Unleashing Readers

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 2/13/17

February 13, 2017 by Kellee

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

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

Tuesday: Books to Deepen Our Understanding of the Countries on the #MuslimBan List

Wednesday: Sea Otter Heroes by Patricia Newman

Thursday: Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Friday: An Alphabet in Bloom by Nathalie Trovato

Sunday: Author Guest Post: “Overwhelm and Fear” by Mary Cronk Farrell, Author of Fannie Never Flinched

So, what are you reading?

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

I had a much better reading week! I finished everything I had started last week when I didn’t finish anything 🙂

The three books I read this week could not be more different. First The Luck Uglies by Paul Durham is the first book in a fantasy series about a town that has many legends that end up being true, and our protagonist, Rye, is more involved with these legends than she could ever imagine. Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Ally Carter is the final book in the Embassy Row series which I have LOVED! I listened to all of them, and I really enjoyed the audiobooks. While listening, I couldn’t stop talking about the story. So many of my students are reading them now, and I love talking to them about this modern royal drama. (My Goodreads Review) Lastly, I finished a historical fiction novel about emigration to the Washington Territory called The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming by J. Anderson Coats which I’ll be reviewing next Friday.

I had a heartwarming thing happen to me this week! One of my students has an ELA teacher that let’s them use tickets they earn to buy a book of their choice, and he chose to get Dogman Unleashed because 1) He wanted to read it; and 2) I didn’t have it in my classroom library yet. It was so sweet!!

I also realized that Trent and I had gotten into a reading rut because we are reading the same 10 or so books over and over, I am working hard on trying to introduce him to new books since we have so many amazing books in our library. This week we read four new picture books that I have a feeling will be added into our rotation. Super Jumbo is the companion to How to Cheer Up Dad by Fred Koehler. Jumbo is here to save the day but it is harder than he thought and not always what he thinks is needed. The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield is one of my favorite picture books I’ve read in a long time. It is such a special story about passion and love and music! The other two I read, Duck and Hippo and Mr. Fuzzbuster will be reviewed soon, so I’ll share them then.

Ricki

Henry and I read Duck and Hippo and Mr. Fuzzbuster Knows He’s the Favorite. Both are charming picture books. Duck and Hippo reminds me of Frog and Toad, which is a series I adore! Mr. Fuzzbuster Knows He’s the Favorite reminds me of Dog vs. Cat by Chris Gall.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

I am so excited that my lunch book club, the same club that did the Mock Newbery, will have the opportunity to Skype with author Dan Gemeinhart on Friday! The Honest Truth is on our state list, so many of the students have read it (as have I) and Some Kind of Courage was on our Mock Newbery list, so he seemed like the perfect author to Skype with, and I am so glad that he was willing and available! I’m currently reading Scar Island, his newest, and if I finish, I’ll pick up Some Kind of Courage.

I am also reading Barbara Dee’s new book that comes out soon, Star-Crossed. I just started, but I love the middle school voice so far.

Ricki

I am alternating between Pose, Wobble, Flow by Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen and For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood by Christopher Emdin. If I wasn’t spending so much of my time writing my dissertation, I would be finished with them both by now. Both are excellent books that I recommend for all teachers (inservice and preservice).

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Happy Valentine’s Day! Our Favorite LBGTQ Love Stories

Wednesday: Famous Fails! by Crispin Boyer

Thursday: Mr. Fuzzbuster Knows He’s the Favorite by Stacy McAnulty

Friday: Time Museum by Matthew Loux

Sunday: Guest Post

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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Author Guest Post: “Overwhelm and Fear” by Mary Cronk Farrell, Author of Fannie Never Flinched

February 12, 2017 by Ricki

“Overwhelm and Fear”

One of the hardest things about writing is getting started, and two of the most common obstacles are overwhelm and fear. The subject of my new biography, Fannie Sellins, showed me how to work through both.

Beginning writers, students of all levels and even best-selling authors sometimes face overwhelm and fear, feelings that can cause you to procrastinate, or tighten you up, make you hold back and keep you from doing your best writing.

