Rockbound (Frank Parker Day)

This is another one of those books I would have never read if it weren't for Book Club, however, I'm glad I read it.

Truthfully, I found it hard to follow. The dialogue made it especially difficult and I found myself needing to read it aloud to even come close to understanding it. I'm not patient enough to read and re-read lines to try to figure it out. The accept though was really reminiscent of how my husband talks about Nova Scotia from the time he spent there on his mission.

Apparently, when the book was written, people from the area were angry about it because they felt like they were portrayed negatively. I can see why they'd feel that way. The superstition, the lack of education and survival mentality is heavy. I did love the parts about the teacher coming to the island and David wanting to learn to read. I'm not sure he was really successful though.

The Maritimes is a harsh and unforgiving place. Interestingly, it continues. This was a news article from today:

 records show Newfoundland was literally shaking from wind and waves

"

Seismic records show Newfoundland was literally shaking from wind and waves

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Seismometer in St. John's shows how intense Thursday's winds were

CBC News · Posted: Nov 16, 2018 8:51 AM NT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Heavy seas crash into the land at the Drook, a spot on the road to Cape Race. (Submitted by Clifford Doran)

The waves crashing into the rugged shoreline of Newfoundland and Labrador this week led to waves of a different kind.

The squiggly black lines produced by a Natural Resources Canada seismometer show the seismic activity of a vicious windstorm that whipped across the province on Wednesday and Thursday.

• Most intense storm on the planet pounding Newfoundland and Labrador, say officials

The wind and waves were so strong, the island was shaking.

"What we saw over the past 48 hours was quite a dramatic change in [activity]," said John Cassidy, an earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada. 

"It was very noticeable and in our seismic data, our plots, it just jumped off the page. You could just see that shaking."

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John Cassidy@earthquakeguy

#Newfoundland shaking... As the world's largest waves, and wind gusts of more than 100 km/h hit Newfoundland, the island is shaking (well-recorded by #NRCan's seismic station at St. John's - plot shows the past 34 hours)#weatherhttps://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/monster-waves-europe-atlantic-canada-weather-bomb-swells-visualize-heights-building-story/116931/ …https://weather.gc.ca/warnings/report_e.html?nl21#173354744596217647201811130507ww1676cwhx …

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The federal government has seismometers — tools that measure earth movements — all across the country.

Cassidy said each year, a handful of storms will produce winds and waves strong enough to record seismic activity on the east and west coast.

And over time, as these weather events impact older infrastructure, it just breaks down.- Randy Oram, Karwood Homes

With winds gusting between 100 and 140 km/h, the conditions were just right to get the Rock rocking.

"It's that combination of the wind, that incredible wind, and the waves that were hitting the island," Cassidy said. 

"Both of those, the waves and the wind, gets trees shaking, rocks shaking ... And all of that can be recorded by our seismometers on the island."

Homebuilders association reacts

Randy Oram, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador branch of the Canadian Home Builders' Association, said people have to prepare for these earth-quivering storms to be the new normal.

There was damage reported to home and businesses across the province, but Oram said his company, Karwood Homes, has yet to receive any reports of damage.

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Part of the roof at the Gould’s Lions Arena has been blown off due to wind. Area has been closed off to the public #nlwx #nltrafffic #cbcnl

9:49 AM - Nov 15, 2018

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When asked why some homes suffer damage and others go unscathed, Oram said it has to do with location and age.

"With these weather events, some of the extremes can be localized," he said. "And over time, as these weather events impact older infrastructure, it just breaks down."​

Oram said the industry is changing as the weather worsens, and contractors need to keep up with the standards.

"You look at shingles we were using 15 years ago, they were rated for 97 km/h winds. What we're using nowadays, 210 kilometres is what they're rated for. As climate change happens, building products advance."

It was very noticeable and in our seismic data, our plots, it just jumped off the page. You could just see that shaking.- Seismologist John Cassidy

 

Randy Oram, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador branch of the Canadian Home Builders' Association, said standards are changing to meet climate change. (Paula Gale/CBC)

Part of the industry is regulated by Natural Resources Canada, which is currently working on a five-year project on adaptations to home building for climate change.

Where it used to study historical weather events, Natural Resources Canada is now trying to model future storms and set standards based on what is expected to happen, Oram said.

"They're actually looking at where the weather is going in the future, and testing new products and codes for the future."

