Mr. Duey’s Class Dis-Missed CD (or download on Amazon.com) contains 17 rap type songs on different aspects of education. Mr. Duey created this CD while teaching sixth grade and observing where his students were struggling. Included on the CD are five Math songs (integers, GCF/LCM, Point plotting, fractions and measurement); four Language Arts songs (nouns, verbs, essays, and adjectives); four science songs (state of matter, rocks, cells, and atoms) and four social studies songs (lattitude/longitude, core democratic values, branches of government, and things changed).

This CD is excellent for grades 5-8, however, I will be using six songs with my second graders: nouns, verbs, adjectives, measurement, things changed (speaks of Martin Luther King, Jr.) and core democratic values because I think my students would understand these and they go with our standards. The songs have a great beat, and I’m pretty sure my students will love them. Words are included, so they can be easily taught to students. Students remember words to songs they like and enjoy singing. I think they will especially enjoy rap. Thank you Mr. Duey for providing another way to reach students with valuable information that they need to know!

For more information on this CD, visit www.MrDuey.com.

About the Book: As a child in 1920s West Texas, Annarose sees life and intelligence in everything, but after she is exiled to Los Angeles at 13, she loses her connection to spirit, and finds herself searching for what she has lost through intellectual pursuits.

As she matures, her philosophical studies and supportive friendship with a gifted musician lead to an awakening and she travels to Mexico to become a writer. Her relationships with Artist Frida Kahlo and Crisanto, the man who becomes her lover, connect her to the beautiful, wild, free, and happy. She embraces all that they and their country represent and thus begins her transformation to writer-but before her transformation is complete, Annarose must return to the life she left as a child.

Haunting and evocative, this sweeping literary fiction will stay with readers long after the last page.

My Review: I was interested in reading this book because I knew little about this time period in Texas and California, let alone Mexico. I grew up in the mid-west but currently live in Southern California and have greater interest in that sort of history now. So I found that part of this book to be very interesting as well as the racism and struggles the Mexican immigrants faced. Additionally, the true to life character of Frida, which you may know from the Selma Heyack film, plays a role in this book. Strangely enough, having seen that film enabled me to have some prior context in my brain to imagine that part of this story.

The prose is very pretty in this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also enjoyed Annarose’s journey, as she grew. I think I could identify with some of her feelings at various stages in her life as she sought to come to terms with her own identity. The characters are all very vivid and well drawn.My favorite part was when Annarose was in Mexico and this seems to be the central most important part of the book as well. This is a novel about finding oneself or finding wholeness and is also labeled as new age fiction. I do think that while I may not agree completely with the author’s philosophy, there is much inspiration to be found in this book.
You can learn more about Candis C. Coffee at her website. You can also check Mariposa out on Amazon.

I love using Calvin Miller’s Devotionals. I found the first one I used, “The Christ of Christmas” when browsing in a local Christian bookstore in St. Louis. I bought it to help me really get ready for the spiritual significance of the holiday. It did just that. The next one I bought was “The Christ of the Easter” which helped me again zero in on what Easter is all about. Because I loved these books so much I also bought “The Christ We Knew: Eyewitness Accounts from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” Even though I have had this book for several years, I am just now getting into it. It is thought-provoking and very helpful. The devotionals have really given me something to chew on for several days a piece. The format of this particular book is you first read the devotional on a particular passage of Scripture in one of the Gospels, then you read the entire chapter from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. This book includes classical art and explanations of each picture and gives a little information about the artist.

Calvin Miller’s writing is profound, yet easy to read and practical. The Christ We Knew takes you through the birth of Christ right to the Ascension of Christ. Each book is divided into 31 days of devotions. I usually spend about 5-10 minutes each morning before work reading them - that’s about how long it takes. I have gone back to reread several.

Calvin Miller is a writer and speaker. He worked with others on the translation of the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Miller is a career pastor and teaches at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. For more information on Calvin Miller visit his web site at www.calvinmillerauthor.com

We love comments at The Friendly Book Nook!

