Reconstructing Amelia

Reconstructing Amelia is a page-turning thriller.  I came across this book last year at a conference, but passed on the free preview copy because it's an adult book.  However, I saw it in my public library's digital downloads and decided to give it a try.
Kate Baron is a single mother, working as a corporate lawyer at a high-powered firm in Manhattan.  She receives a call from her daughter's expensive private school telling her Amelia, her fifteen year old only child, has been suspended.  Kate must leave work immediately to come pick her up.  Kate is beyond shocked.  Amelia has never been in trouble once.  An intelligent, athletic, girl, with a book always in her hand, this is extremely unlike her.  What she has been suspended for, plagiarizing an essay about her favorite novel, seems even more unlikely.
Kate immediately takes the train the Brooklyn, where her daughter's school is located, thinking maybe she has spent too much time at work.  The case she is working on has kept her extremely busy, and since Amelia insisted she was too old for a nanny, Amelia has been on her own a lot more than Kate would like.
Once she arrives at school, she see ambulances and fire trucks, along with police surrounding the school.  She is informed her daughter, distraught over the cheating scandal, committed suicide.  The detective on the case calls in open and shut, and Kate goes home to figure out how she will get through this immense darkness.
As Kate begins to go through Amelia's things, she realizes that Amelia has been receiving harassing texts, and messages.  She begins to think maybe Amelia didn't commit suicide after all, and with a new detective, begins to investigate the events surrounding Amelia's death.  Amelia had a lot of secrets she kept from her mother, which was easy to do with her working so much.  One secret seems to lead to another and Kate realizes she didn't really know her daughter at all.
The novel is told through both Kate and Amelia's perspective, so the reader does understand some of the things Amelia had gotten involved in before Kate.  I did enjoy this book.  I found myself unable to put it down.  I would recommend it to friends, but I am not going to purchase it for my high school library.  Even though much of the book is told from Amelia's point of view, Kate is a 38 year old mother grieving the loss of her daughter.  Students would probably relate to Amelia's angst and loneliness, not so much with Kate's.
I did have some problems with the book.  Many of the secrets were very obvious from the beginning.  I wasn't very surprised with some of the twists.  A character, Dylan, does not seem believable to me.  Amelia sees her one way, but her mother's view is directly opposite.  I find it hard to believe that their views would be so extremely different.  The resolution was also unrealistic.  I don't want to give too much away, but it just seemed completely crazy.  If you are looking for a thriller, Gone Girl, was a better book, in my opinion.

Plus, Ben Affleck is starring in the movie version, currently being filmed!

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

Leonard Peacock is an angry kid. His father is not around anymore, and his mother leaves him in their small suburban town to work in New York City. On his 18th birthday he wraps his grandfather's World War 2 handgun in pink paper, places it in his backpack, and takes it to school.  His mission:  to kill another student and then himself.  First he is going to deliver four presents to his only friends, or people who have somehow made a difference in his life.  Leonard's story is told in flashbacks, as he explains why he wants to kill himself.  He thinks becoming an adult means your life stays as hopeless as his is now.  He sees commuters on the train to work; looking ultimately defeated, and thinks nothing wonderful waits for him in adulthood.  He thinks ending his life now will avoid anymore pain coming to him.
One of the characters that Leonard gives a gift, Walter, his elderly neighbor, introduces Leonard to Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.  Leonard and Walt speak in quotes from the movies.  Another interesting character, Herr Silverman, is Leonard's Holocaust teacher.  Leonard really respects his opinions and ideas and Herr Silverman goes out of his way to help Leonard.  He understands Leonard's struggles and tries to convince him to hold onto hope.
The story takes place in a 24 hour period, so it is a very quick read.  The downside was Leonard himself.  I feel bad for him, really I do, but he was such a jerk.  He definitely had a terrible situation on his hands, but he was a very unlikeable jerk to everyone who tried to help him.  I enjoyed the writing, Quick captured the soul  of a tortured teenager, but the message of hope was a little too in your face.

World Religion Lesson Plan

A world geography teacher wanted to come to the library to give an introduction to world religions.  I created a lesson plan that worked on a rotations.  We had the students stay at tables, and rotated the activities to them.  The first thing I created was a Smore to link all the videos and information the students would need in one place.

Station 1
Students began the station with a handout that shows an image of a human sacrifice.  The handout has a few discussion questions to get students thinking about what is happening and what it made them feel.  Then they read a second handout with more information on sacrifices.  Finally they watched the video.  I had one laptop set up at every table.

Station 2
The next station had students completing an online scavenger hunt.  I listed 10 questions about Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam and sacred places of each religion.  Students could use Google to find the answer and then Google Maps to find the location.  The worksheet they completed had a blank for the questions and then a world map for them to write the number of the correlating location.  One example of a question- The holiest city in Islam, the place where Muhammad was born.

  The map I used.

Station 3

Students watched videos describing the festivals Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Diwali.  As they were watching, the completed a Venn Diagram finding the comparisons and differences between the three.  The videos are located on the smore.

