It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

We will include this book in our Mock Newbery Club. If anyone can win a Newbery with a scary book, it's Avi!

Genre: Scary

AR level: 4.3

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5--I loved this scary book! It was the perfect balance of scary and exciting. Elementary students who are not horror fans will find it too disturbing, but my scary book readers will find it thrilling. I spent a good portion of the book trying to figure out who was on Tony's side and who was out to get him. 

Creativity: 5/5-- A school established to keep ghosts alive by stealing the souls of children...

Characters: 5/5-- Loved Tony. Totally relatable.

.

Engrossing: 5/5-- I couldn’t put it down.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- Horror is the thing!

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- the ghosts are pursuing the kids and trying to steal their souls. There isn’t much actual physical violence just menace.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

The Fog Diver is a Texas Bluebonnet Nominee for this year. We are also using it for our Quest for the Crown competition.  

Such a fun middle grade steam punk! Our 4th and 5th graders are always wanting dystopic books and start asking for Divergent and Hunger Games. I love having books like Fog Diver in my arsenal to hand them instead.

Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopic

AR level: 4.6

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5--I loved this book and its characters!

Creativity: 5/5-- Loved the clever references to current pop culture. The characters are in the future when current technology has been destroyed and so they don’t understand current sayings or culture references and they are always misusing them. They also use cash as toilet paper because it is soft. It is so thought provoking about what we value and what its intrinsic value is.

Characters: 5/5

Engrossing: 5/5-- So great! There were times I didn’t want to put it down and do my job.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- Perfect for my kiddos looking for dystopia.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- The characters are slum kids and they fight adults and kids alike to stay alive.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

Genre:Historical

AR level: none yet

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 4/5--I liked this book much more than Fitzgerald’s last one Under the Egg which I didn’t like at all. I’m glad I didn’t realize it was the same author when I picked it up.

Creativity: 5/5-- I haven’t read many other stories similar. It is kind of like the movie/musical Newsies, a view of the times from the working class perspective.

Characters: 3/5-- The characters are very real and believable, if not always likable.

Engrossing: 5/5-- It was a fairly quick read. I had no desire to start something else while I was reading it which is a big deal sometimes!

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 3/5-- This will be a kicker. I’m trying to decide how to market it. Kids seem to avoid historical fiction with a few exceptions. I think it might go over well with our Holocaust readers...

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none-- a man is keeping his wife sedated and in her room throughout the book, but there is no real physical violence. Some bombs are set off in the vicinity in protest, no one is hurt.

Drugs/Alcohol:mild-- Main character is 100 years old at the beginning of the book and has had cancer of the larynx because of smoking. Discussion of prohibition and whether or not it is right. There is a party scene where the main character is serving and the guests get very intoxicated. It is not glorified.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

A beautifully written book that it took me an inordinate amount of time to read. If you love stories, and have hours to do nothing else, read this book! And then go read Inkheart! ;)

Genre: fantasy

AR level: none yet   

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 4/5-- A wonderful book that really left me feeling warm and satisfied. It’s so rare that I find one of those these days!

Creativity: 5/5-- A story about the magic of stories and books, set in a town that feels held back by nonsense of children’s stories. They are trying to rid themselves of nonsense and are going to burn all the story books. (very Nazi-esque) Sophie is the last Storyguard and must save the stories. She encounters Peter Nimble who is the main character of Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes. I didn’t read that one but I will definitely be going back to read it now.

Characters: 5/5-- Sophie, who is delightful, and Peter, who I adore. Also wonderful Sir Tode and Akraisa. I could live in this book with these characters.

Engrossing: 4/5-- I’m knocking this book here only because I learned from reading The Night Gardener that Jonathan Auxier is not a lighthearted writer. You can’t read his books in little spits and spurts. They aren’t any good that way. You have to be able to take them in in great swaths. Knowing that going in, I loved Sophie and tried to find times I could just sit and take this story in. That’s the only way to read a Jonathan Auxier book. (It’s also why it took me so long to read it. Great long swaths of time are rare to this full-time working mom of 3.)

Writing: 5/5-- clever & witty.

Appeal to kids: 4/5-- This will appeal to heavy fantasy readers, but those who are very casual readers won’t be able to cut it.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5-- It’s a long one, but when it’s over you are so satisfied. Couldn’t be a page shorter.

