Eaters of the Dead

Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

A great take on Beowulf. Once again, Crichton uses a "pseudo-documentary" style to help "authenticate" his works. The entire book takes the form of a scholarly compilation and translation of ancient copies of Ibn Fadlan's journey from the Middle East to the north. While journeying north, he is forced to join a group of men who are returning to their homeland to battle mist creatures that attack and savagely kill their countrymen.

This was a fun read. I would write more, but I'm working on the BEST.

Grade: C+

Miserable Portfolio

Miserable Portfolio.
Miserable Portfolio.
Miserable Portfolio.
I need to finish.




(Currently reading Eaters of the Dead by Crichton. Really good. They made a movie out of it years ago - The Thirteenth Warrior - with Antonio Banderas. Both the movie and Banderas were very good.)

Nice to Come Home To

Nice to Come Home To by Rebecca Flowers

I'm on break... sweet, sweet spring vacation ... and I took out several books to divert my attention from the more relevant, more terrifying May 15th deadline of my BEST.

I always steer myself to the YA section because 1) reading YA is more beneficial to my business and 2) I really do have a passion for YA literature. But I do feel the calling to read something, on occasion, for the adult masses. Also, it's nice to be able to throw out one book appropriate for an adult conversation. (Needless to say, when socializing, not everyone shares my joy when discovering that the 4th Wimpy Kid is coming out in October and that The Last Olympian is coming out in a few weeks!) This week I picked up Nice to Come Home To to fulfill that need.

I got this book with the assumption that it would be a quick, typical chick lit book. It was quick, but only because I enjoyed it so much. Rather than leaving me feeling like I could have better spent my time elsewhere, I finished this book with the satisfaction that I had just read good literature.

Our protagonist in this story is Pru Whistler. She's 36, has a gay friend, lives in a city, and has recently been dumped and fired! And to make matters worse, she's now the owner of her ex's former lunatic cat! All of the makings of chick lit, right? But it's not the quintessential chick-lit, either. It's funny, but not in an embarrassing way. The protagonist doesn't spend hours complaining about her body. There's drama, but it always seems so subtle and tight. No room for drama queen moves by the protagonist.

Despite the catastrophic events that occur in the first few pages, Pru remains relatively calm during these times of duress. And the story quickly moves past the firing and the break-up. Typically, chick lit would harp on these issues throughout the story, but Flowers uses these quietly to help Pru grow. Pru wrestles with finding a new job. While developing a new life plan, she meets John Owen, who has recently separated from his wife. They develop a friendship that sits on the fence of "something more" throughout the whole book. The relationship feels very real, in the sense of people who are reluctant to give it another go. In the meantime, Pru's sister Patsy moves to the East Coast. Patsy and her daughter end up moving in with Pru, while both sisters recover from job loss and hurt.

This quickly goes from being a story about a girl to a story about a girl and her family. There are many important characters in this book, and Flowers does a great job developing them. Pru, Patsy, John, and Pru's mother are all drawn up so wonderfully.

However, like chick lit, this story ends happily, and that's always nice.

Grade: A/A-

BTW, this is my 44th book.

Pictures of Hollis Woods

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

The prose in this book feels poetic, fleeting, dreamy, and yet utterly absorbing. The writing immerses you and intoxicates you. I love this type of writing. It recalls Donna Jo Napoli, but only at times. For some reason, the best comparison I can make of this writing is to the book Mariette in Ecstasy, which is about a young nun's religious experiences. I know that I should have several other authors who have a similar writing, but I can't remember. That's one of the reasons why I started this blog. To remember.

This book is told as Hollis Woods looks back on several pictures that she has drawn of the Regan family. Hollis Woods is a foster child, abandoned at birth. The Regans were a family that took her in, and made her their own. However, after a horrible accident, Hollis runs away from them. Eventually, child services catches up with her and places her with Josie, an aging artist. Hollis finds herself immediately loving Josie, who understands Hollis's passion for drawing. However, Josie is also beginning to forget too much. When child services discovers this, they plan to move Hollis away. She takes Josie and they run away to the Regans' summer home.

Once again, the writing is top-notch. Because Hollis is an artist, all of the writing is very sensory - but not overly descriptive. This really lends itself to the fuzzy memories that Hollis is recalling.

Grade: A+

(I might liken the writing to The Girl with a Pearl Earring, but I haven't read that in ages. Perhaps I am making the comparison just because they both have art has a foundation of the plot?)

Multiple Blessings

Multiple Blessings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets
by Kate and Jon Gosselin

How do I start my break? With this trifle. It's trite and saccharine. It's a 200+ page special from Women's World. It will satiate your need to know ever more about this family of absolutely adorable kids. They are the cutest kids. But really, this is more dangerous to your mind than just watching three straight hours of the show.

Judgment: D
Really. Just go watch TLC for three hours straight.

Crocs

What do you think?

Someone in my household now owns a pair just like these.

