Book Review: Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts

Book Review:  Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts

Summary from Goodreads:

"When I was little I believed in Jesus and Santa, spontaneous combustion, and the Loch Ness monster. Now I believe in science, statistics, and antibiotics."

So says seventeen-year-old Zac Meier during a long, grueling leukemia treatment in Perth, Australia. A loud blast of Lady Gaga alerts him to the presence of Mia, the angry, not-at-all-stoic cancer patient in the room next door. Once released, the two near-strangers can’t forget each other, even as they desperately try to resume normal lives. The story of their mysterious connection drives this unflinchingly tough, tender novel told in two voices.

Winner of the 2012 Australian Text Prize. 

My Thoughts: 

I think I was one of the few who liked Zac & Mia better than The Fault in our Stars.  A.J. Betts writes in a way that makes the characters very realistic.  Mia is selfish and refuses to let those closest to her know that she has cancer.  She is angry and doesn't handle her cancer well - the loss of hair and her loss of part of her leg.  She complains and pushes everyone away, including Zac. This doesn't make her likable, but it does make her real.  

Zac, on the other hand, is sweet and caring and has his heart in the right place.  He deals with his cancer in an almost light-hearted way.  He made this book special and why I kept reading. 

 Zac & Mia takes a thought-provoking look at friendship and overcoming the odds of this deadly disease.  Well worth it!

Let It Go: Using Reading and Writing Workshop To Develop Reading and Writing LOVE

If you want to try Reading/Writing Workshop in a high school, consider this advice...

Two weeks ago my colleagues and I presented at the Illinois Reading Conference. Our focus - how we have started to change the culture of reading in our school by using reading/writing workshop. The highlight of the whole presentation was the advice that my colleagues gave to the attendees.  As teachers we all know that the hardest part of a reading and writing workshop is not reading how others do it, but instead actually implementing it with our own students.    

Here were my favorite "Must Do's" from our presentation:

#1 - Set aside 10-15 minutes everyday for independent reading.  By giving students time, we are acknowledging that we believe reading choice is important and we care about them growing as readers in our classes.  Our students now cherish this time in class.  They are actually reading and many times grumble when the timer goes off and we have to move on to the lesson.

#2 - Book Talk everyday.  The more we share books with students, the better our chances of helping them find one that they will read.  The best recommendation I learned from Penny Kittle is to hold the book, know the book, and share a passage with the students.  Every time I read a page or two of my favorite parts, it increases the likelihood of that book being checked out. We also do Teacher Book Talk Tuesdays where we switch up rooms and book talk in a fellow English teacher's classroom for the first 5-10 minutes.  Kids love hearing what other teachers recommend.  Book trailers are also a hit for hooking students into books.

#3 - Conference with your students.  To motivate our students to read more, we have to get to know them individually - their likes, dislikes, etc.  Our teachers conference with students any free minute that they have (before class, during reading, during writing, homeroom, after school, during sports practice, etc.) These conferences help us know what to book talk in your classes and can help you stretch a student to a more challenging text.

My colleague's electronic log

#4 - Hold your students accountable. Have your students fill out a reading rate log and a to-read list.  Our students set weekly page goals based on their reading rates.  As they become better readers, their reading rates increase and they are expected to read more.   We do give them a "stamina grade" each week.  If they are meeting or exceeding their reading rate goal they receive full points.  

An example of a to-read list

How to find your reading rate

       








#5 - Have your students reflect on their reading growth.  At the end of each term our students write a reflection.  All of our reflection prompts come directly from Penny Kittle, Kelly Gallagher, and Teri Lesesne's books.  This writing gives us an opportunity to help our students set goals and evaluate how they are doing in class.  This is the most powerful writing I have seen from students. When I read these, I always make sure to have a tissue box nearby.

An example reflection prompt from last spring

I can honestly say that we are changing the reading culture of our school one student at a time.  It definitely isn't easy and in the beginning, students will push back.  But, don't give up. You will see a change too.

