Summer Reading

A couple of Tuesday nights ago Texas Librarian Chat (#txlchat) was chatting about summer reading.  I didn't get to join but later I tried to scroll though the tweets.  I was only able to go back so far on my iPhone so I went to the weebly.  But the chats not up yet.  No big deal though!  Just scrolling through the few tweets I could on my phone I got a good idea.

Some one tweeted they were adding a tab to their library website with some companies who do summer reading programs.  I thought this was a great idea!  I emailed our elementary lead librarian.  She thought it was a good idea too.  So I created the following Symbaloo page:



Each of the six elementary librarians should be adding it to their websites too.  This is another way to encourage our students to read over the summer.  I posted a link to my library website on our campus Facebook page.  I'll add reminders through out the summer too.

In addition to this I'm keeping the library open three Mondays during June.  I'll do a story time and an activity.  Students and parents will be able to check out books, play board games, do puzzles, play on the LEGO, use the computers, etc.

I'm sending a flyer home with the dates I'm open.  On the back I put a fun book bingo I found on Pinterest.

Do you have any ideas to keep students reading during the summer?  I'd love to hear them!

Five For Friday-BFF

Five for Friday-Dinner with my BFF and family.

 1. We both wore a Texas shirt.  Totally unplanned!  Great minds think alike!

2.  Our hubbies are so goofy!  We never get together as couples.  And we only get together as families once a year on Christmas.  So it was fun to be together last night.  We also realized we'll all be in Chicago for vacation at the same time.  So we made plans to meet up for dinner.

3.  The children started dinner in their seats.  Sweet little angels!













4. And ended dinner dancing around the table.  Seriously, I don't know who trained these children.  Ha!


5. We only "had" to apologize to one couple for their behavior (and really their behavior wasn't bad just a little loud and in motion). The couple graciously said they had no electricity and the kids were their entertainment for the night. We certainly kept them entertained! Ha!  The hostess tried to seat them right next to the kid's table but the couple said no asked to be seated a row over and a couple of tables up.  I giggled inside cuz I would of done the same thing!

Thankful Thursday-Seeing My BFF

My BFF and fam are pasting through town tonight on their way to Tennessee.  And we get to eat dinner with them!

I'm so excited to get to see her even if it's only for a few hours.  And even with our hubbies there. And even with our children there.

We've "joked" about getting three tables tonight. One for us.  One for the hubbies.  And one for the children. Ha!

We'll probably just end up with an adult table and a kid table.

I always look forward to seeing Emily and getting in a little soul healing time in.

Today I'm thankful I get to see her!

Wordless Wednesday-My Books Fell

Apparently my books were heavier on one side than the other

... and the cart tipped. 

Five for Friday-Serendipity

I read this blog the other day.  It made me really think about this word 'serendipity'.  What in my life has been serendipity?  Though I really can't say for certain here are five things I came up with:

Five For Friday-Serendipity

1.  Had I chosen a different college to go to I wouldn't of met my husband.

2.  If I hadn't miscarried my first pregnancy I would not have my daughter today.

3. If I had gone straight to get my master's degree instead of taking a year off I would be a school diagnostician now instead of a school librarian.

4. If my material grandparents hadn't built and sold a house every 2-4 years my mom might not of ended up at the same high school as my dad.

5.  If the garbage truck hadn't rolled back into my PT Cruiser I'd be driving a car right now with an AC that didn't work very well and I wouldn't be a very happy camper.

Serendipitous?  Maybe, maybe not. But fun to think about. 

I Was On The Local News!

My library phone rang about 12:10 last Tuesday afternoon.

Lady: Mrs. Taylor, I'm from KTRE channel 9 and I want to interview you about your new Summer Reading tab on your school website.

Ummmm, OK!

I hung up then I freaked out.  I mean, I was wearing a t-shirt and jean.  At least the t-shirt was Harry Potter and book related!

My hair was a hot mess.  My school is an open campus.  We have 4 buildings plus 4 temporary buildings, none connected by walls, we walk outside to get anywhere we need to get in the school.

So humidity... yea, not my friend.

I called around looking for someone with hairspray or gel or anything really that would make my hair less frizzy.

I could find none.  I damped my hands in the sink in the clinic and patted my hair down and brushed. It was... ok.

I had had a hacking cough since the Friday before.  I was still having coughing fits and my voice was really rough.

But I pulled it all together!  My hair was reasonable.  My voice was rough but was audible.  I didn't cough once.

Take a look here!

Then I made the news AGAIN last night! This time it was KETK channel 51 out of Tyler.

Take a look here!

I'm still in a t-shirt and jeans but at least the shirt says "Librarian".  My hair was doing better since the guy came in the morning.  My voice was back!  You know, all those important things.  Ha!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

For School:

A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord is on the Texas Bluebonnet list for 2016-2017.  I got a free copy of this book last year at TLA and had it signed to Reagan and our dog, Maggie because there's a black lab on the front that looks just like our Maggie.

Lily's blind dog, Lucky, slips away from her and takes off running through the blueberry field.  Salma, the daughter of a migrant worker, manages to stop Lucky with her sack lunch.  Lily and Salma forge a friendship over the painting of bee boxes.  Their friendship has a big impact on Lily.  Tough topics like prejudice, friendships, loss and love are tackled in this Newbery Honor book.


For Me:

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille.  I haven't read a book by Nelson DeMille is a very long time.  And I'm not really sure why.  I love DeMille's style of writing.  His storytelling abilities are awesome.

I'm still in the middle of this book.

Mrs. Ivanova's Charm School is a school where KGB agents are being taught by American POWs how to be model US citizens.  The Soviet's goal is to infiltrate the USA without anyone knowing.  An American citizen gets lost in the Russian country side and find this school.  He sets in motion an investigation by the CIA.

Five For Friday-Tyler

We are headed to Tyler to see Jay's side of the family.

1. We get to see our nephew... even though he only loves Jay and Reagan.  I bought him a book about bears in underwear from my Book Fair.  I'm trying buy his love.  Ha!

2. I get to eat my weight in Andy's Frozen Custard!!!!!!  Andy's, my love!

3. We are going to try to see some friends who just had a baby.  I love baby snuggles!

4. Shopping! Reagan still needs a few things for camp like a swim suit and some bermuda shorts.

5. My in-laws.  I really do have the best in-laws.  I could not of asked for better.

Thankful Thursday-Modern Medicine

Two weekends in a row I haven't felt well.

The first weekend I got a migraine that started Saturday around 9:15 and lasted until Monday at 9:15. It's the longest one I've ever had.  It was weird too, smells really bothered me.  If there was no smells I was perfectly fine but if something even remotely smelled (good or bad) my head would exploded.  Sounds bothered it a little too.  Jay walked through the house Sunday in his dress shoes and I had to tell him to stop walking.  He laughed that he had to crawl through his own house. Ha!

Last weekend I started coughing Friday night.  When I woke up Saturday morning I felt a little achy, my throat and ears hurt and I was coughing like crazy.  I didn't go to worship Sunday morning but I went Sunday night and sat in the back armed with cough drops and a bottle of water.  I went to school Monday mostly because I didn't have a fever and because it's my BOGO Book Fair this week.  Really bad time.

I gave in Wednesday and went to the doctor after school.  I have bronchitis and allergies.  I got a shot, two prescriptions and an over the counter allergy medication.  I started taking all the meds right before Bible study last night.

I'm feeling a little better but still not 100%.

This snapchat feature is a perfect example of how I feel right now!  Ha!

Today I am thankful for modern medicine.

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

It's so awesome to be able to connect with authors on Twitter!  I printed this tweet

and gave it to the students.  He was super excited!

You can read my review of Float here.

What Kind of Books Do You Like To Read?

A student ask me the other day, "What kind of books do you like to read Mrs. Taylor?"  Without thinking I said "Realistic fiction."

That brought me up short and made me think.  It's true, that's exactly the kind of books I like.

I went through a period of time when every book I picked up I put back down without reading it. After answering this students question I started reevaluating why I went through this stage of not like a single book I picked up.

I think it's because I wasn't reading the kind of books that I really like.  I was trying to read from other genres.  Which is awesome and I certainly think we need to do that from time to time but I think I was taking it to extremes.  I was also trying to read the books I thought I was suppose to read and not the books that I really wanted to read.

