Burqas, Baseball, and Apple Pie: Being Muslim in America

Ranya Tabari Idliby's name didn't ring a bell initially, but as soon as I began reading I was reintroduced to Idliby, one of the author's of The Faith Club: a Muslim, A Christian, a Jew - Three Women Search For Understanding.

I read The Faith Club when it was first published, as Idliby and these two other women worked together to learn more about the faiths that they have, and how they are similar in a post 9/11 world.  I learned some interesting things about their beliefs, and appreciated that these three ladies worked together to explore their beliefs, trying to remain honest and open to the feelings of others. 

Idliby's latest book, Burqas, Baseball and Apple Pie: Being Muslim in America was in my mind at least, a continuation of The Faith Club.  As a reader who was already familiar with the content she writes about, I was already familiar with Idliby's struggles as a Muslim American.  She does do a nice job of helping others understand her Muslim faith and also raises awareness of what it means to be Muslim and American - something she is helping her children with as they navigate this tricky identity. Although Muslims seem to spark hostility after 9/11, Idliby is a great advocate for Muslim Americans, and helps others see this group as people much like themselves.

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

Thanksgiving 2013 is already in the books. Yesterday my mom and in-laws came for lunch.  Afterward we put together a 500 piece puzzle together and watched The Watson's Go to Birmingham, a Hallmark movie based on Christopher Paul Curtis' Newbery honor winning novel.  

I shopped with my friend, Robin, just so we could say we were part of the Black Friday madness.  Most of my Christmas shopping is done - and most of it I did online after I returned home from our Target excursion.  

Today I had my hair cut and colored(the gray continues to peek through more and more), and then we had Thanksgiving at my mom's - all except my husband who did not have the day off.  

I have eaten a lot of food in the past two days. 

I have done a bit of reading as well.

Tomorrow we are going to UNI's home wrestling meet with friends. We also need to pack our kitchen up.  The screened in porch has been torn off, appliances have been purchased, cabinets have been ordered....I can't wait to see the finished product.  

Every year I look for new holiday books to share with students and my own girls.  This year Thanksgiving Day Thanks by Laura Malone Elliott, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger made its way into my collection from Harper Collins.

Sam tries to determine what he is thankful for. His classmates have lots of great ideas, but Sam think long and hard about what to choose. Eventually, he decides to create his own version of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which doesn't go off without a hitch. 

A Thanksgiving facts page and history of the first Thanksgiving are included at the back of the book, which offer ideas for discussion and extensions for parents to use at home or teachers at school.

 

I love both Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet and Sarah Gives Thanks by Mike Allegra, but have noticed that both of these books are a bit too detailed for my kindergarten and first grade readers.  Thanksgiving Day Thanks is a perfect selection for this lower elementary age range.  It introduced many customs and traditions of the holiday, allowed us to talk about the Macy's Day parade and watch a small clip from youtube, and learn about Squanto.  

I'll be picking this one up again next year to share with my students, although my own girls will no doubt ask to hear this story long before then.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick: The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit
Due out: February 25, 2014

Product Information taken from Amazon:
Their average age was twenty-five. They came from Berkeley, Cambridge, Paris, London, Chicago—and arrived in New Mexico ready for adventure, or at least resigned to it. But hope quickly turned to hardship as they were forced to adapt to a rugged military town where everything was a secret, including what their husbands were doing at the lab. They lived in barely finished houses with P.O. box addresses in a town wreathed with barbed wire, all for the benefit of a project that didn’t exist as far as the public knew. Though they were strangers, they joined together—adapting to a landscape as fierce as it was absorbing, full of the banalities of everyday life and the drama of scientific discovery. 

And while the bomb was being invented, babies were born, friendships were forged, children grew up, and Los Alamos gradually transformed from an abandoned school on a hill into a real community: one that was strained by the words they couldn’t say out loud, the letters they couldn’t send home, the freedom they didn’t have. But the end of the war would bring even bigger challenges to the people of Los Alamos, as the scientists and their families struggled with the burden of their contribution to the most destructive force in the history of mankind.

