Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

What first impressed me about Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler were the reviews - so many positive reviews. Certainly it needed to be in the BHS Media Center. When it arrived, I couldn't believe how heavy it was. Flipping through the pages I discovered that it was printed on thick, glossy paper - and there were illustrations! The illustrator, Maira Kalman, has done a fine job representing all the reasons... wait, let me begin at the beginning.

Min and Ed, Ed and Min, an unlikely couple. She's "different" and he's a co-captain of their high school basketball team. Rarely do those two date in reality. Min is writing a letter to Ed explaining all the reasons they broke up but, more than that, she's returning to him all of the keepsakes she's saved from their short relationship. As the box fills she imagines the thud it will make when she drops it on the doorstep of his home. She recalls each keepsake and the event that it came from. Her anger builds as she fills the box yet she is saddened as well.

I imagine as you read this book, you'll either believe that they do break up in the end or that they actually do not, in spite of the title. You'll read with a preconceived notion of how likely a girl such as Min will fit in with the friends and lifestyle of a jock such as Ed. Can he really be falling in love with Min for being different than all the other girls he's dated? Can she convince him that enjoying the more artsy side of life can be enjoyable? Will they stay together? Will she dump the box as he dumped her?

Back to the illustrations - Remember Daniel Handler? The author's pseudonym is Lemony Snicket; the author of the Series of Unfortunate Events books. I'm wondering if Mr. Handler liked the idea of illustrating each keepsake going into the box because those illustrations kept him connected to his younger readers, the fans of Lemony Snicket. What do you think?

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

New York Times Summer Reading Contest

Do you have an opinion about things read in the news? Would you like to have your opinion known? How would you like to have it published in the New York Times? Here's your opportunity.

The New York Times sponsors a summer reading contest for students ages 13-25. After reading any article in the NYT, you simply write and submit a short response. It can be any article of interest to you and any point of view you wish to present - 350 words or less. Concerned about privacy? No worries. They will not publish any comments that include a last name. All comments will be moderated for quality, appropriateness, respectfulness, and on-topic. However, they will not be edited.

Each week the Student Opinion question will be the same: "What interested you most in The Times this week?" Each week begins on Friday and winners are posted Monday. The first week's winners will be published July 2nd.

Digital access to the NYT is free for 10 articles each month. However, if you follow a link to a NYT article from Facebook or Twitter, they will not count toward that limit of 10. Also, any article that is linked from a NYT blog will also not count toward the 10.

NYT blogs to follow include these:
The Learning Network - the sponsor of this contest
NYT Blog Directory - all blogs sorted by topic categories such as news, politics, tech, culture, sports, style, science, health and more.

NYT Online - Caution! Do not pay for a digital subscription. You can read up to 10 articles for free each month. Keep a count.

Post your opinion here.

Full details and rules are found here.
Full details and rules in a printable PDF are found here.

Ready, Set, Read, Write!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Own the Night Summer Reading @ BDL

Ready for your summertime reading? Yes? Then head over to our Brighton District Library and their Teen Summer Reading Program. As in summers past, there are many opportunities to win great prizes, attend enjoyable events, and have fun reading to your heart's content.  The festivities begin this Sunday, June 10th at 1:00 p.m. when they kick-off summer reading. Details are just a click away here. Will we see each other at BDL? Very likely. I'm there at least once a week.

Keep Reading!
Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

The Survival Guide for Teenagers with LD by Rhoda Cummings, Ed.D and Gary Fisher, Ph.D.

She walks through our high school media center most days. She has a quiet smile hidden by her downcast eyes. I greet her, offer her a funny comment, her smile grows. It seems her friends are few and far between but she is a very likable girl. I knew her as a youngster full of energy and joy. She's still that girl, I sense it. 

I didn't see her the day she checked out this book, The Survival Guide for Teenagers with LD by Rhoda Cummings, Ed.D and Gary Fisher, Ph.D., but I did see her the day she returned it. Her words: "You should read this. It's good. It tells about kids with LD. You need to know that." She was right; I needed to know that. 

