Chloe JonPaul

Alessandra struggles with her long name, but when she learns about the great-great grandmother she is named after, she begins to treasure her name and admire the struggles her great-great grandmother faced. The story is illustrated with Hutchins's warm and incredibly detailed watercolor and pastel paintings, giving us a taste of old country Italy and the more modern world in which our Alessandra lives. Activities for children are built into the book and include directions for making gnocchi and pizelles, food that Alessandra enjoys while visiting her grandmother. This book lends itself as a read-aloud story for children under 10 that grandparents will enjoy sharing with their grandchildren and that will spark many stories about past generations that came to the "land or opportunity."… (plus d'informations)

This Business Of Children is a fictional account of a group of teachers trying to stand up to the system.

Vera has arrived in her last year of teaching with few upsets and confrontations. She has been a good teacher over the years and has mixed emotions about her upcoming retirement. She expects the year will be pretty much the same as it has always been, catering to the school board system and their miles of red tape. After meeting Dee, and watching as she stands up for the school and the children, Vera comes to realize that taking the safe approach isn't always the best way.

Dee is a new teacher recently hired by the Blevins District School Board to bring her inner-city style of teaching to the students who are often truant, pregnant or many of the other misaligned societal standards of today's youth. She doesn't appreciate the way that Blevins runs its schools and makes a stand and brings attention to the bureaucracy of the school superintendents.

Mark, another teacher, is stuck in a loveless marriage and doing a job he believes he loathes. He is always scouring the newspapers in hopes of a better future. Dee and Mark become entwined in affairs of the heart and Mark begins to see his future in a different light.

Stu is the type of teacher that students giggle about. He is a closet homosexual who becomes distraught when those he loves most die. After his lover dies of AIDS, Stu must brave the accusations and be tested as per the governments instructions. He befriends Dee who is open to his plight and together they brave the decisions that will change everyone's lives forever!

Together these four share their lives, each fighting the odds, and work to bring a solution to the growing concern about their countries educational system.

I thought each of the characters found within the pages was believable and enjoyable to read. They all worked together to bring a cohesive front to the plot and each of their tales was relative to the story. I really enjoyed reading the character of Dee, she is very ballsy and most definitely has moxey! She brought a life to the story that may have otherwise suffered.

The red tape of the school bureaucracy really made me livid. It is no wonder that children behave as they do when time and again they see very few fighting for their worth. Another reason why I enjoyed Dee so much, she genuinely cared about those around her, even when she was unsure of herself. You couldn't help but feel for teachers and the true nature of the forces they have to work and survive in.

Teachers and education should be the backbone of everyone and everything, for it is from learning we all survive, and when the educational system is attacked and unattended, the children are the ones who suffer. It was not long ago that only the rich and the theologians were given the opportunity to learn, something many have forgotten in the past fifty years.

This is a book that will grip you and allow you to realize that something is definitely wrong with the educational system of today and the red tape involved is mind boggling. It will make you wonder where we have gone wrong and give you a reverence for teaching and the teachers who take the time to ensure we learn.… (plus d'informations)

The first quality the reader will notice about this novel is the characters. It is extremely easy to connect with them. The reader may not necessarily agree with their decisions and/or actions one hundred percent, but the reader and the characters will come to some sort of friendship. The novel is very interesting, covering a wide array of topics differing from character to character. The novel is a quick read, the reader won't be listlessly turning pages. The reader will enjoy finding that one character out of a few, he/she really likes and reading about him/her. Just about every main character has some redeeming quality. The reader will enjoy finding the different nuances of each one. This book is great for adults who enjoy novels concerning friendship, trial and tribulations, prejudice, etc...… (plus d'informations)