Noticing Sentences

Throwing Shade Cal warned me against the threat of civil war a long time ago, before his father died, before he was left with nothing but a tempestuous lightning girl. Rebellion on both sides , he said. But standing here, leashed before Maven's court and his Silver kingdom, I see no division. Even though I showed them, told them of Maven's prison, of their loved ones taken away, of their trust betrayed by a king and his mother-- I am still the enemy here. It makes me want to scream, but I know better. Maven's voice will always be louder than mine. p 3 King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard It's amazing how the meaning of things can change when we read them at different times. I read this first when it came out, then again in early May, and looking through my quotes now (late May) as children are being taken from their families, refugees are forced to wear armbands, the people who are drawing attention to the atrocities are being treated as the enemy. Sad, true, and sa

  I loved this panel for thinking differently. Maybe for use with resumes? How can you turn something into more? How can you believe more of yourself?  This one is great for discussion. Is this how our students feel? I personally see a lot of movement from the "entitlement" attitudes to apathy attitudes in my students. Preach!

A Lincoln 2018 Finalist There are curse words in some of these quotes. They are left in for accuracy, but know they are there-- don't just cut and paste onto your Smartboard. :) I don't know... I'm not sure what to label these, but they needed to be saved. My dad got blown up in Afghanistan, and Ma and everybody we knew and plenty of people we didn't know but knew his name, all reminded me-- he sacrificed for all of us. He sacrificed for the good of the country. He died in the name of freedom. He died to prove to the wackos of the world who didn't believe in democracy, liberal economy, civil rights, and all that shit, that we were right and they were wrong. But for me, my dad was dead, so the frigging wackos won. And, seriously, who are the frigging wackos, anyway? I sure as hell didn't feel sane all the time. p31 All-American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely Custody . A police officer-- not the one who did this to me, but a different one, the

All the sass I stared at him. "You're... you're married? But I thought you got in trouble for chasing a wood nymph..." p124 The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan Discussion "This is why I don't use mortals," Luke said. "They are unreliable." "They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," the General said. "I love them." p135 The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan _________________________________________ Zoe shook her head. "I do not know how much they see through the Mist. I doubt it would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than the monsters." p148 The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan ________________________________________ Apollo sighed. "You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search." p157 The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Male Fragility/ Toxic Masculinity "A little sport," Natalia says. "They will be impressed by your riding prowess and your skill with a bow. But I think you will find their mainland stomachs less at ease with a bride who excels at knife throwing." "Is that so?" Katherine laughs. "Are they really so frail?" "I hope not all of them," Genevieve says quietly. p69 One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake _______________________________________ "Natalia prefers that I poison from the safety of her bosom," she [Katherine] says. "That is how the Arrons like to do it. Quiet and refined. Nothing pleases them more than pleasant dinner conversation that ends when someone's face falls dead on their plate." Nicolas lets his eyes move over her body. "There is charm in that," he says. "But I would see your hands around their throats. A memory to take with me on the night of our marriage." p136 One Dark

Another Lincoln Award finalist for 2019. Just a beautiful description I guess when you spend a life riding waves-- knowing that the ocean is heartless and millions of times stronger than you are, but still trusting that you're skilled enough or brave enough or charmed enough to survive it--you become indebted to the people who don't make it. p30 We Are Okay by Nina LaCour I have only just learned how to be here. Life is paper-thin and fragile. Any sudden change could rip it wide-open. p93 We Are Okay by Nina LaCour I was given cakes and cookies and rides to school. I was given songs and dinners at a table with brass candlesticks. I was given a man with a sensitive heart and a devious sense of humor and enough skill at cards to win me a year of private college-- tuition and room and board-- and I took all of those good things and told myself they made us special. Told myself we were a family the way Mabel and Ana and Javier were, told myself that we weren't missi

World-building Because Shusterman is the master at world building! Now the venerable structure was a historical site. Tours were given seven days a week by docents with PhDs in the study of mortal humans. p19 Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman Passion of performance was a thing of the mortal past, and true artistic style had gone the way of the dodo. Of course, the dodo was back-- the Thunderhead had seen to that. A thriving colony was now happily not flying on the island of Mauritius. p32 Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman His parents were "serial parents." They loved the idea of having families, but loathed raising them. Greyson and his sisters were his father's fifth family, and his mother's third. They had tired of this new batch of offspring quickly, and when they began to shirk their parental responsibilities, the Thunderhead took up the slack. p66 Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman "I'm going to learn how to drive, no matter how may times it kills me.

