Book for February

Chelsea Dorn picked our new book for February.  It is Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen.  Here is a blurb about the book.  

The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. She says: “My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss.” He says: “It’s been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.” But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he’s thinking there’s more to her than meets the eye, she’ s thinking that he’s not quite all he seemed.

This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny voices. Wendelin Van Draanen is at her best here with a knockout cast of quirky characters and a hilarious series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities. But underlying the humor are two teens in transition. They are each learning to look beyond the surface of people, both figuring out who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to be with.

Chelsea has a copy of the book and I just started reading my copy of the book.  I will be able to finish it during our blizzard weekend.  We will meet the third Tuesday in February to discuss the book.  Hope to see you there.  

Our New Read

Our book pick for November is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

We will be meeting at Debby's house on Tuesday November 17, 2015 at 7:00pm.  

Our New Read

The book for October is The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. Here is a little snippet of what it is about:

Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.
Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.
As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.
Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better.

Borrow a copy from the library, or a friend, and happy reading.

September Book Pick: A Separate Peace

Our new book pick is A Separate Peace by John Knowles.  We will meet on Tuesday September 15 at 7:00pm at Debby's house. Hope to see you there!

An American classic and great bestseller for over thirty years, A Separate Peace is timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to the second world war.

Set at a boys’ boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.

A bestseller for more than thirty years, A Separate Peace is John Knowles’s crowning achievement and an undisputed American classic.

Teaser Tuesday - Teach Like a Pirate

I have been totally enjoying my summer break! I have actually not even been wanting to think about going back to school this year.  A colleague posted on Facebook that she had just finished reading Teach Like A Pirate and I thought, "This could be fun!" 

So I ordered the book and was delighted to find that it is a very quick and easy read.  As a teacher it is always fun to look at things in a new way and think about how to make learning more accessible for my students. 

On the back of the book it says:

CAPTIVATE YOUR CLASS

CREATE OUTRAGEOUSLY ENGAGING LESSONS

REDISCOVER YOUR PASSION FOR TEACHING

TEACH LIKE A PIRATE!

Pirates are daring and adventurous.  They sail into uncharted territories with no guarantee of success. They reject the status quo and refuse to conform to any society that stifles creativity and independence.  They are entrepreneurs who take risks and are willing to travel to the ends of the earth for that which they value.  Pirates don't much care about public perception; they proudly fly their flags in defiance.  And besides, everybody loves a pirate. 

Part 1: Teach Like A Pirate:

Passion

Immersion

Rapport

Ask and Analyze

Transformation

Enthusiasm

Part 2: Crafting Engaging Lessons

Part 3: Building A Better Pirate

I've just read the first couple of chapters, but I am looking forward to finishing the book and to getting back into the classroom with my new group of students!

Book pick for July

Our book pick for July is The Salzburg Connection by Helen MacInnes. Here is a little bit about the book.

In 1945, with their thousand-year empire falling around them. And the Allies on their heels, the Nazis hide a sealed chest in the dark forbidding waters of the Finstersee - a lake surrounded by brooding peaks of the Austrian Alps. There it lies for twenty one years, almost forgotten, until a British agent decides to raise it from the depths. The secrets he uncovers are far-reaching and lethal, and in Salzburg, Bill Mathison, a New York attorney on the trail of a missing colleague, finds himself drawn into the shadowy underworld of international espionage. Not knowing who to trust amidst the chaos, he is drawn to two beautiful women, one of whom will betray him.

It is available on Amazon in paperback for $7.99 or on Kindle for $7.19

Our book discussion will be on Tuesday August 11 at 7pm at Debby's house. Hope to see you there. Remember to keep looking for other good books to suggest as a book club read.

Shuku Shuku - Nigerian Coconut Balls

Here's the recipe for the Nigerian Coconut Balls that Debby made for book club to go along with our discussion of My Name Used To Be Mohammad

INGREDIENTS

YIELD: 14 balls

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1⁄4 cup caster sugar or 1⁄4 cup superfine sugar
3 egg yolks
1⁄2 cup self-raising flour

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, mix together the coconut, sugar and egg yolks to form a stiff dough. Squeeze into 1 inch balls, and roll each ball in flour to coat.
Place on a baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden.