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This morning my children returned to school in 6th, 4th and 2nd grades. Other than a lost bus driver, the morning seemed to go as smooth as possible. This is mostly due to the amazing teachers at their school that care about my children (and the other 400) in attendance.
Teachers, from preschool through the university level, have huge hearts, want the best for their students and see potential in each and every one. At the end of the day, they go home to their families and do the same thing: encourage, educate and care. My parents were both in education and I know that’s how it works. Every road trip was a lesson in geography, every chair lift ride was a lesson in physics and cooking, while it was supposed to be about measuring, usually turned into science projects.
Today I would like to share four books written by teachers. Clean your desk, sit up straight, pay attention and enjoy these reads:
Spud by Patricia Orvis:
During the stifling Illinois summer heat wave of 1995, unthinkable tragedies shake Jackson Cooper’s world. How will he deal with the horrific loss of his best friend, the unforgiving heat, and the expectations? Will he find acceptance, win his girl, and feel like life is meaningful again? Or will he, too, succumb to a similar fate?
Little Birds with Broken Wings by David Martin:
“These pages represent the accumulated wisdom of more than thirty years that David Martin has spent as a writer, teacher, editor, and inspiration. Fine Lines (a literary journal) has been his gift to the world, a champion of literacy and lyricism, a ‘lighthouse’ to countless writers of all ages, from all over the globe, but it is not his only gift. In this collection of his writing, Martin invites us to see the world through his attentive eyes, bearing witness to what endures, what matters: a mother’s love, the flicker of a firefly, the mystery of a dream, a beloved teacher, a triumphant student, the power of myth, and most of all, the written word. Inside his vision, readers are shown the richness, challenges, and rewards of the individual’s effort to write, as he says, ‘my own internal rhythms and play my own tunes.’ This book is a song, a gift, in which we can all take pleasure.” -Dr. John Price, Department of English, University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Flowing with the Go by Elena Stowell
A double award winner: 2012 Silver eLit Awards winner in the Aging/Death/Dying Category, 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in the Inspirational Category, and 2013 Bronze Medal Living Now Book Awards winner in Grieving/Death/Dying!
For what seemed like a lifetime and probably was, Elena Stowell wandered aimlessly in a personal prison of self-doubt and lack of purpose after her fifteen-year-old daughter Carly died suddenly before her eyes. By some combination of miracle and necessity, she walked into a Seattle area Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym and rolled for the first time in her life. Through that experience and others that followed, Elena discovered the tenets of the martial art form and healing were the same. With a ripping raw honesty and refreshing balance of humor and introspection, Elena’s story reminds us to never stop panning for the gold within ourselves.
Secret Kindess Agents by Ferial Pearson:
Sometimes the small things make all the difference.
Moved by the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, Ferial Pearson wondered if a simple act of kindness could change a life. She thought of the school where she taught and the students she guided every day and wondered, what would happen if we started secretly carrying out small acts of kindness in school? Could a modest act of compassion really change the course of a life? She posed the question to her students. They didn’t have the answers but they were willing to find out.
And so they became the Secret Kindness Agents. They not only changed the lives of those they met, they changed their own.
Their hope, their hearts, and their hunger for happiness will inspire you to change your small corner of the world, in your own way, for the better. Let them show you how they did it, and how you can do the same.
All books by BQB and WriteLife Publishing are available on Amazon, B&N, or can be ordered from your favorite local bookstore.
“Come out to the garden,” Granny calls to Mary Louise. It’s a beautiful, sunny day, and there are vegetables to be picked and a feast to be cooked! But Mary Louise points out there are plenty of vegetables growing in the cool shade of the porch, so why go out in the sun?
