The Brain Lair

The Sunday Salon - Riffle Books

2013-05-05T09:05:00.000-04:00

from www.rifflebooks.com

I tend to avoid any new social media sites since they appear with such regularity. I liked the sound of Riffle
and decided to try it out. I was looking for ease of use, integration with my current PLN (professional learning network), and where it fits with sites I already use such as Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest.

Riffle - to turn hastily; flutter and shift: to riffle a stack of letters; to riffle through a book.

Do I want to encourage anyone to get through a book quickly? No. My goal is to get people into reading. To savor books. To highlight and comment and come back for more. As a reader, I want to discuss books with people. As a librarian, my job depends on me deepening the love of reading in students and asking them to riffle through a books seems contrary to that mission.

Does Riffle add anything new to my current social media favorites?

I enjoyed adding lists on Riffle, it was easy and fast. I also love the quality of the book covers. It was almost like Pinterest for books. Almost. You can like but you can't repin or comment. Since you can't comment, it's very limited in terms of the social aspect of reading. Liking is not a conversation. When opening Riffle, you can choose to display "updates" in a row or grid, by books or lists or both. Unfortunately, unlike Goodreads, I'm not sure if this is a chronological update. I'm only following nine people, but since Riffle is showing you the book cover or the list title and they are a good size, it limits what you can see. If it's a book cover, you look underneath to see if the person recommends it or is reading it. If it's a book list - my favorite aspect of Riffle - you can mouse over for a description of the type of books on the list. The good think about Riffle is you can tweet your lists.

What now?

Riffle is out of Beta and anyone can join. You can sign up via email, Facebook, or Twitter. When I signed up, you could only use your Facebook account, which I don't really use for bookstuff. I would have preferred just to use the email address that's associated with my blog. I only have a few lists on Riffle right now. I'm thinking in future, I'll blog about the list and either link to it or embed it.

Are you on Riffle? What do you think?

My Riffle Lists

I Will Survive - Books to feed your (finishing of the) Hunger (Games)
Middle School Book Club - These are books we read or will read for different book clubs. We have grades 6 - 8
Seeing is Believing - Great graphic novels
Narrative Nonfiction - Books to help meet the Common Core initiative of increased nonfiction reading

Batty About Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall - Cover Art

2013-05-04T10:06:00.003-04:00

Batty About Books presents

Summer of the Mariposas

Guadalupe Garcia McCall

This week we discuss the cover. I'll talk about why I wanted to read this one and Maria has provided us with links to her Connect the Pop guest post she did at School Library Journal (SLJ) about The Hero's Journey, my current obsession. We hope to discuss Summer of the Mariposas through the eyes of the Heroine's Journey. Stop by Maria's Melange to get a more detailed look at the cover.

The Front

I love the simplicity of the cover. The font of the title seems to want to fly while the author’s name seems to ground the image. I like the stylized version of the mariposa (butterfly in Spanish) as a constellation. I also like the five girls on the cover but wonder if it will limit who picks the book up. I had the same thought, about the girls. I’m hoping that the fact that they aren't lounging in dresses or gazing coyly at the reader will help. If boys who love mythology hear there is an Odyssey connection that may also help.

The Back

Cinco Hermanitas. Five Little Sisters, Together Forever, No Matter What.

I love that. It’s simple. Although, beyond telling you that the five girls on the front are sisters, it doesn't tell you much about the book. Sometimes I don't want to know too much. I love this tagline.

On the Jacket Flap

I love the opening of the synopsis: “When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead man in the swimming hole near their hometown of Eagle Pass, Texas, they embark on a journey to return the man’s body to his family in New Mexico.” The whole idea of finding a dead body reminds me of the movie Stand By me, which I loved. I'm a little concerned with the several references to the Odyssey. Will it turn off students who haven't read it? I'm thinking the mythology references will be a plus to my population (even if ends up being a book I can only recommend to students once they leave me).

Why I Wanted to Read This

It’s a nominee for a committee I'm on, so I have to read it. It’s a nominee for the 2013 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy and every year I promise myself I will read those books and I'm finally fulfilling that by reading one per month. This book is also diverse, something else I’ve been thinking more and more about and through reading more books with multicultural characters, not only will I be able to help my teachers broaden their selections but my students, too.

Last week, Maria and I had a great conversation about the hero’s journey and she mentioned the “heroine’s journey” which I'd never heard articulated. She really sparked my interest! I'm excited to learn more about this from her as we work our way through Summer of the Mariposas.

LINKS OF NOTE

Maria’s post for School Library Journal’s “Connect the Pop” series on using fandom to teach the Hero’s Journey - includes links to simplified HJ page and video.

http://blogs.slj.com/connect-the-pop/2012/07/movies/guest-post-by-maria-selke-harnessing-fandom-to-teach-the-heros-journey/

Thoughts on the Heroine’s Journey from Fangirl Cantina
http://fangirlblog.com/2012/04/the-heroines-journey-how-campbells-model-doesnt-fit/
http://fangirlblog.com/2012/03/the-heroine%E2%80%99s-journey-defining-concepts/

Author Website - Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Summer of the Mariposas Discussion Questions

Summer of the Mariposas Five Chapter Sample

I Wish I Was Going to BEA! Books to Pine For

2013-05-03T00:01:00.000-04:00

One day. One day, I'm going to go to BEA! Now that I've said it out blog, I need to make this happen. Maybe 2015? Anyway, PW just published their annual Children's Galleys to Grab and I'm super-excited for the following titles. That means, if you come across any of these galleys, send them to me. PLEASE! I PROMISE TO LOVE YOU FOREVER! And not in a Robert Munsch crazy way. Maybe.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
I love Sanderson's work. He's fantastic at worldbuilding! I've read the 1000+ pg Way of Kings twice will

dive into it once more to get ready for Words of Radiance. I also loved Warbreaker! I pre-ordered Rithmatist and am now adding Steelheart to my want list! It sounds awesome. People get super human powers adn decide they don't like humans anymore. They are called Epics and they will do what it takes to keep man down. In come the Reckoners who want to set things to right, especially one who needs revenge.

Enchanter Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
Do you like epic fantasy with hints of romance? Then don't miss Chima's Seven Realms Series! You can read those then start on the Heir series to be ready for Enchanter Heir this fall!

The Eye of the Minds by James Dashner
We used Maze Runner for our first One Book, One School venture two years

ago and students are still reading Dashner's books. It's a great word of mouth title. I know the holds will be heavy on this one! This one's all virtual reality hacker style.

Broken by Elizabeth Pulford
I don't know this author nor this publisher but the synopsis reminds me of Inkheart except with comics. She is trying to find her brother. IN HER HEAD! This is a graphic novel-expository mashup. Looks fantastic.

The Hypnotists by Gordon Korman
GORDON KORMAN! I have read many of Korman's books and this past
December, some of our students had the opportunity to Skype with him about his latest, Ungifted. He was great, even with our spotty technology.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
The sequel to Raven Boys! The sequel to Raven Boys! Give it to me.

The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer
Oh.My.Word. Have you read House of the Scorpion?? I handsell that as often as
possible. I recently bought the ones with the new cover. And now there is going to be a sequel. That title alone has the power to make me happy. But, I won't settle for anything less than the book itself.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
I've already read Eleanor & Park twice. The second time I listened to the audiobook, which I recommend you hear soon! I also read Rowell's post on Why Park is Korean. Touching. This one is about sisters growing up and growing apart and trying to find your own self. I can hardly wait. Get it for me so I don't have to wait long.

A Wounded Name by Dot Hutchinson
A retelling of Hamlet. I'm always on the lookout for retelling to give

my students more incentives to check out classics beyond what's required in the classroom.

Wow, those are just a few of the books I want. Must go begging. Also, did you notice the blue??? Is that the official color of scifi/fantasy for Fall?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? April 29, 2013

2013-04-28T23:17:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my (mostly) bi-weekly posting of what I read! Check out the lovely ladies at Teach Mentor Texts for more books to add to your TBR pile!

In the Past

House of Stories by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini - had high hopes for this one but they were sorely dashed. fantasy, middle grades, pirates, savages, witches. (Edelweiss Selection)

Colossus Rises, The (Seven Wonders, 1) by Peter Lerangis - Batty About Books selection. Read our thoughts Cover, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. fantasy, science fiction, middle grades, superpowers, ancient beasts.

Who Could That Be At This Hour? (All The Wrong Questions, 1) by Lemony Snicket - realistic, mystery, middle grades, punny.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - not pictured but I re-read this one on audio. Even better on audio. My favorite Young Adult book so far this year.

In the Present

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin - reading with daughter who is reading for school.

Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall - Andre Norton Nominee, YHBA, Batty About Books for May.

Pathways to the Common Core by Lucy Calkins and others - we are still reading this.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys - Goodreads Mock Printz group selection.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi - YHBA

In the Future

Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood by Abby McDonald - Netgalley
Kit's Wilderness by David Almond - Nerdprintz!

It's Screen Free Week

April 29, 2013 - May 5, 2013

and I'm hoping to get lots of reading and cleaning done.

I'll be back on Monday, May 6, 2013 for sure!

Batty About Books - The Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis Pt 3

2013-04-28T19:57:00.003-04:00

We are here with our final discussion of

The Colossus Rises (Seven Wonders, 1)

by Peter Lerangis

It’s Done - pgs. 238 - 348

I’ve read this section three times and still don’t have much to say. For as little as I felt connected to the characters, there were some choice that were so out of character as to not make much sense to me. I also felt like Lerangis is trying to switch our hero focus from Jack to Marco, which I’ll explain below.

Previously in The Colossus Rises

The Cover - Maria and I discussed the cover and the blurb by Rick Riordan. We linked to a prequel and the trailer.

Part 1 - We meet Jack and the other G7W candidates. Learn what G7W means and why Professor Bhegad has kidnapped The Select.

Part 2 - Jack and crew face some challenges while trying to solve a riddle. I compare Jack’s journey to the Hero’s Journey and we find him in the middle of Transformation.

Now - Part 3

As always, Maria's thoughts are in purple and mine are in blue. Don't forget to head over to Maria's Melange to hear what she has to say about this part and how she plans to use it with her students.

Hero’s Journey - Transformation continues

We are still in the midst of the transformation since we still have not found what we are ultimately looking for, the Loculi. I wonder how many books Lerangis will stretch this part over or will we see some sort of JK Rowling move and the hero’s will return in between each quest? I assumed it would be 7 books - one for each Loculi. Though not much was revealed about the Loculus and Bhegad didn’t even get to see it!

I experienced a lot of confusion in the beginning of part 3 and Lerangis had to keep explaining things to me because I just didn’t get the connections at first. Now the book title and the series title makes sense, though I wish more time was spent on the Colossus itself. Does this mean the cover depicts The Colossus since the griffin was red? Yes! That is disappointing. The Colossus felt like such a small part of the story, but it was the title. Maybe that is part of my lingering discontent as well.

Hero Switching - My Disbelief

I was convinced that Jack was the hero until we reached Greece. Now I think it’s Marco, which I think might be a setup for the next book. Maybe the hero is each person and they each get to go through the transformation phase before we get a return in book 7? Hmm... that could make sense. Though I would have preferred that book 1 rounded out each character more so that I cared about them, and THEN devoted a book to each of them. Yes! Hopefully Lerangis will see our notes and make some changes, though book 2 releases in October so he’ll need to wait for book 3. I want some character development!

They retrieve one Loculus but then Marco decides to refuse the call to return and instead he goes on what is called Magic Flight where he decides to keep the gift for himself. This is where Lerangis totally loses me. Just looking back over this section I see several instances where Marco puts others ahead of himself:

p. 252 - he jumps in front of the griffin

p. 258 - he hits the griffin with rocks and taunts him

p. 294 - tries to stop Monks from shooting griffin so they can still find Cass

p. 300 - another griffin attack

p. 324 - throws rock at griffin (he loves throwing rocks!)

I just cannot get behind the Marco change in the end. I cannot. Okay, I agree with you - if this is really what has happened. I may be missing something, but I don’t think that we know for sure why Marco took off with the orb. I think it’s equally likely that, since Marco sees himself as “immortal” now, he took off with it to do something he thought was too dangerous to risk his friends.

Or he could have been kidnapped. I hope it’s something along those lines and this is just a red herring. Ok, I’m starting to feel better.

Overall

Last week, I thought I would give the book 3 stars but I’m leaning towards 2.5 now. There were too many instances where, even though things were described in detail, I could not picture them and would have loved sketches. Does the Loculus change sizes? They were all able to put their arms around it to fly but then Jack had it under his arm when he decided to give it to Marco for safekeeping. Also, how did all three hold on to it? Especially when Marco was holding Cass. Why did Jack decide to give the Loculus to Marco at the hotel when he wouldn’t give it to him when he was facing down the griffin? How does a 13-year-old child rent a hotel room? Why hadn’t the professor known about Marco? Wasn’t he tracking them? I am left with many, many, questions but I’m not sure I will pick up book 2, Lost in Babylon, when it releases in October. At this point, I would not.

I’m playing a “wait and see” to hear what my students think about it. I have a feeling a few of them will read it - as long as the first student talks it up. If they love it, I would get others for my classroom. I’m pretty sure I won’t invest the time myself unless they insist that I should.

Alas, there are many, many, books in the school library that don’t reflect my tastes. Which is a good thing, since it’s not my library. I’ve already ordered an additonal copy of this one because I think the students will enjoy it. I will display it with Heroes of Olympus and the Pittacus Lore series for three different levels of reading.

Can't wait to see what other's think of this new entry into the Middle Grades SciFi/Fan family. Join us next week when we kick off our discussion of

Summer of the Mariposas

by Guadalupe Garcia McCall.

Batty About Books - The Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis Part 2

2013-04-20T19:20:00.002-04:00

We are back with more on

The Colossus Rises

by Peter Lerangis

Check out our other posts

Cover discussion

Part 1

As is the custom, Maria's thoughts are in purple and mine are in blue! Head over to Maria's Melange for her side of the story! We were really gelling today and even had time to google chat! So fun!

Part 2 pg. 123-237

I went into this section full of hope, especially the hope to get to know the characters better and form a connection with them. Though, I don’t think a connection is necessary to enjoy a book, I do think it helps, especially with fantasy novels. Many times the situations or elements are so foreign, the only way into the story is through the characters. So funny! I’m such a habitual fantasy and science fiction reader that I find I have trouble getting into realistic fiction sometimes, because it seems boring (I’m having trouble with my current Newbery read for this exact reason.) That’s so weird! I love realistic fiction! Especially romance!! Science Fiction/Fantasy used to be my book gap!! Where I taught elementary, teachers mostly use realistic fiction. Probably why boys have such a hard time.... I agree. I know my students are always pleasantly surprised by the number of fantasy and science fiction books I include. I absolutely do historical fiction (that is my second favorite) and some realistic fiction... but when I pick a book for my own enjoyment it is almost always scifi or fantasy. I do not like historical fiction! It feel as if so many of the Newbery type books are historical fiction! I actually gravitate towards romance with a little fantasy thrown in! When I need a break, those are my books of choice!

In addition to my hope for a connection, I was curious to see how closely, if at, Lerangis was following the hero’s journey. I’ve recently started doing some reading on the journey and was eager to apply my learnings.

Hero’s Journey - The Separation

In part 1, I felt Lerangis had Jack in the beginning of the journey - the separation. We need Jack to be separated from his family so that he can start growing up and coming into his own. He is taken to the Karai Institute where he is on the threshold of his journey. He initially resists this “call to adventure” by trying to runaway and has to be saved. He meets his “helpers” - Cass, Marco, and Aly, and his “mentor” - Professor Bhegad. He learns about the journey he’s supposed to take and the challenges he may face. He also acquires new knowledge - the information about GW7 and his possible connection to Atlantis. I love how you analyzed this! I’ve often had students do a hero’s journey story with me (usually Book of Three for 4th grade) and then choose another book to analyze on their own. I’m happy to add another possible read to the list. I would like to know more about how you teach this. I’m contemplating some sort of book club for fall with this focus. You are in luck! I wrote a guest post about this for School Library Journal’s Connect the Pop blog. I also often tie into biography after finishing up the Hero’s Journey and ask students to choose an historical figure and see which of the journey steps that person also completed. AWESOME!! I love the idea of tying in a real person!!! What a great way to use biographies!! Will tie in with some of our Common Core areas! I’m all about connections. I think it’s the way my brain works.

