Teacher Swag

Confession time.  I actually hate most teacher books/teacher movies.  They gloss over all of the hard work and frustration and just present some shiny version of what school is like.  I especially hate the way they portray students.  As if students are these one dimensional beings who are terrors one day and then the magic teacher comes and now they're angels.  Real life is much more messy.

So I put off reading because of mr.terupt as I was afraid it would be another sappy teacher story.  I was pleased to find that this book is written from the students perspective-all of them.  It bounces from Jeffrey to Anna to Lexie and so many more.  But what really sold me on this book was the way Rob Buyea captured the students personalities.

For example, Peter says, "If the bathroom pass is free, all you have to do is take it and go.  This year, the bathrooms were right across the hall.  It's always been an easy way to get out of doing work.  I can be really sneaky like that.  I take the pass all the time and the teachers never notice.  And like I said, Mr. Terupt was a rookie, so I knew he wasn't going to catch me."

Later Peter sums up the main dilemma in my teaching career, "Peter, that's not funny,' Mr. T said to me.  'Someone could have  been injured.  You're lucky you didn't hit anyone in the eye.  Go sit down.'  I sat down.  It was no big deal. If you'd been there, you'd agree, it was superfunny."   I can't tell you how many times I needed to hold in my laughter because a student did something inappropriate that was indeed, superfunny.

In the end this is one teacher story I can wholeheartedly recommend.  I find myself forced to agree with the the review on the cover.  Because of Mr. Terupt really is "the masterful story of one teacher who changes everything."

Finishing 5th grade...that's kids stuff.  

What's Your Superpower?

As a former camp counselor and current teacher it's safe to say I have lead a fair amount of icebreakers.  If you are unfamiliar with the concept of an icebreaker it's basically a quick game or silly questions designed to make a group of people who haven't met before feel comfortable around each other.

One of the most common icebreaker questions is "If you could have any superpower, which one would you want?"  Flying is a popular answer, as is reading minds or super strength.  But I think the most popular answer, and the one I always went with, was the power to be invisible.

That's exactly what happens to 15-year old Bobby Phillips in Andrew Clements Things Not Seen.  One night, he goes to sleep-totally normal.  The next morning he wakes up invisible.  Now this sounds like a dream come true, and at first-it is.  Bobby does all the things I would want to do if I became invisible, listen in on conversations, scare your parents, etc.

But then it gets complicated.  See you can only miss so many days of schools and it's not like Bobby's mom can write a note saying "sorry Bobby wasn't at school today, he suddenly turned invisible."  And while being invisible sometimes feels powerful but it can also feel lonely and isolating.  There's also this small, slightly awkward, detail: Bobby is invisible, but things he touches stay visible.  So in order to stay invisible he has to be...naked.  His clothes will still show up.

Desperate to get out of the house Bobby bundles up, gloves, hat, scarf and sunglasses-so no invisibleness peeks through-and heads to the library.   There he has the (mis?) fortune to bump into Alicia, who doesn't notice he's invisible because she is blind.  Together can they solve the mystery of Bobby's invisibility?  Or will he be unseen forever?

I loved this book. I loved Bobby, I loved Alicia, I loved their parents.  This was a great one.

Giving back your superpower (or not)...that's kids stuff.  

What now?

When I was in middle school, historical fiction was my absolute most favorite genre.  Since then I have become more partial to fantasy, but I still have a fondness for historical fiction.  So I was excited to see Ann Rinaldi's Numbering All the Bones on this years Reading Olympic's list.

Eulinda is in a difficult spot, put more accurately her whole life has been a difficult spot.  See her mother is a slave but her father is the owner of the plantation.  Because of that she gets certain privileges, she has learned to read and write, she stays in the plantation house-not the slave quarters, but her master will not formally acknowledge that she is his daughter.  Without that she is still just a slave in the South.  But then the Civil War ends. 

From our vantage point it's easy to think the Civil War has ended, the Emancipation Proclamation has been signed, problem solved.  But the reality was far messier.  For all of its faults the plantation was Eulinda's home.  Her younger brother has been sold away and her older brother is gone, having left to fight for the North.  

Eulinda feels like she has limited options.  That is until Clara Barton arrives.  Numbering All the Bones was an exceptional work of historical fiction not only because Eulinda's story is captivating and captures the essence of struggles that actually happened, but also because it inspired me to learn more about actual historical figures- like Clara Barton.  

Creating a new life in a new world...that's kids stuff.  

What a Life

I enjoyed reading Gary Paulsen's books (Hatchet, The River, etc) when I was growing up, but they were never my favorites.  Many of my classmates (at that time) and students (today) LOVE these books and are desperate to get their hands on as many as possible.

But even these most dedicated fans don't know that the ideas for Hatchet and the rest of Paulsen's outdoor survival books came directly from Paulsen's own real-life experiences. Guts tells the true story of Paulsen's own life experiences.  He also includes how these experiences factored into writing the books.  So, for me, that made Guts fascinating on two levels, one his life is remarkable, and two, I got a sneak peak into how he crafts his stories.

Rather than try to summarize I would like to share two of my favorite quotes from the book.

"We  have grown away from knowledge, away from knowing what something is really like, toward knowing only what somebody else says it is like.  There seems to be a desire to ignore the truth in favor of drama."

[describing hunting using a bow and arrow] "There's a frustration index with arrows that you don't have with guns.  If a gun is aimed correctly and held steady and the trigger squeezed correctly, the bullet will almost always strike where it is pointed.  An arrow can be aimed correctly and held properly and released exactly right and still miss the target completely because of wind or a tiny branch sticking in the way or, apparently, just bad luck."