With files from the St. John's Morning Show

The Sworn Virgin (Kristopher Dukes)

I really reveled in the theme of a woman not just falling to societal expectations, but instead doing what she needed to do to not just survive, but to live.

I enjoyed the twists and turns to the story. They definitely kept me reading. I was also taken by the seriousness with which oaths are taken.

On Goodreads the author shared how she came up with the idea for the book.

Years ago, I read an article in The New York Times about the last remaining sworn virgins in the mountains of Albania. Immediately, the basic conflict of "The Sworn Virgin," based on the true tradition, popped into my mind: What happens when you must choose between your love, or your life?

I began researching the culture of the Albanian mountains, learning how traveling into the mountains in 1910, from a Western point of view, was like traveling back thousands of years in time. Understanding the rules of Eleanora's world shaped the context of the characters, and how Eleanora could be true to her time -- but a rebel, as well.



Goodreads says:

What would you do if your father was suddenly and mysteriously murdered, leaving you alone in 1910s Albania?

When 18-year-old Diana’s father is mysteriously shot dead in the cobblestone streets of 1910s Albania, Diana must abandon her dream of studying art in Italy as she struggles to survive in a remote mountain village with her stepmother Mirlinda. 

Nearing starvation, Mirlinda secretly sells Diana into marriage with Edi, the cruel heir of a powerful clan. Rather than lose her freedom, Diana swears to remain a virgin for the rest of her life, a tradition that gives her the right to live as a man: she is now head of her household, can work for a living and carry a gun. She may participate in the vengeful blood feuds that consume the mountain tribes, but she may not be killed—unless she forsakes her vow. 

When an ill stranger stumbles into her life, she nurses him back to health, saving his life but risking her own when she falls in love with him. . .

419 (Will Ferguson)

I really enjoyed this book. It was fun to read a book set in the city I live in! The story is quite compelling. It makes me crazy to hear of people who get sucked into online scams. It was interesting to read the story from all sides. In the end, the women prevail. Only right! :)

Goodreads says:

A car tumbles down a snowy ravine. Accident or suicide?

On the other side of the world, a young woman walks out of a sandstorm in sub-Saharan Africa. In the labyrinth of the Niger Delta, a young boy learns to survive by navigating through the gas flares and oil spills of a ruined landscape. In the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the internet looking for victims.

Lives intersect, worlds collide, a family falls apart. And it all begins with a single email: “Dear Sir, I am the son of an exiled Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help ...”

419 takes readers behind the scene of the world’s most insidious internet scam. When Laura’s father gets caught up in one such swindle and pays with his life, she is forced to leave the comfort of North America to make a journey deep into the dangerous back streets and alleyways of the Lagos underworld to confront her father’s killer. What she finds there will change her life forever...

Coyote's New Suit (Thomas King)

This story is long, but really fun. Kids with the ability to listen to a long story will love it. There's lots of silliness (animals taking off their "suits") and trickery on the part of Raven. Coyote, who is often in the family of sly foxes, isn't sly. He's not that bright. He is greedy and starts taking off with all the animals suits.


Goodreads summary:

Coyote’s mighty pleased with his soft, brown suit — until Raven slyly hints it’s not the finest in the forest. Now, Coyote is obsessed: Bear’s suit is much more impressive. Porcupine — sporty! Raccoon is chic, while Skunk’s suit is perfectly elegant. Perhaps he could just borrow the suits? The missing suits send the forest into an uproar. How can naughty Coyote make amends? 

Alexander, Who Used To Be Rich Last Sunday (Judith Viorst)

I love this story. My students could totally relate to the problem of wanting to buy stuff the minute you have money in your pocket. When he talks about how hard it is to save your money there was lots of nodding in agreement.

The interactions with Alexander's brothers made everyone giggle a little.

After a few minutes, however, someone did suddenly have a light bulb moment about how inexpensive things are in this story! He can buy a lot just with $1! And who even uses pennies anymore? We don't! I'm thinking someone needs to update this story a little bit.

This would be a good story for talking about how little things make a big difference and how sometimes you just have limited resources. You could also talk about the value of money and why it's good to wait before you buy the first thing that comes along. The story isn't preachy at all. It is very relate-able.

Goodreads summary:

Last Sunday, Alexander's grandparents gave him a dollar -- and he was rich. There were so many things that he could do with all of that money!

He could buy as much gum as he wanted, or even a walkie-talkie, if he saved enough. But somehow the money began to disappear...

