Instructions

Neil Gaiman has created a picture book that will appeal to all ages in Instructions. On the surface the book has instructions on how to enter a magical land through the garden gate. For instance you will come to a house. "Walk through the house. Take nothing. Eat nothing. However, if any creature tells you that it hungers, feed it. If it tells you that it is dirty, clean it. If it cries to you that it hurts, if you can, ease its pain." As in the above passage, all the instructions work well, not only for traveling in this magical land, but also are good instructions to live your life by. This book, with wonderful illustrations by Charles Vess, is one to read over and over again as you travel through magical kingdoms and reality.

Everest--Book One: The Contest

My second book by Gordon Korman I've read this summer. He continues to impress me. This book, the first of three, tells the tale of an expedition to Mt. Everest with 4 teenagers as part of a promotion. 20 teens make it to training camp, 4 through a winning a contest and 16 based on merit. The author describes in detail the training the young climbers endure to make the cut and develops their character while the action keeps you on the edge of your seat. For example, this section describes two of the candidates racing to the top of a boulder during their lunch break.

"Dominic scrambled up a twenty-foot rock, scanning for handholds the way a chess master seeks out weaknesses in an opponent's defenses. On the other side of the craggy diorite outcropping, Tilt raced against him with strong, steady moves. Dominic couldn't see his adversary, but he had a good idea of his progress because Tilt climbed with his mouth as much as he did with his hands and feet.
'Getting tired, shrimp? You can't beat me. If you're looking for the top, just follow the soles of my boots...'
In a mammoth burst of energy, tilt scrambled to the crown of the boulder and stood there, beating his chest and howling like Tarzan.
From below, Dominic snaked out a hand and began to feel for a handhold on the top. Tilt stuck out his boot and applied gentle pressure to the searching fingers. 'No way, shrimp. This is my rock.' Dominic gave no answer, but it was not in his nature to retreat."

As the story unfolds, the candidates become entrenched in life and death situations that are only survivable through team work, skill, and a fair amount of luck. A quick read that will keep you enthralled until the end of the series.

as if being 12 3/4 isn't bad enough, my mother is running for president!

Donna Gephart has written an engaging quick read about the life of a 7th grade girl whose mother is running for president. Vanessa is clumsy, self conscious, and a great speller. However, having a mother who is running for president has some major drawbacks. She never can attend your spelling bee. She's not home to talk to about your latest boyfriend problems. You have to schedule an appointment to talk to her. All of those are minor inconveniences compared to the fact people may try to kill you or your mother if they disagree with her politics. So Vanessa, besides trying to figure out if Reginald, the hottest boy in seventh grade likes her, has to figure out how to get her mother to drop out of the presidential race before she is killed.

George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt

George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt is the second in a series of books co-written by Lucy and Stephen Hawking. The books tell the story of George, whose parents are technophobic conservationists, and Lucy, whose father is a scientist. Together with the help of Cosmos the super intelligent computer Lucy and George explore the universe. Intertwined with the story of Reeper, and evil scientist intent on blowing up the worlds or killing Lucy's father, is a lot of scientific information. This information is extremely accurate and written in easy to understand English. Although the story may be a little contrived at times so that the many different scientific facts can be explained the amazing pictures of space and the fascinating explanation of complicated topics make it a wonderful read.  Any student who is a space buff and wants to really understand what the Drake Equation is or how something could escape from a black hole will love these books. Be sure to check out George's website for even more adventure and scientific discoveries.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Do you need advice on a subject such as if a girl likes you? "Does not says who like you she does." Need to know how to get rid of your nick-name? "Cheetos for everyone you must buy." Need to know how to hit your first homerun? "Let go of your feelings. Hate and revenge to the dark side only lead." This and other useful advice is given out by Dwight's Origami Yoda in the book The Strange Case of  Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. Dwight is a little strange, (as in he likes to sit in holes he digs and lays in front of the encyclopedia's in the library) but the advice given by the origami Yoda that lives on his finger seems to work almost every time. Is it real? Is it Dwight? Is it the force? That is what Tommy must figure out before he makes a mistake that could ruin his 6th grade year.

Chaos Walking Book 1

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness is the first book in his new Chaos Walking series. Set on a planet far far away, Todd Hewitt lives in Prentisstown with the two men who raised him after his ma died of the virus that killed all women. In less than a month Todd, the last boy in Prentisstown, will become a man. For now he has only his dog to keep him company. Until...he meets a girl. Until...his caretakers send him away. Until...he finds out there are other towns on this world. Until....he realizes all of Prentisstown is chasing him....is trying to kill him. And on this world being chased is almost as good as being caught because everyone can hear every other creatures thoughts. As Todd and the girl try to survive Todd finds out that stories he has been told all his life may not be true. From beginning to end this is a dark, fast paced, chaotic novel with a new twist every time you start to take a breath and think Todd may have a moment of safety.

Warning: this book does have some graphic violence and a few cuss words scattered in it.

Rules

Rules by Cynthia Lord tells the story of a middle school girl Catherine and her hope that the girl who moves in next store at the beginning of the summer will be a friend she can spend the summer swimming in the pond and hanging out with. However Catherine has something really big standing in her way. She loves her younger brother David but he has autism and can be really embarrassing. On top of that she meets a nice boy, Jacob, but he is in a wheelchair and can only communicate using his communication board. How can Catherine stay cool so that the new neighbor will want to be her friend while still remaining loyal to her brother and continuing her friendship with Jacob. Hard choices and a summer of self discovery face Catherine as she grows up and tries to be true to herself.

I think that Anything But Typical, Rules, The Reinvention of Edison Thomas, and Out of My Mind are a nice set of books to read around the same time. While they all deal with students with disabilities and trying to figure out how they fit in during the middle school years, each author has taken a slightly different perspective that sets their book apart from the other and keeps the books from feeling redundant.