Real-life adventures...that's kids stuff 

Them

We all know about them.   You know, those people.  They wouldn't like it, they wouldn't wear it, they wouldn't do that.  I'd like to say that this group mentality and the need to fit into that group ends in middle school, but any adult readers of this blog know that that's not true. 

But every now and then you get someone who doesn't care about them.  Not just says they don't care, but actually honestly does not care about what 'they' think.  This is Stargirl in Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl.  When she transfers from homeschooling to the local high school she causes quite the stir.  

How do you even react to someone who is so other, who is so 'not them?'   The students at Mica High can't seem to figure it out.  First they are confused by her, then they love her, then they hate her, then they love her again.   Her ukulele and prairie skirts aren't even the strangest things about her.  She sings happy birthday to everyone, she sends anonymous cards, she genuinely does not notice what other people think of her.  

Stargirl does participate in a few 'normal' aspects of high school life (with her own spin on them of course). She's a cheerleader and she has a boyfriend -Leo.  Even though Stargirl is the title character the book is from Leo's perspective.  He's caught in the middle.  On the one hand, he's enamored by Stargirl, he sees all of the delightful things about her.  On the other hand, Leo cares about 'them,'  and he sees that 'they' do not always respond kindly to Stargirl-and, by extension, him. 

If I had to sum up this book in two words I would say, 'delightfully quirky.'

Being you...that's kids stuff.  

Survivor

Confession time.  I am  HUGE Reality T.V. fan.  I know, I know it's not quality programming, it's mindless entertainment, etc etc.  But what can I say?  I love it!

Growing up one of my favorite shows was Survivor.  I loved the idea of mastering the elements, surviving off the grid with nothing but your wits and and simple tools.  Sherry Shahan's Death Mountain reminds me that to really master the elements and survive off the grid you need skills.  Skills I definitely don't have.

Through a series of missteps Erin ends up hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with Mae, who is basically a stranger to her-Mae and her brother picked up Erin when she was hitchhiking.  A thunderstorm pops up and suddenly the girls are cut off from everyone and way off the trail.

Luckily, Erin has camped a lot with her grandmother and knows some basic survival skills, like how to build shelter, read a map, and make a fire.  Unfortunately, their supplies are limited to a few snack foods, a handful of matches, and a map woefully lacking in detail.

Will Erin and Mae be able to make it out?  I'm definitely not going to tell you (hello, spoilers!), but this book is absolutely worth a read.  It's the perfect size, I could read it in one sitting (and you're gonna want to), there's enough detail to make me feel like I am also lost in the mountains but not so much that you would need to be a survival expert to keep up.  And, don't worry, there's so much more than just hiking.

Outwit, outlast...that's kids stuff.  

Pulls at Your Heartstrings

When I was in school I participated in every band option available.  Concert band? check.  Marching band? Check.  Pit Orchestra? Check.  Symphonic Band? Check.  Jazz Band?  Check (I didn't say I was good at all of them-I just said I participated).  So it was easy for me to identify with Steven (even though I played piano and flute and he's a drummer) in Jordan Sonnenblick's Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie.

Steven takes private drum lessons, is in the school band, and the elite All-City Jazz band.  Besides the fact he can't figure out girls at all and his bandmates stuck him with the nickname Peasant, Steven's life is going pretty well.  That is until his little brother Jeffrey falls off a stool in the kitchen and gets the world's biggest nosebleed.

The nosebleed seems unusual because it is unusual.  Jeffrey goes to the hospital because of his nosebleed and he comes back with a leukemia diagnosis.  And just like that everyone's life is turned upside down.  Band practices go from being fun to being the only sane, safe spot in Steven's life.  His mother and brother are traveling two and from Philadelphia multiple times a week for treatment, his father has checked out, bills are pilling up and so is Steven's homework.

I'd love to give you a sense of how it all turns out but that would be a spoiler.   You'll just have to read it yourself.  As the kids say (actually I have no idea of the kids are still saying this or not) this book gives you "all the feels."

Being a protector...that's kids stuff.   

Look, Loons!

My family, specifically my mother and her siblings, loves loons.  Every year we go camping by a lake in the Adirondacks and every year someone will say, "I think I heard a loon."  And then everyone will rush to the lake hoping to get a glimpse of this amazing creature.   So at this point we have the loon t-shirts (loonatic), loon stuffed animals, and, of course, a loon call.

This year I will have to bring Cynthia Lord's half a chance to add to the collection.  Lucy's family moves to a lake house in New Hampshire and, of course, that lake has loons.  The next door neighbor Grandma Lilah is the head of the loon patrol (I can just see my family forming a loon patrol on our next camping trip) and records the daily comings and goings of the loons.

But half a chance is really about Lucy and her photography.  Lucy's father is a professional photographer and Lucy always wonders if her work will every be good enough to even come close to what her father does. Lucy befriends the neighbors, Noah and Emily, and together they work on completing a photo contest Lucy's father is judging.  If Lucy enters a fake name, maybe her father will finally recognize her talent...or she'll know once and for all that she isn't good enough.

For the contest, they need to submit one photo that best shows a list of words/phrases.  I'm feeling inspired to do that photo contest myself (maybe that's my next instagram project).  The words are, "your name, design, three feet, secret, collection, skip, holding on, sticky, journey, beyond reach, heading home, at the shore, exit, left behind, lines, a closer look, wonder, unexpected, on its own, a new day, at the crossroads, out of place, texture, hope, now and then, lost."

Taking a chance (even half a chance)...that's kids stuff.