Reading Challenge Update

I am participating in several reading challenges this year. The one hosted by Latin@s in Kid Lit fits nicely with Diversity on the Shelf. They both help to keep me on track to tackle my "Must Reads for 2014" too. In addition, I am also slowly plugging away at the Printz and Caldecott winners.

Here's what I have read so far:

Latin@s in Kid Lit

I reviewed all of them on Goodreads. I am looking forward to continuing this challenge. There are some great books out there and it is cool that Latin@s in Kidlit rounded up all of the books we read in January so we can see more titles to choose from and they recommended several that work for this challenge and Black History month too. 

Diversity on the Shelf (including the ones above) 

I reviewed these on Goodreads too except for Shadow Hero since it won't be released until July. The Diversity on the Shelf link up for January is here. I did not link all of mine since that would be craaaazy and I don't know if she meant to deal with picture books either. Kindred, Shadow Hero, Inheritance, Little You, and Maria had a Little Llama were my top five.

Must Reads

I have 110 books on my "Must Read" shelf and so far I have gotten to 18 of them. Some of them were for the challenges above.

Printz Award

I wasn't a big fan of either of these, but they both had serious subject matter. Do happy books ever get the Printz? 

Caldecott

These books were captivating. I have read Owl Moon many, many times and it always takes my breath away. Golem was very cool and totally reminded me of Frankenstein, but I think that this book was based on a story that pre-dates Shelley.

Overall, I am clicking along and am having a great time diving into these books. I can already see a change in my reading habits and it's a good one. You are welcome and in fact encouraged to join in any of these challenges at any time. 

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. 

The Past Week: 

Picture Books

I really loved How To. The illustrations were fantastic and the text is lovely. I also think it would be helpful when teachers are working on writing "how-to" texts with students. It isn't necessarily a model, but would be a good way to introduce or start discussion about telling or showing how to do something. Year of the Jungle is a bit of a memoir as Suzanne Collins tells the story of the year her father was away at war. The Very Inappropriate Word and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild both made me smile. They are definitely humorous.

Middle Grade

Fortunately, the Milk was quite amusing. I was a bit put off by some of the illustrations, but the story was cute. Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War is a novel in verse so I was inclined to like it from the start. I tend to like anything Helen Frost writes. She chose to write about a time in history when settlers and the Miami people were in conflict. It was well told and showed that in war, friendships can be tested. It was also a book about family and how family can go beyond being related by blood.

Young Adult

I read A Step From Heaven for the Printz challenge. I am so glad it won or I may have missed this fantastic book. This is a story of immigration, but it is also about family. The relationships were complex and they touched my heart. It got tears out of me. I read Jumped In for a review on Rich in Color. It is not a novel in verse, but it does feature a lot of poetry. I appreciated the characters and the well told story. There were a few tears here too.

Non-fiction

My students and I thought A Little Book of Sloth was fantastic. The photographs are adorable and the narrative was fun too. The Mighty Mars Rovers caught my attention especially since I watched the Curiosity landing in 2012.  The photos are amazing and seeing how excited the scientists and engineers got was pretty cool too.

The Coming Week:

I am reading a middle grade book Written in Stone and I may still finish Interworld. I just checked out a ton of books, but I am not sure which ones will I will get to this week. Have fun reading!

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.

Past Week:

2012 Nerdy Shortlist

In the Sea has fabulous illustrations and wonderful word play throughout this collection of sea poems. I loved it! The Plant Hunters was interesting especially since I had read Measuring the World last month which also followed some plant hunters and I am now reading Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith too. I am hitting quite a few books about plant collectors all in the same month.  We've Got a Job is an inspiring look at some children who believed that they could help change their world and went on to do it. 

Printz Challenge

I love, love, love Terry Pratchett's ability to tell a tale and am so thankful that I started the Printz Challenge or I may have never picked up this book. I have read his Tiffany Aching books, but had been reluctant to start any others. I don't know why precisely. I am glad that I experienced Nation. It caused me to think, to wonder, and he also managed to make me cry.

Picture Books

Lots of great stories in the picture books this week. Too many to talk about individually, but if you can, try to find Nicola Campbell's books about the First Nation residential school experience.

Middle Grade and YA

As Long as the Rivers Flow was another book about a First Nation residential school experience. Having to leave family, culture, and everything you know at such a young age without a choice had to be so difficult. I appreciate that there are more and more books that are sharing the experience and helping us to understand the history of our continent. 

I enjoyed the characters and friendships in Bamboo People. They may not have had much in common, but they were able to find ways to connect with each other.

The Coming Week:

I am reading Charles and Emma with my ears and am also finishing up Navigating Early which I was so happy to get from my Book Buddy through Jen & Kellee's book exchange. I have My Friend Dahmer, Ichiro, Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity and Almost Home in my bookstack for the week and will also likely throw in a few unexpectedly. Have a great week of reading!

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.

Printz Challenge - This year I am planning on trying to finish up all of the Printz winners and honor books that I have never read. The Printz awards go to books that exemplify excellence in young adult literature. There are fewer than 70 books since it is a relatively new award. I had already read 28 of them and this week I finished two more. :)

Both of these were powerful. Strangely enough, both were set up to flip from the past to the future with different characters. Jellicoe Road (Winner 2009) was extremely difficult to understand at first because I was listening to it. Once I had a hard copy and could flip back to other passages, everything was easier. The storyline is quite complex, but after about 120 pages, things start to pull together. I loved the strong friendships in this story. In Darkness (Winner 2013) was almost painful to read. The extreme poverty and violence present were shocking and heartbreaking. I had heard of the slave revolt in Haiti, but I realized I knew little about the country's history. I fully understand why both of these books won awards. The writing in both drew me in and made me care about the characters and their lives.

Picture Books

So now I know what F&Gs (folded and gathered) are like. It is kind of cool to look at an unbound picture book. I will have to show my students. The storyline on Who Needs Love was disjointed to me, but I appreciated the message of love. I enjoyed revisiting the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Since we have a shrine to her in our area, it would be great to have a copy of this book in our library. I don't think I have ever read a book by Pat Mora that I didn't like and The Beautiful Lady was certainly a winner. It was fun to visit Pat Mora's website to see the images of the lady that may be found in and around Mora's home.

For my second grade team who needed to compare two folktales, I tracked down Petite Rouge. I am so glad that someone mentioned this title. It is a hilarious take on Little Red Riding Hood with Cajun dialect. I laughed my way through as my teen daughter and I took turns reading. So if you need to compare and contrast folktale versions for Common Core, I would recommend this one.

I was excited to see Hide and Seek on Netgalley. I liked this mystery even more that Kate's first one. The mystery was fast paced and action packed, but what really got me was the setting. It takes place in the rain forest and we get to meet critters such as snot frogs, bullet ants, and three step snakes along with watching characters attempt to cross the swinging bridge of death. Too fun. I will write a more in-depth review later, but just know, this is one mystery series that keeps my attention.

By the way, the e-book format is growing on me, but I have to say, I still prefer paper copies. If it wasn't for Netgalley, I don't know how often I would read books on a device. With time, I may be completely won over, but I don't see that happening any time soon. Still get frustrated when page turning freezes up & I am stalled out.

My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer is a peek into the family life of a young girl named June. When the story begins we learn quickly that her Mom is in a serious relationship with another woman and is even talking marriage. June is really not sure what to think about this since not everyone in the community is receptive to such relationships. In fact, some of the people that June trusted react negatively and she hears hateful things said about her mother. The ending resolved a little too easily, but the book handles a sensitive topic well for this age level.

One more realistic fiction book was Postcards from Pismo. I am reading all of Michael Scotto's books in preparation for his visit next week. Students have enjoyed the trailer for this book and we have had some good discussion about families serving in the military. We have a few students with siblings and/or parents in the military and they have had a chance to share some of their experiences as a result of talking about this book.

Non-fiction

I enjoyed reading about the lives of some of my favorite Native American authors in Native Writers - or Indian authors. In the first section about Sherman Alexie, he is quoted as saying "Indians call each other Indians. Native American is a guilty white liberal thing." So, I guess I will go with Indian for now. I had been familiar with Alexie, Bruchac, Erdrich, Nicola Campbell and Tim Tingle, but was happy to learn about several more authors. This added a few books to my TBR pile.

The Coming Week:

I am currently reading all of these. Yikes. So hopefully I finish one or two. Happy reading!