Dearest Readers,
This is an important message from your friendly neighborhood SMS Guys Read members...We are moving the blog!
Don't fret readers, we are not going into retirement or anything drastic like that, just moving the random reading hilarity over to a free service known as wordpress.
We have imported all the existing posts, but eventually we will most likely lose all of our pictures and videos. That means from our next meeting on, we need to repopulate the new blog with pics and vids of our reading exploits.
Stay tuned and tell your friends that we are on the move. If you have us book marked you need to follow the following link and rebookmark us. As of about October we are off the Typepad site and will only be found on wordpress.
New SMS Guys Read Blog...
http://smsguysread.wordpress.com/
Thanks for stopping by and see you over at Wordpress.
Mr. H
Dearest Readers,
This is an important message from your friendly neighborhood SMS Guys Read members...We are moving the blog!
Don't fret readers, we are not going into retirement or anything drastic like that, just moving the random reading hilarity over to a free service known as wordpress.
We have imported all the existing posts, but eventually we will most likely lose all of our pictures and videos. That means from our next meeting on, we need to repopulate the new blog with pics and vids of our reading exploits.
Stay tuned and tell your friends that we are on the move. If you have us book marked you need to follow the following link and rebookmark us. As of about October we are off the Typepad site and will only be found on wordpress.
New SMS Guys Read Blog...
http://smsguysread.wordpress.com/
Thanks for stopping by and see you over at Wordpress.
Mr. H
Hello Readers,
The other day we had our last SMS Guys Read meeting of the school year. Being on the year-round schedule means we will take the month of July off and be back to school and back to GR meetings in August.
At our final meeting we reviewed The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan and then introduced a new book called The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. The book is really funny and I think the guys will really enjoy reading it. Not only did we talk about the book, but we started trying to fold some of our own origami Yoda. The book has an instruction set in the back and the website has something like four or five sets of really challenging instructions.
Our member Sean is an origami genius and helped, and made us look foolish, as we folded Yoda. Check out a few pics from the meeting.
So check out the website and some of the whacked out instructions out there and let us know if you can fold an Origami Yoda.
Read and Fold on,
Mr. H
Hello Readers,
The other day we had our last SMS Guys Read meeting of the school year. Being on the year-round schedule means we will take the month of July off and be back to school and back to GR meetings in August.
At our final meeting we reviewed The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan and then introduced a new book called The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. The book is really funny and I think the guys will really enjoy reading it. Not only did we talk about the book, but we started trying to fold some of our own origami Yoda. The book has an instruction set in the back and the website has something like four or five sets of really challenging instructions.
Our member Sean is an origami genius and helped, and made us look foolish, as we folded Yoda. Check out a few pics from the meeting.
![DSC01664]()
Hello Readers,
We here at SMS Guys Read have been attacking, viciously the new Rick Riordan book, The Red Pyramid.
Today we would like to take a few moments and share some of our views and thoughts on this excellent new novel. So Mr. H is sitting at the laptop and the lads are grouped around holding copies of the book and are ready to begin a discussion.
First off What is your favorite scene or character so far?...
Tate says...uh Salsa.
Mr. H....Please explain just a bit further!
Tate...When Carter and Zia blow up the Salsa vats to destroy Sekhmet.
Nate...Hey like what page?
Gabe...My favorite scene was when Carter says "Shut up Sadie, yes I'm getting to that part."
Mr. H...Isn't it wild to read a book that is done from two points of view. Changing from Carter to Sadie was a little strange but an interesting twist.
Nate...Actually my favorite scene was when Carter and Sadie's dad blows up the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum.
Sean...I, like Tate like the salsa part, well actually Sekhmet is bloodthirsty and wants lots of blood and when she gets lots of blood she turns into a cow and she seemed to think that the salsa was blood and drank it until smoke came out of her ears!
Vinny...When Amos introduced Carter and Sadie to the animals in the Brooklyn mansion, Khufu the baboon and Philip of Macedonia the white croc.
Mr. H..I also loved the albino croc named Philip and the fact that Khufu only eats things that end in O, like cheerios, doritos and flamingos.
So to all of you out there reading our humble blog, today only 11 of you, tell us what your favorite scene or characters are and hit that comment button to share your thinking. We would love to hear from you...plz (that is from Vinny, Mr. H thinks it looks a bit silly.)
We also took a quick look at the new series that Rick Riordan is writing about Camp Half-Blood. Mr. H found a locked website with some secret chapters of the new book called The Lost Hero. The code was given out at a huge book expo, but if you are sneaky you might be able to find the code out there in the wide world of the internet. The first chapter is called Jason!
Read On,
Mr. H and the Guys
PS...We also started looking at The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and we will have some great photos of our attempts to fold one of those crazy little things. Check back in a few days!
Hello Readers,
We here at SMS Guys Read have been attacking, viciously the new Rick Riordan book, The Red Pyramid.
Today we would like to take a few moments and share some of our views and thoughts on this excellent new novel. So Mr. H is sitting at the laptop and the lads are grouped around holding copies of the book and are ready to begin a discussion.
First off What is your favorite scene or character so far?...
Tate says...uh Salsa.
Mr. H....Please explain just a bit further!
Tate...When Carter and Zia blow up the Salsa vats to destroy Sekhmet.
Nate...Hey like what page?
Gabe...My favorite scene was when Carter says "Shut up Sadie, yes I'm getting to that part."
Mr. H...Isn't it wild to read a book that is done from two points of view. Changing from Carter to Sadie was a little strange but an interesting twist.
Nate...Actually my favorite scene was when Carter and Sadie's dad blows up the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum.
Sean...I, like Tate like the salsa part, well actually Sekhmet is bloodthirsty and wants lots of blood and when she gets lots of blood she turns into a cow and she seemed to think that the salsa was blood and drank it until smoke came out of her ears!
Vinny...When Amos introduced Carter and Sadie to the animals in the Brooklyn mansion, Khufu the baboon and Philip of Macedonia the white croc.
Mr. H..I also loved the albino croc named Philip and the fact that Khufu only eats things that end in O, like cheerios, doritos and flamingos.
So to all of you out there reading our humble blog, today only 11 of you, tell us what your favorite scene or characters are and hit that comment button to share your thinking. We would love to hear from you...plz (that is from Vinny, Mr. H thinks it looks a bit silly.)
We also took a quick look at the new series that Rick Riordan is writing about Camp Half-Blood. Mr. H found a locked website with some secret chapters of the new book called The Lost Hero. The code was given out at a huge book expo, but if you are sneaky you might be able to find the code out there in the wide world of the internet. The first chapter is called Jason!
Read On,
Mr. H and the Guys
PS...We also started looking at The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and we will have some great photos of our attempts to fold one of those crazy little things. Check back in a few days!
Hey Readers,
This afternoon we had our SMS Guys Read chapter meeting and things got interesting. First of all we started talking about our next group read. As you know we are attacking Rick Riordan's new novel, The Red Pyramid.
Today we listened to the first few pages and checked out Google Earth as Carter and his dad raced around London. Have you ever been reading in front of a computer and used the internet to help you better understand the plot. I find myself doing that all the time. Using Google Earth or some other map program is a great way to find out more about a setting.
Because The Red Pyramid is about Egyptian Gods we thought we would enjoy some Mediterranean fare to end the meeting. Check out our video where we try some whole wheat pita bread and hummus.
I am personally about 50 pages in and loving this new novel. The jokes are fun and the little teases that connect this novel to the Percy Jackson series are great. We have to stay in Brooklyn there are other gods in Manhattan and we need to stay away is a great line.
So read along with us and let us know what you think.
Here's a question to get you into the novel. The chapter titles are very interesting...What chapter title is most interesting to you? What do you think that? Hit that comment button and let us know what you think.
Read on,
Mr. H
Hey Readers,
This afternoon we had our SMS Guys Read chapter meeting and things got interesting. First of all we started talking about our next group read. As you know we are attacking Rick Riordan's new novel, The Red Pyramid.
(Here are the Red Pyramid novels with The Roar and The Strange Case of Origami Yoda...We plan to read the other novels next.)
