Magic and love are laced with blood and hidden behind masks in Blood Magic (Random House) by Tessa Gratton. I’ve been waiting not-so-patiently to get my hands on it ever since I learned I won a copy of the ARC from The Merry Sisters of Fate. (If you haven’t browsed the short stories there, go now–at least once you finish reading this review.) It arrived in my mailbox on Monday, and I can’t wait to share it.
Silla Kennicott is at once strong and vulnerable. She is haunted by her past–both the one she knows about and the one she is about to discover. Just after her parents’ gruesome deaths, she receives a book from The Deacon. The book is written in her dead father’s handwriting and contains notes and spells for creating magic. Just as she performs her first spell in the cemetery, the new next door neighbor, Nicholas Pardee, comes up. Whether or not Nicholas saw what he thought he saw, he has secrets of his own to keep. Silla is not his first encounter with magic or tragedy. Nicholas, Silla and her brother Reese work together to explore the blood magic their father had kept hidden from them. Their exhileration soon turns to doubt as they question just who Robert Kennicott was. Do they dare to claim the magic that runs in their blood?
There are so many things I love about this book:
The opening lines: Click here to see Tessa perform Chapter 1. The beginning of Chapter 2 also grabbed me: “It is impossible to know who you really are until you spend time alone in a cemetery.”
Silla: She is both strong and vulnerable, not to mention smart and determined.
Nicholas: A big-city baddie (not to mention incredibly cute) stuck in a small-town still life. I loved his sarcastic edge, but don’t try it in class.
Reese: I always wanted a big brother, and Reese would be perfect–strong and stubborn while always looking out for Silla. Will he punch Nicholas?
The alternating points of view: Silla and Nicholas never repeat each other’s stories. Instead the alternating points of view rush the story ever closer to danger as they realize the secrets of their past will either draw them closer or drive them apart. Then Josephine’s voice from the past menaces the present. How soon will you figure out who she is?
The theater masks: Not only do these masks line the walls of Silla’s room, they provide her strength and courage and a place to hide throughout the story.
The language: Entire sections just blew me away. I keep dipping back into the book now that I’m finished just to enjoy the way the words dance across my mind as I read them over.
This is an intense book, not for everyone. Does it sound like something you want to read? If you dare, let me know what you like about it.
I know some of you have read Lisa McMann’s series of books with Wake, Fade, and Gone. They are definitley on my want-to-read list. Here is the newest book from Lisa, Cryer’s Cross. Here is how Lisa’s editor, Jennifer Klonsky of Simon and Schuster, describes this new book:
In her first standalone teen novel, Lisa proves once again that nobody can touch her when it comes to spare, striking, and chilling teen fiction…
Kendall loves her life in small town Cryer’s Cross, Montana, but she also longs for something more. She knows the chances of going to school in New York are small, but she’s not the type to give up easily. Even though it will mean leaving Nico, the world’s sweetest boyfriend, behind.
But when Cryer’s Cross is rocked by unspeakable tragedy, Kendall shoves her dreams aside and focuses on just one goal: help find her missing friends. Even if it means spending time with the one boy she shouldn’t get close to…the one boy who makes her question everything she feels for Nico.
Determined to help and to stay true to the boy she’s always loved, Kendall keeps up the search—and stumbles upon some frightening local history. She knows she can’t stop digging, but Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried…
Get ready for Cryer’s Cross.
And get ready to be seriously scared.
If that’s not enough to hook you, check out the book trailer:
Here’s the slide show that explains how you can use participles (an -ing verb tagged on the beginning or end of a sentence (can also be -ed verb) to add action and detail to your writing.
Check out the pictures in the gallery below. Leave a comment sharing your best sentence that uses a participle to describe the action in the photo. Feel free to make up names (but not from your classmates).
Strumming a few chords, Johnny wrote a new song.
Grinning from ear to ear, the fisherman held up his catch.
Shivering with cold, the colt stood close to its mother.
