I made it! I finished the 48 Hour Book Challenge. Due to losing my notebook and Blogger not letting me post, I don't have official final numbers but here's the best I could remember:
Challenge Final Books Read: 5
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Green Witch by Alice Hoffman
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Very Far Away From Anywhere Else by Ursula LeGuin
The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Started
Dandelion Fire by ND Wilson -45 pgs.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling - ~254 pgs.
Countdown by Deborah Wiles- 122 pgs.
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen- 75 pgs.
Total pgs: ~1,492
Total Time: 18? Cant find notebook!
At last count, I had done 11 hours. Since then I finished two books and read some pages in Countdown, Dreamland, and Harry Potter. That took me at least 7 more hours. Possibly more. I was logging time in a notebook that I believe I lost in the grocery store. I will go check on Tuesday and update this then. I will put the official numbers in green.
Sisters Red Jackson Pearce
Little, Brown
June 2010
336 pg (ARC)
My thoughts
Sisters Rosie and Scarlett March are crime-fighters. Not because they've always wanted to be but because they were forced into it. The March sisters are out to save women from the big, bad wolves who would like to prey on them. These wolves look human. They are usually super handsome and rich. They love finding women walking alone so that's one of the ways the sisters try to lure them. The March girls wear red capes and carry hatchets and other weapons. They pretend to be helpless and lost. They will do almost anything to get the men somewhere alone. But that's not how it's always been for the girls and Rosie wishes she could do something different with her life but she owes Scarlett.
I loved the idea that Little Red Riding Hood was still around and kicking the wolves butts. Scarlett felt that since she knew the secret identities her knowledge came with great responsibility. I also liked Silas, the girls' best friend, being a woodcutter. Good play on a classic fairy tale. I had a hard time picturing the girls wearing capes in modern day society though. Funnily enough I could buy them carrying knives easily. I also felt that having Scarlett consumed by the hunt so much that she couldn't love anyone was sad. I wanted her to be a mean, lean fighting machine and have a handsome, strong guy in her life.
Another issue I had with the story was the predictable-ness of it. Halfway through the book I was able to determine what was going to happen. It was not enough to turn me off the book though, I wanted to make sure my predictions came true. There was one part of the story where Rosie had to make an escape that I found implausible. I read a lot of science fiction/fantasy so my disbelief is easily suspended but this was just not something I could see happening.
All in all, the book was likable. I could see a couple of students who would actually enjoy it more than I did so I give it 3 copies.
Every year I re-read the Harry Potter series in anticipation of the movie. This year I decided I would get the adult editions from Bloomsbury UK and see if they are any different. With the exception of a few words and a variant in spelling, so far the books are the same.
I mostly expected this one to be different because it marks the beginning of all the darkness and the first death. I'm just a little over half done - they've finished the first task in the TriWizard Tournament and we've had the Yule Ball. We'll see if things change once we get to the maze.
Challenge Update Books Read: 3
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Green Witch by Alice Hoffman
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Started
Dandelion Fire by ND Wilson -45 pgs.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling - 173 pgs.
Total pgs: 863 pgs.
Total Time: 11 hr. 10 min.
Reading: 9 hr. 30 min.
Blogging: 1 hr. 40 min.
I'm going to go and say hi to some people and then starting Countdown by Deborah Wiles.
Melody has cerebral palsy and is stuck in a wheelchair. Outside of her family and her neighbor, Mrs. V., know one believes Melody is "normal", that she can think and understand just like any other eleven-year-old. So, on top of trying to find her place in 5th grade, Melody also has to deal with frustration at people's misconceptions and misunderstandings. Many teachers treat her like an imbecile and all the children with different abilities are dumped in a room with an ever changing roster of adults, each of whom feels they know better than the one before.
"Wouldn't it be cool if I had somebody to write words over my head so people would know what I'm thinking?"
Melody gets something similar and her life is changed. She's still not like the other students but she can participate though after so many silent years, it's hard for people to change their thinking. Some people come around but still, Melody wishes, for once, she could be like the other kids.
Out of My Mind captures how students at this age feel; whether or not they have cerebral palsy. Students aren't sure where, or if, they fit in. Sometimes they feel so bad about themselves, they want to make fun of other students. They make jokes, they whisper, they giggle, and all the while, they wonder: am I good enough? Do I look right? Will you be my friend? Am I normal?
Melody's first words to her family made me cry. We have our voices, we should use them. I can't say how well Draper captured a student with cerebral palsy. I know she has a daughter that Melody is modeled after. I love that she didn't make her a character to feel sorry for but one to root for and support. The story moved at a smooth pace with just a little bit of drag on some of the quiz points. I liked that Melody wasn't a know it all either.
I give this 4 copies. I think it's one that many teachers should read, at a bare minimum the ones that work with special needs students. The book gave me a greater appreciation for the students and the staff.
Challenge Update Books Read: 3
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Green Witch by Alice Hoffman
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Started: 1
Dandelion Fire by ND Wilson -45 pgs.
Total pgs: 690 pgs.
Total Time: 8 hr. 45 min.
