Our New Obsession: HILO

I was the kid who hated stuffed animals. I also was the kid who wouldn't touch a graphic novel (or "comic book" with a ten foot pole). I only read big books. Now I am obsessed with character plush and graphic novels.

Yesterday, after noticing that she was very crabby, I asked Charlotte if she had stayed up late reading again. She admitted that she had stayed up reading both HILO books over again. I knew she had to help me review the second book in the HILO series, Saving the Whole Wide World. Charlotte's words are in blue and mine are in red. If you haven't read the first book, beware of spoilers.

So Charlotte, do you know how I found out about HILO?

Mr. Schu. He is my idol; I want to be just like him when I grow up.

I loved books before I met him and now I love them even more. Catch us up on what is happening at the beginning of the second HILO story.

The boy that found HILO, DJ reminds us he is good at nothing. The only part of HILO that is there is his big toe. Then a portal opens, and his head gets thrown through. 

Do they still have to fight Razorwark? 

HILO trapped Razorwark in a portal, but he is sending other monsters to Earth to weaken the portal.

Who is your favorite character?

Beamer, the robot that helps HILO and his gang.

My favorite character was Pollandra Pack Wallace Brimdale Korimako, a cat from the "furback clan" that gets comes to Earth from a portal and joins HILO's band.

What is the saddest part of the book?

Blah blah blah (Charlotte's answer was a major spoiler). Comment if you want me to tell you what she said.

The book ends on a cliffhanger and the 3rd book doesn't come out until February 2017!

Charlotte is ten years old and starting fifth grade in a month. She is a Nerdy Sister in training. She is an aspiring author and dentist. She spends her nights reading and her days playing video games and swimming. She attended her first Nerd Camp this summer and had the time of her life.

Picture credit: Melanie Golding

Picture Book Wednesday: Blue Chicken

If you've read our last few posts, you'll know that Amy and I attended Nerd Camp in Parma Michigan a few weeks ago. I cannot stress enough how wonderful this PD is for educators. It is superior to anything I have ever attended.  And it's FREE!

I volunteered to be a group leader for Nerd Camp Jr. I had done this two years prior when my eldest daughter came to Nerd Camp, and assumed I would be paired with Charlotte. After seeing Charlotte be Miss Independent, I was thrilled to be paired with 2nd graders. One of our authors/illustrators? Deborah Freedman. I was extremely lucky to talk with Deborah, Lauren Castillo and John Schu earlier in the afternoon. Her book, Scribble, was a favorite among my former students and I have her book by mouse and frog. A downside (for your bank account) of attending Nerd Camp is buying/ordering books. I ordered Blue Chicken, The Story of Fish and Snail and her two forthcoming books, Shy and This House, Once.

In her session with the children, Ms. Freedman first read aloud Blue Chicken.  In this meta-fiction book, a picture is almost complete. A chicken tries to help, but she ruins the whole picture by spilling blue paint everywhere. Freedman does a great job of expressing the anger of the animals in this illustration. This book is funny upon the first read and one of those books that I know I will find new things within the illustrations as I read it again and again.

What could be more awesome than hearing a story, having the author demonstrate their process and then trying it yourself? Nothing.

Thank you to Deborah Freedman and all the other authors and illustrators who have come to NErDCamp over the years for free to work with educators and children.

Shy will be released on September 27, 2016.

This House, Once will be released on February 28, 2017.

Two Nerdy Sisters Go To Michigan Our Nerd Camp Journey Part 2

After the beginning session we went our first session of the day. We went to see Lauren Castillo, Greg Pizzoli, and Deborah Freedman. They talked about their process for writing or doing illustrations. It was very informative for those of us who may want to write a book in the future.

Then the Two nervous Nerdy Sisters headed to our own session. We entered a packed room. We had technology issues but we were able to present on some of our books and give all of our books away.

People standing out the door at our packed session. We found out later that 72 people attended. 

We decided to spend our last session of the day with Mr. Schu, Kate DiCamillo, and Kate Beasley. It was awesome. We got to read parts of books, see people smell books, and listen to both Kates talk about their writing. 

The author signing was really great. We were able to get books signed and talk briefly with some of our favorite authors. Charlotte had her picture taken with Raina and Mr. Schu. 

Day 2: 

Day two was also awesome! Sara and I spend the first session with Donalyn Miller and Teri Lesesne as they talked about books.

Charlotte spend her first session with Victoria Cole. She picked that session out and went to it alone. She loved that session and got to spend more time with Victoria at Nerd Camp Jr. 

Then we joined Pernille Ripp for a conversation about Middle Grade students and reading. 

During lunch we had to take our balloons picture. We also got to spend more time talking to authors and other educators. 

For the third session we went to see the authors talk about writing with students and helping them learn from their mistakes. The authors gave suggestions on how to help children who have difficulty writing. 

For the 4th session, Sara and I led a session on collaboration between librarians and classroom teachers. We had a great talk with some fellow librarians. Then we all went to the final session. It was great to see how inspired and happy everyone was. Charlotte made me cry when she said that Nerd Camp was her place. 

Nerd Camp is my place too. So much so that I soon found myself having difficulty leaving. Being pregnant, I was too exhausted to volunteer for Nerd Camp Jr. but I did not want to leave. I just kept sitting there until I eventually forced myself to go. To be honest I shed a few tears as I left the school. I shed tears because I knew I would have to wait another year to feel so inspired. I would also have to wait another year to see some of my friends in the literary world. 

Nerd camp is really a very special place where you feel loved, respected, and appreciated. It is one of the few places where authors, librarians, teachers, and principals come together like a huge family. It is also one of the few places where you feel inspired the entire time and the sessions actually relate to what you are trying to do for your students. Please do yourself a favor and attend Nerd Camp. It has changed my life so much over the past two years and it will change your life too. 

Two Nerdy Sisters Go to Michigan: Our Nerd Camp Journey Part 1

Sara, Charlotte, and I left NC on Saturday, July 9th to start our 2 day drive to Nerd Camp. Excitement filled our blue Hyundai  Elantra. Sara and I were excited to see all of our Nerdy friends and our friend Melanie from Canada. We were also nervous about our first ever Nerd Camp presentation.

Charlotte's two main goals for attending Nerd Camp were to meet Raina Telgemeier and Mr. Schu. We were so excited that the 10 hour drive seemed to take forever. I told Charlotte that I wish we could teleport to Nerd Camp. Of course she has never seen Star Trek so she did not understand the reference. 

Monday finally arrived. We arrived at Nerd Camp before 8 so we could get our Nerd Camp swag and hangout prior to the opening session.

After getting our swag we took some pictures with @cardboardschu. 

This is our friend Melanie who drove all the way from Alberta, Canada for her first Nerd Camp. 

At 9:00 Sara and Charly left for the Nerd Run leaving Melanie and I to hang out with awesome authors: Jess Keating, Debbie Ohi, and Ruth Spiro. 

We headed in for the opening session and Charlotte got really excited because she saw Raina sitting on the front row. I had to make her go but we went to speak with Raina.

I look super preggo in these. 

Soon it was time for the opening Nerd talks to begin.  We heard from 5 wonderful speakers. All of their talks were inspiring and made me cry.

Kathy Barnette

Teri Lesesne

Raina Telgemeier

Pernille Ripp

Donalyn Miller

Everyone was super excited to see Kate DiCamillo at Nerd Camp. It was an awesome surprise. 

Due to the high volume of pictures this is part one. Look for part 2 on Monday. 

Picture Book Wednesday: Steamboat School

As a part of our historical fiction presentation I read Steamboat School. The book focuses on the difficulty African-Americans had in receiving an education in the 1840's. 

Steamboat School is the story of a boy named James. He is attending his first day of school. What James doesn't realize is that the school is located in a church basement and the students must be taught by candlelight. The students are taught by the Reverend John. The African-American students are working hard to learn when some white men and a state law prohibits their ability to be taught at the church. Reverend John with the help of James and his sister Tassie come up with a way to help the students learn. 

Deborah Hopkinson does an excellent job of writing this historical fiction book based on the true story of John Berry Meachum. Meachum was a former slave who believed in the importance of education. He created different schools to help educate young African-Americans. 

Hopkinson book is an excellent choice for educators. This book could be used as a back story to show the educational restrictions placed on African-Americans when discussing topics such as racial segregation and introducing Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. 

I recommend adding this book to school libraries at all levels, public libraries, and the personal libraries of historical fiction lovers. Sara and I will be discussing this book further and providing more resources on this book at our Nerd Canp Session in two weeks. Some lucky individual will also get to take this book home. Look for Sara and I in our Two Nerdy Sisters t-shirts. 

New Book Tuesday 6/28

I haven't bought any new books in three weeks! Shocking, right? Rest assured, I'm not sick. I gave away 15 books and bought 8 books for our Day One presentation at Nerd Camp MI:

Two Nerdy Sister's Present Best in Historical Fiction:What's Nerd Camp without books? Come explore the newest trends in historical fiction with one expert in history and one super nerdy reader and history aficionado. Books for all grade levels presented. The best part: lots of giveaways! We know you are nerdy too, so feel free to share titles with us! (Elementary, Middle School, High School, Reading, Cross Curricular) Presenters: Sara Ralph and Amy Ralph

It's less than two weeks away! We're so excited!

Here are the new books for this week:

I also went to B&N on Sunday and picked up these lovelies:

To be able to give away as many books as possible at our presentation, some of the books will have been "gently read" by Amy and/or myself. Well, I'm not going to get Salt to the Sea read so this copy will be given away so I can keep my copy.

