Because we are lucky enough to be educators who can afford to take full advantage of our summers, the husband and I are setting off on a road-tripping adventure until the end of the month!
We'll be camping, hiking, rafting, and exploring through the west (of course, with plenty of books in the backseat).
Really, I just wanted to let you know that I won't be posting until the beginning of August. I love this blogging world, but I just can't wait to get out into the wonder that is the real, beautiful, natural world. See you all in a few weeks!
love, Katie
Friday, July 9
Thursday, July 8
Friday Blog Hop
Happy Friday! If you are not familiar with the Blog Hop, it is a weekly meme/BOOK PARTY hosted by Jenn at Crazy for Books. Jenn has also started something new-ish: a weekly question for everyone participating in the Hop. This week... who is your favorite author?
I will read anything by Jodi Picoult and Sarah Dessen. Both authors are fabulous story tellers who put you 100%, head over heels into their stories. So far, I haven't read a book by either author that I didn't love!
I will read anything by Jodi Picoult and Sarah Dessen. Both authors are fabulous story tellers who put you 100%, head over heels into their stories. So far, I haven't read a book by either author that I didn't love!
If you are new to Book Love, welcome! I am so happy you found me. Have a look around and please leave a comment or two if you see something you like. I love meeting new Book Lovers!
Jellicoe Road: This is What I've Been Waiting For
It has been a long, long time since I've read a book that I absolutely couldn't put down, a book that made me jump up and down with excitement because I just loved it so darn much.
Jellicoe Road is the book that I have been waiting for.
It's so completely impossible to summarize this story and do it any kind of justice, so I'm just going to give you a list:
- a decades old war between the Townies, Cadets, and students of the Jellicoe School
- an accident from the past that comes back to mean everything in the present
- a girl named Taylor Markham who was abandoned years ago at a 7-11
- a quest to find the mother who left her there
- a beautiful, wonderful, tragic family of friends
- a Prayer Tree, a Club House, and a dorm full of arsonists
- Narnie, Tate, Webb, the Hermit, Jonah Griggs, Santangelo, Rafaella, the Brigadier
- "What do you think would happen if we kissed right here, right now," he asked, digging his hands into the pockets of his khaki pants, grinning.
"I think it would cause a riot."
"Well, you know me," he says, lowering his head toward me. "Causing a riot is what I do best."
Jellicoe Road is pure magic. At this moment, I am regretting almost all of my past positive reviews, because this book is beyond compare. I loved the mystery of the dueling stories, the competition of the Cadet/Townie/Jellicoe war, the complete and utter sincerity of the love stories - past and present.
When I reached the last page, and all of the pieces had finally been put together, I just had to sit back and close my eyes and spend a few last moments savoring the wonder that was the Jellicoe Road.
To me, author Melina Marchetta is a genius and an artist and stories like hers are the reason why I fell in love with reading in the first place.
Wednesday, July 7
The Heart is Not a Size
What I remember now is the bunch of them running: from the tins, which were their houses. Up the white streets, which were the color of bone. All the way to the top of Anapra, to where we were standing in our secondhand scrubs and where Riley said, "They might as well be flowers, blown right off their stalks," and Sophie said, "This is so completely wild," and the Third said nothing at all...
It was only our second day.
We'd pinned everything on nothing.
And this is how The Heart is Not a Size begins. Holy smokes, if that doesn't just suck you in...
The narrator, Georgia, is the epitome of responsibility: never earning less than an A, the neighborhood go-to babysitter, the quiet one who can always be counted on to let someone else take center stage. What no one knows is, Georgia has started suffering from anxiety attacks. Perfection always comes at a price, and Georgia's paying with giant blackbird wings beating inside her heart.
Riley is Georgia's best friend. Vibrantly colored, wildly creative, a mouth that never stops moving: Riley is Georgia's opposite in every way. She has a secret, too. After hearing her coldly distant mother dismiss her as average, Riley decides to be anything but - even if it means starving herself to prove it.
When Georgia convinces Riley to come with her on a two-week work trip to Anapra, a tiny, dustblown village outside of Juarez, Mexico, both girls go hoping for some sort of transformation. Neither is prepared for the transformation that they ultimately receive.
In some ways, this book is brilliant. The writing is gorgeous; every single paragraph is like a string of poetry. Beth Kephart took two big issues - eating disorders and anxiety attacks - and placed them together in a highly original setting. I loved that most of the story took place on a work trip in Anapra, Mexico. What a refreshing contrast to vampires and the upper east side!
