Three Cups of Tea----Spring Break

Most of you have hopefully started Three Cups of Tea by now. I know that when I met with you on Wednesday that there were only a few who hadn't cracked it open yet. Remember--the first 15-20 pages can be kind of slow, but it starts to pick up after that. The vocabulary (foreign names, places and objects) can get heavy at times, but remembering to look and see the context of how the word is used can most times help make sense of it-- if not, refer to the vocabulary handout that I gave you guys.
It's REALLY important that we're all on the same page (literally) when we meet the Wednesday after you get back from Spring Break. So....read, read, read!!!! Hope everyone has a fantastic break and enjoys this beautiful weather!!!

HAPPY READING!!!

The End

Wow...so I finished the Alchemist last night and the ending was not at all what I thought it would be. I'm interested to hear your opinions this afternoon at our discussion. Do you think that the "real treasure" was the gold and jewels that the boy dug up, or the lessons he learned on his journey, or was it finding true love with Fatima? Really, what is a treasure?
I think that the story of the Alchemist was really a simple story---yet the themes and messages were profound and beautiful....What do you think???

Week 1

Quote:
"It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting"
-The Alchemist
Santiago thinking

Happy Friday! Everyone who signed up for bookclub should hopefully have their books by now. I enjoyed meeting with those of you who were able to make it to the meeting on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of you at our first discussion next Wednesday.
How many have started reading the book? What do you think so far? Had any of you heard the story of Narcissus before?
Remember--you only have to read about 9 pages per day to keep up with our timeline of 50 pages per week.
Enjoy the weekend!

Welcome!!!

Welcome to the first EVER Teen Bookclub--a partnership between the Culver-Union Township Public Library and Culver Community School Corporation. I am Ali Gaskill the Youth Librarian at the public library and the creator of this bookclub. Some of you may know me from the library and the rest of you I look forward to meeting next week as we begin our journey! We currently have 30 students signed-up to participate in this club and (as long as there isn't another blizzard) and I will be at the school next Wednesday, February 16th during SRT to meet with you, discuss what we will be doing in this book club, pick a name for the club (be brainstorming), and last but not least......GIVE YOU THE BOOKS--which you get to keep!! Woo hoo!! Free books!!
The plan is for me to be at the school every other Wednesday to meet with the club. Our goal is to read 1 book per month with a discussion 1/2 way through and a discussion at the end. Since we will have a limited time period to meet I've created this blog as a way to spark discussion, ask questions and share thoughts as we are reading. All are welcome to post to the blog and as we start reading, I will be posting often, so I encourge you to check the blog frequently. I will remind you all that ANY POSTS CONTAINING: explicit language, subject matter or anything questionable will be removed immediately and may ultimately result in you being asked to leave the book club. But, I'm sure we won't have any problems like that!!
I'm so excited to see you all on Wednesday and give you the books. I truly think that you will enjoy the book I have chosen for this month and I can't wait to start reading and discussing it. Something to think about until then....What is a journey???