It's Monday - What are you Reading?

It is Monday and again I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.

Hop on over and join in over at the Mentor Text Blog. Just click on the picture 
                                                 

I read this and enjoyed it. I have a few more in the series that I will put into the class library and I hope some of the girls will enjoy it. Maybe I could talk some boys into it too!  They are so mad on the Greek Gods from the Rick Riordan books. Recently I put the George O'Connor graphic novels of the Greek Gods into the class library and they have been ambushed.  Pow! Very popular.

This was one of my Newbery challenges, I started with a little trepidation, readers seem to either love or hate it!  However while I was not head over heels in love with it I found it interesting. A somewhat mixture of genres - I was reminded of Lois Lowry and the The Giver with the idea of sameness and differences on the planet they go to to free their Dad.

It was a pleasure to read this 50th Edition and read about the author and see some of her drafting of the book at the end of the book.



This week I am going to read The Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I have the whole set for the classroom, I am not sure if I will read them all, but would like to try a few for the sampling!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It is Monday and again I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.

Hop on over and join in over at the Mentor Text Blog. Just click on the picture 

I read the third book in the Annals of the Western Shore trilogy - Powers by Ursula Le Guin.  Interesting trilogy, but would only recommend to those who are motivated to try U Le Guin with this series.

The 1948 Newbery read Winner The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois.  This was a lot of fun and adventure -  great tall story.  I liked how it began at the end and then went back and told the story of howProfessor Sherman found himself floating in the Atlantic with 21 balloons.

I would happily recommend this to readers in my class.

This book was a quick and easy read and my first with the lunch lady. A load of fun and I hope some of my students really enjoy it.










In the coming week I plan to read Kira-Kira by C Kadohata, 2005 Newbery, noticed one of my students reading it, so thought I would grab it after her.  Probably another Lunch Lady book and then I am not sure. I see a notice from local library saying A Wrinkle in Time has become available for me to pick up - so I guess that's on the agenda too.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It is Monday and again I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.
Hop on over and join in over at the Mentor Text Blog. Just click on the picture below.

This past week I read:

A book for younger readers - 7-9 years would enjoy it and some of my 10 and 11year olds might as well.

Another great Marty McGuire book, and if a class is thinking about building a worm farm a really fun book for them to read.

An Abundance of Katherines which is a YA book.  I can't say I really connected with this book, it was my first John Green book. I think I will need to read another of his to judge if I like his writing. Perhaps this was not a good one to start with.

For professional reading:

This book is by Janet Angelillo. I found it really helpful for myself as Janet models a way to proceed with scaffolding students to think more deeply as readers.  I will be using her ideas in my classroom when I return in mid July. 

For the coming week I plan on reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini - fantasy. The series comes highly recommended by one of my students so I decided to read the first one in it.

It's Monday What are You Reading?

It's Monday and again I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.
Hop on over and join in over at the Mentor Text Blog. Just click on the picture below.

I read Guts by Gary Paulsen.  This is the actual life experiences of Gary Paulsen that provided him with the material that made Hatchet and the Brian books so real and accurate.  

I am not an outdoor person in the sense of going into the wild but I respect people who have ventured in.  I know that I certainly have not in any way changed my mind about venturing in after reading the book.  And I certainly never want to meet a moose! 

Students who have read Hatchet and any of the other Brian books will like this book.

I also read this graphic novel,  an accident buy. Got it mixed up with the real Lunch Lady so still have to seek her out!

I think younger students would enjoy it, says on the back Guided Level: K.

Illustrations are well done, and while it is for younger students I think there will be a few in my class who will buy into this.  Don't read just before a meal, could put you off eating!

This coming week I plan to read The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Perhaps a few more as well, will have to see how the week goes.

Happy reading everyone.

What Are You Reading?

It's Monday and again I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.
Hop on over and join in over at the Mentor Text Blog. Just click on the picture below.

This last week I read the 1999 Newbery award winning book, Holes by Louis Sachar.  I know most if not all of you will have read this book, however for me it was the first time.  It was to me a book that could be described as a tall tale, a legend, a mystery and an adventure.  The stories of differing generations were skilfully interwoven.  It showed how the choices of one generation impacted on another.  I b felt sorry for those boys who were sent to dig holes and at the same time admired there tenacity and perseverance.  I had a number of favourite characters, Stanley and Zero and also Sam the onion grower.  There were a lot of coincidences but then it was a tall tale. Tall tale my opinion only!)  I highly recommend this book if by some chance you haven't read it.

