Book Talk

Wonder is a Young Adult Novel, but if you've heard me talk about YA novels before, you know I believe that they are some of the best books on the market.  They appeal to all ages and so eloquently and relevantly teach - or remind - us of the lessons in life that are the very most important.  Coincidentally, a couple of days after Wonder was selected for our book club, an old friend and teaching partner texted to ask whether I'd read it yet, telling me I HAD to do so.  She also said it made her want to teach again, because we would have rocked this novel in the classroom.  It's true.  We would have created the most amazing unit ever around this book.  We would have had 7th graders knocking down the doors to come to our class over this novel.  Reading about Auggie, his birth defect, and how brave he was as he headed to "real" school for the first time made me want to head straight back to the classroom.  But even if that's not your desire, you have to read Wonder.  Sometimes I think adults have the most to learn by reading about the true struggles of a child who feels, and knows, that he doesn't belong.

 

I loved This is Where I Leave You.  It's the story of a highly dysfunctional family (which one isn't?) that comes together when the father dies to sit shiva for seven days.  Just before his father's death, Judd, who tells the story, found his wife in bed with his boss.  Each of his three siblings has his or her own personal crisis in progress, and their seven days together turns out to be entirely unbearable and cleansing all at once.  If a lot of profanity isn't your thing, this book may offend you.  But it's equal parts tragedy and comedy, and entertaining until the end ... at which point you won't want it to end.

Up next: I'm determined to finally finish the Harry Potter series.  I haven't read a single one since I finished #4 in 2003, which is more than a little embarrassing.  Steve read all of them in a summer a few years back, and they are just sitting on the shelf begging me to finish what I started.  I'm behind the times, I know, but I plan to be caught up by the end of the summer.  Wish me luck!

"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."

Maya Angelou