Station 4

Students used this website Common Religious Sign and Symbols to identify three religious symbols.  I cut card stock into squares, and they drew the symbol on one side with marker, and used their pen or pencil to describe the symbol, and what religion it belongs to, on the back.

For the larger classes, I used the iPads.

Station 5 

I used an excerpt from Ki no Tsurayuki's The Tosa Diary for students to analyze.  This is part of a Japanese Haibun.  Haibuns typically are short descriptions of a place, person or object, or a diary of a journey or other series of events in the poet's life.  Students read the haibun and filled in a chart with direct quotes from the poem.

This was a great lesson!  It went really smoothly and students seemed to enjoy it.  I think any lesson that can include visuals for students can catch their attention.  Also, the stations only lasted about 10 minutes each, so they were never on any topic for a long time.  I'm hoping to do more rotating lessons like this soon.

Life After Life

Over Christmas, I read that Life After Life by Kate Atkinson was chosen best book of 2013 by Entertainment Weekly.  Since my husband tells me I believe anything I read in a magazine, I knew I had to read this book.  I'm really glad I did, and I think this could work in a high school library for mature readers.  It is long, 527 pages, but a great historical fiction with many viewpoints during World War 2.

How many times in your life have you thought, "If only I had been one minute earlier, or later?" or "If only I could have been there to stop it."  If you had the chance to change the path of your life, how different would it look today? 
Ursula Todd relives her life again and again.  Beginning with her birth, when the umbilical cord is tied around her neck, and darkness falls.  She lives, and dies, many different versions of her own life.  She is always born to her own parents, with her same siblings, in the same house.  However, she is able to change things that are painful, such as the death of her brother.  A major portion of the book takes place during the blitz of London during World War 2.  The author tells a very vivid story of the destruction and violence during this time.  Ursula even spends some time with Hitler and Eva Braun during one of her lives.
A beautifully written novel that I recommend.  I loved the different versions of her life, and the idea that one small change can alter your life in such a huge way.

Happy New Year!

I was able to knock out a lot of reading over the Christmas break. I tried to read some of the new book we just got into our library, and started one series that is a favorite of some of my students.

Zoe has a horrible secret.  She is a murderer.  She got away with it, everyone thinks it was an accident, and life moves on as normal.  The problem is, the secret is getting too much for her to handle.  So she decides to tell someone.   Who better than an inmate on death row?  He accidentally murdered his wife, so he must understand, right?  Zoe's story is told through letters to this inmate.  She confesses everything in great detail, starting at the beginning.  She includes details about her family, friends, and the impact the murder has had on her life.  I don't want to give away too much, but there is an interesting plot twist that kept me wanting to get to the end.  A quick and enjoyable read.

I finally got around to reading Eleanor and Park.  This book has been on my radar for a long time, some of my students have read it and loved it, Amazon lists it as one of the best YA books for 2013, and I do enjoy a good love story.
Eleanor doesn't fit in.  She has crazy red hair, the wrong clothes, and no friends.  She sits beside Park on the bus on the first day of school, after being tormented by the other kids.  He ignores her.  High school is hard enough without being seen talking to the new, weird girl.  But, Park doesn't quite fit in either.  He is part Korean, and unfortunately inherited his mother's short stature.  He likes comic books and karate, so he just tries to stay out of the way.   Park begins to notice Eleanor reading his comic books over his shoulder on the bus, and slowly a friendship forms.  He gives her comics and tapes of his favorite bands and it turns into a sweet love story.  Eleanor has a horrible home life and seeks refuge in Park's home and family.  A first love story with all the moments, feelings, and struggles of teenage romance.  Set in 1986 it also provides a flashback to the fabulous 80s.
Highly recommended.  I think many students will get wrapped up in the love story and understand the intense emotions Eleanor and Park feel.

Fallen is book one of a series that began in 2009.  Many girls read it, and read it again, so I thought I would give it a try.
Luce is a sixteen year old, sent to the reform school, Swords & Cross.  The school is made up of delinquents and criminals, and she doesn't feel she fits in with them.  During the previous summer she had been with a boy who died in a fire.  She couldn't remember anything that happened, just that the dark, dangerous shadows that follow her around were there.  The judge had agreed to send Luce to Swords & Cross instead of juvenile detention.  She is immediately attracted to Daniel, a gorgeous boy she swears she has met before.  He completely ignores her, even goes out of his way to avoid her.  Cam is another beautiful boy, who showers her with gifts and attention, but she can't shake her attraction to Daniel.  She begins to have visions of Daniel with velvet wings, carrying her in his arms away from danger...and that's about where I gave up.  I just couldn't get into it.  I had a recent discussion with a girl who reads these books over and over. so teenage girls see something I don't.  There are 4 books total and it does seem, according to Amazon, the book get better near the ending of the series.  However, I tend to think the only ones stick through until the end saw that thing I didn't.  Not for me.

Jane Green is my favorite "chick lit" author.  This was my adult read over the break, although it did deal with teenagers and teenage issues.  I did enjoy it, but wouldn't order it for my library.