A new twist on the STEPS Talent Dollars (T$s) for book reports has just been designed.  Here's how it goes - Every month there will be a few new books added  to the "Recommended Reads" here on the Learning Corner.  If you read one of these current books and send Al your book report, you earn double the T$s (10T$s)!  If you cannot find the book available in your school or public library, contact us and we will check it out for you.  So, check in monthly, and read!  We encourage you to send in one book report each month for a maximum per year of 12 - unless Al sends out a special challenge!   Be sure to read the Guidelines below ↓
                                                                         Happy Reading! ☺

Eleven-year-old Clay Garrity is on his  own.  His father lost his job and left the family.  Now Clay’s mother is gone from their welfare hotel.  Clay is homeless and out on the streets of New York.  In the park he meets two homeless men.  Buddy and Calvin become Clay’s new family during those harsh winter weeks.  But the streets are filled with danger and despair.  If  Clay leaves the streets he may never find his parents again.  But if he stays on the streets he may not survive at all.

7th & 8th grade reading level

One year ago, a devastating plague called Strain 7 killed three quarters of the human race.   Around the  world, power systems failed and supply chains screeched to a halt. The surviving population of the United States has been relocated to the coasts; the heartland is now a wasteland called The Big Empty. But seven teens trying to put their lives back together will learn that the abandoned zone holds danger, secrets, and above all, hope.

But when they get to Bridgeport, they learn that Great-aunt Cilla has died, and the home they find with her daughter, Eunice, isn't the permanent haven they've been searching for. So their journey continues to its unexpected conclusion -- and some surprising discoveries about their history, and their future.

Robin can’t believe it when her boyfriend, Chris, tells her that his parents have enrolled him in a summer program in Rome.  It’s their last summer together before he goes away to college, and now they won’t even have that time together.  It feels like the worst thing that’s ever happened to her.  Since Chris is leaving, Robin agrees to join her aunt and cousins on a cross-country road trip, in spite of her reservations.  She and her younger cousins have never really gotten along, and since their father’s death they’ve become even more problematic than before.  Soon the four of them are zigzagging through the West on an eye-opening journey.  They explore parts of the country Robin never dreamed existed—and she discovers inner resources she never imagined she had.

Former "Recommended Reads"

(Be the first to e-mail Al (click here) with the correct answer and win T$s!  Be sure to give him your name and your school.)

A REBUS is a picture representation of a name, work, or phrase.   The "rebus" puzzle box below portrays a common word or phrase. Using YOUR brainpower, can you be the first to tell Al what it is?
                                                                       

Also Congratulations to STEPS students Cody Bone, Riley Reidhead, Kelsey Moore, Jeromy Tealand Cheyenne Flickinger, Randi Lee Parsons for their correct answers to past Mindbenders!