Review: Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices

Title: Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices
Author: Edited by Mitali Perkins
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 127
Availability: On shelves now
Review Copy: From the public library

Summary: Using humor as the common denominator, a multicultural cast of YA authors steps up to the mic to share stories touching on race. Listen in as ten YA authors — some familiar, some new — use their own brand of humor to share their stories about growing up between cultures. Henry Choi Lee discovers that pretending to be a tai chi master or a sought-after wiz at math wins him friends for a while — until it comically backfires. A biracial girl is amused when her dad clears seats for his family on a crowded subway in under a minute flat, simply by sitting quietly in between two uptight white women. Edited by acclaimed author and speaker Mitali Perkins, this collection of fiction and nonfiction uses a mix of styles as diverse as their authors, from laugh-out-loud funny to wry, ironic, or poingnant, in prose, poetry, and comic form. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Review: Open Mic provides glimpses into that territory of straddling two cultures. Ten different authors used a bit of humor, remembrances from their past, and their writing talent to create a unique collection of works that spoke to me in different ways. I appreciated that there were even a variety of forms. The book contains poetry, non-fiction, a comic, and short stories to show readers what it can be like to live between cultures.

At the very beginning, Mitali Perkins shares a few rules about the humor in the stories. To view the rules, visit her guest post over at Cythia Leitich Smith's blog. She seems to believe that humor can make conversations more pleasant, less serious. I would have to agree.

As I look back over the ten stories, I notice that although many of them contained humor, a significant number of them were dealing with pretty serious issues. The line, "I thought I knew the face of racism" from "Confessions of a Black Geek" speaks volumes. Gene Luen Yang's comic is a fascinating look into a bit of activism delivered in a matter of fact tone. Other stories, simply tell about life as a teen and include some of the complications of living between cultures and facing typical teen issues.

The pieces that wrung my heart the most were "Confessions of a Black Geek" by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, "Brotherly Love" by Francisco X. Stork, and "Lexicon" by Naomi Shihab Nye. The face of racism is exposed in one and a heart is broken, a boy sees himself through his sister's eyes in another, and the other shows the soul of a loving man, friend to all.

Others in this collection came with more laughter than tears. I loved the amusing game that a family plays on the subways and the stereotype defying characters in several stories. There are playful moments mixed with everyday events and on occasion ugliness. Overall, the stories are upbeat and encouraging. Beyond sharing cultural issues, the stories also speak to anyone who has been an outsider for any reason.

I would definitely recommend this book to readers of young adult lit. The pieces are fresh and meaningful without being preachy. I would love to see more works like this and am hoping for a second volume.

Extras:
Podcast "Mitali Perkins Steps up to the Mic"



Guest Post on Cynthia Leitich Smith's Site by Mitali Perkins

Review: Saving Baby Doe

Title: Saving Baby Doe

Author: Danette Vigilante

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Pages: 230

Availability: March 20, 2014

Review Copy: ARC from publisher

Summary: 

Lionel and Anisa are the best of friends and have seen each other through some pretty tough times--Anisa's dad died and Lionel's dad left, which is like a death for Lionel. They stick together no matter what. So when Lionel suggests a detour through a local construction site on their way home, Anisa doesn't say no. And that's where Lionel and Anisa make a startling discovery--a baby abandoned in a port-o-potty. Anisa and Lionel spring into action. And in saving Baby Doe, they end up saving so much more.

Danette Vigilante crafts an accessible, heartfelt and much needed story for the middle grade market featuring Latino characters. 
--Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Review: Danette Vigilante sure knows how to grab a reader's attention and keep it. The first page drops you right into the presence of a mother giving birth. There are flashes of humor here and there, but the book often has a high level of intensity. My emotions were involved early on in the book. I was rooting for Lionel throughout the serious complications that life threw his way. He is a young man who cares about his friends and wants to be helpful. He doesn't always make the best choices as he tries to help, but he certainly has good intentions and a big heart.

