There's 104 Days of Summer Vacation...

...and school comes along just to end it.
So the annual problem for our generation
is finding a good way to spend it.

I hate to break the news to everyone out there, especially the teachers, but the summer is winding down. How's the summer been going? I've been running over my checklist, courtesy of my children and their new-found friends Phineas and Ferb, and things aren't going so well.

Building a rocket - I built a graduate portfolio. Does that count?
Fighting a mummy - I don't recall even a disagreement with my mother, let alone a mummy.
Climbing up the Eiffel Tower - How about the stairs up to the back door of the cottage?
Discovering something that doesn't exist - Still looking for the motivation to repaint the bathroom.
Giving a monkey a shower - I get the boy to bathe once or twice a week, how's that?
Surfing tidal waves - Floating on a air mattress in a gentle breeze?
Creating nanobots - I got nothing.
Locating Frankenstein's brain - Not exactly, but getting my own brain focused on graduate work during summer is sort of the same.
Finding a dodo bird - The crow that shows up outside my window at 4:55 each morning is gonna wish he was extinct!
Painting a continent - The bathroom still ain't painted.
Driving your sister insane - The boy's got a handle on this one for me.

And, of course, one more:

Making a title sequence - All I gots is a blog, but maybe I'll start watching iCarly and produce my own web show...

Public Enemies - A Reader's Response

Before I saw Public Enemies, I wrote in my book review (since revised), “It will be interesting to see how a film can pack all the facts neatly into 140 minutes. Equally interesting will be if the film can keep the facts away from fiction, unlike many films of the past, as Bryan Burrough frequently states. For example, will Anna Sage, the ‘woman in red,’ be wearing an orange skirt (fact) rather than a red dress (fiction)?”

The answer is an emphatic … kinda. Yes, Anna Sage was in an orange skirt, but why was she one of the first people in the movie? Her apartment was the last place Dillinger lived. At best it made most of the movie an unclear flashback. At worst it was a purposeful alteration of the facts.

No, the movie isn’t a documentary, but after reading the remarkably well-researched book, it’s easy to see embellishments are not necessary.

Well, maybe embellishments are necessary for Hollywood, but not for the story itself. The episode at Little Bohemia Lodge is a great example. Here are a few notable Hollywood adaptations:

Hollywood-ization #1:
Book (Fact): The gang arrived on Friday afternoon and enjoyed two days of rest, planning to stay until Monday morning. Growing restless, they decided to leave Sunday night instead, not knowing the FBI was on their way for a raid that night. When the raid started, the gang was already preparing to leave the lodge.

Movie (Fiction): The gang arrived, divvied up their money, and had just laid down to rest, when the shooting started. By all appearances the FBI is a well-oiled, fast-acting, crime-fighting machine.

Hollywood-ization #2:
Book: Dillinger, Homer Van Meter, Red Hamilton, and Tommy Carroll all jumped out the back windows and quickly disappeared into the woods after the FBI’s initial shots on the lodge. The FBI mistakenly believed their shots had driven the gangsters back into the lodge and the agents kept the now empty lodge surrounded until dawn believing gang members remained inside.

Movie: Shooting, shooting, shooting. Daring leap out the windows. FBI pursuit. More shooting. High speed chase. Some more shooting. Car wreck. Shooting. Bloody death.

Hollywood-ization #3:
Book: Baby Face Nelson escaped on his own, stole one car which stalled, then shot two FBI agents and stole their car which subsequently threw a rod. Nelson traveled 20 miles on foot to the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation where he met Ollie Catfish and his wife Maggie. Pretending to be a game warden, Nelson stayed until the following Friday when he finally made his escape.

Movie: Melvin Purvis gave chase and killed Baby Face Nelson who had joined Dillinger and Red Hamilton in the great (nonexistent) Little Bohemia Chase. (Nelson wasn’t actually killed for another seven months on November 27.)

