Unleashing Readers

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 4/4/16

April 4, 2016 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.

CONGRATULATIONS
Patricia M.
FOR WINNING A COPY OF TWENTY YAWNS!

Last Week’s Posts

Tuesday: Recent 5-Star Reads

Wednesday: Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick

Thursday: Bartholomew Quill: A Crow’s Quest to Know Who’s Who by Thor Hanson

Friday: Blog Tour, Author Guest Post, and Review!: The Class Crooks Club by Alison Cherry

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

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: I have had such a crazy week!!! Let’s start with my reading update: I had a great reading week! Because of the Future Problem Solvers State Competition, I was at a hotel without Jim or Trent, so even though I missed them, I got SO MUCH reading done. First, I finished listening to George by Alex Gino which was one of the two must reads I read this week. I loved how gently but truthfully George’s story was shared. Next I read The Slowest Book Ever in one sitting because it was so interesting; we’ll share our thoughts on Wednesday. Then I read my other must read book: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. Everyone should read it! So powerful! Lastly, I read four nonfiction books: 31 Ways to Change the World from Candlewick Press, National Geographic Kids: National Parks Guide USA, Animal Planet Ocean Animals, and Animal Planet Polar Animals. I’ll review these later in the month.

Finally, I have some phenomenal news! At the Florida Future Problem Solving State Competition, my 9th grade team place FIRST in the middle division team Global Problem Solving booklets and one of my 11th graders placed third in the senior division individual Global Problem Solving booklets. The five of them qualified to go to the international competition! My other 9th grade team placed fourth only missing internationals by one place, but they’ve only been a team for two years, so that is so impressive. The first place middle team also scored second in the action plan skit. The only team that didn’t place was my 6th grade team; however, they have been a team for one year and made it to states. I am so proud of all of my students! I am so excited and proud!

Ricki: This week, I finished The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenborough. Martha is such a smart, thoughtful author, and I am pumped that she has made such a great beginning stamp in the field of YAL. I am so excited to read all of her work and know she will become a favorite author for me.

Henry and I visited four different libraries this week (and two last week). He loves playing at the library and being amongst the books.

We signed out seven of the Llama Llama books by Anna Dewdney (all of the llama books we could find at the local libraries). He has become obsessed with this series, and randomly comes up to me throughout the day and asks, “Yama yama book, mama?” He is learning a lot from the books. At the library, a boy wasn’t sharing, and Henry informed him that llama llama shares. (He doesn’t apply this sharing lesson to his own behavior, but he certainly uses it when it is in his best interest.)

We also read and enjoyed Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins. This is a great, new picture book. I’ll be sharing a full review this Thursday!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: My life is going to be a bit crazy for a while because we have to do all of our fundraising in the next month for FPS! But this week I plan on starting The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin by Elinor Teele, and I think that I am going to begin listening to The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett.

Ricki: While at the library, I read 3/4 of The Nest by Kenneth Oppel. I am hooked! If I didn’t have to do a bunch of work today, I would hole myself in my room and finish it! I’ll report more next week because I am sure I will be done with it!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Ten Bookish People You Should Follow On Twitter/Facebook

Wednesday: Blog Tour and Review!: The Slowest Book Ever by April Pulley Sayre

Thursday: Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

Friday: #mustreadin2016 Spring Update

Sunday: Author Guest Post! by Andrea Young, Author of Finny and the Boy from Horse Mountain

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!

and

Blog Tour, Author Guest Post, and Review!: The Classy Crooks Club by Alison Cherry

April 1, 2016 by Kellee

The Classy Crooks Club
Author: Alison Cherry
Published March 29th, 2016 by Aladdin

Goodreads Summary: Twelve-year-old AJ dreads spending an entire month living with her strict Grandma Jo. Not only does her grandmother dictate how she walks, what she eats, and which rooms she can enter, she fills all AJ’s free time with boring sewing lessons. Grandma Jo wants nothing more than to transform her adventurous, fun-loving granddaughter into a prim and proper lady.

