Last night I finished Fin & Lady by Cathleen Schine. At first I found this book heartbreaking with all of the loss that Fin was suffering through. When reading about Lady all I could think about was Penny Lane (Almost Famous). As the book went on I loved the relationship between Fin and Lady and how Fin grew. I really liked how this book took place in the sixties and Cathleen brought in so many pop culture references. The end of the book was amazing. I love when authors take their books one step farther and tell us where the characters are now! This is a great beach read, it's super fast and I found it hard to put down because I wanted to know what was happening!!
One day last week I used the app iCard Sort to blast the students a huge list of adjectives. Then when we were done reading for the day they worked with a group to identify which adjectives described Ivan. They did an amazing job and I was super proud, they were on task the entire time and I finally had to have them move back to their desks. Each student shared his/her favorite adjective and they had to defend (Common Core :) it. Other students could disagree but they had to be able to say why. The conversation was amazing and we had the best time. I was amazed how students were choosing the same adjectives but were giving different reasons, it is so cool the way they think!
Last night I finished Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Wonder is the story of Auggie who was born with a facial deformity and the year he started middle school. The year Auggie started middle school was also the first year he went to school, before this he was home schooled. This is the story of what he knows and learns about people. It is also the story of what people learn from Auggie.
Well I just finished The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult and I think it is an AMAZING book. It might be one of my favorite by Jodi. What I love about her writing is that you go into her books thinking you would handle situations one way if faced but while reading she makes you question things about yourself. I felt like I was going through things with this book and was anxious to see how situations were resolved because I didn't know what I would do.
My other favorite Jodi Picoult books are:
My Sister's Keeper- My friend Julie O. (although she lives in Ohio and I don't see her very often, when I do I love to talk books with her. I also love to talk teaching with her. Basically I think she is amazing) recommended this book to me a few years ago before I was a crazy reader. I still remember how this book made me feel and how I could not put it down and I could not wait to talk to Julie about it. I loved how every chapter was told from a different point of view. Jodi Picoult had me from page 1.
Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes by Alice Schertle and Petra Mathers. These poems were so cute and perfect for teaching point of view. Each poem was told from the point of view of a piece of clothing. We turned it into a game, I would leave out the name of the piece of clothing and the kids would guess. We had a great time!
So in my classroom we love to read books about dogs! I Didn't Do It by Patricia MacLachlan is a book of adorable poems about puppies, told from the point of view of puppies. Does it get any better? We LOVED reading these poems, they made us all so happy! I am sure this book will quickly become one of our classroom favorites and now I think I need to get Once I Ate a Pie by the same author because I can't get enough dog books in my room!
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I wanted to love this book because it was about friends and covered the span of their lives. Unfortunately the book just made me sad. I did love that the book was set in the 1960s and I loved how the author talked of the clothes and what mothers wanted for their daughters. Overall I am only giving the book 2 stars. The book had potential and covered a lot of interesting topics but it just didn't do it for me. However it made me very sad for women of that generation and how hard things were for them and made me grateful for the life I have.
Later today and I am enjoying my snow day and watching the snow start to really come down, I will be starting The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. I know it sounds dorky but I love a new Jodi book when it first comes out. There is something about her that just sucks me in and I can't wait! It has been a while since I have read one of her books so I am super excited. I will be sure to let you know what I think!
This month for book club we read Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster. This is her newest book and I loved it just as much as I loved her others. There were several times that I laughed out loud while I was reading this book. The book just made me so happy. I loved the music and pop culture references and in usual Lancaster form she talks about great Chicago spots. When I was done with this book I was so sad because I was enjoying it so much. This book all of the things that I love about reading. I highly recommend this book, it would be a perfect beach read or rainy afternoon read, you won't be sorry!
So it's almost noon on Saturday and the only things I have accomplished today are a few report cards, a load of dishes and a shower (I know and it's only noon and a Saturday). I'm fighting a cold so for the rest of the day I will be sitting on the couch under a blanket and reading. I have about 100 pages to go in Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. I have to know what happens!
This summer I read and loved like most of the world Gone Girl. I loved the dark writing and the last page was AMAZING! The thing I liked best was that when I was done I realized Gillian had written other books, I love when that happens. There is nothing better than when you find a book you love and then you find more like it (even better Gillian is a Chicago girl). I think it would be great if all authors HAD to write two books because there are so many times when one just isn't enough. Case and point Kathryn Stockett the author of The Help. When is she going to realize how much I love her and her book? Notice I said book not books.
Another book I will be reading is Just A Dog by Michael Gerard Bauer. I want to see if this would be a good book to read to my class. The whole reason I even bought this book is because of the brilliant marketing by Scholastic. They sent me a calendar at the start of the school year that featured cats and dogs reading, what is not to love about that? This month features a cat reading Just A Dog. It is so cute that I had to get the book. At first I thought it might be just another Marley but then I though GREAT it might be another Marley. I love all books about dogs! I love to read them in adult form and kid form. My only fear is that my students are picking up my same habits...judging a book by its animal.
Enough about me, let's get to the books that have made me me! I once heard someone say the books that make you a reader are your book print, so here is my book print:The first book that makes up my book print is Baby Dear (Little Golden Book) by Esther and Eloise Wilkin. I loved this book when I was little and I can still see the pictures in my mind. I don't remember exactly what it was about but I do remember loving it and sitting on the couch while my mom read it to me.
The next book I remember loving and the book that started me playing teacher was Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Beverly Cleary. My mom bought me the book after my third grade teacher Mrs. Hogan read it to us. I would sit in my room and read it out loud to me "class." When I started my classroom library it was one of the first books that I bought and it is a book that I still love reading to my class. I love sharing the story with them about why it is such a special book to me. I also still laugh out loud when I read chapter 3, The Hard Boiled Egg Fad.
High school brings me to the next book that made me who I am, The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. This book came to me one spring break and I quickly inhaled it. This was the first book "adult" book that I read. It was the step from kid books. I huge step in a person's life and only now that I think about it do I even realize what an impact it had on my life. Years later this became the only movie I went to on my own. This is one of the few book to movie that I love!
