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Friday 56: Book Bloggers Meme

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This is a Friday meme just for books from Freda’s Voice, a lovely Canadian blogger. To participate you are supposed to:
1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Select a teaser sentence from page 56 in the book and copy it to your blog.
3. Post the instructions.
Here’s my sentence from Sima’s Undergarments For Women: A Novel  by Ilana Stanger-Ross. I am reviewing this one right now.

“The doorbell chimed, and Sima turned to see a middle-aged woman with enormous breasts enter the shop, encumbered by shopping bags. “Rochelle,” Sima called, for once amused rather than annoyed to note that though she’d been fitting Rochelle for years, still she always showed up hanging out of some demi-cup.”                                        

Friday Follow Bloghop

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friday-follow
This is my new Friday bloghop for the books blog. Link up and follow the first three bloggers and then choose some new blog friends to follow. Happy Friday and Happy Reading!

A Dozen Different Ways to Keep Kids Reading All Summer

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TwitterMoms came up with this idea as part of an I Can Read books campaign running with Harper Collins and since I’ve been mulling this topic over for some time I thought I would post today some of my tips for summer reading.

1. TEACHER: Think like a teacher. On sunny days at your child’s school they take the lesson outside to vary it up a bit and make magic memories. Pick a topic that is summery or sunny, or even the opposite of that, and read outdoors underneath a tree. When it is superhot we make fake snow and read a winter book set in the Arctic.

2. MAGAZINES: Subscribe to magazines so kids can peruse at their leisure. My eldest daughter got a gift subscription to Chickadee magazine many years ago from my mother-in-law. After my mother-in-law passed away I kept the subscription going because Payrton loves it so much. What a great gift and a great legacy. Now we have Chirp for my youngest daughter, now 6, and Chickadee and even a French magazine to keep them learning en francais.

3. READ ALOUD: Don’t underestiamte the power of oral storytelling. Pick a big fun book you always meant to read together and schedule it for the summer. Delve into Chronicles of Narnia or Anne of Green Gables. We started The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe together about three weeks ago and I’ve read about five pages a night each night. We are almost done now and I have no idea what will be next. (which brings me to next tip.)

4. BE A DRAMA MAMA: Act a bit to bring it alive. Something about summer and the drama camps my kids do makes me want to try on different accents. So for three weeks I’ve been faking a British accent and the kids love it. I’m reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, so it only makes sense.

5. THEMES: Pick a theme and bring it alive. Maybe science books, and do some experiments too to help illustrate the theme, or a craft. I have experiments over here at http://www.thriftymommastips.blogspot.com/ There are a few cool books that give you hints on how to do this. One of them was reviewed by me here many months ago. It was called the Parent-Child Book Club,by Melissa Stoller and Marci Winkler.

6. LIBRARY: Take them to the library for their fun summer programs. Walk or ride bikes, or haul the wagon behind you. Most library programs are free and they often will do a summer story time. Some do summer reading contests.

7.  BOOK STORE: Visit your local Chapters/Indigo or Smithbooks and have them pick one new book.

8. MOVIES AND THEATRE: Movies can be complementary to books, and so can theatre. Check out what’s coming soon at local theatre and if your kids like to watch performances as mine do then read the book and get tickets for the play. We have seen a few interesting theatrical shows. Recently my children saw Velveteen Rabbit. It didn’t make them want to read less, but more.

9. READING NOOKS: Book corners in the house. Books in the van or car. Books that travel. My kids never go anywhere without books. When they are handy, then during a quiet moment they are easy to choose. Also stash them in every room of the house. I mean – every room. Audiobooks also count.

10. PHONICS OVER FROSTED FLAKES: I will use tools like the I Can Read books a lot this summer for my youngest who needs to build confidence before entering grade one. I will use them in the morning and read with her at breakfast. I do this on purpose because my active girl loses interest later on in the day and is sharpest in the morning. Also if she senses that I am trying to get her to work then game over. So we will be reading over the Corn Flakes.

11. FIND FESTIVALS: Summer is a great time to get outside and look for local writer’s festivals and story-telling festivals, even children’s festivals. Almost always there is reading going on there. Having someone else do the reading while you sit beside your child in the park and absorb another wonderful season…what could be better?

12. COOKING: Cook and bake together. Have them read the recipes. This is a great math and reading activity. Not to mention Yummy!

