The Rebel Housewife

I am at a brief lull after the holidays and a very busy January, including the upheaval of new carpet in the condo, being sick for a week, SNOW in Atlanta (!!), my oldest son's 13th birthday (he is now 13yo Puberty Angst Boy) (god help us all), and, finally, sending out the last two pieces of my grad school application last Friday -- yay!! I have already received email confirmation that everything is in and my application is in process, which can take up to several weeks...which is fine. I am enjoying the lull.

Until next week, which is Book Fair at the Middle School, and I am Book Fair Co-Chair, so I'll be there all day, every day, hanging with great books and middle school kids, so that will be fun. Ooh ahh.

At the risk of sometimes going all kinda new-agey on you, I have to tell you about this Oprah thing -- her latest Oprah Book Club announcement, which I find fascinating and I'm kind of excited about participating in Oprah's "first worldwide interactive class." (I don't watch the show, but I generally enjoy her Book Club selections.)

From Publisher's Weekly:
TODAY'S NEWS
Oprah's New Pick: "Boldest Choice Yet"
By Lynn Garrett
This morning Oprah announced her new book club selection by saying she was "breaking new ground" with her "boldest choice yet": A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle (Penguin, Jan.). Saying she was "over the moon excited" about the book, Oprah described it as an extension of her life's mission, "to lead people to their higher selves." She also announced that the book would be the subject of her "first worldwide interactive class," a free ten-week course she will co-teach with Tolle on Oprah.com live Mondays at 9 p.m. EST beginning March 3.

For more info, and to sign up for the webcast class, if you are interested:
http://www.oprah.com/anewearth
(Watch the Preview)

Sounds like it could be an interesting way to enjoy a brief lull, which is a wonderful thing, and the beginning of a new year (finally!).

This week's Rebel Reviews features award-winning author David Fulmer -- don't miss it, he and his five novels are fabulous: "...a unique and fascinating mix of murder, history, great characters, dirty politics, life on the street and music, overall."

David Fulmer is a good friend and mentor, since I took his Fiction Shop writing class at The Margaret Mitchell House/Center For Southern Literature in Atlanta. I have worked with him on various literary-type events since, including his Special Guest Author appearance at the Midtown (Atlanta) Book Group and his participation at the 17th Annual Writer's Workshop at our local middle school. (He is as colorful and interesting a character as any you'll find in his books!)

This weekend, Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 7:30 PM, at Wordsmiths Books in Decatur, the Atlanta Writers Club is sponsoring a launch party and celebration for David's latest novel, THE BLUE DOOR, and also the paperback release of THE DYING CRAPSHOOTER'S BLUES:

Wordsmiths Books
141 E Trinity
Decatur, Georgia 30030
(404) 378-7166

Join us for a book launch celebration for Georgia author David Fulmer, winner of the 2002 Shamus Award and the 2006 Georgia Author of the Year Award. David's new novel, The Blue Door, takes place in Philadelphia and is a violent, twisted story of betrayal and intrigue, power and passion--all set to the beat of rock and roll. We're also celebrating the launch of the paperback version of The Dying Crapshooter's Blues, which is set in Atlanta during the 1920s. David's appearance is sponsored by Wordsmiths Books and the Atlanta Writers Club.

In October, I boldly (naively) jumped into coordinating this book group for ten 7th grade students at our middle school who had been identified as at-risk for high school graduation. (Working with the Graduation Coach at the school from CIS (Communities In Schools) of Atlanta, the nation’s largest community-based dropout prevention network.)

Ten weeks later, we had our last meeting of the Books & Breakfast Group on Monday, Dec. 17th. This was an amazing experience, as much a learning experience for me as I hope it was for them. My purpose with this, my hope, was to help them find books appropriate to their needs and interests, to engage them in conversation, spark enthusiasm and interest in skills which will help them succeed in middle school, and successfully make the leap to high school, graduation and beyond.

All ten of the kids made it through to the end and attended our last session (granted, there were Krispy Kreme donuts involved, but still--). Over the ten weeks, the kids got some refresh in media center skills, reading and how to find great books. They chose the three books we read and discussed, from the Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Medal Lists.

