Einstein Was Here

I wish I was better at explaining things…

Enjoy!

An A to Z of Classic Literature for Middle School Students

I love books and I like lists.  Here’s yet another entry of a list about books:

LuAnn Schindler complied a list of classic literature for middle school students for Life 123.  As she says, “This list introduces new characters and alien worlds to the middle school set. Several of these books are commonly taught in middle school English classes, so adding them to a summer reading list can give your child an advantage when they come up during the school year.”

I’ve added some descriptions I’ve found from around the Internet.  None of the descriptions are lengthy enough to do the novels justice, but will hopefully provide some bit of direction.  Although this isn’t an exaustive list, it is a good start on reading for middleschoolers.

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne – In the mid-nineteenth century, a French professor and his two companions, trapped aboard a fantastic submarine as prisoners of the deranged Captain Nemo, come face to face with exotic ocean creatures and strange sights hidden from the world above (Classic Reader).
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – Ebenezer Scrooge, a mean old miser, is given a second chance to do right after being haunted by three ghosts on Christmas Eve (Learn Out Loud).
• A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck - A semi-autobiographical tale of a boy’s struggle with adolescence and the responsibility of manhood (SparkNotes).
• A Stranger Came Ashore by Mollie Hunter – Twelve-year-old Robbie becomes convinced that the stranger befriended by his family is one of the Selkie Folk and tries to get help against his magical powers from the local wizard (goodreads).
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith – A tale of an immigrant family. It’s been characterized as a “coming-of-age” novel (About.com).
• A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin – the first of a series of books written by Ursula K. Le Guin and set in the fantasy world archipelago of Earthsea depicting the adventures of a budding young wizard named Ged (Wikipedia).
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – Meg Murry, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. She claims to have been blown off course, and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a “tesseract,” which, if you didn’t know, is a wrinkle in time (Madeleine L’engle).
• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt – Shots fired far away spark a civil war that will have painful repercussions for an Illinois family. This book shows how war affects ordinary people and changes their lives forever.  Effectively exploring the complex issues behind the war [this] well-researched historical tale is captivating and memorable (common sense).
• Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Dr. Watson chronicles here some of the more interesting detective cases that he and his good friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, have encountered during their association. We see the cases unfold as he does, scratch our heads as does he while the evidence is collected, and then marvel at the impeccable observations, remarkable insight, and doggedness which Holmes displays as he teases apart the tangled clues (LibriVox).
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain – Enjoy the story of Tom Sawyer as a mischevious young boy carries on under the watchful eye of his Aunt Polly. Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer is one part trickster, one escape artist and one part very lucky fellow! The Adventures of Tom Sawyer takes the reader along on a series of entertaining adventures and pranks while Tom’s youthful romance with his sweetheart Becky Thatcher blooms in the background. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of Mark Twain’s most beloved works (americanliterature.com)
• Amos Fortune, Free Man – Based on the true story of a man who was born in Africa, captured by slaves when he was fifteen, sold as a slave in America, and freed when he was fifty-nine. Amos Fortune’s life illustrates the triumph of a patient and peaceful man who deeply values freedom, responsibility, and the respect each human being owes to others (enotes.com).
• The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder – The plot is deceptively simple: On July 20, 1714, “the finest bridge in all Peru” collapses and five people die. Brother Juniper, a Franciscan missionary, happens to witness the tragedy, and as a result, he asks the central question of the novel: “Why did this happen to those five?” He sets out to explore the lives of the five victims, and to understand why they died. Ironically, his quest will lead to his own death (tcnj.edu).
• Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry – A Polynesian legend. It is the story of a young boy, named Mafatu, and his struggle for independence, courage, recognition and inclusion (Book Rags).
• The Call of the Wild by Jack London – The mythopoetic story of Buck, a sledge dog in the Klondike, and his journey of transformation (london.sonoma.edu).
