Explorer: The Lost Islands edited by Kazu Kibuishi

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Explorer: The Lost Islands
Edited by Kazu Kibuishi
Published October 15th, 2013 by Harry N. Abrams

Goodreads Summary: The highly anticipated second volume to the critically acclaimed Explorer series, The Lost Islands is a collection of seven all-new stories written and illustrated by an award-winning roster of comics artists, with each story centered around the theme of hidden places. Edited by the New York Times bestselling comics creator Kazu Kibuishi, this graphic anthology includes well-written, beautifully illustrated stories by Kazu (the Amulet series), Jason Caffoe (the Flight series), Raina Telgemeier (Drama and Smile), Dave Roman (the Astronaut Academy series), Jake Parker (the Missile Mouse series), Michel Gagné (The Saga of Rex), Katie and Steven Shanahan (the Flight series), and up-and-coming new artist Chrystin Garland.

My Review and Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: I am a huge fan of Kazu Kibuishi. His artwork and his stories are so beautiful, so I know when he pulls together an anthology it is going to be phenomenal and this one does not disappoint. Each story revolves around an island although every story is very different. And I’ll be honest for a second, most of the time when I read short story anthologies, there is at least one story that is just “EH” for me, but I really liked each of these and they all fit a different purpose: Rabbit Island by Jake Parker was fun but had a great message, Loah by Michel Gagne was an artistic masterpiece, Radio Adrift by Katie and Steven Shanahan is so different from the others, etc.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: What I love about anthologies is that each story is different and can be used to discuss different narrative aspects. For example, Kazu Kibuishi’s story can be compared to Moby Dick and can also be used for cause and effect, Raina Telgemeier’s story would be great to use for inferencing and Carapace by Jason Caffoe can be compared to other fantasy stories (and these are just what I thought of off the top of my head). And, of course, on top of all of this, it will be read and loved by kids.

Discussion Questions: Which story out of the anthology is your favorite and why?; Which island out of the anthology would you like to live on? Which would you avoid?; How is the captain in Kazu Kibuishi’s story similar to Captain Ahab?; In Carapace, the boy lands on a fantastical island. What fantastical island does it remind you of?

We Flagged: 

(Desert Island Playlist by Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier, p. 58)
Shared by Raina Telegemeier on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/5048366-explorer-the-lost-islands-out-now

Read This If You Loved: Flight series edited by Kazu Kibuishi, Explorer: The Mystery Boxes edited by Kazu Kibuishi, Teen Boat! by Dave Roman, Smile and Drama by Raina Telgemeier, Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi

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Crow Call by Lois Lowry

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Crow Call
Author: Lois Lowry
Illustrator: Bagram Ibatoulline
Published October 1st, 2009 by Scholastic Press

Goodreads Summary: Two-time Newbery medalist Lois Lowry has crafted a beautiful picture book about the power of longing and the importance of reconnection between a girl and her father in post-WWII America.

This is the story of young Liz, her father, and their strained relationship. Dad has been away at WWII for longer than she can remember, and they begin their journey of reconnection through a hunting shirt, cherry pie, tender conversation, and the crow call. This allegorical story shows how, like the birds gathering above, the relationship between the girl and her father is graced with the chance to fly.

Review: This book felt very real, so I was not surprised to learn that it was based on a day in Lois Lowry’s life, when she went hunting with her father after he returned from World War II. As more of our children’s fathers and mothers return from Iraq and Afghanistan, I can’t think of a more appropriate book. Liz longs for a connection with her father, but she is uncomfortable saying the word, “Daddy.” The reader feels her sense of longing and reaches for the connection with her. This is a beautiful picture book that can be read to students of all ages.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: Often, classics and YAL grapple with the emotional effects of soldiers in wars. The pulse of the war reaches family members, create a lasting aftermath of emotions like uncertainty, loneliness, and helplessness. I would love to see this book paired with a book about war (whether the other text takes place during the war or after the war). Teachers might have students pick out lines or actions that show the emotions that subside after a family member returns from war.

