4.28 It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #BookScavenger #AreYouExperienced

Guess what today is!

 

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week

& the titles we are currently reading.}

This meme is originated by Jen and Kellee at TeachMentorTexts. Thanks!

{ARC. The premise of this book is very cool. It will be born on June 2, 2015.}

Do you like puzzles? Mystery? Books? This is your book! It was great fun to go on this book chase with Emily and James. It reminded me a bit of Mr. Lemoncello’s Library—but a bit more grown up and taking place all over the city. Mr. Griswold is like a Willy Wonka of books. How great is that? I’m hoping this book takes off when it appears in June. I even asked the author if there is a book trailer coming. I sure hope so.

Description

For twelve-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it’s the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in cities all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles). Upon her arrival, however, Emily learns that Griswold has been attacked and is now in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch. Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold himself, and might contain the only copy of his mysterious new game.

Racing against time, Emily and James rush from clue to clue, desperate to figure out the secret at the heart of Griswold’s new game–before those who attacked Griswold come after them too.

•

I also read

Time travel + Woodstock? SOLD! Rich ends up going back to 1969 and hanging with his then-16 father. Can you imagine? He learns a lot about why his dad acts the way he does in modern times. I had a lot of fun with this one and even made a YouTube playlist of all the music that was mentioned.

Description

Rich is fifteen and plays guitar. When his girlfriend asks him to perform at protest rally, he jumps at the chance. Unfortunately, the police show up, and so does Rich’s dad. He’s in big trouble. Again. To make matters worse, this happens near the anniversary of his uncle’s death from a drug overdose years ago. Rich’s dad always gets depressed this time of year, but whenever Rich asks questions about his late uncle, his dad shuts down.
Frustrated by his dad’s silence, Rich sneaks into his office and breaks into a locked cabinet that holds his dad’s prized possession: an electric guitar signed by Jimi Hendrix. Before he knows it, Rich is transported to the side of a road in Upstate New York with a beautiful girl bending over him. It will take him a while to realize it’s 1969, he’s at Woodstock, and the girl’s band of friends includes his fifteen-year-old dad and his uncle, who’s still alive. In “Are You Experienced?” by Jordan Sonnenblick, what Rich learns, who he meets, and what he does could change his life forever.

Now… On to the student books. Check back later in the week to see the BOOKselfies that are due on Thursday. #ReadingIsSocial

Period 1&2

14 Books

http://padlet.com/mretkinshms/12bookselfies

Period 5&6

14 Books

 http://padlet.com/mretkinshms/56bookselfies

Period 9&10

13 Books

http://padlet.com/mretkinshms/910bookselfies

•

For every parent who leaves a comment on TODAY’S POST with what you’re reading, I’ll give your child a BUSTED ticket…

Let’s have a look back to last week to check for parent comments.

 

 

VERY excited about a Ness ARC. I hope this meets expectations.

•

Of course, we’re reading aloud

I was watching playoff basketball one night and I saw an NBA commercial that reminded me SO MUCH of the sound of some of the pages on The Crossover. I tweeted it out to my teacher friend Holly in Ohio. Kwame Alexander saw it and commented:

Here is the playlist I put together:

---

This ARC finally came in digitally. I’m looking forward to what Levithan is calling a “twin”—not a companion—to Every Day.

 

 

Thanks,

David Etkin

4.19 It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #Crossover #EleventhPlague #GraveRobber

Guess what today is!

 

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week

& the titles we are currently reading.}

This meme is originated by Jen and Kellee at TeachMentorTexts. Thanks!

---

Did you get to see Kimberly Willis Holt stop by {Eat the Book} last week on the blog tour stop for her new Dear Hank Williams? Catch the interview here if you missed it.

---

It was strange to have the final game in our tournament played while we were on vacation, but sometimes that’s just the way it works out. This is where we left things….

…and HERE is what happened!

Congratulations to FLIPPED and Ms Wendelin Van Draanen. Which leads me to…

{I’m looking forward to starting this one with my students today as a read-aloud. Perfect for National Poetry Month.}

I also took a trip to the library with my girls over break. I didn’t mean to get anything, but…

PHEW!

Now… On to the student books. These are from the past COUPLE weeks.

