Customer Complaint

Join me each Tuesday as I write a "slice of life".... and stop by the Two Writing Teachers site to read what others have shared. Thanks Ruth and Stacy!

To Whom It May Concern,

I’d like to lodge a formal complaint and request your assistance in addressing a defective unit. Your manufacturing department appears to have missed one vital piece in assembly – the keystone of an otherwise flawless arch. Perhaps someone in your department can help me figure out exactly how to send the defective unit back into the shop for a quick repair?

It seems to be the willpower reservoir. For some reason the human female known as Maria appears to have been assembled with a prohibitively small tank. Either that, or there is a leak in the line. You see, even the tiniest of tasks require small expenditures of that golden elixir known as willpower. When she tries to accomplish bigger goals, the tank runs dry before the finish line. Don’t even get me started on watching her try to juggle between even relatively modest goals. It would be laughable if it weren’t slightly depressing. I’m positive that I ordered the “high potential” model, so this flaw in the design is completely unacceptable.

The rest of the unit seems to be in working order. Other than the extremely long “charge up” time the battery requires. That may just be a side effect of the willpower tank size, though, so I’m willing to take a wait and see attitude on that one.

Please contact me immediately with directions on how to return the unit for repairs.

Sincerely,

A dissatisfied customer.

It's Monday July 30

I am feeling a bit of shock and disbelief that July is almost over. Where, exactly, did the summer go? The best part of these weekly posts is that I can answer that question with a loud, resounding, "READING!".

Perhaps I should have done more household organizing (yes, seriously). Perhaps more writing (I'm looking at you, WIP that I've not made nearly as much progress on as I had hoped.)
Perhaps I could have done more yard work, or experimenting with simple recipes I could use throughout the year.

Instead, I was lured by the siren song of the never ending TBR list. If you'd like to join in my insanity - head over to Teach Mentor Texts to peruse the weekly reading lists of my friends and colleagues.

Science Fiction - If you follow me here or on Twitter, you know I'm trying to discover some new "classics" in science fiction that I can recommend. One thing that I'm still a bit disappointed with is the lack of true Middle Grade SciFi. I've found many wonderful YA books, but not much that I could confidently hand to my fourth and fifth graders, due to all the heavy petting - and sometimes more - in the romance department (with the glorious exception of Eye of the Storm which I wrote about in one of my SciFiSummer posts). If you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment!

Legend was a serious page turner. It's a possible book for my fifth graders, though I'm waiting to see how the romance ends up in book 2. Violence, yes... but not too graphic (many of my students have read Hunger Games, so I'm not as worried about a bit of violence). The characters are not quite as well developed as I'd like, but I was deep enough into the story that it didn't bother me.

Beta is right off the list for middle grade readers. I did a full review on GoodReads and on my blog here on Friday. I had mixed feelings on this one. Purely for ME I would have given it 3 stars, but I really see the teen appeal.

Nonfiction - Sally Ride was a personal hero. When I heard the news of her passing, I was crushed. In her honor, I picked up a book she wrote about being an astronaut.

Graphic Novels and Comic Books:

I'm continuing to read the ongoing Angel and Faith series (it's on issue 12) and I need to write up my review for Fandom Post. If you loved Buffy or Angel on TV, you owe it to yourself to check out the comics that are coming out. I love them. I am also reading Alabaster: Wolves. It's definitely mature content (significant language and violence), but has amazing voice and art. Deadpool... (again, adult).... verdict is still out. Some of the issues in this trade made me love him, and some made me hate him. I hear that's how I'm supposed to feel about him, though.

Kid GNs - Verdict is still out on Astronaut Academy. I can't decide how I feel about it. It was unique, but... odd. I still hate Kit Feeny. My sons grabbed another one, so I read it. Blech.

Newbery - Still working my way through! Went back to the 40s for this week's read. It started out okay, but ended up truly bizarre. It's a wonder children's books in the past didn't send the kids right over the edge into insanity. This one makes 42/91

Book Review - Beta by Rachel Cohn

Visit the Goodreads page
for more information

Beta – by Rachel Cohn

Publisher - Disney Hyperion

Expected Publication Date - October 16th 

Elysia wasn’t born – she emerged. She is a clone. Created without souls, without feelings, clones are designed to serve the idle rich residents of an island paradise called Desmesne. Clones are property. They are bought and sold; human in form but not truly human.

Elysia is a beta, the first of a new breed of clones emerged as teenagers instead of fully grown adults. Unlike the clones around her, Elysia has feelings -  intense at times - and begins to resent her complete lack of control over her life. She also has glimpses of the memories of her First, the young woman whose death enabled Elysia’s creation. Is she a Defect, doomed to be destroyed for her flaws? Are there others like her – clones who yearn to be free?

What I think: This is a book about taking back your power, even when it has been ripped away from you. It’s a book about the power of emotion, relationships, and passionate love. Watching Elysia discover herself, build and lose friendships, and figure out who she could trust was intriguing. The ending was rather abrupt. I guess as the first book in a series the cliffhanger will keep readers eager for the rest of the tale.

I was looking for more science in my science fiction, so this wasn’t my favorite read of my science fiction summer. The science concepts are there, though, and may intrigue readers enough to try to learn more about them. In spite of that, I can see that this book could entice readers who aren’t normally science fiction readers.

Age Levels – firmly young adult and up. Mature content includes drug use and sex, consensual and nonconsensual.

Science Concepts – genetics, cloning, climate change, terra forming

Historical Tie ins: Slavery, illegal immigration, sparking revolution, drug culture, class conflicts (especially considering the climate today of the 1% vs the 99%).

Wonders and What Ifs –

What does it mean to be human?

Just because we can do something, does that mean we should?

What is the reason for emotion? For logic? Is one more valuable that the other?

Narrator / Main Characters – Narrated by the female clone who graces the cover. 

Part of my
#SciFiSummer

I read this book thanks to Disney-Hyperion and Netgalley, who provided me with an electronic advanced copy. 

Wordless Wednesday - Abbey Swings

Moments - departures

It's Tuesday, so it's time for another Slice of Life. Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for hosting this each week and giving us all a place to share our writing and comment on the writing of others. 

Another segment of a scene. I'm still working on this one... I debated about putting this piece up, but then I decided I didn't want to skip a week. I'll try to have the scene finished next week. 

“Cassandra and Meghan, we need to get going!”

I stuck my head out the window, hollered, “Almost done, Aunt D!” and scooped up the last of my books and notepads. When I jammed them into my bag on top of my neatly folded clothing, careful not to disturb my careful packing, Cassie laughed at me.

“Relax, Megs. We don’t really need to go yet. My mom is making us head out way too early, and we’ll get stuck sitting around for hours. I’m not even packed yet.”

“God Cassie, get moving!” I tossed a pillow at her head. “If she decides to leave us home, I’ll kill you!”

“Must you bring all those books, Meg?” Cass grunted as she picked up one of my bags.

“Only if you abandon your sketch pad.”

We glared at each other for a moment, and then burst into laughter. With linked arms we dashed out my door.

My heart soared at the thought of an entire week away from our little town. Neither of us had ever gone farther than our bikes could take us in a single afternoon. Cassie could sketch the sky over the open sea. I could listen in on Aunt D’s conference and read without my mom constantly interrupting me to help out around the house. It was the perfect way to celebrate our shared midsummer birthday.

“Here’s my bag, Aunt D. I’ll get Cassie moving, honest.” She just grinned and ruffled my hair.

For all her talk of making her mother wait, Cassandra packed quickly. Her clothes were already spread out on her bed, and her travel art kit sat by the door. I made an attempt to fold her shorts, but she just shoved me out of the way and stuffed it all into one big duffle.

“Honestly, Meghan. Don’t keep my mother waiting. Sheesh! Maybe we should leave you here to rot.”

I felt the blood rush out of my face as the whispers started.

“Going… going….?”

“Packing…. leaving?”

“No… no….NO! ”

“Megs? What’s wrong? I’m kidding. I wouldn’t go anywhere without you. Meghan?”

I waved off her concern and sank into the beanbag on her floor.

“I’m fine, honest. Finish packing” I tried smiling, but just couldn’t make the expression work on my face. It didn’t matter, though, because the buzzing wings in my ears meant her attention would be captured. 

It's Monday July 23

Thanks to Jen and Kellee at Teach Mentor Texts for this wonderful weekly chance to share what I'm reading... and to find new books for my endless TBR list.

I wrapped up #SummerThrowdown round one with a bunch of graphic novels. I'm also in preparation mode for several #ArcTours, so I read Enclave and Shatter Me. I have Legend on hold at my local library. While I'm on the topic, can someone explain to me how I didn't know until recently about the beauty of the "place hold" button my library's website? My books arrive, I get an email, and I can just go straight to the desk to grab the books I need. Sweet.

ArcTour Preparation:
Thanks to some amazing twitter peeps, I'll get to participate in a group read of a few upcoming titles. Reading the first books in these series was on my "to do" list, but prepping for the ARCs bumped them to the top of the stack. Both were amazing.

Graphic Novels:  My "surprise" this week was the Korgi series. Both were wordless, and both were amazingly beautiful. Lovely illustrations and a tale of adventure and whimsy. Bone continued to please. I love the mix of scary and sweet - it's like a chocolate covered pretzel. Another surprise was the Secret Science Alliance. I hadn't heard of this one before (though when I added it on Goodreads I saw that Kellee has it marked as "to read"). My sons, who are both in love with science and inventions, adored this book. I hope there is a plan to make another in this series!

Mystery/Adventure
Kate Messner continues to thrill. Another wonderful middle grades book that I can't wait to recommend to my students in the fall!

Newbery
I continue my pursuit of collecting all 91 Nerdberries in two years. I only completed one Newbery this week, though. It wasn't bad.

Batty About Obsidian Blade - Finale

Welcome back to Batty About Books - where Kathy (@thebrainlair) and I chat about a book we are reading each week. (Gotta love Google Docs!) This week we complete our journey with Obsidian Blade. Time travel paradox and a bit of alternate history timelines is always excellent fodder for deep discussions.


As always - 
* there are SPOILERS ahead.
* My thoughts are in purple with Kathy's responses in blue.
* Kathy's blog - The Brain Lair - hosts her thoughts with my responses.
* Jump in with your thoughts in the comments!

OBSIDIAN BLADE - Final Half

Overall: Well, I’m glad I went back and reread the second half of the book. When I finished the book for the first time I was left feeling a bit bewildered and bereft. I wasn’t sure what, exactly, caused those feelings. My second read left me feeling a bit more sure about what I actually do and don’t know at this stage in the story. I slowed down, too, and I think that helped.

The book definitely reads as the first in a series. I don’t feel a sense of completion at the end. There are so many threads dangling, so many characters I still want to get more information about. It’s a slightly frustrating feeling, because it’s not just a “cliffhanger” feeling. I do believe this book gets on my “will read the sequels” list, though.
Kathy: I’m almost compelled to read the sequel too! I agreed, it wasn’t a cliffhange ending as so much a wait, what feeling.  None of my questions were answered. This just left me with more questions.  

Big themes:
Time travel often brings in the destined vs. freedom of choice debate. The Reverend fights against the medicants - but it is that very group that helped him survive, right? Maybe if he defeats them he’ll never go through a diskos... but then how could he defeat them? The endless cycle.... it makes my head hurt, but it’s so much FUN to dance around in those circles.
Kathy: This is why I like time travel books. Have you read 11/22/63 by King? I’m not a scary/horror fan but was told this one involved time travel so read it! I loved it.  Even though it centers around a guy trying to stop the JFK assassination, it is so much more than that.  He discusses how things change and what effects they have on the present.  Goes well with Hautman’s statement about changing the past causing deep changes in the future, which I ask you to discuss for me! Sounds intriguing! I’ll have to add that to my ever growing list.

“Who wants to live forever?” If you are a Highlander fan, you’ll now have a song stuck in your head. Seriously, though, I think this is another big theme from the book. The discorporeal Klaatu have that boredom - that total ennui that we often see in vampires in stories. What happens with boredom? Our human nature seems to decree that we gravitate toward spectacle. It reminded me a lot of the Roman Empire... right before it fell.
Kathy: Huh! In one of those italicized sections, Iyl Rain talked about succumbing to ennui or depression and deciding to make clones of herself. She was going to have them learn the things she felt she was lacking. In many vampire stories, or even in the movie Groundhog Day, they become experts because they have lived so long. You would think, instead of just trying to better themselves and amass money, they would focus on curing diseases or somesuch.  If I had all the time in the world, I would hope that after the first 100 years, I would put that time to some good use!

“What is ‘normal’?” We have the Medicants who feel that they are just fine the way they are. It’s an interesting take on the progression of autism (though more on the higher functioning Aspergers, I think). Then the Sept with their aversion to numbers... and I’m assuming this leads to the Klaatu. So what is normal? It seems like they interact with one another, even though they don’t agree with one another and even battled one another.
Kathy: Don’t forget the Boggsians. Are they the “normal”? Or is Hautman saying that all these are sides we have to deal with or come about based on the believes that each sect holds dear. What did Awn say about the medicants, something about societal ethics, how they have to do what they were born to and yet they resent that same thing. Kinda reminds me of books I want to read until they are put on some list that I *have* to read so I resent tht list and don’t want to read those same books! (that really makes no sense but I’m leaving it anyway because I like blue and there is an awful lot of it here. blue.)

Questions I still have:
Kosh. Honestly... there must be more to him. So many little clues have been dropped. It seems like he’s being set up to be more important in the next book.
Kathy: He’s got some fears to overcome and he needs to find a way to forgive himself for being too scared to help Tucker and Lah Lia earlier.  So, I agree, there must be something he needs to do in the next book. Will be interesting to see how he fights against his “brother”.

Iyl’s avatars. Here’s another thing that kept getting mentioned but not explained. I’m curious about this. My guess leads me to Emily and Awn... but who is the third? And why is Awn all alone in the Terminus? Is she the sole remaining avatar? Where are the Boggsians?
Kathy: Awn I get, but why Emily? Do you mean the earlier manifestation of Emily or the later? Are they both Emily? Could Lah Lia be one? Yes, these Boggsians, I thought maybe they were human but then, where do they live? It’s seems awfully easy to contact them and, of course, they play for whoever pays them. They are like technology mercenaries. Silicon Valley perhaps?

Henry - Why did the timesweep gobble him up and spit him back out without his need for alcohol? Was it just to give us the information about the Medicants and what they can take? Or will he have a part to play later?
Kathy: I had that question too!! What was the point of that? Also to show us another way the timesweeps can be used? The timesweeps are supposedly after the medicants that helped Tucker. This seemed almost less sinister, especially since what we saw before was the maggot eating the gates.  But it was just so random.

Just how much time has passed between Kosh losing Tucker to the diskos and Tucker’s return? That part is confusing. It seems like a short time, but the changes in the town argue for a much longer gap.
Kathy: And Tucker talks about being taller and scruffier and things are all improved in town and there are tourists.  I couldn’t figure this out either. The girl didn’t recognize him but Will did. Will also was not shocked. Does not compute.

I found myself incredibly uncomfortable at many points in the story. It was the same feeling I had with Golden Compass. It wasn’t a bad discomfort - it was more a struggle to think about some of the history that formed me. I think this kind of discomfort is exactly what we need to foster in students to help them wrestle with their own belief sets... so I thought it was a good thing.
Kathy: I know parents who will argue this point - that middle schoolers are too young to argue for what they believe in just yet because they are easily influenced. I got many calls at school when the movie came out, people wanted to know if this book was in the library. It is, I read it, though it doesn’t get taken out much anymore.  I worried about the amount of religious discussion and thoughts present in the book. But not enough to not have it. I try hard not to self-censor, to think about problems that may not arise. Hmm, I’d better start getting my thoughts in order on this!

Wordless Wednesday - The Lamppost

SciFi Summer Update 2

Time for another update on my SciFi Summer! Someone really needs to remind me not to wait a month to do my next post. Whew!

Environmental disaster. Living on other planets. The long journey to a new home. Time travel.  All excellent fodder for stories. All fabulous ways to reveal more truths about who we are, right here on earth.




Eye of the Storm - by Kate Messner
(Check out some great reviews and summary at Goodreads)
Set in the "not too distant" future, Eye of the Storm captures a world where climate change has completely altered the landscape. Immense storms sweep through everywhere, altering life as we've known it. Jaden is sent to live with her father in StormSafe community to attend a cutting edge science camp when she uncovers secrets her father is hiding about his weather research.

Environmental "near future" science fiction at its best, this book will appeal to readers who are fascinated with meteorology, climate science, and even mystery. A tiny hint of romance sweetens the tale.

Age Levels - Middle grades.

Science Concepts - Climatology, meteorology, some genetics (in the science camp)

Wonders and What Ifs - What will happen if our climate continues to change? How far would you go to protect the ones you love? When is it okay to have secrets or to reveal the secrets of others?

Narrator / Main Characters - Kate Messner is a master at the strong female protagonist. Jaden is a joy to read, and I love how her math and science background is just a part of who she is - not something that is seen as "odd" in any way.


The Knife of Never Letting Go - by Patrick Ness
Life in Todd's town is filled with Noise. Not just ordinary noise... this Noise is the thoughts of everyone that surrounds you, even your dog. Todd is the youngest in his town - almost a man - when he stumbles onto a secret so disturbing that he must run to save his life. But how can you escape when everyone can hear your every thought?   (Read more summary at Goodreads)

I have to admit it, this was one of my favorite books I've read so far this summer. It stood out as having a unique voice and a conflict that gripped me tightly and wouldn't let go. The gender conflicts in the story reminded me a lot of A Gate to Women's Country (another all time favorite book).


Age Levels - Young Adult. Violence and language.

Science Concepts - life on other planets (and human colonizing)

Wonders and What Ifs - When something traumatic happens, what determines how different populations will handle it? What would happen if others could hear your every thought? How would we interact with alien life forms?

Narrator / Main Characters: Told from a male perspective, though the female secondary character becomes more and more important during the course of the story.


Obsidian Blade - Pete Hautman
"Kicking off a riveting sci-fi trilogy, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman plunges us into a world where time is a tool - and the question is, who will control it?" (from Goodreads )


This book is the latest in my "Batty About Books" chats with my buddy Kathy. We discussed the first half of the book already, and will be discussing the second half this Friday. (Be aware, the chats include spoilers).

Obsidian Blade includes chilling insights into history, human nature, and faith. I'm still working through many of the thought provoking questions it brought up in my own mind. That, in itself, is a perfect reason to read this book (and science fiction in general!)


Age Levels - YA. While the character himself comes across as young, the topics we wrestle with in the story would probably be best handled by older readers.

Science Concepts - Time Travel, genetics

Wonders and What Ifs - What would happen if people could travel in time? Would we change the past and alter our present?  What is "faith"?

Narrator / Main Characters - Told from a male perspective. There is a female secondary character, and I found her quite intriguing, but she was not the focus of the tale.

Across the Universe - Beth Revis
"A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. " (From Goodreads)


Imagine being sent across the universe with your parents, who have the skills needed to create a hospitable human world. Now imagine having to endure cryosleep for 300 years to get there. When she is yanked from her slumber 50 years early, she is thrust into a life on-board the ship that she never expected. Someone is trying to murder the sleepers... can she figure out who is responsible before they are all lost?

The first few pages honestly almost made me ill. Not a terrible thing - the description of being prepped for cryo sleep were exceptionally detailed and traumatic to me. I loved the concept and the mystery aspect of the plot. I think the thing that brought it down from a full 4 was the romance. I don't object to romance in my science fiction (far from it!), but I just didn't "feel it" for this couple as much as I had hoped. With that said, I think that the target age range for this book WOULD like this facet of the tale. 

Science concepts: Space travel, cryogenics, genetics

Historical Tie-in: I have to be a little careful here, as I don't want to give away the whole plot. But I can safely say that you'll find this book would pair very well with any study of the role of dictators in history. It would also go with any discussion of revisionist history or population control.

Wonders and What Ifs: What do we need from leaders? How much knowledge is "safe"? Is there information that should be withheld from people, for their own good? What is "hope"?

Age range: Firmly YA - Sex and mating is a major theme in the story - though it isn't overly graphic. The trauma of inducing cryosleep in the beginning of the book could also be a bit much for younger readers. 


Narrator / Main Characters: Continuing the trend of many current stories, this tale is told in alternating voices. One male, one female. I really love this. 

