Benson's Books

If you find some books with my name on them at home, even if it's five years from now, please return them. I love having a library without fines or check-outs, but I lose so many books! Please get my books back so that others can enjoy them.

If you'd like some suggestions about what to read, please check out the Book Match list. Other good sources for suggestions are the big books store websites. Amazon, for example, allows you to look up a book you've read and liked. Then other books that may appeal to you are listed.

Books Described Below

1. Find the title or author you're interested in below.

2. Look up specific information by scrolling down to the date following the title.

3. Benson's rating scale - E = easy; M = medium; H = hard; A= adult

4. Recently read books will appear in this lovely green color.

Abbott – Firegirl (12/29/07) M -English teen fiction

Abrahams – Down the Rabbit Hole (7/20/06) M/H -mystery

Acampora – Defining Dulcie (6/24/08) M - teenager dealing with changes and defining herself

Almond – Skellig (8/03/06) M English - teen fiction/some fantasy-type elements

Baskin – Basketball or Something Like It (7/29/07) E sports/parent relationships

Baskin – In the Company of Crazies (7/29/07) M troubled teen

Blacker – Boy2Girl (11/7/06) M funny teen story

Boyne - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (4/9/08) M historical fiction - Holocaust -unusual telling

Bruchac – The Winter People (8/3/06) M historical fiction-Native Amerians

Canales – The Tequila Worm  (3/12/07) M teen fiction; Latina

Card – Ender’s Game (4/4/07) H science fiction; future

Chabon – The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay (1/23/07) A historical fiction

Chan - Cirque du Freak: Book 1 A Living Nightmare(4/9/08) M - horror/thriller

Clements – Frindle (4/4/07) E funny/silly

Coerr – Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (3/16/07) E historical fiction; post WWII

Cooney – Code Orange  (2/8/07) M teen fiction

Cooney – Goddess of Yesterday (6/14/06) H historical fiction; Ancient Greece

Coy – Crackback (12/29/07) M/E sports; teen fiction

Culham – 6 + 1 Traits of Writing (7/25/07) A teacher stuff

Cushman - The Loud Silence of Francine Green (7/15/08) M Historical Fiction 1950s McCarthyism

Deuker – High Heat (1//7/08) H/M sports; teen issues

Ellis – This Is What I Did (1/7/08) M -A teen issues; adult note required

Fehler - Beanball (6/10/08) E/M quick excellent sports fiction

Feinstein – Last Shot: A Final Four Mysterey (12/29/07) M/H sports mystery

Fitzgerald - Soccer Chick Rules (7/8/08) M/E activistism/girls' sports/ school politics

Fitzgerald – The Great Brain (3/15/07) E family; outdated

Flannigan – Ranger’s Apprentice (7/18/07) M fantasy

Frank – Lucky Stars  (6/25/07) M teen fiction

Friend - Perfect (9/12/08) M teen fiction; eating disorders

Grant – Blood Red Horse (12/29/07) M historical fiction

Grover – On Pointe(3/16/07) M teen fiction; dance; told in poems

Guthridge – Kids from Nowhere (7/18/07) A Nonfiction; problem solving in Alaska

Haddon – the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (8/3/06) A teen fiction; autism

Hart - Shadow Horse (7/8/08) M mystery/ animal lovers

Hemingway - A Farewell to Arms (9/12/08) A horrors of WWI with romance

Hiaasen – Lucky You (8/19/06) A funny

Hobbs – The Maze (6/20/06)M troubled teen; wilderness; endangered species

Hobbs – Crossign the Wire (12/29/07) M teen fiction; crossing illegally from Mexico

Hoffman - Incantation (5/27/08) M historical fiction; Spanish Inquisition re teenaged Jewish girl

Hopper – What Happened in Mr. Fisher’s Room (12/29/07) E mean pranks on teacher

Hughes - Lemonade Mouth (7/1/08) M modern fiction; misfits band (haha) together

Howe – Bunnicula (3/15/07) E blood sucking bunny?

Howe – The Misfits (6/28/06) M/E teen fiction; funny

Hunter - Warriors: Into the Wild (5/13/08) M fantasy about cat clans and their warriors

Jiang – Red Scarf Girl (8/10/07) M/H historical memoir; Chinese Cultural Revolution

Jones - The Faerie Path (7/1/08) M fantasy - modern teenager learns she's a fairy princess

Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid; a Novel in Cartoons (12/29/07) E/M funny teen fiction; outcast

Klise - Deliver Us from Normal (7/15/08) M fitting in teen fiction (I lived in Normal, IL!)

Koss – The Girls  (7/6/06) M/E teen fiction; girls social scene

Larson – The Devil in the White City (8/10/06) A historical fiction

Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird (6/25/07) H historical fiction

Leonard – A Coyote’s in the House (11/7/06) E funny animal fiction

Lord – Rules (7/18/07) M sister writes about autistic brother

Lubar – Hidden Talents (7/18/07) M  teen fiction in NYC

Lieberg – West with Hopeless (11/7/06) M teen fiction; sisters on the road

Mason - Camel Rider (7/28/08) M/E cultural issues; Austrailian boy lost in desert with mideaster boy

Matthews – Fish (6/14/06) M British ; escaping Africa

McNab – Traitor (6/15/07) M British; MI6; spy thriller

Meyer - Eclipse (6/2/08) M/H - final installment in the Twilight trilogy; these books are addictive!

Meyer - New Moon (5/29/08) M/H - second in Twilght trilogy-thrilling fantasy/love story

Meyer - Twilight (5/13/08) M/H - thrilling fantasy/love story.

Meyer - Breaking Dawn (9/12/08) A - a follow-up to the Twilight trilogy. fantasy/love story

Muchamore - Cherub (5/27/08) M - spy thriller; great follow-up to Alex Rider series

Myracle – TTFN (8/3/06) M - A teen girl issues; told in IMs; adult note required

Naylor – Shiloh (3/15/07) E - kid helps dog

Nye – Habibi (6/24/08) -M -modern day Israel from Arab perspective

Patterson – Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment (12/29/07) H science fiction

Pfeffer – Life As We Knew It (1/7/08) M/H science fiction; told as teen girl's diary

Pierce – Alanna The First Adventure (10/30/06) M/H fantasy

Pierce – Trickster’s Choice (12/29/07) H fantasy; use character list and glossary at the end

Pullman – The Golden Compass (4/4/07) H fantasy

Rees – Vampire High – (10/30/06) M teen issues; funny

Reeve – Mortal Engines (6/20/06) M/H science fiction

Riordan – The Lightning Thief (6/20/06) M/H fantasy involving Greek Gods

Rosenbloom – You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (12/29/07) M funny chick lit

Rossoff - How I Live Now - (6/10/08) M - fiction; female narrator; disturbing images of modern day war

Sachar – Small Steps (6/28/06) M teen fiction featuring Armpit from Holes

Schlink – The Reader (6/25/07) A

Schmidt - The Wednesday Wars (7/28/08) M - Comedy/hist fiction - 1967-68 Vietnam; hippies; school

Selznick - the Invention of Hugo Cabret (6/4/08) - E/M historical fiction; elements of magic/mystery

Shaw – the Boy from the Basement (8/10/06) M child abuse

Sheff – Beautiful Boy (6/24/08) - A - father writes about his son's addiction to methamphetamine

Shusterman – the Schwa Was Here (7/20/06) M funny teen fiction; NYC

Smith - Peak (7/15/08) M teen realistic adventure

Sonnenblick - Girls, Drums, and Dangerous Pie (9/12/08) M - little brother with cancer; funny dialogue

Spear - Sign of the Beaver (8/28/08) M/E historical fiction; 1768 Maine Wilderness; Native Americans

Stahler – Truesight – (9/8/06) M/H science fiction
Verne – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (7/6/06) H historical fiction (written in 1800s)

Verne – Around the World in 80 Days (8/28/06) H historical fiction (written in 1800s)

Vonnegut – Cat’s Cradle (6/25/07) A science fiction; sardonic humor

Walden - H.I.V.E. Higher Institute of Villanous Education (7/8/08) M spy-type thriller

Warner – Perfect Madness (9/8/06) A parenting madness!

Wasserman - Chasing Yesterday: #1 Awakening (4/9/08) M mystery/thriller

Weeks – So Be It (12/29/07) M teen fiction; girl with disabled mom on odyssey

Westerfield - The Uglies (7/12/06) H science fiction

Whelan – Listening for Lions (12/29/07) M historical fiction; Africa to England after WWI

White – Surviving Antarctica; Reality TV 2083 (1/7/08) M/H science fiction

Whitesel – Blue Fingers; A Ninja’s Tale (2/2/07) M historical fiction; Japan

Wilson – Black Storm Comin’ (1/23/07) M historical fiction/racial issues; pony express

Winerip - Adam Canfiled of the Slash (7/28/08) M - funny mystery re school and local politics and the news

Yancey - The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (6/10/08) M adventure with elements of fantasy

 

9/12/08

Drums, Gilrs and Dangerous Pie by Sonnenblick is an excellent book told from the point of view of Steven, an eighth grader. Steven's dealing with typical eighth grade issues like how to talk to the beautiful Renee, but when his little brother Jeffrey is dianosed with leukemia, his whole world is turned upside down. He tends to turn to his drums for relief from the stress, but hiding in the basement and banging away won't make his nightmares stop. This excellent book covers a very serious topic, but Steven's crazy sense of humor prompts smiles from the reader as well as tears.

In Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms Lieutentant Fred Henry joined the Italian forces during World War I as an ambulance driver. He spent a good bit of his time enjoying life and women. Then he met Katherine Barkley, and English nurse, and fell in love. Though recovering from the loss of her fiancé, Katherine returned is love, but the war came between them. Hemingway’s stark prose are almost emotionless at times, but this must-read classic kept me captivated.

Meyer's Breaking Dawn is the final(?) installment of the Twilight trilogy, and it was a bit more mature than the others. After all, Bella and Edward are married now! As a result, Bella becomes pregnant, but this is no normal pregnancy and Renesme is no normal child. How will Jacob and his pack react? What about the Volturi? She’s like nothing any person or vampire or werewolf has ever seen before. Though parts of Breaking Dawn are rather far fetched, I couldn’t put it down.

Perfect by Friend is an excellent book focussed on a girl with bulemia. After Ape Face walks into the bathroom to find her sister Isabelle making herself throw-up, Isabelle has to go to Group and is shocked to see Ashely walk in. After all, Ashley Barnum is perfect. She’s got perfect hair, perfect friends, perfect grades, a perfect tan, a perfect house and everyone’s perfectly infatuated with her. That is, with what they see of her. Like Isabelle, Ashley’s suffering from bulimia. Will they join forces to battle the disorder or work together indulge in it?  What other factors in the girls’ lives prompt them to participate in this self-destructive behavior? This was a quick and excellent read.

 

 

7/28/8

Camel Rider by Mason was a quick read about an Austrailian boy lost in the middle easter desert with a Muslim boy. Adam lives in a compound filled with foreigners who work in Abduai, an oil-rich fictional middle eastern state. The country was quickly developed when oil was discovered in the 1960s and Adam's father came to work as a pilot. Adam doesn't want to return to Australia to attend boarding school, so he hides his passport in his father's luggage. His father leaves on a flight and his mother wants to take him to see his sister, grandmother and new school, but she can't take him because the passport is gone. She goes on her own leaving him with a housekeeper and he looks forward to surfing with his mates until he sees foreign fighter pilots flying overhead and dropping bombs in Abduai. Neighbors fleeing the country offer to take him along as the compound empties, but they refuse to take his dog, Tara. Adam can't stand the thought of leaving her behind to starve and ends up ditching the convoy and trying to make his way back to his dog, but Adam's rather ill equipped to survive alone in the desert. Walid, a Bangladeshi boy sold as a slave and working as a camel rider was left to die in the desert. Together, they make a formidable team.

Adam Canfield of the Slash by Winerip provides an excellent look at school politics and the way some teachers have to choose between best teaching practices or test scores. Adam is co-editor of the award winning school paper The Slash and is initially annoyed by pushy, gifted, third-grade Phoebe who wants to do an article on Eddie the janitor. Co-editor Jennifer heard something about a zoning code that might prohibit front yard basketball hoops, and Principal Marris insists they write a story about a deceased woman named Minnie Bloch who had donated money to the school. It sounds simple enough, but once they start digging they uncover things about their wonderful school and community that aren’t so wonderful. I couldn’t put this one down but had hoped there would be a little more about the discrepancies between the haves and have nots in Tremble as well as closely tied racial issues. Great book!

Sign of the Beaver by Speare is a good quick well-researched bit of historical fiction. Matt is 12 years old in 1768 and lives in the wilderness of Maine. The book opens with his father leaving to fetch his mother, sister and new baby sibling. Father leaves him the good rifle and Matt is a very capable hunter. He’s also responsible for the corn and pumpkin growing behind the cabin the two had built on their own with each log cut carefully to fit together without using nails, which they don’t have. Matt feels like there’s a lot he doesn’t have. He remembers a beehive and climbs to retrieve the sweet honey but is attacked by the swarm. An Indian chief and his grandson help him but the chief wants something in return. He wants Matt to teach his grandson to read so that he’ll be able to understand the treaties put before them. But Attean doesn’t want anything to do with a white boy or reading. The details about life in the wilderness were excellent.

The Wednesday Wars by Schmidt was a blast. Holling Hoodhood is in seventh grade on Long Island in 1967 and is the only kid stuck with Mrs. Baker on Wednesday afternoons. Half his class is Jewish and leaves early for Hebrew school while the other half is Catholic and leaves for Catechism. Holling’s the lone Presbyterian and Mrs. Baker decides to expand his horizons by having him read Shakespeare. The hilarious first person narrative covers everything from wearing yellow tights to saving his sister from being run over by a school bus to accidentally releasing two vicious rats in class as well as historical moments including the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Vietnam War. Great, very fun read complemented with Shakespearean and historical references.

7/15/08

Deliver Us from Normal by Klise is the story of overly self-consious Charles Harrisong who attends school in a real place called Normal, Illinois. He worries about his legs being too thin and white, about renting rather than owning the house they live in, and about whether his sister Clara should run for Student Council. Charles is sick and tired of shopping at the Bargain Bonanza with it’s creepy rodeo clowns and hay bales used as décor. He’s tired of being poor, of having so many brothers and sisters and of standing out. Charlie’s a sensitive, withdrawn character who struggles to make it through life with his unusual family. When they decide to take off for the Deep South, he’ll have completely new challenges to face.

The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Cushman was excellent. Cushman does historical fiction right having written Catherine Called Birdy and The Midwife’s Apprentice, but this time she departs from medieval times. Francine Green lives in Los Angeles and attends eighth grade at Catholic School in 1949-1950. She doesn’t understand how her best friend Sophie can be so vocal, so unafraid about getting into trouble. Sister Basil doesn’t appreciate Sophie’s candor, especially when she starts defending Communism and  openly opposes the H-Bomb. Francine doesn’t want to get in trouble and is torn about defending her friend. Then the Petrov’s grocery store is vandalized with red paint saying “Russkies go home!” and a red Star of David. Francine’s dad starts digging a hole in the back yard for a bomb shelter and it seems that she’s got no where to turn for real answers to her questions about it all. In fact, Montgomery Clift might be the only person she can count on. This is an excellent story about the persecution many U.S. citizens endured during the McCarthyism of the Cold War. Ideas and names (like Montgomery Clift and Mr. Roberts) that are familiar to my generation may be challenging for today’s sixth grader making THIS A GREAT BOOK TO READ WITH A PARENT!

Peak by Roland Smith was an excellent adventure story about a boy named Peak Marcello. His parents were both serious mountain climbers, but his mom had given it up when he was young, remarried and now lives in NYC with her lawyer husband Rolf, but climbing is in Peak’s blood not to mention his name. When Peak is busted for scaling the Woolworth Building, the consequences are severe, especially after a boy trying to imitate his stunt died in a fall. The judge wants to make an example of him, but his biological father, famous climber Joshua Wood who had been AWOL for seven years, comes to court and somehow manages to get Peak released into his care to attend an international school in Thailand not far from his home. But instead of going to Thailand, Joshua Wood hurries back to Base Camp on the northern, Chinese side of Mount Everest where he hopes to make Peak Experience, his adventure company, famous for getting the first person under fifteen to the summit. Even Zopa the Buddhist monk and former Head Sherpa admits, “’You can never tell who the mountain will allow and who it will not.’” Great read with excellent, well-researched information about climbing and the occupation of Tibet by the Chinese.

 

7/8/08

H.I.V.E. Higher Institute of Villanous Education by Walden opens with Otto Malpence, the main character, regaining consciousness on a helicopter flying low and fast over water. He and Wing, another boy who’d been kidnapped end up at H.I.V.E., a school for super villains with courses like Tactical Education, Villainous Studies, and Stealth and Evasion. H.I.V.E. is located inside an island that’s basically a fake volcano. Students stay on the island for six years and allowed no contact with the outside world, so Otto and Wing decide to find a way out. Though the premise was interesting, too many of the details were cliché. The leader of all the villains is referred to as Number One. Franz, a German boy, is practically identical to Augustus Gloop from Willie Wonka, The Contessa, Dr. Nero and others seem almost like cartoon characters, or something out of a James Bond/Austin Powers move to be realistic. However, the action was fun and Otto’s character is very compelling. Worth the read, but not my favorite.

Soccer Chick Rules by Fitzgerald is really more about school politics than soccer, though there are excellent descriptions of action during games and practices. Tess becomes political when the city proposes a tax levy to fund after school programs including soccer, basketball and softball. Tess loves sports and can’t fathom the idea of losing them at her school, so she goes all out to help push people to vote yes for the levy. But some people don’t want higher taxes including Jillian’s family across the street. They all go to Catholic school, so why would they vote in favor of higher taxes? Tess’s voice is excellent as the idealistic, competetive, doesn’t-take-no-for-an-answer main character and narrator. This was a fun quick read with some excellent insights into school budgets, politics, and understanding others’ points of view.

Shadow Horse  by Hart is a mystery of sorts focused around a girl named Jas. Her Grandpa had worked as caretaker at High Meadows for five years and Jas loved riding and showing the gorgeous horses raised there. Then her favorite, Whirlwind is found dead, Grandpa has a stroke, and Mr. Robineaux says Grandpa had accidentally poisoned the horse by putting poisonous branches from a yew he’d trimmed in her paddock. Jas attacks him, is prosecuted and sent to foster care while Grandpa recuperates in a nursing home. Lucky for her, she’s placed at Second Chance Farm where Diane Hahn rehabs animals and finds homes for them. Jas wants to find out what really happened to Whirlwind as well as find a new home for herself and Grandpa. Good read, especially for animal lovers.