Hero’s Journey - The Transformation

This second part sees Jack immersed in stage 2 of the journey! At the end of part 1, he passes out after being in the Wender Hall. At the beginning of part 2, he’s had his first treatment and when he wakes up, we see he’s designed an entirely new system for getting dressed! Jack also solves the clue on the rock! And we are on our journey

The Mountain

Jack and crew set off to find the next set of clues after solving the riddle of the rock. They are heading up Onyx Mountain. Torquin is leading him but they soon decide to ditch him. Marco teaches them to do a vertical climb up the mountain including belaying. Really? They MUSt be gifted to learn it that quickly! They get to the top and bad stuff starts to happen and only three people leave the mountain! This was one of the elements that pulled me out of the story. I can easily see Marco doing it like this, but having the others jump in so quickly didn’t feel right. AGREED! Especially with Cass’ noted fear of heights!

The Cave and The Water

The three convince Bhegad to put together a search team to go back and find their lost teammate. Here is also where I started to make a little more of a connection with the characters, especially Cass! When they get separated in the cave, we learn about his past and I was able to put together a little bit more about him. We also see Jack’s leadership qualities start to emerge. After the fire, he has to take charge even though he’s tired, hurt, and hungry.

The Cave and the water are classic hero’s journey symbols representing rebirth and transformation. We get both in this part including the scene where everybody gets better! Even one that shouldn’t!! I could see both Cass and Jack following the pattern and can’t wait for part 3, which should be The Return. Seeing the story in this light is making it much more appealing to me. Then you add in that broken sword, which is another classic hero’s journey symbol set. The water helps take over the “female aspect of deity” in the story, too. OOHHH, didn’t know that about the sword or the water-deity connection!

Overall
This section read quickly for me but I didn’t find myself taking any notes because nothing stood out as I was reading. But, three days later, I find I could remember a big chunk of this section and more stood out then I thought. My comparisons with the hero’s journey and Jack’s journey are completely from memory and I’ve read other things since then!! As I mentioned, I made a connection with Cass and a little bit with Jack. I’m hoping that more connections are in my future. I’m still not in love with this book though. I can actually see myself booktalking it more to new 6th graders who may not enjoy reading rather than older, more experienced fantasy readers. Exactly. I can’t see this appealing to the older crew. I envision this being a hook for my younger readers (like my 3rd and 4th graders) to get them into this kind of story structure.

Tune in next week for the final section of Colussus Rises!

42: The True Story of An American Legend

2013-04-16T20:06:00.000-04:00

Today I went to preview the new Jackie Robinson movie because we want to take our 7th graders to see it. They study the 1940s under the theme of change. They discuss the Negro Baseball Leagues and they raise money for The Negro Baseball League Tomb Marker Project. So when we saw the trailer for the movie, we knew we wanted them to see it. We also knew time was going to be against us and this movie is rated PG-13.

I was the only person able to go see the movie, so I took my notebook and headed out.

Wow. Yes, I knew the story of Jackie Robinson and yes, I knew they would make it sentimental - it's an inspirational movie. But, I never expected to come out changed.

The movie only covers 2 years in Robinson's life and touches on both his and Branch Rickey's struggles during that time. The movie has some curse words and some racial and ethnic slurs, as to be expected from the time period, and they don't over do it. It's enough where you get the idea and still feel a little uncomfortable, hopefully. But, there is one scene when Jackie Robinson is up to bat against the Philadelphia Giants and their manager, Ben Chapman, is slinging the N-word and other derogatory terms. It's a turning point for the movie and it's only the tip of the iceberg of what Robinson actually went through. In the movie, Robinson grabs a bat and then walks off the field after getting out on a popfly for the second time. He is nearly broken.

I was broken. I thought about all the people who came before me. And I've seen many movies and read many books on topics like these. Maybe I was just in the right frame of mind. I don't know. But, could I have stood up like Robinson? I'm glad that people like him paved the way for me to do a job I love. I'm thankful. People say, but look how far we've come - we have a black president. Having to point that out shows how far we still need to go. I hope I'm "built to last" and can step up when my turn comes.

It's Monday - What Are You Reading? 4/15/13

2013-04-15T19:54:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my (mostly) bi-weekly posting of what I read! Check out the lovely ladies at Teach Mentor Texts for more books to add to your TBR pile!

In the Past

Lots of committee reads, something for Batty About Books, a couple of Mock Newbery possibles and some fun reads. Srping Break helped a lot!

Hold Fast by Blue Balliett - realistic, mystery, middle grades, homelessness

Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society, 3) by Ally Carter - I love this series. realistic, mystery, young adult, criminal empires

Hades: Lord of the Dead (Olympians, 4) by George O'Connor - graphic novel, greek mythology, young adult

Encyclopedia of Me by Karen Rivers - realistic, middle grades, first love, friendship, autism

Emancipation Proclamation by Tonya Bolden - narrative nonfiction, middle grades, slavery

The Select (Seven Wonders, prequel) by Peter Lerangis - Batty About Books

The Girl From Felony Bay by JE Thompson - realistic, mystery, middle grades, strong female characters, lawyers, heir's property

Etiquette and Espionage (Finishing School, 1) by Gail Carriger - science fiction, mystery, young adult, steampunk, spy school

Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina - realistic, young adult, bullying with insights into victim's mental state

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake - historical, mystery, middle grades, strong female character

After Eli by Rebecca Ruff - realistic, upper middle grades, coping with death in the family

In the Present

Colossus Rises (Seven Wonders, 1) by Peter Lerangis. Batty About Books selection. Check out our discussion on the cover here and part 1 here. We will cover part 2, Saturday, April 20th.

