Stumbling on Happiness (2006), Daniel Gilbert

I read this book because I wanted to join a book club, and this was the next book on the list.  Stumbling on Happiness was billed as a Freakonomics-type book that would enlighten me to how the brain works.  Wrong.  Though Daniel Gilbert has a great sense of humor, and is able to synthesize complex psychological studies into laymen's terms, I just couldn't get into this book.  There were a few interesting segments about perception of happiness and how humans are the only species that think about the future - but for the most part, I found that Gilbert rambled on and on and gave way to many examples for each topic.  Skip this one.

I did get a new favorite quote though: "If we adhere to the standards of perfection in all of our endeavors, we are left with nothing but mathematics and the White Album."  Daniel Gilbert - how did you know that I love both math and the Beatles?!

Daniel Gilbert is a professor at Harvard - with his humor, I bet his classes are a blast!

Messenger (2004), Lois Lowry

[Fall, 2010]
I really enjoyed this book.  It took a few chapters to get into the plot and get a feel for the characters, but as soon as that happened - I was hooked!  The main character, Matty, lives in a utopian society called Village.  He lives with an old blind man who goes by the name Seer.  Most of the adults go by the names of their jobs - the teacher is called "Mentor" and the mayor is called "Leader."  You get the sense that something is going amiss in Village - people are starting to become angry with one another, and the community seems to be falling apart.

Outside, Village is surrounded by a forest, which is called Forest.  Forest does not like to have people enter; it often leaves people with "warnings" like a scrape or a thorn prick.  These warnings become more intense and hurtful as you get deeper into the book.  However, Forest does not mind when Matty enters, so Matty is often the person who is sent to other villages on the other side of Forest.

Seer's daughter, Kira, lives in a village on the other side of Forest.  Leader asks Matty to go on a mission to bring Kira back through Forest, but Forest does not want this to happen.  Kira and Matty have special powers that help them to overcome obstacles that they face in Forest - but will they make it to the other side back to Village?  What will happen to the other villagers?  Will the negative energy that is overcoming the citizens be overcome, or will it just get worse?  Those are questions you will have to find out for yourself!

This is a very good read - just make sure to stick through the first few slow chapters!

A Year Down Yonder (2000), Richard Peck

[January, 2011]
I loved A Long Way from Chicago so much, I just had to read the sequel A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck!

It's now 1937 - the Great Depression is over, but there is now a recession that has rocked the Dowdel family.  Once again, Mary Alice's parents send her to stay with Grandma Dowdel.  This time, instead of just staying for the summer, Mary Alice stays for the entire year and has to go to school in a one-room school house.  Quite a change from her Chicago lifestyle!  Her brother Joe is now older and on his own, working for the Civilian Conservation Corps planting trees in the western part of the country.

There are eight short stories of tales of life in a small Illinois town.  Halloween tricks and treats, Christmas traditions and surprises, Valentine's Day cherry tarts, and young love.  All are told by Mary Alice, who we didn't get to know very well in A Long Way from Chicago, but we see bloom in these stories.

I can't get enough of Grandma Dowdel!  I want to read the final book in this series, A Season of Gifts, but I'm worried that I'll miss the characters too much when that book is finished!

Hoot (2002), Carl Hiaasen

[January, 2011]
Roy just moved to Florida, and he hates it.  On the way to his first day of school, he get's beat up by a meat-head bully.  Urgh.  Nothing's going his way.  He did notice an unusual sight though - a boy, about his age, running by the bus stop...in bare feet!  Who was that boy?  And why was he barefoot?

Roy eventually realizes that the building site of the new "Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House" is actually on top of the home of state-protected burrowing owls.  Roy, Beatrice, and that mystery boy set out to save the owls from the bulldozers.  

I really enjoyed Hoot - I think you'll get a hoot out of it!  (Ah!  What a terrible joke!)

Stargirl (2000), Jerry Spinelli

[Fall 2010]
Stargirl is a individual.  She sings "Happy Birthday" to strangers, and brings a vase of flowers with her into class to place on her desk.  She's the new kid at Mica High, and takes the school by storm.  It takes a bit of time for the students to appreciate her for who she is, but she eventually wins everyone over...well mostly everyone.

Leo, our storyteller, falls for Stargirl and they begin dating.   But when the Mica High students fall out of love with Stargirl's individuality, Leo has a hard time being unpopular.  He tries to convince Stargirl to "act normal."  Will she do it?

Though I enjoyed Spinelli's Maniac Magee much more, Stargirl is a good book with a better message: stay true to who you are.  There is a sequel Love, Stargirl, but I have many other books to read before I take a stab at the next chapter in Stargirl's life.  

A Long Way from Chicago (1998), Richard Peck

[Fall 2010]

Joey and his sister, Mary Alice, live in Chicago.  In 1929, the Great Depression hit their family hard, and their parents had to send Joey and Mary Alice to live with their Grandmother in a small town in Illinois for the summer.

Grandma Dowdel is a force to be reckoned with!  She is plump, stubborn, and tougher than nails.  People in town know not to mess with Grandma Dowdel.

She lives a very old-fashioned lifestyle where she hunts most of her food, makes soap from scratch, and has an out house instead of an indoor bathroom.  Grandma Dowdel is not one to show affection, but she does love her grandchildren very much.

A Long Way from Chicago is a collection of stories - one from each summer over eight years.  The characters are vividly written, and after a few stories, I fell in love with Grandma Dowdel and couldn't get enough of her hijinks!

There is a sequel (A Year Down Yonder) and a prequel (A Season of Gifts) to this book and I'm excited to read them!

Around the World in Eighty Days (1873), Jules Verne

[Summer 2010]

In 1872, Phileas Fogg enters into a bet with friends of his from a fancy club.  Fogg is wealthy and his is also up for an adventure!  He bets his friends that he could travel around the world in 80 days - after all, modern marvels like the train and the steamship make traveling so much easier and faster these days.

Fogg wagers half of his wealth - $20,000 - which in today's money is more like $1.5 million!  Fogg takes along his butler Jean Passepartout and begins his adventure in London on October 2, 1872.  Will he make it back to London by December 21, 1872?  You'll have to read to find out!  You are sure to enjoy all of the bumps along the way, which bring new friends, a love interest, and many forms of transportation - including a ride on an elephant!

The original text of Around the World in Eighty Days was published chapter by chapter in a newspaper in 1893.  The chapters are short and the endings of each leave you wanting to read on.  This makes sense because the newspapers wanted you to buy their next edition to see how Phileas Fogg and his crew were making out on their journey.

I enjoyed this book, but it took me a while to get used to the old language and writing style.  Jules Verne is French and wrote the original text in French, so I have a feeling that some of the information was lost in translation.  Some of the words used in the book are not very kind to say about other cultures today, but were very common back then.  This is something to keep in mind as you read along, and a good discussion topic to have with family or friends.

Kindle readers - all of Jules Verne's works are FREE to download!

Three Cups of Tea: The Young Readers Edition (2009), Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

[Summer 2010]

I read this book because it was a gift to me from a Boston College volunteer group, The BC Readers.  Faculty and staff members go to an elementary classroom once a week to read out loud to students.  I participated in the group for three years, and loved each of my visits to the classrooms.

"With the first cup of tea you are a stranger.
With the second...a friend.
With the third cup of tea, you are family."

The subtitle to Three Cups of Tea is, "One Man's Journey to Change the World...One Child at a Time."  I immediately connected with the title of this book - isn't that what teaching is all about?  Changing the world one child at a time.  As I read the book, I found that the book was in fact about education!  Education in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In 1993, Greg Mortenson tried to climb K2 - one of the tallest mountains in the world which is located in Pakistan near the border of China.  He didn't reach the summit, and on the way down he got lost from his guides and from his climbing crew.  Greg nearly died, but he somehow managed to wander into a little village.  The people of the village saved his life, and Greg felt that he needed to repay them somehow.  After speaking with the elder of the village, Greg promised to return and build them a school.

Greg worked very hard to raise money to build this school, and he eventually did build it!  The people of the village were very thankful - they went from having no school to having a school.  The chance to have an education in Pakistan is a precious gift, and it can change your life!  Greg Mortenson has now built over 60 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan!

