I managed to get to the library this week and even had time to read the books! Shattered would be a great book to launch discussion of many societal issues. With a 15-year-old priviledged boy as the main character we are taken into a world of street people. He learns about mental illness, alcoholism, the genocide in Rwanda, post-traumatic stress syndrome, and the "Disappeared" in Guatemala. Above all there is the question of what it takes to make a difference in the lives of people who struggle with these issues personally.

The other book that I read was Terror at Turtle Mountain. The Frank Slide was always a stop when we travelled West as a family when I was a child. My Dad had a particular interest in the story. I didn't realize there were so many survivors of the slide. I plan to research some of the references in the considerable bibliograpy during the next week.

Busy Week Again!

Hi Everyone!

Once again I am late getting at this. I am looking forward to getting some reading done this week though. I ordered a couple of the books from the library and got a call that they are in but I was too late getting back to town to pick them up on Friday. Hopefully I make it on Tuesday.

One of the books I ordered was "Shattered" by Eric Walters. I read a couple of his books this summer, "Camp X" and "Royal Ransom", and really enjoyed them. In general, I like books written for middle years because I can get lost for a couple of hours and get the whole story. I certainly would recommend Eric Walters' work for middle years boys in particular.