Katniss vs the Common Core

So earlier in the week I went to a city-wide Professional Development session on the Common Core standards. If you're not familiar, the Common Core are the new national educational standards that all of us teachers, librarians, etc. will be responsible for by 2014.

In a lot of ways, it's exciting to learn about these new standards. They're focused, extremely rigorous, and help to standardize what's happening in classrooms across the US. But that's not what we're here to talk about today...

As I was flipping through my paper copy, I stumbled across "English Language Arts Standards: Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, and Range of Student Reading [for grades] 6-12." It was a chart of stories, plays, poetry, and informational texts that are recommended complements for the CC standards. And do you know when the vast majority of that recommended reading was published?

• 42% of the books were published before 1900
• 2% of the books were published after 2000 (2% = 1 book)

Now I don't doubt that this is a great collection of literature. And people should still be reading Shakespeare and Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson. But COME ON! Where is the appreciation for YA Lit??? How many students ever fell in love with literature because they read The Gettysburg Address or The Gift of the Magi (both on the list)? I'm guessing not that many. But how many students ever fell in love with literature because of The Hunger Games? or Lord of the Rings? or Harry Potter? I'm guess MILLIONS of young people! So when are titles like these going to earn their rightful place on academic lists? I don't think that time can come soon enough.

Now in the interest of full disclosure... there is a note at the bottom of the chart pointing out that the selected texts are only meant be "illustrative" of a "range of topics and genres," and that of course teachers can select their own texts. Sooooo... right. It's not like the chart means that no one should be teaching about Katniss or Junior or Delphine. I would just really like to see their names on the list.

The Dark and Hollow Places

The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan, Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2011, 384 pp, ISBN: 0385738590

Mini-Recap and Review:
Gabry, Elias, and Catcher are all back in action for another wild ride with the Unconsecrated in Carrie Ryan's 3rd book in The Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy.

The Dark and Hollow Places started out a little bit slowly for my liking; the new female protagonist was so sooooo self-pitying for the first 100 pages or so. Ugh, there's nothing I dislike more than a "woe is me" main character.

But! Once I was about a third of the way through, Ryan brought back the rapid pacing, unexpected twists, and Energizer bunnies zombies that I've come to love her for.

I have to say, I pretty much love the fact that all three books are so closely knit together, but that each new volume has a different female protagonist. And gaining a new protagonist doesn't mean that you've lost the original; the stories of all three women weave neatly together throughout the trilogy. Now I know I was complaining about the leading lady of The Dark and Hollow Places, but once Annah got her fighting spirit back, I became her biggest cheerleader. And all of that business with the balloon? Genius.

Now if you are considering starting this series, what are you doing here at a review of book #3?! Get yourself to the library and check out your own copy of The Forest of Hands and Teeth! And if you started out a fan of the series, but lost some enthusiasm after book #2, I'm here to tell you... The Dark and Hollow Places was the best of the bunch. For me, the final installment was the first of these books that I literally could not put down. In fact, I think I might go start all over again right now...

PS: WeHeartIt just gave me some helpful tips about how to survive the Zombie apocalypse, just in case I ever find myself in Annah's shoes. Are you prepared??

Click to enlarge!

One Crazy Summer

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, Amistad, 2010, 224 pp, ISBN: 0060760885

Recap:

When Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are shipped all the way across the country to spend the summer with the mother who abandoned them, they have absolutely no idea what they're in for.


Some time in the past six years, their mother Cecile has changed her name to Nzila, and she wastes no time in letting the girls know that she doesn't want them anywhere near her home.

Because the only thing Nzila will feed them is air sandwiches - "Go on back to the room. Open your mouths, and catch one." - the girls go down to the People's Center every morning for breakfast, and end up staying for Black Panther summer camp.

Even though, according to Vonetta, "We didn't come for the revolution. We came for breakfast," the girls end up getting a powerful education regarding Huey Newton, Lil' Bobby, and what Power to the People really means.

It might be one crazy summer, but it's a summer these sisters will never forget. Surely is.

Review:
You know how some books just get so much hype that there's no way they could ever live up to it? One Crazy Summer is not that book. All of my expectations? Exceeded.


Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are each completely their own person with very distinct personalities. At the same time, no three sisters were ever closer. 

