It is only February, but the first book that put me behind schedule to read 102 books this year was Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. It’s a classic. I had always intended on reading it. And when Lyddie referenced it over and over in my middle grades Language Arts class, I decided to embrace the…
Okay, okay, so I know there’s another memoir in this series. Written in 2005, Teacher Man picks up the story where ‘Tis leaves off in Frank McCourt’s life, and tells the story of the teacher who would become a writer. I don’t feel compelled to read this book, largely because it focuses in on teaching high school…
This was a tough read. I’m not the first to say that, and maybe not even the first person to begin their review with that exact sentence. And looking at the other reviews, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is fairly polarizing, even to people who like it (and they are minion). “It was well…
Another month, another read-aloud middle grades novel about nature, pets, and a boy coming of age. After the last few classics with their super sad endings, my son and I were both hoping for Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, to be more light-hearted. I wouldn’t call it light-hearted, but I would say you don’t have to…
I don’t actually starve. But the word “starving” is a whole other blog topic dedicated to the slang usages and relative versus absolute poverty. That said… When I was a little kid, I was often praised for my artistic abilities. They even stuck me in a special school for it, encouraged it. My parents drove…
(Before I begin, let me declare the inclusivity of the term “artist” which I am using here. I include all kinds of visual, performance, literary, and other artists, but speak more from the experience of the painter, crafter, and of course, writer.) The starving artist is such an iconic personage in our history that it…
the starving artist 