This is a very inspirational book that shows you how hard work, determination, and friendship with those who are different from you, can promote peace.  You can learn more about Greg Mortenson's charity "Pennies for Peace" at www.penniesforpeace.org

When You Reach Me (2009), Rebecca Stead

[Fall 2010]
I finished this book in one (home from school sick) day - couldn't put it down, and it helped me to feel better.  It's about a girl, Miranda, who lives in NY in 1979 (the year I was born).  She is raised by her loving mother, and her boyfriend Richard, who is a delightful character and is usually around the apartment.  She has a small circle of friends; some fade in and out of her life throughout the story, which is very true to the social life of a 12-year-old.


Miranda is obsessed with the book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engel (1963 Newbery Medal Winner), and is fascinated by the idea of time travel.  Miranda starts receiving notes from a mystery person who appears to be able to predict the future.  After Miranda figures out who the notes came from, she has a moment of clarity and awe.  The book is organized in short chapters that are titled similar to categories in the game show $20,000 pyramid, a show that we learn Miranda's mother is to appear on in the near future.  It's a delightful read!

Holes (1998), Louis Sachar

 [Fall 2010]

Stanley Yelnats (yes, his name is a palindrome), is falsely accused of a crime.  He is sent to a boys work camp as punishment.  There, he and other boys must dig wholes in a dried up lake.  He ends up finding a key element to solving the location to a fabled buried treasure.  Surrounded by unethical adults, Stanley makes some tough decisions to stay true to his ethics - and some amazing things happen because he did.

Maniac Magee (1990), Jerry Spinelli

What a delightful read!  Maniac Magee is a story about a boy who is orphaned and runs away from his guardians.  He bridges the black/white town line and makes friends in both neighborhoods and with both races along the way.  His innocence is endearing to some, confusing and frustrating to others.  It helps him to find caring temporary guardians, and also gets him into some trouble.  A must read. 

Poppy (1995), Avi

During my student teaching semester (Fall 2010), I tried to read a new children's book each week.  It was an admirable goal, but the demands of the semester were just too hard to keep up with and I eventually had to stop.  During this time, I was able to read quite a few books so I will share my thoughts with you now.

Poppy is a story about a field mouse who takes on the self-appointed "leader" of Dimwood Forest to avenge the death of her love, and to save the future of her family. It was a quick read and very entertaining. I also loved that the the main character is a girl - she is clever, brave, and ends up outwitting the evil dictator. A great read that is part of a series - it would be easy for students who like this book to keep on reading the other two books. There are many illustrations throughout the book, which can help young readers to transition to chapter books.

An Object of Beauty (2010), Steve Martin

I was this close to being an art major (very close).  I took many art history courses while at Syracuse, and I even worked at The Art Institute of Chicago for a year.  I love art and have a better than average understanding of art history.

Good thing, because I needed it!  In Steve Martin's imaginary-but-oh-so-realistic 1990s art dealing world, we journey through nearly two decades with the unforgettable Lacey Yeager.  A young, attractive, man-eating, determined, budding art dealer, who will do whatever it takes to make a name for herself in the business.  Legality of dealings?  Questionable at times.

I enjoyed this book because I enjoy art, and because Steve Martin writes books as if you're watching a movie.  Probably because he's written screenplays a few times before.  He employs a unique picture-in-text layout of the book.  Because the art world is the most diverse character in An Object of Beauty, he describes a particular piece, and then (with permission) places a picture of the work right into the paragraph.  Martin said that he did this because he can't stand books where you have to flip to the middle or the back of a book to look at the pictures that are referenced in a novel.

Though Martin does a good job of explaining artists, their genres, and their importance in the field, without an Art History 101 course under your belt, this book may be a bit boring for you.  Also, this book is rated R for adult content.   If you're a Kindle user, this is a pass - or time to buy the hard copy.  The pictures of the art work are in full color and could not be appreciated on an e-reader.  The jacket cover of the book is extraordinary.  It feels like a painting on canvas.

Here's a video of Steve Martin talking about his book with Rita Braver on CBS Sunday Morning.  My friend and I are in the audience!  Also, the last audience question that was asked was mine!

Cleopatra: A Life (2010), Stacy Schiff

Forget everything you think you know about Cleopatra, then run and buy this book!

Stacy Schiff masterfully weaves together the story of Cleopatra from literally thin air.  There are no remaining first-hand accounts of who she was, what she was like, or what she looked like.  We only have a few coins with her likeness on them, and one word written by her. Everything else was erased from history, only to be repackaged and retold by men who were born 60 - 100 years after her death, and didn't think too kindly of her.  Hence the lingering tale of being nothing more than a conniving seductress.

