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Weekend Update

Early this morning I had a sorority meeting at my local B & N/Starbucks-for those of you paying any attention~I’m really not the sorority type! This is Alpha Upsilon Alpha, part of the International Reading Association, so it all makes perfect sense. One of my teaching mentors at my local alma mater recommended me for induction into the “society”-luckily I did not have to gulp goldfish or wear an odd robe and we mostly talk about reading, teaching and books.

Today we met for “Books and Brunch” and it was a blast! There was lots of quick and exciting conversations on a variety of topics. I was able to share a variety of books (Luxe was the first on my stack to share) and we did discuss (one of my other favorite topics) blogging!! There were only 7 of us there and truly, the meeting took way longer than I expected (10-1) but it was really enjoyable. This is my first year in the organization and we are trying to grow in ideas and membership. I will admit I was sad we spent so much time talking leaving me no browsing time-at all!!

One of the seven at the meeting was published author and a writing instructor at Wartburg, Barbara Harken and it was great to share ideas with her. I bought a copy of her book, had it signed and will make time soon to read it. Click here for her website.

Okay, the rest of the day I watched football and socialized with adult libations but the morning did start off very intellectually-stimulating!!
I should have been reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato….for Monday’s book club!!! Yikes!

And how was your Saturday spent??

End of the day

Sunsets are beautiful to watch. I watched one tonight with peaceful girl and we enjoyed the colors blending together. It was the in-between to a pleasantly busy day. The rest of the evening I ushered at a play at UNI-Marat/Sade...truly odd play with amazingly beautiful costumes. To end my evening I made brownies awhile I’m catching up on Tivo’d Monk. Still the sunset was my favorite part although the smell of brownies permeating the house is pretty wonderful.

Tomorrow I have a meeting at Barnes and Noble about reading!!
So what was the best part of your day?

Thursday Thoughts

I recently challenged myself to post every day and so far I’ve done it!! Yeah to me. Except today I can’t think of anything to write about so….I’m just going to write about my day!
I’m in the middle of watching The Dark Knight (Heath’s last movie, audible sigh from me). We had to stop it last night because it was getting too late for me. My teenage son feels I need to see the movie (his rite of passage for me) even though I didn’t want to see Heath in such a bizarre and scary role. I don’t like violence-surprise! and this movie has a ton of it yet I am going to grin and bare it for him an finish it tonight.

I am in the process of reading something very interesting, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel and Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I have to finish by Monday evening for my book club meeting. I dislike going and feeling unprepared. When I started the book I kinda thought I wasn’t going to like it because it’s written in letter writing format between several characters. Now that I’m more than a few pages into I’ve developed a relationship with the characters, especially Juliet. She’s written with such a great sense of humor!

I made a delicious potato soup for dinner specifically for the teenager; he had spacers added to his teeth preparing for braces on Monday, the 16th. His mouth is sore and his menu consists of yogurt w/ honey, chocolate pudding, chocolate ice cream and ramen noodles. I thought the soup would change it up a bit but only my husband and I liked it. I guess “delicious” depends on who you talk to…

We just came back from the high school play at my son’s school and it was a very funny rendition of Arsenic and Old Lace. I have to rent the movie and see Cary Grant as Mortimer! I don’t remember it being that funny but I was pretty young when I saw it!!

Oh, and my big news of the day was that I accomplished my observation today. My principal came and watched my lesson with a small group of Special Needs students. I read Big Red Barn and Goodnight Moon both by Margaret Wise Brown-we were looking for rhyming words. MWB was so amazing for her time. the students loved both books and are ready to explore some of her other books next week. We put together rhyming cards and played a rhyming game on Scholastic’s website. It was a fun-filled 30 minutes of rhyming words and the observation went very well!! One done, One still to go!

Okay, so a great, great day and I’m really looking forward to Saturday because I have a Saturday morning meeting at B & N, for coffee and book talks! I hope your day went just as well!

Journey of Dreams/Picnic_Basket Request

Journey of Dreams by Marge Pellegrino is set in Guatemala during the 1980’s political upheaval . It is the story of Tomasa and her family’s decision to leave their tiny village and head north, walking toward first the border of Mexico and then to the U.S. border. Tomasa’s mother leaves with the oldest son, Carlos because young boys have been captured in the village and forced to serve as soldiers. It becomes obvious within a short time that it is time for the rest of the family to go as soldiers take over their village during a festival.

