The Hunger Games: The whole series

The last book in The Hunger Games series is finally out! For anyone who hasn't read the books, they are about a futuristic America in which The Capitol rules twelve districts with an iron fist. To show their power, the Capitol forces the districts to send two teenagers to the hunger games in which they must fight for survival - and against each other. This series questions just how would a person be willing go to protect those they love or for an ideal? How much of themselves would they be willing to sacrifice to stay alive? These questions persist throughout the entire series. It is a fun read, but at the same time, it makes you question what is really the right thing to do. I would suggest this series to everyone I know.

Breakfast Club and 25 years

I have been thinking about Breakfast Club lately and just learned that the 25th (!) anniversary collection is coming out today.

All of that angst and all of the issues about identity and "fitting in" are still universal themes which are appearing in novels for young adults. An example that comes to mind is Perfect Chemistry by Elkeles, one of the titles nominated this year for the Abe Lincoln award. Check out reactions to this book and others at our companion blog, Uber Abe 2011. Leave a comment and let us know ... do these books realistically portray issues that teens face today? Will we be seeing them at the movies or being reissued in 25 years?

12 Events That Will Change Everything, Made Interactive

"12 Events That Will Change Everything," which appears in the June 2010 issue of Scientific American has an interactive companion website.  IGSS students will be exploring global ethical issues in 2010-11 and hopefully, they may want to  explore some of the global ethical issues related to future events and how societies can best respond.

I am currently looking at essays from a recent NT library purchase:

This Will Change Everything: Ideas That Will Shape the Future
Edited byJohn Brockman. Harper Perennial,which is Part of a series stemming from his online science journal Edge (www.edge.org), including What Have You Changed Your Mind About? and What Is Your Dangerous Idea? 

In this book author and editor Brockman presents 136 answers to the question, “What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?” 

From the book's website: Milan architect Stefano Boeri responds with a single sentence: “Discovering that someone from the future has already come to visit us.” Most others take the question more seriously; J. Craig Venter believes his laboratory will use “digitized genetic information” to direct organisms in creating biofuels and recycling carbon dioxide. Like biofuels, several topics are recurrent: both Robert Shapiro and Douglas Rushikoff consider discovering a “Separate Origin for Life,” a terrestrial unicellular organism that doesn’t belong to our tree of life; Leo M. Chalupa and Alison Gopnik both consider the possibility resetting the adult brain’s plasticity—its capacity for learning—to childhood levels. Futurologist Juan Enriquez believes that reengineering body parts and the brain will lead to “human speciation” unseen for hundreds of thousands of years, while controversial atheist Richard Dawkins suggests that reverse-engineering evolution could create a highly illuminating “continuum between every species and every other.” 

Many of these ideas are related to those in the Scientific American article. The June article is available full text in the library's print periodicals section.  ProQuest database does not offer the article full-text.

Finding Mrs. Warnecke and inspiration for teachers

I often check the new non-fiction books in the public library, especially the section on education and recently picked up Finding Mrs. Warnecke, probably because the subtitle, "The Difference Teachers Make", captured my attention. I read this slim book (140 pages) in a day and it caused me to reflect about those teachers who inspired me, about my own practice, and about the hard work ahead for new teachers.
I am grateful to countless educators and remembered so many who seemed to care about their students -- the French teacher who invited a class of junior high students to her home for fondue; the Home Ec teacher who praised my inept sewing attempts, and gave me the confidence to take lessons to develop a lifelong hobby; the Math teacher who helped me to "see" the geometry proofs; the Science teachers who took true joy in our "discoveries"; and the Social Studies teacher who mentored me throughout high school and into college.
This small book made me realize anew how much more we can do for our students, reinforced how important it is to be there for them and illustrated how much they give back to us. Even now, in summer school with fewer students, I have several students who stop by every day and make it a point to say 'hello'. I believe they know I care.
I do want to share this book with colleagues (even though it is somewhat repetitive and the focus is often on younger students, there are high school examples). And I plan to send a copy to my niece who is getting her Masters in Education and to one of my son's friends who will be "Teaching for America" next year. I know that as new teachers they will have moments of great joy and great sadness in the classroom and I hope that this book will comfort and inspire them.

Summer Reading for College students

Earlier this month, a report about books which are being assigned for college SUMMER reading was released. The group, National Association of Scholars, who compiled the report is known for its conservative position (hence the labeling of these choices as “Beach Reads”), and the report was subsequently mentioned in several publications:

Report Assails 'Liberal Political Agenda' of Summer Reading Programs for Freshmen June 04, 2010 By Kelly Truong - Chronicle of Higher Education
What Freshmen Will Read June 04, 2010 By Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Ed
Enrique Goes to College June 06, 2010 By Peter Wood – Huffington Post

One can download the entire list, but here are the titles used by 6 schools or more (about 290 colleges/universities/community college were included):
Enrique’s Journey (10); Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (9); Three Cups of Tea (9); The Soloist by Lopez (8); Omnivore’s Dilemma (7); Persepolis(7); Last Lecture (6); Mountains Beyond Mountains (6); Outcasts United(6); This I Believe-I (6); Zeitoun (6).

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Kristof on Father's Day

Just had to share this week's article by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. He offers a unique perspective on some potential gifts for Father's Day. His book, Half the Sky, is on my "to read" pile. If you have read it, please leave a comment and let us know what you thought.