Hi, everyone! Hope you are all doing well!

Special shout-out to Dan: I LOVED getting a posted comment from you. Sounds like Ms. S is doing a great job; I still miss you guys, though. I loved A Million Little Pieces even though there are LOTS of disgusting parts at the beginning: the dentist! Even though it's long in terms of pages, lots of the pages have big margins and the story is pretty compelling so it goes quickly. I'm not sure that I agree that the guy is hopeless. He seems pretty convinced that he's going to make it, that he can survive. I don't know why he's so convinced - his whole life seems like evidence that he won't make it. I might give up if it were me. Maybe not. I'm impressed that he keeps going at all. Hope you continue to like it. I'm glad you did well on your mid-term - I am terrible at tests! I get bored and mad and rush through . . . And don't worry about the posts wearing me out - it takes A LOT to wear ME out! You're the best!

So I read A Sudden Country as I mentionned last post. It was a great story of a family traveling to Oregon Territory in the 1840s. I sort of like tragic pioneer tales. This had a love story, too. The critics compared it to Cold Mountain which I haven't read. If anyone knows Rachel Fauteux, suggest A Sudden Country to her. I remember she liked Cold Mountain. Or at least she read it. The best thing about this book was the vocabulary; I had to read it with a dictionary beside me! I didn't know how vocabulary illiterate I was! I am very impressed with this author's ability to use such fancy words in such a natural way.

I'm reading a book called Polly by Amy Bryant right now. It's interesting - about a girl growing up in the 70's and 80's - my time period so I'm familiar with fads like Forenza sweaters and roller rinks and such. The story of the girl's life is told in an interesting way - each chapter is about a relationship with a guy starting with her 6th grade crush Tommy. It provides a peculiar window on a girl's life. The writing is very believable - it feels like a memoir, but it's a novel.

Did I tell you that I wrote a poem for this book being produced by the oncology ward of the hospital? The book is called Faces of Hope. Hannah will have a poem in it, and other children and families will have writing and pictures included. They are working on layout designs right now so it will be out soon. I am a soon-to-be-published author. I'm practically famous. Do you feel so lucky to know me?

That's probably about it for now. Stay warm and keep reading!

Love, Ms. Wallace