The Circle, by Dave Eggers

I need to change the way I record book recommendations.  A friend recommended this book to me but I didn't write down who it was.  Now I wonder about who it was and am curious about whether it was someone criticizing my involvement with technology or if they thought I'd simply be interested.  Whichever was the motivation, my response is perhaps different that they might have anticipated.  I am reading this not so much as a morality tale about technology but instead a reflection on assessment.

The book has received mixed reviews.  The writing has been criticized as lacking in literary merit.  The criticisms may be justified, but still the book offers opportunities for discussion of the new mania for measuring everything and then rewarding or punishing based on the numbers.

I also had to laugh at the images created of the multi-tasking demands made on The Circle's employees.  I'm about half way through and the protagonist is now having a fourth screen installed on her desk.  (Which makes me wonder if the author doesn't know about tiling windows on a screen.)  But still...

I'm close to several customer experience employees and know the pressures on them to produce high "numbers" are ridiculous.  The "metrics" being produced each day to evaluate their work are dizzying and oppressive.  In contrast I consider Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow.  Based on his work, being focused on numbers actually probably makes it impossible to work within a state of flow.  In my own professional life I am drowning in data and assessment (including huge pressures to "raise" numbers).  Last night some of my World of Warcraft guild members and I were discussing the effects of assessments on the abilities of teachers to include innovative, engaging, relevant activities/content in this instruction.  One of us retold a story of teachers energized by ideas of game-based learning and inclusion of student created machinima (or movies) in the curriculum.  But the teachers quickly shut down when they realized that they wouldn't be able to create multiple choice tests to measure achievement of standards connected to these exciting curriculum/instruction ideas.  We then discussed the problems several of us were seeing in young adults/adults being successful in completion of post-secondary education (or graduation from high school).  I have to believe that there is a link between the difficulty many are having with completing school and our increased emphasis on test scores.  (This would be a side-effect of attempts to reform/improve education that we forget to measure.)

Maybe a random connection (this is the way my mind works) but it perhaps helps build my case--
Act Two. Is That a Tape Recorder in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Unhappy to See Me?, a segment from This American Life first aired on 9/10/2010.  In the second segment of the show the story surrounds the effects of assessment numbers on policing  in New York City.  In short, it was not good!

There's a principle in science "by measuring you distort."  I think it's time in our era of easily obtained numbers that we go back to this fundamental idea.  Another principle that I haven't heard recently is "garbage in--garbage out."

I know I am swimming upstream trying speak out against "data collection"  (especially since that is part of my work responsibility) but I think we need to take a moment to pause and consider if we're guilty of putting the cart in front of the horse in much of our assessment plans.  I'm not convinced that we have learned how to identify data that will actually measure the critical factors leading to success or excellence in most of our endeavors.  Not only that, but I am concerned that focusing all this human capital on getting "the numbers up" instead of working on actually doing/producing something is going to have long term disastrous effects on our economy.

There's also a risk that in search of  perfect ratings that we are in danger of eliminating creativity and genius.  When we become preoccupied with numerical ratings, particularly those from rubrics, we can easily miss the unexpected or creative.  For example, I'm pretty certain that if O'Keeffe's, Van Gogh's, Monet's, or Kadinsky's works had been measured using a rubric developed by a committee that they would have been identified as "does not meet standards."

The Exiled Queen, by Cinda Williams Chima

I continue to enjoy this series, The Seven Realms.  It is fantasy with a medieval setting.  Lots of horses and a feudal sort of society.  Political intrigue and a struggle to retain/grasp power in the Seven Realms is the unfolding story.  Although the plot line is familiar to fantasy readers, Chima does a nice job of making the story fresh with engaging characters who have enough development to keep sophisticated readers engaged.

