Paper Things

I picked up Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobson the other day at the library.  The story is told by eleven year old Ari.  She and her brother Gage lived with Janna as their guardian.  Gage is a nineteen year old who didn't want to live with Janna anymore, so Gage and Ari leave.  But Gage doesn't have a job or a place to live, so they depend on friends.  It seems like a realistic view of the difficulties of being homeless and trying to continue living a normal life.  This book would be good to read and discuss with middle school or high school students.  Though classified as juvenile literature, it is worth reading for anyone who works in a school system or with young people.   

quilt camp

Last week I went to an organized quilt camp for the first time.  My sister Amanda was the teacher for the weekend.  While many people had their own projects to work on, I decided to try making the pineapple block that she showed.  It was good that I was at a class or I may not have ever really figured it out.  I made six blocks, then realized I am going to need more cream/white fabric prints. 

So I made a few other things, including this placemat that uses Good Neighbors fabric from Connecting Threads.  The back is some cute bunny fabric and scraps from my sister's stash.  When I finished, I decided that I liked the back better than the front. 

Firestorm!

Firestorm! by Joan Hiatt Harlow is a novel which takes place in Chicago the week before the well-known fire of 1871.  Poppy and Justin are about as different as can be but become good friends.   Twelve year old Poppy survives by stealing.  Justin is the son of a wealthy jeweler.  Justin's family, especially his father, do not trust Poppy and a mistake made by Justin just makes it worse.  This book is from the juvenile section of the library but I would not recommend it for younger children because of the themes of extreme poverty and mistreatment by adults.  It would bring up some good themes for older students to discuss among themselves or with adults, though.