It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Slice of Life Challenge Post - Day 31 - Love Letter to my Parents

These are memes started by Teach Mentor Texts and Book Journey, and I'm excited to participate, along with many other bloggers, in reviewing books I read the previous week. I'll be reviewing picture books through adult books. 

 

Sorry so long - I haven't posted a #IMWAYR for two weeks, and I had a lot to say about each book!It's also the last day of the March SOLSC.  What a journey it has been!  My slice is at the end.

 

 

PICTURE BOOK

 

 

Baseball Is... by Louise Borden, illustrated by Raul Colon

 

2014-book, sensory-details, sports, text-style-and-shape       Take me out to the ball game! I'm not even a baseball fan, and I loved this book. With beautiful imagery and vivid sensory details, this book takes you inside the experience of baseball with joy and excitement. With tributes to baseball greats, the atmosphere of the ball park, and baseball's rituals, Borden creates a love letter to the great American game. The illustrations are beautiful, the word choice and design perfect. This book will be loved in my classroom. I'm going to wait to read it to...more      Today is the Reds' opening day!  Take me out to the ball game! I'm not even a baseball fan, and I loved this book. With beautiful imagery and vivid sensory details, this book takes you inside the experience of baseball with joy and excitement. With tributes to baseball greats, the atmosphere of the ball park, and baseball's rituals, Borden creates a love letter to the great American game. The illustrations are beautiful, the word choice and design perfect. This book will be loved in my classroom. I can't wait to read it to them today! (I wonder if a few will be missing since the weather is supposed to be great.)         A little fun fact - we came home from our vacation Sunday, after connecting through the Miami International Airport.  Unfortunately, our luggage did not follow us.  While we were waiting in line to report the missing luggage, Ed spotted Dave Concepcion, who also lost his luggage.  Ed was a HUGE Reds fan when they were The Big Red Machine.  He's told me stories of when he was 10 years old, listening to the games on a transistor radio in his bed when he wasn't allowed to stay up to watch them.  He had all the Reds' baseball cards, Concepcion's being one of them.  I wanted him to go up and introduce himself, but he wouldn't - he didn't want to bother him.  He did talk to his driver, however, who told Ed he was in town to throw the first pitch.  Louise is a Cincinnatian and a friend, and she loves baseball.  It certainly comes through in this beautiful love letter to the great American pastime.   YOUNG ADULT     Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock     animals, audio-book, character-development, character-traits, humor, lgbt, realistic-fiction, romance, sports, strong-girl-character, young-adult-book   I loved everything about this book - the narrator of the audio, D.J.'s sarcasm and wit, the farm stories, the unconventional girl character who plays football and bales hay, Brian, and I could go on and on. I laughed out loud, felt for D.J. as she comes to grips with her size, farm chores, and family, and the romance between she and Brian. I will definitely continue with the series!     Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick   abuse, audio-book, bebrave, bullying, character-development, character-motivation, empathy, fears, identity, individuality, point-of-view, realistic-fiction, teachers-who-inspire, young-adult-book   I don't know where to start with all the responses I have to this book. I wanted to cry all the way through it. Leo is a heart-breaking character. This is an important book - timely, empathetic, a call to action. I don't want to see myself in the antagonists - Linda, even the AP English teacher. However, I wonder if we all abandon our children and students sometimes. Are we self-absorbed, busy, in denial of the pain around us? Thank God for the Walts and Herr Silvermans of the world. They paid a...more    I don't know where to start with all the responses I have to this book. I wanted to cry all the way through it. Leo is a heart-breaking character. This is an important book - timely, empathetic, a call to action. I don't want to see myself in the antagonists - Linda, even the AP English teacher. However, I wonder if we all abandon our children and students sometimes. Are we self-absorbed, busy, in denial of the pain around us? Thank God for the Walts and Herr Silvermans of the world. They paid attention. They listened. Spent time with Leo. They didn't ignore the warning signs. I think this would be a great book club book for jr. high and high school faculty members. Take some lessons from Herr Silverman - greet each student by name every day. Listen to everyone's perspective. Pay attention to things that might not be quite right. Make yourself available. Value every student. Even the unusual ones. Especially the unusual ones. You never know what might be happening in a child's head. Who you might save. What violence you might prevent. And remember birthdays.    