Reading

MEAP testing has two purposes that I can see: driving students and teachers stir crazy, and giving bored students an opportunity to read. I read two books I loved: one was Scumble by Ingrid Law, the other was the first book in the Bar Code Trilogy by Suzanne Weyn, called the Bar Code Tattoo.

Scumble was about a boy named Ledger, who gets a savvy on his thirteenth birthday (like a magical power). He has the ability to make things explode. The unfortunate thing is that he can't control it. So, he spends a crazy summer with his family at their ranch in Wyoming. There's a whole bunch of other things going on, too, involving city politics, foreclosures, and enormous butterflies.

The Bar Code Tattoo is a strange concept. It takes place in 2025, and it deals with everyone in America getting a bar code tattooed to their wrist. Kayla refuses to get one, and gets into a bit of trouble, but she finds something scary out - the bar codes contain your entire genetic code. I'm now reading the second book.