Half Way Through Summer Vacation




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The end of this school year was very stressful for me. I take on many duties at school that go beyond the library, and I was on a treadmill for the last month of school trying to meet all my deadlines. I was longing for some much needed down time, and I have rewarded myself over the last few weeks and relaxed and completed many house chores. One of the few things that I have been doing that is related to my job is ---- read. Down time for me means finding time to read for several hours each day. Before the end of school, I grabbed a stack of random books that interested me not ones that I needed to review or read for the middle school book group or because an author was coming to visit us at PFTSTA. This year for middle school summer reading we are using the Louisiana Young Reader's Choice list for 2015. I have already read some of the books, but I really enjoyed Anyway*: *A Story about Me with 138 footnotes, 27 exaggerations, and 1 Plate of Spaghetti by Arthur Salm. As the main character begins his summer vacation, I realized what a great choice of title for a summer reading list. I started Free to Fall by Lauren Miller without knowing anything about it. I thought it was a realistic story that took place today. Was I wrong. You say another dystopian story, and I say try this one. I loved Miller's work and how the mystery that is central to the story unfolds. I began the summer with two of my favorite authors Sarah Dessen's This Lullaby and Deb Caletti's The Last Forever. Both books delivered. I also read Winger by Andrew Smith. Not sure of my verdict on that one. I have a couple of students who loved it, and I certainly know some that I could recommend it to.

Now, I get to go pack for my annual girl's trip to Houston. It is a time to socialize, shop and forget about anything on my to do list.

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