Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

If I could just hop on an airplane today and go anywhere, it would be to Savannah. I just finished Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt, and I was captured by the place ... or as the author said, "I was beguiled by Savannah."

Abruptly, the trees gave way to an open panorama of marsh grass the color of wheat. Straight ahead, a tall bridge rose steeply out of the plain. From the top of the bridge, I looked down on the Savannah River and, on the far side, a row of old brick buildings fronted by a narrow esplanade. Behind the buildings a mass of trees extended into the distance, punctuated by steeples, cornices, rooftops, and cupolas. As I descended from the bridge, I found myself plunging into a luxuriant green garden.

Walls of thick vegetation rose up on all sides and arched overhead in a lacy canopy that filtered the light to a soft shade. It had just rained; the air was hot and steamy. I felt enclosed in a semitropical terrarium, sealed off from a world that suddenly seemed a thousand miles away.

This is quite a story! As much a book about Savannah as about the sensational story of prominent businessman, Jim Williams, being tried four different times for the murder of the volatile, unstable hustler, Danny Hansford, it has been said that this is the best non-fiction book since Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.

From the publisher:
Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction.

The book is filled with varied and colorful Savannahians, from all walks of life, and each person/character has a complete story that becomes part of the fabric of the greater story being told. I don't think it's the best book I've ever read, but I was caught by the mystery, the people, and the city ... and enjoyed it very much.

I chose this book for Maggie's Southern Reading Challenge, and I'm also going to count it for Joy's Non-Fiction Five Challenge.

Dinner Date

Summer, 1874
by Claude Monet

The nicest thing about being on Summer Break is having time to meet the husband in downtown Seattle for lunch or dinner and then go to some special happening that's in town.

That's what we did this evening. We had dinner at a sushi bar (yum!) and then spent a couple of hours at the Seattle Art Museum (affectionately known as SAM) visiting the Inspiring Impressionism exhibit. It was a lovely exhibit, and imagine how excited I was when we walked into one room in the gallery and found these three gorgeous paintings! My favorites of the show! Unfortunately, these digital versions just don't do them justice ... seeing them in person is an awesome experience!

Fragonard: A Young Girl Reading, 1776

Mary Cassatt: Mrs. Duffee Seated on a Striped Sofa Reading, 1876

Pierre-Auguste Renoir: La Liseuse (The Reader), 1877

Africa for Children

Alexander McCall Smith has written so many different books that I've loved reading -- Dream Angus was a wonderful retelling of the Celtic myth; I eagerly await each new volume in his #1 Ladies Detective Agency series; and I have just discovered that he has written a new little series of books for young children that will be perfect read alouds for my new group of 2nd graders in the fall!

The series is about a ten-year old boy named Akimbo. He lives on the edge of an African Game Reserve where is father works, and he is a boy who cares deeply for the wildlife around him and who isn't afraid to do what he can to protect them. In reading about the different adventures Akimbo gets involved in, children will learn a lot about Africa, endangered animals, and the ability of one person to "make a difference." The four little books (a 5th one is available in the UK!) are beautifully illustrated by LeUyen Pham, and are delightful reads. The audiobook versions are equally as delightful because they are read by Alexander McCall Smith himself.

• Akimbo and the Elephants
• Akimbo and the Lions
• Akimbo and the Crocodile Man
• Akimbo and the Snakes
• Akimbo and the Baboons

The Camel Bookmobile

In The Camel Bookmobile, by Masha Hamilton, Fiona Sweeney is a New York librarian who goes to Africa to "make a difference in the world." She becomes part of a new literacy program, "the camel bookmobile," that bring books to the nomadic tribes of Kenya via camels.

"Of all the places you might have gone," he said, "why here? Why Africa?"

She didn't answer immediately. A mixture of expressions crossed her face at such speed that he wished to stop and freeze each one until he could decipher them. "I believed the bookmobile could change lives in settlements like this," she said finally. "I still believe that. But it was personal, too. I knew something existed beyond my world, something important. Like a flavor I have to taste if I wanted to be fully alive."

What Fi discovers is that life is much more complicated than she realized in these nomadic tribes, and that despite all her good, but naive intentions, the program creates a conflict of cultures and a serious debate between the members of the tribe. Many of the people in the tribe become fearful that the old traditions will be lost, that "the young will begin to think the words of the books are more important than the words of elders. And then we will slide into a world that you would say holds greater learning, but that I would say holds less."

This story is told from the point of view of each person involved with the camel bookmobile, so you really get to understand the issues and concerns from all different angles. It is a fascinating look at cultural differences, a sensitive portrayal of the strengths and struggles of nomadic life and of the changes facing the members of that culture today.

