Contented Dementia

by Oliver James
Hennepin County Library paperback 273 pages (though I only read 78 of them)
genre: non-fiction, self-help, caregiving for dementia patients

Interesting but I'm not totally "sold" on this one. The author writes about Penny Garner's "SpecialSense" method of dealing with Alzheimers patients (call them "clients," even if they're your family members . . . ). Her three rules are 1. Don't ask questions. 2. Learn from them as experts on their disability. 3. Always agree with everything they say, never interrupting them. There were some aspects of this that make a lot of sense! I could picture my mom's frustration and confusion when we asked her questions and she didn't know how to answer.

page 25 - Penny spent the last 37 hours of her mother's life by her side. "Those hours are among Penny's most precious memories." Her mother Dorothy was Penny's impetus for working on dementia issues. This scene made me think of being by Betty's side and my mom's side at the end of their lives. There is something absolutely incredible about sitting with someone as they cross over from life to death.

page 37 - Alice playing bridge . . . though I understand and appreciate what they're doing to help Alice . . . it seems deceptive and artificial. I don't like lying and this method seems to be difficult and somehow wrong (though the author addresses and dismisses this concern).

page 56 - Analogy of a photo album and intact memories as "green" and positive (emotionally). The newer events are not really remembered, so are blank and cannot be recalled. Trying to picture a blank makes it become "red" - associated with fear, confusion, and other negative emotions.

I really like the personal narratives and stories. Those are the parts of the book that really connect for me. I also like the technique of avoiding questions and returning to familiar, happy topics to avoid confusion and anxiety.

I definitely would recommend this for people whose loved ones are starting to head down the road of dementia forgetfulness and repetitive conversation. I thought of Beth and her mom and dad . . .

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong

by Prudence Shen & Faith Erin Hicks
PRMS paperback 280 pages
genre: YA graphic novel, realistic

Delightful story of Charlie (captain of the basketball team, mild-mannered), his neighbor / friend Nate (neurotic nerd), and Holly (superpowerful cheerleader who dumped Charlie via text). Both the cheerleaders and the robotics club want some school money for their organizations. When the principal says that the student council can decide between them, a fight for president ensues. Funny, cute, a bit stereotypical . . . delightful little book!

The Adventures of Superhero Girl

by Faith Erin Hicks
Hennepin County Library hardcover 106 pages
genre: YA graphic novel fantasy

I love Hicks' work! This delightful little story about a young woman who has a bit of an identity crisis about being a superhero is worth having in my collection. I especially like her dynamic with older brother Kevin, also a superhero.

Will & Whit

by Laura Lee Gulledge
Hennepin County Library, paperback unpaged
genre: YA realistic, relationships

This engaging book centers on Will (Wilhelmina) and her fears - of the dark, of being a burden on her aunt, of missing her parents after their deaths. She loves to make lamps (which bring light) and her friends Autumn (a talented puppeteer) and Noel (an excellent cook). The drawings include many shadow people and other objects, portraying some of Will's fears. Whit refers to hurricane Whitney, which takes out all the power and leaves Will to face her fears in the dark. I'll definitely buy a copy of this for school!

The Mark of Athena

by Rick Riordan
PRMS hardcover 574 pages
genre: YA fantasy

A little confusing with all seven demigod heroes plus extra characters in this story. Basically, Annabeth needs to find the Athena Parthenos (a giant statue of Athena that has been missing for millenia) and the other six heroes need to rescue Nico. Gaea is rising, evil spirits called eidolons are trying to possess the heroes, and there are the usual fights and problems that arise on their journey to Rome. There's also the Greek / Roman problem. Fun, interesting, but not my favorite of his books. Of course, I'll read the next book in the series . . .

Favorite part: Annabeth outwitting Arachne.

Saints

by Gene Luan Yang
Hennepin County Library paperback 170 pages
genre: YA graphic novel, historical fiction

The yin to his previous novel's yang, this volume traces the perspective of the Christians (both white and converted Chinese) through the story of Four-girl. Her grandfather dislikes her (hence no actual name for her) and calls her a devil child. She becomes a Christian because they are the "foreign devils" everyone dislikes. The conflicts (personal and cultural) and her visions of Joan of Arc are interesting additions to this story. The two volumes (Boxers and Saints) work very well together. I'll buy both of these for my collection.

Boxers

by Gene Luan Yang
Hennepin County Library paperback 325 pages
genre: YA graphic novel, historical fiction

I liked this much, much better than his award-winning American Born Chinese. This book tells the story of the Boxer Rebellion in an intriguing, almost mystical manner. Little Bao is ready to join his older brothers in 1898 as trouble is breaking out, but they see him as a little kid. So many themes, story lines, and perspectives in the book. Very very well done - art and storytelling.

Keeper: one house, three generations, and a journey into Alzheimer's

by Andrea Gillies
Hennepin County Library hardcover 316 pages
genre: non-fiction

This book is amazing. Partly because it comes at a time in my life when these issues are on my mind and partly because Gillies does a masterful job of combining memoir, research, observation, and social commentary. I don't have much time to blog, so I'll just jot my post-its:

Watch Living With Alzheimer's - the BBC show of Terry Pratchett's illness

page 70 - "Anything that is done without Morris and Nancy in attendance is done at risk, and risk assessment becomes a part of life. We don't go for walks anymore. We don't go out as a family anymore - just the five of us - unless we can go as seven. We go as seven to the cinema, out to dinner, to visit new friends. We're not often invited back."

page 75 - "Dementia is fast becoming the condition that's cited by the young and healthy as the disease that is most feared. . . . We don't have brains; we are our brains. . . . The brain is where the self lives."

page 152 - "I feel sorry for friends in the United States in a similar position, caught up in long tangles of red tape: the details of Medicare benefits, rights to Medicaid, drug bureaucracy, health insurance companies and their cunning opt-outs, and almost everything coming back to money, money, money."

page 160 - "How am I?" Her responses to people and the desire to be honest, brief, left alone . . . I love how she shares this.

page 194 - "Internally, I'm fervently apologetic to all those unknown, anonymous people I ever maligned for dumping." As she struggles with her mother-in-law's increasingly aggressive and difficult behavior, Gillies works to find a placement for her in-laws. Guilt is such a huge part of this issue!

page 217 - "I get it all out of my system in the classic modern way. I write e-mails." Again, I love how she shares her struggles as well as her good days. She includes a lot of information about Alzheimers and caregivers.

page 255 - "This may sound harsh and uncaring. Maybe it is. But it comes after a long, long campaign. Take battle weariness into account. The only way of continuing with this is to disengage emotionally."

page 263 - "I write long e-mails. Some of them are sent, though most are severely edited. I reread before pressing Send and think, What tedious self-pitying drivel; you can't burden your friends like this. Some days I do burden them and their kindness in responding is almost unbearable. It can't be done every day. It's boring for people to hear it and keep hearing it. Not when there isn't any resolution possible other than death of the aged dependents. Nobody could be so crass as to hope for that." One thing this book did for me was make me much more appreciative of my own situation! I've felt some of the things that she talks about, yet what I've had to deal with the last few years is nothing like what she had!

page 269 - "I'm beginning to feel afraid, though it isn't clear what there is to fear. . . . That this is a test of character that I'm failing, D minus."

page 276 - "Dumping. Do we dump people in hospitals when they're ill? Is that the language used? I worry that we're all confusing a physical disease with natural aging, believing that we ought to be able to contain aging and death within the family, recognizing the failure and stigma of doing otherwise. We confuse dementia with old age. . . "

page 297 - Morris and money stuff. "It's a disheartening thing to face, for those who've always been frugal. The people who held on to their ancient washing machine until it gave out, who were content with the old linoleum in the kitchen, who put money by for a rainy day - their rainy day has come."

page 305 - When Morris and Nancy are finally placed in a home. " 'Not severe enough?' Mary had echoed, incredulously. 'She's a lot more severe than plenty of the people you do have in nursing homes. You just try spending a couple of days looking after her. You'd see what she's really like.' " I felt so relieved that Andrea finally had some vindication after being turned down for even getting a spot on the waiting list for her mother-in-law!

So much more I could write! Amazing book.

