Hello Fellow Booklovers!

Hello my fellow Lovers of Literature,

I have recently been asked to attend the National Writing Project Annual Meeting and I am so excited about this wonderful opportunity. I recently bought the last book in the Hunger Games Trilogy and it is amazing.The first ten pages had me choked up with emotion. It was gut wrenching, real, and raw. I cannot wait to finish this brillantly written saga and praise the wonderful mind of Suzanne Collins.

I am attending a few grad courses and am trying my hand at Creative Writing. I am so excited to learn more about my craft and one day join the ranks of other great YA authors. The genre of YA literature needs to be recognized for what it is and that is an outlet of creativity meant to inspire young people to pick up a book. Secondary teachers need to stop worrying about high stakes testing and teaching students how to write a drive by literary analysis. They need to focus on what is important for that student to achieve which should be a way to connect to the literature. The lack of background knowledge and realia in the secondary classroom seems to be hindering the transference of knowledge that should occur when exiting the secondary level and entering college.  Something needs to be done and the lack of research based evidence  is severely hurting the prospects of any curricular change that should be occuring at these levels. The dynamics of the students are changing and the literature needs to effectively and efficiently reflect the growing needs of adolescent readers.

This is my soap box for today and I hope we all look into ourselves and realize what was the first book that ever changed our life? Our students are missing that wonderful eye opening moment where their values are challenged and their views changed by the wonderous magic of the written word. Good bye for now my fellow readers and good luck in the search for the perfect book!

Jessie
The Texas Bookworm

I can't seem to finish a book! I am very SAD!

Dear Readers,

Due to financial constraints, I have been checking out books from my local library. But since I was taking graduate school and writing a novel, I have read three books halfway through and all of them are already overdue.  I am going to list them just so that you have them for future reference.

1) Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey
2) Going Bovine by Libba Bray
3) The Sacrifice by Kathleen Benner Duble

I have enjoyed reading them thus far and I have to say that my favorite one is Skin Hunger. I will recheck them out when I have a little more time.

Things I am dying for:

1) The last Hunger Games Book
2) The Smart Girls Kick Ass tour
3) So many other sequels, I can't really remember them all.

Things I Learned in Graduate School:

1) Never miss the city bus :)
2) Text Sets of nonfiction books are awesome!
3) I need to read more nonfiction!

I learned the importance of using non fiction trade books (mass produced literature) and fiction trade books in the adolescent classroom.  Since the majority of literacy research is geared towards the elementary age students, adolescents have been falling further and further behind in reading and wriitng skills across the board. Adolescents are struggling with their literacy skills due to the advancement of technology and the change in how we read and what we read. Many students who have come through my classroom doors are always resistant to reading and the majority of the time it is because they have no true connection to the literature being read in the classroom. Is this to say that I believe classics should not be taught in the classroom? No, but i do believe that there needs to be a balance in what we teach and how we scaffold the learning to our young readers. Most importantly do not stress the importance of literacy if  you avoid books like the plague. If they read, you read. Or better yet you read, and they will follow! Be the teacher who shows them that reading is more than doing a literary analysis show them how reading can change their lives. Books are doorways into their own creativity and we have a duty as teachers to show them that door.

Good Luck in the upcoming school year and Happy Reading!

Jessie
The Texas Bookworm

Graduate School!

Hello Fellow Readers,

I am taking a ten day graduate class so I will post after next week! I am off to read about Adolescent Literacy. Have a Good One!

Bad Girls Don’t Die

By: Katie Alender


Book Jacket Summary:

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence: dysfunctional like her parents’ marriage; her doll crazy, thirteen year old sister, Kasey; and even her own antisocial, anti-cheerleader attitude.


When a family argument results in a tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunctional to dangerous. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green; she uses odd, old fashioned language-and even she loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her weird behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves, water boils on the unlit stove, and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough for the girls to see their breath.


Alexis wants to believe it’s all in her head, until these seemingly harmless occurrences become life threatening-to her, to her family, and to her budding relationship with the student council vice president. Alexis knows she’s the only person who can stop Kasey; but what if that green eyed girl isn’t even Kasey anymore?

I have been waiting a long time for a book like this. I just wanted a creepy, leave my light on, and pray for sunlight, kind of book. Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender is just that kind of book. I loved the creepy sister with the green eyes and how there was a mysterious light in the house. I also love the way the dreams occur in the book. Alexis is slowly getting haunted and she thinks that she is going crazy.

I enjoyed this book from start to finish except for the part where she falls for the VP of the student council. But, it was at that moment that Katie Alender proved me wrong. The relationship between Alexis and Carter is so new and borders on friendship that it didn’t take anything away from the actual story. This was a great story that wove mystery, ghosts, and possession into one page turner of a book. This is a must have for any classroom library. I would only use this as a book talk so that students can see what you have in your classroom library.

The Last Airbender

Hello Readers,

I am going to the movies to see The Last Airbender. I love the cartoon and we love to watch it with my son and daughter. However, the kiddos are with grandma and boy, are they having fun in the rain. They never get to run in grass because we have very little in our apartment complex. I will  post a review over "Bad Girls Don't Die" when I get back. A little time for me before Summer Session II starts. More school, go figure.

Jessie
The Texas Bookworm

Generation Dead By Daniel Waters

Generation Dead
Author: Daniel Waters


Book Jacket Summary:

All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren’t staying dead. But when they come back to life, they are no longer the same. Feared and misunderstood, they’re doing their best to blend into a society that doesn’t want them.

The administration at Oakvale High attempts to be more welcoming of the “differently biotic”, but the students don’t want to take classes next to someone who isn’t breathing. And there are no laws to protect the “living impaired” from people who want them to disappear-for good.

When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it: not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor Adam, the star of the football team- and others won’t stand for it. Adam has feelings for Phoebe that run much deeper than just friendship; he would do anything for her. But what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy?

Well, my dear readers, this book looks creepy. I was thinking Zombies that eat your brains. I absolutely love the cover though. It’s creepy and beautiful at the same time. But, enough with my obsession with book covers.

This was a powerful story about teenagers who come back to life and are persecuted against because they are “Differently Biotic”. This book is superb in its language and its ability to transcend segregation, social injustice, and discrimination into a book that will be devoured by teens. In my teacherly (made up word) opinion, this book would be great to use so that students could dissect underlying themes such as discrimination, fear, and confusion.

I loved Phoebe and how she didn’t really have much fear of the “dead” kids. There were a number of great triumphs that teens could relate to. The characters to me where very well formulated and continued to grow the entire book. That’s all I am going to say. This book was a page turner and it was not the “Zombie” book I expected. The characters even the antagonists where so real that I hated them throughout the book. Pete made me so mad!! Think True Blood, but instead of Vamps, we get Zombies. I want to say more but I don’t believe in spoiling this book.

This book had such great moments and the prospect of teens coming back to life was realistic enough that your students who don’t like that stuff will be able to read it. I would use excerpts and not the whole book since it is quite lengthy. But, overall I was quite impressed by Waters writing which is very good. I look forward to reading the second book in this series.

Jessie
The Texas Bookworm

Happy Reading and Good Luck in the seacrch for the perfect book!!

NEW BOOKS!! YEAH!!

I have bought several new books and am anxiously trying to read them all. I just finished Generation Dead. Whoa, talk about a complicated thought provoking read. I also finished Charlaine Harris's Dead in Dallas ( I think) and my wonderful CBWP buddy Holly leant me Club Dead. I also finished The Locket and received a package from an author in San Antonio named Edna Campos Gravenhorst. Let's see what else? Hmmm. I just finished a running list of my books. It was a doozy. More coming soon.

I am looking forward to two things this summer 1) The Last Airbender and 2) Mockingjay.

Jessi
The Texas Bookworm