Your Neighborhood Librarian Recommends

  I feel kind of silly to say that the reason I read this book was that John Irving said it was good. I picked it up out of a box of  Advance Readers and remembered when it had first come out in the early 2010s. It won the E.B. White Read Aloud award in 2011 and it definitely would make a great read aloud for a seasoned teacher who can tackle some of the big issues mentioned in the book ( prejudice, death of a sibling, students being differently abled, bullying and more).  The author also name drops a lot of fabulous books for kids so the Book Whisperer in me knows students would pick up on that and wonder about and maybe even read things like A Wrinkle in Time and Bridge to Terrebithia. I am glad I read it. And glad I found out the author knew John Irving because he's coached John Irving's s son in wrestling. https://www.google.com/amp/s/thebooknut.com/2011/02/13/10-questions-for-rob-buyea/amp/

  No one is surprised that a librarian reads a lot of books, but it might surprise you that I have read quite a few "self-help" books. Most educators and parents today are familiar with the concept of "growth mindset" (rather than a "fixed mindset") that we can embrace our mistakes and learn from them and in doing so open ourselves up to greater learning. So I have embraced the hardships in teaching, marriage, motherhood, and just generally being a human. I have read books about anxiety (my favorite is "The Anxiety Toolkit"), books about marriage (a big fan of "The Five Love Languages"), and on and on. Oftentimes I find secular books extremely lacking. The faith component for me, in processing life's challenges, is a big one.  I have appreciated the many books offered by Ancient Faith Publishing on topics such as parenting, marriage, and even ecology. The church is a hospital for sinners. How we deal with our own mistakes, shortcomi