Today I’m linking up with one of my favorite bloggers, Modern Mrs. Darcy, for her monthly post, Quick Lit.

Here is a quick look at what I have been reading this month.

 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I keep going back and forth about the value of reading super long books that take me forever to read. I started and stopped 11/22/63 about three times before finishing it on this go round. I am really glad that I stuck with it. This is a unique story that I really enjoyed. I do think I have discovered something really important about long books and it is counterintuitive. While I like the ease of reading a long book on my Kindle, it ends up frustrating me. I can’t really see my progress because the percentages go up so slowly and if I need to look back on something, it is really hard. I finally gave in and read 11/22/63 in paperback even though it was so big it was almost uncomfortable to read. I hurt my back during the time I was reading it and Rob joked that it might have been because I was carrying around such a heavy book!

Z is for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brian. Z is for Zachariah is an upcoming movie so there’s been lots of talk about this book lately. As soon as I heard the title I was transported back to fifth grade. This is one of the books that I remember reading when I switched schools and realized there were many, many important books to be read. This is the story of a young girl who believes she is the only person left after nuclear war. I put it in the same thoughtful-ness category as Tuck Everlasting and Bridge to Terabithia.

A Window Opens by Elisabeth Eagen. I have so much to say about this book that I’m pretty sure I will write a separate post about it soon. Elisabeth Eagen is signing books at Words in Maplewood next month and I am going to my best to get there. I will have a lot more to say on this must read to come soon. For now, let’s just say  I felt like Eagen must have snuck in to our town and spent time with us all as she wrote this book- in an almost creepy but still super interesting way.

Read more

The other day, I woke up to my favorite kind of e-mail. A friend wrote the following:

“Hey Stacey!
I always think of you as the “book guru” – do you have any novel
recommendations for me as well as for my daughter ? Maybe some books we can both read?? Any recommendations are much appreciated :)”

Of course, I love this person. How can you not love the person who calls you the ‘book guru’ but I digress. I was so excited to put a list together for this fifth grader that I got started right away. I brainstormed a bit on my own and then went to Caroline to gather her ideas. Caroline is a year older than the daughter of my friend so it was fun for her to think back to what she loved a year ago. It was also really interesting for her to think about books that had been read alouds in her fifth grade classroom and to decide if they would still be great for independent reading.

Here is our combined effort:

The Giver by Lois Lowry. This was the first book that came to mind. Caroline read it last summer and I re-read it at the same time. We had tons and tons to talk about. That said, there are some pretty mature themes in the book and Caroline got freaked out for a bit. If you haven’t read it yet, you should definitely read it first to decide. I’m only even suggesting it because it led to such great conversations.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit. Tuck is the first book that I remember reading that was worthy of discussion. I’m pretty sure that Caroline had exactly the same experience when she read this book in fourth grade. I’ve re-read it twice in the past few years, once when Caroline read it and then again when Caroline and I were lucky enough to see Natalie Babbit speak this winter. This is a book rich in conversation possibilities.

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. This is a beautiful story of a girl who struggles terribly in school. Fish in a Tree leads to lots of great conversations about what it means to feel different and we all know that every kid feels different at one time or another.

Rain Reign by Ann Martin. I have not read Rain Reign yet but Caroline promises it is very much worth talking about and not just because it is written by the author of her most loved Baby Sitter’s Club series.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Simply because no list of this kind can exclude this remarkable book. If you haven’t read this book as a family, stop what you are doing and go read Wonder immediately.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. I read Ivan on my own and it was one of the read alouds that Caroline most remembers from fifth grade. We didn’t discuss it too much on our own but I am quite sure there would be lots and lots of material.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. I can’t believe I’m writing this but I actually have not read this one. Caroline loved it as a read aloud at school and I love Kate DiCamillo so I am pretty positive this would be a great family read.

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. Out of My Mind tells the story of a little girl in search of a voice to communicate all of her thoughts. Reading and discussing this book was a great way for our family to gain a greater understanding of individuals with disabilities.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these or any other middle grade reads that could lead to great family conversations. Thanks for sharing!

Read more

I have loved Kate DiCamillo for a long, long time. This weekend, I loved her even more than I had before.

Her PSA, “On the Importance of Read Aloud” popped up over and over again on Facebook and on blogs that I love like Read, Write and Reflect.