Their entire journey is filled with risk and mishaps, especially trying to cross the river between Guatemala and Mexico. Once in Mexico, Tomasa, her brother Manuel and the baby Maria live temporarily in a park while the father goes off to work everyday. Eventually they are lead to a “safe convent” where they can stay in one room. A visitor from the U.S. brings news of Mother and Carlos and within a few monthes the family is together again in Phoenix. While they endure many hardships there is hope along the way. Because the author has such a close connection to Central American refuges I felt a real sense of loss for Tomasa’s character. She loved her life, as “poor” as they were, they were rich in culture, the beauty of the land and their own family strength. While still in their village Tomasa describes her home:

“Through the open door, the late afternoon sun deepens the blue of the sky. At this moment of the day, the green of the field and pine trees beyond glow. The blue and green next to each other look magical. The green crops grow from the gifts of the sky and earth. And we, the people of the corn, grew from those crops. Maybe that is why I often weave blue and green next to each other.” p. 23

I also greatly appreciated the father’s story-telling abilities and that they had these rituals every night when together. If you enjoy reading about other cultures or refuge experiences this book is well-worth it. It is a hope-filled and satisfying journey.

Marge Pellegrino’s blog
Click here for a map of Guatemala-it would have been a very long journey from Guatemala City!
Politics and Prose provides a synopsis here.

Teaser Tuesday

TEASER TUESDAYS, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Should Be Reading asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book
                                                       recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
                                                       Please avoid spoilers!

My teasers:

“Them German soldiers was as hungry as we was-with bloated bellies and no body warmth from food.

Well, I was tired to death of boiled potatoes and turnips, and I would have soon turned up my toes and died, when the Vega came into our port.”

p. 146 The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Micah is one of the strongest characters I’ve ever met in a book. In Liar she explains her life in before and after segments; before Zach died and after Zach died. Zach is the boyfriend killed in an extreme and mysterious manner; the catalyst to help us meet Micah. It seems easier as a grieving person to remember the before as amazing and the after as without reason. There is a second major part to this brutal tale but I’m not going to tell it here because its just worth it to read it and find out the mystery yourself. Zach’s death is enough of a crisis to deal with for most. Add that to the fact Micah lies, lies, lies-she doesn’t know how to not lie but it’s a defense mechanism; a way to keep alive and sane. She keeps thinking she wants to stop lying as if it is something she has chosen but she really has no choice but to continue to spin lies!! The love story between Zach and Micah is deep and I loved reading their together moments:

“He brushed his lips gently along my cheek. I didn’t move. The shock of it froze me. Why had he done that? He’d never looked at me that way. He’d never really looked at me any kind of way.
His lips were dry and warm. No other part of us touched. Blood moved faster through my veins and capillaries. Without willing them to, my lips parted slightly. An “oh” escaped from me.” p 52

This is just a really incredible story of a young woman dealing with so much and you feel for her no matter what-no matter what!! Here is Justine Larbalestier’s site to learn more. The controversy over the cover was well worth it and the second one works for my mental images. The second girl is the character that would have pretended to be a boy!
Recommended for high school- 5/5 peaceful stars.
Other reviews of Liar:

The Ya Ya’s
Lauren’s crammed bookshelf
Kidliterate
The Book Smuggler’s

Green Books

Booking Mama’s post from today turned me on to a new concept and I have to share it with everyone! It kind of amazes me how things can almost pass you by. I’d never heard of Eco-Libros before but now I’m ready to plant trees for every book I read. I wish I would have known about their challenge previously but I will find a way to particpate anyway.

I spent time at my public library today and found several books with the help of Tina, who happened to be there with her youngest. I “found” Jodi Piccoult’s new-ish Handle with care, which I have not read yet. Now I have to read it in 7 days!! I really have to start The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Anne Schaffer because my book club meets in two weeks and I haven’t started. I also have to finish Year of the dog (tonight) for tomorrow’s 5th grade book club. Crazy-Yes!!
Other books I found at library:
The shadow speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu (for teen and me to read)
Looking for alaska by John Green (I want my teenager to read it when he finishes Liar)
The bite of the mango by Mariatu Kamara (for teen, husband and myself to read-high hopes)
Satchel; The life and times of an american legend by Larry Tye (for husband-he loves baseball history)
The year we disappeared; a father~daughter memoir by Cylin Busby and John Busby(for teen and me to read)
My goal was to finish reading Journey of Dreams by Marge Pellegrino but so much got in the way this weekend. (Like my mom showing up last night by surprise:)
I need to finish lesson plans for this week, my observation MAJOR lesson plan to be handed in to my principal tomorrow and make an Asian dessert for 5th grade book club tomorrow!
What the heck was I even doing picking out books at the library or hanging around on the computer!! I know most of you can relate to this whirlwind schedule! Tell me what your crazy drama looks like??

