I am the author of the young adult novel An Audience for Einstein. One of my editors told me that someone mentioned my book on Teachers.Net and suggested I introduce myself. My novel has won several awards and has been assigned by a number of schools. Most notably, both the South Carolina Reading Initiative and the Providence, RI Teachers Union have recommended my book.
I believe my novel covers some important topics students should be discussing. We are seeing rapid advances being made in genetic engineering, cloning, designer genes, and other medical discoveries that are both fascinating and frightening. The decisions yet to be made as to what we should or shouldn’t do with our new knowledge will fall mainly on the shoulders of the next generation- your students. For those who are interested in using my novel as a springboard to classroom discussion of these topics, on my novel’s Amazon page you’ll find book discussion questions toward the bottom in the Ampedia Community.
Thank you for your consideration of An Audience for Einstein, and thank you to those who have already assigned it.
Your book sounds just wonderful. What age is the target audience for your book?
On 1/18/08, Mark Wakely wrote: > Hi- > > I am the author of the young adult novel An Audience for > Einstein. One of my editors told me that someone mentioned > my book on Teachers.Net and suggested I introduce myself. > My novel has won several awards and has been assigned by a > number of schools. Most notably, both the South Carolina > Reading Initiative and the Providence, RI Teachers Union > have recommended my book. > > I believe my novel covers some important topics students > should be discussing. We are seeing rapid advances being > made in genetic engineering, cloning, designer genes, and > other medical discoveries that are both fascinating and > frightening. The decisions yet to be made as to what we > should or shouldn’t do with our new knowledge will fall > mainly on the shoulders of the next generation- your > students. For those who are interested in using my novel > as a springboard to classroom discussion of these topics, > on my novel’s Amazon page you’ll find book discussion > questions toward the bottom in the Ampedia Community. > > Thank you for your consideration of An Audience for > Einstein, and thank you to those who have already assigned > it. > > Mark Wakely
On 1/19/08, Teachers.Net - Join the chat in the Teachers.Net Meeting Room! wrote: > The Teachers.Net Meeting Room will be available at 7pmE on > Sunday, January 20, for those who wish to gather for > informal discussion about books. > > Got a good read you'd like to chat about? Log on and join > Book Talk Chat! > > If there is sufficient interest, additional Book Talk chats > will be scheduled. > > The link below takes you to [link removed]
I haven't seen alot of action in this room so I wondered if many are just having a look once in a while. If you drop in for a visit, please list the last three good books that you have read. Maybe this will give others a list of books to look into. Mine are: The Long Walk Home by Will North Snow Flower and The Secret Fan Double Cross by James Patterson
KTOn 2/12/08, first wrote: > "So many books - so little time" One of my favorite things > about summer is being able to read!!!! > > Loved The Kite Runner. I think I enjoyed A Thousand Splendid > Suns (same author as the Kite Runner) even more though. > > Water for Elephants was also very good. > > I just finished The Glass...See MoreOn 2/12/08, first wrote: > "So many books - so little time" One of my favorite things > about summer is being able to read!!!! > > Loved The Kite Runner. I think I enjoyed A Thousand Splendid > Suns (same author as the Kite Runner) even more though. > > Water for Elephants was also very good. > > I just finished The Glass Castle (in one weekend - I couldn't > put it down!) It's a memoir by Jeanette Walls. Fascinating. > > My current favorite "look for" authors at the library are Jodi > Picoult and Harlan Coben. I've only read a few books by each > so far, but am looking forward to reading more. > > On 2/10/08, babs wrote: >> The Kite Runner >> Water for Elephants >> The Things They Carried >> >> >> On 2/07/08, CB wrote: >>> I haven't seen alot of action in this room so I wondered >>> if many are just having a look once in a while. If you >>> drop in for a visit, please list the last three good books >>> that you have read. Maybe this will give others a list of >>> books to look into. >>> Mine are: >>> The Long Walk Home by Will North >>> Snow Flower and The Secret Fan >>> Double Cross by James Patterson
I recommend: The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving The Glass Castle by Jeannete Walls The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
Natasha WhiteTry. A Wolf at my Table by Augusten Burroughs, wonderful And, The Sleepwalker's Introduction to Flight by Sion Scott Wilson, poignant, funny, original, quite brilliant! And, The Tender Bar by J.R Moehringer, a wonderful autobio
Grace Vyduna-Haskins has crafted a book review of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and you can read it in the February issue of the Teachers.Net Gazette.
Use the link below to go over to the Gazette cover page, then scroll down and click on Book Review. While you're there, take a look at the many other resources offered in this month's Teachers.Net Gazette!
Three Cups of Tea does look good Kathleen. I think I will purchase it this afternoon. Thanks for the tip. Bo
On 2/07/08, Kathleen wrote: > Grace Vyduna-Haskins has crafted a book review of Three Cups > of Tea by Greg Mortenson and you can read it in the February > issue of the Teachers.Net Gazette. > > Use the link below to go over to the Gazette cover page, > then scroll down and click on Book Review. While you're > there, take a look at the many other resources offered in > this month's Teachers.Net Gazette!