Her immersion into this very different culture from her own was a profound learning experience for the main character, Fiona. And I really respect the idea that that came out of the story for me: that the American way is not always what's right for the rest of the world.

Although this is a work of fiction, there really is a camel bookmobile program in Kenya, so to learn more about it click here and here.

Old Friend from Far Away

I love listening to people tell stories about their lives, and I love reading memoirs, so when I saw Old Friend From Far Away in the bookstore recently, I decided it was a perfect book for me to read for Joy's Non-Fiction Five Reading Challenge. You don't just sit down and read this book cover to cover, however. It's a journey of sorts, an action book -- you have to do things -- so it's a book I'll be "reading" for a long time. And I'm enjoying it very much!

This book is designed not only for you to read but to drench you in the writing process and in your life of memory.

Natalie Goldberg is a wonderful writing teacher, as many people discovered with her publication 20 years ago of Writing Down the Bones. This one focuses on writing memoirs, and it is full of ideas, examples, and writing prompts that usually start with the phrase "Go. Ten minutes." It really is a complete writing workshop in a book, but it's not boring, didactic (despite the "commands") or overbearing. It is a gifted writer and teacher sharing her knowledge and her understanding of how writing happens and why it is important, and I found it quite fascinating and very motivational. Highly recommended if you are interested in writing and telling the stories of your own life!

Gift Card Shopping

My students and their parents were very generous with gifts to me at the end of this school year. I received a number of gift cards -- all of them to bookstores! Yesterday, I enjoyed wandering around Barnes and Noble, choosing some books to add to my summer reading list. Impulse shopping, guilt-free! Here's what I chose:

• Winter Rose, by Patricia A. McKillip
• Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner
• Fair and Tender Ladies, by Lee Smith
• The Camel Bookmobile, by Masha Hamilton

Soon I will also take my student-generated list and the other gift certificate to our local independent (struggling to survive) bookstore, Parkplace Book Company, and purchase special books for the class library. I've made some special "book plates" to stick inside the front of each of those books saying "This book is a gift from the 2007-2008 Second Graders!"

Summertime...

Summer break has finally arrived! Saying goodbye to the kids on the last day of school is always bittersweet, but I'm ready for some R and R ... so I'm on my way to the bookstore to choose some summer reads with my gift cards!

Wrap-Up of a Second Grade Reading Year

One of the things I love about teaching is that the books you share with students become part of the culture and common language of your class. I love being able to build that culture with my class every year, no matter what grade level I'm teaching. It was fun this year (my first year in 2nd grade after teaching 6th grade for 16 years) to choose from a delightfully rich and varied feast of wonderful books and stories, poems and plays.

Our Shared Reading: I read aloud to my class every day for at least 20 minutes, oftentimes longer. And they read their own books after every recess (our SSR time -- Sustained Silent Reading). You can get through a lot of books that way! As this school year comes to an end, I thought I'd post the list of the books I read aloud to the class, and let you know which were their favorites. I also read a lot of picture books, stories (lots of fairy tales, for instance), and poems that aren't on this list, so it's not an absolutely complete look at our reading year, but it give you a glimpse into the culture of our classroom.

On Choosing the Books: Teachers have a very important responsibility (and privilege) to choose the right books to read aloud. This was a year of experimentation for me, being new to 2nd grade. Having taught 1st grade many years ago, I had a good base to start from, but I chose books this year that were a mix of old, new, classics, modern, too young and too old. I always read my choices first so there are no surprises when I read them aloud! Academic freedom is very important to me, but with each choice you must be able to honestly explain, if questioned, why a particular book is important to the culture of your classroom.
Some of the books I read this year, I will not choose to read to next year's class. Some I'm already looking forward to introducing to each new group of 2nd graders I work with. And, of course, I'm always searching for wonderful new books to share with my students!

The List:

1. Stuart Little, by E. B. White
2. Gooney Bird Greene, by Lois Lowry
3. The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum
4. The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
5. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo
6. Helen Keller, by Margaret Davidson
7. Louis Braille, by Margaret Davidson
8. Mercy Watson to the Rescue, by Kate DiCamillo
9. Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride, by Kate DiCamillo
10. Mercy Watson, Princess in Disguise, by Kate DiCamillo
11. Mercy Watson Fights Crime, by Kate DiCamillo
12. The Big Wave, by Pearl S. Buck
13. The Green Book, by Jill Paton Walsh
14. Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, by Lois Lowry
15. The Korean Cinderella, by Shirley Climo
16. The Egyptian Cinderella, by Shirley Climo
17. Adelita, A Mexican Cinderella Story, by Tomi de Paola
18. Catwings, by Ursula Le Guin
19. Catwings Return, by Ursula Le Guin
20. Ramona Quimby, Age 8, by Beverley Cleary
21. Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White
22. Call It Courage, by Armstrong Sperry
23. The Boxcar Children, by Gertrude Chandler Warner
24. Squanto and the Pilgrims, by A. M. Andersen
25. Jack Plank Tells Tales, by Natalie Babbitt
26. Sideways Stories From Wayside School, by Louis Sacar
27. Snip, Snap, Snurr and the Yellow Sled, by Maj Lindstrom
28. Snip, Snap, Snurr and the Red Shoes, by Maj Lindstrom
29. The Story About Ping, by Marjorie Flack
30. The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, by Dr. Seuss

The Favorites (as voted on by the class):

#1 favorite was The Wizard of Oz -- which doesn't surprise me because I saw how enthralled they were as they listened to it.

#2 favorite was Call It Courage -- which DID surprise me because the language was difficult for them to understand, and it's a book that would probably be more suited to a 4th grade classroom, a little old for second graders. But I think the incredible story transcended the older language and style of writing, and my kids really liked it.)

#3 favorite was Squanto and the Pilgrims, a very old book by A. M. Andersen. -- Another surprise to me because it's almost too outdated, but the story has a powerful impact on each class that's listened to me read it, and we have tremendous class discussions around the ideas and issues in it.

I have never run into a class or a child that didn't love being read to ... it's such a lovely way to connect with young people and such a powerful teaching tool. You can never read too many books!

Challenge Completed

Once Upon a Time II challenge completed! This is my second year participating in this challenge, and I really enjoyed it. For this challenge I chose "Quest the First" which was to read at least 5 books that "fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time II criteria. They could all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres." My list just kept expanding, and I ended up reading 12 books! (Two books on my original list were postponed until my Summer Break.)

I chose to include some books in my Quest that I could read to my second graders, and then put together a Fairy Tale Unit that they really enjoyed. So this reading challenge also had a very positive and enjoyable impact on my students.

Carl's challenges and web site have introduced me to many new (to me) authors and artists. He's an incredible host, and I am already looking forward to his R.I.P. challenge in the fall, and next year's Once Upon a Time Challenge. Thank you so much, Carl, for introducing me to some tremendous writers and expanding my reading world so much!

My Completed Quest:

• The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum
• Brian Froud's Faerieland project: The Wild Wood, by Charles de Lint; The Wood Wife, by Terri Windling; Something Rich and Strange, by Patricia A. McKillip; and Hannah's Garden, by Midory Snyder
• Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale
• Briar Rose, by Jane Yolen
• Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, by May Gibbs
• Seven Wild Sisters, by Charles de Lint
• Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham, by J.R.R Tolkien
• Solstice Wood, by Patricia A. McKillip
  

Solstice Wood

Solstice Wood, by Patricia McKillip, was my reward for finishing correcting reading tests, compiling grades, and filling out report cards. And it was a lovely reward! Patricia McKillip is a new favorite of mine, an author I discovered through Carl V's Once Upon a Time reading challenges. This book again proved to me that she is a beautiful writer and a great storyteller.

I didn't realize it when I started it, but this book is a sequel to her Winter Rose, although set in modern times. It stood alone, however, and I enjoyed it very much.

From the publisher:
When bookstore owner Sylvia Lynn hears her grandmother's voice on the phone, she knows she must finally return to her childhood home in upstate New York. Her beloved grandfather has died, and though she has put a country between her and the past, the time has come for Sylvia to face the grandmother who raised her and the woods which so beguiled, and so frightened, her.

Though Lynn Hall is nearly ramshackle, Sylvia's grandmother is just as spry as ever. There is no escaping her scrutiny, and Sylvia has something to hide. But it's not until she meets the Fiber Guild -- a group of local women who meet to knit, embroider, and sew -- that Sylvia learns why her grandmother watches her so. A primitive power exists in the forest, a force the Fiber Guild seeks to bind in its stitches and weavings. And Sylvia is no stranger to the woods...

McKillip's writing is lyrical and magical. Her stories are always more than just a good story. This one, for instance, is also about keeping an open mind and appreciating or learning to accept differences rather than fearing them. It reminded me a little bit of Midori Snyder's Hannah's Garden, with the old family home being the bridge between our world and the world of Faerie.

It seems fitting to have this book be my final book read for Carl's Once Upon a Time II Challenge, which ends on the Summer Solstice. I've loved my reading for his challenge this year!

The Young Merlin Trilogy

I read this book over a month ago for Carl V's Once Upon a Time II challenge, but got sidetracked by the ending of the school year and have finally found enough time to write about it.

The Horn Book said that The Young Merlin Trilogy, by Jane Yolen, is "a worthy introduction to Arthurian legend..." and I agree. This story brings to life the youngster who would eventually become the great wizard, Merlin. I really enjoyed it and recommend it highly. Jane Yolen is such a good writer! I love the way she structured this trilogy -- each of the three books is named after a stage in the life of a falcon, and symbolizes Merlin's stage of life. The first book is called Passager, the second is called Hobby, and the final book is called Merlin.

PASSAGER
A falcon caught in the wild and trained by the falconer, but not yet a mature bird.

Abandoned by his mother, eight-year old Merlin survived alone in the woods for a year, a feral child, before being found by a kindly falconer and cared for and trained to be a falconer himself. It was not an uncommon practice in the Middle Ages for families to abandon a child in the woods, and when the child is found to be taken in and raised by people who found him.


HOBBY
A small Old World falcon or hawk that has been trained and flown at small birds.

In the second book, Merlin is 12 years old and once again on his own after his adopted family was killed in a fire. On the road, Merlin is captured by a cruel thug who calls himself Fowler. Merlin is able to escape from him and meets a traveling performing couple, a magician named Ambrosius and a singer named Viviane. They see that Merlin has special abilities, that he is a "dream reader," and they use his power to earn money. They abandon him and take all the money with them, and Merlin, being pursued by Fowler, returns to the safety of the deep woods.

MERLIN
The smallest British falcon or hawk; its wingbeats are powerful and, despite its size, it seldom fails of its prey.

In the final book, Merlin eludes Fowler, but is captured by the wild folk of the wood -- the wodewose. He is caged and forced to drink a potion to make him dream so that he can relate the future to them. One of the children, called "Cub," befriends him and helps him escape. They flee into the forest and help each other survive. Merlin names the child "Artus," and the story of Merlin and Arthur begins.

Swamped

I haven't had much reading or blogging time recently and thought this photo really shows what the end of the school year feels like with all the testing and preparing report cards ... but I should add that I am almost finished with the paperwork and can see the light at the end of the tunnel (7 1/2 more days!), and I'm really looking forward to getting back to blogging and to this:

A Childhood Favorite

One of my favorite childhood books was The Boxcar Children, by Gertrude Chandler Warner. It's a story of four children, Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny, who are orphaned and on their own, even though they have a rich grandfather they've never met. They thought their grandfather didn't want them, so they've run away. They find an old boxcar in the woods, and turn it into a home, being very creative in how they make it a nice place to live. The four children are so kind to each other and slowly get to know many of the townspeople nearby, especially the kindly doctor who helps them in many ways and who figures out who they are. They do finally meet their grandfather, and discover that he's really a kind old gentleman, and all ends well.

My students have been reading this book as a "novel study." They take turns reading aloud and have then done little projects and assignments for each chapter. I'm delighted to say that they've enjoyed it as much as I did when I first read it. There's a whole series of books based on these characters, the first 19 written by Gertrude Chandler Warner herself, and the rest by other authors. This first one, however, captured my heart many years ago, and continues to capture children's hearts today!

Pilgrimage to Powells

B and I just returned from an extended weekend in Portland, a joyous break from the intensity of work. The four days included a family wedding reception, a graduation celebration, and quality time spent with family. Great Grammy even got to meet the Grandboy for the first time! What a lovely weekend!

While in Portland, we also made a group pilgrimage to Powells Bookstore. Powells is an institution in the Portland area, and an incredible experience. It was the first time my mother, almost 89, had been there, and she was overwhelmed, to say the least. She looked around and then turned to me and asked, "Where do I start?" Exactly!

Powells takes up a complete city block in downtown Portland. And you have never seen so many books! To get an idea of how huge it is, click here. They have both new and used books on the shelves, and the genres are housed in different rooms like the Rose Room, (children's books, education, sciences, natural history) and the Blue Room (literature, poetry, small press, classics), etc. It's called the City of Books, and be prepared to spend more than just an hour wandering around. It's a destination all on its own!


My brother went in with a list, which was such a good idea. When we go, however, we usually wander around and serendipitously find books we've always wanted but never found, which is also a delightful way to shop there. Purchases? I bought one book (a new world's record for me at Powells): Hannah Coulter, by Wendell Berry. Brother bought numerous Stephenie Meyer books. Mom bought A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. And husband bought three Kundera books that he hadn't read yet.

Now it's back to the grind this morning ... and my final 2 weeks of school!