Comeback Season -- Could this be the year for the Cubs?

A big thanks to my friend and fellow librarian, Katie Kirsch, for getting me a copy of The Comeback Season signed by the author. If you are a fan of the Chicago Cubs, you definitely should check this book out!

Ryan's dad died suddenly when she was in elementary school. His loss has left her reeling for years. One of the things her dad left her with is a love for the Cubs. When Ryan ditches school to attend opening day, she runs in to Nick, a new boy at school, at Wrigley Field. They begin a friendship that turns to romance which helps both of them get through some tough times. Above all, they keep hoping that maybe this will be the Cubs' year.

Image Citation

"The Comeback Season cover." Online image. LibraryThing. 24 April 2008 < http://www.librarything.com/work/book/29732377>.

Dairy Queen and The Off Season

Over break I read The Off Season by Catherine Murdock. I won a whole box of brand new copies in a book club contest! This is the title the 8th grade Lunch Bunch is reading for our April meeting. DJ is the only girl playing varsity football around. Her life is going along smoothly, so smoothly in fact she feels like the other shoe is about to drop. And it sure does. On top of discovering her family's money troubles that may put the future of their farm in jeopardy, her kind-of boyfriend never wants be seen with her in public, her best friend has stopped coming to school, she hurts her shoulder, and her oldest brother has been seriously injured in a football game. DJ deals with all the turmoils with sincerity. This book was a joy to read!


The Off Season is the continuation of DJ's story. When I saw the first book, Dairy Queen, come back into the library last week, I just had to pick it up. I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed reading the first part of DJ's story too. Although I think I liked The Off Season just a little bit better.

I'm looking forward to the book club discussion of the book later this week!


"Dairy Queen Cover." Online image. LibraryThing. 6 April 2008 <
http://www.librarything.com/work/book/29135398 >.
"The Off Season Cover." Online image. LibraryThing. 6 April 2008 <
http://www.librarything.com/work/book/28485852 >.

2008 Caudill Award Winner Announced

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick was the 2008 Caudill Award winning book in the state of Illinois. At Highland, this book was the top vote getter as well.

There were 235 students from Highland who voted for the Caudill winner. Ten students read all twenty nominated books. Very impressive! Alas, I didn't make it to all twenty. Maybe next year... Speaking of next year, the list of 2009 Caudill nominees has just been released.

The last event related to the 2008 Caudill program is the Lake County Battle of the Books which will take place after school at the Warren Newport Public Library in Gurnee on Tuesday, March 18. Please let Ms. Wyatt know if you are interested in being part of Highland's team.

Image Citation
"Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie Book Cover." Online image. Jordan Sonnenblick. 16 March 2008 <http://www.jordansonnenblick.com/index.php?r=drums>.

2001: A Space Odyssey

On Friday, the seventh grade Lunch Bunch Book Club met to discuss our latest book, Arthur Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. I found it to be a really interesting discussion. We touched on how to write about the future in science fiction, the idea of "killing" HAL and if it is possible to kill an inorganic life, evolution, the ways in which 2001 was depicted, the idea of other life and the monoliths, and space travel - just to list some of the areas we talked about. Several members of the club continued on by reading other books in the series. We worked together to try to figure out the last few chapters of the book and what it meant for Bowman to become a Star Child.

My experience with 2001: A Space Odyssey illustrates one of the reasons I love book club. This was a book I would not have picked up on my own. I think I can say that for quite a few members of the book club. I found it was a pretty enjoyable read and gave me food for thought.

Image Citation
"2001: A Space Odyssey. Dust jacket from the first edition." Online image. 1968. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 1
Mar. 2008 .

Mock Election Results

The Highland Mock Election was a big success. The results of the students at Highland mirrored the results of the Illinois primary. When I overheard some seventh grade girls talking about tax policy on their way to lunch, I knew the project made an impact.

Here are the the final results:
Democratic Primary Results

• 583 votes cast in the Democratic Primary
• 486 (83.6%) votes for Barack Obama

Green Party Primary Results

• 64 votes cast in the Green Party Primary
• 37 (57.8%) votes for Howie Hawkins

Republican Ballot

• 324 votes cast in the Republican Primary
• 157 (48.6%) votes for John McCain

Highland Mock Election

I'm really excited for the upcoming Highland Mock Election!
We're going to have a school-wide mock election on Tuesday to coincide with the Illinois primary on Tuesday. Today we had election judge training for the 24 students who will be serving as election judges. I can't wait to see who the Highland students elect as each party's candidates for the presidential election.

Book Club Round Table Recommendations

For our December meetings, the Lunch Bunch Book Clubs held round table sessions where each member recommended a favorite book to the group. Below is a list of the books that were recommended by book club members. I know I've got some new things on my reading list!

8th Grade Round Table

• Jesse recommended Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
• Ellen recommended A Time for Dancing by Davida Willis Hurwin
• Katie recommended Code Orange by Caroline Cooney
• Ms. Wyatt recommended How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler
• Lydia recommended Eldest by Christopher Paolini
• Taylor recommended The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
• Nina recommended Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
• Jovanna recommended East by Edith Pattou

Other books that came up during the discussion included Little Women, Drums Girls & Dangerous Pie, and So Yesterday.

6th Grade Round Table

• Maggie recommended Maus by Art Spiegelman
• Emily recommended Dizzy by Cathy Cassidy
• Stephen recommended Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
• Erin recommended Bloomability by Sharon Creech
• Nick recommended Thief and the Beanstalk by P.W. Catanese
• Ms. Wyatt recommended Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
• Claudia recommended The Warriors series by Erin Hunter

Other books that came up during the discussion included:
Gregor and the Code of Claw, Here Today, Twilight, Wish List, Westing Game, Magyk, You are So NOT Invited to my Bat Mitzvah, Inkheart, and Inkspell.

7th Grade Round Table
This list only represents the discussion 1/3 of the 7th grade group. We were very fortunate that Heather Beverly and Ellen Jenkins from the Cook Memorial Public Library joined us and facilitated two of the groups before giving a GREAT book talk featuring newly released YA books.

• Holes
• Homeland from the Dark Elf Trilogy
• 21 Balloons
• Last City of Faar from the Pendragon Series
• What My Mother Doesn't Know
• Life at these Speeds
• Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
• Ashes of Roses
• The Twinkie Squad
• Charlie Bone Series
• Girls in Pants