Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What are you Reading?

A new week, a new batch of books–both books finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday

{Wherein we share what books we have read in the past week.}

&

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

{Wherein we share the titles we are currently reading.}

Ring-the-Bell Monday

This week I read:

Glory (Gloriana) is growing up in Hanging Moss, Mississippi, in 1964.  The small town is struggling as some of its citizens are ready to embrace integration while others are dead set against it. This affects every area of Glory’s life, from her friendships to her library to her beloved pool.

When my daughter saw me posting this picture in her, she said, “That book is terrible…. terribly sad, that is.” And yeah, she’s right. But books that deal with the death of a loved one–especially from the point of view of a young child–tend to be that way. I appreciate the way Moundlic deals with the issue head on, yet in sensitive way. This is the first page:

My mom died this morning.

It wasn’t really this morning.

Dad said she died during the night,

but I was sleeping during the night.

For me, she died this morning.

Yup, I had to put the book down the first time I tried to read it. I got through it the second time. I can see this book helping a child–or older–through the mourning process.

How many books did my students complete?

Class A

6

Class B

16

Class C:

13

[Check out the home of “It’s Monday! What Are You Reading”: Teach Mentor Texts — and the spin-off: Sharpreads]

This week, I am reading:

In a world ravaged by war and genocide, becoming someone else is now possible. Sixteen-year-old Callie discovers the Body Bank where teens rent their bodies to seniors who want to be young again. When her neurochip malfunctions, she wakes up in the mansion of her rich renter and finds she is going out with a senator’s grandson. It’s a fairy-tale new life, until she discovers her renter’s deadly plan.

I’m about 60% through. I’ll keep you posted.

The books my randomly-chosen students are reading:

A: Lawn Boy, Because of Winn Dixie, King Tut, Wonder, Double Identity, Fetching, Watsons Go To Birmingham–1963, the Peculiars, Franny K. Stein #1

B: The Limit, Wonder, Raven’s Gate, Amulet #4, Catch That Pass, the Onts, The Hostile Hospital, Flush, Heads or Tails

C: Wolf Rider, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, A Lock and a Key, Flipped, Fearless, the Wednesday Wars, Life as We Knew It, Thirteen

If you are looking for some book talks for the March Arrow and Tab book orders, here are the links:

TAB book talks.

ARROW book talks.

Books can be ordered at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs.  Remember our classroom code is GML8J.

GOOD WORK, Y’ALL!

What are the REST of you reading?