Today we listened to the first few pages and checked out Google Earth as Carter and his dad raced around London. Have you ever been reading in front of a computer and used the internet to help you better understand the plot. I find myself doing that all the time. Using Google Earth or some other map program is a great way to find out more about a setting.
Because The Red Pyramid is about Egyptian Gods we thought we would enjoy some Mediterranean fare to end the meeting. Check out our video where we try some whole wheat pita bread and hummus.
I am personally about 50 pages in and loving this new novel. The jokes are fun and the little teases that connect this novel to the Percy Jackson series are great. We have to stay in Brooklyn there are other gods in Manhattan and we need to stay away is a great line.
So read along with us and let us know what you think.
Here's a question to get you into the novel. The chapter titles are very interesting...What chapter title is most interesting to you? What do you think that? Hit that comment button and let us know what you think.
Read on,
Mr. H
Hello Readers,
What a great way to title a long overdue blog post! Nothing like comparing reading to an attack to get guys interested.
We here at SMS Guys Read are in fact preparing to jump into another group read. We have aquired seven brand new copies of The Red Pyramid via Mr. H's Scholastic book order bonus point bank.
The way I see it we will begin reading the book tomorrow and have members comment here as they read. Anyone out there who has also read the book is welcome to comment along with us. If you have not read the book already, please join us.
Member in good standing (and anchor for our champion Battle of the Books team) Sean has already read The Red Pyramid and left a great comment to get us going...
THE BOOK WAS AWESOME! For those who have already read the book, I thought that the funniest part was with the "magic salsa" and ------- turning into a cow. (no spoilers for those who haven't read the book!)
-Sean L.
So have you read The Red Pyramid? Do you plan to? Do you want to join us for some commenting?
Join us starting tomorrow as we attack Riordan's new series.
Read on,
Mr. H
Hello Readers,
What a great way to title a long overdue blog post! Nothing like comparing reading to an attack to get guys interested.
We here at SMS Guys Read are in fact preparing to jump into another group read. We have aquired seven brand new copies of The Red Pyramid via Mr. H's Scholastic book order bonus point bank.
The way I see it we will begin reading the book tomorrow and have members comment here as they read. Anyone out there who has also read the book is welcome to comment along with us. If you have not read the book already, please join us.
Member in good standing (and anchor for our champion Battle of the Books team) Sean has already read The Red Pyramid and left a great comment to get us going...
THE BOOK WAS AWESOME! For those who have already read the book, I thought that the funniest part was with the "magic salsa" and ------- turning into a cow. (no spoilers for those who haven't read the book!)
-Sean L.
So have you read The Red Pyramid? Do you plan to? Do you want to join us for some commenting?
Join us starting tomorrow as we attack Riordan's new series.
Read on,
Mr. H
Hey Readers,
We have had a few snags getting back on a schedule after tracking back in, but we will be meeting again soon. Please join us on Tuesday, May 25. Same times, but this time we meet in my new room, 2415.
The plan is to read Rick Riordan's new novel, The Red Pyramidtogether. I have a few copies coming from a book order, but if you can get a copy from the library or book store before the 25th that would be great. Feel free to start reading if you can get a book.
I also found a cool puzzle site that goes along with the book, so give it a look and we can start solving at our next meeting.
Read On,
Mr. H
Hey Readers,
We have had a few snags getting back on a schedule after tracking back in, but we will be meeting again soon. Please join us on Tuesday, May 25. Same times, but this time we meet in my new room, 2415.
The plan is to read Rick Riordan's new novel, The Red Pyramidtogether. I have a few copies coming from a book order, but if you can get a copy from the library or book store before the 25th that would be great. Feel free to start reading if you can get a book.
I also found a cool puzzle site that goes along with the book, so give it a look and we can start solving at our next meeting.
Read On,
Mr. H
Dear Readers,
Today I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the books I have read so far this year. For Christmas my wife gave me a wonderful little set of blank journals that I promptly set aside and earmarked for journals to keep track of my reading. I generally keep a genre pie graph at school that I keep track of the books I have finished and then share with my students, but as I am not teaching language arts this year I decided to start this reading journal at home, though I have shared it with both the guys in the SMS Guys Read club and my general students. I really like the idea of having a nice leather bound book that has a record of my reading. I intend on keeping this little book going for as long as it has paper to write in. So far I have used two and a half pages, so I have a long way to go.
Here is the list starting in January of 2010...
January
- Swindle by Gordon Korman (Audio book)
- Toro! Toro! by Michael Morpurgo
- Zoobreak by Gordon Korman (Audio book)
February
- 2010 by Arthur C. Clarke (finished Feb. 2)
- Going Bovine by Libba Bray (finished Feb. 4)
- In Too Deep (Book 6 in The 39 Clues) by Jude Watson (Audio book, finished Feb. 9)
- Tangerine by Edward Bloor (Audio book, finished Feb. 16)
- The Viper's Nest (Book 7 in the 39 Clues) by Peter Lerangis (finished Feb. 23)
- Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Audio book, finished Feb. 25)
March
- Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (finished Mar. 2)
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Audio book, finished Mar. 8)
- I Am A Genius Of Unspeakable Evil and I want To Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb (finished Mar. 15)
- Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Audio book, finished Mar. 22)
- The Booklyn Nine by Alan Gratz (finished Mar. 23)
- The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle (finished Mar. 25)
April
- The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan (finished Apr. 7)
- The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick (finished April 7)
So do you have thoughts on my list? You will probably notice I have denoted if the book was an audio book or paper book and in February I started keeping track of the day I finished the book.
I was a bit surprised at how balanced the list seems to be. I have always considered myself a slow reader and that is one of the reasons I got into audio books, I could get through more books. But as I look over the list I noticed that I have seven audio books and ten paper books. That actually surprised me as I would have guessed that I would have had more audio books. To be completely fair some of the paper books were pretty short picture style books, The Rabbits only takes about five minutes to read and The Giggler Treatment I had done in about 30 minutes, so the list is quite balanced.
I seem to have this argument from time to time about audio books, I am reading when I listen to the story in the car? Most of the guys in SMS Guys Read say I am not reading. My daughter also says that I am just listening to the story, not reading it. I had said initially that I was reading the story as I knew the plot and what had happened just like I had read the paper book, but I am starting to cave into the pressure and now I feel like a better explanation of what I am doing is having the book read to me.
So does that cause controversy? Can we agree that I am having books read to me? You have been very shy about commenting of late, I don't think we have had a comment since the end of March. Don't be shy we won't bite, I might even respond to you dire
Dear Readers,
Today I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the books I have read so far this year. For Christmas my wife gave me a wonderful little set of blank journals that I promptly set aside and earmarked for journals to keep track of my reading. I generally keep a genre pie graph at school that I keep track of the books I have finished and then share with my students, but as I am not teaching language arts this year I decided to start this reading journal at home, though I have shared it with both the guys in the SMS Guys Read club and my general students. I really like the idea of having a nice leather bound book that has a record of my reading. I intend on keeping this little book going for as long as it has paper to write in. So far I have used two and a half pages, so I have a long way to go.
Here is the list starting in January of 2010...
January
- Swindle by Gordon Korman (Audio book)
- Toro! Toro! by Michael Morpurgo
- Zoobreak by Gordon Korman (Audio book)
February
- 2010 by Arthur C. Clarke (finished Feb. 2)
- Going Bovine by Libba Bray (finished Feb. 4)
- In Too Deep (Book 6 in The 39 Clues) by Jude Watson (Audio book, finished Feb. 9)
- Tangerine by Edward Bloor (Audio book, finished Feb. 16)
- The Viper's Nest (Book 7 in the 39 Clues) by Peter Lerangis (finished Feb. 23)
- Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Audio book, finished Feb. 25)
March
- Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (finished Mar. 2)
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Audio book, finished Mar. 8)
- I Am A Genius Of Unspeakable Evil and I want To Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb (finished Mar. 15)
- Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Audio book, finished Mar. 22)
- The Booklyn Nine by Alan Gratz (finished Mar. 23)
- The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle (finished Mar. 25)
April
- The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan (finished Apr. 7)
- The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick (finished April 7)
So do you have thoughts on my list? You will probably notice I have denoted if the book was an audio book or paper book and in February I started keeping track of the day I finished the book.