Discussion Questions: How is the crow call symbolic?; Why does Liz fear the hunting side of her father? Does he recognize this? How do you know?; What does the ending show about her relationship with her father?

We Flagged: “I practice his name to myself, whispering it under my breath. Daddy. Daddy” (p. 7).

Read This If You Loved: Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick, The Silver Path by Christine Harris, Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

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Seymour Simon: Animal books

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NF PB 2013

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

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Various Animals including Gorillas, Penguins, and Cats
Author: Seymour Simon
Published: Varies

Gorillas Goodreads Summary: Classic movies show giant gorillas scaling tall buildings and swatting planes from the sky, but actual gorillas are gentle social animals that live together in family groups like humans. In fact, gorillas are one of the closest genetic matches to people. And just like humans, gorillas can shriek, chuckle, hiccup, and even burp!

Award-winning science writer Seymour Simon has teamed up with the Smithsonian Institution to bring you an updated edition of his classic full-color photographic introduction to these fascinating animals.

Penguins Goodreads Summary: Did you know that: Penguins are champion swimmers. They spend 75 percent of their lives in water. They are birds, but they can’t fly. Penguins are classified as birds because they have feathers.

Now you can explore a penguin’s world by finding out how they can swim so fast, what they eat, and why people need to protect their habitats. Acclaimed science writer Seymour Simon has teamed up with the Smithsonian Institution to take you on a journey to the Antarctic region for a close-up look at one of nature’s most beloved and sociable animals.

Cats Goodreads Summary: Cats are fascinating, complex creatures. Since cats were first tamed about 5,000 years ago, they have enchanted people with their elegant beauty and mysterious manner. But cats can also be playful and cuddly pets, death-defying acrobats, or ruthless hunters. Come along as celebrated science writer Seymour Simon explores the many faces of this beloved animal with striking full-color photographs and engaging prose.

My Reviews and Teacher’s Tools For Navigation: Seymour Simon’s books have been a hit in my classroom (I even put them on my Top Books for Struggling and Reluctant Readers list); however, I, hypocritically, had never read any of his books. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed to remedy this and you will see that I did based on my next couple of weeks of Wednesday reviews.

After reading the three animal books pictured/mentioned above, I can see why Simon is a favorite informational nonfiction author. His books are friendly to read yet include essential information about the animals that they are about. The books are easy to navigate and the photographs that are included are beautiful. These books are written to engage and educate the reader.

There are such a plethora of ways to use Simon’s books in the classroom. They will find love in the classroom library, they can be used in conjunction with science or social studies to get more information about a topic, or they can be used in a lit circle type environment where each group has a different Simon book and then they come together to share what they learned. They can also be used for researching as well as academic vocabulary (and even just vocabulary) instruction. Simons books are made to be used in classes and to be in students’ hands.

Discussion Questions: What was the most interesting fact you learned about _____’s habitat? Diet? Parenting? Behavior? Types?

We Flagged: “Penguins are champion swimmers and divers. But they are not fish and they are not aquatic mammals such as dolphins. Penguins are birds because they have feathers, and only birds have feathers. Like birds, they lay their eggs and raise their chicks on land. But they don’t look or fly like most other birds. Instead they seem to fly through the water, and they spend much of their lives at sea.” (Penguins p. 5)

“All cats are hunting animals. They use claws and teeth to seize their prey. When you watch a cat play with a ball or piece of yarn, it is almost like watching a tiger or a leopard stalk its prey in the wild. Even well-fed pet cats will try to catch mice or birds or insects.” (Cats p. 5)

“Gorillas are sometimes called anthropoid (manlike) apes. A gorilla has two arms and two legs, and a head and body much like a human’s head and body. A gorilla has five fingers and five toes, and thirty-two teeth. You have all of those too, and twenty-eight teeth, in about the same positions. Of course, gorillas are much harrier than people. An adult gorilla has hair all over its body except its face, its chest, and the palms of its hands and soles of its feet.” (Gorillas p. 5)

