New Book Tuesday 6/7

So nothing last week, but this week? Mother load! Happy Reading!

Special #Bookaday Post

Amy 

Just 6 more days of school left and I will be glad when it ends. Not because I want to leave work, my students, or coworkers. I want school to end so I can have more time to read. Summer is when I do the most reading. I want to be like Donalyn and read a book a day but realistically I know that I probably will not. If you don't know already Sara and I are presenting historical fiction at Nerd Camp. I am designing my reading goal around that and EBOB books. 

For the summer I am hoping to read 3-5 books per week. These books will include historical fiction novels and picture books and 16 Elementary EBOB books that I haven't read. 

Here is a list of the EBOB books that I need to read: 

http://www.ncslma.org/assets/docs/EBOB/ebob%202016-17.docx

I am also hoping to read some of the books I have around the house that I have been unable to finish. 

These are my reading goals for the summer. I am sure that Sara will read more books than me but I am hoping that I can meet my personal goal. 

Sara

This will be my third summer participating in #bookaday. I remember as a child/teen having "read-a-thons" every Friday night where I tried to stay up all night reading. Last year, I read 71 books over the summer. Not that hardcore? You do not have to literally read a book a day. Also, everything counts; last summer I read 18 Babymouse books. It is just a time to promise to spend a little more time reading during the summer, which is when, if you're a student or an educator, life slows down a bit.

Oh and for any of you grumbling about teachers' summer break; they are actually paid for 10 months, not 12. The other two months are furloughed, as any teacher who has ever gotten her pay in 10 installments and not properly saved for the summer knows all too well.

Since I resigned from my job back in February, I went ahead and started my #bookaday challenge when Donalyn Miller kicked it off on May 24th. My goal is to read 60 books, and I am already 25% done. The next six weeks or so will be focused on reading historical fiction books for our Nerd Camp MI Day One presentation. I also want to finish rereading the Harry Potter series before the 8th book comes out in July.

My favorite book so far of the 15 that I've read:

Happy Summer! Happy Reading!

Middle Grades Thursday: Red The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood

Everyone knows the story of little Red Riding Hood. She is normally a little girl who goes to visit her sick grandma and runs into a wolf. In some cases she tries to beat the wolf to grandma's house and in others the wolf is just there to eat her. Red Riding Hood comes off as a a week and innocent girl. 

Liesl's version of Red Riding Hood is completely different. Red is a strong young lady who has magical powers.  Red also has a special relationship with her grandmother. When her grandmother becomes ill she is determined to save her. Red goes on a journey to find a cure with Goldilocks and a wolf. She encounters dwarves, witches, and a beast, with a story of it's own. 

This excellent example of fantasy is a page turner from start to finish. I loved this book and I recommend it for middle grades children and the libraries that serve them. One of my favorite parts of the story was the fact that this book was a personal one for Liesl. In her author's note she writes about her relationship with her grandmother and how her grandmother impacted the story. The fact that the story is personal and has a great storyline makes this book one of my favorite middle grades novels from 2016. If you have not read Red The True Story of Red Riding Hood be sure to add that to your #bookaday list for the summer. 

Picture Book Wednesday: Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions

Back in 1989 Ronald Reagan was president of the United States and the Berlin Wall was torn down. While, these were important events of that year to the kids the most important was the release of the Super Soaker. Prior to the Super Soaker we only had smaller plastic water guns. Water guns that barely got you wet and ran out of water quickly. When this water gun came out I remember how badly I wanted one but they were not cheap.  The Super Soaker became a staple my middle grades years. Everyone wanted one or had one and they often upgraded to a new one as soon as the new model came out. 

Original Super Soaker

Chris Barton's book Woosh follows the story of Lonnie Johnson who invented the Super Soaker. The story starts with Lonnie as a child who likes to build rockets and robots. Barton explains the hardships that Johnson had including limited space, tests that said he was not smart enough, and competing at a school that did not like African-American students. The story follows Lonnie to adulthood where he creates some successful inventions and has difficulty getting funding for others. At the end of the story the Super Soaker is produced and kids around the world play with it. 

Lonnie Johnson 

Barton's book serves two purposes. It provides a picture book biography of Lonnie Johnson's life and inventions. It also sends the message to the reader that no matter the hardships you face you do not give up on your dreams. You too can be like Lonnie Johnson and be a problem solver. I loved this book and I recommend it to any library or individual interested in biographies or the Super Soaker. I also recommend that you go and get a Super Soaker for yourself or your kids to use during  the summer. These are great water guns and well worth the money. 

 Enjoy this Super Soaker ad  from 1993 to see how cool they were for kids my age. 

New Book Tuesday 5/24

Happy Reading!