However, as a whole, this book just didn't work for me. As gorgeous as the writing was, it just didn't ring true to me as the voice of a teenage narrator. In some parts I was just so distracted from the actual story because I kept thinking, "Come on! What teenager actually talks like this?" On top of that, Georgia was just sooooo serious. Granted, it was a serious story, but after a while I would have given anything for a laugh. (Spoiler alert!) In the end, I felt like so much was left unresolved. It seemed like Riley was going to get help... maybe? But I don't think Georgia ever talked to anyone about her issues. Even though I was ready for their story to be over, it just seemed unfinished.
I know that author Beth Kephart has been the recipiant of about a million awards, including being a finalist for the National Book Award. Last year in 2009, she was in the Top 5 of BBAW's author blogs. You can find hers here. Even though I was not a big fan of The Heart is Not a Size, I would still be interested to read another of her books. What do you think, Book Lovers? Have you read this one? Would you recommend another of her novels?
Monday, July 5
Paul Volponi: Part 1
As an educator, there is nothing that I want more than to help every single one of my students to fall in love with reading. I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that reading opens doors to the future. If you are a reader, you will be able to acquire the words, tools, and skills to accomplish anything you want in life.
However, I also know that gettings kids to love reading can be far easier said than done.
Maybe all of their "required reading" has been boring, maybe reading is "uncool," maybe reading has just always been a personal struggle... there are so many reasons why some kids just do not like to read.
I am on a mission to combat all of those reasons. And author Paul Volponi is my newest ally.
Volponi spent six years teaching incarcerated teens on Rikers Island. He spent another six years teaching teens in drug day-treatment centers. When it comes to writing about kids in trouble, this man knows what he is talking about.
All of his young adult novels focus on high-interest topics: race, relationships, addiction, family, gangs, drugs, and tough choices. Without ever becoming overly preachy, each book has a clear message that is expressed through a difficult choice faced by the protagonist. Readers of Volponi's novels are forced to put themselves in the shoes of the main character and really question what choice they would make in that same situation. There is some adult language, but it is never used gratuitously. One of my favorite things about Volponi's writing is that it is accessible to struggling readers. The vocabulary is very simple, so I would feel comfortable putting these books in the hands of high schoolers (or upper middle!) at any reading level.
Side-Note: Up till now, my go-to books for male, struggling readers have been the Bluford High series. Again, these books focus on very high-interest topics and have clear messages about making good choices. Even better, Bluford books are a series (that can be read out of order!) so kids love seeing the same characters pop up again and again. They are perfect for middle school readers and my kids eat them up like candy. They constantly go missing from my classroom library so I've had to re-purchase the series at least 3 or 4 times. But, I do not mind for two reasons. #1: Blufords make kids love to read! I would buy 50 more sets just for that reason. #2: Their publisher, Townsend Press, is freaking amazing and will sell the series for a dollar a book. Who can beat that? PS: Girls get obsessed with these books just as quickly, but in my experience boys are harder to hook so I always point them toward the Blufords first.
But we are really here to talk about Paul Volponi! I'm hoping that Volponi's books will do for my high school kids what the Blufords have done for my middle schoolers. This is actually going to be a two-part post (part two to come later in the week) because I have gotten on a real Volponi kick and read a whole bunch of his books at once. So without further ado...
Hurricane Song (2008) - After Miles' mom got re-married, Miles moved to New Orleans to live with his dad. Just a few months after the big move, Hurricane Katrina struck. Miles and his father were forced into the Superdome, and it turned out that surviving that would be almost more difficult than surviving the storm itself.
Jazz had always been Miles' father's first love - a clear point of contention in their relationship - but when the storm and ensuing chaos took away everything else, jazz and family were all that they had left. Could that be enough?
Black and White (2005) - Marcus (Black) and Eddie (White) have been friends forever, never worrying about any of that "racial crap." Both high school basketball stars, they have been practically guaranteed college scholarships in exchange for their skills on the court. But when they start holding people up in an effort to make a few extra dollars, they never had any idea that things could go so wrong so quickly.
When Eddie accidentally shoots a man, almost killing him, it is Marcus who takes the fall. Suddenly "black" and "white" take on a whole new level of importance in their lives as they learn that the justice system isn't necessarily just. Is this something that a friendship can survive?
Rooftop (2006) - Clay has been in Daytop, a drug treatment center, for a while when his cousin Addison gets admitted. Because of a falling out between their parents, Clay and Addison haven't really spoken for years. But once they start spending their days together at Daytop, it's like nothing ever changed. Quickly the cousins become almost like brothers.
When Addison is shot and killed by a police officer, Clay is the only witness. He is the only one who knows that no one has the story straight - not the police and not the big-time lawyer representing his family. But if he tells the truth, he'll betray not only his family, but his whole community.
