Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of
Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the
Panama Hotel. once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been
boarded up for decades. but now the new owner has made an incredible
discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were
rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry
looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol." "This simple act takes
Henry back to the 1940s, when his world was a jumble of confusion and
excitement, and to his father. who was obsessed with the war in China
and having Henry grow up American.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life—until
Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated
from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and
her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are
forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art,
documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds
clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along,
hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But
will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to
survive?
Dear Miss Breed by Joanne Oppenheim
A chronicle of the incredible correspondence between California
librarian Clara Breed and young Japanese American internees during World
War II.
In the early 1940's, Clara Breed
was the children's librarian at the San Diego Public Library. But she
was also friend to dozens of Japanese American children and teens when
war broke out in December of 1941. The story of what happened to these
American citizens is movingly told through letters that her young
friends wrote to Miss Breed during their internment. This remarkable
librarian and humanitarian served as a lifeline to these imprisoned
young people, and was brave enough to speak out against a shameful
chapter in American history.
Looks like I have been on a World War Two reading kick doesn't it? I really found myself drawn to the both Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Between Shades of Gray. They both gave me a little insight to parts of World War Two that I didn't know much about (Japanese internment camps and the Soviet Union) and the stories felt so real, which led me to Dear Miss Breed where I was able to read actual letters from the children who were imprisoned because of their Japanese ancestry during that time. It was a slow read but insightful.
What are you reading?
We also love games. So, to combine two of our favorite things of the moment, I made up a game for my kiddos. Spring Bingo. We've been playing it the last couple days and it's perfect for my 3 and 5.5 year olds. Because it's picture matching, my 3 year old can play by himself and my 5 year old still enjoys the game too.
If you would like to get your own copy of the Spring Bingo game, you can download the PDF, save it to your computer and then print. The files are formatted to 8.5x11" and you'll need Adobe Reader to access them. Don't worry it's free and you can download it if you don't have it already. There are three different game board styles and a sheet of bingo cards. Print all the pages, cut the cards apart (laminate them, if you want) and then find some fun markers to use. We used cheerios and my boys played for about 20 mins in an endless version of the game. They loved it!
Hello Whatever DeeDee Wants readers! I'm Holly from Paper Crush (formerly Paisley Petal Events) and I'm excited to be here today as part of Dianna's Spring Fling series! Paper Crush is a blog and shop dedicated to making life pretty with all things paper. I participated in the bloggers Spring Fling last year by sharing a fun "Hello Spring" printable banner. Today I'm sharing some cute Happy Easter tags that actually coordinate with our Spring banner, to use for all of your Easter gift-giving needs.
I always like to give little gifts or treats to friends and family for most holidays and these Happy Easter tags are perfect for just about anything!
Simply print the PDF on your color printer at home, or download and bring the file to your local office supply store (Office Depot is my personal fave!) and have them print out the tags for you. Cut out the tags with your pretty gold scissors or a paper trimmer, punch a hole in the corner of the tag and attach with coordinating ribbon to your gifts.
Use the tags and attach to little candy treats or small gifts.