But AJ’s dull summer takes a sharp turn when she discovers that her grandmother’s “bridge group” is actually a heist club. When Grandma Jo offers to let AJ learn lock-picking instead of embroidery in exchange for help with a few capers, AJ is happy to join her grandmother’s madcap band of thieves, who claim to steal only for ethical reasons. But even the most respectable ladies can hide truly surprising secrets, and AJ finds she must decide for herself what it means to be one of the good guys.

My Review: I love AJ. She is a perfect protagonist because she is just a real middle schooler. She is multi-faceted, funny, has quite a personality, has fears, makes mistakes, and is overall likeable. And she is not the only well-crafted character. Each of the characters, main, secondary, or supporting, are so fully developed that you feel like you know everyone in AJ’s life. I often am skeptical about first person POV because it is always tough to get a character/narrator’s voice perfect while also developing the characters, but Cherry does a great job of both. AJ is a normal middle school girl that is dealing with a quite terrible grandmother who happens to have an unexpected hobby.

Another thing that blew me away about this novel is that something happened that was completely unexpected! Usually when I am reading middle grade novels, I love them but am not often surprised because I can sense foreshadowing and predict; however, Cherry really caught me off guard in this one! You’ll have to let me know if you see it coming!

And finally, I loved the unique premise of the book! Who ever thought there’d be a book about a bunch of old ladies who “liberate” *cough* steal *cough* exotic birds and anything else that suits their fancy?!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Alison’s guest post, below, made me really think about how grandparents play the role in different books, so Classy Crooks Club and the books listed below could be part of a grandparent-focused lit circle. How do the grandparents in the book differ from the parents (if they are present)? How are the grandparents different than stereotypical grandparents? How do the grandparents influence the main character?

Discussion Questions: Did you predict the climax of the story?; Why do you think the author chose first person point of view?; Why do you think the author doesn’t share what us about Betty’s past?; How does AJ overcome her fear?; Which of the Classy Crooks Club ladies would you want to hang out with and why?; What does Brianna teach AJ about not judging a book by its cover?; Why do you think Brianna is so mean to Maddie?; Why does Maddie get so mad at AJ? Would you have reacted the same way?

We Flagged: “Every single piece of furniture in my grandmother’s house has a name with too many syllables.

At home we have chairs. We have a couch. We have tables. But right now my grandmother is pointing at this hulking wooden thing in the corner of one of her guest bedrooms — my bedroom, for the next month — and calling it a ‘mission chifforobe.’ It looks like what might happen if a dresser and a closet had a really ugly baby. ‘I trust you’ll be very careful with this chiffrobe while you’re here,’ Grandma Jo says, like it’s some fragile, spindly thing I could possibly break by accident. ‘It was once owned by Buckminster Fuller, as was that ottoman.'” (p. 1)

Read This If You Loved: Wig in the Window & Tiara on the Terrace by Kristen Kittscher, Heist Society by Ally Carter, Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier

“Five Books I Loved That Featured Grandparents” by Alison Cherry:

The Witches, Roald Dahl:

This creepy novel from 1983 features a boy who is sent to live with his grandmother after the death of his parents. Grandmother is a retired witch-hunter, and she makes sure her grandson knows how to recognize witches by their unusual traits: bald heads that they cover with wigs, square feet with no toes, clawed hands, and blue spit. Unfortunately, this doesn’t prevent the boy from having a run-in with witches while on vacation, and they turn him into a mouse. Grandmother is presented as incredibly kind and accepting—she doesn’t love her grandson any less once he’s a mouse. She’s also very clever and helps devise a plan to get revenge on the witches. The scene that sticks with me most is one in which Grandmother tells the boy that being a mouse will significantly shorten his lifespan, and he says he doesn’t mind because he doesn’t want to outlive her. I read this book over and over as a child!

