Thank goodness my classroom library isn't just for me...

This morning I read Pernille Ripp's newest blog post. You should probably read it first. And it got me thinking about all the books I wouldn't have read if my library was just for me.

If my classroom library was just for me I never would know what a muggle was and imagined a game of quidditch. I wouldn't have cried over the death of a wizard or cheered the death of another.

I wouldn't have jumped into the land of a book and and loved the  silver tongues that brought words to life.

I definitely wouldn't have raced the capall uisce up the beach on the first of November, nor tracked ley lines with the Raven Boys.

If my classroom library were just for me, there would have been no fantasy, no magical reality.







I wouldn't have played games of life and death.

I wouldn't have lived in a world with no color and loved a giver of memories.
I wouldn't have lived in the future and wondered how we could keep those things from happening.

If my classroom library were just for me dystopian novels would not be there.

I wouldn't have cried over a football coach from just down the road or someone else's crazy lab. I wouldn't have experienced a soldier's life or rode a bus with her sister.

Because my classroom library lives for others I met Hazel and Gus, fell in love with Ryan Dean, shared a praying mantis with others, wished I could give the sun and traveled back to a very different Oz. And Auggie wouldn't have reminded me to #choosekind

Thank goodness my classroom library isn't just for me...

Three Books

Oscar Wilde, an Irish writer and poet, supposedly once said, "Books, I fancy, may be conveniently divided into three classes: 1. Books to read 2. Books to reread 3. Books not to read at all."  

Make your own list. Add a few books to each category and explain your thinking.

Requirements for this post:

• 150 word minimum
• two books for each category
• an explanation for each book why it belongs in that category
• picture(s)
• Spell-check, edited

I asked my freshmen to write the above post for their blog this week. I thought it only fair that I write it also. I think it will be harder for me to narrow down my choices than it will be for my ninth graders :)


Books to Read:

This is my longest list because I have so many books on my TBR list. Here are the two that I think right now top the list:

I have a huge author crush on Maggie Stiefvater. I just love the way she writes. While this book is sitting on my desk, I haven't started it yet because I'm waiting for a day where I can read the whole thing in one sitting. Or maybe in two sittings. I want to savor it.

Fangirl  is also on my list because so many people have said great things about it. A former student said it was possibly the best book of 2013 and I trust her book choices. 

Others on the list: Gym Candy by Carl Deuker (my boys love it. have to see what the fuss is about) 

BOOKS TO REREAD:

Even though I have read this book twenty five times, I feel a Gone With the Wind marathon coming on. I haven't read it in years and I've changed a lot since the thirteen-year-old girl I was when I read it the first time--or even the forty-something I was when I read it the last time. Think it's time for the fifty-six-year old to see what she thinks and what she learns as she reads it.

I simply love this story. So the Inkheart series is dear to my heart. How can a reader not love the story of book characters who come to life? I've been thinking about Meggie and her dad a lot lately. A sure sign I need a reread.




Others on the list; The Harry Potter Series. Missing those characters also.

BOOKS NOT TO READ:

I have never been a fan of the British classics. I've read a few of them and find them stuffy and boring. Pride and Prejudice has all that, I think. I've tried to read it three times in the last few years, because it's one of Roomie's favorite books. I just don't get it. I hear by give myself permission to never try to read it again. 

With so  many fantastic young adult novels out there, with great characters and plots, can we just forget about this one?

Friday Favorites

Took a couple of weeks off--not because I didn't have any favorites, I just didn't have time to write a post! Lake time has been jammed packed. So Friday Favorites this week is all about the lake...


1. Our cabin....

Which is actually an old camper with an addition. It has two small bedrooms, a small kitchen/dining area and one long addition. In the addition we have added a sleeper sofa and a futon, so we have a little more sleeping space when the boys and their families come to the lake. They have both come at the same time, with their dogs, and somehow, we make it work.

2. Quiet Mornings......

A long summer day, with nothing that has to be done. The possibilities are endless. Read a book, swim,  a little golf with friends, walks with Chloe, watching paint dry. It could all happen.