The Wives of Los Alamos is a novel that sheds light onto one of the strangest and most monumental research projects in modern history. It's a testament to a remarkable group of women who carved out a life for themselves, in spite of the chaos of the war and the shroud of intense secrecy.

Sizzle

Linda Delgado is Hispanic girl living with her aunt Elba and helping her aunt run her restaurant. All this changes suddenly when Elba begins to have health problems.  Elba arranges for Linda to move from her Arizona home to Pittsburgh with a cousin that already has a large family.  Linda's love of cooking healthy foods is challenged when her new "mom" Pat makes food only from cans.  Pat is the star of a local cooking show and she and Linda have very different opinions about what makes food tasty. Linda faces other issues as well - being in a new family with a step-sister who isn't nice to her, and being interested in a boy from school.

I appreciate that Sizzle is a novel that presents some real problems in a way that is not too preachy. The novel has nothing inappropriate in it, either, so even though Linda is a teenager, younger readers could easily enjoy this book.  The storyline is fairly predictable, which bothered me at times as an adult reader, but is something that tween readers will no doubt overlook. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

Dot.

Randi Zuckerberg's Dot, a picture book about a girl by that same name is delightful - covering a topic my own children need to think about themselves.

Dot knows a lot. She spends most of her time with technology communicating with others and learning lots of stuff. Yet, Dot needs a reminder to spend time outside, to communicate with people face to face and not virtually. 

Young readers will understand the message as will older ones and this is a book that kids of all ages can enjoy. By the end of the story Dot knows even more than when the book began.

Sunday Salon

Today we had baptism for my new niece, Nola.  I am a godparent along with my sister (who couldn't make it for the service because she was scheduled to work), and my sister-in-law's sister.  We had a tasty brunch after church.

My girls (Big Sister holding Nola) and their cousins

Later in the day we headed to a local production of Junie B. Jones, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells.  We know three people in the cast, and enjoyed it greatly. I had already seen it on Wednesday with some students from school because one of our students (Jose, below) played the part of Jose.  

I have been reading Amy Tan's new book, The Valley of Amazement all weekend.  I'm still not done - it's 580 pages- but I am really enjoying it.  

Right now I am baking a sweet potato, corn, black bean and avocado recipe to be served on tortillas.  After that gets done I am planning on running for a bit on the treadmill. I've been doing a lot of eating lately, and not so much exercising.  Definitely not how I should be heading into the holiday season.

No construction/destruction yet on our kitchen project. We did hear that perhaps they would start last Friday at the earliest.  So, the time should come soon.  I am trying to use up some food that we have, but still bought groceries today since we do have to eat this week. 

It's starting to feel like winter here, too. Just 21 degrees today for a high.  The humid 95 degree weather can come right on back. I love it that way!  Sadly, this is only November, so we have several months to endure before any heatwave will be occurring.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving week planned - simply watching television and reading sound like fine activities to me.

Flora and Ulysses

I love Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, but I will admit that I don't go gaga over her work.  I am mostly a realistic fiction type of person, so her books that have a bit of magical realism don't do much for me.  Yet, I still read her work and recognize it for its writing and the audience she attracts.

Flora is a girl, Ulysses a squirrel, and the two form a friendship of sorts.  I'm simplifying quite a bit, but that would be the general premise of the story.  Ulysses has some unusual talents all because of an accident with a vacuum.  As he and Flora develop a friendship, they are confronted with people who don't understand how she could be attached to a squirrel and can't see Ulysses' exceptional abilities.

DiCamillo's characters are quirky and fun.  Flora at ten is a wonderfully unique girl. Yet, the vocabulary in this book is for a much older audience (I assure you that my children do not know the meaning of the word malfeasance which was used several times, along with a slew of other little used words).  As a read aloud this would be great and I can see teachers and parents enjoying the story with their children.

Flora and Ulysses will definitely have an audience, yet I am still awaiting a book that follows in Because of Winn Dixie's footsteps. 