Another amazing Lincoln Award finalist. And again, another book that I probably wouldn't pick up on my own. I cannot more highly recommend using the list in your classroom and even getting involved in the committee. Or finding what your own state has and being involved. Your state doesn't have one? Start it. Be yourself "Seriously? That's what you think I should be relegating my brain space to? Looking nice? Like, if I don't make the effort to look beautiful, my entire existence is nullified? Nothing else matters-- not my intellect, not my personality or my accomplishments; my hope and dreams mean nothing if I'm not wearing eyeliner ?" p6 When Dimple Met Rishi by Sanhya Menon Character Description "Look man, I know you... you and I don't always see eye to eye on everything. You're, like, some weird thirty-year-old teenager. But don't you think you're rushing things? First MIT, and now this girl and Insomnia Con... I mean,

A quick plug-- I love this series so much. If you have not read the Illuminae Files , you should.  As before, I do not edit out cursing so that you can choose to do that yourself. This book series censors itself, very tongue in cheek. I do not know how to add boxes in the way that they do, so I simply put some asterisks.  I will attempt to avoid spoilers, but be warned. Sacrifice Can you imagine that? Sacrificing yourself like that? When you look down the barrel at your ending, will you be able to smile at it the way this guy does? I can't imagine what's going through his head. The needs of the many, maybe? Thinking he'll see his family soon? I dunno. p107 Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Yearbook, anyone? I read this and laughed, not only because it's a joke, but because I figure my journalism kids would understand it.... the fake Latin used is the like... "standard"? fake Latin. NikM: lorem ipsum maximus butticus Pauchok: ... wait t

World Building The sixth and final fight of his contract would determine whether he landed a new deal or found himself on the next flight back to Earth, relegated to fighting in orbital dives reeking of pot, where the vacuum plumbing regularly gave out and big bubbles of pee floated in the bathrooms. p4 Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee The zero gravity complex, recently renamed the Virgin Galactic Center, loomed ahead of them. p9 Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee After a couple seconds, he said, "Connection's good," and one of the screens above flickered and shifted into the view from Carr's optic cameras, now being fed live to his subscribers. p 20 Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee Who in this part of the world still had a defunct genetic disease like asthma ? Only people with parents too poor to afford even the most basic gene therapy but irresponsible enough to have kids anyways. Low, even by the standards of their neighborhood. School boys would go after such a glaring mark of weakne

Although I absolutely loved this book, I didn't mark a lot of things. I like to think it's just because I was so caught up in the story. World Building If you haven't noticed yet, I'm apparently a sucker for little details that make worlds feel more real and complete. The arrangement is layered with the pinks and purples of hedge nettles and showy orchids. It is as pretty as a wedding cake, early bloomed by the naturalist gift. Each family has brought their own, and most brought extra, to decorate the tables of the giftless. p34 Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake Strength/ Standing up for yourself He leans forward to kiss her, and she jerks back. It was so sudden. She stammers an apology. Though she does not know why she should be the one to apologize, when it was he who was too forward. p65 Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake Reversal of expectations "It was only a joke, Mira," says Bree gently. "Of course I do not wish that. No one rea

I read this book because it was a Lincoln Award finalist for 2018. It's not in my usual wheelhouse, I tend to shy away from books that are modern realistic fiction romance. But I ended up loving this book because I loved Vivi and her personality. Let me take a moment to plug YA book awards. Being on the selection committee of the Lincoln Award is one of the most exciting and rewarding things I do all year. If your state has a similar program, I cannot more highly recommend applying to participate. And in my state (Illinois), teens participate as well, so encourage your students to apply! Revealing Character I think Betty keeps words like sugar, darlin', and honey etched on a pair of dice in her mind. With each customer interaction, she shakes one or both dice to land on a single word or a combo: honey pie, sugar darlin', doll baby . I like to hear who I am each day. The term of endearment is like a fortune cookie at my favorite Chinese restaurant; it's not why I

This is a gorgeous book, told in prose and poetry, about Artemisia Gentileschi . Hers is an amazing and tragic story. Mentors/ Problems Father babbles out some useless nonsense when I tried to ask him how to fix the problem. I don't think he understood my question. If he cannot see the problem to begin with, how could he ever solve it? p26-27 Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough Secrets Writing Prompt?                                         I'll tell you another secret. What's that?                                        There's a lot you can get away with                                       when no one is watching. p48 Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough The world as a threat-- perspective And you should realize, love, that even the simple act of a bath is potentially world-altering. but then, you never see the beast until he is upon you. p50 Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough "These are my sins." Except there is one more

FYI: Before we begin, I want to note that I have left all of the curse words in. You can decide what is right for your students and your situation. Personally, when I share quotes with students, I tend to put a solid box over the curses. #relateable  School, it turns out, is super easy once you remove all the other kids, asshole teachers, and disgusting shit that goes on. p 52 Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow How life changes... I was shoving my bare hands into Dumpsters, and then I was shoving cardboardy mac and cheese in my face with a spork, and now I'm shopping . p111 Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow Attitude She makes a growling sound. "You girls today. You make me so fucking sad. The world hurts enough. Why fucking chase it down?" p116 Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow Ariel says, "What you are thinking, Charlie? Speak. I always tell my students that whatever they feel about art, it is true, because it is true to their experience, not m

