Day 21: My Favorite TV Shows

Modern Family. My new Friends. Creative, witty, hilarious, lovely, you name it. I don't miss this one. The clip here is my favorite clip. The whole Lion King is the best!

Day 20: Someone Who Changed Your Life

How 'bout two someones?

Seriously.  How cute are my boys?  Both have changed my life for the better.  Love you guys.

Day 19: Freestyle: YAL Books Everyone Should Read

YAL is not a genre.  It's a level.  Within that level are various genres.  Regardless of what many other people may believe, I firmly believe young adults should be reading young adult literature.  I even think YAL should be taught in the schools as a bridge to the classic literature.  Just because it's written on a lexile level, it does NOT mean it is worthless literature.  The themes are still there, and it can easily work as a scaffolding to help students connect to the more difficult literature.  The adult literature students are usually reading is meant for an adult audience, not young adults.

I'll now pause to get off my soapbox.

That said, I have some YAL books everyone should read.  There are two which are not just one novel, but an author's novels which should be read. . .

Here we go.

The first is an author:

Robert Cormier.

  I think he's a Stephen King at his best for young adults.  Cormier's novels make you think.  They keep you thinking when you finish the books.  He has numerous books, but there are two I think everyone should read.

 Tunes for Bears to Dance To is set in New England, post WWII in a family who has been struck with tragedy.  They are struggling to survive, and the protagonist, a young boy is faced with a decision which could be his moral death, but will help his family.  The book keeps you on edge the entire storyline.  The evil characters are truly evil.  

 I Am The Cheese. Doesn't the title just make you want to read it?  In college, I did a bridge paper comparing this novel to Hamlet.  I used the cheese to connect to the mousetrap scene.  This novel keeps you guessing the entire time.  Even when you finish it, you still don't quite know what happened.  I loved that!  I know the nebulous nature of the description leaves questions, but that's the way the book is as well.


The next group is an author as well:

Laurie Halse Anderson.  

She's pure brilliance.  The lyrical quality to her prose feels like music.  Her stories punch with power and the voice of her characters.

On a side note:  I had a chance to meet Ms. Anderson when she was at a UEA conference a few years ago. She said something about young readers I've never forgotten:  "We don't have non readers; we have readers with high standards.  The books we're giving them don't meet their standards."  That thought has since guided my philosophy on using YAL in the schools. 

Wintergirls is the most recent I've read.  It's from the point of view of a young girl suffering from an eating disorder.  It's thought provking and depressing.  It really helped me to understand better.

Speak (Not pictured) was the book that put her on the map.  It's a young girl who is raped at a summer party.  She calls the police, but doesn't tell anyone what happened.  The people at the party believe she called the police to break up the party.  This leads her to be lableled and placed into the "Outcast" clique.  Powerful read.

Anderson has also written a few YAL historical fiction.  Fever 1773 is the story of the yellow fever breakout in colonial America.  Chains and it's sequel Forge deal with slavery in the Revolutionary War.  I loved seeing the British point of view in the novels.  I can't wait for the third installment.


The next books everyone knows.  They had to be on here.  The Hunger Games trilogy is disturbing and makes you think.  I'm concerned about how the movie will be made.  It can be terribly violent or cheesy, ruining the purpose.  The utopian world is a scary view when one person is in charge.

 Another. . .The Book Thief.  This is a WII, Germany read; however, it is not a focus on the gore.  It is truly a p

If you liked Hunger Games, you need to read what came first :  The Giver.  I think this is better than HG.  The prose is well crafted; the story is disturbing. It's easy to get lost in it.  The first two books come together in the third one. 

There are many websites you can visit to see what YAL is really great.  Here's a few I check, and where I usually get my reading lists:

Beehive Book Awards

National Book Awards

Newberry Award

Printz Award

There's tons to read.  Enjoy!