I was a bit surprised at how balanced the list seems to be. I have always considered myself a slow reader and that is one of the reasons I got into audio books, I could get through more books. But as I look over the list I noticed that I have seven audio books and ten paper books. That actually surprised me as I would have guessed that I would have had more audio books. To be completely fair some of the paper books were pretty short picture style books, The Rabbits only takes about five minutes to read and The Giggler Treatment I had done in about 30 minutes, so the list is quite balanced.
I seem to have this argument from time to time about audio books, I am reading when I listen to the story in the car? Most of the guys in SMS Guys Read say I am not reading. My daughter also says that I am just listening to the story, not reading it. I had said initially that I was reading the story as I knew the plot and what had happened just like I had read the paper book, but I am starting to cave into the pressure and now I feel like a better explanation of what I am doing is having the book read to me.
So does that cause controversy? Can we agree that I am having books read to me? You have been very shy about commenting of late, I don't think we have had a comment since the end of March. Don't be shy we won
Dear Readers,
Happy Monday, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. The weather in our part of the world has been fantastic.
Today I thought I would write a little about my initial feelings about the book A Whole Nother Story and then compare it to a few titles that it makes me think of.
I am 55 pages into A Whole Nother Story and let me tell you it is a whole nother kind of book. The book opens with a quote that very much interested me..."The pen is mightier than the sword, though both can ruin a good shirt." Great quote, right? I thought it interesting as we made some SMS Guys Read shirts a few years ago with the following quote printed on the back...
(sorry about the wrinkles, I had to rescue it from the the dirty clothes basket for this picture)
Each chapter of this funny and strange book begins with a page of unsolicited advice. The advice is silly, but can be useful. The advice on tattoos is spot on. The story is about three siblings, who are relatively odor free, and their inventor father. At this early part of the story things are still being revealed to me, but I have that the family is always on the run, because the dad has invented things that government agencies and baddies would all like to posses. I also know that the mom was a great lady and she is gone. I'm not sure where yet, but it could be a tragic situation.
The story is good so far. I call it silly not always laugh out loud funny, but worth the read time. As for titles it makes me think of a few books have popped into my head. I would compare it to MT Anderson's Jasper Dash trilogy, starting with Whales On Stilts. It also has an air of The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. The Benedict Society is not a humerus book, like this one, but the way the mysteries are playing out is very similar.
If you are looking for that laugh out loud, spit Coke out your nose kind of book than we always recommend Science Fair by Dave Barry and Ridley Pierson.
So go grab a silly book and get reading...I'm off to continue my time with A Whole Nother Story.
Read On,
Mr. H
Dear Readers,
Happy Monday, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. The weather in our part of the world has been fantastic.
Today I thought I would write a little about my initial feelings about the book A Whole Nother Story and then compare it to a few titles that it makes me think of.
I am 55 pages into A Whole Nother Story and let me tell you it is a whole nother kind of book. The book opens with a quote that very much interested me..."The pen is mightier than the sword, though both can ruin a good shirt." Great quote, right? I thought it interesting as we made some SMS Guys Read shirts a few years ago with the following quote printed on the back...
(sorry about the wrinkles, I had to rescue it from the the dirty clothes basket for this picture)
Each chapter of this funny and strange book begins with a page of unsolicited advice. The advice is silly, but can be useful. The advice on tattoos is spot on. The story is about three siblings, who are relatively odor free, and their inventor father. At this early part of the story things are still being revealed to me, but I have that the family is always on the run, because the dad has invented things that government agencies and baddies would all like to posses. I also know that the mom was a great lady and she is gone. I'm not sure where yet, but it could be a tragic situation.
The story is good so far. I call it silly not always laugh out loud funny, but worth the read time. As for titles it makes me think of a few books have popped into my head. I would compare it to MT Anderson's Jasper Dash trilogy, starting with Whales On Stilts. It also has an air of The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. The Benedict Society is not a humerus book, like this one, but the way the mysteries are playing out is very similar.
If you are looking for that laugh out loud, spit Coke out your nose kind of book than we always recommend Science Fair by Dave Barry and Ridley Pierson.
