oBoB (Oregon Battle of Books)

The kids came home from school one morning all excited, telling me that they had joined teams and were going to be participating in the Battle of the Books.  I’m all for anything that encourages reading, and especially anything that gets them out of their normal reading ruts (I’ve been known to suggest, strong-arm, and even pay!) so I was all for it.

As the books started coming in from our local library I got curious about what they were reading and decided that I would read as many as I could.  Originally they were all supposed to read 8 books each, but Jenna is adamant that she wants to read them all now, and I think Rachel might too.  The girls are already saying that next year when they make a Battle of the Books team they want to be sure to choose other teammates who love reading, rather than choosing friends who turn out not to like reading.  Whatever happens in the contest and next year, we’re having a great time reading right now and talking about what we’ve read.  Here’s the list of books:

• Al Capone Does My Shirts—I had no idea that families used to live on Alcatraz Island!  I really liked this book and it’s main story line about 12 year old Moose and his autistic sister at a time when no one knew quite what to do with autistic children.
• Also Known as Harper—Poignant story of a family who becomes homeless.  The main character is a girl and Jared has had a hard time identifying with her, but I thought the author did a great job showing many of the little details that we normally would not think about.
• Artemis Fowl
• Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading—Jenna didn’t care for this one, thought it was too modern with it’s pages of tips and occasional lists.  I thought it was a very clever story and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
• Claudette Colvin, Twice Toward Justice
• Fever Crumb
• The Girl Who Could Fly—my kids LOVED this book.  Seriously loved it.  Each would wait breathlessly for the next to read the sad part and to get to the end so they could talk about it.  I really expected to love it but I found it so-so.  Intriguing storyline, mediocre writing.  Satisfying ending, though.
• Incarceron—I read this a few years ago and don’t think I’ll read it again.  It’s a pretty long and highly convoluted fantasy story about a hidden prison and a mysterious prisoner that’s an entertaining read.
• The Lab--It was interesting to me that my kids like this one much better than I did.  The premise was interesting but not particularly well written, and I hated the feeling of certainty I had a long time before it ended that it was just setting me up for the sequel. 
• The Red Umbrella-- I wasn't impressed with the beginning of the book--the main character seemed like a shallow whiney teenager. But as the story got going she developed more maturity and the story became more interesting and I was hooked. I had NO idea that in the early stages of the Cuban revolution 14,000 children were sent to the United States to save them from the revolution. What a heartbreaking time.
• Seedfolks—this was the first BoB book I read and I loved it.  It’s a book of little stories about different people who start gardens in what was a vacant lot.  I love the sense of growing community in what was previously a barren area.
• A Tale Dark & Grimm—Here was another book that we divided on.  Rachel really loved this one, a modern twisting of fairy tales with an interesting narrator.  I got a little tired of the narrator. 
• Tangerine—I’m reading this one right now.  I’ll let you know what I think.
• Three Days—A very interesting premise for a book—Jackie is on a business trip with her father when he has a heart attack and dies.  She is grabbed by two men off the side of the road and taken far away to their house, where she tries to figure out what they are doing and why.  Jackie is the only character after her father dies that speaks English, so that makes for an interesting book.
• Under the Blood-Red Sun--I had never stopped to wonder how the people in Hawaii dealt with the Japanese population in Hawaii after Pearl Harbor.  This book tells the story of a young teenaged boy who is living on Oahu then, and a little about the things (good and bad) that happen to his family.  I thought the book was well-written and I enjoyed it.  I find myself conflicted--between hoping I would be loyal to friends, and thinking that I would also be suspicious of where the loyalties of the Japanese people lay.  I thought it was interesting that at the end of the book the author says that there was never a single confirmed case of espionage or sabotage done by any Japanese person living in Hawaii. 
  
• A Wrinkle in Time—I am re-reading this one right now.  Even though I'm conflicted because I just read an interesting biography/memoir about L'Engle, I'm still enjoying the story. 

I came into the family room the other morning (at a time when everyone should have been doing math) and this is what I saw.

I reminded myself that one of the things I love about home schooling is that we get a lot of flexibility, and then took a picture.  How I love to see my kids reading happily!