End of Watch by Stephen King

Note: You'll have to go a few pages back to read my review of Finders Keepers, book 2 of this trilogy.  I did not review Mr. Mercedes, book 1, on this blog.

I have been waiting pretty much all summer to read End of Watch, the final book in the Bill Hodges trilogy.  I pre-ordered it, and it sat on my living room ottoman awaiting the day I finished reviewing the summer Nutmeg contenders.  Weirdly, I had to read the "math" book first to satisfy my curiosity on a few data lit. topics first.  But I started reading this Friday afternoon and read non-stop except to sleep and eat (it being 96 degrees or so outside meant I was inside in the AC).

Stephen King does not disappoint (does he ever?).  Mr. Mercedes, aka Brady, is in a seemingly vegetative state in the mental ward of a hospital while Bill, Holly, and Jerome have gone on with their lives.  Jerome is building homes for Habitat for Humanity, Holly still cyber-sleuths, and it is clear Bill has some time of serious intestinal illness (it won't take much for the reader to figure out it's pancreatic cancer).

Secretly, Brady's brain injury seems to have triggered all kinds of telekinetic and telepathic powers, which is pretty scary considering how screwed up he is psychologically (you really do need to have read Mr. Mercedes to understand End of Watch; you could skip Finders Keepers and be fairly OK).  Brady has developed methods of taking over minds and bodies, including using out-of-date video game consoles to get into the minds of teenagers.  I won't spoil too much of Brady's twisted plot here, but he's out for revenge and it seems like he's going to get it!

King is never one to leave out societal commentary.  Sometimes it's subtle.  Sometimes it's blatant.  I do think there is a message here about having your nose buried in your phone (HELLO POKEMON?!?!).  There have been numerous studies/incidents of video game hypnotics, and King plays those up to bring home the message about being aware of one's surroundings AND getting off the tech for a while (granted, how many of you are reading this on a phone or tablet?).  In addition, King makes several references to getting help for depression and suicide prevention.  The number given to a character for help is the actual suicide prevention line.  #itgetsbetter

As I said above, I could not put this down.  Fans of King's horror with like the supernatural elements (Carrie, anyone?).  He also brings in the drama ala Joyland.  This will be added to the LMC collection sometime after the start of the school year!  

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*All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenburg

Confession time.

I like math.

Yes, I was an English major.  Literature is my passion.  Loving books probably had something to do with my becoming a Librarian.

But I still liked math (and science!).  I took AP Calculus in high school, at the time one of only 2 AP courses offered at WHHS (the other being AP Statistics).

I hear people (students and teachers alike) say "I don't math", myself included.  I really don't do a whole lot of math anymore.  The reality though is that while I still had a classroom, sometimes we'd finish tasks early.  I'd give my students time to work on other homework if they did not have a reading assignment for me.  It started as "Miss, can you help me with my math?" to sometimes having the whole class follow along on a mini-geometry lesson.  When the district mandated 20 minutes of math in every classroom, I didn't really begrudge it.  I was already doing it.

 Everything in education today is focused on data (for better or worse, and that's another argument/debate for another post).  But what are doing with all these numbers?  What does this data really mean?  For teachers, it's how many kids reached goal on a post-test?  How many families showed up to parent visiting night?  How many books were checked out last month (and then returned!)?  For kids, what range of SAT scores do I need for this school? What percentage of my total costs are covered by grants? What's my on-base percentage? Tackles this year versus last year?    Math, people, math.  (I would be remiss to not mention how music is math, but my Band and Chorus kids know that already!)

So earlier this summer I attended a conference on data literacy.  There was a whole lot of math in two days (I did this virtually, online).  Several resources were given out, including the book I'm about to review.  It was recommended by several participants.

I have to say, I laughed out loud a few times reading this.  There's a lot of snark and sarcasm.  There's history you probably weren't taught in class.  I learned a bunch of new historical tidbits in reading this.  Ellenburg has my warped sense of humor it seems.

You will need to have a solid foundation in math skills and a pretty good math vocabulary to get most of what's going on here.  I'd say this is for juniors and seniors who have passed geometry with a B at least.  There were a few concepts I had to go and Google to figure out (probably since I no longer math, I've simply forgotten, like a foreign language or complicated knitting stitches).  I also think our AP kids in Stat, Calc, and CompSci should read this to see why they are doing what they do.

Remember to get those summer reading forms in!  All info was sent to school gmail and is on the LMC website thanks to Mrs. Lynch.

Follow me on Twitter @RamblingsLMS!
  

Um, so this just happened...and other news

I am the newest School Library Journal reviewer.  OMG!

I'm still having trouble digesting that!

So, here's what it means.

Oh, wait, FIRST I should say....the summer Nutmegs are DONE.  29 of them!  That means I have until September 14th to read and review as I like!  And there's a STACK!

Now, I'm also going to be sent pre-released material to review for SLJ.  Those won't appear here, but 6 months after publication I can link them here!  So you'll get to read them :)

Happy days!

I attended the SLJ conference today virtually.  Check out my twitter @RamblingsLMS for a feed.

SUMMER READING

Hey everyone!
It's unreal, but summer vacation is more than half over!
I'm hoping all of you are just procrastinating, because we need more read books for the WHHS Summer Reading program.
In case you lost the info (it was sent to your school Gmail account and also went out to parents in the Westie Wrap-up blast!):
Summer Reading Pinterest Board
https://www.pinterest.com/jillianandjusti/whhs-summer-reading-2016/
Summer Reading Form
http://goo.gl/forms/HdYjqfG3l6
State Summer Reading Guide
http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/ctread/2016_ctread_grade9_12.pdf
State Summer Reading Journal
http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/ctread/SR2016_journal.pdf​​
Summer Reading Links Slide
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10VUtq1bCJIxHlZNcUPBFhn05vt5ywlBDHRZcprZmNWE/edit?usp=sharing
Remember, this is all suggested. Read what you like!

I have been reading non-stop with the Nutmegs.  I have a pretty big stack of non-Nutmegs I've been collecting for when this journey is over.  Don't forget all the Nutmeg contenders will be donated to the WHHS LMC after they are debated by the committee.  In addition, we already have an order ready to go with the Madera-Olenick memorial fund.

Get reading!

Side note: I'm excited to be attending the School Library Journal Teen/Young Adult conference virtually next week.  I'll be live tweeting!

Follow me on Twitter @RamblingsLMS    

See you soon!

Summer Reading for Me!

WHHS SUMMER READING 2016

It's that time!

See the links below for all the info you need for this year's summer reading program at WHHS!

Summer Reading Pinterest Board
https://www.pinterest.com/jillianandjusti/whhs-summer-reading-2016/

Summer Reading Form
http://goo.gl/forms/HdYjqfG3l6

State Summer Reading Guide

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/ctread/2016_ctread_grade9_12.pdf

State Summer Reading Journal

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/ctread/SR2016_journal.pdf​​

Summer Reading Links Slide
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10VUtq1bCJIxHlZNcUPBFhn05vt5ywlBDHRZcprZmNWE/edit?usp=sharing

The Obsession by Nora Roberts

It has been a longgg time since I did a "for me" review loves.  Glad to finally be back!

I finished up list 4 of the Nutmeg contenders (had the meeting on those tonight actually) and list 5 isn't complete for ordering yet.  I was super happy that this little lull coincided with one of my holds coming in to WHPL.

If you've followed my blog for a while, you know Romance is not usually my thing, but I'm a total sucker for Nora Roberts (thank my sister).  I got on the waiting list for this one, and I'm glad I did.

Keep in mind, this is a adult romance/mystery.  There is sex (although less graphic than is usual for Roberts) and 2 serial murderer/rapist/wackos.

Naomi was a just a child when she discovered her father was a serial rapist and murderer.  Her mother never recovers from this news and attempts to defend the monster.  Naomi, her brother, and two uncles (her mother's brother and his husband) form a family and try their best to be "normal".

Fast forward several years and Naomi is living on the West Coast, weekly Skyping with her brother and uncles across the country.  She's a famous photographer who just bought a ramshackle mansion with the intent of restoring it, while documenting the process in pictures.

Enter Xander, super hot mechanic and best friend of her contractor.  Oh, and a stray dog named Tag who totally steals the show.

Everything seems to be going great, until someone starts copycating Naomi's father's crimes.  

Don't want to spoil any more here!

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Tweet what you're reading #whhs #read

All views expressed on this blog are solely Mrs. W.'s.