Pictures used with permission from Image Grammar by Harry Noden (Heinemann, 1999)
14) Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult – A great love story, especially between mothers and daughters
15) The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester – What more could you want–the girl can fly!
16) The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver – beautiful!
17) Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park – Baseball (in particular baseball in NYC in the 1950’s) becomes a metaphor for life for Maggie, the ultimate Dodger’s fan.
18) Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher
19) Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi – WOW. It’s a nonstop ride of action, violence, betrayal, and friendship in a world where global warming has changed everything.
20) Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer – a lovely story told in poems about finding acceptance and friendship
21) The Search by Suzanne Woods Fisher – a sweet story if you like Christian fiction set among the Amish
Monday
Painting with Five Basic Brush Strokes. Students will learn to use participles to add detail to their writing. HOMEWORK: Read 30 minutes. No Weekly Word Study.
Tuesday
Let’s blog. Students will show off their participles by leaving their sentences in the comments in the post below. Math ISTEP tests are given today through math classes. Once you have left your comment you may do one of the following: 1) Read and leave comments on your classmates blogs (editorials, golden lines, vocabulary); 2) Write a blog post about a topic of your choice; 3) Sign up for the Student Blogging Challenge if you would like to improve your blogging skills and meet students from around the world. HOMEWORK: Read 30 minutes.
Wednesday
Students will take the Language Arts ISTEP through language arts classes today. Class periods will be lengthened to give plenty of time to complete the test. Homework: Read 30 minutes. No Word Study due tomorrow.
Thursday
Students will take the Language Arts ISTEP through language arts classes today. Class periods will be lengthened to give plenty of time to complete the test. HOMEWORK: NO Word Study due today. Read 30 minutes. Get your reading log signed.
Friday
Believe it or not, reading can be pleasurable. Share one of your favorite passages from a book. It could be one that took your breath away or got your heart pounding or made you cringe or laugh or cry. HOMEWORK: Reading Log due TODAY. Read over the weekend.
Saundra Mitchell is offering a chance to win your dream gown in order to celebrate the upcoming release of her new novel, The Vespertine. Find out how to enter to win on her blog, Making Up Stuff for a Living. I wonder if I win, I could spend the $300 VISA gift card on prom or dress related books? I have several I’d like to buy.
Here is the cover and the blurb from The Vespertine website.
The summer of 1889 is the one between childhood and womanhood for Amelia van den Broek-and thankfully, she’s not spending it at home in rural Maine. She’s been sent to Baltimore to stay with her stylish cousin, Zora, who will show her all the pleasures of city life and help her find a suitable man to marry.
Archery in the park, dazzling balls and hints of forbidden romance-Victorian Baltimore is more exciting than Amelia imagined. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset-visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. Newly dubbed “Maine’s Own Mystic”, Amelia is suddenly quite in demand.
However, her attraction to Nathaniel, an artist who is decidedly outside of Zora’s circle, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own- still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him. And while she has no trouble seeing the futures of others, she cannot predict whether Nathaniel will remain in hers.
When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.
Want to know more? Watch the trailer below.
And that’s not all. You can meet Saundra Mitchell and fourteen other Hoosier authors on March 5. They will be at the Indiana Authors and Illustrators Bookfair. It is held at the Barnes and Noble in Carmel. Be there from noon to 2:00 pm next Saturday. In addition to meeting Saundra, you can hear from MG & YA Authors Christine Johnson, Julia Karr, Margaret McMullan, Tracy Richardson and more. Maybe I’ll see you there!
Today I went to the Indiana State House for the first time. I had no idea what to expect. What I found was democracy at work.
I went with several other teachers from the middle school. (We all took personal days for this visit.) We met with teachers from across Indiana at the ISTA (Indiana State Teacher’s Association) building. Actually, there were more than teachers in the room. A group from the construction union sat with us as well as representatives from the National Education Association and the Parent Teacher Association.
