Teacher presents December 10, 2009

My son and I had fun picking out books for his teacher. He likes everything about his teacher (his direct words) and enjoys spending “quality time with his teacher”.  My daughter preferred that I recommend and she approve.  If you are one of their teachers, stop reading or you will ruin the surprise.

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11

by Brian Floca

Atheneum, 2009

48 pages

New York Times named it one of the ten best illustrated books for 2009.

Simon and Schuster’s website says this:

“Simply told, grandly shown, here is the flight of Apollo 11. Here for a new generation of readers and explorers are the steady astronauts, clicking themselves into gloves and helmets, strapping themselves into sideways seats. Here are their great machines in all their detail and monumentality, the ROAR of rockets, and the silence of the Moon. Here is a story of adventure and discovery — a story of leaving and returning during the summer of 1969, and a story of home, seen whole, from far away.”

My son loves the detailed illustrations, as well as the story of Apollo 11.

Little Red Riding Hood

by Jerry Pinkney

Little Brown Books, 2007

40 pages

My son’s second grade class has a unit of study in writing on fairy tales coming up after winter break. I love Pinkney’s work and my son loves this tale.

While this Little Red Riding Hood is true to the original and does have the wolf eats the grandmother and Little Red. The woodsman does kill the wolf with his ax and use grandmother’s sewing scissors to cut open the wolf, it’s not gory and shows no sign of the violence that is taking place.  Jerry Pinkney’s beautiful illustrations help set off this fairy tale classic. Here’s hoping this will help some of his fellow students realize that Disney did not invent all the fairy tales, as several of his classmates believe.

Fuse #8’s review

Chester’s Back

by Melanie Watt

Kids Can Press, 2008

32 pages

“A long time ago, in a faraway land, lived a cat named Chester.” This is how the new Chester book starts out. A fun addition to a writing unit on fairy tales or another book by a favorite author. Either way, kids and adults love Chester.

Greg Mortenson’s newest Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs in Afghanistan and Pakistan for my daughter’s language arts/science teacher

Sea Clocks by Louise Borden for her math teacher.

National Geographic’s Book Ain’t Nothin’ But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Nelson and Marc Aronson for her social studies teacher. They did a great presentation at NCTE about their book. Loved them!

wish you were dead by Todd Strasser December 9, 2009

I hadn’t thought about the thriller/mystery genre in quite a while. I went through many a year where I LOVED reading thrillers, mysteries, true crime, etc. That interest came to an abrupt stop with the birth of my first child. Patricia Cornwell had been one of my favorite authors. I had pre-ordered her book Black Notice, hoping it would arrive before the birth of my child. I knew there wouldn’t be much time for reading after that! I remember coming home from the hospital and finding the Amazon box with the book inside. There is sat. Unread. Still. (although it’s out of the box now)

I still haven’t read a Patricia Cornwell. When double checking the title of the book I’ve had since 1999, I was surprised to learn that the author is now on #17 of the series. Black Notice was #10.  It seems funny to me that I would read the first nine the week they came out and then just be completely done with them.

The idea of crimes, thrillers, mysteries, murders had no appeal for me in any form for many years. It is only just recently that I could even begin to think about reading one.

Wish You Were Dead is the first book I would classify in the thriller category since 1999! Yikes! I hadn’t even considered that thriller/mystery was part of the YA niche. I was surprised that this is the same author who wrote all the Help! I’m Trapped series that I had for years in my middle grade classroom. That series was silly and fluffy. This first installment in this “thrill”ology was a creepy  and compelling page-turner!

Even though I wasn’t too sure when I saw the cover of Todd Strasser’s newest book (very Psycho shower), I ended up loving it. I wish that it had been out for a while so I could run right out and read the second one. No such luck.

The main character’s friend disappears out of her front yard in a wealthy, gated community.

