It's Monday! What are you reading? 8-15-16

It's Monday! What are you reading? Is a wonderful community of readers, teachers, and librarians. Hosted by Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers, participants share their reading adventures from the past week along with their reading plans for the week ahead.

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.

Staff meetings start this week. And then next Monday is the first day of school. I am wholly unprepared despite the fact that I've been going into school at least three days a week since the end of July to work on organizing the library. But I'm excited to be the librarian this year and I can't wait to share my love of books with the WHOLE SCHOOL! :)


Last week I reviewed:

Three 9/11 themed books to put on your TBR pile


This is NOT a Cat by David Larochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka


Last week I finished reading:

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley
I absolutely LOVED this book. I have a full review scheduled to post tomorrow. 


Picture books that stood out in the pile last week:

Gary by Leila Rudge
So I think I need to read this one to a group of students to take the pulse of this book. I didn't really get this one, but at the same time, there's also that feeling bubbling up inside that I'm missing the point and I need a group of kids to help me figure it out (like my 8th graders did with Shaun Tan's Rules of Summer).  


Ooko by Esme Shapiro
What wonderful writing! My favorite line: "I would much rather be stinky and play stick than be squeaky clean and play itchy games." :) 


Chik Chak Shabbat by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by  Kyrsten Brooker
I have a review scheduled of this one on Wednesday, but I'll give you a little teaser and say that this book totally exceeded my expectations. 


Hey, Coach! by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Kim Smith
 Ashman and Smith perfectly capture the chaos and feeling of herding cats that is coaching beginner sports for little kids. This book is both humorous and sweet. An absolute delight to read. 

 
Explorers of the Wild by Cale Atkinson
A book that reminds us to always view the world with wonder and amazement -- and to find friends who can share it with you. Love the adorable illustrations in this one. 


Currently reading:

March: Book Two by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell  


 Still reading with my ears:

The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow   
 

Three 9/11 Themed Novels to Put on Your TBR Pile

With the 15th anniversary of 9/11 fast approaching, many who follow the goings-on in the kidlit world have noticed a spate of 9/11-themed novels being published this year. I've read three such novels in the past few months and I'd like to give you my thoughts on them.


The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner
Expected Publication: September 6, 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 288
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Digital ARC downloaded from NetGalley


When Kyle Donahue who sees the twin towers fall from the window of his high school, he immediately flees to safety across the Brooklyn Bridge like so many did on that fateful day. As he's running for his life, he notices a girl along the side of the bridge, not moving, covered in ash, and wearing angel wings. Fearing for her safety, Kyle decides to bring her home with him. As he tries to figure out who this girl is and where she lives so he can get her home safely, Kyle realizes that the girl has amnesia. 

As the chaos of that horrible day in history unfolds, Kyle tries to solve the mystery of who this girl is and why she was so content to just stay put on the bridge as everyone else was running for their lives.

The Memory of Things is a book that takes place during 9/11 but manages to not be ABOUT 9/11. It's a reminder to us all that despite great tragedy, life goes on and the world keeps turning. It's a book that took me back to that fateful day in September of 2001 and what I was feeling, but it reminds me that the students I now teach weren't even born yet when it happened. 
 
It's so easy to dismiss narrative and expressive writing in favor of teaching students dry, expository essay writing in school. But students aren't going to feel loss and empathy by reading about 9/11 in a textbook. They feel it by reading stories. All the more reason that books like this, while fiction, bring out an understanding that expository writing just can't accomplish. I have a feeling that when this book finally hits bookstores, it's going to be a popular staple in my classroom library.


Nine, Ten by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Published: June 28, 2016
Publisher: Atheneum
Pages: 208
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: ARC provided by Simon & Schuster rep

This book begins a few days before that fateful day as we meet four different kids from across the country whose stories seem disparate and unrelated, but stick with it because the stories do intertwine in a meaningful and important way at the end — especially in today's political climate of fear and mistrust.


Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Published: July 12, 2016
Publisher: Little, Brown
Pages: 240
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Purchased copy


Fifth-grader Deja doesn't understand why they have to study history in school. To her the past is the past and it's better to look toward the future. She also doesn't understand why her dad is always sick and depressed and why he can no longer work -- especially since his lost income means they must now live in a homeless shelter. 

But when a school project forces Deja to confront a moment of history she knew absolutely nothing about, suddenly the past as well as their family's circumstances are very much part of her own present and future. 

It's hard to believe the kids I teach now weren't even born when 9/11 happened. This novel speaks to that feeling of what it must be like to be a kid who doesn't know about 9/11 when the adults in their lives are still haunted by it. For that reason, Towers Falling is a book for adults just as much as it is for kids.

This is NOT a Cat! by David Larochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

In mouse school it's very important that students know how to identify a cat -- it's a matter of life or death after all. But when a teacher's lesson on cat identification suddenly turns into a real world dilemma, readers are left wondering, is this really a cat?

Few words actually do the storytelling here. The heavy lifting is done with Mike Wohnoutka's adorable and hilarious illustrations. But don't let the scant number of words fool you. If read with conviction and expression, it's the words that will make kids laugh hysterically as they're discerning what's really happening in the story based on the pictures. I have a feeling this book will be a very popular read aloud with my students. I'm looking forward to watching their reactions as I read it to them.


This is NOT a Cat! by David Larochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
Published: August 9, 2016
Publisher: Sterling Children's Books
Pages: 40
Format: Picture Book
Disclosure: Finished copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

It's Monday! What are you reading? 8-8-18

It's Monday! What are you reading? Is a wonderful community of readers, teachers, and librarians. Hosted by Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers, participants share their reading adventures from the past week along with their reading plans for the week ahead.

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.

I am trying to hold onto any of the remaining vestiges of summer but it is escaping from my grasp rather quickly. I've been up at school the past few weeks working in the library, trying to get it organized and up to the standard I know I'd want if I were a student. It's been tiring work, but I'm enjoying it and in a way it's been somewhat therapeutic to purge so much stuff.  I am a big fan of purging. :)


Last week I reviewed: 

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor
Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist by Susan Wood, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh


I finished reading:

Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes
I'll be reviewing this one on the blog very soon. A really enjoyable read.


Picture books that stood out in the pile: 
 
School's First Day of School by Adam Rex, illustrated by Christian Robinson
This book is an absolute must-read to students on the first day of school. I couldn't stop smiling the entire time I was reading it. I'm still smiling right now.


Goodnight Everyone by Chris Haughton 
Little Bear is wide awake and wants to play but all the forest animals are settling down for the evening. Eventually biology and peer pressure take over and Little Bear falls fast asleep. A sweet bedtime story for any rambunctious toddler. 


Currently reading:

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley
I'm finding that I'm enjoying this book just as much as Noggin.  It's one of those books where the characters are what keep you turning the pages more than the plot and those are the kinds of books I love.

 
Currently reading with my ears:

The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz
I'm really enjoying the narrator of the audiobook. She has such a lilting, soothing voice. The perfect choice for this story.


Still trudging through:

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow  
I am now on disc 16 of 29. Not gonna lie: If it weren't for Lin-Manuel Miranda, I a) would have abandoned this book a long time ago and b) actually, I never would have started it to begin with. But I keep trudging through it because whenever I do come across a part of Hamilton's story that is so clearly integral to the musical, I get a little thrill. But let's face it, I space out a lot when I'm listening to this book. Nobody can make the founding fathers come alive like Lin-Manuel Miranda. That's just all there is to it!

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor

Perry Cook's only home in his eleven years of life has been at the Blue River Co-ed Correctional Facility in Surprise, Nebraska. Yes, prison. Thanks to the vision of a forward-thinking warden, Perry has been able to stay with his mom and has come to know the inmates like family. The warden sees Perry's presence, the presence of young innocence, as a beacon of hope to for the residents at Blue River.

But when Thomas VanLeer, the new district attorney in Surprise, Nebraska, hears that a child is living at Blue River, he forces Perry from the only home he's ever known and puts him into a foster home -- his home. Which also happens to be the home of Perry's best friend Zoe because VanLeer is also Zoe's stepfather.

Not only is VanLeer keeping Perry from his mother, he is also (somewhat questionably) holding up her parole hearing due to his desire to conduct an investigation into any wrongdoing by the warden and the prisoners in allowing Perry to live at the prison.

While Perry is incredibly upset and resentful toward VanLeer for keeping him from his mother, he still manages to conduct himself with grace, dignity, and savviness beyond his years.

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook is a wonderful, heartfelt middle grade novel full of memorable, lovable characters. The story is meant to make you stop and think what it really means to be part of a community and how we view people who are incarcerated. Because this book brings forth those questions of community, Perry's story would be one worth reading aloud to a classroom full of upper elementary students to get kids thinking about what makes communities thrive -- even ones you wouldn't expect, like a prison community.


All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor
Published: March 1, 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 400
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Audiobook download provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist by Susan Wood, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh

Juan Garcia Esquivel was a self-taught musical child prodigy. He figured out how to disable the mechanism on the player piano in his house so that he could play it himself. By age seventeen he was already the bandleader of an orchestra for a comedy show at a radio station and quickly became an innovator in stereophonic sound.

Esquivel created a style and sound all his own that became iconic of soundtracks of the 1960s. If you want to hear his influence in a more modern soundtrack, check out the Austin Powers theme song to give you an idea of what kind of music Esquivel was creating.

But if you're going to read this book at all, you can't truly appreciate Esquivel's genius without listening to his actual music. So here is an Esquivel playlist on YouTube for your listening pleasure. Play it whilst reading this book.

Now that you have some background about who Esquivel was, let's talk about the actual content of the book, shall we? The writing of Susan Wood is both fluid and engaging. It's accessible to kids, but it's also a model of simple but effective prose. Here's a passage from the book that I found especially well-written:

Juan started experimenting with popular Mexican tunes. He tinkered with tempos, slowing songs down, then revving them up. He fiddled with dynamics, swapping soothing soft sounds and startling loud sounds. He twisted chords and combined instruments to sound thrilling, dreamy, and often funny, because Juan liked music that made people laugh. But underneath the humor, it took great music skill to play Juan's challenging music. 

What a perfect example to share with kids about writing with precision. The verbs Wood uses in that paragraph are all strong and action-oriented: tinkered, revving, fiddled, swapping, twisted, combined... along with precise musical nouns: tunes, tempos, dynamics, chords, instruments.

The illustrations of Duncan Tonatiuh are typical of his style, which is inspired from ancient Mexican art. I have read a few other books that Tonatiuh has illustrated and I have to admit, the style takes some getting used to. It's very flat and all of the people are always illustrated from a side profile. While this aspect of his illustrations takes some getting used to, what is always a delight about them is his bold lines and bright, opaque colors. 

A great book for music lovers of all ages.


Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist by Susan Wood, illustrated by Duncan Tonaituh
Expected Publication: September 6, 2016
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Pages: 32
Format/Genre: Picture book biography
Disclosure: Finished copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

It's Monday! What are you reading? 8-1-16

It's Monday! What are you reading? Is a wonderful community of readers, teachers, and librarians. Hosted by Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers, participants share their reading adventures from the past week along with their reading plans for the week ahead.

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.

Boy is this summer flying by! Before you know it school will be back in session. Though I'm not ready for that to happen, I'm also excited to be spending some of my mornings lately up at school working in the library. I can't wait to be the librarian at my school next year! 

Last week I finished reading:
 
Static by Eric Laster 
Ultimately I was not a fan of this book. It had an interesting premise but the character development was lacking.  

 
March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell 
A chillingly powerful graphic memoir about Civil Rights leader turned congressman John Lewis. I really look forward to reading the next two books. 


Picture books that stood out in the pile:

Julia, Child by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad
Obviously inspired by the famous chef Julia Child, though not a biography of her life, Julia, Child has a different purpose: to remind adults to view life with childlike wonder and to savor every bite.

 
My Friend Maggie by Hannah E. Harrison
I love Hannah Harrison's illustrations, as evidenced by the fact that I openly wept when I read Extraordinary Jane. I just want to cuddle all of her animal characters -- except for Veronica. She's a big meanie.


Currently reading:

Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes


Still reading with my ears:

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow    
All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor 


Last week I also posted about:
Sacrificing some of the TBR pile to get books in students' hands