Ms. Spears' Summer Sightings '07
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Long Island, NY
After finally packing up my room and moving it upstairs (with great help from several of my students for which I am very thankful), I visited my parents' home in New York and ane 80th birthday party for a family member. I spent some wonderfully sunny time at the beach and with my family enjoying the cool summer breeze off of the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound.
I also spent time outside soaking up the sunshine (making up for all that time during the year in a room without windows) and reading the highly recommended, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I began this book towards the end of the school year and finished it during my time in New York. A delightful mix of fantasy and historical fiction, this book had all of the dry, British humor expected of a plot line and characters determined to restore English magic to its respected place in British society. While I would not recommend this book to middle school students for summer reading or at all due to the writing style and sheer mass of the novel, if you enjoy British humor along the lines of Jane Austen and revel in lengthy, well-written books, I would encourage students to read reviews online before deciding whether or not to tackle this monumental joy ride.
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Long Island, NY
Before leaving, I was able to finish Shakespeare's Spy, a fast-paced sequel to The Shakespeare Stealer, which the 6th grade GT Language Arts students read. Widge is back with new friends caught up in trying to uncover a spy hidden amongst the Lord Chamberlain's Men. But what if Widge is the spy? Shakespeare himself takes a larger role in this book and even his daughter, Judith, makes a guest appearance! I highly recommend this book if you enjoyed The Shakespeare Stealer.
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Baltimore, MD
After my wonderfully relaxing time in New York, I continued to complete different summertime activities including a trip to the beach. Or, as you say, I went "downy ocean, hon". In one day four of my friends and I went to the Salisbury Zoo, played in the water at Ocean City, and walked the boardwalk at the carnival end of Ocean City. I only spotted one former student, the one I call "Bob". But if you think you saw Ms. Spears in the early evening of the last Saturday in June at the carnival end of the boardwalk in Ocean City, then it's quite possible. We did not stay the night in Ocean City, though, so Saturday would be the only day you could have seen me.
Since then I have worked for a few days at a fireworks stand in Catonsville and finished reading Inkspell. I enjoyed this book as much as its predecessor, Inkheart; however, it does have a cliffhanger ending which I did not like very much. I prefer my books and movies to have more of a denouement, or resolution, so that I am not left waiting for the last part of the trilogy or series to arrive. I find the cliffhanger ending in the middle of a trilogy or series to be an act of insecurity on the author or script writer's part. It's as if they don't believe their work is good enough for you to finish reading or watching unless they bait you with a half-finished story. The cliffhanger ending can work well and be very fitting to the ends of certain movies and books, but in this case, Inkspell could have ended on a stronger note. However, as disappointing as the resolution, or lack thereof, to Inkspell was, I highly recommend it to those of you who enjoyed Inkheart. Alternatively, if you have not read Inkheart, this is a wonderful book for those of you who enjoy the fantasy genre.
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