March Break Coming to an End... and a Lovely Book

Hello out there, So if you're like me, your March break is nearly over. I have to be back in my classroom tomorrow morning at 8:15. All I can say is YIKES. Not because I don't want to see mystudents (I LOVE my students!! -- and I'm not just saying so because some of them read this blog), but well, because it's back to a hectic schedule... and I could have used just a few more days of holiday.

I just finished reading a lovely book that I thought I'd tell you about today. It's actually a Dutch book (did you know that I am Dutch?), but I read it in English because I don't read too well in Dutch. (I don't write too well in Dutch either, as some of my friends in Holland can tell you!!) 

Anyway, in English the book is called Against the Odds and it's by an author named Marjolijn Hof. In Dutch, the title of the book is Een kleine kans. The book is narrated by a girl named Kiki, whose father, a doctor who travels to wartorn countries for his work, has gone missing. The style is quite simple, and somehow especially powerful because of that simplicity. Here's an example of a few lines I just loved: "My mother knows I hate waiting. Especially waiting together. It seems much more like real waiting than waiting all by yourself. All by yourself you can fake that you are having a good time sitting on the couch." What I like here is that Hof captures a feeling many of us can relate to -- only we probably never put it into words. Oh, I love when writers do that!!

So for today, I'll leave you with those lines. Maybe like us, you're planning to watch the Academy Awards tonight ... only they do go awfully late for people who need to be up early tomorrow. I wish you all a good start to the new week. At this point in the semester, I feel a little like a race horse who's gearing up for a major gallop. My students have a lot of work ahead, which means I'll have loads of correcting to do... but hopefully I'll still be able to squeeze in my writing time. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I hope you are finding even a little bit of time for the things that bring you pleasure.

Hey, I almost forgot to tell you: tomorrow I am doing a Skype visit with students at Zionsville Library in Indiana. Pretty cool, no? If I can, I'll take a picture of my computer screen to show you. And I'll definitely report in to let you know how my virtual visit goes!