I still haven't done my New Year's Resolution or Prediction post.  I did get around to looking at the predictions I made last year which was somewhat intriguing especially how I saw how the election playing out.  I'll get to posting it in a day or so.  Last night I didn't sleep because I was reading.  I am going through a list of books that have been banned by school districts and libraries across the United States.  Hard to imagine in a country of free speech that there would be banned books.  The first book on my list was The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo.    DiCamillo is currently a Minnesota resident and spoke at my college.  I enjoy her writing style although two of the three books I have read by her have dealt with the same topic.  I don't see why this book was banned. 
The next book on the list was The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen.  The book is about a Jewish girl who is apathetic to her family's struggles in the Holocaust and her own Jewish roots.  She ends up being transported back to 1940s Poland and then the concentration camps.  I found it hard to put this book down.  I could fully understand why this one might be banned.  It dealt with some mature themes and had graphic depictions of the concentration camps but how can you not be graphic with that topic.  I saw the Hallmark movie featuring Kirsten Dunst but that movie didn't do the book any justice. 
I then had a book called Killing Mr. Griffin.  It was written by Lois Duncan who has numerous books out including I Know What You Did Last Summer, the basis for that one movie.  Killing Mr. Griffin is about a group of students who plot to kill their English teacher because he is very difficult.  There were some funny lines in the book because it was written in 1978 which dealt with the students' plan to kill him.  "No one would suspect us because students never would kill their teacher."  My how things have changed!  It got me wondering if my students wanted me dead.  Well there was that one time when a 5th grader asked the DARE officer to shoot me with his taser because he wanted to see what would happen.  That scared me.  Then there was the kindergartener that almost strangled me when he started swinging with my necktie.  I am going to have to go to the movie rental joint because there is a adaptation of this book starring Saved by the Bell's Mario Lopez.
After I finished Killing Mr. Griffin last night, I had to start another book.  I took out Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes.  Chris Crutcher is the author.  I feel bad because I read this book straight through cover to cover in one sitting.  I understand why this one has been banned.  It has some harsh language, features themes of child abuse, abortion, eating disorders, and it does feature some interesting views on Christianity.  I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book.  I don't know if I could ever use it in a grade school but in a high school most definitely.  There is a movie adaptation in the works.  Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, besides being on banned lists, has made lists that claim this is one of the 100 most important books for teens.
Tonight, after this post, I plan on starting a book called David and Jonathan by Cynthia Voigt.  It sounds interesting so why not.

Well I need to get motivated to do my New Year's post.

Well I hope you found the motivation that you needed to make it through the week.