It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 4/14/25

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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!

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Tuesday: George O’Connor’s Visit to Kellee’s Middle School

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Kellee

It’s my week off! You can always learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.

Ricki

I had to take a break this week because my son’s team made it to Odyssey of the Mind Worlds, so I’ve been planning that!

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Author Guest Post: “The Girl Who Gets the Girl” by Zakiya N. Jamal, Author of If We Were a Movie

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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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Student Voices: George O’Connor’s Visit to Kellee’s Middle School

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I am so lucky because my principal began an initiative at my school where we get to have an author visit our school yearly (2024: Jerry Craft, 2023: Christina Diaz Gonzalez, 2022: Nathan Hale, 2020: Neal Shusterman, 2019: Jennifer A. Nielsen). The author sees all students in the school, so it is a great community literacy event for my school, and I love being able to bring this experience to all of my students each year!

 

This year, we hosted New York Times Best-selling Author George O’Connor!

We are so thankful to George O’Connor for being with us all day. Not only did he present to over 1,000 students, he did a signing time for any student who wanted his autograph; he did an author lunch with students who read over 6 of his books; he stayed after school to draw us a special image, finish signing anything left to sign, including bookmarks for each of our Olympians Community Night finishers (our literacy night that we hosted 2 days before his visit), and take pictures with the library team. It  was phenomenal!

Here are some reflections from my students after the visit. I asked them to think about what they learned, what they enjoyed, how they were impacted, or anything else they wanted to share:

  • I really liked the day. It was a fun experience learning about him and how he became an author.
  • I really liked the day! Meeting the author was exciting, and their presentation was inspiring. The workshop helped me think creatively, and I enjoyed sharing ideas with my classmates. It was a great experience that made me love reading and writing even more!
  • I liked it. George O’ Conner was funny and I liked how he gave a description of the god’s story.
  • I really like how the authors show the process of how they make the books that we read everyday
  • he said that we shouldn’t try to erase our mistakes and try to learn from them
  • George O’Connor taught me that you have to keep trying for your dreams because he got rejected from a job at marvel but eventually got it.
  • My biggest takeaway is that nobody is perfect, and it takes a while to get where you want to be.
  • My biggest take away from George O’Connor’s visit is that it’s ok to make mistakes. He talks about even as an adult, and artists, he still regularly makes mistakes, and going over how it is ok to do so was so refreshing to hear in a world where people are so often afraid to be anything but perfect. Really motivating and inspiring!
  • My biggest take away was when he told us that he started drawing at such a young age and has always had a passion for the Olympian books he has written.
  • An author visit is important because it inspires us to read and write. Meeting a real author shows us that we can be writers too! They share their stories and challenges, which motivates us to keep trying. It makes reading more fun and exciting, helping us appreciate our own creativity!
  • This visit was very important because these author visits can really help people get inspired and help them not doubt themselves.
  • This visit was important because it made me understand how George O’Connor made his books and his journey in general. It’s important and powerful to have an author visit our school because it gives us a chance to learn from people who have experience in actually making a book.

  • His advice about drawing about not being perfect was a HUGE takeaway for me.
  • My biggest take away was that nobody is perfect because I draw a lot and I make mistakes and I learned that it is okay to.
  • My biggest take away from this visit was that our changing moment in life can happen wherever and whenever.
  • My biggest takeaway was that your imagination can take you anywhere in life.
  • That it takes a long time to do things perfectly and to achieve something you are want so you have to be patience
  • George O’ Connor taught me some very valuable life lessons and made the presentation funny.
  • It impacted me because it allowed me to learn more about the writing and illustrating process, something which I didn’t know much about before.
  • It helped me understand better on how the author makes his books and connect to the author better which was good.
  • I learned some new stuff about Greek mythology that I didn’t know before.
  • It helped me understand the whole journey to become an author.
  • It’s important to have authors visit our school because it could help people who want to be authors in the future. It could also help someone find a new favorite book or series.
  • It is important and powerful to have an author visit the school in order to inspire kids to read more books and make the author more relatable and real, which I think could also encourage kids to pick up books and start reading more.
  • This visit was important because he first off is a New York Times best author which is crazy to think that he actually came to our school and that some people really like mythology books and George O’Connor is the best author for that.
  • Author visits are important because it can encourage people to read and for people who want to become authors to learn from them.
  • I think that it’s important and powerful to have an author visit our school because they can help give us advice and tell their story to people who enjoyed reading their books.

  • It was very impactful since I got to see the POV of an author’s life and how he draws!
  • This visit impacted me because it let me learn that even New York Best Time Selling authors make mistakes and learn from them to help them grow as a person and author.
  • The visit impacted me by showing me how much work goes into these books.
  • The visit really inspired me! Hearing the author share their journey made me want to write my own stories. Learning about their creative process showed me that it’s okay to struggle sometimes. The interactive workshop was fun and helped me think more creatively. Overall, it made me excited about reading and writing!
  • I thought it was really cool as his upbringing as an author and it is really motivating.
  • Having a yearly visit means getting to learn about the lives of authors, how they got to where they are, and what inspires them. This. in turn, inspires me to stay motivated and chase my dreams no matter what goes wrong.
  • Yearly author visits mean a lot to not just me but I bet to so many others too because its so cool getting to have a well known author come to our school and tell us their story and their perspective of their own books they wrote.
  • Author visits let me meet “famous people” that other people don’t get to meet and I get to meet the authors of the books that I love.
  • Having a visiting author yearly is something that excites me and is something for me to look forward to.
  • Having a visiting author yearly makes me read more books that I might not have read if it wasn’t for the author visit.
  • Yearly author visits mean that kids get to explore different genres and books. Like I did not know who George O’Connor was and I had never read his books but then I read them and now I love them.
  • Having an author yearly means a lot to me because they are really inspiring.
  • Author visits mean a lot to me because it shows that our school and staff want to put together something fun for us and that they care, Gorge O’Connor also took time out of his day to come see us.
  • Author visits educate children; it always makes them more tempted to read more and learn about the author. Also the author can teach us valuable things.
  • This visit was important because it helped us see and talk to George O’ Connor in-person, it also helped us learn more about Greek Mythology. It is important and powerful to have an author visit our school because it helps us talk or see our favorite authors and learn more about them. In addition, it also gives us a small break from school.

Another teacher also shared her students’ responses to “What I liked the best was…”

  • the way he explained his book and the way he drew ZEUS in 28 seconds; how he is able to make a small period of time into something really cool; When he showed his drawings/drawing fast
  • Book signings and pictures with him after school; seeing him at lunch; really enjoyed when I met him because he was really nice and caring
  • When he said that nobody is perfect and we can all make mistakes, that was really nice of him; 
  • My favorite moment from the author’s visit was when he told us the lesson which was like don’t be afraid to make mistakes and fail
  • How he used the errors without being scared
  • Funny stories; when he was making us laugh
  • I love this part because he explains books and explains how he did it. That’s why I love it.

As you can see from the comments and love, my students and I would highly recommend George for a school visit!

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 4/7/25

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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!

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Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

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Kellee

Here is what I’ve read since March 10th:

Middle Grade

Young Adult

  • Dead Girls Can’t Tell Secrets by Chelsea Ichaso: When Piper jumps from “Suicide Point,” her sister, Savannah, at first blames herself, but after finding a strange note in her sister’s locker, she begins to notice that something isn’t right with the whole situation. Savannah then inserts herself into Piper’s old life in hopes of finding out the truth, and man, the truth is more twisted than you’ll even guess–the book was hard to put down, full of twists, and quite surprising.
  • All Better Now by Neal Shusterman: Neal Shusterman does it again. His concepts are always so brilliant. This one is about a COVID-esque type illness that leads to pure contentment if you survive. But is contentment really the best for humans? That is one of the questions that Shusterman asks as we follow characters who are on very different sides of the coin: someone who wants to spread the illness to everyone and someone who is willing to anything to stop it. Another 5 stars for Shusterman!
  • She’s Gone by David Bell: Hunter wakes up in the hospital after homecoming to learn that he has been in an accident and his girlfriend, Chloe, disappeared from the car. Hunter doesn’t remember the night at all, but everyone suspects that he killed Chloe; however, Hunter knows that he would never do that. This leads to a deadly investigation that leads to the surprising truth. (I do need to make one note that this author did have a side story of my least favorite trope which makes me like the book less than I would have if he’d stayed away from it…)
  • You’re Dead to Me by Amy Christine Parker: When Ruby sees the ghost of herself, she knows that she is going to die on prom night, and with her whole town turned against her, it could be any number of people who kill her; however, she is going to do everything in her power to save herself. Parker did such a great job of mixing paranormal into this murder mystery–it is something that could have gone extremely wrong, but instead if added tension to this already intense book, elevating it and making it unique. I loved how the book was crafted, the characters in the book, the ending… everything. It was truly a rollercoaster read!
  • Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of our Deadliest Infection by John Green: John Green is brilliant. He has taken tuberculosis, a topic that many of his readers may not have been interested in, and humanized it in a way that no reader can ignore. The book is a mixture of a story of Henry, a young TB patient that John met on a visit to Sierra Leone; the history of TB and how it has shaped the history of the world; and a call for equity and equality in so many different ways. This book is fantastic and everyone should read it. It will change how you think of the world.

You can always learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.

Ricki

This is my week off; see you next week!

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Kellee

  • Reading: Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
  • Listening: Unstoppable Us, Volume 1: How Humans Took Over the World by Yuval Noah Harari, Illustrator: Ricard Zaplana Ruiz

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Tuesday: George O’Connor’s Visit to Kellee’s Middle School

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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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Sofia’s YA Book Nook: Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine

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Sofia is a 13-year-old brilliant reader who aspires to be a book reviewer. Since she was 8 years old, on select weeks, Sofia shares her favorite books with other young people her age! She is one of the most well-read youth that we know, so she is highly qualified for this role!


 

Dear readers,

Hello and welcome to another book review! This time, I am excited to present… Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine! This is a page-turner! I am pretty into YA mysteries right now and when I saw it, I knew I had to read it! I have also already read How to Survive Your Murder and I was super excited when I saw this book come out! I must say, I was not at all disappointed! It has many twists and turns and though I tried to figure out the murderer, I only knew a little before it ended. I must also say that this could be a nice rainy day book because it is more on the gloomy side. Additionally, there are a TON of characters which I found quite hard to keep track of (especially) for the first quarter of the book and found that it was just better if I read it all pretty much in one go. This is also a book with three perspectives which I also found aided in the storyline. Two of the points of view were people and the other one was essentially a time capsule back to when the murders happened.

Goodreads Summary

From the author of How to Survive Your Murder comes a propulsive thriller about two teens who return to the site of the famous murder case that sealed their fates. Most people’s births aren’t immortalized in a police report-but Olivia was born during the infamous Camp Lost Lake murders. Seventeen years later, Olivia’s life looks pretty perfect… until she discovers the man she calls dad is not her biological father. Now she wants answers about her bloodline, and the only place she knows to look is Camp Lost Lake. Most people don’t spend their formative years on the run with an alleged murderer-but Reagan did. In the court of public opinion, her mom was found guilty of the deaths at Camp Lost Lake, and both of them have been in hiding ever since. But Reagan believes in her mother’s innocence and is determined to clear her name. Luckily for Olivia and Reagan, Camp Lost Lake is finally reopening, providing the perfect opportunity to find answers. But someone else is dead set on keeping the past hidden, even if it means committing murder.

My Thoughts

I loved this book! It was super thrilling and I literally COULDN’T put it down! I was immediately drawn to it by the author (and cover) and am happy I was. I found it interesting that one of the perspectives was from the daughter of the camp director and that the other one was the daughter of the accused murderer. I also love that there was a perspective that took you back in time so you could gradually gather more information about the case, instead of it all being dumped on you at some point in the book. Since this was so fast paced, I would recommend this as a book to get a “non-reader” more interested in reading! I read this mostly on a sunny day which was nice but I, again, think that the atmosphere would have been better on a rainy day since it is darker, but not the night, because that would feel too spooky for me! Overall, I think this is a page-turning YA book with horror and mystery. Enjoy!