"When my sisters and I speak, one right after the other, it's like a song we sing, a game we play. We never need to pass signals. We just fire off rat-a-tat-tat-tat. Delphine. Vonetta. Fern."

Even Cecile quickly became one of my favorite characters - regardless of the fact that she seemed completely disinterested in her own daughters. With her crazy get-ups, strange penchant for shrimp lo mein, and stubborn refusal to call Fern anything but "little girl," I just couldn't get enough Nzila Cecile.

Rita Williams-Garcia has taken an incredibly turbulent, pivotal time in our nation's history, and made it accessible to a whole new generation of children. One Crazy Summer proves that this country's war over civil rights was not only waged by adults. As Williams-Garcia explained in her acknowledgments, "I wanted to write this story for those children who witnessed and were part of necessary change. Yes. There were children."

One Crazy Summer should not be missed. 


Still More Quotable Quotes:

"'Sister Mukumbu, it's all dangerous. Just being here at the Center is dangerous... I have to look out for my sisters, you know.'Sister Mukumbu said, 'We look out for each other. The rally is one way of looking out for all of our sisters. All of our brothers. Unity, Sister Delphine. We have to stand united." - Delphine and Sister Mukumbu

"That's mainly what I do. Keep Vonetta and Fern in line. The last thing Pa and Big Ma wanted to hear was how we made a grand Negro spectacle of ourselves thirty thousand feet up in the air around all these white people." - Delphine

Delphine and Fern's whole back-and-forth about Lootie Belle, Tinker Bell, and the Itsy Bitsy Spider costume. It's too long to record here, but just too funny not to mention!

Beastly

Beastly by Alex Flinn, HarperTeen, 2007, 320 pp, ISBN: 9780060874162

Recap:

Kyle Kingsbury knows what it takes to rule Tuttle, his Constance Billard/St. Jude style private school: money, power, and stand out good looks. Lucky for Kyle, he has all of those things in spades. As for those not so fortunate? They're lucky if they can just get by unnoticed. The last not-so-pretty face that Kyle decided to target ultimately transferred out of Tuttle and hasn't been heard from since.


But all of that changes when a new student in Kyle's class becomes the bullseye of one of his cruel pranks. She is actually a witch who casts a spell on Kyle, ensuring that his outside appearance matches the ugliness of his heart. In order to reverse the curse, he has only two years to fall in love with someone and make her love him back - a near impossible task for any 16-year-old, and doubly difficult for a hairy, fanged monster.


Yup, karma's a beast.

Review:
I thoroughly enjoyed this modern day re-telling of Beauty and the Beast! Each of the characters was well-developed and followed a believable arc over the course of the story. The message was crystal clear and perfect for middle and high school kiddos: Beauty actually is only skin deep. It's what's inside that counts. And when you hear that message through Alex Flinn's characters, it doesn't sound cliche at all!


I was consistently impressed by how well the story matched the original version I was familiar with. Elements like the withering rose petals, the magic mirror, and the overflowing library all kept me firmly rooted in the world of fairy tales, even though we were technically in the middle of New York City. Beastly even had the snowball fight scene from Disney's Beauty and the Beast! But at the same time, there was nothing childish or old-fashioned about this version. Flinn struck the perfect balance between new and old, contemporary and more traditional.

If you're at all familiar with Beauty and the Beast, the end of Beastly will come as no surprise, but the journey to get to that final kiss is well worth it!

Book of a Thousand Days

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, 2007, 320 pp, ISBN: 9781599900513

Recap:

When Lady Salen is locked in a windowless tower for seven years after refusing to marry Lord Khasar, her mucker maid, Dashti, is required to join her in captivity. 

Although the tower is filled with more food than Dashti has ever seen, their supply is quickly depleted by families of rats and Lady Salen's selfish appetites. Although danger is certainly lurking outside their walls, Dashti knows that death by starvation is even more certain if they remain in their tower prison.

Upon escaping, Dashti is certain that they have overcome their greatest challenge, but she has no way of knowing that the outside world has changed forever, and the struggles that lie ahead will test her courage, her patience, and even her heart.

Review:

Shannon Hale is one of those authors who readers are just wild about! After reading Princess Academy last year, I could see why. The story was clever and inventive, charming but still completely unpredictable. I loved it!

Diving into Book of a Thousand Days, I could quickly see many similarities between the two. The language was still poetically simple - equally suited for racing through pages or sitting and savoring. The echoes and themes of older fairy tales were strong: good vs. evil, forbidden love, the rise and fall of creatively named kingdoms.

At the same time, I simply was not as captivated this time around. I think much of that has to do with the fact that I knew the ending within the first quarter of the story. I wasn't quite sure how we would get there, but there was really no other way for the "happily ever after" to happen. And I just hate not being surprised.

While Dashti was a thoroughly likable narrator, I was plagued by a persistant irritation with Lady Salen. She was the whiniest, most worthless character I've read in ages and - lady or not - I couldn't understand why Dashti put up with her for years. Is it really possible for anyone to be that patient?

But that's enough of the negative! Let's focus on the positives because truly, there was plenty to appreciate!

My copy of the book has the cover to the right, so I was a good way through before Dashti's lovely ink and brush drawings tipped me off that the characters were Asian. To be more specific, the story is set in Hale's version of medieval Mongolia. Reading about her inspiration for the setting was fascinating; I had no idea how many of the unique story elements were actually taken from historic Mongolian culture.

I loved Dashti's ability to heal through Mucker songs. In fact, her lovely nonsense words that seemed to speak to the hurting one's inner spirit reminded me quite a lot of Miri's quarry speak in The Princess Academy. I really think Dashti and Miri would have been good friends.

And did I mention that one of the characters is actually a werewolf? This fact made me laugh a little to myself when I noticed that the author recommendation quote on the front cover is from Stephanie Meyer. But don't get too excited... Hale's wolf is definitely no Jacob.

If you are a Shannon Hale fan, I have no doubt that you will find much to enjoy in Book of a Thousand Days. And if you're looking for a special something extra, check out the book's website! With all of the "behind the scenes" information, I think I enjoyed the site page just as much as the book itself :)

So here is my question for you, Book Lovers: which of Shannon Hale's fairy tales should I read next? Please recommend your favorites!

How I Live Now

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Wendy Lamb Books, 2006, 194 pp, ISBN: 0553376055

Recap:

While some might bemoan the fact that their father has shipped them off to England to live with a whole passle of strange cousins, Daisy is actually finding the whole situation rather brilliant.

Not only will she get to miss the birth of her stepmother's demon child, as it turns out, her cousins are nothing short of wonderful. Their life together on the farm is full of magic and love and adventure and yes, there might be a war coming on, but surely it will never reach them all the way out in the country. Right?

...Right?

Wrong.

Review:

How I Live Now is one of those books where you're reading and reading and reading (because of course you can't put it down) and the entire time you know in the back of your mind, "I'm holding a little piece of magic in my own two hands!"

Daisy's voice as the narrator was the first sign that this book was something extraordinary. With her run-on sentences and Generous Use of Capitalized Letters and tongue in cheek observations and unabashedly honest confessions, Daisy sounds just exactly as every 15-year-old should, but is somehow wiser, funnier, and more lovable. Can she please come alive and become my best friend?

A couple of my favorite Daisy quotes:

"In New York, nine-year-olds usually don't do this kind of thing, but wait for some grown-up to do it for them, so I was impressed by her intrepid attitude but also kind of wondering if good old Aunt Penn had died and no one could figure out a good way to tell me."

"I was trying to revamp my reputation. This time around I thought I'd be the sane one."

Over and over again (and please do note this as the highest praise!), the first half of the book reminded me of Jellicoe Road:  a small community of immensely endearing, rather quirky children who create their own adventures and more or less live by their own rules and occasionally fall in love with each other. Really, isn't that the life that all of us dreamt of living while we were growing up? It sounds absolutely idyllic.

But of course, How I Live Now is also a book about war. Initially I, like Daisy, saw the war as merely a backstory. But once the first people close to home started being killed right in front of them, the war took center stage. The reader never knows who exactly is on each side, and it doesn't particularly seem to matter. The overall message is true regardless of the enemy: war is ugly and evil and leaves no one untouched.

"If you haven't been in a war and are wondering how long it takes to get used to losing everything you think you need or love, I can tell you the answer is No time at all."