 Next week we will resume BOOKselfies.

Period 1&2

36 Books

Period 5&6

50 Books

Period 9&10

48 Books

•

For every parent who leaves a comment on TODAY’S POST with what you’re reading, I’ll give your child a BUSTED ticket…

Let’s have a look back to last week to check for parent comments.

 

 

{ARC. The premise of this book is very cool. It will be born on June 2, 2015.}

•

Reading runs in the family. Here’s what my wife is reading:

My 7th grader is reading:

My 6th grader is reading:

---

 

 

 

Thanks,

David Etkin

BLOG TOUR: Dear Hank Williams by Kimberly Holt

Kimberly Willis Holt’s long-awaited new book is being born on April 14th. I have the honor of hosting her on the second stop of her Dear Hank Williams blog tour. Ms Holt was kind enough to field some of my questions about the Dear Hank Williams.

Many readers will recognize Ms Holt’s name from her award-winning When Zachary Beaver Came to Town.

---

From Macmillan:

It’s 1948 in Rippling Creek, Louisiana, and Tate P. Ellerbee’s new teacher has just given her class an assignment–learning the art of letter-writing. Luckily, Tate has the perfect pen pal in mind: Hank Williams, a country music singer whose star has just begun to rise. Tate and her great-aunt and -uncle listen to him on the radio every Saturday night, and Tate just knows that she and Hank are kindred spirits.

Told entirely through Tate’s hopeful letters, this beautifully drawn novel from National Book Award-winning author Kimberly Willis Holt gradually unfolds a story of family love, overcoming tragedy, and an insightful girl learning to find her voice.

Ms. Holt was kind enough to answer my questions I compiled as I read. Enjoy!

Eat the Book: Dear Hank Williams is written completely in letters from Tate to Hank. What are the challenges of writing a book made only of one-sided letters?

Kimberly Willis Holt: My biggest challenge was giving myself permission to show and not tell too much. Finally one day I realized that the best letters do that. One of my favorite genres to read is letters. I have several collections of them. So I learned from the great letter writers that it’s okay to include dialogue and paint a picture with details. 

Eat the Book: What are the advantages?

KWH: Seeing the world through one character’s eyes. And Tate’s view of her world was refreshing.

Eat the Book: Can you tell us about some of the research you had to do to prepare for this book? And what came first: the research or the book idea?

KWH: The research sort of came along with the story idea. In 2003 I read an article in Texas Monthly called “Oh Sister Where Art Thou” by Skip Hollandsworth. It was about a group of women prisoners who formed THE GOREE GIRL ALL STRING BAND. After reading it I knew I wanted to write about a girl whose mother was in the band. Some of the words in my story came then, but I didn’t who Tate was yet. I put aside until much later. Because the time period was around 1948, I knew I wanted to include the Louisiana Hayride. When I realized that was the same time that Hank Williams was there I’d found a structure. I read about his time there and actually made a timeline of that period. That helped me drop in details that Tate could refer to. Also I went to the Rapides Parish Library and read the local paper on microfilm. That helped me tremendously. Sometimes just seeing an ad like one for the circus gave me something for Tate to write about.  After my aunt Barbara told me about a teacher arranging for her class to have Japanese pen pals I had another storyline. I researched and interviewed one of the authors of Japanese War Brides. Those are just a few examples of some of the research that went into the story. {The links will take you to pages on Ms Holt’s site that explain more about the topic.}

Eat the Book: There’s been a lot of talk recently about the upcoming book by Harper Lee. A lot about the setting of this book reminds me ofTo Kill a Mockingbird. Is that a coincidence?

KWH: Oh, goodness. Thank you, but my setting Roaring Springs is based on my parents’ hometown of Forest Hill, Louisiana. It’s located in Central Louisiana and many generations of both sides of my family lived that area. Forest Hill is the setting of many of my books. I usually change the name of the town to give me some freedom for the sake of the story.

Eat the Book: Though you have lived all over the world, you seem to settle in the South when you’re in America. You currently live in Texas. What is it about the South that draws you? What are the peculiarities and unique differences of the South and southerners?