It’s tempting when beset by overwhelm or fear to tell yourself to man up, or put on your big girl panties and charge ahead as these emotions are irrelevant. If this works for you, go ahead and stop reading here, because I believe these feelings are part of the creative process, and working through them gives you the courage to do powerful work.

Fannie Never Flinched: The Story of One Woman’s Courage in the Struggle for American Labor Union Rights tells of a garment worker at the height of the Industrial Revolution, who left her sewing machine to inspire and organize workers to stand up and demand just wages and humane treatment.

Fannie was so good, she frightened the powerful men who ran coal and steel companies. They threatened her life, told her to leave town. And when she stayed and kept encouraging men to strike, they shot her dead.

If Fannie could find that kind of courage, I told myself, surely, I can find the courage to put words on a blank page.

In the early 1900s, poor workers fought a losing battle, especially in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Strikes for shorter hours and better pay, sometimes won small concessions short term, but overall, companies aided by local deputies and federal soldiers slammed unions into submission. Now, that’s overwhelm.

Still, Fannie got up every day, went out and talked to workers, convinced them they deserved better, inspired them to take a chance, join the union. Often, it was the wives she encouraged, who in turn emboldened their husbands. A father had a hard time walking off the job, if his children were hungry. Fannie started a strike with social work, soliciting money, seeing to the basic needs of families.

In my research I never found anything Fannie said about how she coped with overwhelm. But looking at her actions, it seems to me that she maintained a double-focused vision. She kept one eye like a laser on the close-up, seeing what was right in front of her and dealing with it. At the same time, she never lost sight of the larger picture, her belief in the dignity of workers and the justice they deserved.

This strategy cuts through overwhelm when I see a sprawl of research, a mess of unconnected ideas, or when a project feels impossible to finish. Grounded in my larger goal, I can pick one small place to start, write one sentence, or choose one task. Keeping a double focus, I can let go of most of the work and tackle one thing at a time.

But even with a solid plan and the best of intentions, fear can rush in, cloud your focus and stop you from doing even one small thing. What I learned from Fannie Sellins, is to look at fear straight on. Fannie admitted that the first time she first stood at a podium to speak to a large crowd, she was scared.

But during her first strike, Fannie traveled around the country speaking for two years, telling people about the garment workers plight, raising funds and urging a boycott of suits and pants sewed in sweatshop conditions. She became a charismatic speaker, gaining enough support for the strikers to hold out for two years until their demands were met.

Fannie explained that she overcame her fear before speaking by remembering the faces of the women she had worked with in the factory. Fannie used compassion to motivate herself to move out of her comfort zone. She used love to deflate fear.

I knew last week that I needed to get going on a revision of my current manuscript. But every time I thought about it, I felt this clutch in my stomach. And when I sat at the computer I got a slighter version of that feeling in my chest when somebody runs a red light and barely misses crashing into me at full speed.

Now that I’ve been writing for a couple decades, I know those emotions are normal. If I didn’t care about my writing, if I wasn’t risking anything, if I didn’t believe my words would be important, there’d be nothing to fear. So, I follow Fannie’s example and choose to have compassion, for the girls in the factory and for myself at the keyboard.

I put my hand on my heart, and I tell myself there’s nothing wrong with being afraid.

I look at my fear straight on, honor that the feeling is real, and ask myself what am I afraid of? Here are some of the bugaboos I discover. I’m afraid I’m not a good enough writer. I’m afraid I’ll disappoint myself. I’m afraid it will be too hard. I see that basically I’m afraid I’ll fail. With compassion I remind myself, it’s okay to be afraid because it’s true. I might fail.

And now, the decision I need to make is clear. Would failing be so bad that I dare not risk it?

Would failing to make progress on this one revision of this one manuscript, on this one particular day mean I’m a total failure? If so, I should probably deal with some other s#%t first, figure out how to have some compassion for myself.

But if I can find enough compassion for myself to live with this kind if failure, why not take a stab at it? And that’s what I usually do, and it’s usually not as hard as I think it will be once I get started.

Finding compassion and facing fear straight on allows the rational brain to evaluate the risks of failure more accurately. Having a double focus, an eye on both the long term vision and one next step allows everything in-between to drop away and reduces the overwhelming magnitude of the work to be done. For further inspiration in writing and life, read more about Fannie Sellins in Fannie Never Flinched.