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms blogging program to be eligible to get an “I Can Read!” book. For more information on how you can participate, click here: http://www.twittermoms.com/forum/topics/share-tips-for-getting-kids-to?

My Mailbag

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This is my new Thursday mailbag. Check out all the amazing reads I have received this week alone. New Nora Roberts. Wow! And this wonderful story from a mother with a child who has Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Jennifer Poss Taylor. Sadly my Kobo goes back this weekend. I was just using a loader for review purposes and I have loved the thing. It is in fact one of the easiest, most fun, tech devices I have been given. Look for my review on thriftymommastips. The price is right on this adorable little purse sized ebook reader, so perhaps someone will take the hint and buy me one for my next birthday. That would be better than swell. Anyways, I just wanted to show you my mailbag. Look for these reviews coming soon.

Melvin The Magnificent Molar

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Melvin the Magnificent Molar is a cute and functional children’s book I received last week from TwitterMoms. My children have given it a resounding two thumbs up and loved the cute story about a tooth named Melvin. “Mommy, I am brushing my Melvin,” they holler every morning now. See Melvin is a molar and as such he is often covered in a sleep scummies and gook and generally neglected because he is at the back of the mouth and just gets missed. The sweet little paperback picture book about hygiene was written by Julia Cook and Laura Jana, MD. The illustrations are lovely by Allison Valentine. The story is full of cute rhymes and sing song tunes that get children involved in the book. “Brush us and floss us and help us to shine so we can be ready and look mighty fine.” Cook and Jana use Melvin to take a bit of the mystery out of dentists and the tooth fairy and baby teeth.

Melvin the Molar is published by the National Centre For Youth Issues.
For a copy contact http://www.ncyi.org/
Tennessee, USA, 2010
thriftymommastips rating $$$$ out of $$$$$.
thriftymomma does not get paid to review books instead she receives a free copy to read

Friendship For Grownups: a giveaway

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Many will recall Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel from the truly popular hit show of the 80s. They might have even watched the cast reunion show, but lesser known to many is the fact that she is a Christian author with many publications to her credit. I was asked to review Friendship For Grownups: What I Missed and Learned Along The Way and was pleasantly surprised by the writing and the author herself . Whelchel speaks candidly of being a child star, moving from her native Texas at the age of 12 to Hollywood where she grew up fast and went on to superstardom as Blair in The Facts of Life. Her first appearance on The New Mickey Mouse Club launched her early childhood career, a career that actually began as an outlet for an overly shy bookish, introverted, child. Not so surprisingly Whelchel missed some key developmental stages in her life as a result of diving headlong into acting so early. This she examines in a calm and matter of fact way to indicate why she headed down this path that led her to write this book. It is a tone that remains constant throughout the book, never maudlin or self-pitying, just a simple fact of her life. This is an admirable quality. When Whelchel was young, she moved to Hollywood and life was essentially suspended while she acted. When The Facts of Life ended, Whelchel’s career came to a halt. Years later, as a homeschooling mother and a pastor’s wife, she realized she had few true friends as a grownup, a glossy superficial veneer preventing her from attaching too deeply to anyone. This book is a really insightful look at the process of working through that veneer allowing vulnerability and growth into your life. Whelchel smartly touches on several key issues with women’s friendships that often prevent women from being genuine in friendships. This is an enjoyable and telling portrait of life in Hollywood from a young age and how Whelchel grew up, learning from her mistakes. There are some truly delicious bits here that all women will relate to, including the gossipy nature of women’s friendships that keep us from working in a truly supportive and collaborative way with each other. She notes her longtime friendship with Nancy McKeon, who played Joe on the hit show, as one of her greatest takeaways from her time acting. She also delves into some of the darker sides of fame that she personally experienced. For instance at an age when puberty began to make the child star gain weight, she was forced daily to endure the humiliation of a weigh in prior to each day of shooting. Others might call that abuse, but Whelchel simply refers to it as something she felt at the time that she deserved. With therapy and the help of friends, she comes to realize how all of these prior experiences led her to create a wall around her that prevented her from being in a true friendship. Friendship For Grownups is a nice read and a smart look at vulnerabilities in female friendships.

Friendship For Grownups, Lisa Whelchel
Thomas Nelson publsihers, 2010, USA, $21.99 US.
Thriftymommas rating $$$$ out of a possible $$$$$$ or 4 out of 5.
Insightful and heartfelt.

