“Feel the heat, fear, and uncertainty as you walk with 11-year-old Salva, who, in 1985, is fleeing his homeland of Southern Sudan. Linda Sue Park has crafted a gripping story of a ‘Lost Boy,’ all the more remarkable because it is based on a true story. Intertwined with Salva’s story is that of 11-year-old Nya, from a rival tribe in Southern Sudan. This ‘long walk’ will take readers into a troubled country, but a country still filled with hope due to people like Salva. This is a book for the reader who wants to look behind the headlines.”
— David Mallmann, Next Chapter Bookshop, Mequon, WI
A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.
{This is one of our Battle books, and I was VERY impressed with and moved by it. Mrs Park is from nearby Rochester, too, so the organization that is connected to this book is “local”. Check out the site:
{A few boys chuckled and snickered their way into my room before break to sign out The Boy Project. I figured it was a great time to read it myself. Though I was a little…ummmm… hesitant to read this in public, I DID enjoy it. I laughed through it, for sure, and wish I would have read a book like this when I was in middle school. Kara is a fun, honest, real character who seems like a cool chick. Stay tuned for an upcoming post (Wednesday?) about how this book became a Battle Book this year.}
{FABULOUS!}
{Clever and unique. It was fun to see the “author” interact with the illustrator(s). I wish I had thought of this.}
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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]
Since last Monday, my A Class has read:
24 books
My B Class has read:
40 books
My C Class has read:
19 books
{Thanks to Mr. Peterson for the logo.}
{I received an ARC of this NF book when I saw the author speak a couple weeks ago. I was awarded for tweeting about the presentation.}
Still hoping for:
Before you see what the students are reading… what are you reading? Please leave a comment and let us know—and show the students that reading isn’t just a “school” thing.
(For every parent who leaves a comment with what you’re reading, I’ll give your child a BUSTED ticket…)
[Check back at the end of the day to seethe cool spinning pictures ofwhat my students are reading.]
Click the picture below for A Class SpinCam
Click the picture below for B Class SpinCam
Click the picture below for C Class SpinCam
[If anyone else is using SpinCam to show what your students are reading, I’d love to know about it and link to my Friday post. Thanks.]
A new week, a new batch of books–both books finished and being read. Today is…
Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
{Sharing what books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}
[If you liked—or are liking—The False Prince, you’re going tolove Jennifer Nielsen’s The Runaway King. Sage is back in book number two of The Ascendence Trilogy. He’s as bold, brash, and obstinate as ever (hmmmm… some of the same words my 7th grade science teacher used to describe me), but has the intelligence to match it. (Yeah—my teacher never said that.) Sage has a penchant for putting himself in terrible situations. And when they get really bad, he jumps from the frying pan into the fire. He is willing to risk everything to safe his country from the wicked neighbors.
I was silly to think that Nielsen was going to leave me calm and peaceful with a neatly wrapped conclusion. The end of King ramps things up another notch and I’m left waiting (waiting…waiting…) for book number three.
I wonder which Eddie Vedder song will inspire her this time.
I’m looking forward to our 6th grade Skype with the author at the end of the month. WOOT!]
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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]
Since last Monday, my A Class has read:
14 books
My B Class has read:
16 books
My C Class has read:
7 books
[I’m two-thirds of they way through this fascinating, haunting, beautiful book. Just look at that cover. It beckons and calls. I’m so happy for Carey and Nessa—sisters who were living on their own in the Tennessee woods—and their newfound family. And the whole time I’m waiting for it all to come crashing down. Carey has a secret…
UPDATE: It’s 5:10 AM Monday morning and I just finished the book. Whew. What an emotional ride. I woke up for some reason and immediately thought of the book and how I only had 10% remaining. It seemed like the perfect time to read. Finishing the novel is worth the tired I’ll feel in the morning. More to come.]
If You Find Me
By Emily Murdoch
(St. Martin’s Griffin, Hardcover, 9781250021526, 256pp.)
A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.
Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.
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{Thanks to Mr. Peterson for the logo.}
I’m looking forward to talking with Mrs. Levy. I also just found out she is sending along some BookSwag.
Still hoping for:
[I was just approved by NetGalley for the sequel:]
Before you see what the students are reading… what are you reading? Please leave a comment and let us know—and show the students that reading isn’t just a “school” thing.
(For every parent who leaves a comment with what you’re reading, I’ll give your child a BUSTED ticket…)
[Check back at the end of the day to seethe cool spinning pictures ofwhat my students are reading.]
Click the picture below for A Class SpinCam
Click the picture below for B Class SpinCam
Click the picture below for C Class SpinCam
[If anyone else is using SpinCam to show what your students are reading, I’d love to know about it and link to my Friday post. Thanks.]
A new week, a new batch of books–both books finished and being read. Today is…
Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
{Sharing what books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}
[This was a cool book. Amelia was a fascinating character–larger than life. She worked hard to promote herself and create an image that the public would latch onto. It worked. She will be remembered… forever?
Reading this reminded me of the Amelia Earhart display we saw at the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Of course I had my picture taken with her:
As you can see, my wife was mortified.
Who’s reading this next?]
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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]
Since last Monday, my A Class has read:
22 books
My B Class has read:
26 books
My C Class has read:
20 books
[I’m so pumped that I got the ARC from NetGalley. I’m about halfway through and completely engrossed. I had a good time tweeting with the author the past few days. Sage is such a great character. He is one sarcastic dude.]
Three kids get caught up in an adventure of historic proportions!