Bridge to Haven

by Francine Rivers
Jodi's copy hardcover 459 pages
genre: Christian fiction, relationships

Loved it! Rivers is a wonderful author. I don't even want to write a synopsis . . . just my post-its.

page 24 - I cried when Mitzi played ragtime at Marianne's funeral, especially when her son got embarrassed. This probably has a lot to do with planning my mom's funeral . . . what would *she* like? What is expressive of her?

page 38 - (I love Mitzi!) Mitzi says to a pouting Abra, "I've never lied to you and I never will. I know it's your choice to believe me or not, but you'd better understand this: what you believe sets the course of your life." There's more, but sometimes a person just needs a good talking-to. This is a wonderful scene.

page 96 - Zeke (and Joshua) knowing that all they can do for Abra is pray. "What would it do to both of them if Abra followed the deceiver rather than the lover of her soul?"

page 110 - When Dylan yanks Marianne's cross necklace off Abra, I wanted her to scream and run . . . fast.

page 139 - Zeke is talking with Mitzi about Abra. "Hodge (her son) seemed to be torn between mortification and pride. He adored his mother, but said she drove him insane at times. He admitted once he never knew how his hardworking, somewhat-shy, prim and proper father had even met her, let alone married her." Besides the fact that I love Mitzi, I love the torn feeling that children sometimes have in regard to their parents!

page 162 - (Jodi's flag) - When Joshua and Zeke are talking about Abra, Zeke says, "She knew what we told her about the Lord, Joshua. That's different from knowing Him." Amen! Knowing about and knowing personally are very different.

page 169 - Though this is a work of fiction, there are emotions and scenarios that ring very true. "She looked away. Had Dylan ever loved her, even for a second? She'd only seen lust, sarcasm, and fury. She'd stayed because she was too ashamed to call for help. She'd stayed so she wouldn't have to hear how she'd made her own bed and would have to sleep in it. She'd stayed out of fear. She'd stayed because she didn't know where else to go. She'd stayed for a hundred reasons that made no sense, not even to her. Now, she felt lost. And the feeling had nothing to do with location."

page 201 - (Jodi's flag) how a woman feels wearing attractive undergarments . . . even if no one else sees them . . .

page 275 - I love how the old hymns that Mitzi made her learn come flooding back into her mind! This recurring theme is powerful!

page 367 - When Abra is in the motel room in the dusty desert town, after crying and remembering hymns, she thinks, "You can have it, God. I'm so tired of the fight. Do whatever you want. Burn me to ash. Turn me to a pillar of salt. Wash me away in a flood. I don't want to hurt anymore. I don't want to hurt anyone else. I just want . . . I don't even know." Then she sleeps a deep and peaceful sleep. I love God!

page 383 - (Jodi's flag) When she and Joshua are talking, she says, "I've been such a fool, Joshua." He didn't deny it. "No one sees with eyes half-shut, Abra. Your eyes are open now."

page 430 - I love her breakthrough! "You love me, Lord. In spite of my stubborn and rebellious heart." Then she asks Joshua to baptize her, then and there. Great scene! The joy in the character's entire being is so very evident.

Book club tonight! I look forward to discussing this.

Proof of Heaven

by Mary Curran-Hackett
Hennepin County Library paperback 291 pages
genre: realistic fiction

A friend recommended a *different* book by this title, but I was curious about this, so I got it. The story centers around Colm (pronounced "coll-um" like the architectural feature) and his mother Cathleen. Colm has a mysterious illness which causes him to die - literally - and the many emergencies which have brought him back to life have made Cathleen desperate for a miracle cure. Her brother Sean, a firefighter, vacillates between being the strong male figure Colm needs and an escapist alcoholic. For the most part, I liked the story. It raises a lot of questions about family and faith. Dr. Basu was my favorite character.

page 91 - "Throughout her life the battle between what her mind was capable of knowing and what her heart was capable of feeling waged on. She admired people who knew for sure whether they did or didn't believe in God or in heaven. She was drawn to Monsignor because he had such confidence in his own opinions." The Monsignor is not a very flattering character, especially in opposition to Sean's disbelief, but I like the character's observation about certainty.

page 135 - "As she sang, she tried to remember the last time she had done such a thing. Mothers can never know the last time they will rock their children to sleep, sing them a final lullaby, pick them up and carry them on their hips, or even bathe them, she thought. Babies grow into children without notice. They grow out of such habits without mention, without mourning their passing or loss. No one ever seems to remember the last times." How true! As parents, we are so eager for the next phase of growing up . . . and so quick to forget the old phase. I miss cuddling a sleepy boy.

chapter 32 - I wasn't sure what to expect, but this wasn't it. It made me want to know more about Pierce's story. The ending wasn't really satisfactory to me.

The Poet

by Michael Connelly
audioCDs 12 discs collection of Jeff Beaudoin
genre: murder mystery

Things I liked:
similarity to Criminal Minds (tv show) with profiling
his H.S. crush on Riley
literary allusions / Poe stuff

Things I didn't like:
romance between him & the FBI agent - NOT convincing!
PTL for pedophile network
technology is SOOOO outdated
him helping Warren out . . . just no

Of Noble Birth

by Brenda Novak
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 discs
genre: romance, historical fiction
read by Alison Larkin

Liked: romantic tension, character development (at least for Alexandra and Nathaniel), adventure

Disliked: stupid decisions by characters, lack of realism in parts (e.g. Nathaniel being romantically inclined mere hours after escaping the torture and deprivations of a month in the Hulks)

The Lost Boy

by Greg Ruth
PRMS paperback 190 pages
genre: YA mystery graphic novel

Weird book. Walter disappeared a long time ago. Before he did, though, he left tape recordings of his observations and investigations. Nate finds the recordings fifty (?) years later and tries to figure things out. Creepy characters, lots of otherworldly experiences. Interesting, creepy story.

Not sure why this has been in "draft" form for weeks . . . I'll publish without worry.

High Blood Pressure for Dummies

2nd edition
by Alan Rubin
Hennepin County Library paperback 320 pages
genre: non-fiction, self-help

My cardiologist laughed and said I was a goofball (or something along those lines) when I told him I had gotten this book. But as always, I found this Dummies book very helpful. I didn't read it cover-to-cover, but focused on the chapters I was most interested in:

ch. 9 - Choosing Foods
Go for high potassium foods, try low-fat or fat-free options, snack on carrot or celery sticks and rice cakes. Page 139 had lots of great ideas:

I also used the info to calculate "ideal" weights. For a woman who is 5'6" (me), a target weight is 130 pounds. 10% variance in either direction is 13 pounds, so I should be in the 117-143 pound range. Wow. I don't think I've seen 143 pounds since Nick was two years old . . . but I'm heading in the right direction!

For a man who is 6'1", the ideal weight is 184 pounds. The 10% variance of 18.4 pounds leaves the range at 165.6-202.4 pounds. I have no idea what Louie weighs right now!

One resource that I made note of while I was reading was the Health Record at www.lifeclinic.com but that entity has become part of another entity and I couldn't find any free record sheets to print out.

Another tool is the DASH booklet at nih.gov but I feel as though I already have enough info about that.

ch. 10 - Keeping Salt Out of the Diet
This is what I'm really struggling with. I love the taste of salt! The recommendation in this book was to avoid foods that have 180+mg of sodium per serving. Ideally, I should look for those that have 35mg or less per serving! I don't read labels as much as I should, but I've been getting better about it. Boy, the foods I like have a lot of sodium. I should eat "very low sodium" foods. Read labels - another piece of advice I noted. Make sure salt substitutes aren't high in potassium (which seems to contradict the chapter nine assertion to seek high potassium foods, except I think that was referring to foods that have it naturally and not as an additive).

ch. 12 - Lower Blood Pressure with Exercise
So much here that I need to work on! There was a plan for using walking as a primary tool. Time a one-mile walk and make a goal chart. There was a sample on page 187 but I'm too lazy to scan it. I may just grab a cell pic and make my own. It's pretty simplistic. Basically, level one is doing a mile in 30 minutes. Then I would decrease the time it takes and increase the distance walked. I may give this a try. My Fitbit has been a great tool for me, but I like new challenges.

Now I can finally return this book to the library! I had to blog about it before relinquishing it.

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

by Eleanor Coerr
PRMS hardcover 63 pages
genre: based on a true story . . . YA

I vaguely knew about this story, but had never actually read it until this school year. Sadako was young and living in the Hiroshima area when WWII ended. As the radiation sickness took away her running speed, then her strength, then her life, Sadako's hope for healing came in the form of folded paper cranes. Her classmates took up her cause when she was unable to fold. She died in 1955. Sad story.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

by Michelle Hodkin
Hennepin County Library hardcover 452 pages
genre: teen paranormal mystery with romance

A freshman highly recommended this book to me and I respect her so much that I had to read it. It was interesting in terms of keeping my interest. The author's language choices were wonderful. The main things I disliked: the occult-oriented focus (ouija board, rooster blood, etc.) and the ending leaving the entire story open-ended. Because Mara has so many hallucinations (and can kill people with her thoughts), it's hard to know what's real and what's not. And I'm a bit curious about what happened to Jamie after he was expelled from school. I kept waiting for Mara to kill Anna and Aiden, but I suppose the author needs them to be the bad guys in the next book. Noah Shaw was a very fascinating male character and I understand why the freshman loves this book so much. There's plenty of desire without actual sex.

The Postcard

by Tony Abbott
PRMS hardcover 359
genre: YA fiction, mystery

I read this one because a student returned it with water damage and I wondered if I should replace it or get rid of it. What a weird book! Jason goes to Florida to help his dad deal with grandma's death and estate. Dad is struggling with his own issues and Jason reluctantly unravels a mystery about his grandma's past. Dia is a great character (teen babysitter who prods Jason forward and calls him lots of different names). This book is peopled with some very odd characters and an intriguing history. Still, I think I'll delete & donate without replacing. Many of my readers would have trouble getting into this one and sticking with it.

The Son of Neptune

by Rick Riordan
PRMS hardcover 513 pages
genre: YA action adventure, mythology

Percy has "lost" eight months of his life when he stumbles upon Camp Jupiter. The Romans take him in, but he especially befriends Hazel and Frank. The unlikely trio go on a quest to rescue the god of death, Thanatos. Great fun, though it dragged a bit in places. Frank and Hazel are wonderful characters. I wonder how the Sammy / Leo drama will unfold . . . I need to read book 3!

The Raft: the courageous struggle . . .

by Robert Trumbull
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 discs
read by Grover Gardner
genre: non-fiction autobiography / memoir

This was a very interesting account of three men during WWII who had to ditch their plane at sea and survived for 34 days in a rubber raft. It bothered me that the pilot "told" the story (Robert Trumbull) and called the other two men "boys" and "lads." His "of course, I was in charge" attitude bugged me, too. Yes, he was the oldest, the pilot, and had senior rank, but the tone (in the text, not just the reader's voice) was condescending (IMO). When I realized that this account was actually published in 1942, I thought about the era and realized this was a very intriguing period piece. I almost want my dad to listen to it to get his perspective. Gene Aldrich was my favorite of the three men. He caught most of the food, had a go-getter attitude, and believed in the power of prayer.

