Spring Break

It's Spring Break!  Today is promising to be another fabulous day at the beach!  What do Literature teachers do over Spring Break?  Read lots of books!  On the way, I finished Curveball by Jordan Sonneblick.  Absolutely amazing book!  When I finished, I immediately texted one of my fellow Literature teachers. 

"Nothing better than driving through Georgia reading Curveball with tears running down your face, your husband shaking his head because he can't understand how anyone could cry over a book, and your daughter asking to read it when you're done."

Reading is social!  I want to talk about good books that I've read and I need to be sure that I give students the opportunity to do this in my classroom.  It's been amazing to see the conversations on Facebook right now about The Hunger Games.  These kids are talking about books.  While many of the kids are reading the book because of the movie, they are reading the book.  Most of them are discovering very quickly that the book is so much better than the movie.  I better stock up on Catching Fire before I get back to school.

I also have read As Simple as It Seems by Sarah Weeks and Unwind by Neil Shusterman.  As Simple as It Seems is written in a very similar style as So B. It.  It was an easy, predictable read.  I enjoyed Unwind much more.  It's strange, but science fiction is becoming my favorite genre. At times, I became confused with all of the characters.  The book is separated into chapters that are titled with the character's name that the chapter is about.  The character's lives intertwine throughout the book.  Connor, Roland, and Risa are all kids who were on their way to be unwound which is a kind way of saying that they will be killed and their body parts will be divided among our people.  Abortion is illegal in the United States at this point, but parents can choose to have their children "aborted" or unwound before they turn 18.  Each of these kids have different stories, but end up together as they try to escape being unwound.  While this book wasn't as easy to read as As Simple As It Seems, it was easy for me to turn the pages because I wanted to find out what happpened to the characters. 

I plan on taking Dead End in Norvelt to the beach today.  I'll let you know how it goes.  My guess is that I'll be distracted by the beautiful scenery, but I'm hoping that the book can draw me in.