so here’s an oddity – an entire blog devoted to YA – all three are more high school YA though

“librarian of auschwitz” – just an amazing story – based on a true story – in one of the Nazi concentration camps – really, the infamous one – there was a young girl who kept 6-8 books in circulation – as of the writing of the book, the lady was still living – 80-plus years old – she was one of the few people who survived that place – the book includes a mention of Anne frank – really, it’s a heartbreaking book – but it addresses the question of how you live in a place like that – and what we ultimately should be living for

“kids like us” – another high school YA – an autistic boy/young man living in France and trying to come to terms with the books in his head and reality in the world – the book grew on me – the POV can be confusing at times to young audiences – but it was a good reminder that your normal isn’t someone else’s normal

“iris” – by Francisco stork – just love that author – another great book – two sisters who try to figure out ambition and love – the book raised a lot of questions and didn’t make attempts to tritely solve them – I appreciated the “religious” aspect of the book in that there was a domineering father – a pastor – and the girls tried to figure out his faith vs. their own

j

ps – oops, I did read “return of the king” – the story of Lebron coming back to Cleveland – not YA – it was a breezy, quick read – of course, it was all mine after the NBA finals b/c the cavs had lost so no one wanted it:)

“Elements of Eloquence” – great book – we’re going to hopefully use some of the rhetorical devices next year – i have big plans – the examples often came from Shakespeare – or the Bible – so that was nice – it’s always good to be able to pick up on the allusions and not just be lost

“goliath must fall” – good book – by a pastor in atlanta – a bit of a twist on the david v. goliath story – hint: we’re not david – i was surprised how much i enjoyed the book – shared at my small group – no one else cared:)

“scythe” – ah, i went back to reading YA for a change – i’m hopeful this becomes the “big” book everyone wants to read – thus, i won’t have to read another one – it’s supposed to become a movie too – i told my small group the plot and they just laughed and laughed at how silly it was – but, for young adults – i think it’ll be enjoyable – and, again, it brought up enough ethical questions worth kicking around that i enjoyed reading it

“county literary magazine” – i read it from cover to cover – ugh, lots of problems – in fact, i’m kicking around using the elementary ones – just from fifth grade – as things we can correct next year in sixth grade – i guess i never realized how many mistakes were in the book – middle school had issues too – but so did high school – but honestly, i think elem isn’t pulling its weight in proofing

“the one device” – the story of how the iPhone came to be – i even used what i learned for small talk tuesday with a girl as i got a phone upgrade (yep, mr. mayfield can now be e-mailed all hours of the night, young sixth grade parents:) so even though i don’t have an iPhone, i enjoyed learning about it – how it came to be (it wasn’t just a Steve Jobs insight) and how its made (empty mountain in Chile/Argentina that’s collapsing is where part of it comes from)

j

I also give some summer quiz help if you pay attention…

“the hobbit” – finished my summer reading with this one – i realized i haven’t watched the last two movies – i guess i need to do that now – i did enjoy re-reading it though – i’ve probably read the hobbit four times now – at least – just a fun book – read easier to me than the last time i’d read it

“class” – book about the gaps between rich schools and poor schools – it’s a fiction book – adult fiction – very outside of my usual reading parameters – but i enjoyed it for the topic it examined – how some schools do without – and others have more than they know what to do with

“the cubs way” – probably the book i wanted to read all summer – THE book – if had nothing else to read – the inside story of how the cubs won last year – really enjoyed it – got a few ideas from it for the classroom – which was unexpected – and nice

“one by one” – book on singleness – by an old person, like myself:) good encouraging read – i tried to share at church but no one was interested

“challenger deep” – returned to YA thanks to ms. fuller – reminded me of the memory of light – although, i personally liked “memory” better – both are very sad books that tackle a tough topic – mental illness – what’s good about the books is that you realize how hard things can be for people – and you don’t learn that unless you read or you go through it personally

j

this would be the post that kicks off summer reading

something tells me that there will be some little sixth grader reading this a couple of months from now, in a quest for extra credit – keep going, little one – you can do it!!!

“shakespeare’s secret” – why do i assign such books? little girls will grow up everywhere believing that the “cool” boy likes them – even if they’re shy – oh well – this book has always just been on the reading list b/c of much ado references

“southern league” – about the 1964 b’ham barons season – i didn’t realize that was the year the team was integrated – enjoyed reading it – was thankful the season passed peacefully for the players – although, it was by the grace of God that it did – racism hadn’t stopped then – or now – did bum me that the writer messed up rickwood’s age – and got the player nicknames wrong

“wednesday wars” – hadn’t read it in a few years – by far, my favorite book of summer reading – ms. baker is awesome

“moon over manifest” – i’d forgotten there was a running tie-in to the book – so just about all my summer reading beyond sixth grade involves running – yeah:) there are times i wonder if i’ve made the list too easy – if you’re keeping track, that’s the third book of the week on the list – i guess it just makes me madder when people say they can’t read them

“gunslinger” – read a biography on brett farve – just b/c i went to mississippi over spring break and wanted to read more about petal – turns out, brett’s not from petal – petal wasn’t even in the book – oops – it was a sad book though – good reminder that fame doesn’t mean everything

j