She reminded each of us of how important it is to read to your children. It doesn’t matter whether you are a parent or a teacher. Just read. DiCamillo talked with great detail about her second grade teacher who read The Island of the Blue Dolphins. She know this time spent reading with her class and her teacher contributed to her wish to be an author. And she says this even though she grew up in a house surrounded by books and a mother who read out loud to her.

I feel the same way. While my parents read each and every night, I also know my favorite part of fourth grade was when we all laughed aloud listening to my teacher reading Blubber. And I remember falling in love with my new school when my fifth grade teacher read aloud from Tuck Everlasting.

Read aloud, be it in a family or in a classroom, contributes to literacy development for sure but it also builds a community. Our school launched a One Book, One School initiative this year and all families were given a copy of The World According to Humphrey. The other day, a friend told me how much her children now love Humphrey and how they have read many more books about their favorite classroom rodent. Later in our conversation, she said something three times in typical Humprhey fashion and we both laughed. We got the inside joke because we had read the same book.

There is something incredibly powerful about reading in community and I do hope that the read aloud message stays alive in families and in schools. I am nervous watching my children grow and seeing read aloud time fading from their classrooms. I haven’t heard of it at all in Caroline’s middle school classrooms and the read aloud time even in Katherine’s third grade classroom seems pretty limited.

Hopefully, this year will be an anomaly for the girls and reading aloud will feature again in their classroom lives. In the meantime, we’ll keep reading at home especially with powerful reminders like the one I listened to this weekend.

Read more

I have been following the Thalia Kids’ Book Club events at Symphony Space for years. For some reason, when things have been appealing, our schedules haven’t allowed us to attend. Earlier this week,  I noticed that there would be a 40th anniversary celebration of Tuck Everlasting with Natalie Babbitt on Sunday and amazingly, we had nothing on our calendars. I immediately bought tickets and began counting down the days.

Tuck Everlasting was the first book that I remember loving. I switched schools in fifth grade and I truly realized that I was going to love Lincoln School when Mrs. Capo began reading aloud from Tuck Everlasting. I had always adored reading but this was the first book that really got me thinking.

Fast forward a long time till last year when I gave Caroline an old copy of Tuck. She had so many questions that each night, after she went to sleep, I read ahead a few chapters so that we could discuss the chapters. While Caroline has loved reading since the time she was born, I believe that Tuck was the first book to get her thinking too.

We arrived at Symphony Space with time to spare and I felt lucky, as I so often do, to live so close to New York City and all the opportunities that we find there. The event began with a gorgeous reading of Winnie meeting Jessie Tuck. And then, we had the chance to listen to the incredibly entertaining Gregory McGuire (author of Wicked, The Egg and the Spoon and so much more) interview Natalie Babbitt. In fact, the program described it as a conversation and it was so much more that than an interview. I felt like I was eavesdropping on a chat between two friends.

Their conversation began with discussions of the stories that Babbitt loved as a child. She adored Greek myths and fairy tales but her determined mother read to her from all genres in order to expose to all the great books. Babbitt says that while her mother was reading her ‘great’ literature, some of it was quite boring so when she began writing for children she vowed that her stories would not be dull.

Babbitt’s mother was an artist. In fourth grade, Babbitt decided that she too would draw and she held on to this dream through college. In fact she has illustrated many children’s book and drew the cover art for the original editions of Tuck Everlasting. When asked who she is writing for when she writes for children, she now says that she is writing for her childhood self.

Tuck, though, was written for her daughter, who was in the audience yesterday. At the age of 5, she awoke from a nightmare, terrified of dying. As Babbitt talked to her about death being a part of life and not something to be feared, the story of Tuck Everlasting began. Interestingly, we also learned that the Tuck’s cabin and lake was based on the Babbitt’s summer home where they lived for many summers. In fact, Sam Babbitt, Natalie’s husband, who read part of the book at the end of the event, had read early editions of Tuck Everlasting to their daughters while summering at the very cabin.

While the entire conversation was fascinating, I was especially drawn to what Babbitt had to say about childhood. She said that it angered her how long it takes for children to become real people in the eyes of everyone else. She continued by saying that schools and adults treat children as if they don’t really matter until they turn eighteen.

As we waited in line to have our books signed, it became clear that Babbitt practiced what she preached. We waited in line for ages as she spoke for long periods of time to each of the children that approached her. She looked them in the eyes and asked and answered questions. Unfortunately, by the time we reached her, her 82 years showed for the first time and she was clearly tired. She was not chatty so we said hello and thank you and moved forward but it was indeed an honor to have met her.

Read more