My wife hadn’t read the book but offered two great observations. First, she said the movie was high on shooting, low on plot. Second, she said it was like they made a four hour movie and then cut out 100 minutes of back story. Simply adding headings like Miami: December, 1933 or even June, 1934 on the screen would have helped. Having read the book, I knew all the characters and events and explanations. Without that, I’d have been lost.

One thing the movie nailed on the head was the feeling readers/movie-goers have toward Dillinger. As frustrated as it made me, as I read, I continually found myself on the side of the criminals, just as many people in the general public did at the time. After all, Dillinger once told a bank customer who’d placed his money on the counter, “You go ahead and take your money. We don’t want your money. Just the bank’s.” During the Great Depression, that sort of attitude placed gangsters in the public’s corner facing off against a banking system and government that had let them down. I turned to my wife halfway through the movie and asked, “Whose side are you on?” She just smiled and shook her head.

Why the movie started with Melvin Purvis shooting Pretty Boy Floyd is beyond me. This actually happened three months after Dillinger was killed. All it did was portray Purvis as an FBI hero, cool, calm in the face of the most wanted, when in actuality, he allowed more gangsters to escape under his watch than were captured. J. Edgar Hoover grew increasingly disappointed with Purvis’s leadership. Due to his rare successes, Purvis could more accurately be described as a blind pig who occasionally found an acorn. (BIG acorns, but nonetheless...)

People who make movies know what they’re doing, apparently. The movie is a success. It’s unfortunate that a nonfiction book has been made into a historical fiction movie. Bryan Burrough did a magnificent job researching and detailing the exploits of numerous gangs of 1933-1934, sometimes down to the minute. The movie was entertaining. The book, however, was fascinating and educational.

Pack It Up and Move It Out

I've got a new newspaper column today all about vacation. Actually, it's about getting ready to go on vacation. Check the list, pile it up, and pack it in. Make sure you have everything and make sure it all fits.

Here's the article, or here's the printable version.

Ah, Researchers. They'll Study Anything.

It seems Belgian researchers are studying how electronics can be used in ... eh-hem ... potty training. The study uses diapers with electronic inserts that play a pleasant musical sound when they become wet. The music alerts adults, enabling them to change the diaper more quickly, provide positive feedback, and "help children focus on bladder control more efficiently."

The results, published in Neurology and Urodynamics, which is apparently a real journal, have been promising. According to the article, researcher Dr. Peter Richel said he did not see a downside to the musical method. (But what if the child likes the song? Won't it be sort of the opposite of Pavlov's dogs?)

Anyway, I always thought potty training came down to a couple of books. One to teach the general concept:





And one to keep the child seated for a while:

Mother's Day and Father's Day

I'm claiming "End-of-the-School-Year-itis" here.

Today, one week after our last week of school, my latest column appears in the newspaper. Though there are still loose ends to tie up at school, it's technically summer. So I'm up and posting about my latest newspaper column which appears today. Happy Father's Day even if it is a little early. (Or here's the printable version.)

However, one month ago, in the midst of finishing up a school year, my Mother's Day column appeared. And nary a mention here. I'm pretty sure I included something in there about moms being forgiving. Anyways, summer's here, and I'm making up for lost time. Happy Mother's Day, even if it is a little late. (Or here's the printable version.)

Where Are All the Sports Books?

After finishing a read aloud recently, two boys ... requested ... suggested ... demanded(?) ... well, whatever. It went something like this: "Hey, Mr. W! When're we gonna read a sports book?"

"What do you mean? We've read sports books," I responded.

"Like what?"

They were right. I was stuck. They suggested Six Innings by James Preller, a book they both read and enjoyed, but they'd both already read and enjoyed it, and I was worried it wouldn't translate well to a read aloud. Really, I like baseball. (It's taken 15 years, a trip to Fenway Park, and a good Milwaukee Brewers team to take me out of the funk created by canceling a World Series, but I've come back around.)

But let's be honest. Baseball is slow enough already. That, coupled with some non-athletic students and May sunshine out the classroom window, didn't seem like a recipe for a successful read aloud.

"I'll find something over the weekend," I assured them.

