MotherReader

I write a lot of notes on books in an old-school, spiral notebook. These are usually for the books that I want to seal in the lessons by writing out notes, passages, and thoughts. I never really knew what to say as in way of review of My Name is Mina and I Love the Night by David Almond, but I wrote this entire passage by hand in my notebook because I thought it was so perfect. Both in how it captured the feel of the book and in the deeper message. So I won't say much more about this title other than it is about a girl who is homeschooled because she is just too connected to the world to fit in with her peers, but she finds her place in wide branches of her favorite tree and the white pages of her own journal.

I think about how it was the dinosaur that survived the disaster that wiped out all the other dinosaurs. And it didn't just survive. It evolved and became more elegant and skillful and powerful. It started the line of evolution that led to birds! And I look how the birds fly and soar over everything. I think of how they mange to inhabit the whole world, from the frozen poles to the steamy equator. And I've been thinking: if the human race mages to destroy itself, as it often seems to want to do, or if some great disaster comes, as it did for the dinosaurs, then the birds will manage to survive... It could be that the birds will exist forever and forever until the earth itself comes to an end, no matter waht might happen to the other creatures. They'll sing until the end of time. So here's my thought: If there is a God, could it be that he's chosen the birds to speak for him? Could it be true? The Voice of God speaks through the beaks of birds.

She also writes suggestions for Extraordinary Activities. Here's one for today: "Listen for the frail and powerful thing at your heart."