• The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier – The tale of Jerry Renault, a freshman at an all-boys Catholic school, who decided to buck the system and “disturb the universe” [by refusing] to sell chocolates during the school’s annual chocolate sale [making] a move that upsets the balance of power and causes many in the school to question their motivations.  Published in 1974 and inspired by Cormier’s son, Peter, who took a similar action, refusing to sell chocolates, as a matter of principle (suite101.com).
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas – A classic adventure novel, often considered Dumas’ best work, and frequently included on lists of the best novels of all time. Completed in 1844, and released as an 18-part series over the next two years, Dumas collaborated with other authors throughout. The story takes place in France, Italy, and the Mediterranean from the end of the rule of Napoleon I through the reign of Louis-Philippe (manybooks.net).
• Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster – Similar to Anne of Green Gables, a young adult novel that all ages can enjoy. Like Anne, Judy starts out as a rambunctious orphan. Her high spirits get her through many trials, and by the end she turns out a mature (yet energetic) young woman who gets her happy ending. It is a quick, entertaining read with some plot twists that the astute reader will pick up beforehand–but the enjoyment remains the same no matter what one guesses about the ending (girlebooks.com).
• Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank – A Jewish girl and only 13 years old when she was forced to go into hiding during the Holocaust, she and her family, along with four others, spent 25 months during World War II in an annex of rooms above her father’s office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, before they were found by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. Although Anne did not survive, her diary did. Through this diary we see Anne’s life, set against a background of unbelievably horrific world events (teachervision.fen.com).
• Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey – The first volume in the series, is the enchanting tale of how Menolly of Half Circle Hold became Pern’s first female Harper, and rediscovered the legendary fire lizards who helped to save her world (amazon.com).
• Dragonwings by Laurence Yep – Chinese tradition and culture come vividly t life as father and son face the challenges of living in America. They experience discrimination, but also make valued friends.  The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire bring destruction but new opportunities for the boy and his father (Glencoe Literature).
• Enchantress From the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl – On a mission to a medieval planet, Elana becomes the key to a daring plan to thwart an invasion. An intelligent, thoughtful work that will stimulate as it entertains (Sonlight).
• The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig – In June 1942, the Rudomin family is arrested by the Russians. They are “capitalists — enemies of the people.” Forced from their home and friends in Vilna, Poland, they are herded into crowded cattle cars. Their destination: the endless steppe of Siberia. For five years, Ester and her family live in exile, weeding potato fields and working in the mines, struggling for enough food and clothing to stay alive. Only the strength of family sustains them and gives them hope for the future (Harper Collins).
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – A classic novel of censorship and defiance, as resonant today as it was when it was first published nearly 50 years ago (raybradbury.com).
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – The novel reflects many elements of the Romantic period (1798-1832): the primacy of feeling, the importance of nature, the individual and his quest, the supernatural and the exotic, and solitude (pinkmonkey.com).
• The Ghost Belonged To Me by Richard Peck – This novel, the first in the Blossom Culp series, combines historical, comical and supernatural events in a most delightful way. The book is not difficult to read or understand and should be well within the reach of most fifth graders and could go up or down. It makes a good read aloud with some great slapstick comedy and not a little historical information (carolhurst.com).
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton – A book about a an educator who has lived many years, been touched by the sentiments of the time and has shepherded generations from boyhood to manhood. It is also about an old world being left behind and a new, tumultuous yet exciting one taking its place (novelinsights.wordpress.com).
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – Set in a time “Between the Dawn of Færie and the Dominion of Men”, The Hobbit follows the quest of home-loving hobbit Bilbo Baggins to win a share of the treasure guarded by the dragon, Smaug. Bilbo’s journey takes him from light-hearted, rural surroundings into darker, deeper territory. The story is told in the form of an episodic quest, and most chapters introduce a specific creature, or type of creature, of Tolkien’s Wilderland (Wikipedia).
