Goodreads Challenge 11/85: Poison Study

We bought Poison Study by Maria Snyder about a year ago on a book-buying binge at Borders one night.  Santino read it over the summer and thought I'd like it.  The writing's a little clunky and forced, but it's a fun read. Interesting world, lots of action, complex characters. Good, solid, young adult fiction.  


Now that I'm finished with this book, I'm only reading two books--Stuart Little, which I keep in my backpack, and The Death and Life of the American School System, which I'm reading for book club.  Time to find some new good reads....

Goodreads Challenge 10/85: The BFG

Oh I just finished a wonderful book by Roald Dahl, The BFG.  This book has been hanging around my classroom library for several years, but I've never taken the time to read it.  Why did I wait so long?  What a delumptious book!  For my after school class, my kids wrote descriptions of some of the giants in this book, including Bonecruncher, Childchewer, and Fleshlumpeater.  My favorite scene is where the queen of England has breakfast with the Big Friendly Giant.  Her butler, Mr. Tibbs, creates a giant-sized table out of grandfather clocks and a pingpong table.  Vivid images, hilarious dialogue, whimsy and whim (and add a dash of horror)--this is a great children's book.

Another Lovely Day in Highland Park

 See anything unusual in this picture?*

My class was in the computer lab working on our math program.  Usually the kids are completely engaged and focussed--what could be better than playing computer games at school?  In the back of the room, I saw a hand go up.  It was Eric, one of the quiet boys in my class.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"Ms. A., yesterday I was playing in the yard after school," he started.  Boy oh boy, stories that start out that way never end with a happy face.  Always that moment of normality before the blast of cold hard reality destroys the veneer.  Eric continued.

He was playing outside his house by himself when a big black car drove up.  A man got out of the car, pulled out a gun, and started shooting at a house a couple of doors down from where Eric was playing.  Eric ran into the house, told his mom, and hid.  He was worried that the man with the gun would start shooting at all the houses.  I told him that the man was surely looking for someone in particular and wouldn't shoot around randomly--but it sounded really scary.

Eric had nightmares that night.  Four men were outside shooting at his house.  He couldn't get the dreams out of his head.

I don't live in this part of the neighborhood, but I know it can be scary. During the day we get tidbits of the gang wars.  Just this last Tuesday we had a lockdown shortly after school let out.  All of the teachers were in the library in professional development.  This lockdown came suddenly, no warning of helicopters.  That usually means that a shooting or incident has taken place on the school's perimeter (apparently there was a shooting about a half block away).  We locked the door of the library and waited until the announcement came that the lockdown was over.

These incidents might be isolated, or they might be the start of another run of shootings like we had in 2009.  Either way, after the doors close at school, those kids go home, play in unsafe yards, endure sleepless nights, and wish they lived somewhere other than Highland Park.

* Yes, that little buglike thing hovering in the sky next to the middle palm tree, above the playground, is a police helicopter.

Goodreads Challenge 9/85: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy is the second book in a series by Ally Carter about a spy school for girls, the Gallagher Academy (yes, another young adult book).  I enjoyed the first book and decided to continue with the second.  Our hero, Cammie Morgan, attends the Gallagher Academy, where her mom is the headmaster.  One of the big draws of this book series is Cammie's voice as a narrator; she certainly says everything that comes into her teenagery head.    This book is full of intrigue, cool gadgets, and teenage crushes.  The story ends somewhat abruptly, though, but I'm sure there's followthrough in the next book, Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover.

Goodreads Challenge 8/85: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Thanks to the Kindle I was able to start The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest right after I finished the second book in the series.  At the beginning of the book, I was excited--it showed great promise.  I was hoping to see great character arcs, and the anticipation of seeing certain characters was fun.  (see Portable Elephants post.)

Yes, this was a page turner like the others, but it also had more of the same downpoints, worst of all being lots of exposition.  Pages and pages about the history of a secret police.  More pages and pages on the background of a character that wasn't really germain to the story.

But, if you like a story where karma kicks the butts of the bad guys, this will be your kind of story.

