Charles and Emma

Alright so I usually judge a book by its cover. I was excited when I checked this book out from the library because something about the cover stood out. Yes, I judge my books by their covers and how the font is on the inside. Even if the book is horrible, if the pages are to my liking it makes the book a little bit better to read. I believe I read this book around a week ago (completely out of order on the assignment sheet because this library only lets you have them for like a week), and I sort of forgot how awful it was to read.  I felt that it did not pick up the pace at all, and I cannot stand to read a slow book. I always finish them because I feel guilty if I don't, but that doesn't mean that it isn't miserable along the way. (On a side note I was looking at Kindles this weekend to get one for my birthday, and I am extremely depressed that they do not work in the dark. Good thing I still have my book lamp from Middle School book fair. This thought jumped into my mind because I read books at night before bed, just as I did with Charles and Emma.)

I liked the first two science books because they were interesting and packed with an exciting plot. I felt that Charles and Emma lacked both of these. From the title I obviously got the hint that this book would be about Charles Darwin. I thought that this book might be an engaging book to read and would capture my attention. Definitely did not do either of the two. I would not have my middle school students read this book. Middle School students are in that stage where they just hate school and want nothing to do with it, and I feel that picking a book as disengaging as this one would just not help the cause. And to make matters worse, Charles and Emma are cousins- eek. I mean I obviously looked past this fact and continued on with the book, but it bothered me the whole time. Of all the people in the world, I think you can avoid marrying a sibling or cousin. I feel that Middle School students would just make fun of this book, sort of like I am doing now, but they wouldn't be able to move past the issue.

One thing that sparked my interest was how Charles wrote down everything in his little notebooks. This reminds be so much of my PapPap who passed away a few months ago. We were extremely close, and my PapPap adored all of his Grandchildren. The one thing that Charles and my PapPap had in common were these notebooks. My PapPap would write down EVERYTHING. He lived in Ohio and he would write down all the gas station and food stops we stopped at along the way- recording how much we spend at McDonalds and how many gallons he just filled up on (with the prices). If my sister and I were ever in a bind  on the way up to see him, we would just call and he could tell us where the nearest food/gas place was WITHOUT USING TECHNOLOGY. He also wrote down mile markers and landmarks so we could tell him what was just passed and he would look it up and tell us how far away we were from him and my grandma.

Back to the book, it would not cut it in my science classroom. If the plot had been easier to follow, then maybe yes. But knowing that this book is targeted at Middle School students, I don't know why the author wouldn't have altered a few things to appeal to this specific audience.

Heiligman, Deborah. (2009). Charles and Emma The Darwins' Leap of Faith. New York: Square Fish.

Digital Nation video

The Digital Nation video amazed me. All those kids hooked on video games to the point where someone actually dies because they forget to eat/drink- how does that even happen? Clearly video games are an addiction, especially in that country, and if I were a parent I would limit my child's gaming to a FEW hours a day- as in one or two. That one kid used to be so smart and then he let video games control his life and now his GPA is among the lowest in his class.
 As for the Growing Up Online movie, I could somewhat relate to that. I'm sure a lot more people are outgoing on the computer than face to face. But I believe that one girl took it a little far with taking almost naked pictures of herself and posting it for the world to see. I don't think it should have gone to THAT extreme. And I mean her parents did "punish" her, but then later her dad took it back and actually praised her for what she did- I do not agree with that at all.