Be back soon.

No time to blog. Gotta read. is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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It’s Book Blog Hop time. See you there.

It’s Friday, you know what that means. . . is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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She’s at my parents’ house. It’s not as far away as camp, but it’s still away from all of us here at home. I know at 12 years, that is the point. Being apart from your siblings and mom and dad. It’s quite the big deal.

I miss her.

Last summer, she came home from Grandma’s declaring she only wanted to do one night away from home. She couldn’t wait to get back home, to her own room, her special things. I know she missed her little sister terribly. Yesterday, she called to ask if she could stay an extra night, making it three nights total. Looks like being away from home for a week at camp has made all the difference.

No homesickness for Susan as a 12 year old.

I’m glad. She having fun with my parents taking her out to her choice of restaurant, a splurge shopping trip at the dollar store, and I think my brother is treating her at the bookstore tonight. She packed three books in her overnight bag. Lots of quiet for reading at my mom’s.

Susan is growing up.

I will miss her.

Daydreaming of the future is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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Susan (12):  Gwinna by Barbara Helen Berger. A fantasy story of a young girl, her parents and owls; the illustrations beautiful. I will be reading this book too; blogging thoughts and comments when finished.

Poppy and Ereth by Avi

Eclipse by Erin Hunter

Peter (10): How to Eat Fried Worms (Unabridged audio) by Thomas Rockwell

Edmund (8): Explorer (A Daring Guide for Young Adventures) published by Candlewick Press. I like this book a lot – full of historical facts about real-life explores in faraway lands. Part history, part adventure, part survival book. A boy’s dream read.

Lucy (5): Lady and the Tramp. A Disney book.

What have you found in the library lately?

Visit 5 Minutes for Books to see what other children are reading

Kids in the library: exploring, fantasy owls, eating worms is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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I look and I love.

I might also be thinking: How the heck did she get away with playing with my not cheap camera for so long?

Curse you, Twitter.

When your five-year-old sneaks off with the camera is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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1. Seen and heard: Lucy just out of the bathtub

Madam looked down without seeing me; she looked at my face, my kerchief, my shift neatly tucked into my skirt, looked at my shoes pinching my feet, looked at my hands that were stronger than hers. She did not look into my eyes, did not see the lion inside. She did not see the me of me, the Isabel.

O, joy! A new literary heroine to love.

I’ve fallen for the spunky slave girl in Laurie Halse Anderson’s YA historical fiction book, Chains. Isabel is a fighter, despite that fact that she is a slave in 1776 America. She has nothing, yet she fights with a fierce determination within her. Like the patriots fighting around her to be free from a British king, Isabel is waging her own private war. Her goal: freedom from slavery.

I was never much for history as a subject in public school – I hated the memorization of dates and dull text books – but now as a homeschooling mom, I’m filling in the gaps of my own learning. I have much to learn about slavery and Revolutionary America. I’m happy to have Isabel teach me.

I picked up Chains for my 12-year-old, my girl who gobbles up books with an eager hunger for more. Susan has yet to let the Story in history capture her imagination. I’m hoping Isabel, a true-to-life, spunky girl will help my daughter discover there is more to history than just past truth that happened to now dead people.

I’m hoping historical fiction, like Chains, will be the gateway for my daughter to love learning history.

In the meantime, I wait for the sequel, due in October. And I’ll be looking for more books by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Isabel in Chains: learning with YA historical fiction is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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Look at these faces! Classic Ellen and Otis!

And a cover page view of Ellen.

I understand the modern covers for a new generation of readers, yet I wonder: Are the new illustrations true to the story? I suspect not.

Old Ellen and Otis is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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Here Comes Everybody (The Power of Organizing Without Organizations) by Clay Shirky

and

Made from Scratch (Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life) by Jenna Woginrich

From a bookstore run (sans children; ah! to shop by myself!):

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Right now it’s the YA novel, Chains, that has me enchanted, so for the sake of brevity, I’ll wrap this up without links (shocking, I know); maybe later I’ll come back to tuck in links to LibraryThing or Amazon.com.

What I’m reading is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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Vacation Bible School 2010 pictures is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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I think the image below says it all (click the image to enlarge.)

Thanks, 77Kids, The Motherhood, for making it happen.

Why Operation Gratitude? It’s the least we can do.

NJ mom bloggers help Operation Gratitude for 77kids Do Good Day is a post from: Paper Bridges, © 2010 Monica Brand

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