Lists-- no commas I hate it when she does this, makes me feel young and obvious and stupid. p 40 All We Have Left by Wendy Mills Confidence/ Strength "Yes," she says. "What I wanted to say is this: you are stronger than you think you are. We all are." p76 All We Have Left by Wendy Mills "The more I discovered the more I want to know." p291 All We Have Left by Wendy Mills Religion/ Faith Eventually my father intervened, telling me gently that faith was a road map to happiness, God willing, not a roadblock to fun , and asked me to go to my room to calm down. p92 All We Have Left by Wendy Mills While I'm on this topic for a moment, I live in a rural area with not a lot of diversity of race, ethnicity, or religion. For my students, this book gives them one point of view that they can use to start opening up their minds to more than the very limited point of view they may witness in popular culture and news. I found the discussions of

An eye-opening book about cacao harvest. Your activist and agricultural students will enjoy this book. I didn't have as many quotes that I marked while reading this one, but here they are. I felt like they were the kind of sentences that state things that might make students think. Surprising statements or different ways of thinking. They could easily be applied to many different topics in the classroom. A different way of thinking-- how do students respond? Given her height, she's probably a little younger than me, maybe thirteen or fourteen, but she's not as skinny as most of the girls I knew at home. Maybe the drought is over if people have food to spare on girls. p 10 The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan "You're like the bosses?" he gasps. That had been my first thought too. " Ayi , Seydou," she says earnestly. "I just grew up in the same country as them, but that does not make me like them." p207   The Bitter Side of S

This book is not YA, but some of your young adults may enjoy it. What I felt was most valuable about this book is the way it can open up discussion about discrimination and the way in which we ingrain it into society. It also, therefore, has a great discussion for a creative writing class on how real an author can make their world feel by truly fleshing out all the ways in which whatever change they've made from our world to their world affects so much. Discrimination “Here’s a hint,” I said. “One comes from a beloved android character from one of the most popular films of all time. The other describes the sound of broken machinery. Guess which one we like better. P 25 Lock in  by John Scalzi (Also a good example of allusion) “Are you saying I should just shut up every time someone says something stupid or factually wrong about Hadens?” I asked. “I just want to be clear what you’re asking.” “I’m saying pay attention to when it makes sense to say something,” Vann said.

Allusion This house is basically a Charles Dickens orphanage, except the kids are happy and the villain here is complete outnumbered. p 29 A List of Cages by Robin Roe Matt gasps. He knows that Order of the Phoenix is the longest and most potentially dangerous of all the Harry Potter books when used as a weapon. p75 A List of Cages by Robin Roe Quotes for Teachers This whole section where Adam tells the story of being Julian's reading buddy is something I'd love to get every reading teacher to read. He said his dad had gotten them [a stack of books] for him because he was a good reader now. He went back to being cheerful-humming-Julian till the end of the year, when our buddies had to write an actual book report. p 48  A List of Cages by Robin Roe Loss/ Grief/ Memories It's strange how many ways there are to miss someone. You miss the things they did and who they were, but you also miss who you were to them. The way everything you said and did was beautiful

Just one passage this time, but I think it's really great and deserves its own post.  Book Love There were dusty spines of poetry from the last century, and novels from abroad in French, English, and German. How had he not seen these before? Out of habit, he reached for several. But he stopped short of pulling them out. This was not the time to lose himself in fiction and the study of foreign literature. p60 The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye I love this sentence because it shows a male lead reading or wanting to read fiction. Desiring it. He only doesn't go through with it because he is in the library for research. I don't know about your students, but my students need more examples of males reading in their lives!

I just really like this part. Casual mention of LGBT, cute, sweet idea about spouses. I loved the whole idea of Ayen as a character in this book. But in accordance to their beliefs about death, Ayen was still with her, doing those little annoying things that wives do, like make you drop your breakfast or trip over a coil of rope.  p54 The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig This is a good sentence to get students to think. Do they agree? We have shelves full of maps of places that only used to exist. Everything unique is vanishing. p 72 The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig   The awkwardness of how we speak actually put on the page-- unknown antecedent On one of our rides through Ka'a'awa Valley, we discovered a trail leading to an ancient temple, back behind the abandoned sugar mill. I've sketched it on the next page. They say human sacrifices were made there. At the temple, not the sugar mill. p 117 The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig   More awk

I loved the world-building in this story. I know that people can argue for days about HOW the Death-Cast actually works and how it affects the way you live the day and how it, in turn, would CHANGE the day instead of predict, but.... I love the way Silvera came up with lots of ways that this change would cause ripples into other facets of life. So when I looked back at the sentences I marked, I found that most of them were world-building in some way. Perhaps you can find some sort of application for this in your classroom. I'm planning to use if for world-building for my Creative Writing class. World development I’m trying to stay shut ‘cause I don’t wanna take my problems out on some guy doing his job, even though I have no idea why the hell anyone applies for this position in  the first place. P 17 They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera “Maybe you’ll live to see another day with some Vitamin Me in your system” p 36 They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera Wha