September 13 - 19

We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
I have been wanting to read this since my professor read aloud the first few pages in a class in Spring of 2014. It caught my attention immediately with the mindless destruction, and the mysterious character of The Avenger. I needed to know more. I finally got my hands on a copy and devoured it within just a few days. Just a page beyond where my professor had stopped, I was torn from the book into a far darker side of the story than I expected when I learned that not only was the house despoiled, but the youngest daughter of the family as well. Raped and in a coma. I thought that was dark, but then to discover that The Avenger is more properly titled The Murderer was a blow to the head. This book was just remarkably good. I'm going to remember this for a long time, and will definitely have this book in my future classroom if I'm able.

Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon
I love the idea of blackout poetry and I always have. It makes me feel like I could make interesting poetry, although reading some of the ones that this guy came up with make me feel inadequate already. They were really funny! I don't know how he manages it. If I ever am able to get newspapers regularly I'll start doing this for sure. I'm about halfway through, mostly because I want to ration them. It feels weird to read poetry straight through. I'll probably buy this book at some point, because I think it would be a very accessible introduction to poetry for students. Plus it's really funny, and I'd love to have access to it for myself as well! Favorite so far: "The Family Jewels."

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
I'm not very far into this, but I'm still already baffled by how much of this I absolutely did not remember from when I read it probably... twelve years ago? I read The Giver earlier this summer and had largely that same response, so I wanted to see if it would be like that for this not-quite-sequel of the same series. Answer: yes, it absolutely is. I didn't read too much more of this this week because of the other books that really sucked me in, but it's next up on the schedule.