About the Book: Fannie Sellins (1872–1919) lived during the Gilded Age of American Industrialization, when the Carnegies and Morgans wore jewels while their laborers wore rags. Fannie dreamed that America could achieve its ideals of equality and justice for all, and she sacrificed her life to help that dream come true. Fannie became a union activist, helping to create St. Louis, Missouri, Local 67 of the United Garment Workers of America. She traveled the nation and eventually gave her life, calling for fair wages and decent working and living conditions for workers in both the garment and mining industries. Her accomplishments live on today. This book includes an index, glossary, a timeline of unions in the United States, and endnotes.

About the Author: Mary Cronk Farrell is an award-winning author of five books for young people and former television journalist with a passion for stories about women facing great adversity with courage. She researches little known stories form history and relates them with engaging and powerful language in her books, multi-media presentations and workshops. Farrell has appeared on TB and radio across the nation. She speaks to women’s groups, civic groups, and at museums, schools and libraries.

Thank you for inspiring us, Mary!!

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An Alphabet in Bloom by Nathalie Trovato

February 10, 2017 by Kellee

An Alphabet in Bloom
Author: Nathalie Trovato
Expected Publication May 16th, 2017 by Home Grown Books

Summary: In this wordless alphabet book, children will explore the many places that plants grow, from the familiar to the fantastical. Readers will be enchanted by the colorful cut paper illustrations of Nathalie Trovato along their journey from A to Z.

About the Artist: Nathalie Trovato is a French artist, educator and polyglot who lives in Brooklyn with her inspirational family. She considers herself a visual translator and through her minimalist approach she creates poetic connections between words and images.

About Home Grown Books: Home Grown Books develops books that support its core values – organic learning, creativity, sustainability and giving back. They reject a one-size-fits-all educational model, and are committed to treating all children as unique, creative individuals. The books honor children’s innate intelligence with compelling content that will spark their curiosity. As the books engage the imagination, little readers are drawn back to the books, effortlessly strengthening their reading habits and fostering confidence in themselves as a reader. Believing in the power of art to engage a little reader’s mind, their books feature artwork by emerging and established artists that will capture the imaginations of your little one. The language is simple and the artwork is complex, leaving room beyond the words for a child’s imagination to explore. As part of their Mini Museum Series, they partnered with high profile artists such as Wangechi Mutu & Katherine Bradford, to produce visually stimulating board books. Home Grown Books are the only independent publisher that manufactures all their books in the US with eco-friendly practices. The NYC board books are printed with 100% recycled (min 35% post consumer) CCNB paperboard with an aqueous coating. The paperback books are printed on 50% post consumer paper using low-VOC vegetable inks, and renewable wind-powered energy and the book pack packaging is printed in New York on paper from managed forest using low-VOC vegetable inks and renewable wind-powered energy. More info and news can be viewed here: homegrownbooksnyc.com/blogs/news

About the Founder: Kyla Ryman saw a need for creative and compelling reading content for children. In 2012, she founded Home Grown Books to develop resources that empowered parents and inspired little readers. Kyla is a mother of two boys and an advocate of organic learning. She embraces thinking, playing, and creating as the building blocks for learning. More info here: homegrownbooksnyc.com/pages/about-us#founder.

Review: I am so impressed with all of the beautiful books I’ve seen from Home Grown Books so far. First, I read two books from the Mini Museum series which highlights artists for young children, and now Trovato’s piece of art alphabet book that is unlike any other alphabet book I’ve seen. Each page is filled with cut paper illustrations of objects that start with each sequential letter. T (for Trent!) includes three, tree, trunk, tulips, twigs, and two; G includes garden, gardener, giant, glove, grab, grass, grasshopper, green, and grow; and V includes venus flytrap, vicious, and and violet ground beetle.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: After viewing these beautiful illustrations and discussing each page and the words they represent, readers can make their own pieces of alphabet art.

Discussion Questions: What words do you see represented for each letter?; What other words could the artist have included?