Day 18: Set/Share a Goal

I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions this year because I just tend to not make it to them.  I'm really good at looking at what I want the end result to be, but I'm not very good looking at the little goals that will lead me up to that big final goal.  So this year I decided on one overarching goal:

Try a little harder to be a little better

That pretty much sums everything up.  I want to be a little bit better wife, mom, sister, neighbor, visiting teacher, Relief Society teacher, school teacher, cook, daughter, person, reader, housekeeper, organizer, friend, budgeter . . .basically everything.  This goal just helps me keep everything in perspective.  I just need to work a little bit harder to be a little bit better.  I know I'm doing a good job, but there's always room for improvement.

Day 17: A Picture That Makes Me Sad

Again, there was more than one, so I decided to post a few of them.  If you haven't visited Guardian Eyewitness, you need to .  If you have an iPad, it's even better.  It's a website that shows you a picture from somewhere in the world on that day.  It just puts things into perspective.  Our Herriman fire even made it on there.  All of these photos come from there.  I think the reason all of these make me sad because I just can't imagine living the life lived in these.  I get so caught up in my everyday life, that I often forget that I am beyond blessed with all I have.  I am far from suffering, and I shouldn't complain. There's not much more to say because pictures really are worth a thousand words.

Day 16: Five Celeb Crushes

So I can't count.  I have 6.  Deal with it.  This kind of feels like that episode of Friends.  You know, the one where they make their "lists."

 Eric Johnson:  You may know him from Mormon Movie Fame.  He was Joshua Steed in The Work and the Glory saga. He does that bad boy look so well. 

 Hello?  He brought sexy back.  Remember?  How could Mr. Timberlake not be on my list?

 Ahhhhh.  Dylan McKay.  Luke Perry.  I still watch the old 90210 shows on the Soap Network.  Dylan was always my favorite.  I actually don't really even like the shows when he's not on them.  Thumbs up to Dylan and Kelly.  And who could forget the memorable performance in 8 Seconds?

 Matthew Perry.  He's cute.  He's funny. He's done great romantic comedies.  What more do you want? (P.S.  Please forget the drug and alcohol addiction.)

 Ya.  I know he plays for the other team, but have you seen how this man can decorate? Oprah loves him.  He has his own show.   I really want to win one of those contests where Nate will come re-do your room for you.  Ohhhh...Nate Berkus. 

John Travolta.  I just want to put my finger in his chin dimple.  Just once.  Doesn't he have the dreamiest eyes ever?

NOTE:  None of these men come even close to my husband.  Just FYI.

Day 15: Letter to Someone You'd Like To Meet

Way behind again.  I have really good excuses too.  I went on a cruise to the Bahamas. 

I've also written and re-written this post a million times.  I've written to authors, to presidents, to world leaders, but the one I always come back to, is one I was trying to avoid.  My friend, Jaymie, also wrote to her great grandmother, and I didn't want to look like I was copying, so I kept trying to find someone else, but there really just isn't anyone else. 

So, her it is.

Dear Clementina Consigli Roncarati,

You have a life I've only heard of in stories and seen in a few remaining pictures.  Your journey to the United States and your life here were simiple, yet amazing.  I've always wanted to know just how you made it through, particularly when your husband was so badly injured. 

I spent some time talking with Grandma about you, and I've always wished I had known  you personally.  I have learned my love for opera and broadway is most likely an extension of you.  Grandma said you never really had money to attend the theatre, but you would listen to and sing the operas around the house.  One of my favorite memories of Grandma was our time at the opera together. 

The pictures I have in my home of you show a very tired, sad woman. I know your life was far from easy, but I hope you did have some happiness in it.  You have left a legacy of great grandchildren (my dad),and great great grandchildren who are doing amazing things with their lives.  Your great great great grandchildren are coming up next.  What an amazing thing to leave behind.  

I wish I had known you, and hope someday beyond the veil I will know you.

Your great granddaughter,
Whitney Leigh Walker Child