We can’t always understand the things that scare us, but scary stories are the safest places to experience our fears again and again, as many times as it takes for them to become comfortably familiar.
The weeks of summer vacation are winding down and one of the things I will miss most when I head back to school is not being home to immediately open all the great book mail that shows up at my house. I have a whole system for the massive amounts of books that appear here: […]
The Sea Knows My Name asks how our stories shape us. It asks us what happens when all our stories are about Zeus rather than Leda; Apollo rather than Daphne; Ajax rather than Cassandra.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget the things Hazmat has taught me, I don’t think I want to: I love thinking of book plots (and life!) without a beginning, middle, and end…but, instead, seeing moments and days as a wild quilt flashing by, a horizon that keeps opening and expanding …on and on.
You know what I liked best about this book? I didn't know where it was going. I wasn't sure what decisions the characters would make or if things would work out. At points, I wasn't even sure what "work out" meant for these characters.
While I wish I could say that burnout can be solved by writing a book, it can’t. But it was a good start and helped me realize how much I love education and teaching. It helped me find my way back to what I love.
During the middle school years, kids are in different phases of development, navigating puberty, exploring their identities, and transitioning from childhood into young adulthood. To say a lot is going on would be an understatement.