Clay is forced to confront old addictions and test the limits of family loyalty as he wrestles with what truth to tell.
Rooftop is by far my favorite of the Volponi books I've read. The characters from Daytop were amazing: funny, honest, struggling, and completely real. Clay had to make so many decisions that I know many of my own students have had to deal with. He never made things look easy and I was never sure what decision he would ultimately make. I would love to use this book in a literature circle or student book club.
Stay tuned for Paul Volponi: Part 2!
However, I also know that gettings kids to love reading can be far easier said than done.
Maybe all of their "required reading" has been boring, maybe reading is "uncool," maybe reading has just always been a personal struggle... there are so many reasons why some kids just do not like to read.
Volponi spent six years teaching incarcerated teens on Rikers Island. He spent another six years teaching teens in drug day-treatment centers. When it comes to writing about kids in trouble, this man knows what he is talking about.
All of his young adult novels focus on high-interest topics: race, relationships, addiction, family, gangs, drugs, and tough choices. Without ever becoming overly preachy, each book has a clear message that is expressed through a difficult choice faced by the protagonist. Readers of Volponi's novels are forced to put themselves in the shoes of the main character and really question what choice they would make in that same situation. There is some adult language, but it is never used gratuitously. One of my favorite things about Volponi's writing is that it is accessible to struggling readers. The vocabulary is very simple, so I would feel comfortable putting these books in the hands of high schoolers (or upper middle!) at any reading level.
But we are really here to talk about Paul Volponi! I'm hoping that Volponi's books will do for my high school kids what the Blufords have done for my middle schoolers. This is actually going to be a two-part post (part two to come later in the week) because I have gotten on a real Volponi kick and read a whole bunch of his books at once. So without further ado...
Jazz had always been Miles' father's first love - a clear point of contention in their relationship - but when the storm and ensuing chaos took away everything else, jazz and family were all that they had left. Could that be enough?
When Eddie accidentally shoots a man, almost killing him, it is Marcus who takes the fall. Suddenly "black" and "white" take on a whole new level of importance in their lives as they learn that the justice system isn't necessarily just. Is this something that a friendship can survive?
When Addison is shot and killed by a police officer, Clay is the only witness. He is the only one who knows that no one has the story straight - not the police and not the big-time lawyer representing his family. But if he tells the truth, he'll betray not only his family, but his whole community.
Clay is forced to confront old addictions and test the limits of family loyalty as he wrestles with what truth to tell.
Rooftop is by far my favorite of the Volponi books I've read. The characters from Daytop were amazing: funny, honest, struggling, and completely real. Clay had to make so many decisions that I know many of my own students have had to deal with. He never made things look easy and I was never sure what decision he would ultimately make. I would love to use this book in a literature circle or student book club.
Stay tuned for Paul Volponi: Part 2!
Sunday, July 4
The Sky is Everywhere
"You can tell your story any way you damn well please.
It's your solo."
Lennie had better learn that lesson soon, or she is never going to survive this new way of living. After the death of her older sister, Lennie is adrift. Yes, she's lucky to still have Gram and Uncle Big, but without Bailey... no one is enough.
In an effort to block out the crushing, overwhelming black hole of loss, Lennie grows reckless. Kissing wildly, reaching blindly, desperate for another body who can keep her from feeling so empty - this way of coping may have worked well with Joe Fontaine...
But that isn't who Lennie reaches out to. Instead, she focuses all of her reckless wanting on Toby, "part cowboy, part skate rat, all love slave to [her] sister... Bailey's boyfriend of two years." There is no way this can end well.
The Sky is Everywhere is one of the most gorgeous examples of storytelling that I've read in a long, long time. Every phrase was like a lyric, cutting through Lennie's pain, peeling away another layer of darkness, slowly but surely revealing the sky. It's no surprise that author Jandy Nelson is also a published poet!
There were so many things that I loved about the character of Lennie: her habit of leaving scraps of poetry under rocks, etched into tree branches and scrawled on shoe soles; her passion for music; her penchant for road-reading (something that I never knew anyone else did!). On the flip side, Lennie was not my favorite character. Maybe I just couldn't understand her, but I found myself screaming at her every single time that she ended up with Toby. She was just so self-destructive! I was so afraid that if Lennie continued, she would never see the sky again.
Characters I fell in love with?
Gram: grower of aphrodisiacal roses, suppressor of the "restless gene," believer in the power of unlucky furniture. Thank God for Gram.
