2nd Quarter Reading Reflection

Books I've read:

1 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

2 Winterdance by Gary Paulson

3 Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

4 The Color of Water by James McBride

5 A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

6 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

7 A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

8 Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.

9 Life as We Knew it by Susan Pfeffer

10 Crewel by Gennifer Albin

11 The Dead and the Gone by Susan Pfeffer

12 Scarlet Plague by Jack London

13 Grimm's Fairytales by Wilhelm Grimm

14 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
15 Little House on the Prarie by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
16 On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
17 By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
18 The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
19 Little Town on the Prarie by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
20 These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
21 The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
22 This World We Live In by Susan Pfeffer
23 The Shade of the Moon by Susan Pfeffer (Such a bittersweet book!)

*I had a brief phase of childhood nostalgia and decided to reread the whole Little House Series (just because I could).

Long story short, I was working the books this quarter. 23 whole books. I brought back a lot of childhood favorites (Little House Series), which tend to be simpler books, but definitely provide lots of pleasure reading, and read a few of hundreds of books my friends recommend on a daily basis. I wasn't particularly concerned with challenging reading, because I had to read two books for class, and was really looking for a few minutes of pure pleasure reading. As of right now, I'm leaning a little more towards the dystopian fiction category, especially after watching the Mockingjay Part 2 trailers. My favorite book this whole semester was Winterdance by Gary Paulson. Winterdance is the quest of one man and his dog team to truly "dance with the winter" in Alaska by running the Iditarod. The author writes about his experiences up north and why, despite the hardships, he fell in love with the Alaskan wilderness. This was one of my all time favorites because running the Iditarod is on my bucket list, and I love the beautiful scenery in Alaska (I totally don't look up pictures of Alaska in my free time... xD). Hearing about how stunning yet terrifying the Iditarod is has fueled my dream to run it one day with my own team of dogs, and truly find myself up there.

Though some of the books on my list really did challenge me (mostly emotionally), I felt that this quarter was more about reading for fun as opposed to the boring version. I definitely increased the quantity of books read, though the quality got a bit worse (I'm sorry :(. Childhood nostalgia gets the best of us sometimes). I have to say, I'm suprised how vague my first reading goal was (I spent 30 minutes trying to find it), and it is so open to my interpretation, that I really don't know if I met it or not. Yes, I read more. No, I did not read the stack of classics I was going for. The measurable goal setting skills really need to improve.

MEASURABLE Goal: Read at least 5 classics and 10 recommended (good) teen fiction books by the end of next quarter

2nd Quarter Poetry Journal Response

Wanderer

For years I have held your hands in mine,

Waddled forward in single file,

Smushed together like two slices on a loaf of bread.

We proceeded over the rolling hills,

Castles,

Princesses,

Happy endings.

As we frolicked through the green meadows and bright prairies,

I taught you many valuable things,

Knowing that one day,

I would have to let you go.

One day,

You will step across the threshold of the Double Doors of Destiny

And my hand will slip out of yours.

You will stumble,

And reach for my hand,

But I will not offer it.

You will have to continue from this point on,

Alone,

Staggering through the dark Labyrinth we call Life,

And follow the fading path that I traveled so many years ago.

When the days are pitch black,

And there seems to be no way out,

Remember what I told you when the sun shined on the smiling timber land,

And take it wherever you wander.

One day,

You will come back again to the waterfall we visited,

And I will be waiting for you there.

We will hold hands once more,

Finish the last stretch side by side,

Take the path to the golden palace

And ascend into the light together,

like it was meant to be.

I wrote this poem (a paragraph at the time) in response the one thingy about the first swim lesson and how you need to look up to survive, or something like that (Am I rambling in four year old speak? Probably). I did add a LOT to the original, because I felt really rushed that day (I think that I was returning a book...) and didn't get to write as much as I wanted to. I also played a little with line breaks (fancier way to say that I turned it into a poem), just because I feel like condensing it into paragraph form would take away from its sentimental value (discussed in next paragraph).

This piece of poetry is a tribute to my mother, whom I am very close with, to say the least, despite her weirdness. Ever since I was little, she has held my hand and walked with me through both the dark and the light aspects of my life. She taught me a lot of valuable lessons along the way, and has showed me how to deal with pain, joy, anger, fear, insecurity, and the ups and downs of everyday life. But after all the time we have spent together, we both know that I will have to leave her someday, and roam the world on my own. As I walk on my own path, I will always remember the things that she told me way back when, and carry them with me wherever I wander.