On Amazon, this review caught my eye:

Thoughts from a relative of two of the men

By L.A. Pastula on April 26, 2007

Format: Audio CD

Thanks everyone for the great reviews!! I must however point out that being the neice of Anthony Pastula and Gene Aldrich that this book is somewhat misleading, basically because it is from one person's viewpoint that had to be the hero. The plane, btw, didn't exactly crash. After being told several times by both my Uncles that they were running out of fuel, IT RAN OUT OF GAS!!! Not something the hero of his book would confess to I suppose. My Uncles were also not helpless, uneducated, weaklings as they are sometimes made out to be either. They weren't that GREEN. They also had nothing to do with this book, because obviously, their recounts of their time at sea didn't match Dixon's. They both chose to step out of the spotlight and go on with their lives. For those that did wonder in the other reviews, they not only remained the closest of friends but they became brothers-in-law! Gene married Tony's sister. To add to that, Gene's sister married Tony's brother and that's where I come from! It is truly by the grace of God and Gene's strong personal belief in the Lord that he shared with the other two men that saved them.

 

 

The Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout

by Jill Abramson
Hennepin County Library audiobook 4 discs
read by Beth MacDonald
genre: non-fiction, dogs

I'm glad this was short because it kind of bugged me. The most interesting parts are that the author's sister wrote the Fancy Nancy books. I also liked the German Shepherd parts. I'm not a fan of goldens. I'm also not a fan of people who over-obsess about their pets. I love my dog, but I'm not a head case about her health and well-being. This was a bit much for me. All the trainers, theories, seminars, etc. I suppose a lot of it was simply research for this book, but it came off as very overdone. MacDonald's vocal work was fine.

Snapshot

by Lis Wiehl
Hennepin County Library hardcover 274 pages
genre: mystery, historical fiction, drama, relationships

I'm really not in the mood to blog. I like this book and I am glad to be aware of Lis Wiehl as an author. We read this for book club (Spirit of Life Church). Her notes in the back were quite interesting - her father was one of the FBI investigators of JFK's assassination. In this story, the FBI agent takes his young daughter to a civil rights march in Fort Worth a year after JFK's murder. A prominent civil rights leader is shot to death and a black man is arrested and put in jail for the crime. Forty-something years later, this man contacts the FBI agent asking for help to avoid execution. Photographs that the agent took that fateful day and his own conviction that justice was not done lead him to ask his adult daughter to help solve the crime. Lots of twists and turns and interesting characters.

pg 42 - Lisa's friend Drew mentions a vacation in Hawaii. "The image of warm sand and sunshine filled her with longing." I can relate!!! Our weather has been challenging.

ch 10 - I love how the computer geek Gertz helps Lisa and has fun digging up info for her.

pg 115 - When Lisa goes to meet Molly Carter, it makes me sad that her reaction to the church is what some people really feel. ". . . with their schedule, church was far down the list of things to do every Sunday."

pg 153 - She calls her adult son and asks him if she was a good mom (essentially) as she questions her role in his life. He laughs (of course) and says, "My mommy misses me . . . I miss you too. Yes, you hugged me enough. And I love you, mom."

pg 173 - When Molly's family is talking about what it was like to live in fear in the South during the 50s and 60s . . . that is so incredibly hard for me to relate to. I can't fathom having to watch what I say, how I say it, etc. There is so much privilege I've had growing up as a white person in this country in the 60s- now.

pg 242 - I was so afraid that Stanley was going to kill Lena (Madeline)! Especially when he talked the young employee to let him go upstairs without announcing his presence. He was so creepy evil . . . I like how this scene turned out.

The Lady Most Likely

by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, & Connie Brockway
Hennepin County Library audiobook 7 discs
read by Rosalyn Landor

Interesting to have three authors write a three-romance book. Nice fluffy stories to escape with. Alec captures the heart of the beautiful buy shy Gwendolyn Passmore, Captain Neil Oakes finally makes his love known with Katherine Peyton, and Hugh Dunne ends up with the person he should have started with - Georgina Sorrell. Horses, balls, etc. I love these historical romances that are lovely albeit completely unrealistic.

The Canning Season

by Polly Horvath
PRMS hardcover 196 pages
genre: YA coming-of-age

Horvath has a very unusual style and sensibility. I read this to try to decide about keeping it in the collection or not. Not.

pg 39 - Tilly and old age . . . this is not part of most middle schoolers' life experiences! "Sleep, Tilly said, came to the old like the transition, the hallway between life and death. You needed less food and wandered more through the corridors of dreams." This resonates for me as a reader because of my elderly parents and the decline I see in their physical states . . . but I'm more than 30 years older than my students!

pg. 272 - Not sure why I marked this part. Hutch and Ratchet's mom are visiting Ratchet at her elderly aunts' house. They are talking about Hutch being an aerobic dance champion. Tilly's response to listening to all this conversation makes her think that there are just too many things in the world. "How do people keep up with it all, she thought. How do they have lives with all this clutter in the way?" Yep. I can relate to that.

pg 184 - Tilly's death. I cried. But again, this is more where I'm at in my life. Even middle schoolers who have had a parent or grandparent die . . . this is just not a book that I think will speak to my students.

The underlying story of Ratchet and her mother's dumping her on elderly aunts is an interesting one, but odd in so many ways - the bears, the canning, the doctor, the orphanage down the road, . . . bye, book.

Orphan Train

by Christina Kline
Hennepin County Library
paperback 273 pages
genre: historical fiction

PRMS book club title - we all liked it, but some disliked the suddenness of the ending . . . there was so much more of the story to tell!

pg 5 - "Being Goth wipes away any expectation of conventionality, so Molly finds she's free to be weird in lots of ways at once. She reads all the time - in the halls, in the cafeteria - mostly novels with angry protagonists. . . " I love that she writes down vocabulary words in a notebook because "she likes the way they sound: Harridan. Pusillanimous. Talisman. Dowager. Enervating. Sycophantic." This makes me think of how much I love books and words!

It makes me so sad when Niamh (Neev) is renamed multiple times without her consent and at one point says she doesn't care what she is called. Names are so important!

pg 132 - When Molly is trying to choose someone to interview for her portaging assignment, she thinks Vivian's life story is too tame. Ironic! If she only knew . . . and comes to know through their shared storytelling. "Maybe it'll be a stretch to find drama in Vivian's portage - a happy, stable life does not an interesting story make, right?"

pg 171 - Classroom discussion about immigrants and people who are"asking for handouts" versus wanting to be treated fairly.

pg 192 - Description of the Lutheran church service with the Nielsens. It's so accurate! "I like the assumption that everyone is trying his best, and we should all just be kind to each other. I like the coffee hour with almond cake and snickerdoodles in the vestry."

pg 197 - As she is reflecting on her life with the Nielsens, she is grateful for the safety and acceptance she has found. But she also recognizes that "They are not my people, and never will be."

pg 246 - I love how she takes over at the store, reorganizes things, and revives the business. It makes me sad, though, when she thinks, "I learned long ago that loss is not only probable but inevitable." Her loss and sorrow are so deep!

I think the author did an admirable job of intertwining Niamh / Vivian's story with Molly's. This was a wonderful book about an Irish girl who travels an amazing journey and shares her life story with a similar young woman.

The Lost Hero

by Rick Riordan
PRMS hardcover 553 pages
genre: YA adventure, mythology

Although this is a re-read, I want to blog it while it's fresh in my mind. I'm not always good about keeping track . . .
Percy Jackson has gone missing and Annabeth is searching for him.
Jason Grace shows up on a bus on a field trip remembering nothing about himself, much less his "girlfriend" Piper or his "friend" Leo.
The three end up at Camp Half-Blood where they learn about their demigod status, their powers, and their quest. They must save Hera before the king of the giants Porphyron rises and Gaea fully reawakens.
My favorite parts are Leo fixing Festus, the giant bronze dragon, and Piper getting control of the Aphrodite cabin from Drew.
Fun story.

 

<The above entered 4.24.14. Below added 10.1.21.>

I didn't realize this was my *third* time reading this book. For the most part, it bugged me. But I had the audiobook on Libby and was in my car a lot. It worked well to listen while I drove. (Technology. Wow. My phone and car are smarter than I am!)

 

Reasons it bugged me:

• in the height of action / fighting, someone having a conversation about something not related to a life and death struggle
• the long section between Piper and Hera . . . about mythology . . . 
•  there was something else, but I didn't jot any notes and I don't care that much

 

This time my favorites were Coach (the satyr) and Mele (the wind spirit). Read by Joshua Swanson, it was a good way to pass car time. I've already requested book two . . . not sure why right now. But the other audiobook I have on my phone has been torture and I wanted something a bit more enjoyable. More on that later.

Insurgent

by Veronica Roth
PRMS hardcover 525 pages
genre: YA dystopian adventure romance

This was actually kind of disappointing. It seemed meandering and almost boring between action sequences. I'm sure I would feel differently if I were a 15-year-old girl, but I don't identify well with Tris and Tobias doesn't seem like that great of a guy other than the fact that he's hot-looking and strong. They are hiding out in Amity with the rest of the war refugees (my term) and trying to figure out what's really going on. There's a lot of back-and-forth on an emotional level (each one keeping secrets from the other) and within this world (with the factionless, Candor, and Erudite taking big chunks of the plot with them). And you can't forget the Dauntless - both the traitors who allied with Erudite and the ones who are trying to figure out what to do next. And the great big secret that Abnegation wanted to share and Erudite wants to hide? You'll have to slog through . . . I mean, read . . . the book to find out. Not sure I have any desire at all to read book three.

