3.17 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #Enders #Cress

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

I’m glad I got to finish this duology. It is interesting to consider having someone INSIDE my head and controlling me… and talking to me… This is one of those books where I couldn’t figure out who to trust. The characters felt the same.

How do you like the new covers vs. the old?

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I found this on the library Downloads2Go site. Interesting insights when told from a different point of view.

Is anyone going to see Divergent?

(I’m a little “nervous” about how it’ll be converted to the big screen.)

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… 

(Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

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

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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past week, my 1&2 Class read

13 books

and are reading these books:

BookSelfies

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My 6&7 Class read

11  books

and are reading these books:

BookSelfies

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My 9&10 Class read

19 books

and are reading these books:

BookSelfies

WOO HOO!

I’m reading this aloud with my family:

My church is doing a church-wide book read. This is my “book club” book.

The final installment to Powerless and Super. Looking forward to this ARC.

 

 

Thanks,

David Etkin

3.10 It’s Monday! What are you reading?

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

A whole bunch of argument essays.

But I’m finished and back on the reading wagon. WOOT!

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… and the week before…

(Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

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

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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past week, my 1&2 Class read

22 books

and are reading these books:

[click to see the picture spin…]

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My 6&7 Class read

 14 books

and are reading these books:

[click to see the picture spin…]

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My 9&10 Class read

23 books

and are reading these books:

[click to see the picture spin…]

My church is doing a church-wide book read. This is my “book club” book.

Ms Taylor just handed this book to me on Friday. I’m anxious to finish Enders so I can jump in.

I’ve heard great things about this one…

 

 

Thanks,

David Etkin

3.3 It’s Monday! What are you reading?

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

A whole bunch of argument essays.

Have you had one of those weeks where you didn’t have as much time to read as you wanted?

I think I have one more of those coming up. Then I’m ready to dig back in.

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… 

(Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

•

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

§

[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past week, my 1&2 Class read

25 books

and are reading these books:

My 6&7 Class read

14 books

and are reading these books:

My 9&10 Class read

22 books

and are reading these books:

My church is doing a church-wide book read. This is my “book club” book.

 

 

Thanks,

David Etkin

2.24 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #ImpossibleKnife #BoyOnTheWoodenBox

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

A haunting look at the effects of war and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on soldiers who are trying to return to a normal life. Andy Kincaid, an Iraq war hero, has become a victim of the war he waged. As the war continues to rage inside him, his daughter becomes the collateral damage. This is a difficult and touching look inside the lives of these characters. It’s difficult to see Hayley struggle with taking on a parenting role to her own father whose mood swings and behavior are unpredictable and destructive.

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

Here is a great interview with Mrs. Anderson on NPR:

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For anyone who read and was moved by Prisoner B-3087, this would be a great companion:

In the #1 New York Times bestseller, Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto.Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. With incredible luck, perseverance, and grit, Leyson was able to survive the sadism of the Nazis, including that of the demonic Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszow, the concentration camp outside Krakow. Ultimately, it was the generosity and cunning of one man, a man named Oskar Schindler, who saved Leon Leyson’s life, and the lives of his mother, his father, and two of his four siblings, by adding their names to his list of workers in his factory—a list that became world renowned: Schindler’s List.

This, the only memoir published by a former Schindler’s List child, perfectly captures the innocence of a small boy who goes through the unthinkable. Most notable is the lack of rancor, the lack of venom, and the abundance of dignity in Mr. Leyson’s telling. The Boy on the Wooden Box is a legacy of hope, a memoir unlike anything you’ve ever read.

Sadly, Leyson passed away in January of 2013—before his book was actually published. Fortunately, he spoke on many occasions and share his story with his audience. Here is one of those accounts:

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

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

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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my 1&2 Class read:

24 books

My 6&7 Class read:

18 books

My 9&10 Class read:

25 books

My church is doing a church-wide book read. This is my “book club” book.

 

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This week, we’re going to add BOOK SELFIES to a Padlet. Here are the links:

1&2

6&7

9&10

Thanks,

David Etkin

2.10 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #Flora&Ulysses #TheLittleAndroid

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

OK—I really wanted to love this book. I just liked it. It’s fine to realize that a book isn’t quite my “cup of tea”.