**Spoiler Alert** If you haven't read the book, you probably want to just skip this paragraph.
Author Meg Rosoff did such a brilliant job of making the reader's teeth clench and heart ache for Daisy and Piper as they fought to find their way home, so I honestly could NOT believe it when I finally figured out that Daisy had up and left Piper there all by herself. Yes, she explained that her father had had her shipped out and as a 15-year-old girl, what could she really do? But SERIOUSLY? She left Piper???? That was my only problem with the entire story. After all they had been through together, I just didn't believe it.

**Ditto for this paragraph**
And it bears mentioning... Daisy and Edmond... cousins?! Ultimately, this fact didn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it might. Even though it should maybe seem to be exactly the opposite, there was just something so innocent and lovely about their love. But still... cousins?!

In the end, everything is just as tragic and messy and hopeful as it should be. How I Live Now is a gorgeous gem of a book. One I'm thankful to have read.

PS: A big THANK YOU goes out to Sally from Dogwood Lane for sending this book to me through April's Random Acts of Kindness! Thank you, Sally!!!!

Friday Blog Hop

Check out all of the details on this weekly "BOOK PARTY" at Crazy for Books! Here is this week's question: "If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?"

The very specific answer to that question is... yes and no! There are a couple of authors for whom I make a point to read absolutely everything they've written (Jodi Picoult, Sarah Dessen, and SARK: I love you!). And then there are a few authors who I have on my must-read list, but I'm in no particular hurry to read all of their books immediately (hello Chris Crutcher, Shannon Hale, and Sonya Sones!). Other than that, if I happen to read multiple books by the same author - that aren't part of a series - it's probably just a happy coincidence! What about you??

If you are new to Book Love, welcome! I love meeting new Book Lovers. Have a look around and enjoy this beautiful spring weekend!

Just Can't Wait!!

One of the most powerful books I've read in years.
And the movie already looks AMAZING!

Just can't wait to be reunited with Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny...

Out of My Mind

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, Atheneum, 2010, 304 pp, ISBN: 141697170X

Recap:

Melody is almost eleven. She has a photographic memory. She sees vivid colors when music plays. She can remember every word her parents have ever spoken to her, and her favorite song is "Elvira."

But Melody has never spoken a single word.

Melody has cerebral palsy. Because of her inability to speak or control her own movements, most people dismiss her as "retarded." They couldn't be more wrong.

Review:

Speechless.

That was me after reading this book.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't particularly want to read it. There's no good way to put this, but I just had a feeling that reading it would make me feel depressed or guilty or both. However... the Reading Countess has recommended it several times and when it comes to judging books, I trust her explicitly. Of course, she had been right all along.

Melody is one of the most striking characters I've ever come across. She may not be able to dress or feed herself, but she only has to hear a phrase once and it's inscribed in her permanent memory. She has a quick sense of humor and a penchant for sparkly, embellished jeans. She has spent 80% of her elementary years in the same classroom, re-learning the ABCs year after year, but she already knows the capitol of all 50 states. In every possible way, Melody is not the person whom she initially appears to be.

If the #1 lesson I learned from this book is "Don't Judge," then the #2 lesson would have to be "Thank a Caregiver." Melody herself emphasizes the incredible amount of work her caregivers take on, and how completely under appreciated they are. Her neighbor, Ms. V, is hugely responsible for teaching Melody to role over, pull herself up, and even to read - all things that doctors had said were impossible. Catherine, her school companion, makes sure that "inclusion" is a reality for Melody, and not just a buzz word for teachers to toss around.

Following Melody's journey into her 5th grade year, and first year in inclusion classes, brought home lesson #3: "Teach Empathy." It was glaringly obvious that many of Melody's classmates, and even many of her teachers, had never been taught how to interact with someone who was different from them. A few were pitying, most were ignorant, and some were downright cruel. I was convicted over and over again of the need to teach my own students how to act with empathy. I think that reading this book with them would be a fantastic start.

If you're looking for a book that will make you think, will probably make you cry, and will absolutely forever change the way you look at the world, pick up Out of My Mind by the incomparable Sharon Draper.

