Reading Through Life

Monday, January 28, 2019

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to know more about what I've been reading, visit my Goodreads shelf.

Last Week:

#ClassroomBookaday

Kindergarten: Below

Second grade: Claymates, I Don't Want to Be a Frog
Third grade: Turning Pages: My Life Story
Fourth & Fifth grade: Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor

Reading at Home

Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness is a picture book that would be very useful to open discussion with children about Whiteness and how to talk about it. What if It's Us (one of my #MustReadin2019 books) was a cute contemporary romance. It isn't my favorite, but did provide laughs. I couldn't always pick out the voices so I was often re-reading to see whether Ben or Arthur was the one talking. Logically, I knew their personalities, but their voices just weren't distinct enough. It was pretty cute though. Crush is a pretty adorable middle grade graphic novel. Smile fans are sure to love it. I was glad it's okay for upper elementary. It's going on my purchase list. We Are Not Yet Equal is a tough read. There are some heartbreaking and horrifying stories of our nation's past.

The Coming Week:

I'm reading We Got This.: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be

by Cornelius Minor, Tilly by Monique Gray Smith & The Radical Element (a collection).

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 29/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2019 - 22/275
#MustReadin2019 - 6/30

Monday, January 21, 2019

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Review: All the Stars Denied at Rich in Color

#ClassroomBookaday

Kindergarten: One Hot Summer Day, Octopus Escapes!, Octopuses

First grade: Staying Safe Online

Second grade: Blue, They Say Blue, Drawn Together, Little Brown
Third grade: Imagine!, Imagine, Alma and How She Got Her Name
Fourth grade: Sisters and Champions, So Tall Within, 5 O'Clock Band, How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace
Fifth Grade: Unstoppable, Thirty Minutes Over Oregon

I was on the Charlotte Zolotow Award committee and this week the winner and honor books were announced. The winner was Little Brown by Marla Frazee and the honor books were Honey and Saturday is Swimming Day. We also decided on a highly commended list of nine more. Here are the full results.

Reading at Home

Pride is a modern day Jane Austen re-telling and was fabulous. I was wanting something fun and it was perfect. The Field Guide to the North American Teenager was also fun, but in a different way. The main character is a bit on the snarky side. Young Gifted and Black is a nice collection of one-page bios of famous and not so famous black people. A Page in the Wind was an okay picture book, but I likely won't remember it in two weeks. The Bell Rang is an incredible picture book about a family that is enslaved. Adventures to School shows a variety of ways children get to school around the world. All the Stars Denied is an excellent look into Texas history during the depression (see review above). Furthermore is a middle grade stand-alone fantasy. I had trouble getting into it last year. It was on my MustReadin2018 list, but I gave up. This time, I tried the audio and it was great that way. Binti was another from my MustReadin2018 list that I hadn't gotten to, but I'm glad I picked it up this year. It's a sci-fi novella and is fantastic. I also finished Life of Miracles Along the Yangtze and Mississippi. It's a memoir by a poet from China. She is full of stories and shares herself and stories of others in a chatty kind of way. What is Given from the Heart is a very sweet picture book about sharing and community.

The Coming Week:

I'm reading these right now and will hope to finish all three along with a few picture books. Happy reading!

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 25/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2019 - 19/275
#MustReadin2019 - 5/30

Monday, January 14, 2019

It's Monday! What are you reading?

#ClassroomBookaday

Kindergarten: Mommy's Khimar & The Swirling Hijaab

First grade: You and Me and 50 Below Zero

Second grade: What If...

Third grade: Saffron Ice Cream

Fourth grade: Between the Lines

Fifth Grade: Not So Different, Inky's Amazing Escape & Lovely Beasts

Reading at Home

Becoming was fascinating and was one of my #MustReadin2019 books. The Death of Mrs. Westaway was for book club and was okay, but not my favorite mystery. It was a quick read though. I also read a few picture books. Of those, Brave Ballerina was the best.

The Coming Week: I'm reading All the Stars Denied to review on Rich in Color. Both are from my #MustReadin2019 list. I may read What if It's Us. Have a great week!

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 13/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2019 - 10/275
#MustReadin2019 - 3/30

Monday, January 7, 2019

It's Monday! what are you reading?

#MustReadin2019 List

#ClassroomBookaday

Kindergarteners enjoyed Saturday is Swimming Day. They especially enjoyed laying on the ground being starfish.

First graders read Night Job.

Second grade read The Rough Patch. It's a tear-jerker.

Reading at Home

I read two books from my #MustReadin2019 list. First, Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish. It's a great middle grade book about family. Even This Page is White is a collection of poems about race. Sometimes I wasn't sure if I was understanding, but I'm glad I read it and there are some gems in there to get you thinking. I finished listening to Rich People Problems which was super fun. Kick it, Mo! is cute and will be popular with my students. Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop was a close look at the sanitation strike that Martin Luther King Jr. was supporting right before he was killed. Finally, I read Fresh Ink today. It's a fabulous diverse collection of short stories. I laughed, cried, and had plenty to think about. I was also very entertained.

The Coming Week: I'm reading Becoming right now and will be start All the Stars Denied soon to review next week on Rich in Color. Both are from my #MustReadin2019 list. I also bought What if It's Us so will likely start that too. Have a great week!