Reading: 7 hr. 15 min.
Blogging: 1 hr. 30 min.
Hmm, 18 more hours to go. Need to take a break and start some chores. Be back later.
This story reminded me of Heartsinger by Karlign Stoffels. It was more of a folk tale than a contemporary novel. Green's family was in the city the day the Horde decided they needed to bring everyone back to the good old days; women in the kitchen, progress denied. She lost her mom, her dad, and her sister. It's about a year later and she is starting to recover, still grieving but able to function. She's also starting to wonder about the boy she once loved. She's decided she wants to write down everyone's story, mainly because the Horde burned all the books and also she need's answers to why she is still here, alone.
She sets out to find The Enchanted, those believed to be witches. Each imparts wisdom and an item that helps Green explain things to herself.
Green Witch is short and engaging. I loved the simplicity and beauty of the language. "Can I find anything, or simply lose more?"
Green Witch is a story about looking deeply into yourself and those around you to find what you need. You must take what you need. You must give what is needed.
"This is how much love weighs...Nothing if you don't take it when it's offered. Everything if you accept what's given to you."
I give this 2 copies. It was good but I don't know if I students will enjoy it as much as myself and teachers.
Challenge Update Books Read: 2
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Green Witch by Alice Hoffman
Total pgs: 350
Total Time: 5 hrs. 15 min.
Reading: 4 hrs 20 min
Blogging: 55 min
Delphine and her sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are on their way to Oakland, CA to visit their mother who they haven't seen in 6 years.
"Cecil Johnson--mammal, birth giver, alive, an abandoner - our mother. Statement of fact."
Delphine, the eldest at eleven, had always taken care of her sisters and she didn't really know how to do anything else. She wasn't sure she wanted to spend 28 days with this woman. Cecil, AKA Nzila, did not want children. Then or now. She warned the girls to stay out of her way. They were sent to Black Panther meetings in the morning, to get breakfast. "We didn't come for a revolution. We came for breakfast." But they met people who would quickly become friends and they learned more about their relationships with each other as well as with the woman who gave them birth and then left over a name.
One Crazy Summer was not about the Black Panthers but about family and what it means. How family comes in forms we are not always ready for. How sometimes it just might be necessary to take care of yourself first. Or not.
There were times when I felt Delphine's voice was too grown-up but when I thought about her years of taking care of her younger sisters, of sitting around with Big Ma watching the news, of pretty much raising herself, I understood that she would say those things and act that way. Her eleven year-old inner self was in a battle with her forced to be older behavior.
I give this one 4 copies. Pick it up.
Challenge Update:
Books Read: 1
One crazy Summer By Rita Williams-Garcia
Total pgs.: 215
Total time: 3 hrs 30 min
Reading: 3 hrs
Blogging: 30 min.
I'm 4 hours late! Busy day buying Nooks for the school library. This sets my goal to 26 hours this year!
I'm going to start off with One Crazy Summer. Most of my stack is realistic fiction so I'd better include some fantasy or I wont make it. I'll see you at 10pm or when I finish the book. Whichever comes first!
BTW, It's 8pm!
Last year I participated in the 48 Hour Book Challenge hosted by MotherReader and I'm happy to do it again this year!!
I will be starting on Friday, June 4th at 4pm and reading till Sunday at 4pm. During that time, I'll tackle some yard work, do some laundry, exercise, hang with the Amazing Dancer, etc, etc, etc.
Since this isn't about the number of books but the hours spent reading, my goal is to read 30 hours. Last year I did 22 1/2. I originally planned to do 36 hours but...trying to get closer to realistic this year!
I'll pull from the list at left and aim for short reviews after each book. I'll see you tomorrow!
What book should I start with? Check the list at left and I'll start with the book with the most votes!
Donalyn Miller, teacher and author of The Book Whisperer, has issued an invitation:
Read one book a day for every day of your summer vacation.
In the classroom, Ms. Miller has challenged her students to read at least five books over the summer. She explained the “summer slide” and what her plans were to avoid it. She then reminded students of their powerful position: they get to decide what they will read. Students then chose five books they plan to read over summer. Read The Book Whisperer blog for more information.
Donalyn tries to read at least one book per day of her summer vacation. And she’s asked us to join her. I’ve decided to accept her invitation and hope you will too!
My summer vacation starts Friday, June 4 and runs to Wednesday, August 11. That’s 67 days, so my challenge would be to average at least 67 books. Yes, average, so if I read 3 books one day but none the next, no big deal. And since we all have varying vacation days, the average will be different for each of us. What I love is the opportunity to practice what I preach. If I want students to read over summer, I should too.
I made a list of at least 60 books I want to tackle, most of them Young Adult/Middle Grade reads but I threw in some classics, adult books, and some professional reading.
And, to give myself a jump start, I’ll be joining MotherReader’s Fifth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge. This starts Friday June 4th at 7am and lasts until 7am Monday, June 7th. Just pick your 48 hours!
So, what do you say? Will you set an example and stop the summer slide and average a book day during your summer vacation? Join us! Look for my list by Friday!