Next I'm on to some science fiction and fantasy.

The Reinvention of Edison Thomas

This must be my summer to read books about middle school students who have a hard time fitting in. Edison Thomas is a young boy who is very gifted when it comes to creating machines but very awkward when it comes to social skills. It starts off with Edison at the science fair, which he doesn't win. However he soon ends up with more problems. His best friend from kindergarten may not actually be a friend, the crossing guard is fired and students may be hit by cars that don't stop at the stop sign, and he ends up getting in trouble at school for things he doesn't understand. However, along the way he meets some potential friends in Justin, who beat him at the science fair, and Terry who loves science fiction movies. Together they struggle through the pitfalls of middle school and end up supporting Eddy as he faces down bullies and creates new machines.

One of my favorite parts of the book are how we see what Eddy is thinking as his mind makes unusual connections. For example another student Kip invites Eddy to his bands jam session. "Eddy thought of oranges (Citrus sinensis) marmalade and strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) preserves. He was getting hungry. 'Eddy?' 'Yes.' 'Would you like to try some jamming with us sometime?' Now Eddy thought of jamming radio signals."

Throughout the book are various facts from the Random Access Memories of Edison Thomas (such as the original name for the search engine Google was BackRub) which are fun and interesting for science geeks. In the appendix is a list of not-so-random-numbers including 1.7 kg the average weight of an adult male duck-billed platypus. If you read carefully you will find that all of these numbers (even that one) tie in to something mentioned in the story.

All in all a fun book about trying to fit in at middle school, which at some level we can all relate to.

Anything But Typical

Anything But Typical is a book by Nora Raleigh Baskin told from the point of view of Jason, a boy with autism. Jason is a gifted writer, but nothing else comes easy for him. Trying to understand the NT's (neuro-typicals, in other words all of us without autism or other spectrum disorder) and the world he lives in is hard for Jason. For instance, at school when a teacher comes up and talks to him and then stands there without moving Jason wonders, "I am trying to remember my list of the things a person could want but doesn't tell you what it is. Sometimes they just want to say something, and they are waiting for you to look at them before they will say it. That is often the case. But Miss Leno was already doing a lot of talking without me looking at her, so that's probably not it. Sometimes people stand around when they are waiting for you to do or say something. Something they think you should do or say. So they just wait, like that's going to help you understand what it is they want you to say or do. It doesn't."

As the story progress, the reader finds out about Jason's troubles with his peers (and teachers) at school, his mothers family, and most importantly his love for words. In fact Jason publishes his stories on a social networking site and ends up meeting a girl. Which is fine, until it turns out they will meet in person. How will she react when she meets Jason in person versus just typing with him over the Internet.

As Jason tells his story, we are given a glimpse into what life might be for some people with autism and it becomes clear, that while Jason may not express himself the same way we NT's do, that doesn't mean he doesn't feel emotions every bit as strongly.

I would love to hear comments from anyone on the spectrum who has read the book and what you think of it.

Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies

If you are looking for a summer read that makes fun of all those really great bad B science fiction movies, than the Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies is for you. Andrea Beaty has created a fun read that mixes in some good science and a lot of humor.

The start of Chapter 2 introduces our villains. "Not long ago, in a galaxy just beyond the Milky Way--but not quite as far as the Peanut Cluster--there lived a race of fierce, large, ugly, and ferocious furballs known as the Fierce, Large, Ugly, and Ferocious. (Fluffs for short--though in reality, there is nothing short about Fluffs). "

Our heroes are introduced shortly thereafter. "The Rockman Twins knew a lot about Famous Last Words. They had heard many of them while watching old movies on the Late, Late, Late Creepy Show for Insomniacs every Saturday night while their parents experimented with new recipes for SPAMalicious desserts."

The Rockman twins are dropped off at camp Whatisitooya on the shores of Lake WhatsoSmelly while their parents head off to a Spam baking festival. Where do the Fluffs crash land? At Camp Whatisitooya of course. And it is up to the Rockmans to save the world without being turned into fluff brain snacks for the Fluffs.

Students who have a good sense of humor, enjoy a little science, and are into movies will all enjoy this book.

The messages you can spread with video

Melissa Feilmeier Osborn - Autoethnography from UCEA CASTLE on Vimeo.

Free Audio Books for Middle School Students

Thanks to Kristen Swanson over at Teachers as Technology Trailblazers I learned about a great program called Sync.Hosted by  AudiobookCommunity.com they have set up a program that pairs one current young adult novel with a more classic piece of literature each week of July and August. Students can sign up for the free downloads and discuss the books they are reading in online forums with librarians, publishers, authors, and other teens. Please spread the information about this wonderful summer reading program!

Word after Word after Word

A new book by by Patricia MacLachlan (think Sarah, Plan and Tall). There is no other way to say it then THIS BOOK IS GREAT. It tells the story of  a writer coming to a classroom and teaching students about writing non-traditionally (think workshop versus outlines and teacher structure). At the same time it tells the story of  the children in the class, what they are going through, and how their writing helps them deal with their reality. By then end of the book everyone is in tears, children, parents, teachers, and this reader.A definite read aloud to your class to introduce writing workshops.

No book trailer yet...maybe my class will be the first to make one in the fall???

Schooled

So, three years later and I am going to try and revive my blog this summer. My travel plans are a little different than they were three years ago. This year I will be traveling to many different places, but mainly through the pages of books.

To start off with, I just started, and finished, the book Schooled by Gordon Korman. The book was an interesting look at several different students in 8th grade and a new student who moves in as more than just a little misfit. Here is a book trailer that explains the book well.



This is one of the books Dempsey is reading for their Frap chats. Come join us for discussions about this and other books.