Maria's Mélange

How do you get kids even MORE excited about reading? Connect them with a real, live author! I always knew that was true, but I got to see it first hand when I scheduled my first ever "Virtual Visit". Stephen McCranie, the author/illustrator of the Mal and Chad graphic novels, posted his idea for a massive Skype tour on the Nerdy Book Club site.  I desperately wanted to try it, but I was anxious that the technology in my district wouldn't be up the challenge. My students, though, are passionate graphic novel readers. ( Which just MAY have something to do with the fact that I taught a unit on comics last year, and then spent the year acquiring as many different graphic novels as I could to put on the shelf... ) I knew this opportunity was just perfect for us, so I filled out the form. The rush of excitement I felt when I got that initial email from Stephen convinced me I was right to sign up. He was even gracious enough to give alternate technologies a try, s...

Halloween is almost upon us, and Frankenstorm looms just beyond the horizon. Who will survive when the lights go out? It sounds almost like the plot of a post-apocalyptic novel, doesn't it? No worries here. I'm stocked up on books, writing my IMWAYR post a bit early, and have already posted my weekly Slice. Whew! Check out other readers at Teach Mentor Texts to get more ideas for your own reading week! Lots of picture books this week: The science fiction books will be written up for this week's SciFriday post. Come on back to get my thoughts! I also must admit to tearing up just a bit while reading Here Come the Girl Scouts! What a great Girl Power read. Advanced Copy: I was proud to be one of the early readers for this Michael Scotto novel. It's not out until 2013, but you should add it to your "want to read" list now! I was a bit nervous to rate it, as I was the first one. Talk about pressure. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16059...

An early Slice, posted today so I can link up to the Two Writing Teachers community - even if the storm takes out our power.  There is a fine line between panic and preparation - a line which seems to grow ever fainter as I grow older. I am the one who wakes up in a cold sweat after an episode of Mythbusters, and frantically searches for one of those "hammer" tools online. You know, the ones that can smash out a window and cut my safety belt in the unlikely event that my car plunges off a bridge into icy water. Come on, I can't be the only one who runs through scenarios in my head to make sure I would be able to get my children out of the car. Okay... maybe I am. I am the one who hears "preppers" talking about stocking up on water purifiers and emergency rations to be ready for a global economic collapse and seriously considers purchasing books on how to build traps and skin what I've caught so I can cook it over an open fire. Perhaps I should mentio...

Welcome back to Batty About Books! Our latest tome is a young adult science fiction novel that came out this year. We'll be discussing this over the course of four weeks.  Insignia - by S.J. Kincaid Published July 10th 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books Acquired: Through my amazing local library! We had a lot to talk about on this first section, so we've split the discussion. Part of it will be here (focused on my feminist viewpoint and the science), and part at The Brain Lair (on some of the "big ideas" we've seen in the story). As has become our grand tradition, my thoughts are in purple and Kathy's are in blue.  So far this book has given me flashes of Ender’s Game, The Matrix, and heading off to Star Fleet Academy. This is a good thing, in case you were wondering. I’m already seeing all the connections that will help me recommend this book to a variety of people. (Or give me other books to recommend to people who liked this one!) Kathy: It also remi...

Welcome back to Sci Friday!  I've been promising to post my thoughts on Eoin Colfer's middle grade science fiction book The Supernaturalist for a few weeks, and I finally got it away from my sons for long enough to finish it. If that's not a good start to a review, I'm not sure what is. I even had to buy our own family copy because we ran out of renewals at the library. Goodreads Summary:   In the future, in a place called Satelite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill enters the world, unwanted by his parents. He's sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys, Freight class. At Clarissa Frayne, the boys are put to work by the state, testing highly dangerous products. At the end of most days, they are covered with burns, bruises, and sores. Cosmo realizes that if he doesn't escape, he will die at this so-called orphanage. When the moment finally comes, Cosmo seizes his chance and breaks out with the help of the Supernaturalists, a motle...

I sit in the back of a small room. My eldest son stands in the front, straight backed and proud in his Cub Scout uniform. He's with his den mates, and a few other boys, waiting to introduce himself to a potential Boy Scout troop. I fidget on my hard wooden bench. Hold my breath, just a little. He's first in line. Will he be able to speak up with confidence in front of this group of strangers? A Boy Scout on the cusp of adulthood, with the hint of a beard on his chin, asks them a question. "Please tell us your name, your school, and your favorite book." My son's eyes light up. This could be his new home. These could be his new leaders. They just asked him about books. "My name is Connor. My favorite book is Catching Fire ." Small noises of affirmation spread across the room. Heads nod, smiles spread. The next boy in line shares his favorite, and the nods and murmurs continue. "Good choice." "I like that one, too." The ...

