I never said how wonderful it was to hear from you! You do have a point—there was a lot of caterpillar poop! Luckily they weren’t free range ‘pillars!

I’m glad Crunch is so happy in its cocoon. You might be learning if its male or female sooner than you think. My cocoons have been hatching for the past week. It seems they were exposed to too long a day length from my working late at night, and they think they’re living down south where the leaves stay on the trees all year. So they’re not sleeping all winter.

Keep a close watch and you may see crunch hatch from its cocoon this week! Let me know how it goes!

I feel so blessed that your family shares such personal observances with me. Your grandmothers were both amazing women, and I count myself fortunate that I got to know them. They are missed!

Julie

Thank you so much for honoring my gram in such a way. Your words were very touching. Thank you for being with us at her 100th as well as last sunday. We all appreciate your support.

I can’t wait to read the book! The early publication looks great!

Good Luck to you!

Kim Christensen

Pairing books was a favored subject—pairing a classic text with a contemporary one dealing with the same theme; looking at novels with similar themes written for different age levels or from different points of view; this sort of thing. Here are some ideas:

A classic Vietnam War book that’s frequently used at the high school level is Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried.” It’s a powerful story (not appropriate for younger readers) and beautifully written. A lot of middle schools placed “Sunrise over Fallujah” by Walter Dean Myers on summer reading lists this year, for a book on the War in Iraq. It’s not a bad book, but I personally much preferred Nathaniel Fick’s “One Bullet Away.” Again, it’s very well written and its themes run deeper and are much more thought provoking.

“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy likewise made a lot of summer reading lists with its post-apocalyptic theme. I haven’t read it yet, but I did recently finish “Life as We Knew It” by Susan Beth Pfeffer, which also deals with surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. Well written and haunting, it really got under my skin. A good middle grade read.

Another modern classic that should be used in schools if it’s not is “The Endurance” by Caroline Alexander, which makes a great pairing with “South” by Ernest Shackleton. The former is a third party retelling of the survival phenomenon, the latter is Shackleton’s own diary. It’s a great study on Point of View.

“The Diary of Anne Frank” is a classic on the Holocaust, but don’t forget Lowis Lowry’s “Number the Stars” and my favorite, “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak.

And for those looking for a Middle Eastern experience the field is rich with choices: “The Kite Runner” or “1000 Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini, “Reading Lolita in Tehran” by Azar Nafisi, and “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson are just a few.

These are just a few of the amazing books that have come out in the last decade plus. So many good books…so little time!

So, congratulations, Mihal, you’ve won! As soon as you e-mail me your address I’ll mail the book out.

Julie

Mihal

I’m glad you enjoyed my book! I’ll post news on the sequel within the next couple of weeks. I’m waiting to get the contract signed on my next book and then I’ll tell all…

Julie