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green

by Joshua Braff
PRMS paperback 259 pages
genre: YA coming-of-age

I was curious about this book and whether it "fit" as a title for my more mature readers. It was left here by the Freshman Center librarian. I also saw it on a recommended list by . . . John Green? Or some other notable YA source. Anyhow, I finally read it.

Jacob is a good Jewish boy, doing what it takes to make his dad happy (except for doing well in school - his learning disability makes that tough). As dad's narcissistic behavior alienates Jacob's older brother Asher and everyone else in the family, Jacob strives to calm his dad down. His ability to sing and read the Hebrew for services beautifully does not help him survive the transition to public school, his parents' divorce, or his own growing desire for escape from his father's anger.

Swearing, some promiscuity, some illegal behavior . . . but has some good relationship storylines. I think it might be too rooted in Jewish culture to be effective for my students.

Some of Jacob's "thoughts" are embedded in the story in such a way that you think he is actually saying them . . . until you realize he couldn't possibly say them aloud without consequences from his father or a teacher. When his mother Claire announces the refreshments at a big party, Jacob finishes her unspoken words:

"And lastly, since I have you all here in one place, I have something to share with you. Along the garden ways just now . . . I too heard the flowers speak. They told me that our family garden has all but turned to sand. I want you to know I've watered and nurtured this square of earth for nearly twenty years, and waited on my knees each spring for these gentle bulbs to rise, reborn. But want does not bring such breath to life. Only love does. The plain, old-fashioned kind. In our family garden my husband is of the genus Narcissus, which includes daffodils and jonquils and a host of other ornamental flowers. There is, in such a genus of man, a pervasive and well-known pattern of grandiosity and egocentrism that feeds off this very kind of evening, this type of glitzy generosity." The rest of the text on page 173 continues this thread of analysis that Jacob is making about his father as though told by his mother. Powerful. Painful.

Reality Check

by Peter Abrahams
PRMS paperback 330 pages
genre: mystery thriller

I read this last night for 8th grade book club. I enjoyed it, but it was fairly predictable. Ike was one of my favorite characters, since he seemed like a shady figure but turned out to be a genuine individual. It took me a while to suspect the real "bad guy," though Townes was an easy mark. I liked Cody and his processing of situations - especially his ability to just keep quiet. Clea's dad was stereotypical but a minor player other than sending his daughter away and having high aspirations for her.

A Night Like THis

by Julia Quinn (pen name for Julie . . . . )
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by Rosalyn Landor
genre: historical romance

I liked this one much, much better than that other romance. It was reminiscent of Jane Eyre, with the governess and the earl falling in love. This one had elements of danger and mystery with Daniel's past (a drunken duel where he lamed a man) and Annelise's foolish mistake as a teenager (thinking George whats-his-face loved her). I would read more of this author's work. At the end of the book, as the copyright info was read, it said that the text copyright was held by Julie something something, and that made me curious about the author. When did she adopt a pen name? Why? (Personal preference or publisher's urging?) Anyhow, an enjoyable read and a wonderful vocal job by Landor.

Between Shades of Gray

by Ruta Sepetys
PRMS hardcover 344 pages
genre: historical fiction WWII

A student recommended this book last fall and I finally read it! It was very well-written (and so elicited the sadness and sorrow implicit in the topic of pogroms). Lina, her mother, and her brother are rounded up during the night and sent to Siberia. Although a work of fiction, the true history behind this story is appalling. Under Stalin's leadership, over 20 million lives were lost . . . more than three times the number who were murdered by Hitler. People from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, etc. were especially affected by his tactics. People were rounded up because of their perceived opposition to Stalin's regime.

Lina's strength, struggles, and triumphs are powerfully written about and we are drawn into her painful reality. This book was depressing, but worthwhile.

 

<Above on 4.3.14. Below added 6.21.23.>

 

Page 49: "Two Soviets pulled a priest down the platform. His hands were bound and his cassock was dirty. Why a priest? But then . . . why any of us?"

 

Page 55: "I stared at Andrius. Dried blood caked his teeth and the corners of his lips. His jaw was swollen. I hated them, the NKVD and the Soviets. I planted a seed of hatred in my heart. I swore it would grow to be a massive tree whose roots would strangle them all."

 

Page 146: "Mother quickly wiped off the slime, as if it didn't bother her at all. It bothered me. I wanted to roll the hate up into my mouth and spit it back in his face."

 

Page 164: "Walking to the fields each morning, I could predict who would be the next to sign. Their faces sang songs of defeat. Mother saw it, too. She would chat with the person and work next to them in the field, trying to bolster their spirit. Sometimes it worked. Many times it didn't. At night I drew portraits of those who had signed and wrote about how the NKVD broke them down."

These excerpts jumped out to me, but I don't want to comment on them now. I re-read this over a week ago!

Down the Street & My Perfect Life

by Lynda Barry
Joh K's books, paperback, 123 & 127 pages
genre: graphic novels, YA coming-of-age

Joh stressed how much his students enjoy these books and loaned them to me. I am not a huge fan of Barry's artwork . . . it looks grotesque to me. My Perfect Life is the more interesting of the two (also the more faithful graphic NOVEL vs. a collection of comics). Maybonne is 14 and dealing with boy issues, friend issues, thoughts of worthlessness and suicide, . . . it is a very teenage book with what she is dealing with on an emotional and relational level. Still, I won't buy these for the media center. Barry is calling on her own adolescence for these tales, and while the essential issues are unchanged, the cultural landscape is significantly different in this decade.

When Passion Rules

by Johanna Lindsey
Hennepin Library audiobook, 9 discs
read by: Rosalyn Landor
genre: historical romance

Why, why, why do I even try romance books? And why do I insist on completing the entire work? Sigh. Alana has been raised in England and is facing the choices of a girl on the brink of becoming a woman - to marry, to teach, . . . but then her "uncle" drops a bomb on her. She is actually the princess of Lubinia. He was hired to kill her in her infancy, but he couldn't do it and took her away to raise her instead. Now he needs to take her back to avoid war in her home country.

It's the incredibly gorgeous, well-built captain of the guard (but also a nobleman) Christoph Becker who becomes her nemesis, protector, lover, and . . . yeah. Predictable beyond belief. I wish I could find an author like LaVeryle Spencer who actually wrote interesting stories with good plots that also included a romance angle. Oh well. Knowing that they are usually junk, I should just avoid them like the plague. This one was slightly less irritating than the other book of hers I've read.

Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative

by Sir Ken Robinson
PRMS hardcover 305 pages (with endnotes)
genre: non-fiction

I couldn't finish this. I tried, but was only at the half-way point (page 148, to be exact) after seven months. Clearly, this just isn't the right time for me to be reading this. It was on our Summer 2013 Litwits list and I heard fabulous things about Robinson and his work on creativity. There were parts early on that captivated me, but I am trying to teach myself to put a book down if I'm not enjoying it. And the last two dozen times I've read a few pages, I've been forcing myself to read it. Perhaps I'll try it again next year . . .

From the jacket blurb: "There is a paradox. As children, most of us think we are highly creative; as adults many of us think we are not. What changes as children grow up? Organizations across the globe are competing in a world that is changing faster than ever. They say they need people who can think creatively, who are flexible and quick to adapt. Too often they say they can't find them. Why not?"

This is especially interesting to me as an educator. Are we stressing conformity and obedience over more important qualities?

The Language of Flowers

by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Hennepin County Library hardcover 308 pages
genre: realistic fiction
***There are definite spoiler alerts after the first paragraph!

Painful, beautiful, moving. I loved this book! Look on Amazon for a synopsis. I just want to jot a few notes before I get this back to the library. The author does a wonderful job of creating the story and weaving the past and present together. Sometimes it was a little confusing jumping back and forth, but for the most part, it was obvious if it was Victoria's childhood or adulthood.

page 29 - Victoria throws away the spoon after licking the peanut butter off it. This caught my attention - the sort of thing that frustrates me! Even though I know that kids who are neglected don't care about things like this . . . it still bugs me. Then on the next page, Elizabeth sends her back to the garden to retrieve it!

page 92 - Victoria says that Grant is "hard to forget." She has become so accustomed to isolating herself and needing no one that she is surprised that he has gotten under her skin. She can't help but think of him!

page 113 - As she is thinking of lying to her client Annemarie about the meaning of flowers, she realizes that she simply can't do it. "I had been loyal to nothing except the language of flowers. If I started lying about it, there would be nothing left in my life that was beautiful or true."

page 157 - When she drops the flowerpots on the ground and she and Grant kiss in the street. Mmm-hmm!

page 188 - It broke my heart when she went to Grant's house when he was gone and packed all her things. I wish she had confided in him and told him about her pregnancy!

page 195 - ". . . I wanted to believe in his vision of our life together. But over time we would both find my words meaningless. I would fail; it was the only possible outcome." Her brokenness and lack of self-worth was heart-breaking. And I know people who live like this, not believing in possibilities or having hope for the future.

page 213 - Her attitude about childbirth was amazing - "Women had given birth since the beginning of time." She seemed so matter-of-fact and accepting. And that's true, but it's also a major life event for most women!

page 225 - Marlena was so natural with the baby and cooking . . . I wish she had been better able to help Victoria learn to do the same. "Even though I wasn't doing anything but feeding and diapering and swaddling, there didn't seem to be space, mental or otherwise, for anything else."

page 234 - I wanted to be there for Victoria, to help her through her struggles with exhaustion, endless nursing, and hopelessness! Cina and Karen were horrified that she left a baby alone to go to the store. I think she absolutely had to go. She had to get away from the constant demands.

page 249 - "Every decision I'd ever made had led me here, and I wanted to take it all back, the hatred and the blame and the violence. I wanted to have lunch with my angry ten-year-old self, to warn her of this morning and give her the flowers to point her in a different direction."

page 297 - The moment when Victoria realizes that Catherine loved Grant, and the respect she has for Catherine's choice to raise him alone, and Grant's acknowledgement that whatever else his mother did or didn't do . . . she loved him. Powerful.

page 308 - The ending has so much hope and promise. " . . . I would learn to love her like a mother loves a daughter, imperfectly and without roots."