Transforming Math - Sunday Keynote at Confratute

Our first keynote at Confratute was about math instruction. Rachel McAnallen is a national treasure who completed her PhD at the age of 75 at the University of Connecticut. How inspiring! If you get her to visit your professional development or school, consider yourself lucky. I attend Rachel's keynotes every year. The first time I heard her speak it transformed the way I think about and teach math - and I've always loved the subject. Rachel does research on math anxiety in teachers, and the impact on instruction. Take a moment to check out her website - Zoid and Company. The blurb below is the summary of her keynote that I wrote for the Confratute newsletter. 

Rachel McAnallen, known as Ms. Math to students and teachers around the world, helped kick off Confratute in style. According to Sally Reis, who introduced her, Rachel’s keynote addresses have marked a “turning point in the way we think about mathematics” to attendees for years. Rachel began her address by pointing out that math is “elegant in its simplicity”, but that her focus for her talk would be change. Almost all of us keep up with changes in technology. None of us still uses a rotary dial phone or a bag cell phone, do we? Yet we complain about the changing way we teach math by saying, “That’s not how I did it when I was in school.” It is time to alter that philosophy and embrace a way of teaching math that helps students build a deeper understanding of the very foundations of mathematics – place value, number sense, and creative problem solving.

As Rachel pointed out using examples across all the operations, we must teach students that they are in charge of the numbers. We learned about renaming numbers in many ways to allow us to solve problems using number sense, modeling subtraction after shopping, and using the situation of a problem to help us decide how to define a remainder.  As long as we follow the rule “respect the decimal”, we are free to play with numbers and discover the beautiful patterns within. This creative problem solving helps us uncover more than one way to solve a problem and reinforces our innate sense of the value of numbers.

“Arithmetic”, Rachel declared, “is answering the question. Mathematics is questioning the answer.” Show the beauty of the interconnectedness of mathematics to help develop number sense and global comprehension. Take the pledge with us now, “I will ALWAYS respect the decimal!” Let’s take what we’ve learned back to our classrooms and create a generation of mathematicians, not calculators. 

Switching Modes and Positive Feedback

Visit Two Writing Teachers for more of the Slice of Life weekly challenge.

Also - if you have a moment - check out my guest post for School Library Journal's Connect the Pop blog. "Harnessing Fandom to teach the Hero's Journey" Loving Star Wars and Harry Potter is good for education!

As some of you know, I spent last week at a conference for gifted education (though the overall focus is on enrichment pedagogy, so it works for more than just gifted educators). I got my master's degree through UConn and ended up coming back every year for this conference. I also volunteer, and one of my big jobs is to attend the Keynote sessions and write summaries for the conference newsletter.

Loving Teachers Write!

I had started out this summer focusing on fiction writing, so it was a huge change to head back into a more journalistic style. I was also surprised to see how my note taking and writing changed over the course of a single week. My first few sessions I quickly jotted down pages of notes into a spiral notebook, circling and starring my favorite quotes. Halfway through the week I transitioned to taking notes on my computer before writing it up. By the end, I was able to begin composing as I took my notes. The best part of taking notes on my computer was being able to effectively live tweet during the sessions, as I could just copy and paste into TweetChat. I loved seeing my twitter friends interact with my learning - live.

Spending a week doing this writing definitely caused me to lose steam on my fiction WIP, but I'm trying to wrap my head back around Cassie and Meghan's tale so that I can get back on track. I wonder if students also find it difficult to switch modes, or if it's partly because I'm just not used to it.

There were unique challenges to writing in this format. I was trying to capture some of the details from the session, along with the spirit of the speaker. Taking pages of notes and distilling them down into less than 400 words was tricky, to say the least. Yet the positive feedback I received from friends and colleagues was very reinforcing. It reminded me that not everyone loves to write. Not everyone has that drive within them. Doing this job last year was what enabled me to discover my voice again, and propelled me to dive back into writing, and for that I am immensely grateful. 

I'll be posting my summaries and other information from my conference over the next few days. Stay tuned if you are interested in a keynote by Peter H. Reynolds (author of The Dot and Ish), transforming math instruction, motivating students, and more.

It's Monday July 16th

 Visit Teach Mentor Texts for more wonderful book ideas! 

It was a very busy week (not for reading). I was at an annual teaching conference in Connecticut. I volunteer at Confratute, so not only was I attending lots of sessions, but I was also working. One of my jobs was to create the summaries of the keynotes for the newsletter. That was my #TeachersWrite for the week. Journalism is tough!

The Peter Reynolds books listed below were books he read to us during his keynote and classroom talk. He was incredibly inspiring! If you are looking for an adult read (and you aren't easily offended), Let's Pretend This Never Happened was a scream!

Many of you commented on my live tweeting of many of those sessions. I'll be updating my blog with more information this week. Until then, here are the "snips" from Goodreads to show my weekly update:

Wordless Wednesday

Inspired by my conference - Confratute - and some new tech tools.

Using WordFoto app.

Using Aviary app

Accidental Brilliance
(instagram)

It's Monday July 9th

Thanks to Teach Mentor Texts for hosting this each week. If I don't make it to your blog to check out your reading, I apologize.  I'm at a teaching conference this week (starting Sunday) which may prevent me from getting to a lot, and next week's post will be much shorter. 


Summer Throwdown continues, and so does the extreme reading! I'm going to continue the image snippets this week, to make it easier to share.




Comics! I was trying to finish up with some comics I'd borrowed from a friend. This week was devoted to the friendly neighborhood crime fighter - Peter Parker.

