Noticing Sentences

Who we are "It's hard on Sandy and Dennys, too. I don't know if they're really like everybody else, or if they're just able to pretend they are. I try to pretend, but it isn't any help." p19 "I do face facts," Meg said. "They're a lot easier to face than people, I can tell you." p31 "Because I care. Nobody else does. You don't know how lucky you are to be loved." p42 "But of course we can't take credit for any of our talents. It's how we use them that counts." p80 Time and Loss "Maybe if Father were here he could help you, but I don't think I can do anything till you've managed to plow through some more time. Then things will be easier for you. But that isn't much help right now, is it?" p19 #truth "I don't understand it any more than you do, but one thing I've learned is that you don't have to understand things for them to be ." p29 "...

Social Customs I watch the tip of my tie sway to and fro and wonder how humans got to a place where we said, "Whoa. Hold on. Before I can take you seriously, you need to hang a brightly colored strip of narrow pointy cloth around your neck." p5 In general, I'd rather be bitten on the nuts by a Komodo dragon than make small talk. But sometimes you do what you have to do. p7 If Sauce Crew had official positions, mine would be Keeper of the Sacred Traditions. I love the idea of the families we choose having all the features of familydom, including traditions. p63 "Child Protection? My heavens, yes. The sheriff? Many times. But we're talking about a rural county with limited resources. They don't do a thing." p188 We work to make money and then hopefully use that money to buy ourselves memories with the people we love. Simple things like that bring us joy. p197 ___________________ "I thought you're supposed to have your private life fro...

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...

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...

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...