|
|
| Head to Head with Ms. Spears |
|
Baltimore, MD- the whole summer...
For more about Celia Rees' Pirates!
Unlike Ms. Spears, I'm stuck in Baltimore all summer. I'm taking a class which distracts me from my reading, but after getting a call last night about my webpage, I had to put something down.
The first book that I read was Pirates! by Celia Rees. A genteel young lady who finds her life dramatically changed one night leads a swashbuckling life on the seas. This book was quite a good read and I was able to get through it rather quickly.
Thanks to Ms. Spears for getting me interested in the whole pirates genre. This book helped me with some of the vocabulary I encountered on the Sid Meier's Pirates game I have been playing this summer. |
|
|
I want to be a librarian. What can I say? I enjoy books. I enjoy reading, whether it is on my Palm Pilot, my Kindle or a regular book. I found this book on Amazon and gave it a try.
A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel would most likely bore my students to tears! I found it fascinating. I was first off impressed by the fact that the author spent a lot of time with Jose Luis Borges (very famous Spanish guy). The author traces the act of reading through 6,000 years. He address all of the aspects of reading! I sped through this book. Although I must confess, at the end, I was bored and skipped over some passages.
Again, I can only emphasize that it would bore my students to tears. But hey, Ms. Spears might get a kick out of it. |
|
|
For more about this title
Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams. This book came recommended to me by Ms. Spears. I'm not much for the whole WWII scene, but the premise of this book intrigued me.
It's about a girl who is in Hitler's Youth group, the Jungmadel. Korinna is very loyal to Hitler, Germany, but she finds out that her parents are hiding Jews behind her bedroom wall. Should she turn them and her parents in? Should she stay quiet?
It's a very good read and quick. |
| I'm catching up with you Spears!!! |
|
|
| Writing a Research Paper in Baltimore |
|
For more about this book
While writing a research paper, I still try and keep up with my reading. Hence my selection of thinner books. I picked up Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck at our Book Fair this past Spring.
It's about a small town who closes down the library because the librarian died. There is no one left to take her place and the town does not feel it needs to put money into the library. Until one day, another town's newspaper insults them. Four librarian candidates roll into town and nothing is quite the same after that. |
|
Just about done with class... |
|
May Bird and the Ever After
I'm just about done with my class! Thank goodness! While I enjoy working on the computer, I am not a big fan of writing research papers. Yes, I know they are important and yes, I realize they are good for something (just not sure what), it keeps me from not being able to read. After reviewing Ms. Spears log of books, I can only hope that I will catch up with her someday.
My next selection I used a book which I purchased at the book fair in the Spring. It's called May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson. May is a different type of girl. She doesn't fit in at her school with the other kids. She has a cat called Somber Kitty who is quite beastly and reminded me of my chihuahua in some ways. She does not feel that she is very special at all and she hangs out around a swamp. Who hangs out around swamps? Anyhow, she gets sucked into this lake and her life changes to say the least. May is a part of the Ever After, where souls go when they die. She has a journey which she must begin with her ghostly friend Pumpkin. It's a quick read for the most part. There are some spots in which I felt the storyline dragged, but I can be quite picky about what I read. I would still recommend it if you like strange stories. |
| Someday I'll catch up with Spears |
|
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (say that name three times fast!)
I have to say I liked this book better than the May Bird book. It's about the Stanely kids who move into the Westerley house after a recent marriage between their Dad and step mom, Molly. After a few months of living there, Molly's 12 year old daughter comes to live with them and life is not the same. Amanda is not at all happy about living in the Westerley because it's out in the country and well, she's a sophisticated city girl. She is also a girl who is into the occult and "knows" many things about the supernatural. Strange things begin to happen in the Westerley house when Amanda arrives. Is it the Poltergeist that is rumored to have been there? Is it the ghost of a little girl who used to live there? I'm not going to tell you then ending, you will have to find out for yourself!
It's an enjoyable read and quick. |
|
|
The Crusader by Edward Bloor
|
|
|
For more information about this title
I have three dogs- Tony- the frog chaser, Simba and Ginger. The best time is when all of them are napping. I can usually get some reading knocked out of the way. |
|
|
The Wave by Todd Strasser
Between construction on my house, capturing a vole (yes, there is such a creature) in my yard (thanks for the help Srta. Reier!), and my dogs, I have had very little time to do any reading.
I decided to pick up The Wave by Todd Strasser. "The powerful forces of group pressure that pervaded many historic movements such as Nazism are recreated in the classroom when history teacher Ben Ross introduces a "new" system to his students. And before long "The Wave," with its rules of "strength through discipline, community, and action, " sweeps from the classroom through the entire school. And as most of the students join the movement, Laurie Saunders and David Collins recognize the frightening momentum of "The Wave" and realize they must stop it before it's too late."(from the Barnes & Noble website)
This is required reading for 8th grade. I really enjoyed this book for a couple of reasons: 1- it's a short read, 2- it's a good story, 3- it's based on an actual event, and 4- the kids and the teacher learn an important lesson in the end. |
|
|
|
| Have you read anything good this summer? |
|
Share your titiles with Señora
Email me here.
|
 |
|
