Review: The Queen of the Tearling

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book! I loved Kelsea's transition from listening to her foster parents to listening to herself, loved the glimpses of other characters thoughts, loved the way it was medieval yet in the future. I'm excited to read the second one, although also a little nervous because the third book isn't out yet!

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Review: Chasing Secrets

Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this one a lot, although for some reason I kept thinking, "Is it really the plague? I think it might be typhoid fever." Must be all the typhoid fever books coming out this year and invading my brain!

Lizzie Kennedy loves joining her father on his rounds as a doctor. Though a bit sad about the fact that her mother died and not enjoying boarding school at all, she has her brother, Billy, her father, and Uncle Karl and Aunt Hortense, as well as a favorite servant named Jing in her life. When Jing disappears at the same time a quarentine is called, she takes action to try to find him. Is there really the plague? Or is it something else?

I'm a historical fiction fan so this wasn't a hard sell for me. I think the mysteries in the story will draw kids in who might not otherwise like historical fiction. A solid choice.



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Review: The Iron Trial

The Iron Trial by Holly Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It definitely had Harry Potter-like elements, but enough twists to distinguish it from other fantasy series. I look forward to the second one.

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Teachers Write

Here's the Monday Morning warm-up from Jo! This is actually today's assignment! OMG.

Rachel's mom had instructed her to go downstairs to change the cat litter, and she did so, stomping down each step. It was summer! It wasn't raining yet today! Who cares if the trash came today? It would come next week too! No reason to rush it. Besides, when did they ever change the litter? Or make Jason do it? A dog would have been so much easier.

What is setting?

From Elana K Arnold's Tuesday Quick-Write

PART ONE: Take a pad of paper and a pen or pencil. Go outside and look around. Write a paragraph describing your surroundings. (I can't go outside right now, but I can write what I see here!)

I look out upon a library that is one long big room. Once you know it used to be a roller skating rink, you can't help but see it. The wood paneling that lines the walls, the edge that sticks out as it goes along the room, the way the back of the room has a hexagonal feel--these all seem like classic Happy Wheels traits that the library has carried with it. There are colorful fish kites around the walls, and you know if you got up you would probably find a sign that explains exactly what they are. The library is quiet right now, a rustle of newspaper and the clacking of keyboards is all you hear. The faint smell of broccoli is in the air, from what you can't quite tell. A staff lunch, you assume. The carpet is brown and pulling away from the walls, in need of replacement. It's not exactly what you envisioned a library to be like, but it feels homey all the same.

PART TWO: Now, you are a lost six year-old child. Rewrite the same description from this point of view.

There are so many spots Daddy could be hiding in here. It seems like I was just playing with the blocks for a minute and he disappeared. When I come out from the bookshelves that are taller than me, I can see even taller ones in the back! So many of them! How can I check them all? There are also lots of computers. I wish I could see him. Maybe if I just stand here in the empty space and yell, he'll come running.

(this one was hard to do! I've been in this building before when a child felt lost, but since it's just one room and pretty open, it's hard for me to imagine it lasting for a while, or being really scary.)

Now, you are a satisfied housecat. Rewrite the same description from this point of view.

This is a nice place. It's got a few cozy nooks where I can curl up and sleep. The mice and rat catching isn't so good, but the staff and patrons give me treats and that's all I need. There seems to be this strange replica of me on one of the high places, but it doesn't move or blink. It just appeared one day. I think one of the librarians made it. I like to skulk around, especially the back part of the building. Sometimes it is dark and the lights suddenly come on. If I jump and hiss, that scares people, which is also fun. Being a library cat is a grand time.

Now, you are a fifteen year-old whose parents just announced they are divorcing. Rewrite the same description from this point of view.

I wish I couldn't see why my parents picked this place. It's open, so any noise I make will be echoed across. Really, though, why couldn't they do this at home? Why must they pick someplace where I have to try to hold it together, lest I "make a scene?" I feel like I can't even wander away at this point. I mean, I can, but it doesn't make any difference. Even the brief privacy of some stacks still won't change the fact that this place is open, open, open as my world is closing, closing, closing.

