Gimme a V! Gimme an O! Gimme an X! What's that spell? VOX!
What better way to tell the world how much you love Vox than to announce it on Facebook? That's right: Vox now has an official Facebook page! Become a fan of Vox.com on Facebook and let your friends know what you really care about: staying connected with friends and family through blog posts, photos, videos and comments.
Once you're a fan, you can also add photos and videos to the page, write on the wall, and connect with other Voxers in ways you may not have previously. Plus, it's a great opportunity to let people know about your Vox blog, or start discussion topics. To become a fan, just visit the official Vox.com Facebook page and click the "Become a Fan" button in the upper right hand corner.
Once you've joined, why not post a response to the current discussion topic? Just post a link (and a brief description, if you'd like) to what you consider one of your all-time best Vox posts.
What are you waiting for? Become a Vox.com fan on Facebook today!
Although we typically post on Team Vox to let you know about things that are going on with Vox (to, uh, state the obvious), once in a while, we like to let you know about other cool things that are happening around the blogosphere. And we think the idea of four hilarious mommy bloggers traveling across the U.S. on their way to the BlogHer '08 conference - all the while blogging and video blogging the journey - is one trip you will not want to miss.
Four adventurous bloggers from the Silicon Valley Moms Group were selected to participate in the Summer Road Trip '08 and blog about their travels, hotel stays, media appearances, time away from their families, and life on the road. Six Apart helped them partner up with General Motors, who provided the blogging mommies with a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid SUV to help make their journey comfy, safe, and a little more green.
In case you're not familiar with them, SV Moms is a group of over 200 bloggers who showcase the ups, downs, outrages, struggles, victories, and everyday humor of motherhood. There are currently nine regional and demographically tailored sites that give mothers from D.C., New Jersey, the Deep South, Rocky Mountains, L.A., and Silicon Valley a powerful voice and sense of camaraderie across the country. Whether you're a mother, a child, or just a person who enjoys a good blog, you'll really love reading the words of these amazing women.
The moms buckled into their Chevy Tahoe Hybrid SUV on July 11th and even got an encouraging message from Katie Couric to kick things off! They are currently somewhere in the middle of America making their way to San Francisco where they'll attend an SV Moms Group Party, as well as BlogHer '08.
You do not want to miss these entertaining and irreverent bloggers -- or their spontaneous contest giveaways! -- as they blog from the road. Experience the journey at MomRoadTrip.com.
And let us know about your summer road trip - or plane/boat/bus trip - in the comments! (I like to live vicariously.)
Gossamer, by Lois Lowry. * * * * * 02/17/2008
[http://www.amazon.com/Gossamer-Lois-Lowry/dp/0618685502/]
144 pgs. 2006. Fiction: Fantasy fiction.
Audience: grades 4-8
Summary: While learning to bestow dreams, a young dream giver tries to save an eight-year-old boy from the effects of both his abusive past and the nightmares inflicted on him by the frightening Sinisteeds.
Review: This was a very delicate, very sweet book. Yes, the foster home woman and the boy and the boy's mother are all very generic stock characters. The thing is, the book isn't completely about them. The book is about Littlest One, who is learning how to be a dream giver. While the journey of the boy and his mother is important, it's equally important that Littlest One learns her task and discovers new and different ways to achieve her goals.
Awards: Caudill Nominee, 2009; Wilson's Children 10/01/06; Wilson's Junior High School 08/01/07.
Similar: The Giver, by Lois Lowry; The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson; Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff; The Pinballs, by Betsy Byars.
Do you live in or around Cincinnati, Ohio? If so, you're in luck because Scott and the Queen City Voxers Group have organized a Vox user meetup!
WHERE: Ault Park Playground. 3600 Observatory Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208. "We'll look for each other at the playground marked by the red X below. If it's raining, head for the shelter to the north of the [red] X."
To RSVP (which is not essential, but is appreciated), reply to Scott's announcement or send him a private message. All Voxers, as well as their friends and family, are welcome to attend.
If you do attend the meetup, have a great time and please take lots of pictures and send them to me so I can post them in Team Vox for everyone to see!
Thank you so much to Scott for organizing this meetup. Wish I could be there!
November Blues, by Sharon M. Draper. * * * * finished 02/11/2008
[http://www.amazon.com/November-Blues-Sharon-M-Draper/dp/1416906983/]
316 pgs. 2007. Fiction: Realistic fiction.
Audience: grades 7-12
Summary: November Nelson learns she is pregnant from her first time with Josh, and fears she has no one to turn to, until she finds solace in the arms of Josh's cousin Jericho.
Review: November is a smart, intelligent girl who plans to go to college. When she becomes pregnant, her life of skinny jeans and college plans is suddenly thrown upside-down. Unlike some books about teen pregnancy, this one completely catalogs the physical drawbacks of pregnancy-- the swollen feet, the digestive issues, the nausea, and everything else that happens when one's body changes.
Instead of just focusing on November's physical pregnancy, Draper also focuses on the pettiness of high school interactions and the solid friendships that can be formed between social outcasts. In a parallel plot, Draper focuses on November's friend Jericho, who is dealing with issues of anger regarding his cousin Josh. Jericho becomes a true friend to November just when she needs it the most.
Unlike many YA novels, November isn't left to deal with these issues on her own; her mother is a constant force in the book, being both angry and supportive of her daughter's various choices. She helps November to negotiate a difficult offer that is presented by Josh's parents, one that will change her life whether she takes it or dismisses it.