Read This If You Loved: Any informational nonfiction about animals

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Will & Whit by Laura Lee Gulledge

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Will & Whit
Author and Illustrator: Laura Lee Gulledge
Published May 17th, 2013 by Abrams

Goodreads Summary: Wilhelmina “Will” Huxstep is a creative soul struggling to come to terms with a family tragedy. She crafts whimsical lamps, in part to deal with her fear of the dark. As she wraps up another summer in her mountain town, she longs for unplugged adventures with her fellow creative friends, Autumn, Noel, and Reese. Little does she know that she will get her wish in the form of an arts carnival and a blackout, courtesy of a hurricane named Whitney, which forces Will to face her fear of darkness.
Laura Lee Gulledge’s signature visual metaphors will be on full display in this all-new graphic novel, a moving look at shedding light on the dark corners of life.

My Review: This book was NOT what I thought it was going to be! I had read Gulledge’s last graphic novel, Page by Paige, so I knew that it was going to be unique, but if you look at the cover you assume Will & Whit are the main characters and there is going to be some sort of romance. That is so off track of what the book is actually about. Will is actually Wilhelmina, our main character, who is dealing with some darkness in her life and fights it by making lamps (some of them are really beautiful and I wish I could buy them). Whit, on the other hand, is not her love interest. Whit is Hurricane Whitney who hits Will’s town and causes Will to really face some of the darkness. So, where does the romance come in? There  is a little bit, but you will be so surprised as to what the cover means! I was.

There are also a wonderful set of supporting characters who make the book even more special. I also love the inclusion of art (visual and performing) and antiques within the novel.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: The themes in this graphic novel are definitely worth talking about in the classroom. I also loved the nuances throughout that Gulledge uses to set the mood (the novel’s mood and Will’s mood). Gulledge is a skilled artist and Will’s darkness holding her back is so beautifully put into the story (like the summary says–visual metaphors).

Discussion Questions: How does Gulledge use images throughout the novel to show Will’s emotional state?; How does Whit help Will overcome her darkness?

Read This If You Loved: Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge, Friends with Boy by Faith Erin Hicks, Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol, Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Recommended For: 

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Squish: Game On! by Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm

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Squish: Game On!
Author: Jennifer L. Holm
Illustrator: Matthew Holm
Published May 1st, 2013 by Random House

Goodreads Summary: Beep! Beep! Squish can’t get enough of his awesome new video game Mitosis! (Mitosis is what happens when cells divide. Who says video games can’t be educational?) In fact, he may even be “obsessed”! He plays at home . . . at school. . . even in his sleep! Are video games taking over Squish’s life?! And can Squish’s favorite comic book hero, Super Amoeba, stop the Creeping Black Mold that’s taking over Small Pond? Find out in Squish #5: Game On–saving the world, one cell at a time!
Yowza! You can draw comics, too! Look in the back to find out how to draw one of the Squish characters! Also includes instructions for a sensational science experiment you can do at home! Shazam!

My Review: I love the Squish series. The series is so wonderful for many reasons, but I like them specifically because it balances humor, entertainment, and education. I also really like the characters, especially Squish, and one of the things I love about Squish is his love of comic books and his chosen hero, Super Amoeba. This book in the Squish series deals with a dilemma that many children face: books vs. video games and balancing time. Will Squish be able to fight the video game addiction?

Teacher’s Tools For Navigation: Students love Squish. This one will be no different. It has all of the humor yet education of the first 5 and continues to have situations that its readers will connect with.

Discussion Questions: How do you balance your time between reading and video games?; Have you ever found yourself being addicted to something? What did you do?

We Flagged:

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Visit Squish 5‘s Amazon page to “Click to Look Inside”

Read This If You Loved: Babymouse (series) by Jennifer and Matthew Holm, Squish (series) by Jennifer and Matthew Holm, Lunch Lady (series) by Jarrett Krosoczka

Recommended For: 

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ALAN 2013: Celebrating Strong Female Characters

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On Tuesday, November 26th, during the ALAN Workshop, I was lucky enough to be able to moderate a panel of the authors of the books above: Mariah Fredericks, Tupelo Hassman, Adele Griffin, and Paul Rudnick. The panel title was: “Celebrating Strong Female Characters Young Woman Take Center Stage: The Fight to Be Heard in a Testosterone World.”

