It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
For readers of all ages
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop we host which focuses on sharing what we’re reading. This Kid Lit version of IMWAYR focuses primarily on books marketed for kids and teens, but books for readers of all ages are shared. We love this community and how it offers opportunities to share and recommend books with each other.
The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. The Kid Lit IMWAYR was co-created by Kellee & Jen at Teach Mentor Texts.
We encourage you to write your own post sharing what you’re reading, link up below, leave a comment, and support other IMWAYR bloggers by visiting and commenting on at least three of the other linked blogs.
Happy reading!
Wednesday: Looking Back on ALAN 2024
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Kellee
I am off this week! You can always learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.
Ricki
Middle Grade
I’ve been wanting to read Janae Marks’ From the Desk of Zoe Washington for a long time, and I am so glad I did! It is well worth the hype and a fantastic middle grade book!
Whew. Louder than Hunger by John Schu is an emotional one. My son and I listened to parts of it together, and it prompted some awesome conversations. I am so glad that a book like this exists for middle grade students.
I had been hearing a lot about Not Nothing by Gayle Forman, and I really enjoyed it. It has the narration of an elderly man, which is not typical for middle grade book. I really enjoyed the audio book. I would have loved this book when I was a student, and I am so glad it exists.
Young Adult
I absolutely loved this book!!! Sunshine by Jarrett Krosoczka is the sequel to Hey, Kiddo, although it is quite a different book—even though it is a memoir. It tells about a one-week experience that Jarrett had when he worked at a summer camp for chronically ill children and their families (and some of the relevant years afterwards). I am going to use this one to talk about disability theory in class next semester.
Everything Amber McBride writes is magic, and We Are All So Good at Smiling and The Leaving Room were no exception. The first is about mental health and the second is about death. If you have to read one of them first, I would recommend The Leaving Room. I loved both books and their beautiful verse, but I have found myself thinking about this one constantly!
Lesa Cline-Ransome’s For Lamb is like a punch to the gut. It ripped me to shreds and put me back together again. I loved this book with my whole heart. Highly recommend.
Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian is just as magnificent as his other books. I love the way that Nazemian builds character and story. His books always feel nonfiction to me because I feel like the characters are so alive!
Yessss! I am really glad that Sonora Reyes’ The Luis Ortega Survival Club exists in the world! It reminded me a tiny bit of Moxie, but the story is more about sexual assault (whereas Moxie is about sexism). This book rocks so much, and I plan to use it as a novel in my disability theory unit as it the main character is autistic.
Hannah V. Sawyerr‘s All the Fighting Parts is also about sexual assault, but it is quite different from the book above. This one is in prose and the sexual assault is committed by a beloved pastor. It’s a phenomenal book that teaches so many important lessons to readers.
I have recommended this book to about ten people this week. Ahhh—it’s so different and well-conceived and thoughtful and amazing! The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag is a graphic novel about an LGBTQ character who has to feed a monster with his blood in the basement. There’s so much symbolism in this stunning book.
I saw that Libertad by Bessie Flores Zaldívar was a Walden Award finalist, so I immediately found a copy. It’s a powerful story set in the 2017 presidential protests in Honduras. I learned so much from reading this book. I’ll be assigning it in my class next semester, for sure!
There is no one who writes like Andrew Joseph White. His books are always captivating, even though they are a genre I don’t typically read (horror and fantasy combined). I really appreciated the historical knowledge in this book about coal mining!
The story and art in Dan in Green Gables by Rey Terciero and Claudia Aguirre are an absolutely magical combination. I fell in love with the main character and his quirky personality. This is a fantastic rural text, too, and we could absolutely use more rural books in schools! This book is like a big hug.
Ricki
Reading with my Ears: This Thing of Ours Frederick Joseph
Reading with my Eyes: Heart the Lover by Lily King
We are taking two weeks off for the NCTE convention, ALAN Workshop, and fall break! We can’t wait to learn about all of the new books coming out!
Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!
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