So go grab a silly book and get reading...I'm off to continue my time with A Whole Nother Story.
Read On,
Mr. H
Dear Readers,
Yesterday I finished The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg and like I thought it ended in a fairly predictible way, that honestly wasn't all that exciting. Homer and his brother Harold do live through the Battle of Gettysburg, so that is something I suppose.
Now I find myself in that wonderful and vexing place of having just finished a book and needing a new book to read. For me having a new book to read is no problem I have piles of books I want to read, I just can't get to them all. I do know what I plan to read next, I have A Whole Nother Story on reserve in the local library and plan to pick it up this afternoon, but for the rest of this blog entry I thought I would talk a bit about some of the books and authors waiting paitently in my To Read piles...
If you liked our Books and Basktball Champion, Leviathan than here are a few other Steampunk books worth a look...
Recently I read a review of Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve. I knew Reeve from the fantastic Larklight novel. I also knew about his Mortal Engines series, but never really gave them a shot. After reading the review of Fever Crumb which comes in as a prequel to the Mortal Engines series I was draw back into his world of cities that can move and eat other smaller cities. To me this is such an interesting, challenging idea that I want to give this series, along with the other stories in the Larklight series another look.
If Reeve isn't your thing how about another English writer, this time Joshua Mowll, who wrote Operation Red Jericho and the Guild Triology. This series boarders on Steampunk, but really is just a great adventure in the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea vain. I have only read Operation Red Jericho, so the other two books in the series wait for me.
So there you go, a few series to keep you Speampunk lips moving. I am off to read some Dr. Cuthburt Soup. I plan to write a little about books that remind me of A Whole Nother Story Next, so stay tuned.
Read On,
Mr. H
Dear Readers,
Yesterday I finished The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg and like I thought it ended in a fairly predictible way, that honestly wasn't all that exciting. Homer and his brother Harold do live through the Battle of Gettysburg, so that is something I suppose.
Now I find myself in that wonderful and vexing place of having just finished a book and needing a new book to read. For me having a new book to read is no problem I have piles of books I want to read, I just can't get to them all. I do know what I plan to read next, I have A Whole Nother Story on reserve in the local library and plan to pick it up this afternoon, but for the rest of this blog entry I thought I would talk a bit about some of the books and authors waiting paitently in my To Read piles...
If you liked our Books and Basktball Champion, Leviathan than here are a few other Steampunk books worth a look...
Recently I read a review of Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve. I knew Reeve from the fantastic Larklight novel. I also knew about his Mortal Engines series, but never really gave them a shot. After reading the review of Fever Crumb which comes in as a prequel to the Mortal Engines series I was draw back into his world of cities that can move and eat other smaller cities. To me this is such an interesting, challenging idea that I want to give this series, along with the other stories in the Larklight series another look.
If Reeve isn't your thing how about another English writer, this time Joshua Mowll, who wrote Operation Red Jericho and the Guild Triology. This series boarders on Steampunk, but really is just a great adventure in the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea vain. I have only read Operation Red Jericho, so the other two books in the series wait for me.
So there you go, a few series to keep you Speampunk lips moving. I am off to read some Dr. Cuthburt Soup. I plan to write a little about books that remind me of A Whole Nother Story Next, so stay tuned.
Read On,
Mr. H
Dear Readers,
I am now finally ready to start my review and update of my current book, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. I teased you with a review a few days ago and then the Books and Basketball finals stole my time, but I am now ready, so here goes...
The historical fiction novel, ...Homer P. Figg was written by Rodman Philbrick of Freak the Mighty fame. I am currently on chapter 30 of a 36 chapter book. That means I am approaching the climax and look forward to see how Mr. Philbrick brings this little adventure to a close.
The story opens with Homer and his brother, Harold, living a pretty dreary life. Their parents are dead and they have been in the charge of a mean old uncle who makes them live in the barn and never gives them quite enough to eat. After an altercation with Uncle Squint Harold is sold into the Union army. Harold is underage for military service, but a behind the back deal puts him into the Maine regiment heading south.
