The YA class was terrific. Twenty-two students braved the cold. One flew in from Georgia (her husband is in the service and he was relocated from Texas to Georgia and they head to NY soon), 7 came in from parts of the Rio Grande Valley. Others drove in from other locations far flung from our campus. That is part of what I love about my department. Students come from across the state despite the fact that we still maintain some FTF contact in classes. Today was our one meeting: an orientation to the course, the new CMS and to some topics not in the textbook (i.e., tweens). We talked about all sorts of related issues and then I let them grab up free books. Everyone left with something new.
Met the better half and the resident for dinner at Subway. The resident placed 4th in Region Band competition. That means she will not go to state this year. However, we are totally pleased with her first chair in district and 4th in region. She worked hard for it all. She even came home and practiced for the next phase of competition (chair challenges) for an hour tonight.
I finished this book this evening:
The setting is the 1980s. Samuel's father has changed into a religious zealot and abandons the family to journey and preach the gospel. Samuel is dealing with his anger about his father's departure along with rampant racism on the part of his two best friends. And then his cousin adds to the burden when he comes to live with Samuel and his mother. Erik Raschke offers readers an interesting and introspective look at the life of a teen in the 1980s. It was not a kinder gentler time at all. It is, as Samuel observes, a time when it is difficult to paint things as black or white, right or wrong, honest or fake. There are many shades of gray, areas where Samuel and others must struggle to find some form of peace.
