What My Students Learned from our Last Read Aloud

I have written so many posts professing my love for Read Aloud.  This year, one of our read alouds definitely deserves a post all of its own!  Besides helping my kids fall in love with reading, I try and select read alouds that will allow for interesting class discussions and help expose the kids to topics and themes they may not be familiar with.  When we read Wonder, we talked about what it means to be brave, and how sometimes it means standing up for what is right even when it's not easy.  When we read The One and Only Ivan, we talked about the rights of all living creatures.  When we read Because of Mr. Terupt, we talked about how sometimes when bad things happen, we blame others or ourselves.  When we read How to Steal a Dog, we talked about right and wrong and the gray areas in between.  So many deep and beautiful discussions.

This year, I decided to choose Out of My Mind for our last class read aloud.  Here's the goodreads summary in case you're not familiar with this wonderful, thought-provoking book:

Source

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school - but no one knows it. Most people - her teachers and doctors included - don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write.

Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind - that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it. 

I chose this book because I wanted to help open my students' minds and challenge them to think differently about individuals with disabilities and special needs.  Because of the way my school clusters our students, and because I have the ELL cluster in my room each year, my students don't have many opportunities to interact with individuals with special needs.  I decided to read Out of My Mind to start some conversations about the topic, and hopefully help them see that there is so much more to everyone than what we can see on the surface.  We talked about special needs, Cerebral Palsy, and communication devices like the one Melody eventually gets that allows her to finally share her voice.  We watched youtube videos of kids using communication devices, and our speech path even brought in a couple for my students to try.

One conversation that we had to have right away was about the R-Word.  Melody occasionally refers to herself as "retarded" when she is feeling frustrated and angry about her situation.  Doctors also use the word in Melody's presence.  Like most teachers, especially those who have fallen in love with students with special needs over the years, I hate this word.  At first, I was skipping the word or substituting something different.  A few of my kids who had gotten the book from the library to follow along noticed, though.  One came up to me and mentioned something.  Here's how our exchange went:

Student: "Miss Teacher, I noticed something as you were reading..."

Me: "Did you notice I was skipping a word?"

Student: "Yes."

Me: "You're right.  I did that because I really don't like that word.  It makes me uncomfortable to say."

Student: "What if the kids are confused though later in the book because you skipped it?  What if it's important?"

So, since my job as a teacher is about so much more than math and literacy, I decided to use this as a teachable moment.  I told the class that I had been skipping a word because it made me uncomfortable.  I shared what it was, what it meant, and its unkind connotation.  We talked about why the author may have chosen to use this word even though it is unkind--does the author think the word is appropriate?  Is there another reason?  In the end, it was a powerful, positive conversation that reminded me that so much of the unkindness in the world is due to ignorance.  As teachers, one of our jobs is to fight ignorance with knowledge in the hopes that our students grow up with open minds and hearts.  It can be hard to find the time to teacher these things in the midst of standardized testing and the Common Core, but I will always find time during read aloud.

Here's how I knew this read aloud was successful: There is a point in the book where the narrator, Melody, is trying out for the school Whiz Kids Quiz Team.  Outside of her family and neighbor, no one in a million years thought Melody could even form a coherent thought, much less learn, so when she wants to take the quiz team test, expectations are low to say the least.  There is so much build up and anticipation in the chapter where the Quiz Team is announced.  As I read the anticipatory pages, I looked out at my third and fourth grade class to find them sitting on the edges of their seats, fingers crossed in eager hope that Melody's name will be announced as a winner.  And when it is--they clapped and cheered.

Another reason I knew my goal had succeeded: My students became irate and angry when Melody was treated unfairly by classmates and teachers and when doctors sell her completely short.

And the last reason: On the last day of school when we found ourselves with almost 100 pages left to read, my students begged me to continue reading aloud, even when I gave them the option of playing games instead, and sat in rapt attention until we finally finished the last page, just 5 minutes before the closing bell.  While I wished we'd had more time to process the emotional ending, I know that this book will become a favorite for my students, and I hope its message is one that stays with them for a long time!

What were your favorite read alouds this year?

What I'm Reading Wednesday: Alien Invasions + Big Brother is Watching

Being sick last week got in the way of my WIRW posting, but I did get a lot of reading done!  I have two great books to share with you today!

The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy
Rating: 4/5 stars

Sci Fi is not usually my favorite genre, but this book had so many good ratings that I decided to give it a try.  In The Fifth Wave, teenager Cassie tells about what happens to her and her family when an alien spacecraft descends from space and hovers over Earth.  First, all power on Earth is killed.  Second, a horrific plague kills the majority of the population.  Then, the children are all rounded up and taken away, including Cassie's little brother.  Cassie vows she will get her brother back and finds herself in a fight for both her brother and her life.

I have to say, I had a hard time getting into this one.  I don't love anything with aliens (which makes it strange that I read this in the first place), and I had a hard time connecting with Cassie as a character--she is pretty intense, and her biting sarcastic tone was a bit abrasive.  The first half of the book dragged for me...but I am SO GLAD I stuck with it!  Somewhere around the halfway point, I really got into it.  The book jumps between characters, and I loved trying to connect the dots and figure out the truth about what was happening with the aliens who'd yet to show their faces on Earth.  I could barely put it down--as slow as the first half was for me, the second half was that fast!  I definitely recommend it, even if aliens aren't normally your thing.  Trust me, they aren't mine!!

