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I Wish My Teacher Knew by Kyle Schwartz is a must read for all teachers. The book is a set of essays based from student responses to the question "I wish my teacher knew___________." The teacher asked her questions the above question and the information she gathered from the assignment shocked her but helped to gain necessary information from her students about them.

The book begins by explaining the project that the teacher/author created in order to get to know her students better. The author describes what students said that the teacher needed to know in how to properly teach/engage the students.

Beyond knowing how to effectively teach students a teacher needs to be aware of issues that students may be experiences. The book states that it is important to know how to deal with these issues because if the issue of death, homelessness, family issues are causing issues for a student it will be difficult for a student to focus on their studies. These issues are just as important at learning in the classroom. As a teacher I found this very true. In addition to knowing how to effectively engage student based on their learning styles, the book also states that as a teacher it is important to know the students hobbies/ interests.

The book is thoroughly researched which is valuable to any person who is going into the field of teaching or has been in the field for many years. As a 2nd year teacher I found the book very interesting. I plan to do this as a first activity with my students to learn about them. The activity is a way to get to know your students without pre-judging their personalities. It is a stress free way for students to share important information.
  
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b.Young (97 KP) rated Keeper of the Wolves in Books

May 27, 2018 (Updated May 27, 2018)  
Keeper of the Wolves
Keeper of the Wolves
Cheree Alsop | 2013 | Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fast-paced (2 more)
Unique twist on werewolves
Character development
Ending left much to be desired (0 more)
I found this book offered for free on Kindle and I love a good werewolf story, so I figured there was nothing to lose.
I was not expecting to be so enamoured by this tale as I was. I am not sure one would be able to properly convey the mental and physical battle of a wolf that is cursed to change nightly into a man, or a man cursed to change into a wolf every sunrise, but Cheree Alsop did an outstanding job detailing the thoughts and nuances of a wolf, combining them with the brilliantly elaborated thoughts and actions of the man that was that wolf!
This book is ultimately a love story, though it starts out as a tragic tale. I was immediately developing feelings of sorrow and pity for Victus and hatred and animosity towards the Cruel One who had imprisoned Victus and put him on display for his own personal gain.
I was rooting for Victus to escape or be rescued, and found myself sighing in relief that the girl with the beautiful blue eyes held the key to eveything Victus wanted, needed, and deserved.
There is much more to the story and many battles to be fought within. Not only for Victus, as he struggles with who or what he is, but for the blue eyed girl and her family as well as the entire Kingdom that relies on her.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys werewolf stories and is looking for a fast-paced, action-packed, unique tale about the discovery of ones self, loyalties, and love.
It is definitely a tale I will read more than once.
  
The idea of the book is fantastic, six sisters named after a constellation all adopted. None of them know where they came from, and when their father dies he gives each of them a clue - the coordinates of somewhere from their past and a quote written in Greek that should mean something to each of them.

This book follows the eldest sister Maia and her journey to find out who she is and where she came from. Her journey takes her to Brazil where she finds out who her real family are. A lot of the book focuses on her maternal great grandmother, her marriage and Christ the Redeemer being constructed. I found it quite disappointing that most of the book seemed to focus on her story and not Maia’s story, and that the part about Maia’s birth mother was quite rushed. The story about her great grandmother, Izabela, was interesting but could have been condensed quite a lot and didn’t need to be as long as it was.

I also found the writing quite clunky and it didn’t flow correctly in some parts, a bit like it had been translated from a different language and incorrectly.

It was fascinating learning about the construction of Christ the Redeemer and about Rio as it has always been on my bucket list of places to travel, but I felt that the book didn’t need to be quite as long as it was.

I am torn about whether I want to read on the rest of the books in the series, as I want to know what happens to the sisters and there are still some unanswered questions, but I don’t know if I could continue if the writing style doesn’t flow correctly still.
  
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Eleanor Luhar (47 KP) rated The Legacy in Books

Jun 24, 2019  
The Legacy
The Legacy
Gemma Malley | 2010 | Dystopia, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
7.4 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
When I first read Malley's The Declaration series this third novel hasn't yet been released. And then I kind of forgot about the series until the end of last year.

Anna and Peter have found a safe residence in the countryside thanks to the Underground, the resistance movement against the use of Longevity. But their safety is being compromised as some unknown "illness" is spreading through the Legals - killing people who are supposed to live forever. People are pointing the finger at everyone around them, fear spreading even quicker than the virus.


Jude and Sheila are living in the main Underground facility, but are forced to move base when their leader, Pip, hands himself in and a brick comes flying in through their window. Meanwhile, Peter's ring is of high importance to Richard Pincent, who has arranged with some unknown Underground member for it to be sent to him.


Without Pip, Jude has to take over. But he wasn't expecting his half-brother to arrive, especially without the rest of his family. And now Sheila's disappeared...


Why are people dying? Are the Underground really to blame?


And then, when he didn't think things could any worse, Jude sees Pip talking to Richard Pincent's closest friend and guard, as if they were friends.


Is this really the end of the Underground? Have they finally lost?


I noticed a lot of typos and punctuation mistakes, which gave the book a bit of an unprofessional, juvenile feel. But I've always loved this series and honestly I found the book so easy to read and enjoyable, despite the mistakes. There are some really interesting twists, and the story focuses a lot on characters other than Anna an d Peter which is nice.


4 stars for this book.
  
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BookishWoo (317 KP) rated Zodiac in Books

May 25, 2020 (Updated May 25, 2020)  
Zodiac
Zodiac
Anamaria Lonescu | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Zodiac is the 2nd book of the Sergiu Manta Series and the first to be translated into English.
 
I was captivated by Zodiac right from the first page. Anamarie wrote this extremely well and in a way that you felt you were reading a script for a crime drama, scene by scene. This is slightly different to what I'm used to, but I found as long as I paced myself and didnt speed through it I could keep up with the scene jumps and found that I completely enjoyed her writing style. Although this is a fast paced thriller do not be fooled that being only 218 pages long you can speed through this quickly. This is a book to savour and enjoy.

I can honestly say that I fell in love with the main protagonaist Sergiu, he was an unpredicatable, motorbike riding, charming "Agency" man willing to do whatever it takes no matter what the cost.
His character was in stark contrast to Marius who was a typical police inspector and family man with a moral conscience. This worked well alongside Sergiu's character and didnt give you that typical good cop, bad cop feel. They complimented each other well.

The plot was fantastic, and just when I thought I had it all figured out the twist came along and surprised me completely!

I cant wait to read more of the series and hope that the first book gets translated so I can read this too!

If you are a fan of fast paced thrillers I highly recommend this!

Trigger Warnings: swearing, sexual themes, rape, murder, guns, violence

I received Zodiac by Amamaria Ionescu for free in exchange for an honest review from Love Book Tours and Corylus Books.