical characters introducing historical sites via YouTube video tours...Cribs with Louis XVI is a short video of an actor dressed as Louis XVI taking the viewer on a tour of Versailles.  Utterly brilliant teaching material!  Even better when paired with images of Versailles and Google Maps interactive links to Versailles which apparently allows a partial tour if "Palace of Versailles" is entered into the search box.  Kudos to Free Technology for Teachers for one of many awesome posts!

Cribs with Louis XVI

Google Maps -- Palace of Versailles

World Book Night Update!

It's official!


I will be giving out my books at the Griffin Cafe in Wayne, PA from 6pm until they are gone on April 23rd!


So if you have not read The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak, come on out to Wayne and I will give you a copy for FREE!  It is a wonderful read -- one of my top ten favorite books of all time.  


Imagine a book about war narrated by Death.  That is a heavy commentary.  This book gave me a whole new perspective on death.  With Death personified, there is almost a sense of empathy for Death -- it's an odd feeling.  The book has a mix of characters in the flux of WWII, among them a young girl who finds comfort in books...which she steals.  The language is beautiful.  It is so beautiful that I found myself stopping to reread passages at times.  Death speaks so eloquently at times that I could imagine sections spoken by an actor on a stage as a soliloquy.  The Book Thief is a book that will resonate with readers long after it is finished and remain on their shelves to be read again years later.  Visit me and become introduced to it!

Haven't seen The Hunger Games movie and looking for a good review? This is my "go to" resource...

http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2012/04/09/the-hunger-games-film-for-your-consideration/

For those of you who haven't seen The Hunger Games yet but plan on eventually seeing it and would like to read an excellent review, this is the review from the School Library Journal blog. I thought it was excellent and it leads you to a second review, also excellent, giving you another perspective from the author's husband.

Nerdbery Challenge Anyone?

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/mobile/mhome/894216-461/early_newbery_winners_pose_a.html.csp

I just read this article about a librarian and a 4th grade teacher who have put together a contest called the "Nerdbery Challenge" challenging participants to read every single Newbery Award winner since its inception in 1922. Apparently the two review the books online in video interviews and they are quite entertaining - more so than they can say for most of those early award winners!

Nerdbery Videos

This is the video that they posted for the Newbery Award winner Waterless Mountain...

World Book Night Update

Quick update on World Book Night... I will be giving out one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE  books on April 23rd at a coffee shop in downtown Wayne (I just have to get the OK from the management) ...

Markus Zuzak's The Book Thief!  The language in this book is just incredible.  It is, after all of the books I've read, still in my top ten favorites.  I'll let you all know where I'll be as soon as I confirm my spot.

Every parent's nightmare...

Room

By Emma Donoghue

Imagine being abducted from your college campus.

Imagine living in a 13 x 13 room for years.

Imagine your abductor repeatedly raping you so that it becomes a part of your routine existence.

Imagine giving birth to a son in your room as a result of those rapes.

Imagine that child being the gift that keeps you alive.

Room is a fascinating – and terrifying – tale of abduction.  What sets it apart from other tales is the voice it is told in.  It is told from the voice of the child born out of the abduction.  It is a voice of innocence that sees the world for what it is in simple terms.  Bed is bed.  Wall is wall.  Mouse is his friend, but he is a secret.  He can't have a dog.  Room is where they live and a man named "Old Nick" brings food and takes his time with his mother away from him while he is locked in a wardrobe.   

Room is certainly every parent’s nightmare, but it is more than that.  It is also a beautiful story of the love between mother and child and the lengths that a mother will go to even under the worst of circumstances to raise a healthy creative child and protect him from harm.  As parents, we all know that children don’t come with instruction manuals and the idea of giving birth to a child in a 13 x13 room and then raising him there for 5 years seems utterly heroic in my mind – for both child and mother!

Three Very Different, Very Strong, Girls...