I don't know if she is a "learning differences" student but this book surely connected with her. Perhaps she is identified as an LD learner, perhaps a sibling or friend is, or perhaps she liked the format of the book - it's readability. As the authors note, look through the table of contents and read just the sections that you are drawn to. They include: your rights, the law, advocating for yourself, finding and keeping a job, living on your own, friendships and dating, healthy living, education beyond high school, and simply being the best you can be.  I'm sure that my friend is in good hands knowing all that she learned about LD from Drs. Cummings and Fisher. 

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm 

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

I don't often read a horror story. Do you think it's about time I read more? I thought so too. I decided to give The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey a try.

This is actually Will Henry's story. William James Henry is 12 years old and an apprentice to Dr. Warthrop, a monstumologist - one who studies and will kill monsters. With Will Henry at his side, Dr. Warthrop is tracking the existence of the Anthropophagi, a monster that few have seen and fewer have lived to tell of their encounter. The Anthropophagi are gruesome monsters - headless, slimy, large, sharp clawed, a mouth in the middle of their body with teeth capable of devouring it's prey swiftly. Dr. Warthrop must determine how they came to America and how he is going to eliminate them before they wreck havoc on New England.

This story is pure horror. In my opinion, the character Will Henry is too young to see and experience what Dr. Warthrop expects him to assist with. If you are a fan of gruesome horror, a story of bloody carnage so evil you can almost smell it, then you need to read this soon. As for me, I'm not going to finish it. Yep, that's what readers sometimes do. I've given this story many opportunities to win me over but I just can't continue. I have finished more than half of the story but must put it down - I've read of one too many gruesome deaths. Please let me know how it ends if you are brave enough to finish it.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

I recently read Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell and find that it compliments Mindset by Carol Dweck. Both titles look at our perceptions of success and how it is achieved. Each author systematically makes the case that success is not a chance occurrence and not based simply on intelligence.

Using data, Gladwell peels back the layers of what makes one successful and how it is influenced by opportunity and timing. He calls these successful people outliers as their success is outside the norm.

His opening example is with Canadian youth ice hockey players. Due to the date of their births, many of the best players actually share a month of birth. Gladwell claims that with the age cutoff to enter a team established on January 1st, all boys born in January, February, or March have the most opportunity to practice with coaches. More practice equates to better players. Better players become the best players and advance their skills and opportunities as they grow.

Similarly, opportunities for exploring computer technologies happened to a young Bill Gates. At a young age he was able to engage in hands-on exploration of main-frame computer software even developing programs. Over several years, he honed his skills at a time when few understood software programming; it was a new phenomenon. We all know what became of Bill Gates!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

If you follow this blog or talk to me about how I select books for our high school library, you'll know that I'm always on the lookout for books written for an adult reader but would appeal to teens as well. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan was one of those titles.

It is 1946 Mississippi - a time rife with prejudice that is angry and hateful. Laura reluctantly follows her husband into the rural countryside where he has bought a farm fulfilling a long-kept quiet dream. Their home has no electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing, and LOTS of mud! There are Black sharecroppers who are proud of their work and land to till. Blacks and Whites each know their "place" and get by. The Jackson's are one sharecropper family. Their son, Ronsell, has returned home a war hero yet in spite of all that he gave to defend freedom, he must live in the Jim Crow south where he does not have full freedom.

Hillary Jordan writes with an authenticity that gives us, her readers, an experience approaching having lived it. You will fear for Ronsell and his safety. You may need to put the book down for awhile, as I did, because the pain is so palpable. You will question how Laura, a strong, educated city-girl, can give up that life to move to this 'backward' area. You will know mud!

One more thing you may like to know, this is author Jordan's first novel - AND she won the Bellwether Prize for Fiction! Author Barbara Kingsolver created the award and it is given for "fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships." Mudbound indeed delivers the human experience.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm