Read-a-thon is coming!

 This weekend is the 24-hour read-a-thon. In my time zone, we start at 7:00 am Saturday, April 10. Because of things I need to get done with my kids, I won't likely get the entire 24 hours in, but I'm going to give it my best. It's not too late to sign up.

Kid's reads

 This week's kid's books were visually entertaining.

Those shoes (Read as part of the POC, Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges) I think that this one was my favorite one for the week. A young boy is saddened by the fact that he can't afford the popular shoes that all of his classmates seem to have. When his shoes fall apart, he is embarrassed by the shoes he has to take from the school's supply. His grandmother finds a pair at a thrift shop, which he buys even though they are too small. When his friend is without shoes, he makes a tough choice. This book really touched my heart while attesting to the generosity of children.

The Rain Stomper. (Read as part of the POC, Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges) Beautifully illustrated, this book reminded me a great deal of my dancing daughter. The main character is looking forward to participating in the annual parade until the rain comes. But she doesn't let that stop her from expressing herself.

 If the World Were A village. (Read as part of the Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges) As a former math teacher, I was really excited about the numbers in this book. Using the premise that the world is a village of a mere 100 people, this books explains how the people represent different demographics. Oh the lessons and activities I could have students do based on this book!
The Seeing Stick by Jan Yolen. (Read as part of the POC, Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges) I loved this one. The illustrations were awesome, and the theme of appreciating what's around you was nicely illustrated.
 All the World (Read as part of the POC, Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges) This beautifully illustrated book celebrates that mankind is one big family.
 Crazy Hair (Read as part of the Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges) I enjoyed the rhythm and rhyme of this book. The illustrations were interesting as well.
 Finn Throws a Fit (Read as part of the Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges) Super illustrations of a little one throwing a big fit. As the mother of a two-year-old, I can relate!
Duck and Cover (Read as part of the Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges) A cute book involving animal antics.

Children of the Water

Children of the Waters by Carleen Brice isbn 0345499077, pages

This story brings two people together from seemingly different worlds. As they learn the secrets that have been kept,  they begin to question their identities. Trish is a divorced white mother of a teenaged bi-racial son. When Trish learns that  her baby sister had been given up for adoption, she sets out to find and unite with her. Billie is newly pregnant, which causes her boyfriend to consider abandoning the relationship. Learning that she is adopted and biracial causes her to question everything she knows.

This book confronted several racial issues. I appreciated that it didn't come off as preachy. Nor did it imply that there is a preferred position to take. Everyone had room to openly address their own biases and misperceptions. The characters had issues like we all do, and no one was better or worse off than anyone else.

I read this as a participant in the following challenges.

Six Easy Pieces

Six Easy Pieces by Walter Mosley isbn 0743442547, 288 pages

This collection of short stories features the Easy Rawlins character. Each chapter involves a case that he solves. While the chapters are sequential, each story is written in such a way that they don't depend on one another.
As a big Rawlins fan, I was not disappointed by this collection. I enjoyed how each story unfolded. While the stories didn't depend on each other, they came together to paint a full picture. The downside for me was how he had to repeat details each time.
In essence, Easy has created a "normal" life for himself and his family. But he is haunted by the death of his best friend and is drawn in to cases while trying to answer some questions for himself.

I read this book as part of the following challenges.

Recent Kid's Reads

I've been trying to do a better job of reading with and to my kids, so I've picked up some kids books recently. I'll just give a quick overview of what I've been reading.

14 cows for America (Read as part of the POC, Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges) This is the story of a student from Kenya who was studying in America on 9/11/01. He was so troubled by the event that he traveled home to his village to determine what they could do to assist the affected people. The most valuable commodity in this village is a cow. Altogether, the village presented 14 cows to the American ambassador as a gesture of solidarity with the Americans. The empathy and generosity expressed in this book touched my heart. I was taken back to the level of emotion that I felt at that time, and I found myself teary-eyed after reading this story. The illustrations were beautiful and contributed to my ability to feel the emotion of the time.

A Chair for Always (Read as part of the POC, Young Readers, and Support Your Local Library challenges)
I own two other books in this series (A Chair for My Mother, and Something Special for Me), so I couldn't resist checking this one out. Though the illustrations were similar to the other books, I didn't feel this one as much. While the excitement of a new baby is special, I couldn't get into the telling of this particular story. It seemed more like the author was capitalizing on previous success rather than telling a story that I needed to hear.

Violet's Music (Read as part of the POC, Young Readers and Support Your Local Library challenges)
This was the story of a girl being herself no matter what and being rewarded for her perseverance in the end. I enjoyed the illustrations in this one.

The Unexpectedly Bad Hair of Barcelona Smith. (Read as part of the Young Readers, Support Your Local Library, and Support Your Local Authors challenges)
This was also the story of a boy learning to be accepting of all aspects of himself. Nice pictures.

Dear Mrs. Larue (Read as part of the Young Readers and Support Your Local Library challenges)
This is a humorous tale of a dog's attendance at obedience school. My children enjoyed the dual perspectives illustrated in this book.

   The End (Read as part of the Young Readers, Support Your Local Library challenges)
This is a fairy tale told in reverse. It illustrates cause and effect.