• The Horatio Hornblower Series by C.S. Forester – The Hornblower books were the original series of sea stories set in the Napoleonic Wars, that last great conflict of the Age of Sail. Many young people have read them and dreamed of adventures on the briny deep (leighkimmelbookstore.com).
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo – Regarded as a standard classic and it must be one of the most adapted stories for cinema and television. In addition, the bell ringer, Quasimodo, has become a horror classic – although anyone that reads the novel realizes that Frollo represents the horror. And perhaps the English title – which Hugo himself hated – is to blame for putting too much emphasis on the hunchback (hugo-online.org).
• Incident at Hawk’s Hill by Allan W. Eckert – The story of a farm boy living in the prairie country of Manitoba. He is a strange, silent boy who cannot communicate well with people but has a great affinity for animals (alaneck.com).
• Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott – Follows the fortunes of the son of a noble Saxon family in Norman England as he woos his lady, disobeys his father, and is loved by another. Set in late 12C England and in Palestine with Richard Cœur-de-Lion at the Crusades, it’s another ripping historical yarn by Scott (LibriVox).
• Island of the Blue Dolphin by Scott O’Dell – A story of survival, based upon the true story of a girl who was left upon an island near the coast of Southern California. She lived there for 18 years, alone. While she waited for rescue, she kept herself alive by building shelter, finding food, and fighting her enemies–the wild dogs (scottodell.com).
• Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson – It is the story of a young girl who comes of age on a conservative Methodist Island on the Chesapeake Bay, an isolated island called Rass. The protagonist, Louise, struggles to find her way out of the shadow of her beautiful and talented twin sister Caroline (bookrags.com).
• Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes – Unique because it told the story of the American Revolution through the eyes of a boy, not a leader of the Revolution. “Esther Forbes’s power to create, and to recreate, a face, a voice, a scene takes us as living spectators to the Boston Tea Party, to the Battle of Lexington and of North Creek.”- The Saturday Review, 1943 (wpi.edu).
• Journey to Topaz by Yoshiko Uchida – Makes a strong social point, [but] it is primarily a story about individuals coping in times of great stress. The internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II was not only a national tragedy, it was a personal one for those who were rounded up from their homes and forced to move to isolated camps. Through Yuki, the main character, readers can see the events of the internment process firsthand; she and other characters are so well drawn that the history of the period comes alive (enotes.com).
• Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George – This novel of adventure and suspense presents the clash between traditional Inuit values and those of the modern westernized world.  When Julie decides that running away is her only alternative to a frightening situation, she becomes lost in the frozen Arctic tundra. Her knowledge of traditional Inuit ways and her understanding of the starkness and beauty of nature enable her to survive with a wolf pack (glencoe.com).
• Kim by Rudyard Kipling – Kipling was an Imperialist, and ‘Kim’ embodies attitudes towards British rule in India which these days are unacceptable. But as a work of fiction it does have fine literary qualities, and it deserves its unique place in the history of English literature. The novel embodies a panoramic celebration of India, presenting as it does a magnificent picture of its landscapes, both urban and rural, and a fascinating array of native characters who, for the most part, are warm, generous and tolerant. Beyond that, ‘Kim’ is an adventure story of the [British] Empire (ezinearticles.com).
• The Last Mission by Harry Mazer – Fifteen-year-old Jack Raab is eager to fight Hitler when he enlists in the Air Corps during World War II, but seeing his best friend killed when their plane is shot down makes him wonder if there is any meaning to all the deaths (randomhouse.com)
• The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper – The most popular of Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales, The Last of the Mohicans takes place in 1757 during the French and Indian War and recounts the story of a an unarmed massacre, the kidnapping of two sisters, and their rescue by Hawk-eye and his two Mohican friends Uncas and Chingachook (americanliterature.com).
• Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory – Edited and first published by William Caxton in 1485, Sir Thomas Malory’s unique and splendid version of the Arthurian legend tells an immortal stoey of love, adventure, chivalry, treachery, and death (mysticrealms.org). 
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Irving Washington – It is difficult to think of an American ghost story more well-known… Though Irving’s original sources for the stories may have been local folklore based on the same stories which the Grimm Brothers would collect and publish back in the Old World, Irving’s tale would emerge as one of America’s first and most familiar stories until, like the best stories, it seeped into the American consciousness the way wellwater rises from some hidden source deep underground (greenmanreview.com).
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - [It] appears to be a simple children’s tale, some would say that it is actually a profound and deeply moving tale, written in riddles and laced with philosophy and poetic metaphor (spiritual.com). 
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – Published in 1868, Little Women follows the lives, loves and tribulations of fours sisters growing up during the American Civil War. The story is based the childhood experiences Alcott shared with her real life sisters, Anna, May and Elzabeth. The novel stars Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy and explores the rich nuances of family and family relationships (americanliterature.com).
• M.C. Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton – M.C. dreams of escape for himself and his family. And, one day atop his pole, he thinks he sees it — two strangers are making their way toward Sarah’s Mountain. One has the ability to make M.C.’s mother famous. And the other has a freedom that M.C. has never even considered. Ms. Hamilton was the first African-American to win the John Newbery Medal. [This] is also the only book ever to have been awarded the Newbery Medal, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and the National Book Award – the three most prestigious U.S. awards for children’s books.
• The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle – The author takes you back to Merry Olde England and a Robin Hood that is nothing like the tv or recent movie versions at all. You are transported through the language and descriptions of the land, so that you feel part of that magical era. The love Robin had for his men and for his King, and for Sherwood Forrest itself, will reach into your soul. It’s more than a classic, it makes you feel you were there, wishing you could run to the call of those three bugle blasts… (classicreader.com).
• My Brother Sam Is Dead by James and Christopher Collier – All his life, Tim Meeker has looked up to his brother Sam. Sam’s smart and brave – and is now a part of the American Revolution. Not everyone in town wants to be a part of the rebellion. Most are supporters of the British – including Tim and Sam’s father. With the war soon raging, Tim know he’ll have to make a choice – between the Revolutionaries and the Redcoats . . . and between his brother and his father (fantasticfiction.co.uk).
• My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara – No matter how hard he tries, 12-year-old Ken McLaughlan cannot meet his father’s expectations.  Ken’s family operates a cattle ranch in Laramie, Wyoming.  To successfully operate a ranch requires time, effort, knowledge, stamina, and ability to meet unexpceted challenges.  Ken wanted to shoe his dad that he was up to the challenge, but every time he tried, it back-fired on him.  Ken’s luck began to change when he was given a rambunctious cold he named Flicka (thereadingtub.com).
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass – Frederick Douglass is one of the most celebrated writers in the African American literary tradition, and his first autobiography is the one of the most widely read North American slave narratives. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was published in 1845, less than seven years after Douglass escaped from slavery (docsouth.unc.edu). Douglass’s narrative of his life as a slave lets readers feel the fear he has as a small child separated from his mother, allows us to experience with him the pain inflicted by undeserved whippings and weakness caused by too little food and too much physical exertion, and helps us understand not only the hate of the slave for the master but the sickness of hate that allowed human beings to keep other human beings as chattel (teachervision.fen.com).
• National Velvet by Enid Bagnold – The timeless story of spirited Velvet Brown and her beloved horse has thrilled generations of readers. And now the republication of this classic story in a fresh, up-to-date package will charm confirmed fans while captivating new ones. Fourteen-year-old Velvet is determined to turn her untamed horse into a champion and personally ride him to victory in the world’s greatest steeplechase, the Grand National (brightkidsworld.com).
• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton – The Outsiders, [a book] about teenage gangs and alienated youth in Tulsa during the 1960′s, transformed young-adult fiction from a genre mostly about prom queens, football players and high school crushes to one that portrayed a darker, truer adolescent world. Some readers don’t know that S. E. is a woman, Susan Eloise. She published “The Outsiders” when she was 17 (nytimes.com).
• The Pigman by Paul Zindel – For sophomores John and Lorraine, the world feels meaningless; nothing is important. They certainly can never please their parents, and school is a chore. To pass the time, they play pranks on unsuspecting people. It’s during one of these pranks that they meet the “Pigman”–a fat, balding old man with a zany smile plastered on his face. In spite of themselves, John and Lorraine soon find that they’re caught up in Mr. Pignati’s zest for life. In fact, they become so involved that they begin to destroy the only corner of the world that’s ever mattered to them (paulzindel.com).
• The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan – Originally composed in the 17th century, this spiritual allegory has entertained and delighted innumerous readers for over 300 years. Part I tells of “Christian” and his journey to “Celestial City;” Part II tells of the journey of Christian’s wife Christiana and their children to Celestial City. The two parts work together as a unified whole, which describes and depicts the believer’s life and struggles. Indeed, given the easy style of the book, readers of all ages can understand the spiritual significance of the depictions in the story (ccel.org).
• Poems by Robert Frost – Though his work is principally associated with the life and landscape of New England, and though he was a poet of traditional verse forms and metrics who remained steadfastly aloof from the poetic movements and fashions of his time, Frost is anything but a merely regional or minor poet. The author of searching and often dark meditations on universal themes, he is a quintessentially modern poet in his adherence to language as it is actually spoken, in the psychological complexity of his portraits, and in the degree to which his work is infused with layers of ambiguity and irony (poets.org).
• The Red Pony by John Steinbeck – The Red Pony is divided into four stories. Each story centers on a boy named Jody; the four together show him in a critical time of his childhood. In the first story, Jody is ten years old. The stories are close together in chronological time; indeed, Steinbeck is careful to remind readers that Jody is a “little boy” at the start of each story (sparknotes.com).
• Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith – This is a rich and sweeping novel-rich in its panorama of history; in its details so clear that the reader never doubts for a moment that he is there; in its dozens of different people, each one fully realized and wholly recognizable. It is a story of a lesser known part of the Civil War, the Western campaign, a part different in its issues and its problems, and fought with a different savagery. Inexorably it moves to a dramat-ic climax, evoking a brilliant picture of a war and the men of both sides who fought in it (harpercollins.com).
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe – Daniel Defoe’s The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe was published as a fictional memoir in 1719. Today Robinson Crusoe remains a popular adventure narrative. In fact, the book gave rise to the “Robinsonade,” adventure tales that rework the structural elements of Crusoe’s island tale. Moreover, the character of Robinson Crusoe is recognized as a literary and cultural icon, like Don Quixote, Don Juan, and Faust; the story of a man stuck on a deserted island has become familiar to nearly everyone in the Western world (enotes.com).
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor – The year is 1933 in the heart of the depression. Cassie Logan and her family live in rural Mississippi, where they own and farm 400 acres. Although Cassie and her brothers attend a school for black children, she is unaware of the intense racial hatred and prejudice that exists in the community. As the story unfolds, Cassie is surprised and angered to learn that many white people think she and other black people are inferior. She learns to fear the violence that often accompanies these ugly feelings. Cassie knows how much the Logans value their land and how determined they are not to lose it.  Slowly, she becomes aware of how high a price she and her family must pay to fight injustice – and to hold on to not only their land but the independence that it represents (Scholastic).
• Shane by Jack Schaefer – Joe and Marion Starrett are farmers, one family in a group of homesteaders who have fenced off and built a home on the range. As to be expected, the cattle barons who, for years, have used the wide open plains to feed their herd are not too happy about those fences. Trouble is a-brewin’, and folks are talkin’ about sellin’ out and gittin’ before the shootin’ starts. And then Shane rides into town (likesbooks.com).
