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.

Last Week: 

My favorite of these three was Island Treasures by Alma Flor Ada. It's a memoir comprised of short stories from two prior books with some additional stories. I felt like I was sitting among her family.

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli was really fun. I enjoyed getting to know Simon as he muddled through high school days.

I also enjoyed The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin. Suzy is quite an interesting character and she's dealing with some heavy grief. She also deals with a changing friendship. I found the science in the book to be incredibly interesting. I didn't like it as much as some people. Some things were just more than I could believe, but overall, it was a nice middle grade novel. Strangely enough Suzy reminded me of Elise in the YA book This Song Will Save Your Life. They are both precocious characters struggling with self worth and finding friends.

Unstoppable Octobia May was a very unique and twisted mystery. I enjoyed it, but wondered if the confusion at the beginning would be difficult for young readers. It takes a while for things to untangle. I thought it was neat that a middle grade book mentioned passing. A new girl moves into the neighborhood. She has a black mother and white father. She doesn't look black. There is a discussion about whether she passes for white or will in the future. That was something that I didn't even think about or know about when I was growing up. It doesn't come up in literature too often. I loved Octobia's aunt and her drive for equal rights for women.

Of the three picture books, Wait was the standout for me. It reminded me of Sidewalk Flowers. I love the reminder to be present and really see the world around us.

At the Same Moment Around the World shows snapshots of people around the world at the same time in different time zones. There is a foldout map at the end and an explanation of the history of time zones and how it works.

Little Kunoichi is a story about a little girl training to be a ninja. It's not totally a story though. There's not much of a plot. It was cute though.

The Coming Week: My digital download of Good Omens expired before I was finished so I may try to get the actual hard copy and finish it. I'm almost finished with This Song Will Save Your Life. I'll finish Urban Tribes. I brought home a pile of library books: Stella by Starlight, School for Good & Evil, and Harriet the Spy.