Pathways to the Common Core by Lucy Calkins and others - reading for work.

Flying the Dragon by Natalie Lorenzi - YHBA

Girl With the Iron Touch (Steampunk Chronicles, 3) by Kady Cross - my fun read for the week.

In the Future
I've gotten some suggestions, including The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson which just won the Pulizter Prize for Fiction, and I'm going to try and work those in over the next weeks. If you have a suggested read, enter it here.

There's a #NerdPrintz title in my future.

I'm going to tackle some of the 2013 Andre Norton Awards for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy nominees. I'm thinking one per month starting in May.

Goodreads Mock Printz - April Reads
I read and loved Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell back in January and I'm re-reading it on audiobook for Mock Printz. I just picked up Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys and will get to that before month's end!

Batty About Books - Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis Pt 1

2013-04-13T21:25:00.003-04:00

Batty About

Colossus Rises (Seven Wonders, 1)

by Peter Lerangis

Last week we talked about the cover to this new series. It reminded me a lot of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Riordan also blurbed this book so I went in expecting it to be similar to the Percy Jackson series.

In part 1 we talk about the first 15 chapters, up to page 121.

Don't forget to stop by Maria's Melange. We have some of the same thoughts but as always, we come at the book from different places!

The Opening

“On the morning I was scheduled to die, a large barefoot man with a bushy red beard waddled past my house.” I loved this introduction to Jack and his life. We learned about his possible strengths and the fact that he was frequently left alone with sitters. He’s creative, not just waiting for an alarm but making his own. He’s compassionate, helping a small kid get away from a bully. I loved the beginning, too. I like Jack, and I’m curious to see how he fits in with the crew.

The Characters

Unfortunately, so far Colossus Rises seems to be filled with stock characters; Cass - the nerd, Marco - the jock, Jack - the unknown quantity who doesn’t believe in himself, Professor Bhegad - loony older character and Torquin - the big, crazy misguided bad guy, Dad - self-absorbed parent who focuses on the wrong thing. Then we have Aly - female hacker, crazy hair, and likes old movies. She has a great part and I hope Lerangis continues to develop her. The girl hacker may be a “stock character”, but it is one I like. I just hope she gets developed enough to give her a unique voice even as a common modern type. I had flashes of Hagrid when Torquin showed up. Yes, Hagrid is never a bad guy... but they still gave me similar vibes.

Words

I know this is the first book in a series and this is just the setup, but sometimes I felt bogged down in details that were meant to portray imagery. The words didn’t help me picture things though so throughout the book, I felt distant, separated from the characters and I really didn’t care much about them. Short sentences were used often, which usually signify movement,action but just made the story feel choppy to me. I’m hoping I get used to it and things change going into this next part. I also felt the language was uneven. Professor Bhegad was Yale and Harvard educated yet sometimes I felt he was from another time period. Maybe that was supposed to give a sense of his age? Marco’s attempt to be cool felt forced - but maybe because the kids were faking? There were also many instances were believability was sorely stretched, beginning with the seeing the hair on the back of his head.

I noticed a lot of these things, too! I assumed that Bhegad and Torquin have something hidden in their history that accounted for their strangeness and speech patterns. Marco’s slang also felt odd - I kept looking back to see if there was some reason he was acting that way. I couldn’t find any good reason. I noticed the chapter lengths, not the sentence lengths. It occurred to me to notice that they were short - but at least longer than Patterson’s (One of the reasons I didn’t like Daniel X and Witch & Wizard was the extremely short chapters that made it feel choppy).

Fun Stuff To Do with Students

There were a few times that student activities popped into my head - the books and movies mentioned would make good spinoffs. Have them watch read and determine if these titles were essential to the story or if Lerangis could have used other books/movies with similar results. I could have them try to draw the creatures or recreate a map of some place. Find some palindromes like poop, since Cass enjoyed them. Maybe learn more about Greek symbology. And, of course, research the lost City of Atlantis. I thought of a lot of tie-ins as I read, too. Especially things like creating and solving codes. I noticed the references to Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain.

Overall

If rating the book today, it would get a 3 out of 5. It’s OK. There’s enough funny bits and things I want to know to keep me going but it’s also easy to set aside. I’m also reading a bit from this old guide about teaching the Hero’s Journey and I notice that Jack is right at the beginning where there’s Separation. I’m hoping to finish by the time we finish so I can trace Jack’s journey so that will get me going. I love using the Hero’s Journey with my fourth and fifth graders. There are great resources that simplify it slightly for the younger set. I’d lean toward a 4 at the moment, myself. But I can easily see it going either way. I do think that the start of this book will hook my students - who are all Potter and Percy fans.

We'll pick up with the chapters 16 - 32 next week! If you've read or are reading this one, let us know in the comments!

Pause

2013-04-09T23:11:00.004-04:00

Just handed the book Pathways to the Common Core by Lucy Calkins,et al. We are doing a book study at school, starting with the ELA teachers. I get to sit in and offer resource ideas and my own two cents, which I'm thankful that many still value. This means some other things will pause while I make sure I have a handle on things.

Here's a Pathways Intro video

Pathways to the Common Core: Introduction from TC Reading and Writing Project on Vimeo.