• Story of My Life by Helen Keller – The Story of My Life contains three parts. The first is Helen Keller’s autobiographical account of her life from childhood to the beginning of her studies at Radcliffe. This chronicle describes the transformation of Helen’s life brought about by the arrival of Anne Sullivan, her teacher and mentor, when she succeeded in conveying to Helen the “mystery of language.” Part II contains Helen’s letters to family and friends, arranged in chronological sequence, and documents her growth in thought and expression through her writing. The introduction and editorial comments in this section were contributed by John Macy, an editor of the Youth’s Companion magazine and an instructor at Harvard who became the literary agent for Ms. Keller and editor of many of her works. The third part, a supplementary section, contains an account of Helen Keller’s life and education written by John Macy, based for the most part on the records and observations of Anne Sullivan (afb.org).
• To Be a Slave by Julius Lester – This work is a collection of actual interviews with former slaves, not only from the Writer’s Project, but documents dating back to the founding of the nation. Most of these interviews and accounts can be found in the Library of Congress. This work covers every aspect of the life of a slave, from their capture in Africa, their trip through the Middle Passage, and then their life of servitude in their new “home.” The author addresses the extreme mental and physical cruelty involved, the daily life of a plantation slave, the slave breeding farms of Virginia, the deplorable living condition that the vast majority of these people were forced to live in, the tearing apart of families, diet, clothing, working conditions…and on and on (booksforkids-reviews.com).
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – An adventure novel, a thrilling tale of “buccaneers and buried gold.” Traditionally considered a coming of age story, it is an adventure tale of superb atmosphere, character and action, and also a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality—as seen in Long John Silver—unusual for children’s literature then and now (wikipedia.org).
• The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss – Johanna de Leeuw Reiss has written a remarkably fresh and moving account of her own experiences as a young girl during World War II. Like many adults she was innocent of the German plans for Jews, and she might have gone to a labor camp as scores of families did. “It won’t be for long and the Germans have told us we’ll be treated well,” those families said. “What can happen?” They did not know, and they could not imagine…. But millions of Jews found out. Mrs. Reiss’s picture of the Oosterveld family with whom she lived, and of Annie and Sini, reflects a deep spirit of optimism, a faith in the ingenuity, backbone, and even humor with which ordinary human beings meet extraordinary challenges. In the steady, matter-of-fact, day-by-day courage they all showed lies a profound strength that transcends the horrors of the long and frightening war (harpercollinschildrens.com).
• War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells – Written in response to several historical events. The most important was the unification and militarization of Germany, which led to a series of novels predicting war in Europe, beginning with George Chesney’s The Battle of Dorking (1871). Most of these were written in a semi-documentary fashion; and Wells borrowed their technique to tie his interplanetary war tale to specific places in England familiar to his readers. This attempt at hyper-realism helped to inspire Orson Welles when the latter created his famed 1938 radio broadcast based on the novel (wsu.edu).
• Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera Cleaver – Mary Call has promised her dying father to keep her brother and sisters together forever on the mountain, and never to take any help from strangers. She is determined to keep her word. No matter what. At first she is sure she can manage. Romey, Ima Dean, and Devola help gather herbs to sell in town; the riches of the mountains will surely keep the family clothed and fed. But then winter comes, fast and furious, and Mary Call has to learn that the land where the lilies bloom is also a cruel and unforgiving place, and it may take more than a promise to keep her family together (harpercollinschildrens.com).
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls – Author Wilson Rawls spent his boyhood much like the character of this book, Billy Colman, roaming the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma with his bluetick hound. A straightforward, shoot-from-the-hip storyteller with a searingly honest voice, Rawls is well-loved for this powerful 1961 classic (amazon.com).
• The White Mountains by John Christopher – John Christopher’s compelling science fiction saga about the interplanetary Tripods and Masters who threaten all life on earth (ecampus.com).
• The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings – Set in the wild and beautiful interior of the Florida scrublands in the late 1800s, The Yearling follows one year in the life of young Jody Baxter and the young pet he has so desperately longed for, a fawn he names Flag.  Throughout this tale of Jody’s love for his pet, the reader encounters rich descriptions of the natural beauty and thrilling accounts of adventure and danger.  In the end, however, harsh reality requires Jody to make the most difficult decision of his young life (glencoe.com).

