Lost

No post tonight…..after almost 10 months, Lost is back!  Any other huge Lost fans out there? 

A Waste of Time?

I found myself nodding vigorously as I read The Book Whisperer’s latest post this evening.  It feels like I could have written the post myself.  Reading is viewed as a “waste of time” or a free period in too many classrooms.  Very few adults realize that this attitude is what leads students to view reading [...]

Independent Bookstores

When I was growing up there were two locally-owned, independent bookstores in the immediate area.  About 10 years ago both closed and we gained a few new Barnes and Noble stores and  a Borders.  Today, there are no independent book stores in my area.  I hate this!  Instead, I am forced to buy from big-box [...]

Twisting Arms

A few months ago I purchased a professional book that I was hoping would help me with my persuasive writing unit in writing workshop. When it arrived over the summer, I put it on my shelf and figured I would glance through it when I got to the unit. Normally, I end up [...]

Kidlitosphere Round-up

I’m about to run out to a birthday party, but here are a few posts that I am loving today!

Over at Wizards Wireless you can read a great review of Gary D. Schmidt’s new novel, Trouble. Gary wrote one of my favorite novels last year- the incomparable The Wednesday Wars. I [...]

Poetry Friday

I’ve been having trouble falling asleep lately, so this poem seemed especially apropos this week!
Whatif by Shel Silverstein
Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I’m dumb in school?
Whatif they’ve closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there’s [...]

Life As We Knew It

I started hearing rumblings about Susan Beth Pfeffer’s The Dead & Gone a few weeks ago. When I read the premise of the novel I realized it was a companion to Life As We Knew It and soon ordered a copy from Scholastic. As a fan of science-fiction, I thought it sounded like [...]

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Today, after cleaning my house, I curled up on the couch with my coveted ARC of Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. Let’s just say- it’s a good thing I put dinner in the crockpot before I started, because once I began reading I was completely hooked. Ruby is my [...]

Kidlitosphere Happenings

A few things are going on in the kidlitosphere today!

Check out this month’s Carnival of Children’s Literature. Hosted by Wizards Wireless, the theme is “Book Awards”. I’ve already spent some time perusing the awesome posts, and will be doing some more reading later. Check it out!

January’s issue of Edge of the Forest [...]

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson was my #1 “must get ARC” at ALA Midwinter ‘08.
Wow. Just wow. I read this in one sitting, unable to put it down. I’m not even sure how to review it, because I don’t want to give anything away. Jenna Fox has [...]