Cumplida

I've finished book #52 this late afternoon! I've met my goal for the year and I'm feeling quite good about it.


My last selection of the year, suggested to me by my husband, was Mary Oliver's Red Bird. And on this evening of resolutions and looking forward to the New Year, Oliver's book of poems is very fitting for me. Through her observations of the fox, the river, the turtle, and many other gifts of this world - including her pet dog Percy - Oliver reminds us to pay attention to what is alive and around us, to be aware of nature and the way you feel, and the way it feels.

Beautiful.

Distractions

I'm halfway through book #50. You'd think that being on Christmas vacation and being snowed in would help my mission, allowing me to finish the last three books I need to read before the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve. But I have a problem.

I'm easily distracted.

I'm distracted by emails, Facebook, and Twitter. I lost my way yesterday when I glanced at the windows in my office and just had to make curtains, right then and there. (They're lovely, I must say. I made them out of two Indian scarves.) I'm distracted by laundry, but not so much that I actually do any. (OK, I did one load today, just the essentials, like a bunch of underwear and some pjs I'll need for the rest of this lazy week.)

I'm distracted by Christmas cookies.  Lots of cookies, all kinds. Every time I pass by the kitchen table, these bright red tins call to me. I open them, and discover new treasures while sipping hot coffee.

I was productive today, and helped my husband shovel snow. I was distracted though, when the most beautiful flock of geese flew by, and I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the day - the crisp cold, the white snow, the blowing wind, the clean air. (How alive I felt!)

I did read this afternoon, but a nap came on.  I gave in. Now here I am, it's almost 11 pm, and I'm about to watch a movie with my family. Movies are distracting too, but this is the week to catch up on them. When the movie is over, off to bed I'll go.

I'll prop myself up with a bunch of pillows, and read until I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.

Almost there! Not giving up!

To date, I've read 47 books in 2010!  Just five more books and I will have met my challenge!

Now, how to get five more books in by New Year's Eve? The routine is: get in bed by 10:30, read for an hour or more, then sneak in short spurts of reading here and there, between after school and dinner, and on the weekend, between housework and holiday shopping.  It'll be a squeeze for the next two weeks, but I will do it.

Books, books, and more books!

When we rang in the New Year 2010, I resolved to read a book a week this year.  It's been a challenge to keep up the momentum, but it's also been exciting to see my virtual bookshelf fill up on Shelfari.  My shelf is at the bottom of my blog here, if you care to take a look.

So far, I've read 42 books this year!  I MUST read 10 more books by New Year's Eve or I'll be disappointed in myself.  No matter what is happening in my life, I absolutely have to read everyday, or I get to feeling like the day was a waste.  During the day, I plot how I'll get schoolwork, errands, and housework done in time to get in bed by 10, so I can read for at least an hour before going to sleep.  It's what I look forward to all day...

My husband, @TheAmericanPoet on Twitter, honored me with a poem about my reading quest. Please read it at his blog, Crowned with Laurels.

Tales of a Female Nomad - Book Review

Travel often and live outside your country for a while, if possible.  You'll learn three things. 

1. You can live without many of the objects and comforts you feel are must-haves.
2. People want to connect with you.  They want to share what they have, even when they have little to give.  Eating together and talking are two of the most important activities we can engage in with anyone.
3. You create your own adventures. You just have to be willing to take the first step.

These are just a few points I've internalized from my reading of Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman.  I enjoyed the book tremendously. 

In her late forties, Gelman embarks on a series of travels around the world.  A successful writer of children's books, Gelman lives a very comfortable life, but something is missing.  She sells her things, and fills a backpack with the most essential items for a journey into the unknown.  She really isn't sure what she is getting into at first.  But once she goes to Mexico, and lives in a Zapotec village... she is hooked on living simply, living with and learning from different people, and experiencing the sights, sounds, and flavors of another culture.  She travels all over the world and stays for months at a time in places like Nicaragua, Israel, the Galapagos Islands, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Thailand.  She even returns often to the US between travels and stays in different places - giving her the valuable opportunity to reconnect with family and build new friendships.

