Sunday, August 5, 2007

The End is Near!

The end of summer vacation that is. Gone are the days of sleeping until noon. Gone are the days of watching soaps all day and eating bon-bons. Wait! That wasn't my summer.

Anyway, it is time to get ready for the first days of school. One very important decision for educators to make is what to read to their class. Choice Literacy has developed a list of worthy titles. Thank you to A Year of Reading for sharing.

What Happened to Cass McBride

What an absolutely brilliant book by Gail Giles! What Happened to Cass McBride is one of those books that grips the reader from the beginning and never lets go.

Cass McBride, a popular high school student, goes to bed one night and when she wakes up she is no longer in her bed. She has been buried alive. Who did this to her? Why?

I was left with one burning question as I read this book, and on the off chance that Ms. Giles would be reading this I just have to ask...What the heck is dry thirty?

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Done, done, and done

Yippeee! I am officially finished with my master's degree. I submitted my last assignment today and then did a very happy dance around the house with my kids. Two years ago I started the adventure, and now I am done. Wow. I can't believe I did it. Now who's up for celebrating?

Lawn Boy

Today I read Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen. Interesting story about a 12 year-old boy who gets an old lawnmower from his Grandmother on his birthday. Paulsen includes witty chapter titles to accompany his creative characters. My favorite being Joseph Powdermilk, the rather large, rather strong boxer the young man just happens to begin sponsering with his lawn mowing earnings. While the story was enjoyable, I felt that I learned waaaaay more about stocks and business than necessary. However some young business minded reader will really enjoy the story.

Who's gonna win?

Elizabeth Bird over at A Fuse #8 Production posts her predictions for possible Caldecott and Newbery Award winners for this year. Unfortunately since I have been living life under a rock...ahem...I mean finishing up my Masters degree...I do not have any titles thus far to add to the list. In fact, I am still wading through last year's winners. Alas, there is light at the end of the tunnel. My last assignment will be submitted by the end of the day and I will be doing the very, very happy dance.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

HP7

I am finished...Oddly enough I thought that I would be depressed and saddened when I finished the book, but I'm not. I read the last few pages, closed the book and sighed deeply and suddenly it felt like this huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I'll admit, there were points during my reading where I was angry and dissapointed with some of my favorite characters.

That said, I could see there being additional books added to the series-written from the point of view of other characters.

The very first thing I did after finishing the book was to go and read the J.K. Rowling interview with hopes of gaining a sense of understanding about some of the events in the books.

Then I went back to read a bunch of the blog posts that I had tagged, but didn't want to read until I was done. A Fuse #8 Production has yet to disappoint me. Check this out, these two HP readers read and blogged back and forth. I found their post very illuminating since the book is fresh in my mind.

Friday, July 27, 2007

I can't wait!

I know this is old news, but still The Golden Compass Movie is going to be awesome. I actually just listened to the full cast audio version. This was the first time that I experienced a full cast audio title. It was excellentl. I got so drawn into the story that I had to also borrow a copy of the book from the library so that I could read ahead when I wasn't listening to the audio. I have since encouraged my non-reader husband to pick up the book. He may get to it once he puts down HP7.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

It's been awhile

It's been awhile since my last post, I've been busy. That will soon change, well I'll still be busy since I am still a mommy to 3 kiddies, but I will be graduated! That's right! In a matter of mere weeks I will have a Master's degree. Now I can read, read, read whatever I want. I may also attempt to post much more regularily to my blog.

Big boy now

Yippeeee! It was off to the store for #2 and me today. #2 picked out his very own, brand new big boy underwear that he will not pee and poo in. So far, so good. It has only been a matter of hours though.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Tyler could be described as a typical high school loser-average looking, not popular, few friends. Tyler pulled a stupid prank at the end of his junior year of high school. As a result, he had to perform community service, lost his car and his parents took his drivers license. Tyler spent the summer working with the school janitors and he bulked up. The result of Tyler's prank and his new apperance causes Tyler to gain the attention of the high school princess, Bethany. The result of a highschool party causes Tyler to question his esistence.

I was not a big fan of this book. I felt that Anderson wrapped the book up into a neat little package with a puke colored bow. The book was too "and they lived happily-ever-after" for me.

The best part of this book was Yoda, Tyler's Star War's obsessed best friend.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

It's been awhile

Holy cow! I can't believe that I haven't been able to post since January. I had to set the computer aside and continue on my academic journey. Thank god I have a break until June!

I am in the process of reading Picoult's 19 Minutes. Love it!!!

My next task is to put together a must read book list for my teachers.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

My apologies

My dear faithful readers, (yup Mom, I'm talking about you)

I am so very sorry for me week long abcense from here. Classes started up again, we're moving into a new house, yada yada yada.

I hope to resume somewhat regular posting again after the big move.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

King Dork by Frank Portman

I'm so excited! I finally got my very own signed copy of King Dork by Frank Portman. Even though I am a late 20 somthing gal, this book spoke to me, Tom became a very real part of my life. I actually listened to this book when driving to work, then got so hooked that I had to buy a copy. Well I bought a copy, then visited Portman's blog where I learned that I could buy a signed copy. I had to get right on that, so I bought one even though I promised my darling husband that I would refrain from buying anymore books. I mean I had to, it was a chance to own a signed copy of a book that is sure to become an ultimate classic.

One of the best parts of this book was band practice when Sam Hellerman was rocking out on the clarinet. Yes, the clarinet is an insturment of beauty, who knew that it had such awesome rock-n-roll potential...

Saturday, January 13, 2007

One of those hideous books where the mother dies

Aside from having one of the worst titles ever, this book wasn't too bad. It tells the story of a young 15 year old girl who goes to live with her famous movie star father after the death of her mother. The book is a combination of free verse prose and e-mails written by Ruby to her best friend and boyfriend back home. Ruby also sends e-mails to her mother.

This book wasn't too bad, the storyline was a little too over the top for me. C'mon, movie star father, lots of famous names also dropped into the text. I realy did not like the neat and tidy way the book resolved itself.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Stupid computer

Time for me to vent! I am stuck using my husbands computer because of the stupid charge cord on my ibook! The tip of the darn thing broke off in my computer so now I need to find someone in dinky town, ND that has the capability to remove the tip. Now I also get to spend nearly $100 on buying a new charger. GRRRRR

Saturday, January 6, 2007

House Shopping

So this is totally not book related, but Hey! This is my blog, and I'll write what I want to write...after a very hetic Winter break, my hubby and I decided it was time to find a bigger place for the family. The three munchkins were practiacally on top of us and drove me nutty. We have decided to take the big plunge into the world of home ownership. I went out looking today and there was one house that I really liked, of course it just so happened to be a tad bit more moolah then we would like to spend.

Friday, January 5, 2007

Seriously loving the net

I am just so excited, jumping up and down excited, driving my family nuts excited... I recently finished reading An Abundance of Katherines by the very talented John Green. So after reading the book, I decided to see if Mr. Green had a blog somewhere out there. He sure does,a video blog where he communicates back and forth with his younger brother. These guys are hilarious. It almost feels like I am getting to know the Green boys, something that in normal life would never happen. How cool is that??

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Time to dive in

Ok, so I have been contemplating this whole blogging business for awhile now. Well it is time for me to jump right in...a new year, a new blog. I have never been too great with the words, they never seem to flow. I have been religiously reading many blogs now for the past few months. This time has been spent wishing that I didn't live in the middle of nowhere North Dakota, or that some great kidlit stuff could happen here...

So now I just need to figure out how to go out into the kidlitosphere and make friends.