The Love of Reading Lives On!

I had a group of Grade 8 students working in my classroom the other day. They were working on a variety of projects and activities and sitting in small groups around the room.

One of students started a discussion about the book he was reading (In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis). He knew a few others had read the first book in the series (Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy as well) and asked if they thought it was okay to read the books out of order.

One girl used the phrase companion book and, having read both books, told him it would be fine, although there could be a few spoilers about a character. A few other students agreed, and the conversation turned to what they liked about the world building in the book.

Another boy chimed in about the world building in Extraction by Stephanie Diaz and he encouraged them to read it because, while it was really different in almost every way, he thought all the books created vivid worlds, powerful characters, and intriguing (his word!) conflict, and that students who liked one would like the other.

The conversation was interrupted by the bell, but it was some great eavesdropping for so many reasons:

• the authors the kids spoke about are friends of mine from Agent Query Connect (the kids know nothing about my connection to these authors)
• the gender of the main character didn't matter to anyone
• the conversation was completely and totally spontaneous
• there was NO adult intervention or commentary (I sat back quietly and grinned!!!)
• they showed great understanding of the books and all kinds of literary concepts
• they were able to look past the obvious dis-similarities to deeper connections within the books

Talk about an uplifting few minutes! So, for those of you who are worried about the next generation of readers, relax! 

What about you? What positive reading have you seen and heard about lately?

Forward ... March!

Matthew MacNish & Alex J Cavanaugh have brewed up another blogfest! In this one, we`re to choose 3 blogs we think others will enjoy, but who may fly under the radar. SO HARD!!!!

I have so many great blog friends - it`s pretty impossible to select just 3. But, them`s the rules, so...

Terry Lynn Johnson - Terry`s MG adventure Dogsled Dreams was THE favourite book in my classroom last year. They loved Rebecca and her dream to run her dogs in a dogsled race. It`s a fabulous story. As an added bonus, Terry is a true outdoor adventurer herself. She kayaks and canoes all over the place and has had some hysterical adventures!

Riley Redgate over at In the Jungle - Riley`s a young aspiring author and is having a blast with her blog. I originally met Riley over at Agent Query Connect. She`s very talented and her sense of humour is quick and often surprising. You`ll love her spirit!

Mindy McGinnis over at Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire! - Mindy - known over at Agent Query Connect as BBC (Big Black Cat) has a fantastic blog. She has several series she runs with some rather unusual names. SAT (Successful Author Talk), BOA (Bloggers of Awesome) & SHIT (Submission Hell - It`s True). Yup - you can tell you`re going to like Mindy already, can`t you? :)

So, there you have it! 3 of the many fabulous bloggers I adore! Hope you have fun visiting! :)

Out & About

Apparently it's the week for it! Today I'm visiting over at Mindy McGinnis' blog - Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire. If you haven't met Mindy yet, you're really missing out. She's also known as BBC (Big Black Cat) over at Agent Query Connect. She's represented by Adriann Ranta of Wolf Literary Services. I can't WAIT for her book to come out - it's going to be fantastic!

Mindy's asking me some great questions about blogging today - I hope you'll pop on over here to visit. You'll love Mindy's humour and grace and plain ol' nuttiness - she's so much fun! :)