I don’t want anyone … me included… to forget about Haiti.
As I was out and about on the internet today, I found this site called Wild Olive Tees that is selling T-shirts to raise funds for Haiti.
Please consider checking out the site and purchasing a T-shirt. The other T-shirts they sell are amazingly cool, too.
Jade’s 14th birthday is coming up and I think I just may spring for one of these. There are a bunch more to choose from. Click hereto check them out.
And then there is Chile. Habitat for Humanityis on the move there, trying to provide housing for people who have lost their homes. And The Salvation Army has pledged to provide food and other relief. Please consider donating to help out.
Remember back to when I mentioned that Feburary wasDENTAL HEALTH MONTH? Well, I had asked you to please warn me when POKE YOURSELF IN THE EYE month was coming? Remember all that nonsense? Well, I am so glad I brought it up. Because my friend, Beck, was the first (and only, I might add) to warn me that MARCH is, indeed, POKE YOURSELF IN THE EYE month!
Ah man. I am so glad someone told me.
So glad.
Here is how we celebrated:
She said, “Hey, this girl doesn’t even flinch… wow!”
I guess, technically, Izzy isn’t poking HERSELF in the eye. But, it was the best we could do.
Maximum Ride, or Max, is the leader of her “flock.” A group of 6 genetically altered children who have avian DNA and can fly…with wings. They have escaped the school (the euphemism for the research lab they grew up in) and are out in the world on their own, trying to find their parents, stay alive, and avoid the Erasers (another set of genetically altered kids that resemble wolves) who are tracking them down.
I had no intention of liking these books. None. But because I like to keep up and read alongside what my kids are reading, I went ahead and dove into this one. And, frankly, it hooked me. So much so that I finished the whole series in a little less than two weeks.
I really had to get used to James Patterson’s way of writing. He rights in quick sentences, no fluff, not a lot of detail. And because this book is told in 1st person from the perspective of a 14 year old girl, he writes in the vernacular and jargon of a sassy teen. And Max often talks right to the reader. Sometimes I feel like Patterson nails the voice of a 14 year old girl — just gets right in that sweet spot with the cadence and the language. And at other times, the voice is painfully not the voice of a teenager; it almost yells to the reader “middle age white guy trying to sound like a teenage girl.” During these passages, well, lets just say some of them are cringe-worthy. Especially when Patterson — through the voice of Max — gets preachy about responsibility and global warming (yes, you read that correctly, there is a anti-global warming thread throughout this series…).
But if you can put all that aside and read on, you have yourself a solid story that winds up to be compelling, interesting, and a fun read. Teenagers will love it (mine sure did). I even think this one would grab the attention of teenage boys, even though it is told from the point of view of a female. The story spins from one intense moment to the next and the characters are easy to care about.
I recommend this book series for boys and girls age 11 and older.
Before having a boy, I never knew that the ability to transform everyday objects into guns was actually imprinted on the Y chromosome. But it is. About a year ago my son started shooting things. I was mortified. I am, afterall, a pacifist. A good pacifist, in fact. But, there he was using any and everything as a gun, blaster, pistol, bazooka, light saber, etc. The good news is is that until recently we have never actually ”stooped” to purchasing a gun-like toy and offend our peace-loving sensibilities. He has taken care of that all on his own.
Items that my son has transformed into an imaginary gun:
Foot-shaped calcualtor
A slice of cheese – bitten into the shape of a gun
Clothes hanger
Broom
My flip flops (work great as over-the-wrist attack blasters… apparently)
A pillow
My $900 camera
Toilet paper holder
Vacuum attachments
Baby bottle
Socks
Pens
Soap dispenser
His old leg cast
Foam leters, particulary the “L” and the number “7″
Sticks in varying shapes and sizes.
Baby Monitor
The headrest in the car
A traffic cone
A candy cane
Breast Pump – seriously, this one stopped us all in our tracks.
The car key remote
Kleenex box
I keep telling myself that an active imagination is GOOD thing. And… I try to stay out of the line of fire whenever possible.
