With four hundred miles of dangerous Colorado wilderness separating one brave dog from her beloved person, Bella sets off on a seemingly impossible and completely unforgettable adventure home.
A Dog’s Way Home is a beautifully told, charming tale that explores the unbreakable bond between us and those we love. This is a fantastic and exhilarating journey of the heart that brilliantly speaks to the incredible power of love and resilience of spirit that tie us together.
If this book sounds good to you, you might also want to check out:
In this young readers’ edition of the New York Times bestselling adult novel The Art of Racing in the Rain, meet one funny mutt—Enzo, the lovable dog who tells this story.
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs. Most dogs love to chase cars, but Enzo longs to race them.
He learns about racing and the world around him by watching TV and by listening to the words of his best friend, Denny, an up-and-coming race car driver, and Denny’s daughter, Zoë, his constant companion. Enzo finds that life is just like being on the racetrack—it isn’t simply about going fast.
Applying the rules of racing to his world, Enzo takes on his family’s challenges and emerges a hero. In the end, Enzo holds in his heart the dream that Denny will go on to be a racing champion with his daughter by his side.
For theirs is an extraordinary friendship—one that reminds us all to celebrate the triumph of the human (and canine) spirit.
The audiobook is also great, capturing Catherine’s joys and struggles with her brother, father and mother, new neighbor, mean kid, and the boy in the wheelchair is way cooler than she suspected. There were a few parts that brought tears to my eyes.
If you are interested in other books that have characters with autism, here are a few. Tap the book to find out more:
“Top-notch” —USA Today “Illuminating” —Washington Post “A breath of fresh air” —Entertainment Weekly “Memorable” —PeopleBy the New York Times bestselling author of Kids of Appetite!After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the “wastelands” of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland.
So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and her real mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane.
Told in an unforgettable, kaleidoscopic voice, Mosquitoland is a modern American odyssey, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.
Thoughts…
Again, more of a high school book…
So often these books get me thinking about YOU, my students.
Mim is dealing with a lot here. More layers get revealed as the book goes along. And so I think about my students and all the things you’re dealing with–all the parts of your life that are complicated and confusing. How do you deal with it? How do you face the challenges? You’ve literally been alive for 11 to 12 years… and you’re given life situations that require a lot of maturity.
Most of us adults aren’t mature enough to deal with these situations.
We’re often the ones creating them for you.
How many of you live with your biological mom and dad full time?
How many of you have divorced parents or parents who aren’t together?
Who splits time between houses or has visitation schedules?
Who has a step-parent?
Who has step siblings?
Who has half siblings?
Who has a close family member dealing with a serious illness?
See? There’s a lot going on. And so you know, your teachers have things going on in their lives too.
As hard as it is at times, this is a good reminder that I carry around in my head and my heart:
We have to work hard not to use our situations as an excuse, but as we are all doing the teacher and student work that we need to do in order to be successful, let’s remember to be extra kind and understanding to one another.
Few things can draw a reader to a new book like a book trailer can.
Get the popcorn ready.
Lights…Camera…Action!
One of the ways we “time travel” is by reading books that take place in the past.
We can read informational books about a time period or about the history of something specific.
What many students find captivating is reading narratives—stories—that take place in an interesting time and place in history. We imagine ourselves in the main character’s shoes—living, experiencing, surviving in the past.
What would it be like to visit the south during the time of Jim Crow laws where things were separate, but (supposedly) equal?
What would it be like to live in a concentration camp in Nazi-controlled Europe during WWII?
Or infiltrating the Hitler Youth as a kid spy:
When the Nazis were bombing England in WWII, many children were sent off to the countryside to escape. What would it be like to live with someone you don’t know? If you had a twisted, lame, club foot… and your mom had kept you locked in the one-room apartment your whole life… and you snuck out…?
You many have heard your teachers talk about the times of slavery. How about though the eyes of slaves?
What was the South Sudan genocide about?
What kinds of historical events could I SURVIVE?
THIS is the draw of historical fiction (HF). These kinds of book are the ones with the black labels by the door. I encourage you to check these books out and TIME TRAVEL yourselves.
A Night Divided joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!
With the rise of the Berlin Wall, Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, yet she can’t help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city.
But one day on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Gerta concludes that her father wants her and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?
Chaya Lindner is a teenager living in Nazi-occupied Poland. Simply being Jewish places her in danger of being killed or sent to the camps. After her little sister is taken away, her younger brother disappears, and her parents all but give up hope, Chaya is determined to make a difference. Using forged papers and her fair features, Chaya becomes a courier and travels between the Jewish ghettos of Poland, smuggling food, papers, and even people.
Soon Chaya joins a resistance cell that runs raids on the Nazis’ supplies. But after a mission goes terribly wrong, Chaya’s network shatters. She is alone and unsure of where to go, until Esther, a member of her cell, finds her and delivers a message that chills Chaya to her core, and sends her on a journey toward an even larger uprising in the works — in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Though the Jewish resistance never had much of a chance against the Nazis, they were determined to save as many lives as possible, and to live — or die — with honor.
A captivating novel about mental illness that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman.
Caden Bosch is on a ship that’s headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench. Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.
Caden Bosch is designated the ship’s artist in residence to document the journey with images. Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.
Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny. Caden Bosch is torn.
Challenger Deep is a deeply powerful and personal novel from one of today’s most admired writers for teens. Laurie Halse Anderson, award-winning author of Speak, calls Challenger Deep “a brilliant journey across the dark sea of the mind; frightening, sensitive, and powerful. Simply extraordinary.”
Thoughts…
This book had been on my TBR pile for awhile…then fell off somehow. That’s what happens when there are SO MANY good books for me to read.
When Challenger Deep showed up as an audio book as I scrolled through Libby, I gladly downloaded it.
And was captivated as I laid down the new floor in my kitchen. (Listening to a good book makes work so much more enjoyable. Try it sometime.)
This book was challenging at times. It was tough to figure out what was going on since much of it was imaginary—in the character’s head. This is definitely a high school book.
Mental illness is scary to me. It’s not like a bone that can be set and cast; a wound that can be stitched; or a sickness that can be cured with a simple pill. Our brains are complicated. One of the complicated parts is that many times when someone takes prescribed medication to help with the mental illness, they start to feel better… and then think they don’t need the medication any more.
When they stop taking it, it causes more problems.
When we read books that give us windows into the lives of others who are struggling with things we aren’t, it gives us the opportunity to grow in our understanding of what others deal with.
It gives us an opportunity to grow in compassion and understanding.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
LET’S RING THE BELL!
Period 2&3 read 10 books this past week.
Period 5&6 read 11books this past week.
Period 8&9 read 12books this past week.
Getting…closer….
AUDIO BOOK
Almost finished. Listened while I cleaned the garage on Saturday 🙂
I know my students like a good series. Let’s see if this fantasy-action sci-fi gets your attention…
#1
The start of an action-packed teen series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Richard Paul Evans.
To everyone at Meridian High School, fourteen-year-old Michael Vey is nothing special, just the kid who has Tourette’s syndrome. But in truth, Michael is extremely special—he has electric powers. Michael thinks he is unique until he discovers that a cheerleader named Taylor has the same mysterious powers. With the help of Michael’s friend, Ostin, the three of them set out to discover how Michael and Taylor ended up with their abilities, and their investigation soon brings them to the attention of a powerful group who wants to control the electric teens—and through them, the world.
AUDIO BOOK
Why did this book interest me so much?
AUDIO BOOK
{Eat the Book} 