Mockingjay

This final chapter of The Hunger Games is finished. It is gritty, dark, violent and brilliant. In "Mockingjay", by Suzanne Collins, Katniss has been rescued from The Capitol but at horrific costs: District Twelve - bombed , friends and neighbours - killed, Peeta - captured. With the revolution against The Capitol underway and with Katniss as its symbol of rebellion and strength, violence seems the only way to win. Heartbreaking in what she looses, Katniss fights to the very bitter end. Happy ending? You decide.

What are you reading today?

Back to the Future

In the spring many of our students were doing a project on music of the past decades. Not only did all my books on "Pop Culture of the 50's, 60's, 70,s and 80's" go out but so did "The History of Rock and Roll", "The Beatles", "Elvis", "Bryan Adams" etc. The halls were ringing with old familiar tunes and presentation day brought the look of the decade in clothes and hair! Lots of fun.

"Countdown" by Deborah Wiles brought October 1962 to life in this documentary novel. Pictures, songs, lifestyle and, most important, the political issues of that time are the backdrop to the life of Franny Chapman for a few days when she is feuding with her best friend, when her sister disappears, when her uncle ends up in the hospital and when Russia and America seem on a collision course involving the blockade of missiles. Do you want to know what that time was like? America really did believe a war might happen and this book made you feel it. But you also connect so strongly to Frannie who doesn't know how to deal with what's going on around her.

What are you reading today?

The Touchstone

I have written before how much I like the humorous books by Andrew Norris. Phyllis at Vancouver Kidsbooks shares my love and promptly gave me 'The Touchstone" to read and it is another winner. This one is about Douglas Patterson, a young boy who is contacted by an alien in trouble. He helps this alien who in turn gives him a Touchstone, an amazing device that links him to a universal librarian who has access to all the knowledge of all the galaxies. He first uses his Touchstone to give him answers to tests and for help for his friend Ivo to build a robot. However this Touchstone is sought after by the Guardians, enemies of his alien. He is torn between the opposing sides and wants to know who to believe. He realizes it is the questions he asks that are the most important thing, the questions that have long term consequences.

What are you reading today?

My Life as a Book

I picked up this book "My Life as a Book" by Janet Tashjian today somewhat hesitantly. It looked goofy with stick figure drawings along the margins and I am not really into goofy. As I began reading I did find it goofy but also engaging and humorous. However somewhere along the way it also took a left turn and I loved it and I think you will too.

The main character, Derek, is the kind of boy who just makes you shake your head. He is always involved in some kind of mischief and now that summer holidays are here fun is Derek's middle name (for example he uses his mother's avocados as grenades). His parents send him to Learning School to help him with his reading difficulties as he is a reluctant reader at the best of times. However, when Derek finds an old newspaper in his attic that details the drowning of a teenage girl he is intrigued and asks his parents what it is all about. When they downplay the incident it only makes him want to find out more and he does, much more than he ever expected. He finds out he played a part in that tragedy when he was a baby. He convinces his parents to go visit the girl's mom so he can fully understand what happened.

This a such a funny and poignant book. Derek learns so much this summer like making movies in his head when reading ( I do too) but also that the knowing the truth is not always the best.

What are you reading today?

Puzzling

Wow - I didn't realize how much I love puzzles! I raced through "The Potato Chip Puzzles" by Eric Berlin and found it thoroughly entertaining. I even had paper and pencil with me to try most of the puzzles and still have some I can go back to in my spare time.

A contest about solving puzzles with the prize of $50,000 for the winning school sounds a bit much but Winston Breen (who is a puzzle expert), his pals and their competitive teacher sponsor as well as inventive puzzles and situations are a perfect combination to keep you hooked. When Winston realizes there is a cheater who is trying to sabotage all the teams the big puzzle is who!

This is the second puzzle book with "The Puzzling World of Winston Breen" being the first and I think they both would make great read-alouds for teachers (with time outs for the puzzles of course).

What are you reading today?

Young Samurai

The Setting: Japan. The Date: 1612. The Main Character: Jack Fletcher - an English boy adopted by a Japanese lord after the death of his father and in training to be a samurai. This second book in the Young Samurai series by Chris Bradford titled 'The Way of the Sword" is fast paced and intriguing. While it took a bit to get into it, once in it was hard to put down.

Jack is circled by challenges: a group of fellow samurai students who tease and torment him because he is gaijin, an evil ninja trying to kill him for his father's navigational log book and the competition he takes on in order to learn Two Heavens, a special martial arts technique. This ancient ritual, called the Circle of Three, tests mind, body and spirit to the limit. He is young and tempestuous and usually learns the hard way but that is what makes this story so appealing. The author's knowledge of martial arts and the culture of Japan is extensive and fascinating.

What are you reading today?

Wild about Running Wild

I have loved many of Michael Morpurgo's books - they tell good stories and are beautifully written. They pull you in....and "Running Wild" did that and more. The premise is very much like those wonderful stories in "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling which were Morpurgo's favourite childhood tales. Hence when he heard about the terrible tsunami in Indonesia on Boxing Day in 2004 this laid the groundwork for his own "Elephants Child" tale.

Morpurgo read how the elephants and other animals seemed to know that something terrible was going to happen but he also read how one young boy on holiday, taking a ride on an elephant along the beach, was saved after his elephant ran away from the beach up into the jungle moments before the tsunami struck. In "Running Wild" Will is the young boy on holiday with his mother. When his elephant, Oona, takes off into the jungle, she never stops running and never goes back. Will thinks his mother was lost in the tsunami and he soon realizes he owes his life to Oona. They form this rare bond and together they travel through the jungle meeting up with those amazing creatures, orangutans. Civilization finally does intrude on his peaceful existence and not in a nice way. This is such a heart warming story and I loved it.

What are you reading today?