Freedom Lessons Book Launch Today!! > Likes and Comments
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Hi Amanda, What’s your favorite cake? Tell me who extended a kindness that lifted your spirits on a very bad day.
Hi everyone, I've been having some glitches with Goodreads today, and got this message: "Goodreads is over capacity.You can never have too many books, but Goodreads can sometimes have too many visitors. Don't worry! We are working to increase our capacity.Please reload the page to try again."
I'm also on American Historical Fiction Facebook page. You can chat and enter the Giveaway there too. Things seem to working now! But I had a terrible time answering Amanda a bit ago, Fingers crossed!
Good luck! This passage makes my mouth water.
Sheila wrote: "Good luck! This passage makes my mouth water."So what's your favorite cake? did anyone ever surprise you with a kindness you needed on a bad day?
Debbie wrote: "Happy Release Day!!!"Thank you Debbie, what's your favorite cake? Did anyone ever surprise you with a kindness you needed on a bad day?
Eileen wrote: "Hi Amanda, What’s your favorite cake? Tell me who extended a kindness that lifted your spirits on a very bad day."Sorry I made things so tough! :)
My favorite cake is cheesecake (but I am allergic to chocolate so things are limited). I also like confetti cake, because...confetti.
Yes, yesterday! The crazy shift in weather had my head throbbing to the point I almost left school. One of my kiddos said, "I just put lotion on, can I go wash my hands, it is going to make your head worse" and that small consideration made my whole heart smile. I tell parents all the time, I can teach your kids a lot, but I can't give them a good heart. What a wonderful kindness -- I thanked her again today for being so thoughtful. Maybe not the surprise you meant, but it made me feel better in my pain.
Eileen wrote: "Debbie wrote: "Happy Release Day!!!"Thank you Debbie, what's your favorite cake? Did anyone ever surprise you with a kindness you needed on a bad day?"
The American Historical Fiction (Facebook and Goodreads) Winner of the Publication Day Giveaway of a signed copy and book club swag pac is Stephanie Keasling!! PM your mailing address to me please Stephanie! There will be a second winner at the end of the week. Chat with me for a chance to win! New post everyday. All comments will be re-entered for Friday's Giveaway!
Amanda wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Hi Amanda, What’s your favorite cake? Tell me who extended a kindness that lifted your spirits on a very bad day."Sorry I made things so tough! :)
My favorite cake is cheesecake (bu..."
It wasn't you, it was the Goodreads overload. Everything froze when I was trying to reply to you!
A kindness is a kindness. Aren't kids the best - a thoughtful gesture, I know that some hand creams have a scent that could give me a headache!
Hi Rhonda, thank you for visiting! Yesterday was a fabulous day. I love meeting readers, especially historical fiction readers. Since yesterday was my books “birthday” I celebrated by asking what’s your favorite cake? And did anyone ever surprise you with a kindness on a bad day?
Eileen wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Hi Amanda, What’s your favorite cake? Tell me who extended a kindness that lifted your spirits on a very bad day."Sorry I made things so tough! :)
My favorite cake is..."
Yes! My students truly are the best!
Amanda wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Hi Amanda, What’s your favorite cake? Tell me who extended a kindness that lifted your spirits on a very bad day."Sorry I made things so tough! :)
My f..."
Hi Amanda, I think we're in different time zones or like many teachers you just got done with everything else on your list! Would you say "I teach children" or "I teach (fill in subject)"
Barbara wrote: "Happy release day!"Thank you Barbara, I missed this in the list. Thank you, it's been an amazing week. I'm finding the Goodreads site a bit wonky to work with. The same posts are on Facebook American Historical Fiction Group. It's great to chat either place. Glad I saw this! I've put up two more posts since this one. Did I miss you there too? What's your favorite cake?
Eileen wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Hi Amanda, What’s your favorite cake? Tell me who extended a kindness that lifted your spirits on a very bad day."Sorry I made things so..."