Author's Note - "Reading through the book more carefully (Dumont's The Floral Offering), I found no explanation for the discrepancy, so I went in search of additional dictionaries, hoping to determine the "correct" definition of the yellow rose. Instead I found that the problem was not specific to the yellow rose; nearly every flower had multiple meanings, listed in hundreds of books, in dozens of languages, and on countless websites."

I think that's part of the reason I'm such a skeptic about the "meanings" of flowers . . . who says what they mean? Why can't we just enjoy their beauty?

Added 3/26/14 - someone at book club told me that Judy Schalow had recommended this title. I need to thank her for the suggestion! She is such a wonderful lady.

Reckless

by Cornelia Funke
PRMS paperback 394 pages
genre: fantasy

I read this yesterday for today's 8th grade book club discussion. I am not a huge fan of Funke's writing style. The basic story is fine - Jacob Reckless travels through a mirror in his missing father's study and goes into another world filled with magical beings and items. But her storytelling is so choppy and the character development is minimal. We go from a prolog where Jacob is a twelve year old who finds the mirror to travel between worlds to chapter one where his adult younger brother is injured in that world and 24-year-old Jacob is trying to save him.

I will try really hard to keep quiet so the kids can talk about the book. It just didn't work very well for me. I think I liked best the romantic tension between Jacob and Will's girlfriend Clara. I also liked the descriptions of some of the magical items, especially the ones from familiar fairy tales.

Oh! The ending - why Jacob listened to the Dark Fairy and how Will was released from the curse . . . I could list a lot of questions about the basic logic of the premise here . . . .

The Discovery

by Dan Walsh
Hennepin County Library paperback 346 pages
genre: Christian fiction, realistic and historical

This is a novel-within-a-novel starting with Michael's inheritance of his grandfather's home. Grandfather was a famous novelist who never shared much about his past or his personal history. But Michael finds an unpublished manuscript that tells all (and is also the bulk of the story).

The manuscript tells the story of Ben Campbell (alias Gerhard Kuhlmann) who has come back to the United States on a German U-boat as a spy during WWII. Only his true motivation is to ditch the Nazis and simply live his own life back in the country where he was born and raised until his parents returned to the Fatherland with their teenage son. Ben meets Claire and the love story / adventure is off and running.

I really enjoyed this and look forward to the book club discussion in a few weeks!

(Added 3/26/14) Found this note in my purse:

page 64-65 - Grandfather's thoughts as he approaches death.
page 77 - the lack of red & the Nazi flag . . . sometimes we don't notice things that are "everywhere" until we experience the absence of those things (for good or for bad)
 page 99 - moms who interfere! I love her Gary Cooper observation. Makes me want to use GoogleImages to refresh my memory.
page 143 - LOVE the priest!!! His attitude and his faith are so very wonderful. So many priests of that era were narrowminded and more like Pharisees than like Christ.
page 163 - prayer - just talking to God
page 165 - Love this part, too! God knows our hearts. We don't have to tell him, but it helps us to pour out what we are dealing with. He knows us and we cannot pretend with him.
page 169 - This was great! When the priest gave Ben the Bible with Psalms marked, I was so surprised! I thought the item he had placed in a pew was a recording device and Ben was going to be turned over to the authorities. Good for the priest!!!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

by Neil Gaiman
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 discs
genre: ? metaphysical fiction?
read by the author

This is a very unusual book, which is not surprising to anyone who is familiar with Gaiman's writing style. I enjoyed it, but hope to get a print copy of the book before book club discusses this in April. The audio experience was wonderful (I love it when the author reads it!) but I really enjoy seeing the text as I read.

From the Harper Collins website:
"Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy. Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what. A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark"

I am really looking forward to our discussion! I didn't love the metaphysical aspect - the ponderings of this child on the nature of the universe and the Hempstock women. But I love Gaiman's prose! I could picture the fairy ring, Ursula, and the little yellow washbasin perfectly . . . 

Witch & Wizard

by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
PRMS hardcover 307 pages
genre: YA fantasy, dystopian

Wisteria (Wisty) and Whitford (Whit) are siblings of 14ish & 17 who do not realize that they are actually a witch and a wizard. I have heard people rave about these books and I was curious . . .

Likes - quick read / action-packed / unique
Dislikes - lack of character or story development / 103 chapters . . . short and not much to them / role of witchcraft / parents never really helped their children understand their immense powers

At least now I "get" the appeal for so many people.

T4: A Novel

by Ann Clare LeZotte
PRMS hardcover 105 pages
genre: historical fiction told in prose poetry

This caught my eye when I was pulling poetry books for a teacher. T4 is the name for the Nazi program of extermination of people with handicaps. One of our eighth graders did her History Day project on T4 (inspired by a handicapped brother). The history seems to be quite accurate, and the author's notes at the end are interesting. The poetry itself isn't as gripping to me as that found in "Learning to Swim," but it definitely communicates effectively.

The Trouble Begins

by Linda Himelblau
Hennepin County Library hardcover 200 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction, immigrant

A student told me about this book and I'm really glad I followed through on getting a copy to read! Du has just come to the United States with his grandmother after eight years in the Philippines, where they were refugees. The rest of the family (Dad, Mom, two sisters, and a brother) have all been in the U.S. for many years and are very achievement-oriented. Du hates it in the U.S. and he hates school and there is so much he doesn't understand.

The author died in 2005 (same year this was published) and that makes me wonder about her . . . did she know she was dying? Did she know her book was being published? I may need to do a little research to find out more! She taught for 13 years in San Diego with many children with many different languages. I hope I can find some copies of this book for PRMS!

The Outcast

subtitled "A modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter"
by Jolina Petersheim
Hennepin County Library paperback 384 pages
genre: Christian fiction

We had a great discussion of this Monday night at book club! Secrets, sibling relationships, cancer, . . . this book has so much more going on than just the adultery issue. "Who was the father" is a question easily answered. The deeper layers of why Rachel won't identify him (to protect her sister Leah) and how the tryst came about take us into people's motivations and vanities.

I liked Ida Mae and Russell and that storyline a lot. I also liked Judah!

page 158 - Leah and Rachel talking about their dad. Each of them thought that the other had a close, special bond while in reality, neither one of them felt a true connection to their father.

page 184 - Rachel is thinking that maybe she should have accepted Judah's offer of marriage. "But would it be out of convenience - simply to make hardships like this one easier to bear - rather than out of love?"

page 220 - Leah sees the scene in the kitchen with the broken beet jar. Why can't these people just talk to one another!?

page 350 - Amos talking to Tobias. Loved this scene! My favorite in the whole book!

Some people didn't like Amos' role (Tobias and Judah's dad, talking from eternity.) I thought that was a wonderful element and brought a depth to the story.

The Loser List

By H.N. Kowitt
PRMS paperback 213 pages
genre: YA humor, realistic fiction

Kind of a goofy little book, but with a good sense of middle school peer pressure, friendship, identity issues. Danny Shine is put on the "loser list" in the girls' bathroom by nasty bully Chantal. He and his best friend (major geek) Jasper try to remove it, but Danny ends up in detention with the hardened middle school crowd. One bad choice leads to another and Danny has to figure out how to make it end. I'll use this for sixth grade book club. (Danny is a seventh grader, but a lot of the issues are elementary-school mature.) Lots of comics, graphic novels, and other geek themes.

The Burgess Boys

by Elizabeth Strout
PRMS hardcover 320 pages
genre: realistic fiction, relationships

I read this book a few weeks ago and we discussed it at book club on 2/18/14. Sadly, I pulled out some of my post-it notes while we discussed and I'm too lazy to figure out what I tagged. I'm tired, too, so these are random notes and observations.

Characters:
Jim Burgess - high profile lawyer, a jerk
Helen - his wife, loves her kids, a bit of a snob
Bob Burgess - also a lawyer, but does pro bono work and has a different life philosophy than Jim
Susan - Bob's twin, kind of a sad sack

Zach - Susan's son, threw a pig's head into a Muslim place of worship
Abdikarim - Somali elder who is angry, frightened, and then compassionate
Bob's ex-wife who is still his friend

Some of the people in Litwits 2013 panned this book, saying it was too slow. It definitely wouldn't be called "fast-paced," but there's enough going on to keep it interesting. Strout is known for her characters and she delivers! These characters are well-developed and interesting. New York City and Maine are important characters, too.

page 283 - Margaret Estaver (Episcopalian ? pastor) is talking with Haweeya (Abdi's niece?) and the sense of entitlement that American kids feel. Haweeya is concerned about her own children becoming this way - rude to their elders, saying what they think, and the adults allowing it as self-expression. Interesting, too, that Margaret says that this isn't entirely true of American families.

page 290 - Bob is thinking about Jim's rejection of him. "But Bob was not a young man, and he knew about loss." This scene is poignant; to me, it signifies a shift in Bob's character from being pathetic and needy to standing up for himself.

page 311 - Jim has finally broken down and is sharing his fears with Bob. When he says he has no family, Bob replies, "You have a family. You have a wife who hates you. Kids who are furious with you. A brother and sister who make you insane. And a nephew who used to be kind of a drip but apparently is not so much of a drip now. That's called family."

page 318 - The siblings have just sent Jim to apologize to Helen. "He understood they would probably never again discuss the death of their father. The facts didn't matter. Their stories mattered, and each of their stories belonged to each of them alone."

