This was a tough week – long exhausting days – and I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get much reading done.\u00c2\u00a0 Though I had been excited about it, I finally gave up on Keturah and Lord Death midway into the book.\u00c2\u00a0 There is something about Leavitt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use of language that annoyed and frustrated me: she was aiming to create an atmosphere of lords and ladies and Black Death and the poor farming folk in the village, but the atmosphere became too heavy-handed and self-conscious by about the fiftieth page, and I just had to stop reading.\u00c2\u00a0 Blech.\u00c2\u00a0 What a disappointment.\u00c2\u00a0 [It should be noted that I rarely give up on books; I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m more likely to keep with a bummer of a book through to the bitter end, complaining loudly the whole way about how much I dislike it.]<\/p>\n
Tuesday was the fifth grade book group, and we discussed Larklight by Philip Reeve.\u00c2\u00a0 I thoroughly enjoyed Larklight, but wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sure how the melding of Victorian England culture and space travel and colonization would sit with the kids.\u00c2\u00a0 For the most part, the kids enjoyed the book, but they did struggle with the idea that the British could have had colonies all over the galaxy if they had had the technology to travel through space back in the Victorian era.\u00c2\u00a0 We talked a lot about suspension of disbelief, about finding the bits in the plot that work to tie everything together, and about why the prissy, overly feminine character of Myrtle makes sense for the times.\u00c2\u00a0 We also discussed whether it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s necessary to always like the characters in a book, or if, in fact, things get more interesting if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like some of the characters.<\/p>\n
And surprisingly, the kids in the book group weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t very impressed with the packet we received from Andrew Clements.\u00c2\u00a0 Back in October, each kid in the book group had written Clements a letter, which I packed up and mailed with a cover letter talking about the kids and their discussion of Room One: A Mystery or Two.\u00c2\u00a0 Clements very graciously answered back with a personalized form letter complimenting the kids on their letters, a signed and personalized bookmark for each child in the group, a bookmark for me, and even a note to me that says:\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153To Abby Kingsbury, a librarian who loves good books almost as much as she loves the children she shares them with.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 I love what Clements sent, and plan on framing my portion of it to hang in my office; hopefully the kids were more excited about it than they let on.\u00c2\u00a0 At least they now want to write to some more authors!\u00c2\u00a0 (Suzanne Collins probably will be the first choice.)<\/p>\n
And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the update for this week.\u00c2\u00a0 Next Tuesday is the 6th through 8th grade book group, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be discussing Jennifer Roy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Yellow Star and Julius Lester\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Day of Tears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This was a tough week – long exhausting days – and I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get much reading done.\u00c2\u00a0 Though I had been excited about it, I finally gave up on Keturah and Lord Death midway into the book.\u00c2\u00a0 There is something about Leavitt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use of language that annoyed and frustrated me: she was aiming to create … Continue reading Reading Update<\/span>