Happy Birthday

Because I am a man that keeps my word...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!!!

I sat down this weekend to figure out possible summer reading for incoming 8th graders and my mind started to drift back to my days as a student and what summer meant for me. I clearly remember one of the greatest summer experiences for me was our weekly trips to the public library. My mom would pack all four of us into the van and head for the Plumb Memorial Library. Once there we would spend close to an hour picking out books and sitting down and doing some reading while everybody else picked out their reading for the week. When we got back home we would sit around the pool or hang out in the family room reading for the rest of the day. I think these summer trips helped me become a lifelong reader and probably a better student. I would love to hear how people incorporate reading into their summer vacation and I would love to hear about your plans as a reader and writer this summer as well. I will say that I plan on reading the biographies of Grover Cleveland and James Madison. I am also going to write 3 new stories this summer as well.

Troy

I am going to leave this post up all summer so that anyone reading Troy or anyone who has read the book will be able to share ideas and ask questions back and forth. Remember, my advice BEFORE reading the novel is to do some pre-reading on Greek mythology. Learn a little bit about the gods and goddesses and how they "play" with the mortal world. Next, do a little research on the Trojan War, you don't need to read the Iliad or anything crazy, but do some google searches and wikipedia searches on the Trojan War and its big players. Doing this prepwork will make the story of Troy more understandable and ultimately more enjoyable.