Bobcattery

Moving

2009-08-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

The presentation on Aug. 6 was a success. I got to meet Chris Tovani, get her autograph on two of her books, and have my picture made with her. I started a new wiki for the presentation: http://nurseverse.pbworks.com

It is all about poetry and teaching poetry for teachers. I hope it will be helpful to many people, especially poetry lovers. The title has a link to the presentation on Google Docs. If you would like to join the wiki, check it out and email me for permission.

I am leaving my middle school position and going to a PK-4 library. I am really excited about getting back with the little folks again. I have not had them since I left Arizona, and I really miss them. I have never had PK, but it will be fun to work with them using puppets, songs, stories, books, games, and computers. I can't wait. School starts on Aug. 24.

Latest Happenings

2009-06-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

It has been some time since I posted to my blog, so I have several things to write.

First, with a fellow teacher, I am presenting at the ESC 16 Secondary Literacy Conference in Amarillo on August 6-7 of this year. We are doing a presentation called "Nurse Verse." I am a big fan of poetry from a young age and have been writing poetry since elementary school. My first published work was our Duncanville High School Fight Song.

Our school had the honor of receiving a "Picturing America Bookshelf Award" in April. We were one of 4,000 honorees out of 7,000 applications. We received the "Picturing America Award" last year. Our students and teachers have enjoyed the prints that have been displayed throughout the school during the year.

My latest reads have been books by Nicholas Sparks--The Guardian, True Believer, and At First Sight to name a few. I really enjoy his work. I am also reading some of Jack Prelutsky's books of poetry and how to write poetry.

In April, I was able to hear Maya Angelou speak at WTAMU. She was entertaining, and the evening was over too soon.

During Christmas break, I went to Alabama where I went to the beach in Pensacola and a science museum in Mobile. I ate at a restaurant where they throw rolls at patrons, and you can eat all the fried potatoes, rolls with molasses, fried okra, and macaroni with stewed tomatoes that you can eat. The drinks come in giant mugs and refills are free.

2008-10-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Futuristic Title

2008-09-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Empire by Orson Scott Card

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
It seems that several authors are writing novels about what the U.S. will be like in the future--Chris Stewart, Terry Brooks, and Card--to name a few. This novel had lots of intrigue and some sci-fi elements in the nature of unusual weapons. It really makes one think about the coming election and how happenings in a country and politics can change things rapidly.

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September Reads

2008-09-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Tomb of the Golden Bird: An Amelia Peabody Mystery by Elizabeth Peters

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I listened to this one on CD. I just love Amelia Peabody mysteries. Most take place in Egypt, and there is always a crime of murder for Amelia to solve. She and her husband Emerson, better known as the Father of Curses, are so much fun. The reader for this book was excellent.

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A Classic

2008-09-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I had never read this book until I saw the first half of the 6 hour production for TV. I couldn't get the other half on video at the time, so I bought the book to see how the story ended. The video left me with the lover's quarrel and a rejection of a marriage proposal. Later I bought the whole thing on DVD. It is one of my favorite love stories. The British humor of the father is great.

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Middle School Read

2008-09-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I avoided reading this book for a long time. To a middle school librarian who is not particularly a dog lover, it just didn't look very interesting until I found out it was all about poetry. Since I love poetry and have written poetry since childhood, I decided it was a must read. I loved it even more after meeting the author. It is unusual in that the main character gets to know an author who is presently alive and writing for teens and children today. I have never heard of that in a book before.

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More about The Host by Meyer

2008-09-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Since I liked the Twilight series so much, I decided to read The Host by the same author. It was not at all what I was expecting and didn't grab me right at the first like Twilight did, but as I persisted, I got the idea and found it to be a great Sci-Fi read. The idea of a human body hosting an alien was not so new, as was the idea of the injured host still being able to have some control over the healthy alien. This book is very different from the Twilight series but still has romance,action, adventure, and fantasy. The soul is truly amazing and hard to destroy in a righteous being.

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Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

2008-09-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
All of the books in the Twilight series were good reads;they have intrigue, romance, adventure, fantasy. I was especially interested to see how Stephenie Meyer would end the series. It is a good ending, but seems to leave a door open for a continuation of the story at a later time when it might go an entirely different direction. You must read it if you enjoyed the first three books in the series. What happens in the final episode of the love story of Bella Swan, human teen from Phoenix, and her dreamy vampire Edward Cullen? In this series, love is very complicated, has many levels, and is exhibited in many ways.

