Andres, Will, and Me

Once upon a time, I had a student named Andres. Andres didn't like to read very much when he was in the sixth grade, but there was one series he loved: The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. Because I was curious about a boy who loved a series of books, when he claimed he didn't like to read, I decided to read the first one when he asked me to. And, boy, was I glad I did.

That was over six years ago. Andres has already graduated from high school (which is why I can actually write his real name), the book series has grown since then...and, yes, I've read them all. While Andres is the reason I read the first book in the series, The Ruins of Gorlan, I read all the rest because they are excellent books. I hesitate to say "excellent middle school books" because I believe they are more than that. I assure you I enjoy the series just as much, if not more, than any middle school student. I highly recommend it every year to my students and keep several copies of the first three books in my classroom. 

Now, to present day...

I have a new student this year, let's call him Will (also the name of the beloved main character in The Ranger's Apprentice series). Will entered my classroom on the first day of school with a smile on his face and kindness in his eyes. He is a thoughtful and caring young man, and he impressed me within the first few days when he took my recommendation about The Ranger's Apprentice to heart. He asked if he could borrow the first one off of my book cart. I said yes, without hesitation, and hoped he would enjoy it as much as I did.

We just finished our third week in school, and Will has already finished the third book in the series and has moved on to the fourth, as of Friday afternoon. He loves the series, which pleases me greatly, and it's such fun to talk with him about it. He approached me on Friday, at the end of school, and said he had a recommendation for me. Will said he just knew I'd like The Five Kingdoms series by Brandon Mull. He asked me to please try it.

As you know, if you've read my last two posts, I've been having a bit of a dry spell when it comes to my reading choices. I felt like I should take Will's recommendation to heart since he had taken mine. I told him I would try it when I got the chance.

Needless to say, I began reading The Five Kingdoms Book One, Sky Raiders, this weekend. I really like it! I would've finished it, too, but it's been a busy weekend for me. I'm mentioning it now, before I've finished it, because it would be a great book to begin reading at this time of year.

The book begins on Halloween, when Cole (the main character) is at school and everyone wants to go check out this scary, haunted house attraction in the neighborhood for Halloween night. It's a really great beginning, even a bit dark, but so good - such a good, creepy set up to take the reader into another world. I love it! I'm not giving anything away by saying that Cole's friends are in trouble, and he's going to have to figure out a way to save them. There's action, adventure, and daring rescue attempts! Good stuff!

I'll let you know next week if I'm satisfied with the ending, or if each book is a cliffhanger to the next book. At this point, I have no idea,...and I like it that way.

Happy reading!

"Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage."

~ C.S. Lewis

Book Balm

I don't know how I've managed to read all the books I've read in my lifetime and never read Anna Quindlen! How is this possible? Well, thank goodness, I found her just when I needed her. (Isn't it amazing when that happens?)

It had been a rough couple of weeks for me. Work had been especially demanding, and I've had many things to deal with. I've been reading some books I've enjoyed, but I had not read anything that helped quiet my mind from all the turmoil going on around me. I had been feeling impatient, short-tempered, and agitated. I needed something, I just didn't know what. When I finished my last book, I couldn't find anything that seemed to fit my mood or one that would help me out of it.

A few things happened, within a couple of days, that led me down a literary path and brought me to the book I needed...

First, I saw a post from Erica Bauermeister (an author I enjoy) on Facebook about Anna Quindlen. It wasn't about any of Quindlen's books, it was actually about how they both live in the same area. I thought I remembered seeing Quindlen's name before (a quote of hers on Goodreads, perhaps?) and made a mental note to look her up when I had the chance.

Second, my daughter and son-in-law gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble as a thank you, which was really sweet and unnecessary but really thoughtful of them. There isn't a store near us, but my daughter knows I order online. I hate Texas traffic, so I seldom make the drive to the nearest Barnes and Noble unless it's for something extra special.