By generous donation from the Midtown Education Committee/Midtown Neighbor’s Association (Atlanta), we were able to provide copies of each book for each student to keep for his/her personal library. This meant a lot to them. They were really excited about the books and engaged in the reading and discussion we did in the Monday morning meetings. They also appreciated the fruit, granola/cereal bars and juice/water from Publix at Plaza Midtown (Atlanta) each week.

There were so many special moments during the ten weeks with this group. They are busy and active 7th graders, so we certainly operated on the edge of chaos most of the time, and I learned more about Chris Brown and hip-hop than any 40 year old white woman should know! But along the way, just as one example, 3 of the 10 kids who walked into the room the first week, who were so withdrawn and apprehensive, they would barely speak to me or look me in the eye – all 3 of these kids (two girls and a boy), were reading out loud in the group by the last weeks, comfortable and confident. (If I have told you this already, you know I tend to get teary-eyed at this point!)

I think we had a couple of kids there for the food every week, and that’s okay; a couple others were there for the social event, and that’s okay, too. They all read and participated, to one degree or another.

Here’s what the kids had to say, in a brief survey at the end (I got responses from all because I exchanged a wrapped gift (another book!) for a completed survey):

What did you like best about Books & Breakfast?

• “I love it”
• “That we read more than one book”
• “We got to read and eat”
• “I like when we eat and talk”
• “That we learned a lot about people’s life”
• “I liked how we ate and read and talked about the book”
• “Everything”
• “I really would like to come back”
• “I wish we could do it again”
• "It was fun and I would like to do it again"

(They were all so disappointed, when they realized we would not be coming back after the winter break.) It is a lot of work and coordination, but all very worthwhile. These kids are and can be truly amazing, given a chance.

More info about Middle School Book Group on The Rebel Blog:
PTA Volunteer - Middle School Book Group
Middle School Book Group - 10 Great Book Selections
Middle School Book Group - Treasure Hunt & Selection
Middle School Book Group - Award Lists
Middle School Book Group - How Do You Get Them To READ?
Back To Our Normal Programming - Middle School Book Group

The two days of school this week are ticking away fast in anticipation of Thanksgiving.

I had my Middle School Book Group this morning. The kids devoured my famous Banana Muffins -- we had left over bananas going brown from last week, so I made muffins to practice and polish up my kitchen skills in preparation for holiday cooking and baking -- I'm in the mood!

We started discussion on THE WHIPPING BOY by Sid Fleischman, which is a fable and a reading challenge with vocabulary and language. The kids seem to enjoy the concept of another kid taking the punishment for princely misdeeds. (The Prince cannot be punished, so he has a whipping boy to take the whacks, which was an actual practice in some parts of the world at times in history. The author notes: "Some royal households of past centuries did keep whipping boys to suffer the punishments due a misbehaving prince. History is alive with lunacies and injustices.")

The kids liked the idea until they realized that whipping boys were always "paupers" or "commoners" and, most likely, if there was any whipping going on, it would be commoners like us suffering for the well-to-do, which is an interesting metaphor for current events and politics on a much larger scale...but we didn't go there. I will talk more about THE WHIPPING BOY, with reading & discussion guides on Rebel Reviews after we finish the book next week.

Last week, before I was blogging for dollars for the Light The Night Walk, I was busy begging food donations and support for two programs I am coordinating at the middle school:

1) The 17th Annual Inman Writer's Workshop in November. (So I don't have to worry too much about that yet, once I get catering, (help get) writer volunteers for 72 sessions and parent volunteers for 3 days, arranged and coordinated. Fortunately, our middle school media specialist (librarian) is wonderful and has most of the hard stuff well in hand. I am the Parent Chair for the PTA -- woo hoo!(?!) -- so it's mostly budget, begging sponsors & donations, run-around and support.)

2) Books & Breakfast Club outreach program -- a middle school book group for 7th graders identified as "at-risk" for high school graduation.

What have I gotten myself into now?! Today was the first meeting of the Books & Breakfast Club, and it was great. We went through introductions and got to know each other. We talked about their next book report assignment in their Language Arts classes (Non-Fiction), and the 25 books a year (during the 9 months of school) that 7th graders are now expected to read as a result of new Atlanta Public Schools "Performance Standards." We went over some basics on How To Find A GREAT Book In The Library -- it's not as easy as you might think, particularly for kids who might not have had a lot of experience with books, reading at home, or visiting the library or bookstore.

