Friday 29 April 2016

Forgiving My Daughters Killer

Forgiving My Daughter's Killer
Author: Kate Grosmaire
ISBN: 9780718041519


This book is the journey of forgiveness the Grosmaire's travelled after their daughter was shot by her boyfriend.  I believe in forgiveness.  It is not always easy.  It often takes me a while to get over myself and take the journey.  But, would I be able to experience such a tragedy and forgive.  I cannot say it would be an easy thing.  Actually, probably impossible.

They fought the system which enabled Connor (the boy) to receive a shorter sentencing.  They told him they loved him, right from the start.  They took forgiveness as their way of coping.  Amazing story.  In this book they get to tell Ann's story.  She was a lovely girl with a loving family.  She had a father that loved her and fought for her ever after her death.  All this is told in these pages.  This book, seems to me, to be part of the healing and forgiving journey.  It is a story that needs to be told and read.  There are too many of these stories in the headlines of the papers, and the Grosmaire's are taking a stand to make things a little more right.

If there is something you need to forgive then take a look at this story.  Maybe it's worth gathering the strength to forgive.  It does not mean you need to forget, on the contrary.  Forgiveness and forgetting are two different things.  If we forget we often forget the growth we experienced.  But, we should, by grace, take the journey of forgiveness.  The only person you are often effecting is you.



Connect to the following clip on youtube



Description:

Forgiveness is possible even in impossible circumstances.

On March 28, 2010, Kate and Andy Grosmaire received two pieces of news that would change their lives forever.

The first was their worst nightmare: “Ann has been shot.”
And the second was the dumbfounding addendum: “Conor was the one who shot her.”

Their nineteen-year-old daughter had been killed by her boyfriend, a young man who had lived with the family and had come to feel like part of it.

In a beautiful, tragic test: meant to the liberating power of forgiveness, Kate Grosmaire tells the story of her daughter's murder at the hand of her boyfriend—and the stunning, deliberate forgiveness and help that Kate and her husband offered to the young man who shattered their world.
Part memoir, part spiritual testimony, Forgiving My Daughter's Killer is the story of a family whose faith was put to the test and so found the capacity to do far more than they could have thought or imagined.





Happy reading

Booktuber highlight


Zenith




Hi Everyone

Bookutopia has a book now!  It is due to be released soon on ebook and she is highlighting it on this youtube clip.  I have given Bookutopia my 'booktuber of the month' before, and like her spark.  I had no idea she was co-authoring a book. 

This is one I will be checking out.  Take a look at the clip and see if it is one you would be interested in.  I think it is good to give all our up and budding authors a chance.  We all have to start some, right.  Link in and see what you think.

Happy viewing and reading

Wednesday 27 April 2016

The start of a thinking adult


Hi everyone, 

This made its way to my Facebook page this week and as I use Grammarly, I thought I would thank them for connecting person after person on Facebook, as we all think of the words in this quote.   I have to agree, reading is just the beginning of the educated world of an adult.  Many great leaders had educations that were dedicated to literature.  I find the more I read, the more I see the world and my imagination.  The more I also, appreciate that someone wrote the printed words on the page. 

So now go pick up the children in your life, sit down and read aloud to them.  It's just the star,t of a good education.

Happy reading

Friday 22 April 2016

Leave this song behind

Leave This Song Behind: Teen Poetry at its Best
Authors: John Meyer, Stephanie Meyer, Adam Halwitz, Cindy Spertner
ISBN: 9780757318962
Publish date: 26 April 2016



Within these pages lie the work of today's teens.  The future poems, that will be considered for study.  Which ones will we analysing in future days, as I have Emily Dickenson and Robert Frost, in the past few years. 

The writing of this poetry is different from the past.  It took me by surprise; this great lover of poetry.  I struggled to see the alliteration, rhyme and metaphors.  But there is beauty in the words of these teens.  They are new and fresh.  Why should poetry be the same as yesterday, when there is still art in the words.  Isn't poetry meant to get us thinking?  Well, this book did.  I give credit to the uprising teens that are able to put words to paper.  The art behind each poem needs credit of its own.  There are worlds in these poems, that of today's teens.   A world that is different, and so also, the art is different.  Poetry is the art of language. 

So as I put aside all the literature studies which I have encountered in the past few years, I can take this book and see the future of great writing.  Every generation should be heard.  This is just the start of giving teens their place in the next round of poetic voice.  We should watch these young people, who knows who the next Dickenson or Frost will be. 