Enjoy!

Life as a Coffee

I found this at Amazing Posts and found it interesting.  I hope you do too:

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university Professor.

Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the Prof. went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the Prof. said “If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. That all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other’s cups.”

“Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn’t change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it.”

So friend, don’t let the cups drive you…enjoy the coffee instead.

 

Enjoy!

School of Rock – Altered Trailer

We’re all back to school today (after nearly three weeks away due to snow, then vacation), so this seems appropriate.

My kids and I love School of Rock and really like watching Jack Black in movies.  This altered trailer is funny – in a creepy way:

Enjoy!

English is Crazy

Does the English language sometimes drive you nuts?  We have done some fascinating things with this language.  You really must be almost a native speaker to understand all the nuances of the language.  For example, I had a friend of mine from Chile who had trouble understanding the concept of “breaking wind.” 

The examples below might be even more subtle that that.  You can find the original here:

Crazy English

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.

2. The farm was used to produce produce.

3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4. We must polish the Polish furniture.

5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10. I did not object to the object.

11. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

12. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

13. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

14. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

15. They were too close to the door to close it.

16. The buck does funny things when the does are present.

17. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

18. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

19. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

20. After a number of injections my jaw got number.

21. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
Let’s face it – English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on. English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn’t a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

Enjoy!

Rules for Writing Wicked Good Papers

Writing seems to be a minor theme this week.  I found these wicked good rules at the Union College site.  They were posted by the Biology Department.  I hope they will help:

1. Shun and avoid the employment of unnecessary, excess extra words.
2. Make certain all sentences are full and complete. If possible.
3. Avoid cliches like the plague.
4. Take pain’s to spell and, punctuate correctly.
5. BE Consistent.
6. Don’t approximate. Always be more or less precise.
7. Sedulously eschew obfuscatory hyperverbosity or prolixity.
8. Avoid pointless repetition, and don’t repeat yourself unnecessarily.
9. Always try to remembr t he/E extreme importance of being accurit; ne at, and carfful.
10. Don’t use no double negatives.
11. Don’t never use no triple negatives.
12. All generalizations are bad.
13. Take care that your verb and subject is in agreement.
14. A preposition is a bad thing to end a sentence with.
15. Don’t use commas, which aren’t necessary.
16. “Avoid overuse of ‘quotation’ marks.”
17. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
18. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
19. Reserve the apostrophe for it’s proper use and omit it when its not necessary.
20. Avoid run-on sentences they are hard to read.
21. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
22. Never use that totally cool, radically groovy out-of-date slang.
23. Avoid those long sentences that just go on, and on, they never stop, they just keep rambling, and you really wish the person would just shut up, but no, they just keep on going, they’re worse than the Energizer Bunny, they babble incessantly, and these sentences, they just never stop.

Good writing!

Writing to Intimidate (or Academia, Here I Come!)

I had a professor during my teacher education days who loved to use many obscure words (I really do mean many) in very long sentences, then summarize what he just said by saying “…in other words,” and then use about five or six (simple) words to summarize.  Now, I realize that he was likely trying to increase our vocabulary by adding context to unfamiliar words, but I couldn’t help but think, “couldn’t you just use the other words?”

Although I believe the vast majority of professors really do have the best interest of their students in mind, I do believe there are some academic bullies out there as well.

 

The cartoon below seems to capture my thinking:

Enjoy!

The World’s Largest Book (at 5×7 feet)

The book is entitled, Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingdom and weighs 133 pounds and is more than 5 x 7 feet. It is the largest published book in the world – and can be yours.  Each copy is printed on demand, uses a roll of paper longer than a football field, over a gallon of ink and takes 24 hours to print.  The 114 pages of photos feature life-sized (or bigger) people.

http://www.2spare.com/item_94351.aspx

More information here.

