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Book Review (Aug & Sept 2017)

9/29/2017

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Kindred by Octavia Butler

5 stars.

I gobbled this book up a few days before the school year started. It is a book I've had on my shelf for years (from a class I dropped in college), but I had never taken the time to read it. 

The book is a strange mix between historical fiction and sci-fi. A modern, young African American woman is mysteriously called from the present back to the time of the Antabellum South. She is called by a little white boy in danger, and her mission is to save him.

The character dynamics between the modern vs old and black vs white was really interesting. It seemed to exasperate both the highs and lows. 
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A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

5 stars.

Disclaimer: Read this book with a box of tissues close by!

A Monster Calls is a book that personifies human grief. Conor's mom has cancer...again. While she has beaten it before, this time is different, and this time it haunt's Conor's dreams. The Monster comes to Conor and tells him stories, each laced with deep themes about life. But what the Monster really wants is for Conor to speak the truth of what truly haunts him. 

I felt what Conor felt. The pain, the confusion, the anger. This book made it all come alive for me.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

5 stars.

Ok, I know it looks like I hand out 5 stars like candy on Halloween, but I think I have just been seriously lucky when it comes to the books I've read lately. Really, I was not surprised that I loved this book since it was written by Ruta Sepetys. She wrote another book, Between Shades of Gray, which I also adored. 

This story focuses on 4 main characters who alternate narrating their version of the story. They each hold their own secrets about why they are running and trying to get out of World War II Germany. This story provides a great mix of fiction and history. I loved it.
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Books on Writing

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Perfecting Plot
by William Bernhardt

Now that I am teaching a creative writing class, I feel desperate to improve my writing abilities so that I can better instruct my own students. These were two books that were recommended by some of my writing friends. They both provided me with a more firm foundation on how to write a novel. 
The story that inspired Bird by Bird's title seemed very appropriate and applicable to me: a teacher who feels very inadequate to teach writing and who seems overwhelmed by the idea of writing. Basically, the author's little brother sat anxiously at the kitchen table trying to write a report on birds. While the assignment had been given months in advance, he (of course) had put it off until the night before, and now he sat stressing about how to even start; the task seemed so huge and daunting. His dad kindly instructed the boy, "Just take it bird by bird." What wonderful advice! I really enjoyed the author's voice in this book and how she makes an author's experience relatable. 

William Bernhardt has four books on writing instruction (Story Structure, Creating Character, Perfecting Plot, Dynamic Dialogue). This book had more of a "how to" feel to them than Bird by Bird, but I still felt that it was very helpful in teaching me how to connect character development into each step of the plot. Really, this is a great series, and each book is pretty short and could easily be read in a day or two. 
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Funnies at School

9/2/2017

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Ok, folks, week 2 of school has been significantly brighter :)

Here are just a few highlights that made me smile:
  • During a discussion on the topics of Grit and Growth Mindset, students talked with their partners about the difference between "excellence" and "perfection". When we came back together as a class, one student explained, "Well, excellence is better because it is real. Perfection is impossible because you can alway improve." To that, another student responded, "True, perfection isn't attainable....except at Chuck-A-Rama. They have perfect scones."      OH. MY. GOSH. haha. I definitely laughed at this and thought of my (and my sister in laws') less-than-outstanding review of Chuck-A-Rama. It was such a ridiculous comment.
  • On a reading survey, students had to answer the question: "What is one of your favorite books and/or genre? Why is it a favorite?"  In response, one student wrote, "The Book of Mormon because its 531 pages contain all I need to get through this life."   hahaha. I read this while grading papers at home, and I burst into laughter. This girl is already a little missionary.
  • On Friday, a student came into my classroom before school started. He carried with him a pile of books. "Here, Mrs. Macey," he sweetly told me. "These are from your class Amazon wish list."  I was stunned. These generous parents had bought us 6 beautiful books for our classroom. Wow! I will definitely be sending them a thank you note this weekend.

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