I was slightly disappointed that there didn't seem to be much of a character arc in Mikael Blomqvist's character.  Doesn't he learn from anything?  Still flaky from beginning to end with his friends and women, I really wanted him to appeal to better angels, but he didn't.  Glad, though, that he's a good guy when it comes to political issues, and with a high amount of integrity.  Almost too good.  However, I'd love to see him hook up with Salandar again in solving a crime.

Also I would have wanted to see Niedermann's downfall be directly tied to either his inability to feel pain or his ghosts.

Lisbeth Salandar doesn't disappoint, though.  She's almost like a superhero and I'd love to see more of her.  I guess we won't, though, unless Stieg Larsson's "widow" is able to finish his fourth manuscript and publish it!

Now I can get on with my life.

Goodreads Challenge 7/85: The Girl Who Played with Fire

Continuing onward, I downloaded The Girl Who Played with Fire onto Santino's Kindle and started reading again.  There are so many sections that are full of exposition, sometimes it got a little hard to read.  Stieg Larsson gives almost too much background information, you think he's confused himself with Mikael Blomqvist.  But otherwise it was a pageturner, just like the first.

Unfortunately, Santino wanted to use "his" Kindle to read the Neal Shusterman book Everlost, so I had to suspend reading this story in the middle of a highly suspenseful scene.  How dare he??!!  But you know, aside from the fact that it is his Kindle, Neal Shusterman is kind of sacred in our household.

I distracted myself by starting another book of the old-fashioned paper sort (Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy) until he finished Everlost.  Well, it took him a day.  That night (it was a Saturday), after Santino went to bed, I resumed reading The Girl Who Played with Fire.  I finished it at around 10 pm, and guess what?  This book doesn't have an ending!  It's really the first two acts of a 5 act tragedy.  So it's 10 pm, the heroine has just been shot in the head, and the book ends.  What do I do?  Of course I downloaded the next book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, right away on the Kindle.  Instant gratification.  Love it.

Goodreads Challenge 6/85: Your Mother Was a Neanderthal

By Jon Szieschka, Your Mother Was a Neanderthal is part of the "Time Warp Trio" series.  Three kids go back in time (and I suppose occasionally into the future) to pursue adventures.  I read this book to see if it would be appropriate for a class read.  To be honest, it was a little....weak.  Not good enough for a re-read as an adult, but I'm sure the kids will like it.

Goodreads Challenge 5/85: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Okay, okay, I started this book way back in November.  It was the book I keep in my backpack for emergencies--waiting rooms, lines--that kind of thing.  But that's no excuse.  I guess the reason it took me so long was because the book has about 15 short stories.  I'd start one and was motivated to finish it, but then I was done I'd put the book down for a while.

I selected this book for several reasons.  First, Sherlock Holmes is always on those "Top 100" lists for literary characters.  I want to form my own opinion.  Also, I'm a big fan of the TV show "House."  Greg House's character is loosely based on Sherlock Holmes, and I wanted to see for myself.  But most of all, I like to read mysteries, and I thought it was time I read this classic.

Sherlock Holmes (the guy) is definitely someone I'd like to have tea with.

Goodreads Challenge 4/85: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

We've all seen America's "most beloved movie," but have we all read the book?  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum was free on Santino's Kindle, so I spent a couple of days wandering around the land of Oz.  Dorothy and friends spend a lot more time gettin' down with the people--it's wonderful to see how rich and imaginative this world is.  Definitely worth the price of admission.

Goodreads Challenge 3/85: The City of Ember

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau was one of those books on the Goodreads list that I added because I've heard of it before.  The style and setting reminded me of The Giver--but not quite as satisfying.  Really the book gets going about 3/4 of the way through, and then it's over.   Probably won't recommend it to my students except for those who are very patient.  I wonder how the movie is!

Goodreads Challenge 2/85: The Eyes of Kid Midas

Ahhhh, Neal Shusterman.  You are so easy to read.  The Eyes of Kid Midas comes in the middle of a series of books about kids who have special powers.  Some of the kids are werewolves, others are vampires--it varies from book to book.

