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!

Diversity Notes

I am trying out a new idea. I am posting over at Rich in Color about YA books, but I would like a spot to gather Children's Lit and YA together particularly as it relates to diversity. Once a week I would like to compile the information and links that have come my way. So here goes my first attempt.

Essays or Interviews Online:

From Teen Librarian's Toolbox Mr. Internet: Teens on the Spectrum and Online by Lyn Miller-Lachmann

US Minorities Underrepresented in Children's Books on BBC News
Interview with Kim Johnson at DiversifYA
New Voices Award Winners: Where Are They Now? via Lee and Low
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast interviews John Parra
Open Mic: Introducing Contributor Varian Johnson via Mitali Perkins
Diversity 101: Blurring the Lines Between Familiar and Foreign by Uma Krishnaswami via CBC Diversity
Resources for Finding Latino Kid Lit via SLJ

Book Lists:
10 YA Fantasy/Science Fiction Novels About Latino Characters via Diversity in YA
LGBTQ YA via Malinda Lo
Gateway Books: Getting Latino Kids Excited About Reading via SLJ
Hispanic Heritage Month List via Rich in Color

Book News and Reviews: 

My Basmati Bat Mitzvah was released this week. Here is a review from Finding Wonderland

Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table review from The Non-fiction Detectives

Ling and Ting Share a Birthday - a review via A Year of Reading

Review of Openly Straight via Think Banned Thoughts

Killer of Enemies review from The Indian Leader

My Name is Easy is out in paperback! Whoo-hoo. pic.twitter.com/4rz4Iht36z

— Debby Dahl Edwardson (@DebbyEdwardson) September 26, 2013

Giveaways for Malinda Lo's books Adaptation and Inheritance

Cover Reveal for Feral Curse by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Looks Like Daylight review via The Pirate Tree

Yuyi Morales reads her book Niño Wrestles the World (shared by Mr. Schu on Twitter)

New Book Trailer:

Let me know what you think about this format and the topic. Thanks!

Trailer Tuesday

Trailer Tuesday posts have not been very regular for a long time so I am going to post several trailers today that I have enjoyed recently even if the books or trailers aren't brand new. After this, I hope to highlight one or two a week instead of letting them pile up so much. Enjoy!

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: 

Historical Fiction for #BookBootCamp

This month the focus was historical fiction. I read these three that were new to me and I re-read Inside Out & Back Again too. Inside Out is one of my favorites since in is a beautifully done novel-in-verse and the subject matter helps to share an immigrant experience that is somewhat related to that of many of the families in our school district. Here the author shares some of her book.

I got to read another novel-in-verse and The Lightning Dreamer was fantastic! I am so glad I finally got to it. I wrote a post about it and also shared it on Rich in Color for Hispanic Heritage Month. Here is the author reading excerpts from the book:

Paperboy was another great book for this week. I appreciated that the format was a bit different. There were very few commas and no quotation marks. This was a refreshing way to read. It also made complete sense as the narrator finds talking difficult due to his stutter. Quotation marks remind one of conversation and speaking and it seems that he left them out on purpose. This book provides a great perspective that isn't often shared and the author was writing from personal experience.

The other book was an audio book. I have been told that I missed out on some fabulous illustrations, so I will need to grab the book and flip through. On the Blue Comet was really dragging in the beginning. It did pick up once the train riding began, but there were a few things that bothered me. My biggest complaint was the repetition. The narrator explained his experiences many, many times to many people. He didn't always give the whole story, but even a bit was too repetitive for me. Had I been reading the book myself though, I would likely have just quickly skimmed those parts that repeated and I may not have been as bothered. With the audio though, I was stuck listening. I did enjoy parts of it and I found the storyline creative and interesting, but the execution wasn't my favorite.

It will be great to share these titles and find out about more great historical fiction at the #BookBootCamp chat.

The Coming Week: 

I am still reading through Interworld by Gaiman, but I am very close to abandoning. I put it down for now and started reading Salt by Helen Frost (one of my favorite novel-in-verse authors). I need to do a review for Rich in Color soon so will be reading a diverse YA novel of some kind too. Have a great week of reading!

The Wednesday Dance

I know I am not the first to post this on a Wednesday, but it makes me smile every time I see a gif, picture or clip and today was no exception. I did some dancing today too. Wednesdays are one of my Zumba nights. That has been one of my favorite ways to de-stress and exercise over the past year. I'm so glad I went ahead and tried it again even though I felt awkward and silly at first. When we do a new dance that still happens sometimes, but it's fun anyway. We smile and laugh a lot.

I hope your Wednesday was great and your Thursday and Friday are even better. 

The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist

Opposing slavery in Cuba in the nineteenth century was dangerous. The most daring abolitionists were poets who veiled their work in metaphor. Of these, the boldest was Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, nicknamed Tula. In passionate, accessible verses of her own, Engle evokes the voice of this book-loving feminist and abolitionist who bravely resisted an arranged marriage at the age of fourteen, and was ultimately courageous enough to fight against injustice. Historical notes, excerpts, and source notes round out this exceptional tribute. -- image and summary via Goodreads

Reading this for #bookbootcamp today was a pleasure. I am amazed by the woman this story was based on - Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda (1814-1873). She was a feminist and abolitionist in a time when expressing those thoughts was certainly dangerous. Margarita Engle created this novel-in-verse to express some of those ideas. Here are some of the lines that grabbed me as I read.

[the 'she' is her mother who doesn't think women should read]

She sends me to my silent room, 

where I spend quiet hours remembering

the freedom

to read. 

Beyond these convent gates, books

are locked away

and men

hold

the keys.

Some people

are born with words flowing

in their veins.

Just as often, poetry is a free

dance

     of birds in air

             swooping

                     and dipping

in surprising

     directions.

So many people

have not yet learned

that souls have no color

and can never

be owned.

All I need

is paper, ink,

and the courage

to let wild words soar.

Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures for Trailer Tuesday

I am so excited that today is the birthday of the book Flora & Ulysses. Now we can all find out what the fuss was about. If you don't have it in your hand yet, here is a sneak peek. Enjoy!