Cleopatra became queen at 18, ruled for 22 years, and died at the age of 39 at the hands of Caesar Augustus.  She was born 1300 years after Nefertiti and well after the Pyramids and Sphinx were erected.  She was the last of the great Ptolemaic Empire, a descendant of Alexander the Great, which made her Greek, not Egyptian.  She won over both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony by her wits, her charms, and her intellect - but certainly not by her looks as history would have told us.  She had a pointed chin, deep-set eyes, and a crooked hooked nose.  Far from a looker, she still managed to have a child by Caesar, who was married at the time, and three by Antony, also married at the time.

She was a master of rhetoric (A girl after my own heart!  I studied rhetoric in undergraduate and graduate school.), spoke nine languages, and ruled the greater part of the lands touched by the Mediterranean Sea.  She was born in and ruled from Alexandria, Egypt.  At the tip of the Nile Delta, Alexandria was the greatest intellectual city of its time and boasted the largest library in the world.  (Rome at the time was nothing but an uncivilized city filled with sewage and vagrants.)

Cleopatra: A Life is a history text that reads like fiction.  Wars, murder, adultery, unimaginable wealth and opulence - all found in one woman's life story.

One final note - I received a Kindle for Christmas, and Cleopatra: A Life was my very first Kindle-read book!  Though it is harder to flip through a Kindle than a traditional book, the ease of the infrastructure and availability (and low cost) of the e-reader book is noteworthy.  I was particularly happy to have read this book on the Kindle because of the academic language and historical references.  Kindle has a feature where you can highlight a word or name and the definition pops up.  This was particularly helpful for the scholarly language (didn't have to keep reaching for a dictionary), the names of cities that no longer exist (the Kindle provided a modern-day location or name of the city), and the historian that Schiff references (birth dates appear, so that you know how far removed Dio - or any other author - was from Cleopatra's life.  A most helpful tool!

The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007), Trenton Lee Stewart

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunites?"  If you are...read on!

Reynie Muldoon is very smart.  He is also an orphan.  There's only one person in the world who cares about him - Miss Perumal, his tutor.  Miss Perumal notices a newspaper advertisement looking to test intellectually gifted children.  Reynie signs up, and passes all of the odd tests given throughout the course of the day.  Only three other children pass: George "Sticky" Washington, a bald-headed child with thick glasses and an amazing memory.  Kate Wetherall, a sporty former circus actor who always carries a bucket filled with tools to help her get out of a jam.  And finally Constance Contraire, a very short a very stubborn little girl.  

These four children were selected by Mr. Benedict to help save the world.  In an old building (that I imagined to look quite a bit like the Addams' Family house, or the Hall of Languages at Syracuse University), the children are trained by an eclectic group of dedicated members of the Mysterious Benedict Society.  The children are sent to infiltrate a special school for gifted students, which Mr. Benedict believes to be the source of a brainwashing effort that is affecting the world's population.  The school is on Nomansan Island - which is strikingly similar to Alcatraz.  

With lots of ingenuity and intelligence, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance quickly make their way up the educational ladder and get to know the evil principal, Mr. Curtain.  They find out the secrets of his plot to take over the world, and they report back to Mr. Benedict via morse code.  

Will the Mysterious

 Benedict Society stop Mr. Curtain before he brainwashes the population?  You'll have to read this page-turner of a mystery to find out!  

There are two more books published about the Mysterious Benedict Society...can't wait to read about these quirky characters!

A Wrinkle in Time (1962), Madeleine L'Engle

(Reread)

When I was in 7th grade, A Wrinkle in Time was our read aloud book.  I remember my teachers reading this book and me becoming totally engrossed in the travels of Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace.  The worlds were so fantastical, I would draw each of the planets that they visited and the characters the encounter along the way. 

Nearly 20 years later, when my students ask me for a book recommendation, I always point them to this monumental piece.  One time a student asked me to describe the book to her, and I found that I could barely recall the details of the plot, but vividly remembered my feelings towards the book.  It was time to reread A Wrinkle in Time.

