Top Ten Tuesday: Things We Are Thankful For

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

 Today’s Topic: Things We Are Thankful For

The bookish version!

Ricki

1. Little scraps of paper that make convenient bookmarks.

2. Authors who tweet back to my students.

3. The ALAN Workshop for the wonderful connections with amazing educators and publishers.

4. Historical Fiction because I hate learning about history through facts, but this genre makes the learning fun!

5. Libraries. This is new to me. I used to buy all of my books. With a baby on the way, I have discovered how wonderful libraries are (and how wonderful inter-library loan can be)!

6. Audiobooks…for making my drives to school much more bearable.

7. Books that make me sob. I always love a good cry.

8. GoodReads, for tracking my books automatically.

9. GoodReads (again), for showing me which of my friends have read a book so I can call them to chat about it when I finish.

10. Bookshelves, because without you, my house would make me look even more like a book hoarder.

Kellee

1. Twitter for helping fuel my love of books, introducing me to amazing people, and helping me keep up with the best books out there.

2. Jim for putting up with my addiction.

3. Goodreads for the same reasons why Ricki stated above.

4. Young adult books for helping me find the love of reading after my literature degree.

5. My friends’ blogs for sharing with me the best books that I should read.

6. My students for making why I read even more meaningful.

7. NCTE convention and ALAN workshop helps me hang out with fellow book lovers, amazing educators, and authors.

8. Authors, in general, for making these things I love.

9. IMWAYR (It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?) meme–I love being part of the community and learning about everything everyone is reading.

10. Bookshelves for having dual purposes: making my house look smart and for storing my books.

What are you thankful for?

RickiSig andSignature

Skinny Little Tree by Jayme Martin

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Skinny Little Tree
Author: Jayme Martin
Published June 30th, 2013 by Outskirts Press

Goodreads Summary: “All the seasons are worth living…” May Skinny Little Tree, Wiggly Worms, and Little Leaves remind you that all the seasons of life are worth living.

Review: This is a fabulous book to teach children about the changing of seasons. A little boy approaches Skinny Little Tree and asks her whey she is smiling, weeping, worried, etc., and she tells him why she is feeling those emotions. She responds with an answer that shows she doesn’t understand how her environment changes as the seasons change. After each season, there is a workbook page that asks the reader to draw a different element of the plot. I imagine that kids would have a lot of great fun with this interactive text!

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This would be a great book to pair with a unit about the changing seasons or the emotions that we feel. I think kids would have a lot of fun with the interactive drawing sections. I’d love to see students write their own books from the perspective of a different inanimate object as it responds to the seasons changing. For example, a student might choose to write from the perspective of a pond as it goes through the seasons of a year.

It is reminiscent of many Eric Carle books, so teachers might find it valuable to pair them to teach author’s craft.

Discussion Questions: What changes does Skinny Little Tree experience as the seasons change? Which was your favorite season? Why?; What does Skinny Little Tree come to understand by the end of the book?; How does the repetition in this book add to the story?

We Flagged: “‘Skinny Little Tree, / why are you smiling at me?’ / ‘Because Wiggly Worms / are tickling my toes'” (p. 3-4).

Read This If You Loved: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? written by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Recommended For: 

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RickiSig

**Thank you to Jayme Martin for providing me with this copy for review!**

Top Ten Tuesday: Books We’d Recommend to Reluctant Readers

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

 Today’s Topic: Top Ten Books We’d Recommend to ______ Readers

We decided to take our own spin on this topic and address different types of reluctant readers that are common in classrooms. We picked five categories and will give you our top picks in each category!

1. The Reluctant Reader Who Loves Sports

Ricki‘s Pick

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Crackback by John Coy

My students LOVE this book. It is about a boy named Miles who finds out the other players on his football team are using steroids. He has to decide whether he has to join them if he wants to keep up with their strength. I have five copies of this book and they are always out.

Kellee‘s Pick

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Comeback Kids (series) by Mike Lupica

My students really enjoy this series and they usually graduate from it to other Mike Lupica books. They love how he writes about sports, and I love that his books are well-written.

2. The Reluctant Reader Who Loves Action Movies

Ricki‘s Pick

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Maze Runner by James Dashner

When Thomas wakes up, he can’t even remember his name. He is staring at a group of boys who are members of a world different than any he can remember. This book is full of action, and readers will find it difficult to put it down. I chose this title because students love the action scenes, but the book also has great depth.

Kellee‘s Pick

lightning

The Lightning Thief (series) by Rick Riordan

I’m still finding students who have not had the pleasure of reading Percy’s adventures, so it is always a go-to for me. If they struggle with the length, I can suck them in with the graphic novel adaptation.