CONTENT:

Language: none, mild, medium, high-- damnable (1)

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- there are many bad guys & Peter is not a hero to back down from a fight. This leads to several fantastical battles. Bad guys die but it is all very fictional. Not disturbing.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This was absolutely the break I needed after reading books like The Land of Lost Girls, The Inn Between, and We are all Made of Molecules. They were all heavy and this was light and fun. 

Genre:fantasy
AR level: 3.7
Grade appropriate: 2nd grade & up

RATING BREAKDOWN:
Overall: 5/5-- what a charming wonderful story about what it means to be different.

Creativity: 5/5-- kids who are having trouble with their magic are put in an Upside-down Magic class. They learn how to embrace their special skills not try to squash them to be normal.

Characters: 5/5-- so lovable!

Engrossing: 5/5-- read it in about 12 hours

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- magic? Kittens? What's not to love? Getting boys to read it might be a challenge...

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5-- short and completely sweet.

CONTENT:
Language: none
Sexuality: none
Violence: none
Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

We all loved James Ponti's Dead City series. When I saw this I dropped everything I was reading and made this my priority. 

Genre: Mystery
AR level: none yet
Grade appropriate: 3rd and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:
Overall: 5/5-- SO MUCH FUN! I want to read this again immediately!

Creativity: 5/5-- The idea of a kid working for the FBI or CIA is not unheard of, but I love Florian and his ability to notice what others don’t. It’s like a kid version of “Psych” or “Lie to Me.”

Characters: 5/5-- Florian and Margaret need to be my BFFs. I would have loved hanging out with them in middle school.

Engrossing: 5/5-- You are constantly trying to find times to sneak back to this book.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- I can’t wait to tell fans of James Ponti’s Dead City books that he’s got this new one! Fans of Spy School will also really enjoy this one.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:
Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- Florian gets kidnapped at one point but not hurt badly and an FBI agent injures a thug at another point.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

I am starting to tackle the books I'm seeing pop up on Mock Newbery blogs to get a head start on our Newbery Book Club we'll do this fall. This is my first. 

  

Genre: realistic
AR level: none yet
Grade appropriate: 4th and up (middle grade)

RATING BREAKDOWN:
Overall:3/5-- this book reminded me a lot of The War That Saved My Life, which I really didn't like. I know! I am the only one on the planet who didn't love it. And that's how I felt about this one. The abuse is so raw to me with the experiences our adopted son went through and I can never get past it in these stories.

Creativity:3/5-- a family from the Philippines trying to adjust to life in Louisiana. Step-mother is abusive. The girls try to escape through imagination & fairy tales.

Characters:3/5-- I distanced myself pretty early on because of the abuse. Didn't really get attached.

Engrossing:2/5-- I didn't want to keep coming back to it

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids:3/5-- I'm hoping the kids who loved The War will like this one too.

Appropriate length to tell the story:4/5-- short.

CONTENT:
Language: none

Sexuality: none-- the main character’s best friend (boy) keeps wanting to kiss her but she's not interested.

Violence:mild-- main character's stepmother calls her names, spits in her hair, makes her kneel on rice, throws rice in her face and more.

Drugs/Alcohol: none-- stepmother smokes

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Post coming soon about the AMAZING TIME I had at the Texas Library Association Conference and all the new friends (aka authors who were kind enough to let me take a picture with them) I made. I'm constantly telling the kids what an amazing job I have and after the TLA conference they totally believe me. This time of year we have about 75 librarians in the making! 

For now I'd like to introduce you to a book that totally missed my notice last year. Thanks to Judy Freeman for telling me about it. 

Genre: realistic

AR level: 5.1

Grade appropriate: 4th and up (middle grade)

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5-- This book was fantastic. I was shocked when Judy Freeman told us she thought this book should have gotten Newbery attention. It was not on my radar at all. Therefore… I had to get my hands on a copy. I immediately ordered a copy and put one on hold at two local libraries. I read it as did my people (fellow teachers/readers). It was worth the hype. Fantastic!

Creativity: 5/5-- based on the art and life of James Hampton. Such a creative story! I love books that make me research the true story behind the story. Well done.

Characters: 5/5-- Arthur is hurting but real and very likable.

Engrossing: 5/5-- totally

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- This might be a trick. We’ll see. I’ll start promoting it tomorrow.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: mild--damn (2)

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- Arthur throws a brick at a junk man because the junk man is wearing his dead father’s hat.

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- discussion of the dead father’s drinking problem.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This story is so very disturbing. I keep going back and forth about whether it's ok as long as it's in the scary section or whether it's just too creepy to put in our library. I feel like if I'm waffling then it's probably too much. Might be ok for middle school.

And the cover is so far off on this book. No middle grader wanting a creepy book will pick this one up & some sweet 4th grade girls will be traumatized thinking they're getting a book about 2 friends.
**spoilers**

Genre: scary
AR level: 4.3
Grade appropriate: middle school

RATING BREAKDOWN:
Overall: 4/5-- I'm having a hard time rating this book. It hits all of the categories below very well but was so upsetting I am having difficulty giving a high rating. I don't mind scary books as long as they are not too real. This one, woah! I labeled this review as having spoilers but I will try not to give too much away.

Creativity: 5/5-- I did not figure out the twist, where the inn is, until the author revealed it. Total shock.

Characters: 5/5-- liked Quinn & Kara a lot. Very real & easy to relate to.

Engrossing: 5/5-- I HAD to finish this book. It was so upsetting but I needed to find out how it would end. I kept picking it back up.

Writing: 5/5-- I'm one who doesn't notice writing unless it gets in the way of the story. This one just pulled me in.

Appeal to kids: 2/5-- I don't know if this book would upset children as much as it did me. I feel like it would make children very anxious & give nightmares but I understand that the stage of life I'm in right now affects how I read books and this one made me afraid for my kids.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5-- short. Quick read

CONTENT:
Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none (on the page)-- it's obvious by the end that someone abducted the main character's little sister & killed her. The 2 main characters spend the last 2/3 of the book running from a menacing man who's trying to find them.

Drugs/Alcohol: none-- one of the characters at the inn has had a drug problem and is told he's there to rest.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday! I'm off to the Texas Library Association Conference this week and I am VERY excited! I'll show you all the fabulous authors I meet and all the awesome books I get! 

Genre: Fantasy   

AR level: none

Grade appropriate: 3rd and up   

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 3/5-- A sweet fantasy based around a magic library. The entrance to the library is never in the same place, but when you are needed, the library finds you. Three cousins travel through the library to medieval times to go on a quest to help the queen.

Creativity: 3/5-- This book follows in the tradition of Narnia with the exception that these children travel into an actual past whereas in Narnia they travel to a different fantasy world.

Characters: 4/5-- Likeable, relatable.

Engrossing: 3/5-- It was great in the beginning, which is a big deal. Hook me in 4 chapters or I’m out of here. But in the middle it got slow and I didn’t want to pick it back up.

Writing: 5/5-- Slow middle...

Appeal to kids: 3/5-- Perfect for fans of Narnia. I would have loved this book as a kid. No disturbing violence or suspense. But not a lot of edge of your seat adventure either. Might be a hard sell to those who don’t already know what they like.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 2/5-- I was ready for it to end. I was ready to move on to another book.

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence:  mild-- The children  face dragons and a very bad villain and are in real danger.

Drugs/Alcohol: none-- The dwarf they travel with has a pipe and smokes herbs. One of the children has to smoke dragon’s bane in the pipe to lull the dragons to sleep.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday! Just finished this one. I received it as an Advanced Review Copy but it took me a long time to get through it...

Genre: Fantasy

AR level: 5.2

Grade appropriate: 4th & 5th grade

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 3/5

Creativity: 5/5-- a unique take on a traditional mystery. The unusual setting and characters make this story a little different.

Characters: 5/5-- The kids from the museum are likeable and believable.

Engrossing: 3/5-- I had a hard time finishing this one. I just got distracted too much. I also got bogged down in the museum acts at the beginning. Once we got into the actual story it was much more engaging.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 3/5-- I think the shock value of the title might draw some in, but I’m not sure it will hold them.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 4/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none-- the kids go to visit someone & find him hung. It looks like suicide.

Drugs/Alcohol: none-- owner of the museum asks for whiskey after discovering a break in. A reporter jokingly offers the children whiskey when they visit him.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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Genre: Mystery
AR level: none yet (this series is typically 3.__)
Grade appropriate: 1st and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:
Overall: 4/5-- This series is consistently wonderful for beginning chapter book readers. It is a mystery that doesn’t sacrifice plot for simplicity. The family visits famous landmarks in each book and we get to live vicariously. Occasionally we get the sneaking suspicion that we are being taught something, but the stories are not ruined for it.