Flagged Passages:

C: caterpillar, chlorophyll, crawl, creeping D: daffodil, dawn, dew, dragonfly, droop, droplets, dusk

Read This If You Love: Art, Alphabet books

Recommended For:

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

February 9, 2017 by Ricki

Ghost
Author: Jason Reynolds
Published: August 30, 2016 byAtheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

GoodReads Summary: Running. That’s all that Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But never for a track team. Nope, his game has always been ball. But when Ghost impulsively challenges an elite sprinter to a race — and wins — the Olympic medalist track coach sees he has something: crazy natural talent. Thing is, Ghost has something else: a lot of anger, and a past that he is trying to outrun. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed and meld with the team, or will his past finally catch up to him?

Ricki’s Review: I will read anything by Jason Reynolds. He captures the adolescent voice perfectly. Ghost reminds me of so many kids that I taught, and if I was still teaching, I would be thrilled to bring this book to school to recommend it to dozens of my students. Luckily, I can now share it with preservice teachers! I am very excited that this book will be one installment of a series of companion texts. It doesn’t end with a hook, which I am grateful for, and I believe the next book will feature a different character. There are so many great lessons that emerge from this story. Teachers would have much to discuss in their classrooms. I highly, highly recommend this text. It belongs in schools and in the hands of kids.

Kellee’s Review: This book is one of those books that I don’t like to tell people what it is about because any summary just doesn’t capture the brilliance of the characterization and story. However, through the word-of-mouth compliments of middle schoolers, it has become a favorite book for many of our school’s students and even won our HCMS Mock Newbery Award! I think it is Jason Reynolds’s way of connecting with adolescent readers through a true voice and circumstances that so many of them will connect to.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: We recommend using this book to teach characterization. Ghost reflects the qualities of a human—he has good and bad qualities and makes some mistakes. Students might list all of the lessons that Ghost learns through the story. They could even try to map the lessons he learns in a visual diagram of their choice.

Discussion Questions: How does Ghost’s past haunt him? Does it shape who he is?; What poor choices does Ghost make? Why does he make the choices, and are they justified?; How does the track team act as an unconventional family for Ghost?

Flagged Passage: “You can’t run away from who you are, but what you can do is run toward who you want to be.”

Read This If You Loved: The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds; The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen; Boy21 by Matthew Quick; Ball Don’t Lie by Matt de la Peña

Recommended For:

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Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem by Patricia Newman

February 8, 2017February 8, 2017 by Kellee

Nonfiction 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!

Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
Author: Patricia Newman
Published by January 1st, 2017 by Millbrook Press

Summary: Marine biologist Brent Hughes didn’t think sea otters and sea grass had much in common. But his research at Elkhorn Slough, an estuary on Monterey Bay in northern California, revealed a new and surprising connection between the two. The scientist expected this estuary to be overrun with algae due to the fertilizer runoff from surrounding fields. But it wasn’t. Why?

Review: As someone who struggled with biology when in school, I love narrative nonfiction about nature because it helps me fill in education gaps. Sea Otter Heroes looks at trophic cascade (cause and effect relationships within a food chain) and how it affects an ecosystem–so interesting! This information along with the beautiful photographs make this book a scientific journey.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Patricia Newman’s books (Plastics, Ahoy! and Ebola included) are made for classrooms. This text includes not only the cause-effect relationship between otters and sea grass, but also has experiments, information about careers, a glossary, and an afterword about rethinking our relationship with nature giving the reader real ways they can make a difference. This book would be perfect to use in a life science unit or class.

Discussion Questions: What is the “critical link between” sea otters and flowering sea grass?; Finding the link was an accident, what was Brent Hughes studying when he found the connection? What was the proof that the connection existed?; How does the Elkhorn Slough exist?; What are Hughes’s 7 steps to think like a scientist? Observe nature and go through the 7 steps yourself.; What part did sea hares play in Brett Hughes’s experiment?; What is a trophic cascade?; How are what was discovered about the otters similar to the situations with wolves and sperm whales Newman shared?