Thriftymommastips does not get paid to review books, but receives a free copy of the book from the publisher.

To enter this giveaway you need to do three things:
1. Leave a comment here with your email address stating that you want to win Friendship For Grownups.
2. Follow this blog. See sidebar.
3. Follow @inkscrblr on twitter. Or let me know if you already follow me.

Good Luck. I will draw for this with the help of random.org on May 28th.

Sean Aiken, the One-Week Job Guru

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He found true love, tried out 52 different jobs and, along the way took the temperature of an entire generation, kickstarting a one-week job empire. Sean Aiken, author of The One-Week Job Project spoke with thriftymomma last week about the U.S. release of his book this coming week and a summer job project like no other. From firefighter to yoga instructor. From cowboy to fundraiser, Sean Aiken has tried it all. Aiken is author of The One-Week Job Project and a media sensation. In one year Aiken, a recent college graduate from Port Moody, B.C. tried on as many hats as possible in search of a career that sparked his passion. His idea attracted attention from around North America. “When I first started this project I thought I was alone in this search,” Aiken told thriftymomma. But Aiken quickly learned the topic hit a nerve and legions of fans understood the universal search for a career they were passionate about. This week Random House publishes his book in the United States. This month I had the pleasure of reading the story, a fun, light and, at times, philosophical look at life and the relationship we have with our career and our colleagues. The year he spent examining himself and his own passions led him to employers who were self obsessed and those who were selfless, those who tirelessly worked for non profits raising funds to help cure cancer and those who promoted films pompously self inflated and egomaniacal. There are numerous excellent glimpses into really interesting career paths. Aiken recalls some of his favourites: “My answer changes. I really enjoyed being a park ranger in Hawaii and a real estate agent.” In the book, his fondness for Steam Whistle Brewing, a microbrewery, in Toronto makes this one of the highlights. Clearly this employer has a knack for treating employees right and a reputation for knocking off work at 5:30 and rounding up the crew for a trip through downtown Toronto on the Steam Whistle party bus. Throughout the book the media attention Aiken attracted first shocked him and then became a little too familiar. He chronicles the trials of keeping up with the media requests and the dangers of falling into a trap where you begin to believe all of the hype created by the image machine. Early in his travels Aiken attracted a sponsor and was fortunate to be able to have this unique quest funded in part by NiceJob. Along the way he met a girl named Danna, from Toronto, who endures the lengthy separations and ups and downs of the bizarre year. Thriftymomma wanted to know if Danna and Sean were still together and readers will be glad to know they are happily living in B. C. Later on in the book Sean’s mother is diagnosed with cancer causing him to question whether he can finish the journey or not. But Aiken clarifies his mother is well now. “I could definitely see myself teaching at some point,” says Aiken. “For now I am really enjoying giving the talks. It has been so rewarding to have so many students come up to me afterwards and say how much the book resonated with them.”

This book, blog and web site, http://www.oneweekjob.com/ are all very entertaining.The book is excellent for anyone contemplating a job change or searching for a career. It would be a lovely graduation gift for a high school or university student. On the One-Week Job site a new project, which is a mini version of the book, has been spun off into a contest starting this summer. The winners net $3,000 to try out 8 different jobs, hopefully finding their passion in the process. Entrants must be 18 years of age. Each individual will sculpt their own path and line up their own series of jobs to try out. Interest has been very good so far, he notes.

Sean Aiken
The One-Week Job Project, Penguin Canada, 2010, 288 pages, $19.
To be released in the U.S. next week Random House.
Thriftymommastips rating $$$$$ out of $$$$$. Highly entertaining and informative. Enjoyable and insightful. Thriftymomma doesn’t receive compensation for her reviews, instead publishers send one free copy for review.

Under Heaven – Heavenly Initiative

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I don’t usually blog about press releases, but this week the Penguin Group’s very cool Ebay.com charity auction initiative caught my eye. A much awaited new Guy Gavriel Kay book was launched on line earlier this month, with one lucky winner bidding just over $500 for the first copy of this new novel Under Heaven. Matching contributions were made by both the publisher and author. The total proceeds $1570 go to the Indigo Books and Music Love of Reading Fund, which supports high needs elementary school literacy programs across Canada. The winner was identified as Neil Negandhi of Toronto, a fan of the author, but with this much press and this much money raised for charity everyone involved won. Negandhi ended up with the first book off the presses, authenticated by publisher as the first copy and autographed by the author. This is truly an excellent example of combining social media, new media, philanthropy and publicity. It is no secret that publishers have been struggling with economy and ebooks and multiple other stressors that impact the industry. Earlier this month Penguin Group Canada also launched a web site http://www.guygavrielkay.ca/ dedicated to Guy Gavriel Kay’s works. In addition there is now a Twitter and Facebook account along with downloadable artwork and posters. While other companies might be struggling to find their footing in this brave new digital world Penguin Group Canada clearly already has a leg up on the competition. Gavriel Kay’s novel is on sale in Canada this week. Penguin Group Canada was founded in 1974.

Thriftymomma doesn’t receive compensation for her opinions or review.

Speak!

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It is quite unusual for me to choose a young adult book to read or review for that matter. But something about this one tweaked my interest when shopping at Chapters/Indigo recently and as a result it has changed my whole reading perspective. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson came recommended by a staffer named Emily as you can see here. It also has garnered more awards than most authors accumulate in a lifetime of writing volumes of novels. This young adult book is one of the most compelling character studies I have seen since reading The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold. (a new movie currently in theatres based on the bestseller. In Speak, the narrator is a young girl starting high school. Melinda Sordino, selectively mute, has stopped communicating in any meaningful way since she broke up a summer party by calling the cops. All of her friends hate her since she ruined the summer’s biggest social event. While most readers will probably be able to guess at the reasons behind the phone call, the author doesn’t reveal the details until a crucial point in the book. Melinda is traumatized, depressed and anxious. She slowly reveals details of why and how she came to be non responsive and disenfranchised from her parents and her former friends. Halse Anderson has done a remarkable job recreating the truly awful awkwardness of early grade nine and the strange but real high school environment. A mother of teenagers at the time she wrote this novel, she captures details with a wonderful mix of humour and pain, always realistically conveying atmosphere, setting and dialogue. Melinda is failing or flailing in most of her subjects. She is depressive to everyone except her parents, who do not stop working or admonishing her poor academic performance long enough to figure out what truly might be happening with their daughter. This is a sad, brave, book because it deals with mental illness and violence. But Speak is also ultimately a hopeful story that chooses to pull back the curtain that shields people from seeing mental illness as something that affects young people. Melinda’s high school is a place of refuge and terror, an escape and a prison. “The art room is one of the places I feel safe. I hum and don’t worry about looking stupid.” This is a book I will keep for my daughters to read when they are old enough to read it (I would estimate 12 and up). Speak conveys a powerful message about voice and truth, safety and the complex world of contemporary teenagers. It is precise and unflinching and it has opened my eyes to another genre of novel and the fact that there are some truly amazing authors writing young adult fiction.

thriftymommastips review $$$$$ our of $$$$$.
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson is published by Penguin USA, 1999.
198 pages. $14 Canadian and $10 USA.

100 Science Experiments

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This Xmas vacation I learned about surface tension and static electricity. How many families can say that? Ours can, thanks to this excellent Usborne book my daughters received from Santa this year. Although it at first seemed a bit pricey, it is already proving to be a treasure. (Santa) Mommy ordered this through my daughter’s school Scholastic Canada catalogue earlier in the year and it cost me $14.95. It is a durable softcover and the experiments have internet links to explain more about the individual projects and to encourage further learning. Yesterday morning we cracked this open and began experimenting. My fiver made an excellent paper airplane that actually flies, unlike the ones she usually makes and leaves all over the house. We have already done water surface tension with a floating paperclip. (My fiver again replicated this experiment with a guinea pig dish last night as we were cleaning Cottonball the guinea pig’s cage) and the dancing pepper experiment. To do this one take a small see-through container and place a layer of pepper at the bottom. Put the lid on top. Find something that is wool (a sweater, scarf or mitts) this proved to be the tricky part as half of our products here are cotton with some polyester thrown in to prevent shrinkage. Finally we found some wool mitts and then used them to rub the top of the container for about 30 seconds to one minute. Watch as the pepper springs to the top of the container. Unfurl a paperclip and gently use the end to manoeuvre the pepper grains around the lid. This works because the wool creates static energy inside the container and the metal paperclip moves the grains around. Fun! Not only that my kids both have excellent and educational information to share when they get back to school next week. Now which experiment will we do today?
thriftymommastips review $$$$$ out of $$$$$
thriftymomma doesn’t get compensated for reviews.