What I read: This week I read The Wednesday Wars, Ready Player One (I really tried to like this book, but it was just so boring to me), and I am currently reading The Murder of Mary Russell (which I am loving!)
The Wednesday Wars is a YA fiction book. It is set during the Vietnam War years and follows a teen boy through a year at school. The boy is not Catholic or Jewish, so he does not go to an afternoon religion class on Wednesdays like the rest of his classmates. This means that he must stay with his teacher for the afternoon and he is convinced she hates him. The teacher decides to have the boy read and discuss Shakespeare with her on their Wednesdays together and the story just takes off from there. I loved this book so much! It deals with a lot of hard issues that were prevalent at the time like the Vietnam War, racism towards Vietnamese people due to the war, and the struggles of growing up in general.
The author brilliantly crafts this novel to be at times hilarious and then turns around and leaves you misty eyed on the next page. One of the most memorable parts of the story, was when the son of one of the lunchroom ladies’ was killed in Vietnam (She gets the notice at school). This tragedy leads her to start discriminating against a Vietnamese refugee (who also happens to be an orphan) by withholding treats from the girl. The beauty is that the writer crafts it in such a way that you feel really sorry for both of the victims of this tragedy. The author then turns around and thoroughly charms you later when the lady tries to make it up to the girl by making foods from her country for her and eventually offers her a home. (Sob fest!) But be assured that there are hilarious moments as well, I laughed out loud multiple times during the story. For example, in the beginning of the story, two classroom rats escape their cages and run rampant throughout the school for the entire year, terrorizing everyone in hilarious ways (like falling from ceilings, chasing students, eating special desserts, etc)
**I do not normally rate books, but this one can easily earn a five star rating in my opinion. Read it!!
Emma (15 years old) is reading The Light Between Oceans (I put The Wednesday Wars on her nightstand for her to read next)
Ben (8 years old) is reading The Sea of Monsters, Judy Moody Goes to College, and Farmer Boy.
What I watched: I am currently watching Season 9 of Murdoch Mysteries and Better Call Saul with my husband.
Something I was happy to check off my to do list:
-Did my bloodwork for our health evaluations (this means that our premiums will not go up next year)
-Turned in all of my paperwork for a youth minister position at my church (and got hired!)
Things I learned:
–I have never taken a drug test before so the poor lady had to explain why there was no running water or soap in the bathroom and why she had to sprinkle blue Kool-Aid powder in the toilet. It was very interesting…
-That I can spend hours researching ideas for youth programs and totally lose track of time (I was told to record planning hours, but I enjoy it so much that it seems wrong!)
Things that I look forward to next week:
-Lent (starts on Wednesday) **Even though it has been on my calendar all year, it still snuck up on me…
-Helping with a mini retreat for our First Communion students.
Funny things that happened:
-We watched my 3 year old niece on Monday and she told me (very dramatically) that her mother was “her best friend, her cousin, and her mommy”.
-When we were at the park, Ben said something about “kids these days” and then stopped, looked at me, and said, “I sound like a Boomer!”
**My kids love the Boomer thing. If Ben doesn’t like something Emma says, his go to phrase is “Okay, Boomer”. (She is just 15) Emma says that this is not the first time a child has called her old. One time at Chick-fil-a, a child told her to “Move it old lady!” She was 8 years old at the time:)
The Thrifty Educator 