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!
Tuesday: The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants by Philip Bunting
Sunday: Author Guest Post: “Brother and Sister Team Co-Author a Children’s Fiction Series Filled with Adventure, Fun, and SEL Opportunities” by Tara Mesalik MacMahon, Author of Closet of Dreams, with Teacher’s Guide Author Sandra Bennett, M. Ed.
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Kellee
Picture Books
- Mahogany: A Little Red Riding Hood Tale by JaNay Brown-Wood, Illustrated by John Joven: What a fun retelling of Red Riding Hood! Mahogany has such great intuition, confidence, and is creative in her way of saving herself from the wolf. And the illustrations add even more playfulness to the story.
- You Are a Robin! by Laurie Ann Thompson, Illustrated by Jay Fleck: I definitely want to read more from this series because Thompson truly is brilliant in her crafting of this book. The inclusion of questions keeps curiosity up; the play throughout keeps the reader engaged in mind & body; and all of the fun information about robins leads to a deeper understanding of birds, the ecosystem, and vocabulary.
- There’s No Such Thing As Vegetables by Kyle Lukoff, Illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi: Check out my review from a couple of weeks ago.
- Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They! by Linz Amer, Illustrated by Kip Alizadeh: This picture book is the perfect introduction to pronouns for young readers. Using storytelling as the vehicle, Amer teaches about identities and pronouns in an engaging and informative way. Readers will also love the vibrant illustrations.
- Puff: All About Air by Emily Kate Moon: Reminiscent of Stacy McAnulty’s Our Universe series, Moon uses storytelling and humor to engage the reader in the book and sprinkles in information to teach all about air. The illustrations are perfect for the topic–light yet important to the story. This will be a great science cross-curricular read aloud.
- Zandi’s Song by Zandile Ndhlovu, Illustrated by Katlego Keokgale: I love this book for so many reasons. First, the author is just fantstic. Ndhlovu is the first South African Black free diving instructor, and she hopes the book will inspire “a space where diverse representation in the ocean is possible.” Second, the story is magical. It reads like folklore and teaches such important ecology, especially the need to respect and love our oceans. Third, the illustrations bring it all together. They are beautiful and fit perfectly with the story.
- The Thingamajig by Rilla Alexander: Oh man; we all know the feeling of forgetting what something is called, and Alexander has created a whole book celebrating, instead of demonizing, that experience. In this fun and silly book, all the characters search for what they lost. Whatever it is called. And I do love the inclusion of back matter explaining the origins of some of the nonsense words.
- The Great Puptective by Alina Tsyoe: In this early reader chapter book graphic novel, Truffles, the cat, has to put up with a new puppy in his house. And even worse, the new puppy is obsessed with solving mysteries. Like many books with opposite duos, Truffles and Poppy’s relationship drive this book that is full of humor and such colorful, fun illustrations.
Middle Grade
- How to Find What You’re Not Looking For by Veera Hiranandani: This book is told in 2nd person!! How cool is that?!?! I was so impressed with the structure! When I first started, I was worried that the reader wouldn’t get enough insight into the main character’s story/life, but Hiranandi actually used it to her advantage and gave us even deeper insight into Ariel’s feelings since the reader is imagining themself as her. In addition to its unique point of view and wonderful main character, I have also not read any middle grade historical fiction that touch on the one of the topic in this book: inter-racial/religious marriage. I think it is an important time in history that is interesting to explore through fiction.
- Hidden Truths by Elly Swartz: This book was a middle school roller coaster! So much happens within the pages which made it so I just couldn’t stop listening to it. I also love how relatable it is to my middle schoolers. Everyone during middle school years are trying to figure out who they are which, unfortunately, includes bumps along the way. But the book makes one thing very clear: we can never forget our true friends.
- The Mystery of Locked Doors by Lindsay Currie: I will be reviewing this in a couple of weeks.
- Finally Heard by Kelly Yang: In the sequel to Finally Seen Lina is feeling more confident in general, but then social media and phones invade Ms. Carter’s classroom and it makes everyone question everything. Finally Heard is a great cautionary tale about the dangers of social media and the power of influence on kids as they grow up.
- The Gray by Chris Baron: There are not a lot of books that deal with middle school males who are dealing with anxiety, so The Gray is an important addition to any middle school library. The reader journeys with Sasha has he works on strategies to cope with his anxiety and curb his technology addiction. Along the way he survives multiple panic attacks, makes two true friends, helps another boy work through his trauma, and learns to ride a horse. The story unfolds beautifully and was just a fantastic read.
- Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs by Pam Muñoz Ryan: I listened to Solimar with Trent, and it ended up being much more of an adventure than I realized it was going to be. Solimar becomes the only hope for her kingdom, so is forced to action which leads to an adventure unlike anything she’s been on. Ryan’s writing is so lyrical and descriptive, I felt like I was with Solimar as she journeyed through jungles, rivers, and mountains to save the day.
Young Adult
- Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley: This story of murder, mystery, and betrayal is one that I had trouble putting down; it is a page turner where every second you are learning new things that make you want to continue to find all of the puzzle pieces. In addition to Perry’s story, Boulley addresses the very real issues of missing indigenous women and stolen ancestral remains and artifacts and teaches the reader about these tragedies that need to not be ignored.
- Seasick by Kristin Cast & Pintip Dunn: So much murder in this book! I was quite shocked because just when I thought nothing else bad could happen on the yacht, something else did. Phew! I was exhausted reading it because it is such a marathon, all taking place in one night. The resolution of the mystery at the end was quite surprising also.
- All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir: This is one of the most perfect books I’ve ever read. It made me cry because I was sad. It made me cry because I was happy. I laughed, cringed, and was furious. Any book that can make me feel all of these emotions while also crafting a narrative that I was sucked into immediately: The story of Sal and Noor, now, and the story of Misbah and Toufiq, then. Then tragedy strikes and choices are made, and everyone finds themselves in situations that they didn’t ever want to be in. Please read this book if you haven’t!
- Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis: Thieves’ Gambit was a twisty, turny heist book with a fantastic cast of characters and non-stop action. Oh, and I can’t forget about betrayal and romance! They’re in there, too. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was the ending because I now have to wait for book #2 to see what happens next!
To learn more about any of these books, click on any title/image to go to the book’s Goodreads page or check out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.
Ricki
This is my week off; see you next week!
Kellee
- Reading: The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado
- Listening: Rez Ball by Byron Graves
- Listening with Trent: Stuck by Jennifer Swender
Tuesday: Speck: An Itty-Bitty Epic by Margaux Meganck
Saturday: Sofia’s Kids’ Corner: A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier
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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I know it’s been a while since you’ve shared, Kellee, but, wow, there are so many books in your list I hope to read. I know of some, but put others on the list, too, like Seasick & Thieve’s Gambit, a few of the picture books, too! Thanks, and wishing you a good week!
It took me far too long to realize that the Hiranandani book was in second person! I can’t think of any other middle grade books that are. You’ve been reading such a wide range of books! Glad you have found some winners.