ADULT       The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd   2014-book, adult-fiction, african-american, empathy, historical-fiction, slavery, women     This was an incredible story of two powerful sisters, Sarah and Nina, and two unlikely friends, Sarah and Hetty (Handful). Sarah was born into the privilege and wealth of Charleston, SC in the early 19th century, but was struck at an early age by the injustice and cruelty of slavery. When she saw a slave savagely beaten, she lost her voice, causing her to be plagued by a stutter throughout much of her life. Handful was given to her as a house slave when she turned 11, and she wanted to refuse he...more    This was an incredible story of two powerful sisters, Sarah and Nina, and two unlikely friends, Sarah and Hetty (Handful). Sarah was born into the privilege and wealth of Charleston, SC in the early 19th century, but was struck at an early age by the injustice and cruelty of slavery. When she saw a slave savagely beaten, she lost her voice, causing her to be plagued by a stutter throughout much of her life. Handful was given to her as a house slave when she turned 11, and she wanted to refuse her, but she was not able to stand up to the system at that time. The two forged an uneasy, unequal, but strong bond. Nina was born into the family late, and Sarah asked to be her godmother. They were inseparable. Through both Sarah's and Handful's points of view, we hear both of their struggles to be free of the societal prisons that held them both - Handful's body and Sarah's mind. Handful's mother, Mauma, was a trouble-maker, dreamer, and story-teller. She wanted Handful to be free more than anything. Sarah promised Mauma she would free her someday. She tried to teach her to read, only to get them both severely punished. When Sarah grew up, she left the plantation and tried to forge her own way in the North. She found her calling in the abolitionist movement and even became a Quaker. Nina eventually joined her in her efforts, the two of them becoming famous and notorious speakers and writers against slavery and for women's rights. Based on real life women, Sarah and Nina endured brutal backlash, severe societal punishment, and separation from family and community. However, they pushed on and made a difference. The ending made me want to stand up and cheer. I became so attached to all the women in this story.. Favorite lines and passages: - "Mauma had sewed where she came from, who she was, what she loved, the things she'd suffered, and the things she hoped. She'd found a way to tell it." - "My granny-mauma told her, 'See, that's what birds do, they stop flying and hunting food and swoop down to tend their dead. They march round it and cry. They do this so everything know: once this bird lived and not it's gone.'" (This was significant later when there was a slave hanging, and no one was allowed to attend and mourn - even animals know it's right to have a funeral.) - "I hadn't really expected Lucretia to respond, but after a moment, she spoke, 'God fills us with all sorts of yearnings that go against the grain of the world - but the fact those yearnings often come to nothing, well, I doubt that's God's doing.' She cut her eyes at me and smiled, 'I think we know that's men's doing.'" - Sue Monk Kidd in the Author's Note: "I want the reader to feel as if he or she has participated in the interior lives of the characters and felt something of their yearnings, sufferings, joys, and braveries. Empathy - taking another's experience and making it one's own - is one of the most mysterious and noble transactions a human can have. It's the real power of fiction."    I certainly think Kidd accomplished this goal! PROFESSIONAL     Celebrating Writers by Ruth Ayres and Christi Overman    "Every person has a story worth telling. These stories are worthy because they foster connections, creating empathy for others, and give us a stronger understanding of ourselves. " Ruth Ayres and Christi Overman have written a wonderful and practical book about celebrating writers in your classroom. Ruth is all about celebrating - I, along with many others, have joined her weekly celebration link up every week because it is a place where we can all read about the positives that are going on in o...more    "Every person has a story worth telling. These stories are worthy because they foster connections, creating empathy for others, and give us a stronger understanding of ourselves. " Ruth Ayres and Christi Overman have written a wonderful and practical book about celebrating writers in your classroom. Ruth is all about celebrating - I, along with many others, have joined her weekly Celebration Link Up every week because it is a place where we can all read about the positives that are going on in our lives and classrooms. It's changed the way I think about my weeks - I'm always looking for something to celebrate. She and Overman tell us to do that for our students. Celebrate the process and not just the product, be specific in our responses to their writing, and become writers ourselves, sharing our struggles and successes. I was thrilled to meet Ruth at a Choice Literacy dinner because she is an inspiration. You will want to have this book on hand! CURRENTLY READING and LISTENING TO       My family loves to read, too!   Katie (18 yrs. old)           She loved this!   So she's reading this:     Libby (21 yrs. old) - She's a Spanish minor, so she likes to challenge herself to read novels in Spanish:     Ed     Mom     Dad     What are YOU reading this week?        Speaking of my family, this is my last SOLSC March post.  I don't think I'm quite done writing about memories -  I still have Tuesdays for that, but I want to sum up the March experience.  Because I've been writing about memories, I've journeyed through my childhood again, looking at things close up, thinking about what they've meant to me.  What I've discovered was that these mini-memoirs were love letters to my family.  My mom and dad blessed me with a unique and wonderful life.  The things I learned while living on Brewer Road about love, happiness, responsibility, play, and work have made me who I am.  I am grateful for the nurturing and teaching, fun and chores, pets and hobbies, sports and 4-H, reading and writing...everything.  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for teaching me that I was capable of doing anything I wanted.  That I was brave, strong, and valued.  You kindled the sparks of faith, family, friendships, and lifelong learning so I could worship a mighty God,  marry someone I knew would be a life partner and best friend, raise children who are a blessing and a promise,  enjoy friends who have enriched my life, and choose a career that has become my passion.  I love you.           Thank you, SOLSC team, for all the work you did to put this challenge together, comment on our writing, and encourage us to keep going.  Thank you, slicers, for all your creativity and dedication.  It has been a rewarding journey!