It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!
Kellee and Jen, of Teach Mentor Texts, decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.
We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.
Last Week’s Posts
Wednesday: Blog Tour with Review!: Don’t Ask a Dinosaur by Deborah Bruss & Matt Forrest Esenwine
Thursday: Sticky Facts series from Workman Press
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Last Week’s Journeys
Kellee
Thank you for all the Jim happy birthday wishes last week! 🙂 Here is my two week update:
- The final book in the Nameless City series is a perfect conclusion to the story. If you haven’t read this graphic novel series yet, it is one of my favorites; you should definitely pick it up!
- Good Dog by Dan Gemeinhart is such an interesting look at the after life, and be on the look out for a tie-over from The Honest Truth.
- I was so happy to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Underneath last week!
- I look forward to reviewing Tsu and the Outliers for you this week!
- I’m working on a special project with Water in May by Ismée Williams that I will share with you when I am finished. Until then, I just want to say how happy I am to see diversity in Latinx and Hispanic representation in a book! My students are primarily from South American, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, and many talk to me about not seeing themselves in books, so I am so happy to have met Mari, a Dominican-American teen.
On the advice of Michele Knott, I decided not to listen to First Rule of Punk since it has visuals that are essential to the story, instead I got:
- Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles is as beautiful as its cover. I loved Marvin, our narrator, and his story. If I can ever figure out how to put into words why this is one of my favorite YA novels I’ve read recently, I’ll write a review.
- Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James Swanson was EPIC! Wow. My students have read this book for years and told me it was one of the best nonfiction books they’ve ever read, and I’m so glad I finally got to it. Booth’s assassination plot was so crazy, and th manhunt after Lincoln’s assassination was even crazier!
With Trent:
- Dragons v. Dinos by Ann Bryant and Ben Redlich is an early chapter book that Trent and I read/listened to while driving to school over two days. I love the “read-to-me” options on Hoopla because it allows Trent to have the audiobook and the book. This story led Trent and I to have a great conversation about judging and acceptance which is a win-win to me!
- I loved being part of the Don’t Ask a Dinosaur blog tour, and I shared Trent’s opinion in my review.
- Continuing our dragon audiobook streak, Trent picked out Me and My Dragon by David Biedrzycki. While I didn’t like the narrator very much, that didn’t seem to bother Trent at all. We have listened to this over 3 mornings now.
- This weekend I received a surprise F&G copy of Lost in the Library by Josh Funk in the mail (SQUEE!!!!). Now, I promise to do a formal review on this one after I get a finished copy, I just want to say I love reading Josh’s words out loud and Stevie Lewis’s illustrations are perfection.
Ricki
This week, I made progress on most of my books, but I didn’t finish many. I read The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang and loved it. Kellee recommended it to me. It’s fantastic.
Next week is finals week for us, so I am sorry I don’t have much to report. I read many students’ unit plans this week, though, and there are some incredible teachers entering the profession. 🙂
This Week’s Expeditions
Kellee
- Now I’m on a James Swanson kick, and I am going to listen to Chasing King’s Killer next. I am digging learning about history!
- We’ve started in -class book clubs (an alternate version of lit circles) in class, and I have a group of students who chose Somewhere in the Darkness, which I haven’t read. I plan on keeping up with them to allow me to take part in their meetings.
- Our next Skype visit on the 18th is with Mitali Perkins, and I definitely need to read more of her work. I am going to start Funny Girl and hopefully You Bring the Distance Near this week (I’m also going to reread Perkins’s story from Open Mic which has the same characters as Distance when I’m finished).
Ricki
I hope to finish When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore. It is simply fantastic, and I am kicking myself for not reading it when it first came out.
Upcoming Week’s Posts
Tuesday: Teacher Appreciation Week!: Teachers Who Inspired Us #ThankATeacher
Wednesday: Tsu and the Outliers by E Eero Johnson
Thursday: Who’s Hiding by Satoru Onishi
Friday: Summer Brain Quest and Star Wars Workbooks
Sunday: Happy Mother’s Day to all who identify as a mom 🙂
So, what are you reading?
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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Okay Kellee. If Tyler Johnson Was Here is one of your favorite recent YA novels, sign me up! I’ve been eyeing it and think it’s time to add it to my list. And I’m soooo envious of your surprise Josh Funk mail! Looking forward to reading it.
Ricki, I haven not yet read The Prince and the Dressmaker so I’ll have to get to this one soon!!
I’d love to have you read it and chat about it with me! Let me know if you get to it 🙂
Kellee, I’d love to hear more about your book clubs… maybe a future Tuesday post??
Ricki, happy finals week! I’m ready for the close of the year. Lots of summer plans – cleaning out closets! Taking advantage of being home for the first time in 3 years!
Your wish is my command 🙂
http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=15866
(I’m assuming you meant the in class book clubs. If not, here’s a link to a post about my lunch book club, too. http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=13311 )
Good Dog has been on my radar for a while. It sounds unique. When the Moon Was Ours is a new title to me. Funny Girl is one I have to get my hands on again. I only read some of it last time I checked it out from the library.
Unique is a great adjective for the book. There isn’t any other book like it that I know of.
So many great books coming to add, like Tyler Johnson Was Here and Josh Funk’s new one. I haven’t heard of When The Moon Was Ours, so will add it, too. Thanks. Hope you have a great week!
You’ve convinced me that I need to read Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. Sounds like exactly the kind of book my preservice teachers are looking for and that I never know to book talk!
YES! That’s how I felt about it, too! I was so excited to share it with my students!
Lots of great books seem to be celebrating 10- year anniversaries. So exciting!
Oh, I loved Chasing Lincoln’s Killer! I often recommend it.
Good luck with the end of the semester, Ricki! My sons’ classes end next Tuesday, then finals, and then my oldest graduates!
Hope you both enjoy your books this week!
Sue
Book By Book
I wish I’d read it sooner! Started Chasing King’s Killer today–just as interesting!
I got LOST IN THE LIBRARY last week and I’m super excited to read it! Josh Funk is not just one of my favorite authors, but one of my favorite people. He is so generous to teachers, librarians, and other authors.
I so agree. He is one of the best people I’ve ever been lucky enough to know. <3
Kellee, I just put a hold on the audiobook of Good Dog. I hope I don’t wander the streets listening and bawling my eyes out.
Ricki, I am hoping to get to You Bring the Distance Near, but there are just so many books on my list!
Faith Erin Hicks is so prolific. I will have to catch up on her graphic novels. So many great new books you have here! 🙂
Good Dog is a planned summer read. Feel like I will need a day to immerse myself in the story with a box of tissues handy! I am reading The Sundernesth for a future blog post. Excited to be part of the 10th
Anniversary!