 

7/1/08

The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones is a trip to Fantasyland. Anita is turning 16 and in love with Evan who’s playing Romeo to her Juliet in the school play. He takes her for a boat ride on the Thames as a birthday gift when a strange shadow approaches and they crash. Anita awakens in the hospital with a concussion where an elegant man leads her out a window, sailing across the London sky, and into a different world. There’s a little too much talk about dresses and appearance for me, but otherwise, The Faerie Path is enchanting!

Lemonade Mouth  by Hughes is the chronicle of the beginnings of a band by the same name told in rotating point of view by the five members of the band as well as Naomi Fishmeier, writer for the student-run newspaper The Barking Clam. Five outcast freshmen, Wen, Charlie, Olivia, Stella and Mo meet in detention in the basement music room. When Mrs. Resnik steps out, they pick up instruments and are shocked at how great they sound. Stella signs them up for the Halloween Dance and Talent Show, but members of another band, Mudslide Crush, aren’t exactly thrilled with the idea of competition from a group of screwball freshmen and do what the can to sabotage them. The lemonade-swilling losers from the basement do more than make music leading a Revenge-of-the-Nerds-style revolution. This book was lots of fun, and the rotating perspective provided insights to each character.

 

6/24/08

Acampora – Defining Dulcie - Dulcie is 14 when her father, a college graduate who chose to follow in his father-in-law’s footsteps and work as a custodian, dies from lethal fumes after accidentally creating a toxic mixture of cleaning chemicals. Just after the funeral Mom decides it’s time to move from Connecticut to California where they can redefine themselves. Everything goes relatively well until Mom announces that she’s selling Dad’s ‘68 Chevy truck, the truck that got them to California, the truck that Dulcie had worked on with Dad. Dulcie decides she can’t take it, wakes very early, grabs the keys and one of Mom’s credit cards and heads home to Connecticut where her Grandpa Frank said she’d always have a place. Roxanne Soule now has the job of student custodian once held by Dulcie, but Dulice can’t help liking her. The stark narrative and cynical humor create an interesting voice for Dulcie—sort of Junoesque—and prompts the following questions: what defines us more, the present or the past? Moderate read sprinkled with bits of philosophy.

Nye – Habibi – Liyana’s Arab father has decided to return to Jerusalem to practice medicine, and it’s hard for her to say goodbye to her friends in St. Louis to go live on the other side of the world. It’s even harder for her to adjust to the way Arabs and Jews treat each other in Israel. When a Jewish boy takes interest in her and she feels the same way, how will her (and his) family react? This book is set in modern-day Israel and told from an Arab perspective almost demonizing the Israeli police, but offers hope in the idea that peace begins with individuals who can put the past behind and react to the present with nonviolence.

Sheff – Beautiful Boy is the first grown-up book that I’ve read in a long time and helped to remind me of why I tend to prefer the YA books I read for work. It’s a painful record of one father’s fight against his son’s addiction to methamphetamine or crystal meth. This non-fiction piece follows the birth of David Sheff’s beautiful son Nic, through childhood and on to addiction. It’s a tough read for any parent. Like The Giving Tree, David does everything he can to give Nic the best: a good home (though summers are spent with Mom in L.A.), counseling, rehab, and love, but meth is a tough monster to beat. I think I’ll pick up something funny from the Book Match list next!

6/10/08

How I Live Now by Rosoff was a strange and disturbing read. Daisy arrives in London to be picked up by her cousin Edmond and taken to her aunt’s home in the British countryside. Her relationship with Edmond is unconventional to say the least and definitely one of the things that makes this book strange. The English country home occupied by her four cousins is a far cry from NYC and, when England is occupied by an unnamed enemy, the cousins are separated. Aunt Penn was stuck in Oslo. Due to the occupation and war, there is no electricity, no gas, and no communication. Train stations are bombed and hospitals are closed, but with nine-year-old Cousin Piper at her side, Daisy proves to be incredibly resilient. The very idea of a modern war fought primarily by suicide bombers and saboteurs is frightening but the graphic descriptions of death could bring on nightmares.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Yancy was a pleasant surprise. Alfred Kropp is described as an oversized underachiever. He’s that and much more. He’s steadfast in his interpretations of right and wrong, but he agrees to help Uncle Farrell to steal a sword from the office building where Farrel works as a security guard. Alfred doesn’t believe Mr. Myer’s claim that the sword was his, stolen by Mr. Samson, owner of Samson Tower, but Uncle Farrell can’t resist the money offered for the theft: one million dollars. From the moment he’s got the sword in his big meaty hands, Alfred’s launched on a rollercoaster ride that includes sword-wielding monks, murderous agents of darkness and representatives for a strange government agency called OIPEP. Alfred’s direct speech, honesty and strong moral fiber contrast with his mass to create a memorable character engaged in a very entertaining adventure.

Beanball by Fehler is an excellent quick read told in alternating narration by 28 different narrators in poetic form. It sounds confusing, but it’s not because Fehler informs the readers of the quick narrator changes with the narrator’s name and position or title at the top of each change. Luke Wallace was nicknamed Wizard by teammates because there’s magic to the way he’s able to get to every ball hit into the vast green sea known as center field. He plays basketball and football too, a natural athlete. Up against Compton, conference rivals, Luke takes a wicked fastball to the head and even the umpire is shocked at how silently he drops and how much he bleeds. Teammates, classmates and family all wonder with the reader if he’ll ever be the same. Great book for the reluctant reader.

 

6/4/08

The Invention of Hugo Cabret was a magical book (book is almost the wrong word) created by Brian Selznick. Hugo Cabret once had a loving father who worked as a clockmaker but was also rebuilding a marvelous automaton that had been found in the attic of a museum. When it all burned down, Hugo was left with his alcoholic uncle winding and maintaining clocks at the train station. When his uncle disappears, all that Hugo’s got left are the charred remains of the mechanical man and his father’s notebook filled with drawings to aid in repairing the automaton. Hugo’s certain that the machine will provide a message that will lead him to his destiny. When his father’s notebook is stolen by the old toy vendor, Hugo laments that he might never discover where he fits in the cogs and gears of life. This book is over 500 pages long, but about 300 are filled with incredible illustrations that function almost as the moving frames of a motion picture.

 

6/2/08

Eclipse was the last book in the Twilight Trilogy by Stephanie Meyer and the Edward/Bella saga is so engrossing that I couldn't put this book down! Bella’s got a tough choice to make. She had referred to Jacob’s wide smile and warm arms as her sun while Edward was gone, and she still feels love for Jacob. Now that Edward’s back with all the silvery magic of moonlight, she’s got to make a decision. Will she choose a love grounded in reality, one that will involve open relationships with her parents and even children, or the intense attraction, deep commitment and cool perfection of Edward? With Victoria and the Vulturi lurking in the backgournd, Bella’s got several distractions, but the real question in this final installment of the trilogy is whom will Bella choose?

 

5/29/08

New Moon is the second book in the trilogy by Stephanie Meyer that began with Twilight. It opens with Bella’s 18th birthday and a party she attends with the beautiful and charming family of her incredible boyfriend Edward. When she cuts herself unwrapping a gift, Edward’s brother Jasper can’t resist the delicious smell of her blood and attacks. Of course Edward springs to her defense but realizes that his relationship with her puts Bella in danger, and he loves her too much for that. She wants to become vampire like him so she won’t continue growing older than him, but he refuses for fear of damning her soul to hell. What’s a vampire to do? Will Bella turn to Jacob Black for comfort? What does he know about the wolves that have been sighted in the woods where campers have disappeared? More excellent drama, romance and action!

 

5/27/08

I read Incantation by Hoffman recently and found it incredibly compelling YA fiction. During the Spanish Inquisition, Marrano meant “dirty” or “pig”. It was also the term used for hidden Jews who secretly practiced their faith in order to be accepted by the Christian society in which they lived. The Inquisition escalates in the quiet town of Encaleflora where Estrella lives. Estrella means star, and little did the sixteen-year-old main character realize that in her case Estrella means a six-pointed star. This is an excellent piece of historical fiction that was well-researched. The atrocities witnessed by the main character all really happened to Jews and other “heretics” during the Spanish Inquisition. The lies told about Jews were lies that were really told. Lies about stealing and killing gentile babies to use their innocent blood in rituals that no Jew ever took part in. The greed and fear that gripped the people of Encaleflora spread across Spain like a monster emerged from a well.

I never wrote about a book a read a month or two ago called Cherub by Muchamore. Cherub is introduced as a division of MI5 (British Intelligence) based on the youngsters involved in supporting the French Resistance during WWII. Britain realized the value in agents under 17 being far less suspicious than adults. James Choke is their latest bad-boy recruit, and he's got some growing up to do. Will he survive the rigors of training for this secret and elite group.