Vigilante has delivered a fairly gritty book for the middle grade audience. It is living up to the label realistic fiction. Things are not sugar-coated. An abandoned baby, religious conflicts, violence, and instruction on condom use are all topics that come up among others. Saving Baby Doe is labeled middle grade. The publisher information says grades 5 and up and I would say that this is pretty solidly middle school territory. Lionel himself is thirteen and dealing with mature issues even though the cover may lead readers to believe that it is a more humorous book with a younger main character.

What really made this book work for me were the relationships. Lionel and Anisa have a friendship that anyone would envy. They will do just about anything for each other. The adults in the story really appealed to me too. Aside from a loving mom, Lionel has two mentors in his apartment building, Miss D and Mr. Owen. These two look out for Lionel and help him in more ways than he even understands. Miss D gives him piano lessons and love. Mr. Owen listens to Lionel and shares himself. 

I found it interesting that Vigilante tackled subjects that don't often come up in children's literature. One example is the conflict between the religious views of Lionel's family and Anisa's. Anisa's mother has gone through a religious experience of some kind and wants little to do with anyone who is not saved. This puts a decided strain on the relationship between the families.

No matter what was happening around Lionel, including getting mixed up with some shady characters, I worried for him and my emotions were all in a tangle. Is it appropriate to admit that I cried while reading this book? It happened. This is a book that will stick with readers as it touches their hearts.

I would recommend Saving Baby Doe for fans of realistic fiction or issue books and those who don't mind a bit of a cry.

Slice of Life

The Slice of Life Challenge was created by the people over at the blog Two Writing Teachers. The challenge is to write about some part of your day and share it each Tuesday.

This isn't necessarily an upbeat Slice of Life. It is a reflection of something that happened about a week and a half ago that I am still thinking about. 

I went to a children's literature event that was fantastic. See my celebrations post here for more about the fun. I fangirled about meeting authors of books that I have loved. It was also great hearing from authors that were new to me. Being in a room with so many authors and readers gave me chills. People were chattering about books, authors, and connecting with each other. A buzz of happiness and excitement filled the air. As you may suspect though, there was another perspective that I haven't shared yet. 

The event was happening near Chicago which is a tremendously diverse city. As I gazed around the room, that is not what I saw. Granted, we were in a suburb, but the room contained very few people who appeared anything other than white. I noticed it in passing, but really thought about it more deeply after I saw an author's name in the bulletin. I knew she was not white and the thought came to me, "Well, it will be easy to find her in here." Not too long after that, I noticed this message on Twitter:

I'm at a big Illinois book event. Sorry gotta just say this, it's 99% white.
— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) February 15, 2014

Yes, librarians in the midwest are probably not very culturally diverse, but there were teachers there too and we were not far from Chicago. I don't know what the answer is, but I believe it is an issue that needs to be addressed. I sent an email to the organizers because I am not sure if they are thinking about this. Being white, I only thought about it in passing when I first walked in. It only really hit me when I thought about how I might feel as a person of color walking into the room. This was an amazing event and I hope to attend again, but I also hope for some change.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

The Past Week: 

Picture Books

After meeting Jon J. Muth at Anderson's Children's Lit Breakfast, more on that here, I found myself reading more of his books when I got back to school on Monday. I found what we had and enjoyed them immensely. He gives readers so much to think about. Desmond and the Very Mean Word was another book to encourage thinking - this time about conflict and forgiveness. Infinity and Me is an intriguing look into the concept of infinity and so it gets your brain churning too. The Night the Moon Fell was a nice folktale, but it wasn't my favorite Pat Mora folktale - that honor goes to Doña Flor. 

Middle Grade

After meeting authors Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver at the Children's Lit Breakfast, I was eager to start reading about Hank Zipzer. He had me laughing. It is a great chapter book for kids who like humor. I know I will be sharing this series with a lot of students.