November 22, 1963- Fifty Years Later

I wasn't alive yet in 1963, but my parents were both finishing up high school and could tell me where they were when they found out that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. I've read many books about Kennedy and am always on the lookout for another biography on this influential president.

Today, the fiftieth anniversary of his assassination, is marked around the world.  There are also a large number of books being published to mark this event.  

Two new books I am adding to my school library collection for my students I have already read here at home:

 There are tons of books for adults that are just coming out now as well, which means my TBR piles just grow higher!

Reading Counts - Not Really

We had conferences for Big, Middle and Little Sister a few days ago. They received glowing reports from their teachers.  However, Big Sister is in Middle School now. We are meeting new teachers and learning new expectations.  One of them is Reading Counts, which in my mind is Scholastic's answer to Accelerated Reader.

And I hate Accelerated Reader.  I think it is a fine program for some students, but not all. I would not have enjoyed it one little bit.  Big Sister did a fine job in the first trimester. But the expectations are getting tougher. She only will get points if she reads IN HER LEXILE LEVEL.  Well, guess what? Her lexile level is really high.  She has a lot of nothing to choose from.  

The good news is that her teacher was very nice.  The bad news is that when Big Sister went to school after conferences and inquired about reading a book that is below her lexile she was told it wouldn't count.  

For anyone not understanding lexile and AR levels and how they are derived:  these levels are derived only from the number of syllables in a hundred word passage and the number of sentences. There is some mathematical formula that then shows the level of a book.  It does not take into account the book's content. 

So, Big Sister could have read The Giver by Lois Lowry in second grade.  Eighth graders read it in our district.  Now it is too far below her lexile level to count it, yet I contend the content is something that needs to be taken into account and is not appropriate for young but proficient readers.  

ARGH!  I think her teacher and I have worked things out, but the whole experience makes me dislike Reading Counts just as much as I dislike AR.  

Do your schools incorporate programs like these?  What are your thoughts?

I want my children to love to read, to read widely, to read for pleasure, and to be lifelong readers.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick:  Gemini by Carol Cassella 
Due out: March 4, 2014

Product Description taken from Amazon:

A captivating medical mystery wrapped in a contemporary love story—from a practicing MD whose novels are “just what the doctor ordered” (People).

Across the Puget Sound in a rural hospital on the Olympic Peninsula an unidentified patient lies unconscious, the victim of a hit and run. In Seattle, ICU doctor Charlotte Reese receives a call: Jane Doe will be transferred to her care. But when the patient arrives—with only tubes keeping her alive—Charlotte has to dig through x-rays and MRIs to determine what went wrong on the operating table. Jane Doe’s condition is getting worse each day, and Charlotte finds herself becoming increasingly consumed by her patient’s plight—both medical and personal.

Who is this woman? Why will no one claim her? Who should decide her fate if she never regains consciousness? As a doctor and a woman, Charlotte is forced to confront these issues head on—especially when her boyfriend Eric, a science journalist, becomes involved in the case. But the closer Charlotte and Eric get to the truth, the more their relationship is put to the test. The key to unlocking Jane Doe’s secret is opening their hearts to their own feelings about life and death, love and marriage…and each other.

Filled with intricate medical detail and set in the breathtaking Pacific Northwest, Gemini is a vivid novel of moral complexity and emotional depth from the bestselling author of Oxygen and Healer.

Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an American Small Town

Working in a school with a large immigrant population, I have become very interested in our families that move to the United States looking for a better life for themselves and their children.  I am amazed at all they endure and the risks they take in coming to this country.  And, I am aware that some of them are illegal.

Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in and All-American Town by Mirta Ojito is an up-close look at one man, Marcelo Lucero, an immigrant from Ecuador who was killed by a group of teenagers, out looking for an evening of nothing more than a Hispanic immigrant to hurt. Although Lucero's death was not premeditated, this young man who worked hard and sent money back to Ecuadro for his family, was stabbed and died. 

Ojito introduces us to Lucero, his family, and the teenagers who participated in this hate crime. We also get a good picture of Patchogue, Long Island, a small safe town - at least to most people.  The mayor of Patchogue is told about the fears that the immigrant population had and how they limited their activities after dark so as not to attract the attention of those looking to harm them.

Although this is a story of Lucero and the town of Patchogue, the events in this town speak to a bigger problem- that of hatred toward immigrants looking to make a better life by a group of people descended from immigrants themselves. Ojito shares data and research she has done about immigrants and crimes against them, providing an in depth look at a problem not unique to this one man or this one town.

A Light in the Ruins

Oprah introduced me to Chris Bohjalian's work when she selected Midwives as one of her book club picks. I have read everything that he has written since then, and finally found time to get into his latest book, A Light in the Ruins. 

A Light in the Ruins is a story that moves from 1943 to 1955, as a murder is investigated.  Francesca Rosati's body is discovered, her heart having been wrenched out of it.  At first it appears a random crime; Francesca is alone in the world, having lost her husband and children during World War II.  The killer narrates chapters of the story intermittently, allowing readers to realize that Francesca's murder was no accident, that in fact that Rosati family is being targeted.

Serafina is the investigator of this case, a woman who has suffered greatly herself during the war.  She has many secrets she keeps and as she hunts down the murderer, she must look at her own past.

Bohjalian expertly weaves these two time periods and stories together, linking them in a way that seems almost unbelievable, yet entirely possible.  The history in this novel brings to light a different viewpoint of World War II as the setting is in Italy.

I'm searching for someone who has read A Light in the Ruins because there is some ambiguity in the ending - at least for me. I would love to hear what other people think.

After finishing this book, I am ready once again for another by this author.  A Light in the Ruins was entertaining and hard to put down, another great book by a favorite author.

Sunday Salon

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting at school as my girls finish up their projects I've assigned them. They are getting to the age where they are actually helpful to me when I go to school over the weekends to work.  I remember dragging Big Sister to school a few times when she was much younger and having to clean up a lot of her mess before getting to leave.  I was never sure if the small amount of work I accomplished was worth going in to work.

This has been a rainy weekend.  For November in Iowa rain is preferable to snow, but I am already wishing for warm weather.  I've had a little time to read this weekend, although I worked at school yesterday as well. My school has been termed Persistently Low Achieving by the government. This is our third year with this status, and I am on a committee to help select books for classroom libraries.  

I am anxiously awaiting our kitchen remodel to begin.  Although I am ready to have a new kitchen, I am also a little worried about packing everything up and having nowhere to cook or eat for a month.  I rarely remember to use my camera and chronicle events in our lives, but I am going to try and take pictures as the project unfolds.

The weeks ahead look busy with basketball and volleyball practices, piano lessons, and concerts.  Tomorrow are conferences for the girls and my husband begins wrestling practice.  

The TBR piles keep growing and sadly I am having to return many books to the library without having a chance to crack them open.  I'm hoping for a little free time later today so I can curl up with a good book, as well as some time for me to write some blogs that will be queued up for the week.

Cartwheel

Cartwheel is a book that I've been seeing quite a bit about on the internet.  Jennifer Dubois' novel is an entertaining and suspenseful story with some similarities to the Amanda Knox murder trial.  

Lily has been accused of murdering her roommate, Katy, as the two live abroad in Argentina with a host family.  Lily is the oldest living daughter in her family, a fact that has shaped her.  Her older sister died before she was born, leaving her parents grieving, and indulgent of their other children. Lily is not a likable character, yet when she stands accused of killing Katy, I found myself rooting for her.

Lily also becomes involved with their neighbor, Sebastian.  He is also spoiled and rich, and alone as his parents have both died.  When Katy is found murdered, the police believe it is because of a love triangle between the three young people.

I was glad that I only knew of the Amanda Knox case and had not followed it closely so that this book was a complete surprise, except for the general premise - that there were two girls studying abroad, and one was murdered. 

There is a good deal of suspense in this book as chapters move back and forth in time and are told in Lily's perspective and that of other characters.  I marveled at the vocabulary DuBois used - although I could read the novel and understand it, there is a huge number of strange and interesting words she uses.

The end of Cartwheel was not as strong as the rest of the novel.  I found myself wanting more, and was a bit disappointed in the ending.  However, Cartwheel is a great psychological study of characters and their motives. I'll be looking for more work by DuBois in the future.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick: The Secret of Raven Point by Jennifer Vanderbes
Due out: February 4, 2014

Product Description taken from Amazon:
From the award-winning writer of Easter Island (hailed by People magazine as a “rich and worldly first novel”), comes a powerful story of love, loss, and redemption amidst the ruins of war-torn Italy.

1943: When seventeen-year-old Juliet Dufresne receives a cryptic letter from her enlisted older brother pleading for help, and then finds out he’s been reported missing overseas, she lies about her age and volunteers as an army nurse to find him. Shy and awkward, Juliet is thrust into the bloody chaos of a field hospital, living in a sprawling encampment north of Rome where she forges new friendships with her fellow nurses and is increasingly consumed by the plight of her patients. One in particular, Christopher Barnaby, a deserter awaiting court martial, may hold the answer to her brother’s fate—but the trauma of war has left him unable to speak. Racing against the clock, Juliet works with an enigmatic young psychiatrist, Henry Willard, to heal Barnaby’s psychic wound before the authorities take him away and any clues as to her brother’s fate are forever lost. Plunged into the horrifying depths of one man’s combat memories, Juliet and Willard are forced to plumb the moral nuances of a so-called just war, and to face the dangers of their own deepening connection.

Reminiscent of Pat Barker’s Regeneration, The Secret of Raven Point is a war saga capturing the experiences of soldiers after the battles have ended. And as few novels have done, it depicts the ravages of war through the eyes of a young woman.

In luminous prose, Vanderbes tells the story of one girl’s fierce determination to find her brother as she comes of age in a time of unrelenting violence. The Secret of Raven Point is historical fiction at its best: haunting, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting.

The Spymistress

Jennifer Chiaverini's newest novel, The Spymistress, is a fascinating historical fiction novel.  I loved Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, and was excited to see that Chiaverini was revisiting this time period again, but from the perspective of another Civil War figure. Elizabeth Van Lew is a name that is new to me, but I was engrossed in the story of how she was able to help the Union while living in a  Confederate state. 

This is a fictional account, beginning with Van Lew's support of Abraham Lincoln prior to the secession of states.  When war breaks out, Van Lew sets about to find a way to still support the United States.  However, she must be extremely careful, since being discovered could result in her own demise.  Visiting Union prisoners of war and administering some nursing to them, providing food to these soldiers who were given very little to eat, and even assisting some soldiers escape to the North were all ways that Van Lew found to help the North's cause.  She was shrewd in her dealings with Confederate soldiers who controlled her ability to visit Union soldiers, and tried to befriend them in order for them to see her as an ally.  

Van Lew's own family had freed their slaves long before the War began, but they continued to live and work for the Van Lew family who treated them well, and cared for them. 

This is a fascinating look at a lesser known figure in the Civil War.  Chiaverini has researched her time period and character in great depth, and I found myself getting so into this era, that I'm looking for other Civil War books to read.

Visit Smithsonian's website to learn more about Elizabeth Van Lew.

Men We Reaped

Jesmyn Ward's memoir, Men We Reaped is beautifully written.  It also deals with tragedy - a lot of it.  In the span of just a few years in Ward's life, she has lost five men close to her.  

Ward, an African American, writes about the plight of the black man, something she has witnessed firsthand in her own family and with her friends.  Ward has constructed her memoir by moving back and forth - writing chapters on her childhood and alternating them with chapters about the men she has loved and lost.  Ward begins with her most recent loss, and works backwards to the death of her beloved brother. 

Although my own life experiences are far removed from Ward's, I can see many of my students in the young men that Ward writes about - the young men who are in the wrong place at the wrong time, who find themselves making poor decisions to earn money quickly, who drop out of school before they finish.  The men Ward writes of are victims of poverty, their lives cut tragically short for a variety of reasons - suicide, drugs, accidents - the many traps that people living in poverty fall into.

Ward helps bring a face to the statistics we often hear quoted in the news about black men.  She is able to show their humanity - their hopes and dreams, and the fact that they are loved by their friends and families, and now missed by them as well. 

The beauty of her writing makes this memoir all the more heartbreaking.There aren't many books I think I would like to re-read, but Men We Reaped is one I would happily sit down with again, just to be able to appreciate the writing and the story again.

Sunday Salon

I spent the morning at church and the afternoon working at school. It is supper already and I have resorted to an old go-to Weight Watchers recipe.  

Tex Mex Rice Casserole

2 cups rice (already cooked)
1 can corn, drained
2 cups cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can diced green chilies
1 can pinto beans

Mix all ingredients together.  Place in 8x8 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

In case you couldn't tell, this isn't so much of a Weight Watchers recipe since I didn't add the no fat sour cream or the weight watchers cheese, but it is tasty.  And it goes great with corn bread muffins.

The most exciting news of the week is that I have a new niece.  Nola Caroline arrived on Thursday and we have already seen her twice.  The girls love holding her...there's just something wonderful about holding a newborn.

My reading has been slow since I hosted a sleepover on Friday night and the rest of the weekend was fairly booked up. Middle Sister starts volleyball and basketball this week. This involved an all day shopping excursion yesterday to look for basketball shoes.  It was painful....seven stores later we found one pair of size 2 girls basketball shoes- the only pair left in the store.  Aside from shoe shopping we also had to get groceries and stopped off to watch a student in a brief performance at Barnes and Noble of a Junie B. Jones play he will be in later this month at our children's theater.  

We've had a brief break from sports practices, but this week we are getting back into the swing of things with basketball and volleyball.  My husband starts wrestling practice in a few weeks, too.  I started Cartwheel by Jennifer Dubois and am loving it- just wishing I had more time to sit and read.

Sleepover Fun

Middle Sister is finally celebrating her birthday with friends.  (With three fall birthdays it is hard to fit everything in.  Big Sister is still patiently waiting for a birthday party).  The girls went swimming, ate pizza, played Truth or Dare and stayed up way too late. I am guessing some children will need naps later today.  We also had a little blood and a little vomit....which will make the party memorable at the very least.  

The rest of the weekend might not be nearly as exciting- cooking, cleaning, reading, school work.....

After Her

Joyce Maynard's latest novel, After Her, is a great addition to the women's fiction genre.

In the summer of 1979, Rachel and her sister Patty, are growing up in Marin County, California.  A serial killer is on the loose and as the number of victims rises, Rachel is sure she can see what the killer is thinking and planning.  At first the serial killer brings Rachel a bit of notoriety: her father is the lead detective on the case. (A handsome man, he and the girls' mother are divorced. Aside from his work, he spends most of his time romancing women, the reason for the breakdown of his marriage). 

As more young women are murdered, the instant popularity that Rachel experiences diminishes. People begin blaming her father for the fact that he is unable to bring a killer to justice. 

Rachel writes this as she looks back in her adulthood, and there are some things that are revealed at the novel's beginning that gave me some peace of mind as a reader.  Maynard is still able to bring suspense to this story as she weaves Rachel's story around the summer of the serial killer.  

As the story ends, Maynard is able to wrap things up in a believable way, still allowing for a bit of mystery up until the last page. I've read a few books by Maynard, and am always happily surprised by how easily I fall into her books and enjoy the characters she creates.

A Few Non-Fiction Selections

I've added a few wonderful non-fiction selections to my own bookshelves in the past few weeks. These three titles have been loved by my daughters already, and there have even been a few fights and tears over them as they try and decide who will get to read each one and who will get to have it on their bookshelves in their bedrooms.

