Summer Reading, Week Four

My reading list was much shorter this past week, so you get an image for every one!

Picture Books

*Splash! by Ann Jonas. If you have kids who are learning to count, I highly recommend this book. Animals sliding, falling, and splashing in and out of the pond make the count different on every page.












That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Crowell. I brought this book along while nannying this week, and we read it several times amidst much laughter.

Intermediate Literature

**One-Handed Catch by Mary Jane Auch. Great story. Set just after WWII, it's the story of Norman, a sixth-grader who loses his hand in an accident. I particularly enjoyed the tone and voice of this book. A bit smart-alecky, but not too much.

***Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. This is one of my three favorites so far! Best Newbery winner I've read this summer. Vanderpool weaves two story lines together in a way that made me feel like I was a part of the community she wrote about. Reminded me of Holes -- perhaps as good, even. (Coming from me, that's high praise!)






Teen / Young Adult Literature

**The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang, who lives in Minnesota! Excellent memoir of life as a refugee, first in Thailand and then here in Minnesota. I learned much about the Hmong people from this book.








Page count this week: 1,144. Eight fewer books than last week, but 120 pages more. They were some big books...

Summer Reading, Week Three

I'm rather behind in posting these, so no pictures. (I'm trying to keep my library fines under control this summer.) For some of the books, I'm not providing much of an explanation, either. You'll just have to check them out for yourself.


Picture Books
*Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaret Mitchell. Story of sacrifice and perseverance.

***What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. I drool over Steve Jenkins' paper-collage illustrations. They are unbelievable. There's a lot of interesting information packed into this book, too.


*Stellaluna  by Janell Cannon. Cute tale of a bat who is raised by birds.


Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs. An original tall tale.


 **Diary of a Fly by Doreen Cronin. Utterly delightful. Quite comical. And even educational. Three words I never thought I would use to describe a book about a fly.


***Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin. I read this book to a college rhetoric and research class when I was a TA. They loved it as much as small children do. Perfect illustration of the adage, "Never underestimate the power of the written word."


*Dandelions by Eve Bunting. Poignant story about a pioneer family going west.


Things That are Most in the World by Judi Barrett. The best book in the world to use for teaching superlatives. Also good if you just need a book to make your first graders laugh.

*A Drop of Water by Walter Wick (who is the photographer from the I SPY books). Beautiful non-fiction picture book using up-close photographs to teach about the properties of water.

Intermediate Literature

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Connelly. Sweet, happy, beautiful -- but not sappy. A book that I will be recommending to every elementary-age girl I know. (Not as much as The Penderwicks, but along those lines.)

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by David Borgenicht and Joshua Piven. The authors did all kinds of research for this fascinating book. I now want to buy it for myself, just in case I ever need to escape from quicksand, jump from a building into a Dumpster, or tell if a package is actually a mail bomb. It's also very quotable.

Teen/Young Adult Literature
**First Part Last by Angela Johnson. An urban teenage boy deals with becoming a father.

***Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. One of the best books of the summer so far. Powerful, and incredibly well-written.

Page count this week: 1,024

Summer Reading, Week Two

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
 Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

This past two weeks, I haven't traveled anywhere without a book in my bag, just in case I get stranded with a few spare minutes. Waiting rooms are my new favorite places. And my workout routine has become even more boring than it was (did not know this was possible), as I now head for the stationary bike the second I walk through the door of the gym and read the entire time I'm there.

This binge (sanctioned, but a binge, nonetheless) has been bringing back memories of my childhood, when I spent most of my free time with my nose in a book. When I got in trouble, the consequence -almost always- was being grounded from reading. No books, no newspaper, no mail, no cereal box at the breakfast table, even. Since I was usually disciplined for reading instead of washing dishes or doing my homework, I guess the punishment fit the crime.

Not grounded yet (I'm trying to keep up with other aspects of life in a fairly adult fashion), but I'm looking over my shoulder, still. Didn't make it through quite as many this week, though my page count is similar to last weeks. Oh, and click here for a refresher on my starring rationale.

Picture books:

**The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin. Grace Lin is one of my new favorite children's authors. My class loved all her stuff this year. I think The Ugly Vegetables is one of her first books.

*Betsy Who Cried Wolf by Gail Carson Levine. This will be a fun read-aloud. Twist on the original fable, of course.

Intermediate books:

**Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry. Very cute. Set entirely in a second-grade classroom, and not too far off from reality. I've had students who could probably give Gooney Bird a run for her money. Would connect well to a unit on story writing.

Mercy Watson, Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo. Beginner-level "chapter" book with lots of pictures. A five-year-old I know loves all the Mercy Watson books. Compared to anything else by DiCamillo, it's disappointing...but it was cute, I guess.

Teen/Young Adult Books:

** The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My favorite read so far. I was mesmerized by the story.

** Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. Not at all as fluffy as it sounds, though it still would be categorized as a girl read. A great girl read.

* Deadline by Chris Crutcher. Eighteen year old boy (who's 5'3", 123#)  finds out he has a terminal illness and decides to live his senior year to the fullest, going out for football, dating a girl who's eight inches taller than him, etc. There's a decided political undertone which I didn't love (didn't love the language, either), but the idea is interesting, and Crutcher makes it work.

Page count this week: 1,162 (not counting the picture books)

Thinking Out Loud

One thing I learned from tonight's class (which focused on motivating students to read) is that students get much more out of their reading if they talk and/or write about it. Both is better. Makes sense to me.

Since my go-to talk-it-out person is several states and a time zone away tonight and it's too late to call anyone else, I'm going to share my learning with you, dear blog audience. Questions from several of you have probed my thinking (thank you for asking!); here are three of the major thoughts now rising to the surface. I hope you're getting some learning out of your summer, too, wherever you are. 

Connection: Class to Teaching

Being a student is giving me empathy for my own students. It's not easy!

This grad class is by far the most challenging classroom situation I've encountered in at least eight years, and I don't quite have my land legs yet! My professor is sharp. Wonderful, fun, but really with it. She's pushing me, and it's good. She's human, though. Tonight, she misunderstood a question I asked and then told me I was wrong; I was surprised by the level of emotion that surged up within me. I know I've done that to students of mine (sometimes the level of adrenaline that I've got running during my middle school class makes slowing down and actually listening really hard), but I hadn't realized the depth of frustration it caused. "Did I answer your question?" is an important one to ask. (Good news: I calmed down and thought about it more like an adult once I made that connection.)

Connection: Reading to Life

Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games was my favorite read this week. Since I'm sick of writing annotations, no review from me, other than to say it drew me in to the story in a big way AND gave me tons to think about. Though not the central theme, one tension in the book (futuristic sci-fi) is between the capital city, in which the people live glamorous, push-button lives centered around appearance, comfort, and entertainment, and the twelve surrounding districts, which are ruthlessly kept in poverty and forced to produce commodities for the capital city. Those who live in the city are blind to the cost of their lifestyle. 

At first, I was annoyed by the city characters; then, shamed as I saw myself in them. I live a comfortable life, often with no thought to what goes on below the poverty line to make me able to live as I please. I don't consider my own connection to the tearjerker stories I hear from around the world or across the street. To recognize the cost with integrity would mean to be willing to bear more of it on my own shoulders. Awareness should bring change.

In my Bible studying recently, I've been constantly tripping over verses about the church being the body of Christ. If one part suffers, the whole part suffers. In this book, it was so clear that the "health" of the capital city is an illusion. It is bought at a horrific price, one which costs everyone at the soul level. 

Literature is influential! I know these things already; I've had multiple conversations with friends about these topics just in the past few months. But seeing it played out in a story (powerful things, stories), caring about a character fighting against a terrible disadvantage, well, somehow that poked it furthest into my heart. 

Connection: Research Reading to Teaching (and a pat on the back to myself)

There are a lot of small things I can do to motivate my students to read. And I actually did a few of them this year!

1. Give them choices. (Wildly successful with my middle schoolers - not directly related to reading, but just engaging with the class.)

2. Relate with them. Know them. Make personal connections. (I've been hearing this message everywhere!) One part of this is to recognize, respect, and make room for their preferences.

3. Make sure they get to write and talk about what they're reading.

4. Only reward reading with rewards that are connected to reading itself. Like earning a new book for having read so many pages. Lots of research tells us that disconnected rewards (say, a toy or treat) decrease motivation.

Summer Reading: Books I Hope to Finish

I'm plowing through my literature assignments, but I have other books I'm crawling my way through, hoping to give them decent attention throughout the summer. Heart-related books, the kind you have to chew (no snarfing allowed). A feast, just in these three:

Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson. Need to give this one its own blog post soon. It is transforming the way I see the gospel, which is transforming the way I see lots of other things. You want to read this.

How People Grow by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. I've been working on this one for a couple of years. Bottom line: how all growth is spiritual growth. Good stuff. 

Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I never quite feel ready to engage with this book at the level I think it deserves, so I'll read a few pages and put it down. It's a dangerous message, and I don't dare zip through it without letting the Holy Spirit talk to me about it. 

Summer Reading, Part One: Best Homework I've Ever Had

This summer, I'm taking a grad class on K-12 literature requiring me to read well over 50 books. I'm in bookworm heaven, mostly. The gritty part of writing bibliography entries and pulling out themes, well, that still feels like work. But mowing through the pile of books on the coffee table (currently, there are 41)? This is homework?! 

For all you fellow bibliophiles, here's what I read the past week. Stars (*) denote my personal level of recommendation. One: worth your time. Two: excellent and moving. Three: stunning (or I somehow just read it on a really good day).

How week one stacked up...

Picture Books
**The yellow star: the legend of King Christian X of Denmark by Carmen Agra Deedy. Story isn't exactly true, but inspiring nonetheless. And beautiful. Would be great to include in teaching about WWII at any age level.   
 
*The lion and the mouse by Jerry Pinkney. One of the most gorgeous, engaging wordless picture books I've seen.


