Started ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY

Gabriel, Skippy, and I finished reading Maniac Magee and started Killing Mr. Griffin.  Gabriel is loving this book and, for the first time since I've known him, he actually is begging me not to stop reading for the day.  He is even threatening to read ahead.  :-)) 

I have stopped reading Texas Curiosities and have relegated it to the bathroom to be read much more slowly.  I am on p 220.  I must say I am enjoying it, quite often laughing out loud, not so much caused by the curiosities themselves, but by the tongue in cheek narrative about them. 



I have now started re-reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor to prepare it for tutoring Gabriel.  Once again, I am falling in love with this book.  I suspect that Gabriel will be learning the realities of Depression era racism right along with Cassie Logan.  This book, especially, should help prepare him for reading To Kill a Mockingbird which he will be reading in school this year.

Finished KILLING MR. GRIFFIN

Have enjoyed reading this book with my students for a long time, but, because of the swearing, I am a bit reluctant to read it with Gabriel--both he and his mom being pretty straight-laced.  But, I think, if I explain that some characters swear, we will not read those words aloud, but we will all see them, and that we can use them as a clue to character...we can get safely on with the story.  Again, it is a cautionary tale, but one which I think all kids entering the age in which they are most vulnerable to crazy ideas suggested by peers should probably experience.



Have just started Texas Curiosities by John Kelso.  It has had me giggling at the coffee table at the Y this morning and occasionally laughing out loud.  The book chronicles silly statuary, restaurants and shops, museums, and other landmarks throughout both small town and big city Texas.  It will probably become a "bathroom" book when Gabriel, Skippy and I have finished reading Maniac Magee so I can prepare the next book we will be reading.  But when I finish Texas Curiosities, I may have to send a copy to friend Sue Rowe who I think will get a hoot out of it.

Finished THIS DAY ALL GODS DIE

Loved this series.  Knowing a Stephen R. Donaldson book is next in my pile I pick it up with some dread, because it is onerous.  For the size of the book, the size of the print, the difficulty of the language, and often the complication of the plot.  This is the fifth and last book in The Gap series.  There are certain things Donaldson can be counted on: complicated, interesting, flawed characters that you can wind up caring about even if they have done terrible, hurtful, evil things; wonderful settings; great plot;, and a satisfying ending.  You cannot count on his keeping all of his wonderful sympathetic character alive or being easy reading.  That said, all of his books that I have read have been engrossing, beautiful, and exciting.



I have now started re-reading Killing Mr. Griffin which I read with my seventh or eighth graders every year for at least twenty years, so I pretty much have it memorized.  But it has been twelve years since I retired and it is the third book I'll be reading with my now seventh grade tutee this summer, Gabriel.  It is an excellent book for teaching drawing conclusions and the story elements.  You can often hear the students draw conclusions throughout the books with their gasps, "uh-oh"s, as well as see it in their expressions.  So much fun.

I started reading The Little Prince with Gabriel and his mom today.  I found it rather boring when I read it to myself, but it was fun with Gabe.  We giggled through the first several chapters.

I have MANIAC MAGEE ready to teach

This books remains very relevant today, though I'm not sure Gabriel has seen it (unless he has been watching the news.)  It should provoke some interesting discussions about race and segregation.  And, this and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry should help to prepare him for To Kill and Mockingbird, which he will be reading this year.

Now I am about to start The Gap Into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die by Stephen R. Donaldson.  This is (I'm pretty sure) the last book in the Gap series.  I may have to set it aside for a bit, though, while preparing the next book I'll be reading with Gabriel this summer.

Finished PEOPLE OF THE MASKS

Set during a time in which the Confederacy of Iroquois Nations was just being established and gives a story of how it may have come about.  Loved the parallels between the epilogue and the Iroquois history I learned years and years ago in seventh grade New York State history.  The Confederacy of Iroquois Nations is the basis of the ideals of freedom and equality of all people that our democracy (as well as other democracies in the world) is based on.  One of the best books I've read in this series.