While writing this, I was reminded of a YA novel from my own youth. It was called A Question of Survival by Julian F. Thompson and was published in 1984.  It is one of those books that I still have in my basement from my childhood that I read over and over again.  It was set at a Teen Survival Center and was supposed to teach survivalist training in case of “the worst” happening in the United States. I guess there has always been a niche for the thriller, no matter the age group. Face on the Milk Carton, Chain Letter, I Know What You Did Last Summer,

Where to get book suggestions November 9, 2009

Yesterday I posted about a Hornbook editorial. If you aren’t familiar with that gem of a magazine, go over to HERE and check it out. There are many things I love about Hornbook-the book reviews, the articles, the editor’s editorials and blog Roger Reads (and rants!)

If you are starting to think about books to buy as gifts, check them out.

If you are looking for the best Christmas books, check them out.

If you are wanting to know the newest and greatest releases for kids, check them out.
Subscribe to (and read) their free newsletter and you too can become the best aunt (grandma, uncle, dad, godmother…you get the idea) ever when it comes to giving books as gifts.

A Week Flies By November 7, 2009

We’ve had three weeks where our landline would not work.

My husband took time off Monday for them to come and fix it.

They didn’t show up.

They had called that morning and left a message on our dead landline. Duh!

They arrive Tuesday night to fix it.

The phone now works.

The internet only does when it feels like it (which is not much!).

Have to wait for another appointment for them to fix it.

While not having access to internet, I’ve reclaimed several hours from e-mail answering and blogging that I’ve spent reading. Not so much kid-lit, but adult book club kind of stuff and YA in preparation for NCTE-ALAN.

I finished up The Elegance of the Hedgehog by  Muriel Barbery. LOVE IT. A definite must read! It kept being recommended by staff developers at TC last summer. They were so right!

I finished Zombie Blondes by Brian James. Don’t ask me why. My daughter did, and all I could come up with was, “Sometimes it’s entertaining to read an easy book that is kind of silly”. On the other hand, I can see tons of middle schoolers devouring it.  It’s definitely one of those YA books that is for YA, not adults who like YA.

I finished listening to City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Also YA. The first in a trilogy. I really enjoyed it, but because I was listening to it on my iPod, it took me longer than I would have preferred to get through it. I must get one of the those doo-hickeys to hook my iPod to my car so I can listen there.

I’m tearing my way through My Life in France by Julia Child and . When my book club picked this book, I really wasn’t sure I was going to read it. There is was at the bookstore Wednesday and I haven’t been able to put it down since! I shouldn’t be surprised that I love it-I do love cooking and lived in Europe myself for half a year. It has me missing those days of teaching at the American International School, grocery shopping at little stands, and trying to figure out how to stay warm in winter (but not to the extreme they had in Paris post-World War II).

Truisms, Maxims, and Other Ways You Can’t Get Your Mother Out of Your Head October 10, 2009

You know those little sayings that your mother said to you your entire childhood?

The one I am often stuck with is, “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all”. Now I know my mother did not “invent” this saying and it is one that most children have drilled into their heads from a young age, but in regards to my blogging life, it is one that comes up again and again. I have a really hard time reviewing books that I’ve read, but don’t have anything very nice to say. It is as if the author is my personal friend and I’m telling them their baby is ugly. It just doesn’t feel right!

Here are some examples of things I often think, but find almost impossible to put down in published word:

Don’t buy it, check it out from the library.

Don’t bother reading it-you’ll be disappointed.

Someone’s editor was not doing a good job.

Wow! Good thing they’ve won the Newbery in the past or they wouldn’t have gotten past the interns.

I will share two recent examples at the risk of bringing the authors’ wrath upon my head. Gary Paulsen’s Mudshark and Sharon Creech’s Unfinished Angel.

I have devoured everything written by both these authors. Any time I see that they have a new book being released, it is like my birthday and Christmas rolled up into one. I’m that excited! Plunking down the cost the hardcover book is not an issue when it comes to these authors. Delayed gratification and books is not my strong suit.

Creech’s Unfinished Angel is a nice story. Nice is one of those words teachers use on report cards when they don’t want to sound too negative. It doe

sn’t convey much meaning.