The Circle by David Eggers
Rating: 4/5 stars

I was intrigued by this book since I first heard about it awhile back.  Set in the not too far off future, protagonist Mae is offered a dream job working in Customer Experience at the technology company that has come to dominate the modern world, The Circle.  The Circle has taken over Google, Facebook, Paypal...basically everything on the internet and then some.  Mae feels like she has hit the jackpot...until things start to get weird.  The more you read, the more you realize how creepy the extreme surveillance at The Circle is, and how any sort of privacy has disappeared.

I flew through this book, getting more and more creeped out by the lack of privacy and the insane new "initiatives" introduced by The Circle.  One of the criticisms of The Circle is that it's one big soap-box-cautionary tale.  It's a little over the top at times, but I still thought the message was an important one.  It would make a good book club book--there are so many questions raised by this book, especially regarding the line between good technology and too much technology.  Very interesting read!

What have you been reading this week?

What I'm Reading Wednesday: Allegient

I have to admit, I finished this book last week...I'm having a hard time getting into my current book!  I'm reading The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy with my book club girls, and while I knew it was about aliens when I started it (ok, I will even admit it, I picked it for us...), I just keep remembering why I'm not super into books/movies featuring aliens.  Or into them at all.  Anyways, we'll see if I even finish that book by next Wednesday...  Buuut anyways, I did finish the Divergent trilogy last week, finally!

goodreads.com

Allegient by Veronica Roth

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Allegient is the third book in the Divergent trilogy by 20-something Chicagoan Veronica Roth.  If you haven't read Divergent yet, stop reading this post and start reading it.  Especialyl if you are experiencing dystopian withdrawal after seeing Catching Fire over the holidays and need something to fill that void.  Just a brief intro without giving too much away--Allegient begins right after a shocking video is played at the end of Insurgent, informing all of the citizens of the city that the entire community had been founded as a sort of experiment.  What follows is Tris's decisions about how to deal with that information, and of course a little revolution.  I mean why not.  

The reviews about this book were pretty mixed--many people loved it best of all three, others hated it.  I think I fall somewhere in the middle.  The good: I loved the unique twists and turns throughout the book.  I also loved that there was no clear right and wrong path for the characters--because in real life, right and wrong is so much more complex than black and white...Allegient really spent some time focusing on the gray areas as Tris and Four and the others evaluated different plans of action and faced each path's subsequent consequences.

Of course, along the same lines, something I didn't love was just how many plans there were going on at any given time.  I felt for awhile in the middle like I couldn't quite keep track of who the revolutionaries were, which plan was which, etc.  I also didn't love the jumping perspectives between Tris and Four.  Normally I LOVE this in books, but I didn't feel that Roth did a good enough job differentiating between the two in her writing style.  At times I had trouble remember which character's side I was reading.  I mean really, are we expected to believe Tris and Four have the exact same inner voices?  Doubtful.  Just a sign of writing that is good but not great.

Last, the ending.  Oh that ending.  I promise no spoilers, but I just didn't feel that Roth's grand act in the ending was necessary.  More importantly, I didn't feel that it added anything to the story except annoyance on my part.  I am all for a shocking or surprising twist in books if it enriches the plot.  In this case, I think the big statement resulted in several chapters of dull falling action whereas I was totally hoping this series would end with a bang.

Sooo, while I flew through Allegient (obv) and truly enjoyed reading it, it was probably my least favorite in the series. (Insurgent  being my favorite.)

Dying to hear others thoughts if you read the series too!

What have you been reading this week?

What I'm Reading Wednesday Linky: A Whole Lotta Books

Don't forget to enter my Carson-Dellosa giveaway!

Hi friends!  I'm thrilled to be back with What I'm Reading Wednesday this week!  Since it's been ages since my last WIRW post, I'm going to post short summaries and reviews of a ton of books instead of just ones that I've read this week.  Hope you'll link up with a post on what you've been reading this chilly winter!

Snow Day Blanket Reading :)

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Rating: 5/5 stars (teen realistic fiction/middle school appropriate)
I have to thank Carrie at Being-Ladylike for this first recommendation!  I read this book start to finish in the span of a Sunday, most of it curled up in bed.  This is just one of those quick-read books that you get hooked on and can't put down.  Steven is a gifted drummer with an adorably annoying little brother whose world completely changes when little brother Jeffrey is diagnosed with leukemia.  Yes, this is a cancer book so get the tissues ready.  What I loved about it was the middle-school perspective we get on the sitaution.  Narrator Steven is an eighth grader, and he talks and acts like it.  I loved reading this coming of age story about an older brother dealing with the tough stuff in the only way he knows how, and learning so much about himself and his family along the way.