Once I started picking books that truly interested me I jumped right back on the reading train and haven't gotten off.

I do think it's interesting that what got me reading again was young adult books.  I love young adult books!  Isn't it fun to jump back into the mind of a teenager?  Become your teenaged self again (although I really don't want to revisit those years. Ha!).  Young love is so new.  Knowing more than adults is an age old thing.  Teenage drama! Oh the drama!

But it wasn't only young adult books.  It was also urban fantasies.  I've always said I don't like fantasies.  And I don't.  But I do like urban fantasies.  Something about the urban does it for me.  Harry Potter, Twilight, Relentless, Vampire Diaries etc are my thing.  Lord of the Rings, not so much.  I do like the movies and I'll go with my family to watch them but they are not my first choice.

I'm so glad the student asked me what I liked to read.  That simple question made me really think.

Without thinking: What kind of books do you like to read?  And leave me a book suggestion!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

For school:

Last week was mostly a testing week.  I tested Monday and Tuesday for 4th grade math and reading. Wednesday I did not have to test 5th grade science but I did have to walk around and relieve teachers for mental breaks, bathroom break, get a coke or coffee etc.



So my library was pretty quite it most of the week.  But when I did finally get students in I read Book Fair Day by Lynne Plourde.  I found this book last year right before my Book Fair and thought it would be perfect to read to the kids to get them ready for our Book Fair.  I decided to make a tradition of reading it once a year before our BOGO Book Fair.  A young boy, respectfully, named Dewey Booker, is so upset that his class is the last class to go to the Book Fair.  There won't be any books left when his class finally gets to go!  Dewey tries many ways to sneak into the Book Fair but he gets caught every time.  Will he get to buy the book he wants?

For myself:

I finished We Were Liars by E. Lockhart last night.  I don't normally stay up on a school night and finish a book but I made an exception for this book and stayed a bit later than normal.  I checked this eBook out about a month and half ago.  It had a 2 week check out limit.  Which is normally more than enough time for me to finish a book but those 2 weeks were a super busy time and I didn't get to finish it.  So I put my name on the waiting list again and got it Tuesday evening.  I finished it Wednesday night.

I don't even know where to begin with this book!  There were so many twists and turns.  I'd think I had the plot down then there would be a twist.  I'd get my head wrapped around it then there would be a turn.  It was awesome!  I did not see the end coming.  I had so many different scenarios going in my head but not one of them was the real ending.

The Liars are four teenagers (some related some not) who go their family owned island every summer with their extended family.  Summer 15 (when they're 15 years old) a tragedy happens and Cady, the main character, ends up with amnesia.  She is telling the story so you get a look into the head of some one with amnesia.  It can be a bit disorientating but so cool to see how the pieces all fall together.  You learn what happened that summer as she does.  I texted my best girlfriends and told them they HAD to read this book because I NEEDED to talk about it to some one.

I finished I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1) by Pittacus Lore  I picked up this book... well, I clicked on it on my iPad in the Overdrive app... but whatever, because the title reminded me of Four from the Divergent series.  It's nothing like the Divergent series though.  I'm not a huge sci fi person so when I read the first few pages of aliens attacking I thought, "Nope, this ain't happening." but I kept reading.   And I'm glad I did!  It's a young adult novel about a boy who has to leave his home planet that's under attack to come to Earth with 9 other children and their guardians.  The aliens who attacked them on their home planet have come to Earth and are tracking them down and killing them in numerical order.  Number Four is next.

I didn't realized this was a movie made in 2011.  So I rented it from Amazon Prime Saturday after I finished the book.  I don't know why I do this to myself.  I know better.  I never like book to movie adaptations.  I can't separate the mediums.  I know I should but I don't.  Instead I sit there and say repeatedly "That didn't happen in the book!" or "What?!? What is that?!? It was so much better in the book!"  Needless to say, I didn't enjoy the movie as much as the book.  I have the second book on hold.

I started and quickly stopped reading Crystal Kingdom by Amanda Hocking.   It's the last book in the series, I've been so excited about this book coming out! I started reading it and got really confused.  I didn't recognize any of the characters.  I didn't remember the storyline.  So I stopped reading after a couple of pages and Googled it.  Yea, I haven't read any of the books in this series.  Ha!  I read the first series, The Trylle.  This is a spin off series, The Kanin Chronicles.