I LOVE Sharon Creech. I’ve heard her present multiple times (although I was a little disappointed at last year’s NCTE’s talk), Walk Two Moons is one my all-time favorite books that I read over and over, Granny Torrelli Makes Soup is the best read aloud for middle grade students and I don’t think it can get any better that Love That Dog. With that said, I was a little disappointed in Unfinished Angel. It’s not a bad story, but it is as if the great Italian-accented English from Granny Torrelli and the boarding school/overseas from Bloomability is combined into a not totally tied together story.  I think you could do some fun things with it as a read-aloud, but it falls into the “Check it out from the library” category for me.

Coming Soon—Cybils 2009 October 1, 2009

Nominations open October 1st (today)

So far on my list to nominate:

Middle Grade Fiction:

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff

Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino

Picture Books:

Crow Calls by Lois Lowry

Posy by Linda Newbery

Young Adult Fiction:

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Scat by Carl Hiaasen

Teachers College Mary Ehrenworth’s Closing Talk Notes Magnificent Books That Can Create the World of Difference as We Launch the School Year August 10, 2009

Magnificent Books That Can Create the World of Difference as We Launch the School Year by Mary Ehrenworth

Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks

dark and allegorical

good read-aloud

a rare picture book because bad things happen in the book and there is a character that is genuinely evil

KidLit/YA-so many books start out sad, but everything almost always works out in the end (cautionary tales)

High School reading diet of tragic disasters-readers lose interest because they haven’t learned how to deal with beautiful language with tragedy

text form and pictures match-good example of how to turn their writing into a published picture book versus the sterile typed final draft

Icarus at the Edge of Time by Brian Greene (Black Hole Scientist)

she shared with 3rd, 5th, and 9th graders last year

a fiction book that can lead into intense study of nonfiction

a ship encounters a black hole-Icarus wants to explore it, but the captain says that they must keep going

generations of his family have been on this spaceship for over 100 years

retelling of a classic tale

words and names are metaphorical

She loves books that lead to other texts

read different versions of Icarus

Greek myths are cautionary tales-shat learned?

Can transcend your current conditions

A third of your library should be NEW every year!

Brothers in Hope by Mary Williams

survival tale

witness tale told in first person

tie to MS/HS Long Way Gone

Child Soldiers of Sudan

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

a retelling of Lord of the Flies, the short story The Lottery, and The Most Dangerous Game

dystopian future where things have gone terribly wrong

The Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones, City of, City of Glass-book 3 is the best

great for sixth grade and up

good for post Twilight reading

adult pics

Fall On Your Knees by Ann Marie MacDonald

post modern novel where language fails to reveal truth

5 girls-different perspectives, 3 generations

great for book club-best read in the company of discussing with others

a challenging book where adults all had to keep post-its and compare retelling

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

success-commonality-someone gave them the opportunity to work hard-conditions of working hard

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Recent Reads August 8, 2009

Also Known as Harper by Ann Haywood Leal is a brilliant book by a new-to-me author Ann Leal (Talk about small world, the family I used to babysit before they moved to Connecticut are friends with the author!). Homelessness, poetry, friendship and family. This book has it all and is a book I couldn’t stop reading! Check out other, more detailed reviews at SLJ, Literate Lives, or a Year of Reading.

The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti is a great YA read.

Eighteen-year old Indigo Skye is happy with her job as a waitress and enjoys the quirky customers known as “The Irregulars”.  The characters are well developed and interesting. Things take a twist when a new customer leaves an envelope for Indigo. That envelope happens to include a check for two and a half million dollars (reminds me of that Nicholas Cage and Bridget Fonda movie-but only the waitress/money part).  It doesn’t seem like having all that money would be hard, but it brings with it a new set of problems. A little predictable, but overall a great read with great characters that make you wanting to read on.

Great Reading in July July 26, 2009

I haven’t been blogging much lately between getting my daughter to camp and having my son think her being gone means he is now an only-child whose whims I have nothing better to do than fulfill! On the other hand, I have been getting some great reading done.

