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My Side of the Mountain

This has never happened to me before: I enjoyed the sequel more than the original! Be assured, though, My Side of the Mountain

is very good. Young Sam Gribley goes off to live in the wilderness quite comfortably in a huge hollow tree. He trains a young falcon he named Frightful:

"Every day I worked to train Frightful. It was a long process, I would put her on her stump with a long leash and step back a few feet with some meat in my hand. Then I would whistle. The whistle was supposed eventually to mean food to her. So I would whistle, show her the meat, and after many false flaps she would finally fly to my hand. I would pet her and feed her. She could fly fairly well, so now I made sure that she never ate unless he flew to my fist.

"One day at breakfast I whistled for Frightful. I had no food, she wasn't even hungry, but she came to me anyway. I was thrilled. She had learned a whistle meant 'come.'

"I looked into her steely eyes that morning and thought I saw a gentle recognition. She puffed up her feathers as she sat on my hand. I call this a 'feather word.' It means she is content."

I also enjoyed this, from near the end of the book: "I returned to my patch on the mountain, talking to myself all the way. I talk to myself a lot, but everyone does. The human being, even in the midst of people, spends nine-tenths of his time alone with the private voices of his own head. Living alone on a mountain is not much different, except that your speaking voice gets rusty, I talked inside my head all the way home, thinking up schemes, holding conversations with Bando and Dad and Matt Spell...
"I cooked supper, and then sat down by my little fire and called a forum. It is very sociable inside my head, and I have perfected the art of getting a lot of people arguing together in silence or in a forum, as I prefer to call it. I can get four people all talking at once, and a fifth can be present, but generally I can't get him to talk. Usually these forums discuss such things as a storm and whether or not it is coming, how to make a spring suit, and how to enlarge my house without destroying the life in the tree. Tonight, however, they discussed what to do about Matt Spell. Dad kept telling me to go right down to the city and make sure he published nothing, not even a made-up story. Bando said, no, it's all right, he still doesn't know where you live, and then Matt walked into the conversation and said that he wanted to spend his spring vacation with me, and that he promised not to do anything untoward. Matt kept using 'untoward' - I don't know where he got that expression, but he liked it and kept using it - that's how I knew Matt was speaking; everything was 'untoward.'"

What I liked there was that it seemed that author Jean Craighead George described how her stories got generated. Characters in her head interacted, and she transcribed what took place onto paper. I could be wrong, but maybe.

The sequel that I liked even more is called On the Far Side of the Mountain. There's a third book, Frightful's Mountain, but I have not read it yet. It's here at my desk, so it won't be long.




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Dear Martin by Nic Stone


Lots of authors are publishing gritty, raw stories grounded in current events and this book by Nic Stone is another that falls into this category. The young man on the cover bears an uncanny resemblance to Trayvon Martin what with the hoody and all. Also on the cover is a quote from author Jason Reynolds proclaiming the novel to be "raw and gripping". That quote alone was enough to make me pick this book up as it will for many readers, I am sure.

Justyce is bright, articulate and for the most part just a regular high school kid trying to make it to graduation and then make his way to a prestigious college if all goes well. In the novel's intro we meet him trying to do right by his on again, off again girlfriend Melo who is about to make a bad decision. His actions are somehow misconstrued by a passing police officer and before he knows it Justyce ends up face down with a face full of asphalt. This is only the precursor to what is destined to be an eventful Senior year to say the least.


As it so happens Justyce's grades have allowed him to gain entry to one of Atlanta's most prestigious private schools where seemingly every teacher has at least three degrees. Most of the students are bright, many come from well to do families such as his best friend Manny whose parents are successful professionals. As you would expect, the campus is not very diverse and some of the students display white privilege (perhaps a bit too predictably by lamenting the fact that minorities have it "easy") Justyce's way of dealing with the many, many changes occurring in his life is to write letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He's studied the Civil Rights leader's speeches in class and is trying to reconcile the words and the values espoused therein with the realities of daily life. As if that isn't complicated enough, there is also the not so small matter of the evolving relationship with his debate partner SJ.