Graphic Novels - Continuing my quest to read all the Babymouse (though I'm so sad I didn't win the Babymouse photo contest!) This week's extra special gem, though, was the Annie Sullivan GN. If you are at all interested in Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller - I HIGHLY recommend that book. I didn't know much about Annie's life and this was a powerful read.

Historical Fiction (sort of). My son insists on reading all of these books, and it was sitting in the car when I had a "book emergency". I'm fascinated with Abraham Lincoln - thanks to the recent movie. This book, though, was not very good. Not nearly up to the standard of many of the others.

Newbery: I was able to snag some audio books for my drive to Connecticut for my conference. Yes, I purposefully chose some short ones so I could add to my Summer Throwdown count! I enjoyed Joyful Noise more than I expected to, and I really loved the Lincoln book. It was a "photobiography", so I'll have to get a hard copy of the book so I can check those out. My Nerdbery Challenge continues to go well. I need to do an official Nerdbery post at some point...

Poetry: I write some poetry, but don't read a lot. I even had to add this shelf on my GR site for this week. I think these would actually work as mentor texts to show kids about writing poems to nontraditional topics.

Science Fiction - SciFiSummer!
I didn't do star ratings for Obsidian Blade because Kathy (@thebrainlair) and I are using that as our latest Batty About Books chat... I wait until we're done chatting to rate it. I will do an official SciFi Summer post soon to discuss these books.

Next week will be shorter, as my conference will take up a ton of time this week. 

The Joy of Silly

This week marks my yearly voyage to Connecticut for Confratute - a conference celebrating enrichment learning and focused on gifted education. I am one of the volunteer workers, so I arrive mid day on Saturday to help prep the campus and rooms for the guests who'll be arriving later on Sunday.

One of the reasons I do this each year is to have the added joy of catching up with friends I only see once a year. We stay in the dorms, which means that we "bunk up" - college style. The week will include a lot of activity. I'll attend keynote sessions (and write about them for our newsletter, which is one of my official "jobs" here), strands on education topics, and forums. All of that is fabulous - and I'll try to update my blog with many of the things that I learn - but I am also reminded each year of the joy of silly.

Rock on the Star Wars!

My roommates and I head out the first evening each year to Wal-Mart to pick up some things we absolutely must have for our dorm room. Last year I discovered my new favorite pajama pants. This year we grabbed sparkly polish and some glitter temporary tattoos. One of my roommates also picked up some purple washable hair dye to streak her lovely locks.

We also prepped for a "flash mob" dance we'll perform today before the first major keynote address. If you've never seen a group of teachers desperately trying to learn choreography (and tripping over their own feet in the process), you haven't really lived. I think I've got it. I'll find out tonight if I can stay on the beat and remember to turn around at the correct time. I've apologized in advance to the people that I'll be stepping on.

Last year's Carnivale

Packing for my week includes costumes. Does it sound more sophisticated if I call it cosplay? Yes, we do have evening events (okay, parties) that have themes.  Dancing through the Decades requires me to don 80s attire. Carnivale night? Why yes, I do have a Mardi Gras outfit, complete with mask. 


Sometimes we all need to take a break from our daily routine and put a little silly back in our lives. Right? Who's with me on this? 

Batty about Obsidian Blade - Hautman

Welcome to Friday, and my weekly chat with Kathy - aka The Brain Lair (@thebrainlair). This week we decided to stick with the science fiction genre and explore a much more recent novel our last one (Fahrenheit 451). For those who are new to the game - there will be SPOILERS. Also, this blog hosts my thoughts (in purple) with Kathy's responses (in blue). 


Head on over to The Brain Lair to read her thoughts with my responses. 





Obsidian Blade part one

Overall, I got pretty invested in the characters pretty quickly. The story is intriguing, and I kept having moments where I thought “I simply MUST know what is going on!” I did feel like the buildup took a long time. I’m halfway into the book now, and I’m just about to really move into the time travel / alternate world aspect of the book. That’s my only real complaint, I think. Perhaps if the book were longer, then it wouldn’t seem like 150 pages was a long time to get into the next chunk of the story.
Kathy: I hadn’t noticed that. But 1/2 a book is a LONG time to setup a story and if it wasn’t so compelling, I wouldn’t have stuck with it. It seemed more like a different story as opposed to a setup for the time travel aspect. Like I was really getting to know the characters and their motivation so that the time travel wasn’t the story, just a small part of it. I agree. And I have to say as I moved through the story that I found that the difference in style between the more realistic fiction portions and the science fiction portions was a bit jarring.
 

The Science Fiction:

The story starts right out with some sciencey goodness. (Shut up, “sciencey” is now a word). I love the concept that creatures from another time (seems like a future Earth) would be curious enough to want to learn more about the past. I was intrigued by the idea that “history” was no longer a subject of study. I also love how the author sprinkles in real times with made up future (to us) events that would have occurred in their past. I really want to know about the Digital Plague and the Martian Biocide – though I’m guessing that we may not get to hear about those in this book. As I looked back on my notes to write this up, I smiled when I saw the inclusion of the Lah Sept pyramid. It was such a tiny detail here that I didn’t remember it when I hit it again later in the story…
Kathy: Very clever of Hautman. The Martian Biocide reminds me of Ray Bradbury. I think it’s one of the Martian Chronicles stories? When the earthlings go to inhabit Mars but they are bringing disease and devastation? That’s what those words reminded me of.  The Digital Plague has to be the time we are living in now! I hope he talks more about that later. I actually mention about people skipping the prologue though here it’s not labeled as such but the writing looks different and chapter 1 doesn’t start till later. They would miss those clues you pointed out.

