Friday Five

1. Midterms week.

Did I mention how flippin' hard teaching ninth grade is?  I totally bow in awe to any HS teachers out there.  This age is TOUGH.

My mom though thinks it's funny and reminds me karma has come back.  My teen years weren't the best and I had some serious 'tude.

But I can't even imagine what it would have been like if there were cells back in the later 70s/early 80s.

Now that 14 year old has his own cell?  He's texting all the time.  This is me when I 'interrupt him while texting a friend he just saw like a half of an hour or so:

Though to be fair when I was a teen?  It was calling friends and staying on the phone FOREVER.  At least with a cell you don't have to battle that long extension cord.  Remember those?

2. Been reading lots!

ALIVE:

This one at first had my attention with a girl who gets a heart transplant and the one 'new' guy that has her experience intense feelings that she has to be with him.  Then there were more than a few 'issues' that I had a hard time with and the ending was almost anti-climatic for me.  But that's just my opinion.


3.  FIFTEEN by Jen Estes

This one has an intriguing plot of a girl that can astral project by dreamwalking into her future and changing it.  The voice is very engaging and I found I couldn't put this story down!

4.  PAINT MY BODY RED by Heidi Kling

What can I say?  I love Kling's writing and so far this contemporary tale of a girl with a secret being sent back to her dad's ranch in Wyoming is very gripping.  There's also some sensitive issues addressed such as suicide that really make this a must read of 2015!

YA Books Central review coming soon!

Plus, I'll be hosting Heidi on Twitter next Wednesday at 8pm EST!

4. ARIEL by Sylvia Plath

Revisiting this poet for my NaNo project.  My protagonist is seventeen-year-old Angelina 'Angie' who life is shattered after the brutal murder of her brother.  Her way of coping with the pain and loss is reading Plath's work that speaks to her.  She also writes her own poetry.

5. MICE AND MEN

Reading this classic along with son.  Tragedy set in the depression with themes that still can apply today.

**Guilty Pleasure:

Told self that I can have one chocolate bar for Halloween and nothing else.  This time of year is really hard for me.  Once I start eating chocolate?  I can't stop.  Got to watch it as I have to do another round of blood work this next month.

This is me after binging on Halloween candy!  Ugh!