“strangers drowning” – study on the role of empathy – great book – about the power do-gooders have – and why people hate them

“presence” – great book we’ll be using some ideas from in the classroom

these are the days that fry men’s souls – b/c it’s just that hot…

“an ember in the ashes” – i’m sure you’ll all love it – i would guess it’ll be the next movie to go see after divergent and hunger games – but it gets a “blah” from me – first off, how many futurist novels do we need to read that are set in the middle ages? isn’t that like a contradiction? second, why would you take your top 4 people to be your next emperor and then have them kill each other off? it was like the hunger games except the games kept not killing them – and what does it mean to be an ember in the ashes anyway? that you survived a fire? that you’re hot? that you were a chop off the old block?

“marcelo in the real world” – wow, what a book – just great – but really only those of you that are very bright will get and appreciate the book – b/c there isn’t romance – and the POV is from an autistic 18 year old – and most of you want a middle school girl or boy battling insecurity and romance – but i absolutely loved the book – and that most of the book was set in a boston i know about b/c of the marathon – and that the author lived in mobile and was a part of the charity – L’Arche – that i run for every january

“better man project” – blah – wasn’t impressed

j

i blame adison and act prep – too much reading practice just got me in the mood…

“shoe dog” – great biography – the founder of nike – great business book – great sports book – great running book – great book on life – sort of the idea that greatness – great lives – come about from a struggle – that too often we give up when we should keep pressing on

“serpent king” – great recommendation for high school BOB – great recommendation for gifted middle school – three friends in rural tennessee lean on each other through their senior year – really enjoyed this book and would love for you all to read it

“cross over” – mr. scott’s book – he used in in his class – i could see why – best of all, it only takes a day to get through

“goodbye stranger” – from the author of “when you reach me” – good book – a good middle school BOB choice – very recommendable

hope everyone’s enjoying reading – and summer – that too

j

phew, done with the school year – missed a week on the blog – so for those of you tuning in late, the first three books are from a week back – last week, there was just one book read (hey, i was a busy guy:)

“the born again runner” – great book for starting running – principally for adult runners – but it would work for anyone – the author had a wonderful back story to why he restarted running – very recommendable

“the kings of distance” – from 1968 in great britain, a book on the five best runners – the author updated the book at the end – just an amazingly unique take – a book like that would be hard to find today – so i really enjoyed it

“the baseball whisperer” – great for teachers and those who love baseball, a story of a man who for 30-plus years, took a group of college kids in the middle of nowhereville, iowa and built a great summer league team of champions – the way he involved the community would make you think of columbiana

“pudge” – great catcher of all-time – his biography – very different life than i thought – including that he now raises flowers as a hobby – neat guy

happy reading!

mayfield

starring Snatchael and Victoria

so proud of my sixth grade and their sales:)

“falling” by mcgovern – that’s not the full title – but that’ll get you to a really good book – should be BOB for high school – which means i think most of my seventh and eighth grade could read it and appreciate it – the POV rotates from a gifted girl to a girl with down syndrome – and how both girls learn to lead fuller lives – the down syndrome girl is recovering from a traumatic event – the gifted girl just seems to be waiting to start her life – book was good about reiterating that we don’t know people until we know them – also, that all of us are worth learning about – i really recommend it – especially since we’re done with class:)

j