So I returned Crystal Kingdom and downloaded Frostfire.  It's an easy read.  I finished it in a day.  I'm a sucker for young adult books.  I love the teenage drama and romance and coming of age stories.  This urban fantasy has it all.  I put the Ice Kissed, the second book in the series on hold.

Thankful Thursday-STAAR Testing is Over

Here in Texas we like to be different so we are not doing Common Core or whatever test that goes along with it. We do TEKS (Texas Essesntial Knowledge and Skills) and STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) testing.

We are trained relentlessly on how to administer this test.

We are reminded continually that our teaching certificate can be taken away if we make a mistake.

               No pressure or anything.

We do practice STAAR tests to make sure that the real thing runs smoothly.

Signs are posted to be quiet because we are test.

Students of all ages and grades are told to be silent while we are testing.  For days at a time.
             
             That's no easy task for some of our students.

It's exhausting.

It's mind numbing.

It's stressful for EVERYONE.

This ONE test will tell the state of Texas if students learned anything this year.

It doesn't matter if students learn differently.  It doesn't matter if they ate dinner last night or breakfast this morning.  It doesn't matter if they've just had a major life event and they're not 100% focused.  It doesn't matter if you had electricity or not last night.  Or if you parent or guardian made you go to bed at a reasonable hour.

None of that matters.  There's no box to check if any of those things happened.

All that matters is if they past the test or not.

This is what the state of Texas is telling out students and quite frankly our teachers too.

           Because they feel this pressure too.

A small incident happened in my testing environment while I out of the room.  The monitor who relieved me freaked out a bit when I walked back into the room.  I told her it was so sad that she had to feel freaked out because we are so worried about every T being crossed and every I being dotted. I checked on the minor incident, I asked the student if they remembered my instructions that I read at the beginning... they did not.  I reported the insignificant incident just in case someone wanted to make a "thing" about it.  Luckily the minor incident didn't affect anything and nobody's making a deal about it.

But seriously.  This is not why I became a teacher.

Yes, we need to have standards.

Yes, we need a way to measure those standards.

But is this really efficient?  Is this really healthy for our children?

Can't we do better than this?

I don't have the answers I just know that our children do not deserve this kind of stress.

I am so thankful that testing is over... for now.

Five For Friday-A Busy Night

We have a busy Friday night ahead of us.

1. Reagan's part of the crew for her school play tonight.  Their plays are always so good!

2. Trying to get our family fed before the play.  That's no easy feat as a working mom.  And I need to bath because I have car rider duty after school.  In the Texas heat.  I stink in the afternoons.

3.  A family friend has graduated with his master's degree.  Yay!  We have his party at the exact same time as Reagan's play. Ugh

4.  We will be unfashionably later for the graduation party.

5.  I keep reminding myself I can rest when I'm dead.  There will be plenty of time for rest then.  Who needs rest now?  There's too much fun to be had!

Wordless Wednesday

The ladder sticks out the other window. How is this a good idea?

*** Disclaimer, I was not driving and taking this picture at the same time.

My mom took it using my phone... 

which is why it's not zoomed in. Ha!***

Grammar and Spelling and Mistakes Oh My!

I am a terrible speller.  I always have been.  Spelling is not my thing.

Grammar.  My brain works faster than my fingers can type or hands can write.  I omit words.  I swap out words.  I use the wrong spelling of a word that sounds the same but has a different spelling, you know, those homophones.  It's not that I don't know how to use their/they're/there correctly.  I do. I promise, I do.  It's just that my brain is going 90 and my fingers are going 30.

Yes, I reread everything I post on Facebook, Twitter, here on my blog or anywhere.  Yes, I still miss my mistakes.

When I reread my own words, I read it the way I want it to read not the actual way I typed or wrote it. It helps if I read my writing word by word with pauses in between but Oh. My. Word.  that takes a long time and I don't alway have enough time to do that... or I just get bored doing it.

It also helps it I change the background color.  So if I can, I'll highlight what I've written and edited it that way.  Or here on my blog I'll switch to Preview and that helps.

