Back in the Ballgame... so to speak

I've been ill for 6 weeks with fluid on my inner-ear. I managed to find something so physically (and mentally!) debillitating that it would keep me from my love of reading. So, having lost 6 weeks of magazines, newspapers, and books, I am frantically reading everything and anything!!!

The freshmen were guided through those weeks of my "here today, gone tomorrow" lessons of "The Scarlet Ibis" and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". My poor sub had to handle the Ibis, but I got to take them thru the reading of Walter :) I love that story!

The seniors/juniors also had to manage their work solo. They worked on poetry from Dickinson, Teasdale, Bates, and Frost. Their last story was "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry. They liked that one... I think they can relate closely to Red Chief :)

Check out our wikispace... you can see how we were able to work together with me at home and them at school:
http://coopereldoenglish.wikispaces.com/


So... what I'm reading... Our educational neighbors, the Stockton (MO) Board of Education, banned the book "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by SHERMAN ALEXIE from their curriculum.

My immediate response to this news was to buy a copy of the book and read it today from cover-to-cover.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Absolutely-True-Diary-of-a-Part-Time-Indian/Sherman-Alexie/e/9780316013697/?itm=1&USRI=sherman+alexie

My conclusion? An excellent book!
Would I teach it in the classroom? (Would I make every kid responsible for its content?) No. Would I recommend it to any high school age reader? Yes.
Will I put my copy in our AR library? Yes, absolutely.
Are there themes of sexual content in the book? Yes.
Will these shock a high-school reader? Generally no.
Will the discussion of drinking/the effects of drinking be familiar to teenagers? Unfortunately.
Is the idea that you can overcome any obstacle something teens should read? YES!
Will I be reading any further books by the author? Yes!

We have another of his novels in our senior novels curriculum... "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven". I may have to go break into Scott's room and steal one out to read tomorrow!

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Lone-Ranger-and-Tonto-Fistfight-in-Heaven/Sherman-Alexie/e/9780802141675/?itm=3&USRI=sherman+alexie

I also read a whopper of a novel "White Crosses" by Larry Watson. It was recommended on a list that we used to purchase a "classic" college prep book list for our college-bound juniors (I am teaching that next year... new job assignment). Very unusual book... I have my dad reading it now b/c I was intrigued and disturbed by it. One of the few books I've read where I could have eliminated the entire center section and still gotten the exposition, climax and resolution. Of course, I was on medication while I managed to read it... maybe that's why it read "funny" to me. :)

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/White-Crosses/Larry-Watson/e/9780671567736/?itm=4&USRI=white+crosses

Thanks for being patient during my absence from the book blog! Love, B.