Skip to main content

Taking a Break

I have read three books since Monday. Now, don't get to impressed yet.

When I go to my different teaching conferences, I always learn about these great books, but most of them are for young adult or middle school readers, so I never get the chance to use them, or have a real reason to read them. Well, I decided that there is no reason for my not to enjoy them, I checked out three young adult books from the library on Monday, and they were all great. They all have the highest recommendations.

Rules - A fantastic story of a girl and her autistic brother. A wonderful look at what it is like to live with a sibling who has disabilities.

The Willoughbys - A fun and fanciful book that attempts to be a bit old fashion. A great way to introduce kids to some awesome vocabulary like "ignominiously" and "obsequious."

The Wednesday Wars - Written by an English professor from Calvin College, this book is hilarious. It weaves Shakespeare, life in the late 1960's and a boy trying to survive the seventh grade all together in a fun read. I laughed out loud a lot while reading this book.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Perspective

I have already mentioned my "Word of the Day" screen saver that I have on my laptop that is hooked up to the projector in my room. I am learning that the words go in cycles a bit, so the same word will pop up in several classes during the day. Today's popular word was "entitlement." A fantastic word to share with teenagers who often think they are entitled to a whole lot of stuff. In fact, we as humans often think we are entitled to a whole lot of stuff when really we are fallen people who deserve nothing but death. We so often miss how wonderful and blessed our life really is and we get caught up on the little things. This video sort of puts that in perspective in a rather humorous way. I am by no means promoting this comedian, but if you take what he says to heart, it is so true. We live in an amazing world, created by an amazing God. We really should be happy with the blessing we have been given.

The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck

  Twenty years ago, the summer of '77 was supposed to be the best summer of Summer Wilde's life. She and her best friends, Spring, Autumn, and Snow--the Four Seasons--had big plans. But those plans never had a chance. After a teenage prank gone awry, the Seasons found themselves on a bus to Tumbleweed, "Nowhere," Oklahoma, to spend eight weeks as camp counselors. All four of them arrived with hidden secrets and buried fears, and the events that unfolded in those two months forever altered their friendships, their lives, and their futures. Now, thirtysomething, Summer is at a crossroads. When her latest girl band leaves her in a motel outside Tulsa, she is forced to face the shadows of her past. Returning to the place where everything changed, she soon learns Tumbleweed is more than a town she never wanted to see again. It's a place for healing, for reconciling the past with the present, and for finally listening to love's voice. This was an enjoyable book to r...

Birthday Fun

It was my birthday on Saturday, so Wilbert asked me what I wanted to do. Since it was nice weather, I decided to have a picnic in the park. We opted for the easy picnic and picked up Subway and headed to the Elliot River Dream Park. It was a lovely day. After our lunch, Wilbert and Joash explored the park. They found musical instruments...  played a bit of hide and seek...  and tried out the slides. Joash did pretty good in the park, but he is still pretty timid and cautious over all. He never really dared to go down a slide by himself, but he was running around on his own by the end. After we were finished at the park, we stopped for dessert at Cows Ice Cream since we didn't get an ice cream cone we went earlier in the week. It was very tasty! In the evening, we had a bonfire and invited lots of people over. At 5 in the afternoon, we had a crazy thundershower pop up right over us and it rained like crazy. But by 7, the weather was great and once it got dark...