It's Monday! What R U Rdg? Past, Present & Future

Inspired by the work of Sheila at Book Journeys,
but  visit Kellee &  Jen for more titles at Teach Mentor Texts.

 This week's reads lead me into the past, situated me in the present, and throttled me into the future.  I started the week by finishing The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain, a historical fiction novel, told from the point of view of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson.  This book documents Hemingway's struggles with writing, their courtship and married life in Paris. If I were to use it with students, I might suggest 11th-12th graders. I loved the point of view and the backdrop of Paris life of the up and coming authors of Hemingway's time. You get a sense of the struggling that a writer endures as well as where Hemingway found inspiration. I might also pair it with Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, a movie worthy of any English teacher's time.

I also spent some of my time not quite finishing Lee Ann Spillane's debut professional book, Reading Amplified.  It is a professional read in a different format than other texts.  It is a read and watch book available at Stenhouse. I am not quite finished with it because I find that I cannot keep up with a chapter a day during the work week. I do like participating in the  virtual professional book club. It is hard to work all day and come home and read and think professionally.  The conversation is still going on inside the book as well as on the facebook group. I am hoping to finish before the final chat on Twitter this Thursday.  If you are interested in how to use technology with the readers in your classroom, this book is a great place to start.  Feel free to drop by the Facebook or Twitter discussion.


I finished off the week by traveling into the future with Stacey Kade's The Rules, the first in the Project Paper Doll series. It deals with bullying and by-standing, but also the invisibility that many teens seek in high school.  Ariane, however, follows the rules of invisibility as a life or death mission following her outbreak from the lab in which she was born and raised. No man is an island, even Ariane.  Her relationship with her best friend instigates the breaking of the rules and the discovery of love. This book is one that I would share with students who have loved Marissa Meyer's Cinder or Jessica Brody's book UnRemember that I shared a few weeks ago.  All of these books have strong female protagonists who are slightly altered.  They must confront what makes them different and challenge their makers.

This week I will reread of Jeff Anderson's book Ten Things Every Writer Needs to Know with my college students  as well as finish The Walking Dead Compendium One since my daughter asked me to read over Christmas. Happy reading this week!