Poetry Month Preview: Found Poem

April is National Poetry Month, and as such, I am giving all of my darling students the privilege of creating a poetry notebook for my class. One of the poems the eleventh graders will be doing is called a found poem. I am not usually that enthusiastic about this particular form of poetry - it always seemed a bit like plagiarism to me - but I finally created one that works. For me, at least. Oh, and since I didn't have room for this on the slide, the prose from which this poem is created comes from Orson Scott Card's classic Ender's Game, pp. 262-263. If you haven't read it yet, you ought to.

Wee Free Men

Pratchett, Terry. Wee Free Men. 2003

This has got to be one of the funniest books I have read in a long time. It is spring break here at Harvest, and my brain was ready for a spring break book. This book, the first in a trilogy and one of over thirty books written by Terry Pratchett, was just what I needed.

Tiffany, the story's protagonist, has to rescue her little brother after he is kidnapped by the Queen. She is accompanied on this journey by the Nac Mack Feegle, a group of blue-skinned, red-haired pictsies who are fiercely loyal to her and willing to battle anyone and anything that gets in her way.

This book, along with the two following it (A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith) was well worth the time spent reading. It's too bad there aren't any of Pratchett's books available at the library or Bestseller. I will definitely be heading to the library (and Barnes&Noble) once I touch down in North America.

The Shack

I have been meaning to read this book for quite some time. I heard so many people singing its praises, and equally as many people ready to ban and burn it. Having read this book, and working on my second time through, I can understand why people have truly appreciated and learned and grown from this book, and also why some people think it is blasphemous.

The author makes some very good points about forgiveness and love. The author also has some unusual beliefs about salvation and incarnation. Overall, the book was worth reading, but worth reading with ones eyes wide open.