Spring Reading Thing is Here

Well it is that time of year again.  March 20th through June 20th is the time for the Spring Reading Thing hosted by Katrina at Calapidder Days.

I am looking forward to participating in the “Spring Reading Thing” again this year.  These are the books I have decided to read during this time.  I may change a few out as I get some in for review.  They are not in any particular order.  I have forty books on this list.  That averages out to approximately 3 books a week.  I believe this is very do-able.  I want to wish everyone good luck and good reading.

The rules are simple, I've copied these from Katrina's post here.

• Create a list of some books you’d like to read or finish this spring.

• Feel free to set some additional reading goals (such as reading to your kids two hours per week, getting through your pile of magazines, etc.). This is completely optional.

• Write a blog post including the list of books you want to read and any additional goals you’ve set, and get ready to post it on your blog by March 20th.

• Visit Katrina's blog on Tuesday, March 20th to sign up. She’ll have a Mr. Linky set up that morning, so you can submit a link to your personal Spring Reading Thing post, and it will be added to the master list.

• Read! Work on your goals throughout Spring 2012.

My List

A Hearth in Candlewood – Delia Parr

A Long Walk to Water – Linda Sue Park

A Perfect Square – Vanetta Chapman

After the Snow Falls – Carey Jane Clark

Brainrush II – Richard Bard

Broken Wings – Alexandrea Weis

Cameo Appearance – Markee Anderson

Castigate My Sins – Elicia Clegg

Chantel’s Quest for the Enchanted Medallion

Child of the Mist – Kathleen Morgan

Curse oft the Shamra – Barry Hoffman

Dark Blonde – David H. Fears

Dig – Audrey Hart

Faith, Fireworks and Fir – Pam Hanson

Ghostly Tidewater Trilogy – Kath Russell

Into the Mist:  Silver Hand – Steve Finegan

In the Shadow of the Moonlight – J.J. Bidell

Just Breeze – Beverly Stowe McClure

Knowing the Truth About Jesus the Messiah – John Ankerberg & John Weldon

Lessons of the White Eagle -  Barbara Hay

Lifting the Wheel of Karma – Paul H. Magid

Love Me if You Must – Nicole Young

Missing Your Smile – Jerry Eicher

Open Minds – Susan Kaye Quinn

Precious Bones –Mika  Ashley-Hollinger

Promises – Carolyn Frank

Ravenstoke – Augusta Blythe

Rust – Glen Joshpe

Scary School – Derek the Ghost

Sea Change – Iain Rowan

Slabscape Reset – S. Spencer Baker

Spontaneous – Joe  Harris

Stealing Kevin’s Heart -  M. Scott Carter
The Flyers - Oliver Neubert (added)

The Light Bringer - Chris Digiseppi & Mike Force

The Pawn -  Steven James

The Ranch Next Door – Eiisabeth Grace Foley

The Secret of Lies – Barbara Ford Abate

The Silencing of Ruby McCollum – Tammy Evans
The Wanderers - Oliver Neubert (added)

The Write Honor – Anna Dynowski

Three Dreams Deep – D.F. Lamont

Five Skills Between Confusion and AHA! – Guinevere Durham

Publisher:  Outskirts Press

Pages:  156

Source:  I received a copy from the author in exchange for a review

Genre:  Education

From the press kit:

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” (Chinese Proverb) By the same premise, teach children the facts and you prepare them for the test.  Teach them HOW TO LEARN the facts and you prepare them for a lifetime.  In this age of technology, the teacher’s role is no longer that of presenter, lecturer, or the authority on the material.  Today’s teacher is the mentor, guide, facilitator, and supporter.  The educator who teaches the facts isnow obsolete; now in place is the educator who teaches the student HOW TO LEARN THE FACTS.  Teaching methods include the five skills needd in order to LEARN HOW TO LEARN, culminating in being able to access, assess, analyze, and add up all the facts to form a conclusion.  This is accomplished through the many avenues of technology.  Five Skills Between Confusion and AHA! Identifies, explains, and illustrates the competencies needd for this process; Logic, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Investigating, and Experimenting.  The skills may be used either independently of or in collaboration with each other.  The learning style of the child, left-brained/right-brained and visual/auditory/kinesthetic modality, is also explained.  Five Skills Between Confusion and AHA! Is written for both educator and non-educator and provides material to use at home, in a classroom, or in the world.  Educator = everyone in the child’s circle who has a stake in teaching the child HOW TO LEARN for a lifetime.

