April - June 2010 Reads

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (excellent book)
Forest Born by Shannon Hale
Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum
Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven 3)
Igniting a Passion for Reading by Steven Layne (LOVED this book...got me excited about teaching again!)
Lunatic Express by Carl Hoffman
Maisie Dobbs
Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt
Mergers by Steven Layne
Methods of Madness by Stephanie Black
One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus (Very interesting!)
Paris Pan Takes the Dare
Readacide by Kelly Galagher
Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven 2)
River Secrets by Shannon Hale
Saboteur by Dean Hughes
Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven 4)
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller (about teaching kids to love reading)
The Daily Five (about teaching reading)
The Kitchen Boy
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer (Fun read...thanks for letting me borrow it Shannon!)


Okay, wow! That seems like a pretty long list, even to me. And really almost all of them were good books... but a couple stand out on this list. SO...in case anyone cares, or just to refresh my memory at a later date, there are four books I'll mention.

First, I love the Fablehaven series. I read #1 to Michelle and Ella and they really liked it. I can't wait for them to get older to read the rest...but there are some sad/intense parts and so I'll wait. I especially loved #4!!!!

The book One Thousand White Women was very interesting. It takes a real historical event and changes what did happen to ask what if? What if one thousand white women were married to members of the Sioux tribe. It was very interesting and really showed both good and bad in each society...white and Native American. Very interesting.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a classic and was our book club read in June. I'd read it before about 10 years ago and recommended it to quite a few people over the years. Rereading it now, totally different things stood out to me. It led to a great discussion about how women can be catty and gossipy and jealous and unkind...and also charitable, loving and noble. We also talked a lot about socio-economic status and the role that plays in lives. I've been thinking about our discussion ever since...how it is so easy to think that people are poor because they don't work hard or use drugs or whatever. I think so often that is untrue. Oftentimes, those who are poor work harder than those in the middle class. They have just been, as Francie's dad points out, unlucky. Why have I been blessed in so many ways that my students haven't? The good news is that while it is difficult, it is possible to change your socio-economic status, primarily through education. We can each overcome whatever challenges we are given...and we all have them.

The last book that really was a great book and really made you think was Mergers. In this book, a man realized that so much suffering in the world was a result of racial and ethnic differences... there is often hatred, prejudice and persecution of people based on the way they look or where they come from or the way they speak. So the man decided to merge all the races and create one race. This book is about four teens who were born different, not merged, and with special skills/powers. Who is right? Would merging people, eliminating race and diversity, eliminate problems? Or is diversity part of what makes us human, unique and special? This book is action packed and intense and was a real page turner, but also gives you a lot to think about... Fabulous read!! I'd recommend this for 5th graders on up to adults.