ancora imparo

I’ve done NaBloPoMo the last few years in November. They have additional activities year round, but I haven’t seemed to be able to keep myself motivated to post all the time. Marcia at Are We There Yet? asked who was participating and I decided I would commit to posting daily for November.

Last night was Halloween, of course, and the first time we’ve taken the kids trick or treating. (I’m a rotten mom, I admit it.) Two years ago, AJ went with my friend Kim because John and I were taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace class. Last year, we went out for dinner for our anniversary and my mom and Vince took the kids around their neighborhood.

This year, we took the kids around, but we live in the country so we walked to three houses that had their lights on and drove to a fourth, plus my parents. Even so, the kids ended up with a pretty good stash. Nothing like what John and I used to get as kids—but we don’t live in a development, so it’s just not possible—besides, they don’t need all that junk. Zoe went as a princess and AJ as a vampire. I will attempt to upload pictures to Flickr later this week. Zoe was hilarious. We told her to say “Trick or Treat” but she said “Chicken Treat!”

I think part of my lack of blogging has been a lack of time and lack of content. Even so, I want to report on some books I read this weekend. I gave mom my Kindle for the weekend to give her a chance to try it out. I had a book Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs and read it a week or so ago and thought she’d enjoy it so I surrendered Kindle and brought home some new books from school.

Friday and Saturday I read Say the Word by Jeannine Garsee on the recommendation of a girl who returned it and said it was the best book she’d ever read. Shawna is a senior in high school and lives with her father, an OB/GYN and fertility doctor. The book starts out with a call from Fran, telling Shawna her mom’s had a stroke and is going to die. Shawna flies to New York City to see her mother before she dies. Her mom speaks to her throughout the book as Shawna comes to grips with the reason her mother left her to live with her lover and left Shawna alone with her dad. It was a very good story and I’ll be recommending it to my students!

Today, I started reading No Choirboy: Murder, Violence and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin. This was recommended by YALSA as a Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers and a Best Books for Young Adults. We will be using it in an intergenerational book club at school. Students will be invited to ask an adult to read the book along with them and then come to discuss it. It’s been a tough but interesting read. Fortunately, I will have the opportunity to share my thoughts about it with others. The author went to visit three young men who were sentenced to death row for murdering someone. She also went to interview the family of one man who was executed and (I believe) the last chapter she interviews the family of the victim of Napoleon who was executed. I haven’t finished the book yet, but it is interesting to read these young men’s perspectives on prison and life. I’ll write more about it after I’ve finished reading it.