It's Friday!

For a short week, it sure felt extra long! The weather here in AZ has been a bit odd so I am ready for the weekend.  

Because I am a school librarian, the Marzano Method is in every classroom on our campus. I have been working on some new Marzano Scales lately and I came up with a "Monster" themed scale. Check them out!

I cannot wait to report on a book that became available in March of 2011 entitled:

 Between The Shades of Gray  by Ruta Sepetys.

Here is a snippet from the "GoodReads" website:

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions. 


Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart. Sounds like an amazing read! I look forward to reporting back to you with my review!