Flagged Passages:

Read This If You Love: Scientists in the Field books, National Geographic and Animal Planet books about animals

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Lerner and Patricia for providing a copy for review!**

Books to Deepen Our Understanding of the Countries on the #MuslimBan List

February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 by Ricki

In order to understand something, I read, read, read. For I believe that in order to understand the dignity, the passions, the humanity of others, we have to imagine ourselves in their skin. It is my hope that sharing these books will encourage others to deepen their understandings of other people and cultures. I breathe books, so this is my method for deepening my own understanding, but please share other approaches that have worked for you.

1. Iran

If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

This stunning text tells the story of two teenaged girls who are in love in Iran. I was mesmerized by its beauty and couldn’t wait to share it with others.

2. Iraq

Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers

This is an incredibly powerful book about a young man from Harlem who goes to war in Iraq. Initially, when I created this list, I intended to feature characters and authors who are from each of the countries on the #MuslimBan list, but this particular book vividly features the country and is a wonderful read.

3. Libya

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar

This is a difficult text to read because it features complicated issues. It is told from the perspective of Suleiman, a 9-year-old boy who lives in 1979 Libya.

4. Somalia

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

I have not read this book, but it is coming my way through the Interlibrary Loan! An excerpt: “Infidel shows the coming of age of this distinguished political superstar and champion of free speech as well as the development of her beliefs, iron will, and extraordinary determination to fight injustice.” I can’t wait to read it!

5. Syria

In Praise of Hatred by Khaled Khalifa

This is a second book that I have on Interlibrary Loan, and it looks fantastic. The reviews note that it is dark, gritty, and eye-opening. I will report back after I’ve read it!

6. Sudan

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

Many of the readers of this blog know this book quite well. It is This book is based on the true story of Salva Dut, a Lost Boy of Sudan. I know several teachers who do Water for South Sudan challenge with their students. This sort of advocacy is incredibly empowering.

7. Yemen

I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali

A friend told me about this book. She said it changed her. I have asked her to borrow her copy. In the meantime, I will share an excerpt: “I’m a simple village girl who has always obeyed the orders of my father and brothers. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today I have decided to say no.”

I have read four out of seven of these books, and I am looking forward to diving into them all. I will never claim to be an expert, and I don’t believe that reading books that feature other countries will make me an expert. It will, however, help me better understand humanity. If you’ve read any of the books above, please comment, as I hope this can be a place for us to share books with each other. I would love any suggestions of other texts featuring these countries!

With the exception of Walter Dean Myers (who writes about an American who goes to Iraq), I intentionally chose texts that are written by authors who are from the countries they write about. This list is in no way exhaustive—reading one book set in one country most obviously will not help us understand the experiences of all (or even most) of the people who live there. It will, however, give us one snapshot of one life.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 2/6/17

February 6, 2017 by Kellee

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

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

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books that were Honored at the ALA Youth Media Awards

Wednesday: National Geographic’s The Book of Heroines and The Book of Heroes

Thursday: Paper Animals from Kane Miller Books

Friday: Ellie Ultra: An Extra-Ordinary Girl by Gina Bellisario

Sunday: Author Guest Post: Imagination by A.H. Richardson, Author of Jorie and the Magic Stones

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

Well . . . I didn’t finish anything this week. But I’m reading a few different books at once–see below 🙂

Ricki

Oh, darn. It’s happened. Kellee’s and my bad reading weeks have aligned. I apologize that I didn’t stop by everyone’s blogs on Monday. We had a family emergency this week, and it has taken up a good portion of my week. Thanks for understanding!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

I have only 3 of our state list books left, so I hope to finish them by the end of February or mid-March. The Luck Uglies is an interesting fantasy novel though it is taking me a bit to get into it. Right now, something crazy happened, so I assume I’ll finish soon!

I don’t know much about settling of the West, so I look forward to going on Jane’s adventures with her.

Ricki

This week, I started Pose, Wobble, Flow by Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen. It is really, really good. I highly recommend this book, particularly for teacher education. The concept is spot on, and it has invigorated me!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

Tuesday: Books to Deepen Our Understanding of the Countries on the #MuslimBan List

Wednesday: Sea Otter Heroes by Patricia Newman

Thursday: Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Friday: An Alphabet in Bloom by Nathalie Trovato

Sunday: Author Guest Post

So, what are you reading?

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