I'll see you Saturday when Batty About Books talks about the first 15 chapters of Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis. If you have time, grab the book and join us.

Spine Poetry - Sunday Salon

2013-04-07T16:48:00.003-04:00

I've been MIA these past days because I go back to school tomorrow and figured I should get out and do some stuff. Here are three stacks from around the house:

The Encyclopedia of Me

(&) You

Shattered Souls

Under the Mesquite

Outcasts United

Everything is Fine

DRAMA

And Then Everything Unraveled

SPLIT

One + One = Blue

All These Things I've Done

In Darkness

Unspoken

Batty About Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis - Cover Art

2013-04-06T13:53:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the latest edition of Batty About Books! The next four weeks will see Maria and I tackle

Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis.

Colossus is book 1 in the new Seven Wonders series. Jack and several other characters have special gifts that will kill them unless they find the seven Loculi, each hidden in a one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Check out the terrific website -->Seven Wonders site.

Today we will touch on cover art! As usual,
my thoughts are blue while Maria's are purple. At the end of the post, check out the links to Maria's initial reactions on her blog, Maria's Melange, as well as a trailer and a prequel!

We start out with a blurb by Rick Riordan. I don’t normally read blurbs but this caught my attention since I love the Percy Jackson series. Next we have the series title - Seven Wonders. Love the layout and circle around the V. Don’t really like when the series title is bigger than the title of the book though. I noticed the blurb right away, too - as I’m sure they were hoping. I loved the layout of the type and the gold. I don’t mind the series name being huge, since my students tend to know a series BY the series name anyway.

I like the boy with his back to us because then I can imagine him anyway I want. He’s holding some sort of orb and I wonder if that is making the monster’s eyes gold or are they already gold? The back has a cool symbol like an upside down A with a roman numeral 1 in the center of a sunburst inside it. At least that is what my mind sees. The endpapers have a nice map. I commented on the endpapers, too. I adore maps, and the green for them is a nice change from the usual sepia tones. I hadn’t even thought about whether the orb is affecting the monster’s eyes... cool! The symbol on the back reminds me of freemason symbolism.

The colors - green and gold with a hint of red. The spine is mostly white with gold writing. Definitely stands out in the blues and other dark spines in my science fiction section. I wish the typing was green! That would be so cool.

Overall, I like the cover. It looks very middle grade science fiction-like. I was attracted mostly to the author, since I liked his books in both the 39 Clues series.

Book Trailer

Prequel

Waiting for the book from the library? Check out the prequel in the meantime. You can get it on almost any e-device or read it right from the Seven Wonders website!
The Select (Colussus Rises, prequel) by Peter Lerangis

Don't forget to check out Maria's Melange - Batty About Books Returns, she mentions how her son DEVOURED the book and asked for more!

Spine Poetry - Not the Plan

2013-04-03T12:01:00.000-04:00

Not The Plan

Nineteen Minutes

The Fourth Stall

Boy21

Catch-22

My Name is Not Easy

Spine Poetry - Vacation

2013-04-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

Poetry Month
Day 2 - Where are you willing to go to get some relaxation?

Jump into the Sky

Summer on the Moon

(a lot of) Miles to Go for Freedom

Spine Poetry - Who Are You?

2013-04-01T14:22:00.000-04:00

April is National Poetry Month! I will attempt to post a spine poem a day consisting of books I have laying around the house!

A Girl Named Disaster

The Last Invisible Boy

(a) Liar & (a) Spy

It's Monday - What Are You Reading? April 1, 2013

2013-04-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

Inspired by the wonderful ladies over at Teach Mentor Texts who get together each week to share the books they've found. Check them out for your next book suggestion!

In the Past
I finished 6 books these past two weeks!

Let the Sky Fall (Let the Sky Fall, 1) by Shannon Messenger - fantasy, young adult, windwalkers

Breaking Night by Liz Murray - recommendation from friend (unboring list), memoir, adult, homelessness, Harvard

The Peculiar (The Peculiar, 1) by Stefan Bachmann - fantasy, middle grades, fairies

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles, 2) by Marissa Meyer - science fiction, young adult, cyborgs, were-people

Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassins, 2) by Robin LaFevers - historical fantasy, young adult, nun assassins

The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long - graphic novel, narrative nonfiction, young adult, civil rights

In the Present
I've been working on one of these for awhile. I need to wrap it up.

After Eli by Rebecca Rupp - recommendation
Titanic by Deborah Hopkinson - recommendation

In the Future
As part of my Un-Boring List I'm trying to read more recommendations. I shy away from recommendations because there is ALWAYS something on my TBR list! But, in an effort to expand my horizons, I'm going to read what you say! I don't know how often - once a month? twice a month? I will share the list on the Book Stuff page with links to reviews!

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People of the Book (with apologies to Geraldine Brooks)

2013-03-31T19:42:00.001-04:00

Sometimes we need to stop and celebrate. Appreciate what we've accomplished instead of lamenting how far we still need to go. So, celebration time.

1. One Book, One Discovery - This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel - 2013
This was our third, and most ambitious, One Book, One School. We took most of the month of March with daily trivia questions, a weekly 2 round game show, (mostly) book themed Minute to Win It games, a book battle, and an author visit!!! As students aren't required to read the book, we aren't sure what our numbers were. We had 84 people participate in our book battle which is pretty good. The winners included 2 students from last year's Hunger Games book battle! They each have younger siblings coming next year and are hoping for a three-peat to end their middle school careers!

