Modern Day Fairy Tale

Beastly by Alex Flinn is a modern day Beauty and the Beast from the point of view of Beast, aka Kyle Kingsbury. Kyle is a snooty rich kid who attends a prep school in NYC. He and his friends would never think of spending time with someone who was "ugly." At a school dance, Kyle gives an imperfect rose to the plain girl taking tickets at the door and his life changes forever. Later that night, a witch named Kendra visits him and turns him into a beast. Kyle has 2 years to find someone to love him as he is or he will remain a beast forever.

If you like fairy tales, you will like this book. I am a bigger fan of Alex Flinn's other books. In fact, I teach Breathing Underwater in 8th grade English. Each of her books deals with a pertinent social issue facing teens today. Some books have mild language but nothing more than the average teen hears on a daily basis. Pull off your prude panties to read Breathing Underwater!

Books I've Read Lately

As always, I'm knee deep in young adult literture. 2 of my recent favorites are from Catherine Gilbert Murdock. The voice of the main character, D.J., is strong and true. In Dairy Queen, D.J. is the only girl in a family of athletic boys. While she is no wimp, she has been the "responsible" one able to take over the family dairy farm after her dad had hip surgery. D.J. has to struggle with her love of the farm, her resentment towards her father, and an annoying boy named Brian who happens to be from a rival town. When a close family friend sends Brian to the Schwenk Farm for some lessons in hard work and responsibility, D.J. is the one stuck with the teaching. What unfolds is way more than you'd expect. To continue the life of D.J. and her family, check out the sequel, Off Season.

By the way, all pictures are courtesy of Amazon. Head over there and check out the reviews before you decide to buy or rent.


I did venture out to adult books *gasp* with the reading of To My Dearest Friends by Patricia Volk. This was a spontaneous grab at the library and it proved enjoyable.

Review“To My Dearest Friends has an irresistible premise: Two weeks after Roberta ‘Bobbi’ Bloom dies, her lawyer calls her two best friends, Alice Vogel and Nanny Wunderlich, to his office. Why? Because Bobbi has given them keys to a safety deposit box. And now the lawyer has a letter for them from Bobbi. Alice and Nanny–who have nothing in common but their friendship with the deceased–go to the bank. In the box, they find another letter. A love letter. To Bobbi. Undated. With no further instructions. . . . Obviously, Alice and Nanny can’t agree what to do next. But in the course of not agreeing they have reasons to get together. And we get two treats along the way: wonderfully sharp dialogue and observations, and a quick but deep look into the lives of two New York women. . . . I hoovered this book in an evening. . . . How does it turn out? With a fantastic surprise. . . . To My Dearest Friends is an addictive urban adventure story. Nancy Drew for the post-menopausal. Chick-lit for grown-up chicks. And, just maybe, the first novel about New York women to ring a bell for readers in the ‘burbs since The Devil Wore Prada. You don’t have to be 50-plus to enjoy To My Dearest Friends. Or even a woman. You just have to like ‘smart.’”–Jesse Kornbluth, HeadButler.com


My family thanks me for finishing this next book because most of them were ignored while I was reading it. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was gripping, disturbing, and too close to reality. However, the story was impossible to put down and I devoured the pages, determined to know the ending. As I turned the last few pages, I started to realize there was no way the book could end this simply and, of course, it couldn't. I understand this is to be a trilogy. The 2nd book is available for pre-order on Amazon.

How can I explain the plot? I guess I will say picture a North America in the distant future. It 's hard to tell how far because, and this is the the disturbing part, it could be closer than we think. In this new North America, there are 13 Districts controlled by 1 capital.

(from Entertainment Weekly)
As negative Utopias go, Suzanne Collins has created a dilly. The United States is gone. North America has become Panem, a TV-dominated dictatorship run from a city called the Capitol. The rest of Panem is divided into 12 Districts (the former 13th had the bad judgment to revolt and no longer exists). The yearly highlight in this nightmare world is the Hunger Games, a bloodthirsty reality TV show in which 24 teenagers chosen by lottery two from each District fight each other in a desolate environment called the ''arena.'' The winner gets a life of ease; the losers get death. The only ''unspoken rule'' is that you can't eat the dead contestants. Let's see the makers of the movie version try to get a PG-13 on this baby.

I have only muddied the waters as to what this book is about but I will say it is worth your read even if the plot does have striking similarity to other books (1984, Animal Farm, "The Lottery")

Holiday Reading

I like to read books specific to the holiday that is approaching so my children have a greater appreciation of what it all means. Christmas is the holiday with the most in our collection so far. I have Halloween books, Easter books, and 1 Thanksgiving book. I also found that by seperating them from the rest of the books it makes them special since they only appear for a short time then are put away. Lillian has a drawer in her desk that we use to store the holiday books. I pulled the Christmas books out tonight with the hope of reading 1 every night this month. Some are chunky board books for little hands and others are the classics like A Charlie Brown Christmas. One particular favorite is Bear Stays Up For Christmas by Karma Wilson. We also have 2 books about Dora celebrating the holiday and one with The Little Engine Who Could.

I'm hoping to expand our collection over the next few years so let's dedicate this post to finding out great holiday classics that your family enjoys. It can go beyond Christmas. I'd like to hear some great ones about St. Patrick's Day and 4th of July.

Kids and The Library

As most households, we have a plethora of books for our children to enjoy. There is a special bookcase in our house built just for these books!

Despite the many choices at home, nothing is better than a trip to the library for "new" books. There is something about the library that has confused Lillian in the way of buying and bartering. She has seen me use my library card at the library then use my debit card at Wal-mart. I can just imagine her thought process- "mom uses a similar card at both places but at one place, she is eager to take me and whip out the card. at the other, she relunctantly visits and limits what I can put in the cart. why is that?"

Now that she is 5, I think she understands the concept of "checking out books" or "renting." Her brain has made a distinction between this and "buying" at the store. When you think about it, it really is a confusing issue but I think we have finally conquered it. Visits to the library are enjoyed because we can get whatever we want FOR FREE!

Now that is something I can live with!

How I Choose Books

When I hear of a good book or someone recommends a book to me, the first thing I do is go to amazon.com and search for the title. Then, I read the reviews and the summary. If it sounds interesting, I write the title and author on my book wish list. I price the book on ebay and Amazon before making a purchase. Sometimes, the public library will have it. Even though I have an obsession with books, I don't like them cluttering up my home. I would rather borrow than buy.

Sometimes I choose a book because of it's cover. Does anyone else do that?

Comments

Readers have posted great recommendations in the comment section of my last post. Be sure to click on "comments" to hear about books others are reading!

I Can't Believe It!

Has it really been weeks since I've posted?!?! Yes, it has and I feel terrible!

I have been reading tons of young adult literature so I can recommend books to my students. I read Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson. I teach Speak by the same author and many students want to know what else she has written when we finish it.

Teenage guys are loving a series by Rick Riordan. The first book is called The Lightning Thief. It has to do with Greek gods and goddesses with constant action and heart pounding excitement. I think younger kids would enjoy this, too.

Finally, I'm previewing a memoir by Elie Wiesel called Night to possibly teach in pre-AP this year. It is his personal experience in surviving the Holocaust. It has several parts that are graphic and stomach wrenching. Do I really want to tackle this in 8th grade? Probably the most disturbing is the truthfulness of his account.

Finally, finally, I am starting the 3rd House of Night book. Back to vampires!

Anyone reading anything new and exciting? I often get stuck in a rut with certain authors or genres and hearing your recommendations really help.