I say all this to say I'm 39 years old.  I've been making writing mistakes since I started writing.  My mistakes don't bother me.  Why should they bother you? I have a master's degree.  I'm an intelligent person.  But words aren't my thing.  And I'm ok with that.

So please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top don't point our my mistakes on social media. Don't call me out in front of everyone.  Don't be the grammar police.  If it truly bothers you, private message me or text me if you have my number.

I had three corrections done last week, two by the same person.  It really got on my nerves.  After the second correction by the same person I went to send a text to that person but thought better of it and sent it to my girlfriends for approval.  They said it sounded ok but it would better for me to talk to the person in person.  I knew that of course, but I needed to hear them say it.  By the time I saw the person I had calmed down by then and didn't say anything.  If I do get a chance to talk to this person I am going to say something but I'll be able to joke about it (while getting my point across) instead of being ugly and hurting their feelings.

I've never quite understood why people feel the need to point out other people's mistakes.  Does it make them feel better about themselves?  Do they think the other person wants to be corrected?  Do they get a thrill from it?  Or maybe they just think their doing the person a favor.

I don't know.

Whatever the reason, stop doing it to me. I don't like.

If you don't speak "Linsey" then maybe it's time to unfriend me, unfollow me, or whatever. Because I make a lot of mistakes. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I cannot tell you how much I love wordless picture books! There's just something magical about them. The illustrations become the focus. The details are so... well, detailed. I love listening to the students come up with the story based on the pictures. There are so many different interpretations of the drawings.

Last week I "read" the wordless picture book Float by Daniel Miyares to all grades.  The littles were quick to tell me what they thought was happening in the illustrations. The bigs were more thoughtful and not as quick to describe what they thought was happening. (I have some theories about this... but that's not what this post is about). 

On a rainy day a little boy and his dad make a paper boat. The little boy ventures out into the rain in search of a puddle to float his paper boat. Through some unfortunate events he heads home without the paper boat. Dad comforts him by making a paper airplane since the sun is out now. 

For an activity I had some copier paper for the students to make a paper boat or paper airplane. I made one of each a head of time with the intention of using them as an example throughout the week but there was always a student who asked if they could keep mine. I became an expert at making paper boats and paper airplanes. Ha!

I took some students outside and videoed them flying their paper airplane and posted it on our school Facebook page.  There were multiple times a teacher walked into the library and called out "We do NOT behave like this in the library."  I'd pop up from the table and laugh "Well, we do today." Then I'd explain about the book and the paper boat and airplane.  

I do believe this was one of my favorite lessons this year!

I got my monthly subscription of Junior Library Guild books in last week.  I read my way through them.

 Snail & Worm by Tina Kugler is one book with three different stories all rolled into one.  Each story is about the two friends Snail and Worm.  It's an easy read, great for those emergent readers.  The vocabulary and sentence structure are simple but the stories are super cute.

 Spot, the Cat by Henry Cole is another wordless picture book.  Love them!  These illustrations are done in black and white.  It seems... more sophisticated.  Spot, the cat escapes through an open window.  As he goes on his adventure someone is looking for him.  You can look for Spot too as you "read" this book.

 How To Find Gold by Viviane Schwarz, finding gold is never easy without a plan.  Anna and Crocodile create a plan. This plans includes a special secret-keeping face, strength, and a map... that they draw themselves... and label with an X themselves.

 The Kid From Diamond Street the Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton by Audrey Vernick, that title is a mouth full!  My family and I are baseball people so I really enjoyed this dip into baseball history.  As a young girl Edith shows extraordinary baseball skills.  She's so talented that she's allowed to join a women's team.  Her nickname becomes the Kid.

 Trombone Shorty by Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, this autobiography tell how Troy became Trombone Shorty after finding a beat up trombone in the trash. He earned the nickname Trombone Shorty because he was just a kid but was an excellent musician.

 Pool by JiHyeon Lee, three wordless picture books in one week!  A little boy heads off to the pool to cool off but finds the pool filled to the brim with other people.  The boy jumps in anyway and heads down deep to find a friend and many different types of fish.  The illustraions are mostly in blue, red and black but when the fish come along more colors get added.  I can't wait to read this to my students!