Young Adult

I haven't been to a book club in person for a long time. A local group was going to read The Book Thief so I grabbed a copy. I was just going to skim it since I have read it (listened to the audio) a few years ago. That didn't work. I was completely sucked in and read every word. Some more than once. Such a good book! And meeting in person with people to talk about books is so much fun. Gonna have to do that more often. Battle of the Books is just about over so I can have a lunchtime book club again soon at school. Article 5 is a dystopian book. I liked it enough, but I am not sure if I will read the next one. I didn't get very invested in the characters. The title Midwinterblood scared me because it sounds creepy and then, it won a Printz. I just wasn't sure what to expect, but I understand why it got the award. It's unique and striking. This is why I like award lists though. I never would have picked it up otherwise. Open Mic is a collection of short stories and I really enjoyed them. I will review it later this week.

The Coming Week:

I think I may actually finish The Lacuna this week. I've been listening to it for quite a few weeks. Frida Kahlo is one of the characters and she is my favorite. What an interesting woman. The others I will try to finish this week. I am also likely to start Akata Witch and Killer of Enemies. What will you be reading?

Celebrate

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on Saturdays where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every day.

One: We had Non-Fiction 10 for 10 this week. I love seeing great non-fiction titles on so many blogs.

Two: Black History Month has meant reading some fantastic books like Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table, Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl, Please Baby Please, Ruth and the Green Book and Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! We have also had some thoughtful discussion as a result.

Three: The sun has been shining. I missed the sun.

Four: Our school district had a referendum this week and it passed. Our building will be renovated and I will have walls in my teaching area! 

Five: Girl Scout cookies are in my house right now. 

Six: This week the CCBC listserv had a lively discussion with Tim Tingle about his book How I Became a Ghost. I loved hearing some of the background information and exploring the book together with others.

World Read Aloud Day Blogging Challenge

Two years ago I experienced my very first World Read Aloud Day and loved every minute of the fun. We spread it out over more than one day too. That first year we visited many classrooms and Skyped with fabulous authors from around the country. 

Last year we did it again combining it with Read Across America and stretching it out over several days so many classes could Skype with others around the country. 

Each time has been a wonderful adventure. I hope that you will be having some kind of celebration or will be reading aloud that day in some capacity. If you want to know more about the day or want to sign up to participate, visit LitWorld.

I'm a little late getting started with the blogging challenge, but here goes. The first prompt is to write about a memorable read aloud experience.

I am certain that my favorite read aloud experiences were with my mother as a young child, but I do not remember them. I know those times were why I devoured books by kindergarten though.

I do remember being read to in elementary school. I loved hearing about Ramona Quimby and the  little girl with the curl that went "boing" that was so tempting to pull. I loved that Ramona drew cat ears on her Q. Ramona definitely stuck with me. Read aloud time was the best part of school for me. It was like a vacation from the work.

I enjoy seeing students fully engaged as they melt into a story that is being read aloud. I am looking forward to experiencing read alouds with them during WRAD week. We have Skype visits arranged for many of the classes with other students around the country and with a few authors too. If there isn't a Skype visit, we will be reading with buddies. We will have e-books and hard copies available. Planning is still happening, but I am hoping that a few classes will also have guest readers come. We will also have a poem read over announcements so every person including support staff will hear something read aloud that day even if they are not in a classroom. 

World Read Aloud Day is an excellent excuse to connect with other people through the written word. Happy reading to you!

Non-Fiction 10 for 10

Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine along with Mandy Robek at Enjoy and Embrace Learning and Julie Balen at Write at the Edge are co-hosting Non-fiction 10 for 10. I almost missed it. Thank goodness for Twitter. I am quickly - very quickly posting before leaving the house again after getting home late from work. I love it though so here goes the quick version ...

These are some of the standouts that I have read in the past year or two. I have shared many with my students and plan to keep sharing them with staff and students in the future because they have captured my imagination or heart. If you would like to know more about them, visit my #NF10for10 shelf on Goodreads. Oh, and yeah, I accidentally posted 11. Ooops. Have fun reading!