Homer decides that this is his last straw and he runs away with the wonderfully named Bob the horse to find and rescue his brother from the war. From there young Homer meets up with a pair of slave hunters, a Quaker abolitionist, a naive minister in training, crooks, traveling road shows and even a giant balloon named Tilda.
It has been a wild ride for Homer and at this point he is up in the air, out of control in a giant balloon. I have a feeling all is going to work out in the end, but I believe it will be a fun climax and ending.
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg is a good little book that will help young readers learn a little about the USA during the Civil War and tells a funny story. If you like historical fiction, silly adventures or have ever been known to stretch the true just a hair then I recommend The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick.
Read On,
Mr. H
Dear Readers,
I am now finally ready to start my review and update of my current book, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. I teased you with a review a few days ago and then the Books and Basketball finals stole my time, but I am now ready, so here goes...
The historical fiction novel, ...Homer P. Figg was written by Rodman Philbrick of Freak the Mighty fame. I am currently on chapter 30 of a 36 chapter book. That means I am approaching the climax and look forward to see how Mr. Philbrick brings this little adventure to a close.
The story opens with Homer and his brother, Harold, living a pretty dreary life. Their parents are dead and they have been in the charge of a mean old uncle who makes them live in the barn and never gives them quite enough to eat. After an altercation with Uncle Squint Harold is sold into the Union army. Harold is underage for military service, but a behind the back deal puts him into the Maine regiment heading south.
Homer decides that this is his last straw and he runs away with the wonderfully named Bob the horse to find and rescue his brother from the war. From there young Homer meets up with a pair of slave hunters, a Quaker abolitionist, a naive minister in training, crooks, traveling road shows and even a giant balloon named Tilda.
It has been a wild ride for Homer and at this point he is up in the air, out of control in a giant balloon. I have a feeling all is going to work out in the end, but I believe it will be a fun climax and ending.
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg is a good little book that will help young readers learn a little about the USA during the Civil War and tells a funny story. If you like historical fiction, silly adventures or have ever been known to stretch the true just a hair then I recommend The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick.
Read On,
Mr. H
Dear Readers,
Did you get a chance to see the nail-biter of a basketball game last night, or did you like me just catch the highlights on Sportscenter this morning? I almost feel bad that I went off to read and bed when the game was 13-12 A Whole Nother Story (Butler). I guess I thought that Leviathan would roll on like they have in the past.
And so we have a winner... a big congratulations to Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. It was a hard fought win and a challenging tournament. If you have never read Leviathan please do all of us here at SMS Guys Read a favor and check it out. We loved the book and anxiously await the follow-up know as Behemoth. I know Westerfeld is working on it right now.
If you have read Leviathan like most of us in the club you can do one of two things. We always said that we would read the winning book or read something by the winning author, that means you can read another Scott Westerfeld book or you can give the runner up a try. A Whole Nother Story came just inches away from knocking the mighty Leviathan out of first place, so maybe it deserves a look?
I hope you have enjoyed the Books and Basketball Championship. I know I have a new respect for the tournament and can't wait for next year and a new bunch of books. Did you hear that the NCAA is planning to expand the field to 96 teams? We might need some reader help next year to find 96 worthy books.
Read On,
Mr. H
PS. If you read yesterday's post about me writing while my daughter is writing, then you will have to check back in tomorrow for an update and review of The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg as I only have 2:49 until DEAR time starts. Check back in tomorrow.
Dear Readers,
Did you get a chance to see the nail-biter of a basketball game last night, or did you like me just catch the highlights on Sportscenter this morning? I almost feel bad that I went off to read and bed when the game was 13-12 A Whole Nother Story (Butler). I guess I thought that Leviathan would roll on like they have in the past.
And so we have a winner... a big congratulations to Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. It was a hard fought win and a challenging tournament. If you have never read Leviathan please do all of us here at SMS Guys Read a favor and check it out. We loved the book and anxiously await the follow-up know as Behemoth. I know Westerfeld is working on it right now.
If you have read Leviathan like most of us in the club you can do one of two things. We always said that we would read the winning book or read something by the winning author, that means you can read another Scott Westerfeld book or you can give the runner up a try. A Whole Nother Story came just inches away from knocking the mighty Leviathan out of first place, so maybe it deserves a look?