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

By Laini Taylor

This fantasy novel was one of my favorite reads last year.  It was an absolutely beautiful book.  It is an “angel” fantasy, but I found it incredibly creative and refreshing.  The main character, Karou, is an art student and has special powers.  She lives in Prague and was raised by Brimstone the Wishmonger and an assortment of half-beasts.  She has bright blue hair and speaks many languages and can run errands for Brimstone; but who is she really?  That’s what the book is about – and a wonderful tale it is.  A sequel is due out in November of this year and I can’t wait to read it!

The Declaration

By Gemma Malley

What if everyone started taking meds that prolonged their lives?  What if the meds ensured no diseases – no cancer, no sickness, plastic surgery if you wanted it… and life could last indefinitely?  After a while population control would become a problem.  Society would need to limit births to one child.  But if people didn’t die, even one birth would be too much.  Births would have to be curtailed.  That’s the premise of The Declaration.  Sign the Declaration and you get longevity drugs.  Opt out and you don’t get the drugs.  But in reality it doesn’t seem to be quite that simple… Even those who opt out and have children seem to be hunted.  The Declaration is the story of Surplus Annie, one of the children born into this society.  It’s an excellent dystopian read that will get you thinking about what such a future could mean.

The Running Dream 

By Wendelin Van Draanen 

I am a runner. 

That's what I do. 

That's who I am. 

Running is all I know, or want, or care about...

Running aired out my soul. 

It made me feel alive. 

And now? 

I'm stuck in this bed, knowing I'll never run again. (pg 6)

This book is nothing short of inspirational.  Whether you are an athlete or a mathlete, you can’t help but fall in love with this story about sixteen-year-old Jessica, a high school track star with amazing potential who wakes up on the first page of the book to find she has lost her leg in a terrible accident.  Jessica struggles through a whole realm of emotions but continually dreams of running.  She discovers that running on prosthesis is a possibility, but an expensive one.  Her entire team rallies behind her to try and get her running again.  At the same time, Jessica meets Rosa who has CP and is in a wheelchair.  Rosa tutors her in math and she discovers something about disabilities – it’s easy to become invisible. 

I found this to be a personally rewarding read as I’ve had this same experience with a very close friend.  My dear friend Lisa has CP, is in a wheelchair, and can sometimes be hard to understand until you get used to her speech.  I loved the way Jessica referred to Rosa’s impediment as being like a dialect.  That is how I feel with Lisa.  Lisa is very bright, just like Rosa, but people will treat her like she is stupid.  I have been in the ER with her and doctors will talk to me and not her.  I’ll have to remind them to talk to her.   

This is definitely a book that will appeal to almost everyone.  It’s not a difficult read and it’s uplifting.  The message is wonderful and it will stay with you for a long, long time!

Mal Peet delivers a wonderful YA view of war & peace through a coming of age story and historical fiction...

Life: An Exploded Diagram

By Mal Peet

Mal Peet has been an author on my radar for a long time, but this is the first book I’ve read by him.  He is a British author who has received awards for previous works including Tamar and Exposure.  Life is an historical fiction that cleverly surges through multiple generations within a family spanning from early WWI England through Sept 11, 2001 in New York City.

In the first generation, Win’s husband Percy dies in WWI.  While Ruth’s husband George is fighting in WWII, a German fighter plane crashes just over their garden hitting the roof of the house as the war is ending and she gives birth to their son Clem.  Clem grows up in England with the backdrop of the cold war in a growing and changing English landscape as he experiences the conflict of the Kennedy administration and the crisis in Cuba as portrayed through the media on a daily basis.

Mal Peet delivers a wonderful story filled with multi-generational interpretations of the changing times around them, progressive views of war and peace, and a wonderful coming of age story as Clem comes to learn who he is among a cast of friends, family and young love.  It is a thought-provoking read that will leave you pondering long after you turn the last page -- a perfect book for discussion in book groups or clubs.