Kenneth Oppel was amazing. His talks were just the right length and just the right amount of humor without appearing to try too hard! Plus, he gave away books and bookmarks!! He was easy to talk to and was a joy to have around for two days!! He even helped host our book battle! I highly recommend him!!0

I can hardly wait to get started finding next year's book.

2. Booky Things
I've been playing around with Riffle (lists I'm working on Book Clubs, Narrative Nonfiction, Graphic Novels), trying to be more active on Goodreads, and getting back into #bookaday on Twitter. I feel renewed about sharing booky things.

3. Slice of Life - March Madness
I didn't slice every day but each post I made seemed to lift something from my shoulders. I'm re-discovering the joy in reading and writing about all things book related. I've removed the pressure from myself. I'm dusting off my voice. You may wish I hadn't done this slicing thing...

What are you celebrating this month?

I'm joining the Slice of Life March Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. I'm late to the game but I'm staying until the end. #slice2013 (does this count as staying until the end? I say yes!)

Monster by Walter Dean Myers - Nerdprintz

2013-03-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

For some odd reason, I kept putting off reading this one. Even though I started the Nerdprintz Challenge, I wasn't doing the reading. Basically because the older books looked so boring. And, with the exception of Sunrise over Fallujah, I'm really not a WDM fan.This year though I got a request to do some specific book talks and this was one of several books the teacher wanted me to talk about. I reluctantly took it home and was pleasantly surprised.

We open with a few pages from Steve Harmon's notebook. He's in jail awaiting trial on robbery and murder charges. He talks about how scary jail is and how he's going to document his time by writing a screenplay - something he did in classes he took in high school. The book then alternates between Steve's journal and this movie of the trial.

Monster is interesting because Steve is an unreliable narrator. His journal entries don't quite line up with the flashbacks that he put in the movie. In the end, you are unsure of what should happen to him.

It's a good book for students who don't like to read because the format makes it easy to read. The subject matter is also interesting as you get sort of an inside look at a trial as well as an idea of life on the streets.

I'd recommend it to 8th grade students, boys and girls, but especially those who aren't particularly fond of reading.

Breaking Out

2013-03-25T00:01:00.000-04:00

Unboring. Several blogging/reading/teaching colleagues have made Un-boring lists for 2013: Here, here, and here. Things they want to do or read or places they want to go to enrich their lives.

As a student of adhd - I crave routines. But that doesn't mean I have to be routine! So, what can I do to become more unboring this year?

My (mostly) Bookish Un-boring List:

1. Read more mysteries.
I find that I'm pretty much reading the same books over and over. Books I think kids will like, sure, but they are more tried and true premises than anything new. So, I'm on the lookout for some great middle grade mysteries.

2. Cook something different twice a month. One meal and one dessert.
We pretty much eat the same things week in and week out. I just started getting the Eating Well magazine and vow to try at least one meal per month! I also get the Martha Stewart magazine and I'll try one of her dessert recipes.

3. Read a recommendation from a friend.
I'm always recommending books but when someone recommends one to me, I say I don't have time because I have books to read for work. Now, on occasion, I do read student recommendations, but I'm going to expand that. I'm going to actively seek monthly recommendations from friends, in person and online, and read them.

4. Diversify
I need to read, blog about, and talk about diversify. I need to stop shying away from the topic. If I want students to read beyond the usual fare I need to guide them to it! So I will start focusing a little more on the Pura Belpre award winners, the Coretta Scott King award winners, some Lee and Low books, follow along with Do Girls Of Color Survive Dystopia?.

Ok, that all pretty much still sounds boring. I'm bored with this now. Will think of "funner" things to do later!

The Sunday Salon Author Spotlight - Sarah Dessen

2013-03-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

Sarah Dessen

Are you looking for a contemporary romance with cute boys and great storytelling? Look no further than Sarah Dessen. Ms. Dessen has published 10 books, 9 of which I've read, and her 11th book,

, will be published June 2013.

Here are a few of my favorites featuring the all new covers:

Keeping the Moon
(Speak (Penguin), 1999. 228. $9.99. 9780142401767) Book excerpt

Someone Like You
(Speak (Penguin), 1998. 281. $9.99. 9780142401774) Book excerpt

Along for the Ride
(Speak (Penguin), 2009. 432. $9.99. 9780142415566) Book excerpt

(I listed original pub dates with updated imprint buying information also I didn't include How to Deal since that's a movie tie-in which was based on two previous books)

Trailer

Blog - Sarah Dessen - here you can find a newsletter signup and book excerpts and read the story behind each book.

Twitter - Sarah Dessen - she loves Good Morning America and you know, other stuff

Sarah Dessen Book Signing at Anderson's - blogger photo

Happy reading!

To Be Continued

2013-03-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

Students seem to like series so we have a lot of them in the library. Or students read series because the library has a lot of them. Hm.

Here are five series I loved but didn't finish:

The Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness - read and loved books 1 and 2. Was afraid to read Monsters of Men because I heard it was really sad.
The New Policeman by Kate Thompson - finally got the books in the library but again, too far apart from first.
Eon by Alison Goodman - LOVED and highly recommend Eon. I think one day, maybe this summer, I will track down and read Eona. I hope.
Alcatraz vs The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson - discovered some other Sanderson books and switched to them, even though this was very funny.
The Icemark Chronicles by Stuart Hill - strong, female lead. Great, epic fantasy - not sure why I didn't finish this series.

There are also some series I wish I had not continued but I'll talk about them some other time. Time. It has a way of getting past you. It's hard to go back and read older books, but I need to do that to model for students and for myself.