On Amazon, most of the reviewers were people buying it for people 14+. I would agree with this since it was pretty frightening in some scenes, especially the ones with the murderer! It was also a little hard to follow the characters since there are so many, and a lot of them with similar sounding names and little backstories you need to remember. Otherwise, I think if you or the person you are getting this for can handle those things, then I would let them read it!

**Thanks so much, Sofia!**

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 3/31/25

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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!

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Tuesday: Werewolf Hamlet by Kerry Madden-Lunsford

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Kellee

It’s my week off! However, you can learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.

Ricki

Young Adult

I have never read a book that depicts homelessness in such a raw, emotional way. This memoir is beautifully written, and I am in such awe of Rex Ogle. I will be using Road Home with my young adult class.

Adult

In Katherine Center’s Hello Stranger, a woman goes in for brain surgery and ends up emerging with face blindness. I have read a lot about this condition, and it was really helpful to read and understand more about it.

Jasmine Guillory’s While We Were Dating is a sweet romance. I loved the strong woman lead. Her confidence was really fun to read.

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Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

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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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Werewolf Hamlet by Kerry Madden-Lunsford

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Werewolf Hamlet
Author: Kerry Madden-Lunsford
Published February 18th, 2025 by Charlesbridge Moves

Summary: Humor, heart, and Shakespeare abound in this middle-grade novel about Angus, a 10-year-old theater fanatic, his struggling family, and his changing relationship with big brother Liam.

Perfect for fans of books that handle difficult subjects and family dynamics in a sensitive way, like Better Nate Than Ever and Rule of Threes.

10-year-old Angus is unique. He quotes Shakespeare and wants to stage a Werewolf Hamlet play for his 5th grade legacy project. Angus’s 17-year-old brother, Liam, is like a werewolf now—Angus never knows if he’ll be nice or mean or when he’ll sneak out to get drunk or worse.

Meanwhile, tension continues to build for Liam’s family in Los Angeles. Mom and Dad are going to default on the mortgage. Older sister Hannah is fed up and ready to move herself to Maine, and little sister Sidney doesn’t really get what’s happening. Then Liam goes missing, and Angus decides he has to find him.

A realistic, heartfelt look at the complexities of family relationships and struggles. Along with Angus’s loveable charm, sense of humor, and desire to stage his original play, Werewolf Hamlet is sure to win its audience—on and off the page—over.

“A story that is rich in wise insights.”—Booklist (starred)

About the Author: Kerry Madden-Lunsford has been a regular contributor to the LA Times OpEd page. For several years, she directed the creative writing program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she is still a professor, and she taught in Antioch University’s MFA program in Los Angeles for a decade. She is the author of the picture book Ernestine’s Milky Way. She also wrote the Maggie Valley Trilogy, which includes Gentle’s Holler, Louisiana’s Song, and Jessie’s Mountain. Her book, Up Close Harper Lee, was one Booklist’s Ten Top Biographies for Youth. Her first novel, Offsides, was a New York Public Library Pick for the Teen Age. Kerry is the mother of three adult children, and she now lives full-time in Birmingham, Alabama. Visit her at kerrymadden.com.

Check out Kerry Madden-Lunsford on social!
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Review: As an educator, I have over the years sadly heard about so many different tough situations that my students were dealing with: being unhoused, divorce, death in the family, mental health struggles, etc. Too often, middle grade books stay away from tough topics because they are “too mature,” but anyone who has worked with middle graders has wished at different times that there was the perfect book to give to students at a certain moment of time but couldn’t find it–this book is going to be the perfect book at one of those times.