Onward.

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Click the “book” above to read the story. VERY cool.

The Little Android is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, set in the world of The Lunar Chronicles by New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer. When android Mech6.0 saves the life of a handsome hardware engineer, her body is destroyed and her mechanics discover a glitch in her programming. Androids aren’t not meant to develop unpractical reasoning or near-emotional responses…let alone fall in love.

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Remember Friday’s Carnivores?

It is fantastic!

I got to read it aloud three times—AND share it with my colleagues.

I’m so lucky.

I told you I’d post the trailer. Here it is.

(Pssst: that’s illustrator Dan Santat as the great white!)

Here are the pics that illustrator Dan Santat saw.

Remember the awesome Carnivores we read on Friday? Here are the pics that illustrator Dan Santat saw…

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

•

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

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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my 1&2 Class read:

13 books

My 6&7 Class read:

6 books

My 9&10 Class read:

12 books

I’m nearing the end of this one. Wow. My students will enjoy reading it when they are a bit older.

Here is a great interview with Mrs. Anderson on NPR:

 

This is the conclusion to Starters.

I learned last year that a two-book series is called a duology.

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This week, we’re trying to add some BOOK SELFIES to a Padlet. Here are the links:

1&2

6&7

9&10

Thanks,

David Etkin

2.3 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #CodenameZero

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

Coming in February

Description

From Chris Rylander, author of The Fourth Stall, comes an incredibly funny and clever mash-up of middle-grade school story and spy adventure, in the vein of H.I.V.E. and NERDS.

There are places in the world where heroes are born. There are places where brave men and women fight a never-ending battle against evil in order to keep our country and all other countries safe. There are places where the fate of our planet is being decided, even at this very moment, the consequences of which will echo through history.

None of these places is in North Dakota.

Carson Fender, seventh grader and notorious prankster, knows this. He’s lived in North Dakota for his entire life, going to the same boring school every day, the same boring movie theater every week, the same boring state fair every year. Nothing ever changes, and nothing ever happens. That is, until today. Because today a desperate man hands him a package with a dire set of instructions. And that package is going to lead Carson to discover that there’s a secret government agency operating in his small, quiet North Dakota hometown.

And that this agency needs his help.

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

•

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

§

[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my A Class read:

20 books

My B Class read:

10 books

My C Class read:

16 books

&

Here is a great interview with Mrs. Anderson on NPR:

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This is the conclusion to Starters.

I learned last year that a two-book series is called a duology.

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This week, it’s back to the SpinCam. Take a look at these awesome kids and books:

 

 

 

Thanks,

David Etkin

1.27 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #ShadowThrone

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

ARC—Book will be born on February 25

I have to say that I’m a little sad to see the Ascendance Trilogy come to an end. I’ve grown rather fond of Sage and Jaron… And Imogen… and Amarinda, Roden, Tobias, Mott… The list goes on. One thing is for sure: Jaron is incorrigible.  I remember author Jennifer Nielsen telling us via Skype how she stops when writing each situation to think about the most audacious response—and that’s what Jaron would do.

Everything comes full circle in Shadow Throne. So many of the little details that Nielsen dropped in False Prince and Runaway King are used in the climax of Shadow. Yeah, you have to suspend reality a little bit—but I’m not reading this series because I want a realistic Medievalish novel. I want swashbuckling, bold-faced heroes who do anything for honor, love, and kingdom. That is the Ascendance Trilogy.

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

•

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

§

[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my A Class read:

17 books

My B Class read:

18 books

My C Class read:

14 books

Coming in February

Description

From Chris Rylander, author of The Fourth Stall, comes an incredibly funny and clever mash-up of middle-grade school story and spy adventure, in the vein of H.I.V.E. and NERDS.

There are places in the world where heroes are born. There are places where brave men and women fight a never-ending battle against evil in order to keep our country and all other countries safe. There are places where the fate of our planet is being decided, even at this very moment, the consequences of which will echo through history.

None of these places is in North Dakota.