Tuesday Trailer: Spirit Animals

At the Anderson's Children's Literature Breakfast (you can read about those adventures here) I found out that Maggie Stiefvater has ventured into the world of middle grade. Yay! Here she is reading a bit of the second volume of Spirit Animals. To find out more about the series, you may visit the website that includes information about the books and the online game which looks pretty awesome.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

The Past Week: 

Picture Books

There are so many titles, I will have to let the ratings speak for the most part. I was lucky enough to attend Anderson's Children's Literature Breakfast so I heard Jon J. Muth share about making Hi, Koo! I think that added a bit to my delight in the book, but his illustrations are just so fun and beautiful and the haiku and art complement each other very well. That was a stand-out for me. Almost to Freedom touched my heart and I loved learning about the history of We Shall Overcome (oops that should be down in my non-fiction section). The Tortoise and the Hare had fabulous illustrations that were much like those in the Lion and the Mouse. The Negro Speaks of Rivers was breath-taking. There were a lot of great picture books in my hands this week.

Non-Fiction

Both of these books were very engaging and provided tons of great information. I shared Farmer Will Allen with my first grade students and it was just the right amount of text for them. Any more and it wouldn't have worked as well. He is quite and interesting man with a great project of bringing healthy food to urban areas. Josephine was another intriguing person. She had a passion for dance and she followed her strength. The book communicated her energy and fire.

Middle-Grade/Young Adult

I enjoyed Romeo and Juliet and reviewed it over on Rich in Color. I finished an ARC of Saving Baby Doe, but I am still ruminating so haven't rated it yet. I'll be writing a review sometime this week here on the blog.

The Coming Week: 

I am still listening to The Lacuna on a Playaway. I am listening to Article 5 on CDs in my car. I only have 3 CDs left so should finish soon. The other one is for school. I also started the first Hank Zipzer book after meeting Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver this past weekend (see my Celebrations post). I will likely read some other books that I bought at the Children's Literature Breakfast also. Have a great week!

Celebrate!

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on Saturdays where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every day.

I have so much to celebrate this week and a lot of it revolves around my adventures this weekend. That's the reason that this post is so late.

Here is @librarygrl2 working with students in our morning programming club. #onapride #kidscode pic.twitter.com/aAIT8HQMXc
— Curt Rees (@CurtRees) February 13, 2014

1. I had a second computer programming session with 4th and 5th grade students before school. It's a lot of fun.

2. We had our final "battle" for Battle of the Books to determine which team would do the state competition. It was fun to see how the students worked as a team.

3. I got to see my son this weekend for a little while as I passed through Madison on my way to and from the Children's Literature Breakfast. That always makes my heart happy.

4. I got to meet some Twitter friends and great authors at the Children's Literature Breakfast.

Twitter folks I met for the first time in person: Donna K. - @akgal68 and John Schumacher @MrSchuReads

Twitter folks that I had met before: Nikki @daydreamreader, Travis @100scopenotes, Sarah @pageintraining

Yes, that is Henry Winkler

Authors: Crystal Chan (Bird), Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Boys), Nnedi Okorafor (Akata Witch), Jon J Muth (Hi, Koo), Henry Winkler (Hank Zipzer), Lin Oliver (Hank Zipzer), Aaron Reynolds (Disasterosaurus), Joelle Charbonneau (The Testing), Trish Cook (A Really Awesome Mess), Stephanie Hemphill (Your Own, Sylvia), Stacey Kade (The Ghost and the Goth series), France & Tad Mitchell (Where is the Sears Tower?), Fern Schumer Chapman (Motherland is it Night or Day?) and a few more.

Phew! That was a lot of people to meet and it was beyond wonderful.

5. Books!!! I got to purchase many fun books for me and for my school library - some of which I even got signed. :)

Aaron Reynolds

Maggie Stiefvater

Jon J. Muth

I was only sorry I forgot to ask Nnedi Okorafor and Crystal Chan for photos too. I got their books signed first. Live and learn. I got one more fun photo after chatting with Maggie S. Her flight didn't happen so she drove this car for 11 hours to get to the breakfast. I never imagined I would see it in person. *happy dance*

That would be the same car from this video:

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

The Past Week: 

Picture Books

I had a lot of fun with picture books this past week. I read one for the Caldecott challenge, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, that I think I had read years ago, but I read it again just to be sure. Great illustrations and not something I would EVER want to do even if it was possible. I don't think I realized that it was written after the towers were gone. I had figured the book was older than that.

I am really becoming a Yuyi Morales fan. I cannot get enough of her books. I read Niño Wrestles the World for the first time at Book People in Austin, Texas when I was there last summer and it made me smile so hard. Now I am chasing down the rest of her books for our library. Her trickster books, Just in Case and Just a Minute are fabulous too. They are just so fun and beautiful.

Let's Talk About Race is another that really made me think and will be one I use in school. It really is a great springboard for discussion. I will be using This is the Dream too.

The adorable award has to go to Sophie's Squash. I had heard so many people mention it and now I know why. Sophie is a cutie and she falls in love with that squash. 

Middle Grade

Tim Tingle is a wonderful storyteller. I loved his Crossing Bok Chitto and Saltypie picture books when I read them. How I Became a Ghost is the story of one Choctaw boy and his family as they are forcibly removed from their home along with many others. As the title informs you, there is certainly death involved. I appreciated that Tingle shares this part of our nation's history with children so they can have a more complete understanding of that time than they would from a textbook lesson.

Non-Fiction for Children

I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design. Chip Kidd has a way of grabbing your attention and keeping it. He is so good at his job. I found it fascinating and can't wait to show it to our art teacher. I think it also has applications for our classroom teachers as they help students design posters, slide shows or any kind of presentations. Our Rights was another that could be very useful within the 4th and 5th grade curriculum. They study how people have changed the world and are often asking for examples of young people who have made a difference. This book provides a look at many teens and even younger children who have done amazing things around the world. Just a note - things like female genital mutilation and other sensitive topics are mentioned in some of the articles, but it is text heavy and isn't meant for primary anyway.

Non-Fiction for Adults

The Color of Water had been recommended to me a few years ago and I finally got to it. I appreciated this memoir of a man who was examining his identity and struggling with what it meant to be biracial. He enlisted the help of his white mother. The book is told in the alternating voices of James and his mother. They are both interesting people, but like the title says, it is a tribute to his mother. When all was said and done, I felt like I knew here more than I knew him or at least more than I knew his adult self.

The Coming Week: 

I am still listening to Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna on a Playaway, but am nearing the end. I have just started Kristen Simmons' Article 5 on CD in the car. I am in the middle of Romeo and Juliet adapted by Gareth Hinds. I abandoned I am Malala, but may pick it up again in the future. I have Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices up next. I also have a large pile of books from the library so it should be a good week with many choices. What will you be dipping into this week?

Celebrations

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on Saturdays where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every day.

These boxes held $500 worth of books

Aren't they gorgeous?

*One* A big joy this week was opening up the boxes of books that we got from First Book through a donation by Target. I was happy to see that they had many diverse titles available and I was also over the moon to see I could get many copies of Flora & Ulysses. I have already handed every single one of those copies out to happy staff and students.

*Two* A few months ago an email came my way that announced a Head Start conference and was asking for presenters. I passed it to my two favorite Pre-K teachers, the ones I work with every week :),  thinking they would be great presenters. They decided they wanted to give it a shot. Last week they checked out iPads, chrome books, and laptops in preparation for their trip. I gave them the few suggestions I could since I have only officially presented two sessions at conferences. I was so excited for them. They presented on using technology in the pre-k classroom. Their main focus was on the social networking tools they have been using to connect with parents, but they also showed some of the things they do with children which honestly isn't a lot since we like the little ones to interact with each other more than with screens at that age. They had a fantastic experience and I am so proud of them for stepping out of their comfort zone.

*Three* A friend's young child has finished his last round of treatment at the hospital and can finally walk around with hair and without tubes. There just aren't words for that.

*Four* The blog that I am part of, Rich in Color, is just about to have its first anniversary. Audrey and I met on a #diverselit Twitter chat that Stacey Whitman or Lee & Low was doing about this time last year. We connected and recruited others to work with us. We have three posts a week on our blog about young adult literature written by or starring people of color. I can't believe it has already been a year since we started this journey.