I like the time travel aspect, and how it is handled. I enjoyed how they described how Tucker rescues his uncle. That was set up nicely, with the uncle’s vague memories tying into the actual event as we see it. I love how his father disappeared, and then came waltzing back in with Lahlia. I like how the author just quickly addresses the paradox of time travel (and how the non-corporeal creatures gave up the diskos because corporeal beings could use them and then disturb the flow of time). This seemed like just enough of an introduction to the idea for the age level of the book.
Kathy: Yes. When he sees Tucker and feels like he knows him. Of course that could be because Tucker looks like his dad.  I wonder how many kids will put that together before Hautman tells them? What age do you think this is? Only Tucker seemed to notice that his dad was different when he returned.  Not just in thoughts but in the way he looked, that his skin was different.  Why wouldn’t the mom have noticed that? Again, if you hadn’t read the prologue, you would not make the diskos connection. So this is a great book to introduce to a group of students to reinforce the use of a prologue.


I know you mentioned that you felt this book paired nicely with Pathfinder (by Orson Scott Card) – as far as introducing and dealing with time travel. The one thing I didn’t like about Pathfinder was how laboriously he explained every little thing. It will be interesting to see how I feel about this in Obsidian Blade once I finish the book. There is a fine line between not enough explanation (I’m looking at you, Dragon Castle, with your lack of any description of how magic worked in your world) and way too much.
Kathy: Ha! I felt Card NEEDED to include such detailed explanations in Pathfinder.  That’s what I loved about it and what I feel is missing from Obsidian.  I almost felt like I understood the different aspects of time traveling that Card introduced while, right now, I’m a little confused.  Let’s try to remember to come back to this next week! (Also makes me wonder when book 2 is coming out!! of Pathfinder that is!)
 

The main characters:

I love Tucker. He’s adventurous and seems like such a real adolescent. He has a lot on his mind, but he was a bit moody even before his life fell apart.
Kathy: Oh My Word. I know many boys like this in middle school. Always coming in with the crazy things they tried over the weekends.  I love how he just wants love and attention from his dad and how he misses it since the time travel incident, even the ones that felt forced.

Lahlia has also been handled well. I like the mystery she represents. I like how she was sprinkled in through the earlier parts of the book, but I sure hope we get to see more of her. The science fiction I’ve been reading lately tends to skew rather heavily toward male narrators and females being more secondary. I hope her role increases.
Kathy: She’s also funny. She seems to be getting stronger and is not afraid to voice her opinion. I loved when she flipped the kid into the water and how she describes what the adopted parents tried to get her to eat.  She seems to know much about Tucker so I’m hoping that means they will become some sort of team. Especially since she knows much about the diskos and the Klaatu.
 

The mystery

Obsidian Blade seems like more of a mystery than a straight up science fiction novel at this point. Not that I mind the mystery – far from it. I’m furiously typing this up so that I can dive back in and find out how all the pieces interconnect.
Kathy: Genre-bending! Yay! That is what’s keeping me reading. I want to know where the parents are! How does this all connect? Can I offer this as part of our study on mysteries? Or will the time travel trip students up? I’d say this is a perfect mystery to offer to students as a choice - and maybe those who are already into science fiction will discover they love mysteries too! I also just finished Across the Universe as part of my SciFi Summer and it had this same infusion of mystery into the tale.


How did his father meet Lahlia – and who is she? I know this part is coming up soon. What happened to him in that missing hour that caused him to lose his faith?
Kathy: Why did they come back together? And why is this town so accepting of her appearing out of nowhere???!! And, yes, what did Adrian see that caused him to walk away from what was described as a lifetime of study?


Who, exactly, is his mother? I’m guessing that she is another person like Lahlia – someone who entered our time stream through the diskos.
Kathy: Yes, both orphans. She has seen the “men in black”. Maybe that’s why she is less disturbed about Lahlia’s sudden appearance.  Could Lahlia have triggered memories that were so overwhelming they drove Emily crazy???? This is exactly what I started to think as I read about Emily’s slide into insanity.


Is Kosh part of the mystery as well, or did Tucker’s rescue of his uncle finish filling in the blanks in that puzzle?
Kathy: Emily called Tucker Kosh. Kosh has been through the diskos. Kosh hits it off with Lahlia. Kosh has a profound fear of the diskos (as pointed out by both Tucker and Lahlia). He has to do something. He is the only person that knows where Tucker, Lahlia, Adrian and Emily have gone! Though he doesn’t want to come off as crazy again. He can’t just sit by can he???

There you have it! I need to go back and reread the second half of the book for our chat next week. Be sure to head over to The Brain Lair for more scintillating discussion. Also, if science fiction is your thing (or you want it to be!) check out my SciFiSummer tag here at the Melange for some great suggestions to add to your reading pile or my Why Sci Fi tag to learn a bit about why I think science fiction is a valuable genre for inclusion in our classrooms.

Growing Pains

You never really remember how hard it is to learn something until you watch your children go through it all for the first time...