Yes, I was just finishing my day. I would say, "I teach Social Studies" as I teach Jr. High/High School, however I refer to my students as my kids so I have started a number of conversations with, "I have 151 kids", and those conversations quickly veered off track. :)
That's what I thought - I've noticed that middle and high school teachers say "I teach (subject) but love their kids. 151!!! lots of papers to grade. Do you like middle or high school better?
Hi, Eileen - Happy belated launch day! I love the passage you included above. My favorite dessert is chocolate lava cake. (No such thing as too much chocolate IMHO.) About your other question ... My husband had just been released from the hospital after surgery. The upstairs bathroom flooded that night, and I woke up the next morning with a full-blown cold. A good friend showed up at the door that afternoon with two quarts of soup. I'll never forget her kindness.
Eileen wrote: "That's what I thought - I've noticed that middle and high school teachers say "I teach (subject) but love their kids. 151!!! lots of papers to grade. Do you like middle or high school better?"Depends on what you are asking about. Middle school kids are still sweet and there is so much growth to bear witness to. High school kids are relational and I can get really into material with them. The hugs are in middle school and the crying on shoulders in high school. I just love my kids, there are too many days I laugh so hard I cry. Too many days I pause and think, "I can't believe I get paid to do this!" It is a gift.
I’m sure you’re an effective teacher! We need you! Thanks for your work and love for students!
Two chances to win a copy of Freedom Lessons – one today! And one on Friday!
Win a chance by commenting today by midnight EST.
All comments will be re-entered for Friday’s raffle. Enter on AHF Facebook page or
Colleen’s (my protagonist) and my favorite cake is Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting. What’s your favorite cake? After you read this brief excerpt from Freedom Lessons, tell me who extended a kindness that lifted your spirits on a very bad day.
Here’s what happened when a surprise cake was delivered to Colleen’s “storage trailer classroom” packed with thirty second graders and parked on the back lawn of the white school four months after the sudden overnight integration. It was the beginning of a friendship.
“Miz Rodriguez, look. There’s a cake on your desk. A big cake!” Linkston shouted.
As she tried to understand what he was telling her, the children all rushed past her and squeezed around her desk. She froze when she saw Cynthia lift a large knife.
“Cynthia! Stop!”
Cynthia turned with the knife still in her hands. “It’s to cut the cake, Miz Rodriguez.”
“Children, please! Sit at your desks.”
“Let me see . . . What is this?”
“Cynthia, put the knife down.”
Colleen saw Cynthia’s chin tremble and her eyes fill up as she set the knife on the desk.
“I was trying to help, Miz Rodriguez.”
“Why is there a cake on your desk?” Jarrod asked.
“Children, children, you must sit down.”
“Cake? Can we have a piece?”
“Do you have ice cream?”
Only a few students had listened to her. She couldn’t get near the desk because they filled the narrow rows. She was beyond frustration; it was stuffy in the trailer, and she couldn’t reach the air conditioner. It would circulate some air, and the drone would muffle the commotion.
“If you are not in your seats by the time I count to three . . .”
What? Colleen, what? What will you do?
“One . . . two . . . three.”
Most of the children scattered and sat down, but Jarrod still hovered near her desk, looking at the cake.
Is he licking his finger?
“Jarrod! God d . . . bless America.”
I almost said damn. For crying out loud, calm yourself, Colleen.
Colleen watched as Jarrod finally moved to take his seat. She couldn’t understand what had just happened. Chaos? Over a cake? On her birthday? Who could have done this? She hadn’t told anyone, as far as she could remember.
As the children moved away, she was finally able to stand behind her desk. Four rows of faces stared back at her. Then she looked at the cake. It was amazing. It appeared to be at least three layers and bigger than a dinner plate. The icing was in fluffy yellow peaks, spaced neatly around the circumference. The “knife” wasn’t a knife, at least not a sharp one, as it had appeared from the other side of the room. It was a pointed cake server with a china handle. A pile of napkins lay next to a note.
“Happy birthday, Colleen, from Evelyn.”
Evelyn?