I've read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and All-American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely and this novel is just as gripping, timely and relevant. Stone does a great job balancing the heavy stuff with some touchy feely stuff so it isn't too hard to digest. Well worth a read.




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U.S. bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic dies at 43

Former U.S. Olympic bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic died May 3 at the age of 43, USA Bobsled/Skeleton said in a release Saturday.




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Otevřeno pro jednoho hosta. Pandemie inspirovala vznik svérázných restaurací

Celosvětová pandemie koronaviru, kvůli které nejspíš zkrachují tisíce restaurací, inspirovala koncept švédské restaurace Bord For En (Stůl pro jednoho). Podnik bude servírovat tříchodové menu vždy jen pro jediného hosta. Stolovat se bude venku na louce, s výhledem do zeleně, uvedla ve své reportáži stanice CNN. Restaurace se otevře 10. května a bude v provozu jen přes léto.



  • Ekonomika - Zahraniční

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Coronavirus: 'Stay alert' advice defended by communities secretary

It follows criticism that a move away from the "stay at home" slogan could confuse the public.


















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Voormalige TVL-kok 'Chef Moke' overleden (Wellen) - Het Belang van Limburg Mobile - Het Belang van Limburg

  1. Voormalige TVL-kok 'Chef Moke' overleden (Wellen) - Het Belang van Limburg Mobile  Het Belang van Limburg
  2. Wellense chef Moke Karmaoui overleden: “Je blijft ons grote voorbeeld en onze held”  Het Laatste Nieuws
  3. Limburgse chef Moke Karmaoui (50) overleden: “Je blijft ons grote voorbeeld en onze held”  Het Laatste Nieuws
  4. Hele verhaal bekijken via Google Nieuws










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Medium-intensity earthquake strikes Delhi, adjoining areas; 3rd amid Covid-19 lockdown - Hindustan Times

  1. Medium-intensity earthquake strikes Delhi, adjoining areas; 3rd amid Covid-19 lockdown  Hindustan Times
  2. Earthquake of magnitude 3.5 hits Delhi-NCR  Times of India
  3. Earthquake in Delhi: Tremors felt in national capital region  The Financial Express
  4. Magnitude 3.4 Earthquake Strikes Delhi, Epicentre Near UP Border  News18
  5. Breaking news live : Eathquake tremors felt in Delhi, adjoining areas  Times of India
  6. View Full coverage on Google News




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Virtual racing wasn’t real – but it made many fans feel real good

NASCAR will make its return to the track on May 17 at Darlington Raceway – but that doesn't mean fans have been without racing for the past two months.




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US bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic dead at 43

Former U.S. Olympic bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic has died




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Preventing loneliness and social isolation for older people (cards)



  • Toolkits
  • evidence-informed practice
  • Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS)




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Preserving the history of social work: Golden Bridge





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Guidebook - create your own mobile app





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Pencil Sharpener Upgrade

Being Office MacGyver of the day has never been easier.




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Cheaper Than Student Painters

You know, until the lawsuit. ~Not-So-Handy Andy




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Homemade Capacitor

On the right, we see an example of what a capacitor should look like. On the left, we see a kludging masterpiece.






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Atelier Audemars Piguet Museum








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The Zombie Grinder 4000 Slingshot: The Ultimate in Anti-Undead Technology




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Dogs Finally Get the Compliments They Deserve in These Pretty Tweets

The theme here is simple: whatever your dog is looking at might be pretty, but your dog is always prettier. Got it?




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Sony's Official Used Game Instructional Video

After Microsoft's unclear position on the sale of used games for their new Xbox One game console, Sony steps in and shows how the secondhand market works on their platform. Shots fired?

Keep up with all of our E3 coverage this week right here!