What an interesting mix within this book: Shakespeare, classic movies & movie stars, Los Angeles, growing up, foreclosure, runaway, pet wellness, friendship, and more. It seems like a lot, but it just works in this book because all of it is what makes Angus and his story come to life. Parts were hard to read, such as descriptions of Angus’s brother spiraling into addiction; Angus and his friends making more choices to find his brother; Angus’s families financial struggles and eviction; Angus’s dogs illness; and Angus’s struggles at school, but the author does a great job with including enough for emotional response and plot/character development and keeping the story developmentally relevant.

Educators’ Tools for Navigation: The publisher has created an amazing supplemental page for Werewolf Hamlet which will be perfect to use if teaching the book as a whole or if students are reading it in groups or independently! Visit https://www.charlesbridge.com/pages/werewolf-hamlet for resources about:

  • Insulting like Shakespeare
  • Geography and landmarks around Los Angeles
  • Classic films
  • Heroes of the silver screen
  • Hamlet

I also think that the book could be a great introduction to one-man plays, and students could take a story and transform it like Angus did with Hamlet.

Discussion Questions: 

There is a Reader’s Group Guide found on the publisher’s resource page, too!

Flagged Passages/Spreads: 

The Tar Feeling

Anybody can forget to wear shoes to school. Well, almost anybody. It’s an innocent mistake. And I didn’t forget my trumpet. Why doesn’t that count?

“Mom,” I say as she needles her way through crazy Los Angeles traffic to make it to the bus stop on time with all four of us kids in the car.

“People, I’m trying to sleep,” says my brother, Liam, who is seventeen and always sleeps on the way to school. That’s because he sneaks out at night. I’m not supposed to tell, and I’m going to make him quit doing it.

“We’re going to be late,” Hannah warns. She’s sixteen and thinks life would be perfect if only she’d been born in a hippie commune in the 1960s in Maine, the farthest state from California. She also loves sunflowers and paints them on her ceiling and makes us tiedye shirts. Mom and Dad call her a sunflower girl. She also loves an old-time singer, Joni Mitchell, and she plays her music loud to drown us out sometimes.

Sidney and I are who get dropped off at the bus stop first because we go to a magnet school far away. Sometimes we miss it, making Mom and Liam and Hannah late, and that means Mom grits her teeth and races to the next bus stop in hopes of still catching our bus. Those are not good mornings. After she drops us off, Mom drives to the high school where Liam and Hannah go, where she is the assistant girls’ volleyball coach and PE teacher. Their mascot is a tiger, so they are the Lady Tigers. Roar!

“Mom!” I yell again.

“What, Angus?” She blasts through a yellow light, eyes on the prize of the bus.

“I forgot my shoes at home.”

“We’re not turning around!” yells Hannah. “I have a test first period.”

Liam says, “Show some respect. I need to sleep. Geez.”

“Did you hear me, Mom?” I ask her.

Stony silence. From the look on her face in the rearview mirror, flaring nostrils like a bull and her fingers gripping the steering wheel, she hears me all right. But instead of turning around, she pulls up to the bus stop and says in a low voice, “Out. Now. Have a good day.”

“But Mom! I’m wearing only socks!” I stick a foot in the air.

Mom growls. Maybe more wolf than Lady Tiger, but for sure a growl.

My little sister, Sidney, tugs my arm. “Better forget it, Angus.”

“Fine! I’ll go shoeless! Who cares?” I climb out of the van, and then it happens. Mom yanks off her tennis shoes and hurls them out the window at my head while I’m standing in my socks on the curb with Sidney.

BAM! BAM!

Good thing I duck. Isn’t it against the law to throw shoes at your own children?

Read This If You Love: Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. & Matthew Holm, The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner

Recommended For: 

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**Thank you to Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 3/24/25

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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!

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Thursday: Ben’s Kids’ Corner: Imagine Nation by Matt Myklusch

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Kellee

Because of Spring Break followed by the Florida Future Problem Solvers Competition, I was not able to get my IMWAYR post done–I’m sorry! However, you can learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.

Ricki

It is my week off–see you next week!

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Tuesday: Werewolf Hamlet by Kerry Madden-Lunsford

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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!

 Signature andRickiSig