Countdown

Countdown by Deborah Wiles, Scholastic Press, 2010, 400 pp, ISBN: 0545106052

Recap:

The year is 1962 and Franny is having a difficult time deciding which she should be more worried about: her Uncle Otts' steady mental decline, her former-best-friend Margie who may be trying to steal Chris Cavas from her, or the ever present threat of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Life is hard when you're 11.

Review:

Told in equal parts through Franny's narrative; excerpts of songs, speeches, and commercials from the early 1960s; and dozens of striking full-page images, Countdown is a text unlike any other I've encountered!

Regardless of how well a story is told, I know that historical fiction can be a difficult genre for children and young adults to truly latch on to. Yet after flipping through just a few pages of Countdown, I dare any young reader to not be fully immersed in the drama of 1962! Of course the many, many pages of non-fiction text and images focused on the Cuban Missile Crisis, but there were also dozens of pages featuring athletes, pop culture icons, and famous faces from the civil rights movement of the 60s. This book could be an invaluable tool in a Social Studies classroom!

Although I'd heard positive things about Countdown in the past, I had resisted actually picking it up. The cover just didn't (and still doesn't) do anything for me, and I rarely read historical fiction unless it fits into my district's middle school curriculum. But then I read this review by Laura Amy Schlitz on SLJ's Battle of the Kids Books. As I read her review I couldn't help but think, "YES! This is what book reviewers are supposed to do!" In a few short paragraphs, Ms. Schlitz had me absolutely, 100% convinced that Countdown had to be one of my next reads.

And I was not disappointed. 

Eleven-year-old Franny starts out as a wholly typical, often annoying, little girl. Her father is in the military, her older sister Jo Ellen is everything that Franny wants to become (even if she might actually be a Russian spy), and her little brother - the next John Glenn - carries "Your Friend, the Atom" as his constant companion. Franny's Uncle Otts, a war hero, is trying to build a bunker in their front yard, and her mother is just trying to hold it together.

As the story progresses, the reader finds herself completely immersed in what life was like in the 1960s. Although I was not immediately a fan of Franny's, her character grew on me and by the end of the book I was literally cheering her on in the gravel pit. (You'll know what I mean when you get there!)

If you're looking for a phenomenal YA read that is a far cry from the ordinary, do yourself a big favor and pick up Deborah Wiles' Countdown. You will be so happy you did.

Enclave

Enclave by Ann Aguirre, Feiwel and Friends, 2011, 272 pp, ISBN: 0312650086

Recap:

Deuce is the newest Huntress in the Enclave. Having just received her name, and the prestigious marks of a Huntress, she knows that her fifteenth year will be her best yet.

Yet when Deuce and her mysterious partner, Fade, return from a hunting trip in the tunnels with a blind brat that they found hiding in a subway car, life in the Enclave suddenly veers wildly off of the course that Deuce has learned to count on. 

After an unexpected betrayal and a murder painted as a suicide, Deuce knows that the only thing she can count on is herself. And once she is exiled from the Enclave, even that might not be enough...

Review:

Where is the hype for this book?? Enclave is an absolutely FANTASTIC read!

In my best impersonation of a book on tape, I started reading Enclave aloud to my family on a long-ish car trip. Everyone was immediately hooked and each time that we got back in the car someone would request, "More Enclave, please!" Deuce and Fade's battle to survive, first in the Enclave and later in the world Topside, was completely engrossing from start to finish. Their enemies were easy to hate, their allies were unexpected, and the relationships that they formed seemed wholly realistic.

Much like The Unidentified, Enclave had me thinking, "This could actually happen some day..." Author Ann Aguirre did her homework and spent several pages at the end of the novel explaining how she constructed the world of the Enclave. Based partially on communities of people who already live beneath the streets of New York City, partially on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and partially on well-researched predictions regarding the types of food and supplies that could survive an Apocalypse - Deuce's world is not all that far-fetched.

Deuce is a heroine to admire: courageous, centered, and fiercely independent. Of course this could hardly be called a YA novel without some shades of a love triangle, but Deuce was almost Katniss-like in her unwillingness to be fully drawn in. Gotta love a girl who has more on her mind than boys!

Speaking of Katniss, the front cover proclaims "For fans of The Hunger Games," but I actually found far more similarities between Enclave and some of my other YA dystopian favs. For example, the creepalicious "Freaks" seemed like more evolved cousins of the Unconsecrated from The Forest of Hands and Teeth. In addition, the underground tunnels and potentially radioactive world "Topside" called to mind the opening chapters of The Scorch Trials. 