Let It Go: Using Reading and Writing Workshop To Develop Reading and Writing LOVE

Over a week ago I had the priviledge of presenting at the Illinois Reading Conference with three of my colleagues and my department chair on how in little over a year we have started a massive culture change in our school when it comes to reading. Thinking back to that day, I don't think any of us thought that we would have over fifty people attend our presentation.  There were plenty of other amazing presentations going on at the same time as ours so to see our room packed made me realize even more that what we are doing needs to be shared! Building an English classroom around reading and writing workshop is not a new concept at the elementary and middle school level, but is definitely not as popular among high school classrooms.

As a former elementary teacher and reading specialist, this is all I have known throughout my career. I have read everything by Nancie Atwell, Donalyn Miller, Linda Rief, Donald Graves, etc. When I tried to share these stories with my colleagues, many told me that high school is "different" and we couldn't do that because we are preparing our students for college.  Then Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle showed up in my life.  After reading all of their books AND attending their workshops, I knew that this could be done in a high school English classroom.  I just needed a few teachers willing to take the plunge.

Here is some advice on how to get started:

#1 - Read the research and books by all of the authors above and then get the support of your department chair.  Without her support, there was no way that the teachers I work with would have ever felt comfortable taking this risk.

#2 - Convince your department chair to do a summer reading book club with Readicide by Kelly Gallagher.  It is short enough and will get teachers to start thinking about their practices.  We started there and teachers implemented a few of his ideas throughout the next school year.  The teachers who really believed in Kelly Gallagher's work asked for his other books - Deeper Reading, Write Like This, and In the Best Interest of Students.


#3 - Hand Penny Kittle's book, Book Love, to those jumpers in your department who are tired of their students "fake reading" and "spark noting" everything.  I gave a short presentation about her work at an end of the year department meeting.  That summer I had one teacher buy her book and completely change the format his classroom.  He was the "lone nut" (If you haven't seen the First Follower You Tube video - you must if you are wanting to implement change.) and jumped in head first.  But once he was in, others followed.

The change in his approach

If we can do this at our school, you can too!  In an upcoming post, I will share the best advice our teachers have for making this successful.

Book Review: A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

Summary by Goodreads:

The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way. 

My Thoughts:

My son read this book last year in 6th grade and recommended it to me.  When I saw it on the shelf in our school library, I knew it would be a perfect weekend read.  This story is told from two alternating views:  Nya, an eleven year old Sudanese girl whose job each day is to fetch water from a pond two hours away from her home and Salva, an eleven year old boy who is separated from his family when his village is attacked while he is at school.  He ends up fleeing with other refugees across the desert to Ethopia.  Throughout out their "walks to water" they both face heart-breaking situations and must do what they can to survive.  I kept asking my son if the two characters at some point connect and as he told me, "Just keep reading mom, you will love the ending." He was right!  

While this is touted as a children's book, A Long Walk to Water is one that I would recommend to students of all ages.  This story is an important one and helps children understand the world outside our four walls.  If you are looking for a fast yet powerful read, check out A Long Walk to Water.  This is one I will be recommending for a while.

Book Review: Hurricane Song by Paul Volpini

Hurricane Song by  Paul Volpini

Summary by Goodreads:

Hurricane Katrina is raging and you are inside the Superdome! Miles has only lived in New Orleans with his dad, a musician, for a few months when Hurricane Katrina hits. Father and son haven?t exactly been getting along. Miles is obsessed with football; his dad?s passion is jazz. But when the storm strikes, they?re forced to work through their differences to survive a torturous few days in the Superdome.

Paul Volponi, known for writing books that capture the pulse of urban life in New York City, creates a gripping hour-by-hour portrayal of what life was like for those left behind once the floodwaters began to rise.

My Thoughts:

I remember when Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans and was appalled at how it took so long to get help - food, medicine, and safety to the families that were stuck in the storm.  The poorest people were left to starve to death. Families lost everything and had no place to go.  This book brings to life some of the reality that many faced when they were stuck in the Superdome during the storm. My only complaint was that Volpini didn't delve deeper into the issues of poverty and racism that many faced pre-Katrina and how it got worse after the storm.  Instead, he focuses solely on Miles relationship with his father and how the storm brought them together.  

