{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!
And now…
Introducing: Maddie N. and The Series of Unfortunate Events.
This book series was amazing I couldn’t put it down. I read 5 books or more last year and the rest over the summer. I think that the first and last book was my favorite. The way the author started and finished the book made it impossible to put it down.I hope that other people will like to read this series.
In television news…
If you have NETFLIX you will be able to catch new episodes of SOUE on Friday, January 13th.
(This first video starts the way the book blurbs do: with a warning.)
{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!
It’s a graphic novel kind of day.
My daughter came home from the library with this one and read it in one sitting. She passed it on to me and I enjoyed it as well. I like when authors capture real stories and real situations in graphic novel format. I think you would enjoy this story as well. Who will win: the artists or the scientists?
Cardinal rule #1 for surviving school: Don’t get noticed by the mean kids.
Cardinal rule #2 for surviving school: Seek out groups with similar interests and join them.
On her first day at her new school, Penelope—Peppi—Torres reminds herself of these basics. But when she trips into a quiet boy in the hall, Jaime Thompson, she’s already broken the first rule, and the mean kids start calling her the “nerder girlfriend.” How does she handle this crisis? By shoving poor Jaime and running away!
Falling back on rule two and surrounding herself with new friends in the art club, Peppi still can’t help feeling ashamed about the way she treated Jaime. Things are already awkward enough between the two, but to make matters worse, he’s a member of her own club’s archrivals—the science club! And when the two clubs go to war, Peppi realizes that sometimes you have to break the rules to survive middle school!
BRAVE—a follow-up story to Awkward. Coming in May.
And now…
Introducing: Noelle G. and Orange.
Hello Alphas! I have been very excited to share this book with you.
So I have read this book called Orange. This book is one of my favorites. In some parts I have shed a tear, and bust out a laugh. This is a serious. I have only read the first book but man I am so excited to read the other books. This is what the series is about.
“On the day that Naho begins 11th grade, she receives a letter from herself ten years in the future. At first, she writes it off as a prank, but as the letter’s predictions come true one bye one Naho realizes that the letter might be the real deal. Her future self tells Naho that a new transfer student, a boy named Kakeru, will soon join her class. The letter begs Naho to watch over him, saying that only Naho can save Kakeru from a terrible future.”
This book will be a whole new adventure for you. If you’re interested in comedy, romance, and action then this is the book for you.
Thirteen-year-old Steven has a totally normal life: he plays drums in the All-Star Jazz band, has a crush on the hottest girl in the school, and is constantly annoyed by his five-year-old brother, Jeffrey. But when Jeffrey is diagnosed with leukemia, Steven’s world is turned upside down. He is forced to deal with his brother’s illness and his parents’ attempts to keep the family in one piece. Salted with humor and peppered with devastating realities, DRUMS, GIRLS, AND DANGEROUS PIE is a heartwarming journey through a year in the life of a family in crisis.
At Moon Shadow, an isolated campground, thousands have gathered to catch a glimpse of a rare and extraordinary total eclipse of the sun. Three lives are about to be changed forever:
Ally: Ally likes the simple things in life-labyrinths, star-gazing, and comet-hunting. Her home, the moon shadow campground, is a part of who she is. She refuses to imagine it any other way.
Bree: Popular, gorgeous (everybody says so), a future homecoming queen for sure. Bree wears her beauty like a suit of armor. But what is she trying to hide?
Jack: Overweight and awkward, jack is used to spending a lot of time alone. But when opportunity knocks, he finds himself in situations he never would have imagined.
Told from three distinct voices and perspectives, Wendy Mass weaves an intricate and compelling story about strangers coming together, unlikely friendships, and finding one’s place in the universe.
{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!
Last Monday I offered to have a student from each class guest post on this blog.
Introducting: Ethan W. and King George: What Was His Problem?
King George What was his Problem by Steve Sheinkin is the best book to learn about the history of the Revolutionary War. It has real quotes and has great details. I would most definitely give this book a 10/10. Note: this book is totally Non-fiction. If you enjoy history and humor this is definitely the best book for you. There has to be every detail about the American Revolution you want to know.
From Barnes and Noble: “Entire books have been written about the causes of the American Revolution. This isn’t one of them.” What it is, instead, is utterly interesting, antedotes (John Hancock fixates on salmon), from the inside out (at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, hundreds of soldiers plunged into battle “naked as they were born”) close-up narrative filled with little-known details, lots of quotes that capture the spirit and voices of the principals (“If need be, I will raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march myself at their head for the relief of Boston” — George Washington), and action, It’s the story of the birth of our nation, complete with soldiers, spies, salmon sandwiches, and real facts you can’t help but want to tell to everyone you know. King George: What Was His Problem? is a 2009 Bank Street – Best Children’s Book of the Year.”
• • •
Last week I finished
I had a great time reading Lincoln Jones. I suspected I would since I’m a big fan of Van Draanan—especially Flipped. Van Draanan didn’t disappoint.
Lincoln’s first person POV narration was spot-on. I laughed and chuckled through a bunch of scenes. And yes, I may have shed a tear gotten moist eyes in a part or two. I like books that move me that way. It comes from a combination of plot and a believable main character. It’s difficult not to get involved personally and emotionally in stories like that. (Just ask Lexi—I got teary just re-reading the last few pages of her Flipped the other day!)
More than once, I thought to myself that Lincoln’s personality and narration reminded me of a combination of Bud from Christopher Paul Curtis’s Bud, Not Buddy and Jack in Gantos’ Dead End in Noorvelt. A good combination, if you ask me!
My secret life is filled with psychic vampires, wheelchair zombies, chain-rattlin’ ghosts, and a one-eyed cat. But they’re nothing compared to my real-life stalker: a sixth-grade girl named Kandi Kain. . . .
Lincoln Jones is always working on the latest story he’s got going in his notebook. Those stories are his refuge. A place where the hero always prevails and the bad guy goes to jail. Real life is messy and complicated, so Lincoln sticks to fiction and keeps to himself. Which works fine until a nosy girl at his new school starts prying into his private business. She wants to know what he’s writing, where he disappears to after school, and why he never talks to anybody. . . .
The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones is a terrifically funny and poignant story about a boy finding the courage to get to know the real characters all around him—and to let them know him.
The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.
But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…
The monster in his back garden, though, this monster is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.
Here is a great recording of Ness reading from the first chapter of the book, followed by an interview with some background (it will pop up in a new window):
You can get all kinds of cool information about the book, including author’s notes and interviews here:
A Monster Calls (Walker) achieved a remarkable first on Thursday when author Patrick Ness was awarded the CILIP Carnegie Medal and illustrator Jim Kay scooped up the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. No book has ever won both prizes since the Greenaway was first awarded in 1956 (the Carnegie preceded it, in 1936).
IN FACT—It is so good that they made a movie out of it. (SEE? Most movies start as books.) It appears that it will be in theaters January 6, 2017. Shall we go?
{Eat the Book} 