A Slice of Life We Don't Want

       I'm slicing with the Two Writing Teachers community today. It's always a pleasure to read what everyone writes about their lives.

        One part (slice) of my life that is sometimes challenging is that I am alone. I do miss my husband for so, so many reasons, and one of those ways that I miss him is in our conversations. When you live with someone for a long time, you become used to the give and take of words, the usual and the important. We ask for each other's opinions, share articles read, plan and worry about the future--together! So, in this election, this election I find akin to Alice falling down the rabbit hole into something bizarre and unexpected, I want to turn to someone to say the following: Did you just hear that? That's wrong. And that; he doesn't know the facts! Or-she could have said more there. And, have you read ________ here, or here? So, I hope you understand that this is brief and I will share one thing that I've shared already on FB, and with friends, because I have no one at home to pat me on the back when I want to go kick the wall in frustration, or to tell me that everything will be all right!

"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." -Hermann Göring, Nazi military leader (12 Jan 1893-1946)

  

It's Monday! Books To Love

           Every Monday, it's a pleasure to link up with a group that reviews books they want to share with others. Come discover new books!

          Visit Jen at Teach MentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who link up.   

Tweet #IMWAYR

         Thanks to Candlewick Press for a copy of this book, out September 13th. The writing is good, offering a look into teenage thoughts as seven tell the story of three hours on a day, really like any other day, but not this time. It is harsh with strong language, and not a surprise that teens think and talk this way. Some of these seven we meet have connected online to commiserate with each other's tough lives, but it goes further, and ends in a plot for each to complete some kind of school shooting and then suicide. It's alarming and scary, and held together by one girl, April, whose birthday is April 19th, "the day". I would recommend this for older teens and their parents and teachers!

         This is the quietest book that begins to squeeze your heart, slowly, slowly, until you realize that you are looking for things to wish on just like Charlie, but just for Charlie! Charlie has been taken to her Aunt Bertha and Uncle Gus's home after it's been determined that she is no longer in a stable environment. Her father is in jail and her mother doesn't get out of bed. Her sister is about to graduate from high school so gets to move in with a friend. Charlie is alone in what she thinks of as a sad house in the Blue Ridge mountains, among those "awful" hillbillies. She must finish her fifth grade year, and it's not a friendly place. But Charlie doesn't exactly know how to make friends, and is also in trouble with the teacher quite a bit. Sadly, this is not a sympathetic teacher, although I kept hoping! It's after school is out that the story deepens. I loved that Barbara O'Connor keeps Charlie surrounded with love, from Bertha and Gus, from her only friend, Howard's family, from the setting and finally from a stray dog, Wishbone. That's part of the sweet story too. A dog's love cures a lot of things, and he helps Charlie, too. Without telling all the story, just know that as others have said, it's worth reading and learning from the inside out what a child who also feels like a stray wishes for every single day.

Celebrating Small

  Celebrating with Ruth Ayres at Discover Play Build.  and linking with others who share their celebrations, too. I am grateful to Ruth for helping us celebrate together!  

“In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.”  ~ Albert Clarke

        I've been paying special attention to small things this week, those tiny things I enjoy, noticing and celebrating that I have them in my life. I've started a list, and hope you have one, too, at least in your mind as you live your days.

• a tall glass of iced tea
• a perfect yellow leaf with a final touch of green - spring memory
• sprinkler sounds still here, not for much longer
• grilled cheese with a favorite bread
• a smile from a stranger as I waited for a green light
• a "like" for a review on Goodreads
• a "found" note from my mother
• a haiku sent to my inbox
• one last ladybug
• grand-girl laughter
• conversations with my son and daughter
• finding a requested book for a customer
• new baby pictures posted on FB
• surprise books in the mail

The week has been good!

Poetry Friday for Four Days!

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Catherine Flynn at Reading To The Core. I had the pleasure of spending lots of time with Catherine at the Highlights Foundation last week writing and learning “The Craft and Heart of Writing Poetry for Children” from Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard. It was a marvelous time that I've also written about in my two previous blog posts! 

I'm thrilled and honored to move to the Cybil's Poetry Judges' Round One this year, will love working with Joy Acey, Carol Wilcox, Sylvia Vardell, Jone MacCulloch, Courtney Garrison and Tricia Stohr-Hunt. Don't forget, nominations begin on October 1st!

It was terrific to spend time with other Poetry Friday bloggers, too, like Robyn Hood Black, Buffy Silverman, Linda Kulp Trout, and Charles Waters. 

In these days, we filled up with poetry. We met in smaller groups to share our own original poetry and receive critiques. This made me wish to have this group for every poem. The insights and ideas offer were very appreciated. "Revision" means to "re-see", and this time that "second sight" showed me new ways to look and keep looking for a better draft.  

Non-Fiction Books Teach!

   

              Thanks to Alyson Beecher's Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge at Kidlit Frenzy, those who link up share wonderful non-fiction picture books. I am grateful for all that I've learned through reading non-fiction picture books. 

         This is not a comprehensive book, but one that shows an assortment of insects who have to change behavior in the fall to ensure their survival. It's happening now in many states that can have a freeze any time. It shows varied adaptions, insects that hide, fly away, and lay hides are most of the behaviors, plus one amazing insect in the arctic that really does freeze, the arctic woolly bear caterpillar! Through adaptations and a special antifreeze, this insect might take seven years to finally become a moth! I enjoyed learning new things, like ladybugs that gather together in a bundle, wiggling constantly to keep just enough warmth to stay alive. They rest in a kind of hibernation termed "diapause". The illustrations show scenes with the insects, and sometimes "close up" inserts with more detail. There is an author's note, two experiments concerning freezing, and a page of extra resources. It's a book to add to a collection for winter studies.