It’s been a busy week here at my house. One of my cute nieces dropped in on us for a couple of days on her way back to college. Newt started a new year of Girl Scouts. And I’m leading a History Club for Girls. I spent much of my “leisure” time prepping for our first club meeting.
We did find some time for books though. Here’s what we’ve been ignoring the laundry for.
What I’m Reading
Not much new for me this week. I’m still enjoying Cheaper by the Dozen
How many nerd points do I get for that?
Let me get a pencil and I’ll figure it out…
What Newt and I are Reading Together
The Giver
We just started this one a few days ago, but have gotten far enough into it for Newt to declare that she really, really dislikes “the community”. There is no privacy, all emotions and even dreams must be discussed and analyzed with your family unit. Conformity is demanded, even down to the hair ribbons required for all girls under age nine. Newt pointed out that the society is a lot like A Wrinkle in Time’s
Not the similarity, the fact that she noticed. 🙂
What Newt is not Reading
Newt has been feeling a bit restless in her reading. She started both Black Beauty
We are heading over the the library tomorrow. Any suggestions?
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If you enjoy The Giver, then don’t miss the others in the trilogy. Gathering Blue and Messenger. I couldn’t put them down! If I had to pick a favorite it would be difficult but I think Gathering Blue would be the one, perhaps because I had read it first.
Also, if you like doing lessons based on books, I’m sure there are multiple sources for these books.
Here’s a few I found quickly for The Giver:
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading17/giver.htm
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/give.html
Thanks Melissa! I’ll look into those lesson plans.
I’ve read all three books and really liked them. I think The Messenger is my favorite, just because I loved that creepy forest. It was also cool to see characters from the first two books come together. Great reads.
The Giver has always been one of my favorite YA books. When I read it in 6th grade, the idea of “the community” fascinated me. Not to say that I would have liked it (although, the fact that I was being bullied for being “different” might have been part of it’s appeal), but it gave me a lot to think about!
I agree with Melissa R that you should check out the other two books. They are more like “companion pieces” than sequels and do a great job of extending the world beyond “the community”. 🙂
I’m only new to reading about your reading lists.
I just wanted to say that in our house we have read both Black Beauty and Misty of Chincoteague. Rather, my daughter who is 7, read Misty, and Black Beauty was our read-aloud last year. Both were page-turners! My daughter couldn’t stop once she started Misty, although it took about 6 months for her to actually open the book. Black Beauty was the catalyst that started her infatuation with horse books. I must say that BB is a challenging read because of the language style (from 19th century England, I believe). I often felt challenged myself and had to think in order to translate it to modern-speak. I think it is great as a read-together.
That is to say, maybe these two horse books aren’t Newt’s “thing”, if she can’t get into them. Or maybe they’re best enjoyed alongside someone else, read aloud or book club?
I’ll add for anyone reading this who is interested in great books with horse characters, we discovered –and are totally hooked on– The Silver Brumby series, by Elyne Mitchell, from Australia! Wild horses, well-developed characters. Not sure their availability at your local library, but that’s where we’ve found the ones we’ve been reading. (Not anything like those easy-to-find teens-who-love-horses books.)
Jackie – Welcome! Thanks for the suggestions. Newt is very into horses right now – she just started taking riding lessons. I think it was just the week. And, sometimes she has a hard time getting into an unfamiliar story. If she has a little knowledge of the characters beforehand, she gets hooked. I may read the first Misty with her. I have a feeling that would set her off on the whole series.