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librarybonanza
I devoured this book. A perfect thriller and, several times, I found my body tensing as Malerman presents the fear of being unable to see what has killed everyone around you.
Dual timeline narrations follow one survivor of a rampant, worldwide catastrophe that causes people to violently kill themselves and others near them. From its onset, humanity only knew one thing: if you saw it, you went mad and killed yourself. Rapidly spreading across the world, the survivors started bolting blankets to their windows and tying blindfolds around their eyes while out in the open. But even the risks were too great and the temptation to see too strong.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND for fans of thrillers and people that like a little uneasiness in their reads.
Dual timeline narrations follow one survivor of a rampant, worldwide catastrophe that causes people to violently kill themselves and others near them. From its onset, humanity only knew one thing: if you saw it, you went mad and killed yourself. Rapidly spreading across the world, the survivors started bolting blankets to their windows and tying blindfolds around their eyes while out in the open. But even the risks were too great and the temptation to see too strong.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND for fans of thrillers and people that like a little uneasiness in their reads.
Age: High School+
Hot dog. This was a fantastic, full cast audiobook.
The book starts with a full-fledged bombing of a tiny mining colony. Fleeing the megacorporation responsible for the attack, 3 ships soon find out that the terror they left behind is in quick pursuit--both as an enemy warship and from within their own fleet. A plague named Phobos is rapidly spreading, turning its victims into raging, mentally deranged killers. Furthermore, the AI system controlling the battle carrier Alexander appears to have its own agenda, utilizing statistics and cold-hearted logic to eliminate what may pose harm to the fleet.
There were many plot points and characters moving this along, but it never felt overwhelming. The use of documents to tell the story—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, system report updates, and more--was unique and perfectly executed by the full cast. Great tantalizing ending to keep me in the series.
Spoiler
When I gasped: When it was revealed that Aiden lured Kady onto the Alexander, pretending to be her boyfriend.Hot dog. This was a fantastic, full cast audiobook.
The book starts with a full-fledged bombing of a tiny mining colony. Fleeing the megacorporation responsible for the attack, 3 ships soon find out that the terror they left behind is in quick pursuit--both as an enemy warship and from within their own fleet. A plague named Phobos is rapidly spreading, turning its victims into raging, mentally deranged killers. Furthermore, the AI system controlling the battle carrier Alexander appears to have its own agenda, utilizing statistics and cold-hearted logic to eliminate what may pose harm to the fleet.
There were many plot points and characters moving this along, but it never felt overwhelming. The use of documents to tell the story—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, system report updates, and more--was unique and perfectly executed by the full cast. Great tantalizing ending to keep me in the series.
Age: Toddler-Preschool
Family: New baby
Louie loves being the center of attention in his little family. But soon his mom's belly gets bigger and bigger and bigger until one day, lying in bed together, it kicks him! His mom and dad start to get everything in pairs, leading Louie to anticipate twins. Luckily, love is in ample supply for everyone.
Family: New baby
Louie loves being the center of attention in his little family. But soon his mom's belly gets bigger and bigger and bigger until one day, lying in bed together, it kicks him! His mom and dad start to get everything in pairs, leading Louie to anticipate twins. Luckily, love is in ample supply for everyone.
Age: Toddler-Preschool
Frameable illustrations of a wide array of children encourage spreading joy to others.
Frameable illustrations of a wide array of children encourage spreading joy to others.
Tune in.
Talk more.
Take turns.
Suskind discusses the importance of speech for brain development in preschool aged children, and how important preemptive measures are for addressing our educational crises. As opposed to a jargon-heavy, scientific summary of test subjects and experiments, Suskind offers an accessible approach that is perfect for parents, educators, and politicians. Past research has identified that households with a higher word count lead to better school performance. Suskind provides an avenue for getting more words into kids' homes through parental involvement. Just like recycling is best done in conjunction with reducing and reusing, parents can talk more but must also tune in to the interests of their children and give their children a turn to talk back.
Theory in practice
Utilize the Three T's while reading a book. Parents may think a successful reading involves a quiet child who listens, but if the parents tune in to a more active child, the child can develop stronger vocabulary and more what-if conjecturing (156).
"While babies will not understand the words [in a book], they are comforted by the sound of a parents voice, the rhythm of the speech, and the warmth of the touch" (157).
Dual Language Learners
"Since the new language was learned by parents as adults, their proficiency will never match that of their native tongue in vocabulary, syntax, nuance, or overall quality. This is because when people express themselves in the language that's been part of their entire lives, they express more than just the concrete meanings of words; they express the more profound meanings, both emotional and, to the non-native speaker, somewhat veiled. While it is true that being bilingual, for a young child, may mean that early vocabulary size in both languages will be somewhat smaller, this is offset by the fact that the child is learning two languages, each of which, as the child gets older, can be enhanced " (123).
Beyond Talking
"Because thinking" or explanatory talking "helps the child understand that there is a rationale for doing something, that it's not just a parent to child order. It is also a step in learning to gauge cause-and-effect, the consequences of actions, and why things should be done in a certain way or at a certain time" (179).
A note on cultivating creativity
"when a child is allowed to express creativity, many, many things occur in the brain. Perhaps the greatest is independence of thought. Math and reading are entirely dependent on learning established rules. The arts are largely exempt from rules. Allowed to flourish, they help a child make sense of the world and to establish a sense of self in it" (185).
Meeting parents where they are
"It's important to stress that we are not talking about changing idiomatic speech or cultural linguistics. Early language interventions do not require people to change the words they use, nor do they ever denigrate customary language practices. Rather they focus on enriching those parent-child interactions that promote school readiness, including conversational turns and responsive language, encouraging parents to use the language, speech patterns, and stories most natural to them" (232).
