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. Cover images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last Week on the Blog: 

Author Spotlight: Jacqueline Woodson at Rich in Color

Last Week in Books:

The big standouts this week were the two poetry books: Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko and Somos como las nubes/We Are Like the Clouds. The first is an amazing picture book biography that includes poetry. It's stunning and her life story is very moving. The poetry is fabulous too. The second is a collection of poems showing what it is like to be a child refugee. The author fled El Salvador when he was young and has also worked with children who have come to the U.S. from Central American countries. The poetry is very moving.

On the side of humor, We Found a Hat (loved!) and We Are Growing! really made me smile along with Dear Dragon. 

Ralph Tells a Story tempted me to do NaNoWriMo one more time. I am still not sure if I am doing it or not, but Ralph and his story made me see possibilities. I am a Story and How This Book Was Made were also rather convincing. I may finally do it as a rebel and work on picture book ideas instead of a novel. That would be a first.

Many of these books were excellent and I will have most of them in my library at school. I read Steeplejack for possible review over at Rich in Color. It was a cool steampunk mystery type and it was an exciting read. Altogether, it was an excellent week of reading.

The Coming Week:

I've ordered a few books from my #MustReadin2016 list (Beholding Bee and Branded by the Pink Triangle) because I am way behind on that. I am also starting to look at the Mock lists and am realizing that I need to catch up on some of the really good books from this year. I'm not sure exactly which titles I'll get to, but those are the plans.

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge - 490/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 219/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 31/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 149/125
#MustReadin2016 - 28/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 84/100
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrate

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

 

 

Today fall continued to bless us. Many of the trees were still filled with yellow, red, brown, and orange leaves though I didn't get photos to prove it. The corn field I ran around rustled in the breeze and was clearly still providing snacks for deer. The sun fought to be seen through the clouds and even peeked out a few times. My run only lasted about 30 minutes while my dog was getting groomed, but the weather and peaceful water had me smiling. Today I celebrate the changing of the seasons and the beauty of our world.

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. Cover images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last Week in Books:

 

My favorite chcildren's book this week was definitely I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leaves Her Mark. First, because I admire Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but also because it is very well done. 

Is That Wise, Pig is another funny book by Jan Thomas. It's a bit silly and I will have to explain the word galoshes. Students will probably love it.

Nothing Up My Sleeve is a humorous middle grade book that will be popular with any readers who enjoy learning magic tricks. I can think of a few who would enjoy it. I am not as fond of magic so that wasn't a draw for me, but it was a nice book about friendship too.

The Best Man is another funny book and is a great look at family and especially male role models. I think adults may enjoy it more than students, but there will be Peck fans who like it. The book features two weddings. One of them is the marriage of two men who are important in the main character's life, but that isn't the primary focus of the book.

Secret Coders is a fun series. I liked Paths and Portals though not quite as much as the first book. It seemed a little more code heavy and a little lighter with story.

Lowriders to the Center of the Earth has a lot of action and adventure. It's also filled with humor. I think it will be fairly popular. I had some concerns about the Spanish, but am not sure if I am knowledgeable enough about it to really make strong commentary. It just seemed written/marketed more for a non-Spanish speaking audience than not. I would be very curious to know how Spanish speakers react to it in general.

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois was a challenging read as an audio book. I listened mostly while driving and would find my mind drifting. I don't know if it was the reader or just that it was written so long ago that it was harder to follow than more current writing. I was able to finish, but many times I had to back up and start chapters over because I realized I had lost track. If I read it again, I won't use audio. Last week I watched 13th which was amazing and if you haven't seen the documentary, I highly recommend you watch it. 

Watching 13th and reading The Souls of Black Folk so close together was eye-opening for me. So many things were already apparent even back in 1903 that have not been part of my education like how policing started. There were things I learned in the video that had been common knowledge in the African American community for years and years, but were new to me. This should not be the case, but it likely is for the vast majority of people who have gone through our education system. I'll end with these quotes from the book, "Would America be America without her Negro people?" and "We seldom study the condition of the Negro to-day honestly and carefully. It is so much easier to assume that we know it all. Or perhaps, having already reached conclusions in our own minds, we are loth to have them disturbed by facts."

The Coming Week: I just started reading Steeplejack. I also just got the ARC of Stacey Lee's newest book coming in December thanks to Edelweiss so that is likely to be read this week. Her books have been fabulous so far. Other than that, I'm not sure what will land in my hands. Have a great week!

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. Cover images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last Week On the Blogs: 

Interview with Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Last Week in Books: 

 

 

A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America is excellent and includes the history of many people who are often left out of the American narrative. This would be an essential text for middle and high school teachers for classroom use, but would also be a good text for elementary teachers to read for themselves to have a good context when teaching history or sharing literature.

Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist is a cool look into the life and music of Juan Garcia Esquivel. Here are a few videos to give you a taste of his music. Of course I picked it up because it's illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh and he's one of my favorites.

Speaking of Tonatiuh, I also read his picture book The Princess and the Warrior. It's a good one, but a little on the sad side so unlikely to be a Disney pick. You'll find out what his last name means in this book if you didn't know already. I think I will use it and a few of his others and do an illustrator study with his books this year. This video shows how he creates his illustrations and I find it pretty fascinating.

Because of an Acorn is a great picture book that demonstrates cause and effect. It reminds me of No Monkeys No Chocolate only in a more simple way. It has some great back matter, but would work with young readers.

My Dad Used to Be So Cool is super cute and is one more to add to the tattoo books. There aren't so many picture books with characters sporting tattoos, but there are starting to be more, Last Stop on Market Street, Tell Me a Tattoo Story and several of Bob Graham's books like Let's Get a Pup. I think there is a blog post in there somewhere. Anyway, it's one that made me smile.

Before I Leave put tears in my eyes. It's a perfect book for a child who is moving or for a child who has a friend who is moving. It's also just a nice one for talking about feelings.

Ghost is a great realistic middle grade book. As a runner and parent of a cross country/track runner, I really enjoyed having a book featuring running. It's more than a sports book though. It's about a young man who is trying to find his place. He's been in survival mode and had a rocky time in school. Being on a team is a positive step, but some of his choices jeopardize this new part of his life. This would definitely be one that would inspire discussion in a book group.

Overall, this was an excellent week of reading mainly because I got a big order in and have so many fantastic books to choose from all of a sudden.

The Coming Week: I have more books from the recent order waiting for me like Best Man by Peck and a new one by Diana López called Nothing Up My Sleeve. Have a fantastic week!

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. Cover images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last Week On the Blogs:

Review of Shame the Stars at Rich in Color

Last Week in Books:

I had an unexpected trip due to the death of my grandfather. This meant I hardly read anything this past week. I have been reading and re-reading a lot of Lauren Castillo books for Global Read Aloud though. This has been super fun so far. The students have only heard Nana in the City, but this week will hear The Troublemaker. I think they'll love it.

The Coming Week:

 I am recovering from a five day trip back to Ohio and so will hopefully have a little down time this week for reading, but I have a huge to-do list to get through first. I did grab Jason Reynold's Ghost from our box of new books so that will likely be the first one I get to. Happy reading!

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. Cover images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last Week On the Blogs: 

Celebrating CCBC 

 Review of Another Brooklyn

Interview with Author Zetta Elliott

#ZettasBooks Group Discussion

Last Week with Books:

I found This is Not a Book really odd, but fun. It is wordless and as you turn pages, you see spreads that are clearly not books. Like one spread looks like you have just opened a laptop. Another is a bare backside. Strange book, but engaging for sure. Bringing in the New Year is a book I had read before,  but I picked up the board book this time. Really bright and interesting pictures show what it's like to prepare for and celebrate the lunar new year. El Barrio is a warm and friendly look into a community. Wonderfall is based on some word play - changing words that end in -ful to -fall. The poems sometimes feel a little forced, but it's cute and the illustrations are cute.

Middle grade won the week for me. Towers Falling and Full of Beans were both excellent stories sharing history, but also the ability of children to work through tough situations.

The Vast Fields of Ordinary was just that for me - average. I don't think I'll remember much of it later. It was a Stonewall book and was on my MustReadin2016 list. It wasn't horrible, but just didn't keep my interest all the way through.