Picture Book Wednesday: This is not a picture book

A duck is frustrated because the book he is chooses to read has no pictures. His friend, the bug, asks him if he can read it so he gives it a try. As the duck describes the words in the book, the background changes to match the tone of the words: funny, sad peaceful and wild.

Here is my favorite page:




At my former school, I used to work with a third grade classroom everyday during their literacy block. One of the activities the students did was write a story based on a picture or photograph. I would love to give them this picture and see what stories they would create.

Students often need help adding words to their stories that convey emotions, but aren't overly used: like, sad or happy, etc. Mentor texts are very helpful when teaching students how do to this. If I were using this book in a media class, I would divide the kids into groups and give them one of the words from the story (funny, sad, wild and peaceful) and give them another text and have them find words that fit their category.

Highly recommended for elementary school and classroom libraries.

YA Friday: Short Story Anthologies

My latest reading obsession is young adult short story anthologies. I have always loved short stories. I remember hating Nathaniel Hawthore's The Scarlet Letter, but adoring his short stories. My all-time favorite classical literature is Edgar Allen Poe's short stories: "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Tell-tale Heart." I do not use the word obsession lightly. I have bought 7 collections just this week.  However, I'm going to talk about three 2016 collections in this post.



Realistic fiction YA is my favorite so I'm loving this collection. It features authors like Kekla Magoon, James Preller and Jordan Sonnenblick. In the first story, "Three Imaginary Conversations With You," author Heather Demetrios presents a narrator in a relationship that is gone sour.  A girl who is about to graduate is trying to extricate herself from her college boyfriend. The boyfriend criticizes her all the time, looks down on her for being younger and is very manipulative, threatening to kill himself if they break up.



A collection of historical fiction heroines kicking ass and taking names? Yes, please! Authors include Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, Kelka Magoon and YA historical fiction queen, Elizabeth Wein.  In "Pearls" by Beth Reavis, set in 1876, a young girl is trying to escape a marriage her father insists is mandatory. He assumes she has relinquished her virtue, but the man actually raped her. Her method of escape? She moves from Chicago to Wyoming to become a teacher in a subscription school. One of her pupils is a famous figure from history.



This is a companion to My True Love Game to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories. I can't help but sing "Summer Lovin'" from the musical Grease when I see the cover of this book. After reading Tim Federle's debut YA novel, The Great American Whatever, I am thrilled to read another one of his stories. In "Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail," author Leigh Bardugo's heroine, Gracie, lives in a tourist town and thinks she sees The Loch Ness Monster in the lake. She starts hanging out with Eli, a nerdy tourist boy, and they research the possibility. They see each other summer after summer and a romance develops; however, there is a secret that keeps them from having anything more than a summer fling.

Do you have any YA short story anthology recommendations for me? If so, leave them in the comments, or let me know on Twitter @sralph31.

Middle Grades Thursday: Paper Wishes

After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 many Japanese Americans were forcefully removed from their homes. They were forced to relocate to other states or internment camps. Japanese internment camps were cramped spaces surrounded by barbed wire. Japanese Americans were treated like prisoners who were only allowed to leave with permission from their wardens. 

Paper Wishes follows the story of a young Japanese girl named Manami. This little girl is forced to leave her family home and head to an internment camp. On the way to the camp she loses her dog Yujiin. This has a very negative impact on Manami and she refuses to speak. Lois Sepahban takes the reader into the world  of Japanese internment camps by explaining the difficulties for the people who live in them. 

The story continues to tell Manami's story through 10 months of her life until her family leaves the Manzanar internment camp. This book has a bitter sweet ending that I felt was a great way to end the story. 

I simply loved this book. I feel like our children have a limited understanding of what WWII was like for Japanese Americans. I think that Paper Wishes accurately portrays these hardships. This is an excellent addition to any library and is a wonderful example of  historical fiction. I give this book a resounding 5 out of 5 stars. 

Lois Sepahban bases her story on real events that took place at the  Manzanar internment camp. 

For more information about the camp visit the following website. 

https://www.nps.gov/manz/index.htm

Picture Book Wednesday: There is a Tribe of Kids

 This beautiful book by Lane Smith follows a little girl as she sees and interacts with different animals. We follow the little girl on her journey to find the tribe of kids.  Smith uses different descriptive words for each of the different groups of animals making this book a good one for building vocabulary. 

My favorite group of animals is the turn of turtles. Of course, I am obsessed with turtles which makes me slightly biased. 

With beautiful pictures and writing this book is an excellent addition to any library. This is wonderful book for kids who are trying to build vocabulary and learn about animals at the same time. I give There is a Tribe of Kids 5 out of 5 stars. 

New Book Tuesday 5/17

Happy Reading!