Catching Up

Well, I have been incredibly sick the past two weeks.  Really bad sinus infection, double pink eye, the whole works...and to make it worse, I am supposed to be on break from teaching!  I guess it is better now than when I am supposed to be working, but this is the first time I have been able to sit up and look at the computer without feeling awful.  My apologies on being behind!

When I could actually stay awake, I have been busy reading Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson and A Northern Light.  If I was awake and not feeling awful, I did not want to stop reading A Northern Light!  It was definitely one of my favorite novels so far.  I love the real-ness and strength of the main character Mattie.  She is strong, and smart, and determined, and has a lot of qualities that I strive to have.  This novel felt so real to me which is why I think I liked it so much.  The novel didn't really feel to me like it was being romanticized in any way, but was the rather being honest about the good and the bad times.  It took me a little while to get used to the past/present perspective of the chapters, but I actually really like the way it was done in the end.  I think it was unique and really made the reader really think about what was going on. As I was reading, I thought it would be kind of neat if life was like that and you could get a glimpse of what your life would be like  jumping back and forth past to present.  I wonder if I would make different decisions based on knowledge I'd have about my "future."  I've been trying to look at these novels from more of a student perspective lately after my read of The Big Splash.  I truly think my students would enjoy this novel as much as I did from a teacher perspective.  It is captivating and the romance/mystery would invite even the most reluctant readers to enjoy this story.  I also think that her struggle to go to New York City and leave behind her family are something very real.  I know that this has been a personal struggle for me and I could really relate.  I want more than anything to move to NYC and teach there, but I would hate to leave my family and my boyfriend.  Do we do what is right for us, or what is right for everyone else?  This is a topic that everyone struggles with at one point or another and could lead to great discussion.  Did this book remind anyone of  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?  It may be far fetched but the murder mystery really reminded me of it for some reason?  Maybe because I read that/saw the movie not too long ago and it is just in my head, but just a thought!

I really loved the book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson as well!  This was a good week for reading because I loved both of my books.  This book was AWESOME because it took a perspective that I was not used to reading from.  The book takes place during the Revolutionary War, and it is from the perspective of two young slave girls.  Their mother has passed away and the two sisters, Ruth and Isabel, are left to fend for themselves.  Their owner has also died, and she had been taking good care of them.  After she passed her nephew was to take over the property and in turn was in charge of the girls.  He quickly sold them to a couple that lived in New York City.  Isabel meets another slave who has connections to the Patriots.  He knows that her owners have ties to the British and wants Isabel to spy on her owners because they may have insight as to when the British are going to invade America.   For good reason, Isabel doesn't want to be involved at all, but when her sister gets into trouble with their current owners, she knows that she has to try to earn their freedom in any way possible.  The book is intriguing and really allows the reader to connect to the characters.  I found myself completely lost in the book when I was reading.  It sounds silly, but sometimes I felt like I was actually in the book with them.  I think this would be a great book to tie in with social studies because I think we usually learn about history from the white American perspective and don't really get a chance to think about it from the slave perspective.  I was doing a little research to see how you could tie this book in and make it cross-curricular (incorporating the common core) which seems to be the new buzz, and right on Laurie Halse Anderson's website was an awesome resource!  http://madwomanintheforest.com/historical-chains/  On the right hand side she has all kinds of links to the history of NYC during this time period including street names etc. It has links to information on slavery during that time period, letters from the Library of Congress etc.  This book is so much more than a story, but a link to history that may actually interest our students because it shows what their life might be like if they lived during that time.  I think this was a creative way to captivate readers.  Definitely on my list of must reads!