KWH: Even though I moved around the world because of my military childhood I always felt like a southerner. Always said “ya’ll”. My parents made their childhoods come alive for me because they are storytellers. Almost everyone in my family is. I think that is one of the big things that makes the South unique. Normal conversations about the weather and going to the Piggly Wiggly are told in a storytelling way. For a writer it is a gift to be born in the South and into a southern family. The rhythm of those talks, small and big, ripple through my stories today.

Eat the Book: I love the Dog Rules on pages 140-141. This MUST be based on a dog in your life… or perhaps dogS? Tell us about them. Literature is filled with trusty dogs. What does a dog bring to the story?

KWH: I knew Tate was going to have a dog when I was sitting in my uncle and aunt’s house with their daughter’s Louisiana cur dog at my feet. Those glass eyes! But the quietness of Lovie comes from my dog, at least when first adopted her. She was timid and didn’t bark for six months. Sometime I would look at her and what happened to you before you came into our lives. I shudder thinking about it. But it’s two years later and believe me, she barks.

Eat the Book: It’s pretty amazing that KWKH out of Shreveport is still the main radio station in that area of Louisiana. Did you get to listen to any of the old broadcasts of Louisiana Hayride and Hank Williams while working on this book?

KWH: I listened to snippets on CDs. That helped a lot.

Eat the Book: Of course, Hank Williams wasn’t the only big name to make appearances on Louisiana Hayride. This guy by the name of Elvis also took the stage. 

 I did some listening as I read the book. Though not the music I typically listen to, I did notice some roots in there. And I was surprised to recognize one of Hank’s songs—”Cold Cold Heart”… though it was the jazzier version made popular by Norah Jones.

Cold Cold Heart by Hank Williams

Cold Cold Heart by Norah Jones

Eat the Book: Do you care to share the recipe for Tate’s secret yam dish? (Or any other great southern recipes that this Northern foodie would enjoy?)

KWH: Oh, dear I think I’m going to be asked that a lot. I’ll have to shout out to my kinfolk for one theirs. The idea for the yam contest came from when I went to high school in Rapides. I only attended there a few months before moving to New Orleans, but I remember my time there well. And I do remember them having a yam dish contest. Since I don’t have one yet, I’ll pass along my buttermilk pie recipe: 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 stick of butter, 4 eggs, 3 tablespoons of flour and a splash of vanilla. Preheat oven 425, mix sugar and flour, add beaten eggs. After mixed, add butter and vanilla. Pour into pie shell. Put in hot oven and then lower to 350 after fifteen minutes.  Continue baking for about 35 more minutes. Adjust for your own oven. Some ovens cook it faster, some take more time.

Eat the Book: Will there be a book trailer for your book? I find that trailers are a powerful way to connect to a potential audience.

KWH: I’m going to look into that.

Eat the Book: Finally, if you came to Buffalo and I took you out for wings, would you order mild, medium, hot, or suicide?

KWH:  Hot because I like my food spicy, but I still want to taste the flavor.

Eat the Book: It was great having you stop by my blog. And thanks for providing a book for the giveaway!!! (see details below)

KWH: Thanks, so much! Swear to Sweet Sally, I had fun!

The pleasure was all mine!

---

 

Be sure to follow along on the rest of the Dear Hank Williams blog tour:

Tuesday, April 7

Read, Write, Reflect

http://readwriteandreflect.blogspot.com/

•

Wednesday, April 8

Eat the Book

http://www.mretome.wordpress.com/

•

Thursday, April 9

Librarian in Cute Shoes

http://librarianincuteshoes.blogspot.com/

•

Friday, April 10

Let’s Get Busy

http://lgbpodcast.blogspot.com/

•

Sunday, April 12

Watch. Connect. Read.

http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/

•

Monday, April 13

The Styling Librarian

http://thestylinglibrarian.com/

•

Tuesday, April 14

Nerdy Book Club

https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/

 Kimberly Willis Holt is the author of the many award-winning novels for young adults and children, including The Water Seeker, My Louisiana Sky, and When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, winner of a National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. She is also the author of the bestselling Piper Reed series of chapter books and several picture books. Holt was born in Pensacola, Florida, and has lived all over the U.S. and the world-from Paris to Norfolk to Guam to New Orleans. She now lives in Texas with her family. Find out more at kimberlywillisholt.com.