I also finished listening to Insurgent, the second in Virginia Roth's Divergent trilogy.  I again liked this as much as the first one. There were surprises, and upsets along the way, not saying more because I know everyone won't have read this yet.  Also I need to confess I am going to need to listen to this again, I am planning to listen to both Divergent and Insurgent before the last book comes out next year, so that my brain is totally sharp on all characters and turns of events.

The narrator (Emma Galvin) who reads this book captures it really well for me, her voice is the voice of Tris as far as I am concerned.  I 'read' Divergent ever before I read the Hunger Games trilogy, I then felt if I could cope with Divergent I could cope with The Hunger Games.  It's not a natural genre for me to go to, however both trilogies have been well worth the read.  It has been a good experience to read outside my comfort zone.

For the coming week I am keeping it simple, I am going to read my first Lunch Lady book and I am also going to read Guts, by Gary Paulsen - the True Stories behind Hatchet and the Brian books.

Monday Again! What are you Reading?

Monday has come around again and I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.
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This last week I read:  Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.   This book certainly had points of difference and explored the idea of being yourself versus fitting in with the crowd.  When you decide to fit into the crowd there is a cost, and when you decide not to fit into the crowd there is a cost also.  I believe this book would make my students think and explore their own lives - as indeed it made me do.  Sign of a good book!  I liked it enough to want to search out the sequel to this book.

What am I reading this week?  The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, the first book in the Kane Chronicles.

I have just started to listen to Insurgent by Virginia Roth. This will take me a few weeks to listen through as I only listen while out walking mainly.  Roth doesn't do any recapping of the previous book, Divergent,  and I found myself a little hazy on the characters, so I read a blog post she had written helping her readers refresh their minds on the story - so now I think  I am good to go!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Monday has come around again and I am joining in the meme over at Mentor Texts.
Hop on over and join in at the Mentor Text Blog.

In the past week I read Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu.  I wasn't sure if I would like it as I was not a fan of the story The Snow Queen growing up.  It was just a distant memory and I couldn't even recall the plot, just the distaste.

Breadcrumbs starts out as a realistic fiction novel but then becomes fantasy as it almost retells the story of the Snow Queen using the characters Jack and Hazel. I fell in love with both of them, so I was soon hooked into the story.  About half way through I had to stop and go look up the story of the Snow Queen.

On page 45 - 46 Jack talks about his drawing of a simple palace.  "There's a boy," Jack said.  "He's a normal boy.  Until one day he wakes up and no one can see him.  He's turned invisible.  And he tries everything, but nothing works.  So he goes there.......There's no one to look at him, and no one will ever come."  Jack has a hard time at home, his mother has gone into a depression - where she is not available to Jack.  He is an easy target for the Snow Queen.  Hazel too has her troubles with a father who really does not care about her and has to see a counsellor when she acts out at school.  At the end of the visit "He dismissed her, and Hazel poured concrete into the hollow parts.  Now she would be part girl,  part hardening gray sludge.  And no one would know the difference."  No "plastic flowers of words" really made a difference.

Yet it is Hazel who courageously goes after Jack and saves him and brings him back.  Her strong friendship with him matters.  As he turns to go home, "Jack hesitated still and Hazel wanted to say something comforting, give him some bright plastic flowers of words, but Jack would see them for what they were. Jack know how to see things."

To me the second part of the story was like a journey made within.  It is as if Jack has gone into inner territory of coldness and ugliness.  Hazel seeks him out there, bringing him back to reality, with no promise that all would now be okay.  Yet there is that strong bond of friendship that has broken through.  Hazel did come.

For the coming week I plan to read The Mighty Miss Malone by C P Curtis.  Looking forward to it.

It's Monday - What are You Reading?

Monday comes around fast.  It has been an extremely busy week, so I only found time to complete one book.  As usual I am joining in the blog hop over at Mentor Texts.

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The book I read was called Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer Holm.  It took me a little while to get into it and orientate myself.  Eventually I sorted out her many brothers and began to follow more easily.  

It gave a wonderful historical perspective of a young girl growing up in Nth Western America in the early twentieth century.  By mid-way through the book I was hooked and wanted to finish the remainder of it in one sitting.

I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

This week I am reading Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu.  Just started.  I hope I like it, however I was never a fan of the Snow Queen so I am a little anxious about that.