Archive for February, 2006

You are currently browsing the Amberly Media Center weblog archives for February, 2006.

Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos

–Middle School/High School–
Nadira has always been the quiet, introspective sister living in the shadows–both in the shadow of her brilliant older sister Aisha, and in the shadow of United States law. Nadira’s family are illegal aliens from Bangladesh. When her father decides the only way they can achieve legal status so that Aisha go to [...]

Freaks: Alive, on the Inside by Annette Curtis Klause

–High School/Middle School–
Abel Dandy’s mom has no arms, his dad has no legs. His friends are freaks of all kinds. His first kiss is Phoebe the Dog-Faced Girl. Unfortunately Abel is perfectly normal and he feels like he has no future so he runs away “from” the circus in search of a mysterious dancing girl [...]

Fearless Learners

With all of the negative press given to student blogging, I was encouraged to read Alan November’s Framing the Future of Literacy which addresses the question: “How do we best prepare our students to compete in a global economy?”
November warns schools not to become the “learning police,” banning each new communication technology that comes along, [...]

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

–High School Only–
This was the unanimous favorite new book in our household this summer and when it was finally my turn, I wasn’t disappointed.
I love vampire stories and I love it when an author does something unique with the familiar plot line. 19-year-old Cal has just arrived in New York City from Texas when he [...]

Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

—High School Only–
Keir is a good kid. He’s popular, he loves his father and his sisters. He’s bound to get a football scholarship to college when he graduates. But bad things happen to good people and when everything gets out of control on the night of high school graduation, it’s hard to make excuses for [...]

Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins

It became a Saturday night tradition: Hector, Debbie, Phil, and Patty took turns sitting with Lenny in his dad’s old truck listening to a goofy radio show called “Criss Cross.” You never knew what to expect. They’d hear novelty songs like “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,” “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow,” and “Dead Skunk in [...]