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge 2019 - 6/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2018 - 6/275
#MustReadin2018 - 2/30

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

#MustReadin2019

The #MustReadin2019 is a reading challenge led by Carrie Gelson at There is a Book for That. I have really enjoyed being part of the group of readers setting and aiming for their own unique reading goals and have been participating since 2014.

My 2019 List

Book list also available on Goodreads

Tilly, Speaking Our Truth, and Tilly and the Crazy Eights by Monique Gray Smith
Even This Page is White by Vivek Shraya (a repeat from last year that I didn't get to)
Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Malik Ayisha
The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
Undocumented: A Worker's Fight by Duncan Tonatiuh
Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
Becoming by Michelle Obama
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
Blended by Sharon Draper
Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America ed by Ibi Zoboi
Apple in the Middle by Dawn Quigley
Kid Gloves by Lucy Knisley

Feel Free: Essays by Zadie Smith
Go Home! by ed byRowan Hisayo Buchanan
If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim
Everyday People ed by Jennifer Baker
All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Niciole Chung
Useful Phrases for Immigrants: Stories by May-lee Chai
(Don't) Call Me Crazy ed by Kelly Jensen
What If It's Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli
Breakout by Kate Messner
Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot
Game Changer! by Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp
All the Stars Denied by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Coyote Tales by Thomas King
Make Space by David Kelley
Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Like last year, I chose a few books from the post 46 Books by Women of Color to Read in 2018 and I included a few titles from my Goodreads TBR. While reading everyone's final updates for 2018, I kept my Goodreads account open and added a few more titles to my list. I also added a few that I want to review for Rich in Color. I love this challenge because it gets me to read more books for adults and it's very low stress. We can change our list anytime and it's totally acceptable to skip or abandon books too. I hope you have a fabulous year filled with fabulous books.

Monday, December 31, 2018

It's Monday! What are you reading?

#MustReadin2018 Final Update

#ClassroomBookaday the final week of 2018

Pre-K students loved Dance, Dance, Dance! I kind of did too. It's a great read aloud. You get to be seriously goofy imitating a dancing horse.

Kindergarteners enjoyed The Very Last Castle.

First graders finished up the Mock Geisel books. Our winner was The Itchy Book! by LeUyen Pham and our honors were Bigger! Bigger! by Leslie Patricelli and My Friends Make Me Happy! by Jan Thomas.

Second grade read Thank You, Omu! We enjoyed that the author is so young.

Third grade read Carmela Full of Wishes and discussed siblings and their ability to be annoying. We also went to Wonderopolis to learn more about dandelions and wishes.

Fourth grade read Goldfish on Vacation and we were fascinated by the real history it's based on and we had fun seeing photos of the actual fountain and the apartment in the book. We got to read one more book - Captain Starfish and talked about fears we have had before.

Fifth grade The Wall in the Middle of the Book and learned the word irony.

Reading at Home

Three of these were on my #MustReadin2018 list - Rest in Power, Invisible Man, and Homegoing. They were all good in different ways and were all quite tough to read. Sarai and the Meaning of Awesome was fun and easy to read. Finding Langston was really fantastic and was a great length for a class read aloud. It's short and quick, but very meaningful.

The Coming Week: I am finishing up the final three books on my #MustReadin2018 list. I wish you a wonderful week full of reading.

Reading Challenge Updates:
Goodreads Challenge 2018 - 825/800
Diversity on the Shelf 2018 - 242/300
#MustReadin2018 - 27/30

Sunday, December 30, 2018

#MustReadin2018 Final Update

The #MustReadin2018 is a reading challenge led by Carrie Gelson at There is a Book for That. I enjoy being part of the group of readers setting and aiming for their own unique reading goals and many of us have been joining Carrie for the past several years. Here are the books I chose at the beginning of the year. There is also a list at my Goodreads account.

Here are my previous posts: January, Spring Update, Fall Update

For the final portion of the year, I've read another nine books.

All That I Can Fix is unique and deals with mental health and how a family works through that.

Voices in the Air is a wonderful collection of poetry. I reviewed it here.

I was less than impressed with Invisible Emmie, but I understand why readers would enjoy it. I didn't like the disability references in particular, but again, it's a realistic graphic novel with humor so many readers will likely pick it up. My review is here.

Pashmina is a wonderful YA graphic novel with a bit of magical realism about bridging cultures.

This Will Be My Undoing is a great collection of essays sharing MorganJerkins' perspective on living in the U.S. as a Black woman & feminist.

A Girl Like That wasn't a favorite of mine and then I read a review that indicates it may have some problematic content. I probably wouldn't recommend it since there are so many other books I've loved this year that I appreciated more.

I listened to the audio of Homegoing. It was truly an amazing collections of stories. It's definitely worth a read.

Invisible Man was the most challenging book to read this year. I sometimes felt that I was not understanding all that I was supposed to, but eventually things would start to make sense again. It was like reading a school assignment, but I was ultimately glad that I stuck with it.

Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin is a heart-breaker.

I did not get to three of the books on my list: Even This Page is White, Furthermore, and Binti, but I plan to read at least two more of them soon.

My favorites of the year were Voices in the Air, Homegoing, Rebel Seoul, American Panda, So You Want to Talk About Race, From Twinkle with Love, Give Me Some Truth, and Amal Unbound.

I'm thankful for this challenge because it helps me get to books I would never get around to reading. I hope you had a great year of reading and I wish you many wonderful books in 2019.