This is due for release on 26 April, and can be pre-ordered through the links below.



Description:

It's been 10 years since the last book in the Teen Ink series Written in the Dirt was published. Now, a whole new batch of teen writers has emerged with their own unique voices. Leave This Song Behind features the best poetry submitted by those writers to Teen Ink over the last five years.

The pieces in this book were chosen because they were so powerful that they stood out from the rest. Teen Ink editors took a deep look into each poem's strengths then divided Leave This Song Behind into seven sections based on the poetic techniques or qualities that moved them most. Vivid sensory details made some poems shine; others caught their attention with simple, sparse language. Still others were chosen because of their thoughtful use of form; compelling stories; strong figurative language; unexpected connections and wit; and fresh writing about familiar topics.

Dig in and let these brave young voices capture your heart and mind with their passion, their pain, and their amazing poetry!


This is available for pre-order from: Amazon and Book depository

http://www.amazon.com/Leave-This-Song-Behind-Poetry/dp/0757318967/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460442942&sr=8-1&keywords=leave+this+song+behind

http://www.bookdepository.com/Leave-This-Song-Behind-John-Meyer-Stephanie-Meyer/9780757318962?ref=grid-view



Happy reading

Thursday 21 April 2016

"Those who don't read good books

have no advantage over

those who can't read"

Mark Twain




I stumbled over this quote by Mark Twain today.  It got quite a good conversation going in our house.  How true it is even today!  I have heard many a child, and parent comment on another's reading ability, yet they don't pick up a book themselves.  What advantage does the one with the ability have over the one that can't when they don't use their skill?

What are you reading at the moment?

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Brain dead!!

Hi Everyone,

Today I am feeling 'brain dead'.  Yes, there is still a little hope left for me, the rest has been drained away by writing reports, teaching and paperwork.  But I sat down to my computer and noticed the all you out there, that just keep checking in.  So to the loyal ones that make my writing worth while, I decided to stop by just for a little while and connect.

I looked at the quotes I have saved to my computer.  But thought instead I would share a poem that the kids and I analysed this week.  And, no.... I am not going to analyse it again.  You can do that yourself or just enjoy it.  The kids found it enjoyable.  Hope you smile just a little.


Rebecca, Who Slammed Doors for Fun and Perished Miserably

By Hilaire Belloc


A trick that everyone abhors

In Little Girls is slamming Doors.

A Wealthy Banker's Little Daughter

Who lived in Palace Green, Bayswater

(By the name Rebecca Offendort),

Was given to this Furious Sport.


She would deliberately go

And Slam the door like Billy-Ho!

To make her Uncle Jacob start.

She was not actually bad at heart,

But only rather rude and wild:

She was an aggravating child...


It happened that a Marble Bust

Of Abraham was standing just

Above the Door this little Lamb

Had carefully prepared to Slam,

And Down it came! It knocked her flat!

It laid her out! She looked like that.


Her Funeral Sermon (which was long

And followed by a Sacred song)

Mentioned her Virtues, it is true,

But dwelt upon her Vices too,

And showed the Dreadful End of One

Who goes and slams the Door for Fun.


The children who were brought to hear

The awful Tale from far and near

Were much impressed, and inly swore

They never more would slam the Door

-As often they had done before.




Happy reading




Thursday 7 April 2016

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden
Frances Hodgson Burnett




Hi Everyone

I thought it was about time I read this beautiful classic.  I watched The Secret Garden movie years ago and still think it is one of the most beautiful movies of all time.  With too many deadlines gripping me, I decided I would plug myself into my mp4 player while cooking, and listen to this timeless classic.  I am addicted now to being plugged in, while in the world of my kitchen. 

This story is even better than the movie, although I have to give the movie credit for following the storyline.  The richness of language was divine to my ears.  Little did I realise the beauty of classic language and grammar.  It almost played mind games as I was transferred into the story just by the language.  I will link below the version I got from LibriVox for you.

There are so many ideas incorporated into this book that are still about today.  The boy who became well because of the magic, the girl who found her place and strength by connecting with nature and relationships.  The old gardener that was softened by the innocence of children.  The father that was drawn back home because of the connection to his wife and the garden.