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick
Rating: 4/5 stars (teen realistic fiction/middle school appropriate)
At the risk of *mildly* spoiling Drums, I'm reviewing the sequel...feel free to skip this part if you'd prefer!  After Ever After takes place about 7 years after Drums's ending, and is narrated by post-cancer Jeffrey, Steven's little brother.  What I loved about this book is that it shares a side of cancer that many of us have never even thought about: what happens AFTER cancer.  When I was in college, one of my best friends was staring down death in a battle against cancer, and when she thankfully went into remission, we were told that a new part of the battle was beginning--dealing with what life is like when you are no longer fighting cancer, and the hardships it invovles.  In the book, Jeffrey faces physical and mental side effects of having his body poisoned during cancer treatment as a child--I guess I should have thought of this, but I had no idea that that was a reality for some cancer survivors.  The book is a totally different kind of cancer story, and I truly became attached to the characters.  The only reason I rated it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I felt like Sonnenblick relied on many of the same plot elements in this book as in its predecessor.  Would have liked some different twists and turns.

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld
Rating: 3.5/5 stars (adult fiction)
I read Prep by Sittenfeld back in college, and I absolutely LOVED it, so I was pumped to get my hands on Sisterland.  The premise of this book was pretty interesting, and I was hooked right away--Sisterland jumps between past and present, telling the story of a set of twin girls with ESP.  Cool, right?  As they've grown up, narrator Kate has settled into her role as a sensible mother and all but squashed her "senses" out of her, while twin Violet has embraced them and made a career as a medium.  Sisterland is not just a story about ESP, but it's also a story about siblings learning to find how they still fit together in their very different lives as adults.  I have to say that I devoured this book and was all set to give it 4 stars until about 50-100 pages from the end when the plot took a direction that I really just didn't love.  Bummer, right?  Still worth a read.


The Diviners by Libba Bray
Rating: 4.5/5 stars (teen fantasy/mystery)
I was thoroughly disappointed by my first Libba Bray read, A Great and Terrible Beauty, but I am SO GLAD I set those feelings aside long enough to give her another chance.  I LOVED The Diviners!  This (incredibly long) book is set in the 1920s and chock full of 20s slang.  Having been enamored with the 20s since I was a flapper for Halloween back in eighth grade, you can imagine how this peaked my interest from the first pages!  The Diviners is a story from the perspective of about 5 or 6 different people living in New York City, all of whom have some mysterious supernatural gifts that make them "diviners."  During the plot of the story, the characters use these gifts to, among other thigns, help track down a serial killer involved in some kind of cult ritual.  Fascinating, right?  And super, super creepy.  Be careful reading this one at night!


Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
Rating: 4/5 stars (teen realsitic fiction, heavy material)
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is definitely not an uplifting book, but it is an improtant one.  The novel starts with protagonist Leonard telling readers about his plan to, on his birthday, murder his former-best-friend-turned-bully before taking his own life.  Light stuff, right?  The whole book takes place in the span of one day, intermixed with both flashbacks and letters from the future to Leonard, telling him why he needs to hang on.  This book would make a fabulous starting point for a conversation on bullying and kindness with high school-aged teens.  Get your kleenex ready.


Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Rating: 3/5 stars (adult humor)
Being a huge This American Life/NPR fan, I have loved David Sedaris's humorous monologues for years.  I thoroughly enjoyed his book When You are Engulfed in Flames, so I was excited to read this collection of holiday-themed short stories over Christmas.  Some of them were very funny, especially his story about his time working as en elf at Macy's, but others were a little slower, hence the 3/5 rating.

Allegient by Veronica Roth
Rating: 4/5 stars (teen dystopian scifi)
This book is the third and final installment in the Divergent trilogy, and I have to say I have some mixed feelings about it.  I don't want to give any spoilers (I managed to wait until this week to read it without having it spoiled for me!), so I'll keep it pretty vague, but I must say this: I was completeyl wrapped up in the action of the book and appreciated the answers provided by Roth to some of the logistical questions about the factions and civilization that I've had since Divergent.  However, the ending...I just didn't understand Roth's choices.  I felt that the direction she decided to take was comlpletely unnecessary, and that the dramatic events added little (if anything) to the plot.  Instead, they resulted in an unnecessary amount of lame falling action and a story that just, well, ended lamely.  Kind of a bummer.  I still rated it 4 stars because I thoroughly enjoyed it up until the end, and because the trilogy was just such an enjoyable one.  Fans of Hunger Games should definitely check out Divergent, especially before the movie comes out!

Link up below!

What have you been reading lately?  

What I'm Reading Wednesday: Connecting the Dots

The Book of Someday by Dianne Dixon
Goodreads Summary: Three women. One stranger in a shimmering silver dress. Whatever binds them together has already destroyed one life. It just might consume them all.

Someday, Livvi Gray will break free from her past. Someday, she will escape her recurring nightmare about that stranger in a shimmering silver dress. Someday, she will have a family of her own. Now she's found Andrew, and someday seems to be right around the corner. But there's so much Livvi doesn't know.

Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, she will come face-to-face with the stranger from her dream-an encounter that will alter Livvi's future and crack open everything she knew about her past. Livvi is swiftly moving toward the ultimate turning point in her life-and she's not the only one. Linked by an unforgettable mystery, photographer Micah and young mother AnnaLee are also being rapidly drawn into a web of devastating secrets about the unexpected ways in which we choose to protect-and betray-the people we love.