The color rocks, but I'm not so sure on the style.

Field Trip Finale

I don't like adults* on field trips -- and that includes me, too.

However, the kids today were wonderful.

While I'm still not ready to say that this trip was worth all the needless stress it caused me, I would do it again in a heart beat - because now I'll have the knowledge necessary.

Also, I totally know how I would teach these stories.

"The Necklace"- Read only half and have the kids write their own ending.
"The Monkey's Paw" - Have a paw, do the dramatized version, and have them do a for sale sign for the paw.** (And, of course, the Simpsons' version.)
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" - Read the graphic version. Write a poem from the frog's perspective.

*Most adults, but not all.
**Stole this idea from another teacher at school.

Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi

Amulet - A graphic novel
Written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi
Published by Scholastic Graphix (same people who put out Bone)

Yesterday I bought this graphic novel and I can only say that I wish that I had bought it when I first saw it months ago.

Emily and Navin are two children who must move to an old family home after their father dies. The house used to belong to their great-grandfather, Silas Charnon, a puzzle-maker. It is full of oddities, and Emily stumbles upon an amulet in her grandfather's workroom. At night, the mother goes downstairs into the basement to explore scary sounds in the night. She is eaten by a monster but is still alive inside its body. Emily and Navin follow the monster down into another world called Alledia. While seaching, they find the house of Silas Charnon, who is alive but on his deathbed. He has been waiting all this time for Emily to accept the power of the amulet - the power to rule over Alledia. In hopes of finding her mother, and perhaps regaining what she misses most, Emily accepts this responsibility, and with the help of Navin and a group of charming robots, they set off to get their mother back.

The graphics are awesome, and all I can say is that this book is top-notch! Amulet ends as a bit of a cliff-hanger, but the second one is in production.

I truly cannot wait to 1) share this book with my classes and 2) read the second one!

Grade: A+

The picture above is one that I designed myelf, using Scholastic's Amulet site. Getting it from that site to this site with text boxes required some screen capturing, Word, and some more screen captures.

Musings

ah, poetry...
to say so much with so little.

State of Me

I am sick.

Andromeda Strain

Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

This is a good book... probably one of the first Crichton books that I ever read. My roommate Rosa got me into Crichton at Rutgers.

Andromeda Strain is the story of what happens when an extra-terrestrial organism enters Earth and has the ability to quickly kill humans. A satellite aircraft/probe was due to reenter the atmosphere, and when it did everyone in the town died quickly. The blood immediately coagulated with the exception of two survivors: an old man and an infant. A team of scientists assemble at a top secret government compound that was specifically built to analyze any extra-terrestrial microorganisms.

This book is just great science fiction fun. Fun because it feels so real - the emergency and the scientific data. Crichton was a great researcher! (Well, he was a doctor.) Anyway, many of his novels take on a pseudo-documentary, nonfiction reporting style. Studies are referred to, charts are displayed, etc. Crichton also spends quality time explaining how things work. And I love that! I loved the scene in Spiderman where the docent explains the genetically altered spider to the high school students. These scenes mirror my same love for makeover montages. I don't know if there's a connection, but I love them equally.

Grade: B+

Real Housewives - Ruined

I have a guilty pleasure. Mind-numbingly shallow and stupifying reality TV. We got cable (from low basic to high basic) this January. Since that time, I have immersed myself in the world of the Duggars and the housewives. (What can I say? I love the extremes of family life.) I really enjoy The Real Housewives of New York - probably because I love their accent. These ladies are a tad classier and often more employed than The Real Housewives of Orange County. And the Texas version? Pish. My East Coast sensibility won't allow me to stoop to that one.

But tonight?!? Tonight debuted The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Ugh. I may not be able support any of this franchise due to the new show.

These NJ housewives are horrible. Italian American*. Adopted (but maybe not) mafia attitude. When I watch a show about fabulously rich housewives, I want to frown and pass judgement on their petty concerns and their overconsumption... while still secretly coveting their thin bodies, class, and clothing.

But the NJ version? These housewives look like they just stepped off the Seaside boardwalk two decades ago. Thanks, The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Thanks for reinforcing the NJ girl image of big hair, bad accent, and insipidness. And just when I thought the stereotype was lessening.

Signing off,
A Jersey Girl in a New England World

*In regards to Italian Americans. I love 'em. I was raised by them. My wonderful brother and sister are of this ilk. But just because you're an Italian American with New York origins doesn't mean you have to always be pumped up, bedazzled, and loud. ... Does it? There are many Italian Americans who take just as much pride in demure grace and quiet reflection.

Also, there are girls in NJ who aren't Italian. In fact, NJ is quite diverse.

Sometimes...

creative writing for middle schoolers is like a trip into the minds of the insane...

That being said, several students have been pestering me to write a haiku about the dance.

Here it is:

loud lyrics, low lights

bodies swaying to and fro

middle school nightmare