Spring Break and Reading

I can't wait for spring break to begin because I have several new books set aside to read over the break. There is the new James Patterson book in the Maximum Ride series called Fang AND the new Susan Beth Pfeffer book, The World We Live in, which picks up the story of Miranda and her family from Life as We Knew It AND a new book by Walter Dean Myers called Lockdown. I hope that you have also picked out a couple of great books to enjoy over your spring break. See you in April.

My Favorite Genre

This past week I had the opportunity to book talk my favorite genre - science fiction - for Mrs. Hayes/Georges's advanced Language Arts class. I had a most difficult time keeping the number of books I talked about low because there are so many really good science fiction books in our library. The one book that I didn't talk about (because I hadn't finished reading it yet) was Janet McNaughton's The Secret Under My Skin. Now that I have finished it, I would like to share this book with you.

The story centers around a young girl who was orphaned when she was two or three years old. For a number of years she lived on the streets until the Commission picked her up and put her in a work camp. So far this story could have taken place any time in history, but it really takes place in the future -- a future where human destruction of the environment has gotten so bad that the society as we know today fell apart and a military society and a religious society are now struggling for power. Blay, who later finds that her real name is Blake, sees both sides of this struggle when she lives in the work camp and when she is chosen as a servant for the bio-indicator who is preparing for investiture. Blake worries about her future and learns to be concerned about the future of her world as she searches for clues to help her regain her past. This story may present our future if we are not more aware of our environment and takes steps to preserve it.

Meet Author Roland Smith

Roland Smith's book Elephant Run is nominated for the 2010 Rebecca Caudill Young readers Book Award. This is an exciting adventure which takes place in Burma during World War II. Young Nick is sent to his father's planatation from England to escape the Blitz, the German air bombing. Unfortunately he is no safer with his father because the planatation is captured by Japanese soldiers. Nick and Mya, a native girl, are able to escape and want to rescue his father and her brother. With help from a very old, wise man and a rogue elephant they may have a chance to complete the rescue.

My first meeting with a Roland Smith book was a previous Caudill nominee called Zach's Lie. In this story Zach's father agrees to testify against his boss, a drug czar. The family is put into the Witness Protection Program, moved to the other side of the country, and given new names and identities to try to protect them from the revenge of the drug lord. But Zach has a problem remembering his new identity and makes a slip. If the drug lord finds out about his mistake his whole family is in terrible danger. This book is followed by Jack's Run, a thrilling sequel as the drug lord's trial draws near.

The IMC has a third Roland Smith book, Peak, a mountain climbing attempt on Mount Everest, but I haven't read this one yet. If you have, I would loved to hear what you think of it. I have been checking other books by Roland Smith and he seems to favor writing exciting adventures. If you have read any of his books, I would like to know if you think the IMC should get more. You can contact me by commenting on this blog.

Do the Math

This is a new series by Wendy Lichtman. In the first book, Secrets, Lies, and Algebra, we meet Tess who has always loved math! She even sees applications of mathematics in her everyday life which help her through the difficult time of 8th grade. In the second book, The Writing on the Wall, Tess is faced with puzzling patterns -- of graffiti, scary pranks, and Damien waiting for her after school. Tess searches for formulas to solve these puzzles, but perhaps life isn't that neat. Sometimes you just have to risk it!

The chapter titles in both books captured my attention because they are math concepts and I was a math teacher. I hope this author will continue writing about Tess and her unique perspective on life.