Extra Lives: A Chillaxed Challenge from #levelupbc

Hope all our state-side players have recovered from their Turkey or Tofurkey comas and are ready to head back to work tomorrow.  And, if in your world the phrases "back to work" and "back to school" are one in the same, then you're probably already well aware that no matter how you slice it, there's really only about 3 weeks between this long awaited break and the next one. What's more, if you're anything like your Level Up Leaders, then getting this far has been a fun but exhausting ride.

So... here's what we're gonna do.

In order to keep the Level Up momentum moving forward, while also taking a low pressure approach to our next read, we're wrapping up a chillaxed challenge for our next read, Extra Lives by Tom Bissell, as our holiday gift to you.

Given how crazy this time of year is for everyone, but in particular for those who work and play with little (and big!) learners, we're gonna take this one slow.  Currently, we're planning our usual cumulative Twitter chat for this read as the first Level Up activity of 2013 - giving our friends, colleagues and readers (um... that's you!) permission to take a deep breath, concentrate on what's most important right now and tackle this read one delicious page at a time.

In the meantime, OF COURSE, we'll post some challenges along the way, share favorite quotes and make reading this book a meaningful learning experiences for everyone involved.  In fact, to start things off, per usual, let's get the ball rolling by sharing pics of your copy of our latest read either via the Level Up Book Club Tumblr or on Twitter - just be sure to tag your post with the #levelupbc hashtag!  And, of course, in the spirit of leading by example, here's a shot of the loot collected during my latest visit to the public library - with Extra Lives rising to the top of the heap!

So... wrap up the left overs, dust off the dreidels, take out the tinsel and grab a copy of Extra Lives so you can festivus with the rest of us.  Rest assured, Level Up ia not on hiatus, we are not taking a break - we're just making sure that Extra Lives doesn't add any extra stress to this already busy holiday season.!