Third, a student of mine needed the second book in a series I'd been trying to get her to read (The Ranger's Apprentice). She gobbled up the first one much faster than I thought she would (which made me SO proud). When she went to our school library to get the second book, it was already checked out to someone for the next two weeks. I just couldn't let her wait that long. As soon as school was over, I called around to find the second and third book. And, as I'm sure you guessed, only Barnes and Noble had what I needed. They pulled the two books and put them on hold for me to pick-up.

And, finally, when I arrived at Barnes and Noble, my plan had been to just run in and get the books at the service counter. I had a lot of work to do that evening and didn't have time to wander around a bookstore. When I walked in, though, the books beckoned to me and convinced me to look around just a bit. I'm sure some of them whispered, "You will have money left over on that gift card after the two books, don't you want to take me home?" I ignored the whispers of the full price books, as I usually do, and decided to just browse the bargain aisle.

And there she was.

She was lovely. Truly lovely. She was a hardback with a beautifully simplistic cover and a title that spoke to me: Still Life with Bread Crumbs. And I could just tell when I took her off the shelf and held her in my hand, this was the book my soul needed.

And I was right.

I have relaxed and relished every moment of Quindlen's novel. Her writing was balm to my tortured mind, and it helped heal a few bruises on my heart. She's a wonderful storyteller, very descriptive, with characters you really like that have real world problems. Within her story, she provides a great deal of wisdom about how to live life to the fullest and how to treasure moments that are gone too quickly. Just...lovely.

I'll leave you with 'the hook' from the inside cover:

"Still Life with Bread Crumbs begins with an imagined gunshot and ends with a new tin roof. Between the two is a wry and knowing portrait of Rebecca Winter, a photographer whose work made her an unlikely heroine for many women. Her career is now descendent, her bank balance shaky, and she has fled the city for the middle of nowhere. There she discovers, in a tree stand with a roofer named Jim Bates, that what she sees through a camera lens is not all there is to life."
 

Will and Halt will always have my heart!

Bibliophiles have a habit of falling in love with characters. Have I mentioned this? My daughters always thought this was crazy...until it happened to them, of course. ;-)

I assure you that both Will and Halt are worthy of my love...and yours. They are the kind of guys that middle school boys want to be like and middle school girls can admire. (I know you're thinking, "Wait. Ummm, middle school?") Actually, every man should want to be like them and every woman should want to admire them...but the Ranger's Apprentice series is written for middle school students.

Now, before you jump ship or think the series is only for middle school students, hear me out...

Once upon a time there was a twelve-year-old boy who hated to read. There was only one series that he liked. Well, needless to say, when this boy 'who hated reading' told me that I just had to read The Ranger's Apprentice series, I did exactly that. I was hooked and in love long before I got to the end of the first book! With each book in the series, I kept thinking there was no way the author could continue to make the next one as good as the one before it - but he does! While there isn't one single book that I could pick as my "most favorite" (because I love them all), I am a little sentimental. Like a first love, I am partial to the first book The Ruins of Gorlan where I met Will and Halt for the first time. You know, when we were all a little younger, a little more naive, and a little less weary from our battles and travels and adventures.

There are "officially" eleven books in the series, and I say "officially" because I fell in love with the first ten - which completes the story line. The author, John Flanagan, came out with another book The Lost Stories which is composed of ten short stories that let you know what eventually happened to all the characters. I own that book, but haven't had the courage to read it yet. I am aware that it tells how they lived out the rest of lives which, like all of us, means their lives eventually ended. I like keeping them alive for now. (Don't laugh, I have a friend of mine who feels exactly the same way and, no, she isn't a middle school student. :)

If you read it and you are an adult, I don't need to prepare you for what you're going to read. Just enjoy! If you give it as a gift to a reluctant middle school/high school reader, tell them to be patient through the first couple of chapters. Tell them they shouldn't let the names of the bad guy or the towns/countries throw them in the beginning. They'll get the hang of it, I promise. (By the way, the author wrote these books from stories he wrote for his son when he was young because his son didn't like to read.)

A note about any book series: A series has to be really good for me to invest my time. I don't like reading a series until it is completed, when I can help it. Once I start one, I like to read straight through without reading anything else in between. I do not recommend series very often, but I do highly recommend this one.