Reading

I just finished reading some of the picture books again for class and I think it's very obvious why the books would be appealing to children. The pictures really make the book what it is. I thouroughly enjoyed watching the pictures of the book that had no words in it. It still told a story really well, but I thought that there were many reasons why it's also important to have words in a book too. Each type has its own benefits and downfalls, but I think I would rather read a picture book even with just a few words. The ones without words are a little too ambiguous for my taste. I think that these journal entries are very important to our outside reading and yet I still managed an F because I didn't do entries over spring BREAK. Which is supposed to be a break from school. Great. I actually worked hard to try to bring up my entry grades in this class. I think that the books that we read hold a really great importance in our class and I think that the key to these entries is the fact that everyone can choose the books they want to read. It shouldn't matter so much what type of literature you read as long as you are experiencing the culture.

Downsiders

I'm just starting a book called the Downsiders by Neal Shusterman. I'm excited to read it as it seems to be a change of pace from the rest of the books I've read. I'm not exactly sure what it's going to be about but there is somewhat of a description on the back of the book.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Downsiders I found the link online to get to reviews and other critiques of this book to see what I was getting myself into. I think that this book will be a very unique experience into the realm of fantasy. I picked this book at the bookstore because it had more of a serious tone than the last few books I had been reading. There also seems to be a bit of drama involved in the story which is always interesting to me. Hopefully the next journal entry I make will be the one that critiques Downsiders and I very much so hope that I enjoy this novel. It is one of a stack that seem to be waiting for me to read them.

The Virginity Club

Earlier today I finished one of three books I picked out at the Hastings in College Station. It's called The Virginity Club, by Kate Brian, also the author of The Princess & the Pauper. When I bought this book I checked to see what age group that this book was intended for and found that it was directed at pre-teens. I found the moral issues in the book to be very pertinent to what many kids go through at a high school or even a junior high age. It gives not only the pretty side of the things, but also the reality. Which in a small school can be very harsh. People have the tendency to gossip, but if you hold your morals and values high then you can overcome anything anyone says. It also deals with issues showing that no teenager is perfect. Even Mandy, who appears as the rich, Miss All-American, has to deal with her father being put into prison for tax fraud. Debbie deals with rumors of her kissing encounters being played up with far more done than actually happened. Eva deals with an unbearable shyness that is holding her from the guy she daydreams about, and Kai deals with an unreasonable attempt to shut out her past and learn to trust her friends. Overall, this book deals with a lot of coming of age issues that young adults may go through in their adolescence. Parents cannot always teach the lessons that can be learned by sharing someone elses stories. I really enjoyed reading this book and I couldn't put it down. Maybe if I could have, I would have studied for my Geology test a bit more. I would recommend this book to read to any young adult, but would caution young readers due to thematic elements.

What My Mother Doesn't Know

Just two days ago I read the book What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones. I REALLY enjoyed reading this book. It was one of the first books in a long time that I had gone to buy and picked out myself just from browsing at the bookstore. I figured that this journal should be like any other journal and is worthy of my experience with the children's literature as well as the actual literature I read for the entries. This book was a story about 3 girls that are best friends and all somehow go through their own personal boy problems. The main character, Sophie, falls in love with the nerdiest boy in school over Christmas Break and can't bear to tell her friends and the rest of the school who her mystery boy is. But when school finally starts up again she has to make a choice: be with the boy who makes her happier than anyone else, or live up to some imaginary social standard. She ends up going to sit with her guy, Murphy at lunch and the books ends there. I couldn't believe it was over just like that!!! I wanted the story to keep going and tell about everything that they go through. This entire book was also written in a free verse poetic form. Almost every page was titled and followed by a new poem. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to many adolescents.

The Hobbit

I am really enjoying reading The Hobbit right now. I have almost finished the book and I really think that the discussion in class is very rellevant. I think that it was interesting to read this book right now since I have yet to read the Lord of the Rings books. I like the changes that Bilbo goes through throughout the journey. The list of the changes of the "hero" that we went through in class has many different ways to interpret his journey. My professor gave many differents points of her views about his journey but made sure to point out to everyone else that these different stages can occur at different places depending on one's personal standpoint. I think that when I finish this book I will hopefully continue to hear the literal points about the book and will be able to share the knowledge I've developed from this particular sections of class when I begin to teach.

Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone

Just this evening I've finished reading the first Harry Potter book. I was going to post a journal entry yesterday but I really wanted my next entry to be over the Sorcerer's Stone and I just couldn't finish it last night. I must admit that the book was significantly better than the movies. I really enjoyed reading it even though I felt like it was very long. I did feel like a ton of the details and sidestories from the book were left out in the movie. Stories that you would not even know about if you didn't pick up the literature. One of my favorite parts of the book is when he meets Ron and Hermione. I love the fact that nine out of ten people do not know how to say her name. It was interesting how they portrayed how easily stereotypes can be misleading. When the children though that professor Snape was the villian just because of his characteristics and activities when in reality he is on their side. I feel rather accomplished after reading this book and I hope I will have enough time to fit in the next book, although my upcoming schedule is busy. I would like to think that by the time my children are reading, these books will still be popular, although I'm sure they will be for decades, if not centuries.

Homecoming

I've just recently read Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. As I as looking to find a children's book to read for thi class I was really coming up rather empty-handed. I realize that there are millions to choose from but I just really wanted something of content and that I would be interested in. As I began to think it over I realized that I loved to read the entire time I was growing up and why not try and remember some of the books I enjoyed and find them to reread. I started with this one because it was my absolute favorite when I was growing up. I cannot even begin to count how many times I read it as a child. Now, though, as I read it so many years later, I began to see why so many children's books appeal to adults also. I realized that many of the topics that interested me as a child still interest me today, although my perspective is radically different. With the knowledge I've acquired over the years scenes such as the mother leaving the children in the mall parking lot affect me quite differently. Overall, I still love this book, and I think reading it was a good start to what will come to not only alter my perspective of some books I knew as a child, but to discover many works of literature I seem to have forgotten about.