I think we should be frightened and upset....

that Mattel is releasing a Barbie Katniss from The Hunger Games.

Jan Berenstain dies at 88

The Berenstain Bear books were some of my favorites growing up.

Read more about her life and work with her husband here.

Elementary Monday: PARP Begins!

We've just kicked off PARP Month for grades K-6!

March is always a long and dreary month in the Adirondacks, but Parents as Reading Partners gives us some excitement and focus. We know that reading at home with mom and dad greatly supports student learning and PARP month gives that extra push. Our theme this year is "Reading is your Passport to the World!" and we're going to try to fill up the bulletin board with color coded sheets explaining the setting of the stories we read next to the appropriate country or continent. Fifteen minutes of reading a night is encouraged, but any amount will help and the students fill out packets to be brought back to school every Monday.

Although sometimes it's unclear how much extra reading takes place during this time, there is more of a focus and emphasis on nightly reading, which is important. PARP Night with parents also gets everyone in the building together for a fun activity, which builds community around positive school activities.

DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time is being run for grades K-12 and we had our first session today. My third grade reading class and I enjoyed our books curled up on the library carpet. The new Common Core Standards also have a big push for more sustained, independent reading time for students. Our bi-weekly DEAR time for the month of March is our first step towards meeting these new goals as a school.

Audiobook Review: Dystopia #1

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Crown, 2011) - audio (RandomHouse Audio, narrated by Wil Wheaton)

Read for: high school new book adventure and Dystopian February at Presenting Lenore

My rating: 5/5

It's 2044 and 18-year-old Wade is living in a United States that is past its prime. Poverty is rampant, overpopulation and war has damaged the earth and little is left to enjoy in the real world. Travel is prohibitively expensive for the majority, as are cars, school and decent housing. Wade, like many his age, finds comfort in the OASIS, a virtual reality system online where he attends school, engages in his only social interaction, and avoids the difficulties of living with his harsh aunt and her family. When the creator of the OASIS dies, Wade is pulled into the mystery of solving the riddle he leaves behind. James Halliday has created "an easter egg" within the OASIS and the person who finds it will inherit all his riches and control of the virtual world he created.

What follows is a wonderful romp through Halliday's favorite things from his formative years in the 1980s. Pop culture, video games of the time, 80s movies and more consume Wade's days as he tries to learn as much about Halliday as he can to uncover the clues to the riddle. Meanwhile, the Sixers, who work for a competing software company, are also in pursuit of the egg for the evil purpose of changing the OASIS and charging members a fee. In Wade's mind, this would take the only relief from daily drudgery away from those who are poor and immersed in the reality of the modern world.

Cline does an excellent job creating this future in steps, so that readers (and listeners) don't get lost in the lingo and the technology of his future world. The 1980s references are familiar to readers, providing structure to support the changes and new pieces of reality added to Wade's dystopia. Wheaton's narration makes the story - his pacing, voice and inflection make you feel as if Wade's character is actually telling the story, not that someone is reading you the book. Though I'm not into video games, I was completely captivated 30 minutes into this story. Cline's writing keeps you on the edge of your seat as you root for Wade to win the contest. Readers grades 10 and up, both male and female will love this book. The book is written for an adult audience and those craving a novel that grabs hold of you and keeps you reading will enjoy this one. Strangely stunning.

Friday with Joy and Love: Books about Africa

February break begins at 2:45 this afternoon. Whew.

In the meantime, we are gearing up for over a month of focus on reading when we return, starting on February 27th. It is PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) month for grades K-6, the entire K-12 school will participate in DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time, and the entire school will be focused on Africa in preparation for guest artists coming in at the end of the month.

The English teacher and I have collaborated to create a big incentive display of library books in her room for outside reading credit. Each book is labeled with the amount of points the student will get for reading it, along with the grade level it's appropriate for and a summary.

My faculty and staff library newsletter for March (finished early!) also highlights six titles about Africa that adults might want to read throughout the month (see below). I'm currently plowing through The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence by Martin Meredith. At 750 pages, it's been acting as a bookend on my "to-read" shelf for some time, but I'm happy to say the chapters are short, the information is clear and captivating, and Meredith has an excellent voice throughout. I'm learning a ton.

Anyone have recommendations of great titles, fiction or nonfiction, about Africa that we should read this month?

For adults:

- Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai

- Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

- The Challenge for Africa by Wangari Maathai
- We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch- Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo by Vanessa Woods

- A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to be a Woman by Lisa Shannon

Audiobook Review: Angel Literature

Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly (Candlewick Press, 2011 - Brilliance Audio)

Read for: High school new book adventure

My rating: 2/5 stars

Willow has always been on the outskirts of the high school social scene. In part because her mother is ill and she lives with her harsh and unloving aunt, in part because she fixes and knows about cars, and in part because she can see the future. It is this last quality that gets her into trouble when she does a reading for a fellow student, only to see an angel slowly draining the life of this girl. The girl refuses to believe Willow, however, and runs to tell the angel she met about the horrible things that Willow has reported.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Alex is hunting angels. He knows they are not out to help people, but rather to drain their life force. Trained from a young age to spot and eliminate angels, he is inexplicably drawn to Willow when sent to assassinate her, though she doesn't seem to be an angel at all. Willow and Alex are then forced into a trip across the country with one another, running for their lives from unknown forces. A predictable romantic drama follows, with the two at odds with one another until they fall in love amidst the battle scenes.

Cassandra Campbell, who narrates this book, has a breathy and dramatic voice that makes even the most mundane scene into a tragedy. Every aspect of the novel is over-narrated and over-wrought, making a story that is weak into an annoying and repetative tale for those listening to the audio version. Weatherly's descriptions and scenes are often cliche and by the middle of the novel I never wanted to hear another word about Willow's haunting green eyes. Though there is certainly an audience for this novel among teens looking for a paranormal romance story, it is best to avoid the audio version of this title. It's possible I would have been less annoyed if I had only been reading it.

Book Review: John Green's newest work of beauty

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton Books, 2012)

Read for: High school new book adventure

My Rating: 5/5 stars

I loved this book. But it also made me sob. My husband kept walking by yesterday, eyeing me warily, suggesting that I could put the book aside if it was making me that upset. Me: "No no, it's honestly a really good book (sniffle) and I want to finish it today (sniffle)."

That the book is sad is in no way a spoiler: the main characters are teenagers with cancer. Bound to be some sad moments in there.

Hazel is 16 and living with cancer. Her lungs don't work properly, so she pulls around a small oxygen tank. At her regular meeting with other teens living with cancer, she meets Augustus, a cancer survivor who has lost part of one leg to the disease. A tragic love story follows this meeting.

That description in no way sells the book, I know. What makes this novel is not the story itself, but the way Green tells the story. Hazel and Gus are both very intelligent teenagers who have spent time thinking about serious issues, dealing with serious issues, and not being real children in the normal sense. Green nails the dialogue and the way teens in these situations would behave. They don't like the cliche comfort and remarks that they hear over and over again because of their situation, so they are able to joke in ways that people not living with cancer would find difficult to understand. They joke with their friend Issac who has lost his eyes to cancer. Some of the moments are laugh out loud funny.

Gus falls in love with and shares his Wish (from the foundation that grants wishes to dying kids) with Hazel - the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam to meet her favorite author. The trip and their adventures highlight and celebrate life as they try to work out their unique relationship. Most of us don't sit around appreciating the fact that we can sit around enjoying life, and Green's characters push us to look at the world from Hazel and Gus's perspective.

Another aspect of Green's story that I loved was the relationship both Hazel and Gus had with their respective parents. They were supportive, close and showed love in a strong, wonderful way. Hazel is worried about what will happen after she dies to her parents and their relationship. Her mother is her best friend. And through the actions of her mother, it is clear why this relationship is so strong. Gus's parents are just as wonderful. Despite the dire circumstances, it is a relief to read a YA novel with good parents due to the rarity with which it exists in the genre.

And this is not just a YA novel. Adults and teens alike will enjoy and be challenged by this book. It is rich in humor, love, and deep thinking that pushes us to view the world differently and reflect on our own lives. Everyone should read this book.