I love Basketball. My favorite part of the game is stealing passes that I read like an open book and taking the ball down court for an easy layup. I was really hesitant to read a poetry book as I have never liked the idea of beating the thought out of the poem but I fell in love with this book. “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander is such a delightful read to those who love the game of basketball and to those who never have enjoyed sports The book follows a seventh grader named Josh Bell and his twin brother Jordan Bell. The book flows really well that it reads like a hip hop song at times which makes the reading pretty effortless and during the basketball games it keeps you on the edge of your seat as if you were there watching the game for yourself.

My favorite parts of this book are when he describes basketball rules that relate really well to life. “Play Hard, Practice Harder,” When you practice really hard at something and the time comes to perform it will be easy, because you have spent the time and effort perfecting your game. This book teaches a lot about growing up and how a teenage boy reacts around to the world around him from family to friends. I big reason why I love this book is because it reminds me so much of my family. The mother in this book preaches about eating healthy and how she dislikes eating out but allows it every once in a while. The father after the basketball games are over gives tips as to how each of his sons can improve their game and questioning them for why they did things wrong in the game. Just like my parents, the main character has a loving and supportive family that will help them succeed yet still tell them when they messed up in life.

Kwame Alexander does an excellent job of creating a book enjoyable to all readers even if they do not like poetry or basketball. It does not take a lot of effort to enjoy the way the author uses words and plays with the lines. I got sucked in about the loyalty of the two brothers and their friendship. The connection that they have with their father and how it was an enjoyable time to spend together even if they thought he might have been pushing them too far in basketball practices is portrayed really well as a sign of love and wisdom sharing.

 

Cento:

Sunny

Shooting star flying fast

And that made me feel.

Silence Doesn’t mean we have nothing to say,

Only that we are trying not to say them.

 

If you miss enough of life’s free throws,

You will pay in the end.

You can’t get used to things going well,

But you’re never prepared for something going wrong.

 

All of my blood in my veins

Was bubbling and all of the thoughts

In my head were buzzing

But I felt bad enough

That is the ugliest thing.

 

Now I’m laughing too, But

Only on the outside.

Y’all know how much I love you?

http://pablofg21.wix.com/mysite

Hey everybody I have been having a great time reading my series lately. The one I chose is The Strange Case of Origami Yoda written by Tom Angleberger which happens to be about a boy named Tommy whose goal is to figure out what makes Origami Yoda tick.

“The big question: Is Origami Yoda Real? Well, of course he’s real. I mean, he’s a real finger puppet made out of a real piece of paper. But I mean: is he REAL? Does he really know things? Can he see the future? Does he use the Force?”

 

Tommy undergoes different situations that happen while in elementary school such as getting water spilled all over his pants which when this happens makes all the other students think that you peed your pants.  So Tommy goes over to his super geeky and completely weird friend Dwight who is the owner and holder of Origami Yoda. Yoda responds to Tommys dilemma with “all of pants you must wet.”  So Tommy gets some expert advice from Yoda and no shame from the teacher or from classmates. After each “miracle” or end of the chapter we have Tommy and his friend Harvey comment on what had occurred and whether or not it was scientific proof that Origami Yoda was the real deal. I absolutely love Tommy and Dwight because the chapters each have a different story that all contain amazing humour.  As the series progresses we see new Star Wars characters coming into play in each new book. The second book features Darth Paper! At the end of the books you get to learn how to fold Origami Yoda and Darth Paper. The book also features questions that can be asked to a class such as if they believe in Origami Yoda and what questions would they ask Origami Yoda if given the chance. The questions at the end of the book seem to be really helpful in engaging a class into the book.

Origami Yoda and the Unsatisfactory Answers:

Q: Origami Yoda, why does Dwight pick his nose so much? A: Picks it he never does.

Q: Hah, right, that’s a lie! A: At least he eats it not, like you do.

If you want to make your own Origami Yoda click here. Tom Angleberger has a pretty cool website with a lot of different input on the origami by ‘superfolders.’ 

 

 

I remember for a long time back in elementary school that I did not like to read. I would flip through the pages of the book without caring about the words on the page because I had yet to find anything interesting to me. My parents would read books everywhere they went which set a good example for me later on down the road. I would never have read if it were not for one of my teachers showing me the cirque du freak series which opened my eyes to the wonderful world written in text. Just like that I became a reader, I would read a book a week minimum until about the time I would enter college or at least try to. So the thing I connected to most about Miller would be the “reading emergencies.” I remember I would bring books to soccer games/camping/music practice, now with amazing technology I have kindle on my phone so I am never without a book. But if I don’t like the book within 50 pages it gets tossed. If the book truly intrigues me then I will read the whole book as soon as I can. I think we always have a little bit of time to get lost into a world hidden within a book. Some of the greatest things for getting new books are library book sales for those looking to start a classroom library.

 

Reading seems to be always 50/50 with people who either love to read or just never really cared for it and that always seemed strange. I remember that I disliked reading essays and papers because I felt as though I had to read for this assignment and worried about that assignment more than anything I felt towards that book. If I were to teach kids my biggest fear would be that I could potentially break another person’s pleasure of reading which would be tragic. However, I think I would be most excited to help a child discover a series that they could enjoy along with allowing them free time to read. Miller makes a great point about allowing students time to read in class rather than just at home. I remember always having reading time from k-12 which I started to like less in high school because of reading rules. 

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”  – George R. R Martin