3. The Reluctant Reader Who Loves Mysteries

Ricki‘s Pick

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I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Jasper is the son of a famous serial killer, and when several bodies are discovered his town, he knows he is the only one who can think like a serial killer to solve the crimes. He decides to get involved to try to solve the mystery of the murders. My students love this book because it has equal parts violence and mystery. They are hooked from the very beginning!

Kellee‘s Pick

amulet

Amulet (series) by Kazu Kibuishi

This is by far the most loved series at my school with my students. They love to read them, reread them, discuss them, talk about them, anything! They adore these books. In Book One, join Emily and Navin to find out what/who has taken their mother.

4. The Reluctant Reader Who Wants to Try Urban Fiction

Ricki‘s Pick

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Tyrell by Coe Booth

Tyrell lives with his mother and little brother in the projects of the South Bronx. This book forces readers to face the realities of urban life and is extremely popular in my classroom. Coe Booth’s writing is authentic, and the characters and setting feel very real to readers.

Kellee‘s Pick

ghetto cowboy

Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri

I love this book and am so happy that so many of my reluctant readers have as well. Coltrane is sent to live with his absent father in Philadelphia and he is thrown into quite a different experience than he is used to.

5. The Struggling Reader Who Has Difficulty with Comprehension

Ricki’s Pick

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Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper

After a car accident kills his best friend, Andy finds living to be very difficult. He is overwhelmed with his sense of guilt because he was behind the wheel. This book is short, but it has a great impact on my students. It is a powerful book with complex themes but accessible language.

Kellee‘s Pick

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Big Nate (series) by Lincoln Peirce

This category is hard for me as it would depend on the reluctant reader; however, Big Nate and Diary of a Wimpy Kid are always great places to start with reluctant, struggling readers. These books are funny, have characters and themes students can relate to, and have illustrations that help with comprehension.

 

Which books do you recommend to reluctant readers?

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Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

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Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock
Author: Matthew Quick
Published: August 13th, 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

GoodReads Summary: In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I’m sorry I couldn’t be more than I was—that I couldn’t stick around—and that what’s going to happen today isn’t their fault.

Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school’s class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting book, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out.

Review: I have read every one of Matthew Quick’s books. He is a teacher, and I feel as if he understands teenagers in ways that many people don’t. Quick’s characters feel like real people, and while I read this one, I kept forgetting that I was even reading a book. To be cliché, I was lost in the story.

Leonard Peacock is a complex character. Even with his evil intention to murder a fellow classmate, the reader comes to understand that he is deeply troubled and not at all evil on the inside. His plan is to give three gifts to three individuals who have positively impacted his life, then kill his classmate, and then kill himself. I read this book with an uncomfortable stomach. I couldn’t put it down because I needed to know how the plot unraveled. Kids will be hooked. It teaches incredible messages of bullying and loneliness. Leonard’s mother is such a terrible parent that I think it will make many teens appreciate their own parents. I had the urge to scream at her at several points in the book. I have read many books that are somewhat similar to the themes of this text, yet it felt very different. I would urge teachers to read it because it sheds light on issues that are often difficult (or maybe even taboo) to discuss.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: My initial thought was that this would make an incredible read-aloud. I think all types of kids would appreciate it. My only hesitance are there are several references to awkward scenes (like masturbation), and even the most liberal teachers might feel a bit uncomfortable reading these aloud. That said, I think this would make an excellent whole-class text or literature circle book. Teachers would also find value in close readings of portions of this text to jumpstart difficult (but important) conversations with students about bullying, depression, and suicide. The book has over sixty footnotes, and it would be interesting to discuss this text feature and/or the experiments that Quick takes with the text structure. The book ends a bit abruptly, and I think students would love to write and discuss extended endings to the text. I would love to see this book bridged with classic texts like The Awakening by Kate Chopin or Hamlet by William Shakespeare. There are a plethora of Shakespeare references that will make teachers drool!

Discussion Questions: What leads a person to make rash, violent decisions? Can s/he be stopped?; How does our past influence our psyche?; Is revenge sweet? Can it ever be justified?; How do our parents shape our mental behavior?; What happens after the conclusion of this text?

We Flagged:

“I admire [Humphrey] Bogart because he does what’s right regardless of consequences—even when the consequences are stacked high against him—unlike just about everyone else in my life” (p. 23).

“How do you measure suffering?

I mean, the fact that I live in a democratic country doesn’t guarantee my life will be problem-free.

Far from it.

I understand that I am relatively privileged from a socio-economical viewpoint, but so was Hamlet—so are a lot of miserable people” (p. 94).

