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There were 33 shrines on the campus of Virginia Tech, lovingly built of flowers, letters, candles, photos and gifts. One for each of the 32 students and teachers who died April 16, and one for Seung-Hui Cho, who shot them all and then himself. At Cho's memorial, smaller than the others, there was a plastic bottle filled with flowers, cards and an American flag, according to New York Times reporter Christine Houser. One of the notes read, simply, "I forgive you." Another read: "Dear Cho. You are not excluded from our sorrow in death although you thought you were excluded from our love in life.

Standing before 13 high school freshmen, Alicia Appel posed a question. "Do you want to go over our test, or do you want to play one of Mrs. Appel's crazy games?" she asked, her voice rising, her eyes widening. You can guess which one the teens chose. Over the next half-hour in the Southern High School classroom, the students paired, with one describing shapes, squiggles and words that Appel drew on an electronic board, and the other, facing the opposite direction, trying to re-create them.

The Canon A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science By Natalie Angier Houghton Mifflin / 304 pages / $27 One of the few books I ever stayed up all night to read was Knowledge and Wonder: The Natural World as Man Knows It, by the late great physicist Victor Weisskopf. In clear, simple prose, it introduced me to atoms and stars, crystals and metals, cells and life. All basic stuff: no black holes, no extra dimensions, no astonishing feats of genetic engineering. Nothing, in short, new. But it was wonder enough to alter me forever, turning a mild-mannered political and cultural writer into a science freak - the kind of person who drops dinner rolls at parties to demonstrate the equivalence of gravity and inertia.

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I hesitate to admit this in polite company, but if I didn't listen to books, I wouldn't read at all. I have a daily commute that is almost an hour in each direction and for many years have spent the rest of my time driving kids hither and yon. During that time, I bet I "read" 500 books. Books that I would not have had the time nor the inclination to read if I had had consumption or two broken legs. I used to keep a numbered list of all the titles (another thing I shouldn't be admitting)

For an online update of how Nichole Battle has been eating since her makeover, and to read past installments of Make Over My Meal, visit baltimoresun.com/makeovermymeal

Julia Falkenklous started first grade knowing her ABCs. She could easily match the "buh" sound with the letter "b" and the "eh" sound with the letter "e." After the first few writing assignments, all her classmates in Room 8 knew she could form letters neater than anyone else.So when the 22 first-graders at Cedarmere Elementary School in Reisterstown were split into two reading groups last fall, Julia was bunched with the better readers. And that's when she began her school-year-long struggle with cracking the code of reading.

AN AUTHOR'S VISIT IS not an everyday occurrence at most schools.Pupils and staff at Oklahoma Road Middle School were delighted to welcome well-known author Avi for a day of assemblies, book signings and a writer's workshop Wednesday.Avi, whose work was first published in 1970, has written more than 45 books for juvenile readers. Many of his books are used as assigned reading at Oklahoma Middle, and many more are read for pleasure.In addition to an assembly and book signing for each grade, Avi conducted a workshop for 18 pupils.

"Do you like big adventure stories? Well, if you do, read 'The Swiss Family Robinson' by Johann David Wyss. This book is about a family that is shipwrecked and stranded on the beach. The story tells how the family works together to live on the beach. You will see bravery and dreams in this story. It is my favorite."-- Paige GreeneShrine of the Sacred Heart"I think kids should read 'Winnie the Pooh' books by A.A. Milne. The books are bedtime stories told to a boy named Christopher Robin. The stories are about a stuffed bear named Winnie the Pooh and his stuffed animal friends, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, Eeyore, Roo, Kanga and Owl. One reason to read Pooh Bear stories is because they are funny.

Books can help your child to know you. If a book makes you feel good -- or sad -- or mad -- take it home to your child and read it to her.-- Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children by Valerie V. Lewis and Walter M. MayesPub Date: 05/09/99

Starting Saturday, a miniature Quran no larger than your thumb will be on display at the Walters Art Museum. Page after page of the 17th-century text from Turkey is filled with words that look as though they were scrawled by fleas. Each of the original's 114 "suras" or chapters is faithfully reproduced in its entirety. Talk about reading the fine print. "How can little things possess so much power?" the Walters' Ben Tilghman wonders. "As long as there has been writing, there have been miniature manuscripts.