Gelman's descriptions of people and places were excellent.  I felt as if I were traveling with her.  I was especially intrigued by her detailed accounts of meal preparation and sharing in these very different places.  Female Nomad and Friends - Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World, is Gelman's next book where she "pays homage to the wonders of traveling, connecting, cooking, and eating around the world".  I plan to read that one next.

I've had the opportunity to visit several different states.  I've also traveled often to Bolivia, and I've been to Spain once. (Thanks dad, for igniting the travel flame!)  I hope to have the chance someday to travel more. Maybe I'll even be lucky enough to enjoy an extended stay somewhere where I can work at an elementary school.  Traveling, eating, and teaching around the world... now that would be my dream adventure!

And the Winners are...

Marjorie, Karen, and Beverly!

Thank you ladies, for visiting my blog and participating in the book giveaway.  I will get in touch so we can send out your copies of Sisters, Strangers, and Starting Over by Belinda Acosta. 

I am also looking forward to reading Sisters, since I recently finished Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz by the same author, and I must say, I really enjoyed it!  A funny thing happened when I started to read Damas a few weeks ago.  I received an invitation to attend the National Council of La Raza's Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas which would take place July 10 to 13 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.  I was very excited about the event.

My bags were packed for my early morning flight, and so I settled in to bed with my book.  I started to read Chapter Eight, and guess where it was taking place?  At the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center!  The main character Ana and her daughter Bianca were at a quinceañera fair, getting some ideas for the young lady's special day.  (A quinceañera is the latino equivalent of a sweet sixteen.) 

¡Qué casualidad!  What a coincidence!  I was headed to a place in my book, while I was reading it!

Book Giveaway! Sisters, Strangers, and Starting Over

I'm hosting a book giveaway on behalf of Hachette Book Group.  There will be three winners, who will each win a copy of Sisters, Strangers, and Starting Over by Belinda Acosta. 

Beatriz Sánchez-Milligan is shocked when her 14-year-old niece, Celeste, stumbles into her 25th wedding anniversary party. Celeste reveals that her mother, Perla, has died and that she has nowhere else to go. Beatriz immediately takes Celeste in - a decision that troubles her husband, Larry, who remembers that wherever Perla went, trouble followed. He worries his wife is rushing in without having all the facts. Undaunted, Beatriz begins to plan a quinceañera for Celeste; but the party planning doesn't comfort Celeste, nor does it ease Beatriz's pain.  -Hachette Book Group

Visit the author's website
Follow the author @BelindaGene
Become a fan on Facebook

To win a book, please comment here by July 31, and share your thoughts on sisters, whether you have sisters or not. When you comment, please leave an email address or link to a site where you can be contacted. Winners must be US or Canadian residents. No PO Boxes please. Winners will be selected and announced on August 1.

Sensing and Connecting

I had always thought that the connections we make between life experiences and the five senses were fascinating.  Several years ago, upon reading A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman, I became even more aware of the ways in which I perceived particular moments in time, as well as how others "sensed" them.  Ackerman explores the senses in historic and vivid detail in this engrossing book which I go to again and again.  I highly recommend it.

My interest in this topic was peaked again when I came across A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass.  This young adult novel is about Mia, a 13-yr old for whom letters, numbers, and sounds have color.  In the course of the novel she is diagnosed with synesthesia - "a neurologically-based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway." (Wikipedia)  How fascinating! 

While we watch Mia struggle with her condition in this story, we also get to see the reactions of people who are close to her.  This is a story about growing up, discovering who you are, friendship, and family.  I enjoyed it.

As soon as I started A Mango-Shaped Space, I began making connections to A History of the Senses, which was a nonfiction piece.  This kind of text-to-text connection makes learning concrete.  It's a big part of teaching reading to children.  Being aware of these connections makes us better readers and teachers!

Buen provecho

On my desk and shelves,
in my bedroom, on my bedside table
piles of books, stacked as high
as they'll let me. These towers
built with mixed bricks,
flavors I want to taste.
Afraid I won't have enough
like a binge-eater, I read until full
never feeling like I'm done.
Quiero más.

I skip words when I speak,
I can't come up with what I want to say
but my mouth utters one, two, three disparates
until the right one comes.  
Have I overindulged?
These ideas swimming together,
sorting themselves out, do they
cause me to misspeak?
Should I watch what I read?
Or should I fill up even more,
because there's always more to be had.
No one ever watches how much I read.
They'll judge my plate, eyebrows raised,
but not my shelves.