Staff members fro m ISTA explained some of the bills being considered in the house and senate. The staff “translated” the laws from the language of legal code to ordinary language I could understand. They also explained how the laws would effect schools and teachers. We also learned tips for lobbying (talking with elected officials to share concerns). The most important tip was to build bridges and relationships, even with people who disagreed.
After learning all this information, we headed across to the Indiana State House. I was surprised by the crowds. If you missed the news last night, there were hundreds of union workers also at the state house to protest a bill being heard by the House. We arrived outside the House chamber about the time people were realizing the Democrats in the house weren’t going to be showing up.
Why didn’t they show up? According to the rules, the House (and Senate, too) must have a quorum in order to conduct business (like voting bills into law). A quorum means you have enough members of the group present to conduct business. In this case, the House needs 2/3 of its members present to vote on bills. The missing Democrats made up more than 1/3 of the House, so no one could do anything on any of the bills.
We did get to speak with one member of the House, Milo Smith, who represents Bartholomew County. (Our representative from Jennings County, Dave Cheatham, was one of the missing Democrats.) Even though we didn’t agree on all points, I was impressed that Representative Smith took over half an hour to listen to our concerns and share his views with us. That respectful give and take is what makes democracy work.
Next we headed over to the Senate side. Since the Senate had a quorum, the senators were voting on bills as we watched. Even though the doors to the Senate chamber were closed, we could hear what was going on over a television monitor on the wall. While we watched, the Senate moved quickly on the third readings of a variety of bills. I learned later that for a third reading, both houses simply read and vote. If a deadline is approaching, the entire bill may not be read aloud. Senators and Representatives can discuss the issues and add admendments during the second and third readings of a bill. Before that, committees discuss bills. The committee votes on whether or not to present the bill to the entire House or Senate.
Senator Johnny Nugent came out to talk with us as well. It was much harder to discuss issues with him because of the crowds and noise. At one point during our conversation, protesters started marching around the inside of the State House, chanting and waving signs. In spite of the crowds and noise, people were friendly and respectful of each other.
I enjoyed my first hand look at our government in action. I am glad I had a guide (ISTA) who could explain what was happening and answer questions, but you don’t need a guided tour to let your voice be heard. Find out what bills are being considered by the Indiana General Assembly. From this website, you can also look up who represents you and contact them with your opinion.
If you enjoyed today’s convo with Bill Ballenger, you can get more tommorow night at the high school. Doors open and 6:00 pm, and the concert begins at 7:00 pm. It is free, but seats are limited, so come early. Click on the link above to find out more about Bill Ballenger and to register for the cash drawing that will be given at the concert. You must be present to win.
What did you think of the convo this afternoon? Will you make different choices?
All Josie wants is to fit in. She hates walking into Room 204 for Special Ed, but her cerebral palsy makes her stick out at middle school where taunts follow her down the hallway and on the bus. At home, her single mom is as demanding of Josie as she is herself. Grandma doesn’t mind sharing her opinion. Their once prosperous family farm has shrunk to not much more than a garden plot.
Then Jordan moves into one of the new mansions nearby and walks into Josie’s life. A bit different himself, he sees past Josie’s differences to a friend.
Short poems, spoken in Josie’s voice, reveal Josie’s life one glimpse at a time. I enjoyed this quiet, moving story. The short lines of poetry make for a quick read. The vivid imagery and haunting emotion reveal Josie’s desire to belong and the growth she shares with her family and Jordan. I think you will like Reaching for Sun (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer if you are looking for a believable character you can relate to.
Magic and love are laced with blood and hidden behind masks in Blood Magic (Random House) by Tessa Gratton. I’ve been waiting not-so-patiently to get my hands on it ever since I learned I won a copy of the ARC from The Merry Sisters of Fate. (If you haven’t browsed the short stories there, go now–at least once you finish reading this review.) It arrived in my mailbox on Monday, and I can’t wait to share it.
