Thursday, December 10, 2009

Knots in My Yo-yo String


Most Recently Read Book:

Knots in My Yo-yo String: The Autobiography of a Kid

By Jerry Spinelli

Jerry Spinelli is one of my favorite authors. I loved Maniac Magee when I read it in junior high school and, more recently, I have loved Stargirl, Love, Stargirl, and Milkweed. Reading Spinelli's autobiography of his life growing up really gives insight into some of his stories. I told some of my students I was reading it and they were asking me if he had a hard life. Truth be told, he really didn't have a hard life. He had a fun life. He had a life of playing baseball in sandlots and riding his bike all over town. It's a nice glimpse of life in the 50's. Each chapter seems a little disconnected from the others, even though he tries to tie it together with the idea of knots in his yo-yo string, but overall it was a nice, reminiscent read (not that I was alive in the 50's...but you know what I mean.)

1 comment:

Laraf123 said...

I absolutely LOVE Jerry Spinelli's books. I enjoy sharing them with my students even if they do think they are too old for his stories. Do you know if Jerry is married to the author Eileen Spinelli? I have often wondered...

BTW, I went back and edited my Happy 101 post to link back to you...forgot to do that the first time!