Me sirvo más.

Me han dicho un dicho...

The Latin Baby Book Club is celebrating El día de los niños, El día de los libros over at their blog.  Please stop by and see how proverbs or dichos are an important part of literacy as well as culture. In Small Phrases, Wordly Lessons I share my thoughts on sayings - and the lessons they teach.  I also suggest a few books classroom teachers can use to anchor lessons about idiomatic expressions and proverbs.

Book Review: Away, by Amy Bloom

Away, a novel by Amy Bloom, fell in to my hands at the same time my 4th graders and I are finishing up a thematic unit on immigration. I believe my students appreciated that I too was doing some reading on the topic, and that I was enjoying my novel immensely.

It's the 1920s and Lilian Leyb, the story's heroine, leaves Russia after a pogrom has taken her family, including her small daughter Sophie. Lilian sails to New York City to begin again, passes through Ellis Island, and suffers like so many other immigrants. Her trials, however, are aggravated by the horrific memory of the murders of her family.

Lilian makes do, finds work, and does what she must to to get by. Surviving involves doing things she probably never imagined having to do. The reader can understand the "whatever it takes" attitude one must have in order to eat and have a roof over one's head. But these are not Lilian's only motivations. A cousin arrives from Russia, claiming that little Sophie is alive. And so begins Lilian's quest to reach her daughter in Siberia. The brave heroine embarks on a journey that takes her from New York, to Seattle, to Canada, to Alaska - in the blind hope of finding her child. It's the people she finds along the way though, that make this story a gripping read.

Winners - Hispanic Heritage Month Giveaway

Congratulations to the following amigos, who have each won a set of five books!

1. Estela
2. Confessions of an Overworked Mom
3. Ali
4. Sarah
5. Mary Ann DeBorde

Winners have been contacted by email. Thanks for participating! Enjoy your books!

Hispanic Heritage Month Book Giveaway

Hispanic Heritage Month is observed September 15 through October 15. I'm excited to kick off this month-long celebration with a book giveaway on behalf of Hachette Book Group. There will be five winners, who will each win a set of five books.

The books in this giveaway are:

1. Zumba® By Beto Perez , Maggie Greenwood-Robinson
2. Evenings at the Argentine Club By Julia Amante
3. Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz By Belinda Acosta
4. Tell Me Something True By Leila Cobo
5. Amigoland By Oscar Casares

To win a set of books, please answer the following question, and comment here by October 15. When you comment, please leave an email address or link to a site where you can be contacted. Winners must be US or Canadian residents. No PO Boxes please. Winners will be selected and announced on October 16th.

So...
What notable Hispanic, past or present, do you want to know more about? Why?

Winners - Latino Book Giveaway

Congratulations to the following buena gente, who have won copies of America Libre by Raul Ramos y Sanchez and Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz by Belinda Acosta.

1. x l
2. Carolyn G
3. cumba
4. KD
5. Sarah Alaoui

Winners have been contacted by email. Thanks for participating! Enjoy your books!

Looking at old pictures...

When I was a child, my father would scrimp and save all year long so that he could take our family to Bolivia for the summer. After several days of packing, more than six hours on a plane, and after suffering a few days of altitude sickness, my siblings and I were ready to enjoy several weeks with our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and many, many cousins.

Every day held a new adventure, a new food, a new game, a trip to the park, the movies, a picnic, a party. One very special memory of mine is captured in a photo of a wooded place, a campfire burning in the background, and several cousins and myself gathered around an uncle with a guitar. I remember the place was called "Mallasa", an hour or so drive from the city of La Paz. We would go there for Dia de campo (a day in the country). Our parents would load up an uncle's truck with baskets of meat, bread, corn, salad, fruit, and sodas, as well as a radio and a guitar. Another truck would carry all the kids in the back (ahhh, those were the days when folks weren't so afraid) and another vehicle would transport the rest of the adults.

It was a glorious time. I love to look at that picture, and all of the others we've saved from our summers in Bolivia. These pictures take me back to a childhood that was, for the most part, wonderful.