Another part I noted earlier was when Susan told Bob that Zach was mad at him for not being more of a part of his life. Bob asked how Zach felt about his own dad removing himself from Zach's life for so many years. Good for you, Bob!

Worthwhile book to read and discuss. The family relationships are haunting and believable.

Wintergirls

by Laurie Halse Anderson
PRMS hardcover 278 pages
genre: realistic fiction, dealing with eating disorders

There is so much I'd like to say about this book! It stunned me with its beauty and pain. Lia is a believable character, struggling with so many different things. Already hospitalized twice, she finds ways to deflect her dad's and stepmom's concern about her weight. Her love for her stepsister is powerful. This is an amazing book. I have already shared it with a student and have it on hold for a counselor. Meeting the author last month "sold" me on this book! She has angered the pro-ani and pro-mia groups who want women to believe that anorexia and bulimia are merely lifestyle choices.

Witch & Wizard: Battle for Shadowland

by James Patterson & Dara Naraghi
Victor Santos, artist
PRMS hardcover unpaged
genre: YA graphic novel, fantasy

I read this to see if I should use it with 6th grade book club. I was also curious about the novel & the graphic novel . . . since I've heard rave reviews about the book. A student wanted the book, so I just read the first 40 pages (after reading this graphic novel). Here's what I found: this graphic is definitely NOT the same as the first book in the series. (In fact, it says, "An original graphic novel adventure" on the front cover.) I wish I had had time to read the entire novel to see how it fits . . . but I'd rather get it to the student and read it later.

In this book, siblings Wisteria (Wisty) and Whitlock (Whit) are part of a group of kids who live in "Freeland" - a kind of wasted futuristic landscape. They are fighting against the "One who is the One." Sigh. I'm out of time to blog. Interesting graphic novel, but I don't think I'll use it for book club.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: the graphic novel

story by Ransom Riggs, art by Cassandra Bean
PRMS hardcover unpaged
genre: YA fantasy

I'm still somewhat torn about buying graphic novels of really good books, but in this case I'm glad I did! The story renders well in visual form, mixing Bean's artwork with the eerie photos from the original novel. Jacob is a relatable (though somewhat dark) teenager grappling with his grandfather's stories, reality, and mental health.

One of my readers loved this book a lot! She's going to try tackling the novel now. I love it when kids are engaged in what they're reading!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Riordan
PRMS
genre: YA mythology, fantasy fiction

I'm re-reading while on the elliptical at work. Don't want to blog each one . . . but making a note. Finished The Titan's Curse (book 3 - Artemis & the Hunters / appearance of Bianca & Nico DeAngelo / San Francisco / The General = Atlas). These are just plain fun books. Started The Battle of the Labyrinth . . . not sure why I didn't do a re-read of #1 and #2.

The Big, Bad Book of Beasts

by Michael Largo
Hennepin County Library paperback 427 pages
genre: non-fiction and fantasy creatures

I got this book based on a review in the BookPages magazine. I was curious to see if I should buy it for PRMS . . .

It is a very interesting and well-written book, but I don't think I'll buy it. The illustrations are black & white and the alphabetical entries are written in such a way that it's almost difficult to know which creatures are real, historical, or mythical. Some of my students would be absolutely baffled by this book. If my boys were younger or I had grandchildren in elementary school, I would definitely buy it.

I've already returned it to the library, but I'll quote part of the review that initially piqued my interest:

"Michael Largo puts the 'best' into this 'bestiary' - the medieval bookish art of gathering encyclopedic information about unusual animals into a beautifully illustrated volume. The Big, Bad Book of Beasts: The World's Most Curious Creatures remains faithful to its alliterative title through its fun alphabetical juxtapositions of creatures as diverse in their size and actual existence as the badger, the bagworm and the banshee, or the caladrius, the camel, and the capybara. You've never heard of a caladrius or a capybara? Well, once you've seen the gloriously old-fashioned illustrations of these critters - from sources ranging from ancient Egyptian sculpture to a Victorian science manual - and once you've read the delightfully definitive descriptions, you'll never forget them, nor will it matter to you that the capybara is real (it's the world's largest rodent!), while teh caladrius is a creature of Roman myth (a bird who could tell you how close to dying a person was by the way it would sit on that person's deathbed)."

Lovely!

Orwell's Luck

by Richard Jennings
PRMS paperback 146 pages
genre: YA fantasy

I meant to blog about this before my sixth grade book club discussed it, but that didn't happen . . . and as we were discussing, I realized that we never learn the protagonist's name! In fact, some of the readers assumed it was a guy and others (including me) assumed it was a girl. We decided that there are NO named characters other than the rabbit Orwell. (Stubborn me wants to re-read it and make SURE no other humans are named. There is grandma, mom, dad, the tousle-haired boy, the people across the street, etc. And there is Orwell.

Orwell is a special rabbit who shows up on top of the morning paper one day. Unable to move his hind quarters, our protagonist brings him indoors and tends to him. Unusual messages start showing up in the horoscope . . . is Orwell trying to tell her something? Is he bringing her luck?

My favorite passage is on pages 89-92 titled "The meaning of money." The protagonist is trying to see things in a "different light" per instructions from Orwell. She thinks about what she has rather than just what she wishes she had. My book club liked this book, so we'll probably keep it in the 6th grade rotation.

Chasing Lincoln's Killer

by James L. Swanson
PRMS hardcover 194 pages & PRMS audioCDs 4 discs
read by Will Patton
genre: non-fiction, history

I have heard raves about this book, but I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read the book rather than listened to the audio version. Patton over-dramatized the telling, making it seem almost silly. It was informative and interesting, but not as gripping a tale as the narrator's inflection implied. The book also had great photographs and reprints of broadsides. I learned about John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators. I was pretty shocked at the lack of security for a president.

Fatherless

by James Dobson and Kurt Bruner
Hennepin County Library hardcover 431 pages
genre: Christian fiction, dystopian future

I am not a huge fan of Dr. Dobson (gasp! What kind of Christian doesn't *adore* him?) so I wasn't really eager to read this book club title. But when I heard a couple of people talking about it and got the gist of the idea (oh? Dystopian fiction? That seems to be all I read these days.), I was ready to tackle this. So much to dig into here!

From the front flap: "The year is 2042, and the long-predicted tipping point has arrived. For the first time in human history, the economic pyramid has flipped: The feeble old now outnumber the vigorous young, and this untenable situation is intensifying a battle between competing cultural agendas. Reporter Julia Davidson - a formerly award-wining journalist seeking to revive a flagging career - is investigating the growing crisis, unaware that her activity makes her a pawn in an ominous conspiracy. Plagued by nightmares about her absent father, Julia finds herself drawn to the quiet strength of a man she meets at a friend's church. . . . Julia faces choices that pit professional success against personal survival in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world."

One interesting thread of our book club conversation dealt with how likely it is that this future could happen. What parts of it are already happening? Certainly, we have already read reports about the falling birth rate in America and Europe (except among immigrant and hispanic populations). And the aging baby boomers and crisis in the cost of medical care are already issues. It will be very interesting to see what the future brings and how our politicians deal with it.

Chapter 29 and its discussion of changes in worship interested me. What is "normal" to us now that will seem passe' in the future? Are we changing for the sake of change? Would the new testament church even recognize what we do as worship?

On page 155, how interesting that Julia observes that "1. Angie embodied everything Julia scorned. 2. Angie had everything Julia wanted." Isn't it true that the grass is always greener . . . 

On page 205, I found it interesting that Matthew thought "He should not have sought the advice of Father Richard Tomberlin." It's so true that we only "seek advice" from people we are confident will tell us what we want to hear. In his case, Matthew wanted confirmation that it was okay to encourage his mother to "volunteer" to "transition" so that he could have any remaining money to go to college.

On page 237, Julia is reciting the feminist perspective that she has so thoroughly recited. "The days of patriarchal dominance are dead. Our generation of women can see an endless horizon because we stand on the shoulders of our courageous grandmothers. Show me a home with more than two kids and I'll show you an oppressed woman." It never seems to end well when people adopt an extremist perspective, no matter which end of the spectrum (of any issue) they're on.

I love it (next page) when Troy says "Imagine a world of people trying to out-serve, out-love, out-sacrifice, and out-honor one another. Sure beats a world of people trying to outdo and outsmart one another."

And a little later when Julia is trying to challenge Kevin on his perspective (in regard to Angie squandering her potential by raising children), he replies, "A lot of people consider bearing and rearing children a noble and highly meaningful calling." I love that! A noble calling. I wish more parents felt that way.

I didn't like page 314 when Matthew was so deceptive in talking to his mom about "transitioning" (aka volunteering to suicide) not being a sin and having talked to Father Tomberline about it.