Lost and Found (Read as part of the Young Readers and Support Your Local Library challenges)
I enjoyed the illustrations in this book. The story was about the value of friendship.

Sunday Salon - Bloggiesta Wrap Up

The books I have read in the past week:
   I finished Ask Me No Questions

Books I am currently reading:

Books I plan on reading this week:
   Since the Mystery Challenge is this upcoming weekend, I plan to read the Bookman's Last Fling and Protector.

I participated in the Bloggiesta. My time was limited, but I got some things done. Below is the list of things I had planned to do along with my comments.

• Write reviews. I got three written.
• Conduct and edit author interviews. I have someone in mind to interview. I haven't had time to come up with good questions or the courage to ask for the interview yet.
• Create template posts for my future reads. I revised the templates I had to make my process easier.
• Create a text file (or Google Doc) of cheat sheets (html codes, post url’s, etc) Did it!
• Improve my blog template, clean up sidebars, and install some plugins. Did it!
• Add or edit my about me page, review policy, disclosure policy, privacy policy, and landing pages
• Clean up and update my challenge lists. Did it!
• Visit the Blogging Tips group on the Book Blogs Ning and find ways to improve my blog. Didn't get around to this one.
• Clean out and organize my feed reader and blog subscriptions. Did it!
• Find a blogging buddy. Need to get my courage to ask someone about this.

I also participated in 6 mini-challenges. I think I got in a total of 10 hours.

Addendum: When I originally posted this, I thought that the bloggiesta was over. When I later realized that I had more time,  I put in another couple of hours on my craft blog cleaning up my sidebar, choosing a new background, and changing font colors. So my new total is 12.5 hours.

Bloggiesta Update 6

I just put in another 30 minutes cleaning out my feed reader. I think that's 9.5 hours for me. I still need to visit the Blogging Tips group on the Book Blogs Ning. We'll see if I get to it tonight.

My Life as a Rhombus by Varian Johnson

My Life as a Rhombus by Varian Johnson isbn 0738711608, 312 pages

In this story, Rhonda attends a high end private school but avoids fitting in. She spends her time in the books. But she is forced to change course when she begins tutoring Sarah, one of the most popular girls in school. When she learns that Sarah is pregnant, memories of her own past help them to bond as friends. But Rhonda's past also blocks her ability to enjoy a relationship with Sarah's brother.

This was a nice story. It attempted to show a girl's struggle to avoid the mistakes of the past while trying to move on with her life. I also appreciated the fact that while the main characters where African American, it wasn't what defined them.

I completed this book as a participant in the following challenges.

Bloggiesta Update

I ended up taking longer than I had planned to write these reviews. I have template posts, but I guess I need to improve them since I had to do a lot of modification. Since my last bloggiesta update, I have

• written 3 reviews

This gives me a total of 7 hours of participation. I really have to pick up kids now so I will stop for today.

Bloggiesta Update 3

Since my last bloggiesta update, I have

• participated in Rebecca's Resolution challenge
• participated in Lynn's challenge from last year
• graded my blog at http://blog.grader.com/ (I got this idea from Ruth from last year.)
• updated my "cheat sheet" of html code

This gives me a total of 5.5 hours of participation. I have to pick up kids soon, so I plan to get a couple of reviews written before I stop for today.

Bloggiesta - Update 2

Since my last bloggiesta update, I have

• signed up for MotherReader's comment challenge
• participated in Chelle's Best Post challenge
• I joined Kristen's Mentoring program.

This gives me a total of 4.5 hours of participation.

Bloggiesta - Update 1

OK, in my first couple of hours of the bloggiesta I have

• participated in Beth's Label mini challenge by adding labels to those posts I had neglected. I also added a label gadget in my sidebar. (I hadn't realized that it wasn't there!)
• I updated my list of challenges. It looks a bit intimidating to me.
• I added a gadget, which recognizes new and returning visitors and changes the greeting text accordingly. Directions for doing this can be found here for blogger and here for wordpress.
• I created a landing/about me page.

Bloggiesta - I'm starting!

I'm arriving to the party later than I had hoped. I needed to get some housework done so that I would have no guilt about the fact that I'm about to spend the next several hours sitting in front of this computer.

My kids are at school and it's the last day I have the house to myself before I return to work and school. So I plan to get the bulk of my hours for this challenge in today.

I made my list of things to do, and I think that there are several mini-challenges that I will be participating in as well. I'm not yet sure how often I will update - maybe every couple of hours or so.

Bloggiesta - I'm in!

I'm signing up for the 2nd Annual Bloggiesta. Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish over the weekend.

• Write reviews.
• Conduct and edit author interviews.
• Create template posts for my future reads
• Create a text file (or Google Doc) of cheat sheets (html codes, post url’s, etc)
• Improve my blog template, clean up sidebars, and install some plugins
• Add or edit my about me page, review policy, disclosure policy, privacy policy, and landing pages
• Clean up and update my challenge lists.
• Visit the Blogging Tips group on the Book Blogs Ning and find ways to improve my blog.
• Clean out and organize my feed reader and blog subscriptions.
• Find a blogging buddy.