The Coming Week: I am listening to The Souls of Black Folk and have started to read A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America. I just got a big order in at school so I will likely be reading some of those books. One of them is the new Duncan Tonatiuh book, The Princess and the Warrior. I am hoping to see him at the end of the week at the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival. Another is Best Man by Peck and I've been eager to read that one too. Have a great week!

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge - 454/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 209/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 30/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 146/125
#MustReadin2016 - 25/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 80/100
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrate!

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

This week I'm celebrating the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) in Madison. I had the opportunity to hang out there most of the day yesterday. The librarians there are passionate about children's and young adult literature and are doing amazing things to help teachers, librarians, parents, youth, and others find the books they want and need. I posted the graphic above because it represents some of the great work the CCBC is doing around diversity in kidlit. To find out more about the graphic itself, visit Sarah Park Dahlen's page. To find out more about the statistics, visit CCBlogC. For an update on how the statistics are being tallied this year (they are collecting more information) and what the status is so far, check out this CCBC post.

They have some wonderful booklists and resources online in addition to tons of books there in the facility that are available to look at when you stop by. I also appreciate their ARC shelf. I picked up a few including We Are Okay by Nina LaCour.

It's always a good day when you get to be with people who are excited about the same things you love. I appreciate being able to talk about books with such awesome people and look forward to seeing many of the same people again in just a few weeks as we gather for the Zolotow Lecture. This year we'll hear from Jacqueline Woodson thanks to the sponsorship by CCBC and Friends of the CCBC. I can't wait.

Review: Another Brooklyn

Title: Another Brooklyn
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Publisher: Amistad
Pages: 192
Genre: Adult Historical Fiction
Review copy: ARC via publisher, Final copy via library
Availability: On shelves now

Summary: Running into a long-ago friend sets memories from the 1970s in motion for August, transporting her to a time and a place where friendship was everything—until it wasn’t. For August and her girls, sharing confidences as they ambled through neighborhood streets, Brooklyn was a place where they believed that they were beautiful, talented, brilliant—a part of a future that belonged to them. But beneath the hopeful veneer, there was another Brooklyn, a dangerous place where grown men reached for innocent girls in dark hallways, where ghosts haunted the night, where mothers disappeared. A world where madness was just a sunset away and fathers found hope in religion.  

Review: What a powerful book. Another Brooklyn feels real. August lets us see her journey from childhood to adult through her memories. These are memories of pain, laughter, friendship, family, music, death, fear, love, and so much more. Memory is a word used many times from the very first page. "I know now that what is tragic isn't the moment. It is the memory."

Woodson created an story that transports readers to 1970s Brooklyn with the sights, sounds, and people. I could hear the children playing in the street and feel the heat of the summer days. It felt like I was reading a memoir or someone's diary. August kept reminding readers about memory as she told about growing up girl in Brooklyn.

August is a transplant to Brooklyn. She sees the children outside, particularly three girls, and wants to be part of their group. She looks at them and thinks they are standing strong. I loved the conversation they have about how they saw each other in the beginning. August explains, "we saw the lost and beautiful and hungry in each of us. We saw home." Together they could be strong. They held onto each other and their childhood as long as they could while also trying to grow up. Woodson explores that tension of clinging to memories and youth while reaching out for adulthood and dreaming of who they will become all the while navigating the challenges for black girls growing up in Brooklyn.

August's mother had warned her not to trust women though. There were many times when she had let August know that women would betray women. August experiences this and the pain is long-lasting.

Woodson crafted a brilliant story here with close attention to the words. Even the layout creates a unique feeling to the reading experience. There's a lot of white space and italics are used to indicate dialogue  rather than quotation marks. This was something to adjust to, but it somehow made the story feel more relaxed and personal.

Recommendation: Fans of Woodson will definitely want to get this one soon as well as people who enjoy memoir. While this is fiction, it feels like memoir and lead me to look at my own memories like many memoirs do. This book is filled with lyrical writing that speaks through heartache as a woman looks back at her coming-of-age. It's not to be missed.

Extras: