It's Monday, What Are You Reading? October 20, 2014

What I Purchased
Shadow of Night (All Souls, 2) by Deborah Harkness
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns
Blue Lily, Lily Blue (Raven Cycle, 2) by Maggie Stiefvater

What I Read
Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus, 5) by Rick Riordan
Infinite Sea (the 5th Wave, 2) by Rick Yancey
Warrior Heir (Heir Chronicles, 1) by Cinda Williams Chima
Fall Leaves by Loretta Holland
Ball by Mary Sullivan
Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
A Big Guy Took My Ball by Mo Willems
Emily's Blue Period by Cathleen Daly
Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House by Eric Litwin
Number One Sam by Greg Pizzoli
Ling and Ting Not Exactly the Same by Grace Lin
Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka
Cats by Seymour Simon
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Button by Eric Litwin
Pete the Cat and his White Shoes by Eric Litwin
The Story of Owen (Dragon Slayer of Trondheim, 1) by EK Johnston
Dangerous by Shannon Hale
Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo
Little Elliot, Big City by
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus, 4) by Rick Riordan

Picture Books - I've always read picture books but usually just for myself or to promote to teachers for writing mentors. Now I'm reading them as possible readalouds for my younger students. By far our favorite of this group was Creepy Carrots. Loved by all from K - 3. Great for leading up to Halloween and can be enjoyed on different level.  We enjoyed the Pete the Cat videos more than the books - basically because we love music. And you must read Ball. That was ingenious! But Fall Leaves, Number One Sam, nor Nuts at Bedtime ever made it to a classroom audience.

Re-Read - Finished my reread of The Heroes of Olympus series and devoured the final book, Blood of Olympus. I think Riordan left just enough open to re-visit in the future but answered enough questions to feel like a satisfying ending. I look forward to his Nordic Adventures.

Book Clubs - Next book club reads are Graceling by Kristin Cashore, which will be a re-read for me, and The Bully Pulpit which is so long and not one I'm looking forward to reading. I may not make that book club meeting!

CYBILS - The nominations are closed. We are furiously reading these titles and I will try to write a word or two about some of the ones I read as I go along. Lots of reading ahead!

Need more reading suggestions? Check out Teach.Mentor.Texts and don't forget to add your link while you are there!

Dangerous by Shannon Hale

Hale, Shannon. Dangerous. Bloomsbury Publishing, 4/2014. 416p. $17.99. 9781599901688.

Affilitate Links Amazon
| Indiebound

Genre: Science Fiction (aliens taking over, superheroes created)
Cover Appeal: Nothing sets this apart from any other science fiction title out now. I do like the purple and gray though. I also like the font used for the title.

Maisie Danger Brown is tired of her boring life. She's homeschooled with her best friend, Luther and both her parents work from home.  They never go any where or do anything exciting.  She figures it's because they don't have enough money.  Along comes a sweepstakes to win a trip to astronaut camp. Now Maisie has a chance to live up to her middle name. She becomes part of an elite team who isn't sure what their purpose is but are sure they need to work together.

For the most part  the book is all about the science of space travel and gadget building with moments of romance and intrigue thrown in.  I was happy to see Maisie pull herself from the brink of losing her sense of self over a boy though she was aware that it could happen and she fought it. She was a strong character who thought carefully about how her actions affect others. I enjoyed seeing her thought process. The aliens were bit underwhelming and the rest of the characters, Jacques, Mi-sun, and Ruth, could have used a bit more depth. Luther, even though he was only in the book a short time, was one of my favorite characters.

I recommend this one for 7th Gr and above.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? September 29, 2014

What I Purchased
Year of the Dog by Grace Lin
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
The Thirteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm
Blessing The Boats by Lucille Clifton
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
El Deafo by CeCe Bell
Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan (was so mad I never bought this one - even though I read it!)

What I Read
Ninja! by Arree Chung
Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz
Ninja Boy Goes to School by ND Wilson
The Dot by Peter Reynolds
Iggie's House by Judy Blume
Like No Other by Una LaMarche
Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
El Deafo by CeCe Bell
This One Summer by Mariko Tamiki
Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus by Tom Angleberger
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm
Winger by Andrew Smith
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Herbie Jones Sails Into Second Grade by Suzy Kline
Third Grade Angels by Jerry Spinelli
Planet Kindergarten by Sue Ganz-Schmitt
The Pigeon Needs a Bath by Mo Willems
Hooray for Hat by Brian Won
The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugenides

These pictures lead to nowhere. Just here to help those of us who like a visual reference.

