Maria's Mélange

Be sure to check out the other posts in this meme at Teach Mentor Texts . Of course, that might lead to an out of control wish list… but worse things have happened. Hmm… not sure why, but I got through more this week than last week! Graphic Novels and Comics Zeus – by George O’Connor. This is a fabulous, gorgeous book! While it's about "Zeus", it really tells the whole tale of the start of creation - according to Greek Mythology - and how Zeus rescued his siblings (with the help of Metis, of course). I often think of Zeus as a bit of a "jerk", so it was nice that this book focused on the start of his journey. Amazing art, full of action. Bone vol 4 (Dragonslayer ) by Jeff Smith. I’m still adoring this series. This is the last volume that I already own… I’m already twitching because I want the next. Womanthology : Heroic– I’m only about 10% through, but I’m adoring this anthology. Have you ever heard of Kickstarter? This book was p...

 I'm attempting to write every day in March as part of the Slice of Life challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers . Stop by! I adore my goddaughter. Her name is Natalie, and her beautiful face is one of the things that swayed me into the crazy decision to have my own children. She is perfect, just on the cusp of the “tween” years, and passionate about animals. As much as I love this amazing young woman, I don’t get together with her as often as I would like. When she was little, our families would get together almost weekly. We’d pick up a pizza and hit the park, or just let the wee ones play in one of our houses. As the kids got older, and their school and sports schedules got crazier, our time together started to decline. It has started to become a tradition, though, for Natalie and I to grab dinner and hit the mall to celebrate her birthday.   Just the two of us; enjoying some of our favorite things . We started off at the Chinese Buffet for dinner. Her...

I'm attempting to write every day as part of the Slice of Life March challenge, hosted by Two Writing Teachers . Stop on by! “So, why do you write these strong female characters? Because you're still asking me that question.” – Joss Whedon  (Creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse, and wonderful writer on the X-Men comics.) (The image of the spark that led me down this rabbit hole today. I was out shopping with my god-daughter yesterday and bought myself this awesome bag.) Yes, I am a woman. One who loves superheroes, science fiction, and Slayers. One who loves hobbits, dwarves, and elves. One who loves knights, castles, and dragons. What do I want most in my stories? I want great stories, of course - stories that are well crafted and filled with action. What I do I want second most? Female characters who are vibrant, powerful, and inspiring. I want them in the books that I read. I want them in the movies I watch. I want them in the comic...

This is my first venture into the "It's Monday" scene... I hope I'm doing it right! Visit the hosts of the meme at Teach Mentor Texts .  It was a relatively slow reading week for me. I think I got out of the gate quickly in January (I completed 9 Newbery books, including 4 from the 20s and some more recent ones) and slowed down a bit recently.  Graphic Novels / Comics I did try to start up a specific pin board on Pinterest devoted to graphic novels and comics for kids. I'll try to indicate what age band the books there are best for, as not all of them will be appropriate for the under 5th (or 6th) grade crew. Check out my board and let me know (via comments here, there, or Twitter @mselke01) what else I should add. Working on that board got me reading some graphic novels this past week: Amulet 2  and  Amulet 3  - These are fabulous graphic novels! I had to wrestle them out of my students' hands so I could have a shot at them. Highly recommended...

(I'm moving my older posts over from my old blog host. This one originally posted Sept 24, 2011) I’m trying to make my way in this comics world. I’m new to comics, so I thought this would be a great time to toss my hat into the ring and check out some superhero comics. Dare I say, I was even hoping to find some butt kicking female heroes? (Why yes, women DO read superhero comics, and not just those who have been reading since childhood!) I was excited about this past week, with the first issues of Catwoman and Red Hood being high on my “must read” list. I love the character of Catwoman (mostly from cartoons), and I was looking forward to a great introduction to her series. I’d also heard that Red Hood had a fab female character, so I wanted to hop on board that train as well. Unless you’ve not been following twitter or online at all over the past few days, you know how that went. So, rather than rehash all the (very legitimate) issues with those two females, I thought I’d t...