I was so glad that Julia quit her job! After that nasty stunt her boss did, publishing her story with the other reporter's edits and hatchet job (and sleezy photos) . . . that was the only good choice for her.

I enjoyed this book enough to want to read the second one, Childless. I just have so many books piled up already! I need to kick through more of them more quickly.

Water

an Eyewitness Book
by John Woodward
PRMS hardcover 71 pages
genre: non-fiction

I always thought of these Eyewitness books as "easy" high-interest reads. It has taken me a long time to read through this book! I think part of it for me was the way the factoids had my brain going in so many different directions. Although the theme (water) was unifying, there was information from scientific, historical, and geographical perspectives. A lot of it was information I already knew, but I struggled to keep my brain focused. The layout of paragraphs, pictures, captions, etc. isn't conducive to prolonged, focused reading. Interesting info, but not what I would highly recommend for nonfiction reading. A good reminder for me as I work with middle school students!

It was fascinating to look at in light of the current severe drought in California as well as the historic flooding in other areas. We are spoiled in Minnesota to have an abundance of fresh water.

Having Our Say: the Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

by Sarah Louise (Sadie) Delaney, A. Elizabeth (Bessie) Delany, and Amy Hill Hearth
my personal copy & a Hennepin County Library copy
genre: memoir

I love this book! These women were amazing and I am so very glad that Amy Hill Hearth got their stories while they were still able to tell them. This book is a treasury of living history. It is powerful and moving. I always have to remind myself - Sadie was a teacher, older than Bessie, and considered very sweet. She looks a bit lighter and larger than Bessie. Bessie was a dentist, darker, and much feistier! These two women were among the ten children of Henry and Nanny Delany.

I read this before, but it was at least ten years ago, so it's not in my blog and it's not even in my old Excel reading record (which I keep meaning to put in this blog . . . ). So even though it's a re-read, here's what I tagged with post-its this time:

page 66 (in chapter 10) - they talk about the Jim Crow laws and their impact on daily life. They say, "So, this Jim Crow mess was started to keep the races apart, and keep the Negroes down. Now, Mama and Papa knew these laws were coming, of course, but they didn't prepare us. I guess our parents could not find the words to explain it.. They did not want to fill us with hatred." Wow. If only some of the people trying to enforce those laws could have done the same for their children - wanting them to not be filled with hatred.

page 129 (chapter 19) - talking about going to the opera and their father's concern with people's perceptions of him. "So we not only lived a clean life, we wanted to be sure people knew that we did. This is a burden that white people do not have, I think. It always seemed to me that white people were judged as individual. But if a Negro did something stupid or wrong, it was held against all of us. Negroes were always representing the whole race." The truth and the unfairness of this bother me. Why are we so willing to generalize someone else's behavior and so adamant about defending our own individualism and identity? I love Bessie's straightforward way of calling things out.

page 141 (chapter 21) - Bessie is referring to her struggle between fighting for women's rights and for equal rights ' "I was torn between two issues - colored, and Women's rights. But it seemed to me that no matter how much I had to put up with as a woman, the bigger problem was being colored. People looked at me and the first thing they saw was Negro, not woman. So racial equality, as a cause, won in my heart."

page 145 (chapter 22) - Sadie is talking about how she helped her cousin Daisy with vitamins and nutrition planning. "It's only now that I'm telling anyone about how I helped Cousin Daisy. I never told anyone at the time, except Bessie. The way we were brought up, it was only natural for Bessie and me to help other people. It wasn't something you did so that people thought well of you. No, you did it because that was what was expected of you. It was the example that was set by the Good Lord, Jesus. It was also the example set by Mama and Papa." I love this! I wish that I were more like this and that others in the world wanted to just help others because it is the right thing to do.

page 158 (chapter 25) - Bessie is talking about the stock market crash and "rich white men" committing suicide by jumping out of office buildings. "I can't imagine having so little faith in the Lord, and so much faith in money, that you would end your life over a little thing like losing your fortune. The Lord says money is Evil, and He is right! Money is the root of every mess you can think of, including slavery. Greed! Profiting off the backs of others!"

page 179 (chapter 28) - Bessie is talking about her mother at the end of her life, feeling bad about the fact that her own parents had never married (Martha Logan was mulatto and James Miliam was white; it wasn't legal for them to marry in Virginia until 1967 - long after their deaths!). "But I don't think Mama was so ashamed anymore, once she got very old. I understand this now. When you get real old, honey, you realize there are certain things that just don't matter anymore. You lay it all on the table. There's a saying: Only little children and old folks tell the truth."

page 199 (chapter 30) - Bessie (again) after telling about the civil rights movement and presidents she liked says three funny / interesting things.
"I'll tell you something, honey: I would have made a very good president. That's right! Me! I would have done well. I'm honest and I'm tough and I could get the job done, yes, sir! The first thing I would do if I was president would be to say that people over one hundred years of age no longer have to pay taxes! Ha ha! Lord knows I've paid my share."
"Seriously, the first thing I would do if I was president would be to get rid of this old deficit. That funny little white guy, Ross Perot, he is right about the deficit. We are a foolish, foolish people. That deficit is a disgrace. I heard on the radio that every two seconds, our debt increases a million dollars. When I heard that, it got me so upset I could not sleep that night. It just about worried me to death."
"I guess it will be a thousand years - probably never - before a colored person is elected president of the United States. Sadie disagrees with me. She says, 'There will be a Negro president someday.'"

Bessie Delany died in 1995 at age 104.
Sadie Delany died 1999, at age 109.
Barack Obama was elected president of the United States of America in January 2009.

There are so many incredible stories and so much vitality in these women's voices. They still lived together at their home (with no telephone) as centenarians! I am glad I own a copy of this book and can re-read it. What inspiration!

Half Broke Horses: a True-Life Novel

by Jeannette Walls
Hennepin County Library audioCDs 8 discs
genre: realistic fiction based on truth . . . family relationships

Walls, the author of Glass Castles, has chosen to tell her grandmother's story as though her grandmother is telling it herself. Interesting choices . . . it would be even more interesting to know how accurate her view is. Certainly, the details are believable and engaging. Lily's perspective on life and parenting (and education) are frank and a little abrasive. This is a well-written, engaging story. It almost makes me want to go back and re-read Glass Castles. I remember being horrified by her parents and their destructive choices. It's interesting to learn about Rosemary's childhood and where she came from as well as her courtship with Rex.

Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution

by Ji Li Jiang
PRMS hardcover 272 pages
genre: memoir, non-fiction

What a riveting, first-person account of China's drastic change during Chairman Mao's leadership. Her innocent, childlike trust in Mao and the changes for the good of everyone are downright chilling. This makes me curious to learn more about the era and the loss of "fourolds" art, furniture, literature, and other things that were done away with. This is well-written and very appropriate for middle school (it covers her life from ages 12-14). This is a great way to learn some history! I hope this author writes more books, whether autobiographical or fiction. She has a wonderful voice.

Ship Breaker

by Paolo Bacigalupi
PRMS paperback 326 pages
genre: dystopian fiction, adventure

I didn't realize I hadn't blogged about this until I just blogged about the sequel! I really enjoyed this book a lot. It's dark, but powerfully written. I find it interesting that Cina really likes The Maze Runner (I don't) and she really dislikes this book . . . I wonder if there's an underlying political perspective that I'm not seeing. Or if the characters just "speak" differently to us. I was drawn to the protagonist - Nailer Lopez - and his struggles to avoid his father's dangerous wrath. I also liked how Nailer wanted more out of life than just surviving. His friend Pima and Pima's mother Sadna are wonderful characters. This is just such a wonderful book!

added 23 Jan 2014:
I marked this passage and wanted to record it here:

(from chapter 9, page 99)

Now though, the dark reek of the oil room filled his mind - the memory of being up to his neck in warm death staring up at Sloth high above him, her little LED paint mark glowing - salvation if only he could convince her, if only he could reach out and touch that part of her that cared for something other than herself, knowing that there was a lever inside her somewhere, and if only he could pull it, she would go for help and he would be saved and everything would be fine.

He'd been so desperate to get Sloth to care.

But he hadn't been able to find the lever. Or maybe the lever hadn't been there after all. Some people couldn't see any farther than themselves. 

I'm not sure exactly why this resonated so much for me. Partly because he is remembering a time of desperation, a time when his life hung in the balance and he was so desperate for salvation. Perhaps because of his realization that "some people" cannot "see any farther than themselves." I worry sometimes about being selfish and self-centered. I wonder, too, about finding the "lever" for some of my students in terms of getting them to care about their future and their education.

I had marked another passage, but the post-it flag got lost. This one could be a re-read someday, so I'll probably mark more then!

The Drowned Cities

by Paolo Bacigalupi
sequel to The Ship Breakers
PRMS paperback 434 pages
genre: dystopian fiction, adventure

Although this future Earth is extremely depressing and brutal, it's frighteningly believable. The disparity between rich and poor, the deterioration of society, and the desperation for power and survival all ring eerily true. His follow-up to Ship Breaker, I am eager to see what his next book will bring. This one opens with Tool escaping a cruel captivity. Out in the land outside the drowned cities, Mahlia and Mouse live with Doctor Mahfouz since no one else wants to associate with them. Mahlia is half Chinese (because of her peacekeeper father) and half drowned cities. Her right hand has been cut off by one of the paramilitary groups but she escaped them with Mouse's help. Mouse's family has all been executed by another group and Mahlia has helped him survive. The boy soldiers in this story remind me of the child soldiers written about in other books (based on events actually happening in various African countries).

