The Crucible. Our son was assigned Arthur Miller’s classic play about the seventeenth-century Salem witch trials. The timing? His AP US History teacher assigned this reading for spring break. I thought that seemed like a pretty daunting task for spring break. So I decided to read it along with him. I was thinking that if…
Gifts for graduates. We can all use good ideas for the graduates in our lives, whether college graduates next month or high school graduates soon afterward. What about a book? Recently, John Maddison of Balentine visited my classes to talk with Wake Forest students. Among his many responsibilities, John’s firm tasked him with reviewing books…
John Green writes novels for today’s teens. Though I had seen his books and knew some were made into movies, I hadn’t read one until recently. And now I’ve read two. Recently, I read and marveled at Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated. After finishing the book, I browsed online to learn more about Westover. I found…
Merci Suarez Changes Gears, written insightfully by Meg Medina, won the American Library Association’s 2019 John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature. Some things I expected When I first started reading the book, I expected it to be a growing-up story about a family with a distinctive ethnic background, and I…
Educated. A memoir by Tara Westover. I had heard some buzz about this book, which was hard to miss, given the amount of buzz it generated in 2018. Nonetheless, I was busy, and hadn’t read it. Then I saw it on the list of book award winners from the American Library Association, who named it…
Book award winners! Let’s see who won this year’s awards for the best new books. The American Library Association announced book award winners at their recent midwinter meeting. You can see the link to the full press release here. Book award winners cover a range of categories. The John Newbery Medal is awarded for the…
ASA book drive! Thanks to you, what a success! We decided to honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy with our own month of service, collecting used children’s books for donation to ReadWS. Throughout January, we placed bins for book collection at the center, and you responded with even more donations than last year. Thank you…
Welcome to 2019! We wish everyone a happy and learning-filled new year! Last year seemed to be a bit crazy in terms of weather events and school closures. Between hurricanes and an early snow, the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools have added five dates to their school calendar. They are as follows: January 22 March 29…
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Cynthia decided to choose her next book from the top 100 novels featured in PBS’ recent initiative, the Great American Read. She has not read Outlander, but after scanning that novel’s online reviews, she decided to pass, thinking this novel may not be appropriate for many high school students. Instead…
Snow days! Kids love them, and to be honest, from time to time we love them too. It’s so great to have a chance to pause and breathe and see the beauty of a winter day around us. And who doesn’t love an excuse for an extra cup of coffee? OK, back to reality. The…