Review: Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I listened to this book on my iPhone through an Amazon program, and it truly helped me understand the science of exercise. Through studies done on schoolchildren, Ratey makes a convincing argument for encouraging exercise and fitness programs not as a form of competition, but for improving the body, mind, and spirit. Students should be pushed to achieve their individual fitness goals more so than to compete against others, and if they do, they are more likely to exercise into adulthood. I had mixed experiences with gym classes as a kid growing up, so I appreciated this book. Truly, it proves that exercise is beneficial to the body and to the brain. For us walkers, runners, and exercisers out there, this book provides further encouragement not to live a sedentary lifestyle.

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Review: Reading in a Participatory Culture: Remixing Moby-Dick in the English Classroom

Reading in a Participatory Culture: Remixing Moby-Dick in the English Classroom by Henry Jenkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book really was food for the soul, in addition to increasing my academic and pedagogical knowledge. I have developed a true passion for fan fiction as both a creative writer and as a scholar, so I really enjoyed reading about how to integrate fan fiction and popular culture into classroom settings, as related to the study of literature. I was less interested in the parts of the book specifically related to Moby Dick, but I understood why that context was there. The ideas the book suggests really can apply to any primary text, though. I enjoyed learning more about New Literacies and Henry Jenkins's work as related to the English Language Arts classroom. If you're interested in multimodality and fan fiction, I would definitely recommend this book.

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Review: Queer: A Graphic History

Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a bit dense, but it was an interesting read. It helped me to better understand queer and poststructural theories. I thought the creator did an effective job of balancing the visuals with the texts related to theory and history. I would recommend the book to people who are interested in nonfiction comics/graphic novels and in queer theory. We read it for the graphic novel book club at Avid Bookshop and had a great discussion about it, as some of the topics are very timely

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Review: The Intuitives

The Intuitives by Erin Michelle Sky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you have an advanced middle or high school student who loves fantasy/speculative fiction, adventure stories, and stories of friendship, I highly recommend that you give that kid this book! It is a page turner that is great for lovers of suspense and adventure. The characters are very well crafted, and the plot line reminds us of the importance of the imagination, intuition, the unconscious mind, and most of all friendship. Recommended.

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