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Books Read in the Past

2008-09-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a book I read at the end of the semester during finals when I was in college. Most of my studying was done as I went along, so while everyone was cramming for tests, I enjoyed my journey through this book. It is truly a tragic love story in more ways than one. I loved the historical setting and fell in love with Rhett Butler. I fell in love with him again when I watched the movie where his character was played by Clark Gable. I am fond of historical fiction and the Civil War Period was an interesting time in the history of our nation with brother fighting brother as some of my ancestors did. In some of my grandmother's papers, I found a military letter written in that time period.

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August Reviews

2008-08-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

School has begun for teachers, but I managed to read Stephenie Meyer's latest addition to the Twilight series, and Breaking Dawn was great!!!!!! I really want more from her.
Before that I read The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson and can recommend the book and the author for her teen historical romances. I found out that Obert Skye is not finished with Leven Thumps, so I am waiting for the next book there. In the meantime, for all you dragon lovers, he has written a new book called Pillage which is about dragons. It might make a good inbetween book before Christopher Paolini's Brisinger becomes available.
Presently, I am reading the second book by James A. Owens in his series The Chronicles of the Imaginatium Geographica entitled The Search for the Red Dragon. Fans of great British authors will recognize them as characters in the aforementioned title and also in the first book of the series-- Here There Be Dragons. In addition, you may even meet some of their characters woven into the stories.

Summer

2008-07-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

July15, 2008
Eva Ibbotson is another really cool author. She lived in Poland about the time of World War II. She has several books set in Europe during the wars there which are also romances: A Countess Below Stairs and A Song for Summer. Another one is a mystery about an orphan girl and horses in Austria: Star of Kazan. Once I started reading, I couldn't put them down.

2008-07-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

I am now in Arizona visiting family. I am almost finished with the Leven Thumps series by Obert Skye. It is about a boy who has had a very hard start in life. His destiny is to save Foo, the place where the dreams of Reality are processed. Even when he gets to Foo life is not always easy, but Leven meets his grandmother, and eventually, he sees his mother for about a minute, just long enough to want to see more of her. This is an interesting fantasy series with many new creatures.
I have learned about many new Web 2.0 tools in some training that I have been doing this summer. I hope to be able to use them personally and in my job at the library.

Latest novels and happenings

2008-06-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

In the last two weeks, I finished Stephenie Meyer's The Host. If you are looking for a good romance in the sci-fi genre, this is the book for you. In addition, it is full of adventure and suspense. In spots, it is also a real tear-jerker. Enjoy!
Another romance recommendation is Eva Ibbotson's A Countess Below Stairs which touches on history--World War I and the Russian revolution--painting a wonderful picture of what happened to Russian nobility after the fall of the Tsar.
I really enjoyed both of these books which were squeezed in between a trip to Utah and trainings at the Regional Service Center. I am looking forward to Stephenie Meyer's next book in the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn, which comes out in early August just after I return from a trip to Arizona and finish more trainings in July.

Learning about Web 2.0

2008-06-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Today I am in the Regional service center learning about the Web 2.0 tools and how to use them. Since I last wrote, I have finished the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. If you like to read James Bond type stories this would be a good series. The Young James Bond series by Charlie Higson is also good.
Other books which I have enjoyed were Princess Ben by the author of Dairy Queen and The Book Thief, a holocaust era story.

2007-09-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

Books I have read recently This is my first time to use blogger, since I created my own blog. I hope my students and others will be able to access my blog to help them to communicate with me about what experiences they would like to have in a school library. What kind of library experiences are meaningful? I would also like them to let me know about young adult and children's books they have read and enjoyed. I would like to communicate with other school librarians about their libraries.
Here are a few of the books that I have recently enjoyed. Of course, I have read the final Harry Potter novel and now have the complete set. I also read latest novel in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and am anxiously awaiting the next chapter in the life of Bella and her vampire boyfriend, Edward. I love fantasy, but I read widely from all genres.
I completed the Cirque du Freak novels by Darren Shan and could not stop reading until I had read the final book #12. I have them all to put in my school library.
I recently read a graphic novel of Beowulf by Gareth Hinds. The story is told in words and pictures and begins with the introduction of the Danes and ends with the last battle of Beowulf. It was an interesting version of the old legend.
I found it very accessible to readers of various ages.I also finished On Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan. In the story, Naomi, the daughter of a Mexican father and an American mother who lives with her handicapped younger brother and great grandmother, confronts many obstacles and grows as a result of facing them. It was a believable story set in modern times.