Carol Fisher Saller

Eddie’s War by Carol Fisher Saller
Lately it seems I am reading a lot of books about World War II. Maybe it is because I teach literature that deals with it. The first thing I like was that this book was written in verse. This story covers ten years. Eddie is a young boy who befriends Jozef Mirga, a Polish Gypsy. He reads the newspaper at the local library looking for information about the Nazis and Poland. This is where Jozef’s wife and son are. When Eddie’s brother goes off to war he is very proud of him. The story is full of life lessons Eddie learns as he grows up. I highly recommend this book. It has quickly become one of my favorites of the year.… (mehr)

When Lainie Stanton receives a call from a TV reporter inviting her to be interviewed as Ohio’s first millennium baby she is flattered. Her Uncs and father are not as thrilled. They see this as possible issue, especially if the reporter’s intentions are not true. Their worst fears come true. During the taping of the interview Lainie is faced with pictures of her great-grandmother’s hanging. Seventy-five years before her great-grandmother was tried and convicted of murder. Lainie blindsided by this reporter claims she has proof of her grandmother’s innocent. Now she has only a few weeks to make her lie a truth.
I loved the complexity of this book. The flipping back and forth between historical documents and present time kept me reading. This is definitely a book I will read again in the future. It was just that good. Definitely need a copy for my classroom shelves.

… (mehr)

Highly recommended for all of us who work with words.

This book is a great read on a topic important to wordsmiths (or it ought to be, especially for those who've never understood what editors do to their copy).

This book is perhaps the most useful books on editing I've encountered (and I have read or owned at least half the books in the bibiliography). Written by a staffer at the University of Chicago, it looks at all the myriad problems and tasks of copy editing with a very light sense of humor. I enjoyed this book from the start, as the cover treatment apes a raw manuscript as it would have hit my desk when I was an editor.
… (mehr)

This was a fun read, with an intriguing mystery. Lainie is a great MC, and I loved her friends. She had a unique start to life, and getting to know her, her friends, and her family, was a lot of fun. I especially liked her grandpa and great-uncles. I liked that we get to switch between modern day and the past, getting some insight into what happened so long ago, just little pieces at a time. Just enough to keep you interested, but not so much that you get the whole story all at once. A great read for middle schoolers!… (mehr)