Strange Bedfellows (222Pages)

Yet another professional book, and this one makes me wish I was still in a classroom. Carol Rawlings Miller has put together literary pairs that would never jump into the readers mind as a pair to be read and discussed/ written.  I attended a workshop given by one of Robert Marzanos associates.  In it we were told that comparing(showing likenesses) and /or contrasting (showing differences) makes the biggest difference in student comprehension. Rawlings has done the work for you!  This allows teachers to offer reading/ writing/ and discussion across the genres. So, if I ruled the world and could do my own thing in my classroom, I'd do one or more of these lessons with my students, and then I'd Xerox a lesson and keep it in a folder for a sub to use should I be absent. It's all there, folks: reading/ questions/ discussion/ writing. Order this book from Heinemann, give it a try, and let me know how it goes!

Essential Questions (110Pages)

This professional book by Mctighe & Wiggins (of Understanding by Design fame) I'm entering this book for two main reason: 1) It is filled with GREAT ideas for all curriculum departments, and 2) I believe the weakest area for most teachers is their inability to ask quality questions. As a matter of fact, many of the questions asked are low level thinking questions. This book is designed to be used by math, science, history, music, art teachers. Think seriously about getting this book for yourself, or at the very least ask your librarian to get one for faculty use. Not only do these authors point out what an essential question it, they also point out what one is not! Here is an example they give of an essential question: How do the arts shape, as well as reflect, a culture? Here is a question that is not essential: What common artistic symbols were used by the Incas and the Mayans? They go into detail explaining the difference between overarching vs topical essential questions. Believe me, whatever you teach, at whatever level, this book will be an asset to you.

True Colors (242 Pages)

This is the first book I've read by author, Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and it was delightful. I will say right off, that I don't think it's a book that will be enjoyed by boys. However, it's a perfect middle school book and girls will adore it. The story is about Blue, a young girl who as a newborn baby was left on the porch in Hannah's copper kettle, the kettle where Hannah planted her marigolds. Taking place in Vermont and beginning on the very day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, True Colors captures the life of a rural Vermont town. The reader learns about all of the citizens of this small town, most of them are older, but there are a few younger people. There is a one room school house, and a paper that is issued once a week and includes all of the "local gossip"! Blue spends much of her time trying to find up who her mother is, where she has gone, and why she left Blue with Hannah, who is old enough to be her grandmother. The mystery is finally solved, and even I did not imagine the ending! Good read!

ELEANOR & PARK ( 325 Pages)

The author of this novel has a wonderful name! Rainbow Rowell. What a colorful and hopeful name! This is a story of  first love. It is tender; it is sexy, it is about a family that is incredibly dysfunctional. Eleanor is the eldest child in the family, with two younger brothers and two younger sisters. Her stepfather is an alcoholic who is abusive to both Eleanor and her mother. The younger children live in fear of him, and have learned to cry silently whenever they hear this man screaming at their mother. Forced out of the house for a year, Eleanor returns to find the family living in a house much too small for a family of more than two. She shares a bedroom with all of the other children. She sneaks a bath before her stepfather gets home, because there is no door on the bathroom. She copes with the situation just barely. Then Eleanor meets Park while sitting next to him in the only available seat on the school bus. Their relationship progresses very, very slowly during the rides to and from school.  Oh, I didn't want this book to end, but I couldn't stop reading it. Your students will go crazy for this, so you'd better get more than one copy!

BOMB ((241 Pages + notes)

Here is a non-fiction book that will intrigue teens who are interested in information about war and warfare. It is a National Book Award Finalist written by Steve Sheinkin. The words in the last paragraph of the jacket say it all: "This is the story of the plotting, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius that created the world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb."All of the famous people connected in the top secret Manhattan Project before, during, and after the atom bomb was developed. Boys tend to enjoy non fiction books, and this would be a great read for those fans.

Cherub: Mission 3 Maximum Security (297 Pages)

Well, there is NO WAY that this book could possibly be as good as the first two. Third books in a series rarely are. So, I decided this would be my bedtime reading for a few nights. Well, Mr. Muchamore-I finished your third book in two nights. Thanks. Much less sleep than I had hoped for because not only did I finish the book, I was absolutely "wired" after reading it! This book has the USA as its setting: Arizona to be specific. Arizona is HOT, and James and his Cherub partner for this mission, Dave, suffered in the heat of a Maximum  Security prison for teens. They were posted there to befriend a boy whose mother was a known arms dealer. The agents of the U.S. and England had not been able to find her as she had been very good at covering her surroundings, phones, and goons who carried out most of her dastardly deeds! It will keep boys at the edge of their seats. And I'm happy to report that there will be a book #4! Do I sound addicted? I am.

Dear Life, You Suck (306 Pages)

I recently purchased this book for two reasons, 1) It got a really good write up in the Wall St Journal, and 2) The young girl in the book store who is the resident YA expert highly recommended it. Two good reasons, and I did enjoy it, however, I got a little tired of the swearing coming from Cricket's mouth. Perhaps it's because it brought back memories of my own youngest teenager's foul mouth for way too long. Cricket Cherpin has had a lousy life, and I can well imagine that he has more than enough to swear about.  His mother and father were horrible people who never should have had a child. His father, a drug dealer once took his young son on a drug deal. The deal turned sour and the customers kept telling the father to turn over the drugs and the money. Te father refused. Now every time he took Cricket on a drug run, he had him put the drugs in his socks and pants. When the druggies couldn't get what they wanted, one of them took a knife and sliced Cricket's face. His comment when explaining this towards the end of the book was, "He chose drugs over me." Author Scott Bladgen has crafted a character who is complicated for many reasons. Cricket is one angry, young man. Always in trouble, yet the reader is cheering for him. Much of the trouble he gets into, is understandable as he can no longer "turn the other cheek." If you can get past the swearing, this is a wonderful coming of age book.

Cherub: Mission Two- The Dealer (300 Pages)

In this second book of the Cherub trilogy, author Robert Muchamore places the crew of James, Kyle, Kerry and all posing as a family unit with Ewart and Zara acting as parents. The family's "mission" is to infiltrate a drug lord and give MI5 the evidence needed to put him and his cohorts out of business. This is an incredible, fast paced, exciting read. Middle school kids will eat it up. I'm off to buy Book three tomorrow!

The Fire Horse Girl (321 Pages + notes)

Maybe it's because we live on the East Coast, but I just never think of immigrants arriving on the West Coast! How ridiculously biased and self centered can I be? Fortunately, Kay Honeyman has written a book that not only educated me, but also entertained me. Angel Island on the West Coast of America corresponds to the East Coast's Ellis Island. This becomes the setting as the reader is first introduced to Jade Mood, a young girl who had the misfortune of being born in the year of the Fire Horse.  People in her family and village know her as the girl who always causes trouble. She can't wait to escape to America,the land of her dreams of freedom and self improvement possibilities. One day Sterling Promise (isn't that a name and a half?) arrives and convinces her father to join him on a trip to America with his daughter whom Sterling will marry. From the moment of her arrival at Angel Island, Jade Moon's dreams are dashed, and she has to take her life into her own hands. With the help of a friend, she wraps her breasts, steals Sterling's clothes and papers, and dressed as a man embarks on becoming an American. Wow, the trouble she encounters is scarey, yet full of hope. This is a great story of a coming of age book centered on a feisty girl.