My Top 5 Books/Movies/Shows About School

So in honor of the School Days Blogfest I've started, I've decided to name off my favorite representations of school. So here they are!

1. The Harry Potter Series - By J.K. Rowling
School: HOGWARTS

Okay, so it might not be the "school" we are familiar with, but after reading The Sorcerer's Stone all I wanted to do was attend Hogwarts and learn to be a wizard, and lucky for the reader, each subsequent book just made the world even richer and more appealing. J.K. Rowling did such an awesome job, that even to this day I still sort of believe it exists. So come on owls, I'm waiting for my letter!

2. Bridge to Terabithia - By Katherine Paterson
School: Lark Creek Elementary

I read Bridge to Terebithia for a class I think, and was completely surprised by awesome it was. This is aside from the "school aspect," but I read this at a time when I wouldn't even touch a book that dealt with "issues." I was not the kid who read Beverly Cleary and I wouldn't have been caught dead reading a "Babysitter's Club" book. Terabithia amazed me at the depth of the writing, and at how true the story felt. The smal town school experience seemed so like my own. Miss Edmunds is also a gem. She always reminds me of the teacher I wanted to be...when I still had the crazy idea of being a teacher.

3. Saved By the Bell

School: Bayside High

Nothing ever represented the essence of school like Saved by the Bell, or at least the essence of what we all wanted school to be. From the very first ring of that bell, Bayside was everyone's dream school. It was like Cheers, everyone knew your name and even the "big" problems had solutions. And they had some pretty hilarious solutions. In the words of Zach Attack, the kids at Bayside will be "Friends Forever," and their escapades will live on in reruns tomorrow.

4. Maniac Magee - By Jerry Spinelli
School: ????

As you can tell by my question marks, I don't remember much about school in this book, other than the little girl carting around all her books in a wagon. However, I DO remember the first time I read this book. Mrs. Sallee's 7th Grade Reading - This book captivated every single kid in my class, even the ones that thought reading was a waste of time. Maybe it was the possibility of living the way Maniac did, or maybe it was just that Maniac was magic, but we LOVED this book. It was an awesome experience because for once, we were all enjoying reading, and I'm pretty sure that's a bit of magic in itself.

5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
School: Sunnydale High

Okay, maybe I haven't mentioned it before, but I happen to think that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the best show EVER. The first three seasons were totally about High School and all the crappy/good/crazy stuff that goes on there. And I'm not talking about vampires, demons and the monster of the week, even though they were all there. I mean the actual highs and lows of going to school: grades, peer-pressure, boyfriends, time management, and the almost impossible task of attempting to choose a career. In the end, graduating from school seems like almost an impossible feat.

Oz: Guys. Take a moment to deal with this. We survived.

Buffy: It was a hell of a battle.

Oz: Not the battle. High School.

Shelf Monkey Challenge Book #1

A while ago I found a contest on Shelf Monkey about reading 7 books that you would normally not read. Taken from his blog:

The point of Critical Monkey is very simple: take a book (or author) you've always avoided, for whatever reason, and force yourself to read it. Then, post a review, link to it in my comments section, and once a month I'll post an update for all participants. We're going for seven reviews over the course of a year, to correspond to the seven stages of grief:

1. Shock (one review)
2. Denial (two reviews)
3. Bargaining (three reviews)
4. Guilt (four reviews)
5. Anger (five reviews)
6. Depression (six reviews)
7. Acceptance (seven reviews)

So, being someone that has snickered at romance novel covers in the grocery store, and scoffed at mass market mysteries and legal dramas, I decided maybe I should give this a try.

My first entry in this challenge is actually a set of two novels.

Generation Dead
Generation Dead: Kiss of Life

Okay, judging from the cover art, its pretty obvious these books are meant for teenagers, but while wandering around Walmart waiting for my oil to be changed, the cover-art caught my eye and I happened to pick it up. The book wound up in the cart and then in my suitcase on my Seattle trip.

The Story: Zombies are real! Across the world, newly deceased teenagers have started to come back and instead of chewing on some fresh brains, they really just want to go to school and "live" their lives. One living girl, Phoebe, takes an interest in an undead football player and things get interesting from there.

My initial thoughts: Honestly, the first few chapters were pretty hard to get through. The writing really isn't stellar, but once I used my "Twilight"skills and turned on "skim-mode," I was able to skip the Teen speak and get right to the heart of the story.

Final Thoughts: I became kind of addicted. So much so, that after I finished Gen. Dead, I put the next book on hold at the library, and finished that one in a matter of days. Both do a really nice job of showing the struggle for basic human rights, and like the best fantasy, we realize this mirrors the struggle minority and BLGT students are in right now.

The author does a really nice job of fleshing out this zombified "universe," even going so far as to talk about interviews with pro & anti-zombie factions. There are several segments with realistic portayals of families that have had their child "come back" and the consequences of their decisions. The more liberal families welcome the child back with open arms, but others refuse to acknowledge "its" existence. A lot of time is spent detailing the lack of rights for the "differently biotic." Zombie Hate Crimes run rampant, and with no representation in the government, this is a group who have no voice.

Would I recommend them: I'd say yes. I would recommend implementing ye olde "skim mode" to get through the teen angst, athough this had WAY less than some better known teen books. These aren't meant to be Shakespeare....or even J.K. Rowling for that matter, but they are a interesting and engaging read that help open the mind of the reader using new and creative ways.

Plus, any novel that has zombies is pretty cool in my book. ;-)

A Brief History

So I've been starting to think lately about exactly why I've started a blog and also why everytime I've had a "diary/webpage/live journal/any form of writing on a regular basis device" I've never been able to keep up with it. I remember being so excited in Eighth Grade after I read "The Diary of Anne Frank". I immediately went out and bought my own diary so that I could begin my own documentation of my existence. I even gave it the same name as Anne's "Kitty."*

I think it lasted for about a week of regular updates, then about once every two to three weeks, then I updated about once every six months and finally....well I have no idea where it even ended up. Probably in a pile of my old school papers in a box in my mom and dad's basement. Ooops...sorry about STILL never going through those boxes.... I mean....it's not like I've been married for 3 1/2 years and own my own house with plenty of space for storing old diaries.

ANYWAY...back to my earlier story, journals just don't seem to work. So I'm gonna try to just say...there are no committments with this. We'll see if this goes the way of my earlier attempts.

P.S. I would just like to state that Skittles are scarily sugary. After eating a "fun-size" bag about 5 minutes ago, I feel like I should be doing jumping jacks and getting ready to race Michael Phelps.

* Honestly....how unimaginative was I? couldn't I have thought of a name for MY OWN diary!!??