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:

Geisel Books

Be sure to visit the blogs of Colby Sharp and Mr. Schu to see their video reviews for the Geisel Challenge. I really enjoyed seeing the writing that was happening in Zelda and Ivy. Mercy was so fun and I truly had hot buttered toast for dinner Friday night in honor of the book. It was yummy. I don't know if I have ever eaten a half dozen pieces of toast for a meal before, but it was great. I am sure Mercy would approve, but would likely eat a few more pieces than that. My two favorites were Move Over Rover and Not a Box. I wrote quite a bit about Rover here. They are both exercises for the mind in different ways. They are high on the imagination and creativity scale. Last week I forgot to mention one other book that I read - The Pigeon Needs a Bath! I am including it here since Pigeon has potential for a future Geisel award as Willems has snagged a few of those. 

Poetry

It is poetry month so I am hoping to read at least one poetry book a week. Ahsley Bryan's ABC book is fabulous. I reviewed it over at Goodreads. There were several poems that really stood out - of course one was from Langston Hughes. 

Middle Grade/Young Adult

I would peg these both as middle grade, but I noticed that both were also tagged young adult by quite a few people on Goodreads. Milagros is out-of-print, but recently Meg Medina posted that it is being resurrected as an e-book. I flew through the book and got quite attached to Milagros. She sees people as they truly are and she is herself truly not matter what happens around her The Rock and the River was hard to hear (I read this one with my ears). I sat in my car crying on several occasions. Sam is a boy trying to become a man. His father is a leader in the civil rights movement and in this book Sam begins to see beneath the surface of that fight. Like One Crazy Summer, this book shows us a bit about The Black Panthers. The story, along with the afterward, provides a lot of background about the group and shows that they weren't just about violence which is the stereotype that many people have about the Panthers.

Adult

I adored Americanah. I will have to find time to read more of Adichie's novels. She has a fabulous sense of humor and writes beautifully. After I finished I went back and watched the video interview that she did recently about the book. Adichie is an amazing woman.

Reviews

I reviewed Electa Quinney and Soccer Star this week.

The Coming Week:

I am still reading House of Purple Cedar, Death Spiral and Lucca and the Fire of Life. I am highly likely to read something by Mitali Perkins too since she will be in town and presenting at the local university. Yay! I think Grasshopper Jungle and Port Chicago 50 may get a shot too. Not sure though. It's always a bit of a surprise. I will read the 2008 Geisel award winners also. Those are quick. Have a great week of reading!