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?

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?

 

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.

FWC Newbery vote results

We cast our votes for the books we want to win the Newbery next week.

Here are our results:
Winner:




Honors:
   

 Others:

             






  

See the full list of books we read and considered here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

 

Before the Winter Break I told my Newbery Book club that I would read ONE MORE book over the break in anticipation of the ALA awards on Jan 11. A Handful of Stars was it. It was a sweet book. Not riveting, not stressful, but one I would really have liked as a kid.

Genre: Realistic

AR level: 4.4

Grade appropriate: 3rd and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 4/5--

Creativity: 4/5-- a girl growing up with her grandparents in Maine after her mother dies in a car accident. She makes friends with a girl who is a migrant worker in Maine for the blueberry harvest.

Characters: 5/5-- Sweet characters. All of them.

Engrossing: 3/5-- I think this was the one drawback to this book. It was short so I could make myself go back to it knowing that I would finish soon, but I was also reading Tony Abbott’s Copernicus Legacy series and coming off of the adventure and adrenaline of those a Handful of Stars was less than demanding my attention.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- Perfect for  the girls who love sweet friendship stories.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none

Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

This is one VERY strange book. It skirts the line between ridiculous and scary. It is in the same vein as A Series of Unfortunate Events, but there are scary moments. I guess the ridiculousness is to off-set the scariness. I added it to our Newbery list but now that I’ve read it I’m frantically trying to remember where I saw it. It’s on the list because some blogger that I trusted said it was a contender. Who? I can’t for the life of me find it...

Genre: Fantasy

AR level: 5.4

Grade appropriate: 4th and 5th grade

RATING BREAKDOWN: 

Overall: 2/5-- so odd. You spend the entire book wondering if it is fantasy or realistic. Sometimes that adds to the plot, but in this book it detracts from it. 

Creativity: 3/5-- This is the story of an average girl who is snatched from her parents and held captive by two seemingly sweet great-aunties. They are actually murderers and planning to kill her. 

Characters: 2/5-- I didn’t feel a particular attachment to any of the characters. Anastasia isn’t particularly lovable and everyone else is so far fetched that they are un-relatable. 

Engrossing: 2/5-- Not one I was anxious to get back to...

Writing: 1/5-- The over-writing was intended to be funny in the vein of “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” but it misses the mark in my book. Much discussion of “tragic flatulence” and the like. 

One reviewer said, “attempts to mimic ‘Series of Unfortunate Events,’ but lacks the satire which makes the other book so fun to read.” I agree 100%. 

Appeal to kids: 2/5-- Fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events will give it a go. Time will tell if they will stick it out. 

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT: 

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none

Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

Genre: Fantasy

AR level: 5.4

Grade appropriate: 3rd and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 3/5-- I feel like maybe I’m being overly critical. There was nothing inherently wrong with this book, it just wasn’t that great.

Creativity: 5/5-- Time/creation runs like a river and sometimes a stream shoots off from the main flow. This is called a pirate stream. Two characters meet because of this pirate stream of time and end up working together to save it.

Characters: 3/5-- Both Fin and Marrill are likable but there’s nothing about them that really makes you feel like you are in their shoes.

Engrossing: 3/5-- It doesn’t suck you in or make you want to stay up nights reading it.

Writing: 2/5-- This is such a hard thing to pinpoint, but I think this is where this story falls short. The plot is fine in and of itself, but the unfolding of it seems scattered or lacking something. Quirky spellings like Khaznot Quay also really detract from the story line.

Appeal to kids: 3/5-- The cover is the big draw. That’s what made me pick it up.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none--There is some fighting against the bad guys, but nothing graphic or disturbing.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

~~~

This book, I loved. A historical story set in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century, it’s one to add to our Newbery list.  There is a plague scare in Chinatown and the area is quarantined, but only if you are Chinese… Lizzie and her friends try to get their beloved cook out of the quarantine. This books discusses racism from that time that is often forgotten and gives a fascinating look at medical practices at the time.  A fantastic book.

Genre: historical

AR level: none yet

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5

Creativity: 5/5-- different take on racism from other things being published right now. Who knew there was a plague outbreak in San Francisco in the early 1900s? A glimpse of a time and place I didn’t know much about.

Characters: 5/5-- definitely felt a kinship to Lizzie and felt you were fighting right alongside her.

Engrossing: 5/5

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 4/5-- It’ll be one you have to sell them on. Once they get into it, they will like it.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- Lizzie’s older brother is earning money as a fighter. There are some drunk men who try to burn down Chinatown. Lizzie also gets attacked by some drunk men when she is out late at night. None of these scenes are graphic.

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Lizzie crashes her uncle's work luncheon where they are drinking whiskey. She encounters some drunk men late at night who act violently.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

It was like magic opening the box when this came in the mail. I just caught my breath at how beautiful it is!

And there it is… the reason we can’t keep it in the library or in the Newbery Book Club… Some of the characters are gay. Openly. The elementary library at a Christian school can’t be where our kids learn about this.

I am heartbroken.

Genre: Historical   

AR level: none yet

Grade appropriate: 5th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5-- amazing, truly.

Creativity: 5/5-- Brian Selznick, The man practically invented his own genre...

Characters: 5/5-- Joseph is every man. His curiosity and need for a friend is very easy to identify with. Frankie drove me CRAZY in the beginning! But she grows on you (and grows up.)

Engrossing: 5/5-- It’s a 24 hour read. This is one of those books where you are reading along and all of a sudden you look up and remember where you are.

Writing: 5/5-- There are no words.

Appeal to kids: 5/5

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: mild-- my god (1)

Sexuality: none-- Nothing graphic but some of the characters are openly gay.

Violence: none

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Joseph accidentally drinks wine and “something that is not water.” Adults drink wine at a dinner party.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

Genre: Realistic

AR level: 4.1

Grade appropriate: middle or high school

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5-- I really did like this story, but I definitely feel like it’s more appropriate for middle or high school. The bullying is very intense and there is a very scary scene at the end. See my comments below on violence.

Creativity: 5/5-- I love the idea that Raine can collect memories and watch them. That specific part reminds me of Snicker of Magic. One of my favs from last year.

Characters: 5/5-- Loved Raine. Wanted to go running with her. She would have trounced me.

Engrossing: 5/5-- It was absolutely engrossing. I couldn’t put it down.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- It needs to be YA, but the cover is too young looking. Will have to do some reconciling on that.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence:medium-- the bullying in the books is seriously disturbing. In the end the main character is tied up and put in a burning building. Sometimes in adventure stories the violence is much less disturbing because it's so far fetched. This feels all too real.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

~~~

On our Mock Newbery list this year

I decided to move to Moonpenny Island in the first chapter. It’s a sweet little island that seems perfect. And then reality sets in.

This book is all about how hard life can be. It’s a good book, but not one that you want to rush back into.

Genre: Realistic

AR level: 4.2

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 2/5

Creativity: 2/5-- Life on the island made this story different from others like it. But it’s very much like other stories about tough life events.

Characters: 4/5-- very real, not always perfect, not always likeable, but very real.

Engrossing: 2/5-- This was not an easy book for me to finish. I loved it at first, but after a while there are just too many things going wrong. It was not a place I wanted to go if I had the choice of what to read.

Writing: 4/5

Appeal to kids: 2/5-- I think it’ll be a hard sell…

Appropriate length to tell the story: 4/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- Sylvie accidentally gets pushed down the stairs when her dad and brother are fighting.

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Sylvie’s mother has a drinking problem.