In this book the family is in Greece. They are on an archeological dig and find a symbol in the wall that matches Grandpa Harry’s coin. Why?!?

Creativity: 5/5-- The books take place in different countries as the family travels for Mrs. Briar’s newspaper column. She writes about each country as they visit it.

Characters: 5/5-- Ethan and Ella are likable and relatable.

Engrossing: 4/5-- They hold your attention without the beginning readers getting bogged down.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- My high 1st graders, 2nd graders and 3rd graders eat this series up! Perfect for fans of Magic Treehouse.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5-- Perfection.

CONTENT:
Language: none
Sexuality: none
Violence: none
Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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Genre: Fantasy

AR level: 4.8

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5-- So fun! I forgot how much I enjoy Rick Riordan. He has teenagers at home so he’s very familiar with the way teenagers talk. Magnus is very sarcastic and funny. Very genuine feeling character.

Creativity: 4/5-- In the beginning I felt like this book was WAY too similar to the Percy Jackson books, but as the story progressed it felt much different.

Characters: 5/5-- Magnus is great and I want to hang out with him and Sam. We’d get along great!

Engrossing: 4/5-- Held my attention pretty steadily with a couple of slow parts in the middle.

Writing: 5/5-- Witty and quick.

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- It’s never in the library long.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5-- It’s long, but for fans of Rick Riordan it’s not a problem.

CONTENT:

Language: mild- damn (1) jack hole (1) What the Hel?(1) (Hel is the goddess in charge of Helheim, the Norse version of Hell.)

Sexuality: none

Violence: medium-- battle scenes between gods, goddesses, giants, dwarves, etc.

Drugs/Alcohol: none-- they drink a form of mead at one point, but he mentions how it didn’t make him intoxicated, it was like espresso without the edginess.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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The definition of a fairy tale spin-off. (Which I am a huge fan of by the way.) I read this for our "Once Upon a Time" book club that started this week.

While the kids will love it and it’s a great concept, it’s kind of done cheaply. The villains from Disney movies (they are definitely the Disney versions, not the traditional versions) have all been banished to the “Isle of the Lost” by King Beast.

It’s interesting to think about what an island with only criminals and villains would be like, but this story simply makes everything backwards. It’s like “opposite day” instead of “what would a villain really want, think, or do?” They greet each other at the door by saying “Go away!” (meaning come in) instead of what I think a true villain would do which is lure you in with graciousness and squash you when you least expect it. Anyway, it seemed like a cheap way to tell what could be a fascinating twist. Like kids can’t understand if they do it in clever way so they had to just do the opposite of what normal people do.

Genre: Fantasy

AR level: 5.3

Grade appropriate: 3rd and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 3/5

Creativity: 5/5-- I love the idea of an island full of fairytale villains! I know it was Disney’s idea and the author just wrote a prequel for it, but I’ll give her credit for a very unique idea.

Characters: 3/5-- I liked Evie the best but it’s obvious you are supposed to really like Mal. I don’t… She doesn’t have much substance.

Engrossing: 3/5

Writing: 2/5-- cheaply done. I’m trying to think of another adjective, but this is the best I’ve got. It underestimates what kids would understand by making these characters very 2-D.

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- Kids will read it because of the Disney connection and because there is a movie out on the Disney channel that is the follow-up to this story.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5-- A little long for our typical Disney princess crowd, but many do seem to be checking it out if not finishing it.

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none

Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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Disclosure: Tony Abbott is my good buddy! 

Translation: We met once and he's my friend on Facebook...

But he's AWESOME!

 

Genre: Adventure   

AR level: none yet

Grade appropriate: 4th and up (mature middle graders)

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 4/5-- I love this series. Full of action and adventure. Appealing to middle grade boys and girls.

Creativity: 5/5-- In this book, the Kaplan crew are off to find a Crux or cross (the next relic in the hunt for Copernicus's time machine.) They come across helpful new friends and deadly new enemies. They travel back and forth in time as well.

Characters: 5/5-- I love these characters more and more each book.

Engrossing: 3/5-- This has been the least engrossing of the series. It may have just been the time in my own life with the holidays ending and getting back to work, but I kept putting the book down.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- Fans of Magaret Peterson Haddix’s The Missing series will love these books.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: high--The violence in these books is always high for middle grade. This series is not for the sensitive student. I will say even though many people get killed through the series (so far) and the children are continually being chased by a very bad villain, it is not graphic or overly upsetting.

Drugs/Alcohol: none