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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

What I'm Reading Wednesday

A couple weeks ago CNN aired a special documentary marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.  One of the men featured, Martin Greenfield, survived Auschwitz as a child and is now one of the most popular suit makers/tailors, making suits for presidents, movie sets, and other well known leaders.

He wrote a memoir about his life growing up and how he became who he is today. I had to go out and buy it right away, and I was not disappointed.  Martin's book, Measure of a Man, is a great story about how people can overcome horrible situations and experiences.  Martin's story is inspiring, even though reading about his childhood is very sad. He has such appositive outlook on life, it is contagious!   If you like memoirs, holocaust history and inspirational stories you should read this book!

At school, I am reading the book Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson as my class read aloud right now.  This is the sequel to the book Chains (which we also read, and loved!).  Forge is a historical fiction novel set during the Revolutionary War and tells the tale of Curzon, a former slave/servant who escaped jail and joined the Patriot army to fight at Valley Forge.  American history is the main focus of our social studies curriculum and this book is a wonderful tie in to all the things we are reading and learning about in social studies.  The kids learn so much about day to day life, different perspectives, and what fighting for freedom was really like- things they wouldn't learn from just reading a textbook.  The story is a page turner and has the kids saying "nooooooo.....don't stop reading!" every day.  Even if you aren't studying American history I would strongly recommend this book as a strong work of historical fiction that includes internal and external conflict, a great plot, and strong characters.

What are you reading right now?  Any suggestions of good books I should add to my reading list?

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