Tortilla Sun, Jennifer Cervantes:

When her mother gets a grant to study in Costa Rica for the summer, twelve-year-old Izzy is sent to live with her nana in her tiny, rural New Mexican village. Izzy knows nothing about her Latina heritage or her dead father, whom her mother has always refused to discuss, and her summer with Nana is her first opportunity to learn where she comes from and who she is. Izzy’s nana is patient, wise, warm, and loving, and she lets her granddaughter discover pieces of her past slowly, when she’s ready and able to handle them. Reading this book is a rich sensory experience; the descriptions of Nana’s colorful house, the food she teaches Izzy to cook, and the rest of the characters in the neighborhood are beautifully drawn. It made me want to hang out in the world of the story long after it was over.

You’re Invited, Jen Malone and Gail Nall

This novel from four points of view is about a group of girls who start a party-planning business in their small seaside town. While the book isn’t centered around a grandparent like the other four on this list, Lauren’s grandmother Bubby is my favorite part of the story. Bubby is loud, opinionated, bubbly, and a total flirt—she spends most of the book zooming around on her bright red scooter, Wanda, and trying to catch the eye of “hot” Mr. Vernon from her retirement community. Despite her advanced age, Bubby tries her best to act and speak like a teenager—she’s active on “the Tweeter” and constantly refers to things as “amazeballs” and “ubercute.” This horrifies Lauren, who is significantly more dignified, but it delights me to no end. I sincerely wish I had a grandmother like Bubby.

The Lightning Queen, Laura Resau:

This gorgeous novel is about Teo, an indigenous Mexican boy, and Esma, a Romani girl who comes through his village with her caravan each summer. Despite their differences, a fortune teller states that they are destined to be friends for life, however unlikely it may seem. Because the story is told primarily in flashbacks, the reader gets to meet Teo as both a child and as an elderly healer who has lost touch with his lifelong friend and needs his grandson’s help to find her again. Teo is a delight in both incarnations—he’s kind and gentle and incredibly smart, the only boy in his village who braves school and learns to read. Teo also has a soft spot for rescuing animals—as a child, his constant companions are a duck, a blind goat, and a three-legged skunk. Both the Mixteco and Romani communities are treated with great sensitivity, and the writing is captivating.

The Secret Hum of a Daisy, Tracy Holczer:

When her mother dies suddenly, Grace is forced to move in with her estranged grandmother, who sent Grace’s mother away when she got pregnant as a teenager. Grace automatically assumes her grandmother is a horrible person and sets out to be a complete brat, hoping she’ll be sent away. Grace’s grandmother isn’t warm, but she’s patient and steady and gives Grace the space she needs to work out her grief; she’s there every time Grace needs her, but she doesn’t try to force her into a relationship before she’s ready. Grace eventually begins to respect her grandmother’s honesty, forthrightness, and willingness to take responsibility for mistakes she made in the past, even when it makes her look bad. The writing in this book is beautiful, lyrical, and deeply felt—it feels as if Tracy Holczer dug this story up from deep in her soul and pasted it directly onto the page. It’s one of my favorite depictions of two people who have suffered deep losses taking a chance on loving each other, even though it’s hard and painful.

Recommended For:

Don’t miss out on the other blog tour stops!

March 28-29: Pop! Goes the Reader (http://www.popgoesthereader.com/)

March 30: The Hiding Spot (http://thehidingspot.blogspot.com/)

March 31: Mundie Kids (http://mundiekids.blogspot.com/)

April 1: Unleashing Readers

April 4: Kidsmomo (http://www.kidsmomo.com/)

April 5: KidLit Frenzy (http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/)

April 6: Kidliterati (http://www.kidliterati.com/)

April 7: Hey Kid! (http://blog.heidischulzbooks.com/category/word/book-talk/hey-kid/)

**Thank you to Alison for providing a copy for review and the guest post!**

Bartholomew Quill: A Crow’s Quest to Know Who’s Who by Thor Hanson

March 31, 2016March 31, 2016 by Kellee

Bartholomew Quill: A Crow’s Quest to Know Who’s Who
Author: Thor Hanson
Illustrator: Dana Arnim
Expected publication April 5th, 2016 by Little Bigfoot

Goodreads Summary: Bartholomew Quill is clever and curious, but he doesn’t know who or what he is. He has feathers not fur, so he can’t be a moose; he is black like a puffin but his beak is the wrong color. This determined bird won’t stop asking questions until he discovers what the reader knows–Bartholomew Quill is a crow!

Acclaimed biologist Thor Hanson takes us on a journey through the animal kingdom, and Dana Arnim’s exuberant watercolor and ink illustrations add to the magic.

About the Author: Thor Hanson is a biologist and author renowned for his adult books about nature (The Impenetrable Forest, The Triumph of Seeds, and Feathers). He won a PNBA Award and The John Burroughs Medal for Feathers, which was also a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. Hanson is a Guggenheim Fellow, a Switzer Environmental Fellow, and sought-after public speaker.

About the Illustrator: Dana Arnim, a northwest native, earned her art degree from the University of Washington. She lives with her husband and family in Seattle and helps lead the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Western Washington chapter.

Kellee’s Review: Bartholomew Quill’s journey is a bit different than other books because the reader already knows the answer to the question the protagonist seeks. I can see reading this with students and students shouting answers and information to Bartholomew as he goes about his journey. What I think is quite wonderful about this book is that although the book is anthropomorphic, the animal information is still factual since it was written by a biologist. Arnim did a beautiful job with the illustrations as well, bringing the animals to life.

Ricki’s Review: This book touched me in the way that it reminded me of the Native American creation myths my grandfather used to tell when I was a young child. He’d pull me onto his lap and tell me how the river became a river or why the wind whistles. I am sure that these myths made me the reader I am today. Bartholomew Quill is a beautiful story that will leave children to dream about other fictional connections with Mother Nature. It inspires me to get outside and look for animals like Bartholomew in order to learn their stories, too.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Throughout the book, Bartholomew compares and contrasts himself with other animals to help figure out what animal he is. This book would be a great introduction to compare and contrast using the conversations Bartholomew has as well as the illustrations of the different animals.

Students could also use this book as a jumping off point for an animal study of one of the animals within the book. Each animals is quickly discussed, so students could pick the animal that interests them and complete an inquiry project about the animal.

Discussion Questions: How does Bartholomew determine that he is a crow?; How is he different from ______?; How is he the same as ______?

We Flagged:

Read This If You Loved: Frozen Wild by Jim Arnosky, Winter Bees by Joyce Sidman, Feathers by Melissa Stewart

Recommended For:

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**Thank you Nicole at Sasquatch Books for providing copies for review!**

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick

March 31, 2016March 30, 2016 by Ricki

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!

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear
Author: Lindsay Mattick
Illustrator: Sophie Blackall
Published October 20, 2015 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: Before Winnie-the-Pooh, there was a real bear named Winnie.

In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian on his way to tend horses in World War I, followed his heart and rescued a baby bear. He named her Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the bear to war.

Harry Colebourn’s real-life great-granddaughter tells the true story of a remarkable friendship and an even more remarkable journey–from the fields of Canada to a convoy across the ocean to an army base in England…

And finally to the London Zoo, where Winnie made another new friend: a real boy named Christopher Robin.

Here is the remarkable true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh.

Ricki’s Review: Many of my blogger friends raved about this book. I knew I needed to read it, but my library hold list was very long. When I saw it won the Caldecott Award, I took action. I drove my son to the bookstore and read the book to him while he sat on my lap. My aunt came with me, and she cried through the entire book.

When we reached the end, we just stared at each other and she said, “Ricki, you have to buy this book. Henry needs to have this special story.” And this is how I broke my rule about buying books. Finding Winnie sits elegantly on my son’s bookshelf, and I don’t regret breaking my rule. We love reading it together. The story is captivating from the beginning to the end, and the author and illustrator paint the scene in a remarkable way that readers will be unable to put the book down. Depicting history in picture books is very difficult, and Mattick and Blackall nail it. I highly recommend this charming book if you haven’t read it yet. It will stay close to your heart.

Kellee’s Review: One of the things I particularly loved about Finding Winnie, that Ricki didn’t mention in her beautiful review above, was that the book was written by the great-granddaughter of Captain Coleburn, the serviceman who owned Winnie originally. Having Lindsay Mattick’s close knowledge of the story helped her delve into the story and transport the reader into Winnie’s stories. The backmatter filled with photos and other primary documents also make it feel like we are peaking into the family’s scrap book.

I also want to praise Sophie Blackall’s illustrations. I love Sophie’s soft style with what seems like pencil and paints just is angelic and brings Mattick’s story to life. Although they both would shine separately, they are stellar together.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: As a teacher, I’d love to do two things with this book. First, I’d want to compare it to the Winnie the Pooh stories by A. A. Milne. It would be great to compare and contrast the stories to make connections about how Milne might have been inspired. Then, I’d put this book in semi-literature circles. Students might read all of the books (in the “Read This If You Loved” section below) in small groups, and rotate the books across groups. Then, they could discuss the topic and depiction of animals during wars throughout literature. They could compare and contrast the stylistic choices of the authors and also delve into potential ways that animals might be symbolic of each particular war.

Discussion Questions: How do the author and illustrator depict Winnie? How does Winnie’s story evolve?; What does Harry’s friendship with Winnie teach us about human nature?; How might this story have inspired the fictional Winnie the Pooh story?; Why do you think it won the Caldecott? What qualities make it an award winner?

We Flagged:

**Image from: https://thewalrus.ca/finding-winnie/. We recommend this site, which includes many great images related to the text!**

Read This If You Loved: Winnie: The True Story of the Bear That Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh by Sally M. Walker, Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne, Midnight, A True Story of Loyalty in World War I by Mark Greenwood, Stubby, the War Dog by Ann Bausum, Dogs of War by Sheila Keenan, Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchiya

Recommended For:

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Top Ten Tuesday: Recent Five-Star Reads

March 29, 2016March 29, 2016 by Ricki

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: Recent Five-Star Reads

Ricki

1. Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee

I sobbed from cover to cover (and that isn’t revealing any plot details)! I cared deeply about the characters in this book and love the way it is written.

2. Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom

This is a fantastic story. It taught me so much of the frustrations I might encounter if I was blind. The story is very well-written, and it made me think about people differently.

3. Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings by Margarita Engle

This lyrical text is receiving a lot of praise, and the praise is spot on. I loved reading this book in verse and learned so much about the Missile Crisis.

4. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

I think I might be cheating by including this book because I read the ARC a few months ago, but it just came out! This book is absolutely phenomenal. It ranks in my favorite books of all time.

5. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick

I was inspired to read this book after it won the Caldecott. I read it with my aunt in the bookstore, and after we finished, she said, “We have to buy this book, Ricki.” So I broke my rule about not buying books because this particular book is very special. I needed to own it! We will be reviewing it tomorrow!

Kellee

I just went through my Goodreads list and picked the last five 5-star reads!

1. The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart

I’m so glad that I had this on my #mustreadin2016 list and that I chose it for my school’s first teacher book club. I think it has so much to talk about and think about. It is a heart-breaking yet touching story.

2. Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale

I love this series. Nathan Hale has a way of making history come alive and adds humor (without being too inappropriate!).

3. Booked by Kwame Alexander

In my opinion, Booked is just as good as The Crossover. It is rhythmic, easy to connect with, and just plain real.

4. Rescued by Eliot Schrefer

Eliot Schrefer knows how to craft a story. His writing just pulls you in and spits you out. You are in his books while you are reading them and don’t want to leave until it is over.

5. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Ruta Sepetys’s ability to craft a historical fiction novel is just awe inspiring. She gives people of the past a voice again.

Which recent books did you read and love?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 3/28/16

March 28, 2016March 28, 2016 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.

CONGRATULATIONS
BETH P.
FOR WINNING A COPY OF MAYBE A FOX!

Last Week’s Posts

Tuesday: Books We Really Love But Don’t Talk About Enough

Wednesday: National Geographic Kids: Celebrate Easter by Deborah Heiligman

Thursday: Blog Tour, Review, and Giveaway!: Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley

Giveaway open until Wednesday!