Anna, José, and Henry are complete strangers with more in common than they realize. Snowed in together at a chaotic Washington D.C. airport, they encounter a mysterious tattooed man, a flamboyant politician, and a rambunctious poodle named for an ancient king. Even stranger, news stations everywhere have announced that the famous flag that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been stolen! Anna, certain that the culprits must be snowed in too, recruits Henry and José to help catch the thieves and bring them to justice.
But when accusations start flying, they soon realize there’s more than justice at stake. As the snow starts clearing, Anna, José, and Henry find themselves in a race against time (and the weather!) to prevent the loss of an American treasure.
Before you see what the students are reading… what are you reading? Please leave a comment and let us know—and show the students that reading isn’t just a “school” thing.
(For every parent who leaves a comment with what you’re reading, I’ll give your child a BUSTED ticket…)
[Check back at the end of the day to seethe cool spinning pictures ofwhat my students are reading.]
A new week, a new batch of books–both books finished and being read. Today is…
Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
{Sharing what books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}
WHOA-WHOA-WHOA! First things first–
Today is the big day. The ALA Youth Media Awards will announce the big winners in youth literature.
This is the Academy Awards for materials for youth and teens. Here is the blurb from their site:
Each year the American Library Association honors books, videos, and other outstanding materials for children and teens. Recognized worldwide for the high quality they represent, the ALA Youth Media Awards, including the prestigious Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, and Coretta Scott King Book Awards, guide parents, educators, librarians, and others in selecting the best materials for youth. Selected by committees composed of librarians and other literature and media experts, the awards encourage original and creative work in the field of children’s and young adult literature and media.
[OK–in the interest of full disclosure, I mostly finished this book. It was due back at the library before I I got all the way through. I made it about 3/4 through, though. Amazing stuff.]
[What would you do if everywhere you looked you saw visions of a horrific crash… at a location with which you were familiar… that was going to kill people you knew? Let’s face it–everyone would think you were loco en la cabeza if you said it aloud. And yet, you knew (maybe?) that it was going to happen. Top that off with a Romeo & Juliet/Hatfields & McCoys-type family feud that keeps a relationship apart, and you’ve got Crash: Visions–Book One by Lisa McMann. I’m ready for the next book. (PS–Due to some language, I would not recommend this to my 6th grade students.) ]
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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]
Since last Monday, my A Class has read:
10 books
My B Class has read:
13 books
My C Class has read:
9 books
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{Thanks to Mr. Peterson for the logo.}
Still hoping for:
Parents and students: remember, the False Prince book order and $ is due tomorrow. We want to get the order in so we can receive the books and start reading! I’m looking forward to talking it over with you and Skyping with Ms Nielsen.
“Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal- the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon”written by Steve Sheinkin, published by Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.
Cool interview with the author here (and you can hear him read a bit from the book).
Before you see what the students are reading… what are you reading? Please leave a comment and let us know—and show the students that reading isn’t just a “school” thing.
(For every parent who leaves a comment with what you’re reading, I’ll give your child a BUSTED ticket…)
[Check back at the end of the day to seethe cool spinning pictures ofwhat my students are reading.]
There are tons of great book trailers out in cyberland, and each Friday I will endeavor to bring a couple to you. Many will be new and recent books. Some trailers will preview a not-yet-released book. And others will look back a little further.
Lights…Camera…Action!
Time for some NF [non-fiction] book trailers… or NF book-related videos. Let’s see what we can find here…
Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. A railroad construction foreman, Phineas was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived another eleven years and became a textbook case in brain science. But he was forever changed by the accident, and what happened inside his brain will tell you a lot about how your brain works and what makes us who we are.
From the acclaimed author of The Great and Only Barnum—as well as The Lincolns, Our Eleanor, and Ben Franklin’s Almanac—comes the thrilling story of America’s most celebrated flyer, Amelia Earhart.
In alternating chapters, Fleming deftly moves readers back and forth between Amelia’s life (from childhood up until her last flight) and the exhaustive search for her and her missing plane. With incredible photos, maps, and handwritten notes from Amelia herself—plus informative sidebars tackling everything from the history of flight to what Amelia liked to eat while flying (tomato soup)—this unique nonfiction title is tailor-made for middle graders.
Amelia Lost received four starred reviews and Best Book of the Year accolades from School Library Journal,Kirkus Reviews, Horn Book Magazine, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.
The critically acclaimed Scientist in the Field book about how one boy’s interest in backyard science inspired a career in scientific discovery.
When Tyrone Hayes was growing up in South Carolina, he didn’t worry about pesticides. He just liked to collect frogs. Tyrone’s interest in science led him to Harvard University, and though he struggled at first, he found his calling in the research lab of an amphibian scientist.
Meanwhile, scientists discovered that all around the globe, frogs were dying. The decline has many causes, including habitat loss and disease. Tyrone discovered that the most commonly used pesticide in the United States, atrazine, may also play a role. Tyrone tested atrazine on frogs in his lab at Berkeley. He found that the chemical caused some of the male frogs to develop into bizarre half-male, half-female frogs. What was going on? That’s what Tyrone wants to find out
A discussion with featured Frog Scientist, Tyrone Hayes:
[click to listen}
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This week we read this book to kick off our NF unit. We loved it.
On the Owen&Mzee site, there are all kinds of cool videos from news shows and even the documentary about them.
[These won’t work on an iPad, unfortunately.]
There is even a follow-up book available:
Finally, because I read the picture book, here is the Academy award-winning short for
{Eat the Book} 