Read This If You Loved: Endgame by Nancy Garden, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick, Burn by Suzanne Phillips, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King, The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp, Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

Recommended For:

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Top Ten Tuesday: Covers We Wish We Could Redesign

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

 Today’s Topic: Top Ten Covers We Wish We Could Redesign

If only the covers war more alluring, kids would be more likely to read them!

Ricki

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1. Personal Effects by E.M. Kokie

This is an incredible book. I just wish the cover reflected how awesome it is. I bet Kellee will agree with me on this one, as we both adore this book.

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I understand the symbolism of this cover, but I find it to be quite boring.

3. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This is one of my favorite books. Luckily, a quick read-aloud gets kids interested in reading it. That said, I wish the cover was different!

4. Tree Girl by Ben Mikaelsen

I know I talk about this book frequently. It is such a great text, and I loved using it for my struggling readers. They fell in love with it. It took some convincing for them to get beyond the cover, though!

5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I love the color! That said, I wish there was more on this cover. Kids seem to either love or hate the simplicity of this cover.

Kellee

Making up for my huge list last week, I could only think of 3 covers that I would really love to redesign.

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1. The Summer of May by Ceclia Galante

I will say, like Miss Movado preaches in the book, don’t judge a book by its cover. The cover (and description) of this book do not do the book justice. First, May is a 13 year old girl, not 12 as the description says and not 9 like the cover portrays. Also, she doesn’t go on a fire escape to dream and she doesn’t have a cat. I think the cover is going to drive away readers who need this book.

2. A Girl named Digit by Annabel Monaghan

This book makes Digit seem like any other girly book, but really it is an adventure-filled book and Digit is not like other girls. I just wish that it had seemed a little bit more kick butt.

3. Bluefish by Pat Schmatz

This cover just doesn’t portray at all what the book is about and I think readers who need the book won’t pick it up because it seems boring.

Which covers would you redesign?

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In This Moment by Wendy Glenn

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In This Moment

Author: Wendy Glenn
Manuscript Available at Macmillan’s Swoon Reads (www.swoonreads.com)

SwoonReads Summary: Sometimes, going through the motions feels like all we can manage, but it takes love to truly live.

Sixteen-year-old Laney Pritzkau lives with her hippie father in Connecticut. The unexpected death of her mother two years prior maintains a hold on her. She keeps her relationship circle small, lessening the likelihood of any future loss. It’s summer, and Laney babysits the energetic twin boys across the street, hangs out at the mall and beach with her two best girlfriends, and volunteers at Harmony House, the foster care home where her father works as a counselor. She wills the days to go by so she can flip her calendar to the next week, the next month, the next year, to keep moving forward and avoid the residual sadness and anger that bubble up when she pauses to consider life without a mother. Then she meets Evan–and leans that what’s most important is what’s in this moment.

Review: This is a beautifully written novel that allows readers to grapple with complex issues. My heart ached for Laney as she longed for her mother in difficult situations, and as a future parent, I couldn’t help but appreciate the connection she had with her father. Too often, parents are put in stereotypical, negative roles in books that feature young adult characters, and I appreciated the warmth and love Laney’s father emanated. Their relationship is comparable with that of Atticus and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, and teachers might find it valuable to pair passages between both texts.

The language of this novel was very poetic. Often, one or two passages impact me strongly within a novel. But with this text, I was continually scribbling down lines that forced me to stop and consider aspects of friendship, love, loss, and life.

Consider the beautiful language here:

“‘When I was growing up, I lived next door to the oldest, wisest woman on earth.   Her name was Sadie, and she had all the answers I could ever hope to discover.  Why is the sky blue?  Because God likes to paint in pastels.  Why does Jason keep teasing me in front of his friends?  Because Jason thinks you’re something special.  Why do Mom and Dad fight?  Because real love is worth the battle’” (p. 54).

Holy cow. Did that hit you straight in the heart? And on the flip side, sections of the novel made me laugh out loud, like this one:

“’Edgar Allan Poe.  My ferret.  He’s a tormented soul, obsessed with me, really.  Won’t stay home alone.  I’m his Annabel Lee’” (p. 112).

This is a book with strong literary merit that will greatly appeal to readers. I hope Macmillan considers publishing it because I’d love to have a hard copy in my hands. As a teacher, there would be many passages that I could draw upon, and more importantly, it would be well-loved by students. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the ending is stunning.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: Laney has great difficulty processing her grief over the loss of her mother. Loss is an incredibly difficult, intangible reality of life. Laney’s coping mechanism is that she doesn’t allow people to get close to her. She believes this will prevent her from having to experiencing these feelings again in her lifetime. It would be valuable for teachers to help students understand and learn about different coping mechanisms that humans use when they are grieving. Alternatively, teachers might have students consider where Laney is in the steps of the grieving process. I also imagine that many students would be interested in exploring and understanding Laney’s friendships. What do each of her friends offer her? Students always find their own meaning with texts, and this is certainly one that offers many ideas for students to explore.