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb
Hennepin County Library hardcover 327 pages
genre: non-fiction, biography

This is a fascinating book. It seems hard for me to believe that just over a year ago, this teenager was shot in the head and not killed. Her love for Swat valley in Pakistan is eye-opening to me. She grew up there and loves her homeland (and wishes she could go back), but to me, the presence of the Taliban and the dangers to people who live there is just too scary. This is a wonderful book, but the difficulty of helping people who have such unique challenges (military, Taliban, cultural differences, etc.) is daunting. What a unique girl (and what an amazing dad she has!). I wonder if she'll ever be able to go back to Pakistan.

The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child

by Donalyn Miller
Hennepin County Library paperback 211 pages

I read this over a year ago, but found hand-written notes while cleaning up and realized I had never blogged about it. Here goes:

pg. 86 - Bucking the Sarge (Curtis) / read-alouds / Tripping Over the Lunch Lady (stories?) / The Sixth Grade Nickname Game (Korman) . . . I think I wanted to read / buy these titles for PRMS . . .

pg. 93 Genres - Poetry, traditional literature (better name than "classics"), fantasy, science fiction, realistic, historical fiction, mystery, biography / autobiography, informational, true crime . . . then I added a post-it note that says "humor," "romance," "paranormal," "dystopian"

pg. 114 - Why you should read children's books as an adult (book by Jen Robinson) - blog by her???

pg. 116 - websites! sources - Books That Don't Bore 'Em (Blasingame) / www.goodreads.com / http://jkrbooks.typepad.com / teenreads * link on my page!

pg. 137 - do book commercials

pg 165 - Notion that one teacher cannot tell another what to do / not do

I recall being really excited by this book. She promotes reading and kids respond. Too often, teachers' efforts serve more to dampen students' enthusiasm for reading. It's so exciting to see kids "get it" and get excited about books. I wish all language arts teachers would read this!

Shrimp

by Rachel Cohn
PRMS hardcover 272 pages
genre: teen realistic fiction, coming-of-age

This book is the follow-up to Gingerbread. Cyd Charisse is determined to be near her "true love," Shrimp (surfer and artist). Like the first installment, I don't feel that drawn to this challenging teenager who defies her mother and pushes boundaries in so many different ways. It's pretty mature. (She has had an abortion after making mistakes with Justin and is sexually active with Shrimp. She also swears like a sailor and has a fairly negative attitude about most things in life.) I'm wondering if I even want to keep it in the middle school collection or if I should send it to the high school . . .

Mistakes Were Made

Timmy Failure (book one?)
by Stephan Pastis
Hennepin County Library hardcover 294 pages
genre: YA humor

I generally enjoy Pastis' sense of humor (in Pearls Before Swine, his comic) but this book seemed to drag on. There's an endorsement from Jeff Kinney, but I'm not sure the fans of the Wimpy Kid books would enjoy this book much more than I did.

Timmy Failure has a detective agency and a pet polar bear who is his business partner. He's really bad at noticing things, making logical connections, and following up on information. Besides being a terrible detective, he's fairly rude and self-centered (fits with Greg Heffley there!). It was mildly amusing, but I don't think I'll buy a copy for my collection.

Resistance (book 1)

by Carla Jablonski & Leland Purvis
PRMS paperback 121 pages
genre: YA graphic novel, history

Set in WWII France, Paul and his sister Marie are both friends with Henri, a Jewish boy. When Henri's parents are taken by the Nazis, the kids scheme to find them. Well-written, I would love to read book 2 (if it exists). The artwork is unusual, but it works with the story. History is brought to life in the sneers and smiles of the different characters. Paul's affinity for drawing plays a cool role in the story. This is one of five graphic novels for my sixth grade book club.

Heaven

by Angela Johnson
PRMS paperback 138 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction, coming-of-age, relationships

Marley lives with her parents and brother Butchy in Heaven, OH. Her best friend, Shoogy, comes from a perfect family but cuts herself. Bobby asks Marley to watch his baby, Feather. Marley has spent her life wiring money to her uncle Jack and receiving letters from him. Then a letter comes on behalf of Monna Floyd and everything Marley thought she knew comes into question.

I read this because it came back to the media center damaged. I wanted to know if it was worth replacing. Johnson is a wonderful author and this won a Coretta Scott King award . . . but I don't think it will "sell" well to my readers. Published in 1998, it's a bit on the old side, too. It's beautiful, but I probably won't replace it.

Obsidian

a Lux novel
by Jennifer L Armentrout
Hennepin County Library paperback 335 pages
genre: paranormal romance

This was highly recommended by a ninth grader who is near & dear to my heart. I requested it from the library, got it, and had to hurry and read it because there's a waiting list for it. It was cleaner than I anticipated (lots and lots of sexual tension and attraction, but not much activity). I'm glad that I didn't read the back before reading the book . . . and I don't want to spoil it here. Obviously, the incredibly gorgeous neighbor, Daemon, is not an ordinary person. But Katy's introduction to this supermodel hottie is a rude one. He is insulting and condescending. She throws his rudeness right back at him and decides she is better off not making friends in this new town in West Virginia. Until she meets Daemon's sister Dee. This was an exciting page-turner. I can see why my student recommended it ("Jennifer Armentrout is my *favorite* author!!!) but I don't plan to read more. Although it is less cloying than other books in this genre, it is basically a teen hormone book. One I would consider adding to my collection if I had a bigger budget . . . it has the sex appeal without the actual sex!

Snow Day

by Billy Coffey
Hennepin County Library hardcover 195 pages
genre: Christian fiction

Sweet, cute little book that made me frustrated by halfway through . . . it's more a collection of vignettes with morals than an actual novel. Thirty-something Peter Boyd takes a snow day when his kids have one. A day away from his factory job (that may not exist much longer) gives him a chance to reflect upon his life . . . and go to the Super Mart. For bread and milk and stocking stuffers and the first of many, many, many encounters with people who help him realize some deep truth about life.

I liked it okay. Some of the stories were cute (like the kid sledding down the hill despite his mother's concern). But it was too episodic and moralistic for me. Yes, the morals were good ones. And some of them even felt genuinely meaningful. But it just didn't work as a piece of fiction for me. More chicken soup for the soul, anyone?

Bone: Quest for the Spark

Book 2
by Tom Sniegoski
PRMS paperback 234 pages
genre: YA adventure

I'm not sure where I originally got this, but it's not as much fun as the graphic novels. I read it to see if I wanted to buy book one and continue it as a collection. No, I don't. I had to force myself to read it. It actually "feels" like the tone and mood of the graphic novels, but the cast of characters just didn't do it for me.

Tom Elm (young hero, identified by the Dreaming to lead the quest)
Percival Bone (flies the Queen of the Sky ship and tinkers with things)
Randolf Clearmeadow (Veni Yan who has lost his confidence and is helping with the quest)
Abbey & Barclay (twins, obnoxious, Percival's niece and nephew)
Roderick the raccoon
Stinky & Smelly - the two stupid rat creatures
Lorimar - tree spirit
Nacht (sheer evil being, determined to destroy the Dreaming)
the Constable (a human, taken over by an evil spirit to do the Nacht's bidding)
King Agak - leader of the rat creatures
Bears - Al, Bobby, & ?

If You Don't Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students!

subtitled "Guide to Success for Administrators and Teachers"
by Neila A. Connors
PRMS paperback 143 pages
genre: professional / morale

This was a re-read for me, and once again I was struck by how much it is geared toward *administrators* and makes me think of Sue Kreuser and all the amazing things she did as our building leader at PRMS. I miss her so much! It doesn't help much that my own morale is low - tiredness and stress can be overwhelming. There are many, many great ideas in this book.

These are the 14 strategies for S.A.N.E. (Self-disciplined And Nurturing Enthusiasts) people. I scanned them here to refer back to, though perhaps I should make cards and display them on my desktop as constant reminders. I certainly don't feel very sane these days . . .

At the end of the book, she lists 150 Fat-free D.E.S.S.E.R.T.S. (Defining Experiences Structured to Support, Encourage, and Reward Teachers' Spirit). I don't want to violate copyright law, but I wanted to make note of some of the ideas here (where I'll look at them again):

1. Faculty Birthday Party Celebrations
2. Secret Pal for the Year and/or Holidays
3. "You Need a Laugh" Awards
4. "Another Great Week" Get-Togethers with Coffee and Snacks
5. Organize Discussion Groups to Look for Solutions to Challenges
6. Suggestions / Questions / Concerns Box
7. T.G.I.T. Refreshments and Luncheons (Thank Goodness It's Today)
8. Spruce Up and Maintain a Pleasing Teachers' Lounge.
9. Monthly Wellness Sessions and Updates
10. "Take a Teacher to Lunch," "No Bus Duty," and "Release Time" Coupons
11. Swap Classrooms and/or Assignments for a Day or a Week
12. Shadow a Colleague for a Day

These titles don't include the blurbs of info. I'm too tired to do anything else with this. The book is on my Professional shelf at 371.2 Con.

From reviews on GoogleBooks:
(these made me laugh . . . )

Review: If You Don't Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students!: Guide to Success for Administrators and Teachers

User Review - Goodreads

Great ideas and advice for administrators and teachers! I just wish it was research based.

Review: If You Don't Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students!: Guide to Success for Administrators and Teachers

User Review - Goodreads

I can't even finish this book. There is absolutely no substance. And for the record, I did read all the way up to the desserts so I'm not basing my dislike of the book on just a chapter. It was so repetitive and made me feel brain-dead.