The stack of books on my desk, waiting to be reviewed, is insurmountable.  I will never get to them all.  So for the sake of time, I need to do a combo post.  Here are the books I’ve been reading the past few weeks.  Most of them have been fantastic:

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf–Two young girls are missing in the woods.  Told through multiple perspectives, the families work to find their girls, and one of the girls, Callie, works to regain her voice.  I had a hard time putting this one down.

Day After Night by Anita Diamant–A fictional account of the October 1945 rescue of Jewish detainees from the Atlit internment camp in Israel.  A grim reminder that the plight of the Jews didn’t end with the surrender of Germany.

The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam–The autobiographical account of Somaly Mam, who was sold into prostitution in Cambodia as a young girl, was able to escape, and returned to help other girls.  An amazing and heartbreaking story that continues today.

While I’m Falling by Laura Moriarty–A college student and her mom try to figure life out.  I love the way Moriarty writes about mother-daughter relationships.

Blood on the River: James Town 1607 by Elisa Carbone–A fictional account of Samuel Collier, page to Captain John Smith and his journey to Jamestown.  I read this after having visited Jamestown Settlement.  The book brings the familiar story to life.

The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick–I can’t believe I didn’t discover this book earlier!  A love of reading and writing saves a dystopic civilization.  Great book.

Lost and Found by Andrew Clements–Twin brothers take turns going to school, and in the process, discover who they are as individuals.  Not my favorite by Clements, but well done nonetheless.

Shackleton’s Stowaway by Victoria McKernan–One of the most amazing adventure stories I’ve ever read, based on the real journey made by Ernest Shackleton and his crew as they attempted to cross the Antarctic continent in 1914.  Highly recommended.

Goodman’s first Young Adult novel is fantastic!  Honor and her parents live on Island 365.  Honor tries hard to obey the rules of their totalitarian government and just “fit in”, but her parents long for the freedom of days past.  When Honor’s parents are “redistributed,”she must decide whether she will accept their loss, or risk her life for change.

The Millman family made the decision to homeschool when their daughters were young.  To date, they have homeschooled their three older daughters all the way through to college, and are still homeschooling their three younger sons.  As with all of the books I review, I just don’t have the time to do this one justice.  However, here are a few quotes that stuck with me:

One of the most portentous decisions we made on the road to homeschooling was the decision that our children should have a very costly “luxury”: a full-time mom.  It seemed to us that a two-income lifestyle, then the norm among families in our age and education bracket, would require our children to make a sacrifice we didn’t want to demand of them–namely, the sacrifice of a mother at home.  p. 20

I love the idea that I am a “luxury” to my children, and I’m so thankful that I enjoyed that “luxury” when I was a child.

One of the greatest advantages of homeschooling is that it allows a parent to develop a curriculum tailored to the child instead of tailoring the child to the curriculum.  p. 48

I was a teacher for 8 years before I quit to raise my children.  I believe that there is a general body of knowledge and set of skills that children should learn.  But I also know well the limitations of the classroom setting.  How awesome and amazing would it be to teach your child what he needs and wants to learn, instead of teaching him what he needs to know to do well on a standardized test!

We don’t yet know what form our children’s education will take.  The Millman’s book was the first of many that I hope to read about homeschooling, and their story was an inspiration and encouragement to me.

This was a fantastic book.  Yolanda, her brother Andrew and her mother move from inner-city Chicago to Michigan.  There, Yolanda must re-establish her reputation as a tough, not to be messed with girl.  She also has to look out for her little brother Andrew, who communicates to the world with his harmonica.  But when Yolanda is busy with a new friend and Andrew is harmed, she know that it is up to her to make things right again.

There are some fantastic themes developed in this book: Friendship, family, loyalty, honesty, communication, love.  Through it all, Yolanda is convinced that her brother is a genius, and she will stop at nothing to prove it to the world.  This would be a great read-aloud in a fourth or fifth grade classroom.

Another school year in the teaching career of Torey Hayden. This time, Hayden’s biggest challenge is a silent girl named Venus. Venus is a 6 year old girl, who refuses to speak, or even move or participate in any way. When provoked, Venus flies into a horrible rage. Torey also has 4 other severely disturbed children in her class full-time, in addition to numerous students who drop in for resource help.

While the book focuses on Venus and her struggles, Hayden also discusses her difficulties in working with her teacher’s aide, and in creating a sense of class unity amongst a class of kids who don’t want to be at school. Once again, I come away from this book inspired by Hayden’s dedication to her job.

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