Carson Fender, seventh grader and notorious prankster, knows this. He’s lived in North Dakota for his entire life, going to the same boring school every day, the same boring movie theater every week, the same boring state fair every year. Nothing ever changes, and nothing ever happens. That is, until today. Because today a desperate man hands him a package with a dire set of instructions. And that package is going to lead Carson to discover that there’s a secret government agency operating in his small, quiet North Dakota hometown.

And that this agency needs his help.

Here is a great interview with Mrs. Anderson on NPR:

•

 

This is the conclusion to Starters.

I learned last year that a two-book series is called a duology.

•

This week, students will be leaving their current reading in the comments.

I hope it works ;-}

Thanks,

David Etkin

1.21 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #SureSignsofCrazy #ShadowThrone

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

Description

Love can be a trouble word for some people. Crazy is also a trouble word.
I should know.
You’ve never met anyone exactly like twelve-year-old Sarah Nelson. While most of her friends obsess over Harry Potter, she spends her time writing letters to Atticus Finch. She collects trouble words in her diary. Her best friend is a plant. And she’s never known her mother, who left when Sarah was two.
Since then, Sarah and her dad have moved from one small Texas town to another, and not one has felt like home.
Everything changes when Sarah launches an investigation into her family’s Big Secret. She makes unexpected new friends and has her first real crush, and instead of a “typical boring Sarah Nelson summer,” this one might just turn out to be extraordinary.

Sarah is a plucky, quirky character who I rooted for all the way through this thought provoking book. She had so much character, life, and insight. She has some big questions to answer over this summer of her life. We learn that when one family member suffers from crazy, there is a domino effect on those who remain. I put To Kill a Mockingbird on my TBR list after reading this book. I enjoyed how Sarah wrote to Atticus Finch—an idea I just might have to try with my students…

We did a little Tweeting about Sure Signs of Crazy, too…

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

•

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

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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my A Class read:

18 books

My B Class read:

15 books

My C Class read:

7 books

SO excited to get my hands on this ARC so I can finish The Ascendance Trilogy. I’m about halfway through.

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Here is a great interview with Mrs. Anderson on NPR:

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This is the conclusion to Starters.

I learned last year that a two-book series is called a duology.

•

This week, students will be leaving their current reading in the comments.

I hope it works ;-}

Thanks,

David Etkin

1.13 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #WeWereLiars @elockhart

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

This was a fascinating book. I’m glad Ms. Minnich drew my attention to its presence on Netgalley. It was also fun having multiple conversations about the end of the book on Twitter, Facebook, and text. Mysterious!

I’m looking forward to hearing and seeing readers’ reactions to this book once it hits the shelves. Its birthday is on May 13th.

From Amazon:

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

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Looking for some good picture books? Here are a few:

{Dan Santat with some more great illustrations…}

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

•

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

§

[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my A Class read:

17 books

My B Class read:

15 books

My C Class read:

19 books

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•

 

This is the conclusion to Starters.

I learned last year that a two-book series is called a duology.

•

This week, students will be leaving their current reading in the comments.

I hope it works ;-}

Thanks,

David Etkin

1.6 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #TooManyToCount @gaepol @joknowles @origamiyoda @sarahalbee

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

This is actually the past couple weeks…

I’m looking forward to telling you more about this book—but the author herself has sworn me to secrecy until it is closer to its birthday.

From Goodreads:

Still reeling from her little brother’s drowning death, a girl finds her herself holding back – from summer trips to the ocean, friendship, budding romance – till she meets another young boy who may be her brother’s reincarnation, which awakens her to new possibilities.

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This was a beautiful book. Powerful and emotional. I don’t want to say too much. Special thanks to Kailey K. for letting me borrow it—my daughter got to read it also. Here is the summary from IndieBound:

Selected by Indie Booksellers for the Summer 2012 Kids’ Next List

“Knowles plunks the reader down amidst a set of warm, loveable, flawed characters who have to deal with the unimaginable. As a middle child, Fern feels adrift while her busy family tumbles in different directions. When tragedy strikes, through Fern’s eyes we experience the unraveling that can happen to any loving family confronted with a huge loss. Knowles takes the reader’s hand and deftly winds through the maze of grief and shows how navigating with our hearts will always lead us back home.”

