It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4/7/14Re

I am excited to be a part of the conversation at #IMWAYR! Thank you to Sheila, Jen and Kellee
for inspiring and hosting this meme.

Well, the 2013 Maine Student Book Award winner has been announced and I am so thrilled that the kids of Maine chose RJ Palacio's Wonder.  It is an incredibly powerful story and my students have all loved it… just as much as I do!

 I've been on a little fantasy bender of late, by accident, really and in so doing I realized how much I've grown as a reader in the past few years.  Fantasy used to be a genre that I tolerated, but it has grown to be one that I love.  I credit my students for that transformation, as they have always shown me the way when it comes to the magical world of fantasy.

Rec. for grades 5-8

And speaking of growing as a reader, I haven't quite become a fan of scary stories, but Jonathan Auxier's The Night Gardener is an exception.  I had the huge privilege of seeing Auxier speak at the AASL conference in October and I was smitten - he is funny, thoughtful, and passionate about literature.  I was almost a little nervous to read his book, for fear that the book wouldn't live up to the man, but I couldn't put The Night Gardener down.  It is creepy, atmospheric and heartbreaking, at times.  I can't wait to hand it to kids who beg me for scary stories, because while it certainly fits that bill, it also touches on so many themes: greed, family, vulnerability, and bravery, to mention just a few.  Don't miss this one when it comes out in May!

Rec. for grades 5-8

Tania Unsworth's One Safe Place reminded me a bit of Kate Messner's Wake Up Missing, as they are both about children thinking they are going somewhere special and wonderful, only to find that they are a part of a horrific scientific experiment.  One Safe Place is a dystopian tale that is both chilling and fast paced. When Devin’s grandfather dies, Devin must bury him and leave the farm that they have been living on together. He walks to the city, hoping to find food, work, or help. Instead he is whisked off to a children’s home, with promises of plentiful food and care. All is not as it seems, though, and Devin and his new friends work to uncover a sinister plot that endangers their lives.  Unsworth paints a vivid picture of the contrast between the farm, the city, and the horror that is the Home.








I loved the adult books I read this week too!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/24/14

I am excited to be a part of the conversation at #IMWAYR! Thank you to Sheila, Jen and Kellee
for inspiring and hosting this meme.

I've been taking a little blogging hiatus, but I've been busy reading and reviewing.  Last weekend the Maine Student Book Award committee met and finalized the MSBA list.  It is exceptionally difficult (way more so than I realized) to create a balanced list that will appeal to a wide variety of readers.  I love many of the titles on this year's list and I'm looking forward to sharing and discussing them with my students.

Now, it's on to books with a 2014 copyright!  I've been treating myself to a few adult books, but also trying to get a jump on next year's MSBA possibilities.   So, this is what I've been reading:

For grades 7+

Threatened, Elliot Schrefer’s follow up to Endangered, does not disappoint.  Set in Gabon, Luc is indentured to Prof.,  a mysterious man who says he wants to be Africa’s own “janegoodall.”  Together they venture deep into the jungle to observe and study chimps.  Luc’s painful loneliness after losing his family, his bravery and fear and his growing friendship with Prof. are all beautifully rendered.  The setting is extraordinary and feels like a character all of its own and the chimps are fascinating.  I loved this book.

For grades 3-6

Wanderville, by Wendy McClude tells the story of three kids who, through differing tragic circumstances, end up on the orphan train headed to Kansas. Terrified by the stories they hear about what will happen to them when they are “adopted” they jump off the train and find themselves adopted by Alexander, a boy who has created his own little utopia in the woods. This is an easy reading Boxcar-esque first in a series that I think middle grade readers will enjoy.

For grades 5-8

Piers Torday's The Last Wild is a dystopian fantasy about a boy named Kester who can’t speak to humans, but who can communicate silently with the few animals that are left in the world after “the red eye” killed off most of them.  He teams with a group of animals, including a beautiful and fierce stag, a mischievous wolf cub, a cockroach called “General” and a flock of pigeons to try to save the world from both disease and evil humans.   I loved the characters, both animal and human, in this imaginative tale.

My adult reading was pretty heavy hitting this past week - both Susan Minot's Thirty Girls and Alex Myers' Revolutionary are memorable for their contrasting darkness and light.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 8/5/13

I am excited to join the conversation at #IMWAYR!  Thank you to Sheila, Jen and Kellee for inspiring and hosting this meme.

We are deeply into the dog days of summer now and I am reading a mixture of books that have just arrived for my library and those that have been on my TBR list for a while... my favorite this week was Ari Berk's beautiful Nightsong.

Recommended for K-3 

Nightsong, written by Ari Berk and illustrated by Loren Long is a beautiful book, rendered almost completely in black (which you'd think would make it dark, but Loren Long manages to make it soft and warm feeling).  It tells the story of little Chiro, a baby bat, who is venturing out into the world for the first time.  Chiro slowly begins to rely upon his senses and discovers his powers of echolocation.  Along the way he makes friends and discovers that the world is a good and safe place.  

Recommended for grades 5-8

There was one title on this year's Maine Student Book Award list which I had not read, but no longer!  I can finally check them all off, as I read The Ghost of Graylock.  This is a great title for those kids who beg for scary books.  This one is seriously creepy!  When Neil and Bree have to move in with their aunts because their dad has moved out and their mom is debilitated by depression, they are somewhat shellshocked and disappointed.  When Neil discovers that a broken down old psychiatric hospital is close to their new home, though, his interest is piqued.  Very quickly, Neil, Bree and their new friends become entangled in the terrifying ghost story related to the hospital.  I will hand this to fans of ghost stories, with the caveat that they shouldn't read it at night!

Recommended for grades 5-8

This week I also loved the sequel to another title on this year's Maine Student Book Award list, New Lands (The Chronicle of Egg #2) by Geoff Rodkey.  When I reviewed the first book in the series (Deadweather and Sunrise) I said it was quite possibly the best pirate story I had ever read (and I've read quite a few).  I'm always nervous about sequels when I feel especially attached to the first book and I was thrilled to discover that New Lands takes off where Deadweather and Sunrise ended.  I think what I most love about this series is that the plot is full of very fast paced action and excitement, but at the same time, the main character, Egg, is entirely sympathetic and vulnerable.  He is madly in love with Millicent (a girl who doesn't always seem worthy of his devotion), he is an entirely loyal best friend to Guts, and he is struggling to cope with the fact that his family treats him horribly.  I can't wait for the third book in this series to come out so I can discover how it all ends.

Recommended for grades 6-8

Finally, The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chaniani, has one of the coolest covers I've seen in a while.  That, combined with the subject matter, will make it a good draw for middle school readers.  This is a seriously hefty book, coming in at almost 500 pages, and it will require a patient and somewhat sophisticated fantasy reader.  That said, though, this book will be appreciated by readers who just can't get enough magic, intrigue and blurring of lines between good and evil.  For years, two children have been kidnapped into the School for Good and Evil, where fairy tales come true (as in, the kids are the actual characters in the tales we know and love).  Best friends Sophie and Agatha are this year’s picks, but with a shocking twist - Sophie, beautiful and kind, is sent to the School for Good and Agatha, surly and dark, is sent to the School for Evil.  What follows is a wild ride as the two girls attempt to both find their places in the school and escape it.