Another person in the news this week is Eunice Shriver, President Kennedy’s sister, who died on Tuesday. She initiated the Special Olympics in 1968, and is widely admired for her commitments to this underserved population. You can find more on her here.

There are lots of sites on social justice and tolerance for schools which should be helpful to spark some of your ideas. Let me know when you find others.

I’ve just finished watching the 5th Harry Potter, and reading the 6th in preparation to seeing the movie in a couple of weeks, when some family members can get free. Word is that you like it, huh?

Looks like we teachers will have only a couple of days to get ready for you, so you may be helping me unpack my room, from where I packed it up in May so the floor waxers could get around in there easily. All our stuff is in a closet around the corner – but don’t worry – I’ll at least get your textbooks out in time to meet you, haha.

I’m all done with college until up in August, so here’s a couple more books I finished in the meantime:

Impossible by Nancy Werlin. She based this story on the song “Scarborough Fair,” and it’s a spooky one. Seems as though some evil faery knight has put a curse on the family of Lucy Scarborough, and the women have been under his power for generations. She figures it out, but only after a pretty scary year and humming the song a lot. I liked it, though some of the scenes were a little strong for my tastes; I don’t like kids dying, ya know?

The other one is Blood Brothers, by S.A. Harazin, for ages 14 and up, which is you. Lots of blood – apparently the author worked in a hospital when she was young. The book is kind of preachy, but the main character, Clay, is a fella you can sympathize with. Teens making dumb decisions. More death and destruction. Not a fun book.

Anyway, we’ll have multiple copies of these in the media center, and if you join the Reading Bowl team, you’ll have access to them.

This is Sunday: yike! – you have only a week and a day left of your vacation – sorry! Remember the deadline for your Readers’ Responses is this coming Friday, the 31st.

Sorry to have been so silent lately: I’ve been working on a proposal I want to do in Atlanta in October – it’ll be a movie day for you, unless we are writing some looooonnnnnng paper, haha.

Kamish, can you PUL-EZE tell me how you uploaded your picture to your blog? I’ve looked everywhere and can’t figure it out.

MsW

And I want to tell you about another book I finished which is on the Reading Bowl list: Wake by Lisa McMann. It was quick to read, and very enjoyable, except for some slang I couldn’t use in front of my grandchildren, which I had better get used to, with young adult fiction (*sigh* – my mama woulda smacked me – well, not really, but she would have given me a LOOK). Janie has a mind that reels in other peoples’ dreams and nightmares, plus an interesting buddy named Cabel, who has some questionable activities of his own going on. It’s told in little time sequences, and much of it is in the present tense, making it very immediate.  It was a fun read, and seems like it ought to have a sequel, of course.

I just finished City of Bones last night, by Cassandra Clare. It actually reminds me a lot of the Twilight series, as the heroine, who is 15 when the book begins and turns 16 during the book, meets up with some kids who hunt demons, so they are kind of supernatural like Edward and his family. The hero, Jace, is mysterious and cool and has perfect hair – you know, all the things a hero should be and have. Apparently there are two more in the series, so I’ll have to hunt for those here in the Canton library, since this first one was very entertaining and I want to see what happens to them next.

Has any of you read these books?

If anyone wants to join Goodreads, click here, and you can leave reviews of your books there and invite friends to be in your groups. There’s so much you can do on line! If you do, let me know, and I’ll put you on my “Friends” list. So far I don’t have a soul there. You can be the FIRST!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/451220.Lessons_from_a_Dead_Girl

It’s pretty in the Tennessee mountains, where I was visiting my dad for Father’s Day this weekend. He wanted to know about Twitter, and how people text each other. He’s 93. Do you think he’ll get connected? That would be so cool.

I put a few remarks about Animal Farm on her page, so if any of you need help with that one, you can go there. Of course, there’s lots of help on the Web for each of these classics, but I favor Spark Notes because there are fewer distractions and less silly stuff there.  Please read the books before you go there, though, as they have some notions that aren’t strictly accurate, and besides, I want you to form your own opinions first. Remember, no tests on these books in August when we meet; we’re just discussing them in lit circles, so you need to remember what’s going on in each book – remember your Reader’s Response work.

Here’s the link to SparkNotes.

MsW