Zlata'a Diary

I know...you had to do a complete double take but it's true...I've finally finished another book.

Book #42: Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipovic

From September 1991 to October 1993 Zlata Filipovic kept a diary. It began like any other 11-year-old's diary would; talk of friends, MTV, school, and piano lessons. She soon begins writing of the war that is ravaging her country. She writes of severe shortages of food, water, and gas; the end of her privilege childhood in Sarajevo. She gives vivid descriptions of how war ravages a country and affects the people.

I read this with one of my reading groups and I couldn't believe that an 11-year-old girl (a 6th grader) could write such profound things. Though she has been described as a modern Anne Frank, I don't think her diary carries as much weight as Anne Frank's does.

"The forces of war don't know anything about love and the desire to save something. They just know how to destroy, burn, take things away" (p. 53)

Poppy

Book #41: Poppy by Avi

Poppy is a young deer mouse whose troubles began when she and her boyfriend Ragweed are caught on a hill by without the permission of Mr. Ocax, a horned owl. Mr. Ocax carries out the consequence to not following his rules by killing Ragweed and Poppy manages to barely escape from his deadly talons.

After another terrifying encounter with Mr. Ocax to ask permission for her entire family to move into New Home, she is blamed on all sides by her siblings when their request was denied.

Heartbroken and lonely, Poppy sets off to New Home to see why Mr. Ocax is so afraid of letting the mice move. On her way, she meets Ereth, a grumpy porcupine. Poppy is originally scared of him because Mr. Ocax has told all the mice that porcupines kill and eat mice. Poppy soon discovers this to be a lie and begins wondering what else Mr. Ocax has lied about.

I really enjoyed this book and thought that it was a great representation of how bullies work. I may be reading it to my class when I go back on track.

The Year of the Dog

Book #38: The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin

This novel follows Pacy's adventures during the Chinese Year of the Dog. As she celebrates with her family, she finds out that this is the year she is supposed to "find herself." As the year goes on, she struggles to find her talent, makes a new best friend, and discovers just why the Year of the Dog is a lucky one for her after all.

Though this was an enjoyable book, I wanted more from it. I think it would be a great book for younger grades but it didn't have enough substance for grade 5+. I would say read it 2nd-4th grade.

Holy Cow! I Finished a Book!

Book #36: Shiloh b Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

I'm having one of my guided reading groups read this book. I figured I should know what they're reading instead of just faking it like I did for the first 2 weeks.

Shiloh is about a boy named Marty and a dog named Shiloh. Marty finds a shy beagle one day while walking. The dog follows Marty and he wants to keep him but finds out he is Judd Travers dog. Judd is mean to people and beats his dogs. Marty doesn't want to give the dog back to Judd but his parents make him. After Shiloh runs away from Judd again, Marty decides to hid Shiloh on a hill in a pen he makes. Marty has to lie and sneak around to keep his secret from coming out.

I think this is a good book for students from 3rd grade up. You can discuss right and wrong with this book. Also, it's just a good story of a boy and his dog. **Spoiler alert** Shiloh doesn't die. I was convinced he would but he doesn't. There are also 2 more books in this series.

Talking Cats and Other Mothers

Book #30 Corline by Neil Gaiman

Having recently moved into a new apartment with her loving but preoccupied parents, Coraline finds herself bored one rainy day and, upon her father's suggestions, decides to explore the flat. She finds a locked door in the drawing room, which her mother opens and explains that once it led to the flat next door but was bricked up when the building (which was once a single house) was separated into apartments. That night, Coraline hears a strange noise and sees a small black shadow slip down the hall outside her bedroom and into the drawing room. When Coraline turns on the light, it has vanished, but the door which was previously closed by her mother, is slightly cracked. When she opens the door she is able to go to another apartment which is essentially the same as hers, there is even another mother and father. While there she learns to value her real parents even more.


As a elementary student, I loved being scared. This book is just scary enough to keep kids like me reading.

This is another book that many people have had a problem with. I'm not sure it it's on the censored list but people have complained. The book begins with this quote by G.K. Chesterton: "Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." Even though this book is creepy, it tells kids that scary things can be overcome. Why wouldn't we want our children to get that message from a book? It's something safe. Geesh! Stupid people annoy me!