I wince every time I hear another forecast for downtown Baltimore's Lexington Street. The block between Park Avenue and Howard Street, where so many Baltimoreans once shopped, is to be reconstructed as apartments and some shops, maybe a hotel, too. I'm making a preservation pitch for the overlooked 1934 gem, the Read's drugstore at the corner of Howard and Lexington. I don't think of Baltimore as having many truly modern buildings in the sense of streamlined art deco-moderne structures.

Stop pushing Russia into a confrontation Ron Smith has given voice to my deep anger and fear as I witness the Bush administration leading us step by step into a confrontation with Russia ("Short attention spans and short memories," Commentary, Aug. 20). The same day that Mr. Smith's column appeared in The Sun, the Associated Press reported on a U.S.-Polish "deal to install 10 U.S. interceptor missiles just 115 miles from Russia's westernmost frontier," which reportedly prompted a top Russian general to warn that Poland is risking attack, and possibly a nuclear one, by deploying the American missile defense system.

The Rev. Dave Simpson is not a pedantic scholar. And he does not devote his time playing in trivia leagues or memorizing factoids. But the Lutheran minister who likes to read won $90,901 during his five-game stint on the TV game show, Jeopardy. "You can't really study for Jeopardy," said Simpson, 46, an associate minister at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Joppa. "Brad Rutter, the biggest winner on the show, said you do well by a lifetime of paying attention. I've just been curious about things and read a lot."

School is almost out and that means one thing: It's time for summer reading lists. But this year, students who dread the idea of plodding through Shakespearean verse to learn the tales of star-crossed lovers and ruthless rulers can take heart. Wiley Publishers, famous (or infamous) for its Cliffs Notes study guides, has come out with Shakespeare in manga. So far, Haml et, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth are available in the graphic novel style spawned in Japan and given full flower in the U.K. and U.S. Rated for ages 13 and older and priced at a mere $9.99, these abridged versions of the best-known plays in the English language are now vividly depicted in classic action-packed manga style: a kind of Saturday morning cartoon version of Shakespeare.

Back in the day, we fundamentalists didn't mess with angels, sensing that Catholics owned the angel franchise, part of their dim, smoky world of bead-rattling and hocus-pocus and lugubrious statuary, so instead we focused on the Holy Spirit who dwelt in all of us true believers and told us what to do and what to say, which is convenient for people with plenty of self-confidence. You read some Scripture and work up a sweat over it and stand up in the sunlit sanctuary, no dinging or chanting, no costumes or choreography, and you open your mouth and out comes Truth, such as the doctrine of Separation from the World, which was appealing to those of us with no social skills - if people didn't like us, it was proof of our righteousness.

I don't much care for films that celebrate "small-town values." I always feel judged, even personally attacked, by these movies. When the restless Jenny in Forrest Gump leaves town and ends up an ex-junkie dying of AIDS, I read it as a threat to any woman who doesn't stay put and marry the town idiot. This time of year, I'm inevitably confronted with another movie that really disturbs me, It's a Wonderful Life. Yes, Jimmy Stewart is captivating and Donna Reed is radiant, but I find the story very depressing.

Buddha once said, "Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others." Well, let's all dance the little dance of joy, because you have certainly played a big role in the pleasure I get from this gig. One year ago this week, we launched this column with a promise to help right some wrongs, hold businesses accountable for their promises, and educate you on how to use - but not abuse - your power as a consumer. We've definitely helped right some wrongs: John Carson got his new television channel guides.

They watched the building going up, and then the shelves filling up with books. But it wasn't until yesterday that Dara Davis was able to answer her book-loving son's question -- "Are you taking us to the library today?" -- with a long awaited, "Yes." The newest branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library opened at noon yesterday on Orleans Street, and not a moment too soon for 7-year-old Khalil Davis. He's been known to go to a library, check out five books and return later in the day because he's already finished them.

He now lives in Connecticut with his wife, Diana, but writer-director-producer Barry Levinson is Baltimore's native son and, in the 25 years since Diner, he's been one of Hollywood's finest. That's why insiders and movie-lovers alike are gleefully anticipating his new independent comedy-drama, What Just Happened?, a "sometimes painfully funny" movie about a Hollywood filmmaker juggling ex-wives and volatile projects. The film features his Wag the Dog star Robert De Niro in the lead role.