Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Now, back to the books I have been reading.

From the Publisher:

Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.

Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.

Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence, to document the journey with images.

Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.

Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.

Caden Bosch is torn.

A captivating and powerful novel that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by one of today's most admired writers for teens.

This novel will definitely stick with you for a long time.  I found it a difficult one to read. It was hard to be inside Caden's head and see his struggles.  But, Shusterman does a masterful job of painting the picture of his struggle to understand what is real and what is not real. This is one worth reading--just give it a try.

Houston Rockets Non-reading school food drive post

Here is a post about our school food drive that is sponsored by the Ridgeview chapter of National Junior Honor Society.

The food drive committee decided that the theme should match up with the NBA championship.  They titled it The Final Can-offs.

We put the remaining 8 NBA teams in a bucket and teachers from the 4 academic teams randomly chose. This left 4 teams in the bucket.  My esteemed colleague and NJHS co-sponsor and I then chose--NOT randomly--our team.  We both love the Houston Rockets.  We were super excited that they were still in the bucket to be chosen.  We formed our team with staff members who do not have an advisory class.

When we chose our team name, the Rockets were down 3-1 in the series.  Things were not looking good for them.  Then, I watched as they won game 5 of that series.  Against some pretty strong odds (tough 3rd quarter), the Rockets came back and won game 6.  At that point, I put a box of 25 pounds of food together for our team.  Yesterday, the Rockets won game 7, and they are in the Final Four.

Some may call it a coincidence.  I choose to think that we have a connection with this great team. We want them to continue their winning streak and make it to the championship.  You are a great inspiration to us, and we hope that we are an inspiration to you as well.

Go Rockets!

The Heir by Kiera Cass

So...I was not sure if I was going to read this book or not.  I thought once things were settled between America and Maxon that the story was over.  But, boy was I wrong.  The Heir is about their first born child and what they ask of her since she will one day be the queen.  If you have read the first three books in the series, that sentence should make you wonder because their society only allowed for a man to take the throne.  Cass brings about new ideas and a fresh approach to the selection process.  I do not want to give too much away with this blog post.  I will say that it was a quick read.  I loved, but I hated the ending--because it was the ending of the book.  I cannot wait until the final book in the series is released on October 6, 2015.  Until then, thank you Kiera for a great story.  Here is a quick pic of us together at the TLA conference.

And here is the trailer for the book.  

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Sophronia is a curious young lady which is a dangerous thing in Victorian England.  Her mother wants her to settle down and become a proper lady, so she decides to send her to finishing school--Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality--to be precise.  However, this finishing academy is not at all as it appears.  Sophronia is taught to finish, but it is not exactly what her mother had in mind.  This academy is actually a school that teaches how to be a finisher in the "best families".
At first, the book was a bit slow for my taste, but it picked up enough to the point that I would like to read the next installment in the Finishing School series.  Take a look at this trailer to get a peek as to what someone else thought of the book.

The Summer of 2015

When May rolls around, I begin thinking about what my summer will hold.  Of course, I will be reading.  Hopefully, I will read some books that make me laugh, some that make me cry, some that make me think, and even more important, some that will make me feel.
I have liked to read for a long time, and it is hard for me to understand when people state that they do not like to read.  I do not like to exercise, and I am sure that some people may not understand my feelings about that subject.
This summer, I will read, and I will share my reading with as many people as I possibly can.  And, I will exercise--even though it is not my favorite.  I hope that people will join me in reading so that we will grow as a community.  If we do not explore new things, we risk being stagnant.
I am going to extend the challenge to read more than I do to all of my students, staff and parents.  I hope that students will accept the challenge and beat me.  Please, read more than I do.  Please, share with me what you read.  I really want to know so that my list may get longer and longer of books I want to read.

Happy reading!