3. My view from the deck...

4. Special Moments with family...

This is our youngest son and his daughter dancing to "Hey Baby! (Won't You Be My Girl?)" We get to spend a lot of time with them this summer and it's so fun to watch them grow and learn. K is growing into a young lady at 8. T is a golfer extraordinaire and will soon be beating Grandma and Grandpa. Little Max won't be little much longer.

The other three grandkids are doing their own share of learning and growing. A got herself some pretty pink glasses and think she looks pretty sharp. B is loving the Captain Underpants books and Baby H is not a baby. Dad says he is walking around saying, "Chloe", so we are planning a trip down to see them.

5. Time to read!
I've read two professional books--"Flip Your Classroom" by Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams, the gurus of Flipped Learning. "Teach Like a Pirate" by Dave Burgess.  This is a great book about teaching with passion and enthusiasm. There are several Twitter chats going on about this book also. Follow along at #tlap.

I've also read some books from my classroom: Delirium and Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, Night Road by Kristen Hannah (not really YA, but my girls will love it) and a new FAVORITE: The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy. All I can say about it is WOW. I read it in two days. Action Packed. I'm planning on writing a review of it for my class blog, so maybe I will share that on here when it gets written. Thank heavens for my Twitter PLN who kept talking about this book. I may never have picked it up otherwise.

Well, that's it for this Friday.

What are your favorites this week?

#23 of 31 The Diviners by Libba Bray

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know I don't really do book reviews. There are others out there. Others who do a much better job of writing reviews than I do.

But every once in awhile, I find a book I just have to talk about. For whatever reason, I have to tell others about a book.

The Diviners by Libba Bray is one of those books.

Here's what I loved about this book.

It's creepy. It's spooky. It's scary. It's good.

The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking, "This is Stephen King for high school kids who think they aren't ready for Stephen King."

It's smart. It's funny. It's readable. It's good

I love the characters--especially Evie who is the main character of this book. Although at times she can seem self-centered and full of herself, she is also a good friend, inquisitive and self-confident. I like her.

 I like the other characters we've been introduced to and I want to know more about them (good thing this is a planned series!). Theta, the Zeigfield girl; Sam, the mysterious young man whom Evie meets when she first arrives; the mysterious Jericho. 

I didn't know this was a planned series when I started reading this book. Now, I am going through withdrawals wondering what is happening!

I think one of the reasons I liked it from the beginning was as soon as I read those first few pages, I could picture some of the kids I would give it to. Immediate connections. And now, that is into those hands, I know I was right!  

This is a book with a long waiting list.....

And I wish that second book was coming out soon!

Good thing there's a Facebook page

The Goodreads review....

The Diviners (The Diviners #1)

by Libba Bray (Goodreads Author)

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08  ·   rating details  ·  7,362 ratings  ·  1,994 reviews

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.(less)

Hardcover, 578 pages

Published September 18th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

The Smiley Faced Box

The Smiley Faced Box.

It sat on the kitchen table

All night

Waiting patiently.

But,

I knew what was inside

So I left it where it was

So it wouldn't distract me.

7:15am

I bring it to school 

for that is where it belongs.

I didn't open it.

At First.

I planned

to organize my room

and clean the smudge

off my desks.

I would write lesson plans

and run off papers

and be ready for next week.

But,

There it sat.

The Smiley Faced Box.

Looking at me.

Whispering

"Just take a little peek."

So I did

(even though I already knew

the magic it held).

And there inside the

Smiley Faced Box

were whining children

waiting to be eaten by

MONSTERS!

And there was Ralph

who thought he didn't have a

story to tell,

but told me one anyway.

And 

best of all

waiting patiently

at the bottom of the 

Smiley Faced Box

Cassia

and

Ky

and

Xander

Reached for me

Ready to share with me

How they made it to the end.

Who needs lesson plans anyway?

                             

Shine by Lauren Myracle

I finished Shine by Lauren Myracle last week.  I've had a little time to digest it. It was one of those books that I liked, but wasn't sure I loved. But it sure did make me think.

