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.

Previous Week: 

I was at an Anime Convention in Minneapolis with my teen and the weekend was so full that it didn't really register that I should do my It's Monday! post. Somehow that got lost in the shuffle. It's late afternoon and I am just beginning so I may rush through a bit.

While in the cities I got to stop by Birchbark Books and meet up with @LibLaura5 (a Twitter friend). I read and bought We All Count by Julie Flett and Book of Play! while I was there. They both have stunning art work and will be fun for our younger students and those students who like to take books home to read to younger siblings. I love that they are excellent concept books that also happen to show Native culture. We All Count introduces Cree counting and Book of Play! is interactive and showcases the amazing art of Haida, Coast Salish, and Bella Bella artists.

It was so fun to see the great books at the store, but even better was to get to chat with Laura about all things bookish. One of the book titles that came up was The Great Greene Heist and we both ended up finishing it this weekend. I reviewed it earlier today. It is a fun middle grade book that features a diverse cast.

Mister Orange was a very unique middle grade book. I am a Mondrian fan and really enjoyed this story set during World War II. It was for young readers, but it managed to deal with some complex topics. Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet is much lighter fare. It was a very quick read. Ana Chen is both African American and Chinese American. The story deals with her middle school graduation and mediating between the two sides of the family in addition to a little bit of interest in a boy.

I met Coe Booth at a lecture earlier this month and so was glad to finally read one of her books. Tyrell is a truly gritty urban book. I really enjoyed the writing even when things weren't going the way I wanted them to. Coe Booth brought me into Tyrell's world. I wrote up a short review here. 

Namaste and What Can You Do With a Rebozo were wonderful picture books that are culturally rich. I will be using them with students in the future for sure.

I will talk more about Miracle Mud later this week when I blog about our Skype visit with the author David A. Kelly, but this is a neat look at how baseballs are prepped for games. I didn't know they coat them with mud to take off the shine. 

Finally, I read the early chapter books in the Franklin School Friends series. They were sent by the publicist and I will review them later this week or next week.

The Coming Week:

I am behind on reviews right now, so I am going to try and keep this a light reading week unless I get all caught up. I am listening to Heist Society on Playaway and I just got Rainbow Rowell's adult book Landline on CD from a Goodreads giveaway so I will start that too. Otherwise, it will be a busy, busy week with school winding down. I am making stacks for summer #bookaday and really looking forward to that. Have a great week of reading!