It is currently for sale on Amazon at $30,000.  The purchase price is a donation to Friendly Planet . Each copy is numbered and can include a personal dedication message.

Five For Friday – Lean On Me Videos

I like hearing and singing Lean on Me – it’s fun, it’s encouraging, it’s just a good time.  Here are five video versions of Lean on Me for your Friday enjoyment.

This is for Sanity Found (Happy 30th Birthday – yesterday), Leaving Evangeline’s friend Amy who undergoes surgery on Monday, and Amber (weathering her own storm, but still celebrating with friends).  Here’s to friends!

The Original by Bill Weathers (likely the best version):

Club Nouveau (probably my favorite version):

How about Steven Tyler of Aerosmith singing with a church choir (never thought I’d see it):

The African Children’s Choir (we had them sing at our high school when I was principal):

From the movie Lean on Me (1989)( I would have liked this to happen at my high school):

A Principal – Life in a Shark Tank

I haven’t written about my bucket list lately.

One series of goals that I set at 30 was to earn a teaching credential, a master’s degree and a doctorate.  So, at 33, I went back to school to begin work on my teaching credential.  I then reentered the workforce as a novice – again (this was my third career).

As a classroom teacher, one of my goals every day was to be the bright spot in each student’s day.  I thought if I could help 30 kids enjoy school, maybe they would enjoy learning.  The problem was that when I was busy earning my teaching credential, I thought I would be a fourth grade teacher.  Instead I spent my entire teaching career at middle schools.  So, my influence on 30 students extended to 180.

After several years of teaching, I began to think that maybe I could extend a positive influence to an entire school of students (or from 180 to 1,000).  So, I earned my administrative credential and M.A. and was promptly asked to begin working as a principal at an elementary school.  As I spent the summer preparing to take the helm of a school of about 500 students, I decided that I was going to learn each student’s name by October (I did) – it really wasn’t that hard.  We had a great time together and I believe we made great strides – in fact I just ran into one of those students and his parents this past week who still remembered me (he was a kindergartner my last year at the elementary school and is now in eighth grade) and they made some positive comments about my knowing all the kids at the school.

I had a wonderful time with elementary students, but eventually moved back to working with middle school students and again learned every student’s name (about 1,500 this time).

Middle school is a nice euphemism for shark tank.  Kids are going through so much as middle schoolers and we (adults) tend to marginalize the emotional, physical, social, intellectual, and moral changes they are experiencing (and ages 11-14 tend to be at their lowest point of self-esteem).  As a result, many (most) kids tend to pick on others in order to feel better about themselves (I’m generalizing due to time constraints).  I tried to make each day bearable for them and did whatever I could to make them feel that they had at least one advocate.  However, if they needed to be disciplined, they were (we expelled about 20 kids each year).

My favorite story to hate about middle school happened one year on the first day of school.  I watched a new sixth grader walk onto campus with his father.  The kid was wearing a sweater vest, tie, dress slacks, and dress shoes (he looked pretty sharp) and was holding hands with his father as he entered campus.  My first thought was “well, you don’t see that anymore, how nice.”  My second thought was, “he’s dead” (socially).  Sure enough, he only lasted two more days before checking out and going to a private school.

There were many great stories as well.  Like the students who earned a place in space camp in Huntsville, Alabama, or the students who created a welcome program to help assimilate new students into the school, or the students who went on to earn scholarships to universities or military institutions, or just the great kids who would come back to volunteer on their days off after moving on to high school. 

But the one student who couldn’t be himself – couldn’t just be a kid – still haunts me.

Anyway, I eventually moved on to become a principal of a high school (with some of my middle school kids) and now a university (educating teachers, counselors, and principals), always with the goal of making school more enjoyable for students, with the hope that they will enjoy learning.  Only now, instead of a goal to be the bright spot in the lives of 100 or 1,000 students, my goal is to create many bright spots who will enter classrooms and school all across Southern California, becoming a positive influence on (literally) millions.

Welcome to middle school!