Reading at the Syms Middle School Library by Brooke Winker https://padlet.com/bwinker/28ao53jxjc5t en-us 2014-12-10 18:53:45 UTC 2016-01-25 01:48:15 UTC hello@padlet.com http://d262le4z25sx36.cloudfront.net/portraits/announcement.jpg Great New Book!! bwinker https://padlet.com/bwinker/28ao53jxjc5t/wish/90897395 I just finished Grandmaster by David Klass. This is a fantastic book! It is about a high school student named Daniel who considers himself average in every way- looks, grades, athletic ability- everything. He joins the school's chess team, and much to his surprise he and his dad are personally invited to join the two most popular students in the school and their dads to play in a chess tournament. Daniel could not figure out why he was asked to join, until he finds out his dad harbors a giant secret- he is a Chess Grandmaster. The book explores the reasons Daniel's dad, Morris, decided to quit chess and what he does to support his son in the tournament. I don't know how to play chess, and don't really have a big interest in chess, but I thought this book was GREAT!!! I encourage you to pick it up for a wonderful read.

]]> 2016-01-25 01:22:57 UTC https://padlet.com/bwinker/28ao53jxjc5t/wish/90897395 Typhoid Mary!! bwinker https://padlet.com/bwinker/28ao53jxjc5t/wish/90897905 Terrible Typhoid Mary by Susan Campbell Bartoletti tells the story of Mary Mallon, an Irish immigrant who worked as a cook in New York at the turn of the 20th century. Typhoid fever is highly contagious disease that passes in contaminated water as well as contact with people who carry the disease. We no longer have typhoid fever in the US, but it was a problem 100 years ago. Anyhow, wherever Mary worked there was a breakout of typhoid fever in the household, including over 24 people getting sick in a hospital where she was the cook! The book is about the efforts of the New York Health Departmentto get Mary to stop cooking for other people, and her quarantine on North Brother Island.

This is a super book. It has photos and the author does an excellent job of explaining the hardships and limited opportunities faced by immigrants. Do you know where to find it if you want to give it a try? In our library of course!

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