The Great Re-Read.  5th Graders are reading Chasing Vermeer so I went back to read it and found it more boring than I remember. Way too contrived.  The 4th graders are apparently competitive readers and are trying to all get through the Heroes of Olympus before the final book is released October 7th.  I remember racing through these and decided to listen/read to them so I not only have something to discuss - though they are already on House of Hades and I'm still finishing Mark of Athena - but I can refresh my memory too!

Adult Book Clubs. As part of my almost an empty nester phase, I decided to fully participated in both book clubs I'm attached to. One is a group of school teachers and the other a group of librarians. Win-Win. The librarians read Harold Fry and I we had a lot to discuss! The teachers read the Tropper book in anticipation of the movie. It was fun deciding whether the book and movie characters matched.

In Other News. We LOVED Hooray For Hat and I can't thank my twitter friends enough for pointing it out to me. Don't miss Half a King if you like epic middle grades fantasy, it reminded me of Heroes of the Valley. I listened to The Marriage Plot solely because the narrator does the 39 Clues Series and I love his voice.

Looking Ahead. I'll try to hit as many of the CYBILS spec fic nominated books as I can, albeit in an abbreviated manner! Nominations open October 1, 2014! Here's a description of the Young Adult Speculative Fiction Category.  I am also very interested in The Geisel Awards so look for a few of those to pop up.

Head over to Teach Mentor Texts for more Monday reading fun!

I Volunteer! - CYBILS Round 1 Judge

Hooray! I was named a CYBILS (Children and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards) Young Adult Speculative Fiction Round 1 Judge!

That means that I will be on a team that will be reading and judging HUNDREDS of  nominated Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy titles that were published between October 16, 2013 and October 15, 2014.  Nominations open October 1, 2014!

So excited to serve with:

Sheila Ruth
Wands and Worlds@sheilaruth

Karen Jensen
Teen Librarian’s Toolbox@tlt16

Kim Baccellia
Kim Baccellia@ixtumea

Allie Jones
In Bed With Books@wearedevilcow

Maureen Kearney
Confessions of a Bibliovore@mosylu

Kimberly Francisco
Stacked Books@kimberlymarief

Hooray!

Back To School Readaloud Suggestions

I'm starting a new job this fall at a preK-8 independent school. I'll still be the librarian but I have some new duties. The K-4 students will come to the library weekly and I get to do readalouds! I asked twitter for help!

Back to School ReadAloud suggestions for K-4 (via Twitter @MrSchuReads @MyTweendom @CPPotter @Utalaniz @MTechman @ClassicSixBooks @MeganGraff @Librarian_Tiff @StrohReads)  :

• Incredible Book Eating Boy by 
• Story of Fish and Snail
• Little Elliot, Big City
• My Teacher is a Monster (No, I am Not)
• Louise Loves Art
• Pete the Cat and his School Shoes
• Library Lion
• I'm Going on a Book Hunt
• Gingerbread Man Loose in the School
• Bailey (Bliss) 
• Library Dragon
• Librarian From the Black Lagoon
• Froggy Goes to School
• Library Lil
• Tomas and the Library Lady
• Biblioburro
• Miss Brooks Loves Books But I Don't
• Shelf Elf
• Shelf Elf Helps
• Number One Sam
• What Happened to Marian's Book? 
• Curious George Visits The Library

The suggestions were coming fast and I tried to favorite them all! Thank you, twitter friends, for your generous help!

I'm going to review the curriculum guide to pick some longer readalouds for Grades 3 and 4.  I'm hoping I can do something with genres for either 3rd or 4th and get into a Mock Newbery Club with 4th - 8th. What are your suggestions? How can the library support the classroom with readalouds and other lessons?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? August 11, 2014

Books I Bought

The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Congratulations, By the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness by George Saunders
The Naked Roommate for Parents by Harlen Cohen
The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research by Stephen Krashen

Books I've Read

Chasing The Milky Way by Erin E Moulton

Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbran

Alanna by Tamora Pierce

The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart

The Hear and Now by Ann Brashares

Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

She Loved Baseball by Audrey Vernick

The Adventures of Beekle by  Dan Santat

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Tap, Tap, Boom, Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle

The Glass Sentence by SE Grove

The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson

In Bed With a Highlander by Maya Banks

Congratulations, By the Way by George Saunders

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Comic Squad: Recess! by various awesome graphic novelists

Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jarrett J Krosoczka

Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson

I'm Bored by Michael Ian Black

Magician's Land by Lev Grossman

Return of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

Camp Rex by Molly Idle

Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

How To Train a Train by Jason Eaton

Naked! by Michael Ian Black

The Runaway King (Ascendance Trilogy, 2) by Jennifer Nielsen

The Qwikpick Papers by Tom Angleberger

Cleopatra in Space by Mike Maihack

Chu's First Day by Neil Gaiman

Daisy Gets Lost by Chris Raschka

Going Places by Peter Reynolds

I'm Here by Peter Reynolds

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Curious George visits the Library by HA Rey

H.I.V.E. by Mark Walden

Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer

The Shadow Throne (Ascendance Trilogy, 3) by Jennifer Nielsen

The Vanishing Coin (The Magic Shop, 1) by Kate Egan

Ashfall by Mike Mullins

Mission Unstoppable (Genius Files, 1) by Dan Gutman
Unmade (Lynburn Legacy, 3) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Haven't blogged in awhile. Lots of stuff happening.  These are the books I've read in the past month and half! A fair amount but nothing like the good old days.