While this was action packed and fast paced, I would have liked a little more from it.  If the language weren't so vulgar, I would recommend this to my own children, but I will wait on this one. I do think some of our high school boys who like football and are reticent readers may find this book interesting.  

Book Review: How to Say I Love You Out Loud by Karole Cozzo

How to Say I Love You Out Loud by Karole Cozzo

Summary by Goodreads:

When Jordyn Michaelson’s autistic brother joins her at her elite school, she’s determined not to let anyone know they're related. Even if that means closing herself off to all her closest friends, including charming football stud Alex Colby. But despite her best intentions, she just can't shake the memory of kissing Alex last summer, and the desire to do it again. Can Jordyn find the courage to tell Alex how she really feels—and the truth about her family—before he slips away forever?

My Review:

I loved this story so much that I couldn't put it down. There are two stories that weave throughout this book:  one focuses on Alex and Jordyn - a romantic tale of two who just can't seem to find a way to be together.  And then there is the story about Jordyn and her brother.  This part of the story hit home the most for me.

I think there are many students who can relate to Jordyn in that their siblings are different than they are.  Jordyn made a choice to hide her family life from those she called her friends.  "I just wanted normalcy." she shares.  Whether it be embarrassment or fear of being judged, she hid everything from those who cared.  When her brother started attending her school, word spread that they were related.  She was devastated. Those Jordyn cared about most, were hurt by her lies and her unwillingness to trust them and judge her. Jordyn had to learn to trust those closest to her that they won't let her down.  

If you are looking for a realistic book that focuses on family, friendships, relationships, honesty, and choices, this one is for you. 

Book Review: Circling the Sun

Book Review:  Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

Summary by Goodreads:

Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal bestseller The Paris Wife, now returns with her keenly anticipated new novel, transporting readers to colonial Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman—Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.

Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share his estate. Her unconventional upbringing transforms Beryl into a bold young woman with a fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature’s delicate balance. But even the wild child must grow up, and when everything Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous relationships.

Beryl forges her own path as a horse trainer, and her uncommon style attracts the eye of the Happy Valley set, a decadent, bohemian community of European expats who also live and love by their own set of rules. But it’s the ruggedly charismatic Denys Finch Hatton who ultimately helps Beryl navigate the uncharted territory of her own heart. The intensity of their love reveals Beryl’s truest self and her fate: to fly.

Set against the majestic landscape of early-twentieth-century Africa, McLain’s powerful tale reveals the extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time, the exhilaration of freedom and its cost, and the tenacity of the human spirit.

My Thoughts:

When I first began Circling the Sun, I thought it would be all about Beryl Markham's dream to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.  It starts out on the very day that Beryl Markham takes off on her extraordinary journey to fly across the Atlantic. Instead, this story was about so much more.  

I was unaware of the truth behind this fictional autobiography until I researched a little deeper about Markham.  Not a fan of McClain's book, The Paris Wife, I was a bit leary of requesting this from NetGalley, but I am so glad that I did. Circling the Sun caught my attention in the Prologue and continued to engage me as I learned about Markham's childhood in Kenya, where she was raised solely by her father on his horse farm 

Circling the Sun is a story about this young woman's life.  One that is lived outside the norm.  Beryl Markham never followed the path that most young women did during the 1920s.  She was forced to grow up quickly - both her mother and father left her behind before she was seventeen.  Married by sixteen and ready for a divorce by eighteen.  Formal schooling was not for her as she learned everything by doing.  Beryl worked harder than most women to make a life of her own.  She was the first woman to receive her English horse training certification and then went on to train several winning horses over the years.  Throughout all of her young success, Beryl never found true happiness.  She was always looking for it in the wrong places and made some horrible choices that affected herself and well as friends and family around her.  In the end, she does become the first woman to attempt to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. While I thought this would be the focus from the beginning, I realized there was so much more to Beryl Markham's life. 

Overall, I gave this book 4 stars.  While I didn't agree with many of the choices that Beryl made in her life, I kept hoping in the end she would find true love and happiness.