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!
We were on winter break the last couple of weeks, and we are happy to be back!
Ricki
I read a lot of books over break, but I am going to focus on the most recent titles that I read!
I just read (for the second time) the new book by Neal Shusterman and Andrés Vera Martínez, Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust. It is a graphic fantasy that features five stories connected to the Holocaust. I was really hesitant to read this book at first—there were a lot of ways that I perceived it could go wrong. But it is very carefully conceived and very thought-provoking.
Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson is absolutely stunning. It tells a traditional story in a way that will captivate young people. I absolutely loved it.
Lei and the Fire Goddess by Malia Maunakea is a fantastically exciting adventure story that brought me so much joy. This is a great middle grade book for your collection!
Hope in the Valley is a quiet middle grade book that offers a careful treatment of themes of grief, friendship, and growing up. The writing is beautiful, and I loved thinking about how this book would work well for place-based learning.
Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley is sure to capture the hearts of readers of all ages. I was glad to see that my library had multiple copies of this book because it is well-written and a powerful mystery that belongs in every classroom and library.
Jen Ferguson is one of my favorite authors. I was really taken by her first book, and this novel, Those Pink Mountain Nights did not disappoint! I love how her books are set in food shops (this one is in a pizza shop and the last was in an ice cream shop). Both this book and her last have a mystery component and offer very relatable characters. I’ll read anything that Jen Ferguson writes—she is extremely talented.
I adored Dawn Quigley’s latest installment in the Jo Jo Makoons series: Snow Day. Jo Jo is such an endearing character. My kids love reading these books, and I love reading the books with them! I’ve been gifting these books to elementary school teachers—they are perfect for classrooms!
Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and Jamie Green are a fantastic authors-illustrator team. I love how they re-envision the Shakespeare stories in ways that are relatable to kids. I find the characters to be very charming, and the books beautifully balance fun and serious content matter.
Sherri Winston has my heart. After reading Shark Teeth, I was constantly recommending it to other teachers. I really appreciated the ways in which Winston incorporated mentors in the text, and the main character felt like a real girl to me. I was so sad when the book ended because I couldn’t hang out with her more! This is a middle grade book, but I think high school students would also really appreciate reading it.
Several people were raving about the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros, so I read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. I enjoyed the series and felt like they were really fun and engaging. I can see why they’ve developed a bit of a cult following.
Kellee
This is my week off, but I’ll be back next week with a reading roundup! You can learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.
Currently reading:
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Gone Wolf by Amber McBride
Tuesday: Kellee’s 2023 Reading Round Up: Statistics, Favorite Reads, #mustreadin2023 End-of-Year Check In, & 2024 Reading Goals
Sunday: Guest Author Post: “Ways to get Middle-Grade Students Excited About Reading” by Sherry Ellis, Author of Bubba and Squirt’s City of Bones
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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Ricki, it sounds like you’ve been reading some wonderful books recently! I wasn’t familiar with either of Jen Ferguson’s novels, and both of them sound really emotionally compelling. And Shark Teeth sounds so impactful too—I owned a book by Sherri Winston once that I never had the chance to finish, but I remember being intrigued by. Thank you both so much for the wonderful post and link round-up!
I just bought Warrior Girl on my last bookstore trip! I rarely get out of middle grade, but I read and loved Firekeeper’s Daughter, so I look forward to this one!
Those Pink Mountain Nights sounds fantastic and right up my alley. Thanks for the rec!
The kids at my library love Jo Jo, too! She’s such a fun characters.