Friday: Lousiana State University’s Line 4 Line Program: A Barbershop Literacy Program in Baton Rouge

Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “The Star Wars Effect: Bringing Teens to Space” by Ava Jae, Author of Beyond the Red

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

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: Spring break did a wonderful thing for my reading! I was able to read 3 graphic novels, 3 picture books, and 3 novels this week!

The picture books I read were Steam Train, Dream Train (Sound Book) by Sherri Duskey Rinker, Bartholomew Quill by Thor Hanson, and This is Sadie by Sara O’Leary. I read Steam Train, Dream Train with Trent, and I can tell it is going to be another favorite book. He loves sound books and trains. We’ll be reviewing Bartholomew Quill this week. And I now completely understand why everyone raved about This is Sadie when it came out. It is another book that promotes reading and imagination, and it has beautiful illustrations.

Then I read Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes and its companion Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard by Jonathan Auxier. I do not know why I waited so long to read Peter Nimble, but I am so glad I finally did. Not only because it is beautiful and full of adventure but because it led me to read Sophie Quire which is going to end up being one of my favorite books of the year. The third novel I read was The Classy Crooks Club by Alison Cherry, and I cannot wait to share it with you on Friday!

Next I read my three graphic novels: Red’s Planet by Eddie Pittman, Hippopotamister by John Green, and Paths & Portals by Gene Luen Yang. All three are going to be hits. First, Red’s Planet is the first in a middle grade about a young girl who is abducted by aliens. It is funny and interesting–it is going to popular! Next, Hippopotamister teaches kids that experience leads to being able to succeed in live makes for a must get graphic novel for middle grade classrooms. And I love John Green’s illustrations! Everything is so detailed and crisp. Finally, Paths & Portals is the 2nd book in the Secret Coders series, and it was a great continuation of the series. There are many things I really like about this series: 1) It is smart; 2) It is written for kids who are coders or noncoders; 3) It is interactive; 4) The characters are diverse and relatable; 5) It has math in it but without making it too obvious. What I don’t like about this series: 1) THE CLIFFHANGERS!

Ricki: Please enjoy Kellee’s update above because mine isn’t very good! Henry and I enjoyed a lot of board books, but none were high-quality reads that I’d recommend. He received many new books from the Easter Bunny, so we will share those soon. He was highly impressed by Little Blue Truck’s Beep-Along Book by Alice Schertle. He loves to beep the stuffed animal as we read.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: This week is my state competition for Future Problem Solvers, so I have some very long days ahead of me, so I am not sure what I am going to read. I am currently listening to George by Alex Gino, so I hope to finish that this week. Readingwise, coming up for me is The Slowest Book Ever by April Pulley Sayre (for review) and All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (for my school book club).

Ricki: Similar to last week, I regret to say I’m having difficulty managing my work load for The ALAN Review, doc school, and mommyhood. Henry was sick this week, so my husband and I have been up with him throughout the nights. I am really loving Kristen-Paige Madonia’s Invisible Fault Lines (an ARC from S&S). It is my treat before bed each night after a long day of work! I promise to share more later, and I am sorry I am falling behind!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday finding winnie

bartholomew quill

Tuesday: Recent 5-Star Reads

Wednesday: Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick

Thursday: Bartholomew Quill: A Crow’s Quest to Know Who’s Who by Thor Hanson

Friday: Blog Tour, Author Guest Post, and Review!: The Class Crooks Club by Alison Cherry

So, what are you reading?

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Author Guest Post!: “The Star Wars Effect: Bringing Teens to Space” by Ava Jae, Author of Beyond the Red

March 27, 2016March 27, 2016 by Kellee

“The Star Wars Effect: Bringing Teens to Space”

When I wrote the first draft of Beyond the Red back in the summer of 2014, I didn’t dare to imagine that non-dystopian Sci-Fi would become a Big Thing in YA. I hoped, of course, alongside every other YA Sci-Fi writer, but the truth was it hadn’t happened, not really. And with Dystopian novels taking the spotlight front and center, many were already predicting a downturn in YA Sci-Fi once readers got tired of dystopic Sci-Fi worlds.

