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Hot Scots, Castles, and Kilts
by Tammy Swoish |
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Danny Says: Sixteen-year-old Sami has a lot to deal with when she moves with her mother to Scotland to turn a struggling family farm into a “tourist farm.” While her cousins want to tell her what a magical country Scotland is, Sami feels like a peasant without electricity. A group of eighth-grade girls I have been reading with likes this book because: (a) it is written like a diary; (b) there’s a ghost; and (c) it has a hot guy. |
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Hedonism Handbook, The, Mastering the Lost Arts of Leisure and Pleasure
by Michael Flocker |
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Danny Says: I know a lot of stressed people who need to get off to a good start in 2005. This is the ultimate “anti” self-help book that celebrates butter and booze over diet and exercise. Read this book, and you just may live the life of Jack Nicholson instead of the dude in the “American Gothic” painting. |
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Born on the Fourth of July
by Ron Kovic |
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Danny Says: Made into an Oliver Stone movie with Tom Cruise in 1989, the book is pretty grim. If you’re too lazy to read it now, check it out over Memorial Day next year. If you’re still too lazy, rent the video at Blockbuster. |
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Owl in Love
by Patrice Kindl |
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Danny Says: Let’s just say that this book is about a girl who becomes a “wereowl” at night. Yes, it is a funny book, and there is a lot more depth to it than that. My students, especially the girls, love this book. |
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Krybosian Stairpath, The
by S.R.R. Colvin |
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Danny Says: Middle-school science teachers will especially appreciate this book about an 11-year-old girl whose family lives in an extraordinary underground house. Great way to excite students about geology. Fantasy that is scientifically-based! |
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Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year
by Esme Raji Codell |
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Danny Says: I just read this book last month, and it is delightful. Madame Esme gives all sorts of humorous anecdotes, practical teaching tips and heartfelt observations, all based on her teaching experiences. |
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Art of Possibility, The: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
by Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander |
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Danny Says: Jeff Miller loaned me this gem, which is yet another book that likes to give a title: subtitle. There are some wonderful lessons in this book. I guess I have been on a motivational kick because I am teaching a great group of new students this semester, and they push me to want to be a better teacher. |
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Dave Barry's Homes and Other Black Holes
by Dave Barry |
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Danny Says: It took me too long to include Dave Barry on one of my lists. His writing is among the funniest, and he has written enough books to warrant his own list. This is one of the shorter ones, but none are too long (and all are very funny). |
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Down the Yukon
by Will Hobbs |
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Danny Says: It is about time I recommended a book by Will Hobbs, who just happened to be my seventh-grade reading teacher. He is one of the bestselling young adult authors in America, and I'd recommend any of his books (although this is one of the shortest). This book chronicles 16-year-old Jason Hawthorn's great race across Alaska. Thank you, Mr. Hobbs, for being one of the first teachers to interest me in reading! |
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Fight Club
by Chuck Palahniuk |
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Danny Says: I am guessing this is more of a "guy book." While many find this book to be disturbing, I think Palahniuk does a great job of creating characters who struggle to deal with their mundane lives. Maybe I fit the profile of a serial killer for saying this, but I found the book and movie to be hilarious. |
