raveable reads

ive decided to start something new for my hoards of blog followers. ha ha. but seriously, anyone who knows me, knows i read books like im going to the electric chair. im a very fast reader and i love books. i dont have as much time as id like during the school year. which is the reason for the two cabinets full (aka about thirty) books that are calling my name. and the ones i juuust cant help but buy everytime i go into a bookstore. but i do get to squeeze some in occasionally. which is why im posting. ive decided to start posting the read-worthy things i come across. just finished two incredible books that you must must must get (or borrow from me!):

[the bachelorette party by karen mccullah lutz]
never heard of her? she was a cowriter of the legally blond movies. trust me, the biting wit is definitely present in this book. about an unlikely group of women on a bachelorette party. its one of those nights where the bride knows everyone, but no one knows each other. and it gets pretty out of control pretty quickly! veryyy funny. laughed out loud at a few points. will most definitely remind you of a combination of the best nights youve had out with your girlfriends. dont want to spoil the surprises, but its honestly one of the best books i read in awhile. dont get me wrong, by no means a classic. but hilarious to the point where i couldnt put it down.

and. . .

[glass slipper, gold sandal by paul fleischman]
yes folks, its a picture book. but a phenomenal one. my curriculum at school is pretty lame. in order to expand on ANYthing in the textbook, you have to do it on your own time with your own funds. not so easy. last week, we were supposed to read yeh-shen in the textbook, the chinese and oldest known version of the cinderella story. since then, over 900 versions have been published around the world. crazy me, i tried to locate as many of them as possible. i wanted to give the kids background and meaning to what we were reading in the text. have them see outside the beautiful blond white girl with the mean sisters and magic pumpkin. so we started the 900cinderellas project, an idea ive used before. they are a people OBsessed. i have approx 40 versions of the cinderella story in my room and more ive bookmarked online, from the very old to the just published, from the deeply cultural to the silly and singsongy. my entire idea came to a head when i found this book. paul fleischman is a literary god. he combined a bunch of different stories into this book, calling it a worldwide cinderella. the entire story is told in bits and pieces from different cultures. and it blends together to create a beautiful story. when i tell you, i read it four separate times to rooms of 25+ seventh grade students who were silent, i kid you not. you could hear a pin drop. i got chills at the end everytime. for the child in us all, its a must read.