Slice of Life: One Final Sentence (as prose poem)

(The Slice of Life Challenge in March has been hosted by Two Writing Teachers as way to encourage teachers-as-writers. There is also a monthly call for Slices on Tuesdays. You can write then, too)

Every Sentence that’s been a Slice has narrowed my writer’s focus to single small moments of time and yet, in constructing the days in this constrained way, each string of words inadvertently left out much more than I could say.

Peace (as prose and poem),
Kevin

Book Review: City of Ghosts/Tunnel of Bones

The first two books in the Cassidy Blake series, which features the young protagonist as a seeker of ghosts, are fast-paced and character-rich and full of ghosts. City of Ghosts is the first in the series by Victoria Schwab, and Tunnel of Bones is the second.

I found the series at my library, and I was initially attracted by the cover of City of Bones, with a girl and a cat in the mist of a city. It was only halfway through the book that I realized that I have read this author’s adult series, Shades of Magic, with great interest and found them to be wonderful stories of imagination.

Here, in this new series, Cassidy is finding her way forward after nearly dying but being saved by a ghost, Jacob, who becomes her friend and companion. Her parents are filming a television series about haunted places, which means that Cassidy and Jacob get to explore Scotland in the first book and then Paris, in the second, learning more about the “Veil” — where Cassidy has the power to see ghosts still wandering their last memories. Another character with similar powers has told Cassidy that she must use this ability to send ghosts on, to help them cross from the world of the Veil.

In the first story, Cassidy is nearly destroyed by a ghost eager to steal Cassidy’s life and in the second, she must help the ghost of a young boy who was killed in the Catacombs of Paris, although the young poltergeist amps up the mayhem and puts Cassidy in danger.

The writing is strong, with a solid pace, and the slow unraveling of Jacob’s back story unfolds nicely, as is the friendship between human girl and ghost boy, whom Cassidy should send back across the Veil with her powers but refuses to do so. These books are a perfect fit for middle school readers who like a good ghost story with strong characters.

NOTE: I am now reading the third installment in the series.

Peace (in the Veil),
Kevin

Slice of Life/Day in a Sentence: In Spring Jim

(The Slice of Life Challenge in March is hosted by Two Writing Teachers as way to encourage teachers-as-writers. You can join in, if you want. There is also a monthly call for Slices on Tuesdays. You can write then, too)

Just as I saw him on his bike, and thought, there’s the first sign of Spring, Jim, a retired neighbor and friend and avid bike wanderer, pedals past me with a smile and a hand pointing at the patch of purple crocus, shouting: “The first signs of Spring!”

Peace (rolling forward),
Kevin

Slice of Life/Day in a Sentence: Peeking At The Underbelly

(The Slice of Life Challenge in March is hosted by Two Writing Teachers as way to encourage teachers-as-writers. You can join in, if you want. There is also a monthly call for Slices on Tuesdays. You can write then, too)

A rainy, dreary Sunday was broken up unexpectedly by a squirrel clinging upside down on the window screen of the living room, sparking a confused ruckus for the dogs and giving us all a closer look at the furry underbelly of a gray squirrel.

Peace (holding on),
Kevin

Slice of Life/Day in a Sentence: Cacophonic Symphony

(The Slice of Life Challenge in March is hosted by Two Writing Teachers as way to encourage teachers-as-writers. You can join in, if you want. There is also a monthly call for Slices on Tuesdays. You can write then, too)

It was the sound that caught our ears from a distance, the crowded chaotic cacophonic* symphony of peeper frogs singing forth their songs in the early Spring sun.

Peace (listening in),
Kevin

*might not be a real word, but it should be, if it isn’t

Slice of Life/Day in a Sentence: Building A Nest In What’s Left

(The Slice of Life Challenge in March is hosted by Two Writing Teachers as way to encourage teachers-as-writers. You can join in, if you want. There is also a monthly call for Slices on Tuesdays. You can write then, too)

We left the Christmas wreath hanging on the front door up a bit too long, as a sort of silent protest against the Pandemic, so two beautiful cardinals took advantage, burrowing down and building a nest in what’s left of last winter’s celebration.

Peace (in Spring),
Kevin

Slice of Life/Day in a Sentence: Sipping Rain From Stems

(The Slice of Life Challenge in March is hosted by Two Writing Teachers as way to encourage teachers-as-writers. You can join in, if you want. There is also a monthly call for Slices on Tuesdays. You can write then, too)

I always feel guilty as I tug the puppy forward on early morning walks, like the one this very morning, after a rainstorm when all she wants to do is sip every bead of water from every stem of grass and all I want to do is get myself home to start the day.

Peace (and puppies),
Kevin

Slice of Life/Day in a Sentence: My Kid’s In The Recommendation Engine

(The Slice of Life Challenge in March is hosted by Two Writing Teachers as way to encourage teachers-as-writers. You can join in, if you want. There is also a monthly call for Slices on Tuesdays. You can write then, too)

What a thrill it is to glance at my streaming music home screen and see that one of the top recommended songs is a track that my own teenage son produced the music for, from right here at our dining room table (with a pop artist who hails from Scotland).

Rowan Song in Amazon Music

Listen via Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/forrestradio/think-about-you-w-rowan-hodgson

Peace (singing it),
Kevin

Slice of Life/Day in a Sentence: Only A Slight Attempt at Bribery

(The Slice of Life Challenge in March is hosted by Two Writing Teachers as way to encourage teachers-as-writers. You can join in, if you want. There is also a monthly call for Slices on Tuesdays. You can write then, too)

It felt more like a bribe of the digital influencing age, a $40 Amazon gift card stuck inside the box of my $80 purchase with a note that indicated they would activate the card only after I posted a five-star review of the item and only if I refrained from ever mentioning in said review, said note or said gift card, both of which quickly ended up in the trash.

Peace (remaining upright),
Kevin