Recently read:

Mudshark by Gary Paulsen-short, quirky, not quite sure what I think of it. I wouldn’t rush out to buy it in hardback. 

Edward’s Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan-see 100 Scope Notes or A Year of Reading review. Wow! An amazing book.

The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (See PBS Parents Booklink’s article about the author Rick Riordan) Loved it! Surprised I hadn’t read it before. Even more surprised that my public library does not have ANY of the series. (I’ve been told they are there in the YA section-I will verify, but sure that I must be wrong) If I was an intermediate or middle school teacher, I would definitely want to read this aloud before the movie is released February 12, 2010.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (see Jen Robinson or semicolon’s review) or check out the series’ website, The Curiosity Chronicle. Hate to say that I really had to make myself finish this book, although the last fourth flew by.

The Beautiful Stories of Life: Six Greek Myths, Retold by Cynthia Rylant (I had bought it because I love Cynthia Rylant and worry that kids don’t know some the “older” myths, fables, and fairy tales. Thought it would be good to read-aloud to my own children. It was a great coincidence that I started reading The Lightning Thief- right after this book. I love that The Lightning Thief will get kids familiar with many of the Greek myths that otherwise might not be that interesting to some readers.)

Recently won from a Twitter contest: The new released Slugger series=4 books so far= (formerly known as Barnstormers) by Loren Long and Phil Biloner-I do love the new covers! Thanks Children’s Book Review!

Recently viewed: While at the movies with my son this weekend (G-Force in 3-D, what else?) previews for both book related movies Where the Wild Things Are and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs were being featured. Obviously they are taking the picture book at a starting point for the movies, but hmmm….are movie writers out of original ideas? Is it cheaper for studios to option books and adaptations? I wonder… Also recently viewed on DVD, Coraline. Creepy, but not as scary as I bet it was on the big screen!

Currently Reading and upcoming reads:

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (recommended by Lucy Calkins)

A Quick Guide to Making Your Teaching Stick by Shanna Schwartz (re-reading in preparation for an upcoming workshop class I’m teaching)

Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff (re-reading for Mother-Daughter Book Club)

20 Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler (had to stop reading it because it made me keep crying)

Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino (How can you resist a title like that?)

The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti (YA-picked up in NYC)

What I REALLY want though is a new BestBookIHaveNotRead to jump all those and take me to a new world. I’m on the look-out. It must be time for a trip to Cover to Cover!

Quick Reviews July 14, 2009

Peter Rabbit Munch! Peter Rabbit Naturally Better board book-a beautiful new board book that I picked for a friend’s new baby-love that each page looks “munched”.

The Problem with the Puddles by Kate Feiffer (intermediate aged readers) Love the illustrations which will help support those transitional intermediate readers. A great story about a family whose parents agree on nothing! Through an adventure together trying to find their lost dogs, they find there really aren’t so many things worth disagreeing about.

Lucky by Rachel Vail (YA)-A very fun YA read-very timely with the economy going south daily. The main character, Phoebe’s, mother has lost her well-paid job, leaving the family in a big financial pinch. Going from privileged child who wants for nothing, to having to tell her friends she can’t afford her part of their lavish, middle school graduation party, Lucky is a fun read. Gorgeous, the “sequel” (and part of a planned trilogy) focusing on Phoebe’s sister, just was published in the end of May. Sure to be a hit with YA readers looking for some light, realistic fiction.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (“grown-up”)-a great mystery read in a non-traditional mystery format. Margaret Lea, a young woman who rarely leaves her father’s rare and collectible book store, lives most of her life through the characters she reads. Selected by a famous, reclusive author to write her biography, Margaret partakes on the quest to find truth in Vida Winter’s story-telling. The story of dysfunctional twins, and the people who attempt to raise them, including a governess, pulls the reader into this book that allows the author’s knowledge of literature to shine through in a way that is pleasing for any reader. For the lover of literature, shades of Jane Eyre will be evident.