Some don't miss books were Secret Hum of a Daisy, Sisters, Absolutely Almost, and Naked! I was happy to finish the Ascendance Trilogy and can't wait to talk it up at the new place.

I need to re-read Chasing the Milky Way by Erin Moulton so I can do a proper review.

Will be moving to a new job so will talk about that in upcoming issues. Happy Reading!

Beyond The Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning - #bookaday 12

Beyond the Highland Mist (Highlanders, 1)
Karen Marie Moning
Genre: Historical Fantasy

I was looking for a book similar to Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, but shorter. The description of this one sounded like it would work - girl goes back in time and meets a ruggedly handsome Highlander.  This was included the Fae so I thought, yeah, this could work.

The writing just wasn't the same. The take just wasn't the same. I guess I wasn't looking for a similar book, but the same book! I do own Dragonfly in Amber, the second book in Gabaldon's series, so I will just go with that one instead.

Mistwood by Leah Cypess - #bookaday 11

Mistwood
Leah Cypess
Genre: Paranormal

I'd read this one a few year ago. It was long enough ago that I'd forgotten much of it outside of vague notions and ideas.

It's time for Rokan to be king and he's afraid for his life. Many years ago the crown was protected by a Shifter but there was a tragedy involving the last royal family. This creature was said to be born of mist and fog and could shift into any animal including a human being. Rokan travels to Mistwood to find his Shifter and binds her to him using a special bracelet.

The Shifter, Isabel, is finding it hard to shift and doesn't really understand who or what she is though she feels it's her duty to protect Rokan. She just has to figure out who exactly is threatening the crown.  She is finding it more and more difficult to do her Shifter job due to emotions clouding her judgement. Though the Shifter is supposed to be less than human.

I liked this one because it's more of a character study instead of the relentless action you find in many books of this genre.  I would have liked to see more romance but I enjoyed what was there.

Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer - #bookaday 10

Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy
Kate Hattemer
Genre: Realistic

I've been trying to get back into our Goodreads Mock Printz which I co-moderate. Honestly, Whitney has been running the board alone since last year when I stepped down to be on the Excellence in Nonfiction Committee. She has diligently scoured reviews, posted polls, e-gathered books on the shelf, and started numerous discussions. There would not be a group without her.

The group is currently reading We Were Liars, which I read back in February, and The Vigilante Poets.

The poets, led by Luke, though story is told by Ethan, take offense at the continued presence of the For Art's Sake reality show. They feel the corporate greed actually hampers the art and using the work of Ezra Pound, take a stand to get the show ousted.

Throughout the book, I loved the voice of Ethan, though I times I questioned a teenaged male would spout those words. This was based purely on the brothers I grew up with and the teenagers present in my daughter's life. I enjoyed all the lit talk as the daughter just finished an AP Lit class. There were several instances where I thought about looking things up but was too lazy. Despite the cop-out ending, I thought this was fun. Which also means, I don't see it winning the Printz. Also, not a fan of that cover.

True Love by Jude Deveraux - #bookaday 9

True Love (Nantucket Bride, 1)
Jude Deveraux
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Not my usual fare. It's been a billion years since I read any Jude Deveraux. I'd been looking for a romance and I also wanted to read about Nantucket (never been but makes me think of summer) and someone on Goodreads had just finished this one. Luckily, they had it at the public library - on Overdrive.

Alix is an architect student who gets sent to live in the Kingsley House on Nantucket as part of the will of one of her mom's closest friends.  She can live there for a year and work on her culminating project for architecture school.

Kingsley House happens to belong to Jared Kinglsey Montgomery - a famous architect whom Alix admires and would love to have look at her drawings. (snicker). Jared would rather not, especially since he knows a great deal about Alix that he needs to keep secret.

Another resident of the Kingsley house is Jared's grandfather, Caleb. His five-times great, dead grandfather.  Caleb can only be seen by certain family members and he is hoping that somehow, he can connect with Alix and she can help him move on.

Despite the contrived storyline of past and present overlapping, this was fun.  I will actually read the second book.