National Poetry Month

Because it is the last day of April, I thought it would be fitting to share one of my poems:

Mouse

Round bright eyes and a furry brown face,

connected to a furry brown waist.

Tiny paws with nails I use as my hands,

matching tiny feet which allow me to stand.

A long pink tail sprouts out from behind,

I scurry around and I’m never confined.

The forest ground is where I find food.

My tall thin ears hear an owl intrude.

My tiny feet carry me across the dirt ground.

I hide inside my hole without making a sound.

The owl then leaves me alone.

My heartbeat echoes the walls of my home.

The wood is my home and my permanent house.

It is the place I belong fore I am a mouse.

The Staples Reading Test

     What does it mean to be a speed reader? Is being able to read at a quick pace even important? Is any individual at all more intelligent or intellectual solely based on the fact that they can read at a faster pace than the average reader? And finally, what defines average?

     I personally consider myself to be a relatively slow reader, and I understand that that is because I enjoy absorbing what I read so that I can fully understand it. However, according to the Staples Reading Test, I am reading at the rate of a 3rd grader which means I read 40% slower than the national average!

     I was tested by reading a sample of H.G. Well's War of the Worlds, and was able to read the 186 words given in a period of 1 minute and 14 seconds, meaning I was able to read 2.5 words per second and 150 words per minute. After being tested on my reading pace I was asked a series of three questions which pertained to the selection I just read. And, I answered all three questions correctly. 

     So this brings me to the question - does it really matter how fast we read? According to the Staples Reading Test, and average adult should be able to read 300 words per minute, an average college student should be able to read 450 words per minute, high-scoring college students should be able to read 800 words per minute, and so-called "speed readers" should be able to read up to 1500 words per minute! This seems a little ridiculous.

     In my honest opinion I do not think reading pace should be anything to worry about, and the real thing to concentrate on while reading is that you are understanding and enjoying the material that you are absorbing. 

     However, if you are at all interested in finding out what your reading pace is you are able to take the Staples Reading Test by clicking here.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter Review

     In Ally Carter's young adult novel, I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, a young girl named Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. At a first glance this school looks like your average all girl private school, but at a closer glance it is revealed that it is actually a secret spy school whose headmistress is Cammie's mother, a former covert operative. 

     All of the girls who attend the school take special lessons in spying from teachers who used to be experts at the craft. Cammie has also become quite an expert spy, and is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, however when she meets a boy named Josh she falls head over heels and doesn't know what to do with herself. 

     The first thing that fascinated me about this book was its quirkiness. Ally Carter's writing style captures the emotions of a teenage girl in love perfectly, and so it is a perfect read for females in high school and middle school. I enjoyed reading Cammie's adventures in keeping her spy identity a secret and I look forward to continuing this series in the future.

My rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars.