It's Monday! What are you reading?

Jen & Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts host a meme every Monday that invites people to share the children's and young adult books they have been reading over the past week and what they plan on reading the following week.

You may find more complete information about what I am reading at Goodreads or by clicking on the Goodreads widget along the side of my blog.

The Past Week:

Picture Books

Of all of the picture books, I would have to say Ball was my favorite this week. The enthusiasm and focus of that dog are illustrated so well. Anyone with a dog in their life, or wishing for one, will just love it.

Middle Grade

Yay! I had noticed recently that I wasn't reading as much middle-grade as I would like so this week I kicked it up a bit and got quite a few read. My favorite of the week was Doll Bones, but Weedflower was a close second (a review of Weedflower is here). Doll Bones had just the right amount of creepy in it. I typically avoid scary books because I am prone to nightmares after books or movies that are intensely scary. This was creepy, but not over the top. I loved the characters and wanted to know more about them even when the story came to an end. The dynamics of their friendship was almost as intriguing as the mystery. Their playfulness and creativity brought back memories of my own childhood make-believe adventures.

Young Adult

I liked both The Iron King and The Testing, but neither one really stood out for their genre. They were fun, but unfortunately they were also slightly "forgettable" as Simon Cowell would say. I felt that many characters and events were repeats from other books I had read. Entertaining, but not terribly unique. I liked that in both books, the main characters sometimes called for help, but also tried very hard to solve their own problems. They weren't always damsel in distressy. I am leaning toward reading the second book in both series, but it all depends on the height of my TBR pile.

Non-Fiction

I loved Almost Astronauts so much that I had to write a review even though it was the night before the last day of school and I had other things I needed to do. It brought me to tears and I am excited to share it with my fifth graders next year. Children of Manzanar paired well with Weedflower too.

The Coming Week:

I am listening to Esperanza Rising (MG) and should finish it this week. I am still reading an ARC of A Moment Comes (YA), and I plan to start an ARC of The Bitter Kingdom (Fire and Thorns #3) as soon as I finish it. I also have The Real Boy waiting in the wings. After all of Colby Sharp's tweets about it and this awesome Nerdybookclub post that includes some of the awesome illustrations, I know I have to keep that at the top of my TBR pile. Right now I have a ginormous pile though. Plenty to see me through summer #bookaday. What fun things are you getting to read?

Review: Almost Astronauts

Title: Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to  Dream

Author: Tanya Lee Stone

Publisher: Turtleback Books

Review Copy: Library copy

Release Date: February 2009

Summary: They had the right stuff. They defied the prejudices of the time. And they blazed a trail for generations of women to follow.

What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape — any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. They were blocked by prejudice, jealousy, and the scrawled note of one of the most powerful men in Washington. But even though the Mercury 13 women did not make it into space, they did not lose, for their example empowered young women to take their place in the sky, piloting jets and commanding space capsules. ALMOST ASTRONAUTS is the story of thirteen true pioneers of the space age. -- cover image and summary via IndieBound

Review: In Almost Astronauts, Tanya Lee Stone provides a look into the lives of some heroic women. Stone opens the curtains and lets the light shine in on the ugliness of discrimination in the early days of the space program. I knew that women had limited rights for many years, but had no idea that women couldn't rent cars or get loans without a man's signature even into the '60s. Some of the indignities that the women faced were astounding. It reminded me of Wheels of Change in that I kept being amazed at comments from the men in power who wanted to maintain the status quo. So many people were unwilling to work for change. Stone points to those who tried to help, but also reveals the names of those standing in the way. I appreciated learning about these women who stepped forward and endured grueling tests and workouts in their attempts to prove themselves worthy of being astronauts. 

What moved me was that I am the beneficiary of their blood, sweat and tears. As a child I did my biography report on Amelia Earhart. I dreamed of becoming a pilot. I also entertained the idea of becoming an astronaut. It never occurred to me that I could not do that, but before these women made their stand, it wouldn't have even been a remote possibility. When an astronaut came to my school in the 80s with a space suit for us to see, Sally Ride has already made her first trip. I changed my mind about careers plenty of times so I did not pursue space travel, but I am glad that they opened the way for us so that at least it is a choice young women could make.

This will be a perfect book to use with our upper grade students as they read fiction and non-fiction about the issue of discrimination. Stone delivers the information with passion and she moved me to tears on several occasions. I will not forget these women.