Just a quick review: Book Thief by Marcus Zusak The tale of a young girl struggling to survive in Nazi Germany during WWII. I know what you're thinking - sounds familiar, right? Nope. You've never read anything like it. The girl isn't Jewish, but she is a thief. And the narrator is Death. He and the girl have crossed paths a few times, and unlike millions of other souls, she has made an impression on him. Until you sit and swim in its poetic language, its vivid characters, and visceral tragedy, you won't understand the power of the Book Thief. As a bookseller, I've been recommending this book to every teacher I talk to, to my coworkers, and my family and friends. Markus Zusak uses language physically; dozens of times I felt punched in the stomach by a jab of a phrase. Over the last twenty or thirty pages, I held my breath, I cried for an hour, and I had to tell my wife not to talk to me until I finished. I have never read a story about war and love and life and death that has broken my heart so completely with its poetry and truth. Congratulations to Markus Zusak on creating a novel that really should be around forever.
PS- While this is being marketed as a young adult book (and I think high-schoolers should read this) adults will not be disappointed. I would not give it to a child younger than high-school age because of some PG-13 language and the difficulty level. This is heady stuff, beautifully wrought, but not simple.
Your review was quite moving....my son absolutely loved this book, and recommended it to many of his friends. The group of boys all read it as 5th graders. I'm sure it might not be for all younger kids, but there are some very mature, young readers out there. It was just rivoting listening to their discussion about the book.
As a teacher, however, I wouldn't recommend it for classroom reading at the grade school level.
On 2/19/08, Sean Camoni from Borders Educational Services wrote: > Just a quick review: > Book Thief > by Marcus Zusak > The tale of a young girl struggling to survive in Nazi > Germany during WWII. I know what you're thinking - sounds > familiar, right? Nope. You've never read anything like > it. The girl isn't Jewish, but she is a thief. And the > narrator is Death. He and the girl have crossed paths a > few times, and unlike millions of other souls, she has > made an impression on him. > Until you sit and swim in its poetic language, its vivid > characters, and visceral tragedy, you won't understand the > power of the Book Thief. As a bookseller, I've been > recommending this book to every teacher I talk to, to my > coworkers, and my family and friends. Markus Zusak uses > language physically; dozens of times I felt punched in the > stomach by a jab of a phrase. Over the last twenty or > thirty pages, I held my breath, I cried for an hour, and I > had to tell my wife not to talk to me until I finished. I > have never read a story about war and love and life and > death that has broken my heart so completely with its > poetry and truth. Congratulations to Markus Zusak on > creating a novel that really should be around forever. > > PS- While this is being marketed as a young adult book > (and I think high-schoolers should read this) adults will > not be disappointed. I would not give it to a child > younger than high-school age because of some PG-13 > language and the difficulty level. This is heady stuff, > beautifully wrought, but not simple.
I'm so glad! I would agree with you about the grade level. As with anything, it's really up to the individual districts and parents to determine, but I would say at least 7th or 8th grade for assigned reading. There is some adult language, and the themes of death are pretty heady. Sean
On 3/01/08, Bobbi wrote: > Your review was quite moving....my son absolutely loved this > book, and recommended it to many of his friends. The group > of boys all read it as 5th graders. I'm sure it might not > be for all younger kids, but there are some very mature, > young readers out there. It was just rivoting listening to > their discussion about the book. > > As a teacher, however, I wouldn't recommend it for classroom > reading at the grade school level. > > > > On 2/19/08, Sean Camoni from Borders Educational Services > wrote: >> Just a quick review: >> Book Thief >> by Marcus Zusak >> The tale of a young girl struggling to survive in Nazi >> Germany during WWII. I know what you're thinking - sounds >> familiar, right? Nope. You've never read anything like >> it. The girl isn't Jewish, but she is a thief. And the >> narrator is Death. He and the girl have crossed paths a >> few times, and unlike millions of other souls, she has >> made an impression on him. >> Until you sit and swim in its poetic language, its vivid >> characters, and visceral tragedy, you won't understand the >> power of the Book Thief. As a bookseller, I've been >> recommending this book to every teacher I talk to, to my >> coworkers, and my family and friends. Markus Zusak uses >> language physically; dozens of times I felt punched in the >> stomach by a jab of a phrase. Over the last twenty or >> thirty pages, I held my breath, I cried for an hour, and I >> had to tell my wife not to talk to me until I finished. I >> have never read a story about war and love and life and >> death that has broken my heart so completely with its >> poetry and truth. Congratulations to Markus Zusak on >> creating a novel that really should be around forever. >> >> PS- While this is being marketed as a young adult book >> (and I think high-schoolers should read this) adults will >> not be disappointed. I would not give it to a child >> younger than high-school age because of some PG-13 >> language and the difficulty level. This is heady stuff, >> beautifully wrought, but not simple.
I got so many good ideas about new books to try from the last post. What about those authors that you just can't wait to read again? It's hard to narrow mine down, but I'll try:
James Patterson Dorothea Benton Frank Harlan Coben
Does anyone teach the book Esperanza Rising? I would love if anyone could share their lesson plans, quizzes, test, etc. with me. Please e-mail anything you have to [email removed].
On 2/29/08, Bo wrote: > I am reading Three Cups of Tea by Gary Mortenson. I would > recommend it. Bo --------- Bo, maybe you already read Grace's review, but just in case, here's a link. I'm in line for the book at my local library. Glad to hear that you liked it.
I agree completely. I took students to see Gary Mortenson speak in San Francisco a few months ago,and they walked away being profoundly moved. It also can be used for a class project- we raised money to send to his organization, and had an open forum discussion regarding the book.
On 2/29/08, Bo wrote: > I am reading Three Cups of Tea by Gary Mortenson. I would > recommend it. Bo
feel free to post about either. And, nice to meet you! Susan