Seventh grader Kevin Midas is at the bottom of the food chain.  Constantly picked on by other kids, he was bound to have a comeback.  On a field trip he discovers a pair of magical sunglasses.  Whatever he wishes comes to fruition.  Quickly he learns that you have to be careful for what you wish--for you may surely get it.

Goodreads Challenge 1/85: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Fine!  I broke down and read that book.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I felt left out when everybody I knew (adults, that is) was reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.  Celebrating the new year, as well as Santino's new Kindle, I downloaded this book for $5 and read it while we were on vacation in Santa Cruz.

I can see why everyone was crazy about this book.  It's filled with action, suspense, horror, and certainly it's a page-turner.  The characters were intriguing and you can't beat the location.  However if I hear one more time about sandwiches I think I'll have to stop reading the book and actually eat one.

Time to read the next book in the series....

85 Reasons to Read

I'm a member of the social networking group, Goodreads.com.  It's a group devoted to--you guessed it--reading.  Similar to other social network sites like Facebook and MySpace, you make friends with people, send messages, share ideas, etc.  But the focus of this site is books--books, books, and more books.

I heard about Goodreads from a cashier at Borders named Angela.  She suggest the website because I guess I was talking her ear off while I was holding up the register line, and the thought I would enjoy the site.

When you first log on, you are asked to look at  a list of, say, 100 books.  Have you read them? If so, how would you rate it?  If not, would you like to read it?  The books include all genres--they ask you about books from The DaVinci Code to Dracula, from Pride and Prejudice to The Princess Bride--there's something for everybody.

Eventually you come up with a booklist--books you have read in the past and books you plan to read.  You can look at other people's lists for ideas.  Eventually when you collect friends, you can compare your taste in books.  If you love to read, this is Mecca.

Goodreads is my current not-so-guilty pleasure.  I get ideas from friends for new books, look at booklists from other people, take quizzes, write reviews.  I've amassed a list of over 400 books.  I've read at least 350 of those, and the others are on my "to-read" list.  My homepage includes a list of books I am currently reading--usually that's at least 3 books since I keep one at school, a few at home, and one in my backpack.  Sometimes my friends list books that look interesting and I add those to my booklist.  I don't feel so bad about my addiction to this social network because, hey, it's all about books so it can't be that bad.

At the beginning of January, Goodreads posted the "2011 Goodreads Challenge."  You commit to reading a certain number of books during the year.  When I signed up the first week of January, the average Goodreads member had committed to 85 books.  Well, I figured I should keep with the community, so I committed to 85 books.  Last year, I read 34 books, so 85 is pretty ambitious.    As more and more readers made their commitments, however, the average number kept dropping.  Now it is down to 74.  That's okay--I'm pretty sure I'll make my goal, and probably even beat it.

In the meantime, I am going to write a review for each book I read.  At this writing I have already 9 books, so I have to catch up a bit.  But so far it's been quite a ride.  And away we gooooooo.........

Happy New Year, I Guess

We returned from a three week winter break on January 10.  With that much time off, the kids are full of stories to tell and not really ready to sit for six hours and work.  So I took the opportunity to have "morning meeting" time, where kids tell and listen to stories.  It's great practice for our listening and speaking standards, and it warms up the kids for school.

Anyway, the kids met in groups to select stories that they would tell to the whole class.  Here are three of the winners.

1. Yennifer went to the mountains where it was snowing.  She and her cousins went down a snowy hill on a sled.  As their speed picked up, they noticed an obstacle in their path--a snowman!  They plowed into the snowman, causing internal damage and decapitation.  All humans survived.

2. Jana's uncle died--her mother's brother.  She didn't know him because he lives in Mexico.  Her mother didn't go to the funeral because if she went to Mexico, she wouldn't be able to come back to the United States.

3. Michelle's Christmas Eve was eventful.  A man with a gun ran into the courtyard of their housing complex.  She and her relatives watched from inside their house.  Police came and wrestled the man to the ground.  He dropped his gun.  Helicopters circled the house for the next hour or so.

When we have morning meeting, the stories always go the same way:  airy, humorous stories mixed in with tales from the hood.  After all these years, I shouldn't be surprised.