This book started out great and really had me glued for awhile, but then it got really depressing and dull. I thought that the story would follow the childhood and adulthood of Phoebe, the daughter with Down's Syndrome that Dr. David Henry gave away, but instead the reader spends most of the time learning about Dr. Henry's wife, Norah, and the son he chose to keep, Paul. I found Norah to be completely ridiculous, and I didn't feel sorry for her in the least bit. She obviously had no intention of making the marriage work, and the way she behaved compared to her husband's behavior was unbelievable. I think the point of this book is to examine marriage and children and how things may not turn out the way you expect them to. The reader knows that the Henry's marriage is doomed from the moment he gives Caroline the baby, so I think the time between then and the divorce was drawn out way too much. I wanted to know more about Phoebe and the struggles that Caroline had to face raising her. The most interesting part of the book for me was when Caroline had no where to go and she was stuck in a grocery store parking lot with a newborn baby and a truck driver she had never met. That part was a tough situation and it was interesting and I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen and what Caroline was going to do. The surprise death at the end left me shocked for a bit and then sad because it left some relationships unmended forever.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3567142-leane%22%3EView All my reviews...
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Book Review-A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
I finished this book a few weeks ago so I'll do my best to share what I remember. I was very surprised to find this book on the Lincoln list for high schoolers after I picked it up from the library. This book was definitely not what I thought it was going to be. From the cover and description, I thought for sure that it was going to be a murder mystery. However, it really is a historical fiction novel with some great characters by Jennifer Donnelly. Matt is a teenager growing up in the northern part of New York state in the early 1900s. She lives on a small farm situated in a lake area where guests come from the city to vacation. Matt's mother has recently died and she has taken on the role of caring for her younger sisters and father, giving up her dreams to go to college and someday become an author. Matt is torn between the promise she made to her mother to care for her family and following her dreams, a situation that I think teen readers may appreciate. Of course another factor is her budding romance with the boy next door which leaves Matt with the question, where do I go from here? The story jumps back and forth from Matt's summer working at a hotel and time spent in school and with her family. I think this would be a great read for middle school girls or even a book discussion group.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3567142-leane%22%3EView all my reviews
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3567142-leane%22%3EView all my reviews
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Situation
I wonder how many people out there are in the same situation that I am? People working as paraprofessionals or substitutes because they can't find a teaching job. Are they fulfilled with their jobs? What are their plans for the future? I bet some people have a time limit, like, if I don't find a new job in 3 years I'm going out of teaching altogether.
My father basically ambushed me yesterday morning (happy Saturday!) and told me that my life is at a stand-still and that the situation in Illinois with teachers is not going to get better in the foreseeable future. Basically that I've wasted the past 3 years and that I'm going nowhere with my life. He wants me to meet with someone at a publishing company to see if I could work there. Basically it's my choice, but if I don't do it I'm giving up a huge opportunity that could change my whole life. I have spent the past two days walking around feeling like everything I do, from reading a book to taking a bath to working on my crossstich to working at my stupid part-time job is a complete waste of time. I feel like I have nothing. Everything I do is a waste of time.
Does anyone else ever feel like that? Like everything you once enjoyed is not what you should be doing? I probably shouldn't even be blogging right now because no one will read it and it's just a waste of time. I guess I'm struggling with this because I really need my comfort zone around me all the time. I have had 3 jobs in 3 years and I'm finally fitting into my school, getting to know some people, enjoying the kids. And while recess and lunch duty suck, I finally feel appreciated in my work place. Talking to someone at this publishing company would take me out of my comfort zone and I really just can't handle that right now.
It doesn't help that I talked to my dad tonight and he made me feel like an idiot. That my worries and concerns about this were not justified. I knew he would that. In the end, I didn't really even have a choice about whether or not I should go through with this. If I didn't, he would be so frustrated with me and basically ignore me. He's so business-minded that he can't get out of it sometimes. He's all about networking and making connections with other people and getting ahead of everybody else. To him it's not about doing good in the world and enjoying what you do but pushing yourself to the limit every single hour of every single day, climbing the corporate ladder, and impressing other people. The man hasn't read a fiction book since 1993. Yeah, 14 hour days sound like a lot of fun to me. Wait, teachers do the same amount of work but they enjoy it! What a concept!
If I wanted out of teaching I would tell him. I would tell everybody. It's like that guy that you keep in the back of your mind because you keep thinking he's going to pull up to your house someday and surprise you with flowers and candy and suddenly become all that you wanted him to be but then one day you snap out of it and realize that IT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN! One day I'll realize that teaching is never going to happen. But that day isn't today.
What's the point in talking to this publishing company if I have no intentions of leaving my current position? I just don't feel like putting in all that effort for something I don't want anyway. I'm sick of having to consider other options. There's only one option for me and that's teaching!
I just hope he doesn't stay mad at me forever. He tends to do that and takes things way too personally.
My father basically ambushed me yesterday morning (happy Saturday!) and told me that my life is at a stand-still and that the situation in Illinois with teachers is not going to get better in the foreseeable future. Basically that I've wasted the past 3 years and that I'm going nowhere with my life. He wants me to meet with someone at a publishing company to see if I could work there. Basically it's my choice, but if I don't do it I'm giving up a huge opportunity that could change my whole life. I have spent the past two days walking around feeling like everything I do, from reading a book to taking a bath to working on my crossstich to working at my stupid part-time job is a complete waste of time. I feel like I have nothing. Everything I do is a waste of time.
Does anyone else ever feel like that? Like everything you once enjoyed is not what you should be doing? I probably shouldn't even be blogging right now because no one will read it and it's just a waste of time. I guess I'm struggling with this because I really need my comfort zone around me all the time. I have had 3 jobs in 3 years and I'm finally fitting into my school, getting to know some people, enjoying the kids. And while recess and lunch duty suck, I finally feel appreciated in my work place. Talking to someone at this publishing company would take me out of my comfort zone and I really just can't handle that right now.
It doesn't help that I talked to my dad tonight and he made me feel like an idiot. That my worries and concerns about this were not justified. I knew he would that. In the end, I didn't really even have a choice about whether or not I should go through with this. If I didn't, he would be so frustrated with me and basically ignore me. He's so business-minded that he can't get out of it sometimes. He's all about networking and making connections with other people and getting ahead of everybody else. To him it's not about doing good in the world and enjoying what you do but pushing yourself to the limit every single hour of every single day, climbing the corporate ladder, and impressing other people. The man hasn't read a fiction book since 1993. Yeah, 14 hour days sound like a lot of fun to me. Wait, teachers do the same amount of work but they enjoy it! What a concept!
If I wanted out of teaching I would tell him. I would tell everybody. It's like that guy that you keep in the back of your mind because you keep thinking he's going to pull up to your house someday and surprise you with flowers and candy and suddenly become all that you wanted him to be but then one day you snap out of it and realize that IT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN! One day I'll realize that teaching is never going to happen. But that day isn't today.
What's the point in talking to this publishing company if I have no intentions of leaving my current position? I just don't feel like putting in all that effort for something I don't want anyway. I'm sick of having to consider other options. There's only one option for me and that's teaching!
I just hope he doesn't stay mad at me forever. He tends to do that and takes things way too personally.
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