I'm Back!

Ok, I'm embarrassed. I was engrossed with Shakespeare for the last three months and I've finally come up for a breather. Over Spring Break I did finally finish "Green Glass Sea". I ended up really liking it. We've decided to use it as our summer reading and one book one team. It caters to multiple interdisciplinary units. Some of the graduating 8th graders have read the next two sequels. According to them they get better as you go. Although I'm not a science person by nature, I really felt like both protagonist characters were relatable to all middle school students. Both of those girls dealt with very serious issues like fitting in, death of a parent, and acceptance of who they were. I'm excited to do some activities with it in the fall. Ok, so what are we onto next? Has anyone read "The Help"? It was my latest adult fiction novel that I just loved. Strand and I were discussing whether it would work for 8th grade towards the end of the year. Maybe doing an interdisciplinary unit with civil rights in S.S.

Inside the 1940's

I'm only on pg 41 and I'm already empathizing with Dewey. When her father drives to the entrance of Los Alamos I'm shaking right along with her. The scary sights of armed officers would be terrifying at that age. I was shocked at the next chapter when Suze's mom is smoking. It's so unusual to see any kind of smoking in adolescent literature. I was transported immediately to another time in this country. I can already sense the fever pitch of ending World War II. I'm enjoying it thus far. I think I'm really enjoying reading a novel from a female perspective. I was once again reflecting today on how often we teach male centered adolescent literature. On another note - I began Teddy Kennedy's memoir today. The prologue was beautifully written and emotionally charged. I'd recommend it. I'm really trying to push myself out of my typical comfort zone and political memoirs are definitely in a different zone for me.

"The Green Glass Sea"

Ok - so I find myself multi-tasking quite a bit these days. I think I’m currently reading 5 different pieces simultaneously therefore I found myself at the gym the other day with “The Green Glass Sea” in front of me. The elliptical is a great place to enjoy both adult and adolescent literature. Of course - it wasn’t open and I wasn’t reading. I was watching the wedding channel instead. My point it that the up and down motion of the elliptical drew my attention to the interesting cover of the novel. If looked at - at the right angle it shows very cool embedded scientific symbols. So now I’m hooked. Bottom-line - if the covers cool then count me in. I’ve begun.......

New Book Suggestions

Any ideas? I'm looking for something relatively short - I know - I sound like one of the kids. "The Green Glass Sea" was recommended by our librarian. It has a female protagonist and is historical fiction. It is focused on science which I thought might be a since shift. Real sceince not twirling and spinning centipede like creatures:) Let me know your thoughts.

Done with Maze Runner

I finished Maze Runner over break and I'm behind in my posting. I really liked it but like Elina I still feel conflicted on whether it's worthy of teaching. I'm torn. I thought the development of characters was strong. I like that they threw a female into the mix but that doesn't ensure girls will like it. I thought the rolling creatures were cheesy - I was glad to discover they were mechanical - (they were right?) The language and pejoratives drove me crazy - I must admit it did keep my attention. I couldn't put it down. The concept of a maze was interesting. It could be good material for discussing extended metaphors. I will and have recommended the novel but it's not original enough for teaching. I would teach Hunger Games of this book. Plus I hate the cliffhanger ending - I get it - it just makes me insensed - there is a part of me that feels like authors use this technique to just sell books - especially to young adults.