The Great Gilly Hopkins

Book #29 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

Galadriel "Gilly" Hopkins is eleven-years-old and is "nobody's kid." She wants to find and live with her beautiful mother Courtney but instead has to live with a foster family--Maime Trotter (the mom), William Ernest (freaky foster brother) and the poetry-loving black man who lives next door and is considered part of the family. Gilly hates them all at first but soon she is drawn into their circle of love. She is determined not to care about them and devises a plan to be rescued. She learns too late that she didn't want to be rescued, she just wanted to be wanted.


This is another censored book by Katherine Paterson (way to go Katherine!). I think censoring books is ridiculous. What is this? Nazi Germany? Granted, there are books that are inappropriate for certain ages (i.e. The Book Thief for 2nd graders? I think not!) but no one has the right to say no one should read a certain book. Anyway, I read an article written by her about censoring books once and she mentioned this book and the swearing that Gilly does. She said if she had had Gilly say something like "Fiddle sticks!" when she was mad Gilly would not be a believable character. Gilly is a foster kid. She's mad about things, she's going to say it like she sees it.

Julie of the Wolves

Book #26 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Miyax is a 13-year-old girl who's mother is dead and her father disappeared while hunting. She runs away and intends to use the survival skills her father taught her to get from Point Barrow to Point Hope. From there she hopes to get a job on a ship as a laundress or cook and work her way to San Fransisco to meet her pen pal Amy who always ends her letters with "When are you coming to San Fransisco?"

Miyax finds that the tundra of Alaska is much different than home and soon becomes lost. She remembers what her father told her and begins to use body language to communicate with a pack of wolves, hoping they will take her in and feed her.

I think this must be one of those books that I "read" in elementary school or it is very similar to another book I've read. I'm going with the I read it in school and the memory of it got lost in my brain until I rediscovered it.

Death

Book #20 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Check out Zusak's website. The Book Thief opens with "It's just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . ."

The story is set in Germany during WWII. It is the story of a foster girl names Liesel Meminger who lives with her foster father and mother outside of Munich. The book is narrated by Death. With the help of her foster father, Liesel learns to read and begins stealing books whenever she can get her hands on them. She uses these stories to help sustain her family, friends and the Jew hiding in her basement.

I really enjoyed this book though I would not recommend it for elementary aged children. The reading level is quite easy but the topics and language are not something that would be good for most elementary aged children. I would recommend this for 8th grade and up. If you want to learn to swear and insult others in German, this is the book for you.


"People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darknesses. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them."

Whales on Stilts!

Book #19 Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson

"On Career Day Lily visited her dad's work with him and discovered that he worked for a mad scientist who wanted to rule the earth through destruction and desolation." This is a very different book. The writing is quite outlandish with a hint of the author making fun of himself and other mystery adventure writers. This blog also reviews books and has one on this book. I'm a bit lazy and pressed for time so I'll just let you read that one. I haven't read through the blog thoroughly but it's worth a look.

One of my favorite parts of this book is at the end of the book. It's entitled A Guide for Reading and Thinking: Questions for Further Study. The author states they hired Child Learning Specialist to help write these questions. Here are some of my favorite:

1. Who chose this book?
2. Can I hit him or her in the stomach?
8. Which whale book with a character named Lily and another one named Jasper is your favorite?
9. Oh, really?
15. Anchovies. Why?

Perpetual

Book # 18 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Great book! I don't know what to say about it more than that though. The story is about Winnie Foster, her interactions with the Tuck family, and deciding whether or not she should drink from the spring and become immortal. Winnie reminds me a little bit of Bella in the Twilight series (just the basic premise--mortal or immortal? What would you choose?) Here is a Scholastic site with teacher resources and a pretty good summary. The resources aren't great (I think any decent teacher could come up with these things in 1 minute but it gives a starting point if you're not as amazing as me and my school buddies)

"The sweet earth opened out its wide four corners to her like the petals of a flower ready to be picked, and it shimmered with light and possibility till she was dizzy with it." (p. 45)

"The way I see it, it's no good hiding yourself away, like Pa and lots of other people. And it's no good just thinking of your own pleasure, either. People got to do something useful if they're going to take up space in the world." (p. 86)

Happy Endings

Book # 17 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate Dicamillo

This is such a great story about a bunch of lonely people who are brought together by a dog. Opal finds a homeless dog at The Winn-Dixie grocery store and he soon helps her to make many friends. This book is written at about a 4th grade level (Christina, use it as a read aloud or for book club in your class!) and I don't think I'm giving anything away but I think this is the only book in existence with a dog on the cover that won an award (Newbery to be exact) where the dog doesn't die. I definitely recommend it. It's a really quick and fun read.

