Impossible by Nancy Werlin

I have been thinking about this book a lot, musing about the characters and how society is being portrayed in this book. School, family, and friends were always important, a love of home and loyalty to oneself and others was always present in Werlin's world. I thought Lucy was such a strong character who worked hard as an athlete, was a good daughter to Soledad and Leo, a fast friend to Sara and like a sister to Zach as they grow up, and someone who knew what she was about...Even as the past and the curse on her family hurtles in to destroy the calm and security in her life. But in Lucy's world, everyone comes to her aid, doesn't judge her and asks "what can we do to help?" Pure evil manifested itself in Padraig Seeley---he had disdain for the simple beauty of their home, he mocked their goodness, but soon their "magic" is able to defeat him and oh how sweet it is! So what did I learn from this book? I felt that Lucy was sooo loved, she was able to use this strength to free her "family" from this wretched curse and live happily knowing that maybe her life wasn't what she would have chosen----but it was "pure joy-to have the normal problems of being a married teenage mom of a newborn. And count my blessings."

The Soloist by Steve Lopez

This book was so very interesting, so very painful, so very revealing, and gave real insight to the effect of paranoid schizophrenics who live on the streets. Steve Lopez's quick stop one day to listen to an African American homeless man playing violin in a tunnel reverberating with speeding cars, and the sounds of Skid Row, proves to be fortuitous for both men. Lopez's efforts to get this Juilliard trained musician into "safe" housing was met at every turn with Ayer's obstinate will to be "safe" living on the streets. Lopez's compassion, all the people he "meets" after he writes about Nathaniel in his column, are all inspiring only because they get what Nathaniel is like while Steve Lopez tries to defy the odds and work a miracle with this homeless man who becomes his friend while serenading him with Beethoven & Bloch, all the while maniacally cleaning up cigarette butts. I empathized with Lopez's angst, anger,and frustration with himself and the slowness of the mental health system and Nathaniel was just plain suspicious of any attempt at medication. But Lopez's language concerning Nathaniel Ayers' music describes the raw beauty of the notes, chords, and sheet music that kept him living and loving each day to play more and more and more. Such a stirring story about two men who really find so much in happinees each other through their friendship.

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang

Ji-li Jiang writes of a terrible time the history of China and in her life. Everyone was so enamored and "brainwashed" by Mao's greatness that the Chinese began to change the way they thought, dressed, acted and were educated----and if they didn't, they were seen as Four Olds to be humiliated in front of family and friends by teen guards that had become revolutionized to do Mao's good work. Her family went from a success story to being blamed for a grandfather being a landlord which was considered the worst. Their furniture was taken, their clothes gone, their father imprisoned and they were questioned as enemies. As soon as I finished this book, I wanted to learn all I could about what would make a country change so much for Mao. It was a sobering and scary story by a wonderful, bright, intelligent teen who chose to stand by her family and not renounce them.

Smack by Melvin Burgess

Smack is a tough book to read---just like Strasser's Can't Get There from Here, teens narrate each of the chapters from their point of view. Fourteen year old Gemma and Tar are on the run, Gemma wants a life away from her parents, but Tar's father beats him and his mother is a raging alcoholic. They squat in abandoned homes and become hooked on heroin. They lie, steal and cheat to feed their habit. Life on the street is tough and bitter!

Right Behind You by Gail Giles

http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/video/video/show?id=672799%3AVideo%3A60954

Reading Olympics 2008

Reading Olympics 2008