Required Summer Reading

There was an email in my inbox last week from Kate's principal listing the required summer reading assignments for language arts.  I know it's weird but I was excited - a new reading list!  Kate's class has to read a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.  The upper grade classes have Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.

I know we're supposed to have awful memories of middle school/junior high but honestly...I...kinda...liked it....actually.

I had English first hour in seventh grade, our first year of junior high.  My teacher had cats (don't know how many, just know it was plural) and wore long wool skirts to school.  Every morning she used a roll of school tape turned sticky side out to brush the cat hair from her skirt.

My eighth grade English teacher raised horses at home and loved the one named Serendipity most.

I had Political Science in eighth grade also - which I thought I would hate.  I'm not political, never have been, and science isn't really my strong area either.  But to my pleasant surprise, I loved Political Science.  Our teacher treated us like adults and we had the most intellectual conversations I had experienced thus far. 

My seventh grade social studies teacher was also extremely politically intelligent but she loved literature also so we read many historical novels.  I remember reading The Turn of the Screw by Henry James in her class but can't imagine why.

In seventh grade science (remember not my best area), our teacher had one real eye and one glass eye which he threatened to pop in and out if we wanted to see.  He had lost his eye in a fishing accident when his fishing buddy cast his line but caught an eyeball.  Ewww.  But I liked this teacher.  He gave only one A+ per quarter and I got it three out of four quarters.  That fourth quarter was when we dissected frogs.  So,...I'm not bragging, I'm just saying, junior high was good to me.

And my poor math teacher who asked to speak to me after class about my reading during his lectures.  He said I shouldn't.  He was very sweet about it though.  But then he got brain cancer and died.  It was a shock for us at that age to realize that teachers were human - mortal.

And then the Frau who introduced me to German - she was my favorite!

I hope that Kate and John can have even a bit of the positive vibes I found during this struggle between childhood and young adult.