From India.

We can no longer afford to remain unfamiliar with the lands far from us. Thomas Paine said: "the world is my country and all mankind are my brethren".

Well said, Mr. Paine. Books are a critical tool for us, then. Books will bring where we need to go.

So, when I ran across this list of recommended books set in India or are written about Indian teenagers, I thought I should share them.

Here is the most recent post taken from MashUp (a great blog about books for teens).

In recent years, there have been many books for young readers set in India or the Indian diaspora. Most notably is this year's Climbing the Stairs. Set during World War II amid the burgeoning Indian independence movement, this book offers a lot of detail about Indian history, while also telling the story of our heroine Vidya, who wants only to further her education, not to be married off.

A similar character is found in Kashmira Sheth's Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet, although this time the book is set in contemporary Mumbai. Jeeta also wants an education, rather than marriage, and it doesn't help that her dark skin makes her difficult to marry her off. This is a good immersion into contemporary Indian culture.

There are also several good books about the Indian diaspora. In the United States, 2.6 million people are of Indian descent. Born Confused is a wonderful portrayal of ethnicity and assimilation, set in suburban New York. Dimple just wants to be like the others in her suburban school,but when her blond best friend becomes infatuated with an Indian boy, Dimple discovers that being "cool" and being Indian aren't mutually exclusive.

There is a wonderful series of light books for girls set in England, starting with Bindi Babes. These books for middle-grade readers involve three Indian sisters who live with their father after the death of their mother, and their attempts to engineer the events in the adults of their lives.

Finally, an even lesser known story of India is that of the Indian population in East Africa, featured in Child of Dandelions. Here, Indians living in Uganda, even those who were Ugandan citizens are being asked to leave the country within 90 days. While hopelessly violent and sad, this book again features a strong heroine trying to keep her family together in frightening times.

Use books to embrace the world!

Keep reading folks,
-Stenson

A Whole New Mind.

I'm the teacher who tells her students to "shake off the lazies", so you know I'm kinda nerdy, HOWEVER, I hung out with some really cool people the past few days at the TIES 2008 Education Technology Conference.

I'll take the next few days to post some nuggets that need to be shared.

5. Recently, I decided to ask my kids to make a public service announcement about avoiding child labor in Pakistan (not tough to do for most of our Bloomington families, I know). I'm tempted to start that project over after finding this site on how to make effective PSA.

4. Do you Twitter? I don't, and I'm not sure I'll start. But at least I'll know what my kids are talking about. Middle school kids may or may not use Twitter, but I did overhear one of my students say that both his mom and his aunt do. I was eager to find out about it at this session. Here's the video presentation from the conference.

3. This is a really cool site. It's called Digital Vaults.

2. This is how to convert video so you can easily upload it to other documents and presentations. Zamar.com. Teachers can get access to YouTube these days, but this seems even easier. You can put the videos right in your Keynote/PowerPoint using this.

1. Searchme.com. It's like Google meets iTunes. You can actually SEE the site before you click on the URL. Love this. I saved the best for last as far as this list goes. The picture at the top is from this site.

Let me know if you have got other "must-haves". Stealing good ideas is what good teacher do, right?

Stay in touch, and if you are a 7th grader--Keep reading.
-Stenson

Joan Bauer's Peeled

I've seen a bunch of kids reading this book, and I'm excited to try it over winter break. Joan Bauer is a fun author whose books always have a little message of hope. Maybe you've read some of her others? Like Hope was Here or Squashed?

There's a cool video with the author on this site. Maybe it's a nerdy reading teacher thing, but I like seeing the authors who worte the books I've enjoyed, you know?

Try the video, look at the site, but mostly...consider the book. Peeled by Joan Bauer is in our media center!

Keep reading!
-Stenson