Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
In Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst  (Heinnemann 2012), teachers are provided with a wealth of information relating to close reading. Not only do they provide six clear “sign posts” to teach close reading, but also questions for students to ask themselves relating to close read, lesson plan
The stories of Elizabeth Smart and Stephanie Nielson are not that similar. Yes, both had a hard year that they wrote about in a memoir, and both are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). But there the similarities end. Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her bed at knifepoint as a
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a biography of the 1936 Olympic mile-runner Louis Zamperini. Zamperini came in seventh place that year, so he was not the winner in that respect. But his subsequent story is incredible and inspiring. After being drafted into the Air Force during World War II, Zamperini served as a bombardier in
My mom and dad live more than an hour away from us. As we drive home late at night from a visit to their home and as we drive through my childhood home, past my old elementary school, high school, church, favorite playgrounds, and so forth, my son asks me to tell him stories about
In Terry Eagleton’s slim volume How to Read Literature (Yale University Press, 2013), the author approaches literature like an old friend. His volume is easily readable and quite fun. Rather than didactically explaining how to read literature, he writes with familiarity about different ways one could look at literature. There is no lecture in this
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain is a popular science look at the differences in personality type. She argues that introverts are just as necessary in leadership as the more outspoken extroverted power types. First, I should make clear that Ms. Cain does acknowledge the fact
I feel like I should title this post “Yes, I actually read an adult nonfiction book once again,” since I’ve been neglecting not only my personal reading but also my nonfiction. Lately, I’ve been reading picture books, biographies of American historical figures geared toward youth, and other such interesting, but not mind-boggling reading. Education by
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by John Meacham (Random House, 2012). This fantastic look at Thomas Jefferson was a nice complement to the biography of John Adams I read a few years ago (by David McCullough). I find those two founding fathers absolutely fascinating. I was very interested in Thomas Jefferson. He was a private
It is the era when anyone can write a memoir, but not everyone can write one in comic book style. Relish by Lucy Knisley (First Second 2013) is a memoir about food during her life, from childhood to her adulthood. Lucy is a child of two true “foodies,” so her childhood revolved around good home-cooked
When I first saw it in the Netgalley catalog, I was startled by the title It’s OK Not to Share and Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids by Heather Shumaker (Tarcher, 2012). Not share? Isn’t that the first thing we teach our babies during play dates? I was delighted by some of the
I have been blogging on Rebecca Reads for more than four years now, but I still feel like a newbie when it comes to my new blog, Line Upon Line, which focuses on my homeschooling and education journey and promotes products, both free and paid, in the blogosphere. I found Born to Blog by Mark Schaefer and
My son’s favorite phrase this month is “That’s not fair!” I’ve made an extra effort to try to help him understand why we have certain rules. And after reading the young adult nonfiction account, People Who Said No, of some people who said “No! This is not fair!”, I felt like I have some solid
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