I don't think I've ever seen a DK book I didn't like - the photography is always amazing!  The Animal Book: a Visual Encyclopedia of Life on Earth by DK and Smithsonian, and is a great new reference book that anyone could look at for hours.  For my animal lover daughter, this is a book she has added to her backpack and lugged back and forth to school for several days despite the weight of it.  The animals are grouped by type with photographs showing them in proportion to one another.  Small snippets of information about each living creature accompany the photographs. The short text is appealing because it is not overwhelming in length and provides a bit more information on each animal.

DK Smithsonian's Knowledge Encyclopedia is a book full of a vast amount of information on a wide range of different topics. Marketed to upper elementary - high school students, as an adult, I could find plenty of opportunity to crack this book open and read about a random topic.  The six sections this book covers are space, earth, nature, human body, science, and history, with many detailed cut-away illustrations in each section.  
Although the internet seems to be the go-to preference when needing to find information, The Knowledge Encyclopedia is a book that provides in-depth information in an easily readable and accessible way.  This would be a great gift for any child, and is a wonderful addition to our family library that has already been utilized a few times in the short span of time we have owned it.

Lonely Planet is a publishing house that I have come to love.  I have added many of their titles to my school library and am excited to see the latest book, Not-For-Parents: The Real Wonders of the World: Amazing Stuff to Know about the Coolest Places on the Planet is full of great color photographs along with short snippets of information.  The various wonders of the world in this Lonely Planet book are almost all entirely new to me and interesting enough to catch almost any reader's eye.  This book should appeal to any reluctant reader, and is something that can be read in small snippets. This would make a great gift for any boy or girl this holiday season.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick: Mimi Malloy At Last by Julia MacDonnell
Due out: April 2014

Product Description taken from Amazon:

A FUNNY, DEEPLY MOVING STORY OF SECOND CHANCES AND LATE-LIFE ROMANCES, TOLD BY THE MOST STRAIGHT-TALKING WOMAN YOU’LL EVER MEET.

Forced into an early retirement at the age of sixty-something, Mimi Malloy enjoys the simple things in life: True Blue cigarettes, her apartment in the heart of Quincy, and an evening with Frank Sinatra on the stereo and a Manhattan in her hand. Born into an Irish Catholic brood of seven, with six beautiful daughters of her own, she knows that life isn’t just a bowl of cherries—that, sometimes, it’s the pits. And when an MRI reveals that Mimi’s brain is filled with black spots—areas of atrophy, her doctor says—the prospect living out her days in an “Old Timer’s facility” starts to look like more than just an idea at the top of her eldest daughter’s to-do list.

Yet as Mimi prepares to take a stand, she stumbles upon an old pendant, and her memory starts to return—specifically, recollections of a shockingly painful childhood, her long-lost sister Fagan, and the wicked stepmother she swore to forget. By turns funny, wise, and whimsical, and always deeply moving, Mimi Malloy At Last is an unforgettable story of second chances and the family bonds that break us and remake us. Above all, it’s a poignant reminder that it’s never too late to fall in love—and that one can always come of age a second time.

Bitter River

I'm so happy to have read the second mystery in Julia Keller's mystery series. In the first book, A Killing in the Hills, Keller introduces us to Belfa Elkins, the prosecuting attorney for Ackers Gap, West Virginia, her hometown. 

Bell is back in Bitter River, now living by herself as her daughter Carla has moved to Washington, D.C. to live with her father, after nearly being killed.  Life appears tranquil in Acker's Gap at book's beginning, but the discovery of a promising teenage girl's body in a car in the Bitter River begins an investigation into her death.

Bell also welcomes an old friend, Matt Harliss, to Acker's Gap. Matt, recently back from a CIA posting in Afghanistan is ready to relax in the West Virginia mountains and unwind.

There's no relaxation for Bell, however, who is investigating the mysterious death.  When a random shot is fired into the courthouse and no culprit found there is a bit more mystery to be investigated.  But before Bell can even begin to get a handle on this, a devastating explosion rips through Acker's Gap, leaving many people dead.  

Bitter River is an excellent follow-up to A Killing in the Hills.  Keller has left readers hanging at book's end again, which has me already getting anxious for the third book in this series. Anyone who loves Julia Spencer Fleming's mystery series or those written by Linda Castillo or Julie Kramer should dig right in to these books.

Getting My Medical Degree

I have never entertained for even an instant the idea of becoming a doctor. When you pass out at the sight of blood - and have had that tendency since the age of two- working in the medical field is almost a joke.  But then our oldest daughter had cancer.  And suddenly, I had to learn a lot about medicine and chemotherapy and everything I never wanted to know about.  

So, now, eight years later, some of that intense education I had in all things medical has slipped away, but some of it remains.  I am still a cancer mom.

On Thursday last week I had to take Big Sister for a check-up with an endocrinologist.  Her TSH levels were high on two separate blood tests and we were referred on from her oncologist.  The thyroid issue is a very manageable one, but something that we need to be vigilant about.  And I felt like I was in medical school all over again.  I know a lot about pediatric oncology. And I know a lot about the liver.  But the thyroid?  Not a clue. Except now I feel like I should try to educate myself a little.  I have the basic understanding of the thyroid and the many things it controls, yet TSH levels are something entirely new to me.  I was able to ask a lot of questions and even though I am not nearly as well versed on the thyroid as I need to be, I am learning quickly.

In that time, we determined that the TSH level that was high this past June, had lowered to nearly within the normal range.  The x-ray of her hand which shows the age of her bones, determined that her bones are only 6-9 months younger than her actual age.  Although her growth is not in huge bursts, she is growing.  And, her projected height as an adult is 5'0'' - 5'1".

Our only plan is to wait and come back for a follow-up visit.  In the meantime, I have a while to learn more about the thyroid.  Big Sister is happy to not have to return any time soon.  She sports a nice bruise on her arm where blood was drawn, and a new pair of jeans for her discomfort.

Sunday Salon

I am so enjoying the extra hour of sleep we were able to get last night as we set our clocks back an hour.  While it didn't exactly allow me to sleep an extra hour, that and the fact that we have not been running around this weekend like we have had to the last several, has made the past two days seem rather relaxing.

We have already begun Christmas program practice at church today, which seems a bit incredible.  Today is also my nephew, Jaymes' 3rd birthday. Although the temperatures outside aren't too cold yet, it truly seems like a November day.  I made a batch of beef stew last night, and have veggies cooking in the oven for later.  I am trying to get a few things made up for the week so that I have some healthy options to take for lunch.

On Friday Big Sister and I shopped at an outlet mall in the evening.  My "I don't need anything" speech I was reciting to myself quickly went out the window when I saw the great "deals" there.  So, I have spent a bit of time boxing up my shorts and capris and getting out my cords for the season.  As of Friday I have added a pair of purple velveteen pants to my winter collection.  They are a bit noticeable, so I am sure that when I wear them the first time, the fact that I made a purchase will be noted.

I would like nothing better than to sit around and finish up Jesmyn Ward's memoir, Men We Reaped. I am loving it, and hopefully will have a review to share with you later this week.

Middle Sister on TV

Middle Sister was able to be a part of the 4th grade performance of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree at the elementary assembly last week.  She even made the news!  Click on the link to watch Middle Sister as The Giving Tree.

Caring for Kylee

This Song Will Save Your Life

Elise struggle with making friends, never feeling like she fits in. She is picked on by girls at school, and after a botched suicide attempt on her part, endures even more harassment, this time on-line.

Yet, when she comes across a warehouse party late one night as she walks around town (a solitary ritual that she enjoys), Elise is transformed from someone everyone bullies, into a DJ with talent.  Elise finally has a feeling of belonging, and even of first love.  Yet, the girls she goes to school with are out to destroy her, continuing to post things on a blog they created from Elise's perspective.

Although Elise's troubles may have been a bit extreme, I remember from my own high school days the trauma of finding a friend to sit with in the lunch room, and a group to call my own.  Sales has nailed it with her ability to convey what it feels like to want to fit in, and the thrill of finding your niche.