Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I love a challenge!!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge
   Dec. 16 - Jan. 1
A reading challenge over the Christmas break!  What fun!!  I can't wait to see what the activities are.  I will be out of town and very busy with lots of family, but I sure hope to hop on here each day and join the fun...and, of course, WIN!!!

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Matched

Matched (Matched, #1)


Matched by Ally Condie keeps calling my name.  I have seen it in the stores, on the Lone Star list, and many of my classmates have read it.  I am finally done with all my required reading at the moment.  I was heading out the door a couple days before my family for a 3 1/2 hour drive to Marble Falls for Thanksgiving.  I realized that I didn't have an audiobook checked out from the library.  I canNOT waste 3 1/2 hours in the car without an audiobook.  I realized that I could purchase an audiobook with my Kindle and plug it in through the iPod plug in my car to listen to it.  Yayy!!  I got Matched and can't wait to get back in the car to drive back to Marble Falls for Christmas so I can hear more!!  So far, so good.  I am enjoying it.  I am not allowing myself to listen for all the short jaunts across town.  I want to listen, uninterrupted!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Speak

Speak



Anderson, L. (1999). Speak. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Wow!  This book is one that I have heard so much about but have never read.  I was glad to have the opportunity to read it.  I had heard so much about the censorship of the book that...I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.  This was very well written and in an extremely tasteful manner.  I like how the book focused on Melanie trying to cope on a daily basis instead of the whole book being about "the traumatic incident" and Melanie reliving it over and over.  I like how the reader could hear Melanie's voice even though Melanie couldn't use her own voice yet.  I also loved the tree from art class that threaded throughout the entire book following Melanie's progress.  This is a great book for any student, but especially for those who have had a traumatic event causing them great depression.  You are not alone!  Melanie's experience was a rape during a high school party where she then called the police.  Her classmates only know that she called the cops, broke up the party, and then treat her as an outcast


Retrieved September 20, 2011 from https://sites.google.com/a/lshigh.org/gotbooks/book-trailers .

Friday, November 4, 2011

Heist Society

Heist Society (Heist Society, #1)




In the Heist Society, by Ally Carter, Katrina is a strong, independent, woman who wants to lead a clean life leaving her family's business behind.  She comes from a family of art thieves; living a rich, intriguing life of high style and glamorous travel all over the world.  She cons her way into a premier boarding school to stop living the life of crime...until her father is accused of stealing from the wrong person.  She is the only one able to steal the art back to save her father.  Will she choose to help him?  Will she succeed if she does?

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Mockingbird

Mockingbird

What I have written does not do this book justice.  It is a fantastic book that allows the reader to see what is going on in the mind of someone who has something like Asperger's Syndrome.  I loved this book.  I consider myself knowledgeable about many differences that students have.  But this book is so powerful, I believe that everyone should read it to get a real sense of the daily life challenges that some people face.

This story begins with the realization that Caitlyn and her dad are suffering the loss of Caitlyn's brother.  We quickly find out that something is different about Caitlyn.  She categorizes everything!  For instance, she knows she needs to Look At The Person, or she knows that life is different now beginning with The Day Our Life Fell Apart.

Caitlyn has to learn how to behave in a more "appropriate" way, but she also has to learn to deal with the loss of her brother.  She doesn't really have the help of her father who is swallowed up in his own grief.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Gregor the Overlander

Gregor the Overlander (Underland Chronicles, #1)


If you like a little mystery and a little fantasy, this book is for you.  Gregor is an Overlander and must find his dad in the Underland.  What is the Underland you ask?  It is the land under the ground.  What do you think you will find in the Underland?  You will find spinners, crawlers, fliers, and gnawers...  How will Gregor ever stay alive, never mind find his dad?!  There is also a prophecy written in riddle form and Gregor just may be in this prophecy.  Can you help decipher its meaning?

Little Blog on the Prairie

Little Blog on the Prairie


Cathleen Davitt Bell has written a wonderful 21st century version of Little House on the Prairie!  Can you imagine no television, no phone, no internet (or computers), no electricity, and not even a real bathroom?  Can you imagine sharing a tiny house with your whole family, meaning you share a bed with your sibling even if they are a boy and you are a girl?  On top of all that, you have to work hard to grow your own food, milk your own cow, and churn your own butter!  And they call this VACATION!!!  There are teens in this book that do not think this fits their idea of vacation either.  You will have to read this story set in modern times with a vacation in a place and time of the 1890's.  You will find out if anyone ends up cheating the reality of the 1890's...