A Newbery Award winner, A Wrinkle in Time is the story of a girl, Meg - our heroine, her younger clairvoyant brother, Charles Wallace, and their friend/neighbor Calvin - who is slightly older than Meg.  The three are sent on a mission to find Meg and Charles Wallace's father, a scientist, who is trapped on a planet that is occupied by an evil force (think Darth Vader, only more omnipotent).  They are guided by three interplanetary spirits: Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which.  These spirits travel through time without disrupting time by tessering - a similar travel method to apparating in the Harry Potter series.  If you think of time as a straight line, tessering "wrinkles" that line so that the two end points meet.  So, one can travel millions of light years away in a blink of an eye.  

Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace have to fight through the evil force on a Stepfordesque planet to find Meg's father.  Using their natural talents of communication, clairvoyance, and love, the three help to free the scientist and bring him back to earth.  A Wrinkle in Time is a fantastic voyage.  Dive in and tesser well. 

Rules (2006), Cynthia Lord

I read this book in a few hours.  A quick read, but good for 4th or 5th grade readers.  It's a glimpse into the life of a 12-year-old girl, Catherine, who has a younger Autistic brother, David.  The author, Cynthia Lord, has two children - one of whom has Autism.  She writes with familiarity of the day-to-day challenges of living with an Autistic child.  

Catherine finds herself struggling to make friends because it's hard to find another 12-year-old who understands the place that David holds in the world.  She also feels that her parents don't give her the attention that she needs because David consumes all of their time and energy.  

During the course of the book, Catherine becomes friends with a boy in a wheelchair who has a disability that constricts his movements and his ability to communicate verbally.  Jason uses a book of 2"x 2" word cards to communicate with others.  As the friendship between Jason and Catherine grows, she uses her artistic talents to create more and more communication cards for Jason.

This is a good book for students to read to gain an understanding of the challenges that special children and the siblings of special children face.  Catherine's on wish in life is for everyone to have the same chances in life...and to for everyone to have a place in the world.  

Rules is a Newbery Honor Book.

Rules also won the Schneider Family Book Award, which is awarded to a book that "embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences" (ALA website - www.ala.org).

 

The Hunger Games Trilogy

Addictive? Yes!  I started this series just before February break.  Sure, I had seen a number of my students carrying around one of the three books in the series, but little did I know what world awaited me inside these pages.  

The Hunger Games (2008)

Suzanne Collins

So begins our journey in Panem, a dystopian land in the not so far-off future.  The former United States under a twisted dictatorship after a catastrophic war destroyed most of the population.  To remind the citizens of Panem how terrible the country was before the new leadership, each year 2 children (ages 12-18) from each of the 12 districts are entered into the Hunger Games.  A twisted reality show meets death match, each of the 24 children kill each other off as they fight to be the last survivor.

Enter our heroine, Katniss - a 16-year-old girl from the rough part of one of the poorest districts - District 12. An excellent hunter, she is a whiz with a bow an arrow.  Her younger sister's name is drawn and Katniss volunteers to go in her place - an ultimate sacrifice, as the odds of surviving are not in her favor.  The other person drawn, Peeta.  A boy the same age as her who is well spoken and a strong partner.  I won't give away the plot or the twists, but I will say that I hung on every word and devoured it page by page.   

Catching Fire (2009)

Suzanne Collins

The second book, and also my favorite.  I read this book in one day - literally couldn't put it down.  Our heroine is thrown into many challenges - personally (love triangle), politically (a brewing uprising), and publicly (an accidental and somewhat unwilling icon of the rebellion). The impossible happens and we see our heroine thrown back into unimaginable conditions, along with Peeta.  We are left desperate for an answer to each of the challenges faced by Katniss.  

Mockingjay (2010)

Suzanne Collins

I started this book minutes after finishing Catching Fire and finished it in less than a day.  I found myself desperate to know the answers to the questions that the author builds into the first and second books.  I found my timing of reading these books to be perfect.  Much of the books focuses on an uprising in Panem - just as much of the Middle East is in an uprising.  I found myself comparing much of the struggles that Katniss and the other characters in the books to be very similar to the young and inspirational protesters in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen.  The fictional characters and the real-life protesters were all fighting for a better life and for their freedoms.

I highly recommend these books - but beware, once you read one, you need to have the next book ready to go!