It's Poetry Time!

So I'm catching up on the actual writing (not too far behind!) although I'm not very good at participating in the comments section. I suppose I'd have to be even more on top of things for that.

Anyway, today's challenge is about poetry from Liz Garton Scanlon. It's supposed to be a 12-line poem with either an 'abab/cdcd' rhyme scheme or 'aa/bb/cc' scheme.  Let's see what I come up with.

The birthday blues are here to stay
How can I make them go away?

I thought that 30 would be fun.
The confidence battle over, done.

Instead I feel much the same
No celebration to my name.

No party ideas, no fun with friends,
Instead my brain filled with dead ends.

Three days later, clouds disappear
My happiness returned, it's dear.

I'll have lots of fun hanging out
With friends milling all about.


It seems incomplete at 12 lines, but it feels like it captures what I was feeling last week and what I'm feeling today. The computer had a meltdown a week ago that I haven't been able to catch up with.

Teacher's Write: Wednesday Edition

Some of the posts I'm skipping now, because I'm not in a great place to write them. I either don't have a timer, or I'm not comfortable doing a post about people-watching at this moment. Writing about a character and an object that they love? That I can do.

The first thing that popped into my mind when I read Melanie Crowder's prompt was a girl and a pair of mismatched earrings. One was blue with yellow and white dots, and the other was yellow with blue and white dots. Clearly a pair, but different. Next, I saw a gap-toothed smile, freckles spread across a sunburned face. I see her as a bit of a tomboy, but with this flair for "girly" stuff that's not too much so. She doesn't match her socks either.

I'm thinking of all of this on the fly, so she doesn't have a name yet. I feel like she's just starting to emerge from childhood and these contradictions are her way of staging her independence. Mom and Dad may try to make her match up, but she's not going to. She's independent.

Rachel. Rachel is her name, for now anyway.

Rachel carefully picked out those earrings. Different, yet the same. The way she feels lately. It was easier, before her mother left her job to figure out what she wanted to do next, before her father got stressed out being the primary breadwinner. It was easier for her to just coast around outside on her scooter, hair blowing out behind her as she went up and down her street. Now, she hears things she's not sure she wants to hear. Arguments about responsibility and money. She slips the earrings into her ears. Maybe she'll forget about it for a while. It's time to go outside and scooter.

Teachers Write Day 2

Hey, I'm doing awesome at this! Okay, not really. Part of me even thinks that I don't need to go back and do the lessons I've missed. It's fine to not do all of them! I like Kate's Monday post a lot, though, so I'll do it now and then go look at the other ones I've missed.

Kate's post is about wondering. We're supposed to make a list of things we wonder about.

I wonder how to get more teens into my library, particularly middle schoolers.

I wonder if I'll ever get to be state librarian, or will my career path change someday?

I wonder how we can get politicians to listen to people again and not corporations?

I wonder if I'll ever be a writer, or if I even want to.

I wonder if I'll have children.

I wonder if there's a way to open yourself up to the world and read the news everyday and not get overwhelmed by fear or sorrow.

Teachers Write Day One

So this year I'm trying, again to do Teachers Write. I wasn't super successful last year, but I'm hopeful I'll be more successful this year, even as I complete an entry a day behind schedule already. You know what, though, that's okay. I will do my best, and it'll be what it will be.

So I'm starting with Jo Knowles' post that's a Monday Morning Warm-Up. It's called "White Page Day," and we're supposed to be writing about our current project. At this point, I don't really have a "project." I just want to write more often. Maybe a project will come, maybe it won't. I'm finding it hard at this point to even write book reviews though, so I'm hoping that just the practice of writing will lead to an easier time of it overall.

So, I would like to write
To get into a habit of writing
To ease some stress by doing something that isn't
My job
Reading
Zoning out in front of a screen (despite the fact that I'm using a screen now)
I have pretty journals.
I can use both!
I would like to write because
I've been told I would be good at it
And whether I am or not
There are stories inside me that need to get out
Stories I want to save for history
Even if it's just a chronicle of my days
A future author might use that for their historical fiction research.