Whoops. My substantial bookshelves had... Well, they had... Not much! Aarrgghh!

I grew up playing sports in all kinds of city leagues and even played two sports in college. My kids know what "Don't rub it!" means in baseball and what kind of receiver it takes to go across the middle. I subscribe to a blog about uniforms for crying out loud! And I have no sports books?!?

I looked back at the list of Newbery winners and honors and found about as much as was on my bookshelves. Just a quick glance at the past 20 years and a quick jog of the memory reveals:

• Basketball in After Tupac and D Foster.
• Hockey in Everything on a Waffle.
• Baseball in Joey Pigza Loses Control.
• Baseball in Maniac Magee.

If we wanted to be generous (veeeery generous) we could add:

• Digging in Holes.
• Surviving (barely) in Out of the Dust.
• Princessification in Princess Academy and Ella Enchanted.
• Playing Catch in The Giver (Most people get distracted from this athletic scene when Jonas sees red in the apple.) Oh, and let's not forget cycling. That's in there too.
• Bonesetting in The Midwife's Apprentice.

In the last twenty years of Newbery awards there's one (one?) book where sports would be considered a major factor: Joey Pigza Loses Control.

Kate, a recent commenter on Help Readers Love Reading!, mentioned Matt Christopher books in her comments for the new Gym Shorts series. I'm familiar with those, but haven't read them since grade school. Am I right remembering that although the books feature different sports the plot remains basically unchanged?

So I did some brainstorming (OK, your topic is "Sports Books." Go.) and here's what I came up with:

• The Comeback Kids series by Mike Lupica, a sports writer for the New York Daily News.
• Mike Lupica's books for older readers such as The Big Field, Summer Ball, and Miracle on 49th Street.
• Books by former NFL player Tim Green - Football Genius, Football Hero, and Baseball Great.
• Books by John Feinstein - Last Shot, Last Dance, and Vanishing Act.
• Matt Christopher books.
• The Gym Shorts series by Betty Hicks.
• Dan Gutman's Baseball Card Adventure series and The Million Dollar Putt/Strike/Shot/Kick/Etc. series.

That's where my list ends. And that's pretty sorry (sorry in quantity, not quality). I haven't read too many of the above, although a few are on the shelves patiently waiting. I did enjoy Football Genius, but unfortunately for my two students, it was a library copy.

When we returned on Monday morning, I told the boys I had good news and bad news. The bad news was that I didn't have a book like the one they requested. The good news was that my new summer project, thanks to these two gentlemen, was to build up the sports books in the classroom library so future readers don't have the same problem.

So, what am I missing? I'd love to hear suggestions - please comment or email - so that we can get our athletes books about athletes. We spend a lot of time convincing them to read, and boys like this can be the hardest to convince, and then, even in a sports lover's classroom like mine, there is a limited selection. I'd love to build up a list of books we can quickly recommend.

(By the way, I ended up giving them a choice between How Angel Peterson Got His Name, which I described as extreme sports minus the safety equipment and ESPN, and Mudshark, which I described as a book featuring a sport called Death Ball. Both are by Gary Paulsen. They chose Mudshark. It was a rollicking success.)

So How Are You Spending Your Weekend?

I'm playing in the World's Largest Trivia Contest. No kidding.

Listen live, sometime before midnight on Sunday. Get some sleep for me.

My GPSpert - A New Spring Break Column

For our Spring Break vacation we brought along a GPS device just in case we needed help finding any destinations. We didn't really, but the GPS did provide a few memorable moments for the driver (me), the navigator/map holder (my wife), and the GPSpert (my daughter).

After another hour of uneventful driving, we faced a more serious dilemma.

“Dad! What are you doing? You’re not driving on the road.”

“Look, Kiddo,” I respond confidently, “White lines? Pavement? I’m on the road.”

“That’s not what Gladys says.”

Here's the whole article: Sometimes, old 'technology' trumps new OR the printable version.

The Disadvantages of Being a Reader - Travel

The family just got back from vacation, and when a family of readers goes on vacation, what do they need to take? Books.