Sarah: Lennie's best friend, a "sun-kissed beach girl who goes goshgrungepunkhipperockeremocoremetalfreakfashionistabraingeekboycrazyhiphoprastagirl to keep it under wraps," a much-needed source of comic relief.
"'You duck! You yellow flying duck! And you took this long to tell me?!' When Sarah gets excited, random animals pop into her speech like she has an Old MacDonald Had a Farm kind of Tourette syndrome."
Joe Fontaine: source of the sunshine, revealer of the sky in Lennie's life. No one can help but to love this boy.
Joe and his brothers were the source of many of my favorite quotes:
"The Fontaine boys are like a litter of puppies, rushing and swiping at each other, stumbling all around, a whirl of perpetual motion and violent affection."
"God, you're gorgeous, I blurt out and want to die because I can't believe I said it aloud and neither can he - his smile, so huge now, he can't even get any words past it."
"I look into his sorrowless eyes and a door in my heart blows open. And when we kiss, I see that on the other side of that door is sky."
The Sky is Everywhere is a book that will stay with me for a long, long time. Darkness and light, grief and hope, earth and sky, Lennie's story is one that you will feel in your heart.
Saturday, July 3
Blog Love
Caroline Bookbinder: Carin has done pretty much EVERYthing in the book industry! Of course, she has a wide variety of great reviews, but she also has boat loads of helpful advice for getting your foot in the door pretty much anywhere.
Alison Can Read: With a simple, lovely design and a special tab for Manga (something I really want to learn more about!), this is a blog I frequent.
In the Closet with a Bibliophile: Jen is such a sweetheart and always has unique reviews on her site. Plus, I love that she gives us a glimpse into her reading-closet :)
Literary Musings: This is a daily must-read. Brenna's posts are often funny, usually brief, and always worth the read.
Emma Michaels: Emma is a blogger turned debut author! The Thirteenth Chime is coming out in August... on Friday the 13th. How perfect is that? Over at her blog you can read a synopsis, view the gorgeously creepy cover art, and share in the excitement.
And that's it for this week's Blog Love!
(top image from here!)
Friday, July 2
Friday Blog Hop
If you are new to Book Love, welcome! I am so happy you found me. Have a look around and please leave a comment or two if you see something you like. I love meeting new Book Lovers!
If you're feeling chatty, here is my Blog Hop Question of the Week: What is one book that you Loved so much that you would Never want to see it made into a movie?
For me, this is an easy question: The Hunger Games. Now don't get me wrong, you couldn't pay me enough to not go see the movie whenever it comes out. However, I just loved this book so very much that I am terrified the movie version will only ruin it. Who in the world could possibly be chosen to play Katniss?? I just don't think anyone could do her justice.
How would you answer that question, Book Lovers? I can't wait to hear what you say!
Thursday, July 1
Do You Book Club?
I love books. Obvi.
And I love talking to people about books. However, I haven't been in a book club since high school.
There are soooo many books I want to read, and I kind of dislike the idea of other people dictating what I have to read next. On the flip side, I read quite a few books in my YA lit class that I wouldn't have picked up on my own... and I loved them. So I readily acknowledge that it's always a good idea to branch out of your reading comfort zone.
Lately, I have really had the urge to start a book club. I would love to read, meet, and discuss with a group of people who read "grown up" books, and I could certainly use recommendations in that area! I found this post a while ago on Book Lust Forever and I think it may have been the catalyst for my current train of thought. I love Nancy Pearl and she offers some solid guidance for book clubs.
So here's my question for all of you: Do you Book Club? How did your current group get started? How do you choose what to read? How do you guide the discussions? What advice would you give to a book club that was just starting out? I can't wait to hear what you think!
And for your viewing pleasure... Did you know that Nancy Pearl, the ultimate Book Lover, has her very own action figure? Amazing. (Honey, if you're reading... hint, hint!)
And I love talking to people about books. However, I haven't been in a book club since high school.
There are soooo many books I want to read, and I kind of dislike the idea of other people dictating what I have to read next. On the flip side, I read quite a few books in my YA lit class that I wouldn't have picked up on my own... and I loved them. So I readily acknowledge that it's always a good idea to branch out of your reading comfort zone.
Lately, I have really had the urge to start a book club. I would love to read, meet, and discuss with a group of people who read "grown up" books, and I could certainly use recommendations in that area! I found this post a while ago on Book Lust Forever and I think it may have been the catalyst for my current train of thought. I love Nancy Pearl and she offers some solid guidance for book clubs.
So here's my question for all of you: Do you Book Club? How did your current group get started? How do you choose what to read? How do you guide the discussions? What advice would you give to a book club that was just starting out? I can't wait to hear what you think!
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