Cici's A Fairy's Tale Believe Your Eyes Book 1 by Cori Doerrfeld and Tyler Page. This graphic novel deals with divorce, fairies, friendship and following along like everyone else.  Cici is dealing with her parents divorce on her 10th birthday.  She also learns that she is a fairy and has wings.  Her abuela comes to stay with them and helps Cici out through this tough time.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers I liked this young adult story but I didn't necessarily like the way it was written.  It was written in first person point of view by Steve Harmon, a boy in juvenile detention.  In high school Steve is in the media club.  He writes his story as a screenplay along with a few journal entries.  I'm not a fan of screenplays or diary/journal entry books.  In saying all that, I really did like the story.  This story is a true testament that our choices effect us for the rest of our lives.  We have to make good choices.  It's the first book in the series.  I plan on reading the other books.  I want to see how Steve turns out.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm enjoying Mother's Day with a wonderful migraine. Day two of it to be exact. 

But yesterday my mom, Reagan and I spent the afternoon shopping and eating together in Houston.  It's been a good weekend except for this stupid migraine. 

Keeping The Library Open During June

Since I've become a librarian I have tried to keep my library opened some during June. For various reasons it hasn't happened. But this summer it finally going to be open! I'm very excited!

I'll be opened the first 3 Mondays in June from 9:00-11:00. 

I'm working on some fun things to do based off of different picture books. I'll also post the dates on the school's website's calendar and on Facebook. I also plan to do a write up to post on the school website.  Here's the newsletter I'm sending home.

I'll do reminder posts on Facebook the Sunday before to remind our families. I'm hoping for a good turn out. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time the library at this school will be open during the summer so it might take families awhile to take advantage of this opportunity. 

Our school is right in the center of a neighborhood. I'm hoping the student will be able to just walk up to the school by themselves or with a family member. 

I'm really looking forward to this!

Five for Friday-Houston

I'm headed home today. So my fives are about why I love Houston. 

1. The lights. I love all the buildings lit up at night. 

2. Being annonomous. No one knows you. You hardly ever run into anyone you know. It's glorious!

3. The options. The options of everything. Restaurants. Grocery stores. Shops. Malls. Jobs. Etc!

4. The radeo stations. So many radio stations. 

5. The people. The people who mind their own business. The rude people. The kind people. The people who think like me and those who don't. So many different people. 

I miss my home. 

Thankful Thursday-Teachers

I am so thankful for the many teachers who have touched my life. 

I remember my elementary teachers the most. It might be because my mom worked at my school starting in 2nd grade. So I spent time with them at school and outside of school. When I got older I babysat for them. 

Or maybe it's because when your little you idolize the teachers around you. 

Or maybe it's because there are fewer teachers per year in elementary than secondary school. 

Or maybe it's because elementary teachers are just different than secondary teachers. 

Whatever the reason they stick in my head the most. 

They tutored me.  They made me want to play school when I got home. They encouraged me. They are my heros. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

For School:

Last week I read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss to everyone. With Earth Day April 22 and Arbor Day April 29 I thought this was the perfect book to read. After I read the book I asked the older student what the moral was and the younger students what the book taught us. I added a movie station and played the old version of "The Lorax". The old version was free, the new one was not. Ha! Some students choose to watch it after the checked out books while others went to my normal stations. 

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier- This was a free Advance Readers Copy I got from my conference. It's a cute, short graphic novel about a girl who has to move because of her sisters illness. She's resentful. But then her sister and she find a trail that's a bit scary but ends at a beautiful scenery. This book will be published sometime this year. 

For myself:

Hurricane Katrina, 2005 ( I Survived Series) by Lauren Tarshis- Not gonna lie, I ugly cried during this book. I kept imaging my family going through this hurricane. Watching my daughter being swept away. Or my house floating away. Being separated from my family. Ugh! I can't image what those families went through. I loved this book!

How To Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather- This is also a free Advance Readers Copy I got from my conference. It won't be published until July 2016. It's the first book in a series. It's set in Salem during modern times but it's rich in the Salem Witch Trail history. I really wish I had read this book before we visited Salem a few years back. There were so many places mentioned in the book that I would of loved to have visited.  I loved the twists and turns in this book. I loved this history. I loved the fiction. I loved the story.