When everything starts to make sense...

My morning started with a Sustained Silent Reading teacher whose students were not reading effectively. I checked their circulation records and Accelerated Reader points. I e mailed parents about lost books. I talked to all 7th grade language arts classes about WHY their teachers want them to read more than one Jake Maddox book per week. 

I hurriedly but earnestly discussed what students wanted to read, what books they hated, and what they could do to build reading skills rather than staring at their shoes for 20 minutes during SSR. 

Some students got more books and looked happy. Some students got different books and looked relieved. Some students rolled their eyes at me and looked bored. 

I went to the SSR and personally consulted with each student in the company of the teacher. We uncovered logistical problems, like the fact that books were left in lockers to avoid being late. We found long lost books in, of all places, classroom "lost and found" bins. We talked to a lot of girls who, when they said they were "reading on their phones" meant that they were rereading The Fault in Our Stars... for the fifth time this fall. 

We organized. We made plans. We got new books.

By lunch time, I was exhausted and dispirited. Books hadn't been checked in, I hadn't worked on my upcoming evaluation lesson, and the library looked  like Ground Zero of a megaton book bomb because I was spending every second discussing books with students. 

Then I checked e mail at lunch.

I was offered a possible opportunity to do a Monthly Book Thing by a Major Library News Source. 

This is why I read everything. This is why I talk to kids about books. After ten years of living and breathing middle grade, I might be able to use my accumulated knowledge to reach a wider audience of people who work to get books to kids. 

The world does not always make sense. But it's a fantastic thing when it does.