Photos are valuable treasures we can share with our children. They are also useful as prompts or inspiration in the classroom. A book that I love to share with my students is Family Pictures/Cuadros de familia, by Carmen Lomas Garza. Please read my review of this great selection over at the LBBC blog.

Latino Book Giveaway!

I've been given another great opportunity to offer new Latino-authored books here at my blog.

There are five copies each of:

America Libre by Raul Ramos y Sanchez


Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz by Belinda Acosta


Contest rules:

1. Respond to this post, indicating the book you'd like to win. You may submit two separate entries, one for each book. In your comment(s), please tell me a bit about yourself, about what you like to read, if you've previously read any Latino authors, etc. I love to know more about my readers!
2. Please include an email address or site where I can reach you.
3. US and Canada participants only. No PO boxes, please.

Entries will be seleccionados al azar (chosen at random) on July 30. Winners will be announced on my July 31st post. Ten lucky folks will win!

Blindness - Book Review

Blindness by José Saramago is an intense story about society’s downward spiral. An unexplained medical mystery propels a city into unimaginable horror. The emergency itself appears manageable, at least for a while. However, it is the characters’ reactions to this circumstance, understandable and shocking at times, that give insight into what could happen to us in the most horrible of circumstances.

On an average day, a man goes blind as he drives his car down a city street. A Good Samaritan comes to his rescue and helps him to his home. Later, the driver and his wife go to a doctor for help. The doctor, unable to provide any answers, sends the patient home, contacts another eye specialist to discuss the matter, and proceeds to see other patients who remain in the waiting room. Sometime later, the Good Samaritan, the doctor, and the patients in the waiting room, all go blind. Soon, people across the city, who appear to have no connection to one another, fall blind. This blindness comes on without warning, suddenly and swiftly.

City officials begin to round up victims and confine them to an abandoned mental hospital. One person, who does not go blind, becomes a silent witness to the behaviors and tragedies that emerge from this epidemic.

This book was mesmerizing, in that peculiar way that roadway accidents and neighborhood fires grip our attention. I was also fascinated by the way Saramago wrote this story; he stressed descriptions that relied on sound, smell, touch – senses that become heightened when one goes blind.

I recommend this book. Here is the movie trailer that was released based on it, though I don't recall the movie being promoted around here. Perhaps I missed it, and it's already out on DVD. At any rate, a movie will only show you the story events. The book, as it was written, allows you to see.

Giveaway Update

Some people have all the luck! It appears our friends Cheryl S and Nightdweller20 have already won these great books at other blogs. So, I have the pleasure of drawing two more names.

The winners are:
1. teachin'
2. Bingo

Please comment/reply to this post ASAP with your name and mailing address so that we may get these books out to you right away. Don't worry - I will not publish your addresses here. (PO Boxes not acceptable, sorry.) I'll also try to get in touch with you (if you have a blog or if you've already supplied your address) so that we may expedite the mailing of your prizes!

Latino Books Month Giveaway - Winners!

Thank You to the 37 fabulous participants who posted comments to my May 7th Giveaway post! I enjoyed hearing from all of you!

As promised, your entries were placed into a bowl. My son was enlisted as the Reach for More giveaway "official", and drew five entries. The winners are:

1. Cheryl S.

2. Campbele

3. Rebecca

4. Nightdweller20

5. Debbie Rodgers

Lucky you! You've won all 5 of these books:

B as in Beauty By Alberto Ferreras

Into the Beautiful North By Luis Urrea

Hungry Woman in Paris By Josefina Lopez

The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos By Margaret Mascarenhas

Houston, We Have a Problema By Gwendolyn Zepeda

Winners - Please comment/reply to this post ASAP with your name and mailing address so that we may get these books out to you right away. (PO Boxes not acceptable, sorry.)

Bilingual Book Review - Super Cilantro Girl

Stop on over to Latin Baby Book Club for my review of Super Cilantro Girl – La Superniña del cilantro. It's a story about the fears of 1st generation children and overcoming obstacles.

I use this book in my 4th grade bilingual classroom as a springboard for lessons about immigration, discussions about being separated from loved ones, and to inspire creative writing.