It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.30.13

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? from Picture Books to YA is a meme started by Kellee over at www.unleashingreaders.com and Jen over at www.teachmentortexts.com to share and wrap up our reading for the past week.  They expanded the original meme started by Sheila over at www.bookjourney.wordpress.com

This week was a slow reading week for me. But I was able to read a couple of picture books that I received from the SCIBA Trade Show event this past Saturday.  I had the privilege and honor to listen to each author/illustrator speak about their process in creating the book - I always love to hear the story behind the story.

I read:

BUGS IN MY HAIR by David Shannon was a great read! And what a topic! I think this is a great story to read aloud to primary grades to explain how this pesky bug ends up where it does.  It teaches without being preachy in classic David Shannon style.  Not a disappointment.

Love, love, love LOCOMOTIVE by Brian Floca.  This book was intensely researched by Floca and he created beautiful illustrations to accompany his rhythmic words throughout.  I believe this rich text can be used as a read aloud for both young and older readers.  A must have for all libraries in my opinion.

I am still reading and enjoying:

And I was ecstatic to receive an ARC of this on Saturday:

So many great books - so little time! I hope you had a great reading week! Thank you for stopping by!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.23.13

     

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? from Picture Books to YA is a meme started by Kellee over at www.unleashingreaders.com and Jen over at www.teachmentortexts.com to share and wrap up our reading for the past week.  They expanded the original meme started by Sheila over at www.bookjourney.wordpress.com

This week I accomplished reading a few picture books and a chapter book. 

The picture books I read were:

 

Circle Unbroken and Night Boat to Freedom are books I came across in our school library.  I believe both would be great to use in the classroom as mentor texts for writing and would be great read alouds as well. 

 

Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride is one of those books that I have known about but somehow missed reading until now.  This is a work of art in itself, but would also be great as a mentor text for depicting what is fact and what is fictionalized by the writer. I absolutely loved this book.

 

I also finished:

 

Jumping Off Swings is an important book - I think Jo Knowles dealt with the topic of sex and teen pregnancy in a very gripping and openly honest way.  The story is told from the point of view of four different characters; I thought this was very effective. Because of the multiple points of view (Ellie, Corrine, Josh and Caleb), this is a book that many teens can identify with - not just those having sex.  Corinne, the best friend, (who is not having sex but is absolutely curious about it) was the point of view I really appreciated. .  I thought she was a true to life character and set a good example of what a best friend does without it being preachy. 

 

So now I am reading:

 

which is a follow up to Jumping Off Swings and continues Josh's story.  (Josh is the one Ellie had sex with and becomes pregnant by in Jumping Off Swings.)  Josh decides to go and live with his Uncle Larry to "try to forget" everything that happened between him and Ellie and the pregnancy.

 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a great week of reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.16.13

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? from Picture Books to YA is a meme started by Kellee over at www.unleashingreaders.com and Jen over at www.teachmentortexts.com to share and wrap up our reading for the past week.  They expanded the original meme started by Sheila over at www.bookjourney.wordpress.com

Well, it was a slow reading week for me - Back to School  Night was this past Wednesday and I don't know about any of you, but that wipes out all my energy for the rest of week.  So every time I attempted to read I would nod off.  I plan to catch up this week.

I am almost finished with:

 

This is a very intriguing story and I meet with my bookclub this Wednesday to discuss it.  There are dynamic characters in this novel that I am eager to talk about.  I will let you know my final thoughts when I finish it.

 

And a few books that I have on deck:

  

                     

I have been looking forward to Patrick Ness' and Jo Knowles' new books!  But I have not read Jumping Off Swings yet (hangs head) so I will read this before Living with Jackie Chan .  I just love those titles and covers!

Thank you for stopping by - I hope you have a great reading week!              

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.9.13

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? from Picture Books to YA is a meme started by Kellee over at www.unleashingreaders.com and Jen over at www.teachmentortexts.com to share and wrap up our reading for the past week.  They expanded the original meme started by Sheila over at www.bookjourney.wordpress.com

Yikes! It has been almost a month since I last blogged - school started three weeks ago and I have been busy.   New grade, new school, new subject matter - it has all caught up to me.  But in the classroom we are now in a groove for the most part, and I have some reading time back! So here is what I read over the past couple of weeks:

Picture Books:

 

 

 

 

Every single one of these is an excellent book and I would highly recommend for all classroom libraries to have.  My personal favorite out of these is Faithful Elephants.  Jillian Heise and I had a quick conversation on Twitter about Faithful Elephants and mentioned a few titles that could be connected with it: The One and Only Ivan, Endangered, and An Elephant in the Garden.

 

Chapter books I finished over the past two weeks:

 

  

 

 

Rules of Summer is a quick read that is told in third person omniscient from the two main characters: Rory and Isabel.  Philbin does not create distinct alternating chapters for the two characters so at times it is not clear (more so at the beginning of the story) which POV is being used as their voice is not differentiated enough.  But, overall it is a good read for 8th and up.  It is one to recommend for readers who enjoy books by Susane Colasanti and the like.

 

Okay.  LOVED Counting by 7s.  This book is getting a lot of Twitter buzz and I think that buzz is well deserved.   Willow Chance is one of those characters you just want to wrap your arms around, sit down and have a conversation with, and want to make the world a better place for.  Go read this now.  :)

 

I am currently reading:

 

 

I am reading this for book club.  You can read the summary here at Goodreads.  The main character, 26-year-old Ginny, is a woman living with Asperger Syndrome and her parents have just died unexpectedly.  The story line is interesting and I am enjoying it so far. 

 

Thank you for stopping by!