Shine begins with a news article about the beating of a local boy, Patrick Truman.  He was beaten and left for dead at the gas station where he worked. Labeled a hate crime by the local sheriff, he is ready to blame the attack on gay-bashing out-of-towners.

But Cat, the former best friend of Patrick; Cat, with problems of her own; Cat doesn't necessarily agree with the sheriff. Cat believes the attack lies closer to home. She begins to investigate.  Her investigation leads he to many of the secrets of her close knit Southern town. Along the way, she deals with her own problems and finds herself again.

The story is about Cat, but for me, it was really about Patrick. Throughout this book I kept thinking about how horrible it must have been for Patrick to grow up in Black Creek...this small town in the South--although, truthfully, it could be a small town anywhere--even northeast Iowa. How did he handle the day to day living in this town? How did he deal with the prejudice disguised as religion? How did he face the face the comments about his sexuality? And how did he deal with all this from his  "friends" and the people who should have been standing up for him?  I want to hear from Patrick!

Christmas in February

A friend of mine happens to be the At-Risk coordinator in our district. A couple of weeks ago we were visiting in her office.  She was lamenting the fact that she had money to spend on books, but the teachers of the reading class that I taught last year hadn't given her a list of what they wanted.

I know why. They don't read. At least they don't read Young Adult novels.

I had a list in my head.

So, I did what any teacher who reads would have done. "I'll get you a list!  Put the books in my room and I'll make sure they get to the kids who need them."

"Get me a list."

Yahoo!  I began rereading posts of blogging friends who write about the books they read (special shout out to Christy of Reading Beyond the Middle).  We had a snow day on the day the ALA announced their awards, so I watched the webcast and followed along on Twitter.

My list contained great books. And yesterday, they arrived in my room!

"Mrs. Day, I've never seen anyone get so excited about a bunch of books."

While students worked on a project, I quickly entered the books on my inventory list. As I did this, slowly a few crept up to my desk and began looking through the piles. 

"Can I read this first?"

"I want this one."

"Ooo, this looks good."

"Put a post-it note on the one you want to read," I said, "and I'll do those first so you can take them home."

As a true reader, it was hard for me to send some of these out into the world before I had a chance to savor them. Come on. You know what I mean. But, I did let them go.  I made kids promise to take care of them, savor them, and bring them back to me...so I could get them out quickly to others.

Merry Christmas! (And thanks again, Mrs. At-Risk. You rock!)

The Fault in Our Stars

My (signed, yea!) copy of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green was waiting at my door when I came home the other day.  I made a decision I normally never make--I started it while I was reading another book. I've been reading Stephen King's new book 11/22/63.  I love King's book, but, for me, it's a slow read while I digest what he's writing about.

I thought Green's Young Adult novel would be a fast read and I could get it on my book shelf faster into the hands of kids if I just took a break and read it instead of 11/22/63. And it was, but I may have to read it again.

When I talk with students about books, I always tell them that, for me, if I wonder what the characters are doing without me, that's the sign of a good book.  Not only did I wonder what Augustus and Hazel were doing--I wondered HOW they were doing, especially Hazel.  She has cancer, you see.  Although she's had a "tumor shrinking medical miracle", she's still terminal, and I worried about how she was feeling.

And who wouldn't love Augustus.  The hot boy with one leg, who gave up shared his "Wish" with Hazel and took her to visit the author of a book she has many questions about. Really.  Who wouldn't want him as a boyfriend.

And then there was Isaac.  I loved Isaac too.  I worried about his surgery and how he would cope.  I loved the relationship he and Augustus had. The banter back and forth between them was so true to life.  I hurt for him after his break-up (really--if you worry and think about a secondary character, it's a great book).

Simply, this is a beautifully written book. I started keeping track of the lines I loved, but finally quit writing them down. There were just too many. But I am going to share a couple because they keep resonating in my head (God, I wish I could write like this!)

• "As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."
• "But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I am grateful."

This was one of those books where I couldn't decide if I wanted to read it fast, all in one sitting because I couldn't wait to find out what Hazel and Augustus were doing or if I should read it slow and savor it.

I loved the story.  I loved the characters. I loved the writing. 

I just plain loved this whole book.