More like I am indulging in a pet genre while researching books to use in homeschool coop next year. I’ll start with YA, and two by Karen Hesse. Letters from Rifka is about a teenage girl emigrating from Russia to NYC in 1919. Great character, wonderful historical detail, and lots of emotion made it a great read. I’d love to read it with the 4th/5th graders but it’ll have to wait because last year we read When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, and there’s too much…
I have now read almost 900 pages out loud to get my 7 year old through the epic tale of Taran of Caer Dallben, Assistant Pig Keeper and erstwhile hero. In book 4, Taran Wanderer, he’s cast off his nomenclature because he doesn’t know who his parents are. And unless he’s highborn, he has no hopes of ever marrying the Princess Eilonwy, who loves him in return but isn’t free to choose her own future. While slower paced than the other books, Taran Wanderer isn’t…
I had a great week in reads, after a miserable stretch of books that weren’t worth my time at all. And then I read All The Rage and the world is a better place because Courtney Summers is writing books. My love for Laurie Halse Anderson‘s Speak is epic and legendary, and Summers mines a similar vein (rape victim turned outcast) and makes it completely her own. So of course I completely freaked when I saw that they were interviewed together. YA authors can be…
Oh, I have had so many disappointments lately when trying to read Important Books by Important Authors that I needed to spend my spring break immersed in good genre. And even though not every book I read was entirely successful, my plan worked–consider my palate cleansed and my love for reading restored. The best of them was Hush Hush by Laura Lippman. It’s “A Tess Monaghan Novel” which should put me off, because I generally do not like series fiction with a recurring character. For…
One of my favorite books growing up is now one of my 7 year old’s obsessions. We just finished reading The Book of Three out loud, and have already begun book two, The Black Cauldron. Reading the books aloud has me appreciating Lloyd Alexander’s gift for dialogue. The characters are so much fun to voice, especially Gurgi and Eilonwy. His prose is simple and elegant and never descends into trite cliché or tired imagery. I’m teaching the book with our 4th/5th graders in our homeschool…
This week I finished a unit on The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill, a classic that my 4th/5th graders found as fresh as I did when I was their age. It’s a small class in a homeschool coop, so to end the book I had them each take 6 chapters and make their own graphic novel adaptation. The results were simply wonderful, showcasing their engagement with the book along with letting them use their own creative gifts. They were so nervous to present them in…
Fantasy author Lloyd Alexander, beloved for his Chronicles of Prydain, died yesterday at the age of 71. From the Washington Post: Mr. Alexander preferred an unflashy life. He played Mozart on his violin, drew cartoons and fed squirrels in his back yard. He once admitted to a weakness for doughnuts and wafers before bedtime. My eternal thanks to Mrs. Phillips, who assigned us The Book of Three in sixth grade English, teaching me that fantasy IS real literature, thank you very much, even if they…