My Thoughts:

I am so glad I was given the opportunity to read and review this book.  As a teacher I strongly believe every parent should be required to read this book.  It doesn’t matter if their child will be going into a public, private or homeschool situation.  This is valuable information that will give children and parents an edge

Most parents don’t know how their children learn.  They try to help them using their own learning style and then get upset when it doesn’t work for their child.  Another topic she discusses is strategies for learning.  Critical Thinking and Problem Solving skills are what children need today to be successful and the one area they struggle with the most.  The strategies and activities in the book are real life application tools.  They are things every parent can do.  It is time that parents become involved in educating their children.  With all of the learning styles and needs present in schools today it is impossible for teachers to do it all without the help of parents.  Parents don’t usually help because they feel inadequate to help. This book arms them to pick up that slack.  This book is going to be passed on to administration at my school because I feel it is important that they stay in-line with research and methods to help parents.

About the Author:

Dr. Guievere Durham writes “Five Skills Between Confusion and AHA!” from three perspectives, as a parent of six, a teacher and an administrator.  Earning a BS, MS, and Ed.D in education she spent thirty years confronting challenges and reaping blessings, retiring as an elementary principal.  She has been recognized for her teacher workshops and conference presentations in the fields of parenting, school improvement reading, and test-taking skills.  Other published writings include material for the reading textbooks and Sunday school curriculum, and two books, one of which, “Tteaching Test Taking Skills” was her doctoral practicum.  She was nationally acclaimed twice for listing in “Outstanding Teacher of the Year” and once for “Outstanding Administrator of the Year”.

Fracture - Megan Miranda

Publisher:  Walker Childrens

Pages:  272

Source:  I won a copy from Words For Teens

Genre:  Young Adult, Paranormal

From Goodreads:

Eleven minutes passed before her best friend Decker Phillips pulled Delaney Maxwell from the icy waters of a Maine lake. By then, her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. Yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first, she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

For fans of best sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.

My Thoughts:

Wow!  Intense, Emotional, Wonderful are the first words that come to my mind after reading this book. Megan Miranda has written a book that will stay with the reader a long, long time after reading it.  She has created a setting that was so well written you could feel the cold.  If you have never fallen through ice, even up to your knees you can only imagine how it feels.  The main character Delaney falls through the ice and her description of it is spot on.  I know, I have fallen through ice.  It is not fun.  I loved Delaney for several reasons.  When she miraculously wakes up in the hospital and realizes she has been in a coma for six days and she is going to live, her first thoughts were of school and how much she had missed.  I was that nerdy girl in school.  Decker, her neighbor and best friend is one of those guys you want to slap upside the head and scream, “open your eyes”.  It seemed to take him forever to acknowledge they had feelings for each other.  When he dated her friend, I remembered my boyfriend and I breaking up, and we dated each other’s best friends.  As you can see this book is relatable to teens on so many levels.

When it comes to evil and creepiness, Megan has done a wonderful balancing job.  We are introduced to Troy who has some of the same “gifts” or “curses” depending on how you look at it, as Delaney.  She thinks he can help her and others.  She quickly realizes he is not who she thought he was.  This book kept me reading from page one to the end.  You just didn’t want to put it down.  It is amazing that this is a debut novel because this author writes like a seasoned pro.  This is a must read by everyone who loves a little bit of romance, a little bit of paranormal wrapped up with in a mysterious tragedy.  I don’t re-read books very often but this one I definitely will re-read.