What was the Magic?  Believing in you.  The thoughts you tell yourself, and self-fulfilling prophecy.  Now, this is something that in my teaching degree we were taught all the time.  The things you tell a child and how they will come to believe it and try/not try as a result.  Colin decides to try an experiment where he tells himself he will get well, walk again and grow to be old.  The transformation is more than health but also character growth.  Now I have seen friends battle cancer beyond medical intervention because they believed for their children.  I have seen children read even though they are 'educationally labelled', because they had the right teacher who told them they could.  Our minds are amazing things, and this was known all those years ago, and in a children's book.

Dicken was my favourite character.  He had a strength that enticed every other character, yet he wanted for nothing.  He sat in the background and quietly supported his friends, the animals, the garden and his family.  Even though he was not the 'protagonist' of the story I connected with his ability to support, with no need for recognition or praise, that he gave the world around him.  I have friends like Dicken, and they are the friends that I thank God for every day.  They are friends that are still with me, decades later.

The book would be nothing without the spirited girl, Mary Lennox.  She grows from spoilt to the most giving character in the book.  Not only does the garden have a schedule of growth, from dead to alive and beautiful, but so does Mary Lennox.  She has no-one when her parents die.  In a way, she had no-one before her parents died.  She finds the garden and finds life in herself.  She gives that life to Colin.

I think I could talk forever about The Secret Garden.  Perhaps that is why it is a classic.  I would read this over and over, finding something new in each reading while never growing weary of the beauty of the garden.  If you haven't read this, then it is about time you curled up with a copy.  Or download one and listen while you garden, cook or sit in traffic jams. 

If you haven't already found LibriVox then here is the link https://librivox.org/  It has multitudes of public domain audio books that have been read by volunteers.  You can either choose files to listen to, or you can volunteer to read for them.  This is the place for classics, that are being kept alive by this site.
For 'The Secret Garden' audio that I listened to this is the link https://librivox.org/the-secret-garden-dramatic-reading-by-burnett-frances-hodgson/


Blurb:

When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle's great house on the Yorkshire Moors, she finds it full of secrets. The mansion has nearly one hundred rooms, and her uncle keeps himself locked up. And at night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors.

The gardens surrounding the large property are Mary's only escape. Then, Mary discovers a secret garden, surrounded by walls and locked with a missing key. One day, with the help of two unexpected companions, she discovers a way in. Is everything in the garden dead, or can Mary bring it back to life?


Blub information is cited from Goodreads.com
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2998.The_Secret_Garden?from_search=true&search_version=service



This was also available from: Book depository, Amazon, Fishpond and most libraries and bookstores

https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=the%20secret%20garden&search=Find+book

https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=the%20secret%20garden&search=Find+book

http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Secret-Garden-Frances-Hodgson-Burnett-Inga-Moore-Illustrated-by/9781406318036


Happy reading

Tuesday 5 April 2016

Figure out what you have to say!

Worthy of repeating..

Yes

Don't you think it's about time you considered what you are worthy of saying?

We all have something great to say to the world, friends and family.

And

Some of use want to hear what others have to say.





Note: I don't know who produced this beautiful art work, but I thank you to those who continue to connect their art to the world.  I received this through social network connection and chose it as the 'Worthy of Repeating' because it spoke some importance to me that I thought should be shared.


Friday 1 April 2016

March booktuber of the month

Hi everyone,

I am a day behind but better late than never, they say.  I over did the writing thing last week and when it came to blogging... I was brain dead!  There was not one part of me that wanted to write even a single word.  I turned off my computer and did anything but write. 

I am back on track today.  I feel like writing again.  It's actually good to take a break once in while and recharge the batteries of the old brain.  I was wondering what I should let you in on this week when I realised it was April!  No one told me it had crept up so fast.  That means booktubers here I come on the hunt for who I enjoyed most this month.

My pick this month goes to

Readbyzoe

 
 
She is bright and bubbly.  She seems to know her stuff when it comes to books. And she smiles.  I like a person who smiles and looks like they mean it. 
 
She has quite a variety of clips on her site which makes for interesting watching.  I particularly like that she does more than read the new releases.  Sometimes watching booktubers can become dull because they all highlight the same books.  It becomes an array of publishers advertisements.  Not Zoethereader. As you will see in the above clip she is highlighting her favourite childhood books.  I found this a good watch, especially when I am always looking for books the kids will enjoy.
 
Keep the camera rolling Zoe, you are my pick of the month for March.  And keep smiling it grabs the attention of people out there that need to see a smile once in a while.
 
You can follow Zoe on Goodreads, twitter, tumblr, instagram and snapchat by clicking of the video and following her links
 
 
Happy reading

Richelle