I'm joining the Slice of Life March Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. I'm late to the game but I'm staying until the end. #slice2013

It's Monday - What Are You Reading? March 18, 2013

2013-03-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

Inspired by the wonderful ladies over at Teach Mentor Texts who get together each week to share the books they've found. Head over to their blog to find more books for the TBR pile or to chat with someone about that awesome book you just finished!

These are some of the book I carved out some time to read these past two weeks.

In the Past
I finished two series, continued two (one that I probably won't finish), and started a new one. I also read a classic and a graphic novel.

In the Present
I'm working on two audiobooks and one nonfiction title. The Titanic by Deborah Hopkinson is on the SLJ BoB list. I'm enjoying it!

In the Future
I hope to finish both The Peculiars by Stefan Bachmann as well as Titanic. A friend, who doesn't like to read, recommended Breaking Night by Liz Murray so I'm going to try and fit that in this week, too.

A Raisin in the Sun (with apologies to Langston Hughes)

2013-03-14T04:00:00.000-04:00

On Monday, the Two Writing Teachers had this quote:

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.

— Harriet Tubman

Once upon a time, I had a dream. And every now and again, I still have it. Wouldn't it be cool to own a bookstore?

I know the world of books is changing. I've heard the battle of paper vs e-ink, of Amazon vs everyone, of closing locations and "no one reads". But. I still have this dream.

When I first had it, I was pregnant with my now 17-year-old daughter. I was gonna call it Books and Beans. Because you can't have a bookstore without a coffee shop. But, I wasn't being practical. It was just a dream.

Many years later, it came back. This time, the opportunity came in the form of moving from the elementary classroom into the middle school library. From 2nd grade reading, writing, and arithmetic to books. The only thing I knew at that time was it had to be similar to running a bookstore. I could get the basics: budgeting, ordering, displaying, "selling". And in the meantime, I could learn about opening a bookstore.

So, I got that book: Opening a Bookstore. And Bookselling for Dummies. And I got on the ABA mailing list and, at first, even joined GLIBA, the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association. I visited children's bookstores in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois to get ideas. I worked at Starbucks for 6 months to learn about coffee. I corresponded with a bookstore owner. I did a marketing plan. I was on all the publisher's mailing lists, I got Shelf Awareness (before it came out with a reader's edition), and Bookselling This Week. I put it in writing. I prayed about it. I had all these plans: a blue box for book rentals (you know, like RedBox?), a teacher's book club complete with lesson plans and huge discounts, a frequent buyer's card that you didn't have to pay for, an audiobook sample station like they used to have for music, a fantastic e-commerce site to rival Amazon's, a bookmobile, readers as sales people. I would be like the Shop Around The Corner on steroids (if you haven't seen You've Got Mail, I'm not sure what to say to you.).

One day I was going to do this. After the daughter reached this age, or finished that grade, or something else.

I kept deferring.

Then, I just stopped dreaming.

Could this be where my flux capacitor went?

I'm joining the Slice of Life March Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. I'm late to the game but I'm staying until the end. #slice2013

Be A Dear

2013-03-13T04:00:00.000-04:00

Drop Everything and Read.

DEAR Time.

When I taught elementary (should that be capitalized?) school, every day after lunch we would come in and read for about 15 minutes. Most days I would read to them, but they also read to each other or just quietly looked at books. Every day. It was part of what we did. I loved it.

Up until 2 years ago, every day I would spend time at work reading. Every day. In different spots in the library or walking around the school, but every day. Teachers would tease me about it. But I think they secretly liked it. Things got crazy, we instituted new programs, I had finally won more teachers trust so was in the classroom or planning more, whatever. I stopped reading at work, unless it was my lunch break. Recently the principal said she missed seeing me walk around the school reading.

I wonder if kids miss it too? Was I setting an example? Reading is important to me, this is not just talk. I can talk to kids about a variety of books because normally I read a variety of books. This year, I've only finished 22 books. And it's already mid-March. I usually read 14 or 15 books a month but this month, I've only finished 3. When students would ask how I had time to read so much - I would say because it's my choice. I choose to not do this or this or this so that I can read. Now what do I say? I'm too busy to read? What message am I sending?

What message do I want to send? What choices have I made? What's DEAR to me?

I'm joining the Slice of Life March Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. I'm late to the game but I'm staying until the end. #slice2013

Only One Remains

2013-03-12T00:01:00.000-04:00

There are many different types of book battles, surprisingly!

Our local library hosts an annual Battle of the Books for the 5th graders around our area. The students form teams and read and study the selected books. One night all the teams gather at the local high school to compete over all the books.

Our school will host our third annual Battle of the Book to end our One Book, One School celebration. Teams compete to see who knows the most about the book. Even teachers get in on the fun!

But, today starts my favorite Battle, the one School Library Journal (SLJ) puts on each year! The 16-book list is handed out after the ALA Youth Media Awards. Starting mid- to late March, an author will judge two books and decide which moves to the second round. This goes on each weekday until we get to the Big Kahuna. The book Kahuna judges the final two books plus a book that rises from the dead! Each year, SLJ adds a new twist to the contest. This year - students writing as books! Check out Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4. Such a great idea! I must figure out a way to incorporate it!

I didn't have time to read all the contenders this year but here are my picks anyway!

Round 1

Bomb
Code Name Verity
Endangered
Fault in Our Stars
Jepp
Splendors
Seraphina
The One and Only Ivan

If you haven't already, check out the SLJ Battle of the Books. Great books, great judges, great reading!

I'm joining the Slice of Life March Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. I'm late to the game but I'm staying until the end. #slice2013