This came in on our fiction subscription.
Mars, Blake, Carver, and Eli are best friends at an artsy private school. Carver is at work waiting for his friends to pick him up. He texts Mars "where are you guys?". Mars is mid-response when he rear-ends a semi at 75 miles an hour. All 3 are killed in the accident.
Mars's powerful judge father wants Carver charged with involuntary manslaughter. Eli's twin sister is turning the student body of Nashville Arts against Carver.
The story is told by alternating between the present and Carver's memories. Blake's grandmother Betsy, Eli's girlfriend Jes, and Carver's sister Georgia are also central characters (Betsy being my favorite).
It is Betsy's idea to have a Goodbye Day for Blake; a day she and Carver can spend doing things to remember him. I was kinda reminded of those "my dog's last day" posts on Facebook. Carver doesn't know how to handle it when Eli and Mars's families want the same closure.
This wasn't easy for me, as an educator and mom to a boy, to read. Texting while driving is DANGEROUS. Put the phone down. It can wait.
Final note: our copy arrived damaged. It was readable, but we may need to send it back to get a replacement from our supplier.
Follow me on Twitter @RamblingsLMS
All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Monday, April 10, 2017
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
When asked which two songs we wanted to play at my mother's memorial, we chose "Glory Days". My mother always had a record, and later cassette, on while she cleaned on the weekends. One of her favorites was Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA album. It still makes me cry to hear it sometimes.
Springsteen has appealed to fans of all ages for generations. It was a student, a Band student specifically, who asked us to put this on the wish list. It came in with the last water bottle return order.
The book opens with the line "I come from a boardwalk town where almost everything is tinged with a bit of fraud." Meet my new favorite quote. But he means the New Jersey shore.
The autobiography took more than 7 years to write, done piecemeal as part of Springsteen's recovery from depression. I was amazed at his honesty in discussing his battle with depression and anxiety. Unlike most rock stars, he didn't turn to illegal drugs. He turned to a doctor, therapy, and controlled medication.
A lot of this takes place in the past, a past very removed from my students, born in the late 90s and early 2000s. But I think it's still relevant, even to the non-Bandie. Much is his music has historical and political meaning. We can learn a lot about the past from its music.
It will be in Memoir once we return from break!
Follow me on Twitter @RamblingsLMS
All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.
Springsteen has appealed to fans of all ages for generations. It was a student, a Band student specifically, who asked us to put this on the wish list. It came in with the last water bottle return order.
The book opens with the line "I come from a boardwalk town where almost everything is tinged with a bit of fraud." Meet my new favorite quote. But he means the New Jersey shore.
The autobiography took more than 7 years to write, done piecemeal as part of Springsteen's recovery from depression. I was amazed at his honesty in discussing his battle with depression and anxiety. Unlike most rock stars, he didn't turn to illegal drugs. He turned to a doctor, therapy, and controlled medication.
A lot of this takes place in the past, a past very removed from my students, born in the late 90s and early 2000s. But I think it's still relevant, even to the non-Bandie. Much is his music has historical and political meaning. We can learn a lot about the past from its music.
It will be in Memoir once we return from break!
Follow me on Twitter @RamblingsLMS
All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton
This was requested by a student and came in on our recent order.
Um, I'm not really sure what to make of it.
Does anyone remember Are You Afraid of the Dark? It was a show on Nickelodeon. Kids would gather and tell ghost stories. Two that really stick out to me are the one about the haunted school pool and the one about the hotel owner stealing his guests lives.
Anyway, this was sorta like that. It's in essence a collection of ghost stories, like Death Walks Tonight or the scary stories trilogy set every book fair has.
Some of the stories were good, some not so much.
But what I'm still really confused about is whether the tellers are ghost themselves? If Jack, the boy who finds them?
This is a super quick read, less than an hour for me. Not sure it was totally worth the time.
Follow me on Twitter @RamblingsLMS
All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.
Um, I'm not really sure what to make of it.
Does anyone remember Are You Afraid of the Dark? It was a show on Nickelodeon. Kids would gather and tell ghost stories. Two that really stick out to me are the one about the haunted school pool and the one about the hotel owner stealing his guests lives.
Anyway, this was sorta like that. It's in essence a collection of ghost stories, like Death Walks Tonight or the scary stories trilogy set every book fair has.
Some of the stories were good, some not so much.
But what I'm still really confused about is whether the tellers are ghost themselves? If Jack, the boy who finds them?
This is a super quick read, less than an hour for me. Not sure it was totally worth the time.
Follow me on Twitter @RamblingsLMS
All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.
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