5/13/08

Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter is the first book in the Warriors series. Rusty is a young housecat who is curious about the woods and the wild cats that live there. He decides to investigate and is attacked by Graypaw, a member of the ThunderClan. Each of the four clans defends it's territory with violent loyalty, and Rusty is intrigued. He manages to throw off his attacker and turns to face him instead of running away. This impresses Bluestar, the clan leader, and Rusty is invited to join the clan. They need more warriors and, though a kittypet (scorned by the cats in the wild) Rusty longs for life in the wild. His name is changed to Firepaw, but there's more trouble in the clan than fighting for hunting territory and he'll find himself right in the middle of it all.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer is the first book in a trilogy that kids (particularly girls) are eating up like candy bars. The story is told by Bella, a teenager from Phoenix who decides to move in with her biological father after her mother remarries. He lives in Forks, Washington, the rainiest place in the United States. The setting is important because in a place like Forks, the mysterious Cullen family can move freely. Edward Cullen is Bella's biology partner and Bella is inially frightened of the graceful and incredibly handsome Cullen, but he seems absolutely repulsed by her. When he saves her from being crushed by a car one icy morning, things begin to change. There are strong mystical and romantic elements in this page-turner that several students have read more than once!

4/9/08

Well, it took me until Spring Break to do more reading and until conferences to write up the information on the books I've read here! So many books--so little time!

Chasing Yesterday: #1 Awakening by Wasserman – The book opens with the thirteen-year-old main character regaining consciousness in and industrial urban area where a huge explosion had destroyed three city blocks. A man wearing black shoes with gold bars in place of laces approaches but leaves when sirens draw near. JD (Jane Doe) soon moved from the hospital to a foster home where she meets Daniel and struggles to survive the cruelty of housemates. In this struggle, she is surprised at her physical strength and the strange visions that haunt her. When her mother arrives to claim her, she hopes the mystery of her identity and the source of her visions will be solved. Quick compelling read.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by Boyne - Nine-year-old Bruno doesn’t understand that his father is a high ranking Nazi and he’s upset when, after a visit from “the Fury” and his pretty blonde girlfriend, the family packs their things and moves from their nice house in Berlin to “Out With” where Father is Commandant and gets to wear a fabulous new uniform. The problem with Out With is that Bruno’s got no one to talk to or play with except for his older sister Gretel, and she’s just a hopeless case. The only children are on the other side of the fence. Lonliness finally drives him to explore even though he’s been forbidden to do so, and he discovers Schmuel, a skinny boy his age wearing strange striped pajamas. Told through naïve eyes, this fable is filled with irony and is a very unusual Holocaust story.

Cirque du Freak: Book 1 A Living Nightmare by Darren Chan had been sitting on my nightstand for quite some time, and I'm glad I finally read it! The book opens with the first person narrator talking about how he’s loved spiders since he was little and used to bring them in the house hoping to keep them around as pets to his mother’s dismay. Now Darren (yes, the main character has the same name--first and last--as the author) is in middle school. One of his friends steals a flyer from his older brother's pants for a freak show called Cirque du Freak, and naturally they want to go. Darren is particularly intrigued by Mr. Crepsely and his performing spider, Madame Octa. The show turns out to be everything Darren had hoped for . . . and more!

1/7/07

Life As We Knew It by Pfeffer made me want to rush to the grocery store and stock up on canned goods. At the beginning Miranda’s biggest worry is having to write three papers for Friday. Even her French teacher has assigned writing focused on the moon and its impending collision with an asteroid. Everyone on her street is out on May 18 at 8:30 p.m. to witness the big event, but the results were not what the scientists had predicted. The asteroid must have been much denser than expected so the moon was pushed off its regular course and is now orbiting much closer to the earth. That change prompts tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that change life as Miranda knows it. The electricity falters, phones stop working, grocery stores are empty and gas is $12 a gallon. Will the well have water all winter? Will old Mrs. Nesbitt survive on her own? Will the swim team continue to meet at Miller’s Pond? Read this book, written as Miranda’s diary, to find out.

Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 by White is a fascinating look at a tragic future in which EduTV has replaced school and Survivor shows keep the discontented masses pacified. Education beyond the age of 14 is only available for the wealthy and those who win the Toss, a role of dice. The Secretary of Entertainment’s job is to keep people staring blankly TV programming rather than consider their situations and revolt. Consequently, TV shows become more and more daring leading her to come up with the idea of having five fourteen-year-old kids who’ve already lost their Tosses recreate the Scott expedition to Antarctica. The kids think camera crews will be hidden somewhere in the cold white vast expanses of Antarctic landscape, beause they don’t know that the Secretary’s implanted tiny cameras right into their eyes. How can the people at the Department of Entertainment and the viewers continue to allow this sick form of entertainment? This 322 page read went much faster than I had expected.

This Is What I Did by Ellis was a very disturbing but intriguing read. It’s about a boy named Logan who had been through trauma and retreated into silence. The reader doesn’t know what happened, but realizes that his parents had moved to avoid the stigma and that Logan’s friend Zyler had been involved. The book is told in short choppy journal-type entries by Logan. Direct dialogue is not encased in quotation marks so that the reader can see all the instances when Logan doesn’t reply to others. Though his parents wanted him to have a fresh start at a new school, Mom befriends the wrong people and tells them that Logan is seriously depressed. One of her new friends has a son named Bruce who becomes a horrible bully to Logan saying and doing very cruel things to the strange and silent newcomer. Another outcast named Laurel loves palindromes, hates Bruce and is willing to give Logan a chance, but he’s got to speak for himself. This book was an excellent quick read, but it’s not for everyone. Logan was silent for a reason that will be difficult for some to stomach and/or understand completely.

High Heat by Carl Deuker was another outstanding sports novel. It’s not just the vivid descriptions of baseball action that pull the reader in, but the well-developed and believable characters. Shane is a sophomore at Lakeside Academy, an exclusive school in Seattle, where he is the clean-up pitcher for their championship team when his father is arrested for money laundering. Shane moves from a luxurious home in a gated community to a small city-subsidized duplex. Repressing his complex feelings is difficult and Shane seems to have an outlet in baseball, but an angry pitcher can be a dangerous thing. Consistent with Deuker’s other fabulous sports books, this one is challenging with mature issues. Loved it.

 

12/29/07

Wow! It's obviously been a while since I updated this page!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid; a Novel in Cartoons by Jeff Kinney is hilarious. Clearly a kid book, I was surprised that it was the #1 New York Times Best Seller. The book centers around skinny, nerdy Greg Heffley’s sixth grade year. Greg’s exploits while dodging bullies, keeping friends, dealing with parents, being forced to be in the play, running for student council, avoiding the moldy cheese on the basketball court and more will keep you in stitches. This is a quick and easy read probably popular with adults who reminisce about the hurdles they jumped as sixth graders themselves. Greg opens the book declaring, “I’ll be famous one day, but for now I’m stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons,” to the end when he realizes friendship means sacrifice, the natural dialogue and fabulous cartoons will keep every reader engaged. I laughed out loud as I read and shared several lines with Mr. Benson.

Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce is an excellent, challenging and complicated tale that really focuses on empowering women. Aly is the daughter of Alanna the Lioness, Champion of the king of Tortall while her father George is a baron and second in command of the realm’s spies. Her brothers are studying to be a mage and a knight but all Aly wants to do is have fun—until she’s kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave on the Copper Islands. There she meets the Trickster god Kyprioth who’d been defeated and banished to sea by Mithros and the Great Goddess, his brother and sister. His people, the dark-skinned raka have been enslaved for the last 300 years by the light-skinned luarin who worship Mithros. Kyprioth, the Trickster,  makes a deal with Aly that will hopefully restore him and the raka to power. She must keep her true identity hidden as she works as a slave to help battle the injustice and crazy royalty on the Copper Islands. A list of characters and glossary at the end help the reader to untangle all the complexities of this wonderful but high-level read. GIRL POWER!!

I was really looking forward to You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mizvah by Rosenbloom. The opening pages, a letter to god from Stacy, the main character had me in stitches, but as I read on I was a bit disappointed. The characters were rather shallow and the plot a little too predictable. My students seem to love this book, so maybe my expectations were too high, but characters like Adam Goldfarb (Stacy’s crush) were too cliché and (his dialogue in particular) unbelievable for me. The plot was fun: Stacy’s best friend Lydia kissed Stacy’s crush prompting the title to be directed at Lydia. In addition Stacy learns the true meaning of mizvahs through the guidance of one of my favorite characters, Rabbi Sherwin, but other than that, I was unimpressed.

Here are the titles of other books read since August. The write-ups are brief because some were read months ago. Sorry--I'll try to e better about keeping up!

Firegirl by Abbott takes place at a Catholic school where the kids hold hands each day for the morning prayer. Tom is a quiet chubby boy of no great distinction but when Jessica Feeny comes to class he's the only one able to reach out to her. She'd been burned in an accident. Very very badly burned. Her face was a mass of scar tissue and her hands curled into claws. How would you react if she'd been added to your class? This is a book more about intrinsic conflicts that action.

In the Company of Crazies by Baskin is about a teenager named Mia. Since a girl from her volleyball team died suddenly in a freak car accident, Mia's sort of lost her way. She was an excellent and active student, but what's the sense in working and studying when you could be dead tomorrow? Mia gives up on school and gets into trouble so her parents decide to send her to Mountain Laurel, an alternative school placement that's always been exclusively male. Mia will be the first girl admitted and will have to find her way on her own.

Basketball (Or Something Like It) by Baskin is told in alternating first person narrative by four middle school kids, but the focus of the book isn't really basketball (though there's plenty of good basketball action). It's about how parents often become too involved in their kids' activities. I'm as guilty of that as the next parent, and this book really opened my eyes as to how that involvement may affect kids. Great lighter read. The alternating POV was very effective.

Crackback by Coy is an excellent novel focussed on the football career of a high school sophomore named Miles. He works hard and loves the game, but coaches, parents, friends and steroids begin to get in the way. Miles has to decide how dedicated he is and where his real allegiance lies.

Last Shot by Feinstein is about two middle school kids who win the weekend of their lives in a journalism contest. They will be covering the Final Four games in New Orleans but get more than they bargain for when they overhear one of the star players being blackmailed. This is a bit more challenging a read but well worth it.

Blood Red Horse by Grant is a medieval adventure story about two brothers who leave England to fight the Holy Crusades in and around Jerusalem. Gavin bullies his younger brother Will but learns to respect him through the years they spend together. Starting in Hartslove in 1185 with the boys as teenagers, the reader sees the grow into young men. The author did a great job of showing both sides in the conflict as human: both nobel and savage depending on the situation.

Crossing the Wire by Hobbs is about a Mexican teenager named Victor. Due to the falling price of corn he can no longer afford to feed his family with what he's able to grow. His father is dead and Victor realizes that he must cross to the United States to find work in order to keep his family alive. In the process he must navigate through deserts, mountains, coyotes and drug dealers.

What Happened in Mr. Fisher's Room by Hopper is a very quick and easy read about a girl named Melanie who has had it with lousy Mr. Fisher. She complains to friends about him and talks about killing his plants and fish and stealing his gradebook. When those things actually start happening, Melanie feels awful and feels she must find out who's behind it all.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by Patterson is a challenge level novel about a group of kids who had been part of some type of scientific experiment that involved splicing bird DNA into their own human DNA. The result is flying people with all sorts of interesting abilities. The flock ran from "the school" where they were raised but treated as specimens instead of humans. Max, Angel, Iggy, Fang, Nudge and Gasman are now being hunted by the group that created them and they've got Erasers on their tale too. Erasers are humans who've had DNA spliced with wolves, and they're out for blood. I read this with my freshman son as part of his required reading, so be prepared for a challenge!

So Be It by Weeks is a very interesting read about a girl named Heidi whose mentally challenged mother left her with a lot of questions. Mama only knew about 23 words and never really learned how to tie her shoes, but Bernadette, the recluse next door, helped to teach and raise Heidi. Now Heidi is bound and determined to find out where Mama came from and maybe even who her father is. Though she's never really gone farther from home than the library, Heidi is ready to embark on a cross-country trip of discovery. But sometimes when we look for one thing we uncover things we wish we hadn't.

Listening for Lions by Whelan takes place just after WWI in Africa. Rachel Sheridan's parents are missionaries with her father running a hosptial and her mother running a school.  A deadly strain of the flu arrives and people begin to die including both Rachel's parents. Rich neighbors the Pritchards lose their daughter and have plans for Rachel. Rachel will impersonate their daughter to try to win back the favor of very very wealthy Grandpa Pritchard, but is Rachel up for the task? If she can't play the part, the Pritchards will make sure she ends up in the same type of awful orphanage where her parents had been raised.

 

7/25/07

I'm just about through The Kids from Nowhere and have also been reading a book by a woman named Culham about the six traits of good writing. This book parallels ideas presented in the new text series and was recommended to me by Stafanie Labellarte, my new partner in crime. Though I sometimes scoff at how trendy the field of education can be, the ideas presented in the text are consistent with what I've always believed about good writing. I'm enjoying it because it basically presents ideas that I know are valid with more structure and clarity allowing easy application in the classroom. The book is called 6+1 Traits of Writing. If you're interested in finding out what is being stressed in the language arts curriculum this year and in years to come, check it out!

7/18/07

I am presently reading a book called The Kids from Nowhere. It’s about a teacher who decides to go to Saint Lawrence Island to teach and arrives with romantic notions about what it would be like to teach Eskimos. The Eskimos aren’t as receptive to him or to education in general. It doesn’t help to make them better hunters and there aren’t many other opportunities at this remote and desolate place. He recognizes some great thinkers and decides to try a Problem Solving program that involves state and national competitions. Most of his kids had never even been off the island much less to Anchorage. I’ve got to send a copy of this one to Suzie Greenwald!

I just finished Ranger’s Apprentice by Flanagan and loved it. Castle wards (orphaned children under the protection of Sir Arald) undergo the Choosing ceremony when they’re 15. Will had always hoped to be chosen to attend Battleschool and become a knight as he pictures his father was, though no one knows who his parents really were. Instead, he winds up a Ranger’s Apprentice. Rangers are shadowy characters that lurk about the fifty fiefs of the kingdom who seemingly have the ability to disappear. Looming behind Will’s story of being chosen and training is a larger problem. Morgarath had been expelled fifteen years ago, banished to the dismal Mountains of Rain and Night. Is King Duncan prepared for another war? Excellent action adventure that reminded me of Lord of the Rings.

Rules by Lord was a good light read addressing real issues about family and friends. Twelve-year-old Catherine is the main character and her little brother David is autistic making outings difficult. David screams and covers his ears when he hears loud noises, checks doors for cellars, reads video boxes out loud at the store, and counts down his father’s expected arrival down to the minute. When a new girl moves in next door, Catherine hopes she’ll acquire a new friend but worries that David will ruin it all. Then Catherine meets Jason while David is in physical therapy and helps him to find words to express all he’s feeling. This was a very good, quick read.

Hidden Talents – David Lubar – This book is about a boy named Martin who is sent to Edgeview Alternative School because of the nasty comments he makes to and about anyone within earshot. While dodging bullies, Martin finds a group of kids to hang out with during his stay. Torchie lights fires, Lucky has a closet full of things he’s “found”, and Cheater, well, the nickname speaks for itself. What Martin soon realizes is that there’s more to this group of misfits than meets the eye. This is a fun, moderate read.

 

6/25/07

Now that school's out you're probably thinking that I've already finished up with the Book Match list. Sadly, that's not the case! We wound up getting ourselves a second dog, my best friend had a baby (9 lbs 12 oz!), we had a graduation party for Gus, and more. However, I still have gotten to a few titles, and here's what I think of them!

Lucky Stars – Frank – when Kira arrives in NYC from her grandma’s in upstate New York, she’s surprised because her father is there as he said he’d be and he’s even got a gift for her, a bright feathered boa. However, things aren’t as great as they first seem. Dad lives in a seedy little basement apartment with her step-brothers and wants her to help them sing in the subway for donations. When she’s finally enrolled in school, it’s with two boys who have seen and obviously liked her singing. Eugene is too goofy to come out and say it and Jake can’t. His stutter prevents him from expressing his thoughts. The trio become friends and help each other work out problems in this excellent book told in alternating first person narrative by the three main characters.

To Kill a Mocking Bird – Lee – I reread this classic in late May 2007 and remembered why it was one of my favorites of all time. It’s a coming of age story that is set in Macomb County Alabama during the Great Depression. Scout, a girl and the youngest member of the Finch family tells about trying to get Boo Radley to come out, about being female in the South, about the trial of Will Robinson. The characters and setting are drawn so well by the author that you can’t help but fall in love with Atticus (Scout’s father, an attorney defending a black man accused of rape), grow to respect Calpurnia, the black housekeeper/maid, and develop mixed feelings for Aunt Alexandra. Definitely worthy of rereading!

The Reader – Schlink – this book is for the grown-ups out there. It’s one from Oprah’s Book Club. The book was originally written in German and takes place in post-WWII Berlin where a teenaged boy becomes involved with a woman more than twice his age. Their affair comes to an end, and the next time he sees her, he’s a law student and she’s on trial for having committed horrible crimes. This is a quick, excellent and mature read that explores how a person’s past effects his/her present.

Cat’s Cradle – Vonnegut – I never read this before and am reading it now with Gus in preparation for his freshman year at LHS (Go Cats!). The narrator is named John, but identifies himself as Jonah. He was writing a book about what people were doing 6/6/07, the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima but is now writing a book about his newly discovered religion, Bokononan. Though very humorous, the book is dark, exploring how callously and impersonally people reacted to the bomb, how science works outside morality to unravel puzzles regardless of the consequences, how we’re all interrelated. Very interesting and well-written.

 

6/15/07

I'm sure I've read other things since April 4 (last entry) but will focus on what I've read this week. Traitor by McNab was fabulous. I just finished this exciting spy-thriller about seventeen-year-old Danny Watts. The book takes place in England and opens with Danny being denied by the military and further education. He's an orphan and can't afford it on his own.Then he learns that he's been denied because of his grandfather, a former member of the elite military group SAS, who turned traitor. Danny discovers that his grandfather, Fergus Watts, had escaped from a Colombian prison and Danny's determined to find him. Danny doesn't expect everything else he discovers in his search. If you like Horowitz's Stormbreaker series, you'll love Traitor by McNab. I also just started a book called Lucky Stars by Frank. this book takes place in modern New York City. Kira arrives to visit with her father and soon learns that things aren't as she'd expected. He wants her to join the family singing in subway stations for handouts, and she's less than thrilled with that idea. the first person narrative switches to Jake's point of view. He ditches school because his stutter makes oral reports torture and hears Kira's incredible voice in the subway. I'll give you more info the next time I'm in range of school! Have fun over the summer and read, read, read!

4/4/07

I was able to spend some good time reading over Spring Break and decided to focus on the Classic Book Match list. I reread Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. This is an outstanding, challenging book that takes place in the future. Ender is chosen at an early age to attend Battleschool. Battleschool is located in space and trains gifted kids like Ender to be military leaders. In an attempt to thwart a potential Bugger invasion, Ender is pushed to the limit to learn and achieve quickly. This is a great, but again, very challenging book for sixth graders. It is also the first in an excellent series. I was also able to revisit another excellent, challenging novel, The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. Ender's Game is a great book preferred by sixth grade boys, and The Golden Compass is the female complement . Lyra lives in a world very similar to ours but different in many ways. She has spent her childhood growing up on the Campus of Jordan College in London (sounds like our world) with her daemon Pantelaimon always at her side (this is where her world is different). Every human has an animal counterpart with whom he/she is inseparable. Prior to puberty, the daemon shifts in form, but at puberty the daemon assumes a permanent form that reflects the personality of its partner. Lyra's daemon becomes a moth when she's trying to be small and hiding in a closet, a wildcat when she's threatened and defensive, etc. When children start disappearing, the community begins blaming "Gobblers". When Lyra's friend Roger disappears, she makes it her mission to find out what the Gobblers are doing with the kids and to get them back home. Fabulous but complex reading. The last book I read was Frindle by Clements. I know this is a favorite of many from their younger days, but I just found it annoying! This may be because it followed the powerful classics listed above, but Nick and Mrs. Granger just made me crazy! The idea behind this very very very easy read was the origin of words. Nick questions Mrs. Granger (who is so in love with the dictionary she'd marry it if she could) and decides to create his own word. "Frindle" is the word he begins to use to replace the word "pen". Some adults are amused, but others, particularly those at school, are not. Nick's new word idea snowballs into a fiasco of greater proportions than he dreamed possible. There's a twist at the ending that explains Mrs. Granger's motivation in trying to squech the Frindle controversy. Fun, but a little too light and goofy for me.

3/16/07

I read another quick book for Classic Book Match, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Coerr. I read this while the kids took ISAT make up tests and cried my eyes out! The book is about a real person, a girl who lived from 1943-1955. She lived in Hiroshima, Japan and winds up with leukemia because of exposure to radiation when the atomic bomb was dropped. Very quick, very meaninful read. I also read On Pointe by Grover. This one was much better than expected. On Pointe us about a girl named Clare who is working to achieve her dream of making the City Ballet Troupe. She lives with her very supportive grandfather because his house is closer to the conservatory. The problem is that she's tall, at least four inches taller than all the others, and that may be enough of an oddity to prevent her from making it in spite of her skills and love of dance. The book is told in poetry that flows through the narrative beautifully. Though the book focuses on Clare, we learn about some other dancers too. Rosella throws up every day after practice, Tommy flirts with everyone, and Elton who actually joins the losers in the adult class. Great stuff!

3/15/07

I've spent some time recently preparing for Classic Book Match. Classic Book Match is basically Book Match for old timers. A list of 50 "classic" books from past years of Book Match has been compiled by the librarians at the Highland Park Public Library. This list includes titles from the 4-5 grade and 6-7 grade lists from the past. Recently I've read The Great Brain by Fitzgerald. This book takes place in Utah in 1896. The author remembers his youth and his crazy brother Tom, the Great Brain. Tom is always concocting different ways to make money or outsmart others. The setting may be difficulty for kids today as it was 100 years ago. The book opens with the Fitzgeralds being the first family in Adenville to get a water closet (indoor bathroom). Tom decides to charge neighborhood kids to watch its installation and later to come in a watch it flush-a modern marvel for 1896! I also read Shiloh by Naylor. Believe it or not, I'd never read this classic before! It's the story of Marty Preston, a boy growing up in rural West Virginia in the hills outside of Friendly. Marty is followed home by a dog one day and is struck by how timid and scared the dog seems. He names the beagle pup Shiloh but soon learns that Shiloh is the property of abusive Judd Travers. Marty loves Shiloh and can't stand the thought of him being kicked by mean old Judd. But his family can't afford to buy the dog, so there's not much he can do. This was an excellent quick read. Bunnicula by Howe is a cute story told from the point of view of Harold, the Monroe family dog. When the family comes home from the movies with a rabbit that was left on a seat, Chester, the family cat, is suspicious. Bunnicula only wakes at night, sucks the color from all the vegetables he's given as food, and has some very long caninie teeth. Chester, refers to books on vampires and decides that the family is in danger, and something must be done about this strange new pet. Another quick, entertaining read. Harold's voice was excellent.

3/12/07

I got through a couple of Book Match books and loved them! The Tequila Worm by Canales really hit home with me, the daughter of two immigrants. In the book Sofia, the main character, earns a scholarship to a prestigious private school in Austin, Texas, hours from her family's home. Her tight knit family and community are hard for her to leave and the outside world is very foreign. She remembers when she was younger and teased for having homemade tacos for lunch, playing Communion with Necco wafers, and more. These two incidents reminded me very much of things I did myself as a child. I actually played Communion with Necco wafers and suffered embarrassment because my lunch always included sandwiches on Italian bread unlike the Wonder bread everyone else had. Immigrant children will recognize the conflict between maintaining traditions and fitting in in the U.S. I loved this book!

2/8/07

I finished Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney last night. It was an excellent and well-researched book about a New York teenager doing a paper on Small pox for an advanced biology class. Mitty (Mitchel Blake) doesn't really care about school, but he does care about staying in class with Olivia. As is typical for Mitty, he doesn't even start his research until the day before notes are due. His teacher insists on four book sources, and his mother happens to be an interior decorator whose specialty is libraries. She has some antique books at their country home in Connecticut and Mitty picks up one on infectious diseases that was published in 1899. Inside the volume, he finds an envelope labeled "Scabs--VM epicemic, 1902, Boston" and he examines the nasty contents, perhaps too closely. Will the dreaded disease resurface killing millions? Will bioterrorists use Mitty to unleash this monster? This is an excellent read that includes quite a bit of nonfiction information on Small pox, Typhoid Mary, anthrax, tetnus, and more.

2/2/06

Having a student teacher definitely has its benefits, one of which is allowing me more time to read! I finished Blue Fingers: A Ninja's Tale by Whitesel last night. It took me a while to get into this book. I started it and put it down several times before plunging in. The story takes place in feudal Japan in 1545. Koji, the main character, is an unlucky twin. He is sent by his family to serve as an apprentice for a master dye maker. Koji has always had doubts about himself, feeling inadequate compared to his brother Taro. The dye maker had really wanted Taro as an apprentice, but Koji's parents decide to make the switch for reasons that Koji doesn't understand until much later in the story. He thinks his folks want to be rid of him. His insecurities lead him to fail with the dye maker who decides to send the immature boy back to his parents. Koji can't stand the disgrace and runs away to a nearby bamboo forest said to be haunted by tengu, but it's really the secretive ninja. Koji is taken captive but soon learns the ways of the ninja and wants to help them and his family to live better lives than those offered by the brutal samuri. Though it took a while to get through the first 25 pages, I read the rest in two nights!

1/23/07

Well, it's January, and I feel extremely guilty for a couple of reasons. First of all, I haven't updated this part of my site for two and a half months! YIKES!! In addition to that, I've been kept so busy with work and family that I've only read one books since those listed below. Black Storm Comin' by Wilson is an excellent piece of historical fiction. The main character, Cole, is moving to California with his family in the early 1860s. The thing that's unusual about them is that they're a mixed family. His father is white, and his mother is black. The road is difficult, especially when dealing with the prejudices of others on the trail, and when Father runs off and Mother falls ill, Cole must do what he can to help his family survive. Though only 13, he takes a dangerous job as a pony express rider. This was an excellent book set in difficult times.

Adult Reads:

Maybe I shouldn't feel that guilty because I also read a rather compelling adult level book called Perfect Madness. Moms (and I guess dads too), this book is for us. It's about the stress we sometimes impose on ourselves (but society puts most of the pressure on us) to be perfect moms with perfect kids. The stress we feel to make sure our kids are in the right extra curricular activities, have the best birthday parties, etc. Very interesting reader for me as a mom and for me as a teacher. I've recently started The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay, another book geared for adults but lighter in tone (not content) than Perfect Madness.

11/7/06

Since my last entry I've read Boy2Girl by Blacker, A Coyote's in the House by Leonard (same author as Get Shorty), and am in the process of reading West with Hopeless by Lieberg. Boy2Girl was a fun read that turned out to be better than expected. When Sam Lopez arrives in England to live with his cousin due to his own mother's death, Matt's life is turned upside down. Just when Sam seems to be getting along with the Shed Gang (Matt's friends), he does something that makes them all want him out of their group. Sam offers to do anything to stay in good with the guys not realizing that "anything" will be dressing like a girl for his first week at the school they all attend. It sounds contrived but was written in a way that made it work. Blacker tells this story in rotating first person narrative with everyone in the book contributing some portion, except for Sam! A Coyote's in the House is the story of a coyote living in the Hollywood hills. Antwan has nothing but disdain for dogs that are kept by masters. The idea of having a master is completely distasteful to him until he meets Buddy. Buddy is a German shepherd who had been a film star but is now a tormented family pet. Buddy would rather be in the hills running with Antwan's gang. Throw in Betty, an award winning show poodle, and things really get fun. This was a light, enjoyable read. I've started West with Hopeless by Lieberg and hope to finish it up tonight. This is Carin's story. Since her parents were divorced when she was seven, Carin has made the trip from Davenport, Iowa to Reno, Nevada each summer to see her father. She's always flown--until now. This year she's traveling with her older half sister, Hope. Hope is much more of a free spirit than Carin, and traveling across the country in a Ford Escort with no radio or AC is a test of Carin's ability to get along with others. Both girls are growing as they make their way over 1700 miles to Reno. This is a quick read as well, but explores more personal feelings that the Leonard book.

10/30/06

Wow! It's been a long time since I've added to this page. I finished Truesight and loved it. It's introduced under the 9/8/06 entry and took me way too long to read. I just got caught up in being back to school, but I have kicked it into gear in the last week. I finished Truesight and two other YA (young adult) titles. Vampire High by Rees is a Book Match book that I had a lot of fun with. It's about a school in Sodom, Massachusettes (sp??) that the main character transfers to after failing every class including PE and Homeroom at Cotton Mather High. Cody is accepted to Vlad Dracul High even though he's not a jenti (a more PC word for vampire) because they need kids who can participate in water sports. Vlad Dracul reminds me of Hogwarts in many ways, but Cody is no Harry Potter! Have fun with this read. I also read Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce who will be visiting Elm Place next Monday. In this book Alanna and her twin brother Thom are being sent away by their father, Lord Alan. He's preoccupied with scholarly pursuits and ships his eleven-year old twins to places that will properly train them fro adult life. Alanna will go to a convent and learn to be a lady while Thom will go to the King's castle to learn to be a knight. The problem is that Alanna is better with a bow and arrow, horsemanship, etc. and Thom would love to train as a sorcerer. The decide to forge a new letter from their dad that states that they're both male with Alan (formerly Alanna) going to serve as a page and train as a knight with the king and Thom going to the convent to study sorcery. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I thought at first that it would be too elementary and predictable, but I loved it.

9/8/06

School has kept me too busy to read much for pleasure, but I have begun a book called Truesight. It's a futuristic novel about a colony of Earth's with a community called Harmony. In Harmony everyone is blind. People have been genetically altered, and those in Harmony choose to have blind children believing that "Seers" are distracted from what is important in life by outward appearance and material things. Jacob, the main character is turning thirteen soon and will be given the job that he'll to for the rest of his life. It's a little like The Giver so far because the people of Harmony blindly (no pun intended) follow the rules of the civic code and dictates of the coucilors. There are many rules and great safety in the community. Jacob, however, is beginning to wonder if there isn't a better way.

Another book I'm reading is geared more towards adults. It's called Perfect Madness and focusses on the frenzied parenting we all seem to have bought into in the last ten years or so. It's examining parents' (particularly mothers') need to do so much for our kids and next to nothing for ourselves. It isn't enough to have every child in the second grade for Chuck E. Cheese, but we've got have a theme to the party. It isn't enough to have our children in soccer, but we've got to have them in dance, art, and swimming too. I guess the theme of the book as I've interpreted so far is that we're driving ourselves perfectly crazy!

8/28/06

I can't believe that today is my first day of school!!! It's so exciting, and I just can't wait to meet my new sixth graders. I did finish Tangerine and did some lesson planning, so again, please don't read this book since it will be a classroom novel. I also read Around the World in 80 Days. Mr. Helfers is planning on using it as part of his social studies curriculum, and it was more fun to read than I had thought it would be. Phileas Fogg circumnavigates the globe with his manservant and friend Passpartout. What's amazing about the book is that it was published in 1884 and took place in 1882. What a time to travel! I'd better get my room cleaned up a bit before kids arrive, so I'm out for now! I'm so excited about beginning a new school year!!!!!

8/22/06

I haven't read anything new but am rereading Tangerine, a novel we'll read as a group in class. Bubba and Gus are busy helping me to number books and get posters and things up so that we're ready to rock next week. I can't wait to see everyone!!!

8/19/06

I finished Lucky You by Hiaasen and loved it. It's definitely more for adults with all adult characters and more adult situations focussed on a woman whose 14 million dollar lottery ticket is stolen by two wannabe white supremists. It might not sound funny, but Hiaasen's writing is always humorous with a message about conservation woven into the fiction. Now I'm rereading Tangerine by Bloor. This novel will be taught this year, so don't read it yet!

8/15/06

I finished Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Jaing. It was an excellent piece of historical fiction defining a part of China's history that most kids today don't know much about. Adults may be familiar with the persecution of intellectuals and others during the Cultural Revolution begun by Chariman Mao, but this is a very personal look through the eyes of a teenage girl. This is a memoir, not a piece of fiction. Some names have been changed, but each situation is real and happened to the author. It's a very moving piece. That's the last of the Book Match books I had in my pile, so I'll have to get a few more soon.

I've moved on to another grown-up book ("Adult book" just doesn't sound right!). This one is by Carl Hiaasen and is called Lucky You. I've read other books by this humorous author, and am enjoying this one, but it's not really for kids. Ask your parents about him! He did write one of the novels we may be reading over the course of the year called Hoot which is a young adult novel and very appropriate. I began another grown-up book called Middlesex. I believe the author is Eugenides, he also wrote The Virgin Suicides. I left it in the car one day and picked up Lucky You, so I'll probably finish that first because now I'm hooked!

8/10/06

Well, last week I actually read an adult book called The Devil in the White City by Larson. I thought it was fantastic, but it's certainly not for everyone. The book was focussed on two nonfiction historical events. One was the Columbia Exhibition also called the World's Fair of 1893. The fair took place in Chicago and the author included all sorts of very interesting information about the time and the people who molded our great city. The Palmers of the Palmer House, Frank Lloyd Wright, and of course Burnham and Root are all mentioned. A story that parallels the construction of the White City built for the fair is that of the serial murderer H. H. Holmes. He realized that young women were more independent and mobile than they'd ever been, and they were flocking to the World's Fair. His piercing blue eyes and charming manner made them easy prey for this ruthless murderer. The juxtaposition of extraordinary beautiful things taking place with vicious murder right around the corner makes this a fascinating read.

I also got through another Book Match book. The Boy from the Basement by Shaw focusses Charlie's recovery from a very abusive situation. His father locked him in the basement, we don't know for how long, giving him only an old pair of shorts to wear. Charlie was allowed to silently sneak upstairs at night to search for unlocked food, often bread and peanut butter left out by Mother. He didn't have access to a bathroom in the basement, so he used the back yard. When he gets sick, he stumbles out and accidentally locks the door behind him. He staggers about and loses consciousness waking in a hosptial. All that happens in the first few pages, the rest is about Charlie recovering and remembering. This is a piece of fiction, and in the end, things work out as they often do in fiction.

I've started the last Book Match book that I've got. It's called Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Jaing. This autobiographical piece focuses on the author's life in China under the rule of Communist leader Mao Ze-dong, formerly spelled Mao Tse-tung. Life was great for Ji-li until 1966, when she was 12 and the Cultural Revolution began and the Four Olds are defined as evils that must be abolished: old ideas, old culture, old customs, old habits. Even those who believe in the movement are subject to scrutiny if they're families every had wealth because it's the workers who are honored in this new society. Scholars and landowners are considered snobbish enemies who value western culture rather than their own new culture. It's very difficult for the granddaughter of a landlord like Ji-li even though her grandfather died 30 years earlier. So far I'm enjoying this look into China's history, but it's probably not for everyone. The persecution of neighbors and former friends does resemble Germany just before WWII. Hopefully, I'll have this book done by next week.

8/3/06

I was unable to get online last week, so I've got more than the usual number of books to report on!

I finished up The Schwa Was Here and then spent some time planning the opening unit for the coming year.

Mrs. Scheff and I decided on Crash by Spinelli, and I haven't read or taught it in a while, so I reread and did some lesson planning. Please don't read this over the summer if you're an incoming sixth grader because it is what we'll be starting with.

After that I got back on the Book Match band wagon and read Skellig by Almond. This book was written by a British author and moves at a different pace than some kids may be accustomed to. It's more introspective and has some magical elements. The main character, Michael, and his family just moved into a new house. Maybe "new" isn't the right word; it's a real fixer-upper. The garage is in particularly bad shape. It's filled with the previous owner's rubbish and is about to collapse. While exploring the dangerous garage, Michael finds a mysterious little old man who seems very ill and crabby. Michael and his new neighborhood friend help to nurse this strange fellow back to health. All the while, Michael's baby sister is dealing with serious health issues of her own. Told from Michael's point of view, Skellig is a very sweet novel and a very moderate sixth grade read.

I also read The Winter People, another Book Match title, by Bruchac. This well-researched piece about the Abenaki tribe takes place in the mid 1700's during the French and Indian War. British attack the Abenaki village of St. Francis where the native Americans have been working closely with the French and adopted some French culture including French language, some European dress, and Christianity. The British attack leaves the fourteen year old narrator, Saxo, alone. The British have taken his mother and sisters hostage, and he vows to get them back. Be sure to read the author's notes at the end to give  complete historical context for this excellent piece of fiction.