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If you do not know these authors, let me introduce you: 

  • Mariah Fredericks grew up in New York City and uses her experiences in New York and an alternative school there in her books. She has had a lot of jobs and most of them involved books: she’s reviewed books, shelved books, and sold books. She now focuses her time on writing books and says it is the best job she’s had so far. Mariah is the author of 8 young adult novels including the In the Cards series, Crunch Time, and her newest, Season of the Witch.
  • Adele Griffin is a two-time National Book Award finalist and the highly acclaimed author of numerous books for young adult and middle grade readers. Her works include Where I Want to Be, the Vampire Island series, and her most recent thriller Loud Awake and Lost.
  • Tupelo Hassman’s work has appeared in a variety of journals, magazines, and newspapers such as The Boston Globe, Harper’s Bazaar, The Paris Review Daily, and The Portland Review Literary Journal. Tupelo is the first American ever to win London’s Literary Death Match. Her first novel, girl child, is a 2013 Alex Award winner.
  • Paul Rudnick. Paul is a frequent contributor to the NewYorker, Vanity Fair, and Entertainment Weekly. He is an Obie award winning-playwright and also was the screenwriter for such movies like Sister Act and Stepford Wives. Gorgeous is his first young adult novel.

Like their authors, the books the panel were discussing are equally as impressive (Goodreads summaries):

  • Season of the Witch (published October 8th, 2013 by Schwartz & Wade): Like Fredericks’s The Girl in the Park, here is a page-turner that perfectly captures the world of New York City private schools, as it explores the notion of power among teenage girls. Publisher’s Weekly, in a starred review, raves, “Fredericks again proves her gift for conveying the intensity of adolescence, while exploring the ways girls’ sexuality is used against them and asking why ‘we all have to be predators and prey.'”Queen Bee Chloe is going to make Toni suffer for whatever transpired between Toni and Chloe’s boyfriend, Oliver, over the summer. From day one of eleventh grade, she has Toni branded as a super slut, and it isn’t long before things get so ugly that Toni fears for her safety. What’s a scared, powerless, and fed-up teenager to do? Guided by Cassandra—a girl with some serious problems of her own—Toni decides to stop playing the victim and take control. Cassandra has been experimenting with witchcraft, and together they cast a spell on Chloe that may actually cause her death. Could Toni have really made such an awful thing happen?
  • girlchild (Published February 14th, 2012 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux): Rory Hendrix is the least likely of Girl Scouts. She hasn’t got a troop or even a badge to call her own.  But she’s checked the Handbook out from the elementary school library so many times that her name fills all the lines on the card, and she pores over its surreal advice (Disposal of Outgrown Uniforms; The Right Use of Your Body; Finding Your Way When Lost) for tips to get off the Calle:  that is, Calle de los Flores, the Reno trailer park where she lives with her mother, Jo, the sweet-faced, hard-luck bartender at the Truck Stop.Rory’s been told she is “third generation in a line of apparent imbeciles, feeble-minded bastards surely on the road to whoredom.” But she’s determined to prove the County and her own family wrong. Brash, sassy, vulnerable, wise, and terrified, she struggles with her mother’s habit of trusting the wrong men, and the mixed blessing of being too smart for her own good. From diary entries, social worker’s reports, half-recalled memories, story problems, arrest records, family lore, Supreme Court opinions, and her grandmother’s letters, Rory crafts a devastating collage that shows us her world while she searches for the way out of it. Girlchildis a heart-stopping and original debut.
  • Loud Awake and Lost (Published November 12th, 2013 by Knopf Books for Young Readers): LOUD. There was an accident. Ember knows at least that much. She was driving. The car was totaled. She suffered back injuries and brain trauma. But she is alive. That’s the only thing left she can cling to.AWAKE. Eight months later, Ember feels broken. The pieces of her former self no longer fit together. She can’t even remember the six weeks of her life leading up to the accident. Where was she going? Who was she with? And what happened during those six weeks that her friends and family won’t talk about?LOST. One by one, Ember discovers the answers to these questions, like a twisted game of dominos. And little by little, the person she used to be slips further and further away.