Be peaceful-
Michelle

Picture Books

Peaceful girl and I read a fantastic picture book last night at bedtime.

Homegrown house by Janet S. Wong and illustrated by E.B. Lewis is a story about transition and finding your comfort right where you are. The young narrator tells us how she’s moved from house to house as her family experienced change through new jobs. Now she lives some place within walking distance from her Grandmom and she likes where she is, even though it’s not a dream home. Her Grandmom says:
” it takes time to settle into a house, to learn to love it right, to make it feel homegrown.”

Mom gets a raise so they house hunt for a better house but our young narrator works hard to convince her parents the house they live in now is their perfect house!! She wants to be close to Grandmom and all that her house has to offer-she wants consistency in her life!

I moved many times growing up as we followed the journalistic dreams of my Dad. Moving can be exciting but at some point you get tired of leaving your friends behind, finding new favorite spots. This book exemplifies that struggle very much for this young girl. E.B. Lewis’ illustrations are very natural and draw you more into the story. Recommended-5/5 peaceful stars

Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Two weeks ago I was so excited when my two new boxes of Titlewave books arrived because inside was a copy of Sent! I read it over that next week and loved it. I didn’t want to put it down-life always gets in the way though and I did have to stop more than a few times-but I was always anxious to pick it back up!

Sent (2009) is the second in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s new Missing series. Click here to read my thoughts on Found, the first one in the series.

This outstanding new series mixes history with sci-fi time-taveling fun! Most children would love to find out they are related to royalty-and in this book 13-year-old Chip is Edward V, King of England and Alex is his younger brother Richard, Duke of York. Edward is worried their uncle, Richard of Gloucester is going to have them killed and take the throne for himself. Jonah, Chip, Alex and Katherine travel back to the 15th Century to “fix time” and interesting things happen to teenagers trying to fit into language, mannerisms and costumes of a very different time period. I loved imagining independent Katherine existing in a the not-to-female-friendly 15th Century! I don’t know a lot about this historical era but it is very exciting to read all the mystery and intrigue of the day! Highly recommend this series and cannot wait to see where the next book will take us. 5/5 peaceful stars

Click here for Margaret Peterson Haddix’s exciting website.

Looks like she has a brand new book out in November!! No mention of when the third Missing book will be out though.

I know you’re all asking “what else was in those boxes of new books??”

For curious minds here is a partial list:

Allie Finkle’s Stage Fright by Meg Cabot

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff

43 Old Cemetary Road; Dying to meet you by Kate Klise

Julia Gillian (and the quest for joy) by Alison McGhee

the entire new and improved Herculeah Jones mystery series by Betsy Byars

The Clever Stick by John Lechner

Elephants cannot dance! by Mo Willems

A pocket can have a treasure in it by Kathy Stinson

Read it, don’t eat it! by Ian Schoenherr

Yeah, more forthcoming reviews to write:)

What about you? What has you excited this week?

Be Peaceful,

Michelle

ps: the book fair has been busy today as well-and it has taken me all day to write this (yikes!) because of bfair business and visitors stopping by –Tina from booksaremything dropped by and bought two books!!

Busy Book Fair Day

It’s conference time in the Cedar Valley and during this time it is tradition for the library to hold a book fair! I thought today would be a slow start today and I would have plenty of time to blog…that didn’t happen so here I am posting at 9:56! I’m glad it was busy (my feet hurt though) and I’m ready to go home.

Here are highlights from what people were reading and buying at the fair.

Diary of a wimpy kid; dog days by Jeff Kinney-hands-down most popular book bought by kids
Boys are dogs by Leslie Margolis
Allie Finkle’s Rules for girls, Best Friends and Drama Queens by Meg Cabot
I spy fly guy by Tedd Arnold for the younger set

Nonfiction rocked a lot as well:
See how they run; campaign dreams, election schemes, and the race to the White House by Susan E. Goodman (okay, so nobody bought this one but lots of people looked in it.)

Tomorrow’s another day at the fair.
Tomorrow is probably won’t be as busy
then I will be able to write in the middle of the day!!

Be Peaceful…
Michelle