Highlights:
Sub Job – My last sub job for the school year was on field day as the computer teacher. In the morning, I herded a first grade class around the field day activities. In the afternoon, I taught two computer lessons, then spent the rest of the afternoon reading shelves in the media center. What’s reading a shelf? Apparently, it means looking at each and every non-fiction book on a shelf and making sure they’re in the correct Dewy Decimal order.  I love sub jobs with so much variety: a little running around, a little teaching, a little quiet work.  It makes the time fly by.

Vacation– We took 7 kids (2 of them ours) camping at Assateague Island and had a great time as usual.

Fiction Books Finished:

(The) London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd (****) – An excellent middle grade mystery about a boy with Asperger’s Syndrome trying to figure out how his cousin simply disappeared on the London Eye (that big ferris wheel on the Thames.) I liked that the mystery was both a tense situation that held my attention, but also a case that older children could realistically solve in real life. (For ages 9 and up)

Sloppy Firsts, by Megan McCafferty (**** 1/2) – This is one of the best young adult chick-lit type books I’ve read. Jessica Darling’s best friend Hope moved away and now Jessica is forced to endure high school without the one person in the world who understands her. Instead she’s left with the friendship of "the clueless crew", a set of girls she’s out grown but can’t seem to part with either. Jessica’s wit and sensitivity make this story of high school truthful, funny, and especially insightful. (For ages 14 and up)
[Parent note: There is cursing, sexual innuendo, and drinking — though with consequences. Also, parents should know this is the first book in a series of five. I’ve only read this first book, but I hear the last three books take place after high school and are more mature in nature.]

Three to Get Deadly and Four to Score, both by Janet Evanovich (***) – The Stephanie Plum bounty hunter series is like a bag of potato chips for me. Sure, it’s not the best ever, but it satisfies my craving for something fun, and I can’t seem to stop at just one, or three, or…