    In the wake of her critically praised young adult psychological thrillers,Tighter and All You Never Wanted, National Book Award finalist Adele Griffin has created another triumph. Loud Awake & Lost is an unflinching story of loss and recovery.

  • Gorgeous (Published April 30th, 2013 by Scholastic Press): Inner beauty wants out…When eighteen-year-old Becky Randle’s mother dies, she’s summoned from her Missouri trailer park to meet Tom Kelly, the world’s top designer. He makes her an impossible offer: He’ll create three dresses to transform Becky from a nothing special girl into the most beautiful woman who ever lived.Becky thinks Tom is a lunatic, or that he’s producing a hidden camera show called World’s Most Gullible Poor People. But she accepts, and she’s remade as Rebecca. When Becky looks in the mirror, she sees herself – an awkward mess of split ends and cankles. But when anyone else looks at Becky, they see pure five-alarm hotness.Soon Rebecca is on the cover of Vogue, the new Hollywood darling, and dating celebrities. Then Becky meets Prince Gregory, heir to the British throne, and everything starts to crumble. Because Rebecca aside, Becky loves him. But to love her back, Gregory would have to look past the blinding Rebecca to see the real girl inside. And Becky knows there’s not enough magic in the world.

    A screamingly defiant, hugely naughty, and impossibly fun free fall past the cat walks, the red carpets, and even the halls of Buckingham Palace,Gorgeous does the impossible: It makes you see yourself clearly for the first time.

I am so lucky to have been able to moderate these amazing authors and talk about such an important topic as strong female protagonists. Each of these books will find a home in classroom and school libraries where readers will be inspired by their protagonists.

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Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Ricki’s Review)

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Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: September 10th, 2013 by St. Martin’s Griffin

GoodReads Summary: A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Review: I can’t remember reading a book that felt so authentic to and aligned with my own experiences. I have this urge to buy hundreds of copies of this book and pass them out to college freshmen. Freshman year of college is an incredibly difficult time, and this book helped me remember it vividly. From Rowell’s descriptions of the domesticated squirrels to the awkwardness of roommate interactions to the feeling of entering the dining hall for the first time and not knowing where to go or where to sit (and feeling sure everyone is watching you), this book perfectly captures the minute details of college life–and all of the insecurities that come with it. I loved the parallels cast between Simon Snow’s story and Cather’s, and it inspired me to want to be a writer. This is a beautifully compelling story that will resonate with readers.

View Kellee’s review of Fangirl HERE.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This would be a great book to teach along with a creative writing unit. It would inspire students to want to become stronger writers. Students could write their own fanfictions or alternate storytelling (like Nick and Cather did). Cather’s struggles as a writer are inspirational, and I am betting that most people, like me, close this book and want to get out their computers and start writing.

Very few authors are able to hone in on the minute details of humanity. I noticed Rowell’s incredible ability to do this in Eleanor & Park, and she certainly did not stop there. I would love to copy passages of this book for close readings. This would really help students understand good, powerful writing.

Discussion Questions: Cather finds it difficult to write about any world other than that of Simon Snow. Why do you think that might be?; How are Cather and Wren different? Do you think there are any underlying reasons for their differences?; What is Nick’s purpose in the novel? What does he show about Cather?

We Flagged:

“I feel sorry for you, and I’m going to be your friend.”
“I don’t want to be your friend,” Cath said as sternly as she could. “I like that we’re not friends.”
“Me, too. I’m sorry you ruined it by being so pathetic.”

“In new situations, all the trickiest rules are the ones nobody bothers to explain to you. (And the ones you can’t Google.)”

Read This If You Loved: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Looking for Alaska by John Green, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian

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