I am now re-reading Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli as I prepared to read it with Gabriel this summer.  This is the second of the books I'll be reading with him.  In this book, a neglected young person runs away from home and lives on his own and homeless.  Surprisingly, this young man epitomizes about the best a human being can be, being great in sports, in intelligence, but most of all in accepting, loving, and thoroughly enjoying all people.  If utopia can be a person, Maniac Magee is it.

Finished DADDY'S GONE A-HUNTING and another

Complicated plot.  Usually Mary Higgins Clark's books are both thriller and mystery...this was more mystery until the end when we got the thriller part.  I guessed a small part of the solution, but not the larger parts, though there certainly were plenty of clues.  Excellent book.



Then I read The Little Prince.  Surprisingly, I'd never read it before, though it was one of my Mom's favorites.  It is one of the books I'll be reading with Gabriel this summer--yep, I'll be tutoring again...lots of fun.  This is a lovely little book about the value of noticing and appreciating the life and world around you.  It could also be used in a discussion about conservatorship of the Earth.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to hear Gabriel's comments about it.



I have now barely started People of the Masks by W. Michael and Kathleen O'Neal Gear.  This novel, based on archeology of the area I grew up in (present day New York and Eastern Canada around Lake Erie, Huron, and Ontario) focuses on the Iroquois culture.  What little I've read leads me to believe much more has been learned about this culture since I went to seventh grade (when we studied New York history), so I am already intrigued.

In addition to The Little Prince, I get to recommend three or four other books to read with him.  I made up this list to be sent to his teacher for her approval:

Freak the Mighty (by Rodman Philbrick)  Max is a huge, tall and strong boy who has been told how stupid he is most of his life.  Freak is a midget who has trouble getting around, but is very smart.  When these two boys meet, a great friendship begins which makes both of them better people.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (by Mildred D. Taylor)  A black family who, very unusually, own their own farm land in Mississippi, struggle during the Depression.  Themes of a strong family living in a racist world.  This may help prepare Gabe for TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD which he will be reading in school this year.

     Killing Mr. Griffin (by Lois Duncan).  The seduction of peer pressure causes a group of teenagers to do something unthinkable by accident.  Realistic thriller.  I enjoy discussing with the student(s) where the line needs to be drawn and the need for taking responsibility for their own actions.  This, I believe, is an especially good book to read with both the guidance of a teacher and parents.  Also a very good book for easily influenced young people.  I enjoy teaching the story elements using this book.

    Maniac Magee (by Jerry Spinelli).  A neglected young person runs away from home and lives on his own and homeless.  Surprisingly, this young man epitomizes about the best a human being can be, being great in sports, in intelligence, but most of all in accepting, loving, and thoroughly enjoying all people.  If utopia can be a person, Maniac Magee is it.

     Holes (by Louis Sacher).  Complicated story about a boy who is arrested for stealing a pair of high dollar sneakers (he sort of had them drop into his hands) and is sent to a very unusual reform school where the inmates dig holes all day.  Explores the rewards of friendship and caring in an insane world.

I did not include Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, (by J. K. Rowling) mainly because this may be pretty boring after having read The Hobbit.  Although that is the order I read them in, and I loved all of both series.

As a matter of fact, I love all these books.  I've never taught Holes, but I wanted to.  All the rest I have taught.

 

Then I added:

If Gabe's teacher wants to ask me, "What are you thinking????!!!!!", just tell her to e-mail me.

 

After I've gotten the go ahead, I'll prioritize the books.  I may put off Holes for next summer.  After his seventh grade year, he may have more understanding of how unfair the world can be.  We want to read at least three books more than The Little Prince, but we don't want to rush or make reading anything less than enjoyable.  I firmly believe that summer reading should be fun.

Finished DEADLOCKED

Perhaps when you seem to have too many people who love you,  well maybe it really is too good to be true.  And maybe initial instincts about people are the right ones....  Sookie has to make several difficult decisions in this book.  Luckily she has some really good friends.  As usual, I enjoyed it.



I am now reading Daddy's Gone A Hunting by Mary Higgins Clark.  I'm about 50 pages in.  Several interesting characters have been introduced.  Kate (main character, I think) has been seriously injured in an explosion and fire at her father's business and, while she lies in a coma, the authorities seem to be coming to the conclusion that she started the fire and couldn't get out in time.  Since someone was also killed, murder would also be involved.