The queen-to-be, Princess Raisa, has gone undercover to escape a planned marriage (I'm going to try and avoid spoiling the plot line of the first book, The Demon King.  Meanwhile, the other major characters Han Alister, Hayden Fire Dancer, Amon Byrne, and Micha Bayar all end up together with Raisa (in disguise as Rebecca Morley) at the magic and military schools at Oden's Ford. 

The love triangle (or is in a quadrangle?) between Raisa, Han and Amon continues with "doomed" love between them all.  The fourth in the mix is Micha Bayar and he continues to play a part in the connection between the young protagonists in the book.

Of course there is magic involved.  Han, Fire Dancer, and Micha are gifted magicians while Raisa  and Amon are not.  Much of the plot that keeps the reader going is how Han is learning about his magic and dealing with other magicians who would like to use him for their own purposes.  Han has the Demon King's amulet as his magic "piece."  The implication is that he is the heir to the Demon King's great powers.  The Bayar's would like to regain the piece and its power.

While Han is learning about his magic, Raisa is learning about fighting and how to lead her country.  There is a sort of "King Arthur" flavor to her learning about her kingdom in the role of a citizen rather than leader.  

I will be finishing the series and will let you know if it falters.  Otherwise, assume that I still find it worth recommending to young readers who enjoy fantasy.  I think it would be a great recommendation to young adults who play World of Warcraft of League of Legends.  The plot/settings will resonate with the video games they play and will encourage some reading.

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wreded

2009, Scholastic

It pays to pick up random books at the library.  One of the disadvantages of the "hold" system is that too often I just run in, pick up my holds, and leave.  The stacks are a great place to be reminded of favorite authors and to make new finds.

I have been a passionate fan of Wrede's Enchanted Forest series (Dealing with Dragons etc.).  I don't know how her works fell off my radar.  She has three series out that I haven't read.  It looks like I'll be spending some time filling in gaps in both this series (Frontier Magic) and the Regency Magic Series including Cecelia and Kate series and the Mairelon series (coauthored with Caroline Stevermer).  I'm glad that I'm teaching YA lit in the spring.  It will give me a good reason to explore these two series.

Wrede uses strong young women as her protagonists.  In this book the main character, Eff (short for ??--Francine??--I'll fix this later!), is a twin to a 7th son of a 7th son.  Her parents have managed to produce 14 children.  Consequently she is number 13.  Her uncle and several other family members are convinced that this is very unlucky and that she will bring doom upon all around her.

In part, because of this negativity, her parents decide to move to a college on the "frontier" where her father will teach and Eff will be freed of the negative expectations of her relatives.

Wrede has created an alternative history of the US.  As I read it, she is paralleling the westward expansion in the US.  The college is on the banks of the "Mammoth River" which I believe is the Mississippi.  In this alternative world there is magic and Eff's father is a professor of magic at the university.  It appears to me that the theme of the series relates to how cultures have combined in the US to create a new world (that is really new!, not just a salad of the cultures who have arrived here).   Included is the challenge we all face with letting go of our expectations and seeing the world as it exists, rather than allowing our history to color or distort everything we see.

I am always impressed with Wrede's narrative skills.  She slowly reveals the truth of her characters but keeps the reader going with "action" that intrigues.  This is going to be a book I recommend to readers as a way to examine the "truth" of history.  Although Wrede's world is fantasy, the alternative historical plot offers readers the opportunity to consider the truth of history.  History is too often told by the "victor" and there are always alternative versions.  Eff is a character that helps us consider how the "victors" in the US have perhaps overlooked some of the important elements of American History.  She even throws in some gentle criticism of science and scientists. 

A secondary theme that I suspect Wrede is exploring in this series is related to the magics that are present in the world.  There are Aphrikan, Hirjer-Cathayan, and Avrupan magic traditions.  I'll admit that it took me a while to do the phonics and understand that these might be considered African, Japanese-Chinese, and European magics.  Regardless, Wrede does a good job of helping readers consider the value of embracing difference in any area of study (or world views). 

I'll get back to you as I read the other books in this series.