My Thoughts:  A friend gave me this book over the summer, and it collected dust on my shelf until I found myself with nothing to read last week.  I'm glad I re-discovered it!  The Book of Someday is a sweet book about three women whose lives are connected in some unknown way.  That kind of plot always hooks me in from the get-go--I love that kind of thing.  I read through the book fairly quickly (for a grown up book...) because I wanted to find out how these women's lives would intersect.  However, the individual stories were definitely not strong enough to stand on their own.  The characters were a little unrealistic, and there were many times when the dialogue just seemed fake.  However, I did enjoy the book, especially Livvi's story as she figured out what she wanted for herself in her adult life.  The ending left something to be desired, though--it just kind of...stopped.  All in all I'd recommend it, but it's not getting my, "Rush to the library NOOOOW!" stamp of approval like some of my recent reads.

3/5 stars

What have you been reading this week?  Books?  Blogs?  Articles?  Magazines?

What I'm Reading Wednesday: Love + Paris--What more could you want?

Hi guys!  It's been a busy week so far, but I've still been reading!  I'm excited to share two companion novels this week.  I was pumped to get the second one from the library last week after a year of anticipation...you know how that is, series fans!

5/5 Stars

I snapped up Just One Day shortly after it was released last year, immediately intrigued based on the fact that I'd loved Forman's duo If I Stay and Where She Went...and, let's face it, because Just One Day is set in Paris.  Come on, a YA love story set in Paris?  Who can resist!  Anyways, I picked it up from the library last fall and started reading without even looking at the jacket. (This is important.  Remember, I dove in nearly blindly.)

If I had read the complete summary that was there plain to see on the jacket, I would have been more prepared for what happens in the story--instead, I almost abandoned the book after the protagonist Allyson meets her love interest on pg. 8...I remember groaning, "Seriously?  Already?"  More importantly, I wouldn't have been as shocked when Allyson wakes up alone after spending the perfect day in Paris with her dream boy, Willem.  I couldn't believe it!  I was looking for a "happily ever after," and not a third of the way through the book Allyson's heart was broken!!  It was only then did I read the jacket and realize, duh, this is the entire premise of the book and was spelled out right there on the cover.  Whoops!  While I was as devastated as Allyson, this twist made me love the book immensely more than i would have had it been a plot-less happily ever after.  Allyson spends the rest of the book reinventing herself and traveling and working tirelessly to track down the mysterious boy she knows little about.

4/5 Stars

I absolutely ADORED Just One Day to the point that I stayed up half the night to finish it and recommended it to about 10 people the following day.  It was just such a beautiful coming of age story filled with self-discovery.  Imagine my excitement when I found out Foreman was writing a companion novel, Just One Year, telling the story of what happened after that perfect day from Willem's point of view!

At first, I must admit that I wasn't as into the story as I was reading Allyson's point of view.  I mean, I already knew how it all ended!  But somewhere along the way, I forgot all of that and fell in love again.  During the year Allyson spends reinventing herself and discovering who she is and what she wants, Willem takes a similar journey as he struggles to overcome past demons and decide whether to let fate control his life or to take the wheel himself.

A quote that stood out to me while reading:

"That was pure will, Willem.  Sometimes fate or life or whatever you want to call it, leaves a door a little open and you walk through it.  But sometimes it locks the door and you have to find the key, or pick the lock, or knowk the damn thing down.  And soemtimes, it doesn't even show you the door, and you have to build it yourself.  But if you keep waiting for the dors to be opened for you..." she trailed off.

All in all, highly recommend these two books!  (Oh, and pictures are borrowed from goodreads.com) :)

What have you been reading this week??

What I'm Reading Wednesday: One of the BEST books of 2013!

Thanks for all the love on my marathon recap post!  I still have more to say about the marathon and days that followed, but I'm going to give you all a break from hearing about that and share an AMAZING book I read last week!!  I seriously couldn't put this one down.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Goodreads Summary: In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.  Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

My Thoughts:  I just discovered Rainbow Rowell last spring when a friend recommended Eleanor and Park (which I loved), and my book club read Attachments this summer (which I really enjoyed as well).  I was pumped when the library told me that my hold on Fangirl was finally available.  All I really knew about it before starting it was that the main character wrote fan fiction.  I was so excited when I actually started reading and realized that the fan fiction the character wrote was based off a (fictional) series about a boy wizard (okay, magician in the book) who lives at boarding school and fights magical villans.  Sound familiar??  Yup, not only did Rowell write an amazing plot in Fangirl, but she also created a fictious book series within it AND wrote a ton of fan fiction based off that series.  If you're keeping track, that's like three different plots in one.  As a HUGE Harry Potter fan since basically the beginning of time, I just loved how obsessed Cath, the protagonist, was with her potter-like series, "Simon Snow."  While my Potter-obsession never quite reached Cath's heights, I definitely know what that's like!

