Cosmic

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Finally, a book I can wholeheartedly recommend to my students. The story is about Liam Digby. He has always been called big for his age, but by the time he is twelve, he is sprouting facial hair and is often mistaken for an adult. Sometimes this comes in handy. He can pretend to be his friend Florida's dad as they go about town. When he hears about a contest for the best father, his eagerness to win a ride on the world's best thrill ride,leads him to enter as a dad. When he wins, he persuades Florida to come with him as his daughter. What he doesn't know is that the thrill ride is actually a trip into space, which is how he ends up as a twelve-year-old with four other twelve-year-olds in outer space. Ties into video gaming and the humor of middle school, makes this an entertaining adventure most students will enjoy.



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Spine Poetry

Since April is poetry month, some of our English classes have come to the library to create "spine poetry." First there was a review on how to find books in the library. Then the classes were divided into groups of five or six and their job was to find titles of books that fit together to make a poem. The students seemed to have a great time looking and creating. Here are some of the best of the creations:

The Kiss

Columbus

This is What I Did
Gorilla, My Love

Time

Weird Creatures

Wonderful activity for poetry month. The students were told that they could use their poems for National Poem in your Pocket day, April 14th. None of them seemed to take that suggestion seriously. (:

Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Abilene Tucker, the twelve-year old daughter of Gideon Tucker, is sent to Manifest, Kansas by her father while he goes on a job for the railroad. The only thing Abilene knows about Manifest when she jumps off the train is that her daddy lived there for a time. It has been arranged for her to stay with Shady, the Pastor, who has been "filling in" as pastor for the last 14 years. Abilene brings life back into the town as she searches through a box of mementos and is able, through the help of the town "diviner," Ms. Sadie, to find links to the past. The story moves rather seamlessly from 1918 to 1936, as Ms. Sadie unravels the past of the town of Manifest in stories to Abilene. Abilene is determined to find out how her father fits into that past.
Vanderpool has done an excellent job of creating an historical picture of a small town in the Midwest, and the characters who inhabit that town. Although I thoroughly enjoyed reading the story, I am having some student readers read the book to see if the appeal for my middle school readers is there.



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