Draper's characters are nicely rounded and fleshed out, and their emotions and reactions are real and true. The dialogue-- whether playful banter or cutting insults-- is similar to that you'd find between teenagers, though Draper has left out the curse words that would likely appear when real-life, petty high school girls have a showdown. November's emotional state is delicately and precicely drawn, and Draper does an excellent job of showing the impact that one girl's pregnancy can make on her life and the lives of everyone around her. A must-read for high school girls, and definitely a book for older middle-school girls to consider.
Awards: King Honor Book, 2008. Expect this one to be an Abe Nominee soon.
Similar: The Battle of Jericho is the prequel to this book; you may wish to read it first. Other similar titles include The First Part Last, by Angela Johnson; Make Lemonade, by Virginia Euwer Wolff; and Hanging on to Max, by Margaret Bechard.
Confessor, by Terry Goodkind. * * * finished 02/04/2008
[http://www.amazon.com/Confessor-Chainfire-Trilogy-Sword-Truth/dp/0765315238/]
608 pgs. 2007. Fiction: Fantasy fiction.
Audience: Adult
Summary: As the world is overtaken by evil, never to be the same again, wizard Richard Rahl struggles with guilt over the sin he cannot confess to his wife, Mother Confessor Kahlan, who has lost all her memories.
Review: Oh, man. Where to begin with this one...
This is the conclusion of Goodkind's sprawling Sword of Truth series, and it's the final part of the trilogy that makes up the last section of the storyline. It's better than the two books that precede it, but I think much of that is just the fact that Goodkind is forced to actually wrap up things and come to a bunch of plot resolutions.
I think the thing I liked best about this book was the energy and excitement of the Ja'La games. Richard's skill in planning the physical attack and athletic attack of the rugby-like game made for a thrilling section of the novel, as did his strategy on the battlefield. But that was probably the highlight. Richard and Nicci's attempts at deciphering the flaws in the original Chainfire spell is probably the second most interesting part, and the bits with Rachel's captivity were a close third. Zedd doesn't get to do much at all.
Goodkind's strength is his characterization. Kahlan, Richard, Jagang, Zedd, Rachel, Nicci, Cara, and all the others are well-defined characters with clear motivations and some serious human flaws. But Goodkind's weakness is his writing and plotting. It takes *forever* for things to happen. Dozens of plot threads are dropped, ripped out, knotted up, tangled, or left to just dangle without resolution for most of the series.
In the end, the resolution seemed so... gah. I'm glad that Richard encouraged everyone to follow their own lead, but it's like he needed to become some sort of God in order to address everyone to *stop* them from their devotions to him! The hard *thwack* of Goodkind's philosophical ramblings just is too much.
Was it worth it to read the whole series? I think so, yes. But it was an exercise in constant frustration to have such wonderful characters get mired in such a jumble of unnecessary violence (especially against women) and the religious and political philosophy. Some of the books were stellar, and others were just marking time. I probably won't read them again.
Series: This is the final book in the Sword of Truth series.
Halle Berry : "beauty is not just physical", by Michael A. Schuman. 2006.
[http://www.amazon.com/Halle-Berry-Physical-African-American-Biography/dp/0766024679/]
112 pgs. Nonfiction: Biography, * * * 01/15/2008
Audience: grades 5-10
Summary: A biography of Halle Berry that provides information on her childhood, her family life, her education, and her career as a model and actress.
Review: I started browsing through this book as I was cataloging it for our library. It was a nice way to pass the time, and I learned some things about Berry that I hadn't known before. It's a nice series to purchase if you have holes in your school library biography collection.
Similar: Fabulosity: What it is & How to get it, by Kimora Lee Simmons; other titles in Enslow's African-American Biography Library.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie ; art by Ellen Forney. 2007.
[http://www.amazon.com/Absolutely-True-Diary-Part-Time-Indian/dp/0316013684/]
229 pgs. Fiction: Realistic, * * * * 01/08/2008
Audience: grades 8-11
Summary: Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Native American is the school mascot.
Review: This was an excellent book. It was funny, thoughtful, shocking, provoking, and heartbreaking, all rolled into one marvelous package.
Alexie doesn't pull any punches in this book. Junior's struggles with the racism that he faces at the white, rural farm school seem very realistic, as do his reactions. Everything is bittersweet. Junior is able to inject even the worst things in his live with humor and beautiful drawings, and yet even the best things that happen to him and those around him end up having a dark twist to them.
Still, Junior perseveres-- at home, at school, and in his mind-- and this coming-of-age novel follows him every step of the way as he begins to experience success.
A special note must be made regarding Ellen Forney's illustrations. They capture Junior's emotion and artistic skill so effortlessly that the novel would not be possible without them.
Awards: National Book Award (Young People's Literature), 2007.
Similar: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, by Sherman Alexie (High School/Adult); The Brave, by Robert Lipsyte (grades 7-12); Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney (grades 5-8).
Although almost every day at Six Apart is Take Your Dog to Work Day, Friday was extra special because it was the official Take Your Dog to Work Day! Plus, as lovers of blogs and animals, we think it's great that active blogger and Human Society's President and CEO, Wayne Pacelle, thinks having dogs around the office is a good reminder of "who we're working for."
We realize some people have it ruff and aren't lucky enough to be able to bring their dog to work, but hopefully these pictures taken at Six Apart last Friday will get your tails wagging... And let me tell you, it's harder than it looks to get all the doggies and their fetching owners in one picture.
I've read nearly 40 books since January, but hadn't really had the time to truly write up any reviews for them. With the help of my husband (hooray, babysitting!) I have been able to get back on track.
I hope to post one book review per day until I'm all caught up. I hope you enjoy these. As always, please feel free to comment!
