tfios

June 6 can't come soon enough:

 Luckily, I only have to wait a few weeks for Veronica and Logan to get together (OK, Rob Thomas, don't disappoint me!)

It's going to be WONDERful...

Save the date!  RJ Palacio will visit with Round Rock ISD students Mon., Feb. 10th - it will be here before you know it!

Details:

RJ Palacio at the Round Rock Sports Complex

Mon., Feb. 10

12:00 pm-1:00 pm

Only 50 students from every school will be selected, that's right, only 50 Mavericks will be there.  To determine who will attend, Mrs. Bligh and I will draw names from those who have participated in Wonder activities.  Don't worry, we know who you are.  

If you want to see Palacio but are not selected, don't despair!  She will also speak in the evening - FREE TO THE PUBLIC.

RJ Palacio at the Round Rock HS gym

Mon., Feb. 10

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm

First come, first served - no reserved seating at this one, so don't be late.

Hmmm, aside from the weirdness of the disembodied head above, doesn't she look lovely?  I can't wait to meet her.

More later, gators - gotta go work.

gobble gobble

 This will not be me this year.  I spent the past weekend in Dallas with the family so that I have FIVE days off.  After cleaning and cooking for the husband and the dogs, I plan to read.  The only question is, what?  Here's what's on tap:

Where'd you go, Bernadette?
  Actually, I've already started this.  Highly readable, as they say, but I'm not quite hooked yet.  Bernadette is a brilliant architect who, despite her young age, has seen her best years.  I can't figure out if she's a genius or insane, or a little of both.  It seems that most geniuses are a mix, doesn't it?  I guess it's that  their brains are wired differently than everyone elses.  At any rate, Bernadette disappears right before she is to take a trip to the Antartic with her family.  The story is told via letters and emails from the various figures in her life.  I do like the varying points of view that provide inside to the many facets of her personality...kind of reminds me of a Tom Robbins character.  We shall see!

Reconstructing Amelia
See earlier post (the one right below),  but this one I can't wait to get my hands on!


Anna and the French kiss
  Recommended by John Green, this sounds like just the thing for this Francophile to escape into over a nice relaxing break.  I've spent some time on Perkin's blog, and I already like her.  Can't wait to get started on this one!

So.  Thanksgiving break will be spent with Books, The Husband, The Dogs and The Cat.  All of which I am very, very thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

PS What are YOU reading?  I usually don't post responses because this is a "school" blog, but I'd at least love to hear what you're reading.

Now I feel like a *smart* 9th grader

I finally did it.  I re-read Animal farm and boy am I glad!  It has really piqued my interest in the Russian Revolution.  I hate to expose my ignorance, but did you know Stalin was responsible for more deaths than Hitler?



Since I am wholly ill-equipped to discuss the Revolution (or Stalin, or Trotsky <though I love saying "Trotsky">, or Lenin and the rest), I feel a Russian reading list comin' on.

Dr. Zhivago
"Dr. Yury Zhivago, Pasternak's alter ego, is a poet, philosopher, and physician whose life is disrupted by the war and by his love for Lara, the wife of a revolutionary." (Goodreads.com)  I want to curl up with  my dog and a cup of hot tea beside a fire, and read this NOW.  As a child I had a music box that played Lara's Theme.  To this day I think of the pirouetting ballerina when I hear the music.

If you're feeling lazy, there's always the movie.  They almost make freezing temperatures look fun and stylish.


Crime and Punishment

Another uplifting Russian tale of, you guessed it, crime and punishment. "Through the story of the brilliant but conflicted young Raskolnikov and the murder he commits, Fyodor Dostoevsky explores the theme of redemption through suffering. Crime and Punishment put Dostoevsky at the forefront of Russian writers when it appeared in 1866 and is now one of the most famous and influential novels in world literature." (GoodReads.com)

War and PeaceWar, war - what is it good for?
"Tolstoy's epic masterpiece intertwines the lives of private and public individuals during the time of the Napoleonic wars and the French invasion of Russia. The fortunes of the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys, of Pierre, Natasha, and Andrei, are intimately connected with the national history that is played out in parallel with their lives. Balls and soirees alternate with councils of war and the machinations of statesmen and generals, scenes of violent battles with everyday human passions in a work whose extraordinary imaginative power has never been surpassed. " (Goodreads.com)

I've always wanted to read some Checkov.  I just figured it would make me sound smart.  Check out (ba dum dum) this site with links to 201 Checkov stories.

I'll end the list with a modern tale.  
Absurdistan
"Open Absurdistan and meet outsize Misha Vainberg, son of the 1,238th-richest man in Russia, lover of large portions of food and drink, lover and inept performer of rap music, and lover of a South Bronx Latina whom he longs to rejoin in New York City, if only the American INS will grant him a visa. But it won't, because Misha's late Beloved Papa whacked an Oklahoma businessman of some prominence. Misha is paying the price of exile from his adopted American homeland. He's stuck in Russia, dreaming of his beloved Rouenna and the Oz of NYC. " (Goodreads.com)

I admit to starting this book a few years back, I was hoping it would be like A confederacy of dunces; yet I had to put it down for some reason and never picked it back up again.  Maybe because I had to read Animal farm.