Our trip included a three hour drive to the airport and a three hour flight. Six hours of sitting? Reading material is an absolute necessity. Add to that the delays for numerous de-icings and (I still can't believe this) waiting for an airplane to get off the runway because the pavement was too icy for it to reach the gate and you have two and a half more hours of reading time. (Apparently they had to unload the passengers and the luggage to lighten it up so it could move. And that's the runway from which we were taking off.)

Vacation included travel time between airport and hotel, hotel and ballpark, ballpark and restaurant, restaurant and hotel, etc. All limited reading time for Driver Dad, but prime times for the rest of the family.

And there was a pool and hot tub. And our room had a porch. And, even though we lacked a beach, there were bountiful beach chairs.

So, yeah, we needed books. Lots of them. Before we left I asked my family, "Where're we going to put all these? This is a ton of books!"

"Dad, it's simple. We need a Kindle," offers the ten-year-old.

"I'd love one, Kiddo. But we'd need four at, what, $350 a pop or something?"

"Oh. Yeah. Forget it. Pack the books." With a wave of her hand she was gone.

For the flight I had The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, Readicide by Kelly Gallagher, and two instruction books for our new camera. What did I read? Well, let's just say I hope the pictures turn out.

Book Count Total: 4

I also carried a complete set of Stink books by Megan McDonald, including The Holly Joliday featuring both Stink and Judy and the brand new Stink-O-Pedia which we picked up on the way to the airport. That was for the seven-year-old.

Book Count Total: 10

My wife had an Arizona & Grand Canyon Guide Book and two books generally referred to as "Smut." "Trash" is another acceptable classification, I've learned.

Book Count Total: 13

The ten-year-old carried the five-book Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls by Lynn Jonell, and The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch.

Book Count Total: 20

On to the suitcases. There were the first two books the Shadow Children Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix and two books still unread from Christmas that my wife and I agreed to share: What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick. Also included were sixteen (count 'em...sixteen) Magic Treehouse books which the boy finds, well, magical. Oh yeah, there was also one Sports Illustrated and a photocopied, twenty page article on the role of literacy coaches.

Book Count Total: 40 + 1 magazine + 1 professional article.

We read on the plane and in the hotel room. We read in poolside chairs under the sun and in poolside chairs under umbrellas shielding the sun. The ten-year-old read Stink books aloud in the backseat while the seven-year-old giggled constantly and my wife and I gave each other "Isn't that familiar?" glances in the front. My wife and I read before the kids awoke. The kids read after they were supposed to be sleeping.

No, we didn't read them all. Honestly, I didn't expect to, but what could be worse than - gasp! - running out of reading material on vacation?

At least that didn't happen.

The Elementary School Carnival

And then there’s the pop bottle ring toss. One game ticket, three rings, seven hundred bottles of pop. Keep any bottle you ring. My child gets two Mountain Dews in three shots.

That’s not hard, I think, so I hand over a ticket. Nothing.

Another ticket. Nothing.

A third ticket. “Hey, that one’s leaning! A leaner counts, right?”

Wrong. Grudgingly, knowing I can’t quit, I hand over another ticket. Finally, a winner! Yes!

For…a bottle of water?!? The kid gets two Mountain Dews for two-bits, and I spend a buck to win a bottle of water at a game stationed beside the drinking fountain that’s giving it away for free?

Lesson learned: Let the kid toss the rings.

Spring is here! At least, it must be if schools are having their annual Spring carnivals. Sure, as I wrote this last weekend we were under a Winter Storm Warning. Sure, two days before it was published we had snow and freezing rain. High temperatures in the teens?

Bah! If there's an elementary school carnival a-happening, it's Spring. End of story.

Anyways, my latest newspaper column was published on Friday. The above is a little piece that got cut in final editing. Here's a link to the online version and the printable version.

Happy Spring, everyone! Enjoy the snow! (You know there's gotta more coming...)