*Five* I started a computer programming club for 4th and 5th grade. We will be meeting before school every Wed., though I may add Fridays too. The students that showed up were great to work with and I am looking forward to learning with them.

I hope you had some wonderful celebrations this week too!

Reading Challenge Update

I am participating in several reading challenges this year. The one hosted by Latin@s in Kid Lit fits nicely with Diversity on the Shelf. They both help to keep me on track to tackle my "Must Reads for 2014" too. In addition, I am also slowly plugging away at the Printz and Caldecott winners.

Here's what I have read so far:

Latin@s in Kid Lit

I reviewed all of them on Goodreads. I am looking forward to continuing this challenge. There are some great books out there and it is cool that Latin@s in Kidlit rounded up all of the books we read in January so we can see more titles to choose from and they recommended several that work for this challenge and Black History month too. 

Diversity on the Shelf (including the ones above) 

I reviewed these on Goodreads too except for Shadow Hero since it won't be released until July. The Diversity on the Shelf link up for January is here. I did not link all of mine since that would be craaaazy and I don't know if she meant to deal with picture books either. Kindred, Shadow Hero, Inheritance, Little You, and Maria had a Little Llama were my top five.

Must Reads

I have 110 books on my "Must Read" shelf and so far I have gotten to 18 of them. Some of them were for the challenges above.

Printz Award

I wasn't a big fan of either of these, but they both had serious subject matter. Do happy books ever get the Printz? 

Caldecott

These books were captivating. I have read Owl Moon many, many times and it always takes my breath away. Golem was very cool and totally reminded me of Frankenstein, but I think that this book was based on a story that pre-dates Shelley.

Overall, I am clicking along and am having a great time diving into these books. I can already see a change in my reading habits and it's a good one. You are welcome and in fact encouraged to join in any of these challenges at any time. 

Knock Knock

The Slice of Life Challenge was created by the people over at the blog Two Writing Teachers. The challenge is to write about some part of your day and share it each Tuesday.

I am late getting started on this post as it is after 9:00, but I didn't do it last week and I didn't want to skip again.

Over the past week I have been sharing books that were on the award lists. One of the lists I explain is the Corretta Scott King award. When I shared the topic of Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me by Daniel Beaty with students they were touched. If you haven't read it yet, I would highly recommend it. You can also see the Daniel Beaty perform the poem the book is based on here:

Some students were moved because they had never thought about what it might be like to wake up and have a parent missing. Some because they know all too well.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

The Past Week

It was so fun to watch the ALA Youth Media Awards and find out about several other awards this past week. Links to the award lists and information about the books can be found here. Six of the eight books I read this week were as a result of those lists. I loved When the Beat was Born. The text bounced along and it was fascinating to read about DJ Kool Herc and learn about the beginnings of Hip Hop. I thought it would be great to pair with Hip Hop Speaks to Children. Another fun biography was The Mad Potter. George E. Ohr was quite a unique individual and his pottery is a reflection of his  personality. I found Handbook for Dragon Slayers to be a nice change of pace. I haven't read a lot of young fantasy lately. I'm glad it won the Schneider Award so I could find out about it. Maria Had a Little Llama was very cute and I know teachers will enjoy showing it to students for comparing with the original Mary Had a Little Lamb. Darius & Twig was a nice story of friendship. The Lord of Opium grew on me. I am not sure if I would have finished it if it wasn't on audio, but somewhere in the middle I finally started to care a bit about what was happening. School for Princes: Stories from the Panchatantra was quite interesting. I did not know these Indian fables though one of them does seem to be the basis of Rikki Tikki Tavi. Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote definitely gets at the human issues of illegal immigration. It would be a good way to introduce the topic with upper grade students. Overall, it was an excellent week of reading.

The Coming Week:

I am still listening to Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna. I have started to read I am Malala. It is a bit dry and doesn't really sound like a teenager talking, but I am still barely into the book. The history is making me trudge rather than breeze through. I am also reading a professional book called Privilege, Power and Difference. After these, I will finally get to Open Mic. Other than that, I am not sure what will come next.

Have a great week!