Readers of all ages will be delighted by this attractive new edition of Judith Viorst's beloved picture book.

Danny Champion of the World (Roald Dahl)

This book was recommended by one of the male teachers at my school (we don't have many male teachers...and they don't often give book recommendations....so I paid attention when this one did!) He says it is his favourite book of all time. I hadn't read it, so I decided I should. I think it'd be a great book for boys and dads, especially. I love Danny's admiration for his dad in this story. 

“I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile because it's impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren't feeling twinkly yourself. A mouth-smile is different. You can fake a mouth-smile any time you want, simply by moving your lips. I've also learned that a real mouth-smile always has an eye-smile to go with it. So watch out, I say, when someone smiles at you but his eyes stay the same. It's sure to be a phony.”

Danny's dad teaches him to fix cars, teaches him cool facts about animals, lets Danny take days off school for fake sicknesses, and takes him on great hunting adventures. There is no one Danny would rather spend time with.

This little bit made me laugh out loud:

“On this Thursday, on this particular walk to school, there was an old frog croaking in the stream behind the hedge as we went by.

'Can you hear him, Danny?'

'Yes,' I said,

'That is a bullfrog calling to his wife. He does it by blowing out his dewlap and letting it go with a burp.'

'What is a dewlap?' I asked.

'It's the loose skin on his throat. He can blow it up just like a balloon.'

'What happens when his wife hears him?'

'She goes hopping over to him. She is very happy to have been invited. But I'll tell you something very funny about the old bullfrog. He often becomes so pleased with the sound of his own voice that his wife has to nudge him several times before he'll stop his burping and turn round to hug her.'

That made me laugh.

'Dont laugh too loud,' he said, twinkling at me with his eyes. 'We men are not so very different from the bullfrog.” 

The more Roald Dahl books I read, the more I see overlaps in his stories. This one refers to the BFG, a bed-time story that Danny's dad tells. It doesn't go anywhere though. It is a minor part of this story.  The sergeant at the end of the story is a funny character. He puts h's at the front of words where they don't belong and removes them from words where they should be. It reminded me of how fun it is to read The Witches out loud. I wonder if Sargeant Samway shows up in any other books? 

One bothersome thing about this story is how doing something mean/dishonest/tricky to someone who is not nice is totally justifiable. This theme pops up in other Roald Dahl books like The Twits and Matilda.  ....maybe I am being too dull.....not sparky enough.

“A stodgy parent is no fun at all. What a child wants and deserves is a parent who is SPARKY” 

Goodreads summary:

Danny has a life any boy would love—his home is a gypsy caravan, he's the youngest master car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. But one night Danny discovers a shocking secret that his father has kept hidden for years. Soon Danny finds himself the mastermind behind the most incredible plot ever attempted against nasty Victor Hazell, a wealthy landowner with a bad attitude. Can they pull it off? If so, Danny will truly be the champion of the world. 

The Cloud Spinner (Michael Catchpool)

Today we were able to take more time with our story and discuss as we went. I am really realizing the value of reading stories every day. My students are starting to bring up connections with other stories. Today, while we were looking at the pictures, they pointed out the geese in the sky, and someone yelled out, "Honkers!" (That is what the Grandpa called the geese in Through Grandpa's Eyes)

I also saw again how children often see much more in the story than I do. They noticed the cute smiles all over the place. They noticed the pictures in the clouds. They had a laugh at the fat king and queen. They chuckled over his hair. They commented on the tropical weather, like the weather in India. Each of those things was an opportunity to connect to something we had learned.

They had no idea about weaving and spinning and how cloth is made. This was a great introduction to that topic, which we will cover more in Social Studies later when we talk about the weaving Peruvians do.

And then, most important of all, there are the lessons in the story:

• greediness never works out in the end
• only take what you can use
• don't boss people around

Goodreads summary:

One small boy has a special gift—he can weave cloth from the clouds: gold in the early morning with the rising sun, white in the afternoon, and crimson in the evening. He spins just enough cloth for a warm scarf. But when the king sees the boy's magnificent cloth, he demands cloaks and gowns galore. "It would not be wise," the boy protests. "Your majesty does not need them!" But spin he must—and soon the world around him begins to change.

From author Michael Catchpool and illustrator Alison Jay comes a magical tale about the beauty and fragility of our natural world, and the wisdom and courage needed to protect it.