Zarafa: the giraffe who walked to the king by Judith St. George. True story; the title says it all. Lovely illustrations.


The windigo’s return: a north woods story by Douglas Wood. Native American legend; Minnesotans could appreciate it on a few levels...


Snoring Beauty by Bruce Hale. Humorous, irreverent retelling of Sleeping Beauty. 

***The cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse. Another powerful picture book relating to WWII. Would be excellent for older kids.


**Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming. Yet another view on WWII and its aftermath. Based on a true story.


Why kings and queens don't wear crowns by Princess Martha Louise. Cute...


**Flotsam by David Wiesner. Wiesner is one of my favorite illustrators. This smirky, off-beat wordless book is a reason why. I can look at these pictures for hours.


Children's Literature
**Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Well-written story about a settlement in Canada of escaped or freed slaves. I really liked the interaction between the narrator, an eleven-year-old boy, with the adults of his community. Touches on difficult themes relating to slavery and freedom, but overall, hopeful and full of life.





Nory Ryan’s song by Patricia Reilly Giff. Intermediate-level book about the Potato Famine in Ireland. Sweet characters, sober plot, lots of historical connections to pull in.

*The lightning thief by Rick Riordian. Engaging story. Interesting twist related to Greek mythology. Lots of good action and characters I cared about. And though I predicted some of it (a knowledge of mythology "sets up" some of the scenes, making it more interesting), I didn't see it all. Will probably read the rest of the series...

**When you reach me by Rebecca Stead. Apparently, lots of people hate this book. I was not one of them. Was fascinated from the beginning.



Young Adult Literature
**I am the messenger by Markus Zusak. There's plenty of colorful language throughout the book that I could do without, but the story drew me in right away. Loved the plot and the characters.


**Out of the dust by Karen Hesse. Novel set in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl, narrated in poetry. The sparse, rich text mirrors the setting and struggle of the characters. Quick read, but certainly worthwhile.


Page count this week: 1280, not counting the picture books or the 500 page Zusak book (since I read it a month ago).

Reading for a Hopeful Ending

After multiple evenings away from home, last night I allowed myself the luxury of time on the couch with a novel. The narrative and characters of Home, by Marilynne Robinson, have captured my attention in a way I didn't expect (her last book, Gilead, was beautiful, but I wouldn't call it gripping), and I continue turning "just one more page before I go to bed..."

 

You probably wouldn't label this book as "gripping," either.  I'm not on the edge of my seat, reeling from dramatic plot twists.  Rather, I feel like I've been sitting at Glory Boughton's kitchen table, listening to her haltingly unpack her heart, and I cannot walk away without her story continuing to whisper in my ear.  I care about what happens to Glory and her wayward brother, Jack, and I want to keep reading.  But Robinson isn't hurrying this, so neither can I.

 

Different books require various kinds of reading. I'll admit to skimming chick lit, reading for the ending, even though I already know the girl will get the guy. Well-written literature, however, requires its readers to walk through life at the pace of the characters, to feel what they're feeling.  When I read a book such as this one, a subtle shift happens within me. Instead of seeking the happy ending, where every last loose end is sewn up in the epilogue, I become hungry for a hopeful ending. 

 

I want Glory to find genuine fulfillment in her life. I want Jack to find his place in his family and this world.  I want there to be a resolution to the deep questions resounding silently within these characters. Marilynne Robinson has made me yearn for redemption in the midst of brokenness, and I keep reading, hoping to find it.  I'm waiting for it to show up, ready to cherish the smallest evidences of hope.

 

I think we're made to live life in a similar way to how good fiction must be read. We have to engage.  Choosing to feel the weight of our own or someone else's plot twists can feel heavy, tedious, painful. But it also makes us yearn for redemption.  When we truly feel the destructive force of sin and the messiness of our fallen world, we become hungry for better.  It makes us remember that this world is not our home, that we were made for eternity. 

 

I'm going to keep turning those pages.

What I've Been Reading While I Haven't Been Blogging

Haven't managed lately to contend with my thoughts enough so as to wrestle them into a blog entry. Journal, yes. Blog, no.  It'll come again, though. (Spring does manage to show up after winter, doesn't it?)

 

In the meantime, I've stumbled across many bloggers truly worth reading. Here are a few I recommend:

 

Genevieve Thul - a mother of young children, doctoral student, current cancer patient, and thoughtful, poetic writer Food for the soul on so many levels.

 

Caroline Ferdinandsen - reflects on life and culture. I usually ponder her posts for days.

 

Jennifer Straw - friend who's teaching in Mozambique, Africa. She paints sensory-rich pictures of her experiences -- makes me want to be there!

 

Abraham Piper - it's amazing what he can say in 22 words. Makes me laugh, think, argue, ponder, and take action - all in twenty-two words or less.

 

In the mood to explore further? Try Christy Tennant (she'll make you think), Desiring God (authored by a variety of people from Bethlehem Baptist Church -- all good at writing valuable, short posts), or Improv Everywhere  (this links to one of my favorite, must-see Improv Everywhere videos -- I Love Lunch - The Musical).