Happy reading everyone!

YA Friday: Helping The LGBT community

My heart has been very heavy this week as I see the continued mistreatment of people in the LGBT community.

Last week Sara mentioned the recent passage of the HB2 bill in NC. This bill shows a clear bias towards transgendered individuals in NC. The hatred towards the LGBT community continued this week with the massacre of  49 people. Events like these lead me to the question "When will it stop?"

While terrorism is a whole different issue, hatred of people who are different continues in the United States. What can the literary community do to end this cycle? I think that we can help by providing our students and children with materials to help them be informed about the differences of others. 

Members of the literary community often interact with children who maybe considered LGBT students. Providing books that help children see themselves in the story maybe helpful to children who are struggling with mistreatment because they are LGBT. These material may also  help heterosexuals to understand more about the LGBT community and become more understanding. 

Below are some links to lists of excellent LGBT books from 2016: 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/teen/15-of-our-most-anticipated-lgbtq-yas-of-2016/

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/77570.2016_YA_Books_with_Possible_LGBT_Themes

https://www.buzzfeed.com/porcupinetie/23-upcoming-ya-novels-with-lgbt-characters-1yhvb

Here is a link with books for all ages in honor of LGBT pride month:

https://literacious.com/2016/06/15/lgbt-pride-month/

Middle Grade Thursday: Some Kind of Courage

Devotion. Determination. Bravery. Kindness. And yes, courage. All of these words describe the main character of Dan Gemeinhart's 2016 middle grade novel, Some Kind of Courage, which is set in Washington State in 1890. Joseph is driven by one thing and one thing only: getting back his beloved family horse, Sarah. Before his father died, he asked a man named Mr. Grissom to take care of Joseph. When Mr. Grissom sells Sarah to a corrupt horse trader, Joseph bravely confronts him, taking both the money and his father's gun to go off on foot to rescue his horse.

Along the way, Joseph meets a young Chinese boy, Ah-Kee, who is stranded without food or shelter. Even though there is a language barrier between them, the two boys decide to travel together to find Sarah and Ah-Kee's people, developing a deep friendship along the way. This book is a definite page-turner as the boys face adventure at every turn from wild animals to river rapids. I also appreciated the historical setting. I often have commented that the "dead parent trope" is often overdone in children's literature, but children living during frontier times really did have to contend with losing their entire families to disease or accidents. The treatment of Ah-Kee because of his ethnicity, treatment of Native Americans, difficulty of access to medical treatment and the dangerous environment in general of the West are also addressed. While a horse is not a pet, I think today's readers can appreciate Joseph's connection to Sarah if they have close relationships with dogs, cats, etc.

I highly recommend Some Kind of Courage to all middle grade readers.

Middle Grade Thursday: Fighting Against Censorship

Two authors had their school visits cancelled because of "controversial" content in their books or in books they had book talked.

Phil Bildner's story: http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=6781

Kate Messner's story: http://www.katemessner.com/a-blog-post-i-never-thought-id-be-writing-on-book-release-day/

Amy and I both have the misfortune to live in the state infamous for making discriminating against transgendered people the law.

As librarians, this goes against everything we stand for in our profession. I could rail on and on about this and the politics involved in HB 2, but it would be preaching to the choir.

I've rarely experienced author visits. We had one in my 12 1/2 years at my former school, which is a Title 1 school with 93% of the students receiving free/reduced lunch. Being a native North Carolinian Edith Cohn very generously came for free. I ordered 20 copies of her book, Spirit's Key, from Amazon. I sold 10 copies, gave away 5 and put the other 5 in our library. The kids talked about the visit for weeks afterwards. They were amazed that someone who had a book published was willing to come to see them.

Despite attending schools in an upper middle class neighborhood, author visits aren't a common occurrence at my children's schools. Carolyn, who is finishing 7th grade, very excitedly attended an extension of nErDcampMI, nErDcamp Jr., in 2014, and met three authors. Charlotte, who is finishing 4th grade is coming to the same event this year. Not a day goes by that she doesn't mention meeting Raina Telgemeier. 

The fact that adults would willingly choose to take away the magical experience of an author visit from kids is both baffling and heartbreaking.

What can I do? What do librarians do? We put books in the hands of kids. The greatest inspiration for this is my friend and the Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schu, aka @mrschureads. He has given books to both Amy and me. Plus, he was the King of Author Visits during his tenure as a school librarian. 

Teachers and/or school librarians: I'm giving away three bundles with the following books for your school or classroom libraries. Contact me in some way (comment on this post, reply to a tweet or FB msg or RT) to win. Contest ends Thursday, June 16 and the winner will be announced on Friday! Also, I am calling tomorrow to donate to Kate's initiative to help the kids in Burlington, VT. More details here: http://www.katemessner.com/5425-2/

Books in the giveaway bundle:

And Edith's for coming to my school gratis!