Boring Books Galore

Here are the books recommended for grades 6-8 for the newly proposed COMMON STANDARDS:

"Little Women," Louisa May Alcott
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," Mark Twain
"A Wrinkle in Time," Madeleine L'Engle
"The Dark Is Rising," Susan Cooper
"Dragonwings," Laurence Yep
"Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," Mildred D. Taylor
"The People Could Fly," Virginia Hamilton
"The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks," Katherine Paterson
"Eleven," Sandra Cisneros
"Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad," Rosemary Sutcliff

Does that list sound as terrible to you as it does to me? Imagine for an 11 year old. I don't think that all of these books are horrible but perhaps (i mean definitely) not the best choices. Why is good ya lit continuing to be written when "the classics" are still the only things allowed in the curriculum. I am s SHSU grad and now teach 5th grade Reading. We started out the school year with The Lightning Thief. My kids devoured it and now any book I start they have faith that it will be great because Rick Riordon's novel captured them from the start. Honestly, is not one of the biggest blessings we can give our students the love of reading? We have ample silent reading time with self selected books in my classroom because not only are the classics generally not relatable to my low SES kids but teaching a student how to read the blurb and self select a book is one of the strongest tools you can equip them with. Let's put some books in the curriculum like Rules, Al Capone Does My Shirts, Esperanza Rising or The Invention of Hugo Cabret... books were historical events and relatable emotions meet to form conversations about books that will linger in students' minds and leave them wanting more.

Stepping off soap box now...
Happy Spring Break!

Shelf Indulgence

Three weddings later and I am finally able to muster up the energy to blog and read, both of which I have missed dearly. 

My current SHELF INDULGENCE is Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. You can tell that Marr has an eclectic persona which makes her books different and intriguing.  Wicked Lovely is so good and just an all around enjoyable read! This is the first book in a series about humans and faeries (these are not your cute Disney fairies). It is very well written, including the usual conflict between good and evil which always provides for interesting plot twists. And, of course, there is a romantic angle - as Aislinn is sought after by both a faery and a human boy. If you liked Twilight, you will enjoy this book as it has some of the same plot elements including the romantic tension that we all love so much in Stephanie Meyer's series. (Team Seth and Team Edward respectively) ;)

ENJOY!

What's your current SHELF INDULGENCE?

A Leslie List

All my life I have LOVED lists! In college I truly got into the habit of making lists of everything.... groceries, movies I want to see, books to read, restaurants within 5 minute driving distance... LISTS MAKE MY WORLD GO 'ROUND!

So here is my latest list of books I've read

January

Witness

Blue Bloods

Rules

Seeds of Hope

Artichoke's Heart

February

Boy at War

Whirligig

Coraline

The Lightening Thief

The Sea of Monsters

A Corner of the Universe

The Magic Finger

March

The Titan's Curse

The Battle of the Labyrinth

The Masquerade

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

And Currently... Uglies

So go read... it's gonna be rainy for the next few days so grab a good book and some hot chocolate :)

Now to go mark some things off a list that really matter... the never ending cleaning list.