So to bribe you for encourage more comments and participation, we will reward one lucky reader with a fifteen dollar gift card to Amazon.

How will this work, you ask? Well from now until the end of August for every comment you leave you will be entered one time into the pot. These have to be real relevant comments, no spam! Then on September 1st, we’ll announce the winner on the blog!

So comment away!

About the Book: Organic for Health will convince you to avoid conventionally grown foods laden with the biggest offenders, and more importantly, to fill your body with the clean, potent vitamins and minerals in organic foods that truly honor your health.

My Review: This topic is one that I’m endlessly fascinated by. I am always trying to learn more and so I jumped at the chance to review this book.

If you also are interested in healthier ways to eat and understanding just exactly why the way we eat in America is a danger to our health than you will enjoy this book. It’s written in an extremely straightforward manner, and kicks off with Sandy Powers’ own story about why she started to eat organically. It’s a pretty amazing story, and it will get your attention for the rest of the book! The book is divided into categories and gives you all the basic information that you need. The second half of the book is full of recipes. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but they look good. There’s also a glossary in the back that is very helpful for defining terms used throughout the book, and a note about why eating organically is a bit more expensive.

A great starter guide to better health.

You can visit Sandy on her website.

I will start out this review by saying one word. Wow. This is a must read for believers. I really had no idea what to expect from this book as when I started it I had never heard of it before. I knew there was some controversy surrounding the book, but I didn’t know why. I began reading the story expecting it to be a suspense novel - and was I ever in for a surprise!

Now maybe you have started this book, got to the “weird” part, and are considering setting it aside. I urge you to continue. I admit that some of it is a bit weird. But the way that Mr. Young approaches such crucial topics such as forgiveness, why a good God “allows” evil, God’s love for us, Christ’s life in us, and our relationships with others is flat out outstanding.

I truly believe our lives would be so much richer and meaningful if we really believed that God loves us. Oh, we “know” it is true. The Bible tells me so! But how many of us live our lives waking up each morning feeling wonderfully loved by God? Do we feel that God is “especially fond of us?” The Shack will help you to see God’s love for you as a unique individual, and maybe even help you to see others more clearly the way God sees them.

First, before reading anything I have to say, you should watch this trailer to get a feel for this book!

About the Book: Rest assured, this is no ordinary treasure hunt. Each and every one of you will face inevitable hardship and danger. Most of you, despite your magic, will fail. But among you, from the depths of despair, will rise heroes! Indeed, the victors of this, DréAmm’s greatest Quest, shall earn a seat in the throne room of Legend!” The final note of Lord Blick’s speech rang like a distant bell of old, conjuring images of majesty and greatness.
Root marveled in the moment hardly imaginable. Only yesterday she was living with her boorish aunts in a half puce, half orange house and now here she was in a strange and secret land of old, not only an invited participant of a mystical Quest, but apparently she was magic, too, although she had yet to see evidence of that.
She surveyed the others, hundreds of vying teens, most of which were already magically trained, and felt fear course through her veins. But it rode the back of something much more fierce that demanded she stay…
The race of a lifetime is about to begin…
On your marks…Get set…Go!

My Review: I don’t read a lot of fantasy, but the Harry Potter series is deeply loved by me. I was hesitant as to what I would feel about this book at first, because the cover looked a little Harry Potterish to me.

There are some parallels to be certain but I think Ms. Reid has done a fine job of creating a unique world in DreAmm with many assorted and interesting characters and creatures. I love the concept of blending fantasy with a touch of the Amazing Race! The story is engaging and humorous and Root is a very likeable character that one can empathize with and root (pardon the pun) for! There is a lot of information about this new world that can be overwhelming at times (especially for a non-fantasy reader like myself!). A personal favorite part of the book for me were the Hovermutts!

I do believe that visiting the website is an absolute must. It’s gorgeously designed with a great deal of information about the book as well as plenty of author interaction.

Kamilla Reid has generously provided a signed copy (and small bonus surprise) for one of our readers! To be eligible to win simply leave a comment with a valid email address. For two entries, twitter about this contest with a link. (leave me your twitter name so I can check) For three entries, leave a link back to this post on your blog. (be sure to leave me a comment with a link to your post). Just to clarify, you can receive up to 6 entries.

Due to the high cost of shipping, this contest is only open to those with a United States or Canadian mailing address. I’ll draw a winner next Wednesday, July 23.

What is this book about? (from Amazon.com’s product description): Football season becomes a time of realization that life’s most important victories are won off the field. A star running back with much to learn, a younger player with much to give, and a woman with a heart for underprivileged kids’ thrown together into a time of self-discovery and a new awareness of the things that matter most.

My comments: Well, I am back from my vacation in Costa Rica and I read about six books. The one I want to share with you today is a very typical Karen Kingsbury book entitled “Between Sundays.” Of course I loved this book, but it has the very Kingsbury formula with a wonderful happy ending. The unique aspects of this book which made it stand apart from the others is first it’s emphasis on the foster care system. The needs and stats are given. This book also explores somewhat life in the NFL. Alex Smith of the San Francisco 49ers writes the forward to the book. He heads up the Alex Smith Foundation which focuses on the foster care system. The characters are somewhat typical - nothing exciting. I’m not sure how realistic this story is, but it was enjoyable and gave me a bit of an escape on the long flight home from Costa Rica. Kingsbury’s books portray how we all wish life was. I recommend it if you are looking for a few hours of escape and enjoyment.

In general, I think all three of us enjoyed this book. Leah thought the first half was stronger than the second half. Amy loved the thought provoking questions it posed and Joshilyn Jackson’s gorgeous prose. But what did you think?

If you wrote a review for The Girl Who Stopped Swimming on your blog, sign the Mr. Linky below with the direct link to your post (and NOT your general URL…those will get deleted)

Hey everyone! I’m just going to finish posting the discussion and questions. Please chime in if you’ve read it! If for some reason you haven’t been able to get a hold of the book yet, the links to these discussion posts will be posted under the Group Reads page. You can join in at any time!

Please remember to start looking for August’s read Live a Little by Kim Green now! Our September read will be A Passion Redeemed by Julie Lessman and you might want to read A Passion Most Pure first.

Discussion questions can be found here.
If we don’t cover something you want to discuss, please bring it up!

A major theme in the book is poverty and what is the nature of true poverty. Here are some of our thoughts:
Leah: Interesting that Laurel had feelings for Bet when she was a baby, but not as she grew up.
Amy: Laurel only had Bet in their lives to protect Shelby from seeing the reality of poverty
Leah: I wonder if that would work?
Sally: NO
Amy: In some ways, by trying to protect her from it, she ended up experiencing the worst side of it
Sally: The poor are always with us.
Leah: And maybe to appease her own conscious about De Lop?
Sally: Was it her conscience or her mother’s - Laurel’s mother.
Amy I suppose that, too.
Sally: What is the worst side of poverty? Murder?
Amy: Yeah, the desperation that made Bet try to kill her
Sally: Was that poverty or lack of love in her life? Even rich kids might have that problem. She was screaming for attention.

What do you think? What was the real issue of poverty in this book? Was Laurel right in trying to soften the reality of De Lop for Shelby?

Thalia and Laurel seemed to criticize each other’s marriages and Thalia’s was very untraditional. Here’s out discussion about that!

Amy:I think Thalia’s was more like a business partnership. That was also a close friendship. But not at all romantic in nature, actually.
Leah: Yeah, like best friends with no benefits.
Sally: Laurel was blind about hers.
Leah: How do you think laurel was blind about hers? I considered hers ok, really. I mean David never did have an affair. Once they communicated, things seemed ok.
Sally: But things could have happened.
Amy: The worst part of Laurel’s relationship was Thalia.

What do you think about the two marriages in the book?