When You Reach Me

So any book that starts with a quote by Einstein has got to be good! When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, opens with:
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious." -  Albert Einstein
And cue the mystery as it begins to swirl in the opening pages. Miranda is prepping her mom for her upcoming appearance on the game show, The $20,000 Dollar Pyramid and adjusting to life without the familiar comfort of her best friend, Sal. As she navigates making new friendships at her school, she has to make sense of a boy who gets a rise out of her at their first meeting when he questions a premise in the book, A Wrinkle in Time. Miranda is obsessed with this book and considers it her personal treasure.  What follows is a dizzying interrelatedness between the two stories and a show-stopping revelation as the book ends. If you like to tinker around with questions about the status quo, concepts, constructs, the universe, then this is the book for you!

I give this book the highest rating because of the clever interconnectedness of the plot with another favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time.

Living Gifted

Ok, I did it again! I read another nonfiction book. Before you accuse me of not being able to committ to characters, setting, key events in rising action, etc., I want you to know I did this book for you! It's called, Living Gifted and it's by a noted author and educator, Lisa Van Gamert. It is a short read, but mighty! She highlights on each page a tip for navigating the gifted journey in school and in life. She offers a total of 52 very insightful tips for succeeding as a gifted learner. For example, she explains that we should really examine our distraction level. She has the reader stop to ponder just what happens in our brains when we say we are multi-tasking. She also celebrates the wisdom of being grateful, being a planner, and being a reader of thought-provoking books. I give this handy guide a big thumbs up and I hope you'll check it out! P.S. - You can knock it out in a little over an hour; however, the ideas will last a lifetime!

Hello Fellow Readers,

I wanted to say that I've really enjoyed this latest round of blogs. You are all becoming such accomplished bloggers and the variety of your reading choices amazes me!

I have a confession to make. I did not read a fiction book this time around. I saw a book and judged it by its cover - gasp! I saw the cover below and realized the author (Kylene Beers) was a professor I had in my teaching program in college. She was a favorite as I progressed through my coursework and so I just had to see what she had to say about guiding students to read closely and about how to assist them in making meaningful connections to the books in their reading lives. I will not go into the nuts and bolts of her advice; however, I will share one idea I hope to use in my teaching with all of you. She has developed some "signposts" that readers should be taught to notice and when they spot these points in the text, she provides some powerful questions to use as reflection points. Look for my talk on these signposts soon!

Keep reading Cougars!

Amal Unbound

"This heroic story about a girl's struggle to become educated against overwhelming odds will open readers' eyes and herats. A gorgeous and compelling read." - Laurie Halse Anderson

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

I'm excited to share my latest read aloud that I enjoyed with my students. This book was so inspiring. The protagonist is a young adolescent girl who lives in a fairly rural village in Pakistan. She relates her tale from first person point of view in a way that envelops the reader in a culture very unlike what most of us experience. Amal is driven to obtain an education and she has developed a warm bond with the local teacher. Her dreams are put on hold, however, when her mother needs considerable help at home. Being the eldest, she is tied to domestic duties and begins to wonder if an education will slip away. On a market run, she encounters the figure of oppression in this story, Jawad Sahib, a ruthless wealthy landowner who terrorizes the locals. Her run-in with this antagonist, shatters the world she's always known and causes her to question the very fabric of her culture. Amal must find unbelievable courage and tap into the power of unity to stand up to forces that at first, seem beyond her control.

My Rating:

This story reminded me in so many ways of another brave girl who fought insurmountable odds to get an education!

Malala's Story

Welcome!

Hi All,

I am so excited about reading and writing with all of you! I love the creative potential I see in blogging about the books we are reading and thinking about. Thank you for being risk-takers and trying something new. I can't wait to see where this journey takes us!

Happy reading,
Ms. M

“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.” – Roald Dahl