Final thought
"if all parents, everywhere, understood that a word spoken to a young child is not simply a word but a building block for that child's brain, nurturing a stable, empathetic, intelligent adult, and had the support to make it happen, what a different world this would be" (247).
Talk more.
Take turns.
Suskind discusses the importance of speech for brain development in preschool aged children, and how important preemptive measures are for addressing our educational crises. As opposed to a jargon-heavy, scientific summary of test subjects and experiments, Suskind offers an accessible approach that is perfect for parents, educators, and politicians. Past research has identified that households with a higher word count lead to better school performance. Suskind provides an avenue for getting more words into kids' homes through parental involvement. Just like recycling is best done in conjunction with reducing and reusing, parents can talk more but must also tune in to the interests of their children and give their children a turn to talk back.
Theory in practice
Utilize the Three T's while reading a book. Parents may think a successful reading involves a quiet child who listens, but if the parents tune in to a more active child, the child can develop stronger vocabulary and more what-if conjecturing (156).
"While babies will not understand the words [in a book], they are comforted by the sound of a parents voice, the rhythm of the speech, and the warmth of the touch" (157).
Dual Language Learners
"Since the new language was learned by parents as adults, their proficiency will never match that of their native tongue in vocabulary, syntax, nuance, or overall quality. This is because when people express themselves in the language that's been part of their entire lives, they express more than just the concrete meanings of words; they express the more profound meanings, both emotional and, to the non-native speaker, somewhat veiled. While it is true that being bilingual, for a young child, may mean that early vocabulary size in both languages will be somewhat smaller, this is offset by the fact that the child is learning two languages, each of which, as the child gets older, can be enhanced " (123).
Beyond Talking
"Because thinking" or explanatory talking "helps the child understand that there is a rationale for doing something, that it's not just a parent to child order. It is also a step in learning to gauge cause-and-effect, the consequences of actions, and why things should be done in a certain way or at a certain time" (179).
A note on cultivating creativity
"when a child is allowed to express creativity, many, many things occur in the brain. Perhaps the greatest is independence of thought. Math and reading are entirely dependent on learning established rules. The arts are largely exempt from rules. Allowed to flourish, they help a child make sense of the world and to establish a sense of self in it" (185).
Meeting parents where they are
"It's important to stress that we are not talking about changing idiomatic speech or cultural linguistics. Early language interventions do not require people to change the words they use, nor do they ever denigrate customary language practices. Rather they focus on enriching those parent-child interactions that promote school readiness, including conversational turns and responsive language, encouraging parents to use the language, speech patterns, and stories most natural to them" (232).
Final thought
"if all parents, everywhere, understood that a word spoken to a young child is not simply a word but a building block for that child's brain, nurturing a stable, empathetic, intelligent adult, and had the support to make it happen, what a different world this would be" (247).
A great topic about a teacher permanently leaving school, whether it be for retirement, a health issue, or a variety of other reasons (it was not described in the book). While all the other kids help pack away Mrs. McBee's stuff, one shy boy contributes illustrations of memories they shared throughout the year.
A couple of reasons for the low score: A head-scratching plot point when the teacher explaining her permanent leave of absence on the very last day of school (at least I think it is because the kids pack away all her stuff on the same day), a somewhat unnecessary bratty girl antagonist, and an ambiguous departure (perhaps leaving it ambiguous for readers to insert their own experience).
A couple of reasons for the low score: A head-scratching plot point when the teacher explaining her permanent leave of absence on the very last day of school (at least I think it is because the kids pack away all her stuff on the same day), a somewhat unnecessary bratty girl antagonist, and an ambiguous departure (perhaps leaving it ambiguous for readers to insert their own experience).
Age: Toddler
A figure hidden in Rabbit's burrow scares off Rabbit, Cat, Bear, and Elephant. Mama Frog comes along to solve the problem. Great for acting out while reading along.
A figure hidden in Rabbit's burrow scares off Rabbit, Cat, Bear, and Elephant. Mama Frog comes along to solve the problem. Great for acting out while reading along.
First line: "Flying into Australia, I realized with a sigh that I had forgotten again who their prime minister is."
Bryson has a spectacular storytelling ability and has a spot-on way with telling jokes, using the most precise language to describe a situation's absurd nature. And, boy, is Australia full of absurdity. Not really one to laugh out loud while reading, I couldn't help giggling throughout this book. I can't wait to read more of his.
Bryson has a spectacular storytelling ability and has a spot-on way with telling jokes, using the most precise language to describe a situation's absurd nature. And, boy, is Australia full of absurdity. Not really one to laugh out loud while reading, I couldn't help giggling throughout this book. I can't wait to read more of his.
Love the premise and I definitely look forward to more. The 'what if' of the future depicts an easily manipulated populace, a corrupt government bought out by corporations, and an insatiable selfishness of those in power. Needless to say, it feels like a very real future so the text is poignant and powerful. While it is a great storyline, it felt very scatterbrained. Perhaps it's meant to reflect on the short attention span of the future it depicts?
First line: One month from today,
I'll wake to a team of
makeup artists--
hairstylists--
buzzing outside my door.
An interesting addition to the dystopian genre, Bodger provides social commentary on male gender preference and the danger of genetic modification. A good storyline paired with a quick read will intrigue younger readers. However, there is *a lot* of female bashing from the perspective of Kiran. It was to match his upbringing where females are prized higher than males but it was hard to read.
I'll wake to a team of
makeup artists--
hairstylists--
buzzing outside my door.
An interesting addition to the dystopian genre, Bodger provides social commentary on male gender preference and the danger of genetic modification. A good storyline paired with a quick read will intrigue younger readers. However, there is *a lot* of female bashing from the perspective of Kiran. It was to match his upbringing where females are prized higher than males but it was hard to read.