Just finished !

I have been a lazy reader this summer ... I must admit. :(  We have been so busy visiting and still unpacking from the move in January.

HOWEVER, I think I have gotten my reading mojo back on track!

I finished in the wee hours this morning at 2 am Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews! LOVED IT!!! I loved the interpersonal relationships developed in this story - even the mean Step Mother-to-Be was great!!!

I fell in love with each character in this story for their own different qualities.

Pokey, the stay-at-home momma who is the sister to the Bayless brothers and best friends with the main character Annajane. She is a hoot, loyal and so loving.  

The crazy and wild Bayless brother Davis - well, who would not love having the good looking woman's man hanging around to keep everyone on their toes? 

Sophie, the sweet 5 year old that made me think of a cute pinkaliocious child who loved treasures she hoarded in her special purse . I just wanted to smooch her sweet curly blonde face!!

Sallie, the mother of the Bayless children ...well what can I say about her? Tough ... Southern Elegance ... Private! She had many different layers that were exposed throughout the story. Crazy old bird - you had to appreciate her - she surprised me!!

Mason, Total GQ! He was so handsome in my mind and so confused how he felt about the women in his life. Although, I must say he surprised me in his loyalty to family and tossed me a serious curve ball towards the end that I LOVED!!!

Annajane , is the perfect friend! I totally enjoyed her and felt my heart break as hers did page after page. She is a smart Southern woman and comes into her own in this story. She finds inner strength she didn't know she had and takes hold of her life. She blossoms and grows and reaches new levels!!!

Just when I think Mary Kay cannot top herself she goes ahead and does it!

Take a minute a check out Mary Kay Andrews and Spring Fever!

(Of course any of her books are simply amazing!!)

New Audio Books!

SYNC YA Literature into your headphones!!! Each week this summer SYNC is offering 2 new audio books for download until August 22, 2012.

Simply click the link above and you will head straight to the website for  your directions and downloads. How cool is that?? 

The website is full of information about YA Literature that is new and hot for teens , but I must admit .. I am secretly in love with YA Literature!!! I wish we had had authors like this when I was growing up! There is tons of new literature to feel thew minds of your youth today and I thank each and every author for this!!

So hop over to SYNC and download a book to listen to while you go for a quick run or lay around in the hammock in your back yard!!

Don't Forget!!!!

Don't forget to check out all the great summer activities at the branches of the 

Blackwater Regional Libraries!!!

www.blackwaterlib.org

Check their website - click on a branch, choose a  calendar and see what's happening!!

There is something for all ages - even the adults have a group!! :)

This is what I will be reading in 2 weeks!

The week after we get out of school - this is what I will be doing!!! 

Yes, you guessed it - READING!! 

One of my favorite authors Mary Kay Andrews is coming out with her next summer sensation on June 5th!!!

Annajane Hudgens truly believes she is over her ex-husband, Mason Bayless.  They’ve been divorced for four years, she’s engaged to a new, terrific guy, and she’s ready to leave the small town where she and Mason had so much history.  She is so over Mason that she has absolutely no problem attending his wedding to the beautiful, intelligent, delightful Celia.  But when fate intervenes and the wedding is called to a halt as the bride is literally walking down the aisle, Annajane begins to realize that maybe she’s been given a second chance.  Maybe everything happens for a reason.  And maybe, just maybe, she wants Mason back.  But there are secrets afoot in this small southern town.  On the peaceful surface of Hideaway Lake, Annajane discovers that the past is never really gone.  Even if there are people determined to keep Annajane from getting what she wants, happiness might be hers for the taking, and the life she once had with Mason in this sleepy lake town might be in her future.

So if you need a GREAT grown up book to read for yourself - here it is!!! 

I guarantee it will be rated a 5 star!!!

TOMORROW!!!!

Tomorrow.... we will be unveiling this year's 2012 Old Plank Yearbook which I had the privilege of over seeing and helping create!!

The students have worked hard and I am very proud of them. I am pretty sure it isn't mistake free, but it isn't because we didn't try.

I hope that you will all find as much pleasure reading this year's book as we have gotten in putting it together. We have tried to capture the essence of our school and the friends we hold dear to us.

Go Raiders!!!! :)

Summer Reading Kick Off

This past summer the students continued to amaze me with their love and enthusiasm for reading as they did all school year long.

With summer knocking at our doors yet again, we are ready to slide into summer vacation mode. Once again we invite and challenge you to fight that “summer slide” feeling.

Instead, count the minutes as you take off on a grand adventure, solve mysteries, travel the world or fight crime while turning page after page in your favorite books!

Join us in our “BOOK CAMP” reading log and tally up the minutes your child reads. Shade one block for every 10 minutes they read, sign the back cover at the end of summer, and send back to school on the first week back to school.

We want to see how many minutes we can read as a school this summer. Last summer we read 96,233 minutes together!

Are you ready to enlist?

Ready, set , READ !

-Mrs. Dilday

Pandemonium Strikes!

February 28, 2012 , the world of literature was turned upside down once again as the fear of the deliria struck !

Lauren Oliver's follow up book in her Delirium trilogy was released and we were faced with a much wanted and desired Pandemonium.

We find answers to questions we were left with in Delirium and found new ones that left us sitting on the edges of our futons!!

What will happen to Lena?

What is in store for her future in a world gone mad and scared of Love?

Find out Spring 2013 when the final installment of this fabulous tale of tragedy and love comes to an end.

(Don't forget her eBook only Hana - told from the view point for Len's best friend Hana.)

I fell in love with Lauren last spring when she came to visit our school. Her writing just leaves you wanting more. We were privileged to be able to swing down to Raleigh, NC and meet up with her at Quail Ridge Books for a delightful afternoon of a quick chat and book signing.

If you have not read any of her books - What are you waiting for? Run out to the library or download it quick! You will not be sorry that you spent an afternoon with this amazing author and her tales of life, love and adventure!!!

PS - She also has books for younger readers ... Liesl and Po and another one headed to press this Fall 2012! She also mentioned an Adult book that is in the works as well.