If you've read any of my other YA book reviews, you know I love a good coming of age story.  Cath is just plain different from many of the other book characters I've encountered in YA lit, at least the female characters.  She's actually a really complex character--brash and brazen in some contexts and super shy in others.  Cath is learning to find herself in many ways--as a college students, as a writer of something other than fan fiction, as a person separate from her twin sister, as a partner in a mature relationship...her struggles were just so real. 

This was a long one, but at 400+ pages I still wasn't ready to be done!  I could have kept reading for at least another 400.  Rowell is just such an easy writer to read--Fangirl had me laughing out loud with its wit and random references to pop culture and crying a few actual tears at different parts.  The true sign of any great book--when I finished, I laid on the couch for a few more minutes just thinking about the characters.  Those are the best bibliophile moments. :)

Run to the library or book store and get Fangirl!!  I loved it!

5/5 stars (Photo and summary courtesy of goodreads.com)

What have you been reading this week?  Link up to your post below!

What I'm Reading Wednesday: A book that made me feel better about my CRAZY

You guys, I'm having one of those weeks.  ALREADY.  I feel like there about a billion and one things happening at school during the day that are preventing me from doing my best job teaching in the classroom.  You ever get that feeling?  Wishing you could just *teach* for a couple hours?  Gah.  Anyways, between school and the marathon coming up in, oh, just FOUR DAYS, I'm a little on edge!  To preserve some shred of sanity, I'm trying to make time to read every day for at least a little bit.  It's amazing how much it helps.  I am pretty excited to tell you about the book I read last week!

OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu
Goodreads Summary: When Bea meets Beck, she knows instantly that he’s her kind of crazy. Sweet, strong, kinda-messed-up Beck understands her like no one else can. He makes her feel almost normal. He makes her feel like she could fall in love again.

But despite her feelings for Beck, Bea can’t stop thinking about someone else: a guy who is gorgeous and magnetic... and has no idea Bea even exists. But Bea knows a lot about him. She spends a lot of time watching him. She has a journal full of notes. Some might even say she’s obsessed.

Bea tells herself she’s got it all under control. But this isn’t a choice, it’s a compulsion. The truth is, she’s breaking down...and she might end up breaking her own heart.

My Thoughts:  I loved this book.  I was immediately drawn to it by its bright cover, it's short and sweet title, and the 5-star rating my bibliophile friend gave it on goodreads.  I was so not disappointed!  It was absolutely fascinating to read about two teens whose OCD manifests itself in such different ways.  While obviously this is a work of fiction, I have to believe that the author did her homework.  I know when I think of OCD I tend to picture handwashing and repeatedly closing doors, things like that, but after reading Bea's story, I realized that compulsions can take so many other forms.  Just really fascinating.

Bea is one of those characters who you kind of love and kind of hate at the same time.  Throughout the whole book I was cringing, wanting to yell at her, "What are you thinking?!  DO NOT DO THAT!"  But instead of yelling, I just kept reading.  The fact that it's narrated in the first person was awesome too--as Bea tries to reassure herself that some of her behaviors and compulsions are totally normal, you *almost* believe her too...until you don't.  Love an unreliable narrator. :)

The last thing I will saw about this book is that the writing rocks.  I love books where it's clear that some big, significant events took place in the character's past, and instead of just coming out and telling you, the writer drops hints for a hundred pages until you have finally pieced the situation together.  Love this part of OCD Love Story.

In short, this book was a fast read, a sweet love story, and an entrancing look at OCD.  Oh, and it made me feel a billion times better about my little bouts of quirky-crazy. ;)  Come on, you know you have them too...

5/5 stars

What have you been reading this week?

What I'm Reading Wednesday: A Little Out of Character for Me

Or, "Gillian Flynn, you MUST have some screws loose."

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Goodreads Summary: I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer.

My thoughts:  I am not much of a mystery girl, and certainly not much of a horror girl.  As you can tell from most of my reviews, I much prefer a love story featuring two sweet teenagers who are simultaneously battlign evil in a post-apoctolyptic world.  (Hunger Games has ruined me for any other genre of books...)  However, like millions of other people, I devoured Gone Girl last year, staying up practically all night to find out what the hell was going on with this crazy, creepy couple.  After finishing the book, I thought to myself, "Man, that was seriously awesome."  (Minus the incredibly lame and pathetic ending, obv.)  I decided to check out another Flynn book, Sharp Objects.  My god, I think I am still recovering from that one!  Sharp Objects was dark and gritty to the point of excess IMHO.  I literally paused reading at one point because I was just so uncomfortable by everything that was going on in the book, and barely even made it throguh.

But this isn't a review of Sharp Objects.  You'd think I would have abandoned Flynn altogether, but I just kept thinking about how much I enjoyed Gone Girl.  So, after makign my dad (who has read all three books) promise me that Dark Places wasn't nearly as intensely-creepy as Sharp Objects, I decided to give it a shot.  Like Gone Girl, this book jumps perspectives and time periods with alternating chapters, a technique that I always love.  It was perfect for this book--the chapters alternate between Libby Day's point of view in the present as she is trying to gather clues and figure out what really happened the day her family was murdered, and between both her mother and brother's hour by hour narratives of that day 20+ years ago.  As Libby collects tiny clues, we collect our own clues from Mrs. Day and Ben Day's own personal accounts.  Not until I was actually reading the description of what really happened during the murders in the last chapters did I finally figure out what was going on--the sign of a great mystery, right?

Dark Places kept me turning the pages for sure, even staying up past my teacher bed time a few nights.  However, like any Flynn book, it is, well, dark.  Not quite as gritty as Sharp Objects, but just one of those books that makes you...uncomfortable.  The characters are all so destitute, and nothing is EVER sugar coated.  Reading Dark Places made me more than grateful for my cushy life free from drugs, murder, poverty, and a host of other issues.  It wasn't the novel that Gone Girl was, but it was worth reading if you like mysteries and suspense.  Or even if you don't necessarily and just liked Gone Girl like me. :)

3/5 stars (As always, cover photo and summary are courtesy of goodreads.com)

Link up and share what you've been reading this week!  Even if it's just Runner's World and blogs! :)

What I'm Reading Wednesday: Running Inspiration

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
Goodreads Summary: In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he’d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a dozen critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and—even more important—on his writing.

Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in running.

My thoughts:  This book was not what I expected, but I really enjoyed it.  I was expecting more of a memoir about Murakami's experiences in running through his life, but really What I talk about was more of a stream of consciousness at times.  Murakami jumped around time periods between the present tense while writing and past memories of races and training experiences.  Once I got used to the format, I really appreciated the candor, honesty, and insights.  I love how Murakami talks about the "void" you find as a long distance runner--the point after which everything calms down and your mind quiets.  I know that during a short run, my mind runs a mile a minute working out my "issues," but during a long run everything goes quiet--all I can focus on is forward motion.  I also love how Murakami's insights aren't all about running--they go beyond running and into the runner, into life.  Some of my favorite quotes:

I look up at the sky, wondering if I'll catch a glimpse of kindness there, but I don't. All I see are indifferent summer clouds drifting over the Pacific. And they have nothing to say to me. Clouds are always taciturn. I probably shouldn't be looking up at them. What I should be looking at is inside of me. Like staring down into a deep well. Can I see kindness there? No, all I see is my own nature. My own individual, stubborn, uncooperative often self-centered nature that still doubts itself--that, when troubles occur, tries to find something funny, or something nearly funny, about the situation. I've carried this character around like an old suitcase, down a long, dusty path. I'm not carrying it because I like it. The contents are too heavy, and it looks crummy, fraying in spots. I've carried it with me because there was nothing else I was supposed to carry. Still, I guess I have grown attached to it. As you might expect.

People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they'll go to any length to live longer. But don't think that's the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you're going to while away the years, it's far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive then in a fog, and I believe running helps you to do that. Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that's the essence of running, and a metaphor for life — and for me, for writing as whole. I believe many runners would agree.

Nothing is as beautiful as the illusions of a person about to lose consciousness. 

((^Again, love the honesty.  Because yes, runners get delusional at the end of a long run, and yes, it's beautiful.))

3.5/5 stars

(As always, cover photo and summary are borrowed from goodreads.com!)

What have you been reading this week?
What are your favorite running  books?  While I liked this one a lot, my favorites are still The Courage to Start and The Nonrunner's Guide to the Marathon for Women.  

What I'm Reading Wednesday Linky: Powerful Youth Fiction

*Hey guys!  Don't forget to check out my 31 bags fundraiser for Autism Speaks!   Only  one  person has entered so  far, which means that you have a VERY GOOD chance of winning a 31 bag in exchange for a tiny $5 donation to Autism Speaks!!  Seriously, that's an amazing deal AND you're helping a good cause!  Win-Win!
Hey guys!  After last week's RANT about a terrible teen "book" (yes, I'm putting book in quotes because it was so bad), I'm thrilled to have an awesome read to share with you this week!

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli
Goodreads Summary: Sometimes he wished it would come after him, chase him, this thing he did not want to be. But the thing never moved. It merely waited. Waited for him to come to it. In Palmer LaRue's hometown of Waymer, turning ten is the biggest event of a boy's life. It marks the day when a boy is ready to take his place as a wringer at the annual Family Fest. It's an honor and a tradition.

But for Palmer, his tenth birthday is not something to look forward to, but something to dread. Because -- although he can't admit this to anyone -- Palmer does not want to be a wringer. But he can't stop himself from getting older, any more than he can stop tradition.

Then one day, a visitor appears on his windowsill, and Palmer knows that this, more than anything else, is a sign that his time is up. Somehow, he must learn how to stop being afraid and stand up for what he believes in.

My Thoughts: Wringer has been on my to-read list FOREVER, and I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it!  However, I must have never read the jacket carefully because it turns out what I THOUGHT this book was about was pretty different than its actual plot!  This happens to me ALL the time, as I just add books on goodreads without really reading the summary.  I actually went into this book thinking it was a dystopian novel, but it's actual realistic fiction.  As you can tell frmo the plot, it's definitely got some intense, dark content--shooting pigeons and then wringing their necks isn't exactly Goldilocks.