Quick post this week, so I can go back to the books I'm reading! If you want more ideas for fabulous reading, check out the host of "It's Monday" at Teach Mentor Texts. Or search the #IMWAYR tag on twitter. Thanks Jen and Kellee! I have a few books still "in progress", but I did actually finish a few this week. Picture Books:  I enjoyed Creepy Carrots - very entertainingly creepy. Eeney Meeney Miney Mole  by Jane Yolen was one I used as a mentor text in a group where we are focusing on "reading like a writer". The group is now working on Wings by Jane Yolen. Graphic Novel:  Fog Zombie: a Mystery About Matter -      A solid example of a "Fact-ion" book, this one set up as a graphic novel. Kids at a summer camp hear mysterious zombie noises in the fog. They set out to find the cause of the noises, and learn a bit about chemistry (mostly the states of matter) along the way. The kids do some experiments, and there are b...

On my "currently reading" list (among others). I got my copy of the second Hereville yesterday and tweeted my joy to the world. Barry Deutsch let me know I was the first person "in the wide world" who let him know the book had arrived. Author joy! Catch up with other THIRSTday posts at Eat The Book ! 

It's 2012, right? Why are we still discussing this crap?  Way back in the 80s and 90s I railed against being pigeonholed based on my girly bits. I had Legos, and loved Star Wars, and enjoyed math and science. I wondered whether I would ever want to have children (I do, and love it). I wanted to be an archaeologist, or an astronomer. I fell into teaching, and I love it.  Sometimes, though, I question myself. Sometimes I wonder. I wonder if I've betrayed my feminist adolescence. I wonder if I'd have loved being an astronomer, or a chemical engineer. I wonder if I could, even now, be finding the genetic code that could cure cancer.  No matter what, though, I always firmly believed that it would get better. That there would be tons of women venturing into traditionally male professions. That little girls playing with stethoscopes wouldn't automatically be asked, "Are you playing nurse, dear?"  And yet.... and yet... We have pinkified toy stores. Just in c...

Welcome to the It's Monday post! If you want to read a bunch of other amazing book lists, check out the main site at Teach Mentor Texts . Big thanks, as always, to Jen and Kellee for hosting. It was a bit of a graphic novel heavy week. I also have the Wrinkle in Time adaptation, but haven't finished it yet. I didn't find Ed's Terrestrials to be very good, but my sons enjoyed it (hence the 3 stars). I adored the Mal and Chad books, and I featured them as this week's Sci Friday post (with some nonfiction pairings). The Chicagoland Detective Agency book was fun, and definitely odd. A little bit of Egyptian flair tossed into the mix. I finished Seraphina, and posted my thoughts on the ending of the book in this week's Batty About Books post . I kept it very light on the spoilers... I had to fit in some of my comics this week. I reviewed the first of the Spike mini series over at Fandom Post, and this is the second of the set. I need to wr...

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (my copy was an ARC from a friend) Welcome back for the final installment of our discussion. Kathy (aka @thebrainlair) will have her post go up later. She's been working on book clubs with her students... and I hope we get to hear all about that! Check out the other two posts on this book, then dive in! Part One                             Part Two The Ending (for now... I have heard the sequel is in the works!): I have a bit of a confession to make - I couldn’t stop myself reading long enough to take notes on this section. So there won’t be as many direct quotes and page numbers on this entry. Tsk, tsk on me (I’m currently embroiled in teaching my fifth grade reading group how to take some notes as they read so THEY can use direct quotes and references, too!) Why couldn’t I take notes? It was directly related to the fact that this section was just so darned good! It was just as...

Welcome back to another edition of Sci Friday! Today I'd like to feature one of my younger son's current favorite graphic novels - the Mal and Chad series. To be fair, I'm also really jazzed myself because Stephen McCranie is going to do a virtual visit with my students next week. It will be my first ever author visit, and I think I'm even more excited than my students. The Mal and Chad books are based on an amazing, bright, scientific minded little boy named Malcolm and his best friend Chad. The pair reminds me of the camaraderie and adventures that Calvin and Hobbes share. Mal, though, is an inventor. Unlike Calvin's cardboard boxes (remember the transmogrifier?), Mal's inventions really seem to work. Don't you dare tell him that he looks silly wearing his robe. It's a LAB COAT! This is the hook for my son, who responds to every form of the question "What do you want to be when you grow up" with "Inventor". Mal and Chad: The...

Lit Word:  Stand Up For Girls My friends over at Teach Mentor Texts posted on Tuesday about Stand Up For Girls Day , which they are celebrating Thursday, October 11th along with Lit World and the International Day of the Girl. While I believe that we should stand up for the rights of girls across the world every day, I'm glad to take a few minutes out of my day to focus on this important topic today. I've written about the importance of making sure girls have strong role models in the books they read and in the world around them. How can a girl see herself as a scientist, engineer, or astronaut unless she sees other women pursuing these careers? How can a girl learn to be proud of who she is when the books she reads show girls as second rate citizens? Boys need these examples too, so that they can become part of the solution by believing the girls around them are just as strong as they are. Thankfully, there are so many examples today of girls being fierce, fearless, and...