Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 15/Sep 05:59

Back to school book club for parents, teachers

DEBBIE JACOB Leisure reading is important – not just for students, but for teachers and parents too. Reading books benefits students academically, personally and socially, and one of the best ways to get your children to read is for them to see you reading. Setting aside quiet family time every evening to read brings immeasurable dividends. Students only need to devote half an hour a day to see reading speed, comprehension and analytical skills improve. I’m also hoping more adults will start this school year with workplace book clubs. Here are books I recommend for parents and teachers: The Cyber Effect...by Mary Aiken. The write works in law enforcement and is hailed as “the world’s leading expert in forensic cyberpsychology.” The book shows readers how cyberspace shapes and disrupts your children’s world. The Internet is addictive. It influences values, makes children question their identity and wreaks havoc on concentration. Discover how parents can protect their children from the dangers of cyberspace. Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan. This novella by an Irish writer, is only 128 pages, but packed with thought-provoking meaning. The main character, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant struggling to make ends meet, makes a startling discovery that shakes his faith and makes him question his conscience. An historical fiction set in a fictitious Irish town in 1985, exposes the Magdalene laundries where girls society had deemed wayward lived. This is a book about how we find the courage to stand up for what is right when wrongdoing is institutionalised. There’s a movie starring Cillian Murphy based on this book. Mixing Memory and Desire...by Lee Johnson. This Trinidadian author has cooked up a delightfully light, informative history of the region by tracing how the crops we grow and food we eat arrived in the Caribbean. Most interesting is how the immigrants who landed in these islands combined hope for the future with nostalgia to create new versions of distinct ethnic dishes. Another layer of meaning explores how the dishes we love transcend cultural and ethnic boundaries, representing individual Caribbean nations and the region as a whole. History never tasted so good. Village of One, by Richard Charan. Journalist Richard Charan’s newspaper features, compiled into a book about hidden and lost places, create an expansive image of this country beyond the urban areas we focus on. Village of One is a book of discovery and exploration, blending history and journalism. You can disappear in these stories, relish nostalgia and savour Charan’s gift for writing. Look at You, by Amanda Smyth. Book critics have rightfully noted the uncanny similarity between this Irish/Trinidadian writer’s work and that of Dominican writer Jean Rhys. But there’s an original voice there too with finely crafted narrative portraits strung together to create this novel about life straddling Irish, English and Trinidadian culture. Look at You is a novel about identity and belonging. A House for Miss Pauline by Diane McCaulay. There’s no mystery here why this Jamaican writer’s story about Miss Pauline, who is on the threshold of turning 100, is making waves internationally. Richly layered and brilliantly structured, this novel – as all of McCaulay’s novels– masterfully presents setting, both time and place, and characterisation into an unforgettable Caribbean story about identity and survival. Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. Mainly using personal anecdotes, Robbins offers advice about how to relinquish the notion that you can control other people. Even more important is her advice on how to counter that feeling of fear and guilt from letting go and taking control of your own emotions. Readers call this book life-changing. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain...by George Saunders. Avid readers needing a challenge should tackle this book. Saunders presents stories by great Russian writers, Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol followed by probing questions about the texts. Readers can then compare their thoughts to Saunders’ analysis. A Swim in a Pond… is an in-depth, interactive lesson in literary analysis. There you have it, a plan for becoming a model reader for your children. Create a fun and meaningful reading experience at home or in a book club at work. Happy reading. The post Back to school book club for parents, teachers appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.