Writing (as long I'm relatively inspired) comes fairly easily for me. I'm sure it wasn't always like that, yet it can be hard to be patient with my older son as he struggles to even come up with an idea some days. I decided this summer would include writing for him as well as for me. I am a teacher - I help students with their writing on a regular basis - but since I'm his mom he just doesn't want to hear suggestions from me. He's working on his typing skills using a typing program, but he's also started a blog that he shares with family and close friends. I'm hoping that the constant practice and freedom to choose his own topics will help him shake the despondency he feels when he's forced to write. So far, so good. His topic list is still fairly narrow and revolves around cheese, Minecraft, and our dogs, but he has been more positive about writing so far this summer. I hope this is a good sign that his growing pains in expressing himself in writing may be subsiding. Maybe he'll even let me jump into to provide some guidance from time to time. 

My younger son has taken up the violin. He's officially old enough to start school lessons in the fall, but he absolutely wanted to start this summer. In some ways, these growing pains have been easier for me to watch. After all, I know nothing about violin. I can offer vague tips that entirely depend on my memory of what his brother learned at this stage two years ago. The screechy sounds, I am assured, are completely normal. His instructor seems quite pleased with his development, and that's good enough for me. This must be how non-teacher parents feel as they watch their children learn new skills. There's a lot of hope, a lot of trust, and a lot of finger crossing.

It's hard work being a teacher, and hard work being a mom. Doing both at the same time is downright brutal. Yet my sons continue to teach me that each flower blooms in its own time.

Moments ... time to go back

I'm linking up to the Slice of Life community... posting a piece each Tuesday.

Okay, I know I missed putting anything up on my story last week. I spent my "story time" trying to imagine what was going on with my characters. I think I have it now... I think I know where it is going. Of course, that may change in the weeks ahead. I've already marked in my first draft the many things I need to go back and dramatically alter to fit my new direction. This section doesn't really reveal some of those new directions, but the next few segments will. I guess in upcoming weeks there may be weeks I don't post new parts of the story as I go back to "beef up" the earlier parts and make those corrections. This has been a fun ride so far. Many thanks to all my friends here at Slice who have given feedback as well as the Teachers Write community. So many of the new ideas that are starting to help me flesh out my stories have come from the writing prompts posted there. Again, this is still in the "rough" stages... I'm trying to get my ideas down without self-editing as much. 

“Ma’am…” a gentle pressure on my shoulder brings me out of my reverie. I blink rapidly and gaze up at a woman standing beside me. She sways with the rhythm of the train. I wipe the back of my hand across my eyes to brush away the tears.

“I’m so sorry to intrude, but my daughter noticed that you dropped this out of your bag.” She holds my envelope out, gripping it by one corner.

A little girl with deep brown eyes and wispy hair peers over the top of the seat in front of me. 

‘Why ya crying?” she blurts. With a shy smile, she holds out a worn stuffed rabbit. One floppy ear falls across its face, like it is hiding from me. “Want Ralphie to give you hugs?”

“That’s so sweet, but I gave up my lovies a long time ago,” I murmur as I reach out for my envelope.

“I’m sorry for intruding,” the woman says. She digs into an enormous bag hanging from her chair and pulls out a small pack of tissues. “Take these, too.”

“Thank you,” I whisper as she returns to her seat and pulls the girl onto her lap. I gaze down at the envelope. Open it. Slide the contents out. I place the envelope with the note and drawing in a neat pile beside me. The remaining stack includes a handful of photographs, a birth announcement, and an invitation.

The small head pops up again, peering down at me. “Pictures!” she exclaims. “Mommy, she gots pictures! Lemme see!”

“Sweetheart, leave that poor woman alone” she responds as she glances back at me with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, it’s been a long ride.”

“No, it’s fine; she can come back and see them.” I slide over toward the window and pat the seat beside me. Squeals of delight erupt as she bounces and crawls over her mother.

“I’m Katie. I’m four.” She declares as she plops down in the seat beside me.

“Well, Katie, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Meghan, though my good friends called me Megs. I’ll tell you all about my pictures if you promise to behave like a big girl and not grab them, okay?”

I hold one hand over my mouth to hide my smile as Katie nods solemnly, accepting the responsibility. Then she starts to squirm. One tiny finger points stabs at the top picture in the pile as she squeaks, “I swimmed, too! I got all prickly.”

“I got all prickly that day, too. I didn’t put on enough sunscreen, and I got sand in my eyes… “

“Oooo, pretty hair!”

“Yes, that was my very best friend when I was a girl. Her name was Cassie and we did everything together. This was the first time we’d ever left our little town for a vacation… ” my voice drifts into silence and Katie gazes up at me.

“Why that make you cry?” Her pudgy hand reaches up to touch a tear trickling out of the corner of my eye.

“Sometimes grownups cry over happy memories, sweetie.” I lie.

Katie shakes her head as if to clear it of the strange habits of adults. Digging into the pockets of her sweatshirt, she pulls out a handful of small shell fragments and pebbles from her own time at the shore.

I smile and nod as her lilting voice tells me about each little pretty, but my mind travels back. It had only been a few months since I had started to hear them. Started to really believe Cassandra, though I was the only one. Yes, the trip had started as a wonderful adventure. It hadn’t ended that way.