Free Verse

The first real snow of winter invigorates me to action
Even though the covers are extra heavy today
And the dark room is uninviting.

No snooze alarm today!
Shower, shave.
And then my daughter appears
Rubbing sleep from her eyes,
To help me choose a tie.

Tigger, Eeyore and Winnie the Pooh animate my blue shirt.
We part the red curtains and gaze into the white world below.
She is excited by the snow she sees
And the snow she remembers licking
Last winter.

"You get me some snow Dada,"
She commands as she climbs into my bed.

Snow sparkling in my hair,
I return with a bowl filled with the bright, crisp smell of winter.

Her mouth greedily consumes
Cold flakes as she snuggles
Next to the orange warmth of my
Snoozing wife.

Max's Reading Week 3

I read two wonderfully different books this week on the recommendation of Kam.  Both are for the more mature young adult or young adult reader, and both are wonderful!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstren – First paragraph:

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, is a highly enjoyable book about a magic competition, taking place within the setting of a mysterious circus.  Two players are pitted against one another in a competition without clear rules or even how to win.  Marco has intelligence and hard work on his side, while Celia has natural talent makes better connections with people.  Their feats of magic are well beyond simple illusions and tricks.  When they fall in love, it could not only destroy the circus and the people within it, but each other as well.  

There is little violence, almost no salty language or significant physical romance.  But it is a book for a mature reader, who can follow the plots as it weaves in and out over thirty years with little regard for following chronological time.  However, that is some of the magic of this book, as you are given hints of what is to come and only later come to find out why.

The characters are deep and rich and full of real life.  The circus and its amazing feats draw the reader in and make the impossible suddenly seem believable.  Just like a fantastic magic act, the reader knows there must be some trick, but they want to believe and thus, they do! 

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, is about a senior in high school who plans to kill his former best friend and then himself by the end of the day.  It is told in the raw and uncensored voice of Leonard Peacock as he goes through his school day, giving four presents to four friends before facing his ultimate “goal.”  As the day progresses, the reader is given glimpses of his pain, his previous hopes, and background with each of the people who were important in his life.  The reader follows Leonard deep into his depression, his uncertainty, his confusion about life and his part in it.   Very mature themes are in this book including consistent curse words, abuse, neglect, sexuality confusion, and of course a student walking around school with a gun and planning on killing a fellow student and himself.  But it is a book that many young adults will connect with as well, but they need to be ready to face these issues in their reading before they read this book.  I highly recommend it, but please check in with me before you read it.  I'd like to give you and your parents a heads up about the topics within.


Next book:  I'd like to read Ender's Game or The Book Thief.  Both are highly recommended by so many colleagues and students that I feel I really should get around to it.

Week 2 - Book Review

Saenz, Benjamin. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012. Print

The book I read last week was Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz.  This is a realistic fiction book based in El Paso, Texas in the late 1980s.  It is 350 pages, but there are many chapter breaks and it reads shorter than that.  The reading level is not too high, but the issues within are more mature, although there is only limited violence and cursing.

 The main character is Aristotle (Ari) who is fifteen, the son of Mexican immigrants, intelligent, a little scary when angry, and never feels very happy so he mostly hides in plain sight.  He worries about everything, keeps his feelings hidden and wonders how he can learn the secrets of his family (Why is his older brother in jail and no one even acknowledges he exists? Why won't his dad talk about the Vietnam War? Was he a "mistake" since he was born eleven years after his youngest sibling?) when no one will talk about hard things.  Ari makes friends with a boy at the pool named Dante.  Together, they form an unlikely friendship that seems special from the beginning.  Neither of them has every really had a true friend, just people who they are friendly with.  They talk about real things, they question the universe and they move through that difficult zone of boys-to-men.  

This book hits on real issues about teenagers realizing who they think they should be verses who they actually are.  It also looks at family dynamics, relationships between family members who loves each other but still struggle to communicate or act perfectly all the time.  Lastly, it takes an honest and not completely surprising turn when issues of love come up and how that can affect a friendship.  It is a book for more mature young adults and it will likely make them a little uncomfortable.  But it is wonderfully written, honest and a good book for teens feeling stuck between two realities, ages, or people they want to kiss.  I highly recommend it!

