Did you ever read the Sideways Arithmetic books? They're worth a try if you like logic puzzles.
I miss just charging through whoever's classroom I was in at the time and reading whatever they had lying around in my free time and during prep.
Honestly, this is what I miss about being in elementary school. I read so many weird paperbacks bought out of bargain bins by my teachers with their own money because politicians funded weapons instead of schools. It really sucked that my teachers, who were not well-paid, were put into that situation, but there's a certain kind of weird that you only get with deeply unpopular out-of-print children's books that have been only minimally screened for age-appropriate-ness.
I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian last year (before I learned about Sherman Alexie sexually harassing people, ugh), and was immediately struck by the feeling that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was Diary of a Wimpy Kid if Diary of a Wimpy Kid had been about things that mattered. (This is perhaps unfair to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which I have only passing familiarity with.) It seemed like exactly the kind of book that would be most accessible to the kids and teens who most desperately needed it.
Be sure to check out the graphic novel, too! (Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe.) It's by the same people and in the same continuity. I wasn't big on the middle-grade books, but I quite liked the graphic novel. In terms of reading order, it's probably best to read it before #43, which is collected in Volume 11 (Call Your Squirrelfriends).
I've read Holes many times, and yet I still can't summarize the plot in any kind of coherent way. It sticks in my memory like a dream.
It's not exactly "reading"
Eh, I've read cookbooks for pleasure before. (usually while waiting for something to come out of the oven) The Cook's Illustrated stuff like The New Best Recipe is pretty good for that - about half of it is just cool kitchen science.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2024-02-25 03:22 am (UTC)Honestly, this is what I miss about being in elementary school. I read so many weird paperbacks bought out of bargain bins by my teachers with their own money because politicians funded weapons instead of schools. It really sucked that my teachers, who were not well-paid, were put into that situation, but there's a certain kind of weird that you only get with deeply unpopular out-of-print children's books that have been only minimally screened for age-appropriate-ness.
I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian last year (before I learned about Sherman Alexie sexually harassing people, ugh), and was immediately struck by the feeling that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was Diary of a Wimpy Kid if Diary of a Wimpy Kid had been about things that mattered. (This is perhaps unfair to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which I have only passing familiarity with.) It seemed like exactly the kind of book that would be most accessible to the kids and teens who most desperately needed it.
Be sure to check out the graphic novel, too! (Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe.) It's by the same people and in the same continuity. I wasn't big on the middle-grade books, but I quite liked the graphic novel. In terms of reading order, it's probably best to read it before #43, which is collected in Volume 11 (Call Your Squirrelfriends).
I've read Holes many times, and yet I still can't summarize the plot in any kind of coherent way. It sticks in my memory like a dream.
Eh, I've read cookbooks for pleasure before. (usually while waiting for something to come out of the oven) The Cook's Illustrated stuff like The New Best Recipe is pretty good for that - about half of it is just cool kitchen science.