Read Something Fun This Week!

By Stacey Anter
The Library Detective

With more sunny days to come, it is finally time to sit out on your deck, on your beach chair at the just-opened beaches, or at the park with a good book and enjoy the sunshine. This week is the perfect week for celebrating National Reading Is Fun Week and National Children’s Book Week. Summer Reading is just around the corner and it’s important to show our kids that reading can be fun.  If you’re stuck for a good read, check your library for suggestions. Sometimes they have flyers and bookmarks with suggestions if you like a certain author, or novel, or even a television series. Perhaps you might want to join us for our monthly Book Discussion Group? The next meeting is in the Town Council Chambers on May 19th at 1pm, and they are reading Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.

This week brings us National Children’s Book Week and this month is also Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month (5/15-6/15), so I would like to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. I just heard about the next installment of the Michael Vey series and I am so excited because this is a great series that not too many people know about. Michael Vey (book 4): Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans will be released on September 14, 2014.  The main character, Michael Vey, has Tourette syndrome, but he also has something else: the power of electricity. He can shock people like a human stun gun, and he finds out that there are others like him with varying electrical powers. Michael also finds out that an evil faction called The Elgen, headed by a man named Hatch are after these “electric children.”  Michael and his friends, known as the Electroclan, set out on adventures in search for Michael’s kidnapped mother and for the ever-unwinding mystery surrounding Hatch and his evil plans. They show that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and that even heroes have doubts, but with support of friends, even unlikely ones, we can get through the toughest of times. What I love about this series is that it emphasizes important values not seen in too many novels: the importance of friends, family, faith. It is a wonderful adventure series that keeps you on the edge of your seat. For more information, visit http://www.michaelvey.com, and for information on Tourette syndrome, visit http://tsa-usa.org/  Side note, did you know that author Richard Paul Evans has Tourette syndrome?  If you want to read my original post discussing the Michael Vey series, visit my blog here:

The Michael Vey website also has resources for homeschoolers as well as classroom teachers, and this helps me segue into Home Schooling Awareness Month. (Home Schooling Awareness Month http://homeschoolingawarenessmonth.com/ ) Reasons for home schooling vary greatly, but there are many benefits, one of which is the absence of bullying -- bullying is a growing concern in schools (and elsewhere) nowadays. The overcrowding in classrooms is another factor to consider home schooling. Kids can get more one-on-one attention which can make a difference when your child is struggling with a particular concept or subject. It also allows for flexibility, so if your child wants to learn to play guitar or learn Irish dance, you can fit that in whenever it is convenient. There are home schooling groups in every community, so your child will have a chance to socialize and learn interpersonal skills just like kids in the public school, only they will learn to relate to people of all ages. Home schooled kids also learn in closer context to real life, compared to a classroom. Home schooled kids, according to home schooling blog HeFillsMyCup, “have a strong sense of self, a good work ethic, and less sense of entitlement.” Most importantly, it gives parents more control over their child’s education. For more information visit these websites and check out the resources at your local library: Home Schooling Defense Advocates http://www.hslda.org/ ; Home Schooling in RI http://www.homeschoolinginrhodeisland.com/ ; Rhode Island Guild of Home Teachers http://www.rihomeschool.com/

I call myself the Library Detective because I can find the answers to any question you can think of, or at least I can point you in the right direction.  To find out more about reading, children’s books, Tourette syndrome, or home schooling, visit your local library; there are more Library Detectives there, too.