Discussion Questions: How do Laney’s friendships differ from her relationship with Evan? Is the love that exists in a friendship different from the love that exists in an intimate relationship with a significant other?; By the end of the novel, do you feel a sense of hope for Laney? Has she completely overcome her inability to form close relationships, or do you think she still has work to do?; How does Laney’s father provide support for her? Do they cope with her mother’s death in the same way?

We Flagged: 

“Why is it that people get so excited by an opportunity to escape from reality, to cross that line from reality to fantasy?  Why do they crave a temporary fix?  They can hop on a cruise ship, pitch a tent, take that flight to somewhere, anywhere, in the quest to abandon reality for a short time, but to what end?  Eventually, they all have to come home to their mundane existence and, in the return, find themselves feeling as though they’re missing more than before they left in the first place.  And that doesn’t even take into consideration the lasting scars brought on by lost luggage, sunburn, and having to navigate airport security” (p. 10).

“‘Prove to me that your mom was right about love, that it’s possible, that it has the potential to make us better, stronger.  When you find the right guy, make him believe, too'” (p. 43).

Please note: The above quotes are from the manuscript posted on www.swoonreads.com. The quotes and page numbers may change when the book is published.

Read This If You Loved: Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler,  Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen,The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan MatsonThe Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Recommended For:

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Top Ten Tuesday: Sequels We Can’t Wait to Get Our Hands On

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

 Today’s Topic: Top Ten Sequels We Can’t Wait to Get Our Hands On

Sometimes you are too scared to read the sequel because it might not live up to the excellence of the first installment…and sometimes, you just haven’t had the time.

Ricki

1. Crossed (Matched series) by Ally Condie

I loved Matched, and I have owned Crossed and Reached since they both came out. I think I haven’t read them out of fear that they will tarnish my image of the first book! Someone, send me courage!

2. Prized (Birthmarked series) by Caragh M. O’Brien

I could read dystopians forever and never get tired of them. I loved the concept behind the Birthmarked series, and it took me a long time to get the second book. Then, I became worried that I had gone too long between books and needed to reread the first one. I need to read this sequel because the first book was excellent.

3. Ashen Winter (Ashfall series) by Mike Mullin

Why haven’t I read this one? Because both of my copies never came back to me. Luckily, I saw it in the library and am going to get to this book. I found the first book to be epic.

4. Unsouled (Unwind series) by Neal Shusterman

This one is coming out in two days! Eee! I am crossing my fingers that we get it in our ALAN Workshop box. Otherwise, I am off to the bookstore!

5. Game (Jasper Dent series) by Barry Lyga

I loved the first book in the series. It was very similar to Criminal Minds, the TV show. I have it on reserve at the library, but it seems the person who borrowed it has not returned it yet. My students loved this series.

Kellee

Like Ricki, a lot of the books on my list are sequels that have been out, but I just haven’t gotten to (and I want to read CrossedReached, Ashen Winter, Unwholly, and Unsouled just like Ricki does!). Sequels are by far my biggest book gap, because there are so many books to read and I often don’t get to the sequels. Because of this, I couldn’t keep mine to a list of 5.  Here is my list of 15 sequels that I need to read! I want to read them all for the same reason: Because the beginning of the series was awesome!

1. Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth

2. The Son of NeptuneThe Mark of Athena, and House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #2, #3, and #4) by Rick Riordan

3. Middle Ground (Awaken #2) by Katie Kacvinsky

4. Scarlet (Cinder #2) by Marissa Meyer

5. Darkbeast Rebellion (Darkbeast #2) by Morgan Keyes

6. The Crown of Embers and The Bitter Kingdom (Fire and Thorns #2 and #3) by Rae Carson

7. Such Wicked Intent (The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein #2) by Kenneth Oppel

8. Rebel Heart (Dust Lands #2by Moira Young

9. The Lives We Lost (Fallen World #2) by Megan Crewe

10. Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green (Precious Stone Trilogy #2 and #3) by Kerstin Gier

11. Outpost and Horde (Razorland #2 and #3) by Ann Aguirre

12. Fever and Sever (The Chemical Garden #2 and #3) by Lauren DeStefano

13. Pandemonium and Requiem (Delirium #2 and #3) by Lauren Oliver

14. Death Cure and Kill Order (Maze Runner #3 and #0.5) by James Dashner

15. A Million Suns and Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #2 and #3) by Beth Revis

Honorable. Trail of the Spellmans and The Last Word (The Spellmans #5 and #6) by Lisa Lutz

Which sequels are you looking forward to reading?

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