"It's hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor." (p. 12)

Mysteries and Possible Changes

Book #16 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

This is the book that has taken me so long to finish. That makes it sound like it was a horrible book...IT WASN'T! I just had difficulty reading large portions of it at a time. It's probably has to do with the format and the difficulties I had with reading as a child. This book has very small print and when one chapter ends another starts...no turning the page and looking like you're making more progress than you really are...just start the next one.

That aside, this was a great book. It's the story of Sam Westing's will and his 16 heirs. All of these heirs happen to have moved into Sunset Towers just before Sam Westing is pronounced dead. The heirs are paired up and given a set of clues. Their job is to figure out who killed Sam Westing. It's a great mystery book and I always thought I had the mystery figured out only to be told I was wrong a few pages later. The end is a twist that is not expected.

I always check the available jobs on each district website just because I'm nosy. Anyway, there's now a 6th grade D TRACK opening. I'm totally calling my principal later today to see if I can trade. That would mean I wouldn't start til August 17th which gives me a lot more time to prepare. Woot! I hope she lets me trade!

Lots of Books and TV

OK. I'm back with many books for all y'all...Yippee!!

Book#10 Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr

This is the true story of Sadako, a young girl who lived in Japan. She was born to be a runner and wins many relay races at school. She contracts leukemia due to the atom bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. While in the hospital, she begins making paper cranes to pass time. Her goal is to make 1000. This is a book I was never really invested in. I didn't like the writing style and the book just seemed to end. I wanted so much more in this book. I wanted the characters to be more defined. I wanted to be grabbed by something, anything, but I wasn't. Though I didn't like it, I'm not saying it's a horrible book. It was recommended to me by someone I respect and I know she knows her children's lit so it was obviously just a story I didn't like.

Book #11 The Children's Story by James Clavell

This story is written very simply and i read in about 30 minutes. The reading level is probably about 3rd grade but I would not suggest using it with 3rd graders. This is actually a book I'd recommend teachers read and maybe use it in 6th grade and higher to talk about propaganda. The story takes place in a classroom. The students and old teacher are sitting and waiting. A young teacher comes in to replace the old teacher. This teacher asks many questions about why students do things. Why they pray, pledge allegiance to the flag, etc. She successfully indoctrinates the students to the new regime in a matter of minutes. It was an amazing story for me to read and realize how much influence a teacher has on his or her students. I would defiantly recommend adults read it then decide if they can read it to or with their students. This book was made into a TV movie in 1984. Here are the videos. They are horrible quality but you get to read the book without really reading it. Though I still suggest reading it because it only takes 30 minutes...30 MINUTES! Just read it!

Book #12 The Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi

I mentioned this book earlier but decided to read it again. I loved this book! Sookan is 10-years-old and lives in North Korea during the time when Japan had occupied it. The book's overarching theme, oppression, is one that most students in the United States have not dealt with the way that Sookan and her family do but oppression is something that happens every day all over the world and students need a safe outlet to experience it and decide what they would do in that situation. This book is really well written and it made me feel exactly what Sookan was feeling. Though I would love to read it in a classroom, you'd have to be careful with this because many girls are taken from the factory where Sookan's mother works to be "spirit girls." Though it is not said outright, these girls are basically sex slaves for the Japanese military. But it is so well written and gives students something to really think about that I would read it. Maybe just as a read aloud so I can skip over those parts? I don't know. Anyway, fantastic book!

Book #13 Hiroshima by Laurence Yep

This is a very short and factual book. It talks about what atom bombs are, WWII, Japan and its relationship with the United States at the time. It is laid out very simply so that someone with no knowledge would be able to understand the history presented in the book. One point I liked in particular is right after the bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, the pilot says something to the effect of 'What have we done?' This is an actual account and this pilot really did say this which gives the reader an insight into his mind. I also think it makes him more realistic.

Book #14 A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida

This was another great book. Rinko is an 11-year-old girl growing up in California in the 1930's. Times are tough during the Great Depression for everyone but Rinko's family has it particularly difficult. This book has a little bit of violence but it's not so much that I would question its use in a classroom. It's a great book to show perseverance, integrity, and accepting yourself for who you are.

