Book Review: Larklight by Philip Reeve

Larklight is a science fiction novel written for a younger audience, a darling chapter book that would be great for kids in 5-7th grades.

Philip Reeve is a British author, and he has set this novel in an "alternate" reality in Victorian England: however, these plucky Englishmen have discovered how to travel the cosmos based on principles learned (or given) to Sir Isaac Newton.

The young man, Art Mumby and his sister Myrtle are hurtled into an adventure that eventually circles back to their home, Larklight, which is a space ship that is orbiting the moon.

It's a very British book; All the spelling, punctuation, and issues are distinctively British. There's a sense of social class, racial intolerance, and yet, Reeve has people from all planets co-mingling and enjoying what they can from others.

This is a fast moving adventure, and I enjoyed it very much!

Ironside by Holly Black

Ironside, a Modern Fairy's Tale is book 3 in a very older, young adult book series. While the books are interesting reading, I would definitely not recommend these books to the same readership as the Spiderwick Chronicles.

Ironside is definitely written for a teen girl audience. It pushes the boundaries having a homosexual male "side-kick" to our tough-as-nails pixie main character. It has an honorable knight unwillingly crowned as king of the underworld (very Persephone/Hades, and indeed makes the connection so the reader doesn't have to.)

While I enjoyed it, Ironside is not for everyone. If you are a teen aged girl, into fantasy, and not bothered by what may be in the "dark" side of faerie, then this is the book for you. It's much in the style of the current sensations of The Luxe, Libba Bray's series A Great & Terrible Beauty and Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz. They are modern tales, presumably for a more "modern" girl, in the sense that modern means "shocking."

I guess this is the new trend: Darker, edgier, bloodier, and more fantastical than ever before. With Twilight's opening weekend raking in 70+  million dollars, I guess this is the answer to Stephanie Meyer's almost clinically "clean" vampire novel.

Research--You mean there's more than just google?

My students have been in the labs researching in a "Tom Romano" fashion; they are doing an iSearch paper. Each of them chose an issue that needs to be addressed in Orem. Then, they were required to get 2 newspaper articles and 1 magazine article; 2 other sources could be anything they liked. Many of them told me "I couldn't find anything..." They had done the "broad sweep" of google-ing their topic.

Once we started to narrow the search, adding key words like Utah, Orem, Utah Valley, 2008, etc. to their topics, they watched the millions of sites dwindle. We would try to get the most relevent sources--where we had only 100-200 articles to search. It was very eye-opening for the students to watch the Internet, which seems so large, become microscopic and detailed. In a very real way, it's like the google maps zoom feature.

By and large, I had to work with every student to narrow the field. Most of them were exultant when they found their sources, and they played with their own searches to see "what else [they] could find."

Good research is a good reward, it turns out!

Dare You to Move

1. Choose a current event or issue.

 

2. Research the issue.

You will need at least

two newspaper articles

one magazine article

you may choose to include Internet search items, interviews, newsletters, etc. but you are required to have copies of your research.

 

3. You will need to write a 3 page paper.

Double Spaced

It should have a standard sized font (Lucida, Garamond, Times, Chicago, Trebuchet, etc.) No "fancy" or handwritten fonts except for as titles.

Type your name on the paper.

 

4. Your paper will explain the issue in at least 1 paragraph.

You could use other paragraphs to explain what is being done by other people, or what should be done about the issue.

You should have a conclusion that outlines what YOU intend to do about the issue. What can you, as one person, do about the issue? How do you make a difference? How can you have power as just one person?

 

5. Your paper will be due the day before Thanksgiving.

 

6. Your project will be due, and you will talk about what the issue is and what you did to make a difference, after Christmas break, January 5th or January 6th.

 

7. This fulfills several elements of the English core curricula: speaking, listening, research, evaluation and analysis, and inquiry. I hope you choose something that is fun that gives you a sense of "warm fuzzy" from making a difference.

Welcome to the planet 

Welcome to existence 

Everyone's here 

Everyone's here 

Everybody's watching you now 

Everybody waits for you now 

What happens next? 

What happens next? 

I dare you to move 

I dare you to move 

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor 

I dare you to move 

I dare you to move 

Like today never happened 

Today never happened before 

Welcome to the fallout 

Welcome to resistance 

The tension is here 

The tension is here 

Between who you are and who you could be 

Between how it is and how it should be 

I dare you to move 

I dare you to move 

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor 

I dare you to move 

I dare you to move 

Like today never happened 

Today never happened 

Maybe redemption has stories to tell 

Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell 

Where can you run to escape from yourself? 

Where you gonna go? 

Where you gonna go? 

Salvation is here...

Student Portfolios & Student Led Conferences

I am sure some parents are very surprised and displeased with the way I have graded this quarter. I apologize for the lengthy process. What I have done is compile every paper your student has completed this quarter to put into a portfolio. I have done this, plus put notes into the computer for EVERY assignment (when possible) so that the comments are viewable to you, their parents. I think that the more feedback you have on your student, the more you can help him/her to become a better writer, thinker, speaker, and listener.

I have collected this information for you to discuss with your student in a "Student Led Conference." You will have specific directions for my class to specifically address your student's needs and strengths. Student Led Conferences are important for the student to identify areas that need to be better to do well on both standardized testing and in life. English, the spoken and written word, is life. People live and love through communication. All forms of communication are an art that has to be practiced to become better.

Hopefully, as we get to the end of the term you will feel this has been an important practice for you. Along the way, I have tried to put in scores so that you know I have received the assignment and am still trying to get all the comments into the computer. This "note bank" allows you to immediately access the good qualities and items that need to be addressed by your student, and they let you access ways you can help your student from any computer at any time that you have Internet access.

Please send me feedback on anything about this process. This is the first time I have done any kind of data collection in this format. It's been extremely time-consuming, but I hope it has been helpful.

Thanks for allowing me to spend time solving mysteries of things unknown and learning and growing with the amazing people in my classes.

Music Recommendations

I feel a really, really important part of my job is to be "up" on pop culture. One of the focuses I try to make is to bring pictures, books, and lots and lots of music to my class. However, I had a student tell me that I wasn't bringing "their" music. It was all "too old" or "too country" or "over-played."

So, I am asking you to send me great songs. What should I use in my classroom? Please reply in comments or to jillian.phippen@gmail.com with "music recommendation" in the subject line.

Thanks for your help in making ME a better teacher!

The Vampire Diaries

A student gave me The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith as an alternative to the Twilight Saga, and I must say, I have been pleasantly surprised. Originally, each was a young adult book about 255 pages long. Now, there are 2 books published together in 2 books.

These vampires are brothers, they are dangerous, but, of course, they are not all bad. In fact, they turn out to be daring, heroic, and they save the world... as mere mortals know it.

I enjoyed all 4, found nothing (besides blood---and you knew that when you picked up a vampire book) that would be offensive. Interestingly, I also found a werewolf. It got me thinking. The original copyright in the book was 1991. I wonder when Stephenie Meyers read them? Certainly Anne Rice didn't add werewolves and vampires together, so... is it really logical to do that?

I'm giving The Vampire Diaries 3 stars. They are a fun read. The characters are good, solid, dynamic, and enjoyable. The scary is scary. The twists are enjoyable, and the books are not romance with a bit of fantasy. They are action-fantasy with a bit of romance. A nice change from the Twilight world, if you asked me!

Airman by Eoin Colfer

One of my delightful students loaned me this book after I had commented on how much I enjoyed reading Artemis Fowl. Airman is not at all like Artemis Fowl!

Airman is the story of a boy who grows into a man; although it is a hero journey, it has many emotional intricacies. At one point in the book, when Conor Broekhart is at his lowest point in "the belly," I almost wanted to skip to the end, just to make sure it really did end happily following the hero journey properly.

Airman is fast moving, is action driven, and has lovely round, developed characters. It also uses the symbolism of flying as freedom. It's a great book that I highly recommend! Guess what I'm getting my oldest nephew for Christmas?

Fearless Fourteen

Last night I read Fearless Fourteen  by Janet Evanovich. I've been sick this week, and this book brought a grin and three-or-four laugh-out-loud moments.

This isn't the place to start with Stephanie Plum; she's a bounty hunter who started in Evanovich's One for the Money. If you're going to read Evanovich, start at the beginning of this series, and skip everything else she's written.

Evanovich has some naughty language, and Stephanie Plum is in love with two hotties. Those are up-front disclosures.

I'm not recommending this particular read to my students, but if you're a Steph Plum fan, this book isn't a disappoint. It's not the best in the series, but it would make a great afternoon-at-Lake-Powell read!

Utah Basic Skills Competency Test

All over the state, we've just finished taking the UBSCT. Make-ups will be on 12 February 2008 for those who missed the test.

I hope the students did well. Friday is midterm for Term 3, and scores for the UBSCT won't come out until midterm Term 4.