A Dilemma No Longer

The release date mentioned in A Moral Dilemma Part I and Part II has now arrived, and I'm curious to see if my dilemma was a mountain, molehill, or some sort of piedmont in between. It’s actually still the night before as I write, but it’s still all pre-orders at the online booksellers and zero available reviews, at least none within Google’s reach.

As a teacher I chose to go ahead and read the book aloud to my fourth graders. We’ve used it for lessons on summarizing, predicting, making judgments, and the occasional unfamiliar word. (Don't worry, it's been story first. If there's a lesson to be taught it comes after the read aloud. No pausing and restarting and "If we stop and think for a moment, we may wonder how our protagonists will react to the unfortunate circumstances that now..." It might be a great lesson, but when the book is good, that's just downright mean.)

As a book reviewer I chose to wait and publish my review the night before the release date. The kids are in bed, no spoilers have been leaked, and the review will be there in the morning for anyone wanting to read it.

So, enough jibber-jabber, already! Is it a potential Newbery Medal winner? A book destined for timeless greatness? The next masterpiece from one of the world’s most recognized and respected authors?

No, probably, on all three counts. It is, however, a book that the kids in my class have been anxious to get their hands on, and they’ve had to wait a week less than most kids, at least as far as I can tell.

The 39 Clues: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis.

Thoughts or comments?

A Moral Dilemma Part II

I wonder if, when all is said and done, people will think, "So what was all the fuss about?" It's possible. Maybe even probable. I do know there is some secrecy, not like there was with Harry Potter or Eragon, but secrecy nonetheless, and for good reason. And I checked again, just to be sure, and all the online booksellers still list it as pre-order and there are still zero reviews online.

My review is written but unpublished.

Here's part two of yesterday's moral dilemma:

After my class brainstormed possible solutions on Monday, I had them write a paragraph explaining what each thought we should do. Then I had them add what they wanted to do. And isn't it interesting, we noted, that what we should do and what we want to do can sometimes be very different? There were some creative answers. One girl wanted to "Read it and tell everyone. Braggin' to the world, baby!" Another girl apparently wished the whole situation would simply disappear. "I just want to put the book in a sack and bury it."

Yesterday, on Tuesday, we discussed what people had written and came up with the three most common responses.

1. Read the book, keep it to ourselves, and not make a big deal out of it.
2. Call the bookstore, explain the situation, and see what they say.
3. Contact the publisher and see what they have to say.

The debate continued. One thing we noticed is that with each step away from ourselves, the stakes seemed to get higher.

1. If we read the book but later learn we shouldn’t have had it, we might feel guilty.
2. If we contact the bookstore, someone’s job might be in jeopardy.
3. If we contact the publisher, they could get mad at the bookstore.

We even discussed worst case scenarios, including, but not limited to, children’s book publishers, lawyers, librarians, and local law enforcement storming the classroom and tossing yours truly in the clink.

When we finally voted on the three choices, over half the class believed calling the bookstore was the right thing to do. So out came the cell phone and that’s exactly what we did.

I spoke with a different employee. I briefly explained the situation and told what we knew about the release date. She said she knew exactly the books to which I was referring and repeated what the person who sold me the book said: There was no indication from the publisher that the books were not to be sold until a specific date. In fact there were other books that arrived in the same shipment that did have a specific release date, but these did not.

Then she said what my class was hoping to hear. “Go ahead and read the book. Nobody’s getting in any trouble.” So we did – well, we started anyway. We’re now five chapters in and had a great lesson today on making judgments, both concerning our situation and with plot developments! (Just in case anyone is wondering, we did not abandon our current read aloud book. How could we? Abbey just snuck out with the video camera in an attempt to catch Dusty Muleman mid-Flush.)

Personally, I’m still not completely convinced I should have the book. If there was one website out there with “ships in one business day” or one review online that said something other than “OMG!!! I totally can not WAIT!!!”, I’d be more at ease.

So as a teacher I made a decision. Was it the right one? And what should I do as a book reviewer? It’s certainly a book I recommend. Should I add my review to Help Readers Love Reading! immediately or wait until the release date? Does Part II of the story influence your opinion?