Wow. If you've made it this far, good for your! Give yourself a pat on the back! I have something to complain about. I wasn't feeling well on Tuesday night so I vegged in front of the TV. Now, since all good TV is gone because it's the end of the season, I was subjected to the worst excuse for a TV show I've seen in a long time...I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! Are you kidding NBC? Are you really that desperate? It's like if Survivor (which I also hate but would much rather watch that) and The Surreal Life had a baby you'd get this show. Ugh! It's horrible! I already have to see Heidi and Spencer and his flesh-colored beard dispensing their vanity and need for fame all over the place. But now I'm subjected to them on yet another show? Are we that stupid as a nation that we see this as good TV? The part I saw they dunked all the celebrities into a pit with snakes, spiders, cockroaches, etc. and who ever lasted the longest got immunity. But Heidi and Spencer and his flesh-colored beard said they were "too famous" to do something like that. TOO FAMOUS!?! UGH! I turned it off and watched golfing. It's horrible. Your brain turns to goo if you watch it. Read one of my books instead!

Braverism

Book #6: Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary

This book was published in 1975 so was therefore around when I was in elementary school. Why was I never introduced to Ramona? She's so cute and spunky and full of enough mischief for the goody-two-shoes-2nd grade version of me to vicariously live through that I think I would have actually enjoyed reading these books. Another thing I really enjoy about this book is the use of vivid language. SO MANY vocabulary words! Astound, predicament, aghast, humiliation, clattered, hastily, glorious, dignity, dawdling, muster, incident. Loved it! I give it 4 stars. I included some quotes I liked from the book. I think I got a bit carried away.

"Agreeing was so pleasant she wished she and her sister could agree more often." (p. 12)

"'If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret any more,' said Mrs. Quimby.

That, Ramona felt, was just about the most exasperating sentence ever spoken by a grown-up." (p. 18)

"They were no longer six-year-olds. They were the strongest people in the world. They were giants." (p. 38)

"Ramona liked good lively comedies with lots of children and animals and grown-ups doing silly things. Next to that she liked cat food commercials." (p. 88)

"Crying had left Ramona tired and limp, but somehow she felt better, more at peace with herself, as if trouble and guilt had been washed away by tears." (p. 148)

“IF” by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:


If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'


If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

45 books in 90 Days

I'm taking a Master's level children's literature class. I feel very inadequate with my book reading.

In this class we talk about books we really connected with as children. As classmates ramble on and on about books they loved as children, I sit and doodle and vaguely try to look like I'm thinking or I rack my brain for any fragment of a book still left over from elementary school but the file marked "Books I read and enjoyed in elementary school" is completely empty. I remember being assigned a few books to read in elementary school but always hated them. I can't remember titles of any books I read until 7th grade...Z for Zachariah. And I don't remember much about the book only the fact that I finished it and didn't completely loath it.

Let's backtrack a bit. As a family, we don't read. The only thing I remember my mom reading is the newspaper. I was never pushed to read. We don't have bookshelves crammed full of books lining our walls. We never went to libraries unless we needed a book for a book report. We weren't the family that just went to the bookstore and were told to pick a book. Book reports were torture as children. AR points, even worse. I honestly didn't become a reader until college. And at that point, I was reading children's books and text books. Up until now, I haven't felt I had the time to sit down with a good book and devour it like a wolf, "in great hulking bites, with vigor, as often as possible," (cited by Tunnell p. 8).

But today is the turning point. I can continue in my non-reading ways or make a change for the better. I've decided to read. Now it may seem like 45 books is a lot to read in 90 days but these will all be children and young adult literature (I have to be ready for my job, that I will have soon!) My plan is to read the book, rate it and basically just give myself a little synopsis so I can look back later and say, "Oh, I remember reading that! I would be great for this book group/ read aloud/shared reading..." So here goes:

Book #1: Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Here is a pretty good summary.

If you took the time to read the summary, you know the main character is Steve Harmon. He is the narrator of this book and is writing his life and trial as a screen play with a few of his journal entries tied in.

Because of the format, it is a very fast read. Also, because of the format, I got a bit lost in exactly who the characters were (especially the lawyers) and what their story was.

I think this would be a great book for 7th grade to 12th grade students and I think I may recommend it to my 9th grader sister.

My rating system is a 5 star system where 5 stars is "Why hasn't everyone read this yet?!!" and 1 star is "You should really use this book to balance that wobbly table in your kitchen." I give this book a solid 4 stars, which translates to "Pick this book up and read it in a hour or two. You'll be glad you did."

"I want to know who I am. [...] I want to look at myself a thousand times to look for one true image," (p. 281).