What I love about this book are the important themes it brings up.  In true Spinelli-style, Wringer gets to the root of some big issues while keeping the perspective totally through the eyes of the child protagonist.  Not only does Spinelli explore the broad concepts of right and wrong, but also the tougher issues kids face about standing up for what you know is right even when it means standing up to your friends and family.  Wringer also deals with friendship--the protagonist desperately wants to gain acceptance into a little group of neighborhood "hoodlums" as his mother refers to them, but when he is accepted, he finds out he really doesn't like them and their behavior.  He'd much rather spend time with his youger female neighbor who he's embarrassed to speak to in public.  Wringer would be an AMAZING book to launch a discussion about how hard it is to stand up for what's right in front of your friends.

I would definitely recommend this book to some of my advanced reading 4th graders, and if I still taught 5th grade, I would consider it for a read aloud.  There are just so many good themes in here that it would be perfect for stimulating class discussions and critical thinking responses.

4/5 stars

(Summary and cover image courtesy of goodreads.com!)

Link to your What I'm Reading Wednesday post below!

What I'm Reading Wednesday Linky: One Terrible YA Novel

Or, there is a reason some books are only $1.99 at the Kindle store...

**Don't forget to l ink up to your WIRW post at the bottom!**

Born by Tara Brown
Goodreads Summary: "It's us and them, Em. There are no regular people anymore."
Ten years ago when the world ended she ran for her life.
Five weeks ago the world she'd hidden from came knocking on the door of her secluded cabin.
Ten days ago she found salvation hiding amongst the dead.
Yesterday she went back for the living.
Today she wonders if she will live to see tomorrow.
What do you do when the world you were born to is gone?
Where do you hide when even your own body isn't safe?

Emma ran when her daddy told her to. She hid like he said she should. He was the first person she turned her back on. The first one she let die.  Ten years has gone by and she still lives by the simple rules he taught her when she was nine years old.

"Don't help anyone. Don't go where other people are unless you have to. Trust no one. Always pull the trigger."

Until one night she hears the worst sound in the world, a knock. A simple, timid knock, on the door to her cabin.  Only the voice of the brave little girl, ready to die for her brother, persuades Emma to open the door.  As her fingers turn the lock, she has a terrible feeling she will regret her decision.
But even as regret fills her world, so do love and companionship. Things she never imagined she would ever have again.  Everything comes at a cost, you decide what you'll pay.
My Thoughts: Did you skim that summary and think this book sounded pretty great?  Me too.  I was wrong.  So. very. wrong.  Even though this book was only $1.99, I seriously wish I could call Amazon and demand my money back.  It was THAT BAD.  I honestly believe one of my fourth graders could have written it.  To begin with, it was riddled with grammatical errors--not just a few typos, but incorrect usages of homophones.  Terrible.  Another annoyance was that practically every sentence started with "I."  I did this.  I did that.  I saw this.  I felt that.  There's another thing--we teach in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL the rule, "Show, don't tell."  This author must have been sick that day in 4th grade.

Okay, okay, enough about grammar.  There were also so many issues with the plot of the book.  The entire premise was bananas--the UN releases some crazy super virus that turns people into zombies?  Then, while the goverment has collapsed, it has somehow simultaneously become some super government that has these weird birthing factories.  The herione isn't likable at all, and her actions just make no sense.  She claims to not care about anyone, but then continuously picks up "strays" throughout the book, becoming all "motherly" towards them even though she is always saying she hates children.  Her romantic relationships are even less believable.  One minute she hates a particular boy, the next they are instantly making out.  Oh, and he must have read Twilight, because he definitely knows what an abusive relationship looks like!  Awful.

You guys, I will admit I'm picky about my books.  I like good writing.  But I can also easily overlook the writing if the characters and story are awesome.  I mean I've read the Twilight books more times than I care to admit.  But this book earns a definite DO NOT READ from me.

Gosh, that felt good. :)

1/5 Stars

What have you been reading these past weeks??

(This link-up will be open for two whole weeks, so feel free to write a post and link up anytime!)

What I'm Reading Wednesday Linky: A Tear-Jerker

What I'm Reading Wednesdays are back!  Sorry for taking last week off--not only was it the first day of school, but I hadn't finished a book since the previous week!  Yikes!  Now that school is cutting into my reading time (what's up with that??), I'm going to make What I'm Reading Wednesdays an every other week post.  I hope you will still link up when you have books to share!

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Goodreads Summary: 1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life—someone who will help her to heal, and to question what she thinks she knows about Finn, her family, and even her own heart.

At Finn’s funeral, June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. A few days later, she receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot she recognizes from Finn’s apartment, and a note from Toby, the stranger, asking for an opportunity to meet. As the two begin to spend time together, June realizes she’s not the only one who misses Finn, and if she can bring herself to trust this unexpected friend, he just might be the one she needs the most.

My Thoughts:  As I was born in '87, I don't remember that time when AIDS was new and confusing.  Maybe make that new and terrifying.  By the time I was old enough to know what AIDS was, everyone knew that you couldn't get it by touching or coughing on someone the way you would get a cold.  However, at the time this book is set, '87, there were so many unknowns about AIDS.  As I read Tell the Wolves I'm Home, I found myself in a world where nothing was certain and where so many questions and fears were wrapped up in this "new" disease.  That in itself was interesting, but more compelling were the characters and their complicated relationships.  The narrator, June's, relationship with her uncle and with Toby, her Uncle Finn's long-time partner whom she never knew existed   June's tortured relationship with her sister, who she finds herself growing further and further from every day.  June's Mother's relationship with her brother, one that the narrator grows to understand throughout the book.  And so on.  My only complaint about the book was that it was a bit long--about 2/3s of the way through I was ready to give it 3 stars--but everything comes together so beautifully in the end that it earned that 4th star.  I cried and cried near the end of this book, not just because it was sad, but because the characters learn so much about themselves and each other.  Definitely recommend.

4/5 Stars

What have you been reading this week?  Share in the comments or link to your own WIRW post!

What I'm Reading Wednesday Linky: More Children's HistFic

I am loving children's historical fiction lately.  Funny, I read children's histfic, YA fantasy and scifi, and adult realistic fiction and mystery/thriller.  Huh.  None of those genres really seem to cross age groups either, except for realistic fiction.  I guess I know what I like!  Anyways, I have a really sweet book to share with you this week!

The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
Summary: “We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful” is the motto of Deza Malone’s family.

Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, singled out by teachers for a special path in life. But the Great Depression hit Gary hard, and there are no jobs for black men. When her beloved father leaves to find work, Deza, Mother, and her older brother Jimmie go in search of him, and end up in a Hooverville outside Flint, Michigan. Jimmie’s beautiful voice inspires him to leave the camp to be a performer, while Deza and Mother find a new home, and cling to the hope that they will find Father.

The twists and turns of their story reveal the devastation of the Depression and prove that Deza truly is the Mighty Miss Malone.

My Thoughts:  This book was just wonderful.  I have been a Curtis fan since I read The Watsons go to Birmingham in my college methods of LA class.  I just love the voice of his characters and the way he touches on important periods in history and race relations in a kid-friendly way.  Malone takes place during the Depression--seems to be a theme with my books this summer!  I found myself both captivated by the family's spirit and completely feeling for them as they face obstacle after obstacle.  I am thinking about using that as a read aloud later in the year--I'll let you know how it goes if I do!  Definitely add this one to your to-read list of you're a Curtis fan or looking for some good historical fiction!

4/5 stars

What I'm Reading Wednesday Linky: From Chic Lit to Children's Lit!

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

Summary: Lottie just knows that her boyfriend is going to propose during lunch at one of London’s fanciest restaurants. But when his big question involves a trip abroad, not a trip down the aisle, she’s completely crushed. So when Ben, an old flame, calls her out of the blue and reminds Lottie of their pact to get married if they were both still single at thirty, she jumps at the chance. No formal dates—just a quick march to the altar and a honeymoon on Ikonos, the sun-drenched Greek island where they first met years ago.

 
Their family and friends are horrified. Fliss, Lottie’s older sister, knows that Lottie can be impulsive—but surely this is her worst decision yet. And Ben’s colleague Lorcan fears that this hasty marriage will ruin his friend’s career. To keep Lottie and Ben from making a terrible mistake, Fliss concocts an elaborate scheme to sabotage their wedding night. As she and Lorcan jet off to Ikonos in pursuit, Lottie and Ben are in for a honeymoon to remember, for better . . . or worse.

My Thoughts: I first read Sophie Kinsella's shopaholic books as a teen during a "chic lit" phase and loved them.  Since then, I don't read chic lit quite as much, but I have continued to read (and enjoy!) Pretty much every book Kinsella has written since.  When Wedding Night came out this spring, I immediately added it to my list.  If you are a chic lit fan, this book will not disappoint.  One thing that made this book unique from Kinsella's others (which are all fairly similar...), is that the chapters alternated between two characters' points of view.  I LOVE this in books!  Lottie is a Kinsella classic-character--super flighty, jumps into things without thinking, ends up making questionable albeit hilarious choices.  Fliss, on the other hand, thinks things through a little too much, is a little too protective, and is completely meddlesome in her younger sister's life.  Basically the whole book revolves around Fliss trying to keep her little sister Lottie and Lottie's new husband from consummating their marriage because she thinks it's a mistake and wants them to get an annulment.  Hilarity ensues.  Quick, easy, mindless read with plenty of laughs.

3.5/5 Stars

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Summary:  "The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I’d seen only in Gideon’s stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future."

 
Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.

Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”

Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.

My Thoughts: Moon Over Manifest was recommended to me by a friend who is a teen/children's librarian.  I've had this book on my list since it won the Newberry awhile back, and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it!  Manifest takes place during the great depression in a small heartland town.  Abilene is sent to Manifest by her father, and she spends a summer trying to discover the secrets of this town's past.  At the same time, she learns to know and love the members of this unique community, until she finally feels at home in Manifest.  I loved reading this book, but it might be a little tough for struggling readers as the chapters jump between time periods and also include letters, news columns, and advertisements.  I love this in books, but I know some of my strugglers would have a tough time keeping it straight!  Overall, this was a sweet, heart-warming story about love, friendship, finding who you are, and discovering how you fit into a community.

4/5 stars