It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
{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!
Overview from Barnes & Noble
It’s not easy being Claire. (Really.)
Claire’s life is a joke . . . but she’s not laughing. While her friends seem to be leaping forward, she’s dancing in the same place. The mean girls at school are living up to their mean name, and there’s a boy, Ryder, who’s just as bad, if not worse. And at home, nobody’s really listening to her — if anything, they seem to be more in on the joke than she is.
Then into all of this (not-very-funny-to-Claire) comedy comes something intense and tragic — while her dad is talking to her at the kitchen table, he falls over with a medical emergency. Suddenly the joke has become very serious — and the only way Claire, her family, and her friends are going to get through it is if they can find a way to make it funny again.
I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book at first. But I warmed up to it pretty quickly. I like how Sonnenblick (who has yet to disappoint me with a book) is able to write from the POV of a female protagonist. I’m not a middle school girl, but I’m the father of two daughters about that age and I say he got it right.
I like how Sonnenblick again develops the relationship that Claire, the MC, has with her parents, especially her father. Their relationship shows the normal stresses and strains of all parent/child relationships. I wasn’t prepared for the ending, though. I had to blink back tears as I was driving!
If you are looking for a book that is funnily serious–and seriously funny–then you would enjoy Falling Over Sideways. The voice of the book actually reminds me a little bit of Rafe from the Middle School series. I kept imagining this as an illustrated novel like that.
Other Great Sonnenblick books (notice a cover theme?):
PERIOD 2&3 READ 19 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.
PERIOD 8&9 READ 32 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.
AUDIO BOOK
Overview
Can a robot survive in the wilderness?
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is—but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island’s unwelcoming animal inhabitants.
As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home—until, one day, the robot’s mysterious past comes back to haunt her.
From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.
{Eat the Book} 