Хороших выходных, все!

I feel like a 9th grader

 I should be reading Animal farm to prepare for a lesson (it's in public domain so you can read it online here), but I kinda don't want to.  OK, I actually do. not. want. to.  But I must. I read it in 9th grade and, well, I don't remember a thing.


Why, you may ask, do I feel compelled to read it again?  Well, I'm leading a lesson that Mrs. Bligh created later in the week so I think I should have an idea as to what I'm talking about.

My fellow 9th graders, I feel your pain.

Here is what I would rather be reading:

Where'd you go, Bernadette?
I read the first page in my car while waiting for a red light, and I'm already hooked.

Y
I've started this, also.  Lyrical, haunting and very well written.  Shannon's mother leaves her swaddled in a blanket at the YMCA just days after her birth.  Shannon then endures abuse at a couple of foster homes before experiencing a tenuous happiness with Miranda and her daughter.  Yula's story, Shannon's birth mother, is interspersed throughout. Read brief excerpt below.  I've never thought so much about a letter.

“Y. That perfect letter. The wishbone, fork in the road, empty wineglass. The question we ask over and over. Why? . . . My life begins at the Y.”   

No more dirty looks
The book penned by the authors of the above blog,  for clean, green make up and body products.  I swear by these ladies.  They're awesome.

Reconstructing Amelia (I always want to say "de"constructing...not sure if that says I'm negative or too into Woody Allen)
This has been on my bedside for quite a while, can't wait to start it!  Amelia has been caught cheating and her mother is summoned to school.  Before her mother arrives, Amelia has jumped out a window - or has she?

Maybe I'll reward myself with some fun reading after I get through five chapters of AF...

Who knew Meat is Murder could be romantic?

I'm not the first to extol the virtues of Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park; actually, after reading John Green's review I feel like I should just stop here.  I can't do the book the justice Green does.  So I'm going another route.  I'm going to gush unabashedly.

I lovelovelove this book!!!!!!

One: I identified with Eleanor and I feel most girls will.  No, I don't have red hair and I'm not fat.  (Though I wonder how overweight Eleanor really is - but I'll save those theories on a post about eating disorders and the insanity that is the current ideal beauty.)  We may not have cruel nicknames or people outwardly hostile towards us, but most of us feel like an outsider at some point in time.  Sadly, Eleanor is an outsider even in her own house (her mother is pretty awful, btw).

Two: Park is such a tender and interesting boy (yes John Green, who likes "good music" <see review above>), and Rowell's writing so honest, that his gradual connection with Eleanor is as tangible as the cord that links their headphones.  The cover couldn't be more perfect.



Example: Park has made a mixtape (I miss the 80's!) for Eleanor and wants her to listen to it at home.  She has no cassette player.  He insists she take his Walkman.  She argues she'll wear out his batteries.  She refuses.  Park goes home and plans his birthday request to his grandmother: batteries.  Here readers sigh, or text their best friend to tell them how much they freakin' love the book.

This tale of star-crossed lovers, thwarted by the unfairness of life, is timeless (but if you're into the 80's, time itself is a selling point of  E&P), touching and affecting.  It's a wallop of a book.

So, the cover says it all.  This is up there with The fault in our stars.  It's a must-read for anyone with a heart (that should cover just about everyone, right?).

Go read it now, please, so we can talk about it.

Wonder has rolled out

 Be still my  heart.  We have FINALLY received our 200 copies of Wonder by RJ Palacio.  I don't want to overstate the case, but this book has the potential to change lives.  I fell in love with Auggie from the get-go. A ten-year-old about to enter public school for the first time after years of homeschooling due to his cranio-facial difference (and ensuing operations).  He's nervous, as we all would be.  Some kids are kind, some are not.  There are some real heartbreaking scenes in this book, I won't lie (not to mention the dog, my God the dog), but it is a story with appeal for all ages.


Personally, I identified with Via. I, too, am the older sister of a brother who has a physical difference that causes insensitive people to gawk.  He is smaller than average.  I had my share of verbal fights with idiots (Actually, I had one a few weeks ago, too.  You're never too old to protect your "little" <he's 42> bro.).  So yes, Via spoke to me.

There's a bully, Julian.   As a reader, we have the opportunity to hear Julian's point-of-view.  I can't say I find him particularly sympathetic, but I do find him human.  As we all are, of course.

We meet Auggie's friends, some so-called friends, parents, teachers...basically, everyone who enters his life.  We meet them through a variety of narrative tools, but the end is the same, glimpses into the lives of others and how one life can affect us all.

The book's theme is taken from Dr. Wayne Dyer, "When given a choice between being right and kind, choose kind."

Thus, RRISD has used our HEB grant money to purchase thousands of copies of Wonder in an effort to get our entire district to read it.  And - exciting - we are hosting the author on Mon., Feb 10th at the Round Rock Sports Complex (it's still being built, we'll be among the first to see it!)

MN has lots of activities planned around this novel.  The first being Auggie's birthday party this upcoming Th., Oct. 11th.  Our students need to check their school gmail accounts for details on how to score an invite.

More to come, so stay tuned!