I knew all that, but I wrote Beyond the Red anyway. It was the book I wanted to read, but wasn’t already out there—it was aliens, and monarchies, and clashing cultures, and endless crimson sands in a faraway world outside our solar system, but within our universe. It was a place where Earth was a legend, even to the humans whose ancestors emigrated from there. It was, ultimately, the book I wanted for myself, so I ignored the trends altogether and when people whispered that YA Sci-Fi was a hard sell, I shrugged and kept writing.

Everything is a hard sell, I reasoned. I’m going to write this book for me.

So I did. And eventually I got an agent, and my agent said those words to me—YA Sci-Fi is a hard sell—but she also said, I love this book and I’m going to do my best.

We went on submission. Heard the book was “too Sci-Fi” in rejections. Kept submitting anyway. And celebrated when it sold.

Even months after it sold, my YA Sci-Fi writer friends told me their stories—how their books weren’t selling, how YA Sci-Fi was so hard to move. Of the new sale announcements, YA Sci-Fi were in the minority—a couple here, a handful there in a sea of incredible-sounding Fantasy stories. Pirates and time-travel were in. Sci-fi was…there. Floating. Barely.

And then Star Wars: The Force Awakens was announced. And then Divergent mega-author Veronica Roth announced her next book: a Star Wars-ish Sci-Fi YA due in 2017. And then super Sci-Fi-ish Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Asher became a big YA buzz book. And then Star Wars: The Force Awakened sold a bajillion tickets and basically blew everyone’s expectations out of the water.

YA Sci-Fi isn’t a Big Thing—not yet—but with the massive success of Star Wars, and a super huge author writing a Star Wars-like YA, it’s not hard to imagine that we’ll see more teens in space over the next couple years. Readers who watch Star Wars are walking away and craving that same kind of adventure in a book. They want aliens, and extrasolar planets, and advanced technology, and complicated, alien politics. They want characters who have grown up in a technological world far away from our own—they want space travel, and vivid settings that remind them of that movie theater experience.

YA Sci-Fi authors like myself, who never could have predicted the existence of another movie in a galaxy far, far away, had no idea that we were actually writing our spacey books at exactly the right time. We had no idea that teens in space would be exactly what readers would be looking for after getting their movie fix. But despite the uncertainty, the books we wrote for us—the books we were told would be too hard to sell—have now become exactly the stories that Star Wars-loving readers are asking for.

Sometimes when the book idea of your dreams comes knocking at what seems like the wrong time, the timing is more right than you ever could have known.

Beyond the Red
Author: Ava Jae
Published March 1st, 2016 by Sky Pony Press

Goodreads Summary: Alien queen Kora has a problem as vast as the endless crimson deserts. She’s the first female ruler of her territory in generations, but her people are rioting and call for her violent younger twin brother to take the throne. Despite assassination attempts, a mounting uprising of nomadic human rebels, and pressure to find a mate to help her rule, she’s determined to protect her people from her brother’s would-be tyrannical rule.

Eros is a rebel soldier hated by aliens and human alike for being a half-blood. Yet that doesn’t stop him from defending his people, at least until Kora’s soldiers raze his camp and take him captive. He’s given an ultimatum: be an enslaved bodyguard to Kora, or be executed for his true identity—a secret kept even from him.

When Kora and Eros are framed for the attempted assassination of her betrothed, they flee. Their only chance of survival is to turn themselves in to the high court, where revealing Eros’s secret could mean a swift public execution. But when they uncover a violent plot to end the human insurgency, they must find a way to work together to prevent genocide.

About the Author: Ava Jae is an author, blogger, YouTuber, college student, and assistant editor at Entangled Publishing. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a BA in English in April 2016, Ava will probably find a bookstore to live in, where she can write her next novel surrounded by the smell of new books and coffee. She can be found on Twitter at @Ava_Jae or at her website avajae.blogspot.com. She resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Thank you to Ava for her fun guest post!

and

**Thank you to Cheryl at Skyhorse Publishing for setting up this post!**