The last novel I've read  since last time is called TTFN by Lauren Myracle. This book was a very quick read. I took a break from the Book Match list and chose this book based on it's popularity with my female students. It was a little racier than I expected. The book is told in Instant Messages sent between the three main characters, Angela, Zoe and Maddie. The three are sixteen years old and get involved in a variety of issues including drugs and sexual situations. It was a quick entertaining read, but will be put on the shelf behind my desk because it does deal with some ideas that require a parent note before it can be checked out.

The last piece I've read since the last update is by Mark Haddon and is titled The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. This is definitely a challenge for most middle school students. It was on Bubba's (my son's) summer reading list for incoming Libertyville High School freshmen. This book is told from the point of view of an autistic teenager living in England. His name is Chris, and in the opening pages of the novel he finds his neighbor's standard poodle dead in her yard with a pitchfork pinning him to the turf. Chris decided he must, like Sherlock Holmes, unravel the mystery. He loves math and puzzles and sees this as a puzzle. This type of investigation is rather difficult for someone who is easily overwhelmed, and curls into a ball groaning to help himself feel secure. He can't stand to be touched by anyone including his father. Chris doesn't trust strangers and brandishes his jack knife when he feels threatened. Reading from his first person point of view helps to make this a fascinating read. Chris ends up learning much more than who murdered Winston over the course of this novel.

I've got The Boy from the Basement by Shaw lined up to read next.

7/20/06

I finished The Uglies last week. It was excellent and challenging. I highly recommend it, especially because we're living in such and image-conscious society right now that's somehow found empty-headed pretty partying to be admirable (Paris Hilton).

I also read an excellent mystery called Down the Rabbit Hole: An Echo Falls Mystery by Abrahams. This was another long book (over 400 pages) like The Uglies and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea but somehow turned out to be a quick read. This very engaging book is told from the point of view of the 13-14 year old main character, Ingrid, as she unravels the murder of Cracked-Up Kate. It's very well done and kept me turning pages.

I started The Schwa Was Here by Shusterman (author of The Shadow Club and other YA books). This is just what I needed after reading three long, heavy books. The main character, Anthony Bonano, is an eighth grader in Brooklyn who often feels invisible, but not as invisible as a classmate, the infamous Schwa. The boys start using the Schwa's ability to not be noticed to make money, but taking a dare to stealthily steal a dog bowl from crabby Old Man Crawley's was more than even the Schwa could handle. This book is filled with humor and is just over 200 pages. I ought to be able to finish it up this afternoon and move on to my next Book Match book. I'm psyched because I've gotten through 31 of the 50 books on the list!

 

7/12/06

I didn't get much time to read last week, but celebrating the Fourth and going away to a friend's lake house were both awesome! I did start a new book that's not on the Book Match list. The Uglies by Westerfield has started off great. I'm about 150 pages into this 400+ page book and it's fabulous. It takes place in a future where everyone in this self-sufficient community has an operation at 16. This operation gives everyone the tall slender figure, big eyes and silky hair that science has proven is most attractive and allows for maximum confidence and success. They go from being Uglies to being Pretties and living in glamorous, fun Pretty Town. The main character (Tally) has a friend named Shay who decides against the operation and runs away to David in the wild to live naturally. Tally has to decide whether to stay loyal to Shay or to become a Pretty as she's always wanted.

7/6/06

I finished 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea sooner than I thought I would. Though the scientific descriptions of fish and other underwater life became tedious at times, the story was compelling. It's about a Professor from France who goes in search of a sea monster that turns out to be a huge fantastic submarine called the Nautilus owned and operated by Captain Nemo, a man who chose to abandon civilization for the magical depths of the oceans. The book was written in 1869, so it's amazing that Verne was able to imagine such an incredible submarine and adventure.

I also read The Girls by Koss. This is another Book Match book. It's only 121 pages long and the vocab was easy. It was a refreshing change after 20,000 Leagues. Anyway, it's basically about a group of five girls who seem to be about sixth grade age. The leader of the group, Candace, decides she's tired of one of the girls, Maya, so Maya is ousted. The other members don't necessarily agree with Candace but don't dare challenge her either. What was most interesting about this book was that it was told in rotating first person narrative. That means that each chapter was told by a different character providing a very interesting look at why the girls behaved as they did. This was an easy, quick read and better than I thought it would be.

I've picked up Down the Rabbit Hole but haven't started it yet!

6/28/06

Last week I read The Misfits by Howe. This moderate read was focussed on a group of four seventh graders who don't fit in. There's Skeezie the wild one, Bobby the chubby one, Addie the really smart and very tall female member of the group and finally Joe the effeminate member. When Addie refuses to say the Pledge and then decides the group should run for student council as a third party with ending name calling as their primary focus, things get moving. The story is told by Bobby who works a couple times a week in the tie department of an old local department store. This was a moderate and fun read.

I also made it through Small Steps by Sachar. This was a moderate and fun read as well focussing on the exploits of Armpit and X-Ray after the leave Camp Green Lake. Stanley Yelnats isn't a character in this novel, but Sploosh, the foot powder his dad invented is mentioned a couple times. This novel delves into the power of reputation and appearance. Armpit experiences how much impact his arrest and stay at Camp Green Lake influences others' opinion of him at home, at school, and even on the street. Armpit (Theodore) is just trying to get through summer school and work when X-Ray comes up with a fool proof way to double his money by buying tickets to the Kaira DeLeon concert and then selling them for double the value. Excellent compelling story.

Finally, I started Jules Verne's classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It's over 400 pages long and was orignally published in 1869, so the language can be challenging. There's also quite a bit of scientific mumbo jumbo that may or may not be accurate. Let's face it, a lot of scientific theory has changed over the last 150 years! I was surprised at how quickly I made it through the first 150 pages. After the first chapter, I thought it would drag on forever, but it's beginning to move. Those who like a challenge and have a well-developed vocabulary might enjoy this book. It's about a Professor from France who goes in search of a sea monster that turns out to be a huge fantastic submarine called the Nautilus owned and operated by Captain Nemo, a man who chose to abandon civilization for the magical depths of the oceans.

6/20/06

I forgot to mention The Lightning Thief below. I read it before school was out and loved it. It's by Riordan and is a very compelling book about Greek Mythology set in modern times. I know, it sounds crazy, but it really works! Mount Olympus has moved to the new center of Western Culture, New York City (above the Empire State Building) and where do you suppose the entrance to the underworld is? That's right, Los Angeles! Give this challenging book a try.

Last week I read another excellent challenging novel called Mortal Engines by Reeve. It takes place thousands of years in the future after catastrophic world events have caused cities to go mobile. The traction cities move across The Hunting Ground (formerly known as Europe) looking for smaller traction cities to devour and then use for parts. Tom, an apprentice historian on the traction city of London, believes in Municipal Darwinism until he is pushed off of London by his hero, a Historian named Valentine. This challenging book is full of action from the get-go!

Yesterday I finished a book called The Maze by Hobbs. If you're familiar with Hobbs, you know his books tend to be about survivial in extreme circumstances. This book is about a fourteen year old boy named Rick who runs away from the juvenile detention center a judge assigned him to. He winds up camping with a man doing condor research in Canyonlands National Park, but there are people who resent the presence of the Condor Project. I've been to Canyonlands, and that was part of what I liked about this book, but anyone could pick it up and get into the problems faced by orphaned Rick. Parallels to the Daedalus and Icarus myth are woven throughout this excellent moderate read.

 

(I wrote the below 6/14/06)

I finished The Golden Goblet earlier in the week. I was reading it as a possible replacement for The Reluctant God. Both books take place in Ancient Egypt, but I liked The Golden Goblet better because it doesn't seem to have the religious agenda that The Reluctant God has.

I just started Fish by Matthews. It's a very interesting look at a child's journey from a war torn country. What I've really liked about it is the child's connection to the animal characters. The fish, of course, but also the donkey and wild dogs. It's a quick read and very different. The first person narrator is the child whose name and gender is not revealed, at least not before page 95 (Where I am in the book).

Last week I finished an excellent piece of historical fiction called The Goddess of Yesterday by Cooney. You may know her name from the Janie series, The Face on the Milk Carton, etc. Goddess is the best book I've read in a while. It's got danger, action, a little romance, and all from the perspective of a teenaged girl living in Ancient Greece. The romance between Prince Paris (of Troy) and Helen (wife to Greek king Menelaus) is explored from a different perspective. Great read.

 

Teachers:

Some of you have asked for my recipe for the scrambled egg casserole that I make for our teacher breakfasts. Here are the rough recipes, but you can add whatever you'd like!

I'm not big on measurements, so here's roughly what I do:

Saute a large onion (I use olive oil) adding a heaping teaspoon of minced garlic at the end of the saute process.
Scramble up some eggs (8-12 for a big casserole).
Add milk or half and half (I didn't have half and half last week and used 2%) about one cup for every six eggs.
Defrost and sqeeze out two packages of spinach.
Add the spinach and onion to the egg mixture.
Add a cup of sour cream and/or two cups of ricotta and/or about a half cup of parmesean cheese. (I used sour cream and ricotta only last week--it depends on what's in the fridge.)
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Bake about 50 minutes at 350.

 

OR
Use the same egg/milk combo and add a pound of cubed ham and two cups of grated cheddar.

It's really easier than it looks. I baked both of these for our Christmas brunch, and people really seemed to enjoy them!