Here is my TBR List

One for the Murphys by Linda Mullaly Hunt

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

The Center of Everything by Linda Urban - Read

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner (Organization – Alzheimer’s)

Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike (SciFY)

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel (Dr. Frankenstein as a boy)

The Breadwinner Trilogy by Deborah Ellis (Afghanistan children)

The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman

Eye of the Storm (Recommended by Gavin)

In a Heartbeat (Haley Russel)

Unremembered (HHH)

The Book Thief

A Clockwork Three (Theo)

Ender’s Game

Viral  by Kathy Riechs

The Giver

Eight Keys (Abby)

One for the Murphys (Abby)

Watership Down (JP)

Throat (Hopper)

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick (Elliott)

Reading Introduction 2013-2014

I can not remember not being able to read.  Reading has always been important for me as a way to learn, to keep myself occupied and to escape from what turns out to be a very busy world.  If I'm somewhere and not involved in an activity, I NEED to read.  I hate being at a Dr's office and not having at least a magazine and usually end up reading the pamphlets or wall charts while I wait.

I love fiction in general and as long as the characters are strong or the plot interesting, I will read just about any genre.  As a younger person, I read the Chronicles of Narnina and the Chronicles of Pydrain several times each.  Also, any book related to animals or based around animals captured me.  The Westing Game, 21 Balloons, and The Cay were all books dear to me during 4-8th grade.  They were a little young for me as I was in middle school, but I kept going back to them because they were so wonderful.  More recently, I've been enjoying more and more historical fiction and non-fiction.  I love funny books and also books that draw out strong emotions in me.  I know I'm wrapped up in a book or character when my mood matches theirs when I have to put the book down.

If I were to pick my top three books ten times, I might list three different books each time.  So I've just chosen three wonderful books I've read sometime in my lifetime.

Good Night Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian will always be a special book to me.  It follows Willie, an abused eleven-year-old boy form London, who is evacuated to the country during WWII to avoid German bombing.  He is placed with old and gruff Mr. Tom, who seems a surly loner in the village.  As they get to know each other, past hurts are revealed and their true natures becomes evident.  Each has suffered in their lives and only together are they able to begin to heal and reach out to the world again.  Just as the reader thinks things may work out, their lives are thrown into turmoil again.  This is a wonderful historical fiction piece and considers a side of war not always brought to light.

the curious incident of the dog in the night time by Mark Haddon is told from the perspective of a boy who is very bright in math and also very autistic.  He is brutally honest, but since he has almost no social awareness his words and actions related to the death of a neighbor's dog are misunderstood.  He also does not understand the words and actions of his father, the police or his neighbor and ends up deciding to solve the mystery of the dead dog himself.  Instead he ends up learning more than he ever expected about his father, his dead mother, and himself and goes on an amazing solo journey.  This book is very funny, even though the main character does not really understand humor.  This book gave me real insights into some of the students I have taught and made me aware of how my perceptions of the world are not universal.  Some strong language in this book in the PG-13 category.  

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. 
It is really two stories in one, told from the perspectives of two women fighting for Great Britain during World War II.  One woman, Maddie is a pilot, who through her own skills, initiative and some luck, is among the most experienced fliers of her time.  She befriends another woman with a subtler, less clear, but no less impressive set of skills.  The story of their friendship is full of passion and joy and told in a very touching and meaningful way.  The book is set in 1943, and they have both crash-landed in Nazi occupied France, with a mission to help the French Resistance.  The book opens with one captured friend writing a confession to the Gestapo.  The confession is part history of the characters, and part description of what’s happening during her confinement and torture.  The torture descriptions are real enough, but they are not overly descriptive.  They are however, for more mature readers.  But these scenes get mixed in among the writing and the story, both of which are amazing.  The story has plenty of clues and hidden messages and it is a wonderful challenge to try and accurately decipher the truth.  Both friends must make hard choices and while the ending is satisfying and well done, it is a war they are part of.  One great thing about this book is it gives homage to women in general and to them during wartime.  I loved this book and could not put it down.  I highly recommend it!

Looking forward to continuing our reading blogs and discussions!  I'm so excited by the initial set of posts and comments!  Keep it up!

Max