All things considered, Enclave is one of my favorite books that I've read so far in 2011! Fast-paced and wildly imaginative, I'm having a hard time thinking of a student who wouldn't get hooked on this book. 

Life is Good

Yikes! Life has been busy lately. Immediately after wrapping up our SoMIRAC presentation, I started working on a Children's Literature Workshop for Baltimore City teachers and librarians. I was super excited and flattered to be asked to be a facilitator. I had been to just a couple of workshops in the past, and they were absolutely fabulous: full of terrific (free!) children's books and overflowing with different ways to use them with kiddos in the classroom.

At the same time... that's a little bit intimidating! My wonderful partner and I had been given a fantastic collection of books to work with, and we wanted to make sure that our workshop measured up to the high standard set by our predecessors. Ultimately, I think things turned out pretty well :) Our participants laughed, asked questions, and had their fair share of "ooooooh" and "aaaaaaah" moments over the gorgeous texts and illustrations. Here is a peek at a few of the books we shared...

This one made my first grade readers laugh out loud. My favorite part? The airport security style gum detector.

I love, love, love this true story about a librarian in Iraq. Books truly are a national treasure!

Such an incredible (true!) story to use in a History or Math classroom! I'm telling you what, children's lit is the best thing to happen to content-area curriculum in a long time.

When I read all of the books aloud to my 6th graders, Library Lil was their favorite!

I LOVE this book. Hands down, my favorite of the bunch. Written in a gorgeous, lilting Appalachian dialect, That Book Woman is the story of an Appalachian pack librarian who changes a boy's life forever. SO, SO GOOD. 

And now that the workshop is over... guess where I am.

YES! SPRING BREAK!!! I have a feeling that my school system might be the very last in the country to go out for spring break, but hallelujah it has arrived! My husband and I trekked back to the midwest to spend some much needed time with our families, I've already knocked 2 (fabulous!) books off of my TBR pile, and I'm currently enjoying a vanilla latte at my favorite coffee shop in the entire universe. 

Life is good.

A Dangerous New Hallucinogen

Who doesn't love a Sunday morning cartoon?

To make it bigger, just click the comic.
"Legalize Reading" has been brought to you by Toothpaste for Dinner!
PS: Have you seen Lovely Little Shelf or Wildly Read? These two blogs are my typical go-to spots for reading-related comics and cartoons!

Random Acts of Kindness!

Now this is the sweetest idea I've heard in a long time. Isalys and Vanessa from Book Soulmates came up with the whole concept: each month, bloggers can create and post wish lists for books that they would love to add to their own collections. At they same time, they can view the wish lists of other bloggers and secretly grant their book-wishes as a Random Act of Kindness! I love it.

For more details, visit Book Soulmates' April RAK post. My RAK wish list is right here!

An Afternoon of YAngelism

Last Friday I got to do something a little bit scary, but really exciting! I was a presenter at Maryland's annual SoMIRAC conference. My YA Lit professor, Kelly Bull*, had asked another student and I to present with her at the conference. I was so honored just to be asked, and being a part of the event was truly a thrill.

Our presentation focused on three different areas: Lurita gave a hilarious introduction to digital storytelling, while Kelly focused on how to use YA lit in content area classrooms. Wouldn't you love to read books like Ship Breaker in Science or The First Part Last in Health? Finally, my part focused on the benefits of joining the blogging world.

I had originally been anxious about speaking as some sort of an authority on blogging; after all, I'm still a beginner myself! However, I got some great advice from Sara** and as soon as I started talking, I started having FUN. One of the things I love most in the world is reading and discussing fabulous YA books, and blogging has become a favorite way to do that. I have a feeling that my enthusiasm for the subject came through pretty clearly! I even had the opportunity to answer a variety of follow-up questions when the session was over. All things considered, it was a fantastic afternoon of YAngelism.***

* Thank you to Kelly Bull for inviting me to be a part of the event!
** Thank you to Sara for the peer-blogger encouragement!
*** Thank you to FYA for adding vocabulary words like YAngelism to my vernacular!