— Jane Knight, Bear Pond Books of Montpelier, Montpelier, VT

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Description

Starting middle school brings all the usual challenges — until the unthinkable happens, and Fern and her family must find a way to heal.

Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible. It seems as though everyone in her family has better things to do than pay attention to her: Mom (when she’s not meditating) helps Dad run the family restaurant; Sarah is taking a gap year after high school; and Holden pretends that Mom and Dad and everyone else doesn’t know he’s gay, even as he fends off bullies at school. Then there’s Charlie: three years old, a “surprise” baby, the center of everyone’s world. He’s devoted to Fern, but he’s annoying, too, always getting his way, always dirty, always commanding attention. If it wasn’t for Ran, Fern’s calm and positive best friend, there’d be nowhere to turn. Ran’s mantra, “All will be well,” is soothing in a way that nothing else seems to be. And when Ran says it, Fern can almost believe it’s true. But then tragedy strikes- and Fern feels not only more alone than ever, but also responsible for the accident that has wrenched her family apart. All will not be well. Or at least all will never be the same.

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I had a lot of fun with Jabba. Angleberger somehow keeps this series fresh—and keeps coming up with clever names for the origami Star Wars figures. This time, the crew at McQuarrie is fighting against the newly mandated state testing video review sessions. Can they defeat the evil principal and Professor FunTime? Check this series out if you haven’t.

Dark times have fallen on McQuarrie Middle School. Dwight’s back—and not a moment too soon, as the gang faces the FunTime Menace: a new educational program designed to raise students’ standardized test scores. Instead, it’s driving everyone crazy with its obnoxious videos of Professor FunTime and his insidious singing calculator! When Principal Rabbski cancels the students’ field trip—along with art, music, and LEGO classes—to make time for FunTime, the students turn to Origami Yoda for help. But some crises are too big for Origami Yoda to handle alone: Form a Rebel Alliance the students must. United, can they defeat the FunTime Menace and cope with a surprise attack from Jabba the Puppett?
With this latest episode in the explosively popular Origami Yoda series, Tom Angleberger proves once again that he “has his finger puppet squarely on the erratic pulse of middle-school life” (Washington Post).

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Readingis not a “school thing”.)

•

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

§

[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my A Class read:

35 books

My B Class read:

24 books

My C Class read:

31 books

This book is awesome! If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and track it down.

From IndieBound:

Did lead pipes
cause the fall of the Roman Empire?

How many toilets were in the
average Egyptian pyramid?

How did a knight wearing fifty
pounds of armor go to the bathroom?

Was poor hygiene the last straw
before the French Revolution?

Did Thomas Crapper really invent
the modern toilet?

How do astronauts go
in space?

History finally comes out of the water-closet in
this exploration of how people’s need to relieve themselves shaped human
development from ancient times to the present. Throughout time, the most
successful civilizations were the ones who realized that everyone poops, and they
had better figure out how to get rid of it! From the world’s first flushing toilet
invented by ancient Minoan plumbers to castle moats in the middle ages that
used more than just water to repel enemies, Sarah Albee traces human
civilization using one revolting yet fascinating theme.

A blend of historical photos and humorous illustrations
bring the answers to these questions and more to life, plus extra-gross sidebar information adds to the potty humor. This is bathroom reading kids, teachers,
librarians, and parents won’t be able to put down!

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I was scrolling through Facebook last week and my long-distance teacher friend and Nerdy Book Club pal Cindy Minnich demanded that people get the ARC of this book and read it. So I am:

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My daughter brought this home from the library and I was intrigued by the first few pages. The narrator is a 12-year-old girl whose mother tried to drown her when she was only two. Whoa:

I appreciate that Jacob C. sent me a picture of his Books on Deck stack. SWEET!:

Katie Davis left over Christmas break of her senior year for a short mission trip to Uganda and her life was turned completely inside out. She found herself so moved by the people of Uganda and the needs she saw that she knew her calling was to return and care for them.

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This is the conclusion to Starters.

I learned last year that a two-book series is called a duology.

•

[Check back at the end of the day to see the cool spinning pictures of what 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 or Padlet to show what your students are reading, I’d love to know about it and link to my Friday post. Thanks.]

Thanks,

David Etkin