Friday, October 24, 2008

The Mozart Question


Lesley, a young reporter, cannot believe her good luck--she is to interview the famous violinist, Paulo Levi. Ask him anything she is told, except the Mozart question. In her nervousness, Lesley blurts out that she knows she cannot ask him the "Mozart question" and Paulo decides it is time to tell the story of his parents and why he cannot ever play Mozart's music. This is a short, but very powerful story of how his parents were able to survive the Holocaust only because of their musical talent, but were forced to watch helplessly as many others were taken to the gas chambers.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Life As We Knew It

What an interesting book !!!! This Rebecca Caudill nominated book by Susan Beth Pfeffer is told through journal entries. The reading is fairly easy, but the story itself is so dramatic. When a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth, it sets off UNBELIEVABLE events around the world...tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. Miranda, 16, the main character in the story, however, BELIEVES because she is living through it...or trying to. She struggles to survive, along with her mother and two brothers, on stockpiled food, limited water, and heat from a wood-burning stove. The entries explain how the family prepares for the future when they aren't even sure there is a future. At one point, Miranda doesn't even care....Why should she? No electricity, no pizza, no swimming, no life!!! Then she reminds herself that at least they have each other and as long as they stay together they will make it. Or will they? A riveting book that will keep you reading!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

2 New books by favorite authors!







I have just finished reading new books from 2 of my favorite authors, Mary Downing Hahn and Margaret Peterson Haddix and I highly recommend them both!

All the Lovely Bad Ones is on the list of 2010 Rebecca Caudill nominee books. Mary Downing Hahn writes ghost stories—good ghost stories—and one of my favorites is Wait Till Helen Comes, which I frequently recommend to students and was the Rebecca Caudill Award winner in 1990. In her newest ghost story, called All the Lovely Bad Ones, Travis and his sister Corey have been banned from all the summer camps because of their bad behavior. So their only option this summer is to go to their grandmother’s bed and breakfast in Vermont, which was once a poor farm called Fox Hill. It promises to be a very boring summer until they discover that the inn is believed to be haunted by it former occupants, the families living at Fox Hill. They decide to pull some pranks, pretending to be ghosts in order to scare the guests at the inn and by doing so wake the sleeping ghosts of all the children who once lived there. The ghost children pinch, slap, and pull mean tricks on Corey and Travis and the other guests at the inn, but other than that, they are harmless. However, when they awakened the ghost children they also woke the ghost of Miss Ada, the wicked and cruel overseer of the poor house, who threatens Corey and Travis. Because they are responsible for waking the ghosts, Corey and Travis must find a way to find peace for the children and rid the inn of the wicked Miss Ada.
Is it time (20 years!!) for Mary Downing Hahn to win the Rebecca Caudill Award with another ghost story? Read it and 2 others on the list and you will have a chance to vote!

Another favorite author of mine is Margaret Petersen Haddix, who wrote the Among the Hidden series and Running Out of Time. Her books always seem to have new, creative, and interesting plots. Found is the first book in Haddix’s newest series The Missing. Jonah and his friend, Chip, both receive mysterious letters in the mail with only one line, which says, “You are one of the missing.” When they compare their letters, they discover both of them are adopted. Soon they receive a second letter, again with only one line, “Beware! They’re coming back to get you.” Although they would like to dismiss the letters as seventh grade pranks, the situation becomes more frightening and will soon put Jonah, Chip, and Jonah’s younger sister, Katherine, in grave danger.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

An introduction to our blog!

The Edison Book Club blog has been created as a resource for members to share their favorite books with not only the other members of the club, but also with the student body at Edison School. Mrs. Blythe and Mrs. Provine will post comments on the books they are reading and enjoying. We encourage students to repsond to our comments, as well as tell us what they are reading.