I hope you have enjoyed the Books and Basketball Championship. I know I have a new respect for the tournament and can't wait for next year and a new bunch of books. Did you hear that the NCAA is planning to expand the field to 96 teams? We might need some reader help next year to find 96 worthy books.
Read On,
Mr. H
PS. If you read yesterday's post about me writing while my daughter is writing, then you will have to check back in tomorrow for an update and review of The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg as I only have 2:49 until DEAR time starts. Check back in tomorrow.
Dear Readers,
So I'm tracked out right now, for those of you not familiar with the year-round model of schooling, that means I am on one of my four yearly three week breaks. Now I am faced with an interesting challenge. My Kindergarten daughter is also a year-rounder and for her time off she has been asked to keep a track-out journal. We have decided that as her little brother takes his afternoon nap she and I would write, read and play games. I wondered what I would write as she was doing her journal and then our trusty SMS Guys Read blog jumped to the front of the list. I have been having a great time writing about the Books and Basketball Tournament, but as that ends this evening I am faced with time to write and the question of what to write about.
Today I will take up the question "What are you reading right now?"
Over track outs I always bring home a bag of books, hit the libraries and just plain pile to books up next to my desk. I am like a kid in the candy store with eyes way to big for my stomach. I'm never quite sure how to pick the next book, with so many great titles to choose from. The book I just finished was The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz. Mr. Gratz came to our school a few years ago and since then I have been a big fan and follower. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but his story about a family in love with baseball over the generations made me want to watch some of our national pastime. It truly is an interesting story, both from a sport point of view and a historical point of view. After I finished I passed it on to my New Yorker Mother in Law who has been eating it up as well.
After The Brooklyn Nine I took on another historical fiction novel this time...The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Well, the buzzer just went off and I guess you will have to tune in next time for my take on Homer P. Figg's adventures.
Read On,
Mr. H
Dear Readers,
So I'm tracked out right now, for those of you not familiar with the year-round model of schooling, that means I am on one of my four yearly three week breaks. Now I am faced with an interesting challenge. My Kindergarten daughter is also a year-rounder and for her time off she has been asked to keep a track-out journal. We have decided that as her little brother takes his afternoon nap she and I would write, read and play games. I wondered what I would write as she was doing her journal and then our trusty SMS Guys Read blog jumped to the front of the list. I have been having a great time writing about the Books and Basketball Tournament, but as that ends this evening I am faced with time to write and the question of what to write about.
Today I will take up the question "What are you reading right now?"
Over track outs I always bring home a bag of books, hit the libraries and just plain pile to books up next to my desk. I am like a kid in the candy store with eyes way to big for my stomach. I'm never quite sure how to pick the next book, with so many great titles to choose from. The book I just finished was The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz. Mr. Gratz came to our school a few years ago and since then I have been a big fan and follower. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but his story about a family in love with baseball over the generations made me want to watch some of our national pastime. It truly is an interesting story, both from a sport point of view and a historical point of view. After I finished I passed it on to my New Yorker Mother in Law who has been eating it up as well.
After The Brooklyn Nine I took on another historical fiction novel this time...The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Well, the buzzer just went off and I guess you will have to tune in next time for my take on Homer P. Figg's adventures.
Read On,
Mr. H
Dear Readers,
I hope you enjoyed the Final Four. It seemed like the first game that pitted the two #5 seeds of A Whole Nother Story (Butler) and The Schwa Was Here (Michigan State) was the better of the two games. A pressured game to the very end with A Whole Nother Story coming out on top. I don't know if you can call a #5 seed a Cinderella team, but I love that a book not many people have heard off has made it through to the finals. I have to say that I have yet to read A Whole Nother Story, but either way the next game goes I will be putting it on the top of my reading list.
In the late game Leviathan (Duke) must have channeled their inner clankers as they just drubbed Science Fair (West Virginia).
VS.
So now we have the finals set. Who are you pulling for? Do you like the young upstart of A Whole Nother Story, or do you like the massive Leviathan? Hit that comment button and let us know what you are thinking.
Read On,
Mr. H
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