We started with the basics:
What is non-fiction vs. fiction?
(Non-fiction is REAL, fiction is made-up.)
How is fiction organized in the library?
(By the author's last name.)
How is non-fiction organized in our library, and every library in the U.S.?
That's when we get into the fun of the Dewey Decimal System and the groupings, i.e.

The Dewey Decimal System: Ten Major Divisions

• 000-099 Generalities
• 100-199 Philosophy and Psychology
• 200-299 Religion
• 300-399 Social Sciences
• 400-499 Language
• 500-599 Natural Sciences and Mathematics
• 600-699 Technology (Applied Sciences)
• 700-799 The Arts
• 800-899 Literature and Rhetoric
• 900-999 Geography and History

You can take that all the way down to 1,000 categories & subdivisions, did ya know?

Anyway, I say we did this and that, and talked, and it was great, but it was a little edgy, too; just a little Dangerous Minds, with 9 Black kids, 1 Asian, and this old (to them!) White lady with little experience in this type of situation, but a love of books and reading, and kids, and the absolute conviction that books and reading saved me, and I know books and reading can save some, hell, maybe even all, of these kids, too, if they just have a chance to learn and experience the safety, escape and motivation to be found in reading and writing.
So there you go.

The kids were great, and I definitely had 10 different personalities: quiet kids, in-your-face kids, sweet kids, belligerent kids, confident kids, scared kids, kids I will be able to reach, kids I might not be able to help.

And here's the funny part: At the end of the hour, the kids went on to their next classes, and the Graduation Coach (the teacher who is working with them, one-on-one, to help them succeed in middle school to bridge the gap to high school, graduation and beyond), came in to talk and review the first meeting. She had asked that I have the kids sign in to the Books & Breakfast, and I also had them fill out a very brief Intro Survey (see below), to try and get to know them and their interests a little. We were comparing lists, and it turns out, I had two kids who were supposed to be there not show up, and two kids who were not officially "invited" or recommended to this program, show up -- and participate. I think that's wonderful. (Not that the two didn't show up, but that the other two came on in -- and they are keepers, as far as I am concerned!)

As I said, there were Moments -- no direct confrontation or anger or rebellion or anything like that, but there were moments, when I was trying to talk to each one at a time for a minute, to try and determine a subject he or she would be interested in for their non-fiction book, it got a little wild around the edges. When I "released" them from the conference room into the main area of the Media Center, it got even a little wilder still: I was trying to lead a quick tour through the non-fiction shelves, so they could see what was there; they were more interested in horsing around and messing with each other...the Media Center Specialist (bless her!) stepped in to yell at them, settle them down a bit, and I appreciated that. At the end, most of the kids walked out having checked out their non-fiction book, except for two that I need to follow up with their Language Arts teacher for special considerations or requirements.

That's all a huge success in my book. I am looking forward to next week!

Here's the Survey I asked them to fill out when they came in -- "At least your Name, please, and anything else you'd like to share." The answers and the response were very interesting. It's always the kids you think will be trouble that surprise you every time. On their Surveys, I put my answers, so they could get to know me a little, too. They liked that, especially talking about my kids and Nintendo DS. I include this for anyone else who might be crazy enough to try and do something like this: Make a difference, start a kids' book group, etc.
I'd say, Go For It! (And Good Luck! ;-)

Intro Survey for Middle School Book Group:

Name: __________________________________
My name is Sherri Caldwell

Tell us something about you, for example (choose one or more):

Where do you live? ____________________
I live in Midtown

Who do you live with? _________________
I live with my husband, 3 children (7th, 5th & 2nd grade), and our dog, Mocha

What are your favorite things? ______________________
I love books. I am a writer, and I love to write, too. I like Nintendo DS - Brain Age!

What do you read? _______________________________________
I read the newspaper, magazines, stuff on the computer & lots of books.

Do you like to read? YES NO Other: __________________
I love to read.

Favorite Books/Authors:
1)
2)
3)

Like I said, the answers were surprising -- they all wrote something, and this will be one of the most valuable pieces of information I have, working with these kids.

More next week--