February Reads

Well, for a short month I got a bit of reading done. Only three books and two of those were very short and read this last weekend of February.

Cutting for Stone was a Kindle gift to me from my dear friend, Christine. I will be honest and say that this book took me awhile to get through. At times, I felt I had to force myself to keep going. I was once again grateful for the dictionary feature on the Kindle. The second half of the book was much more interesting to me and I could see why others enjoyed this book so much. I am glad I read it and parts of the story linger with me still.

Saying It Out Loud by Joan Abelove is a book that was mentioned by a famous author, Gail Carson Levine, when she visited our school earlier this month. She mentioned it as a book she could reread many times. I checked it out of the library and agree with her. The language is rich and tells the story of a young girl in the early 1960s whose mother is dying of a brain tumor in a hospital. The story tells of her relationship with her father and her coming to terms with her mother's impending death. It's beautifully written.

Flip Flop Girl by Katherine Paterson is a book I read for our school's Battle of the Books competition. Students have to read 20 books off a list and then compete against other schools in the district. Anyway, I read the book to create practice questions for the school teams. I must say that this children's book is one that I really enjoyed reading in one day. I would like to read it to my students in the future as it builds empathy and compassion.

What was your favorite read of February?