![]() And then, when one of the Mean Bees-Sonali-finally left their group because she was tired of their mean pranks, Tara had been furious at me and accused me of stealing Sonali. She and two other girls, sometimes called the Queen Bees and sometimes called the Mean Bees, had played tricks on me and on Gwen, another fourth-grader who had plenty of troubles of her own. Beck’s class the day before Valentine’s Day, Tara had been unfriendly. From the moment I’d arrived as a new student in Mr. In a flash, the second half of fourth grade played over in my head. Petite and with flashing eyes, Tara wore her usual nothing-can-stop-me attitude. “But it looks really great on you!” Tara nodded at my reflection. It was Tara James-the biggest bully in last year’s fourth-grade class. I didn’t turn around, but I glanced at the reflection behind my own. The voice sent a twinge from the ends of my hair to the tips of my toes. ![]() “Hey, I tried on that outfit and it looked awful.” ![]() ![]() In front of a three-panel mirror, I turned this way and that. Tryouts for the Edgewater Swim Club were on Monday-only two days away-and I wanted to keep practicing my dives from our swim raft.Īs music blared overhead, I pulled on another outfit and then stepped out of the dressing room. Though I usually love shopping with Mom for back-to-school clothes, all I wanted to do this Saturday morning was to get back to the lake. For my daughter, Kate, who continues to inspire and teach me ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() For example, did you know that Mangos and Cashews are of the same family, and that they are of the same order as Maples and Citrus? And check out the markings on the Blue-Ringed Octopus!Įven though I did not read every word (who could?!) I did spend a full moment, at least, on every page, and so I am counting it as 'read.' ![]() For example, I learned from this that pandas are, after all, sufficiently akin to black, brown, and polar bears to be called 'panda bears.' (Of course, the incorrectness of 'koala bears' stands.) Too often scientific information has been presented as established fact this book reminds the reader that scientists are constantly working towards better understandings. I really appreciate the 'debate' boxes that emphasize the concept of 'science as a verb,' so to speak. Also, the blurbs are random: some mention only color, some only habitat, some only prevalence, etc. Books like Actual Size are necessary, for example, because even though a size note is given for each critter, adjacent examples are not at all to scale. ![]() It definitely does not stand alone, however, as each entry is so very brief. Children and autodidacts (like me) can readily zoom in on the notes about the most interesting-looking samples, discover that there's not enough information there, and then go to the internet to learn more. The page-by-page organization reveals so much about our world that bouncing around on the Web would not. Even in this day of internet-(almost) everywhere, books like this are valuable. ![]() ![]() ![]() He is currently planning a team circumnavigation around Iceland in the summer of 2003. In 2000 Duff completed the second ever, 1700 mile solo paddle around New Zealand�s South Island.His book �Southern Exposure� will be published in March 2003. ![]() With the completion of the Irish expedition in 1996, he is the only person to have soloed the entire British Isles. In 1986 he became the first person to solo circumnavigate England, Wales and Scotland. Chris Duff has travelled over 15,000 miles by sea kayak since 1983 when hepaddled 8,000 miles around the eastern third of the US and Canada. ![]() ![]() The statement, “We all know something’s wrong”, is the first sentence he wrote in the book. ![]() The things that he was talking about in the book were things we had been feeling and discussing for quite some time. I found myself stopping after every other paragraph just to share a great passage with my sister. “Crazy Love” by author, Francis Chan, sparked something in me and I just couldn’t put it down. Well let’s just say, I’ve yet to finish the other books…. So I planned to attempt to finish the ones I was currently reading and then start on this one. But I’m the type of person that has a really bad habit of reading at least three books at one time and not finishing a one. I received this book as a Christmas gift this year and was so excited to read it I had heard so many great things about Chan’s book since its release in 2008. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.” ![]() The God of the universe – the creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor – loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. ![]() ![]() survive the Hall's legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day? ![]() After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood and Co., a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. ![]() Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see - and eradicate - these supernatural foes. ![]() A sinister problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren't exactly friendly. ![]() ![]() ![]() And he’s stuck in this shit school teaching the same shit history over and over again. “You have all this potential, you know? Like your whole life in front of you. She did have great hair, though-a shoo-in for best in school, when yearbook time came around-long and latte brown, the same smooth, glossy texture as a basketball jersey. Peter had never understood why she did that maybe she’d seen it in a shampoo commercial or something. ” She flipped her hair to one side of her head, then back again. They’d already been talking about this for fifteen minutes, which, in Peter’s experience, was about fourteen minutes longer than his girlfriend liked to talk about any serious subject. He’d been staring vacantly at the sky, replaying his brief conversation with Mr. ![]() “IT’S NOT THE END OF the world,” Stacy said. ![]() ![]() But, now the new ruler of Ark, Amelia, plans to wipe out all language. She believes that humans should be free to express how they feel without repercussions. ![]() Words that they have never known as they only knew 500 words known as List. ![]() Letta is the main character who teaches others, children and adults, words. Since I do not have any knowledge of the first book, I can just assume that the first book focused more on the escape from Ark as this book focuses more on resolving the issues within Ark. Letta and the other rebels must find a way to defeat the evil for good before they lose the very thing that will set them free.Įven though I did not read the first book The List (after I requested I found out this was the second book-oops), I think this was an enticing dystopian read. But when Letta became the Wordsmith, the keeper of all the words that have ever existed-she learned that being able to express yourself is what makes you human.Īnd now, the new ruler has wicked plans to eliminate language once and for all: If a baby never hears a single word, they will never speak. ![]() Before the rebellion, everyone could only speak List, a language of just 500 words. Words hold power-and Letta wields them fiercely in this conclusion to the ALA Notable book The List. ![]() ![]() ![]() By attempting to name secrets and lies he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, he asks us to confront the terrifying possibility that few in this nation actually know how to responsibly love, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free. Heavy is a “gorgeous, gutting…generous” ( The New York Times) memoir that combines personal stories with piercing intellect to reflect both on the strife of American society and on Laymon’s experiences with abuse. From his early experiences of sexual violence, to his suspension from college, to time in New York as a college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing, and ultimately gambling. In Heavy, Laymon writes eloquently and honestly about growing up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. ![]() ![]() Nor does he sufficiently appreciate her helpful 2004 book I'm Not Slowing Down: Winning My Battle With Osteoporosis, alerting women to the bone disease that afflicted both her grandmothers, her mom and herself. ![]() Having covered her when it was on my beat at The Dallas Morning News, I don't think Reid sufficiently emphasizes the role Richards played as cheerleader for the Texas film and music business. ![]() Previously unpublished, the tender, jokey correspondence between rowdy Richards and the renowned writer, whose life she anchored for 17 years, were found in her archive at UT and Shrake’s in the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University in San Marcos. So it’s touching to read the funny, affectionate notes that she and Shrake, the great love of her life after that, exchanged when apart. Jan Reid Let The People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards Audio CD Unabridged, Januby Jan Reid (Author), Coleen Marlo (Reader) 118 ratings See all formats and editions Kindle 13.49 Read with Our Free App Audiobook 0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover 20.88 Other new, used and collectible from 2. Author Jan Reid’s comprehensive book, Let the People In, published by The University of Texas Press, tells a personal story about the former Texas governor. The hardest thing she ever did, harder than recovery, Richards said, was her 1984 divorce. ![]() Mary’s Chemical Dependency Services facility at the Riverside Medical Center in Minneapolis and began the hard work of recovery. Hours later, a terrified but willing Richards, then 47, boarded a flight to St. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() While Grandma Judy drifts between past and present in her mind, she drops tantalizing clues about a secret identity. A chance encounter with an elderly resident in a nursing home who pilfers Avery’s dragonfly bracelet ultimately leads Avery to explore her grandmother’s life in a new light. Despite their close emotional ties, she feels as though her grandmother is slipping away from her. ![]() In addition to her father’s considerable health challenges, Avery is lamenting her Grandma Judy’s advancing dementia. Family takes precedence even over work and time spent with her fiancé, Elliot. Her father’s recent cancer diagnosis has her on edge, and she is trying to sort out what matters most to her. From there, we go on to present day to meet brisk and efficient Avery, daughter of a powerful senator, whose life is on track to marry the right man and have a high-profile law career. The book begins on a note of ambiguity, with an unspecified voice narrating a scene that they admit is only a guess, a wistful imagining. ![]() |