For my series I am reading Divergent. I am really enjoying it  because it is definitely a page turner. I find myself not realizing how much time has gone by after I have been reading for a while. I really enjoy the book because it is about a girl who is a little younger than me, but I can relate to some things that she is going through. She tries to figure out who she is and what kind of people she relates with and identifies herself with throughout the book.

I think girls around the age of 15 or 16 and up will really enjoy this book because they will be able to relate to the main character, Tris. Some women much older than 15 or 16 will also be able to enjoy this novel also because it offers a since of individuality and lets people know that it is okay to break away from cultural norms. Of course men can also enjoy this book because it has a fair amount of action and suspense and even a love story to go along with it, if they are into that kind of thing.

I would not use it in any classroom until high school, and maybe not even until a senior literature class. I think the violence is too much for kids in elementary school and junior high and that the meanings may even be too over their heads. I would use it in a high school classroom for a free reading book because I wouldn’t want to necessarily teach on it, but the students could get some important point from it. They could see how they are able to choose a certain path in their lives, maybe relate it to trying to fit into certain groups in high school, it could open up their world to questioning authority and even teach them how to be curious.

While reading the Miller text one of her thoughts that jumped out at me was to not criticize young students for series reading. I was not aware that certain teachers think that series reading doesn’t not offer much variety and steer students away from reading those kinds of books. Looking back on my elementary school reading life, I can see how many of my teachers tried to get me reading non-series books even though I wanted to read the “clique” series or anything else. I agree with Miller when she says that series books are good for students to read because it gets them hooked into reading and invested into the characters and story lines. By getting your students to enjoy reading, they will become more likely to read in the future or even get excited about reading for school.

I barely enjoy reading to this day because my teachers and parents wouldn’t let me read what I wanted to read and they forced certain book on me. I was barely allowed to read series books, but definitely not any about witchcraft or any books that show religious controversy.

I am most excited about being about to pick out certain books for kids when teaching them about reading. Mrs. Jaxon mentioned in class that the best feeling is when a child is going through a certain stage in life and the teacher can hand them a book and know for a fact that they will enjoy it because it directly relates to them. I am also excited about showing students the deeper meaning in the text or what they can take away from the text that will help them in real life.

My favorite story is the tale of the voice. This was my favorite because it was the one that I understood the most. I could follow it because it was basically the story of the Little Mermaid with little twists along the way.  I enjoyed the ending the most compared to any of the other stories because it was real. In the end of this story she got her voice back but not because she traded something for it, it was because she realized that she has always had the power to speak but she just didn’t appreciated it. She learned the importance of those that were close to her and that she didn’t need a prince to make her happy, she just needed someone who loved her back, the fisherman.

I think this story also best captures the situations of women today because it shows that it is always better to appreciate those that love you and are close to you than someone that takes you for granted and only loves you for your looks.

I think the author titles the book “Kissing the Witch” because some of the stories in the book are most of the time seen as unacceptable to write about just as it is seen unacceptable to kiss a witch. Kissing the witch could even be seen as going against the grain because usually you kiss a prince, not a witch.